Scripts from the Great Library of Nycene:
From "Tales of Forbidden Magic":
Among the blackest of dark arts is the drawing forth of entities from an unknown and unexplored world that is, through great exertion of power, accessible from our own plane of existence. These beings are known as the Summoned, and were instrumental in the near defeat Nycene's forces during the Magic Wars.
The Summoned are human-like in anatomy and speech, but are physically stronger and more powerful in the area of magic, able to cast without the use of runes. How the first human mages learned to bring forth the Summoned is unknown, for the elves, who taught humans magic in the first place, do not possess this ability. Or, if they do, they do not claim knowledge of it publicly.
When a Summoned is called forth, he, or in some rare cases, she, is at the command of the caster until it is dismissed. There are no degrees of control. If a mage has the ability to cast forth a Summoned, then he or she will have total control of it. Failure to cast results in failure to control in an all-or-none capacity. That is why the ability is, thankfully, limited only to the most skilled rune crafters and casters.
To call forth a Summoned is considered the greatest crime in magic, both at the state and private levels. Any mage caught summoning will be executed immediately as will any mage found designing runes to be used in summoning...
Chapter 4 - The Road to Nycene
The old farmer looked at me with obvious skepticism, his eyes narrowed to slits beneath his broad rimmed hat. I had just informed him that I was a mage and asked if, in exchange for any reasonable service that I could provide, he would give two horses to Celeste and I. We had been walking for just over a week now, picking our way through thick northeastern forest and had just come into farm land, which was outside of Green Seo and on the road to Lancaster, where we would turn east and continue on to Nycene.
"What do you mean any service?" the farmer asked. We were standing outside his modest but biggish house, his small barn and sizable horse stables were located to the right and a large, unplowed field to his left. He must have been a pumpkin or squash farmer if he was planting so late in the season. Either that or he had fallen on hard times. Either way, the farmer could use the services of a mage like myself.
I shrugged, "You name it and I might could do it. We mages have untold amounts of power, you know." I was playing it up a bit, trying to mystify the country man.
"Hmph," the farmer grunted, and scratched his head through his hat. Celeste stood to the side of me, trying not to draw any attention to herself. Elvish racism ran deep in the county and she did not want to alert anyone of her heritage if she could help it. Even thousands of years after the Elvish Wars, families still remembered the countless human lives lost on these very lands.
"How about that field?" I offered, gesturing at the unplowed land, "Looks like it could use some work. In exchange for your horses, I could plow it in one day. Guaranteed."
The farmer arched an eyebrow, "All by yourself? I doubt your girl there would be much help, seeing how small she is."
I nodded, ignoring his ignorance, "You'd be amazed how much I can do with a simple rune. What do you say?"
"Hmm," the farmer thought on it for a long while and then laughed out loud at some secret joke, "If you actually plow that land in one day like you say you can, I'll give you them horses. I'll even throw in a place to sleep in the barn for the night. But," he chuckled again, "Something tells me you're full of it. Looking for a place to sleep. But I've got plenty of room for lonely travelers."
"Thank you, but I promise I'll earn my keep," I said in response. I had set up numerous deals of this type while on the road. Farmers and town folk were always looking for the skills of a mage, whether they knew it or not. Most of them, like this particular farmer, were skeptical of my skills. But many of them begged me to stay longer after I had finished. The wonder of magic rarely made its presence known outside the illustrious walls of Nycene, and the common people were always mesmerized by it, if not a little wary of it.
"Go ahead and settle up in the barn's loft," the farmer jerked a thumb toward the building in question. It was late and we were both exhausted. The sun had already begun to set behind thick clouds when we arrived and were now all but disappeared. Lights flickered on in the windows of the farmer's house. His wife getting dinner ready perhaps.
I nodded in thanks and shouldered my pack, walking across the expanse of packed dirt in front of the farmer's house, toward the barn. Celeste followed and then fell in step with me once we were out of the farmer's earshot.
"Can you really plow that whole field?" she asked in a soft voice, "With just magic?"
I nodded, "I've done harder. Come on, I'll tell you how once we're settled."
The barn was neatly kept, but bereft of animals. One lonely cow swished its tail lazily in the middle of the first floor, a metal bucket laying on its side next to a wooden stool. There were piles of hay for the horses that lived in the stables next door and a myriad of farm tools. A ladder led up from the floor to a loft that ran the length of one side of the barn. We climbed it, and found a few forgotten or broken tools but not much else. The floor was wooden, and would be less comfortable than the ground we had been sleeping on for most of our journey. But the sky was threatening rain, and it would be nice to be out of the elements if indeed the weather came.
"No fire tonight," I grimaced and cast my light orb, uttering an additional word to change its color from a hard white to a softer yellow-orange. "We won't be able to see as much," I said, setting down my pack, "But it'll be nicer at night. Besides, I don't plan on lasting long tonight. I'm beat."
"So what's the big plan tomorrow?" Celeste asked as she fished out the last of our food from my pack. I would need to stop and get more tomorrow before we set out again, after I was done plowing the field.
"Simple," I said, "Remember the first night we met?"
"How could I not?" Celeste grinned, "You tied me up and then had your way with me. It was all very erotic."
It was hard to believe that two and a half weeks had passed since the night I had sensed Celeste lurking in the darkness around my campsite. It seemed like only a few days ago.
"Well," I said, pulling up my sleeve and pointing at a medium sized rune near the juncture of my elbow, it was etched in green ink, "This is the secret to my success then and now. I designed it while treasure hunting in the swamp lands far south of here. There were vines and roots everywhere, and I was getting sick of cutting them out of my way. So I made a rune that can manipulate vegetation so I would be able to just move them instead. You can't manipulate living things as a rule, but with a few clever modifications you can alter a simple manipulation rune like this one," I pointed to smaller, similarly designed tattoo etched in black ink, "Into something that bends the rules a little bit. Namely, make it so you can manipulate really, really unintelligent living things. Like plants. Very dark magic, according to the state mages."
"That's amazingly clever," Celeste said in awe, "But how does that help you with all that dirt? Even that manipulation rune won't be enough to move all of it in one day."
"Did you notice all that grass and weed growing in that field?"
She nodded.
"I'll just use the roots of those plants to till the soil. If I form a chain of command through the complex system of them beneath the ground, I only have to do a few castings at the most. It will be done within two hours."
