Prompt: Tortoise
“Has anyone seen Gothren recently?” Ayron asks while visiting Sadrith Mora one day. “That name was the last thing I wanted to hear today.” I tell him while struggling to deal with the groceries Neloth had tasked me with getting. Gothren is a peculiar fellow and while he’s a very powerful wizard he’s not exactly a nice person. “All I asked was can I be made the fancy honorary title to fulfill the prophecy so we can all stop getting corprus disease and having ash storms and the man has the audacity to say no.” I continue venting to Ayron, who fully knows my thoughts on the old archmagister and for the most part agrees. Some could say Ayron dislikes Gothren even more than I do, after all he grew up having to encounter him every now and then, where I just showed up one day after 22 years abroad.
Ayron finally does something useful after one of the cheap paper bags breaks, spilling its contents everywhere and helps me with the rest of Neloths things. Why Neloth can’t just go do this himself is beyond me. A member of his staff told me he has arthritis in his knees but I’ve seen him run and I highly doubt that’s true. I think he’s just too busy and thinks of himself as too good to do such things, and as a result sends me on errands. I at least do them quicker than he probably could, sometimes he really is as slow as a tortoise. “Do you think Neloth really has arthritis?” I ask Ayron as we pick up the items that has spilled and place them into one of the bags that have yet to break. “If Neloth has arthritis then I’m an imperial.” Ayrons funnier way of saying it is very much a lie.
Even if Neloth is a grumpy old liar at least he pays me, and pays me more than most of the other councilors. Ayron tends to pay well for chores either with money or by teaching a spell or two, but the rest of the council is not as generous. Mistress Dratha just outright doesn’t like me, but she doesn’t seem to like any men, unless they’re her settlement guards. “Come on stop walking so slowly, you’re like a turtle at this pace.” Ayron complains waiting for me to catch up. He’s not the one that had to carry everything from the market by himself. “Remember the tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady wins the race.” I pause for a moment to catch my breath, I really need to work on carrying heavy things over long distances more often. “And I’m tired.” I manage to pant out, taking a second more to collect myself, before catching up.
The walk takes far longer than expected but we finally get to the tower, and levitation comes in extremely handy to avoid the stairs. “Neloth I have your stuff!” I call to the old wizard upon kicking open the door and dropping the bags of food, supplies, and medication haphazardly on the floor of the entryway. A grumble in reply comes from a room nearby and a hand waves from the doorway that says without words “I’m busy just put them anywhere” before disappearing back into the room. A member of his staff takes the groceries away while another counts my payment. Surprisingly no one questions Ayrons prescience, even when he wanders off to interrupt Neloth before coming out a few minutes later visibly startled, though he refuses to explain why.
With payment counted and collected the work here is done for now, leaving Ayron and I to do as we wish. Night is coming on quickly and a storm seems to be brewing, no weather to sail back to Tel Vos in, and ALMSIVI intervention usually causes one to end up in Molag Mar if cast from this tiny island. We decide it’s best to stay at the local inn for the night, and they thankfully have a room with two beds open. “So, why’re you wondering about Gothren?” I ask Ayron over a simple meal of rice and a bit of soup. “Oh, you know…no reason.” He deflects answering until the rest of the patrons have left for the night. “I want to stage a coup.” The master wizard tells me casually once we have some privacy. “Gothren will never let you have the title and his policy changes are as slow as a tortoise, and not the good kind.” He elaborates on his reasoning for wanting Gothren gone before pausing to let me absorb the information. As I process an almost devilish grin slowly spreads across his face “and you’re going to help me.” He adds, I guess the hypothetical operation mage killer Eno has mentioned is a go after all…though if anything I thought it would be Therana.
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