The Cookbook

A magic book containing the Diary of ... (Initials NM)

Obtained in Chapter 14.

''Date: 11th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Rainy.''

''After seven days of arduous walking, we finally arrived at Golddew. We lodged at an inn called Fragrant Dew. We were shocked to see this book when we went to get breakfast. We didn't think anyone would use manticore talisman parchment for a simple cookbook.''

''A staff member told me someone had paid for his tab using the book -- which had been empty at the time. The old cookbook was falling apart, so they copied all their recipes into this book because the proprietor felt it wouldn't wear as quickly.''

''What were they thinking? Do they have any idea how expensive this is? What am I asking, of course they don't. I couldn't bare to see it wasted like that so I bought it off them. They actually sold it for just a shaliun.''

''Senior Tawari said it wasn't worth that much though. Manticore parchment is good material, but the sheets are now basically useless because they wrote on it.''

''He was right, but I didn't buy this to make a magical tome. I happened to leave without a diary so I'll just use it that way. In this sense, the recipes actually make for good camouflage...''

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 12th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''I couldn't get any sleep last night. Bota brought two of the inn's maids to his room and make merry. I mouthed him off at dinner. He seems rather irritated.''

''He said he had to make the most of the time he had left for it. We soon wouldn't have any more chances. We parted still sour at each other.''

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 13th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Cloudy.''

''It rained a little yesterday evening. I spent most of the day meditating in my room.''

''Tawari came to see me in the evening. He looked sour. Apparently a unit was ambushed in Binio Valley. All eleven magi were killed. Shot dead despite being four- and three-ringed. Only the five-ring magus escaped, but he was badly hurt.''

''That's just 50 kilometres from here. What a nightmare!''

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 14th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''I got to know Jones today. Turns out he's a four-ring magus like me. He's a haggard man. His skin is as pale as ash and he drinks a lot. Tawari says he acts like that because he's still in shock over what happened.''

''He's from Rosbo. The council summoned him here, just like us, and he was coming here to rendezvous with us. Apparently his unit had 13 men but everyone else was killed about 20 kilometres from town. Only six made it out alive, Jones included, but they killed quite a few of their attackers as well. We've sent a few people from town to go take a look.''

'''You don't know how fearless they are... They aren't afraid of dying...' Jones told me as he cried.''

'''Even if we blast some of them into charcoal, the others just keep shooting. They just won't budge.'''

'''Curse the bastard that invented guns! It's the weapon of demons!'''

I don't think I remember everything right, but that's the gist of what he said before he passed out.

''Tawari came to see me again just before I went to bed. He told me not to tell anyone about the improvements I've made to the guns. He worries about nothings. I'm not stupid enough to blab about that sort of stuff...''

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 15th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''Three more units arrived today. They're from Marino, Shaliz, and Chilasos. They're lucky to not have been attacked.''

''Bota spent the whole day playing around with the neighbourhood's girls. He doesn't behave like a magus should at all. I'll rather not say what he did look like. Even Tawari doesn't bother with him.''

''I heard Krimondo crying in his room. When I asked him about it at dinner, he only glared at me. Aliya said I was lucky I didn't know anything. 'Ignorance is bliss' she'd said.''

They're hiding something from me.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 16th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''I heard the unit sent out of town to investigate where Jones was attacked came back. Tawari said all seven corpses were brought back. They found 22 corpses that weren't magi. We now know who the attackers were. They're part of that damned brotherhood.''

''They're all madmen. I don't know why they attacked, but they're very disciplined. They don't budge even while they're being blown up. Maybe I shouldn't have done that work on guns.''

Another five units arrived as well but they're not staying at our inn.

''I don't know where they're from. I wanted to meet them but Tawari told me to stay put.''

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 17th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''I heard a loud explosion last night at about midnight. It was accompanied by a massive wave of magic. Tawari didn't allow us to go out though. I heard from people in the tavern this morning that two magi had dueled. They were courting the same woman, it seems.''

''Their fight destroyed four houses and killed 17 people. Over a hundred were injured as well. If they weren't stopped, they'd have killed even more people in their fight.''

''Bastards... How could they fight in the middle of town? Tawari said the two involved were made to pay a gold coin for everyone that died and a silver coin for everyone they injured. They fought in town because they were too afraid they'd be ambushed if they tried fighting outside of town.''

''They weren't punished enough. They only paid one shaliun a life. They ought to be damned. I noticed how hatefully people were staring at us.''

''Three more units arrived today. I couldn't be bothered with them.''

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 18th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''I've been in Golddew for eight days now, but the messenger hasn't arrived yet. I don't know when they'll let us head for the city of Symposium either. µ More and more magi are gathering. And the atmosphere just keeps getting worse. A lot of magi have started behaving badly. I heard many start fighting after shouting at one another for a while. But we luckily have the disciplinary unit. They're all five-ring magi. They've been stopping most events before they escalate, but a few still slip through the cracks.'' ''I heard this afternoon that the two that fought last night are ded. One died from eating smoked mutton that had been poisoned with jimsonweed and the other was stabbed to death.''

The two murderers were caught and were executed. They were hanged in the centre of town. Even their souls were burned for three days before they were allowed to die.

The townsfolk now avoid us like we're a plague.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 19th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''The temporary enforcement unit decided to move the townsfolk out of the town centre out of town. They gave their homes to the new arrivals.''

Everyone now checks their food before they eat.

''I heard the council didn't summon us to fix the inscriptions in the sky-piercing tower. We're instead being sent to Kenpus through its teleportation rune. They say magi are in high demand there. I asked Tawari about it but he only frowned at me.''

''Didn't they say Kenpus had a lot of magic? Even rabbits can take on a five-ring magus there and everyone constantly has to fight to survive. What am I going to do? I can't fight, I've spent all my time studying alchemy and runes. ''

''I hope this is just bored woman talk. But the tower's boss, Loenk, went to Kenpus last year. He's a seven-ring, though.''

''A massive caravan started arriving this afternoon. It's apparently got 50 thousand people. They're setting up camps just east of town.'' ''They're apparently taking certain materials, like black crystals to Symposium. The caravan also brought us eight thousand gunners.''

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 20th day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny, save for a small drizzle in the evening.''

''Senior Tawari came looking for me last night. He took me to the convoy's camp. I was even more surprised to be greeted by the noble who'd commissioned me to work on the guns. Baron Regius Au Syr, the largest provider of magic stones to the many magic councils in the region. No wonder he could gather such a large convoy.''

''Senior Tawari hugged him when we walked in. I didn't think they were that close.''

''He asked me to develop a more powerful gunpowder. So far I've worked out that including ground magic crystals into the normal mixture works pretty well. I dabbled a bit in runes and discovered that you could strengthen things even further with runes on the gun barrel. You could even get an explosion on the same level as the forbidden nine-ring spell, through runes, the resulting blow would be equivalent to a forbidden nine-ring magus spell: Permitialis Procursus.''

Which was no doubt why I met him last night.

''He told me he only wanted to use the explosive to mine, but I still refused. He even took out an order from the magic council. It was for a massive amount of magic stones which he had to deliver over the next three years, and he said there was no way he could fulfil it. He wanted my new gunpowder so he could speed up his mining and meet the order.''

''I knew he was lying. I trusted him five years ago when he asked me to develop a way guns and gunpowder could be made without needing magi. I accepted and developed a step-by-step process and even designed a new kind of firearm that could fire up to 200 metres, though it was hardly accurate at that range. He told me it was so normal people could hunt and defend themselves. Now, however, my own guns are being used to kill my brothers and sisters.''

I will never do anything for him again.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 21st day of the 8th month, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''I turned Baron Regius Au Syr down again. Tawari didn't say a word about it. We quickly returned to the inn after that.''

''I didn't get a minute of sleep the whole night. I went to see Tawari this morning after that whole business. He must have known I would come to see him, because he told me to come in even before I knocked on his door. He must also have known what my questions would be since he cast a muffling spell right after I closed the door behind me.''

''I asked him if he was the one who told the baron about my progress. He was the only one who'd seen my notes.''

''He didn't say anything, but I could see the answer in his eyes even before he nodded. I very nearly stormed out of the office that very minute. I trusted him implicitly, how could he betray it?!''

''He had me sit down before my feet got me out of the office, however. I think half the reason I didn't shove him off me and storm out was how serious he looked.''

''He told me this little tale about a vagrant kid who collapsed in the snow one winter. A noble saved him and his parents all but adopted him. The two grew up together, like brothers. The vagrant discovered he had magic when he was fifteen and his adoptive parents spared no expense to get him the proper education.''

I knew Tawari was talking about himself.

'He's my brother,' he'd said about when I asked if the baron was that noble kid.

It soothed my anger a little, but only a little.

''I wanted to leave after hearing his story, I had to sort my thoughts out, but he wouldn't let me. He told me I had to know something, then told me an incredible story. I never thought I could be as hurt as I was by what he told me next.''

''Five thousand years have passed since the primordial era came to an end. Magic has been a part of this world the entire time. Many people became twelve-ring magi during the primordial era and a few even ascended to become gods. One of them was Nomadine, after whom his calendar is named, the Nomadine Magic Calendar.''

There was enough magic back then that even dragons still existed and many powerful beasts that could use magic swam in the ocean and crawled on land as well.

''The dragons have died out now, however, and most of the magic beasts, definitely all of the stronger ones, are gone as well. A few magic beasts probably still hide in the thick forests of Nubissia, but they're all but extinct everywhere else.''

''Magic has been vanishing from this world. There are hardly any magic beasts left, and the materials necessary to make magic items are also very quickly becoming near impossible to find. It's also become very hard to get strong magi like we had in the past. Ten-ring magi and above were common a few thousand years ago, but there are hardly anyone with even just nine rings left. I only know about two, and they're both on the council. Apparently there are five more, but I don't know who they are.''

''Was that the reason we were being sent to Kenpus? I asked Tawari that, but he laughed. I've never heard such a sour laugh before. But I understand why he's laughing like that. Yes, we're being sent to Kenpus, but like I've already written, the magic there is much stronger, and so are the top magi. We'll be nothing but common labourers there, the lucky ones, anyway. The less lucky ones will be cannon fodder.''

''I never knew magi could be stripped into such a hierarchy. I always thought we were brothers and sisters. Yeah, sure, some had more power than others, and sure some were stronger than others, but underneath all that, we were brothers and sisters, right?''

''It seems I was completely wrong. The original council had twenty four nine-ring magi. They each formed a household and took a part of the continent as their territory along with all the resources in it. They call themselves the white sterling nobles, or the white magi. They only teach their offspring their magic and only let them benefit from the full extent of their resources. They've become the ruling class on the continent and they control the council.''

''I argued that if that really were true, then he would never have been allowed to become a magus. He told me, however, that not all of their family have the gift of magic. They're lucky if one out of every hundred children born into the family could use magic.''

''Though each of those children are nurtured to become one of the top magi in his or her generation, they're nowhere near enough. So, they raise a few commoners with the ability to use magic to become their servants and do the dirty work.''

''The white sterling nobles are at the top of the food chain of magi, and five ring magi are at the bottom, the black iron peasants. None of the latter are allowed to improve any further than five rings. No matter how much talent you have, you need a lot of resources to improve as a magus, so they simply cut those resources when you become a five-ring magus.''

They would never give their resources to an black iron magus, since every bit they did, was a bit less their descendants got.

''I now know why Tawari stopped improving once he became a five-ring magus. It's been ten years, but he hasn't taken a single step further.''

''He then told me that the baron's family used to be a branch of one of the 24, hence their sobriquet, Au, which represents arcane spells. Their family hadn't produced a single magi in hundreds of years so they were cast out and are now just normal nobles.''

''I asked him why he was the biggest supplier of magic material, then. He told me it was because those stones were originally not considered a magical resource since they didn't have enough magic power in them. They used to be used as just common building material. The higher grade magic material however, have become so scarce that these stones are now classified magic material.''

''The council has decreed that half of all their recruits have to learn alchemy and runes. They want to transmute common materials into magic materials, or use runes to be able to make magic use of common material.''

''I don't know how I got back to my room, but here I am. I only remembered I forgot to ask about the reason for his wanting my gunpowder while I was laying in bed. Which is also when I remembered I still have to write my diary entry.''

_________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 22nd of the 8th, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''The messenger finally came today. He brought the council's newest orders. They want us to get to Symposium by the end of the month.''

''The temporary police unit's five-ring magi received him and even Tawari joined the banquet. He gathered the eight of us when he got back and told some of the stuff he managed to confirm.''

''We are to complete our repairs on the sky-piercing tower once we arrive and then start sending the people through. They'll start building our new headquarters there. I finally understand why the baron's convoy is this massive.''

''Krimondo asked why they didn't just mine the stone they needed from the area but Tawari said they didn't have the manpower. It would be faster to transport stone from other quarries than to mine it there themselves.''

That's all we talked about and everyone quickly dispersed.

''It didn't take long after the banquet started for the entire town to become one big ruckus. So many people stuffed themselves with drinks they could barely stand on their feet. Everyone knows what happens to people when they get drunk. I saw dozens of fireballs shot into the sky recklessly from clusters of people sitting around tables or small fires. Each one obviously had a mug in his free hand. I wasn't surprised when I saw a few houses on fire. I expected as much, but I also expected the police unit to deal with them, but they never showed up.''

''Aliya says they're venting. But we all know going to Kenpus is a one-way trip, and not just because the gate will close behind us. But nobody dares to defy the council.''

Is Kenpus really that terrifying?

''Terrifying probably doesn't even begin to describe it. The only reason I still stay calm, probably, is that I've not seen it yet. Aliya says nobody that steps through the gate will have a good death, certainly none of us black iron peasants. I suppose she's right. I mean, all our nine-ring magi went there ahead of as well as the rest of the council -- about 70 seven-ring magi -- and all the higher tier magi on the continent. Despite that, they still haven't subjugated the gnomes and kobold tribes. They haven't even started mining stone yet, which is why we're having to send all the materials they need over from here. If they can't do those basic things despite how powerful they are, what are we going to do? What's going to happen to us?''

''I wanted to talk to Tawari about it, but he's vanished. I bet he's gone to see the baron again.''

  _________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 23rd of the 8th, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

''The baron came to the inn to see Tawari yesterday afternoon. Tawari dragged me to his room when he did. The baron asked me again to give him my gunpowder formula. I turned him down, of course. I told him it wouldn't be of any use to him since it needed runes to trigger the explosion. Tawari said he would do it so that wasn't a problem. I didn't know what to say.''

''Tawari insisted I give them the formula since they would thus have no problem using it. He even brought up our years of friendship to play on my feelings. I knew something was up for him to be that desperate for the formula so I demanded to know what he was going to do with it. I never expected his answer.''

Blow up the sky-piercing tower,' he'd said.

''I couldn't believe what I heard. I think I shouted something like 'are you crazy?!", but I can't remember clearly. I bet we'd have been swarmed by other magi if Tawari hadn't cast a muffling spell.''

''He said he didn't want to go to Kenpus, but he couldn't defy the council. No one this side of the gate, however, knew how to set up the formation needed to open the gate, nor did anyone have the power, so if the tower was destroyed, with the entire council on the other side, he wouldn't have to worry about it. The only problem was that he didn't have the strength to damage the tower. My gunpowder, however, could destroy it.''

''I argued we'd be captured. Tawari would certainly be executed for his treason. I definitely wouldn't allow him to do something so reckless. He raised me into the world of magic, I would still be just a fisherman's son if not for him. Not that I wanted to go to Kenpus and leave my family behind.''

''The baron told me to drop it. He said I would never be able to convince Tawari to stop, and I certainly didn't have the strength to. He told me, and this shocked me a lot, that the fifty thousand men he'd brought along weren't here just to transport the stone. They weren't just going to destroy the tower, but they were going to wipe out all the magi in the city.''

''I almost fainted. He wants to conquer our holy land?''

''I always sensed something was off with him, but I never thought he was completely insane. I had to take several minutes to calm myself before I asked him why he wanted to do that.''

''He didn't answer me. Instead he handed me a piece of paper.''

It was an order from the council that told him to train and bring over second batch of people, another 30 thousand gunners and ten thousand men and women as settlers.

''They were all headed for Kenpus. Half the reason for this maintenance work on the tower was to enlarge the gate so they could send those people across faster.''

''I almost shouted again, at the council this time. How are these normal people who couldn't use magic going to survive in that place? This was basically human sacrifice.''

''They aren't planning to make sure they survive, however, Tawari informed me. The gnomes are very weak, but they survive because they have lots and lots of children all the time, which keeps their numbers up despite losing many thousands to simple predator attacks. The council plans to breed humans using the young people they want the baron to send over.''

Tawari then told me Loenk, the tower's owner, was dead, killed by a kobold witch.

''This world is crazy. Tawari wants to destroy the sky-piercing tower, the baron wants to attack Symposium, the magic council is actually going to send 40 thousand men and women to Kenpus without giving them any protection... Are they trying to feed the gnomes? Even our tower's owner, a seven-ring magus, is dead. I... I must be dreaming!''

''I told the baron the council would immediately come back when he attacks the city. But he only laughed.''

'They won't come back,' he told me.

''When I asked him how he knew, he said that sending someone to Kenpus cost ten magic stones, but sending even just a letter back cost ten times that much. They literally didn't have the resources to send magi back once they stepped through the gate. Which was why the council wasn't staying here and just sending teams over there to mine Kenpus and send the resources back. It cost way too much. The only reasonable way of doing this is to relocate to Kenpus entirely. To abandon this world.''

''I have to admit, I had completely forgotten about the planar laws. They prevented free travel between worlds, which explains why I've only heard about people going to Kenpus, but I've never heard of someone coming back.''

''I didn't want to give up, however. I brought up the city's magical cannons next. The baron told me the city only has two seven-ring magi right now. Everyone else has gone to Kenpus already. And all the cannons have also been sent to Kenpus. Symposium has never been weaker. Especially now since even seven-ring magi can be killed by gunfire. Not to mention that the baron apparently has another sixty thousand men hiding near the city in addition to the fifty thousand with him right now.''

''I have to say, the baron can be really convincing. Well, it's more like he knows which buttons to push. I already don't want to go to Kenpus. I don't want to leave my brothers and sisters here. I don't know how history will remember me, not that I really care right now, but I gave the formula to the baron. I hope this doesn't come back to bite me, cause if it does, it'll be one hell of a bite.''

  _________________________________________________________________________________________

''Date: 26th of the 8th, 3341 NM. Weather: Sunny.''

We are leaving for Symposium tomorrow.

''We stayed in the main camp all of the last three days. The baron and Tawari helped me make the gunpowder and we’ve got seven buckets of it now. We tested some of it in the mountains half a day’s ride from town. It works exactly like I predicted. If enough of it is used, we can get an explosion even bigger than that spell.''

''The strength and exact effect of the spell depends on the attributes and power of the caster, and exactly how the incantation is performed. With the gunpowder, however, the power-to-weight ratio is consistent, as is the kind of effect.''

''We blew up an entire knoll with our last test. I was very happy to see everyone gaping when the smoke and dust cleared. (If I’m honest, I was, too.)''

''The only really issue is that you have to be really close to the gunpowder to set it off. The furthest we were able to stretch it was ten metres. And then you only have fifteen seconds to get clear. Tawari can do it, but I certainly can’t, both because I’m only a four-ring and because I don’t specialise in combat magic like Tawari.''

I don’t know if I’ll survive this, but I will make sure the tower is destroyed, the city taken, and all the magi killed.

''I’ve decided to leave the diary here, just in case. I hope someone will find it and read about what happened.''

''If someone has, and you’re reading this right now, I’m Landes Palik. My family lives near Lake Balinga in a small fishing village called Whitestag. My father is Kuyez Palik, my mother is Alosha Molliny. I have two older brothers and a younger sister.''

''There’s an island in the lake called Egret. One of Loenk’s other towers is there. It’s where I learnt magic.''

Please go there.

''Loenk is dead. And I don’t know who will control the tower when you read this, or when you get there. My old home is in the basement near the steps. I hid some of my stuff under a loose bluestone tile on the ground. If you lift it out of the way you’ll see the stuff underneath the stone under it. I didn’t use magic to hide it, so no one should notice.''

''The stuff is in a stone box. There’s 35 shaliuns. Please give ten to my parents and five to my sister. You can keep the rest as a thank you gift. I also have two more diaries there and a book with my study notes.''

I’m poor, so I can’t give you much, that’s already everything I own I didn’t bring with me...