Down in the secret Alchemy lab in the basement, Veles pocketed the Tome of Trimming.
A cursory glance through the contents told him everything he needed to know. Which was that it was perfect at teaching beginners. Anything more advanced would likely be in ruins and dungeons of Old Paranor.
And luckily for him, there was a ruin in the mines on the hill.
Some villagers were probably dead, maybe most of them. But as far as he was concerned, they were just as responsible for allowing themselves to be ruled by such a tyrant as the tyrant himself.
“Tome useful?” Palseks asked, curious.
“Yes. Actually, as long as you can cast some magic and use the proper ingredients, even you could use this to make potions,” Veles replied. “You wanna borrow it when I’m done?”
“Yes!” Palseks nearly jumped for joy.
“Did you see any healing potions?” Veles asked.
“Hrrrrmmm…” Palseks squirmed. “There are. Could have side effects.”
“What do you mean?”
“Palseks not know if Rodrigo can make healing potions AND polymorph potions.” Palseks replied, “Healing is Divine only. Polymorph is Arcane.”
“Right, unless he’s an Alchemist. They get access to those things. Or a Witch. They can cast heal spells too.” Veles nodded.
“Can you fix with Trimming?” Palseks asked.
“What?” Veles’s eyes widened, “You mean Charlie’s paw? No, definitely not. I tried it once.”
“Hrrmm.” Palseks tapped a healing potion. “Won’t grow it back. Not Restoration potion.”
“We need to visit a Cleric, then.” Veles murmured.
“How you manage to keep mind?” Palseks asked.
“Hmm? Oh, the spirit realized he can’t save the town without my magic. They need soul magic to break the curse, but this body’s spirit is a druid. Divine casters can’t use soul magic. I haven’t tailored myself yet, but I assume that I have a very unique subclass and that’s why I can use it. If he had taken over, my class would have switched and the soul magic that they need would have vanished with it.”
“Then how Rodrigo do potions? He not soul magic user.”
“No. I’m not sure how he’s able to use the potions but not full soul magic. Perhaps the bloodline thinned or skipped his generation. Either way, he DOES have enough power to make these very basic potions.” Veles paused, “Or, perhaps with enough training, anyone can use rudimentary soul magic. I’m not sure. The only place that might have answers to the question might be the capitol of Paranor itself.”
“Maybe question not make sense.”
“That’s the thing, Palseks,” Veles smiled down at the little kobold, “Questions don’t have to make sense. But the answers do. This place is run by an AI. Soul Magic must have a logical component to it.”
“It not magic?” Palseks asked.
“Knowing how magic works doesn’t make it any less magical.” Veles said, looking over the potions, “Lots of potions here. Hey, do you think the townsfolk were all transformed?”
“Not all.” Palseks said. “But many.”
“Let’s take a crate with an assortment so I can run some tests later.” Veles said. “You know, take it back to the lab to analyze it. There’s a portable alchemy kit here, I’ll carry it.”
“Where you put it?”
“Bag of Holding,” Veles said proudly, pulling out a pouch. He opened the flap, “just shove them in here.”
Together, they packed up some potions, the portable alchemy kit, and all the ingredients they could find. Veles placed the pack back on his pouch and brushed himself off. They took one final look around the lab and left.