Alice arose with the birds, just before the sun so she could complete her ablutions without disruption. She re-lit her fire and reheated last nights tea-pot, adding some more honey to wake herself up some.
Now came the interesting part. She sat back on her bed, careful not to wake anyone else, and meditated somewhat. It was possible for one even untrained to sense and manipulate the tides of magic without casting a spell if one was disciplined enough which was exactly what she was trying to do. Such things as this came naturally to monks in battle, or rangers stalking the world and allowed them both varying levels of power but was often an area of study overlooked by wizards like herself so would certainly take a bit longer.
The sense came to her just after she pulled the pot off the boil, like suddenly noticing distant music or the faint smell of burning. A slow thrum beneath the senses. Her 'net' had worked overnight and the room was abuzz with a soft reservoir of magic. Not enough really for any strenuous spells but enough for her. She consulted her spell-book and offered a quick prayer to choice gods of magic, wisdom and strength. The ritual was as arduous as any other and the way things were she couldn't afford a slip-up.
First of all, she set a compass down as level as she could upon her sheets. As nice as it was to know north had not decided to move overnight she would be needing it for another purpose once she started going through the motions. Next she set up a cup of water, and perhaps oddly to any onlooker she put her wand into it. She did suppose it did look a little obscene, but needs must. Water was always a good and natural storage of energy. She wished it could have been warm spring water but she worked with what she had
Just beyond the cup she put a lit candle, bees-wax infused with aether-stone and a special blend of herbs. All perfect for amplifying rituals provided you did not inhale the fumes. She was very careful with the geometry, it had to be placed perfectly in line with herself, the cup and directly to the south, at least for now.
Finally she sat herself in line and returned to her meditative state, clutching her holy symbol. Ragnarok knew and cared little for the arcane, but holding it made her feel more confident so she deemed it worthwhile. She felt the low thrum again, slowly and slowly forming itself into a ball through and above her components. She could almost picture it, her heckles risen and standing on end as she imagined it's shape and movement.
Another fifteen minutes and she reached the perfect moment, enough energy to not fully dissipate by the time she was done but not too much it careened out of control. She drew her wand out of the cup and pulled it close to her heart. The sphere of energy reacted to this, already pulling itself apart. She blew the candle out to try and slow the process, and focused on essentially pulling the sphere towards her being.
It was much like a fisher pulling in a great catch, except this catch was deteriorating rapidly and it's movements were almost imperceptible. She would have no way to focus enough to react to it's movements on sense alone, but that was what the compass was for. Subtly, but assuredly the needle swayed and moved in co-ordination with the ball of energy and she fixed her eyes upon it watching for every twitch of the device. Every single movement was mere centimetres but in her focused state every action felt amplified greatly. She became aware she was sweating acutely and her vision was becoming starry from her focused breathing and focus.
When her skin made contact with the sphere is was almost electrical. She already felt so much more energised, and became that much more focused. Just a little longer... And she threw her arms wide! Blue fire arced behind her wand. She spoke quickly the incantation and drew her instrument back to her chest. The energy was now bound to her. She took a few moments to recover from the mental exertion before returning to her trance to assess the situation. She guessed she had woken her immediate companions somewhat, but it was already morning by now. She was more concerned with the results upon herself.
She noticed she was certainly still recovering from her previous magical exploits, and she could feel some of her new power still draining into that void but overall things looked good. As time went on her magical energy would slowly collect more and more power as she travelled, and while her current power was weaker than she had been before it was most assuredly a step in the right direction. She moved into the bathroom to wash herself of the last of her perspiration before redressing and going downstairs for some breakfast
Beren raised his voice above the morning clamour. "Nicademus came to me with a concern that our...enemies might be in pursuit of us. I'm not entirely sure if that's true, but I can't stand by and not check. I won't leave the people in this town in danger. Who's up for a short hike?"
"It certainly makes sense they would, but even if they haven't followed us learning a little local geography knowledge might go a long way towards a defence or our travels later." or a potential flight from here, she didn't add. She didn't consider herself a coward, but it may save many other lives to know the right trails away from the village.
It was the party's own Dark Elf who offered a little insight into the situation. "I mean... if we seek them out then we are on their ground. The town will not be safe. If we think they are on our tail then it's because they want us to think it to do exactly what they want and fall for their traps... I have seen this."
Alice was no tactical genius, but that sounded like a very sage thing to say. The Vrettonnian took her silence and listened into other member's opinions and ideas and paid special heed to Geradin's, his battles against tricky goblins meant she took his word above most when it came to ambushes and traps.
Amid the discussion, and perhaps seeing some of his new allies dissenting from such a sortie away from the village Nicadamus cast himself in a light that seemed at odds with himself. "But, please, I beg of you." When Alice looked at him he was a totally different man from the warrior who stood at the gates. He certainly looked older, and spoke on, "Lend me your help with this endeavour, please, if only to make sure that the innocents in this village don't suffer for something that isn't their fault. I've lived amongst them for a month and I know them to be hardworking, honest, folk who wouldn't deserve the cruelties to which a Dorcha slaving party will put them through. I...I don't want these people to go through what I did, no one deserves to go through that."
Alice had to wonder about the horrors the Dorcha could inflict to do this to a man. Someone who stood so firm against almost a dozen armed and dangerous foreigners now begged and squirmed. It was a terrible thing to realise that not only some horror stories you hear are true, but another realm of shocking to come to realise that these stories were potentially understatements.
@Gardevoiran @Mortarion @Stormflyx @POOHEAD189 @Fetzen @BCTheEntity 
High Moon
