Msaka walked as quickly as he could up the stairs and across the plateau to the doorway of the apothecary. He hadn't paid much attention to the place before, but now had little choice in the matter.

As he reached the door, the first thing he noticed was the thin streams of smoke drifting out of the top of it, quickly rising up and dissipating into the surrounding air. "A fire?" he thought. "Just as long as it hasn't burned the curatives..."

Inside, the source of the smoke was immediately apparent. Glass containers, tubes, braziers and other burning devices, cauldrons and other items were all linked together in large patterns, filling most of the room. Nearly all of the equipment seemed to be in use, and the sounds of bubbling liquids was quite loud. A multitude of odd smells accompanied the noise, but fortunately, most of the smoke was streaming directly outside, though there seemed no logical reason for it to do so. Books and papers were scattered across a table in one corner of the room, with a large collection of linked tubes running together above it, carrying unknown liquids back and forth.

Despite the difficulty of seeing past all the clutter, Msaka couldn't spot anyone else in the room with him. He was curious about the equipment, but more so about the behavior of the smoke - it seemed almost certain that magic was being used to ventilate the place. Taking a chance, he cast his detection spell, hoping no one would walk in on him while he was doing so.

To his spell-enhanced vision, the most of the room glowed faintly with magic. Several pieces of the equipment were magical as well, and they showed quite clearly to him.

There was movement from the back, and a curtain, half hidden behind a large container, parted and a tall man stepped through. He was dressed in the robes common to foreigners, with a pair of glass lenses mounted on a wire frame covering his eyes. Msaka had heard of such devices, used to assist vision, but hadn't before seen them.

"Yes, what is it?" the man called out, weaving his way though the obstacles the room presented. "Don't you know that spellcasting in this city is illegal? Well, it would be, if you weren't in here. Be more caref... I say, who are you? You're certainly not one of the locals! One of the jungle shapeshifters, I see. And you're in some distress as well, from the look of you. What's the matter?"

"I was poisoned by some vines near the city." Msaka replied forcing his annoyance down. "I need something to cure the poison."

"Oh yes, those things... The Venomous Vines they're called, quite nasty. Someone was just in here a couple of days ago, wanting something to use against them. Has some plan to burn them all down, but that's been tried before. They just grow back after a while. Anyhow, you were stung by them? I have something to fix that right up, but I'm afraid I can't just give it away. You look like you have some money with you though, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Msaka was becoming a bit irritated by the man's ramblings. "What do you want for it?" he demanded.

"Well, producing it is a bit tricky, and the ingredients aren't what you'd call inexpensive either, so eight royals is the price I have to charge. Of course, you might want to buy more than one, in case you run into something like that again."

Msaka fished the coins out of his pouch, trying to keep his fingers from shaking. The poison's effects were catching up with him, and he didn't have time to argue about the price. "Give me one. Quickly." he said, shoving the coins towards the man.

"Yes, well, just a moment while I get it," the man said, deftly snatching the coins from Msaka's grasp. He meandered to the back, and removed a flask from one of the tubes, replacing it with an empty one. "Here we are." he said, returning to where Msaka stood. "Drink this, and you'll feel better in no time."

Msaka took the flask, and drained it's contents, not caring how it tasted. Then he started to care greatly - it was like he had just drunk a bottle of liquid fire. He nearly choked, but the liquid slid down his throat, leaving him coughing as he grasped one of the larger tubes for support.

"Hmm. Well, it's not that bad." the man said. "Besides, I added a bit of tequila to the basic formula to make it go down more easily. Did you know that tequila is a manifestation of two of the basic elements of magic? You can create it by combining the essences of water and fire. A most useful addition to any preparation."

Msaka managed to get control of himself again, and let go of the tube, scowling. But then he realized that in spite of the incredibly unpleasant effects, the burning sensation of the poison was gone, and his scowl lessened. "You could have warned me first!" he muttered.

"Well, you're the one that wanted it right away." the man declared. "Ah, Harik was right, you Fricanans are an ornery lot. Like that last man, who began proclaiming how evil my magic was. Hmph."

"Your magic? Then this is your enchantment on this room." Msaka said, gesturing around him.

"Of course it is! Who else would I have put it there? You wouldn't believe what I had to go through with the Council in order to get permission though. Fortunately, that sorceress Kreesha next door had set a precedent, so I can use magic within my shop without trouble. Which is a good thing for you, too, casting a detection spell like that. At least you didn't try Triggering anything, I suppose."

Msaka's opinion of the man rose a bit. Looking at him, Msaka could sense the man's magical talent, though he couldn't immediately tell just how skilled the man was. Still, he had to have more than a small level of power to have created the magical ventilation. "Who is Harik?" he asked, curious.

"Harik? Why he's my brother of course. Specialized in fire magic, just like I am. In fact, he alerted me to the need for an apothecary here, after the last one departed. I've heard he was a most interesting man. Abu said he was an absolutely stellar individual, though I'm not sure why. They've never met, to my knowledge. Harik makes sure the equipment I need gets sent here, since it's rather hard to locate in this region. Of course, he also sends other things, not all of which are as useful. Like that spell scroll. What use am I going to have for that spell? I can just as easily create something to accomplish the same effect."

"What spell is this?" Msaka asked, his interest piqued, though he was feeling a little strange, probably another side effect of the curative potion. "That potion's ingredients must be quite strange, whatever tequila is." he thought.

"Here, you can see for yourself." the man picked his way through the room to the desk, and shuffled through the papers there, finally producing a rolled up sheet of paper tied with a red ribbon. "Something he acquired through W.I.T., though why he wanted it I really can't imagine."

The man made his way back to Msaka and handed him the scroll. "Now, if you're feeling better, I should get back to work. I hope you don't run into any more of that poison." The man turned his attention to the devices around him, examining them and occasionally adjusting them to suit whatever purpose he wanted them to serve.

Msaka glanced around one more time, then turned and walked outside. He proceeded to his inn room, ignoring everyone he passed. Once inside, he removed and set down his pack, and sat down on the bed, holding the scroll. He carefully removed the ribbon, unrolled it, and began to read.

"I've just developed a most wonderful spell." the scroll began, "Just in case you find a use for it, I'm passing along this copy of Erasmus' Ever-Effective Earplugs to you. Finally, something to save people from door to door salesmen's pitches. Too bad Fenrus can dispel it..." The scroll's writing continued, it's magical inscription detailing the spell's particulars. Msaka concentrated as hard as he could on learning it correctly, which wasn't made easy by the lightheaded feeling the poison cure had left him with.

As he committed the final word to memory, the scroll suddenly grew yellowed and cracked, then crumbed into powder, which slipped through his fingers onto the floor.

Msaka frowned at the pile of dust, then shrugged and lay down. The night's events had left him quite drained, both physically and magically, and the poison cure's side effects weren't helping matters. Whatever sleep he could get would be most welcome.