Three days passed before Msaka was finally satisfied with his new enchantment. While his throat had grown ever more parched from his continual experimentation and practice, as he gazed down at the pitted and pockmarked ground around the wide boulder outside of the arena he couldn't help but be pleased by his success.

While it was true that the spell would need more refinement before it became a serious threat in battle, in the meantime it would still provide him with a more convenient means of opening obstinate locks than he had been forced to resort to in Shapier - provided that he didn't mind leaving clear evidence of his passage, at least.

In the intervening time, he'd become acquainted with a few more of the merchants and shopkeepers of the town square. The apothecary and healer seemed like nice enough people, although the former spoke in a rather peculiar fashion. Still, the restorative concoctions he'd purchased there seemed efficacious enough to his examination - fortunately, he hadn't yet needed to test them in the field.

He did learn that the healer had an apprentice of sorts; a local fisherman with an interest in the art, whose interest had been brought to her attention by the hero whom he'd heard so much about. Both the healer and apothecary had apparently known the man even before he'd passed through Msaka's village, which led him to wonder just how widely the fellow had wandered in such a short time.

He had taken note of the fact that the fisherman, Andre, had ferried the hero about in his small sailboat a few times, though. Just possibly this Andre would be willing to perform a similar service for him...

Then there had been the head of the Adventurer's Guild, whom he'd heard mentioned during the voyage to Silmaria. Thus, he had not been taken aback to find a minotaur in charge of the establishment. On the contrary, Toro had proven to be one of the more interesting members of the community. While the creature clearly possessed no talent for weaving spells, he was the first of his kind that Msaka had seen, and he possessed a straightforward, if simple honesty that Msaka had considered sorely lacking in many of the people he'd met on his journey.

All in all, while the city was as bustling in its own way as Shapier and Raseir had been, the overall mood was far more relaxed. The cooler temperatures likely had something to do with that, as did the fact that it was considered a retreat by the wealthy and powerful of other nearby lands - which was something that the desert cities were unlikely to ever become, no matter how exotic their architecture or wares.

Msaka, though, was becoming restless amidst the tranquility. Shakra still hadn't finished with the works which had been left him, and it didn't seem likely he would for some time to come. Apparently he was determined to test each and every one of the complex alchemical formulae involved in Culinary Wizardry. Msaka couldn't be sure, but it seemed that the liontaur had gained a bit of weight too.

He'd heard tales of a number of places hidden about the main island and the smaller ones immediately around it though, and was considering venturing out of the city to visit them for himself. The ruined remnants of the enchanted pillars that had bound the dragon and the temple in which it had been imprisoned all lay upon the main island, and there was always the possibility that one of them might hold some residual power that would prove useful to study, even if it couldn't be harnessed any longer.

Hopping down off the rock, he stepped around the scarred ground and headed for the stairs. The western gate was clear across the city from where he now stood, but if he understood the local geography correctly, the pillar nearest to the city lay in that direction as well. While the thought of venturing out across the length and breadth of the island for days on end to study all of the pillars was appealing, as it would relieve him of the necessity of having to face Gnome Ann during that time, he didn't want to waste the money he'd paid to stay at the inn either. Thus, his first expedition would be a short one, and the rest would follow in good time.

As he descended into the marketplace, he cast his gaze across it to the shops on the far side. Shaking his head silently, he decided that additional supplies probably wouldn't be necessary, though he'd certainly have to make a point to stock up before undertaking anything more significant. The trip to Silmaria and the need to replenish his power during the development of his spell had depleted most of his collection of restoratives.

As he wound his way between the stalls towards the exit, he couldn't help but wonder if his simple excursion was going to end up becoming complicated somehow. It would be just his luck if it did.