Eldritch Guidance

Chapter 28 - Continued Talks With A Cultist

Inside the back room of the "Mortar & Pestle", Joe was staring down Wren with extreme suspicion.

Joe: "What do you mean you made this? You're saying you made this suicide device?"

Wren: "What?! N-no. It's not a suicide device."

Joe: "What is it then?! What is that wooden thing I found on Rob's body!" He yelled at Wren passionately.

Hearing that Wren was the person that made that wooden object set him off. There was now a possibility that Rob's murder was sitting right in front of him, if the wooden object was really a suicide device like cults members were known to use.

Mike: "Calm down there buddy," he said he grabbed Joe shoulder and pulled him away from Wren slightly.

Wren was looking away from Joe and shaking nervously from being yelled at. He was startled by Joe's sudden outburst. Both Joe and Wren took a few seconds to compose themselves before Wren forced himself to speak.

Wren: "Y-you said body. D-does that mean Rob is dead?"

Joe: "Yeah... and that wooden object you made was identified as the cause of death."

Wren: "T-that's not possible. What I made for him was just an amulet of protection. Something to ward against evil."

Joe: "You gave him a ward?" he said, confused as to why he would give someone like Rob a ward. Someone who couldn't make use of it on account of Rob not being able to control aether.

Wren: "It's not a ward in the modern sense. It doesn't protect you from physical harm like the wards you know. It's the classical kind of wards, the ones that are supposed to protect you from curses and the influence of things from beyond our world."

Joe: "I've not heard of these kinds of wards. When you say it protects you from things beyond our world, do you mean—" he was cut off as Wren finished what he was about to say.

Wren: "The nameless gods. It is supposed to protect you from their influence, but more so the other things from beyond."

Joe: "What other things?"

Wren: "I-I don't know. The teachings of Rot are kinda vague about that."

Mike: "I'm noticing a discrepancy in your story, Wren. You said you can't cast spells, but can somehow create enchanted objects like this amulet."

The question Mike presented was glaring. Enchanting an object requires the ability to cast spells. This fact was in contradiction in what Wren was saying about his ability to cast magic.

Wren: "That amulet was made using the old ways. No aether involved or needed."

Mike: "So, it's just a piece of carved wood you gave him," he said while rolling his eyes.

Wren: "You can choose to believe that if you want. I know mages nowadays have no respect for the old ways."

The "old ways" are often referred to as the old practices of magic. Before modern mage theory took over the world, magic was very random and archaic back in the day due to having a bunch of superstitions tied into it. It didn't always work because of the way they performed magic back then.

A lot of the spells back in the day used no aether in their casting, which is now commonly understood as to why so many spells didn't work then. Modern Mage theory dictates that all spells must use aether, if a spell doesn't doesn't use aether, then it won't work or do anything. The theory has stripped away the superstitions and useless practices of spellcrafting to make magic more consistent. The magic that everyone uses today is thanks to modern mage theory.