What’s in a Wizard’s Bag?
A common question I get from wizards soon to enter the professional mage workspace is what I, as a Mid-Level Mage at the Grand Celestio Council of Wizards, typically pack and bring with me for a day at work. The temptation to pack all your own personal, highly curated spell components and magical foci is strong for young wizards, who’ve become convinced that their methods are without fault. You spend so much time in school personalizing every second of the spell casting process, only to enter the real world and be instructed only to use council approved and provided materials. All that being said, I bring a couple things with me from my personal collection wherever I go, and thus, this is what I pack in my bag for work.
A couple years ago, I took a weekend trip to the Argentum Valleys in the southwestern mountain ranges. Obviously I was there to collect silver blades of tall grass. I left with about two full bags, and now I still keep a jar on me at all times with my last preserved stands, in case I need to transmute any metal quickly at work.
I have three small bags of rainbow river rocks from three different rivers, and I have to be careful when reaching blindly into my bag to grab them that I select the correct river for my intended spell. Rocks from the first river I visited to collect rainbow rocks, when used in the spell or potion creation process, will increase the recipient’s ability to control water, and so these rocks are useful for obvious reasons. Rocks from the second bag have the opposite effect, which is incredibly useful when one accidentally uses too many rocks from the first bag. Rocks from the third bag inexplicably reverses any intended water based magical properties and converts them into control over fire. I got these rocks out of a normal river just like the first two bags. I don’t know why they do this but the conundrum fascinates me, so I keep them on me to further investigate them, and they work great as a base for fire controlling magical recipes.
Last year on a journey through the northeast, I came across a rusted knight’s helmet in the middle of the woods, placed delicately atop of moss covered log. I picked it up, which most over mages would advise against but I say go for it always that’s how you discover cool new things. Turning it over in my hands a few times, I pondered aloud to myself “what is this thing,” and to my surprise, the helmet answered. “I am a magical helmet that answers one question a day,” it said, before staying silent the rest of the day. I’ve been testing its limitations since then. The single question always reverts at midnight, despite which timezone I bring it to. It cannot read minds as far as I can tell, but it can answer queries regarding far off lands and about the nature of most types of magic. Thus, I keep it tucked away in my bag, and if I need to ask it a discreet question about a spell during my break, that just makes me a more resourceful wizard than anyone who doesn’t keep a magical talking helmet on their person at all times.
May the moon shine favorably and without hesitation upon you,
Alexan Drytus
