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Gypsies

As the day came to a close young Lowen looked up from his books and at the setting sun. Lowen had been born an orphan and had been taken in by the local temple. Lowen's mother had died at the steps of the temple and her child had been raised by the monks and acolytes of the temple.

For Lowen most days were filled with prayer and chant while the nights were spent studying the ancient texts of the temple. Lowen was only fourteen years old, but he had mastered the basic holy magic that allowed healing and other minor holy spells. For once in his life Lowen had been given permission to leave the temple and visit a traveling group of gypsies who were visiting the town.

Lowen looked at the tiny pouch at his waist that held his life's savings. Every year Lowen was given a copper by the elder monks as his birthday present. All in all that amounted to fourteen coppers; which for a young man was a small fortune. Lowen had never spent his savings on anything and he was hoping to find something worth buying amung the gypsy traders.

Not only did the gypsy caravan have many vending stalls and other salesmen, but they also had some tents set up for the townspeople to view various monsters and rare creatures caught by the gypsy hunters. Lowen didn't know it, but these tents held a special danger for young men like himself.

After finishing his studies for the night Lowen changed out of his acolyte robes into the simple gray robe he often wore while he was out in town. Lowen wisely placed his pouch under his robe on the belt that held his pants up. He knew gypsies had a reputation for stealing and his coppers were too precious to risk.

The gypsies were forced to set up on the outskirts of town so Lowen had to walk a ways in the dark streets towards the distant, but bright tents. Sounds and smells drifted on the wind beckoning the young man towards his night of freedom.

As he emerged into the lights of the gypsy camp Lowen was delighted with what he saw. Cart after cart was filled with dazzling jewelry, rare rugs, and expensive silks. Many other valuable commodities that Lowen had never seen before lined the paths through the camp. Men and women in painfully bright clothes called out to him waving their goods and wares in the air at him.

Lowen made his way through the carts and tents until he arrived in a quieter part of the camp. As he made his way towards where the larger attractions were being held a female voice caught his ear. "Hey you there, young monk."

Lowen turned towards the voice and smiled when he saw a pretty young woman in a dazzling gypsy dress. "Yes?" Lowen asked and smiled warmly at the woman.

"You have a powerful aura. Yes? Would you like to have your future read?" she asked and smiled when Lowen took a step towards her.

"I don't have much coin to spare" Lowen said hesitantly.

"Just one copper for you my boy, a special price for a full reading," she said and held her hand out.

Lowen reached into his robe and removed a copper from his purse, handing it to the woman who took the coin and his outstretched hand in one fluid motion. "You come with Marla yes? I will show you many things about your future"

Marla led Lowen into her cart where he was put in a seat at a tiny table. Lowen had thought his room at the temple was small but this cart seemed like a whole house shut into a tiny amount of space. Marla smiled at Lowen as she withdrew an ancient deck of cards from her dress. "You worship the sun lord yes?"

"How did you know?" Lowen asked.

Marla laughed, "Why it's in the cards my boy" she said and pulled a card off the top of the deck. It had a large sun on it with a monk in gray robes on his knees below it praying. After pulling the card away Marla shuffled the deck and smiled at the young man before her. "We will focus on the future yes? We will see your wealth, love, and life in this telling so pay attention yes?"

Lowen nodded and watched as Marla the fortune teller pulled cards from the deck one at a time.

Three cards flew from her hands onto the table and were then flipped over one at a time. "Your wealth, ah yes, the saint smiles on you tonight. Your wealth will be given freely to those who need it most, typical of a monk I believe" she said and smiled before turning to the next card.

"Curious" she said as she turned the next card over. "The savage holds your heart in the future" she said and laid another card on top of the one she had just flipped over, "and the traveler guides you to love. Curious indeed" she said and smiled again.

"What does that mean" Lowen asked.

Marla didn't answer though and instead turned over the last card. Marla gasped when she saw the card. "The beast lies ahead of you my boy" she said and placed two cards over the dog like monster on the first card. "The transformation... curious" Marla said and flipped over the last card. "Last we have... the gypsy!" Marla said and frowned. "Give me your hands boy!" she said and reached for Lowen's hands with a sense of urgency.

Lowen cautiously lent her his hands and tensed when she grabbed them roughly. He was getting a little frightened of this woman.

"Danger comes quickly for you young one, but a great evil will be traded for another. Whatever fate awaits you tonight will save your life from another much darker fate." Marla said as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I see a whip and iron bars on one side, on the other a black dagger of death."

Lowen tried to pull away but Marla held him fast. "You're hurting me" Lowen protested.

"The beast comes for you tonight, but darkness awaits you should you shirk from your fate... oh my poor boy I see only darkness in your future" she said as a tear fell from her closed eyes.

Lowen finally pulled away from the woman and hurried to get up. "Um, thank you Mrs. Marla, but I must be going," Lowen said and frowned as the woman clambered to grab his hands.

"Wait child!" Marla said and scrambled back towards him, "Trade me one more thing and your copper I will return!" Marla said franticly.

Lowen paused in his haste to flee from the lady, "What would you have?"

"A hair from your head lad, just one," she said and produced a copper from her blouse.

Lowen frowned and reached up to his head to pull a strand of his dark brown hair out. Lowen got a few more than one though in his hasty yank and showed them to Marla. The gypsy woman grabbed the hairs up and gave Lowen back his copper. "Enjoy your night tonight my boy," she called after him as he fled her cart.

Shaken from his strange encounter Lowen decided to make his way through the carts. He spent the better part of an hour walking around the various gypsy traders, but the walk helped to clear his mind. Lowen was surprised when he happened upon a man selling rare books. One book, which he noticed right away, had a bright sun emblazoned on its cover. The man was more than happy to show the book to Lowen who was surprised with his discovery. This was a rare book written in the language of his order. The elder monks would be delighted to know Lowen had found it! Lowen tried to play the book off as a minor prayer book that he was interested in but not willing to pay dearly for. To his surprise the gypsy offered him the book for a mere three coppers. Lowen happily traded his coin for the tome tucking it into the large pocket in his robe.

From the book salesman Lowen made his way towards the large tents and the shows going on inside them. None of the big or grandiose shows had started yet, and Lowen found himself wondering around the back of the tents looking at the cages of animals and monsters. A few gypsies gave him odd looks as they attended the animals, but nobody tried to stop him from wondering around.

Lowen had never seen many of these animals. There were great gray creatures with leathery skin and long limbs for noses and huge gold capped tusks. The largest cats Lowen had ever seen basked in three large cages, one huge male and two smaller females. A great striped cat roared and clawed at Lowen as he passed by the cage, but he was surprised at how sad the creature looked as he walked away.

Lowen came to the monsters next and was assaulted by a host of tiny green men who hooped and hollered in a strange chattering language Lowen had never heard before. Next to the green men a cage with a dozen lizard-like creatures eyed Lowen with caution in their eyes. One even called out to him in its hissing language.

The next cage held a creature the likes of which Lowen had never seen before. It's lower half was that of a goat and it's upper half was human. Two ram horns adorned it's head. "You shouldn't be here boy!" It said softly. "Hurry on your way before you are caught!"

Lowen did hurry past the goat man and the cage beside him which held some other part-human creature Lowen didn't see. The last few cages Lowen came across was empty and after those was a cart just like the one Lowen had been inside a while ago. Lowen felt a strange thrill race up his spine as he approached the cart.

Just before Lowen thought he should be on his way something huge and heavy landed on his from behind and a strong hand grabbed his neck. "What do we have here?" The man who had spoken had just stepped out of the gypsy cart, but Lowen could feel somehow that the creature behind him must be human, or humanoid at least, as well.

Lowen felt himself be hauled onto his feet by whatever, or whoever, had hit him from behind and he saw a flash of gray fur as the creature that held him positioned itself behind him. "Let me go! I have nothing of value to you!" Lowen pleaded.

"On the contrary young man, you do indeed!" The gypsy man said and nodded to whoever held Lowen.

A strong hand patted Lowen down from behind and he felt it stop first on the book in his robe and then on his coin pouch. The hand somehow cut into Lowen's robe and reached into it to withdraw his coin pouch and tossed it to the gypsy man standing before Lowen. "Hey! That's mine!"

The man caught the pouch and poured its contents into his hands. "Tisk Tisk, this is hardly worth our time and not nearly enough to buy your freedom," the man said and frowned at the coppers in his hand. It was pretty dark and getting darker by the minute so Lowen couldn't make out much about the man save his bright red gypsy outfit and the whip at his hip. Marla's words seemed to echo through his head when he saw the whip.

"I see a whip and iron bars..."

Lowen decided now was the time to struggle against his captor. "Let me go!" Lowen yelled and struggled against the hand holding him. Lowen somehow got free of the strong grasp and started running towards the open fields beyond the gypsy camp.

The man behind him laughed and then chanted something in what had to be arcane words. Lowen was so busy running that he never saw the orb of black and green light that raced towards him. In a shower of sparks and lights Lowen was knocked to the ground and felt his consciousness fading. With his last breath Lowen whispered a simple prayer placing his hands on the book in his robe. After his spell was cast Lowen collapsed onto the ground.

...

Graz watched as Fang pulled the boy back over to him. It had been a while since Graz had caught anything new for his collection and some of the villages he visited were getting bored with his current collection. He could always change things up if he wanted, but his pets were so happy how they were, so Graz had decided to use his magic to add something new to his collection. He hadn't been expecting a volunteer so soon though, but thankfully he had extra cages just in case of things like this.

Graz had a show to put on in just a little while, and he was hoping his newest addition would help him earn some more gold. Fang dropped the boy at the feet of his master and skulked off, his duties fulfilled. Graz smiled as he watched his pet go. It had been a long time since he had created anything as rare as fang, but Graz already had a werewolf, and he wanted something more exotic.

Memories of his days in the south as an adventurer and the pets he had acquired there reminded Graz of a rare monster he had only seen a few times. These wretched beasts were called Gnolls by the humans in the north, but in the south they were much more ferocious. It just so happened that Graz had collected a fang from a massive Gnoll beast his caravan had killed, so Graz had just what he needed to cast his spell.

After getting the fang from his cart Graz began casting the spell. It drained the old sorcerer to use magic this powerful, but the money would be worth the effort. Graz watched as the boy's body exploded with growth.

Clothes were ripped to shreds as brown and tan fur spread across growing muscles. The boy went from about five feet in height to an impressive seven feet tall. Muscles bulged with new strength and a thick mane formed on the boy's neck growing from his head down his back to his ass where a tail shot outwards and a fluffy mass of dense tawny fur quickly covered the new appendage. Human moans turned to yips and whines as the young creature curled into a ball as it's insides changed into those of a Gnoll. Graz didn't know much about how Gnolls worked but he figured from the size of the canines jutting from the boy's new mouth that they ate meat. No problem really because Graz had more than one obedient pet that could hunt well enough to feed another mouth.

Graz summoned Fang as soon as the transformation was over. The boy was impressive, but not as well built as Graz would have liked. Fang was still much bigger than his Gnoll cousin and thankfully still able to lift the youngster. "Put him in a cage, we'll show him right away." Graz said and grinned as he thought of how he was going to show off his new pet.

...

Not long after his transformation Lowen awoke to the sensation of being shaken roughly. Lowen groaned as his body awoke from a thick magical slumber. A painful boot to his side motivated Lowen to get up faster and whoever had kicked him scrambled away from him. Lowen couldn't see very well, but he could see well enough to make out whoever had kicked him. Lowen remembered the man from before, but this was obviously not him. This guy was much younger, but looked really small to Lowen.

Lowen turned his attention to his surroundings noting that he was no longer outside in the field where he had fainted. Instead, Lowen was on a large metal stage with some sort of collar on his neck and shackles on his hands. Lowen made a ruckus just trying to sit up, but the chains were more than strong enough to hold him. "Don't move monster or I will kick you again" the man said and brandished a wooden club at Lowen.

"I'm not a monster" Lowen said, but he actually said something like "Irrr nooorrr monserrrrr."

The man was obviously frightened by Lowen and backed up a few steps before brandishing his club again. "I'll get Fang if you don't calm down beast!" He said and backed away.

Lowen was so confused. Why couldn't he talk? Curious as to what was wrong with him Lowen reached towards the chains connecting him to the stage and froze when he saw a monstrous clawed hand covered in thick brown fur reaching for the chains. The hand/paw froze too and for a moment Lowen thought he was being attacked by a monster.

Unfortunately the truth was much worse and Lowen soon realized the hand belonged to him. Lowen barked loudly in surprise and then covered his mouth only to feel something very strange where his mouth should be. Lowen forced himself to look down his muzzle at his new snout and his hand just beyond it. It was the same massive hand/paw from before only where the palm should be was a thick black pad of rough skin. Fur covered most of his new hand minus the pads on his fingers and palm. On the tip of each hand was a wicked black claw about an inch long and clearly quite sharp.

Lowen reached into his mouth and felt the large fangs inside and tasted his hand, spitting when he realized how dirty his paw was. His self inspection was interrupted by the arrival of more cages and with them more beasts. Lowen remembered the cages from earlier and a sudden dread descended upon him. He was one of them now! One of those poor creatures he had seen only hours ago.

Lowen looked at the cages, but only the large cats were there and they were clearly animals, though they gave him a weary look. The cage of reptile monsters came in next and then the huge gray creature and a few gypsies who tended to the thing. Lowen felt terrible and exposed because he had realized by now that save for the tan and brown fur that covered him he was quite naked on the stage.

After a while the other creatures were situated and Lowen's arms were freed by a few cautious handlers. Lowen found that he could stand, but only just so because the chain restricted his movement both up and in any direction. Lowen was almost unable to stand anyways because of his new legs and feet, but he struggled up after a few attempts regardless.

One of the braver gypsies snuck up to the stumbling giant and kicked him in his legs causing Lowen to bark pathetically as he toppled over and pulled the chain taunt causing him to gag into his thick metal collar. The men laughed as Lowen nursed his wounded leg. It hadn't hurt that much, but getting kicked was still painful. Lowen scowled at the humans and caught himself as he started growling at them. Lowen guiltily looked away from his aggressors, but kept an eye on them until a familiar older gypsy in a bright red outfit strode onto the stage and shooed them away.

The man walked boldly up to Lowen who cowered on the floor. "You look quite ferocious my boy" he said and smiled at Lowen. "I know you must be confused, but from now on you are Claw, my newest pet. I found you on the southern plains where you lived with a tribe of your kind like the savages you are. Nobody will ever believe you were once human and since you can't talk anyways don't bother trying to convince them. If you are good than one day I might let you out of your cage to serve me. If you are bad than you will live the rest of your short life in the cages of my caravan." The man said and patted Lowen on his furry head.

"By the way you can call me Graz, I'm your new master" the man said and looked at Lowen expectantly.

"Grrraaaazzze" Lowen said with his new mouth much to the delight of the man before him.

"How delightful! I like you already! Be sure to put on a good show my boy and there might be a treat for you afterwards."

Lowen was horrified when people started to pour into the tent whispering and pointing at the stage. They seemed just about as amazed by the other creatures as they were by Lowen. Lowen was shocked though because these were people he knew! There were even monks from his temple in the crowd! Lowen got a little upset when they didn't even notice him or protest that he was in chains.

The show started before Lowen could even stagger to his feet and Graz introduced his amazing menagerie and his newest pet. "Plucked from the wild southern plains we are joined tonight by Claw! I caught him while his clan attacked my caravan and unfortunately for him my magical chains proved stronger than his bulging muscles!" Graz said and pulled out his whip. "Careful though, his kind is fierce and feral! They would sooner kill and eat a man than make friends with him!" Graz said and lashed out at Lowen.

The whip caught Lowen on his face lashing his right eye and causing blood to spurt out from the deep gash. Lowen learned right then that the whip was tipped with a sharp blade and was enchanted to make it's intended target bleed. Lowen howled and lashed out at Graz growling and spitting as he lost control of himself. Lowen saw red in more than one way and tried his best to get at the human that had just hurt him.

The crowd ooed and awed at the display, but Graz moved right along whipping at the cats next and then parading the strange gray creature around. After the show the humans milled about daring each other to get close to the lions and Lowen.

Lowen nursed his eye and held his hand over the wound. He knew he could try to cast a mending spell on himself, but he was afraid to speak in front of so many people. A few kids who Lowen recognized got foolishly close to him and laughed when he tried to ignore them. "He's not very fierce," one kid said and pulled a small rock from his pocket.

The kid proceeded to lob the stone at Lowen hitting him on the hand that covered his wounded eye. Lowen lost it again and in mere moments closed the distance between himself and the kid stopping a mere hair's width from the kid's nose with his fangs. The kid stumbled backwards shouting and alerting Graz to Lowen's hostile intentions. A crack sounded as Graz lashed out with the whip catching Lowen on his shoulder. "Back beast! Back!" Graz shouted and quickly put himself between Lowen and the child.

Lowen barked in pain as the whip cut into his shoulder and blood poured out. He begged with his eyes at Graz hoping the man could sense his distress. Lowen looked from the man to the stone on the ground and back at the children. Graz seemed to understand because he directed his wrath at the kids next. "Get out of here you stupid brats! How dare you throw a rock at this majestic creature! You're lucky he didn't kill you and next time I might not stop him! Now get!" Graz said and looked back at Lowen. "Control yourself Claw," he said sternly as he pulled something from his pocket and tossed it to Lowen.

Again Lowen seemed to be unable to resist clambering towards the piece of raw meat as it flew through the air at him. Lowen caught it in his mouth and quickly gobbled it down without even realizing what he was doing. Shocked by his own actions Lowen spent the rest of the night trying to look imposing. Thankfully his growls and snarls proved a good defense against the encroaching humans and some even paid twice for a good look at him. Graz was elated and by the time everything was said and done was boasting about how much coin Claw had made him.

Lowen watched as all the other cages were hauled off, but he was left on the stage until everyone was gone. Even Graz had left by the time someone came for Lowen. It was dark, but Lowen could still see well enough to make out the huge furry figure as it approached him. Surprisingly Lowen almost recognized the thing's smell as it stalked towards him in the dark, stopping just beyond his chain's reach. Silently the figure reached forwards and unlocked the chain from the stage.

The furry thing was strong because it dragged Lowen back to his cage with little effort. Lowen felt the thing undo his collar and then push him into the cage just before closing the door. Even though Lowen wanted to escape he knew this creature was too strong for him to take on. Not only was it taller than him, but it was much more muscular. "Stay here and I will return with dinner" The thing said in a low rumbling voice.

Lowen discovered the tattered remains of his robe in the cage, and to his surprise he discovered the book still wrapped within them. Lowen decided it was too precious to risk being discovered so he hid it in the straw on the floor of his cage and waited for the furry thing to return. It wasn't long till it came back with something that smelled delicious. The cage door opened and the body of a large deer hit the floor.

Not having known how hungry he was Lowen couldn't help but dive into the corpse with wild abandon. He ate and ate through the night with mindless abandon. More than once the furry creature returned to watch the new comer as he ate. Lowen was distantly aware of the presence of the other monster, but hunger was much more powerful so he ignored him and instead focused on feeding.

After his feast Lowen pushed the remains of the carcass into the corner of his cage settling down where he had hidden his book on the other side. Lowen used his old robes as a pillow burring his snout in them and breathing in the smells of his old life. Fang finally left then content that Claw wasn't going to try and escape tonight. Lowen cried his monstrous body to sleep that night as he fought the urge to go feed more on the dead animal in his cage.

...

Morning found Lowen already awake and picking at the bones that riddled the floor of his cage. Sleep was difficult with food so close and Lowen felt like he was never truly full. All night long he napped and snacked. Feeding noisily much to the distain of the handlers sent to sleep near his cage.

When one of the handlers came with a leg of something Lowen practically attacked the side of the cage in anticipation of the coming meal. The man was horrified to find the remains of the dinner from the night before, and since he was supposed to find some way to clean Lowen's cage he was even more frightened. "Monster, I have to clean your cage or Graz will get angry with me," the man said and looked at Lowen as he fed on the meat.

Lowen couldn't help but burst into laughter. A ghastly haunting laughter that chilled the man to the bone. Lowen laughed and laughed at the man as he got more and more unsettled. The site of him made Lowen laugh even more! Eventually the man gave up and left the monster to his humor. Lowen returned his attention to his food. After he was done Lowen felt a strong need to use the bathroom, but he didn't want to do it in his cage. He wondered if the man would come back, but after a while it didn't seem like he would. Lowen decided that he could probably shit in a corner of his cage, but the thought of living in his own shit was gross even to Lowen.

When nobody came to let him out Lowen started to howl and that got the attention of his master. Graz was saving Lowen's cage for last wanting to make sure it was properly attached to the caravan before he started off. When the mournful howls of his newest pet alerted him to its discomfort Graz angrily stomped towards Lowen's cage. "Claw!" Graz shouted and Lowen was almost glad to see the man, "What on earth is wrong?" Graz said and put his hands on his hips like an angry parent.

Lowen whined at the man and gestured at the door of the cage squatting down as if to use the bathroom.

"Did you get let out? Oh holy mother help us!" Graz said as he went to the door and grabbed the metal collar from where it hung on the side of Lowen's cage.

Graz gestured for Lowen to come near fearlessly putting his arms inside the cage and placing the collar around Lowen's neck. Graz didn't even put a chain on Lowen as he opened the door and let Lowen out. Lowen sniffed around a bit before selecting a spot and looked sadly at Graz who politely turned his back.

Under any normal circumstances Lowen would have tried to escape, but a wisp of a smell greeted him. Wolf. Lowen didn't know how he knew it, but that was what he smelled. Lowen obediently clambered back into his cage and removed the collar hanging it up outside the cage for Graz. "You are a good boy aren't you," Graz said as he climbed up into Lowen's cage and reached out to pet Lowen on his head. Graz even scratched Lowen behind his ears which Lowen had to admit felt unnaturally good.

Once Graz had left Lowen heard a heated and angry discussion outside the tent Lowen's cage was in. Lowen snickered as the handler from before stormed angrily into the tent and started messing with Lowen's cage. Lowen threw a couple of bones at the man laughing his unnatural laugh when he hit him. The man hurried to finish his job which was fine with Lowen because there was something he wanted to look at.

It took a while, but eventually Lowen's cage was attached to a caravan like train of cages and at the front Graz and his cart were pulled by four of the strange gray creatures. Lowen felt his cage lurch forwards as the train started moving. Lowen quickly got bored of watching familiar landscape of his home pass by. After a while the road they were on swerved as it climbed the side of a large hill and Lowen looked down at his home for the last time. He didn't know why he wasn't sad, but he wasn't. Maybe it was his new brain or just a product of his own personality, but Lowen accepted that this was how things were now, and there wasn't much he could do about it.

...

Lowen growled as he flapped his useless tongue in his snout in an attempt to speak the words of a simple healing spell. Lowen tried again and again only stopping when the caravan stopped. His eye and shoulder were getting very painful and Lowen didn't want to think about what would happen if they got infected. "Glorrra Korrrr Sarrrrarrr" Lowen growled and moved his hand/paws as best he could in the long memorized pattern of the healing spell taught to all acolytes.

"Glorra Korr Sarrrarr"

"Glora Korr Sarrar"

"Glora Kor Sarra"

A wave of golden light spilled over Lowen and he felt his eye and shoulder wounds close. The spell worked, but not nearly as well as Lowen thought it should. "Glora Kor Sarra" Lowen said again and felt more light pour into him.

Lowen didn't stop until he could see out his right eye, but he was sure he had a wicked scar there now. Thankfully wherever the gypsies were going they took their time to get there. After mastering his healing spell and practicing the words and gestures until he knew how they worked in his new body Lowen moved on to other spells he knew. It was hard remembering them without his books, but that was where his new book came in handy.

By some miracle the book was more than just a prayer book, it had spells in it too! Some of them Lowen already knew, but others he had never seen or heard of before. The book was hard to read and Lowen wished he had an elder monk to help him, but he didn't so he had to work it out himself.

Darkness closed over the caravan which kept on marching through the night. Lowen hid his book in his robes and waited for his evening meal. Lowen had learned through the day that if he was careful he could use the bathroom through the corrugated lower portion of his cage. He almost felt sorry for anybody behind his cage on the road because his shit really stunk. Even for a non-sensitive nose his shit stunk, but the cages ahead of him and behind him must have animals too and judging by the smell of things he wasn't the only one who had used the facilities.

Lowen could see the human who delivered his dinner and he got a kick out of pelting him with bones. Mostly though it was pretty boring at night and since Lowen could see just fine he kept on reading his book. It was easier in the dark because nobody could see what he was doing. It was also a great time to practice his light spell and other spells that required darkness to see.

The caravan traveled on in the same way for a few days before it finally stopped at another village in the mountains. There wasn't as much space as back in Lowen's home town so Graz just set the tent up with the cages out back. He charged people a few coppers to look at the cages, but not before getting everyone riled up real good.

After that night the caravan moved on. There wasn't much money to be made in the small towns anyways. Lowen was too busy with his book to care much about what else was going on around him. It was odd, but the more Lowen poured over the tome the more he seemed to understand it. The intricate spells and rituals inside were hard to understand at first, but Lowen slowly began to understand them better as he had little else to do in the time between traveling and shows