The Hands of Fate

Ceriden was curious as to why the woman appeared to be so uncomfortable. If she was from Verden, he supposed that she might consider asking someone to do magic to be a sin, but still. Then she pushed the book over to him. As Ceriden began to read the text, a tingle went down his spine. No way...

The spell she wanted him to do was a resurrection ritual spell of sorts. After all this time searching for just this kind of text, he happened to find what he was seeking in a chance encounter at an inn. As he continued reading he could barely contain his excitement. He was tempted to ask Sabina, if that was even her name, where she had acquired the text from, but he decided against it. She seemed pretty on edge about the whole thing, which made sense given the illegal nature of necromancy. He decided not to press his luck.

Ceriden became so completely absorbed in the text that at first he didn't notice when a waitress arrived with his breakfast.

"...Sir? Sir?!"

Ceriden blinked and looked up at her. "Sorry, can I help you?"

"Did you order a heated roll and some milk?" she asked rather impatiently.

"Ah, yes, I did," Ceriden replied. "Thank you!" he added when she set his food and drink down on the table. She huffed in reply and left for the next table. As she turned her back, Ceriden murmured an incantation. "It would probably be best if she forgot anything she might have read," Ceriden explained to Sabina.

Ceriden then took a bite out of his bread as he continued reading, careful not to let any crumbs fall onto the book. Eventually, he finished reading the instructions on how to perform the spell. He understood most of it, although there were a few concepts that he was unfamiliar with, he hoped those would be explained earlier in the book. Ceriden pondered his next words carefully, then, very quietly, he said, "I believe that I can do this spell, or, well, help you do this spell. You mentioned payment earlier. What are you willing to offer for assistance in this..." telepathically, he whispered, "...highly illegal...ritual?"