[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MTM5CmE.png[/img][/center]

[center][u][i]January 1, 2020, 7:15 PM.
Behind the New Amsterdam Theater, W 41st Street, Midtown Manhattan.[/i][/u][/center]
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The bustling city street never stopped, even at night. Thus, it was under cloak of darkness and blessed noise that Tobias stepped out of the shadows beneath a fire escape behind the New Amsterdam Theater he had been performing at mere hours prior. Slipping out of the shadowed portal, he kept his head low and his hat's brim forward. As he walks, he taps his cane against the cold concrete of the sidewalk and whispers an incantation under his breath. 

"[color=0f13fc][i]Skuchnyy[/i][/color]"

The air around him shimmers for a moment and then stabilizes again even as he tilts his head back and allows his hat to resume its usual position on his head. He taps the shoulder of another pedestrian on the street who turns and looks at him for the briefest instant before his eyes glaze over for a moment and slide past Tobias' grinning face, then looking up in search of whatever it was that must have fallen on his shoulder moments before. 

"[i]Simple, yet so satisfyingly effective.[/i]" Tobias thought as he blended into the crowd of people that were busy making their way to various destinations in the Big Apple. He traveled south east, towards Bryant park a mere three blocks away, pausing occasionally to allow a car to pass or to go around a pedestrian. When all was said and done, it had barely taken him ten minutes to reach the steps that led into the park, carefully walking around the tourists and other civilians that wandered around the park for an evening stroll. His veil kept him hidden from most; a simple illusion that made him profoundly uninteresting to look at. Someone particularly dedicated or cautious might see him, but in a world of cell phones and constant connection, very few ever bothered. 

Tobias cupped his hands in front of his mouth and breathed into them, a warm fog accompanying his exhalation, as he muttered another incantation.

"[color=0f13fc][i]Pech[/i][/color]"

A spark of light and warmth as the fog sparked and ignited in his hand forming a small blue flame that radiated heat through his entire body, yet gave off nearly no light. He held the warm flame close to his chest and extricated his cane from under his arm with his free hand.

A few more minutes of walking and he found himself standing in front of the statue of William Cullen Bryant in the park. The elderly man sat upon a throne cast entirely of bronze beneath an archway before the New York public library, and Tobias lifted his hand, allowing the flame to grow in heat and light. He glanced around, watching for any prying eyes that might be upon him. He might be as good as invisible to the normal person, but even mere mortals might notice such overt spellcraft.

"Medicine for the Soul." Tobias solemnly intoned, waving his hand and sending the blue tongue of fire float to rest above the head of the statue, where it flared to life and became the more normal orange of fire. The eyes of the statue blazed with the same orange glow for a moment and the flame extinguished itself. The statue, suddenly animate, rose from its throne and pulled the bronze seat back from the marble on which it rested revealing a dark staircase down into the gloom beneath. Tobias took a moment to hoist himself up into the hole and began the long descent into the long-forgotten catacombs beneath the Library. The statue's eyes flashed again, and mere moments later the stairs were hidden beneath the bronze memorial once more.

"[i]Even if someone saw that, who would believe them? Would they even believe their own eyes?[/i]"

[hr]

"Welcome back Tobias." Came a voice from around the final corner of the stairs, even before the mage had come into view. 

"Well met Tyresius." Tobias answered as he entered the pleasant lantern light that emanated from the desk an old man sat behind. He was dressed in simple robes, like that of a priest or other ancient official, and what little hair he had left was white as the snow outside. He bore spectacles of thin brass wire, though for what purpose Tobias could merely guess at considering the milky white eyes of the wizened old scribe had long since given up their attempts at sight. There was a faint outline of blue-green light in the shape of a triangle in the space between his eyes, just above the bushy eyebrows that defied all attempts to control them, and a calm smile made the lines of the old man's face stand out in stark contrast of the dim lighting. 

The room in which he sat seemed to be an antechamber of some sort, its arched ceiling and walls being hewn of rough stone and lined with bookshelves stocked with tomes whose age -and names- could only be guessed at. The door behind him was of a dark wood and inlaid with bands of silver. A script was carved into the rocks above the doorway in a polished bronze: "[i]Enter those with the Wisdom to seek, and the Daring to find.[/i]"

"I hear you've angered the Winter Queen. You really ought to mind your manners around beings of such ancient power." The clerk said, looking back down to the parchment on which he scribbled something with the black raven's quill in his hand. 

"Word travels that quickly here does it?" Tobias scowled, approaching the table and holding out his right arm with his sleeve withdrawn. 

"Young mages." Tyresius clucked as he pricked Tobias' wrist with his quill, causing a small bead of scarlet blood to well up onto its nib. "You always underestimate the skills of the Little Folk at spreading rumors and gossip." He smiled as he wrote something on his parchment with Tobias' fresh blood. 

"Now, with the bookkeeping out of the way, how can I help you, young master Davenstar?" Tyresius smiled at Tobias from over his spectacles. Tobias could feel the faintest pressure emanating from the sigil on Tyresius' head and lowered his defenses briefly, allowing the old sage to examine him with The Sight. He had nothing to hide. Not tonight anyway.

"I have reason to suspect there is black magick afoot in the city. Something large enough to be drawing power from the leylines. I figured you would be the best person to start my investigation with, Archsage Tyresius." Tobias responded, tipping his hat as he addressed the elderly magus by his title. 

"Oh good, I was afraid I might have been going senile in my old age. Not a single mage of note in the city has said a word about that yet." Tyresius cackled for a moment and clicked his bony fingers together, a small map of the city forming in the air above his desk. "There has been an uptick in chaos magic being used. Nothing major, but enough small time talents working together to get the attention of something bigger." He swirled his fingers through the map and hundreds of small red points of light flared to life around the city and beyond. 

"I'm afraid I don't have much more to offer you, though I would suspect you could find some more information about the magic being performed if you can find out what is being brought into the city." 

"Into the city?" Tobias asked, scratching his head as he watched the map Tyresius had conjured slowly rotate on its axis before him. 

"Aye, something is being brought into the city. It is quite [i]eye[/i] opening, and seems to be responsible for the sudden appearance of a number of new talents." He responded with a knowing smile. 

"You know something, don't you?" Tobias asked, frowning. 

"I know a great many things, young master." Tyresius responded, his smile widening. 

"You could just tell me what I need to do to find the source of this threat." 

"I could indeed, but the best lessons are those learned firsthand."

"By the Nine, but you're worse than old Lord Waibell was back home." Tobias said, setting a single golden coin down on the table in front of the old man as he turned to leave. 

"Do be careful, Tobias. The night is cold, and the docks are even more so." The old man said with a twinkle in his dull eyes as Tobias waved over his shoulder and started his ascent back to the surface.