The Second Journey of Minestus

Minestus assumed the form of Belboz, or, as he identified himself to the Gliders, as Vilinitiz the Mage. Vilinitiz arrived by way of White River, the village that served as the northwest outpost of RDL territory. Vilinitiz was spotted several leagues away from White River by a Glider sentry, riding a horse on land that the Gliders claimed. A Glider patrol quickly arrived to arrest Vilinitiz as "dangerous prey". The sergeant in charge asked him why, as he was in violation of Glider territory and a potential spy for the prey, he should be allowed to live. Vilinitiz answered that he had news of Minestus that could be useful to the Gliders, and magic that he could work. The glider officer scoffed at the mention of magic, but asked for the news.

"Minestus is coming back this way. He may be willing to discuss a treaty. Although not his subject, I have had dealings with him." Vilinitiz answered. The officer believed that this news justified sparing the stranger, and bringing him back under guard to his captain. The mage peacefully went with the patrol back to an old, non-descript, concrete structure that had been built since the war.

At the patrol headquarters, Vilinitiz performed certain magic acts, including levitating himself a spear's length off the ground. This was crucial. In the Glider mindset, this moved him from the category of "prey" to the category of "capable of flight", although not to the level of "civilized Glider." Vilinitiz could not be trusted, especially as he obviously had dealings with Minestus, but had to be treated with respect. Vilinitiz had only requested a stay of two weeks, and had no objections to being watched and held without his horse or weapons. Amazingly, the Gliders not only had no fear for his magic, but looked upon it with a matter-of-fact skepticism. The general belief was that there was no such thing as magic - that most apparent magic was part of a chain of natural causes that could be analyzed and explained. The Gliders appeared to have no magical tradition of their own. Vilinitiz took this at face value, and was disappointed that he would not be able to add to his magical lore while he was in the RDL. That was not the main purpose of his visit, however. There were two. The first was to find a way to sever his unwilling link to the Glider nation. The second was to find out as much as he could about the RDL, whose fate was unfortunately linked with his.

1. Vilinitiz is released to the custody of one of the town elders.

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