an Elven mage
The mage is a wiry Elven man of middle years whose hair seems to have turned prematurely grey, though under a thick coating of oil and dirt it is hard to tell. He is dressed in soiled rags that exude a pungent odor reminiscent of a gelapod's pond, pieced together from the odds and ends gathered from the offal heaps of the city to make him appear more like an aged magpie's nest than the Elf he is.

ask mage about magic
Glancing at you, the mage sighs. "I heard you," he says. "I could tell you a lot about Warrior Mages once, but it's been years since I've been able to train for my guildleader. I'm afraid I've forgotten most of it." The mage runs his filthy fingers through his hair miserably, leaning against a building as he continues to speak.

"All that I've left that I remember now are the ways of manipulating spell preparation that I devised on my own, an apprentice under Gauthus' tutelage. You can ask me about those, I suppose, but not all of them are easy to use," he states, his eyes lighting up as he gazes at you, reminding you of the mage he must have been.

ask mage about teaching
"Aye, I can teach you further in the ways of magic," the Elven mage says to you, looking uncharacteristicly serious for one clothed in rags. "But be warned, this is not for the faint of heart. It is difficult to unlearn what one has already learned, so you must be serious before you ask." Staring at you appraisingly, he continues, "I can teach you to appear thus when preparing your spell patterns:"

1) As you begin to murmur, sigils streak across the ground surrounding you in a circle of glowing green. Within its perimeter the earth shakes, releasing another sigil which forms the pattern for the Summon Death Monkey spell.
2) As you begin to focus on preparing the Summon Death Monkey spell your vision clouds as waves of heat emanate from all around you. Suddenly a large column of flames engulfs you completely!
3) You clap your hands together on a mote of energy, causing a shower of sparks to fly forth. Slowly pulling your hands back apart, a glowing ball of crackling energy begins growing between them, ready to pour power into the form of the Summon Death Monkey spell.
4) You begin to chant out the mysterious rhythms of the Summon Death Monkey spell, starting from a softly whispered low timbre and working yourself up into a nearly shouted dramatic crescendo. A gentle glow of light surrounds you from the first and builds up with your tones, growing and rising until you stand in the center of a great column of bright light!
5) As you begin to solemnly intone the Summon Death Monkey spell a blue glow swirls about forming a nimbus that surrounds your entire being.
6) Preparing to channel your magic outward, an eerie stillness hangs in the air just about you. Suddenly rushing forward with your incantations, a powerful wind begins whipping around you and forms dust motes into ethereal shapes while you prepare the Summon Death Monkey spell.

[To learn a new preparation message, ORDER # FROM mage.]