The journey goes on

[Asphy]

Lor Angur, 14.Bras 72
"To the provinces of all places!" she hissed quietly after she had left Cartaphilus' room and closed the door. It was that time again, he had informed her that another change of location was imminent and, as always, asked her to travel ahead to prepare for his arrival.
As she walked through the city, numerous mage towers rising above its rooftops, each more majestic than the last, Asphyxine sighed. She had enjoyed her time in Lor Angur. Unlike previous places she had lived with Cartaphilus, this city was large and well kept. Fortified streets wherever you went, lofty buildings, squares, parks and numerous libraries that gave you an insight into the accumulated knowledge of the arcane and related sciences. Asphyxine learned early on that knowledge meant not only power but also wealth. No other place could express this better than Lor Angur. And now Cartaphilus wanted to leave. Asphyxine knew he had his reasons, and if he didn't tell her, she wouldn't ask him. After all the years they had spent traveling the lands, they had adapted well to each other. Cartaphilus the scholar could certainly be described as a genius when it came to knowledge in his field, but he was often so engrossed in science that he had little interest in his surroundings. With her skills, Asphyxine acted as a bridge, so to speak, between his science and the world around him. In short, she took care of him.
She went to the inn, packed up her few things, paid the landlord generously and set off.

Runewick, 16th Eldas 72
After a long journey, partly on foot, on carriages and on boats, she finally reached the provincial town called Runewick. The first thing she did was to find suitable accommodation for Cartaphilus.
The shared accommodation above the tavern which, according to the landlady in Runewick, was used as a guest room, was completely unsuitable and also not appropriate for Cartaphilus.
Fortunately, she was able to make the acquaintance of Master Caswir, who claimed to be the head of the Mages' Guild and the leader of the town. A very pleasant acquaintance because Caswir was kind enough to offer his arriving colleague temporary accommodation in his large house.
She was shocked to see that there were cows running wild around the house, even one inside. Oh those provincials, how much she missed Lor Angur already.
Later she explored the town, a human named Malchus took care of her and explained the places to her. On this occasion, she evaluated some buildings that would be suitable for Master Cartaphilus and her. On the same day, she sent a pigeon with a message to Lor Angur.

[Asphy]

It has now been over 6 weeks since she sent the master a message via pigeon that she had arrived at the agreed location. Since then she had hardly met anyone in Runewick who cared about the values Runewick obviously stood for. There were people claiming to run the town, but they seemed weak and listless.
“All the better,” she thought to herself at the thought and looked forward to the arrival of Cartaphilus, which would not be long in coming.
She also found a deserted place near one of the other towns that seemed quite suitable for her purposes. She was already looking forward to showing the master this place. Smiling contentedly, she took a sip of wine, leaned back in her chair and looked out over the bridge from the balcony of the tavern and waited.