He fiddles nervously with his staff. "I - I was Petyr's apprentice. The wizard downstairs. He was brilliant, an archmage, and I had no aptitude for the work. I - I had all these friends, and I played skyball with them, and I didn't even care that I couldn't do anything real, affect the world around me. And now - I'm smarter than Petyr was, I think, and he's turned away from magic, and - I don't want the town to keep being like this, you know, I know everyone else is suffering. I was studying my shard, hoping I could somehow figure out how to fix it and still - still keep me."

"You get anywhere?"

"I could do it with a Wish, but I'm betting you don't have the diamond for it. I could do it with Clone, but we probably don't have four months. I think I can swing something with a lab bird, Polymorph Any Object, Magic Jar, and Permanency, but - it's untested. Obviously."

"Yeah. I don't wanna - forcibly switch you back - but everybody else can't stay how they are - do you have what you need for the bird thing?"

He sighs. "Yeah. I-"

The balor clears its throat. "There is another drow approaching invisibly. Shall I kill it?"

The mage twitches violently. "Fuck! Um - yes please!"

It raises its sword and charges towards the balcony, but mid-charge, its form twists and it vanishes into thin air.

"Fuck!" the mage repeats.

Deekin casts Glitterdust, as he is wont to do. The shimmering dust outlines a drow woman in heavy armor, bearing a greatsword.

Oh for fuck's sake, why are there so many? Ice spears! Ice spears for the drow with a sword!

     She hisses with pain but doesn't slip.

Jojo zips over and strikes her a few times; she's not happy about that either, but her armor takes the brunt of it and acquits itself well.

      "You will all fall," she grunts. "I am the hand of my dark mistress!" Then she raises her sword and out pulses a wave of negative energy. At the same time, she doubles in size.

"Wow, your dark mistress has enormous hands, might need to get that looked at," mutters Belmarniss, flinging ball lightning at her.

She growls and attempts to chop Jojo into bits with her very large sword! He stays well away from the blade and continues beating her up, since it's having some effect.

Garrus has been concentrating for a few seconds, and finally looses the arrow he's had nocked. It glows, and it passes through her breastplate before re-solidifying in her chest.

     She starts to click her heels together in the manner of someone activating a magic item, at which point another arrow sprouts from her face. She topples to the floor.

"Thank you, thank you," Garrus mutters, "I'll be here all week. I think that might have been the same one from the cave? Let's check her for mirrorbits."

They can search the giant drow lady. Hopefully if the mirrorbit is also larger than usual that won't complicate fitting it together.

Fortunately, the magic growth fades after her death, as does the invisibility. She had not one but three mirror pieces!

"Thank the gods no one has ever heard of redundancy," Garrus comments. "Hey, wizard... apprentice... guy... d'you have a name?"

     "Etrin," the apprentice says faintly. "Is that usually what, um, combat is like?"

"Yeah, approximately," Garrus shrugs.

     "I'm very glad I cheated and got my levels by magic."

"Nice work if you can get it. Though you can also do the summoning balors thing, it's a perfectly respectable way to kill people."

     He shivers. "Ideally I will never have to summon a demon again."

Garrus coughs. "I think we have all of the mirror fragments now. Did you want to do your bird thing?"

     Etrin nods. "I... suppose that is our best chance. I will need an hour to prepare the spells."

"We can stand guard while you do."

"Why'd you summon a demon if you don't like it?" she wonders, mostly to herself since he's about to be busy.

"Thought it might help me with soul magic," he says as he gets out his spellbook. "Apparently they don't really specialize in that."

"Pity. I guess."

Standing guard standing guaaaard. Peeping at his notes occasionally.

His notes are mostly in Auran. He prepares the spells, muttering occasionally to himself in the manner of someone who has recently gained a new spell level (or, in this case, several of them) and isn't familiar with his repertoire yet.

Then he snaps the spellbook shut and breathes in and out. "Alright. Let's - let's do this, I suppose."

"D'you need help or anything?"

"No. It's just extremely scary."

He goes over to a nearby cage and releases a dove, which perches on his hand and nuzzles his wrist. He sets it down in a clear space, inhales deeply, and casts Polymorph Any Object.

The bird transforms into a near-exact nude duplicate of him. (Slightly better cheekbones, pearlier feathers, clearer skin. The sort of things you fix when you construct a new body for yourself.)

While the duplicate twitches on the floor, Etrin casts Magic Jar. His own body falls to the ground, a nearby gemstone glows red, and the duplicate sits upright. "Now for the moment of truth," he says, grabbing a bag of diamond dust. He casts the dust into the air and casts Permanency.

The dust shimmers and vanishes before it can hit the floor.

The gem shatters.

Etrin's original body starts to twitch.

"It worked," says the naked Etrin with an awed expression. "I mean - it worked."

"Oh good for you! Please put some clothes on before your old self loses sphincter control and ruins them."

"Yes, of course -" He casts Minor Creation, putting a robe onto his body. "Now. The mirror pieces?"

Deekin hands them over, frame included.