Her call to the station completed, Audrey walked over to the kitchen to see how Malcolm was doing.

  He was only halfway through cleaning, so she went in and did what she could to help dry and put away dishes while he handled the rest.

  As the st dish was dried and put away, her phone rang. Audrey answered without checking the number, assuming it was the station calling with an update.

  Instead, a woman’s voice that she did not recognize greeted her: “Detective Audrey Ross? Your car has been taken care of. You should be more careful with your Gifts.”

  The woman did somehow capitalize the word “Gift” when she said it.

  “Who is this?” Audrey demanded.

  “We have not met yet so my name would mean nothing. I am an ally. We shall meet one day but not this day. Soon...” And the line went dead before she could respond.

  Malcolm saw her reaction and asked: “What was that? You seem rattled, I guess.”

  Audrey stopped staring at her phone and turned to Malcolm: “A woman said my car was taken care of and that we would meet one day but had not yet.” She looked back at the phone. The number showed as 'Private Number,' - she'd need a good hacker or a warrant to find out more about her mysterious caller.

  He frowned. “Hmm. Weird. Well, I think we really need to get some reading done at this point.”

  Audrey smiled, leading him over to his couch. “Reading and cuddling.”

  “Of course cuddling too. Too bad this pce does not have a firepce, even a fake one. Would be the perfect day to curl up in front of one.”

  They sat down side by side and each picked up one of the modules. She started reading The Apprentice’s Betrayal from the start, asking a few questions about game abbreviations before diving in. Malcolm, instead started with the supplemental material at the end of The Lost Arch Mage.

  “Huh. Were-weasel. If I had known that was here it might have saved us some stress,” he commented casually.

  For the next several minutes they read in silence. Then suddenly he stopped, looked up from the book and decred “No, it can’t be!”

  “What?” Audrey asked, worried.

  It took Malcolm a moment to respond, his mouth trying to form words and failing several times before then he just passed his module over to her and said: “Read this,” tapping a page.

  She sighed, took the book from him and started to read the indicated section, titled “Trickster (Chosen of Cyrannon)” out loud:

  “Essentially, the Trickster is a Cleric and Thief Cross-css which advances as a Cleric but follows the general abilities of a Thief q.v. Combat and Resistance Rolls and the Subtle Skills; however they ck the Disabling Strike and Lethal Surprise special abilities. Though The Lord of the Arts usually only chooses humans and half-breeds to be Tricksters, the css may be of any racial stock.

  “Those called to be Tricksters are always gifted in at least one aspect of the arts: acting, singing, sculpting, poetry, etc. Luck always seems to py games with them, generally pcing them in situations where they experience either the best of all detrimental outcomes or the worst of all beneficial ones. In game terms, they rarely ever inflict Critical Hits (but see Twist of Fate below for an exception), but also never suffer Fumble results, and if a Resistance Roll has multiple possible outcomes rather than the usual pass/fail dynamic, they will never completely resist it but will also never suffer the worst effects (GM discretion).

  “Further, they have the mixed blessing of extreme animal magnetism, drawing potential romantic partners to them, often at the least opportune times. This is usually a Role Pying quirk and has no mechanical impact in and of itself.

  “When employing their artistic abilities, they may mimic various magical effects based on their skill level, chosen art form, and various situational modifiers as shown on tables A3.7, A3.8 and A3.9, below. Further, at least once per day (more often at higher skill levels, as also shown on table A3.7, q.v.), they may attempt to invoke a “Twist of Fate” by proposing a dramatically fitting, pusible, but not impossible turn of events; the Game Master is the final arbiter of such events and their impact on the story, but the chance of success is rolled as a standard Charisma Check as the Trickster essentially charms the universe with their quick-thinking. A few possible examples appear below.”

  She fell silent as she read the listed examples, then wondered aloud exactly what Malcolm had been thinking when he read this very passage: “I wonder what the odds are that ‘finding a discarded slingshot when one is desperately needed,’ or ‘having a pursuing foe break an axle in a pothole’ would also be examples?”

  His tone subdued, Malcolm replied: “So you can kind of see why I am freaking out here?”

  She became a bit more animated at this: “Not just that - remember what Hendrix said about the Five?”

  “That it was not the talk show?”

  Audrey ughed. “That too. But more that there would be a Warrior, a Healer, a World Walker and a Trickster at the side of the Lost Arch Mage.”

  “Oy veh,” Malcolm said with a stunned look on his face. “Maybe the Healer is your mysterious caller?”

  “Could be - but Liz is a nurse, so that might suggest her as a Healer.”

  “Carol would not take it well if her girlfriend was part of this and she was not,” Malcolm mused.

  “Where is the Healer css detailed?” Audrey asked.

  “An early issue of Sub-Terra, the company’s official magazine. I think David has a copy and I know Carol does. I have only seen one pyed, ever. They are a variant of the Magister, or ‘Lesser Mage' who sacrifices versatility for a better combat matrix and some exclusive healing spells - many of which they use at a great cost to themselves, as they mainly can only heal themselves, or 'steal' injuries from others.”

  Audrey considered this for a moment, then asked: “You think David would mind us going through his stuff?”

  “I think I should drop Carol an email; she might see a text as ‘the weirdness intruding on their day' but usually only checks her mail first thing in the morning. She will know exactly where her copy is. Unless David left his copy out for some reason, odds are we would never find it. Guy has the most disorganized mind I know. Capable of fshes of brilliance that make even you look slow, but all over the pce the rest of the time.”

  “Oh, but Mister Trickster,” Audrey said, “what do you think the odds are that the exact magazine we need might turn up in the first pce we look?”

  “About the same as us being buried under a mountain of books and magazines,” he replied. “In fact, even if I do not have any special powers, I would expect that to happen. Best to rely on Carol.”

  Audrey ughed and remembered gncing in David’s room - she knew Malcolm was exactly right.

  “Well, I am getting hungry,” she said.

  “Already? It has only been about two hours…” Malcolm began as she set the two modules on the table and turned to face him. “Oh, not for food. Someone promised cuddles and there have been far too few!”

  She half-unched herself at him and he caught her, drawing her close for a deep kiss. When their lips parted, they smiled at each other, and he said: “there may be something to this animal magnetism at the least opportune times thing after all.”

  She gave him another quick kiss, then slid over so that her back was against the back of the couch and her brilliant green eyes met his. She smiled and replied simply: “Rawr!”