All Wizard Come Here
Chapter 2
Finding the village of Olwizcomyr is a very simple matter: It’s straight all the way! Except at the beginning, when one has to slalom to avoid the wild sheep, then at mid-way when one has to wind on the narrow road leading to the top of the Shaking Cliff, and finally in the end, after the sixth zig of the River Dry. There one has to turn twice to the right and once to the left. Unless it is the opposite. In any case, one has to turn otherwise one goes straight to the sea!
Then, after defying the wind, the rain, and the angry ghosts of some picnic diners and after counting the zigs without confusing them with the zags, one can read the following signpost.
OLWIZCOMYR
16 Km with luck
Eight kilometers further, the most courageous ones who dared to carry on or who didn’t get lost, can see a second signpost:
OLWIZCOMYR
7 Km last week
The one who put this signpost here wasn’t very good in mathematics. Or else Olwizcomyr is moving a lot. But at least one knows one is on the right way!
And indeed, eight kilometers later, unless a petrol breakdown or a burst tire, one can spot three stony arches. The first is engraved with these golden words
OLWIZCOMYR
Maker of magic tools for a long long time
Behind these three Arches, Olwizcomyr stretches itself.
This village is not gigantic and however one can mysteriously get lost very easily in one of the ninety-three streets, closes, crescents and other alleys that criss-cross it.
Things hardly changed along the centuries as seen by the style of the houses and the architecture of Olwizcomyr. What strikes you first are these impressive stairs known as Millepierre that go up and up to link both parts of the village.
And if the Olwizcomyrians are oddly dressed, it’s only natural, isn’t it? Do you often meet the men and women who have been making magical tools for a very very long time?
Some of these men and women you can come across in the streets have their names embroidered on their jackets, just above a drawing in the shape of a ‘X’ formed by a wand and a broomstick. The four triangles formed by the ‘X’ each contain another drawing.
In the upper triangle, the drawing looks like a cauldron. On the left triangle is a harp, on the right is a book and finally a sort of wool ball is drawn inside the bottom triangle. The ‘X’ itself is surrounded by what seems to be an oval mirror. This is their coat-of-arms, the same that is engraved on the arch at the entry.
The main avenue, the Fuzzy-Spell Avenue, leads to a large square and in the middle of this square is the stone statue of a very pretty woman. Her long hair hangs down her shoulders like a cloak. The statue was standing on top of a circular plat-form about five feet high and ten feet diameter. Two series of circular stairs built around the statue makes it possible to see the woman from near. One could climb up the series of stairs on the right, admire the statue and then climb down the series of stairs on the left.
And when an envysitor is asking about this woman, the answer is always the same:
Her name was Maa Ra Jik and she is the most famous citizen of Olwizcomyr. The legend says that if one lets go a hand on her statue, one can be transformed into a wizard. Well, many envysitors must have been tempted by the idea because the statue was completely smooth. So smooth a spider would struggle to climb it!
As a general rule, envysitors can go by freely. They can admire almost everything they want, except a large building like an old medieval castle. This castle is forbidden to the public due to restorations as explained by twenty signposts written in twenty languages. And those who dared visiting Olwizcomyr more than once could tell that these restorations have been going on for quite a long time now!
But it’s always a pleasure to leave the village with a flying broomstick that is not going to fly a lot but has delicious licorice bristles. And how good it feels to handle skillfully and eventually chew a not-so-very-magic pistachio magic wand while looking at your own awfully distorted image in an enchanted mirror!
It’s also very cheap, so the parents are happy too!
When all is said and done, one could say that nothing much exciting is happening at Olwizcomyr most of the time. It has always been the same old, very old routine as said on the arch at the entrance of the village. Sorcerers are coming from all over the world with the precious document that allows them to purchase the maginstrument of their choice (this is the real name for the likes of magic wands, enchanted mirrors, cauldrons and of course it’s the real name for the grimoires where magic formulas have been written for so many centuries.) This document can not be counterfeited or forged since it is delivered by the ‘‘Thingamajig.’’
This was the short nickname for the ‘THINujrosm hdkwnnxciuqiyfq’hsjhdkcdchdjk;Jfhdcniewohfwoksdbdckdgetar??5hdjcnnddfvjhrropwp[odgeuppueirufh;fjhfdjhoiedhjifdueiiwessjddfjhdjyfiep’fgtuuxxuu’ljksdjfujhdhvhdfhjdhgjnjcmnvjkhgforugiut[pirtsardetg’’orgetate[jarnydw’hgjdfhgfru;f’woowooerw’frogahp‘hgah’pugiagafgattrafkhfgaalespaobvresjkkahgtstf;’jhjhjheujdh;r;wfoiteyvuoeruwytvgurhgujr;hbvan48cvg;uryh;tuogoyuhu;tuyoutgra;’gorbytohre;a’qargythtuafhcjbhgvak;jvnh;’oytgou’a]upngtiyuoyetart1tertvronywutrpwbutriytghkajsd;fcj’nfv’ddad’putyar’pnioutghfjdhbcvkggkfvjnhoa’rpougouvae;ufng’hemygarbar00tonhgdbpgyraven’i’uoptuwAMAJIG’ a name which otherwise could not be uttered by any normal sorcerer!
As for the Olwizcomyrians, they are pulling these maginstruments out of the nothingness in their most unique way (at Olwizcomyr, nobody would use the words ‘‘make’’, ‘‘construct’’or ‘‘build’’ when it comes to maginstruments. These words are just good enough for the envysitors!) In exchange for their skills, Olwizcomyrians receive some small favors that keep everybody happy.
Of course envysitors, those who could not cast the smallest spell or pull the least magic clothes out of the nothingness, had to remain unaware of what was happening. For those ones, Olwizcomyr was only this village, away from the main cities, where weirdoes were claiming they were inventing new flying broomsticks or mirrors with fabulous magical powers.
Nobody had ever suspected a single second what was going on in Olwizcomyr. Even when this famous blurred picture of a woman flying on top of a broomstick was published a century ago. The picture traveled around the world but never convinced many people and was eventually forgotten. Nevertheless, it is really at Olwizcomyr and in another handful of places in the world, like Tuttipermaggio, Sekessamagikissi or Tatamajikado, that all magic cauldrons, flying broomsticks or magic mirrors are really pull out of the nothingness by the unmatched skill of the men and women living there.
Olwizcomyr was rarely closed to the envysitors but on this bright day, the heavy grid that was blocking the entrance had been pushed down. A very serious event was to take place that no envysitor could witness. Today was the Day of the Fabulous Dust.
This celebration, that was the reason why Clovis had gone chasing Will-O’-the Wisps, only took place once every fifteen years and it was during this Day that the Fabulous Dust was harvested. This magic dust had made Olwizcomyr famous amongst the real sorcerers.
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