Perelia takes a long, full hour to prepare her spells, as is customary. She focuses on her breathing, keeping her mind and body still and relaxed. The day before had been a rush, violent and full. This next day would be just as harried, and likely more so; though they had a plan, it was sure to not last through the first encounter with their foe. No plan did, and she should know; planning was the hallmark of a successful wizard.

And so she did what every wizard should do when faced with turmoil; she prepared. She gathered what she knew about her day to come, and then she began to forge in her mind the structure and framework of the spells for the day. First came her cantrips, the small and simple pieces of magic that were the bread and butter of most less experienced mages. Prestidigitation was the first spell she memorized; that page in her spellbook was heavily-thumbed and studied, and the margins were nearly black with her personal notes and thoughts. It was an endlessly versatile spell, and though it had no combat potential its utility was unmatched: cleaning, coloring, scenting, lighting wicks or making windows opaque. She built in her mind the elegent, simple structure of the spell, and she knew that it was firmly entrenched in her thoughts to the degree that she could use it endlessly through the day; such a thing was difficult to achieve, though all wizards picked up the trick sooner or later.

Next came Detect Magic, which would afford her some ability at seeing illusions and at determining what items were magical or mundane. Then Light, because her foes would be better equipped for darkness than herself, and far more prepared for it than the muddy-eyed humans. And finally, a spell to protect her and one that could help change the flow of battle; Caltrops, a simple but effective conjuration that could hamper or harm heavy-footed foes, like any thugs the drow may have with them.

With the small, simple mental architecture of her cantrips tucked away in her thoughts, Perelia turned the pages of her spellbook to her first-level spells, which would do much of the heavy lifting throughout the day. Disguise Self, to make herself an image of the old man or his daughter. Grease, because of how effective it had been the day before, and because the drow had no ability to resist conjuration effects. And finally she prepared Protection from Evil and Mage Armor; while she could use her bow or wands for offense, nothing would serve her so well in a long fight as a solid defense, both against blade and against magic.

Then she turned to less-worn pages, and each spell in this section of her book took two of them. The mental framework she was constructing now was far more delicate, more intricate; for her power to flow through it correctly she needed extremely focus and concentration. She had spend a year or so preparing second level spells, however, and she was beginning to get quite the knack for it; her progress had speed considerably. She prided herself in her magical versatility, but for the day to come she focused on the conjurations that she knew; it was common knowledge that the drow had the ability to resist magic targeted at them directly, and the only indirect combat spells she knew were all conjuration.

Glitterdust, to blind and foil any illusions or invisible foes. Web, to entangle and entrap, and to allow them to take some enemies alive for questioning and interrogation. Summon Swarm, though it was distasteful, was a brutally efficient combat spell, and it would last as long as she needed it to. She would have to be careful, however; the swarm was uncontrollable, and would kill until she unbound the magic keeping it active.

And then Perelia did something that would make even experienced wizards turn their head. Something that would make Noristour question her intently, should he find out. She prepared an empty space in her mind, a space ready to be filled with any spell that she knew. She filled it with a pure structure, a mental space that could be collapsed or expanded with infinite flexibility into a spell-frame in seconds. It was the culmination of her life's work, and the true validation of all of her effort into seeking the commonality of magic. It was hers, and she was proud of what she could do with it.

Perelia was coming out of her trance and preparations when she heard Roen's call. She turned looking to her window, and she quickly began to dress and prepare her body to match her mind. The plan may last a very short time indeed, if the enemy was already at their gates.