havenstone
First Post
The Book of Gray and Gold
CHINGAN DAI EAGERLY leads the three refugees to the Dragon Path safe house in the Lakshari qohei – and the party is finally reunited! Over several celebratory bottles of rice wine, Atrix and Darren tell everyone the epic tale of their escape from the Imperial Palace. (It's the first of many, many retellings, each of which will be slightly more exciting and elaborate).
When they get to their encounter with the gravel-voiced Beggarmaster of Tziwan, Chandur whistles softly. "Old Tchuchek guessed which sewer you'd drop out of? It's said he knows the underside of Tziwan better than anyone else, but that's so impressive as to be frightening. Surely he must have had help from some kind of Divination."
Chingan Dai's expression is grim. "We feared he'd caught scent of us. I wonder how many other escaped slaves that old wolf has left out as bait. The Founders need to know about this as soon as possible."
"What would it mean if the thieves did find out about the Dragons?" Meeshak asks.
"We don't know," Njitra replies, pensive. "Thanks to Chingan Dai, we know that Thieflord Zhenan of Tziwan has a secret understanding with the Minister of Security. The Shrouded Path carries out nasty little missions that the Empire doesn't want to dirty its hands with – or that the Security Ministry wants to keep secret from other Ministries. In exchange, Minister Goru keeps the Shroud qohei from being scoured too aggressively by the Watch. If Zhenan sees us as a threat to such a profitable relationship, he might set Minister Goru's minions onto our trail."
"While we're speaking of Goru's minions," Ontaya interjects, "there was a wizard at the slave market the day we were sold – Archmaster Orozu – who was the most thoroughly evil man I've ever sensed. They said he lived on the estate of Minister Goru."
Chingan Dai's voice remains steady, but the blood has visibly left his cheeks. "Since you will probably be caught up in these things, we should speak of them more clearly. Minister Goru himself is a corpulent, dissolute fool. When we speak of the Ministry of Security, we are really speaking of Orozu. If the Archmaster were not distracting himself by trying to replicate the greatest horrors of the ancient Empire, he might pose more of a threat to the Dragon Path than anyone else in Tziwan."
As a more somber mood settles on the room, Darren tells their friends about their failed attempt to rescue Kay from Graiqal. Fighting tears, Carywn implores Chingan Dai to find Lune – the last of their close Senalline friends to remain unaccounted for.
"We already have men working to find him, Carwyn," the Szianar spymaster assures her. "We must take great care in retrieving him, so as to not draw the attention of the Empire or the Beggarmaster. But if he's alive, we will save him – don't fear."
Much later, Meeshak privately comments to Chandur that Chingan Dai seemed intensely affected by the mention of Archmaster Orozu. The young Lakshari nods, looking bleak. "His late wife Ujeli, Tiya's mother, was a slave on the Goru estate. I helped Chingan rescue her – that was six years ago. Ujeli didn't speak of it, but I know she'd seen some of Orozu's... experiments, as closely as anyone can and still stay sane. I don't know what that dark bastard's doing, but he's killed literally hundreds of slaves to do it. Chingan Dai hates him worse than anyone else in the world."
FOR TWO MORE weeks, the party keeps a low profile in the shielded cellar. Atrix, Darren and Lucian have their scarred shoulders Healed, removing all trace of the slave brand. Several of the literate Northern party members begin learning to read and write Xaimani script. Rian and Shihara pore over their new spellbook, trying to memorize the long runic incantations.
Ontaya asks Njitra to help her read some books of religious lore, and eventually concludes to her satisfaction that the Ain of the North and the Ii of the South are One. The theology of the South is fairly sound by the standards of her paladin order – setting aside, of course, one appalling moral oversight. The Empire-wide institution of slavery seems like a far bigger evil for Ain to tolerate than even the tortures of the Sistechern Order; Ontaya is still amazed that the priests of the South have retained the blessing of Ain. She reminds herself that, according to the doctrine of her own Order, Ain does not promise to intervene on any question which His servants could settle using their own reason, conscience, and willpower. Slavery clearly must be such an issue.
Wholly bored by the theological discussions on the other side of the safe house, Chandur does his charismatic best to seduce Carwyn. She half-heartedly flirts back – he is a very pretty man, and old habits die hard – but ultimately resists his propositions, her mind still set on Lune. Her hope is rewarded one day when Njitra returns from a brief visit to Dragon Path headquarters. "They've found Lune. He's working a tile table at at the House of Shattered Knives."
For a second, Carwyn's whole body goes weak with relief; she almost drops little Hamber. "Is he all right?"
"He's had a hard time – I won't lie to you," Njitra sighs. "He's in one of the roughest gambling dens in the Shroud qohei. But he's winning money for his masters, and as long as he keeps that up, they're going to keep him alive."
Carywn groans. "Damn it. We can't rescue him yet, can we?" Hamber starts crying, half-understanding the desolation in her voice.
Njitra kneels in front of her, putting a hand to his heart. "Carwyn, as soon as the furor over your escape has completely died down, we'll find a way to extract him. I promise you."
NJITRA ALSO TOSSES a musty-smelling old book to Rian and Shihara. "Chingan Dai asks you to look after this for him."
"Really?" Rian says, surprised and excited. "We're still a long way from working our way through the first spellbook."
"Keep working on it," Njitra grins. "You couldn't get this one open if you tried. One of our questing parties retrieved it from a forgotten library in Niyon, and Zhensu asked Chingan Dai to send it somewhere safe – we try not to keep too many treasures in any one base. Can either of you read the seal?"
Shihara looks away, trying to hide her embarrassment, while Rian examines the weighty tome. A tarnished silver strap wraps around the book, with an ornate runic sigil at the clasp. "It looks like the runes for 'gray' and 'gold,' engraved on top of each other," she replies after a moment. "With slight priority to the first. So, Gray-Gold?"
"That's what Zhensu said. A lot of spellbooks will have a seal like that. The runes are usually a hint to the words that need to be spoken to unlock the book. If you tried to break the seal, it would destroy the contents. We're trying to Divine what the unlocking words might be."
"Ii usually doesn't give a plain answer to such questions, blessed be His confusing ways," Chandur chimes in, "but occasionally He renders a helpful hint."
"The runic script doesn't look quite right," Rian ventures. When she runs her hands over the cracked leather cover, they come away feeling tingly and cold.
"It's how they wrote runes about three hundred years ago," Njitra says, smiling. "Archmaster Zhensu was quite excited about it. He thinks it might be one of the lost books of the Gray Archmage."
"Really?" Rian gasps, feeling a sudden unexpected vertigo. She knows almost nothing about the Gray Archmage – just half-remembered fireside stories about a hero who saved the Empire by defeating three evil wizards. The idea that she could be holding a relic from that legendary age is absurd – and intoxicating.
"So he thinks. We'll see what the priests say. Meanwhile, would you look after it?"
"Of course I wi..." Rian breaks off as Shihara coughs pointedly. "Of course we will."
CHINGAN DAI EAGERLY leads the three refugees to the Dragon Path safe house in the Lakshari qohei – and the party is finally reunited! Over several celebratory bottles of rice wine, Atrix and Darren tell everyone the epic tale of their escape from the Imperial Palace. (It's the first of many, many retellings, each of which will be slightly more exciting and elaborate).
When they get to their encounter with the gravel-voiced Beggarmaster of Tziwan, Chandur whistles softly. "Old Tchuchek guessed which sewer you'd drop out of? It's said he knows the underside of Tziwan better than anyone else, but that's so impressive as to be frightening. Surely he must have had help from some kind of Divination."
Chingan Dai's expression is grim. "We feared he'd caught scent of us. I wonder how many other escaped slaves that old wolf has left out as bait. The Founders need to know about this as soon as possible."
"What would it mean if the thieves did find out about the Dragons?" Meeshak asks.
"We don't know," Njitra replies, pensive. "Thanks to Chingan Dai, we know that Thieflord Zhenan of Tziwan has a secret understanding with the Minister of Security. The Shrouded Path carries out nasty little missions that the Empire doesn't want to dirty its hands with – or that the Security Ministry wants to keep secret from other Ministries. In exchange, Minister Goru keeps the Shroud qohei from being scoured too aggressively by the Watch. If Zhenan sees us as a threat to such a profitable relationship, he might set Minister Goru's minions onto our trail."
"While we're speaking of Goru's minions," Ontaya interjects, "there was a wizard at the slave market the day we were sold – Archmaster Orozu – who was the most thoroughly evil man I've ever sensed. They said he lived on the estate of Minister Goru."
Chingan Dai's voice remains steady, but the blood has visibly left his cheeks. "Since you will probably be caught up in these things, we should speak of them more clearly. Minister Goru himself is a corpulent, dissolute fool. When we speak of the Ministry of Security, we are really speaking of Orozu. If the Archmaster were not distracting himself by trying to replicate the greatest horrors of the ancient Empire, he might pose more of a threat to the Dragon Path than anyone else in Tziwan."
As a more somber mood settles on the room, Darren tells their friends about their failed attempt to rescue Kay from Graiqal. Fighting tears, Carywn implores Chingan Dai to find Lune – the last of their close Senalline friends to remain unaccounted for.
"We already have men working to find him, Carwyn," the Szianar spymaster assures her. "We must take great care in retrieving him, so as to not draw the attention of the Empire or the Beggarmaster. But if he's alive, we will save him – don't fear."
Much later, Meeshak privately comments to Chandur that Chingan Dai seemed intensely affected by the mention of Archmaster Orozu. The young Lakshari nods, looking bleak. "His late wife Ujeli, Tiya's mother, was a slave on the Goru estate. I helped Chingan rescue her – that was six years ago. Ujeli didn't speak of it, but I know she'd seen some of Orozu's... experiments, as closely as anyone can and still stay sane. I don't know what that dark bastard's doing, but he's killed literally hundreds of slaves to do it. Chingan Dai hates him worse than anyone else in the world."
FOR TWO MORE weeks, the party keeps a low profile in the shielded cellar. Atrix, Darren and Lucian have their scarred shoulders Healed, removing all trace of the slave brand. Several of the literate Northern party members begin learning to read and write Xaimani script. Rian and Shihara pore over their new spellbook, trying to memorize the long runic incantations.
Ontaya asks Njitra to help her read some books of religious lore, and eventually concludes to her satisfaction that the Ain of the North and the Ii of the South are One. The theology of the South is fairly sound by the standards of her paladin order – setting aside, of course, one appalling moral oversight. The Empire-wide institution of slavery seems like a far bigger evil for Ain to tolerate than even the tortures of the Sistechern Order; Ontaya is still amazed that the priests of the South have retained the blessing of Ain. She reminds herself that, according to the doctrine of her own Order, Ain does not promise to intervene on any question which His servants could settle using their own reason, conscience, and willpower. Slavery clearly must be such an issue.
Wholly bored by the theological discussions on the other side of the safe house, Chandur does his charismatic best to seduce Carwyn. She half-heartedly flirts back – he is a very pretty man, and old habits die hard – but ultimately resists his propositions, her mind still set on Lune. Her hope is rewarded one day when Njitra returns from a brief visit to Dragon Path headquarters. "They've found Lune. He's working a tile table at at the House of Shattered Knives."
For a second, Carwyn's whole body goes weak with relief; she almost drops little Hamber. "Is he all right?"
"He's had a hard time – I won't lie to you," Njitra sighs. "He's in one of the roughest gambling dens in the Shroud qohei. But he's winning money for his masters, and as long as he keeps that up, they're going to keep him alive."
Carywn groans. "Damn it. We can't rescue him yet, can we?" Hamber starts crying, half-understanding the desolation in her voice.
Njitra kneels in front of her, putting a hand to his heart. "Carwyn, as soon as the furor over your escape has completely died down, we'll find a way to extract him. I promise you."
NJITRA ALSO TOSSES a musty-smelling old book to Rian and Shihara. "Chingan Dai asks you to look after this for him."
"Really?" Rian says, surprised and excited. "We're still a long way from working our way through the first spellbook."
"Keep working on it," Njitra grins. "You couldn't get this one open if you tried. One of our questing parties retrieved it from a forgotten library in Niyon, and Zhensu asked Chingan Dai to send it somewhere safe – we try not to keep too many treasures in any one base. Can either of you read the seal?"
Shihara looks away, trying to hide her embarrassment, while Rian examines the weighty tome. A tarnished silver strap wraps around the book, with an ornate runic sigil at the clasp. "It looks like the runes for 'gray' and 'gold,' engraved on top of each other," she replies after a moment. "With slight priority to the first. So, Gray-Gold?"
"That's what Zhensu said. A lot of spellbooks will have a seal like that. The runes are usually a hint to the words that need to be spoken to unlock the book. If you tried to break the seal, it would destroy the contents. We're trying to Divine what the unlocking words might be."
"Ii usually doesn't give a plain answer to such questions, blessed be His confusing ways," Chandur chimes in, "but occasionally He renders a helpful hint."
"The runic script doesn't look quite right," Rian ventures. When she runs her hands over the cracked leather cover, they come away feeling tingly and cold.
"It's how they wrote runes about three hundred years ago," Njitra says, smiling. "Archmaster Zhensu was quite excited about it. He thinks it might be one of the lost books of the Gray Archmage."
"Really?" Rian gasps, feeling a sudden unexpected vertigo. She knows almost nothing about the Gray Archmage – just half-remembered fireside stories about a hero who saved the Empire by defeating three evil wizards. The idea that she could be holding a relic from that legendary age is absurd – and intoxicating.
"So he thinks. We'll see what the priests say. Meanwhile, would you look after it?"
"Of course I wi..." Rian breaks off as Shihara coughs pointedly. "Of course we will."
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