The next day, Gareth, Korm and Luna arrive at Trillia's in the morning to meet Nameless and Six. With them they bring a copy of the Korranberg Chronicle, checking which has become a group ritual for the Angels.
This edition reports that the problem of the aberrations in the Mror Holds is diminishing, with the dwarven clans having wiped out the majority, albeit with substantial loss of lives and property. There is a story about an explosion in Regalport and an undead attack, probably connected to the necromancer who won the spell battle reported a couple days ago. Silver Flame investigators checking on horrid lycanthropes in western Aundair say that they may be entering from Droaam, rather than the Eldeen Reaches, as originally suspected. Some alarmists say that this may lead to another crusade against lycanthropes, but most agree that it is highly unlikely, partly because there are not enough lycanthropes in existence and partly because the Church's connection with Thrane makes such an act in the wake of the Last War a hugely political event. More news from Droaam says that giant cockatrices have appeared in the mountains and have been attacking travelers, resulting in Houses Orien and Lyrandar announcing high fees for adventurers willing to guard their caravans and airships. Closer to home, the Ir'Tains of Sharn are supposedly planning to commission a huge elemental galleon from House Lyrandar. Across the border in Zilargo, the bard Brodden Dendle has put on a very successful 1-man show called "The Truth about Merrix" in Trolanport.
While reading and discussing the paper, the Angels receive another message from Captain Talleon. It says that on the 19th, Ras will be visiting the Lava Pit, a restaurant in the Cogs below Tavick's Landing, and then entering Khyber's Gate to visit one of the Shadow Markets there. The Angels are to reach the Lava Pit just before 7 pm, stay for dinner, leave when Ras does, follow him to Khyber's Gate and throughout his time there, and then guard him back up to the surface, where they will leave him. The customary secret portion of the message says that the one additional aspect of the job is to tail Ras back to the Citadel. It also mentions that Talleon will stop by Carosten Park in the evening to meet the group.
Having digested that information, the group heads to the Cathedral, making a stop at the Augury first. There, they find Kestia expecting them. She checks if their search for the lost items was successful and then proceeds to tell them what she has discovered.
"I began with an
augury, as I normally do," she says, "Asking about using a
divination to find Arrok's killer. The response was 'weal and woe', which doesn't say much, but it's both better than simply 'woe' and indicative that there might be some use in a
divination. Which I then proceeded to do, to no avail. It was as if something was blocking my magic."
"So it just didn't work?" asks Nameless.
"At that point. But I've experience with such things and protective magic before. They are rarely usable beyond a certain period of time and can also be worked around. So I tried
divinations at various points in the day, varying the time and question. Eventually, on my fourth try, I got an answer. The question I asked was 'How do we find Arrok's murderer?' The response was 'Dust stirs in Tyrial Dashar's lair, where the circle was broken and may be again'. Does that mean anything to any of you?"
Luna looks around at the others and says, "Wasn't there something about dust in Flamewind's prophecy?"
"Yes," says Nameless. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the Lords of Dust that Trillia mentioned."
Kestia says, "I see you are well informed about these matters. I did wonder about that too. As for Tyrial Dashar, that is a more local reference, which you may not know. He was reputed to be a powerful conjuror, who disappeared nearly four hundred years ago. It was shortly before the Esoteric Order and the Guild of Starlight and Shadows destroyed the Closed Circle (which he belonged to). Whether his disappearance had anything to do with that event is unknown. He was reputed to have had a secret lair somewhere in the city, I would presume in UnderSharn, but that's just a supposition."
"Well," she says, "That is what I have found. Obviously, no more
divinations on the subject will help. The next option with be a
contact other plane, but as we've discussed, that is better used when you have more information."
Nameless thanks Kestia and asks if any further payment is required. The magewright says it isn't necessary, asking only that the Angels keep her informed of what they find, since this case has piqued her curiosity. Nameless says he will do so and the Angels leave.
***
An hour later, all of them are sitting in a comfortable meeting room facing Ythana Morr. After she greets them and asks what it is that they wished to speak to her about, Gareth embarks on an explanation that whatever they tell her cannot be shared with anyone else, including anyone in the Church hierarchy, clearly implying (without actually saying so) that he would appreciate a promise of such from her.
Ythana looks at him for a long moment and then asks, "Does this involve something that would be a danger to the Church? Or the common people of Sharn?"
"Actually," puts in Nameless, "It's something that's a danger to anything and everything."
"And you wish me to keep something like that secret? Why?"
"Because revealing it may actually increase the danger. Substantially."
Ythana considers for a moment and says, "What if it seems to me that in order to aid you in dealing with this matter I need to inform people I trust?"
"No!" says Gareth, a little more abruptly than he'd intended, drawing a very cool look from her. He quickly adds, "Though I trust you completely, Archierophant, we cannot be sure of others whom we don't know."
Ythana's gaze doesn't shift for a while and then she says dryly, "And I make allowances for you because I trust you, as a worshipper of the Flame and a paladin." A faint flicker of humor crosses her face. "Even if you are a paladin who thinks he might be a fiend."
This comment leads to a minor digression, with Gareth and Nameless talking about the encounter with the daelkyr. When Nameless says, "Maybe the daelkyr was talking about your sword rather than you," Ythana looks slightly more amused. Her tone, however, is as dry as ever. "So now your sword is a fiend."
Before Gareth can reply, she lifts a hand and says, "Let us return to our primary subject." Instead of looking at Gareth, she looks around the table at the others and says, "Can I assume that Gareth's lack of trust for anyone I speak to is shared by ... or perhaps based on ... the rest of you?"
Nameless replies, "Yes. I do not trust you."
This time, the Archierophant's tone is glacial. "You do not trust
me?" Her gaze is at least as cold.
Nameless holds her gaze for a moment and then clarifies, "Rather, I don't trust the Church. With your track record, I'm sure you can understand why."
Gareth quickly adds, "Nameless has certain prejudices about the Church and..."
"Yes," says Ythana Morr calmly, very mild disappointment in her tone. "Many people do, judging the whole due to the failings of a small part. But that is not my problem." She lowers her head and there is a long pause before she looks up and says, "Very well. Tell me what you have to. I will not share the information."
Gareth then proceeds to explain the details about and situation of the Key, with Nameless adding in as needed. Ythana asks a question or two to clarify matters but mostly just listens.
Finally, she asks, "And you believe that this Key is capable of that kind of destruction?"
Gareth and Nameless for once agree that they aren't sure whether the Key itself can cause such destruction or whether it was a product (or perhaps by-product, partly caused by the nature of the island) of the Key's interaction with the dimensional seal.
Ythana listens and then says, "So how do you wish me to help you?"
"I don't think the Key is safe with us, so I'd feel better if it was somewhere with greater security, like this Cathedral. The only problem is that you couldn't let them know what they are guarding. Or actually even that they are guarding something, since that would attract attention."
Luna, who's been quite obviously fidgeting through the discussion, snorts and says, "Yeah, right! Like that would make the thing any more secure than with us!"
Ythana says, "I see your companion doesn't think much of your plan, Gareth."
"Neither do I," says Nameless. "I'm only here because Gareth insisted. As I've said, I don't think your Church can help us. And there's too much corruption there for me to trust them."
Ythana's tone goes colder again. "I think you will find corruption in every organization. And if you mistrust an entire group because of a few who are unworthy, where will you go for aid?"
"To the Gatekeepers." As Nameless says this, Korm leans forward on the table and nods, but doesn't say anything.
"The Gatekeepers? I am not an expert, but I believe their resources are seriously limited."
"Perhaps," says Nameless, "But this is an area of expertise for them. They're more focused on fighting such dangers than anyone else."
The expression on the Archierophant's face indicates that, if it weren't clearly inconceivable that she should do snort like Luna, she would do so. "The Church of the Silver Flame has been fighting supernatural evil from its inception. Every day, we stand between the common people of Khorvaire and dangers that even you, with your knowledge, have no conception of."
You'd be surprised! thinks Nameless, but doesn't say it aloud. All he says is, "Anyway, I am
not handing the Key over to the Church."
This comment promptly starts a yelling match between Gareth and Nameless. After watching silently for a minute or two, Ythana Morr raises her voice slightly and cuts across them. "This argument is pointless. The choice is yours, whether to bestow the item with the Cathedral or not. I will, as I have before," she adds pointedly, "Aid you however I can."
"Think you could help get these damn tattoos off us?" asks Luna.
"From what you have described, it might be a
geas or
quest enchantment. It is a form of curse and I can attempt to remove it, if you wish."
"Curse is right! And I wish, all right."
"Very well." Ythana casts a
detect magic, which she uses to scan the group (and then the Key, which Nameless lets her handle at her request). She then touches Luna's tattoo and performs a
remove curse, to no avail.
"Great!" says Luna, clearly disappointed. "Thanks anyway."
After a little more discussion, the Archierophant ends the meeting. "Remember," she says as they go, "I am willing to aid you as I can." With a look at Nameless, she says, "But that aid is limited by the amount of your trust." Nameless doesn't respond.
Once they leave, Gareth and Nameless begin their usual arguments, with Gareth arguing that it isn't Nameless' decision what to do with the Key but something that is up to a group decision, while Nameless is adamant that he's not giving the Key to the Church of the Silver Flame. With nothing resolved, they eventually end the argument when it's clear that none of the others are waiting around to hear them fight.
***
A few hours later, Talleon (in his halfling guise) stops by Carosten Park. He checks about exactly what happened with the mugging and comments that it wasn't a good idea to have Korm going to the Citadel, since that might make Ras suspicious about their interaction with him.
Nameless points out, "Since the muggers left a note referring to our guarding Tars, it makes sense for us to have contacted you."
Talleon says, "Yes, that makes it a lot more plausible, which is why I'm not canceling the job, which I'd considered. Do you think that Ras knows that you have been spying on him?"
The Angels look at each other and shrug, and Nameless says, "It's likely. The blue-eyed man very likely knows Luna followed him. We did warn you that stealth and subterfuge isn't our specialty."
"Yes, you did," agrees Talleon, not seeming concerned about it. "And you've done well so far. Hopefully your trip to the Cogs tomorrow will be helpful too. I would guess that you'll only need one more such job to wrap up this operation."
After checking if anyone has any questions, Talleon leaves, but not before saying that he will have his men collect the two muggers from Trillia's house. "I'm sure we'll be able to extract a little more information than they think they have," he says ominously, as he goes.
As they watch him leave, Korm unconsciously runs a hand over the hilt of his sword. "Gnomes!" he mutters. "Dolgrims and dolgaunts, gibbering mouthers and mindflayers - those, I can handle. But these gnomes are just creepy!"
Handled over email between sessions:
Shil:
Talleon leaving you guys occurs on the evening of the 18th. The next thing which you have planned is on the evening of the 19th, when you're supposed to be at the restaurant (the Lava Pit) in the Cogs when Raskalorn will be there and then follow Ras to Khyber's Gate, where he's visiting one of the underground markets, and back to the surface. Anything you do before that?
Rackhir:
"At that point. But I've experience with such things and protective magic before. They are rarely usable beyond a certain period of time and can also be worked around. So I tried divinations at various points in the day, varying the time and question. Eventually, on my fourth try, I got an answer. The question I asked was 'How do we find Arrok's murderer?' The response was 'Dust stirs in Tyrial Dashar's lair, where the circle was broken and may be again'.
It's probably worth bouncing this bit of info off of our other contacts like Flamewind, Havakhad and possibly even Talleon or the Blackened Book Guy. We should also check with the mage guilds.
Does Trillia know anything about him?
Shil:
You use the evening of the 18th and the morning of the 19th to do some checking with various sources. Here's what they say:
Trillia - "I'd done some checking on the Closed Circle when I first became interested in Xoriat, since they were supposedly quite strongly focused on the lore of the daelkyr and that of the Dragon Below. So strongly focused, in fact, that they scared both the Esoteric Order and the Guild of Starlight & Shadow into working together to eliminate them. Unfortunately, it seems that whatever lore about the Closed Circle was recovered (or previously existed) was then destroyed by mutual agreement of the two mage guilds. I'm quite sure some of the individual members, especially those involved in the destruction, might have kept titbits to themselves, but they never shared it openly enough for me to find any contacts. As for Tyrial Dashar, I've heard the name, but I can't remember anything besides him being one of their more powerful members and the fact that his mysterious disappearance was never solved."
Guild of Starlight & Shadow - The resident loremaster-cum-glorified-clerk who handles the library says that he doesn't really know much about the Closed Circle and points Nameless to a few old documents about the history of the Guild. Nameless finds a few references to the destruction of the Closed Circle. Though they provide little detail, they do confirm that the citadel of the Closed Circle was sealed physically and magically and that it was in the undercity of Sharn. In one of the older documents, Nameless catches an interesting titbit that isn't common knowledge. The Order and the Guild did not work alone against the Circle. They were apparently provided substantial aid by the Church of the Silver Flame, whose aid conclusively swung the fight against the Close Circle. Templars of the Church participated in the final attack and the sealing of the Circle's citadel. Tyrial Dashar is mentioned a few times in the old documents, but apparently was never involved in the last battles, having disappeared before that. He is described as a powerful conjuror, who specialized in binding magic. He was also apparently one of the more benevolent members of the Circle, having a workshop somewhere in the undercity not to hide from prying eyes but to avoid endangering Sharn with his experiments. Or so he claimed.
Esoteric Order - None of you is a member, so you can't get at their records.
Flamewind - Flamewind isn't present when you try to meet her.
Warden Balan Cord - "I've only heard of the Closed Circle as a bit of a legend and a supposed example of the madness of mages. And the disappearance of Tyrial Dashar is just one in the long list of unsolved magical mysteries out there. Maybe something he summoned ate him. It was 350 years ago, so let's just say that it's not something we're concerned with now. As for your friend Arrok, unfortunately, there's no good news there. We've done some magical checking but our divinations haven't come up with anything. Unless we have some kind of a break, that case is at a dead end. Nameless, of course, is clearly innocent and there are no worries on that score."
Havakhad - "The Closed Circle is something that I have heard of in passing, but I know nothing about it or this Tyrial Dashar. The kalashtar do what we can to protect Sharn from magical threats, but the Circle has been gone for centuries and has never been a concern for us. I unfortunately cannot tell you who murdered your companion, but I can tell you who did not. The quori were not involved. Without something more specific that I can use my abilities on (such as a murder weapon), I cannot be of much use, but the presence or taint of the quori is something I can always sense. And I have communed with my spirit and those of my people. They confirm that there is no sign of quori involvement in the matter of your dreams, and if they had been involved with the death of your companion, it would have registered too. Still, I will consider the matter of this murder and see if I can learn anything. As for the question of danger, I think you for the warning, but that is part the kalashtar life, though most around us do not know. And I am too old a man to worry about it. If the Lords of Dust are involved, then there is truly danger, though it is unlikely to be simple violence or what seems to be obvious. I have not faced them, though my people have, and they are subtle and patient. I will see if I can help in any way."