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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7417877" data-attributes="member: 143">Today's post marks the end of Book 7 of the story. Book 8 begins Monday.* * * Chapter 159Their second meeting with the Circle was in rather plainer surroundings.  The small meeting room was located on the first floor of the great tower, with only a single window that opened onto an empty courtyard.  Tamrek and Ostrick were already waiting for them when they arrived, and Konstantin and Javerin went immediately to join them around the central table.  The gnome was taking notes in a leather folio as they entered, which he closed as the others came in.“No observers today?” Xeeta asked.“Messengers have been sent to the Palace and the Aureate Circle,” Ostrick said.  “But we thought it might be useful to discuss a few matters with you first.”“The fact that the elves and dwarves responded so close together,” Quellan said as the companions took the vacant seats around the table.  “Does that suggest that they have been communicating—and coordinating—amongst themselves?”“It could just be a coincidence,” Konstantin pointed out.“Nothing else has been thus far,” Kosk said.“During the days of the Alliance, relations between the elves and dwarves were poor,” Ostrick said.  “There is a long historical antipathy between the two nations.”“Perhaps having a common rival has brought them together,” Xeeta suggested.“Arresh is hardly a rival,” Konstantin said.“The kingdom has expanded the most since the days of the Dead King,” Quellan said.  “The borders of the elven and dwarven kingdoms have remained more or less static.  There may not have been any direct clashes, but they cannot help but note that, even leaving aside the issue of the humans’ control over the Libram.”“A control that seems doubtful at the moment,” Glori said.  “That could have them worried.”“Maybe you’d better just tell us what they said,” Kosk said.  “Javerin wouldn’t tell us anything on the way over here.”“For now, we are being cautious about who knows about this,” Ostrick said.“Word will get out,” Glori said.“That is likely,” Konstantin.  “But even so attention to security is prudent.”“Well, we’re in a secure room now, presumably,” Kosk said.  “You wouldn’t have brought us here if you didn’t have something to say.  Let’s start with the elves.”Ostrick opened his book and briefly consulted his notes.  “We were contacted by an official of the elvish court, name of Majerion.”Glori felt a cold fist clench in her gut.  She didn’t think she’d betrayed anything in her face, but before the gnome could continue Tamrek said to her, “You know him?”“Yes,” Glori said.“I’ve heard you mention his name a few times,” Quellan said.  “He was your mentor, wasn’t he?”Glori could feel her heart racing, but she willed her features to remain calm.  “Yes, that is true.”“Would you say that he is an honest man, in general?” Konstantin said.“I have never known him to say anything untrue,” Glori said.  That didn’t stop him from abandoning me, she didn’t add.“That’s good, having a personal link might be useful,” Konstantin said.“We have another one, a person here in Severon who has a connection to the elvish royal house,” Javerin said.“You are from Tal Nadesh, are you not?” Tamrek asked.“I was born there,” Glori said.  “Not in the city, one of the border settlements.  But I left when I was very young, and haven’t been back.”“Do you wish to return?” the aged wizard prodded.The others are looked at her, but it was Tamrek’s gaze that held her.  There was more to that question than it first seemed, and she wondered just how much the wizards knew about her past.  “I would like to go,” she heard herself saying.“Are you sure?” Bredan asked.  If the wizard’s eyes held judgment, Bredan’s held quiet support.  Glori took his hand and squeezed it.  “Yes,” she said.“I will go to Tal Nadesh as well,” Kosk said.  Glori turned to the dwarf in surprise, but his expression held only firm commitment.“We’ll all go,” Bredan said.“That cannot be,” Tamrek said.“Why not?” Bredan asked.Tamrek nodded toward Ostrick.  “The message from the dwarves said that they would accept an embassy, on one condition,” the gnome said.“What condition?” Glori asked.“That Bredan Karras be part of it.”The companions all shared a stunned look at that.  “Me?” Bredan asked.“How do they even know about you?” Glori asked.“I assume that you did not mention his name in your original communication,” Kosk said.“We did not,” Javerin said.  “Nor do we know how they learned of him.”There was something in her look that had Glori straightening in her chair.  “You’re not saying that you think it was one of us.”“We’ve made no such accusation,” Konstantin said.“It could be that the dwarven court has a source of information in Severon,” Xeeta said.“We have not ruled anything out,” Ostrick said.“What could they want with you?” Glori asked, turning to Bredan.“I suppose there’s only one way to find out,” he said.“There is a temple of Hosrenu in Ironcrest,” Javerin said.  “I believe that the authorities of your church would endorse the idea of you joining the embassy, Master Emberlane.”“The dwarves are not particularly friendly toward those who have orcish ancestry,” Quellan said.“Nor are the elves, or the humans for that matter,” Glori said.“I’ll take Quellan, and Xeeta,” Bredan said.  “If they want me, then they can host my friends as well.”“We have already prepared a proposal,” Ostrick said.  “We just wanted to get your approval first.”“You should go with them,” Glori said to Kosk.  “I’ll be fine, it’s not like the elves are going to do anything to me.”“I can’t go to Ironcrest,” Kosk said.  He looked across the table at the wizards.  None of them said anything, but it was obvious in their faces that they knew the reason why.“If we have to split up, I’d rather each of us has someone to watch their backs,” Bredan said.  “Are you okay with that, Xeeta?”“Better than staying here alone,” she said.“So, what do we do, just show up and ask if we can borrow their key to the Vault?” Glori asked.“There will be a formal emissary accompanying each group,” Javerin said.  “I will be the one going to the elves, Konstantin to the dwarves.  We will be leading the negotiations.”“The crown will just go along with that?” Kosk asked.“Unless they can manage a teleportation spell on their own, I would imagine they would have to,” Xeeta said.  “Or at least I assume that we will be using an expedited means of travel.”“The dwarven city does not have an arrival circle within its environs, but that is essentially the case,” Konstantin said.“And if they refuse to turn over their keys?” the tiefling pressed.“Well, we certainly cannot compel them,” Konstantin said.  “But we all have a common interest in dealing with the threat posed by these Blooded, and if the book is somehow connected with their activities…”“So, hope for the best, is what you’re saying,” Kosk said.“You have placed yourself in the middle of all this through your actions,” Tamrek said.  “If you still seek the answers you said you wanted, then I see no other course but to see this through to the end.”</blockquote>

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