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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3269116" data-attributes="member: 143">You are all very observant.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> My trip is going forward, so I'll post again tomorrow morning, then again Thursday night when I get back, and Friday at the usual time (and with the usual cliffhanger). * * * * * Chapter 78MOVING IN HIGH CIRCLESThe man known as the Patriarch, High Priest of the Shining Father in the city of Camar, entered his private office.  The place, situated directly above the Holy Nave in the architectural marvel that was the Great Cathedral, was traditionally a place of reflection and virtue for the most powerful cleric of Camar’s dominant religion.  The High Priest had a staff of twenty working in the public office below, but here, through three windows that offered magnifent views of the city and the bay beyond, the nominal leader of the city’s faithful could stand in silent and solitary contemplation of the greatness of the gods’ creation. The Patriarch had crossed the floor halfway to his desk when he paused, and frowned.  There was a large object on his desk, covered in a square of black silk.  Grasping his holy symbol, the Patriach summoned the power of the Father, sensing for the presence of evil.  Whatever the thing under the cover was, it was not malevolent.  Curious, the cleric was about to detect for magic when a voice brought his attention around.  “Hello, Gaius.”The cleric started and spun around, his hand still clutched tight upon his holy symbol.  His eyes widened as a figure stepped out of the air, and then his face twisted into a snarl as he recognized the intruder. “Varo!  You dare to come here?”“Calm yourself.  I only wish to talk with you for a moment.”“Heretic!  I have no interest in hearing your words!”  Summoning the power of his patron, he surrounded himself with a Shield of Law. “Impressive.  But I have no intention of attacking you, Gaius.”“Then you shall feel the vengeance that your victims have cried out for,” the cleric hissed, reaching out for his magic once more. “Kylan Toledra.”The cleric flinched as though he’d been struck a physical blow.  “What?”“You know the name, Patriarch.  If I do not leave this chamber, it and four other names: Lale Tonneth, Palden Sur, Allen Jangar, and Edwin Karedes, will be spoken the length and breadth of Camar. “How... how could you know...”“The Church of the Father is no stranger to scandal, of course.  But to have in the passing of a single year, in one province, five boys, three priests in three different villages...”“You are delusional if you think you can stain me with those names!  I was blameless...”“I am sorry, I did not mean to imply that you were the perpetrator of such vile acts, Patriarch.  But as it happens, you were the bishop of the diocese of Yelen when those cases occurred.  Strange, how the cases never came before the Ecclesiastic Council, isn’t it?  And while all three priests retired soon thereafter, there was no formal punishment, was there?”The Patriarch fixed Varo with a stare that was equal parts hatred and dread.  “What do you want, heathen?”Varo nodded in the direction of the covered object upon the Patriarch’s desk.  Wary, the high priest walked over to his desk.  He shot a glance back at Varo, as if suspecting that the other cleric would creep up behind him to strike.  But Varo merely stood where he had been, watching. “What foul artifact is this?” the Patriarch asked. “See for yourself.”The Patriarch grabbed onto the silk cloth and drew it back.  Below, shining brightly in the diffuse late afternoon light coming through the room’s tall windows, was the bronze bowl that Varo had taken from Banth’s quarters in Rappan Athuk.  Recently polished, it gleamed brilliantly, the deeply etched runes around the perimeter of the bowl catching the light. “It is a brazier of commanding fire elementals,” Varo said.  “Sulphur, added to the flame, greatly augments the potency of the conjured creature.  To that I can personally attest.”The Patriarch looked at him, suspicion obvious in his eyes. “Oh, it is genuine, Gaius,” Varo said.  “Feel free to use your diviniatory powers to confirm it; I will wait.”“The summoning words?”Varo drew out a small, tightly-wound parchment scroll.  “I will hand them to you when we have reached an amiable exchange.  I imagine, that with all the symbolism of the ‘burning torch’ and the ‘warding flame’ that the holy church uses, this item will be quite... useful, for you to possess.  If nothing else, it might liven up the Midsummer Flame ritual somewhat.”The Patriarch had run his fingers along the edge of the bowl as Varo had spoken, but now he turned around.  “I will not lend the power of the Most Holy Church to the aid of the cult of the Dark Creeper.”“Nor would I ask you to.  No, you know as well as I that my ‘cult’, as you call it, is riven.  The church of Dagos is in ruins; my former associates have been imprisoned and tortured to death by the Duke and his enforcers.  No, what I have in mind, it is... more personal.”“By all rights, I should call upon the power of the Father and finish the job, right now.”Varo tsked.  “You could, although I should warn you, my own power has been augmented considerably since you had me sent to my doom.  But you are forgetting something.  The names, Gaius.  The names.” The high priest considered.  Varo looked calm, but he had to make an effort not to reach up and grasp his own divine focus, the same one that he had crafted for himself in Rappan Athuk. “What do you want, then?” the Patriarch finally asked. “Three things; a bargain given the value of that bowl.  A fully-charged wand of cure serious wounds.  A scroll with the greater restoration spell scribed upon it.  And finally, a periapt of wisdom, the most powerful of the three varieties.”“The church does not have one of the last in its inventory,” the Patriarch responded. “Oh, the one that you wear will suffice,” Varo said.  “It is a bargain, Gaius, considering the added value of silence that you earn as a free bonus.  Even if you do not elect to keep the bowl, you could certainly sell it to the Guild of Sorcery for enough gold to build another cathedral to the glory of the Father.”“I will need to go down to the Vaults to...”“No.  You will call Baden Nosk, your private secretary.  You will tell him to bring the wand and the scroll from the repository in the Lesser Nave.  If you do anything else, or embellish beyond my instructions, then our deal is null and void.”“I sometimes forget that you were once one of us, Varo.”“Sometimes I do as well, Gaius.  Please decide now.  I have other appointments to attend to this day.”The high priest did as he was bidden, calling his secretary via the pull cord set into the wall behind his desk.  Varo stepped into the shadows on the far side of the room where he’d first appeared, out of direct sight of the door.  The young Nosk, clad in a crisp robe of new wool, appeared within a minute.  He listed to the Patriarch’s orders without comment, and descended immediately to fulfill them. While they waited, Varo asked, “How fares Valus?”“Valus?”  “Yes.  Last I saw, he and Lord Sobol were fighting off a veritable army of humanoids that did not seem at all pleased at their presence in the region.”“I was surprised to see one of the Duke’s creatures in the company of one of the higher priests of the Conclave,” Varo said.  “From what I have heard, relations between the lord of Camar and the church have been strained of late.”“The church does not take sides in temporal disputes,” the Patriarch said.  “The Duke is the lawful ruler of Camar.”“Still, some of his policies must be galling.  His ban on the casting of spells in his presence is unprecedented, I believe.  And from what I have heard, the entire Palace is warded to reveal the use of any magic upon its premises.”“Such measures are directed against the Guild, not against the church.  The Duke is a pious man.”  “Ah, yes, of course.”“And there are still rebels who refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Duke.  But as your foul cult was destroyed, so too shall all other threats to order and the stability of the state be dealt with.  Then, the security measures will be less necessary.”“The justification of exigency is one of the oldest tales in the book.”“I will not argue political theory with one of the fallen.”“Theology then, perhaps?”The Patriarch fell silent, and the two waited for several minutes in uneasy quiet.  Finally, Nosk returned, bearing a small white satchel.  “Excuse me, Patriarch... I thought I heard voices on the stairs.”“It is of no concern, Nosk.”“As you say, Patriarch.”  The secretary waited for a moment, but when it became clear that there were no further orders, he turned and departed, closing the door behind him. The high priest opened up the satchel, and examined its contents.  He took an amulet from a slender silver chain around his neck, and added it to the package.  “Here, take it,” he said, offering it to Varo.  Varo came across the room and took the satchel.  He examined the contents briefly, then witih a flick of his wrist tossed the tiny scroll into the bowl.  “Our business is concluded.”With a last glance at Varo, the Patriarch took up the scroll and unrolled it.  The words written upon it were in an unfamiliar language, but the cleric could feel the echo of power within them.  Varo hadn’t tricked him; the command words were legitimate. “Varo, I had best not...” he said, turning. The cleric was gone. “Nosk.”The door opened, and the Patriarch’s secretary walked back into the room.  “You heard?” The man nodded.  The Patriarch’s fist tightened on the scroll in his hand.  “Prepare a message for me,” he said.  “To Lord Sobol, at the Ducal Palace.  Begins: My good friend, I have news to share...”</blockquote>

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