After a
refreshing night's sleep, they arise early, knowing that they have a
lot to accomplish during the day. Winnacer, Yaz, Kokal, Aithne and
the squires are all up around 6.30a.m. and all around the breakfast
table by 7.00a.m. There is no sign of either Will, Faewen'il or her
friend.
Winnacer brings the meeting to order:
"So, we have a great deal to do today and so I think that we shall
have to split up in order that we are able to accomplish everything."
He turns first to Milan and Tadeus:
"Milan, your task for the day is to prepare the horses for
departure early tomorrow. Please can you and Tadeus take them to the
forge of Lubosh Gladriel in the parish of Zelezny?"
"While you are there, you can also pick up Yaz' golden sickle and
the shot for the gunne that he should have finished by then."
The two squires nod their heads in agreement and then Winnacer
continues:
"I really would like to clear up our financial situation before we
depart this town. Now that Jihan is not with us, we need to find
someone who is able to identify the gems and jewelry that we took
from the chests yesterday."
"The Temple o' Kamen's yer best bet," interjects Kokal. "There
ain't no one 'oo knows more about gems an' rocks than the priests
there an' they'll give you a fair appraisal at a low price compared
to them robbers at the Cathedral o' Obkod."
"I checked all the stuff from the chests for magick earlier in the
morning," Yaz interjects. "All the potions and scrolls were magic,
but none of the gems and jewelry were. They were pretty though. They
must be worth a fair bit."
Winnacer nods:
"Very well, in that case I believe that this should be our first
destination. Once we have had the gems appraised, then I believe that
we should head on to the Great Library to see whether Vice Patriarch
Nechas has been able to identify the items that we gave him the day
before yesterday."
"Once we have all of the information at our disposal, then we can
divide everything up equitably."
"After that, then we all need to head off back to the Market
Square and collect the items that we have on order. I then need to
return to the Cathedral of Spravedelna after that."
"I've got to see the Lechitians tonight as well," Yaz adds
mysteriously. "I also wanted to check out the Herbalists' Guild as
well this afternoon, if there's a bit of time."
With the plans decided upon, they all finish up the breakfast and
then head out into the city. It is still dark when they leave the
inn, and still bitterly cold. They head off to the parish of the
Elder Gods and soon locate the small but sturdy looking granite
shrine to the Earth God, Zemnye. The low door is open and so they
walk inside, having to bend their head to enter, as it is only 5'
high. There are just a few worshippers and clerics inside the shrine,
all of them dwarves.
Winnacer walks up to the closest of the brown-clothed clerics and
coughs to get his attention.
The dwarf looks up at him with a bit of a scowl:
"What d'ya want?" he asks a little brusquely.
"Errm, a few gemstones have come into our possession and we
wondered whether it might be possible for you to take a look at
them?" Winnacer replies.
"You sure they're gemstones?" the dwarven cleric replies. "Most o'
you Bohavians can't tell the difference between gems and paste."
"Well let's be 'avin' a look at them and I'll soon be tellin' ye."
Yaz opens his pouch and produces the collection of gems and shows
them to the dwarf.
The dwarf takes a look at them and nods his head:
"Might be real. Might not," he says. "Bring 'em over 'ere to the
altar and let's be 'avin' a proper look at 'em."
Yaz dutifully takes them over to the altar and the dwarf carefully
lays them out on it. He says a short prayer over the displayed gems
and then takes a glass prism and looks over them carefully, pulling
up a lantern to give them some light.
They can tell by his smile and the way that his eyes begin to
shine that these are indeed the genuine article:
"Oh yes," he says gleefully. "These are the genuine article
alright."
He investigates all of the stones one by one, evaluating then as
he goes:
"These little yellow sunstones 'ere, not worth much, jus' 50g.p.
apiece, but there's 26 o' them, so they adds up. Then, these two
large black pearls are lovely; 500g.p. apiece. These three emeralds
are nice too; about the same as the pearls, 500g.p. each."
He then picks up the large sapphire:
"Now this IS a beauty," he says with a smile, "the best o' the
lot; 1,000g.p. worth, easy. These four topaz are OK, 250g.p. each and
these five titchy little diamonds are OK, but small; just 100g.p.
each."
He then turns his attention to the jewelry:
"These rings ain't nothin' special, but they're made o' platinum,
so they're worth 250g.p. each. But this jade necklace is absolutely
gorgeous; 1,500g.p. worth."
"So that's 6,000 gold pieces worth in total," he finishes. "You're
very lucky to be 'avin' 'em. Just makes sure that yer looks after
them properly an' treat Zemnye's treasure wiv the respect that they
warrant and deserve."
"We shall be sure to do that," Winnacer replies. "Now how much do
we owe you for your valuation?"
"Three per cent is the standard fee," the dwarf replies, "so that
will be 180g.p. I would prefer it in stones if you have it, though.
Much nicer than that metal stuff. Three of the small yellow sunstones
will do us fine."
Winnacer hands the dwarf the sunstones and then they all leave,
heading for the Library of Kitry, which is just five minutes away.
Upon entering the Library, they see Clarissa hunched over a book,
as usual. She smiles at all of them and they chat for a little while
before they realize that they have a great deal to do during the day.
Looking around, they see that Will is also in the Library, reading a
book while petting Min. As he sees the group enter, he closes the
book and comes over to see them all, still with the same morose
expression as he has been wearing since entering the Nemotz Temple.
Clarissa leads them out to the door in the back of the Library,
through the corridors and delivers them to the door of Vice Patriarch
Nechas' office. She knocks upon the door and he bids them enter.
As they file into his office, he smiles at them warmly and beckons
them to sit.
Winnacer starts off the conversation:
"So, we were wondering whether you had a chance to identify the
items that we left with you?"
Vice Patriarch smiles:
"Yes, I am glad to say that we were able to do so."
He gets up from his desk and unlocks a sturdy chest from behind
his desk, from which he produces the items that they gave him for
identification purposes:
"Knowing that many of these items were once the property of a
FaithHealer made many of the items quite easy for us to identify," he
starts.
He first picks up the chainmail:
"We have reason to believe that this suit of chainmail was once
the property of a Lechitian hero by the name of Yan Vrabel," the Vice
Patriarch explains. "According to legend, Vrabel was the leader of a
team of Lechit priests and FaithHealers that were dispatched to try
and find the source of the .. ."
"Errm .. . we've already heard the legend of Yan Vrabel," Winnacer
interjects. "Will told us all about him."
"Oh, did he," the Vice Patriarch says with a glance toward the
bard, a little disappointed at not being able to tell his story.
"Well, it is quite a major artifact for the Faith of Lechit," he
goes on to explain. "As they are good colleagues of ours, I would be
most obliged if you could see fit to return it to them, as they are a
poor Faith and such items are very hard for them to come upon."
"The other items that were with the chainmail are more common in
nature and so I doubt very much they would mind giving them to you
with their blessing in return for returning the chainmail and the
sword that goes with it."
He takes hold of the staff and the four potions that were also
with the chainmail:
"All of these items are standard issue for FaithHealers of
Lechit," Nechas explains. "The staff is a receptacle for Lechit
priests' powers of healing and curing. When it is possible that a
great amount of healing or curing is required in a short amount of
time, the Lechitians charge up one of these staves with a number of
healing and curing spells which can be released by the bearer of the
wand by rubbing his or her finger on the rune."
"FaithHealers always carry one of the staves when they are
operating on their own without the support of Lechit priests."
"The potions are part of a FaithHealer's traveling bag, which
usually comes with four vials of concentrated holy water."
Winnacer nods:
"Yes, Will was able to identify those and so we have already
allocated them."
The Vice Patriarch then turns his attention to the four remaining
vials:
"This first one," he says taking out a vial that contains a
transparent liquid, "is not actually meant to be drunk. It is meant
for purifying contaminated water so that it is potable. It will work
upon almost any type of liquid, even acid or poison."
He looks around at you all:
"This could be of great assistance to you on your forthcoming
quest. If you are too late to stop the Nemotz agents contaminating a
well, then this could neutralize the infected waters. Just make sure
that you get there before anyone drinks from it."
"This next one is a pick-me-up," he continues, picking up a potion
that is pinkish in color. "If one of you were to drink all its
contents, then you would not require food, drink or rest for a week,
and you would be immune to the effects of disease and poison. It will
also aid the recovery of any wounds that you might have."
He then pulls out a slightly greenish looking fluid:
"This next one is a very useful type of medicine produced by the
Lechitians that is used for curing a multitude of diseases including
blindness, deafness, disease, infection, insanity, poisoning and rot.
It cannot, however, heal any physical wounds that you may have."
"That is what this one is for," he continues, holding up the last
of the vials. "It is a more highly concentrated form of Lechit's holy
water, allowing to heal a multitude of wounds upon any that imbibe
it."
"So those were the belongings of the FaithHealer," the Vice
Patriarch continues. "Then we come to the other items."
He piles up the pieces of dark, dull platemail on the table:
"After quite a bit of research," he continues, "we were able to
ascertain that this platemail belonged to none other than an infamous
High Priest of Nemotz by the name of Pavel Lipavsky. The legend is
that the foul works of Pavel Lipavsky were discovered by a
FaithHealer by the name of Thanfloriel. He .. ."
Winnacer coughs again:
"Actually, Oldrich the bard told us a little about Pavel
Lipavsky."
Vice Patriarch Nechas sighs:
"With all these learned bards around you, I'm surprised that you
need our help at all."
The Padre's eyes light up as he looks at the platemail:
"Tha' was th' suit tha' fitted me like a glove," he says, looking
at Winnacer.
"Ye already be 'avin' ye're suit o' plate an' Bennett's 'Fabio'
armor, so you wouldn't object to me usin' it f'r t' better the cause,
would ye?" he asks.
Nechas then turns his attention to the chainmail:
"These two suits of chainmail did not cause us many problems to
identify at all. They are very common suits of armor that were
blessed by the Church of Kozlo in quite high numbers before the
Nyemetz invaded. The enchantment on the armor is not that strong, but
they are still valuable, as there are very few such priests around to
bless such armor these days."
"So that was all of the objects that you retrieved from the
temple," Nechas continues.
He then produces Yaz' lucky scimitar and looks to the druid:
"This took quite a bit of investigation in order to try and find
out the story behind it, because of its foreign nature. We eventually
managed to discover that it is of Turkish origin, which probably
means that it came here via Pannonia, as they are currently at war
with the Turks. It appears to be the kind of scimitar that is born by
an elite unit of horse archers who act as part of the Tartar's
personal bodyguard. It bears the blessing of a shaman and so it is
magickal in nature, although not greatly so."
Once the Vice Patriarch has finished, Yaz speaks to him:
"Sorry to drop this on you at short notice, but we found some more
stuff in a chest that we opened yesterday. Any chance you could tell
us what they are?"
The Vice Patriarch frowns:
"Let me take a look at the items. Usually it takes quite a bit of
time to identify items, but you might get lucky."
Yaz produces the items and places them before him. Nechas
investigates the two vials first of all.
He picks up the first of them, while has an orange color. The Vice
Patriarch opens it and then sniffs it.
"I think I know what this is," he says.
He then takes a little sip, swallows it and then puts his finger
into the flame of the candle burning on his desk. He does not wince
at all:
"As I thought," he said. "Holy water of Ohen, capable of saving
one from the effects of burning."
He closes the bottle and hands it to Yaz. With a grin, the druid
passes it to Winnacer:
"No doubt about who most needs this stuff," he says.
The Vice Patriarch then sniffs at the next vial, which has a pale
blue color. Obviously unsure as to what it is, Nechas takes a sip. As
he does so, he begins to rise from his seat. With a huge grin on his
face, he starts to wave his arms around, allowing him to move around
in the air. The effects wear off after just a few seconds and he
returns to his chair:
"Well, that was a lot of fun," he says with a grin. "I think it's
fairly obvious what that is. It's a potion that allows the imbiber to
fly like a bird."
With the vials having been taken care of now, he turns his
attention to the scrolls. He opens up the top of the first one and
reads:
"Protection from magic," he says after reading the title of the
first one, "that should come in handy. Take care of that one."
He tries the second one:
"Earth elemental control."
Then he reads the final one. This one takes him longer to scan
through as he unfurls it all:
"There are five priestly spells written here; enthrall, slow
poison, cure disease, spell immunity and stone tell."
"I thin' I better be takin' tha'," says Kokal. "Don't thin' none
o' the rest o' ye can use it."
Finally the Vice Patriarch looks at the three cones of incense.
Looking a little confused, he lights the end of one of the cones from
the candle and then takes a good whiff. Immediately his eyes start to
shine and he begins grinning maniacally:
"Did I ever show you what a powerful priest I am?" he laughs
maniacally. "Look at this."
With that he begins casting and all of the magic items in the room
start glowing:
"Hee hee hee," he laughs to himself. "Didn't I tell you how
brilliant I am?"
"Now watch this .. ."
Before the Vice Patriarch can show them that, the Padre snuffs out
the incense.
The Vice Patriarch looks a little confused:
"Sorry, I don't quite know what came over me then."
"Ye sniffed from th' incense," Kokal says.
"Oh dear, did I?" he asks. "In that case it's probably not very
useful at all. I think it's the type of incense that simply deludes
any priest that sniffs it that he is more powerful than he is. I'd
throw it away if I were you."
"Now, is that everything?"
"Yes," Yaz replies. "Thank you very much for all your help."
The Vice Patriarch looks a little guilty as he continues:
"Errm .. . well, actually, I .. . errm .. . need to ask a small
favor of you in return for our services. I'm .. . errm .. . sure that
you must have heard the expression 'one good turn deserves another'?"
Yaz sighs:
"What is it that you want us to do now?"
"Well," the Vice Patriarch stutters. "There's no rush or anything;
I know you're busy and heading off to Opava on a mission, but ... .
errm .. ."
Yaz sits with folded arms waiting for the Vice Patriarch to spill
the beans:
"Well, I think that Konan of Hradetz might have told you that our
'special worshippers' have been looking for a home for themselves?"
asks Nechas. "Well, they've found one now and it will shortly be
ready for them to move in."
"There are a few of these 'special worshippers' that will be ready
to make the move in a couple of weeks and they .. . errm .. . need to
be escorted there."
"The plan was that the Kozlo S.M.A.T. Team was to have escorted
them there but, as you very well know, they had a bit of an .. . errm
.. . accident recently and now there's no one else to make sure that
they get there in one piece and don't kill each other en route."
He seems to be begging them with his eyes for a positive response.
Winnacer's face looks pained as the task is laid out before the
group. He looks at his colleagues:
"Anyone have any objections, besides the obvious ones?"
Winnacer looks from the others, back to the Vice Patriarch:
"I wonder if you could give us a little more information before we
make our final decision?"
Vice Patriarch Nechas fidgets a little:
"Well, we're trying to keep the details as secret as possible
until the last minute," he says.
"After the situation that Konan informed me about regarding the
fact that one of the members of your group was not all that she
seemed to be, I'm sure you can understand my reluctance," he adds,
with a nervous glance towards Aithne.
"All that I can divulge at this stage is the fact that the new
home for our 'special friends' is located somewhere within the
Shumava region. It will be no more than five day's travel from here."
"As for the 'special worshippers' that we believe we shall be able
to 'encourage' to make the trip, this is obviously a little difficult
to say as they are .. . errm .. . in the habit of changing their
minds. However, it currently looks as if there are three that need
accompanying there. The first is .. . errm .. . Octavius the
Obnoxious of Olmutz, then .. . errm .. . there's Friedrik the
Foul-tempered of Frydek-Mistek.. ."
He lowers his eyes to the ground and looks at his feet as he
finishes:
".. . and Petra the Premenstrual of Prerov."
Winnacer shakes his head:
"At least we'll be doing something that Faewen'il can't complain
about...too much."
Once they have finished their conversation with Vice Patriarch
Nechas, they say their farewells and file out of the room, taking the
newly identified items with them.
On the way out, Winnacer speaks to them all:
"Let us stow these items on our wagon so that we don't have to
carry them around with us."
They all walk through the Library to the adjoining stables and
pile the armor and sundry other items onto the back of the wagon
together with the rest of their stash.
Winnacer looks over the expanse of treasures burdening the wagon
and cannot help but let out a low whistle:
"It seems we've accumulated quite the horde during our travels,
but now is the time to do what is proper with the monies."
"Personally, I would think it offensive if we were to use the
monies of our departed comrades as our own. Their legacies deserve to
be passed on in a way they would have wished. Unfortunately, none of
them left us any last wishes concerning their funds."
"What I recommend is this. We should donate the funds according to
our comrades' beliefs, as none of them have any family to speak of.
Jihan's fortune should be split in three, donated to each deity he
favored. Xavier's fortune should be split in three; a third for
Radegast, a third for Tadeus, and a third for the revolution.
Bennett's fortune should be split in half, with half going to the WSM
and half going towards the revolution as well."
"As for Gronk, I knew little of him. Perhaps it would be best to
donate his funds to the Dwarven Gods when we reach Opava."
"I shall arrange for the monies earmarked for the revolution to be
delivered to the Twin Villages. I assume Yaz will take care to see
Jihan's monies go towards furthering the beliefs of Prirodna. The
Padre can see to Xavier's donations making it to the correct places.
Does this arrangement seem feasible to all of you?"
Will nods agreement.
"Sure. I guess," adds Yaz.
Winnacer nods:
"Good, then I shall see that it is done."
They then spend a while dividing up the coins and gems until they
are in roughly equal portions. They then subdivide the portions
belonging to the deceased once again. The exercise takes a little
while and it is obvious that Yaz is getting impatient before all of
the accounting is taken care of. He scoops up his own share and the
third of Jihan's destined for Prirodna and speaks to Winnacer:
"Look, Winn, I can't stand around here any more. I want to see if
I can learn some herb stuff before the day's out and time's getting
on. I need to pick up my brooch as well."
"Fine," the LawBringer nods. "Let's all meet up at the 'One Elm'
in the evening and make our plans for departure."
"OK," Yaz says, fidgeting, as he wants to get off.
He looks over at Aithne:
"Whatcha fancy doing?"
Aithne just shrugs.
"Come with me, then, you might as well. You can learn some herb
stuff if you like?"
Aithne agrees and the pair of half-elves head off.
Will dourly takes his proportion of the funds and heads off also,
with Min running along at his side, the happy little dog wagging its
tail, making a strong contrast to the sullen half-elf.
"I'll be leavin' ye also f'r a while," Kokal says. "I wants t' get
th' coin t' th' fortress afore anyone can get their thievin' 'ands on
it."
The Padre departs, leaving Winnacer alone in the stables. The
young Lord packs his share of the loot securely in a pouch hidden
beneath his armor and then sets off to pick up his purchases.
Yaz and Aithne firstly head back to the jewelers in order to pick
up Yaz' Prirodna symbol tree brooch. The brooch seems to be very good
for the price, featuring many tiny emeralds embedded into the
branches of an oak tree made of gold. Yaz pays for the brooch and
then heads off to the parish of Prirodna, proudly wearing his brooch
for all to see.
Upon reaching the parish of Prirodna, they meet up with their old
friend, Moon Dancer, who immediately invites the pair of them to grab
a log and sit around the fire. They share a toke and an earthenware
mug of nettle tea with the crusty-looking elf and then head off to
meet with Cil, the Arch-Druid.
Cil smiles as he sees them approaching:
"I can't spend long with you, half-man," he says. "I'm leaving for
Tabor in a couple of hours and I've got a lot to do."
"No problem," Yaz replies. "I just came to bring you some little
rocks and metal disks. One of our friends used to worship Prirodna a
bit and these are his. He's gone on to his next life now, so he won't
be needing them any more. He was a good elf, so he's probably come
back as some kind of animal. The LawBringer thought we should give
some of them to you."
Yaz hands the coins and gems to Cil.
The Arch-Druid looks a little confused:
"Well, I guess it's very kind of him, but I don't know quite what
to do with them. I know that civs swap them for other stuff, but
Prirodna gives us everything that we need."
"Let me take them to Tabor and see if anyone else needs them for
anything."
Yaz nods:
"Well, that was all I really came for, so I better let you head
off now."
Cil nods and smiles again:
"Well, nice to see you again in any case. Good luck in redressing
the Balance in Opava and I hope to see you in Tabor for the Spring
Equinox."
Yaz and Aithne say farewell to the Arch-Druid and then head off
back through the park in the direction of the Parish of Lechit. Right
on the edge of the parish, they see the Herbalist's Guildhouse, which
they head towards. As they get closer, they can smell the aromatic
delights of the herbs inside. It is not a large building and so they
walk right in. The front of the building is simply a herb shop, with
an elderly woman standing behind the counter:
"Hi," Yaz starts. "I kinda wanted to learn a bit more about herbs.
D'ya think you could help me?"
The herbalist sees Yaz' gleaming new brooch and smiles:
"Are you one of those druids?" she asks.
Yaz nods:
"Yeah, that's right."
The herbalist smiles:
"Cil the Arch-Druid is a good friend of mine. I'm always happy to
help teach one of his boys or girls. Now was there anything specific
that you wanted to know?"
Yaz nods:
"Well, I already know the basics, so I was wondering if you could
give me some more advanced stuff. Y'know, like making stuff?"
"I'm sure that I can show you a few new tricks," the woman smiles.
Yaz spends the rest of the day under the instruction of the
herbalist, with Aithne watching too, although she finds it a little
hard to understand.
Meanwhile, Winnacer returns to the jewelers' shop too, picking up
the gifts for Magda and Faewen'il. He pays for them and then heads
off to the armorer with whom he left his new shield. The armorer
proudly shows his work to Winnacer and the LawBringer cannot help but
smile as he looks at the man's repaint job on the shield. There is no
sign of the former yellow background to the shield, which has been
replaced with the orange of Spravedelna. The leering rat's face has
also disappeared, and the shield now proudly bears the emblem of the
hammer and scales that are the symbol of Spravedelna's faith. He
thanks the man profusely for his efforts and then leaves the armorer,
heading back to the Cathedral of Spravedelna.
Upon entering, he asks an acolyte to summon High Priestess
Kadymova, who emerges from her room at the rear of the Temple in
order to greet the LawBringer.
Winnacer shakes the High Priestess' hand and speaks to her:
"As I said, I have brought my new weapon and shield and would ask
you to bless them in the name of Spravedelna."
High Priestess Kadymova nods:
"It would be an honor for me to do so," she says. "Please follow
me to the font."
She removes the cover of it and dips her silver gavel into the
holy water. Winnacer notices that the font is next to being empty at
the moment.
"If you would kneel and then present your shield to me, please."
Winnacer presents his newly painted shield and the Priestess nods,
obviously impressed with the design. She then takes the hammer and
drips a few drops of the holy water upon it:
"With the blessed water of Spravedelna upon Her Holy Hammer I
anoint your shield that it may better protect you from the blades and
blows of those that would seek to stop you from performing Her
bidding."
"And now your sword please," she asks.
Winnacer draws 'The Ripper of Pardubitze' and holds it across the
palms of his hands so that it may receive Spravadelna's blessings.
High Priestess Kadymova once again dips the Holy Hammer into the
cool, clear water of the font and drips a few more drops of the
liquid onto the blade of 'The Ripper'.
"With the blessed water of Spravedelna upon Her Holy Hammer, I
anoint your sword that She may keep it sharp and guide the blade to
strike down all of those that are Unjust and would seek to stand
against you."
She is quiet for a moment, standing with her eyes closed. She then
opens her eyes and speaks to the LawBringer once more:
"Thank you," she says. "You may now rise."
Winnacer gets up and then looks towards the font.
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could I get some vials of
holy water from you?"
The High Priestess nods:
"Certainly," she replies. "However, I'm afraid that there's not
that much left of it at the moment. LawBringer Kotur took most of it
with him to the Nemotz Temple. Unfortunately it takes a great deal of
time to create a new batch and so this is all we have at the moment."
She walks over to a cupboard at the rear of the Cathedral and
produces some earthenware vials. She starts to fill them from the
font, but after filling just four of them, the holy water is gone.
She hands the four vials to Winnacer:
"I'm sorry, but that is all that there is at the moment. I hope
that it will be sufficient for your needs."
Winnacer takes the vials and thanks her:
"There was something else that I came here for. One of our
colleagues passed away and has left a fairly significant amount of
wealth. Spravedelna was one of the goddesses whom he worshipped and
so I would like, on his behalf, to donate them to the faith."
He hands over a pouch containing the funds. Kadymova looks inside
and sees the funds inside:
"May Spravedelna truly watch over him in the afterlife for his
generous donation."
She looks back up at the LawBringer:
"Now is there anything else?"
"I thought that I might have a brief word with the Chief Justice,"
he replies. "He did tell me to stop by before I left the city."
"Very well," the High Priestess agrees. "Let me take you to him."
She leads the young Lord through the door at the back of the
Cathedral and into the office of the Chief Justice. Winnacer sees
that he is in the middle of a conference with three of the Priests
and a LawBringer.
"Come on in for a moment," the Chief Justice says. "I can't be
long because I'm in the middle of a meeting, but I wanted to give you
my words of encouragement before you left."
"This situation in Opava sounds very serious indeed, if what you
say is true. Pray to Our Lady that She looks after you during this
mission and that She returns you from harm."
"If you're going to be passing through on your return journey,
then please stop by to give me a report on the situation."
"Thank you," he finishes. "Now I must leave you. Good luck."
With that, the Chief Justice stands and makes to shake Winnacer by
the hand.
As Winnacer feels the crushing hand of the Chief Justice on his,
he speaks to the senior cleric:
"Before I go, there is one thing that I wish to inform you about.
Yesterday, I accompanied a colleague of mine to the parish of
Prirodna where my colleague met with the Arch-Druid of the order of
Prirodna, an elf by the name of Cil."
"During my colleague's conversation with him, the Arch-Druid made
reference to the advance of the Slovenes upon the city. I was shocked
to discover that, rather than fearing an attack from the Slovenes,
the Arch-Druid seemed to welcome their arrival, believing them to be
'Prirodna's Children' that have been sent in order to reduce the city
to rubble and thus return the area back to nature."
Winnacer looks up at the Chief Justice:
"I give you this information in the hope that you might tell other
loyal faiths of the threat of the Prirodnans' intentions."
He then falls quiet looking to the Chief Justice for a response.
Chief Justice Soukup's face turns red with anger as he hears the
LawBringer's words:
"Those accursed treehuggers," he cries, slamming his fist upon his
desk, sending the glasses and paperwork there flying. "They should
have never been allowed to remain within the city, as civilization is
against all their beliefs. They sit around all day drinking tea and
smoking weed and do nothing for the good of this fair city
whatsoever."
"There is no Justice in their actions, just a hatred of all
humanity. Were it left to them, then they would have us all reduced
to the level of primitive barbarians, living in mud huts and
squabbling over bones."
He shakes his head as he calms down a little. He looks up at
Winnacer and responds to him in a calmer manner:
"Thank you for your information, LawBringer. The decision as to
how to resolve this matter is not mine to make alone. I shall beseech
Spravedelna to give me the wisdom to go decide what is Right
regarding this situation and then discuss this matter at the next
Council meeting in order that the great minds of all the Just Faiths
here may consider what is the best course of action to ensure that
Justice is served."
He goes quiet for a moment, lets out a heavy sigh and then nods
towards Winnacer:
"That will be all, thank you. We now have even more matters to
discuss."
Winnacer lets himself out and finds Kadymova waiting for him at
the door to Chief Justice Soukup's office. She escorts him to the
great doors of the Cathedral and wishes him the best of luck.
It is mid-afternoon now, and so Winnacer heads from the Cathedral
of Spravedelna to the Great Library of Kitry. Here he finds Clarissa,
still working hard. The young Lord comes over and greets his sister:
"Hi, Clarissa," he starts. "As you know, we are leaving early
tomorrow morning and there are still some tasks that I need to finish
before I go. I wonder whether you could help me?"
"I'd be glad to, of course," smiles Clarissa. "What is it?"
"Well you know this city a lot better than I do," he replies. "I
have a number of letters that I have written that I need to be sent
by messenger. Some of them will have valuables enclosed with them and
so they need to be sent by someone who can be trusted not to just
ride off and keep the items for themselves."
"That won't be a problem," Clarissa replies. "There is a lot of
mail sent between the various Libraries and so we need a courier
company that we can trust. You can rely that they will be delivered.
So what do you need sending where?"
Winnacer nods:
"Several of them need to be sent to the village of Holitze. This
first one is to the parents of Milan, the second to the parents of
Tadeus. The third is for Honza, the fourth, Heimlin Goldstone, and
the fifth for Priestess Magda Valechkova."
Winnacer's cheeks start to glow a little as he says her name.
"There's some cash with that letter as well, plus a gift."
Clarissa grins at her brother's discomfort, but does not say
anything.
"So those are the letter for Holitze. Then I also need this letter
to be sent to High Priestess Hana Valechkova at the Cathedral of
Spravedelna in Pardubitze."
"Finally, I also need this letter to be sent to Ithridiel of the
WSM. It contains some of Bennett's share that I am sure he would have
wanted to see go to that cause. I think it is best to send it to him
care of The Tanners Arms in Trebekovitze."
Clarissa takes the letters and packages from him:
"Leave it to me, Winn. I'll see that they get there OK."
Winnacer sighs:
"Well, that's all of my tasks finished with now. There's been an
awful lot to do, so I'm glad of the evening off."
"What about you, Clarissa? All you seem to do is study. Can't you
take the evening off so that we can spend a little time together?"
She smiles again:
"I should think so. I can't miss out on spending your last night
in town with you. Just hold on while I get my coat."
Clarissa disappears for a moment and comes back with a thick,
rough coat over her white robes. The two of them make to head out.
Winnacer looks over his shoulder as they leave:
"Will our belongings be OK in the stable while we're gone? We
shall return here early tomorrow in order to take our horses, but we
need to move across country to Opava and so we shall leave the wagon
and the bulkier items here."
"No problem," Clarissa replies. "I can get the acolytes to store
anything that you want to leave here for a while."
The two of them then head off to the 'One Elm' and find that the
squires are back after getting the horses reshod, but that there is
no one else from the group at the inn. The two of them spend a couple
of hours chatting together until the other members of the party start
to arrive back as it gets dark outside.
The Padre is the first to arrive back from the Fortress of
Radegast. He pulls up a chair and joins the two siblings. An hour
later, Yaz and Aithne return, the pair of them smelling quite oddly,
but not unpleasantly, after their afternoon with the herbalist.
Finally, Will comes through the door, accompanied by Min.
As he enters, he makes his way quietly to the common room and sets
himself up in a corner to strum his harp and sing softly to those
present. He goes through the regular rote of Bohavian songs, adding
the several new ones he has written in the past months with the
party, then goes into a new one that none have heard before.
"Ode to the Fallen"
"The summer heat beat down that day,
On the manor house of Podyebrad.
The animals were silent,
No children play,
On the village green of Podyebrad.
Across the plains and hills they rode,
A scourge upon the land.
The Nyemetz come to kill and burn,
In the quiet town of Podyebrad.
Not a soul in town, the villagers had made way,
Away from their homes in Podyebrad.
The lord and lady, noble guardians they,
Stood with the few in Podyebrad.
All the good gods and mighty of the earth,
Take note of those who stood.
Bow down your ear and hear the death bell,
They answered honor's call for posterity's good.
Ode to the fallen,
Farewell noble ones,
The price you have paid,
The victory you have won!
The wizard's cold eyes,
Surveyed the frozen expanse,
He cursed the knight commander,
His sword, shield and lance.
Radegastian knights,
Had defeated his army again,
The teeth of his trap,
Would bring them to pain.
On to battle 'twas the valiant charge,
Steady for Radegast!
But the sorcerer lay waiting,
The charge ended in an icy blast.
All the good gods and mighty of the earth,
Take note of those who stood.
Bow down your ear and hear the death bell,
They answered honor's call for posterity's good.
Ode to the fallen,
Farewell noble ones,
The price you have paid,
The victory you have won!
The grotto was cool,
The gnomes were at rest.
The children were a frolic,
Over the hill's crest.
Sudden calamity,
Brutal, unwarranted,
The Nyemetz rolled in,
Racial hatred flaunted.
Many were the defenders,
Who died there that day.
Their spirits took flight,
As this world's life did fade.
All the good gods and mighty of the earth,
Take note of those who stood.
Bow down your ear and hear the death bell,
They answered honor's call for posterity's good.
Ode to the fallen,
Farewell noble ones,
The price you have paid,
The victory you have won!
The filth of decay,
The spoil of disease.
The abominable curse,
Nemotz they did please.
A wretched nest of evil,
The most vile wickedness known.
The freedom fighters besieged,
Evil plans were overthrown.
Kind hearted Jihan,
Valiant Sir Xavier,
Bennett the Brave,
Gronk the DemonSlayer.
All these and more,
Have paid freedom's ransom,
Take a stand all ye people,
Tear down evil's transom.
All the good gods and mighty of the earth,
Take note of those who stood.
Bow down your ear and hear the death bell,
They answered honor's call for posterity's good.
Ode to the fallen,
Farewell noble ones,
The price you have paid,
The victory you have won!
Rest easy now weary one,
The battle we will take,
Your sacrifices will be sung,
A mark for goodness you make.
Ode to the fallen,
Farewell noble ones,
The price you have paid,
The victory you have won!"
Finishing, the bard moves to the bar and motions toward his
grumbling stomach:
"Pour me up a small bowl of greep stew if ye have any in the house
barkeep."
Winnacer applauds the bard's latest work and speaks to him:
"I think something a little better than greep stew is called for
tonight. It shall be our last night in the city for a while and we
will only have Milan's culinary efforts to look forward to for the
next two or three nights."
"It will also be our last night with the Padre and Tadeus, so
let's all eat and drink well tonight."
They all agree and so ask the innkeeper for the best feast that he
can provide, along with the best wine in his cellars. The innkeeper
is happy to oblige and the kitchen staff of the inn work overtime in
order to provide them with a suitable feast for the road.
They spend the rest of the evening eating, drinking and talking to
each other. Winnacer keeps looking towards the door, hoping that
Faewen'il might return, but there is no sign of the magess.
The party continues until 10.30p.m. when Clarissa finally rises
and gets her coat:
"I'm afraid that I will have to leave you all," she says. "I need
to get back before curfew and will have to be up early for my matins
in the morning. We can say our final farewells then."
"I shall come with you," Will says. "I need to spend the night in
the Library tonight also."
Will and Clarissa then head off from the inn. As they go, Yaz too
rises and gets his coat:
"I .. . errm .. . need to go out for a walk to clear my head after
the drink," he says a little slyly. "Don't wait up for me. If it gets
to after curfew, then I'll just change into a bird and fly around for
a bit."
With that, the druid then slopes off into the cold streets of the
city.
Just Winnacer, Aithne, the Padre and the squires are left.
Aithne yawns:
"I think that I shall be taking my leave also," she says. "We have
a long ride ahead of us tomorrow and I fear that I might be out of
practice after spending so long in the city."
Winnacer, Kokal and the squires bid her goodnight and then
Winnacer strongly recommends to the squires that it might be a good
idea for them to get a good night's sleep as well. The LawBringer and
the Padre have one more drink and then they too head for their rooms
half an hour later, leaving the taproom of the inn empty.