Faewen'il Possessed?

They leave the sanctuary of Boris' warehouse and start to rush towards the Library, anxious to at least get there before the start of curfew, even though they certainly won't get back to the warehouse before its start.

The entire way to the library, Will watches the young girl like a hawk. He was adamant that the whole group went as well, not that anyone volunteered to remain back at the warehouse, all being curious to find out more of the situation.

Thinking to himself, Will tests the mages's proclaimed powers of mind reading thinking aloud in his mind:

"Ha! You don't have to speak or listen to me in order for my thoughts to come through to you!"

Then, without forethought, he makes a silent lunge for the back of the girl. Pulling up short, he observes as to whether or not she flinched or made a move to defend or evade the attack.

Much to his disappointment, she ignores him, though all those looking back at her can see that her eyes are filled with a mixture of anger and resignation the entire way to the library; none of which seems to be linked to his antics at all. To all outside observers, the only thing that has occurred is that Will quietly follows the form of Fae out the door towards the library of Kitry. His eyes remain on the girl, studying her moves as a potential foe. A quick and sudden movement forward which could have been a trip was all that could be seen. No look of disappointment crosses the half elf's features, just the quietly assessing eyes, taking note of the lack of reaction.

At other times, in his mind, the bard whistles or sings the most inane tune he can recall... off key.

They arrive at the Library just ten minutes before the start of curfew. Unsurprisingly, the door is locked when they get there. Will knocks on the door swiftly and loudly, showing the urgency with which he hopes they are answered.

It is just a few seconds later that the door is opened by an acolyte who smiles benignly as she sees Will, Bennett and the others, having seen them just a few hours earlier in the day. Her smile soon fades as she sees the look of concern on everyone's faces:

"I presume that you need to see Head Librarian Konan as a matter of urgency," she says, mirroring their concern.

"That is correct," Will replies somewhat abruptly.

"Follow me," the acolyte says as she glides quickly towards the door to Konan's quarters with all of the party following right behind her.

The acolyte knocks upon the door and they hear the warm, booming voice of Konan bidding them enter.

He looks up from his desk, squints through his bifocals and then looks surprised as he sees who it is:

"Back again?" he says with a little confusion. "And at such a late hour as well. Oh, I see that the rest of your colleagues have joined you. What is it that could be so urgent that it could not wait until the morning?"

"Head Librarian Konan," replies Will gravely. "We are in dire need of your assistance. You know all about our clearing of the Tower and it was you yourself that told us of the ability of powerful necromancers to travel from a physical form to a receptacle of some kind."

Konan simply nods, remembering well the conversation of a week earlier.

"Well," continues Will, "Winnacer has used one of his new gifts bestowed upon him by Spravedelna and believes that either Faewen'il or her possessions are tainted by evil. We have a horrible feeling that Boscobelous' soul could be residing upon her person. We would ask you whether it could be possible to determine whether this is in fact the case and, if it is, then you could exorcise her of her affliction."

Konan looks shocked as he hears Will's words:

"If you are right," he says looking towards Winnacer, "then this is indeed a grave situation. Let me check her over carefully."

He then turns to Faewen'il and speaks to her paternally:

"Are you prepared to undergo this investigation willingly, my child?" he asks. "I would not wish to pry unbid."

"I be ready," says Faewen'il, still obviously far from happy at this whole exercise.

"In that case I would bid you to place all of your items upon my desk so that I may be able to ascertain where the evil lies," the Librarian replies.

Silently, the lass places all of the items that she has on her person upon the desk, taking her time to line them up properly.

Once she has performed this, Konan takes his Holy Book in his hand and starts to chant, taking several minutes in order to perform the exercise. As he chants, he holds the holy book above each of the items, the spellbooks, the pendant, her magickal dagger, her gems and finally Faewen'il herself before he brings the chanting to a stop.

They all look at him expectantly as he makes to speak:

"It is the spellbooks," he says sagely. "They are certainly tainted by evil, yet the taint is not strong compared the evil tome that you brought to me."

Winnacer once more invokes the Power of Spravedelna in order to perform the same exercise as Konan. He comes to the same findings as the Librarian in that the spellbooks are painful for him to behold, yet Faewen'il shows no trace of evil. He shakes his head, not knowing quite what to make of the situation.

Konan flips through the pages of the spellbooks somewhat gingerly:

"We need to find out the nature of these spellbooks immediately," he says.

He then walks out of his chambers. He returns ten minutes later with three elderly looking Librarians, each of whom are carrying weighty tomes under their arms.

They take some of the spellbooks each and then start to investigate them closely, flipping through their tomes as they make further investigations. Every now and again, they get up and walk outside to the main hall of the Library, returning with different tomes. They mutter to each other as they continue their investigations, throwing hypotheses to each other as they continue and then discounting them. This continues for an hour as the party stands around waiting for them, with all of the party feeling rather confused and nervous.

"OK, I think that we have got it," Konan announces, putting his bifocals backs on so as to see them all better.

"The spellbooks are definitely cursed through some kind of evil enchantment," he starts. "In some ways, it is similar to the curse that resides with the 'Ultimate Power Through Everlasting Life' tome that you brought to me, which is now secreted somewhere very safe in a location known only to myself. However, it is with great relief that I can tell you that the curse upon the spellbooks is a great deal milder than the one upon the 'Ultimate Power' tome."

"Whereas just one reading of 'Ultimate Power' is all that is required in order to pervert even the most noble of men towards ultimate evil, it would take multiple readings of the spellbooks in order for them to corrupt the reader."

He turns to Faewen'il:

"You should, however, take extreme care while these books are in your possession. How long have you had them now?"

"Just under two weeks," Faewen'il replies.

Konan nods:

"I can understand that you have no desire to destroy the books, as the spells within are powerful and can be used for both good or evil deeds. In this day and age, all magickal knowledge is something that should be greatly prized. But beware, try to copy the descriptions out of there as quickly as possible, as every day longer that they remain with you, the risk of being tainted in greater. If you have still not finished the task a month from now, then I strongly recommend that you forget trying to harness the power of the books and destroy them so as to be free of the risk. I wish that it were possible to remove the curse upon the books so that you could keep the spellbook without risk of what evils are inside. However, the curse is intertwined within the magic of the spells and so removing the curse would make the spells within useless."

He then hands Faewen'il:

"Take great care of them, Faewen'il," the Librarian says with a very serious look upon his face, "and heed my words well. You must destroy them within the month, come what may."

Faewen'il then turns towards Winnacer, still ignoring Will:

"Thar. I hope ALL o ye be happy now," she says coolly as she places the items back on her person; tugging this way and that to arrange her clothing and hair properly.

Winnacer shakes his head to and fro, knowing a losing and useless fight when he sees it:

"Keep Konan's words in mind. I need say no more."

Winnacer's thoughts are of despair, as he realizes the headstrong magess will listen to no one, even Konan. Evil can never be mastered. A quick prayer to Spravedelna runs through his head to give Faewen'il the wisdom to realize her limits and resist the temptation of power.

Ignored or not, Will makes his apologies. Approaching the still vehement Fae, Will tones his voice down from its earlier directness, to the more familiar meek disposition that is more his norm:

"Fae, I apologize for any offense I may have caused you."

"Apologize to yar goddess. It be her that ye offended with yar behaviour," Faewen'il responds in clipped tones, not bothering to look at him.

"Lady, I apologize to those who ask one, and those to whom I believe deserve it," Will immediately replies, the meekness in his voice having disappeared as he does so.

"I worship no goddess. 'Tis true I pay homage to many of the gods and godesses. But I devoutly worship none. If there were one that I might be said to worship in a manner, it might be the god Kitry, for my upbringing and for his devotion to pure, unadulterated truth. It was a search for the truth of your situation and the terrible consequences of one possibility that drove me to see you before Konan. I will not apologize for that. "

"I have already apologized for any offense you took by my actions, and I stand by that, but I will not repeat myself."

It goes quiet for a moment and Will takes the opportunity to speak to Konan:

"Would it be possible to cast a veil of silence upon the door again, as I wish to speak of things that I would wish none other than us to hear."

"Of course," Konan replies as he casts the incantation and points towards the door. As he does so, every slight sound from without is silenced.

"Now, of what do you wish to speak?" the Librarian asks.

"Is it possible for some of the librarians which you have on loan from the temple of Kozlo to help speed the task of copying Boscobelous' books? I will be glad to help as well, Fae."

The look on Faewen'il's face is one of unconcealed exasperation; as if Will had said the most possibly stupidest thing ever. Her fingers tapped her side in rapid staccato of annoyance until finally she gave up and spoke; though her speech was directed at Konan.

"Sar Konan; could you please inform him o tha silliness o such a request. He obviously will na listen ta me. I have already mastered tha evil o tha books an he wants ta subject others to them? Others that may have a weakness o mind ta which Bosco's taint may find."

Konan makes to answer, but Will beats him to it:

" I trust Father Konan's word when he says that the books will not corrupt in such a short period of time."

"An parhaps ye can explain magic ta him in such a way that he understands that it must be me own hand which copies tha magic into a book or I canna use it?" Faewen'il continues to Konan, ignoring Will's words.

"No, but you can copy them from a second, non-tainted source can you not?" asks Will.

"And maybe, iffin ye still have tha patience an time, ye could explain ta him what a waste it would be far them to copy tha tomes and then for me ta have ta have ta copy it from that hand?" the lass continues.

"It is not a waste of time if it lessens the chance of one falling to the powers of them," Will argues in response.

"Thar also be tha matter o them havin ta travel with us so as ta have tha spells ready for us when we be needin them," Faewen'il continues, "as tha time it will take far such tomes ta be copied."

"An finally... thar be this thin o whether o not tha librarians could even copy magical script, bein priests an not mages."

Faewen'il gives Konan a somewhat pleading look. Konan makes to answer again, taking his time as is the habit of all Librarians of Kitry, as if searching the immense amount of knowledge that they possess in order to come up with the best possible response. Before he has time to reply, however, Will beats him to it, losing his patience now:

"Girl, when will you learn to listen before you speak? If you could hold your tongue for a moment, then you would learn that you are surrounded by mages in disguise. And I was going to attempt to ask you which books you may need so that you could carry them with us, and we could leave the others here that are outside of both of our abilities!"

A look of shock crosses Faewen'il's face as she turns to face him.

"Disrespectin yar heritage be wrong. Given tha chance, I would have offered up me soul an magic ta have been born with tha blood o tha fey. Far Prirodna will na listen to one such as I... far I na have tha blood."

"An believe me... many was tha day I prayed ta her at me dyin master's side..." Faewen'il says bitterly, more to herself than Will.

Without any regard for her dignity, tears come to her eyes, which she wipes away as she heads out the door; not caring about the curfew.

"It may do her well to have a good cry," Will says as he watches Faewen'il leave.

Then turning to Jihan he adds:

"Would you follow her and watch over her in case she needs help or just a shoulder to cry on?"

They all look on somewhat bemused at Faewen'il's flight from the room. There is a look of disappointment upon Konan's face. As it becomes obvious that there is nothing more to be said on the matter of Faewen'il and her books, Will attends to other pressing matters and speaks to Konan:

"If I may make another request, Father. While we are here, could you explain the plans for the Tower. I was loath to do so without your protection from eavesdroppers."

Konan nods and starts to speak:

"As only part of your group was here when I discussed the situation, I think that a recap of the full situation is in order, as I am sure that Winnacer and Xavier will be interested in knowing the situation. It is indeed a shame that Faewen'il has chosen to leave us, as I am sure that what I have to say will be of great interest to her also. To Will, Bennett and Jihan, I apologize, as you have heard all of this before."

He then turns specifically to Winnacer and Xavier before starting to speak:

"As I told your colleagues, you have all been totally honest with me and have trusted me with a number of secrets. Now it is my turn to reciprocate with a secret of my own, a secret that I have sworn should not be given away under pain of death and hope that I can trust you to value the information with your lives too. Do I have your vow of silence in this matter? If not, then I would ask you to move away."

Winnacer and Xavier nod their heads in agreement, anxious to hear what the Librarian has to say.

"My secret has to do with the Church of Kozlo, God of Magick. The common wisdom is that the Church was totally eradicated by the Nyemetz as their first action upon taking over Bohavia, as they fear the power of magick more than anything else. We were happy to let them think that they had succeeded in their task, but the truth is that they failed. Realizing what the Nyemetz would do, we acted fast and, with the utmost secrecy, amalgamated the Church of Kozlo into the Church of Kitry. Only the Head Librarians of the Church of Kitry and the few followers of Kozlo that survived the purge know of this fact. Now the followers of Kozlo merge in with those of Kitry so as to be indistinguishable from each other. At irregular intervals, followers of Kozlo gather in Kitrian Libraries in order to worship their god, all with the blessings of the Librarians of Kitry."

"However, this has not been sufficient for them in order to retain all of their powers, and the abilities of the greatest mages in Bohavia has become weaker and weaker over the years, as their devotions became less. In addition, such is the secrecy of the remaining master mages that they are unable to train new mages in their ways, as their ability to meet regularly has been taken from them."

"For many years now, the Church of Kitry has been looking for somewhere secret to assemble many of the most powerful mages in Bohavia so that they may work together for the good of the land. Most of the previous suggestions have been considered impractical due to either the danger of their being discovered by the Nyemetz or because of their remoteness from the major cities which meant that it would not be possible to supply the mages with the supplies that they need in order to perform their work."

"Boscobelous Tower would have been, in my opinion, a perfect location for housing such a gathering of master mages. All except for you, I and a handful of others believe that the Tower is still inhabited by the undead abominations and so do not go close to the Tower. As a result, the mages could have continued their work without fear of interruption. It would have taken a while for the mages to become established within the Tower, and they could have been quite vulnerable for a while, but once they were established, then they could have kept entire armies of Nyemetz at bay."

"There would have been many other benefits of such an arrangement as I could see. If Boscobelous' spirit is truly still at large within the Tower, then it would have soon been discovered by the group of mages and clerics posted there and destroyed as, although Boscobelous may still be powerful, the mages that would have been within would be stronger still. If the necromancer's resting-place was found, then they would have had the power in order to destroy him finally. Such an arrangement would also have been good for the long-suffering folk of Dobroushka. With a Tower full of potent spellcasters on their doorstep, they need not have feared being disturbed by anyone looking to take advantage of their isolation. In addition, the mages would have required supplies from them and could have provided many services to them in return, meaning that they would not have needed to worry about the problems of trading with the outside world once more."

"However, the exercise of moving the mages to the Tower and getting them altogether for their mutual benefit would not be as easy as it sounds."

He sighs and explains his words in more detail.

"I doubt very much whether you have ever met one of the master mages, as they were not seen often before the Nyemetz. Ever since they overran the country, the mages and followers of Kozlo have all had to go into hiding and so they are almost never seen these days. In many ways this is an advantage as the master mages are…errm …well …errm…'difficult'."

Konan sees Winnacer and Xavier looking at him in wonderment and realizes that he cannot get away without explaining the situation in more detail.

"The greatest mage of recent times is the elven mage that goes by the name of Thinhwinthuriel San Ruethlovial. His name is quite a mouthful, and so he is most often referred to by his nickname of 'Grand Elf'. Now, whether it was due to having powerful magick running through his veins for so many years, or simply due to his character is not known, but the truth of the matter is that Grand Elf is not an easy person to be around for any length of time. As a result, he is known by most people who have met him as 'Grand Elf the Irascible'."

"Now, Grand Elf is believed by many to be the father of modern magick in Bohavia and, as such, most of the other master mages in this land were scholars of his. Unfortunately, the majority of his students seem to have inherited a great deal of his personality, which means that they are similarly difficult to deal with. Thus the master mages that are still alive today consist of; the Saxon master mage Berlin the Bad-tempered, who currently lives amongst the dwarves in Komutov, Ivan the Irritable from Karlovy Vary, Krystof the Cantankerous from Koleen, Kalandrial the Cranky from Karlovy Vary, Solithor the Unbearable from Zleen, Igor the Egotistical from Olmutz, Martin the Miserable from Brunn and the magess, Petra the Pre-Menstrual, from Prerov, to name but the most powerful of them."

"Individually, it is very difficult to deal with any of them, so I really fear for anyone who plans to try and deal with a number of them together. Most of them have assistants that have to go around with dispell scrolls trying to undo the results of their tempers. Many a servant has been polymorphed into a frog or worse though bringing a mage's supper several minutes late."

Konan gives a little shudder at the thought.

"By having so many mages in one building together, I feared that it would not have been a very pleasant place to be. I would have advised you to warn the Dobroushkans to be exceedingly careful if they had to deal with any of these mages, as they are obviously very powerful and have little regard for the powers of their actions. Yet, although it will be a difficult task to assemble them all, I believe that their assistance will be necessary if our dream of a free Bohavia is to become a reality."

Konan pauses once more and then turns to address Winnacer and Xavier directly:

"All of this I told to your colleagues to ask for their views on the matter. I have to say that this resulted in … errm … shall we say a 'lively debate' between them," he says, flicking his eyes back and forth between Jihan and Bennett.

"The 'debate' lasted for quite a while and, from it, I received the strong impression that not all of your numbers were willing to use the tact and diplomacy that would be required in order to work along with the mages," he continues, looking towards Bennett with a look of disappointment written over his face.

"I believe that this situation is a great shame, but could see only disaster resulting from an attempt to put you together with these difficult people. The task of finding a suitable location for the gathering of mages has been accelerated recently, as we have all come to realize that the Nyemetz are now at their weakest since the invasion. We cannot guarantee that this situation will last, however, as there is always the possibility of the Nyemetz and Slovenes calling a ceasefire. We therefore need to act fast and the gathering point will be chosen soon."

"I believed that it would have been useful for the Tower to have been used for this purpose so that you may have been able to benefit from the mages' work. However, as a result of the fact that I could see that this could not be agreed upon unanimously, I wrote in my report that the Church of Kozlo should continue to look for another location."

Konan notices the look of disappointment upon the faces of Will and Jihan, particularly.

"I'm sorry," Konan replies sadly, shaking his head. "But I could see only disaster for all involved if my decision had been different."

Winnacer covers his eyes with his hands and shakes his head as he hears Konan's words about his reasons for advising against the mages using the Tower as a base.

Bennett, however, is far from penitent. He turns to Konan and immediately responds:

"Dude, you are just about as stiff as every other religious cat I ever met. It would be real stupid to send them a message that we don't want to offer them the Tower because I personally felt we weren't going to get something back from them. The group will surely agree with Jihan and Will and I think I made it pretty clear that I don't give a rat's ass what happens regarding the Tower, and indeed I think it's a good idea to get in good with these crabby bastards. What I said was that I, personally, would not kiss their ass to make it happen. Now if that is the only way to get these guys into the Tower, by me personally going up and getting intimate with their brown-eyes, then you can kiss the idea good-bye, but this group doesn't get around by my gift at diplomacy, or we wouldn't have gotten this far in the first place. Surely my problem with them shouldn't make them so insecure that they wouldn't embrace such a choice location, and I am not foolish enough to make enemies of them for the sake that I find their profession distasteful. Bad call on your part, dude, and yet another example of someone over-reacting to casual debate from my perspective. I guess it's my gift."

Konan does not react angrily at hearing Bennett's words. He rubs his eyes as if he was weary as he replies:

"Bennett, if the incident where you and your colleague only avoided coming to blows because he ran off in tears was your idea of a 'casual debate', then I sincerely pray to Kitry that I am not around to witness your idea of a 'major altercation', as I would envisage that it would involve a great deal of bloodshed."

"I do not wish to go back over the same subject yet again, as I believe that we know exactly where each other stands in relation to this issue. I distinctly remember your asking the 'panty-waist sissy boys' for demands that are 'non-negotiable' in return for gaining access to the Tower, unless my memory is failing me."

Winnacer continues to shake his head to and fro:

"It seems the Nyemetz have truly nothing to fear when it comes to the revolution. I can only imagine overleaping pride and disagreements has again set back the cause of Bohavia. It is a true pity, as the truth is that any enemy of the Nyemetz should be an ally of ours, yet we have turned away potentially the most powerful allies we have heard about so far."

Winnacer then turns to Konan:

"Is it too late to recant your words, Konan? For I would certainly be up for the challenge of dealing with these Master Mages and their egos. As you can see, we all really do have a lot of practice with irascible and contradictory personalities. And while this group tends to fight with each other vehemently, we typically work out our disagreements before they alienate all of those around us."

Winnacer looks around at everybody else standing around:

"We could really use this sort of support within Bohavia's boundaries. Do you all think you can keep a cool head around these miserable-sounding folk, for the good of all Bohavia? Let us not let opportunity pass us by due to fear, internal dissension, or the problems we have with each other. We must strive beyond our petty quarrels and keep in mind why we have come together in the first place."

Konan shakes his head in response to Winnacer's words:

"As I said, I wrote in my report that I thought that the Tower would make a fine venue for the gathering of mages, yet I believed that it would be highly dangerous for all concerned for you to attempt to work with the mages. Sadly, from what I have seen this evening, it makes me simply more certain of my beliefs rather that wanting to recant them. If I were to say to my superiors that I had changed my mind and that I considered that you were prepared to make the effort in order to attempt to work with them, then it would be naught but a lie."

"You have indeed proved to me that you have experience of dealing with irascible and contradictory personalities, yet the evidence that you have presented me with tonight shows that you are far from being able to control such conflicts."

"Faewen'il shows exactly the same personality as all of the mages that I have encountered to date. Although there has been little research on the subject, I personally believe that the performing of magick is such a stressful experience for them that such personality disorders are nearly inevitable. Faewen'il is not the most strong-minded mage that I have come in contact with by a long chalk, yet it is unusual for one of her few years, obviously a sign of the great burden of having such powers at such a young age."

"I can understand your desire to harness the potentially incredible powers that the mages are capable of wielding for the cause, yet I would urge you to think very carefully before going down that route. If such an exchange as I witnessed earlier was one that could be expected to be repeated in the presence of more experienced and thus more temperamental mages, then I fear that the result would be a tragedy consisting of fireballed warriors and mages that were hacked to death with the result that the candle of Bohavian freedom would be snuffed before it were even lit."

As Konan senses that more 'casual debate' is about to erupt, he holds his hands before him:

"Please do not think that I am trying to defend the mages for their personalities, as I agree that they are very often totally unreasonable in their actions. I am simply stating my beliefs based upon the facts that I have at my disposal, as I have been taught to do under Kitry's guidance."

Konan pauses for a moment and looks towards Winnacer:

"Yet it is not my decision that will resolve this matter, but rather the Grand Wizards of the Church of Kozlo. If you truly believe that you are capable of working with the mages and wish to offer them the Tower, then your only chance would be to appeal to them directly. I would not try to influence them on your behalf for the reasons that I have given already, but I am certainly prepared to offer you an introduction to them so that you may discuss the matter with them in person."

"So where would we need to go in order to meet with them?" Winnacer asks, hopefully.

Konan is silent for a moment before responding:

"Once again I must swear you to secrecy before I give you this information, as the Church of Kozlo would certainly be destroyed by the Nyemetz were they to know of it. Do I have your sworn agreements?"

You all swear that you will not reveal the information, even if your lives depended upon it.

"Very well," agrees Konan. "If you wish to meet with the Grand Wizards, then you must journey to the Cathedral of Kitry in the clerical city of Olmutz, where they mingle with the Librarians of Kitry." 

Will is still hopeful that something can be done to garner the aid of the master mages, yet he is disappointed when he hears of the Grand Wizards' location:

"But Olmutz is 80 miles southeast of here, and in the opposite direction from all of our other business," he says with some degree of frustration, glancing briefly towards Winnacer to see whether he may have given away too much information as to the location of another one of your tasks.

Not surprisingly, Bennett is rather unconcerned by this news:

"Well I for one am certainly not voting that we drop everything and ride to Olmutz in order to meet with them. I think we need to hit the games now, as that's a one-time thing, then ride right over to Kutna Hora and get into that, with nothing, no matter how important it may seem, stopping us from that task. I will, however, if given a deciding vote between Kutna Hora and the games, vote for Kutna Hora, as I have no larger desire than to return home and deal with those who took it from me."

Bennett's expression is a mix of anticipation and dread, which he quickly, and largely unsuccessfully, attempts to mask with a casual smile.

Winnacer offers the following, his voice full of conflict:

"More than any of the injustice that has faced us so far, I have found the Mines of Kutna Hora to be the most offensive. Of all the paths we were to choose, I am sure Spravedelna would smile upon such an enterprise. But even moral righteousness hasn't enabled me to shake these thoughts I need to share with you all."

"We probably could sneak into Kutna Hora and save Heimlin's son, albeit with a great deal of difficulty. While this would be true to our word and do a good friend of ours a great service, the overall effect of such an action would be injust. To save one gnome out of the thousands and ignore the plight of all the others is horribly unfair. As if one gnome's life holds more value than the rest because of his parentage. The repercussions of an escape will most likely subject the remaining gnomes not fortunate enough to know us personally to torture and executions unless we manage to cover our trail perfectly. Potentially, a plan to free a few gnomes can cause much greater injustice and hardship for the remaining gnomes."

"To enter Kutna Hora and ignore the plight of all the gnomes but a handful is inhumane. To take actions that will subject the majority of the gnomes to even greater hardship is no true Justice. And while my heart wishes to live up to my word and my eyes wish to see Heimlin reunited with his son, I fear premature action will only bring pain and sorrow to thousands of gnomes we cannot yet help. When we venture to Kutna Hora, we should have a plan to save them all, not just a handful. Each gnome slave deserves to be freed equally. It is with a heavy heart when I say that I would recommend that we put off an expedition to Kutna Hora for now, instead using the winter to seek out reinforcements and supplies that will enable us to free every gnome held prisoner within the place and put each Nyemetz slaving dog to death. Let us not forget the consequences that our actions would carry if we were to act prematurely."

With these words said, Winnacer's face grows very sad.

"I would not seek to influence your decision as to your next destination," says Konan as Winnacer falls silent. "All I would say is to reiterate the fact that the Grand Wizards of the Church of Kozlo have decided that they must make a decision quickly regarding the venue for the gathering and so I believe that it is only a matter of a few weeks before the decision is made."

"If you wish for me to write you a letter of introduction, then I would be only too delighted to oblige. Otherwise, I would ask you once more if there are any other ways that I may be of assistance to you.

It is obvious that Winnacer is deep in thought as to how to resolve the conflicting responsibilities, however there is still another matter that he wishes to ask for Konan's assistance with.

"I wonder whether it would be possible for you to tell me more about these two items," the young Lord says, slipping a ring off his finger and giving it to him along with the shield that he took from the Tower.

Konan studies the items carefully, looking first at the ring which features a black diamond that glows slightly with a dull black light.

"I took it from the finger of Kominek, Guildmaster of the Black Diamonds in Pardubitze," says Winnacer by way of explanation.

Konan then looks at the shield, featuring a representation of a brown mountain rising from a green plain:

"The shield shows the symbol of Zemnye, the Earth God," Konan says immediately upon seeing the shield. "I'm afraid this is all that I can tell you about it from just a perfunctory glance. If you wish to know more of its history and also that of the ring, then you will have to leave the items with us for a period of around two days, after which time, I am sure that we shall be able to tell you of the items' heritage."

"Do you wish to leave them with me now?"

Winnacer is the only one to reply to the Librarian's words:

"Konan, we would appreciate a letter of introduction at some point. Even if Boscobelous' Tower is not to be their meeting point, we need to make their acquaintance for the future. We will talk more of this after we work out our current agenda. If you can identify these items, I would appreciate it as well."

"Very well," replies Konan, taking the ring and shield and locking them in a cupboard. "As I said, it will take a minimum of two days in order to determine the items' heritage. During that time, I shall also write you a letter of introduction for the Head Librarians and Grand Wizards of the Cathedral of Kitry in Olmutz."

He then takes the spellbook that Will had taken from Faewen'il and considers it, flipping through its pages:

"It could take a little longer to copy this," he says. "Neither myself nor any of the other 'regular' members of our Church are able to copy magickal texts, and so the task will have to be performed by one of the 'acting members'. From all that I have told you of their nature, I am sure that it will not be necessary to tell you that such a person may not immediately jump at the chance of acting as a scribe and so it could take a little persuasion. I shall see what I can do. However, it is unlikely that the task will be performed in much less than a week."

The Librarian then stifles another yawn:

"Thank you for all of your continued assistance, Konan," Winnacer says. "We have already taken up a great deal of your time this evening and wish to burden you no longer."

He then turns to the rest of them:

"I think that it is time to take our leave of the Library. We may continue our conversations back at the warehouse."

They all agree and so file out of Konan's quarters, shaking the Librarian's large hand as they depart his quarters. As they enter the main hall of the library, the acolyte that had been reading by candlelight gets up in order to unlock the door in order to let them out of the Library.