Maplegrove...
For several days things had been quiet. The Eternal Wanderer still rested in the isolated cove, with yellow and brown leaves falling about it. Several members of the crew had taken to exploring the wilderness around the village. Onestar had told them that they might be stationary for several days, so he allowed them five days free leave.
Elsewhere, in Maplegrove itself, Hall was still trying to come to terms with his encounter with Gordon. Onestar offered to talk with Gordon, warrior to warrior so to speak, but Max (the orbmax) regretfully informed him that the paladin did not want any visitors. The town square was busy with a variety of merchants selling their wares, so there were plenty of distractions.
Hall emerged from the Silver Osprey tavern carrying a coffer. He walked over to Onestar, Crystal, Belieth, Darlena and Karl, who were mingling in the crowd.
"What's in the coffer?" Onestar asked.
"Ingots," Hall answered. "My share of the proceeds from the Silver Osprey."
Onestar then nodded and smiled. He remembered that Hall was a silent partner in the operation of the tavern. It was, for the bard, a form of investment. After a while, they gathered in Karl's metalsmithing shop. Crystal stopped to admire some of the ornate hilt work on some displayed weapons.
"Karl," Darlena said, "get the chest."
Karl smiled and nodded. He then headed for the back room.
"Why don't you come back here with me," he said.
As Hall, Belieth and Darlena entered the room, Karl lifted a small chest and unlocked it.
"Belieth," Darlena said, "open it."
Belieth looked at Hall, who was smiling softly, then slowly opened the chest.
"You kept it for me..." she said softly. In the chest were pieces of a suit of armor. The armor looked like it had been made from obsidian. Belieth lifted the breastplate and test fitted it against herself.
"It should still fit," she whispered.
Hall reached into the chest and removed a small bag. He opened the bag and withdrew two, lovely golden rings. Belieth blushed and extended her left hand, allowing Hall to put one of the rings on her ring finger. He placed the other ring on his own hand.
A few of Belieth's other belongings were also in the chest.
"I asked Karl to keep them in his vault," Hall said. "For safe keeping."
Belieth turned around and embraced him hard.
"Belieth," Darlena whispered, "there is something else you should have."
Karl lifted a long object wrapped in cloth. He slowly unwrapped the package, to reveal a finely crafted longsword. The scabbard was covered with gems and ornate runes. The blade itself looked almost translucent, as if it had been made from a beam of starlight.
"Starcutter...?" Belieth asked quietly. Hall was amazed.
"Gwen said," Darlena explained, "that if ever you returned to Cartania, even if in death, that Starcutter should go with you."
Belieth started to cry. Hall gathered her to his chest, then looked at Darlena and Karl.
"She understood," Karl said. "She tried to make him understand, but he never did."
"He still doesn't," Hall whispered.
"I've got it!!" Cherry called out in triumph.
The wizard had been using the repository on the Eternal Wanderer to complete her research. Darran Koor had given her the spellbooks she needed to understand the ways of the Nimar, but after relentlessly examining the books she had found that while she now understood how the Nimar used their magic, she still didn't have the means to become a Nimar. The answer to that question was on the strange key that Darran Koor had left behind. After two days of examining the works in Monitor's repository (she didn't stop to eat or sleep), she finally knew how to use the key.
Hall, Bagath, Blaise, Estress, and Normikon had all been assisting her, and when she cried out, they all ran to her. The tasked genie, was hovering beside her.
"Traxoth's tomb!" she said, tears of triumph rolling from her eyes. "I must take the key to Traxoth's tomb!" Bagath walked over and embraced her.
*Traxoth?* Estress asked.
"One of the Nimar," Hall answered quietly. "He's best known for gathering together the works of the other Nimar into a collective whole. He was supposed to have sealed Cartania in a huge magical bubble to protect it."
"Yes," Normikon commented. "I remember reading about that. The shell broke down about two hundred years ago, but it prevented any spelljammer from landing on the planet for almost six centuries."
"Correct," Hall said. "According to history, creating the shield cost him his life, but it also saved Cartania from an invasion from... the Abyss."
"Courtesy of a planer gate?" Blaise asked, arching an eyebrow.
Hall nodded.
Cherry bounded over to the others. She was clearly exhausted, but she was so excited that she didn't care. She had finally found the key to becoming a Nimar.
"Traxoth arranged for his collected works to be entombed with him," Cherry explained. "Everything he ever wrote down was sealed into the tomb with him."
*Why was the knowledge sealed off like that?* Estress asked.
"By then the Nimar knew they would have to leave, but, like Darran Koor, Traxoth made arrangements for their possible return."
"So he and Darran Koor both made the key?" Blaise asked.
"Traxoth helped design it," Cherry said, "so in a sense yes. The key will open Traxoth's tomb, and in so doing, allow access to his books!"
She was so excited that she was shaking.
"We have to go there at once!" she said.
"Hold on a moment," Bagath said. "You need some sleep first."
Cherry smiled and nodded.
The following day, a tradesman ascended from a clearing near Maplegrove and headed into the mountains to the east. These mountains were called the World Spine. The name was well chosen, because portions of the mountain chain practically circled the globe.
The tradesman was named "Saran's Rest," and it belonged to Darlena's abbey. On the small ship several people were riding. Among them were all the surviving members of the Silver Osprey party: Gordon, Hall, Belieth, Darlena, Karl, Cherry and Bagath. Also on board was Onestar, Crystal, Blaise, and Estress. Others wanted to come as well, but Onestar didn't want to risk everyone from the Wanderer.
Gordon ignored everyone on the ship. He sat on the aft of the main deck, near one of the ballistas, and simply watched the world scroll below him. At his side was a huge broadsword, the legendary Excelsior. Belieth tried to talk to him at one point, but he shooed her away. He resented the fact that she now carried Starcutter, the sword that had been Gwen's. As far as Gordon was concerned, Belieth's soul was as black as the obsidian armor she now wore. Everyone on the ship was relieved when it came to a soft landing in a mossy patch of forest, deep in the mountains, hundreds of miles from any sentient.
"That one," Karl said, pointing to a mountain with two tall, pointed peaks. "Those are the spears of Orion. Traxoth's tomb is supposed to be at the base of this mountain."
For about an hour the band trekked through the thick brush, approaching the base of the mountain. Finally they reached what appeared to be a ruin of some kind. The building had originally been round, but now most of the outer wall was a shamble. In the center of the structure was a smaller round structure that was still mostly intact. Bagath looked around at the vegetation for a few minutes.
"Grave robbers," he said. "The vines are all out of place. Someone tried to gain access to the tomb, and recently."
"Do you think they had any luck?" Gordon asked coldly.
"I doubt it. There would be more damage around here if they had gotten inside. However," he said, looking at another set of marks on the floor of the ruin, "it looks like someone tried to enter the tomb by breaking it open; I'd say, some three centuries ago."
Blaise was looking into the small, round building. The roof of the small structure held a large, crystalline circle that allowed a column of light to enter a chamber below. Hall, Onestar and Crystal came up beside him. They were about to ask him what he had found when they noticed that he was in the midst of some divination spell. After a few minutes he stopped.
"They tried to get in all right," he said, "but failed. In fact, this Traxoth has set this place up so that the key is the only way to access the adjoining chambers.
After a few minutes, the group descended a stone, spiral staircase into the lower chamber. Gordon led the way, with Excelsior lighting their path. The deeper they went, the wider the chamber became. When they finally reached the bottom, they were in a circular room that was perhaps sixty feet in diameter.
Bagath looked around for a minute, casting an occasional glance at the shaft of light from above.
"Gordon," he said, "put away Excelsior for a moment."
Slowly, Gordon put away his glowing sword. For a few seconds the room was totally dark, but then a strange orange ball appeared in the center of the room, about four feet from the ground. A few seconds later, smaller globes of light appeared elsewhere in the room, and they were traveling in a slow, circular path around the orange ball in the center. One by one, tiny shimmering lights appeared on the walls of the room.
*A planetarium!* Estress conveyed.
"Yes," Blaise said, walking around the room. "This room is like a huge planetary locator. We are inside a scale model of Solaris!"
"But where is Aramoth?" Darlena asked. Indeed, there was only one star in the center of the room. The green companion star was absent.
"Let me try something," Cherry said quietly. She walked over to the illusionary model of the sun and examined it for a minute. She then reached into a bag and withdrew the Key of Darran Koor. The foot long shaft she had retrieved from Athas formed the center of the key. Four concentric rings were attached to it, giving it the look of a child's toy, or the component of a spinning wheel. Half by instinct, and half by reason, she placed the key into the center of the orange ball of light.
The key began to float on it's own, suspended within the orange ball. It spun wildly for a few seconds, then held still. A small green sphere appeared beside the orange one, completing the model of Solaris. Cherry stepped back from the two model stars. The others simply stood around waiting to see what would happen next.
Without warning a bolt of light flew from Aramoth and struck Cartania. It then went to a point on the wall of the room. A strange symbol—two dragons in the Yin/Yang configuration, appeared where the bolt had stopped.
"That must be the location of the Tower of the Nimar," Belieth said.
"We already know where that is," Gordon scoffed. "What good is..."
"Wait!" Blaise called, "it's doing something else!
Small bolts of light that resembled magic missiles began to emanate from the center of the room, striking the walls, and lighting up the "stars." Then, from the newly lit stars, similar bolts of light flew to the ground. Crystal bent over and looked at where one of the bolts had struck.
"There are tiny bits of glass in the floor!" she said. "This one is lit up!"
The entire group started to look at the tiny lights on the floor. More stars perhaps? The strange bolts of light appeared to be following some kind of pattern.
"Amazing..." Blaise finally said.
"What do you see?" Onestar asked. Everyone was looking at the arcane as he watched the bolts of light fly about the room, lighting up the tiny points on the floor.
"It's a code!" he said. "This is the same system that the Nextasy device uses, only this uses light instead of energy!"
*You're not making sense!* Estress said.
"The Key of Darran Koor contains a program! An encoded set of instructions to be carried out by a magical machine."
"Like a spell?" Cherry asked, starting to understand.
"In some ways, yes." Blaise was enthralled with what he was seeing. "When the Key was placed in that illusionary ball," he explained, "it completed this oorery, or planetary locator. With the key in place, the locator was able to carry out the instructions that were encoded in the five parts of the key. Traxoth was a genius!!"
"But what does the program do?" Crystal asked.
As if on cue the lights stopped, and the floor began to move. Those who were standing were thrown off balance. After a few seconds, part of the wall opened to reveal another chamber. All the lights from the locator vanished, leaving only the Key floating in mid air. All of the light was now focused on the other chamber.
Cautiously, the group entered the chamber. The room was ornately decorated with brass and gold, and it seemed to glow with an inner light. On the walls were cases with several books and scrolls—the collected works of Traxoth, perfectly preserved. In the center of the room was a huge sarcophagus with a crystalline cover. Bagath looked into the crystal and saw the mummified remains of a huge, vaguely reptilian humanoid with long, delegate wings. Even in death, the face of the creature appeared to be at peace.
"It's another Avangion," Bagath said.
"Traxoth..." Cherry whispered, caressing the crystal lid. She then looked at the books and scrolls for a moment. Everyone looked around the chamber in awe.
"I trust you are resting well, old friend?" a voice said.
Everyone turned around fast to see Darran Koor, in human form, looking at Traxoth's form.
"Will you stop doing that!" Cherry said.
"It's the only fun I ever get," Darran Koor responded. His face then became serious.
"You understand how the Nimar use magic," he said. "My spell books taught you that. Now, these works will tell you what you must do to attempt the transformation."
Estress walked over to the Nimar.
*Nimar, tell me, why was this knowledge locked away for so long?*
"The knowledge in this room could destroy an entire sphere, Illithid. I arranged things so that only a select few would ever be able to enter this chamber. Tiegorus here is the first one to succeed. The power that this knowledge offers can not be tossed around at will. It must be used wisely, or people like Montrazar will again plague Cartania."
"What of Montrazar?" Cherry asked. "Doesn't he already have this knowledge?"
"No," the Nimar answered. "He only has a select portion of it. He is determined to gather it for himself, and use it to execute his conquest of Solaris."
"What of the arcane, Te-Ess'Arr?" Onestar asked. "He has plans to destroy this sphere... just like he did with Omnispace."
"He is another matter that must be dealt with in other ways. But I will tell you that the power of one arcane is nothing compared to the power of a Black Nimar. Defeating Montrazar is perhaps more important, in the long run, than defeating the arcane."
Onestar wasn't sure he believed that. Hall didn't know what to believe.
Before any more questions could be asked, Darran Koor began to revert to his Avangion form.
"The knowledge is yours to use now, Tiegorus of Maplegrove," he said as he started to float to the opening in the ceiling. "Use is wisely."
Once again, he was gone.
"Nimar, Magi," Onestar grumbled, "they must be related. Say only what they want and then leave."
Everyone in the room quietly agreed. After a few moments of thought, everyone started making plans to take the various books and scrolls back to the "Saran's Rest" and return to Maplegrove.
The Playards...
Hypathia had continued to live with the gnomes who had rescued her some weeks back. She had been trying to convince Timmons to sell her one of their whelk ships so she could leave the sphere, but the gnome refused. All of the whelks were needed for keeping supplies coming to the gnome villages. The elves had a large number of ships in the area, so it was almost impossible for Hypathia to escape anyway.
The elves had been attacking the planet in frequent numbers of late. The gnomes were not about to give in, however. In fact, they were fighting bravely. None of this comforted Hypathia, however. While she was sympathetic to the gnomes, she was becoming more concerned about her dealings with the Muldravians. If she didn't reach a Conorg office soon, the Muldravians might seek another supplier, or negotiate a different deal.
Once again she asked Timmons for a whelk, and again he refused,
"Timmons," she said, trying to contain her anger, "if I don't get off this planet immediately then the elves will be able to defeat the Muldravians, and then they will come back for you."
Timmons chuckled.
"You overestimate your importance, arcane," he said. "The Muldravians will do just fine for now. You can ask for a ship all you want, but I can't spare you one! I can either give you the means to secure your commissions, or, I can keep this village in food and medicine."
Hypathia just sighed. She would have to find another way, because time was running out.
"Is there anyone in the area with a large collection of spell books?" she asked. "I lost my traveling books in the wreck."
Timmons thought for a moment.
"Hmmm, there is this one gal in a village in the next valley. Strange lady, but she has some spell books. She's been here for the last, oh, ten months."
It was worth a try, Hypathia thought.
"Show me where the village is," she said, as she walked over to Timmon's map.
Timmons pointed to a spot on the map. Hypathia looked at the spot for a moment then rushed outside, lifting her bag as she went. She looked around at the terrain for a moment, and determined where the village was.
"Some riders will be going there in three days," Timmons said, "if you want..."
"I would rather not wait," she said, as she pressed one of the jewels on her belt, opening a dimension door.
"Should I tell your handmaiden..." Timmons started.
"NO!" Hypathia said as she stepped through the door. It closed instantly.
Hypathia emerged in a meadow on a hill. Another gnome village was a few hundred yards away. She didn't want anyone from her old ship to know where she was, not even Pyr. Someone wanted her dead, so she wasn't going to take any chances.
Jamian Blackleaf, commander of the Impaler, looked through his scope at the old Dwarven citadel in the distance. He had received the order. It was time for his spy to act.
Jamian worked for Te-Ess'Arr. The arcane had set things up perfectly, and Jamian was quite pleased to be part of the plan. By having the Muldravian Emperor assassinated, the elves and the Muldravians were now at war. With both of the major powers in Solaris occupied with one another, the arcane could carry out his own plan, a plan that would destroy the sphere.
What's more, with a human power and the elves battling, the current wars between humanoid and elf would become more widespread and deadly. The war would eventually touch every sphere in the galaxy. In the end, the elven navy would collapse from pushing itself too much. Shortly thereafter, the humanoids and humans would revert to destroying one another again.
The plan was perfect.
Jamian chuckled as he released a hummerfly toward the citadel.
Hypathia quietly walked into the village. The gnomes cast her strange looks, but word had spread about the "blue giant" who had been staying in the next village, so the suspicion was quickly replaced with curiosity. Hypathia found it difficult to inquire about the reported magic user that lived in this village, due to the constant chatter of gnomes.
Finally, Hypathia entered one of the huts, and was greeted by a strange looking woman. The arcane had been expecting a gnomish woman, but instead she saw, well, she didn't know what to call her.
The woman had elven features, more or less. Her eyes looked vaguely reptilian. One eye was grey, while the other was cobalt blue. Her hair was silver with some black highlights around the ears. Her ears looked elven, but they were somehow too large. Oddest of all was her skin, which was as grey as her one grey eye.
Hypathia honestly didn't know what to make of her.
"Before you ask," the woman said in a rolling, alto voice, "I'm not a native of this world." She then smiled
"I can see that," Hypathia answered. "Where are you from?"
"The Rings of Ritalia in Draconispace," she answered. "My name is Cassandra."
"Charmed," Hypathia said as she sat down. "My name is Hypathia. I'm from Refuge."
"It's been a while since I've seen an arcane," Cassandra said. "What brings you here?"
"I was shipwrecked here a few weeks back."
"Join the club. I was supposed to leave this planet for Cartania ten months ago, but my transport was destroyed before it could pick me up."
"Elves?"
"No, pirates, but only because they got to the ship first. The elves in this sphere are not very friendly."
Hypathia nodded and kept looking at Cassandra. Finally she decided to throw her manners to the wind.
"What are you?" she asked.
Cassandra arched her eyebrows.
"I'm a bard," she answered.
"No, what race are you? I've never seen anyone like you before."
Cassandra blushed slightly.
"You aren't likely to either. My mother was an elf. My father was... a steel dragon."
Hypathia was amazed. This woman was a half-dragon.
"You say you're from Draconispace," Hypathia said. "That's a long way from here. What brings to Solaris?"
"I'm what you might call an anthropologist," Cassandra answered. "I came here to collect tales from the gnomes who live here. They have a very rich culture."
Hypathia was fascinated, but she had other things to deal with.
"I would like to look at your collection. I know of another bard who would love to examine it in depth. But, I have something else to ask first."
"What's that?" Cassandra asked.
"I need to send a message to Cartania. I'm hoping you have the spells in your books that can allow me to do it."
Cassandra lit up.
"I'd be happy. Tell me what you need, and I'll see what I have."
Hypathia made herself comfortable as Cassandra reached for a coffer that contained eight heavily bound books.
On the elven citadel...
Silently as death, an elf walked through the dark corridors of the citadel. In his hands he carried a magical flask containing a strange black liquid. The hummerfly had reached him as planned. He was carrying out the instructions that Jamian Blackleaf had given to him before he smuggled himself aboard the citadel.
After what seemed like forever, the elf reached the center of the citadel. A huge vat dominated the central chamber. In the vat was a pulsing, yellow fluid. No one was around. Staying close to the substance for extended periods of time was dangerous. The elf jumped onto one of the catwalks that was suspended over the vat, opened his flask and poured the black liquid into the yellow substance below. When the black liquid mixed with the yellow, the yellow material pulsed and churned for a few seconds, then settled.
Perfect, the elf thought. He started back across the catwalk to the wall, when his path was blocked by an undead humanoid.
The elf was startled, and quickly reached for his weapon. The undead form ran for the elf and grabbed his neck. The zombie-like creature was incredibly strong. The elf found himself growing dizzy, as the creature continued to choke him. Finally his strength gave out, and the undead creature threw the elf into the yellow liquid below. The elf ceased to exist within seconds.
The undead creature looked around for a moment, then withdrew another flask. It poured the contents of it's flask into the yellow liquid below. Again the liquid churned violently for a moment, then settled.
The undead creature returned to the shadows and vanished from sight.
Hypathia wrote quickly on a small piece of paper, while Cassandra cast a spell on a figurine of a dragon. The figurine was about two feet long and was crafted from fine wood. When she finished casting the spell, she looked over at Hypathia.
"This should deliver your message just fine," she said. "It's small, fast, and unfailing. It's even better than a hummerfly."
"I'm glad for that," Hypathia said, as she sealed the small scroll with wax. "There were some hummerflys on my ship when I crashed here. Some of them are missing now."
"You think someone on your ship was a turn coat?"
"I'm sure of it." Hypathia walked over to the figurine and started to put the scroll into the hollow chamber in it's body.
"Where were you planning to go after you finished here?" Hypathia asked.
"I was going to go to Cartania to examine the Muldravian spelljammers," she answered. "I've always been interested in spelljammers, and those ships the Muldravian's make are quite impressive. I would like to examine one, but I can't do that when I'm stuck here."
She sighed and looked out the window.
"But, I guess it's better to be here than up there in that nest of angry elves."
As if on cue, Timmons called to them from outside.
"Hypathia!" he called.
"I'm in here!" the arcane responded.
Timmons stumbled in, panting for all he was worth.
"I got here as quickly as I could. The elves," he said, panting, "they have returned!"
"What?" Hypathia asked, suddenly alarmed.
"It isn't just the Green Sash anymore. All of them are back. They are attacking any ship that doesn't surrender to them on sight," Timmons explained.
"What of the Green Sash?" Hypathia asked.
Cassandra didn't completely understand what was happening.
"They were a decoy!" Timmons said. "They were to soften up everyone until the real navy was ready to return. The Imperial Elven Navy is out to conquer Solaris, and they will kill anything that tries to stop them."
Hypathia paused for a moment. She then removed the scroll from the figurine, added a few lines to the text, then replaced it.
"How long will it take for this to reach Cartania?" she asked. Cassandra thought for a moment.
"Two days?" she answered.
"That will be fine. Send it," Hypathia said. "Tomorrow I'll return with you, Timmons."
"Can I go with you?" Cassandra asked.
"Are you sure you want to get involved in this?"
"Remember what my father is," Cassandra said with a vaguely draconian grin. "I don't spook easily. Besides, I'm ready to move on."
Hypathia smiled and nodded.
That evening, Cassandra Spellbringer went to a high bluff, uttered a few words of magespeak, and sprinkled a powder on the wooden dragon. A few seconds later the figurine took off with incredible speed toward one of the numerous lights in the sky.
