A Thousand Ships

7th of the moon umber

Arcvanin arrives in to Jess’s looking worried. The priest they sent out is back already and there’ll be an Ethark two hours from here. Hans Oakenshield, who was on the Herald Avo, three or so hours out of port. This isn’t good, he’s a warmongering nuisance.

Unusually for a priest without order (priest of conscience), he was promoted for acs of courage (acts of lunacy). He still has no place in the hierarchy.

We discuss what and how much to tell Oakenshield. Someone from the duke turns up, right behind Khalid. It’s someone different. Portly, roundfaced, balding. “Word reached us that there was to be some sort of conclave. I was instructed to come along and have a look.” Arkvanin explains. “My name is Capper, by the way. I know your names.”

Nanda proposes all but Arkvanin, Jess and Capper make themselves scarce before he turns up.

He turns up. Five foot six and not that broad of shoulder. Has a sword that’s seen use, though. We tell him about the books. “They are very qualified books, shall we say.” “Ah. Some of the burned ones? Or supposed to be burned ones? Well, bugger. I’m not well informed on pilgrimages. They’re not a part of my ministry. But you at least” - to Arkvanin - “have something of a name for a talent in that area. So do they definitely need the hand of an Ethark?” Arkvanin nods. “Very well. Where are they?” “Under lock and key, my lord Ethark, in the vault of the church of Colman Lucas.” “Alright, that much is good. Lead on then.”

We head up to Arkvanin’s. Oakenshield’s ship is being repaired, not fifteen minutes after sailing in.

He picks up a book and flicks through it. “This doesn’t look so bad” Looks at the higher shelves. “Oh.” Reaches up for one with a broken chain attached to the spine. “I take it that the cellar here is also consecrated, and that therefore the amount of swearing I wish to do will be out of place.” Arkvanin nods. Oakenshield puts the book back on the shelf. “I am on my way to Kalmadiz. I have not time to stop but on the other hand these clearly cannot be left loose. How many people know they are here?” Just one of the smugglers. He asks to meet with the smuggler. In a few hours time, he’ll decide what to do with whatever information is available.

“That was much better than I expected. So far.” We get back and tell Nanda the story. She’ll go talk to the Ethark, with Khalid also present though not in the convo, and the rest of us nearby.

“You were interested about books, Sir?”
“I was. Found a decent collection.”
“Such things are can be available when opportunity presents itself.”
“There are more? Or can you get more?”
“Nothing of comparable apparent value as the ones you may have seen”
“The broken chain on the spine is a fair indicator of value?”
“You don’t come across things like that every day”
“But you could find more”
“Theoretically. But they would not …”
“It’s not the value i’m particularly interested in, it’s the number of them”
“What you have probably seen is the great majority of them.”
He thinks. “Tell me. How did Jessen and Arkvanin react to these books when you brought them in?”
“They… I have known of them vaguely and reasonably friendly with Jessen for some time but I did not think that I would see a day when I would fear that he might stab me when I’m in my sleep.”
“IS there any point in me asking where they came from?”
“You probably know better than that.”
“Alright. I am going to ask a few questions concerning the origin of the books,a nd you answer yes no or not at all as you choose.”
“May i sit down?”
“Of course, ma’am. I forget that even in the free ports some people do have manners. Are these books coming from a shipwreck?”
“No”
“TO the best of your knowledge was anyone killed ot get them?”
“No, we don’t do that sort of thing. It’s possible, though we don’t know for certain that the person who originally was in possession of these goods is dead. But we saw nobody but things were a mess.”
“Do you or ay of your associates recognise why the priests were upset when you brought the books to them?”
“My associates likely would not. I can understand why they would be upset, in a way.”
“Did you look into any of the books?”
“They were books. Books have writing on them. Yes, I did look. I did not read as such.”
“Alright. Might, through your associates or any other wya, any other priest particularly those not with the court of spires or ay other educated person know where those books are?”
“If they did not look at them then - I don’t think so. If anyone else saw the priests’ reactions and had sufficient knowledge them it is possible, but…”
“Very well. I want the rest of those books brought here. I will leave money with the priests for what I consider to be a fair price for the likely rest of the collection and the ones you have already brought. I have no idea if this price is going to be accurate or not, but i will not intentionally cheat you.”
“What will you do with the books?”
“I will not be here to have them, but you will bring them to Arcvanin and to Jessen and if you can, and if they’ll let you, make sure that they are brought to the vault in the church of Colman Lucas. I’ll be giving them similar instructions, and leave with them a method of closing that vault such as it cannot be opened by anyone below the rank of Ethark of the Church of Spires. Then I will also leave with them a letter written, signed and sealed which can be sent back to the mainland to alert some Ethark who has more knowledge of such things than I of their existence and to come and get them.”
“How likely is it that they will be destroyed?”
“Destroyed? Not a chance.”
“Jessen wante dot burn them”
“he was absolutely right because at the time he could not know there was somebody of reasonable rank to deal whit them nearby. Since there is, I am dealing with them. Once they are within the bounds of the servants of the court again I will assure you they will not be destroyed. THe current spiral is very much against the destruction of them. He has made this very clear to many of us.”
“With all due respect, sir, you’re not dealing with them. You’re going to go away”
“I’m dealing with them as best I’m able in the circumstance.s I have to be in Kalmadiz two days from now. You’ll recognise that that’s a long journey for a short time and i do not have time to deal with this. I am trusting to the priests here to handle it gracefully and to you and your associates good sense and desire for a reasonable profit to cooperate with this. I’ve found that by and large offering pay for things is better than shouting. Very well. If that meets with your approval, I shall leave that with you and I shall leave money with the priests.”
“If i do this thing for you, then will you exercise some mercy in Kalmadiz and in other places?”
“It is mercy that I am going there for.”
He rises and heads out.

He strides up to the church. “Your smuggler turned up. We had a reasonably fruitful discussion an dI have come to a decision. I have to be in Kalmadiz in two days time. I have to get there ahead of a particular general who is misinformed as to certain events in that place, and who is likely to take some very unwise actions unless I get there first. Therefore I cannot stay any longer to deal with this and indeed the only reason i did divert is to have the mast repaired. You benefit from this. I am going to leave the books that are here with you, a minor seal ion the vault so that priests of your rank can open it. Please don’t get killed before they get here. The rest will hopefully arrive form the smugglers in the near future. Place them in the vault and I will leave a seal for you to place in the door sealing it openable only by Ethark. I will leave a letter also only openable by an Etherakr to be sent to the mainland. Iw ill leave a reasonable amount of money to be sent to the smuggler.”

As we head down the steps, the ground lurches underfoot. An earthquake. Stops seconds later. Nanda and Khalid run to the temple. “The vault! Are they still there?” She runs over. Ethark: “Just an earthquake. Nothing to panic.”

he opens the vault door. “Everything is still here. WHy did you think tehr was a connection?”
“it was just so quick”
“You don’t have earthquakes here ordinarily?”
“Sometimes. They are teh right ones?”
“They are. Believe me.”
He checks, takes a close look at one, steps back, closes the door, comes up witha b lob of wax and a seal the size of his fist. Puts the seal on the door, muttering something under his breath. A brief flash of light, and the wax runs out in a thin trail along the crack between the door and the vault. “Now. Do not, obviously enough, open that until the rest of the books are here, and when they are here, open that, put them in, force the door closed if you have to, and put this on the door.” Flat disc of wax. “It will behave as that one did without the necessity of any magic being applied by you. Put it on the door and stand back, the door will be firmly sealed.”

He goes up to write a letter, and bows to Nanda. He does the same trick with a seal, and hands the letter to Arcvanin. “When you have all the books in and the vault is sealed, send that. Now, earthquakes or not, I must be on my way.”

He peers across the town at the ship, points at the harbourmaster’s house outside which a crowd is visible. Sends us down there in case someone was hurt, and heads straight to his ship.

Nanda emerges. We head down. The Ethark’s boat is pulling away from the pier. The duke’s dude turns up on our way down and asks how it went. “Ok. We’re to keep them safe and he’s continuing on his mission.” “And what’s the Ethark’s mission?” “Something he’s in a great hurry for, apparently.”

Rannon is there already. The Harbormaster’s guest seems to have awoken. “I understand that you are the ones responsible for my treatment when I first arrived here.” Jess: “That is true, sir.” “I thank you greatly. My name is Ata Amna Alana.” The harbourmaster facepalms.

He asks the harbourmaster to dissipate the crowds a little. He does by glaring, then by polishing his kopesh.

Ata’s waking up and looking considerably more alive. “Can you tell me, any of you, any news from the direction of Tajidar, from the direction of Kalmadiz?” It’s fallen. “I had surmised as much, though the people with me are unwilling to tell me much. Do you know anything more of how it fell, of what is happening there?” “There is little enough news from that direction.”

Harbourmaster returns, gestures for Nanda to step aside to speak to him. “He’s a mage prince of the second degree.” Very high up indeed. “From Kalmadiz?” “I can only assume, yes.”

Khalid spills. “There is news form that direction. I do not undersand it myself, but it would appear that your enemies were using weapons of war that they should not have been able to create.” “Weapons of war supplied from outside?” “Not supplied, I believe. They gained access to dwarven magics, and used these to build a craft of war. Without, it would seem, the agreement of the dwarves. I say this having but a few days ago not known dwarves existed, but this is how your city fell.”
“I see.”
“In an act of thievery and cowardice”
“it is no wonder then that i was rendered unconscious. It must have been at the very first strike. I do not suppose there was word if nay other of the mages in Kalmadiz survived?”
“We have received no such word, but neither have we heard that they did not.”
“If it has been taken it is very likely that they did not. How might they have come by this advance? Is there even conjecture?”
“There are places, foundries, something akin to a smithy, around this world. It is conjectured that they found one of these.”
“The places in the dwarven tongue called Steinberg. But are they not emptied?”
“It would appear not. What you should perhaps take some heart from is that although it is conjectured they have these weapons, it took these weapons and quite a huge portion of their army to take your city.”
“So it was not just the weapon they had”
“So it would seem.”
“Very well. I must return to Tajidar. But I do not know the right manner to do so. If the Strazi are in control of Kalmadiz then they are in effect in control of a wide stretch of coast, and any boat I take back may be captured or sunk, and I will not survive that. I can use my magics to return, but only to Kalmadiz.” That would be unwise. “I think so, yes. Or I can use another magic but that will be slow.” How slow? “As slow as if I were to walk the distance. Who rules here?”
“The duke.”
“Are any of his representatives about?”
Capper has disappeared. “His representatives tend to turn up when they are needed.”
“I need to know how much aid his necessary neutrality can extend to me.”
Khalid suggests he go ask.
“I shall do so. Will one of you show me the way?”
Nanda agrees. He gets up and starts moving.
“Once I am awake I can reforge my connections with the earth and that will bring me to full strength quickly.”

The moment Ata steps from the wooden steps of the house onto the dirt street of the village, the ground in the immediate vicinity trembles very slightly, and continues to do so with every footstep he takes. Nanda, Khalid and Jess accompany him.

The castle’s front gate is rather imposing. We’re appraised by the guard. “My lord and gentlefolk.” Ata: “We would speak with the duke.” “The duke is away at present, but you could perhaps speak with his steward?” Ata considers: “That will do.” “In which case, please follow me.” He hurries ahead of us through a tunnel through the 15m thick wall.

We’re seated in a dark reception room. The servant of the duke we first met steps out. Even less healthy looking than usual. He keeps carefully out of the shaft of sunlight crossing the room. “My Lord.” Ata carefully conceals pure horror: “YOu are the Steward? What aid does your neutrality permit extending to me?”
Steward tips his head. “We may give you what food and drink you need, a roof over your head, the same as those for any of your attendants. We may not furnish you with intelligence or any military supplies. But we may provide you premises in effect for an embassy, temporary or permanent.”
Ata nods. “That, then, is as much as I could hope for. What of your people here?” Steward tips his head the other way. “They are free to do as they wish. The only ones bound by the rules of neutrality are the direct servants of the duke. Myself, the other stewards and the guardsmen.”
Ata nods again. “Very well. That, I think, is as much as I need to know.” He makes a small gesture as though to rise.
The steward steps back, bows, and invites him to send messages regarding food, drink and the provision of a roof. Steps out and very deliberately closes the door.

The sergeant reappears and asks to see us out. We’re walked well out past the gate, before the sergeant returns to his post, looking immensely relieved.

Ata: “Perhaps, Confidante, I am not as well as I thought. But I would swear that the duke’s steward seemed not quite to be alive.”
“One is reluctant to speculate, sir.”
“I understand entirely. The harbourmaster, I take it, is in all technical senses and for the purpose of neutrality a servant of the duke, is that correct?”
“That’s my understanding.”
“I see. Alright.
Nanda address him. “Secretive one. There is a steinberg on this island.”

Hmm, that’s an interesting move.

“I see. Have the strazi made use of it?”
“Not to my knoweldge”
“is tehre anything in it?”
“A hermnit. Old shrine. Some books. And there is a large device there that has been recently used. Our dwarven friend might be able to give you more information”
“There’s a dwarf here? I Would greatly appreciate an introduction to the dwarf.”

We find him. He looks worried when he sees Ata. Ata says something in what can only be dwarvish. The conversation is quite opaque. Nagan is sweating. Eventually Ata sits back looking more satisfied.

Ata: “Very well. From what Nagan tells me, the steinberg iws at the least no longer a danger, although it has been used. The likelihood seems very great taht there is a rogue dwarf somewhere in these islands who is aiding the Strazi.”
Khalid: “So it would seem.”
Ata: “Some of you are people of at leasgt a little influence in this place I take it. I will be taking residence temporarily somewhere in the village. I will be sending my people away from here by as roundabout a route as they can manage to return to tajidar in a safe manner. In the meantime I shall be offering reasonable prices for intelligence concerning the fall of Kalmadiz and the current state of that section of the coast of Tajidar. I have not a great deal of money with me, and I do not propose to upset the local balance by pulling gold from the ground. But i can pay reasonably well. It is important, I would have you note to these people, that the information be accurate.”
How will you know?
“I have something of an ear for such things. It is not wholly reliable but it is better than nothing.”
He knows better than to ask to see the Steinberg.
“If you would wihs, friend dwarf, I can use my arts to alert others of your kind to what is here.”
Nagan perks up considerably. “You can send a message?”
“I can send it. I cannot confirm its receipt, nor even specify precisely to whom I am sending it. But I can send a message to Harkfast at the least.”
Nagan: “That’s perfectly sufficient. ‘Master historian needed in Theimus. Signed, Nagan.’”
Ata nods. “I shall send that this evening, then, at sunset.”
Nanda offers to let him crash on her couch. He accepts.

Ata halts glancing down at the harbour. A small boat is coming in. Looks like the Ethark’s boat. “That boat does not feel well intentioned toward me.” “They were here before. It’s called the Herald Avo. It is the ship of a Strazi war priest who was here earlier.” “?” “He seemed like a reasonable sort. We had some trouble with ghost ships and ghostly crews here earlier. I can only hope this is not the same thing. Come this way.”

Someone has jumped from it to the pier and is sprinting up the hill toward Colman Lucas. A boy. “Milord. Are you a priest? Something happened. We were only an hour out and headed for Kalmadiz, and suddenly the Ethark and the other priests on board all just fell over at once. Just collapsed. Twitched a little and they’re unconscious and feverish. The captain turned us around immediately.”

The captain has a uniform that Jess doesn’t recognise. The Ethark and three other priests lying down, pale twitching, comatose. Similar to the prince when he arrived, but he was still. Best Jess can tell, this is like these guys were hit by lightning.

Arcvanin arrives. We fire as much healing as we can muster into the Ethark and wave some smelling salts at him. His eyes pop open.

“You’re back in Theiumus. Three hours.”
“We crossed some sort of boundary. Some ward. Who the hell is setting up wards in Kalmadiz against me? Three hours. That is not going to be enough time. Is there anyone in this village who has any capability with magic?”
Oh shit. Jess flees.

We bolt for Nanda’s. Arkvanin tells the story. “He asked if there’s any of us in the village who has arcane magic?” Ata looks on calmly. Nanda: “I see.” Ata: “The least I can do then is speak with the man, is it not?” Nanda: “It is possible that an agreement might be reached?” “This is a freeport. If he does anything to harm me directly–” “No, I’m not afraid of that.” “In that case I can speak with him and see what he wants.”

Jess brings him back.

The Ethark meets us on the pier. He bows respectfully to Ata and glares at Jessen. “I’ll have to find out. A simple yes would have sufficed. My lord. This is evidently a peculiar question, since i am in one manner or other part of the military organisation of Elbenstraz, and you are in some manner part of the ruling group of Tajidar. Nonetheless I must ask you to use your magics to send me at best speed to Kalmadiz.”
Ata bows. “And why, my lord Ethark, might that be?”
“Because a general is currently bound for Kalmadiz who is woefully misinformed as to the situation there and the intentions of the military for the immediate future. If I do not reach him and convince him of this fact, then he is likely to carry out actions which will result in the deaths of many more people than is in any way necessary.”
Ata nods. “Do you have any way to convince me of the truth of what you are saying?”
The Ethark spots Khalid. “Sir. I do not know your name, but you are from the deep desert, are you not?” “I am Khalid Kirac.” “I know, as does the mage prince, that you people take your oaths seriously. Will you match an oath with me? If I promise that i am telling the truth to this man, will you promise to hunt me down and kill me if I am not?” “I will” “Very well. My lord. I offer a matching of oaths with Khalid Kirac.”
Ata looks slightly stunned. “Khalid. Do you feel that it is necessary to actually make these oaths, or is the offer sufficient in your mind?”
Khalid: “This man, whom I find myself liking, is asking you to use your magic to send you to your city on a mission he says of mercy. If this is in any way untrue, then I can only hope that the sky strikes him down and if it does not, then I feel it only right that someone does.”
Ata; “I think that is sufficient. Ethark, you will have the necessities. I must however ask you to wait until sunset because my powers at the moment are a little drained.”
The Ethark nods. “In that case I suggest we find a tavern and sit and pass the time.”

Nanda gets them to play cards.

An hour later: “And there is sunset. I can send you to Kalmadiz now, my lord.” “Jessen, if you would after I’m gone take a message to my boat and tell them to return to the mainland, they will know where to go. I thank all of you for your aid.”

The ground opens up beneath the Ethark, he drops into it. The ground closes ago. The innkeeper decides not to make anything of it.

Ata: “And now I must send a message for the dwarf as well.” He puts a hand on the ground and there’s a slight tremble.

Jess delivers the message. One of the priests has since woken and is standing. Jess passes the message. “If you are travelling in that direction at all be very careful. It was an hour and a half from here around the headland and directly away from the east. There was no mark or nothing to be seen, i think it must simply have been distance from some central point.”

He sails off straight away.

We reconvene at Nanda’s for chai. We chat to the mage prince. It turns out that, at the beginning of the current war, all the leaders knew why it had started, but some way into it it seems that there was confusion between them. Best the prince can tell, it was the same on the other side too.

He asks if it might be possible that an messenger can be sent from here to Elbenstraz. But to what end? Khalid notes that we have members of this church of shafts who are undertaking an incredibly powerful pilgrimage in reverse to keep a war going and to cause two countries to fight until either one or both are wiped out. What if the only thing that is possible is to fight fire with fire? Against those keeping the war going?

Arcvanin: “The pilgrimage to end the war is well known, but because it crosses back and forth between Tajidar and ELbenstraz it is difficult to carry out.” K: “Who worked on this pilgrimage? Do they have the information you have at your fingertips?” A: “But simply by the logic that goes into pilgrimages in the first place, the aim ‘to stop the church of shafts’ is an easier aim than to end the war, simply because the church of shafts is smaller. Then we will at least stop them from doing what they are doing to prolong it, and I would hope then that sense will prevail.”

Khalid: “Here is a thing most of you do not know. This is why I am here. I am following a prophesy. It ends at the same time as your war does. I cannot imagine that it brought me here and to people who found those books and can use those books by accident. It brought me to this island, to the Steinberg, to Rannon, who brought me to you.” — to Ata. “And there are other free ports, and yet people like Oakenshield arrived here. And I think we were incredibly lucky that we found Oakenshield. Because i now begin to fear that should those books go back to your mainland and come near the official high levels of your church or government, that they would either be never used, or would only give power to the wrong people.”

Arcvanin very slowly nods. “I have contacts. There is a loose group of people who are trying to find ways to end the war. Those that I know are within Elbenstraz, but I know some of them have contacts in Tajidar and other places entirely. I think that we may be able to call on them for some further help. Because you are right. Those books represent a weapon and if we send that weapon back to the mainland, then it will either be used or it will not be used, and I do not know which is worse. There are books there, there is information there, that nobody else in the church of spires has any access to anymore. But. Taking the step of unsealing that door for any purpose other than that the Ethark intended is a step that, once taken, we cannot come back from. It will not be evident immediately to the hierarchy because the only word that will go to the hierarchy until Oakenshield returns to the mainland is here in our hands. But when he returns and they say ‘what books’…”

Khalid: “then you had better hope by that point we have all walked far enough along the road that the Ethark can be persuaded it is the right path. For I think he would be an ally, and a powerful one.”

Arcvanin: “If we take the step of taking out those books, we may as well teach all of you to calculate pilgrimages. There is no point restricting the knowledge to two of us when we are entrusting so much to you in any case. The only trouble is that it will take us long enough to teach you enough to understand it that it would hinder our progress as it stands.”

Khalid: “This is not a group of people who all need to know, nor a group fo epople who share the same skills.”

Arcvanin: “No. ANd no matter what our calculations return, the path of the pilgrimage will not be easy.”

Nanda: “Then are we saying truly that we, for want of a better word, are going to take on a pilgrimage with the aim of stoping the chuch of shafts?”

Arcvanin: “Yes. We have the tools in that vault, and perhaps in the other books that remain in the steinberg, to make those calculations more efficiently and accurately than anyone else in these islands, i hope including those within the church of shafts.”

Khalid: “THen, and I cannot believe I am about ot say this, and assuming all here are agreed, those who can read and understand need to read and understand, those other of us need to go and get the rest of the books.”

Nanda: “Is it possible that the shafts might have a stash like this or not as large but some.”

Khalid: “They must at least have the tables of calculation”

N: “Is it possible that books like this would have fallen into the hands of someone with a talent for calculations and perhaps some magic, who would have started to play with things like you would with a toy.”

A: “It’s possible. But I don’t think it makes any difference in what we have to do.”

K: “I think we must assume that those we are against have at least ability, if not the same ability, to do this work, and have a lot of knowledge. From what you have said, we have information that nobody else in this world has.”

A: “At least that it’s very likely no one else has”

N: “Should we find out what happened to Creomor?”

A: “If Creomor has those books, then he can damn well help us with the calculations.”

K: “There is another thing before we take these steps. Who else knows, and how we make sure that the information of what we are starting here does not reach the wrong hands. Because whether by edict of church or government or knife in the dark, what we are doing is putting ourselves into direct opposition with a group who will kill without remorse, and seem to be working to bring the death of thousands of innocents.”

A: “For now I think we simply don’t talk about it to anyone else outside, and I won’t say anything to my correspondents beyond asking them for more information.’

K: “I think we need the dwarf”

N: “And Rannon”

J: “Can we keep it from the duke?”

A: “I think not, but neither can the duke take any overt measure to aid us in it.”

K: “Reassuringly, I think this will be in his interest.”