A solitary crow (excerpt)

A Solitary Crow
Stirling Newberry
Based on Hârn, by N. Robin Crossby
Dedicated to Rich Damon, Sheldon Price, Bob Huff
A Solitary Crow
Ekall-Anuz
Tashal
In The Fields
Piper at the Gates of Dawn


Ekall-Anuz


1
Tashal
On the west coast of the main continent of Lythia, there is a huge northerly island – almost the size of Madagascar – which is called Hârn. It is known as the wizards island And lies almost 45° North of the planets ecliptic, and though the planet is slightly smaller, it has a denser core, and therefore much the same gravity as Earth does. There are all sorts of things that go on here, even in a world which has a bit of magic. Not much magic, not as compared with its sister world of Yashain – which has great deal of magic. But Yashain is in a different dimension, only possible to cross by sorcery.
Feudal era took in these lands – with Kings ruling over Earls, Earls ruling over Barons, who in turn rule over Knights, and over the few town councils which have established their own position. The reason for this is that there are few people, and their were plagues that had wiped out great number of people. In this land terrible people come from both land and sea to raid and loot and despoil. The people here do not know any other way, and are suspicious of people who preach any other. Of course there are mysteries, which the known gods and goddesses protect.he island, there are different people other than humans. There are elves and dwarves – more properly Sindarin and Khuzdul as Tolkien used to call them. But there are other peoples, from the Pradeylki – from the far north, almost race of giants, to the evil gargun which are vaguely humanoid, but have different features – being somewhat doglike and apelike. But that is only the beginning, because after all the named was given to it a reason. In other lands, people, when they speak of it, do so in hush whispers. There are even rumors of dragons.
Three separate regions: the East the are four kingdoms (well five it you count Chybisa, which is smaller than most baronies) – the kingdom of Melderyn, which lies off the coast of the main island, guards the way; the kingdom of Evael of the elves; the hard Kingdom of Azadmere, belonging to the dwarves; and the landlocked kingdom of Kaldor, ruled by an old king. He has, perhaps an enchantment - which keeps him alive, but in no way healthy. The only hostilities are where the Kaldor engages in the occasional forays in two barbarian lands and occasionally two the Eastern Republic of Tharda: for the purposes of exactly where in the forest wilderness the boundary lies. In the West there are two kingdoms and what loosely passes for a Republic. The North is where the native Jarin are subjugated by a people from the northern islands of Ivinia.
Khador's main city is called Tashal - it is the largest city on the island. Only a bit over 13,000 people in this year of 720 Tuzyn Reckoning - a date which was set by the Kingdom of Melderyn. But none of the people who are visiting Kaldor are anything like this one is, first of all, he is taller than most – easily cresting over 6 and a quarter feet. But this is only the beginning, because rather than robes which are the customary garb, he looks entirely different. First of all, he wears a large steel helmet, with an enormous red plume atop. Going downwards, he had a fine coat of mail and a set of greaves – which made him out to be a warrior, but not one of the knightly type which dominated the local people. Moreover, he was trudging through the road towards the gates with purpose. Which again was unusual for someone who decidedly was not part of the landscape. Others moved aside, for they knew that he was on some business, and they did not want to find a what. So they stared in to his face for just a moment, and seeing a stern jaw and high cheekbones, with a Roman nose – none of which were common in this area – they quickly moved aside.
From the looks of the people around him, he knew that he was out of place, but he welcomed this as his due. He knew he was from far away, and he knew that people would recognize him. But since he could not blend in, event the other way, and stood out completely. So as he walked to the south eastern gate, he looked around for any pickpockets – but discreetly so. On his own turf, people would not dare to do this – but he was not on his own land. He saw the people as rabble, and rather poor rabble at that. There were only a few beasts of burden, where as in his homeland, there would be many more. And he noted other such features which all added up to a poor country indeed. This was not what he had been led to believe, hearing the words of the wizards island more than a few times. He was expecting something exciting, or at least different. Instead, what he saw did not amusing in the least. And is brother, a commander of guards in the same place he was from, would be less amused – because his brother was even more of a stickler for such details.
Inside the gate, and the houses were even less inspiring then the stone wall had been – the wall was only about 20 feet high in the best of places. The houses were made of a wood frame, with plaster filled in - in the manner of stucco - with gabled roofs and canopied terraces. Almost all the houses had an “X” bracing, which was a kind of theme for the local buildings. He did not much like it, but you had to admit, it was distinctive in its flavor. It was clear that each individual house was built by an individual taste – some were grand, others seemed to be slapped up between two houses. He wondered if there were any restrictions on how the buildings were made, and if so, were there any ways to get around them. So while his face was forward, he was looking out of the corners of his eyes. Because he was also looking for places which would not be announced, such as the thieves Guild, the Lia-Kavair. He also wondered what motivated the religious leaders, because they had agreed deal of influence on how a God or Goddess appeared to the supplicants. He made a note of a couple of the buildings, which he would check if he had the time.
Looking for a person who could help with his current mission was his task. It was not a mission that he, himself, believed in – because it was filled with magic. And while he knew magic existed, he would rather not think about the consequences of that. It was better to rely on the might of the sword, and the cleverness that is brain could supply. But this is not how his brother thought of things, and it was his brother that had implored him to take the mission. First of all he would have to go to the wizards island, in went down from there. First he had to find the elf knew about the patterns left behind by the people known as the earthmasters. These were a long forgotten people – and most did not believe in them. But the elves believed in them, and stop them quite real. But to find the elf, he did not need to go to the kingdom that they inhabited – but in to Tashal, where a woman lived who knew about the strangest of elves, not connected with their own kingdom. He took this on faith, because elves were beyond his keen. That one would be a part from their kingdom, he took on faith.
And how was he to find this woman? In his pocket he had a description of her, and he knew that she was associated with the Temple of Peoni, whom was the goddess of childbirth and redemption. Mind you she was not a priest herself, though she did attract such people. No, she was a scholar – and often times would help people remember things that they had forgotten. He understood this – she was gifted in the area of remembrance. And while he did not understand how this worked, he knew from personal experience, that it did in fact work.
Turning into a street which once upon a time was the beautiful area, but was not any more. He looked for the design which said it was the home of one Astaroc – who was rumored to be the nephew of the King of Kaldor. But it was out of wedlock, and in this time and place, that would be absolutely forbidden. It only walked a little ways from the South end of additional when he reached and in numerous square – which he knew as Haldan square. He also realized he had entered in through the wrong gate, and turn to the south of this square and moved down to a different southern exit. He then went along this route, and walked towards the wall. It was there that he would find the men called Cranlson, but who was actually a very close relative of the Royal household at the time.
Oh, for a sign that would tell him the street he was on – and then he found it, though it was not visible. Most of the people could not read. 'Chidena' it was called. The he did not know what this meant. Then towards the end of the street, just after a small passage that joined with the main street. There were two doors, one long the road, and another long this passageway. It was clear that the second one was for servants. Thus he went to the main one, and knocked three times with his armored hand. He waited for just a moment, and was going to knock again – when he remembered he was not in a land which recognized his status, such as it was. So, instead, waited for the door to open.
And eventually it did. But only a crack, where an old woman answered:
“He is not taking visitors today.” And the woman was going to close the door at that instant, but this was too much for the armored man to take. Thus he slid his right foot into the doorway, and though it was a very small entrance – he was better than most at turning his foot and wedging the door open.
“I have come a long way. A very long way. And I will not be dismissed by some cleaning lady before I have actually spoken to the resident of this place. I will not take a moment, but it is a moment that I shall have.” he was clearing down his nose at her – he was almost a foot taller – and his look said that he was determined. Very determined.
The woman looked up at him, and knew that this was some kind of foreigner – though she did not know where it came from – and it was better to let him in. she would have to explain somehow, but that seemed like a better solution than any other. So she let him in, and pointed towards a bench beside the opening.
“I will get them for you, though it might take some time to pry him away from his work.”
With not a glimmer of hesitation, the helmeted man changed his complexion completely – and he was magnanimous, and tipped his helmet and placed it aside. He then was seated, and waiting.
At which point the woman went in to the next room, though she closed the door it was not tightly shut. Thus, there was a trickle of words between the woman and what he assumed was the voice of the man who he had come to see. The first thing about it, was that it was old, and what is more, crotchety. Clearly the man's voice was not interested in having company.
Then the woman explained that this company was from far away, and what is more would not be refused entrance at that time. He then heard a tirade from the old man's voice, to the effect that he was busy, and why could she not shoe him away. Then the woman explained that he was tall and in some sort of armor – though it was like the legions of Tharda, it was more ornate than not. What she did not say was that he had a presence, and she was not going to question it. The men heard this in her tone – and guest that the old man had heard it as well. The old man began in a different way – almost kindly in its demeanor. He said that he would deal with the man, and the woman should go on to clean something – which meant clean anything.
It was at this point that the inner door open – behind which was a room overstuffed with books, flasks filled with liquids, loose paper – which was stopped on bookshelves, furniture, and the floor. Standing in the doorway was A very old man, with gray eyes and white hair along the back of his skull. Is close mark him as a polished person, with adornments on his neck and wrists – they should mean something to the armored man, because they look like things that he knows – but not quite. But what caught his attention was the old man's face – he was relatively spry for his age, and was still in good health. While his head was slightly stooped – it was better than a man 20 years younger than himself. His eyes were peering outwards, and have closed with suspicion.
“Well what do you want? You said be just a moment, so a moment is what I am can you. Use it wisely, and then be gone.” There was a tenor of command, which the helmeted man noted. This was going to be a contest between two extremely competent men for control. If they would let it, that is. But two would have to make it so.
So at this point, having been a warrior, he decided that the best route was to late out his request with deference to whatever status that the old man thought he possessed. After all, all he wanted was to find out where a particular woman was, and then depart. There was no point in quarreling about this. And it was obvious that the old man did not want any of his attention. But he noted that the old man knew something about his attire – and thus unlike the majority of people, had traveled to the mainland.
“I was told you would be the person who would know a female, by the name of Gwynwyffer. She is associated with Peoni's group.”
At this point the old man softened his countenance quite a bit and even curled his lips from a deep frown, but not to a smile. At this point the old man responded in a language from the mainland, it was not spoken on the island at all. “Is this better for you? And hear sit down, because I think I shall have to give you directions.” And he produced a pen, and handed it to the armored man. With a blaés attitude, the man took the pen and from his belt pocket produced some papyrus to write upon.
While the front room is for entertaining, including a large dining room table, but unlike most inhabitants there were neither dogs nor cats to feast on the scraps. There was a tapestry along the back wall, and it seemed like it had some significance to the old man – but he did not say what it was. Then he was dictating the directions, and waiting for the younger man to copy them down. The anger of man was quick to do so, which delighted the old man so that he actually broke a smile. But only for an instant.
The directions were complex, because he would have the journey out of the city – and place and offering to Peony by the side of the West road. Then the next day he would come back, and get further instructions as to where the woman he sought could be found. This did not bother the armored man, because he had retained several people who were hard to get a hold of. It was, quite literally, his job as the intelligence officer of the Legion.
“Is that all you want?” Requested the old man. He was half expecting a further request. Clearly he was thinking that his visitor was one of a select group of people, who had other desires. And while he was have opened up, there was still a lingering question as to when the other shoe would drop.
But the man scooped up his helmet, and then replied “I only came for that, thank you.” And checking his belt for all components made ready to leave. The old man was surprised, but waved him off. When the door was shut he just heard the inner door open and words to the woman. But the armored man did not know what they consisted of. Nor was he particularly concerned, this was local politics, of the kind he did not concern himself of less asked by his superior. After all, this was a tiny kingdom, very much the size of a Barony where he came from. And the old man must have realized it, since he had spent time on the continent. Though the old man was sharp, was actually very responsive in his own way. Which was more than he got from most people.
Once on the street he again checked his belongings, he thought he saw a pickpocket ducking out of the way. But it was nothing, and he decided that it would be better to allow the constables to pick up pickpockets and the like. This was again, this was not his concern. But he did note that this area was littered with an amazing diversity of low level life.
So he sat out for the Eastern wall, and he was sure that whatever guardsman's unit was going to question him when he got there. If not before then.

2
In the Fields
Guards did not even question the legionnaire, in fact took no notice of him at all – almost as if he were invisible. In the man's mind, this would not do – he should have at least received an occasional salute, in difference to his rank – if they knew what it was. Out towards the gates, over the bridge along the wide river Kald, and over the fields which supplied most of the food with the exception of fish that were from the river- he went. Though he still noticed that he was given a wide berth. He shook his head, this sort of thing would not be permitted on any of the kingdoms or principalities which he had visited in his lifetime – and certainly not from the Azeyrani Empire. Where nothing was finalized until at least two different units had approved it, and stamped their seal.
Hour by hour more people were going from the road, and out on to the fields. Some were common areas, while some were owned. One could tell this, in some cases, by whether there were trees planted closed together; if there were not, it was common area; if there were, then it was owned by either a Lord, or one of the churches. Gradually, the vast rush of people had thinned – and by night fall he was the only person that saw. The sun had about an hour until sunset, and he saw crows grabbing on to the rails of the fence – that was falling down. This meant, of course, that while there was theoretically an owner, in practice, no one had recently touched these in many a year.
Crows scattered like the wind, and up ahead he saw a figure. It was not like a human – but more the outline of a human. It was about 100 yards away – and he ran towards it. But about halfway there it shimmered – and was gone. When he got up to it, he saw what was garb, made of black – but no footprints, either human, animal, or being. So he had not been imagining things. He looked both ways, but saw nothing. He was sure that something had been there, but he did not know what. He was puzzled and lifted his hand to his chin, and stroked it. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps – he did not know what it was but he was thinking on it. But he had to go forward, in two the oaks and maples which dotted the fields. There was absolutely no one who was working these fields – perhaps it was just that they were fallow, and would be worked next year.
Nolomar – the sun - was interesting the lip of the world, and rapidly would be setting behind the hills. He decided that he would sleep the night, and take a fresh start. So he wondered away from the road, and sent up a small tent – about 200 yards away. You could tell that he was not in any particular hurry, though he felt that the marker which he sought for was close at hand. Better, he thought, to meet it in the morning – then blunder past.
It could not be said that it was a fit night for sleeping, he woke for a five times – but other than the naked sky he could see nothing and only heard the distant cries of a hoot owl. And though he felt that there was something nearby, he did not see anything, though he searched the field rather closely, before going back to sleep. At last he woke into just before twilight. He knew because there were a cacophony of birds chorusing the dawn. The light from the sky was just a little bit awakening, and he got up from his sleeping, put on his armor, and was trudging along up to the gate.
Over the fence he went, and was stiffly marching on his way. The field changed to woodland, which signaled to him that the idol which he looked for was probably close at hand. Just then the sun rose up a little bit to the left of the road. He still did not see any people, which was odd – usually a few people would be on this same road – since it was the major East-West byway out of Kaldor – and in to that space which was owned by no one. Evael was up ahead - the kingdom of the Sindarin – and beyond that between the large lake and the kingdoms of the West. But those were many moons away. Right now he was looking at the base of the road, and searching for his object.
He looked up – the sun was about an hour in to its course, and while there were a few birds chirping, and various kinds of rabbits – which froze when they thought they had been noticed – there were no signs of either larger life, or people. This was odd, because he thought he would have seen someone – because it was unlikely that no one had shown himself since yesterday. So he said of course directly perpendicular to the road, and into the woods – for it was not yet a forest.
Turning his head to and fro, he saw nothing – and a little bit of dread came up on him. It might be nothing, but it was a very loud nothing. Why was there no people – or anything else for that matter? At this point, he kept himself straight, and listened for anything which would tell him that it was normal. Only the birds did so. Thus he hid himself behind a very large maple tree, which was at least 50 years old. It was also dying, because he could see rot grown from its roots. He knew this meant something, but what he was not quite sure.
Men in an instant, the branches clasped around himself – sticking to him like glue. The leaves felt not like leaves, but like they were fingers grasping around him. They were at his hands, his chest, and finally his face – where they were plastering in his eyes. In fact, all over his head they were trying to subdue him.
At this moment that his training as a soldier came in to play: first he squatted down along his massive legs, and joined together his strong arms – making it very hard to displace him. His face was locked in a grip of intense will, making it hard to do anything but concentrate on his main objective – that is, releasing himself from the flurry of fingers formed as leaves. At first it seemed like he was going to fail, and if he had been a normal man – he would have – but his will dominated the motions that he made, and finally, he was able to break free. It was not an easy process, and his legs arms and torso were only slow to move. But move they did. He pivoted around on his right foot, pulling back on his left foot. Then see it was not the tree that bound him, but something controlling leaves – it was black, and shadowed – though he did not know what it was. He got a flash that it was the same thing that he saw the last evening, the shadow of a human form. But first of all he shifted to his right foot and begin the process of levering backwards again. Thus, he was still facing the tree – bought going away from it.
Leaves were torn away from his face, then from his arms. It was at this point that he was more able to deal with what saw – the shadow had placed its arms within the tree, and leaving them. He saw that the tree mimicked the motions, and at this point he drew his short sword – and tried to stab the intruder. But his sword passed right through its torso – not once but again and again as he plunged it in. then he thought it must be immune to normal weapons. The shadow moved to a higher branch, and swatted him down with it. Obviously it was not just immune to no weapons, but it could cause no damage to himself. So they were both laboring under disadvantages, but he had yet to find a way that he could hurt the shadow.
It was then that he saw from his left eye the form of an arrow loosed in flight. It was a long arrow from a long, and even then it was large. But he did not hit him but instead his opponent, which cried a noiseless scream. He only heard it in his head, where it was a bellowing sound. A host of crows jumped up from the oak tree, and infant birds of different kinds rose from their nests and screeched, though they knew not what caused it.
He looked around, and saw the most extraordinary site – he had been used to elves which were slightly smaller than humans. But instead he saw something quite different indeed. It was a female elf, but one which was at least 6 1/2 feet high, taller than he was, and that was saying something. He was used to being the tallest person in any group, so much so that when saw someone taller than he was, it almost made him wonder if the person was a giant. But this female elf was slender, but powerfully muscled. The sinews had not an ounce of fat that he could see, though it was only 30 yards away. And then he caught the face of this elf: and it was incredibly beautiful. The long white hair, and blue eyes set above the high cheekbones, and a face which was gaunt – but not overly so – wearing a green cloak with a long white dress underneath. There was a shifting aura about her, which tangled in her hair – it was white, but also slightly blue in nature. With a moment of care, she began:
“Are you hurt in the least? That was a follower of the Dark God – Morgath – who has fallen in two the state of serving only its master.”
The man was still dazed, but then replied back: “I have never seen a follower of the Dark God, our you sure that that is the case? Or are you ...” he tried to find the local word for surmising, but then substituted “...guessing.”
Though he could not tell exactly what she was thinking, he guessed that it was a look of pity. “If matters are open to speculating, it would be my to say so. Remember that most elves you meet have been on the worlds great deal longer. Usually we do not openly speculate about something, it is not our way. You may call me Loria. What shall I call you?”
“You may just call me legionnaire. That will do. You are right, I had forgotten the difference in our lifespans. Where were you all this time?”
“I find you last night, and was here every minute of the day. You just got notice me, there was magic involved in that. I saw no reason to distract you, in your course of action. That would be rude. By the way, I just call you legionnaire many people will assume that are from Tharda, which uses Republic names for things.”
“Excuse me, you said magic?” He ignored all of the other details, and fixated on the thing that she said which was most important to him.
“Spell which makes me less easy to be observed, as well as protects from injury. It is not high magic, but it helps.”
Ease with which she spoke of an incantation was surprising to him in itself. Normally people would talk quietly about such things, obviously elves were somewhat different – they were like the giants and other folk of the North.
“Why were you so interested in my patterns and movements?”
“Friend of mine over heard to people talking at the small temple dedicated Peoni – she recognized that you were hunting for her. So she relayed the conversation of that encounter – because we were not certain whether you were a friend or foe. By the way, the priests of Peoni have led slip to various other members of other sects of your interest. And not all of them are friendly to you. In fact, one could almost say they were deeply unfriendly to you.”
It hit him. “You are talking about Gwynwyffer, the person I was sent to find. You realize that could have made this great deal easier by announcing yourselves at Tashal.”
“The problem that, is that we hired a magician to conceal you from the guards … you did not think that they would detain you if they knew that you were there?”
A great deal of what seemed to be coincidence, was in fact planned. He was meant to meet the two of them out here, not in the Tashal. The reason was simple: whatever force caused the shadow figure would have even more resources in the city, then out here on the road. He was just able to force one shadow underneath the tree, he doubted he would have done better against two – left alone more than that. He whistle, realizing that he had guardians that he did not know of, and it was these guardians who had made his life so easy. He was not going to forget that.
“So when are we going to meet your traveling companion?”
“She is up the road by the idol you were looking for.”
Beginning to realize that elves were not merely long lived humans, and that how he would do things, is not how they would. But then he realized, that they were being careful – and it also occurred to him that the normal way for most individuals was that they were drunk most of the time. A bit of tipsiness was the usual state of affairs. It was not for him – and it was certainly not for them either – but most of the world liked a drink before breakfast, a drink before lunch, and several before dinner. In fact dinner would be superfluous, and they would begin drinking at sundown. Then he realized he had to say something.
“You will find that I am like you.” He wished the local language distinguished between you singular and you plural. “In that I do not drink except at the end of a day, when I am not on duty the next.” He softened his stance, because he wanted to express a kind of sympathy. This went well. Then he looked back, and saw the same thing that he had seen on the road – a black garb. The he went away with the elf, and into what he regarded as the unknown. But what he saw so far did not give him much hope – either it was unwashed, or it was populated by all manner of unearthly creatures.
Eventually, they meant a person – a rather saying woman, dressed in green who was of average height – but like her companion – was thin. In fact the helmeted men almost thought he could be thicker than the ball of them. But it was an enormous surprise when she spoke his native tongue, not fluently, but well enough. He gave her the letter, introducing himself and explaining the proposal that they were going to be on. She read it carefully, and then began to talk, and talk, and talk. She was burbling with questions, and unfortunately he did not have very good answers. He knew that they were supposed to go to Elkall-Anuz, a secret place inside the forest north of a place called Trobridge. It was very old, older than even elves and dwarves, back to the Earthmasters – who were the first people on the world as far as anyone knew.
Trobridge was a few days distance, even on foot. Then they would get off the Salt Road – which was where they were – and strike out to the north. Enclosed was a map of the general region, and another one which was specific to the place where they would find the ruined monument, and all that was around it.
She looked at it closely, more closely than he had done, and found that there were three distinct regions. The youngest one was of a tyrant who had conquered a huge stretch of the South, except where the elves ruled. His name was Lothrim, called the Foulspawner. This had not been of interest to him, because it was a small empire, on a distant isle. So Gwynwyffer explained to him that this empire was run by a thoroughly nasty man – this everyone agreed with – who ruled the lower third of Hârn. His most devious plot was creating Gargun, a bipedal ape man who was very clever – several species of the same breed. Even without any course behind them they spread. And spread. Until they had warns in almost every place that was not settled. Then a second layer was from before Lothrim built, by an ancient people known as the Jarin, to venerate this place. And then at the heart was a fortress built of what is now called pseudo-stone, which is attributed to the Earthmasters themselves.
Finally she explained that they were to enter in to the secret entrance, and magically manipulate the pseudo-stone.
“What are we to do with this stone?” The legionary asked in a point manner.
“We are going to travel in almost an instant, to another place, also containing a pseudo-stone. The person who wants you to employ our services has contained something which will help. Which is how he is buying us. And unfortunately it will work - Loria has occasionally moved from stone to stone, but more often she is unconscious.” It was said in tone of voice that echo
This was more than the legionnaire had bargained for, but he was on commission – and would not argue. If it was possible – and she assured him it was – he would do his duty. Whatever that was. He also noted, that they had had adventures in the past. And that the stones were part of this.
“Shall we go? It is getting on in the day, and I, for one, want to spend one day outside, not more.” Loria asked. She was patient, but not that patient - it was clear that even she had limits to letting Gwynwyffer talk.
Away a went on to the road, crossing ever more deeply – from fields, to fallows, to woods, and then in the forest, occasionally hearing a river in the southern part. In the forest, the canopy covered much of the sky – and clouds were coming in bespeaking of a rainstorm.

3
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
During the next day, rain came. But all three of them were use to it and trudged onward. Then when they rested, Gwynwyffer told them the geography of the region. Which Loria knew better than she did, but the legionary listened. Though only partially interested, he put on a face that said otherwise – it was the polite thing to do. And, he reasoned, many things that he liked to talk about probably were not of interest to his two companions.
Isle of Hârn was, in fact, a cloud of islands surrounding the main island. Hârn, itself, was easily larger than all of the other islands – and in fact the link which was in the middle was larger than the rest. Of other islands, however, there were several that judgment out prominently. The first of these was Melderyn – and if Harn was the wizards island, then Melderyn was the heart of it. In fact, it could be said that this island was the human half. While it was nominally a kingdom, it was rumored that the real power was wielded by a Council of wizards – but no one knew exactly who was on it. Call it more of an understanding, rather than an actual league. There were a series of smaller islands which clung on to this island kingdom – but there was also a few other key islands which had their own properties.
To the south and west, there was the island of Adaenum – after Melderyn the largest single island attached to Hârn – which was nothing special other than its size. Of a few herders raised goats, and other than the occasional ship – raised most of what they needed. Off of Rethem, there were few all scattered bits of land which were nominally held by the kingdom – and its quarreling mash of the evil gods: Naveh, Agrik, and most of all – Morgath. On the north side of the island were lands that had very little to do with organized structure. It is not that it has not been tried – mind you – but like the islands south and west, they were particularly stubborn. North of the island there are a group of Vikings which squashed the local Jarin cultures, but still wrestle with them for control. There are still three Jarin castles which swear allegiance to their Ivinia overlords. Then to the east of the island there is the point of Keron, which juts out from Hârn and is home to many of the strangest of little creatures – perhaps summoned by a mad wizard.
Then there are four creatures which are not human – the elves and towards he knew of, but there were to more. One was a giant – called Pradeylki in the Ivinian language – who settled here because he did not want to pledge allegiance to the local god, Sarajin – a God of the far north, involved in trading, raiding, and conquering. His name was Norn. The other interesting feature of this Hârnic island is its own restive God, who cares not for anything other than the creatures that he spawns. Thus, it does not care what the giant - or anyone else - does.
The legionnaire listened quite closely as Gwynwyffer spoke of all of this, but did not understand why he should remember any of this once he had left the island.
“This is all very well good – if I were to stay here – but unless you are offering me a position. And I will not that I accept – what good is this to me. Even assuming that all of this is true.”
It was at this point that Gwynwyffer rolled her eyes: “ is it not interesting to you whether there really are gods?”
“Of course there are gods.”
“You have seen many of them – yes?”
“I have not seen any of them, I just believe has everyone does.”
“Ilvir is a resident God. You may get to see him in the flesh, or perhaps his minions. And you will certainly see Morgath reaching out to you with his forces. Because he wants to know how the pseudo-stones work, and if he can send creatures through them. This is an just a place of humans fighting other humans – or even demi-humans. This is a land of magic. Which is why the majority of humans stay far away. Very far away.”
“This is all well and good for your scholarly mind, but I am just here to deliver the special object when it is time, and report back to my – all say it bluntly – boss. I do not care how the world is run. Its not very important to me, other than perhaps knowing that the goddess I worship is one of the true goddesses.”
“And which got us to you worship?”
“Larani, I assume you worship Poeni.”
“For me you assume correctly. But Loria is a special case.”
He looked around to see whether Loria was somewhere about the place. Then he realized that her obscurement was in full force, and he would have two look directly in to her. Only then would he in fact see her.
See that he was trying to locate Loria, Gwynwyffer motioned to the left and pointed her out. “There is a gift to knowing where she is. You just have to concentrate.”
This made sense, and the legionary nodded in his assent. He finally saw the tall elf, and would make a note of it so as to remember.
“So what has brought you two together? It seems very odd for you to to be together, if you do not mind my saying so.”
“Not at all. We are not together, but it seems like I have used to her. She puts up with my chattering, because when it comes time to … how do I put it? It is so much easier for her to manipulate the stones when I am about. I do not actually think she likes me, but that is neither here nor there.”
But, in all earnestness, the legionary was looking directly at Loria. “How are you a special case?”
At this point, Loria moved her head directly in two his, and said: “When my people die, they are sent to the Blessed Realms, which is a different world from where you as humans go. There is an understanding between my God – Siem – and Larani. I must do work for her, and she – in turn – will give my people the secret to accessing Yashain. Because otherwise those who are caught by the death gods are lost, and will not have either the Blessed Realms, nor go to Yashain.” Then she fell silent.
The legionnaire sat by the fire, and thought. He had not really worried before about how the gods functioned – it was, in his mind, something beyond his pay grade. Emperors did what they did, pontiffs did what they did, and obviously gods and demigods did what they did. None of this had any meaning to him. But now it was different. There was a God on this very island – Ilvir. There was at least one demigod on the island – Norn. This had been said to him, but it only begin to seep in to his skull. There were greater forces then merely human ones, and they were interested in what humans did.
Turned to the human woman, he said: “So what does this God, Morgath, want from us? It seems he could manifest himself wherever he wants.”
“He can manifest wherever he wants, and his demigods may do so to. But humans cannot, and so he wants a way to make them vanish and appear at will, on any major continent – and one way of doing that is by using Earthmaster technology.” the word technology was not a usual word in this time and place. Mostly people did not think of technology advancing, they lived a life very much like their parents and grandparents did. So the legionary again thought on what this meant.
“Your speak of the advancement of inventions as if it were a regular part of a known cycle.”
“That is the way it appears to me.” Looking away and unpacking her gear, and was beginning to rest, Gwynwyffer was still tense.
“You realize realize this is a different way of thinking then most.”
“Of this, it cannot be helped - what other humans think is none of my concern. Though I can say that I regard their kind of thinking as been rather...” She stopped a bit, and then continued: “ most humans do not actually think, they simply drift along through life. And earlier it was my mission to get them to think. But that was a hopeless proposition. So I have set myself to other things, which have been more fruitful.”
“That is a very different opinion, and it might seem a bit arrogant.”
“You are strange. Much of the world consists of people avoiding the obvious answer, and though it is not easy to admit … there is nothing I can do about. You have to decide whether your going to face the fact that there are other beings in the world which have greater power, more intelligence, and in some cases a singular gift for making life difficult.”
“And what order shall we list our enemies at?”
Near where Loria last enunciated, there was a motion. Then both of them saw her. She began: “I would say that the top of our list would have to be Morgath. He wants what we are close to delivering, and he wants it for himself. And what is more, he is mad god, and there is a reason why he is often called the Dark God. Unlike any other, he has a hatred for life. All of the rest of the gods at least remain neutral. Some of them even do favors, for at least some portion. But the dark God wants to swallow everything up inside himself. And we have earned a place at his special table. Though he wants to find out what we know. But there ever afterwards, he will kill us. And then he will do other things that are worse to our souls.”
At that point there was a moment of quiet, and then the legionary responded: “Why does not he kill us now?”
“He is not like a greater God, who can see inside our minds. He still has to wait for us to discover before he can pillage. Their is a difference between different worlds. And on this one, the gods are weak and reach in delicately from other worlds. And compared to many of the worlds, they are rather puny and have only limited power. But that does not mean they cannot crush us once they can procure the information from us. But they have to wait, and this is our advantage.”
It was at this point the legionary whistled. “I certainly have gone up in the world – I would never have been involved in any kind of conversation like this. But I will warn you – I do not actually believe all that you say.”
“That is good, because we do not believe in all of it either. Its just the best guess that we have going forward.” Gwynwyffer was talking very slowly as she went to sleep.
“You should take a rest, and leave it to me to watch over you.” Loria was talking gently, almost as if she was soothing both of them to sleep. In fact the neither of the humans could stay awake for very long, but it was not magic – just the limbs of tiredness resting upon them. Through the night while the humans slept, the elf knew that they were being watched by a member of the undead. She did not know what kind it was, but she could feel its presence – and thus speculated that it was a free undead, with some will of its own. She felt it panting, and speculating in that way that human creatures do – it was a lot of speculation which emanated into her head, almost driving out any thoughts of her own. She knew it was a member of the Dark God's retinue and would be reporting back to him. She also knew that the object given to them by their employer was in reality created by Morgath, and in the hands of one of the undead humans would work like a sword. But the substance of it was before Morgath touched it, and it had properties which were not from his creation. And it was those properties which Loria was interested in.
After a little while, the legionnaire awoke - and he knew that he was in trouble. In all of his training, he knew a stampede when he heard one – long before other people did. Guessing that the elf would also recognize it, he turned over and quietly woke his human companion. But as she awoke he put his head quietly in her face, and with his right hand quietly blew on his index finger in order to tell her to be quiet. Then he rattled in to his armor, with a quickness that few people could match. Unfortunately, some of the arrows which were sent hit Loria, and even with the protection – she was unconscious. He needed to figure out what was attacking them, and how long they had for the main force hit with swords, or axes, or spears. So he looked out in to the distance, and he could just barely see some humanoid – but clearly not human – figures in what looked like leather armor. He guessed that this was the Gargun which he had been hearing. Not only only were they ugly – but who is to say what ugly is? There countenances said that they were evil. He thought for a line which would describe them, but he was not so mellifuous. In fact, he had only read the word – not heard it spoken in any language that he had the privilege of speaking.
Taking his arms, he got up and saw Loria lying unconscious, and decided to stand where he was and fight the horde right there. Could see four running up to him – and he realized they were going to have a shock. Just than a wall of fire leaped from the branches – it was a spell given to him by Larani. The Gargun were distraught – they had not imagined that they would be expelled in this way. As they were roasting in the fire, he cut one by one, until all of them were dead. But the his enemy was cunning, and the second wave pulled short. They then reached for their bows – and were just about to use them. If they had, he would have been a pincushion. But at this point Gwynwyffer appeared suddenly buying them, and dispatched one with a pair of hits that were extremely vicious – it was clear that she was extremely good with her staff. It was at this point that the beasts collapsed. It seems they were not living beings, but on automata controlled by someone else.
With a great shriek, what looked like a man, but black, came out of the forest – though it was not heading towards them, but away. They could hear the shrieks for several minutes – growing wider with every breath. He was looking for it, but Gwynwyffer was involved in something different – that is checking Loria for wounds. Them suddenly, they were heaving with gulps of air.
First Gwynwyffer asked the question: “What was that?”
“Do you mean the fire? That is a protection from my Goddess.”
“It seems you did not say that you had such a thing.”
“I have surprises, not everything is as it looks to be. There is magic, then there are miracles. I do not do the first, but occasionally I traffic in the second.”
“She is going to be out, and then healing for a great while.” His companion said. “At least 10 days.”
“It is a good thing that we were close by.”
“Unless I miss my guess, it is very likely that she was giving us time to prepare. Otherwise by herself she would not have remained.”
“That is possible, but I think you are in awe of her strengths – and not enough aware of her weaknesses.”
Gwynwyffer said nothing. But gestured for the legionnaire to carry the female elf. The next station long way was Trobridge, and it would be slow because of the wounded nature of Loria.
Fortunately a caravan caught up with them, and they could bargain for passage, with both of them doing work. It was a long time for they were able to go. There were many stitches which Gwynwyffer made, and it was a very slow healing process. They manage to scrabble into the small wall village, and with the money which the legionnaire had on him, were able to rent a room. It was not even a village, and it was unwalled.
While it was called Trobridge, there was not any bridge, but a ford. And what made it annoying was they charged for it as if it was a bridge. For legionnaire had never seen anything like it, and while on his face he was polite – inside he was furious. Once again he was reminded that while it was a great wizards island, the accommodations were substandard. Very substandard. And the keeper of the Tavern styled himself as a Lord, though he had no right to bear arms. Another strike against this place.
For not the first time, he swore to himself that he would not be going back to this island if he could help it. It was not what it was advertised, the patina was of a great mysterious place, the reality was that humans largely did not go here and left the island to the beasties that lived here.