Journal of Talian #5
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22nd Day of the Running Moon
It took some time before either Rimple or Vincent were on their feet. Vincent was hurt the most, and even though he was conscious after about 8 hours of rest, he needed actual healing from Ysabel before being able to do more than the most basic activities. During that time, however, I was able to return to the gallery chamber and collect all of the treasure that we left behind. It was quite a tidy sum.
There was quite the pile of Copper Pieces, and a smaller pile of Silver pieces from several different nations. I counted about 70 Gold Pieces. In addition to that, there were three stones; 2 pieces of Amber, and a Carnelian, a Gold Ring with Sapphires, with a matching Gold and Sapphire Bracelet. There was also a box with expertly carved animal figurines.
The pouch contained a dust similar to the one Ordonos gave to us, but this dust had a magic that affected water, turning an amount of it into a marble sized pellet. Rimple recognized it. I suppose you could carry it with you to store water for long journeys, something that could be useful for a journey into the Underdark.
There was a potion that would temporarily increase your strength. Ysabel said it was likely made with giant’s blood, giving the person who drank it the strength of the Giant who’s blood it belonged to.
The last thing was the box carried by the Vampire, Lady Katalin Galambos. I was worried about even opening the box, it appeared to have been closed for a very long time, and even the Vampire did not open it. She might have just found it, or she might have been afraid of what was in it. I didn’t know, but once Rimple was up and about, though he hadn’t yet been healed by Ysabel, he gave it a shot.
He said it wasn’t trapped, magically or otherwise. But it was locked, with a mechanism he had never seen before. He described it as both ancient and advanced. It took him over an hour of working on it to get it open.
Once it clicked open we saw the glow from inside. It was a glass sphere, just big enough to fit in my hand. There was a faint glow from something inside, but I was unable to make out what it was. I spent the rest of the day examining it, using what Arcane methods I was taught in my apprenticeship. The next morning, I meditated with it, and then had the word to activate it.
Once I spoke the word “Samsara”, it began to emit a bright light that filled the room. It also levitated, and hovered by me shedding light as bright as the day. I found that I could control the light. It had two levels, one as bright as a torch, the other like daylight. Though the Daylight could only be used once before needing some time to recharge.
The fact that it emitted daylight is probably why the vampire didn’t want to open it. But why have it at all? It seemed that of all the treasures that they collected, this was the thing that she was most interested in.
It reminded me of the way the packs were set up. The treasure was in the packs that were likely to be carried by the zombies. It indicated that they were about to leave. Is this thing what they were after? After speaking to the Vampire, I was no longer convinced that invasion was her purpose here.
It was now morning on the 22nd day of the Running Moon. At least that was what I estimated it to be. Day and night underground is difficult to guess. Rimple uses a complex device that uses sand to tell the time. It seems to work well, but I’m not convinced that it lines up precisely with the rising and setting of the Sun. But I suppose it was close enough.
We left Rimple his share of the treasure. He wanted the dust that turns water into marbles, which would makes sense that he would need it. Especially if he plans on opening trade with his underground community. He said he could hide marbles of emergency water along the route.
Ysabel, Vincent and I left the tomb and found that it was not yet noon. So, Rimple’s sandglasses were at least somewhat useful. This time Ordonos actually saw us emerging from the tomb, and met us at the door.
“You’re alive! Does that mean we’ve won, or should I get ready to flee?” he glanced inside his hut. “I’ve been gathering the essentials, only the important stuff, and getting ready to move. Just in case.”
“We won,” I said will a little exhaustion in my voice. “But I don’t think all this was what I thought it was. I don’t think they were part of an invasion. They were looking for something.”
“Looking for something in the tomb?” asked Ordonos. “Do you have any idea what?”
“Possibly, but first we need to let Sir Bascou know what happened,” I said.
“You can leave that to us,” said Ysabel. “Vincent and I can head there now and let him know what happened. But first there are a few things that need to be taken care of.”
“Yes, like dividing the treasure up,” said Vincent.
“Well, perhaps you should all come inside and do that,” offered Ordonos, as he opened the door wider and walked inside.
We followed him in. The kitchen was much the same as the last time I was here. However, I could see in the study that there were several crates of books and manuscripts ready to be moved or stashed away in hiding.
Ordonos cleaned off the table and we put everything but the bags with all the copper on it. There was just too much copper. Earlier we divided it into roughly four sacks, and gave one to Rimple, as well as almost a third of the silver, one of the pieces of Amber, and the Bag of Dust. The rest laid out on the table came to 70 gold pieces, 400 Silver Pieces, the jewelry, the gemstones, the potion, the box of figurines, and the glowing orb.
We divided things as best as we could, with Ordonos estimating the values of the jewelry and the figurines. I ended up with the Orb, which I had already attuned to, the two remaining gemstones, 10 gold pieces, and 500 coppers. I decided to give the coppers to Ordonos for his help. The rest was divided between Ysabel and Vincent.
Ysabel mentioned using her share to build up supplies for the church. Vincent said he needed to send some of his share home, saying it would get him off the hook with a debt he had. I got the hint that it had to do with why his father sent him out here. They both seemed satisfied with the outcome, and even told me to come to them, if I needed help with more adventures.
Ysabel and Vincent left to bring the news to Sir Bascou while I stayed with Ordonos. I had some questions and I hoped he had answers, or at least leads on where to look. The vampire mentioned my family and knew my name. This had become personal.
I recounted the events of the battle with the vampire to Ordonos while he made tea. He was silent for several minutes after. He seemed to be contemplating what I said. I just sat there sipping my tea. After a few days underground the tea was like a warm flow of life into me.
Eventually he spoke. “She actually mentioned the Age of Wrath?” He scratched his beard. It almost sounded like a rhetorical question, but the silence after was like a weight so I answered that she had.
This gave him a bit of a start, so I decided to ask, “What is the Age of Wrath?” He looked at me, looked out the window towards the tomb, then looked back.
“Not a what, a when, sort of,” he began. “There a very few records from before about five hundred years ago. At least not available to me or other scholars. It is believed that there is an elven civilization that exists in hiding that may have a detailed records of that time, and I heard a rumor of a Dwarven library that has records that survived from that time. But beyond that, it’s hard to find anything detailed or reliable.”
“What I have learned is that about a thousand years ago, a cataclysmic event erupted. An event that have lasted for five centuries, we don’t know. It’s believed to have been a war, but one so destructive, that any civilization prior to it simply ceased to exist. Some hold that it wasn’t a war at all, but a world wide natural, or perhaps supernatural, disaster. Regardless of the event itself, most of us scholars believe that there were civilizations that existed before that cataclysm, advanced civilizations, far more than what we have today.”
“The vampire said that Kesh was making itself able to survive another one, another Age of Wrath. Do you think they have some knowledge no one else has?” I asked.
Ordonos began again. I was a bit startled that I was now interested in his ramblings, when I dismissed them so quickly before. “That’s entirely possible. From what I gather, Kesh is one of the oldest kingdoms on the continent. I really don’t know how old, but they are known for being a people that embraces undeath as something to be desired, and the undead endure long years of existence. They seem at least as old as the Empire of Sargun. There are actually records of trade and conflict between Kesh and Sargun.”
“How old was the Sargun Empire?” I asked. Ordonos held up a finger as to ask me to wait. He got up, walked to his study. He returned just as I was finishing my cup of tea.
He had a book with him, and he began to leaf through it. Looking at it from my angle, it looked more like a manuscript than a copied tome. He stopped at a page near the middle. “Sargun existed as an empire for two hundred years, give or take a year. And they fell 221 years ago, hence our use of their fall as a reference for our calendars. So that would put them within a few centuries of the end of the Age of Wrath.”
He seemed to find what he was looking for in the book, then got up, walked to the door and looked out. He closed it again, locking it. He then secured the shutters on the window in the kitchen. After that he pulled his chair close to mine and began to whisper. “Part of my research into the history of Sargun has a parallel to what you learned. You see, the Sargun Emperors were obsessed with finding artifacts from before the Age of Wrath. I’m not sure why. They had a sage named Norbanus Curio. I have only fragments of his writing, mostly other people quoting him. But he was their expert on the age BEFORE the Age of Wrath.”
He leaned even closer to me now. “And here is the real secret. I think I’ve traced his burial site to this very tomb.”
I think my mouth actually dropped. Probably because I was being whispered to, I also began to whisper. “If he’s buried here, could there be any of his works buried with him?” I asked.
Ordonos nodded, almost giddy, “That, my friend Talian, is my most fervent hope.”
I had already decided before asking him, but I decided to make it official. “Ordonos, I want to help you explore the tomb. I may not be able to bring down the Kingdom of Kesh, but if what they want is in there, then I want it too. And if I get it before them, maybe I can hurt them, even a little.”
Ordonos smiled. “You know, I figured we would be working together, even as I first saw you walking down the lane towards me.”
I then pulled out my map. “Then you should probably know what I found. Firstly, there is a gallery of heroes of sorts here.” I pointed to its location on the map. “And here,” I said pointing again, “are stairs down to another level.”
“Ha! I knew there was another level.” Ordonos now back to normal volume, which was a bit loud, being so close. “As I suspected, this is more than just a tomb it’s a whole necropolis!”
We made plans, he gave me a spare room in his house to stay, and agreed that the mystery of this tomb would be solved. One way or another.
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