Sapphire:Sessions:20140426

The guardian's wounds have healed except for the skin on its face that was torn off when the wooden mask was removed. Trace checks; the third gear is still turning steadily.

Chalker recalls that in the command room in Bicarn, there were constructs that had crystal slots. He says, "Rory, let's go back to Bicarn."

They step into a vestibule which contains three other gates. Rory sets some crystals into another gate and steps into what appears to be a military situation room, dominated by a large table made of transparent metal and surrounded by twenty-five chairs. There are places on the wall where maps could be posted. The air is not stale, and there is not a speck of dust on any surface. Somehow he senses that someone had come and hurriedly removed important items from the room. Rory writes in his book, "Can you read this?"

Chalker has entered a room with racks of swords and leather armor. On the walls are paintings of military scenes from the Venettian "golden age," depicting heroic humans driving back fearsome monsters. One painting is labeled "1367" and the other "1304." On a table is a stack of blank parchment. The ceiling is about 10' high, and there are slots on the wall near the top. The entire room is underground and isolated. Chalker replies to Rory's message by writing "Yes" in his own book, to which Rory responds "Okay."

Rory and Chalker meet back in the vestibule. After a brief experiment with a flickering crystal, Rory announces that different arrangements of crystals cause the gates to open to different places. Chalker steps into a bedroom suite that clearly belongs to a male. The bed is neatly made, and the clothing in the wardrobe is that of a soldier. Tapestries on the walls depict realistic woodland and meadow scenes. Under the bed Chalker finds a sheathed knife with a blade sharp enough to split hair and balanced for throwing. The intricate design on the sheath contains magic runes.

Rory signals to Chalker, who takes the knife and also snatches up a packet of letters written in Venettian before stepping back through the gate. Rory indicates that he'd heard someone moving around on the roof; when Chalker looks through the ceiling, he sees a gigantic griffin. They leave in a hurry, pulling crystals as they go. Chalker: "What did you do?" Rory: "I didn't do anything. Maybe it sensed the gate activity."

Chalker shows his new knife to Trace, who verifies that it is a powerful artifact, definitely Venettian.

Another arrangement of crystals opens a gate to a banquet hall; chandeliers light up as Rory and Chalker enter. Easily 40 people could be seated around the massive table. To one side is a small stage for entertainers. Chalker finds magic symbols on the underside of the table and chairs. Behind one tapestry Rory finds faint runes that possibly outline a secret door, but when Chalker looks through that section of wall, he sees only stone and earth. Rory begins working out a method of charting the crystal patterns and the gate destinations.

Chalker feels a presence, then sees Mensep (in the form of a young boy, representing his thievery aspect) and Cor. Mensep: "I'm proud of you. You've had a busy day." Chalker: "This is about the knife, isn't it?" Mensep, smiling: "It had been moldering there a long time." Cor, with a nostalgic sigh: "Those were good times." Chalker (to Cor): "Anything I can do for you?" Cor: "I had to check this out for myself." Chalker: "Tell the Mother of Night I'm sorry." Cor: "She's busy." Cor passes his hand briefly over the packet of letters and smiles. Chalker: "I tried to resist taking them." Cor: "It's not the letters, it's what they represent." After a pause, "One more thing... do you have a plan yet?" Mensep and Cor vanish before Chalker can respond, but he says aloud, "Get our wayward companion back."

Rory receives a visit from Cor: "We are pleased that you are exploring the Keep. You use your gifts well. Honor your plan."

Trace dreams that Cor stands before him. "You have 'sort of' believed in the First Chosen; that belief is coming to the fore. This is not a hallucination, not a mind spell; this is really what it appears to be. Any mage that would impersonate us, we will strike down." A young man steps out from the shadows and introduces himself as Jax; after a rambling preface where he indicates that he is asking this as a favor to another of the First Chosen, queries "Do you have a plan?" and vanishes.

When the three of them gather for breakfast, they find that each of them were asked "Do you have a plan?" Rory: "They said I was going in the right direction. We have to go places in order to map them." Chalker: "I want to get to the Calventine Empire to deliver a message [Moedia is moving against the Empire], but that's in three months, and that's two months after I'm supposed to be dead. We need to find a gate to get us closer to the Empire."

Chalker gives the packet of letters to Trace, reading the topmost one himself. It is written in a woman's hand, addressed to "Dearest Theo." Trace deduces that the woman was named Zetta, and she is writing to her husband, a brigadier general.

Chalker writes in his book, "Aliana, please come back. Chalker."

Rory and Chalker test more than sixty different crystal combinations, finding 20 gates that worked. One gate leads to a barracks, others lead to bedrooms, meeting rooms, dining rooms, game rooms. All but a few are underground, but one is high upon a mountain ledge. Rory concludes that these rooms are scattered all over Erethel, and he calculates that one room was about 30 miles from the capital of the Empire, Sapphire.

Trace spends many hours studying the knife Chalker had taken. The sheath accelerates the recharging of a powerstone hidden in the haft. An enchantment keeps the blade keen and rust-free; another neutralizes Missile Shield; a third nullifies Reverse Missile. The knife can be set to deliver a powerful electrical charge to whatever surface it strikes.

Aliana, asleep in a tree, feels the presences of Bar and Eupho. Bar smiles and says, "Good morning." "What are you waiting for?" Aliana retorts. Bar: "I am here because you need to see more. The need for vengeance and strength is strong in you. How goes your plan?" Aliana: "I don't need a plan." Bar: "Think on this: Do you need help in reaching your goal?" Bar and Eupho vanish. Aliana stirs. On a branch some 15 feet over her head hangs a pendant, an obsidian disk on a silver chain. She casts a spell to bring the pendant into her grasp, studies it for a few minutes, then slips it into a pouch.