Chapter 13 The Circle
An elderly man opened the door holding a lit candle. He had a look of consternation on his face. He appeared to be someone unaccustomed to being disturbed at this hour. The elderly man said nothing as he looked at each of them questioningly.
“Good evening Master Ladris,” Misara said as she bowed slightly. “I am Misara, the niece of Master Omed. And these are my companions. We came all the way from Torinth to see you.”
Upon hearing the name of Master Omed, the elderly man began to smile.
“Please do come in,” Master Ladris said. He opened the door wide and motioned them to enter.
They went in one by one.
Inside the house, scrolls and books were scattered everywhere. This reminded Misara of the home in Torinth. She then introduced the others to Master Ladris.
Master Ladris pointed to the wooden chairs around a small table and bid them to sit. The cool night breeze entered through an open window over the place where they sat. The oak tree obstructed their view of the night sky.
After they had all been seated, Master Ladris asked them, “What brings you to my home at this hour?”
At first, none of them could say anything.
Finally, it was Beret who said, “Master Omed and the other members of your Circle have all been killed. We believe your life is in danger.”
The companions took turns telling Master Ladris all they had learned up to this point. Master Ladris seemed alarmed by the news. He appeared to be trying to make sense of everything he’d been told. He then began telling them what he knew.
“Our only desire was to produce a complete chronicle of all the events of the Time of Despair,” Master said. “We wanted to leave behind a legacy for future generations of scholars. Yet, while we studied the royal archives, we began to find inconsistencies in the accounts.”
“Why didn’t you inform someone from the King’s court about these inconsistencies you found?” Beret asked.
“We didn’t know how news of this would be taken,” Master Ladris explained. “But we had to discuss what we would do next. We needed to meet at a place where no one would overhear. The first time we discussed these inconsistencies was at one of the temples to the new gods. I believe it was the Temple of Simo in Arkam.”
“Did anyone else know about the members of your Circle,” Kort asked.
“No one,” Master Ladris replied. “During the past year, all of us traveled to the great libraries of the other kingdoms. When we met again, we compared all the information we had gathered. We retained only what we found to be consistent in the different accounts we had read. We discarded what was not. All the information, we compiled into a manuscript. We had agreed to make only one copy which we hid in a library.”
“And what had you been able to piece together?” Revik asked.
“The events that came to be known as the Time of Despair was heralded by the appearance of a comet in the sky,” Master Ladris said. “Soon after, a plague began to spread throughout the realms. The plague was disappearing when war broke out and the armies of Qorath began their conquest of the kingdoms.”
“I am unconvinced,” Beret said. “How did it come to be that none of this is mentioned in the royal archives?”
“Perhaps they did not want the mythical might of the Royal Order diminished?” Revik said almost derisively as he glanced at Beret. “Or the king at that time felt that the shame of his near defeat was too great that he decreed those events excluded from the archives.”
“Thereby maintaining the illusion of power,” Kort said seemingly attempting to complete Revik’s train of thought. “History is filled with tales of kings and entire dynasties overthrown because they appeared weak and vulnerable.”
“We all know that Qorath was eventually defeated. But the accounts we found tell of a prophecy revealed by his followers. Seven hundred years would pass when the comet would reappear.” Master Ladris said.
Moments passed before Misara spoke. “But why kill the members of your Circle? Why kill Master Omed?” Misara said.
No one could proffer an answer. Misara’s pain from her recent loss became visible to everyone. Beret looked at Misara with apparent concern.
“Do your studies mention anything about who Qorath was and who his followers were?” Beret asked.
“A powerful necromancer from the Tower of Dark Magic far to the north is mentioned in several accounts,” Master Ladris said.
Revik nodded in agreement.
“But the origins of Qorath remains unknown,” Master Ladris added.
“What became of this Tower of Dark Magic?” Revik asked.
“The accounts do not agree,” Master Ladris said. “Some say it was destroyed while others claim it survived. But in one account, a book called the Tome of Shadows was mentioned which seemed to play a critical role in Qorath’s rise to power.”
Misara could see Revik’s eyes widen at the mention of this Tome.
“If the Tower was not destroyed, is it then possible that the necromancer’s followers may be behind the assassinations?” Kort asked.
But before Master Ladris could speak, they heard an unfamiliar sound - like something slicing through the air.
The companions looked at each other bewildered.
Master Ladris fell suddenly from his seat hitting the floor with a thud. His hand was holding his neck. Something black protruded from it.
“The assassin is here!” Kort exclaimed. “The window!”