| |
July 7- A handsome young tribune took our prisoner away, along with his
money and gear. Decimus was still identifying the dagger, so I'll take
that round tomorrow when I visit. It isn't cursed and causes only a
slight improvement in one's ability to hit with it. Decimus seems a
little calmer after working with it all day, but I'm still very worried
about him.
I have been out of circulation too long. The tribune winked at me, and I
was so taken aback I made no attempt to respond one way or another. He
shouldn't be flirting on duty, anyway, but I hope I'm not becoming the
dried-up stick Tamara thinks I am.
July 8 - Gaius came for his pay, and also passed along a message from
Milo, to the effect that, if we went to the Astrean Library an hour before
sundown, we'd see someone we recognized meeting someone working for V (the
actual messages was much more convoluted!). Not being inclined to run
about at the behest of such people, I reported the message to Uncle, who
thought it as well to see what we could see. Decimus, Robyn, and I
therefore went down and browsed. I found a very interesting treatise on
griffins, and I'm afraid I forgot what we had come for and was absorbed in
it when Decimus pointed out the young man with the complexion problem with
whom we arranged the swap of Uncle's treatise for the nexus locater.
Keeping an eye on him, we saw a respectable-looking young man sit next to
him. Decimus turned invisible and approached to eavesdrop/spy. They
exchanged a small bag for a scroll, which the respectable-looking man
unrolled briefly, as to check its authenticity. As soon as he departed,
Decimus borrowed my wax tablet and obliterated my notes on mating habits
with a sketch of what he had briefly seen - a map, with a destination
marked "tomb." If the respectable gentleman works for V, presumably he is
my or Decimus's opposite number, and V has reason to believe there are
items of value and/or power in the tomb, which he will send his
confidential staff to retrieve. We reported this to Uncle and expressed
our willingness to steal a march on his rival. Alfredus seemed a little
doubtful about the enterprise, but after all it's politics as usual, and
when I reminded him that V circulated Greta's picture as a runaway slave
he lost all hesitation, and considered that depriving him of his intended
treasure was too good for him. We brought out the equipment we bought to
explore the ruins on Uncle's property, and Greta is packing a traveling
kit. Given that we don't know anything about V's confidential staff's
abilities, and given the ruthlessness they have shown in previous
encounters, I have decided we should travel without servants. It is a
two-day trek, by horse, if Decimus has remembered the landmarks correctly,
and there should be a hostelry on the way. If I dress down, and don't
talk much, we shouldn't attract too much attention for not traveling with
servants.
July 10 - Despite Decimus's expressed doubts, I think I did quite well
with the campfire cookery; or perhaps a good pesto covers a multitude of
sins. Decimus performed his usual trick of flying with "alter self," and
made himself invisible, so as not to attract attention as he scouted for
the features he saw on the map. Primus loved flying but was disgruntled
at Decimus's refusal to share invisibility with him. He found what he
thought was the correct location, and led us to a mound which, though
rather too regular to be a work of nature, had no apparent entry. We
searched all around, and climbed to the top and searched some more, and at
last Alfredus found a place where the grass and soil were a skin over
stone. He uncovered a door in the top of the mound, and with some effort
he and Robyn pried it up. Lowering the hooded lantern, we determined that
there was a large chamber approximately 20 feet deep, and that the air was
good enough to not put out a flame. Securing a rope to the top, Robyn
descended and held the rope steady for the rest of us. Although I
remembered doing very badly at rope-climbing in Sister Laurea's gymnastics
class, with the men's help I got down all right. We left the rope in
place, but cut off most of the excess in case we needed it again.
We explored the tomb with the hooded lantern and one of Decimus's
ever-burning torches. The place was mostly bare, and the frescoes faded.
Ours were the only footprints in the dust, reassuring us that we had
indeed acted more swiftly than V. Observing scrape marks on a floor, we
discovered a secret door, operated by pressure points on the wall. It had
been trapped, many centuries ago, but the trap had already been sprung by
ancient tomb-robbers. Beyond, we found a looted treasure-room, in which
we discerned nothing of great interest. Another secret door and another
sprung trap led us to the crushed remains of a tomb robber and a room
containing a sarcophagus. I detected evocation magic on the sarcophagus,
suggesting to us that a fire trap or similar spell had been placed upon
the lid. Since we had no skill at removing such traps, nor any magical
means to dispel it, Robyn volunteered to open the sarcophagus while we
waited outside. I cast a Resistance spell on him to improve his chances
of avoiding the ill effects, and he proceeded, getting slightly singed in
the process. Telling me that his injuries were of no account, he opened
the inner sarcophagus as well, and was confronted by a mummy, which sat
up, its eyes glowing red, and demanded to know why we had disturbed its
rest. Robyn struck at it with his sword, which seemed to do no harm.
Alfredus and Primus were struck dumb and frozen with horror at the sight;
but the power of Orus allowed me to hold the abomination at bay, and
Decimus pelted it with spells, burning it to ashes; alas, not before it
seized Robyn in its foul grip. The touch of a mummy can cause dreadful
diseases, but the only immediate effect was a rash, and Robyn declared
that he was all right for now.
Below the sarcophagus was a final secret door, which opened into a ramp.
Alfredus descended first this time, with me following carrying the lantern
in one hand and the holy symbol in the other. We were immediately
confronted by four large skeletons, which Alfredus - prompted, perhaps, by
embarrassment at his reaction to the mummy, though in truth it could
happen to anyone - charged. The power of Orus poured through me and
rendered them into shards of bone. There was a small chest in the room,
and as we stood back watching Alfredus open it, I felt a ghastly chill
touch upon my back, draining the strength from me. Turning, I saw two
shadowy figures reaching for us; but they turned and fled before my holy
symbol, and Alfredus was able to open the chest and examine the contents
in peace. The chest held only money, but a secret compartment in the wall
held a potion bottle, six flasks (which Decimus determined, by sticking
his finger into one, held acid), a ring, and an antique masterwork dagger.
The ring having an aura of protection about it, we placed it on Robyn's
finger - he being at the moment the least-protected of us - and then made
a circuit of the entire tomb, using a spell to detect any further secret
doors. Finding none, we departed; seeing, at a distance, eight horsemen
approaching certain disappointment.
In truth, the "haul" is a little disappointing, considering the danger
thar Robyn in particular experienced to get it; but I find that the
thought of V tormenting himself with imagining the wonderful items of
ancient power out of which he has been beaten mildly satisfactory. I
suppose he will guess that we are the culprits, but he won't be able to do
any more about it than we were able to do about his unsavory dealings, and
the experience may be salutary. NB - mention to Uncle particularly how
well Decimus performed today. He made some rather tasteless jokes, which
even Alfredus did not find funny, about ambushing and murdering our
rivals, but on the job he kept his head at all times and is chiefly
responsible for the relative ease with which we accomplished our mission,
so I think the black mood must be wearing off and there shouldn't be any
need to trouble Uncle's mind about it.
July 12 - Arrived late. Alfredus and Decimus reported to Uncle, and Robyn
and I to Temple Street, where the mention of Uncle's name greatly
facilitated our business. Robyn was noticeably affected by the mummy's
touch this morning, and fussed when I cast "lesser restoration" on him,
but was visibly more comfortable afterward. The priests say the disease
was removed in plenty of time and he should be right as rain in the
morning.
July 13 - Uncle's reaction to the contents of the tomb was similar to
mine.
The potion is "cure light wounds," so none of the magic is up to his
notice, and he told us to divide the money and other items as we wished.
Decimus was the logical recipient of the acid, in his function as
alchemist; I carry the potion; and Robyn wears the ring. The dagger,
though non-magical, is of excellent workmanship and interesting antique
design. Alfredus was not interested, so he let Decimus have it and claims
first share of the next windfall. Robyn thinks he can sell some of the
coinage to collectors, so he has been doing that all day.
Unfortunately, I am not to be allowed to end the day happily. Uncle says
that Tamara will be re-joining us soon, he not having found sufficient
cause to fire her, so I informed Decimus and warned him that he would have
to find a way to work with her. He immediately became angry and
intemperate again, and moreover to take out his anger on me. I'm not sure
whether he really finds me personally so irritating, whether he is using
me as a stand-in for Uncle - who after all is the one responsible first
for hiring Tamara and now for keeping her, but I don't suppose Decimus
wants to believe him at fault in anything, any more than I would - or
whether he was simply trying to distract me from the main point. I
persisted, however, and I think I got him to see his behavior in the
proper light. At any rate, he has agreed to direct his anger and
frustration at a punching bag rather than at prisoners in the future; and
after all, he hasn't actually done anything bad yet. Just because he
talks wildly about making people drink acid doesn't mean he'd follow
through. I don't in the least look forward to the parallel conversation
I'll have to have with Tamara, and if I have to be in the middle of them,
if they both decide to behave badly, I may run mad.
Alfredus and I are going to a poetry reading tomorrow. Professionals, so
I'm hoping they'll be helpful to him. He's afraid his performance won't
be good enough, but it certainly won't be if he never performs and gets
constructive feedback. In any case, he doesn't have to open his mouth
this first time if he doesn't want to. We'll just sit in a corner and
listen, and if they seem like the sort who are capable of understanding
the peculiar structures he's dealing with, he can recite when he's
comfortable.
|
|
