Jubilex
Posts: 3074
(3/26/04 10:13 pm)
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Research in the Fortress of Lead
[Since I have control of Sangraal for the moment, and can't stand to let an hour of creative productivity languish in a private forum...]
While supper is prepared, Sangraal recounts the long hours of research he and Madragar spent on the Lunar documents.
Madragar and Sangraal begin to organize the pile of documents chronologically, but soon they find it much easier to sort by author because each of the four writers has his own distinct writing style.
The first author's notes are contained almost exclusively in a pair of leather-bound books. Due to the extremely long-winded nature of the writer's work, and his tendency to follow pointless tangents that ramble almost indefinitely about his own observations on Lunar political and philosophical topics, Sangraal and Madragar refer to him as Blowhard. Blowhard's work seems to be some of the oldest in the collection and he attributes himself with the discovery of the original prophecy, although Blowhard often calls it a formula. The source of the prophecy, Blowhard claims, was a stone tablet written in the ancient tongue of the dragonewts that was delivered to his villa by a mysterious stranger. After three pages pontificating on his skill as a translator, Blowhard describes the formula as one that can be used to grant immortality if the proper ingredients are brought together.
These ingredients he takes little time to analyze, and doesn't mention how he knows the formula would result in the beneficiary's immortality, but he does mention that he explained the possibilities to the Emperor, Kqalai IV. The ingredients are listed as follows with Blowhard's commentary:
"The Flesh of the Ancient Exile - a single dragonewt scale should be enough, if from one of their apostate wanderers."
"The Blood of the Xoraith First Champion - I don't know what this means."
"Blood and Flesh mixed and given to the flames of the Fiery Prison - nor do I know what is this Prison."
Blowhard does make an interesting note, in one of his tedious political tirades, that Kqalai did not find the prophecy particularly interesting but his son, Zulquerzarhen, did. Zulquerzarhen, the author relates, took it upon himself to complete the formula and sought urgently for its ingredients.
Well into Blowhard's second book he finally gets around to mentioning the Lunar invasion of Moagara and attributes it, in more than one instance, to the Empire's need for iron as well as the ambitions of the Emperor's son. Through Blowhard's ruminations on the subject, Madragar and Sangraal conclude that the word Xoraith somehow refers to Moagara, or the Moagarans. At least, Zulquerzarhen believed it did and he thus pressured his father to invade Moagara in order to secure the means for his own immortality.
The two investigators quickly name the second author The General. Included in the stacks of loose parchment penned by this pithy individual are numerous exquisite maps of Moagara, with precise notes on a dizzying array of military, geographical and political subjects. A travel-worn map of Moagara itself shows the locations of landings by the Raven and Tall Forest legions, notes on the state of Moagaran fortifications (at the time there were none worth noting), the disposition and strength of local clans, their leaders, notes on Old Kurlew, Slaeg Gnara, the broo tribes, estimates on supply needs for cohorts operating varying distances from open waterways, and on and on the battle plans continue. Interestingly, the General includes references to scouting operations deep in the Wild Lands and eventually provides explicit directions to a cave complex in the Nral river valley that was a suitable location for something - something almost certain to be the Fortress of Lead.
The General describes his efforts, written like reports to a superior, securing the cavern complex, setting up an underground garrison to separate the "barbarian miners" from the construction of the Fortress, and the expeditions sent to Uzharam to secure troll masons capable of building the structure. The Ghuraskalli are mentioned only as "dwarf laborers in the employ of the trolls." The General also notes precise payments in gold made to the Satrap of the Nral (who Madragar and Sangraal both know to have been Wulfwaru) to avoid "unwanted investigation of the Cairnhollow. Wizards are nosey."
Finally, the General lays out a plan for the defense of the Fortress, how many legionnaires it could house, for how long, how the subterranean lake beneath the Fortress should be protected from the vein of lead on which the citadel was to be built, what sort of fish should be used to stock the lake, and even how to provide living space for the "barbarian villagers" once "the Hladran women," presumably Chandra and Theony, arrived.
Author number three... the Scribbler. Madragar and Sangraal get a headache trying to read this madman's hideous scratchings. Obsessed with the construction of the apparatus (which he called the Illuminating Orb), the Scribbler essentially declares Eureka! on three different occasions, only to wallow in his failure to understand the workings of the device shortly thereafter. The Scribbler, given the plans for the construction of the Illuminating Orb (which are not included in the notes) but not its operation, engaged in what was apparently a maddeningly frustrating and dangerous project of trial and error. Noting the evil visions he attributed to the mace, and the terrible agony caused by "misfires and erroneous discharges" of the machine, the Scribbler admits finally "it is connected and working, I think."
The Scribbler made several references in the margins of his odd little notes that are both confusing and disturbing. Most of them are variations on the following:
"Luna save us, they are still here. Watching, watching us struggle and die. The Xoraith brought it on themselves. What do they want? Why can't we see them? No one believes me. They're still here."
It is in this part of their investigation that Sangraal's knowledge of Chaos becomes critical. The process the Scribbler describes for constructing the machine, and the acute and violent visions that plagued his sleep, are similar to a disjointed journal Sangraal once read in his early training among the Brotherhood. It was a cautionary tale against seeking power through the mastery of Chaos.
An elder member of the Brotherhood, named Hurin, went across the sea to study with the Lunars, who themselves had made an intensive study of the workings of Chaos. There he encountered a kind of machine that could be used to project a variety of effects, many of which mimicked arcane manifestations. Hurin learned, too late unfortunately, that the device itself was possessed by a demon of Chaos that had cunningly hidden itself within the its complex construction. Returning to Moagara demented and homicidal, Hurin was captured and put to death.
Finally, the fourth author actually gives his name: Salqai. This cogent and articulate individual describes in detail how he intended to use the collected ingredients of the formula to bring the Emperor back to life. The construction of the sarcophagus and its connection to the Illuminating Orb are explained in detail, revealing that the sarcophagus itself is made entirely of runemetal. This fact alone nearly knocks Madragar out of his chair as he's never even heard of so much runemetal being used for a single object, enough in fact to create an arsenal of magic weapons had someone demanded a different use for it.
Needing the Blood of the First Champion, Salqai describes drawing blood from Chandra and Theony. Then he explains how the dragonewt statue was carefully chipped and the stone immersed in a solution that changed it back into flesh. This was the Flesh of the Ancient Exile, Salqai surmised. The two were then mixed together and inserted into a special valve in the apparatus which pumped the solution through a tube heated by the flaming mace. The resulting mixture was poured onto the dry body of the emperor, but to no effect. Salqai then describes the many variations he attempted, including throwing the mixture onto the mace, vaporizing it, distilling it, burning it to ash and spreading it on Zulquerzarhen's chest/head/hands/feet, and every conceivable combination of blood, flesh and fire that the Lunar scholar could devise. All apparently ended in failure.
Salqai abruptly ceases his experimentation, however a final note explains the cause of it.
"Salqai died in his sleep. Now our blood shall forever remain our own. - Chandra."
Edited by: Jubilex at: 4/2/04 10:29 am
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