The Book-Seller (Gossamer)

[Hadrian]

Hadrian had never been a demonstrative boy, and now that he was, technically at least, a man, he remained somewhat aloof, distanced from his emotions. But he was not a monster, not unfeeling. He pitied Nugget, and felt compassion for the faithful servant he had been even after his master's probable death. His mind swam with this new information, all the details, and all the possibilities, but the part of his mind he was honing at the university, the cool, analytic part, was trying to put everything together so he did not make a misstep, did not ruin this opportunity. He thought he could be happy here, living and learning with the help of a trustworthy Pycon likely built for just such a purpose, going into Zeltiva when he wanted to speak to one of the ivory tower intellectuals or for supplies.

Wild hope and joy welled up within him, but he kept it down where it was manageable, not wanting to lose control of himself.

"You've done a good job, Nugget," he said, absolutely sincere in his admiration. He looked around briefly as if to confirm his conviction, then back at the Pycon who was not so small when Hadrian was kneeling more at his level.

"No, I don't know what happened to Vic, but I could try to find out. There might be clues elsewhere. Threads to the mystery... I can't promise anything, but I could bring you fresh books for copying if you think the lady won't return. And I'm sure I could find a glassblower to make you a proper magnifying lens, and have it fitted into a bit of iron for a handle.

"But if the bell did not work, then you are probably right that he is gone and not coming back. I mean, I could be wrong, but the probability is not high. But if you wouldn't mind me visiting sometimes, maybe letting me read some of his books when I bring you supplies, that would make me... very happy. But if you don't want me to return... I'll respect that too."

It would kill him to walk away from this place, and its presence would be like a strange canker or cancer on the edge of his awareness while he lived in Zeltiva, if he was not allowed to return. But he was Syliran, whether people thought him amoral or not. He had grown up believing in Tyveth's idea of integrity as practiced by the Knights of Syliras. He would keep Nugget's secret to keep him safe, even if it drove him mad with desire.

But he had hope. Even a Pycon might want for companionship, and he seemed to be the sort of easygoing creature who would not place too many demands upon Hadrian. Gods knew Hadrian could use a friend.

"What do you say?"

[Gossamer]

The little pycon looked a little surprised then pleased with himself as Hadrian gave him the compliment. It wasn't often that Vic had complimented him though he'd paid him well and had treated him as an equal, even teaching him a bit of the magecrafting and shipwrighting he routinely needed help with. "Thank you." He said politely. While Nugget had been far from an apprentice, his job more that of a butler, he was wise in the ways of what his employee and friend did on a day to day basis. "Someone needs to. He deserves that much." Nugged said, nodding his head thoughtfully. " I just don't know where one would start." He admitted, fearing the outside world. "It's a big dangerous place out there. When I was younger and traveled it was unbelievably hard. Here, it's not too bad. I have a birdhouse and security and a good life. But sometimes I think I should have went with him and protected him, you know what I mean?" The little guy added, almost sheepishly, as if he was afraid Hadrian would think so too. "Oh no. I like the company. I've had no one to take care of since he's been gone. Would you like some tea? A book to read? I'd like fresh books. Sometimes the lady brings them too but not for a long time. Last time I saw her she told me things would change for me soon, but between you and I... I think her sense of time is not what our sense of time is. I've seen her years apart and she acts as if its just been days." The little Pycon said, fussing from one leg to another as if he itched to go get Hadrian tea. Hadrian knew, however, that whatever the pycon had in here to eat couldn't be all that fresh unless he was going to the outside or trading to get it. Tea would be of dubious freshness at best. "So you come, bring me fresh books and treats sometimes... and stories of what you've seen and where you've gone... and you can read all the books here. I don't mind." Nugget stuck out his hand as if to shake Hadrian's, sealing the deal. "Will you be using the ship too? And fixing the bell in case I need anything?"" Nugget asked, almost as an afterthought. He glanced at the bell briefly then turned his eyes on the ship once more, almost as if it had some aire of mystery about it and as if he almost feared it.

[Hadrian]

"Well," said Hadrian thoughtfully. "I have a book that talks about him, and I can ask you questions. Sometimes all you need is a fresh perspective. That's why I walk around Zeltiva when I need to think in new directions. The movement helps me think, I don't really know why. It's above ground now, and thriving a bit up the coast from here. You would be proud, Victor too, I think. Perhaps someday you can see it. But I think it was right for you to stay here. He seems to have cared about this place, and he needed you to protect it.

"Why don't you bring me a glass of water?" he suggested. "The air in the caves was dusty." He glanced down at his clothes, which were rather filthy after his spelunking and exploration of old hearths. "My throat's a little parched. If you want to bring me a book, I wouldn't mind that either. And I'd be happy to make that trade." He shook hands with the helpful Pycon, who already seemed anxious to be off for water and a book. Hadrian stood up then and looked at the ship.

"Perhaps I might use the ship one day if you think its usable. You'd have to show me how it works, but I think..." He turned to pick up the broken bell. "I think I could get this fixed."

He tried ringing it carefully without its handle, something he had wanted to do since Nugget mentioned it had been designed to call Victor back. Perhaps it would respond to him rather than Nugget; perhaps it needed a human touch; perhaps it was meant only to call him back when some set of circumstances were met and that was why it had not worked for Nugget.

It only rattled at first, which didn't do a thing. But after some careful manipulation, loosening the links of the chain that held the knocker, and holding the broken handle with his fingertips, he managed to get a bit of a tone out of it.

"Ah."

[Gossamer]

At Hadrian's suggestion the Pycon nodded vigorously. He didn't know really how to make casual conversation unless there was actually something to talk about - a project, a service, even an experiment - because he didn't ever have anyone around since he'd been with Victor. And he'd been with Victor for a long long time. In fact, he'd almost been without Victor for as long as he'd been with him. "Sure, I'll get you a glass. Just a moment." He said helpfully, then paused when Hadrian added a book to his request. Nugget nodded then looked startled at Hadrian's suggestion that he show him how to use the boat. "Oh no. I told you. The ship is off limits! I'm not allowed. Clay and salt water doesn't mix well." The pycon said. He hurried off to do Hadrian's bidding, eager to see what kind of book Hadrian had that he wanted to trade the Pycon for. Well, he couldn't actually get rid of any of Victor's books, but he'd certainly let Hadrian read them. Well, so long as he read them here. If they were here, the pycon could make sure they were protected and cared for just like the old magecrafter had wanted. Nugget hurried off, heading towards the other side of the cavern where there was a small kitchen area and a washroom. He got busy fussing with a pitcher and tray, laying glasses then filling the pitcher from a hand pump over a sink. The pycon had stools and little ladders everywhere. He moved with efficiency despite his small size. After the tray was prepared, he scurried off to select a book for Hadrian. "Practical Shipwrighting For Beginners." He laid it on the tray and was headed back about the time Hadrian managed to ring the bell. There was a soft thump from the ship. It was such a slight movement, almost an afterthought, when the bell rang out. Nugget almost dropped his tray, with Hadrian's book and glass of water. Hadrian couldn't be sure if he almost dropped it because he heard the bell ring, or that he almost dropped it because he'd heard something from teh ship. Nugged looked afraid, very afraid, for a moment, then laid the tray down at Hadrian's feet. "Did you hear that? I used to hear that too.. a lot. When I would ring the bell. But Victor would still not come. It scares me. I don't know what it is. I never hear it unless I hear the bell." Nugget said, looking thoughtful.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian heard the little Pycon returning, and almost attributed the sound on the boat to his imagination except Nugget exclaimed upon it. He glanced over in that direction and then back. With careful concentration, he engaged his Auristics, but there were auras, subtle and not so subtle, all around him and it would take him some time to pick out anything in particular upon the ship and even then, he might not be able to figure out what it was.

He looked back at Nugget, who had an unfamiliar sort of pattern superimposed upon his body now. Hadrian's hand went white-knuckled around the bell, but he nodded and attempted to be brave like the Syliran Knight he was never going to be, not like young Verus, his brother.

"I'll look," he promised, teeth gritting behind his lips, making his voice tight. As soon as he said it, his body flushed with Fluxed djed, so sloppy and uncontrolled that it left him jittery with excess energy, his muscles rigid and tense in his sudden overcompensating attempt to rein it in.

All his exercises with Azilis had been mere experimentation. That the magic responded to his fear was likely not a good thing. Calling magic out of fear was too instinctual, too unpredictable. But as he walked over to the ship, he tried to control his breathing, make it long and deep, and keep the extra energy without shaking his body apart.

"If you have any tricks up your sleeve," he said, looking back at Nugget, "I hope you'll make sure I survive this."

That said, he boarded the ship.

[Gossamer]

The ship itself was simply built. Elegant clean lines gleamed showing all the craftsmanship and experience Zeltiva was known for in its shipbuilding. It was a modified Saique, though more designed to be a ship of leisure and travel rather than a merchant class vessel. The Saique is a small vessel, with mixed rigging of square and lateen sails, all bound up and dust covered. It possesses a large cargo hold for its size and is usually found close to the coasts, and in this case on dry dock. It supports 2 light mounts, a crew of ten, and could take on five passengers. This one was modified heavily, meaning it had a complete set of living quarters including an oversized galley and instead of five passenger cabins it had only two plus a large living quarters for the captain. And it wasn't unoccupied. A quick search found the ship covered in years and years worth of dust and cobwebs, anything that would and could sparkle long gone to tarnish. It was obvious the care the Pycon took with the whole of the quarters was absent here. And it was in the main cabin that Hadrian found the skeleton stretched out on the elaborate bed. It was built into the back part of the ship, a window/porthole rubbed clean as if It was routinely banged against because it was free of grime and dust, but only barely, with scratches and pit marks banged into the glass. The skeleton was well dressed though its clothing was covered with scorch marks. Male, obviously, and having been there some time, it was laying on its side facing a wall and a series of portholes that looked out over the shop. There was an elaborate magic circle etched into the wood of the center of the room, scorch marks still evident in its center. It looked almost as if something had burned there, and the something involved the wizard himself. Another oddity was the wizards skeletal wrist. It was shattered and all its hand bones long crumbled into dust. Around its arm was a bracelet who's edge was pitted with chips of glass and glass dust stuck to it. An astute scholar could see that the bracelet was probably magecrafted to match the bell and each time the pycon rang it the bracelet tried to restore the mage to the bell and dragged the skeletal hand upwards which slammed it against the glass in a feeble attempt to 'return' the bracelt to the bell at the bell's call. It was an easy enough magecrafting thing to do , but the power was obviously wearing thin and the repeated attempts over the years by the pycon to summon its master had resulted in the hand and wrist being shattered on the corpse. Poor Victor wasn't coming home. He already was home. A further search of the study would result in a desk covered with notes written in code about whatever Victor was working on. These were crumpling and falling apart, not preserved well in the damp chill of the ship being so close to the water. They were weighted down by a statue of Eyris that glowed ebony in the faint dusty light filtering motes through the windows and portholes of the ship.

[Hadrian]

His exploration of the barque was slow and cautious, as if he were attempting some new variation of a sigil in a delicate magecrafting. Everything was covered in age, and he got a clear idea of what the rest of the place would have looked like had Nugget not been there to keep things tidy. He was definitely going to have to look into Animation, at least beyond rudimentary theory. Someday he might need such diligent servants, and Nugget seemed like the sort of fellow with whom Hadrian could get along. Helpful, but not needy.

The deck was clear, and it seemed in surprisingly good condition, but then his adoptive hometown was famed far and wide for its shipwrights. The cargo hold was impressive for its size. Though no sailor himself, Hadrian had done some traveling with his father, and he believed this was an archaic sort of saique. He wondered how long it would take to learn to sail a ship like this. Of course, he would need help for something so large. Two compact berths, a galley, and oh...

"Oh," he said when he realized that he had stepped into a mausoleum. Though he was respectful about it, he examined the flame-scarred circle, taking in as much as he could with his Auristics, though it only told him what he might have guessed logically: the bracelet was enchanted, the man was dead, ...was there something about that statue of Eyris?

"Victor Zevkan, I presume," he said quietly, standing beside the skeleton in the bed. "I'm sorry to disturb your slumber, and I would say a prayer to Dira for you, but I think you departed with her a long while ago." He carefully removed the bracelet and set it beside the skeleton. "I'll take care of Nugget for you..."

It was unnecessary, perhaps, but in speaking to all that was left of Zevkan, he was giving Air to the dead, much in the same vein as certain Eyktolians gave precious Water to their dead, not wise, perhaps, in the desert, but poetic and touching, certainly. Then he turned and walked up to the statue of Eyris, so beautiful in the strange subterranean light. She looked less encumbered by dust than the rest of the room, but that might have been his imagination.

'Eyris, guide my steps,' he had said before plunging into the caves, and here She was. He was not a superstitious man, but he knew the gods existed, knew them through magic, which was but a pale shadow of their power, and some things were just too perfectly constructed to be coincidence.

"I am here," he told Her. "I don't know if... if this means that all of this belongs to me now, but I am going to take care of Nugget, and I am going to learn what I can from what Victor Zevkan left behind, and I pray You let Your wisdom come to me along with the knowledge, that I might be a good steward of it."

With that promise, he kissed his fingertips and touched the hem of the statue's gown in respect.

[Gossamer]

As Hadrian's fingers touched the Goddess' statue, she came to life under his hands. In miniature she stared up at him, her black skin going golden save all for her hair. Eyes blinked in tiny surprise and where he touched her his palm burned, a silver Mobius strip materializing on it in the palm of his hand. She smiled, shook her head, and spoke. "You were always early to the party, weren't you Hadrian? You've come too soon for all of this to be of use to you. But it was meant for you, the last Zevkan. Victor saw to that. He asked me as a personal favor to see that his legacy went to his blood kin, and you are that last remaining one. But there is so much more you need to do before you come here and make use of it. It might even be years. Bury your ancestor and make sure Nugget knows his master returned to him even in the end, fulfilling his promises. When you say the words over his grave, which needs to be outside under the stars and Syna, I'll make sure you forget this place, until such a time as you need it. And that goes along with forgetting my mark. It shall vanish from site from your mind and eye though others will see it. When you are in need of it, as Lex has written, you'll remember. And this place and Nugget will be waiting. Take the bracelet with you though... so that Nugget can ring for you if he needs you before you are ready. He needs to know someone will answer him, and has, over the years." The Goddess said, glancing back over at the pitted scratched glass on the window. "Now go, far from this place, carefully concealing your tracks as you do. Bury Victor. Honor his memory and his gift. Make your way in the world. This place will wait. You are not yet ready, but you will be in a shorter amount of time than you realize." She said, and slowly the statue took on the shape it had originally been, a gleaming black effigy. When Hadrian gathered the skeleton, explained to Nugget, and then buried Victor under the stars, it would all be as Eyris said. His mark would vanish from sight, and the memory of the cave would vanish from his mind. He'd wake up in his rooms in Zeltiva feeling sad, enormously sad, and not realizing why. There'd be no memory of the Book-Seller or the quest until Eyris thought it was time and Hadrian remembered. He needed to be careful on his way out too, because of this, carefully concealing that which he'd searched so thoroughly for. First the hidden doors, the door covered with flotsam, and even his tracks in and out of the tunnels. It would wait for him. All of it. The Zevkan Legacy.

[Gossamer]

. Character: Hadrian Experience: Investigation 5 XP, Interrogation 3 XP, Rhetoric 5 XP, Negotiation 5 XP, Copying 1 XP, Larceny 3 XP, Psychology 1 XP, Logic 3 XP, Navigation (Land) 2 XP, Navigation (Underground) 3 XP, Gnosis: 1 Mark Eyris Lore: Understanding The Knowledge In Books that Are Found Between The Lines, Puzzling Out Old Mysteries, Reconstructing The Past, Dealing with Magical Creatures, Giving The Deserving Final Rest. Additional Note: Lots of goods in this thread: 1 book – Extraordinary Inventions of the Post-Valterrian Underground by Dolin Paristan 1 Underground Magecrafting Lab fully stocked. 1 living quarters with small library (trashed) 1 Dry dock fully stocked with shipwrighting supplies 1 wet dock underground. 1 magic bracelet and bell that is linked to it. 1 Pycon named Nugget who doesn’t seem to age. 1 Saique - small vessel, with mixed rigging of square and lateen sails, all bound up and dust covered. It possesses a large cargo hold for its size and is usually found close to the coasts, and in this case on dry dock. It supports 2 light mounts, a crew of ten, and could take on five passengers. This one was modified heavily, meaning it had a complete set of living quarters including an oversized galley and instead of five passenger cabins it had only two plus a large living quarters for the captain. (in dry dock) .