new one. 'Walinda came to join us, Bors, and Annali was convinced of her sincerity. Annali has always been completely impartial in such decisions, and I am not about to override her nomination of a registrant. Walinda has made all five of her recordings for us, and they have been approved.'
'I see,' Bors said, lowering his eyes. All initiates were required to make recordings of worthwhile experiences that focused on the five senses. Once an initiate had contributed recordings covering all five senses and those recordings had been accepted, the initiate became a full member of the faction.
'Yes, so you should,' the factol replied. 'Walinda is a Sensate now and entitled to the rights and respect deserving of her position. I expect you to welcome her as you would any other member.'
'Lady, she is not just any other member. If you keep this woman among us, you will regret it one day. You know that I have done my best to get along with persons whose greed or jealousy or hatred or lust for power has poisoned their souls. But Walinda's evil is different. Walinda takes pleasure in the pain of others. Walinda takes pleasure in inflicting that pain.'
'That was obvious from the recordings she made for us,' Montgomery replied. 'You should consider experiencing one of them. Perhaps you would understand her better.'
'I would prefer to understand sickness from a distance, lady. The sensation of putrefying my soul does not intrigue me in the least,' Bors said coolly. Montgomery's eyes flashed angrily. Da'nanin set his hand down gently on the factol's and said, 'Bors is entitled to his repulsion. Walinda's feelings could not, after all, coexist with Bors's specific specialization.'
The paladin gave the half-elf a grateful look. Montgomery calmed down somewhat. Like many of the more powerful Sensates, Bors specialized in a particularly esoteric range of sensations. The paladin was exploring all the aspects of purity of the heart. Da'nanin knew well that the factol was more than pleased with the paladin's work in the field. She enjoyed the recordings he made and collected from others.
The factol sighed. 'You may be right. What was the second matter you wished to discuss?' she asked the paladin 'I thought you might be interested to know the identities of the two persons Ayryn scried when she was misdirected,' Bors said.
'Yes,' Montgomery agreed. 'They are friends of Holly Harrowslough, the ones that were seeking the Hand of Bane. The winged woman's name is Jasmine, a spelljammer sailor, and the red-haired man is a bard named Joel. Joel is also a priest of a god named Finder.'
'Finder? I don't recall any god called Finder. Is he a god of Toril?' Montgomery asked.
'A very minor new power,' Da'nanin interjected. There's a book about him making the rounds, as I recall.'
Bors nodded. 'It's a tale Joel told to a bookseller named Dits. To get to the heart of the matter, Tymora, the goddess of luck, is an ally of this god Finder. Apparently Lady Luck had a hand in seeing that Finder obtained godhood when he destroyed another evil god. When I asked Ayryn, she said she was indeed trying to scry for Tymora when she was misdirected to the two mortals.'
'That's interesting,' Da'nanin said. 'Tymora's spell misdirected us to her ally's priest. Could there be meaning in that, do you think?'
Bors shrugged.
'Can you find these people, Joel and Jas, so we can speak with them?' Montgomery asked. 'Perhaps Holly knows their location.'
'Holly left for Elysium this morning,' Da'nanin reminded her.
'Oh, yes. Called hence by her god. Now, there's an experience!'
Bors nodded in agreement. 'Joel is still in Sigil. He's been staying with the bookseller I mentioned before, a bariaur named Dits.'
The door to the private reception hall opened suddenly. Annali Webspinner poked her head in and whispered excitedly, 'They're here! The man and the winged woman that Ayryn scried tonight. They've come to speak to Bors.'
'Very efficient, Bors,' Da'nanin teased. 'How did you do that? Mirrors? Time travel?'
'Please show them in, Annali,' Montgomery requested.
A few moments later, Joel, Jas, and Emilo found themselves ushered into a private reception hall. Joel looked slightly surprised. He had expected to speak with Bors alone. The presence of the half-elf and the lovely Montgomery left him momentarily speechless. He was agonizingly aware of how dirty and disheveled he must look after his combat with the priest of Xvim.
Fortunately the paladin seemed to recognize the bard's discomfort. Bors stepped forward. 'Lady, allow me to introduce Joel of Finder. Joel, this is our factol, Erin Dark-flame Montgomery, and her adviser, Cuatha Da'nanin.'
'I'm pleased to meet you. Welcome to the Civic Festhall,' Montgomery said to the bard. She did not seem to be taken aback by Joel's appearance, but smiled warmly at him.
Joel bowed. 'Allow me to present my companions, Jasmine, and Emilo Haversack. Please excuse our interruption, but Holly led me to understand that you might allow me access to your portal to Arborea. We were hoping to travel there as soon as possible.'
'Ordinarily we charge a fee for that, don't we?' Montgomery asked Annali. The bariaur adviser remained by the door, too curious to leave.
'An exchange of a sensation recording,' Annali said. 'An important one.'
Joel hesitated. He was not shy about sharing his experiences with others; indeed, that was a large part of his training as a bard. He had already related his most important experience to Bits the bookseller, who had recorded it in a more traditional medium with paper and ink. Bits had then made a tidy profit selling the story as an adventure serial in three parts, and a small fortune selling the collected serials. Joel had been glad to see the tale get an audience, since it helped spread the word about Finder. Making a Sensate recording would guarantee an even larger audience, but there were things about the Sensates' recordings that disturbed the bard. They could be made by anyone, since there was no particular skill required of the person making a sensation recording. They were also said to be so real that those who played them back sometimes came to prefer them to the reality of their own lives.
'Is it true you were a companion of your god Finder for quite some time before he revealed to you that he was a god?' Da'nanin asked. 'Yes,' Joel admitted with a sheepish grin.
'That moment must have been quite wonderful for you,' Da'nanin guessed. 'It would be just the sort of thing we would love to have on a recording. But… you did say you were anxious to travel to Arborea as soon as possible. We'd be willing to send you through our portal now, and you can record for us when you return to Sigil.'
The half-elf must have read Dits's book, Joel realized, and understood how he felt about Finder. Somehow that made the bard feel as if Da'nanin might be trusted. 'Your offer is most gracious,' Joel said. 'I accept.'
'Perhaps your companions would consider making a recording for us sometime as well,' Montgomery suggested. She turned a winning smile on Jas and Emilo.
'Be glad to help out any way I can,' the kender said with a low bow that sent his topknot sweeping the marble floor. 'I've had lots of interesting experiences.'
'And you, Jasmine? I'm sure you must have something to share with our audiences,' Montgomery said.
'Not unless your audiences enjoy the feeling of being cursed by the gods and having their lives completely disrupted,' Jas replied in a honey-sweet tone that mocked the factol's own, yet did nothing to cover her own bitterness.
Joel looked down at his feet, embarrassed by Jas's behavior, but Montgomery was completely unruffled by the winged woman's rudeness. 'Some of them just might,' she replied.
'Oh,' Da'nanin said, 'just one thing. In cases such as these, where someone owes us a recording, Annali usually insists we get a lock of hair or some such trifle as a token of good faith.'
Joel nodded in agreement.
'Well, then,' Annali said, 'if you'll follow me, I'll take you to the portal.'
'Thank you,' Joel said, bowing low to the Sensates. Annali led the three visitors through a doorway in the back of the private reception hall.
When they had gone, Montgomery asked, 'Cuatha, my love, what do we need with a lock of that young man's hair?'
