ELVENSHIP
EARLY SUMMER, 6E9
When the Isle of Arbalin hove into view, Aravan called for the Eroean to heave to and, as the ship glided to a halt, he ordered a general muster. After the crew entire had assembled, warband and sailors alike, Aravan stepped to the forerail of the aftdeck and said, “I remind ye of the oaths ye have taken. Do ye affirm?”
All called out their yeas, including a Pysk and two Warrows, as well as a female Mage.
“This then I would tell ye: in the City of Janjong, Lady Aylis came upon a jade statuette”-Aravan held the figurine up high-“and wound ’round the base is a strange poem, Ryodoan in nature, yet the words are not written in that tongue. The carver who fashioned the statue claims that he knew not what they meant, yet carve them he did, for they came to him in a compelling dream. Lady Aylis translated the verse, and these are the words:
“Thrice I dreamt the dream
From the City of Jade I fled
Nought but shades now dwell.”
A mutter murmured about the deck, Humans and Dwarves looking at one another, and glancing at Warrow and Pysk as well.
“This we do know,” continued Aravan, recapturing the quiet. “The City of Jade lives in legend-a place rich in that precious stone. Yet where the city lies, none seems to know. But on the base of this carving are lines which might or might not represent its locale.
“Lady Aylis, Lady Aylissa, and I went to the libraries in Caer Pendwyr, and we did find something else of the City of Jade: ’twas an ancient clay tablet that warns the citizens of Jung to beware.”
Aravan turned to Aylis and nodded, and she stepped forward to stand beside the captain and intoned, “ ‘In the near west lies the City of Jade, a place rich in spoils, but with a dreadful past. Only shades and shadows now dwell therein. Citizens of Jung, beware.’ ”
Again a ripple of muttering washed throughout the crew. As it died down and before anyone could ask, Aylis added, “We know not why the city was abandoned, be it disease, madness, drought, war, or other such. The clay tablet might have been written simply to keep looters away.”
From amid the crew, Dinny called out, “Wot be these here shades, Cap’n? Be they ghosts? I mean, a shade is a ghost or suchlike.”
Several of the sailors made warding signs at this suggestion.
Aravan glanced at Aylis, and she shrugged. “We know not what is meant by shades and shadows dwelling therein,” replied Aravan. “Referring to ghosts might merely be to keep seekers away. ’Tis a mystery, I say, for we found nought else in the libraries concerning the City of Jade but the fables told to children at their mothers’ knees.”
Pipper leaned over to Binkton and murmured, “I think fables often have their roots in things real.”
“Pshh,” scoffed Binkton. “Like the River Serpent, I shouldn’t wonder.”
“Oh, that was real,” said Pipper, his eyes wide in memory.
“Bah. It was nothing but a wave.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, then, Bink, why did you cry out like a youngling?”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did-” But Binkton fell silent as Aravan went on.
“This then I say: the Eroean will sail from Port Arbalin in but three days. Any and all who would not dare this found warning may stay behind, with no disgrace attached. As to whatever peril might be, it can be but something there or not. If not, then no doom will befall; if there, it might strike. If it strikes, mayhap we will defeat it, mayhap not. Even if we defeat it, there might be nothing of consequence to find. If we do not defeat it, we might all be slain, though some might live to flee. As ye can see, there are many unknowns, and so, upon this great lack of information, each of us must within three days decide to go on or not. It is a decision only each of us individually can make.
“Remember thine oaths and say nought in Port Arbalin as ye take shore leave, nor ought in all the days thereafter, lest I give ye leave. Yet know this: the Eroean sails on the evening tide three days hence.”
With that he dismissed the crew and called for the ship to make sail again. And within a candlemark or so, the Eroean hove into the harbor at Arbalin Bay to drop anchor under the light of the moon.
42
DARK DESIGNS
EARLY SUMMER, 6E9
Has the vile Dolh yet taken the bait? Surely, he must have. The jade carving is in his murderous, god-slaying hands, and he would not resist the challenge.
From leagues away, an incorporeal Nunde watched as the Eroean sailed into the bay at Port Arbalin.
Nunde did not dare fly any closer, for Aravan’s trollop could invoke ‹sight›, and Nunde would not risk being revealed. No, he would stay a safe distance away. In fact, from now on, he would track the ship in the candlemarks following mid of night, when the slattern was most likely to be asleep, or at least in her quarters wildly rutting with that execrable Dolh.
Nunde glanced up at the half-moon slipping toward the west, the lit face ebon to his astral gaze, and then he turned eastward to speed toward the place where he had commanded Malik to lie in wait.
Leagues passed and leagues more, but at last he came to the site, and indeed Malik and the Chun were there, just as Nunde had ordered.
The Necromancer chortled unto himself, for surely none would escape this trap. Yet, if by some miracle the foul Dolh and his crew managed to prevail, there was always the dread creature in the tower, and that would of certain prove fatal to Aravan.
43
ELVENSHIP
EARLY SUMMER, 6E9
On the evening tide of the third day after mooring in Arbalin Bay, the Eroean weighed anchor and raised sails and haled away from the port city. During their stay, Binkton and Pipper had written all they knew of the corruption in Rivers End, listing dates and places and names, including those they thought would bear witness- urchins and landlords and merchants alike-against Rackburn and his minions. Aravan had then escorted the two Waerlinga to the High King’s representative in town, a realmsman named Tanner.
After he heard the buccen’s tale and accepted their documentation, he said, “We knew that something was amiss in that city, but not that it had gotten this far. After the war, with the loss of realmsmen, we found ourselves quite shorthanded-still are, in fact-and I believe that Rivers End is one place where the station is yet vacant. But, as with other places, it was and is left up to the mayor and the city watch to see things remain orderly.”
