merchants on either side. Finally, Elowen found a side-street that was apparently not part of the trade road, for only a few people walked along the muddy-track. The buildings on either side seemed more given to warehousing than retailing.
Gunggari breathed a slight sigh of relief. Marrec knew the Oslander hated crowds. On the other hand, Ash seemed oblivious as she happily rode on the back of her pony. Marrec had been a little apprehensive that the child would react poorly to such a press of strangers.
Before too long they reached a tenement district. Children played in the narrow streets, knocking a wooden ball back and forth with a stout club. Elowen got her bearings, then made her way down a tight alley, which opened into an unkempt grassy courtyard that hid behind the backs of four buildings.
The top of a dome-shaped structure protruded from the ground at courtyard’s center, rising no more than waist-high. Small holes pocked the surface of the dome, each punching a shaft down into darkness. Near the dome, broad stone stairs plunged down nine steep steps to a door. Marrec realized that the door probably allowed access to the interior of the buried structure. He surmised it was the home or lab of Elowen’s friend, Ususi.
Marrec lifted Ash off Henri’s back.
“Wait here, why don’t you?” he muttered to Henri as he hobbled the pony.
Elowen led the way down the steps to the door. She put her hand to the knocker, striking three times, paused, then two more, a final pause, then a single loud rap. She glanced back and said, “That’s to let Ususi know it’s me.”
“Nice,” Marrec commented with the hint of a grin.
After a wait of just under half minute, a woman appeared at the door. She almost smiled when she saw the elf hunter. “Elowen. I wondered what had become of you.” She glanced at Marrec, Gunggari, and Ash. What might have been a smile froze into a less welcoming expression. “And I see you’ve brought friends.” The woman had a noticeable accent, but one Marrec couldn’t place.
More striking than her accent was the woman’s skin, which was a pale, stony color, complete with what almost seemed to be mineral veins running through it. Her hair and eyes were coal black, though the hint of her initial smile had been almost inviting. She wore a greatcoat inlaid with arcane symbols. A surprisingly large book was attached to her belt on her left sideMarrec had seen other wizards carry tomes of penned spells in a similar manner, and on her right, a small wand pouch dyed bright yellow.
Inside, the domed ceiling proved to be pockmarked with skylightsthose were the holes they’d seen in the dome from the surface. The light wasn’t allowed down into the chamber unimpeded. A host of strange objects, dangled from the curved ceiling, all at slightly different heights. Various lamps, roots of assorted bulbous shape, sheaves of aromatic grasses, stuffed animals (mostly birds), and other less identifiable pieces wereon display. By far the most prominent hanging items were minerals and crystals of every sort.
On the floor level, squat bookshelves overflowed with tomes on all sides, while a great desk in the very center of the chamber contained piles of books, scrolls, and sheaves of unbound paper. Ususi was obviously very scholarly, if an avid collector of strange hangings.
“Come in. I will make tea, as you showed me, Elowen.” Ususi retreated, sighing, and began to finger through various herbs hanging above their heads.
“You taught her to make tea?” Marrec quietly asked Elowen as they pulled chairs from one wall. Marrec picked up Ash and put her on one knee.
“Yes.”
He’d hoped Elowen might elaborate. He wondered about Ususi’s background. The woman’s skin-tone indicated a place of origin even farther away than Gunggari, possibly.
“Now then,” continued Ususi, as she found a mortar and pestle from a rear shelf, apparently to grind the leaves she had selected, “Please tell me the purpose of such a large gathering in my dwelling. Who is the child?”
Ash sat staring up at the throng of suspended items. Her expression remained unchanged as she made a single comment. “Ash.”
“She does that,” explained Marrec. “That’s all she does. I mean, that’s all she ever says.” Unaccountably, he felt a bit tongue-tied talking to Ususi. Must be those night black eyes. Her eyes were dark, like twin wells with un- plumbed depths.
Ususi raised an eyebrow as if to ask, ‘and so?’
When the cleric didn’t respond immediately, Elowen said, “She’s the reason we’re here, Ususi. At least, she’s part of the reason. I’m afraid we are also here because of the Mucklestones.”
At that, Ususi paused as she was about to pour the crushed leaves into seeping spoons. She looked concerned, but waited for Elowen to continue.
Elowen obliged, “Corruption is abroad. I’ve been tracking a group of blighted volodnis for over a month, south and east out of the Forest of Lethyr. We have determined that the volodnis were searching for this girl, Ash.” The elf pointed to the child.
“Blighted volodnis?” wondered Ususi.
“I call them rot fiends,” offered Marrec helpfully.
“Yesblighted in a way that I do not fully understand,” Elowen continued. The elf bit her lip as if keeping something back. “In any event, I knew you would want to know, because they emerged from the Mucklestones.”
“By the Hidden Delve,” exclaimed Ususi. “I knew it. I’ve been trying to access the portal stones for tendays, unsuccessfully.” Before Marrec could ask what she meant, Ususi continued, “It’s all interference, on every theurgic channel I am able to probe. Nor could I contact Briartan, the keeper of the stones. One other name keeps popping up, though, through the interference: Gameliel. That name means nothing to me, but…”
The hunter balled her fists.
Marrec asked, “Who is Gameliel?”
Elowen took a breath, said, “Gameliel is a blightlord, a being of terrible, corrupt power.” Her eyes grew flinty. “If a blightlord is in the Forest of Lethyr, he must be rooted out. The corruption of the volodnis I followed must have been his doing. His doing, or his masters’.”
Marrec turned the words over in his mind, looking for a connection with Lurue or Ash. He came up blank. He said “I’m as much in the dark as ever. Why is this Gameliel seeking Ash?” The problem, he decided, was that he still couldn’t come up with a connection even between Ash and Lurue. Until he figured out that bond, he would likely continue to be at sea.
Ususi mused, “Why indeed? More information is required. Elowen, tell us more about this blightlord, and this master of which you speak. If we bring all the facts to the surface, perhaps connections can be made.”
“Gameliel is but one of three currently active blightlords. Each is powerful in his or her own right, but all serve a still greater master. I’ve been afraid Gameliel was active beyond the Rawlinswood, but I had no proof until now. The other two blightlords are called Anammelech and Damanda. The blightlords all serve a single master: the Rotting Man, also called the Talontyr.”
Ash, silent for so long, drew in her breath, as if in response to the last name.
All eyes found the child.
Ash was gazing at the hanging items, apparently without a care in the world, or cognizance of anything other than hanging roots, grasses, and bulbs.
When it was apparent that no further response was forthcoming from Ash, Elowen continued, “The Rotting Man is more aspect than mortal, but he is an aspect of decay. He is one of the Circle of Lethe’s most potent and long standing enemies. If the Rotting Man’s servant, Gameliel, is abroad in Lethyr, I must find and stop him. Even if I should succeed in that task, I must report back to the Nentyarch himself, who must be warned of the Rotting Man’s newest embassy. He already holds most of Rawlinswoodhe can’t be allowed to infect the Forest of Lethyr.”
“What are these Mucklestones? Why would Gameliel desire their control?” interjected Gunggari.
“They are ancient and potent,” responded Ususi. “Though not all their powers are understood by any one person, save possibly for Briartan, one thing is certain: they serve as magical portals, allowing access to and from distant places across, and under, Faerun.” By the significant tone in her voice, Marrec wondered if the strange woman knew more than she was saying concerning the Mucklestones, but he didn’t press the woman.
“Gameliel would want them for the same reason anyone mightin order to quickly transport himself, or his
