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Evening approached as Ephaltus relaxed in his favorite chair within the Earth Chamber. The dryads were busy with meal preparations and cleaning while Marlee tended to the cozy fire in the fireplace. He was about to get his pipe out when there was a sharp tapping on the door.
Ephaltus raised up, “Who in the world would knock on a tree? Is the door not under an illusion?” He went to the door of the Earth Chamber and unbolted the carved door. It swung open to reveal a young man with a parchment.
“Oh, yes, did you find the scroll I sent you for.” Ephaltus asked happily.
“Yes sir,” the boy replied. “It was difficult to smuggle out of the libr...”
“Ah hem, I’ll take that.” Ephaltus said before the boy could continue his explanation. “Wait here and I will get you what I promised.” He returned with a few pieces of silver. “Here is your payment.”
The boy checked the silver, “Very generous, sir. Please consider me your man for whatever you need.”
“I’ll do that.” Ephaltus said. The boy smiled and tossed one of the silver pieces up into the air and caught it happily as he turned.
“What is on the parchment?” Marlee asked.
Ephaltus looked up, “Hmm? What were you asking?”
“I asked what you have there.”
“Oh, this is a parchment about the distant history of our realm. It’s very rare and delicate.”
“History? About the tournament?”
“No, it’s my retirement project if you must know. I am looking deep into the history of the realm. When you are Tourney Master, I plan to spend my remaining days looking onto the past. I may even write a few scrolls of parchment about it myself.”
“What a wonderful idea.” Marlee said. “I’ll look forward to reading them.”
“Um, yes, well, I have a room in the Arsenal of the Way I’m using to store safely my work. I think I will go and find a place for this if you will be satisfied with your work here?”
“Certainly, go on. I don’t need you hovering over me while I study the book of rules you gave me.”
“It’s not a book of rules.” Ephaltus corrected.
“It talks a lot about decorum. Seems very much like rules to me.”
“It’s advice. What to look for and how to keep the mages and their gods on the straight and narrow.”
“Yes, rules.”
Ephaltus huffed, “I will be in the Arsenal should you need me.”
“Mm hm,” Marlee answered.
Ephaltus left the Earth Chamber and made his way to the Arsenal of the Way, all the while huffing and puffing at how troubling Marlee could be when she insisted on going against him. He went to the back wall of the arsenal and looked around nervously. When he was satisfied no one had followed him and that there were no prying eyes or Ocularius lens focused on him, he held out his hand and focused his fingers in a horn pattern with the two middle fingers of his right hand lowered toward his palm while the outer two fingers pointed strait up.
“Elesence Eliptus.” He said. The weapons rack before him faded into a portal about the size of a door one might use with a closet. Not too wide or tall as to give room for larger creatures to pass. He entered the room beyond and the portal closed. The room was vast and filled with treasures. To his left another row of books went as far as one could see in the dim torchlight. To his left shelves with dusty trinkets lined the walls until they too disappeared into the darkness. Hanging from the ceiling were nets filled with other, larger lightweight treasures such as wooden crates with more papers and materials. He took one of the torches and lit it from one of the sconces and proceeded down the dusty thoroughfare. After a short time he came to a great wooden desk covered in parchment and trinkets. He held his hand up again and spoke a few more cryptic words. The dust swirled from the desk and crackled into nothingness in heatless sparkles.
“Who goes there?” An ominous voice boomed from somewhere deeper inside.
“It is I, Shelayla. No need to be concerned.” Ephaltus said. “No need to get up on my account.”
“You have not been in here for quite some time, wizard. How do I know you are who you say you are?”
“Don’t be daft.”
“Ah, That’s it. Welcome, Ephaltus.” A scaly head appeared from the darkness, a head with horns and a long snout and mouth filled with sharp teeth. Shelayla was a dragon scarcely larger than a normal horse. “What trinket have you brought for me to guard?”
Ephaltus opened the scroll. “Sometimes I think you believe this is your treasure to hoard.”
“Most of it is.”
“Well, I didn’t bring you any gold or whatnot. This time it is knowledge, knowledge of the past on this scroll.”
“Oh, and what have you discovered?”
Ephaltus read the scroll for a few moments. “I was right, Shelayla. This scroll is a piece torn from scrolls of creation. It tells of a seventh god! Behold the great god Cryonias whose frozen core chills the world. Behold and harken to the Tale of Winter’s Chill. It’s a story related to the seventh god.”
“It sounds like a made up children’s story.” Shelayla said. “What makes you think it’s anything but an old tale?”
“That’s what I intend to find out. This is not the only reference to the seventh god. I do need more evidence if I intend to prove another god exists or existed.” He grinned dreamily, “Wouldn’t it be something if I could locate the seventh god? I would be known for more than simply an old Tourney Master. If I did discover the seventh god and expose the other six gods, that would show those pompous deities.”
“Oh, so, that is what the other gods will think of this endeavor? That you bested them somehow?”
“I hope so.”
“Perhaps they will welcome your discovery. Maybe they had nothing to do with the disappearance of the seventh god and will thank you for his return.”
Ephaltus furrowed his brow, “I had not thought about that. I just assumed they all were up to something nefarious. I suppose I don’t really care what they think.”
“Okay, so let us explore the opposite. What if they killed or exiled the seventh god, as you assume? Won’t they be upset with you for digging up the evidence and try to stop or destroy you?”
“Are you asking if one of them might interfere with my investigation or threaten me in some way?”
“I suppose I am.”
“I say that would have to be some seriously strong evidence.”
“Does it tell you where to look?”
Ephaltus studied the scroll, “I think it does, but it’s in a riddle, of course. I suppose the starting location to begin finding an exiled god would not be obvious. I’ll have to figure it all out while I’m in this hidden chamber. There are too many eyes on the Arsenal of the Way and the Earth Chamber.” He cleared spot on his desk and laid out the scroll. He sat and began to decode the cryptic text. Shelayla, knowing not to disturb him when he was working, resumed her task of protecting the hidden treasures of the Arsenal of the Way.
“Hmm, this is partially written in the language of the ancient Southlanders. Maybe the place I need to find the next clue is in one of the ruins of the Broken Lands.” He said. He looked up and Shelayla was gone. “Hmm, when did she leave?” He shrugged to himself and returned to his task.
A few moments later, Shelayla returned. “I may have something for you. When I was searching for food in the Broken Lands, I found something in the ruins of Jenti on the north island.” She placed a small statue of a bird on his desk.
“What’s this?” Ephaltus asked.
“Use arcane magic on it.”
Ephaltus willed his arcane magic on the statue. It began to animate and speak. “Seek out the Raven for the breath of winter and to hear the Tale of Winter’s Chill. Beware the Raven if your intentions are insincere.” It kept repeating the same message until Ephaltus stopped it.
“Did you hear me say I thought the clue to this mystery was in the Broken Lands? I thought you had wondered off.”
“I did not hear you say anything about the Broken Lands, but I did notice the upper right-hand corner of your scroll.” Ephaltus glanced back at the scroll in the upper right-hand corner. There was a small image of a raven in the exact likeness of the small statue.
“Ah, ha, So, I was right. The next clue is in the Broken lands. Thank you, Shelayla, you have given me conformation of where I need to go next. As usual you are invaluable too me.”
Shelayla grinned, “I live to find treasure; it’s in my blood.”
“Indeed, Now I must make preparations to travel. I wonder if Marlee is ready to handle things here on her own for a time?”
“The mages are training at the moment, right?”
“They have only barely begun. Most of them are still unaware of their power.”
“Perfect! Marlee really has nothing to do but watch over them. It is the perfect time for you to travel to the Broken lands.”
Ephaltus cupped his chin and tapped absently with his forefinger, “Yes, you’re right. As long as I can get her to remember to calibrate the Ocularius Magnus on a regular basis, I think she will be fine here on her own for a mere couple of weeks.”
“She will be fine.”
Ephaltus was amused at the dragon’s enthusiasm. “You are just as curious as I am, aren’t you?”
“Well, yes. A seventh god few have ever heard of before! A monumental mystery, as timely as the world itself. It is very exciting. I want to see you succeed and find out what happened.”
“I will find out, Shelayla, I will. I promise you!