“Well, now… That dusts that then,” Emlyn nods, “We can’t tell if it applies or not, and no one wants to cough up enough information for us to try to see if it does.”
“What are you thinking?” Argonath asks.
“If we don’t know what it means… If we can’t tell if it’s in play or not, we proceed as if it isn’t. We carry on as we were, until we find out differently,” Emlyn explains, “I have enough predictions and premonitions currently without adding some obscure and probably inapplicable prophecy to that list. For all we know, this thing was written after the God’s War, and it’s a fake.”
Armeniel gestures for her to continue, so Emlyn does, “That’s another thing that came out of all those damnable catechism sessions. People fake prophecies.”
Grimacing, Emlyn begins to recite, “There was a conclave that met in the eighth year of King Axam’s rule on the fourteenth day of the month of Gaiz. In attendance…”
Emlyn rolls through the names, the reason the conclave was called, and lots of other boring details. Even Atres winces at the thought of having to memorize all this.
“Now the interesting bit,” Emlyn continues, “is that ultimately, they proved it was fake due to their extremely close examination of the paper and ink. It couldn’t have been written until after some of the events it claimed to predict had occurred. Once they decided it was fake, a bit more investigation revealed that it was part of an attempt to unseat King Axam.”
“No wonder you call it a great pile of dust,” Argonath says, with a head shake.
“It sounds dead boring, fy lleidr bach.” Atres grimaces.
“Dead boring doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Emlyn smirks.
Amused, Armeniel nods and makes some notes. “I’ll pass that on to my father. Now, back to our proposal.”…
“I’ll see if I can’t get someone from Clan River Hammer or one of the similar clans to come here and look at this property. I’ll discuss it with my Temple,” Emlyn replies, “That’s the best I can do. I’m certain that they’ll have questions, and we’ll likely have to have another meeting, probably several. I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes, yet, either. I think we both need more information. At a guess, it might be possible but with a bit more subsidy than half.”
Armeniel laughs and nods, “Money solves most problems, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t want to see the Temple finances drained too far or to end up in a project without enough funds to finish it,” Emlyn explains, “Let’s start with figuring out if that area is even a place we can build, and what the costs for that might look like. Once that’s figured out, we can then determine the costs associated with building what we need there. Once we have all the costs in hand, we can make a more informed decision.”
Armeniel nods and gestures to Atres and then the door, “That seems reasonable. When do you think you might know something?”
“Give me a couple of tendays,” Emlyn shrugs, “Almost everyone is still out for the mid-winter break. We’ll have to involve the high priest and lots of other people in this discussion. The more people, the longer it’s likely to take to get to a decision.”
Atres opens the door as Emlyn takes her leave. Ewald steps back in and shuts the door.
Emlyn gestures to the box under Atres’s arm.
“Let’s get whatever that is recorded so we can go back to the inn,” Emlyn nods, “I’d like to get my forge-fathers to take a look at this site that they’re proposing and see if we can’t get someone from one of the other dwarven clans to come look and see if this is possible.”
“What exactly did you find?” Argonath asks.
“No idea at all,” Emlyn shrugs, “It’s got one of the symbols of my Temple on it, but it’s going to be some work to get it open.”
Argonath takes the box and flips it over, but can’t find any of the inventory markings on it to record it.
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“Just take it,” Argonath shrugs, “I’ll put in a form for an unknown inventory tag. Let me know if it’s anything valuable or if you find a tag inside the box.”
Argonath gives the box a tentative shake, and it rattles a little. Shrugging, he hands the box to Emlyn as they start to walk out.
Upon returning from the armory, Emlyn notices that Henga and Madil have returned.
“We’ll have to get you to the King’s Guard Headquarters so you can sign your contract,” Emlyn advises, “It should expire at the same time ours do and be the same rate of pay Benger gets. If Atres or I can’t go with you, take Benger.”
Emlyn looks at her fathers, “I have a question for all of you. The prince was in residence today, and they’ve made an interesting offer to the Temple. I want to get your opinion on it. There’s a bit of open land on the east side of town that’s about to get bigger because they’re moving the city wall. It’s a bit swampy, but that might be possible to resolve. Care to take a look at it with me?”
Loket shrugs, “We’re probably not the best suited for that, but all dwarves know a bit about soil and water.”
“What’s this, girl?” Kethas asks.
“To accommodate all the expansions, we’re going to need quite a bit more space,” Emlyn explains, “This particular part of the city has that space and will have even more, once the city wall is moved. The problem is that addressing the water issue may be too expensive. I wanted to get your opinion on it and maybe see if we could have a proper dwarven engineer to look at it and see if it’s even worth pursuing.”
“What are they offering?” Otrin asks.
“Free land and half of all the construction costs,” Emlyn replies, “In exchange, they want my entire cohort under contract and access to some of our breeding stock.”
While the group discusses this, the taproom door opens, and Hiltar wanders in.
“Lokrag said you’d be here,” Hiltar nods. “This looks like a nice place. I had no idea it was so close to the Temple.”
Madil grins at him, “Come and sit. There’s a lot to catch you up on.”
“Who are all these people?” Hiltar asks.
“That’s part of what Benger and I need to tell you,” Madil laughs.
Benger signals Henga, who, rolling her eyes, takes over as the official chaperone.
Oso nudges Atres, “Did that prince just make a play for Nia right in front of you?”
Atres frowns and nods, “Not the first time, but the first time in front of me.”
Rilgi chuckles, “She turned him down, right enough, though.”
“I still don’t like it,” Atres grimaces, realizing just how closely his little thief dodged having to admit to her dowry and her other wealth or atone for the lie.
Atres taps Emlyn on the shoulder, “Fy lleidr bach, a word.”
Nodding, Emlyn, and Henga follow him out to the courtyard.
“That was unsettling,” Atres says, “I didn’t like that a bit.”
Emlyn nods, “I know. I wasn’t pleased with the prince for pulling that stunt in the first place, and then doing that right in front of you… That was the first rude thing I’ve seen him do. I can’t imagine why he did that.”
Atres starts to say something else, but Emlyn makes a hand gesture for silence. Atres swallows his words and pulls her in for a hug. Atres throws an arm over Emlyn’s shoulders and walks her back inside the inn. As the door closes, Hrogarth slips away across the roof of the cheese shop to report back to Abato, cursing his knees as he goes.
“The prince asked her if she had a dowry now,” Hrogarth reports, “I don’t know how you got him to do it, but they were talking about it in the courtyard of the inn. Your incandescent goddess says that she’s rather upset with the prince for asking about it in front of Atres. Atres was none too pleased about it, either.”
“He says she told him she doesn’t,” Abato shrugs, “That Atres is willing to accept her without one. Not a surprise there. Those dragon-blooded men generally don’t bother much about dowries. They’d rather fight to get a wife. But I still can’t figure out where she got the gold to buy that horse. That’s what Dranor wanted me to find out. I think he’s hoping she’s got some hidden wealth so he can petition his father. Dranor said the beast was expensive, so I sent Ralbi to inspect it, and it bit him. Ralbi says that the damnable thing was trying to pull him into the stall. He thought it was going to drag him in there and trample him. Fortunately, Ralbi got away before the stable hands showed up to see what the ruckus was about. He’s got a few new bruises and a new respect for horses.”
“Smart horse,” Hrogarth laughs.
Smirking, Abato nods, “I talked to that Sampath fellow she got it from, and it was even more expensive than any of us suspected.”
“I’ve seen her on it a time or two,” Hrogarth nods, “It’s a fine animal. You told me to watch her, so I have been. You should have just asked me. She sold some jewelry that she had taken from those bandits. Atres took her to one of the dwarven shops to sell it. That’s how those other dwarves found her.”
Abato frowns but gestures for Hrogarth to go on, “She sold it to a dwarven jeweler who recognized where she was from and put out messages to find her family. One of these dwarves went back to the shop later and told them that he was her family, so the jeweler could let everyone know that the family had been found.”
“Argonath says that they’re four of the Clan Fathers from Clan Rune Axe,” Abato shrugs, “She turned in the new next of kin forms. I’d think that being the father-in-laws of the next king or duke might be advantageous.”
“Maybe not as advantageous as you think,” Hrogarth shrugs, “They might have other plans for her. Maybe even something outside Tassatung.”
Abato nods, “Why allow Atres to chase after her then? I’ve seen the state of his finances. No one gets rich working as a King’s Guard.”
“There are other things in life besides money,” Hrogarth points out, “Maybe it’s something to do with his Valkis gift.”
“You might be on to something there,” Abato nods, “The Valkis’ gift is one of the more useful ones, and his is a strong one. That’s something where the duke’s brood and the prince can’t compare.”
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The Prophecy Debunked: Emlyn shoots down the Prince's "Sojourner" prophecy. She recites a dry history of the Conclave of Gaiz to prove that faking prophecies is an old trick used to unseat kings.
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The Temple Negotiation: Emlyn remains cautious about the land offer. She refuses to say "yes" until she can get a real dwarven engineer from Clan River Hammer to assess if the swamp is buildable.
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The Dowry Trap: The Prince rudely asks about Emlyn's dowry in front of Atres. Emlyn claims she doesn't have one, and Atres proves his worth by accepting her regardless.
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Spy Games: We find out Abato has been having Emlyn watched. His spy, Hrogarth, reports on the "Tall Obstacle's" anger and the truth about how Emlyn bought her horse—by selling bandit jewelry to a dwarven jeweler.
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The Mystery Box: Argonath lets Emlyn keep the old wooden box found in the armory since it has no inventory tags. It rattles when shaken, but the lid is still stuck fast.
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The Tall Obstacle Rating: 4/5 Tankards.
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Review: He’s fuming about the Prince making a "play" for Nia. He scores high for his protective hug in the courtyard, but he loses a point for letting the Prince get under his skin. Still, he’s proving to be the anchor Emlyn needs against these "pervy geezer" types.
The "Storm Crow" is navigating the swamp of politics and literal mud. Shall we see if the "Tall Obstacle" finally loses his temper with the Prince?
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