The Academy Journals Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 3)

by Garrett Robinson

  23 Dektis: Mako appears in the library and tells Ebon his father needs him to deliver a parcel. Ebon sneaks out of the Academy and encounters Theren on the streets of the Seat. Together they go to the Shining Door and deliver the parcel to a man within.

  24 Dektis: Kalem tells Ebon of magestones. Mako visits Ebon and warns him not to involve Theren or Kalem with his schemes again. Ebon visits Adara for the second time.

  25 Dektis: Halab returns to the High King’s Seat. When the dean tries to speak with her, she refuses to see him. All communication from the family Drayden to the dean ceases.

  YANIS

  4 Yanis: Jia confides her worries about the war in Wellmont to Ebon. Kalem teaches Ebon to spin mist, the first spell he has learned since the alchemist’s testing spell.

  12 Yanis: Ebon, Theren, and Kalem sneak out of the Academy and back to the inn where they delivered the parcel. They discover the parcel contained the uniform of a palace guard. The Shade arrives and frightens them off, but Theren steals his map of the High King’s Seat.

  15 Yanis: Dean Cyrus Drayden, after not receiving any letters from his family for some time, attempts to ply information from Ebon.

  16 Yanis: Halab visits Ebon and spends a day visiting with him in the city. Together they watch the armies marching forth. Halab tells Ebon to do whatever Mako asks him to, and to honor his father.

  20 Yanis: Dean Cyrus attacks Ebon, convinced Ebon has information about the family Drayden’s plans. Theren tells Ebon the truth about why she is still at the Academy.

  21 Yanis: Ebon sneaks out of the Academy with Theren and Kalem, investigating the map they have found. They find nothing on the eastern docks, and are nearly discovered before they can reach the southeastern tip of the island. They retreat and head back to the Academy, but stop at a tavern first. There, Ebon has a brief conversation with a girl in a black cloak and green eyes that shine with a curious light. The Shade from whom they stole the map sees them and tries to kill Ebon, but Mako murders him without Ebon being any the wiser.

  23 Yanis: Lilith tells Ebon that her family is taking her on a surprise holiday. Ebon soon learns that the same is true for all the Yerrin children, and some of the other wealthy merchant families as well.

  24 Yanis: Mako tells Ebon to leave the Seat at once. Theren realizes the Seat will be attacked, but Ebon does not believe her. He brings her and Kalem out of the Academy to prove it. Together they head towards the southeastern corner of the island where the small boat was drawn on the map. But as they reach the eastern docks, the kingdom of Dulmun attacks the Seat. Ebon and his friends assist the Academy in evacuating the students. Ebon sees Dean Cyrus running off with Adara and pursues them. After Cyrus attacks him, Ebon turns the dean’s feet to stone and casts him into the Great Bay. Together, Ebon and Adara escape the Seat in a boat.

  FEBRIS

  4 Febris: The students return to the Academy. Jia informs them that with the dean gone, the High King has appointed Xain Forredar as the new dean. Xain gives his first speech to the students, pledging his commitment to protecting them.

  13 Febris: Ebon passes his first-year class and joins Perrin’s second-year class. He receives a letter from his sister, Albi, that the Draydens will soon visit the Seat. Rumors fly through the Academy that something has been stolen from the vaults. Credell’s throat is cut in the Academy halls.

  15 Febris: Ebon visits Adara, who advises him not to tell Kalem or Theren about Cyrus. The High King posts her own guards in the Academy. Mako informs Ebon that the Draydens will arrive the next day. Ebon discovers that the stolen item is the amulet of Kekhit, though he does not know what that is. Lilith tries to get Ebon and Kalem to join her goldbag society. In a rage, Theren convinces them to infiltrate the vaults to try to prove Lilith’s involvement in the theft.

  16 Febris: Perrin shows Ebon a spell of invisibility. Jia asks Ebon to recount what happened to him the day the Seat was attacked, and Ebon repeats his lie, omitting any mention of Cyrus. Ebon goes to visit his family in their manor, where he reunites with Albi and grows suspicious of his uncle, Matami. Ebon learns that his father, Shay, has disinherited him. Ebon takes Mako’s counsel that Matami and Shay may have had a hand in the attack upon the Seat, and that they now work with Lilith. Theren guesses that Cyrus, not Shay, is behind Lilith’s scheme.

  18 Febris: Ebon sneaks into the vaults with Kalem and Theren. They discover the empty vault, but Theren’s spell-sight reveals no trace of Lilith’s involvement. They are caught by Xain and Jia and nearly expelled.

  21 Febris: Ebon comforts Astrea over Credell’s death, but then her friend Vali says he never wishes to see her again, dismaying her utterly. Theren and Lilith nearly come to blows in the dining hall.

  23 Febris: Ebon practices shifting stone and spinning mists in Perrin’s class.

  26 Febris: Ebon begins to learn counter-magic by practicing with Astrea.

  30 Febris: Kalem finds a book about Kekhit, and Ebon learns of the amulet’s ability to cast darkfire without magestones. Ebon, Kalem, and Theren have supper with Adara, where she tells them some Academy student has been seen lurking around the streets near the Drayden family manor. Mako finds Ebon and shows him a torn page from the logbook with that day’s date, revealing that another theft is about to take place. Ebon brings the page to Jia, but is too late to stop the attack. Before everyone’s eyes, Lilith appears to kill Vali with her magic and is taken into custody. In a fury, Isra lashes out at Ebon with her magic, but he declines to have her punished.

  YEARSEND

  1 Yearsend: Ebon learns that more artifacts were stolen from the Academy the night before, but no one has been able to find out where Lilith hid them. Ebon, Kalem and Theren visit the Drayden manor. Ebon searches for the stolen artifacts in Matami’s wagons, but finds nothing. They see Dasko, cloaked, escorting wagons to Xain’s new residence, where crates are being loaded in. Xain finds them lurking and warns Ebon that he is watching the Draydens’ doings. Dasko tells Ebon of his history with Momen, Ebon’s brother.

  4 Yearsend: Ebon and his friends encounter Isra outside of Leven’s tavern. Inside, Adara tells them the Academy student has still been seen skulking about, even after Lilith’s capture. Oren tries to recruit Ebon and Kalem into the goldbag society once again.

  THE YEAR OF UNDERREALM 1313

  MARTIS

  5 Martis: Ebon and Theren visit Lilith, who is seized by madness. Lilith insists she did not kill Credell. Theren tells Ebon that she and Lilith were once lovers.

  11 Martis: Oren confronts Ebon, asking after Lilith. He nearly attacks Ebon with his magic, but stops himself in horror.

  12 Martis: Ebon learns to counter Astrea’s magic. Dasko pulls him from Perrin’s class, asking after Lilith. Dasko seems to think Lilith may be innocent, though he does not explain why. Later, Theren comes to Ebon and says she thinks Lilith acted under the mindwyrd of Cyrus. Ebon is forced to confess to his murder of Cyrus. Kalem grows upset and stops speaking to him.

  13 Martis: Oren rages at Ebon in the dining hall and is murdered by an unseen mindmage using magestones. Lilith is released from prison, her innocence proven. Theren and Lilith’s parents escort Lilith to her home. Ebon goes to Adara for comfort. She invites him to her home to break their bond of coin. Ebon realizes that his family must have another mindmage and leaves in haste, telling Adara to ask Mako to see him.

  14 Martis: Ebon tells Kalem of his suspicions. Mako visits them in the library and hears the same thing. He tells Ebon he can find proof of Matami’s involvement, but he will need Ebon’s help. Together they sneak through the sewers and abduct Matami from a house of lovers. In the sewers, Mako tortures Matami to death trying to learn of his involvement with Lilith and the attack on the Seat. After, he tells Ebon he leads the Drayden order of assassins.

  15 Martis: Ebon decides to tell his friends what happened, but before he can do so, the front hall is attacked. Ebon realizes that Isra has been behind the attacks, and together he and his friends pursue her to Xain’s manor. There the
y are joined by Mako, who helps thwart Isra’s attempt to steal all the artifacts, but she manages to escape and take Xain’s son, Erin, hostage. Dasko arrives and sees Ebon holding the amulet of Kekhit. Theren takes the amulet and mindwyrds Dasko to lie and say they were never there.

  17 Martis: Isra approaches her patron, Damaris of the family Yerrin, and acquires a packet of magestones to continue her plans.

  20 Martis: Xain approaches Ebon and gives him the torn cuff of Mako’s shirt. He says he knows Drayden abducted his son, and he promises to annihilate them.

  30 Martis: Ebon and his friends visit Halab in the Drayden manor, and she gives Ebon his firestriker. Ebon learns that Albi will soon be taking the caravans back to Idris. Ebon visits Astrea, who is grief-stricken by Isra’s betrayal. Jia summons Ebon and Kalem to a meeting, where she encourages the growth of the goldbag society. Ebon discovers Isra in the Academy kitchens and is rescued by Theren before he can be killed. They tell Perrin they have seen Isra, and they give Perrin the lantern artifact that Isra carried.

  ARILIS

  1 Arilis: Xain announces to the students that Isra is the Academy killer, and that she has magestones. Ebon visits Adara’s home for the first time and confesses his worries about Dasko. Mako takes him to an abandoned noble manor where Theren and Kalem await. They decide to use mindwyrd to draw information from Dasko and expose Yerrin’s collaboration with Isra. Dasko reveals that the faculty think Isra has help inside the Academy, and Xain suspects Ebon.

  2 Arilis: Ebon and his friends decide to catch Isra on their own, planting Kekhit’s amulet on her and absolving Theren of guilt. They visit Lilith in the Academy’s bell tower and get her agreement to find who in Yerrin is helping Isra. On his way to Adara that night, Ebon is accosted by Xain, who says he received a ransom note from the Draydens. Ebon visits Adara and asks her to help find Isra, if she can.

  3 Arilis: Ebon confronts Mako and asks about the ransom note. Mako guesses it was an anonymous note from Yerrin meant to turn Xain against the family Drayden. Theren conducts her final mindwyrd on Dasko, commanding him to tell Xain he has been under mindwyrd so that the faculty will assume Isra has been controlling him.

  5 Arilis: Ebon passes his first test, turning a stone rod back to wood. He and Astrea argue about whether Isra is evil. Ebon, Theren, and Kalem ask Lilith to trace down the magestones, hoping to find Isra’s supplier. She agrees.

  6 Arilis: Lilith brings Ebon and his friends to meet Farah. Farah tells them Gregor is supplying Isra.

  8 Arilis: Ebon sends word to Adara, asking her to seek Gregor using the lovers’ guild.

  9 Arilis: Adara tells Ebon she has found Gregor in the sewers on the western end of the Seat. On his way back to the Academy, Ebon is attacked by Gregor. A Tabarzin (a Drayden assassin) named Talib saves him, though another Tabarzin dies in the process. Theren and Kalem inform him of Enalyn’s declaration of war against Dulmun.

  10 Arilis: Ebon informs Mako of Gregor’s whereabouts, and Mako promises to bring the Yerrin bodyguard to justice.

  11 Arilis: Ebon asks Perrin to teach him defensive magic, and she tells him the spells he must master. Astrea turns a rose to ice by accident.

  13 Arilis: Theren drags Ebon to a tavern, where Mako finds them. He brings them to the Yerrin grotto where they set fire to a ship carrying magestones. Mako battles Gregor. Isra is flung into the water and later appears to have been found drowned upon the western docks of the Seat, but her body is too far decayed for the time she spent in the Great Bay.

  14 Arilis: Xain resumes the investigation into Ebon and his friends, accusing them of lying about Isra. They are able to prove their innocence, but barely. Ebon informs Astrea of Isra’s death, but she is curiously calm. Mako commands Ebon to ask Adara for help “beyond their means,” though Ebon does not understand the message.

  15 Arilis: Ebon relays Mako’s words to Adara, who sends a message and then takes him to see the Lord Prince Eamin. Eamin promises to use his resources to find Isra upon the Seat. He reveals that he knew Ebon’s brother, Momen.

  16 Arilis: Xain and the faculty search Theren for the mark of enchantment, but they find nothing. Mako approaches them in the library and tells them Gregor means to flee the Seat. He takes them to the cove where Ebon killed Cyrus, and there they battle Gregor. Theren is hurt, as is Gregor, and they barely escape before being caught by the Mystics. Upon returning to the Academy, they are confronted by Xain and the faculty, who have found Kekhit’s amulet. Theren allows herself to be captured so that Ebon and Kalem can escape. They hide in Adara’s home.

  19 Arilis: Lilith finds Ebon and Kalem. She urges them to rescue Theren and tells them when Isra means to strike: in three days’ time. Mako appears later and tells them that he means to remove Ebon from the Seat, and he will not hear of any schemes to stop Isra. He gives Ebon two days to prepare.

  20 Arilis: Kalem realizes that Isra mindwyrded an alchemist to create the false corpse. Ebon realizes that Isra is hiding in the vaults. Together, he and Kalem sneak back into the Academy and confront Isra with the help of Lilith and Nella. They find and rescue Erin, who is mindwyrded, and Astrea, who is Isra’s accomplice. Lilith kills Isra. Xain at last accepts Ebon’s innocence and hears the whole of his tale.

  21 Arilis: Xain and Dasko confront the children. Dasko tries to banish all four of them, but Theren and Ebon convince him to spare Lilith and Kalem. Xain takes Ebon aside and asks for his help to defeat the Necromancer.

  22 Arilis: Mako brings Nella before Halab. She reveals that Ebon was with Cyrus the day the Seat was attacked. Halab has Mako kill her.

  THE FAMILY DRAYDEN

  Of the powerful merchant families in Underrealm, the family Drayden has the darkest and fiercest reputation. They may not yet hold the power and the long, storied history of the family Yerrin, but they are nonetheless feared beyond all others.

  To all outside appearances, the family Drayden deal in spices. This has been the case for many centuries. The kingdom of Idris has few green lands suited for the growing of pepper and other such plants, but these were all acquired by the Draydens centuries ago through a long process of purchase and political machination. While Feldemar has a similarly forgiving climate for these crops, it is also often battered by storms and monsoons that make farming more difficult, and the political turmoil of that kingdom has always made it difficult for a thriving trade to take root. Therefore the Draydens have a hold on the greater portion of the spice market across the nine kingdoms.

  However, it was only in the relatively recent past that the family Drayden began to amass their true power and their current fearsome reputation, and they did so through much darker methods.

  In the Year of Underrealm 1094, a new matriarch came to rule over the family. Her name was Idia, and it was she who first formed the Tabarzin.

  The Tabarzin are an order of assassins. The arranged murder of political opponents is, of course, as old as human civilization. But it is naturally condemned, and the penalties for any attempts made along this line can be severe. Idia realized that assassination, like any tool, must be used correctly. Kings and lords would try to use it like a hammer, pounding a foe into submission by trying to cut off their head. But Idia knew that murder could be used more like a surgeon’s knife.

  Therefore the Tabarzin have never been used for something so foolish as attempting to assassinate the High King—a nearly impossible prospect in any case, and one that would throw Underrealm into such turmoil that no one could reliably hope to gain power or coin from the situation. Instead, the main work of the Tabarzin is the collecting of information. When the family Drayden encounters a problem, the Tabarzin are sent to investigate and find a linchpin to remove that will send the problem crashing down.

  If the Selvan king, for example, does not want the Draydens to trade in their kingdom, the Tabarzin will find out why. They might find that the king has a cousin who purchases Drayden spices in Wadeland and sells them in Selvan for much higher prices. The cousin is still too close to the king t
o be targeted without retribution. So the Tabarzin will investigate further, only to discover that the cousin’s trade relies upon a caravan directed and managed by a grizzled veteran of Dorsean wars.

  The Tabarzin kill the veteran. They arrange for the blame to land on Dorseans. The caravan languishes. The king’s cousin can no longer trade spices in Selvan. And the king is suddenly much more amenable to the Draydens’ terms.

  In this way, the Draydens have been expanding their power for many years. Some suspect the Tabarzin’s existence, of course—it is not difficult to see the number of times the Draydens have benefited from someone’s untimely and unexpected death. But the truth is that the Tabarzin are responsible for many more deaths than have ever been laid at their feet—and even when they are suspected, no one can prove anything.

  The power of the family Drayden took a great leap forwards when Mako joined the Tabarzin some decades ago. His arrival to the order is, of course, shrouded in mystery, but it was not long afterwards that Halab became the family’s new matriarch, and together she and Mako have amassed more political gains for the family than it has seen since the Tabarzin’s inception. This is due in equal part to Halab’s mastery of political strategy and Mako’s uncanny ability to gather information—an ability that no one has yet been able to explain.

  THE FAMILY KONNEL

  The noble family of Konnel has held its place of honor in the kingdom of Hedgemond for generations beyond counting. Their scions have held places of prestige in the courts of the High King, they have done deeds worthy (and subject) of legend, and they have always shown themselves to be the most stalwart and loyal of allies.

  They are also, as a rule, honest to a fault, and this has greatly hampered their position in Underrealm’s political hierarchy—not that any member of the family would be very bothered by this fact.