by Des Pensable
‘Yesterday afternoon I visited the person who had given her the reference, and found out that Jaztrix was an impostor, which now suggests that she might indeed have been the assassin. At the very least she was not who she claimed to be, and was here for some underhanded reason. If it was her, I sincerely apologize for not having checked on her background much more thoroughly.
‘It gets worse. Quab tracked the animals back to their origin at first light this morning, and found that they were all brought together near the teleport marker outside of town. Gnome footprints accompanied the animals’ tracks. Since all the other gnomes whereabouts have been accounted for, it suggests that Jaztrix was involved in the incident last night.
‘I had an officer take statements from the people present at the Inn before the incident. It seems that not long after the guards were called back to attend the fire, a Yith warrior appeared in the inn predicting doom and chaos. This, together with a fear-inducing magic cast in the room caused the panic, leading to everyone but a few who were injured in the stampede, leaving the inn. Shortly afterwards, the people who went outside were attacked by the animals.
‘The question is, who was the druid who accompanied her? Since a Yith appeared predicting doom and chaos, could it have been Alin Amber, whom we know is a Yith? He appeared to me once before and predicted chaos. Could he be in league with Jaztrix, and be trying to make his predictions of chaos come true?’
Granddad thought deep and long on this question while the others waited.
‘I would like a little more information before I answer that question,’ said Granddad. ‘Did you do a magic residue analysis to determine what type of magic was used, and the probable experience of the magic users?’
‘Yes,’ said Featherdown. ‘Tell him about the druid magic, Quab.’
‘Well, if I had to recreate what the druid did, I would need to have used two prayers to gather the boars and the cats. Since they are natural enemies I would need to dominate them to stop them from fighting, and since they both have a natural fear of newmans, I would have had to use another of the Lady’s gifts to talk to them to convince them to attack newmans. These prayers are available to any experienced druid. I personally would have thickened their skin so that they were less likely to be hurt, but that wasn’t observed. In fact, Zephira was the only person claiming a kill. I examined the animal and can say it was local and not brought here by any wizard magic.’
Featherdown continued, ‘The young Wizard found defending the burning building was the duty wizard for the night and had been dominated but has no memory of his attacker. He’s quite shaken by the experience. Three wands were stolen from the armoury, which were for defence of the gateway, one wand that can induce fear, one that can cast fireballs and one that can cause a person to be paralysed. The armoury was magic locked and unlocked by the attacker, not the duty wizard. Jaztrix would have had the knowledge of where the duty wizard was, the location of the armoury and possibly even its contents.’
‘Did you smell what type of magic was used?’ asked Granddad. Both Zephira and Quab looked at Granddad strangely, as if the question didn’t make sense.
‘Yes,’ said Featherdown, ‘and that was the strange thing. I could only smell the magic from the fear-inducing wand in the Inn and the magic used to dispel the magic binding in the armoury. No other magic was evident. I can normally smell battle magic, but I can’t smell mind magic, which led me to believe that Aquitain was somehow involved; but since Queen Snowbelle has told us of his whereabouts I’m at a loss to explain the lack of other magic tell-tales.’
‘I suspect that I know what might have happened and I only hope that I’m wrong, but the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit,’ said Granddad. ‘Many years ago when I was much younger and much less wise I had in my possession a golden mask in the shape of a cat’s head. As an artificer, the beauty and the power of the object enchanted me. When I examined its powers I found them to be extraordinary. The item was not only sentient, but contained the spirit of a reasonably strong mind wizard, and as such was extremely dangerous.
‘Normally such an object should be destroyed, but I talked to the spirit and it convinced me not to harm it, but instead to limit its power. So I made a club in the shape of a cat’s paw that would act as a control to limit its power. If used together the two could be a powerful weapon for good. However, if used separately each had the potential to cause trouble. The mask liked to cause chaos, and if used by a chaotic person would make them even more chaotic. The club was made lawful to control the mask, but if used by a lawful person would make them unbelievably strict in their interpretation of the law.
‘If the two were used together, then the tendency of the mask to be chaotic would be offset by the tendency of the club to be lawful, creating a neutral power pair that could be used safely without problems. Not long after I made the club, the two items were stolen and I was never able to retrieve them or find out how they were stolen. It seems that fate has lent a hand.’
‘I suspect that when Aquitain and Miranda examined the mask in the hideout without being aware that Jaztrix was present, the spirit in the mask was able to dominate or charm Jaztrix without their knowledge. It may have been responsible for getting Jaztrix to kill Aquitain, but it left with her. The mask is not called Jacintra’s Image for nothing. It’s full of druid powers that allow its user to talk to animals, charm them, dominate them and even shape change its user into an animal.
‘I suspect that the wizard may as you suggest be Jaztrix, but that the druid is not Alin Amber but the mask itself, and if that is true we are all in trouble, because without the Cat Paw club to moderate its actions, it will run wild. Perhaps this is the chaos that Alin Amber foresaw happening.’
‘By the Powers, that’s a horrible prospect,’ said Zephira.
‘I agree,’ said Quab. ‘If animals run wild attacking people everywhere, the druids will be blamed; and if we find the mask we could be dominated by it.’
‘What’s even worse, is that if it has dominated Jaztrix, she’s a master at hiding and evasion. It’ll be damn difficult to catch her,’ said Featherdown.
‘When Alpha told me about the mask and the club in the message last night I feared that something like this might happen, that’s why I brought Goth with me. It’s immune to most magic and mind attacks, can see invisible creatures and will single-mindedly chase after someone if directed to get them. The only problem is that it will kill anything that gets in its way, so it has to be used with caution.’
‘I have also looked up my old notes and worked out a way to destroy the mask, however, it will require a mind wizard to do it. If you agree, I would like to send Zephira with Goth to the Crin city to meet up with Aquitain before he fully recovers and leaves. She can give him the method to destroy it, manage Goth and help him, with Miranda, to track it down. If it strikes again you can keep them informed by teleporting directly to Goth. I have fitted it with a teleport marker.’
‘If I’m wrong and they still have the mask in their possession, then I would recommend they destroy it, and you can then look for a druid that might be working with Jaztrix, which as you suggest could be Alin Amber. In the meantime, I suggest that you teach your young wizards how to detect people that might be invisible, and how to defend against the magic that might charm or dominate them, just in case Jaztrix decides to visit again.’
Featherdown agreed that they should find out as a priority whether Aquitain and Miranda still had the mask in their possession, and if so would authorize them to destroy it. If the mask was not with them, then he would need to inform the Druid Council about the danger, and have them organize the druids to keep a watch for any trouble. The problem was that neither he nor Quab knew of any teleport markers near the Crin city. Zephira would need to teleport to Turtlehaven and take a boat up the river, which could take a day or two.
Quab suggested he could accompany her, but Featherdown wanted him in Twin Towers in case they suffered another attack. Featherdown sugges
ted she go with one of the young wizards, but Zephira said that she was happy to go alone, as she was unlikely to have any trouble while accompanied by Goth. In truth, she couldn’t wait to get back with Aquitain so she could protect him from Miranda. So it was agreed she would get her gear and leave immediately. Featherdown would arrange her free teleport to Turtlehaven, and a letter of introduction for her to give to Queen Beatrix.
After brief farewell’s and instructions on who to see about getting a boat ride up the river, Zephira headed off to get her gear from her room, with Goth trailing behind her. Her biggest problem was what to tell Chantalot. She had become quite attached to him, and to suddenly leave without saying good-bye was difficult. So she packed her gear into her backpack and strapped it onto Goth, then headed down to the Ugly Bear Inn with a heavy heart.
When she arrived Chantalot was just emerging from the Inn with a backpack and weapons himself.
‘Where are you going?’ she asked, a little annoyed that he hadn’t told her about going away again.
‘With you of course,’ he said. ‘The jungle is quite dangerous, even if you’ve got a metal monster with you.’
‘But how did you know?’ she said.
‘Come now, I might act the fool a lot, that’s a part of my stage act, but I’m not so stupid I wouldn’t know that you’d be going if your grandfather turned up with a fighting machine. Everyone in the town’s talking about it. Let me guess he’s alive and stirring up trouble. I know the prophecies too, you know. I also know people everywhere on this world. If we’re to find him I’m your best hope.’
‘All right, I’ll take you up on that,’ she said. ‘Let’s go to the teleport terminal. We’re off to Turtlehaven.’
‘Great,’ he said. ‘I know an excellent restaurant there that serves the most wonderful seafood; you’ll love it.’
Chapter 24 The Crin City
Aquitain awoke from a deep and troubling sleep. He looked down and saw that the body he remembered from the dream was still there.
‘Alpha, I’m big, brown and hairy. Am I dreaming or was my dream real?’
‘Your dream was real, Aquitain. You died, and Miranda had you reincarnated by her Goddess. You are a creature called a bear. I’m not familiar with them, so you’ll have to find out about them yourself. One thing is for sure, you look fierce and mighty strong.’
Aquitain asked Alpha a series of questions in an effort to orient his mind to the new reality, but Alpha wasn’t really helpful. It had no knowledge about bears; had little knowledge about where they were, and could only tell him that Miranda had left him there to sleep, and hadn’t yet returned after a ten hour absence. He was hungry again, so fed from a bucket of mushroom pieces near the door, but wouldn’t drink from the available water as it had a strange taste.
It was time to do a little exploring. First, he looked around. He was underground in a cave-like area that looked like it had been excavated, as the walls showed signs of tool marks. He saw Quab’s backpack holding their equipment, and the mask lying on the dirt floor propped against a wall, and beside it was his ball of chaos matter. He stomped over to the ball rested his paw on it and imagined it becoming a small snake. It transformed and he had it slither up his arm and drape itself around his neck. He then transformed it into a chunky gold collar and had Alpha grow legs, move to the back of his neck and take up a position on the collar where it would have a good view of the surroundings.
Finally he headed down the tunnel leading to his room, rounded a curve and found a barricade and several large ants blocking his way. He remembered that Miranda had said they were friends, and not to harm them.
‘Hello, I’m Aquitain. Do you mind if I look around?’ he said, using mindspeak.
The one of the ants that looked different from the others replied, using mindspeak, that he was not authorised to let Aquitain move about freely. So Aquitain asked whether he was a prisoner and was told that he wasn’t. So he asked if the ant could get authorisation for him to move around, expecting a delay of several minutes, but the ant told him several seconds later that he was authorised to move freely but would be given a guide to explain what he saw. A minute later another ant similar to the one he had been talking to appeared, and introduced itself using mindspeak.
‘Hello my name is Xentos. Queen Beatrix has asked me to be your guide. Feel free to ask any questions you wish.’
‘What sort of creatures are you?’ Aquitain asked curiously.
‘We are known as Crin. We vaguely resemble, physically, the much smaller common ants that inhabit the dirt throughout the jungle, but we have many differences. We came from an endangered world many years ago at the invitation of the druids, and care for the jungle within a radius of several leagues. Come, let us walk while we talk.’
Aquitain bypassed the barrier and noticed that the other Crin began removing it. They were being very cordial and hospitable. Miranda obviously had a sound relationship with them for them to allow a big brute like him into their city. He casually wandered the tunnels observing, smelling and talking continually with his guide Xentos. He found out that their society was structured as a strict hierarchy consisting of the Queen who had absolute authority over everything,, and four other distinct social classes: the Enforcers, the Jobmasters, the warriors and the workers.
The Enforcers were the Queen’s military commanders who were her advisors on city security, the royal guards, and directed the warriors during hostilities. They were as physically as large as Aquitain now was, and built for serious fighting. They had big mandibles and tough armoured bodies, but small heads. There were a few dozen Jobmasters who were physically half the size of the Enforcers, and who filled the roles of managers, communicators, supervisors and specialists. They were the planners and organizers within the city, and the navigators and communicators outside.
The warriors were much the same size as the Jobmasters, about the size of a pony. They were sleek, fast, deadly and fearless, but not too bright. They were designed for one thing only, fighting and killing. They had large mandibles like two razor sharp sickles at the front, which could cut a creature in two in a single snip, and dagger-like stingers at the rear which they used to inject poison.
The workers were small, about the size of a dog, but what they lacked in size and strength they made up in numbers. There were hundreds of them, and as their name suggested they did all the work around the city, and all the foraging outside in the jungle.
Perhaps the most curious thing that Aquitain discovered was that they were all mindlinked in a single huge communication network called the city mind, which was controlled by the Queen. Only she and the Jobmasters were allowed speak over it. She issued tasks to the Jobmasters, and allocated resources in the form of workers and fighters. The Jobmasters supervised the tasks, continually feeding back progress reports to the Queen.
Since the range of their mindlink was about half a league, several Jobmasters often had to be spaced at half league intervals if they were foraging or patrolling at longer distances, and wished to remain in contact with the Queen. When out of contact with her, all the members of a group remained in contact with each other through their group’s Jobmaster or Enforcer, if one was present.
The obvious weakness with the system was that if both the Jobmaster and Enforcer were killed when out of contact with the Queen, then the remaining warriors and workers would be leaderless and have no motivation to do anything except run back to their city, assuming they knew where to go. In practice this would be rare, as the fighters and workers would all fight to the death to protect their Jobmaster, who generally would not fight in a battle but would linger at a safe distance directing the combat.
During their impromptu tour, Aquitain had noticed many of the workers carrying baskets of leaves from the jungle. He thought this quite curious, so asked about it. Xentos the guide said that rather than talk about it he would show the bear how the leaves were used. They followed a line of workers carrying leaves to a long and narrow room contai
ning several shallow pits. Each the workers emptied their loads into one of the pits and left.
Xentos then explained what was happening. The Crin came from another world and were not sure whether the meats and vegetation would be edible for them. So they brought with them various forms of fungi, which could break down meats and vegetable matter into more basic components and then fed that to other mushroom-like fungi, which could then use those breakdown components to build tissue that they could eat without any problems.
He pointed out that they had three types of mushroom that had different flavours. One of the druids had described the flavours as being like chicken, venison and fish. By preparing pieces of these three types of mushroom meat with spices from plants that they had also been allowed to bring from their home world, they were able to reproduce their traditional dishes without needing to use much of the local wildlife.
The druids considered them friendly to the jungle as they had little impact on it, and consequently gave them independent control and authority over an area for ten leagues around their city. Everything was totally controlled and orderly. All the members of each class knew their places in their society, and each contributed to the whole, but Aquitain couldn’t help wondering what each got out of it. It certainly wouldn’t be his first choice of a place to live.
After visiting the food area Xentos stated that Queen Beatrix was interested in meeting him, so he followed Xentos to the Queen’s chambers deeper within the underground city. He was escorted downwards through a series of earthy tunnels with countless twists, turns and offshoots. Many of the chambers off the main tunnel seemed to be underground gardens reserved for growing the giant mushrooms. It was he found the smell of the decaying compost and mushrooms that gave the tunnels their characteristic smell. Finally they were shown to a small room, which acted as an anteroom to the royal chamber, and left alone.
