by Tom Liberman
“Exactly,” said Lousa. “Ghouls are the same sort of thing except they have skin and muscle so they look more like a real person except pale.”
“Like a vampire!”
“No, not exactly but along those lines. The skeletons, they couldn’t really think for themselves, they just single mindedly go about whatever it is they do, but ghouls are smarter, you find them around old grave yards, cemeteries, places like that. Because they are smarter they’re more dangerous. They also carry toxin in their bite that paralyzes people.”
“What’s toxin?”
“Poison, like a snake.”
“Oh,” said Ariana and stayed silent for a moment. “What’s para … paraloze?”
“Paralyze, that means when the ghoul bites you it makes it so you can’t move and then they can kill you more easily. Have you ever seen a spider bite a bug?”
“Uney loves to watch the spiders eat things. He catches flies and stuff and then throws them into the webs; I think it’s kinda gross.”
“That’s how boys are,” said Lousa with a smile. “They never really grow up either.”
“Oh,” said Ariana.
“But,” continued Lousa, and her face lost its smile. “Is there anything about that staff you haven’t told me?”
Ariana looked down at the ground, “Sometimes, I think it talks to me but really it’s just me talking to myself.”
“I know what you’re saying,” said Lousa and put her arm around the girl. “But, if it ever does really start talking to you then you need to tell me right away.”
“Do you think Khemer really knows how to break it?” asked the girl and looked up at Lousa with wide brown eyes.
The woman looked towards the front of the wagon where a faint blue glow, barely visible in the bright sunlight, emanated. “We don’t know how far sound travels in the spirit world,” said Lousa. “It’s best if we keep our thoughts about Khemer to ourselves if there is any chance he might overhear us.”
The little girl nodded her head and looked like nothing more than one of the ancient sages at the study of some mysterious tomb and this made Lousa laugh loud enough for Uney and Shamki at the head of the column to hear and look back at the girl. The two boys seemed deeply involved in some conversation of their own and quickly turned their attention back to one another.
“What do you suppose they are talking about?” Lousa asked Ariana.
“Boy stuff,” said Ariana with a giggle. “What are the Thilnog Mountains like?”
“Well,” said Lousa and turned her head to the northwest where the great Maw lurked but was still not visible to the naked eye. “It’s really just one big volcano and some hills around it. On the other side of the mountain is a fierce tribe of hobgoblins, it’s a kingdom known as Hakor’lum and they’ve been at war with Doria for centuries. The mountain is a natural barrier to the north along with the Great Eastern Sea.”
“Why is it the Great Eastern Sea if it’s north of here?”
“That’s a good question Ariana. The kingdom of Doria …,” said Lousa.
“Why is it a kingdom if we are ruled by a queen, shouldn’t it be a queendom?”
“It should be indeed young lady. You’re right about that but we let the men call it a kingdom so they think they’re in charge. Sometimes as a lady you have to let a man think he is making the decision, but we know different.”
Ariana giggled again and covered her mouth with her hand. “Is that why you always tilt your head when you want a man to do something?”
“That’s part of it. You’ll understand more when you get older.”
“Will I ever be as beautiful as you?” asked Ariana with a look at her feet.
“I think you already are as beautiful as me but no one can know what the future will bring. Now, weren’t you interested in the mountain?”
“Oh yes,” said Ariana. “I’m sorry to ask so many questions but I’ve never been anywhere and I didn’t know there were so many places.”
“The world is big. A single emperor once ruled it all. It was called Corland back then is what everyone says but nobody really knows much about it,” said Lousa her eyes sort of looked to the sky and her hands made vague little circles.
“Why not?”
“That’s another good question young lady,” replied Lousa. “No one knows for sure what happened to the Old Empire and the Emperor but after it fell apart there were terrible wars and most of the records of what happened were lost. All that was really left was the ruins of the biggest cities, like Doria, and the old stone circles that are everywhere.”
“How come Doria is the name of the city and the country?”
“It just is,” said Lousa. “A lot of the time the queen is named Doria also but now her name is Onolodia VI. But her mother was named Doria.”
“Have you met the queen?”
Lousa shook her head. “Oh no. I’ve never met anyone nearly that important. Way out here on the western frontier we don’t get to see royal people that much. But, sometimes it’s better to be further from authority figures.”
“Why?” asked Ariana.
“Well, that gets a little complicated. How about we go back to your geography lesson?”
“What’s geography?” asked Ariana.
“Geography is knowing about the countries and land around where you live. It is a very important thing to know because then you can plan your actions appropriately. To our west are the hobgoblins of Hakor’lum and they are very fierce. The queen has fought many wars against them but never conquered them. They once controlled all this land we are walking on now but our soldiers took it from them.”
“Why do people have to fight all the time?”
“Usually because one group of people has something the other ones want but sometimes they just like to fight. The volcano, the Maw is a natural boundary and the queen has never been able to extend her empire beyond it. A powerful warrior who once was a soldier for the queen, a general, got sick of the wars and of fighting so he decided to quit and establish his own place. His name was Thilnog.”
“Thilnog was really a person? Not just a mountain?” exclaimed Ariana. “Are most places like that, you think of them as places but they were actually just regular people once?”
“Often times that’s the case, yes Ariana,” said Lousa and nodded her head with a smile.
“Was he brave and handsome?” said the girl.
“That’s what I’ve heard but this was all about fifty years ago before I was born.”
“Oh,” said Ariana. “I thought elves lived to be hundreds and hundreds of years old and never looked it.”
“I’m not fully an elf,” said Ariana. “My mother was an elf but my father was part human and part orc actually. She was a prisoner in the wars.”
“Oh,” said Ariana. “I didn’t know that.”
“It’s okay,” said Lousa. “No one knows it except me. And I trust you.”
The girl gazed up at the woman whose long hair green hair blew in the breeze and smiled. “Really?”
“Really,” said the woman with a wink. “Now, this Thilnog fellow said he would never fight for anyone else again and he and some of his friends deserted the army and made a town on the side of the mountain. No one thought they could live on the mountain because there are so many earthquakes and poison gases but they found a way.”
“And they live there still?”
“Not only do they live there but they have the finest mining facility in all the land. The queen buys almost all of the iron ore they produce because it is the strongest. And the monks train in the ways of combat and they are all fierce warriors. One time the warriors of Hakor’lum tried to attack them and the monks killed so many hobgobbies that they never tried again.”
“What’s iron ore?” asked Ariana.
“I can see this is going to be a long conversation,” said Lousa with a laugh. “But, that’s ok. It’s going to be at least a week before we arrive at the mountains and then who knows how long
from there. The terrain is very rough and I think there is only one road into the mountain. It is guarded by monks of Thilnog so I think you’ll get to meet some of them pretty soon.”
“Really, do you think Thilnog will be there?”
Lousa looked at the girl close for a moment in deep thought, “I’m afraid Thilnog is dead.”
“Oh,” said Ariana. “What happened?”
“I think he just got old but I’m not exactly sure. The monks are pretty secretive up there. No one even knows how they mine the iron from the mountain. There is a little town up there but only traders from the outside are allowed in and they are blindfolded so they don’t know how to get there.”
“Couldn’t the queen just send griffin riders,” asked Ariana. “Then they’d see from above.”
“The monks have huge catapults all over the mountain and if anything flies near they shoot it out of the sky.”
The girls eyes opened hugely, “Are you lying to me?”
Lousa laughed again. “No, I’m not lying but it sure does sound like one, doesn’t it. Maybe it’s not true. I’ve never seen one of the catapults myself but I can’t think of another reason why the queen doesn’t do that. Even then, at night they could fly past real fast and figure it out eventually you would think.”
“I guess,” said Ariana with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Don’t let me discourage you from asking questions, darling,” said Lousa. “I hadn’t really thought about the catapults, I just believed what I was told many years ago. It’s always good to question things because sometimes even when people think they are telling the truth they are saying things that are false. Sometimes it’s easy to believe what you want to believe if the truth is painful,” she went on suddenly in a lower tone of voice. “Sometimes what is true is much harder than what you want to be true.”
“I know what you mean,” said Ariana. “A lot of times Uney was hurt and bloody, and didn’t have so much food for us but he always said it was nothing. He was trying to protect me I guess.”
“Your brother is a good boy,” said Lousa. “He did his best to take care of you and he always will.”
“I know,” said Ariana. “But he is just a boy.”
“He’ll be a man in a few years,” she said and pointed to the subject of their conversation who made swift motions with his hands as he pretended to attack Shamki. The big half-orc had dismounted and the two were engaged in some sort of phantom struggle. “Shamki was a boy once too you know,” finished the woman looking at the bulging arm muscles the warrior displayed.
“Really, just like Uney?”
“Well, half-orcs are bigger than humans usually but pretty much the same. Maybe he has a sister just like you that we don’t know about.”
“How long have you known Shamki?” asked Ariana with a look up at the older woman as she in turn watched the half-orc.
“I moved to Iv’s Folly about five years ago,” said the woman and I met up with Mayor Shumba right away. Shamki and Humbort did odd jobs for the mayor even back then, so that is when I met him.”
“Why are they friends, Shamki is big and strong and Humbort is kind of a fraidy cat?”
“They work well together,” said Lousa, “but I’m not sure how they first met. I bet if you asked Humbort he might tell you.”
“He’s kinda dumb, isn’t he?”
“Some people are born that way, some people are born with no hands, or deformed feet, or their brains not right. It’s all the same and no one really knows why it happens.”
“People are born without hands?” asked Ariana. “I’ve never seen anyone like that.”
“Usually if a baby is born like that the mother will take it out into the wilds and leave it to die,” said Lousa.
“No!” shouted Ariana. “That’s not true.”
Lousa didn’t say anything as the two continued to walk along for many long minutes. Eventually the wagon stopped for lunch and even then Ariana didn’t ask any more questions but contented herself to walk along with Lousa. It wasn’t until late that night that the girl finally said something, “You are right,” she said as they lay down on the soft throws that Tanner provided, “Sometimes what you want to be right isn’t what is really right.”
“You can always try and make things the way you want them Ariana,” said Lousa.
“When I get older it’ll be easier I guess,” said the girl and rolled over onto her side and fell almost instantly to sleep.
“Not really,” said Lousa, mainly to herself.
Chapter 14
Inside a strange little house built on stilts that were themselves resting on large coils of heavy wire a man who wore a thick brown wool shirt put down a cup of steaming liquid just as the tremors that shook the building began to subside. Even then the cup went into a perfectly shaped indentation in the table clearly meant for just this purpose. Steel bolts anchored the table to the floor and virtually everything in the house was made of that metal or iron. He was apparently a mix of human and some other races for he was extremely short for the species, or tall for gnome or halfling, had a long nose, and tremendous ears that stretched nearly to the top of his head. Next to the man stood a squat dwarf his skin mostly black but patches of pale white shone through when he lifted his arm so that his underarm appeared.
“The Black Fire runs hot,” said Edorin Firefist as he looked down at the strange little fellow.
“The Black Fire always runs hot,” said Lorim. “That is why kings and queens purchase our goods and leave us to our own devices Edos. Does it run particularly hot today or have you come to make more demands for you share of the ore?”
“I will tell you when I want more ore and you will then deliver it,” said the dwarf his face a mask of impenetrable cragginess. “I tell you the Black Fire is running hot because the Black Fire is running hot.”
“Thank you for your report Edos. Does this mean that we can expect higher quality weapons out of the forge for the next month?”
“Higher quality, lower volume,” said the dwarf his face still impassive.
“If there is nothing else Edos, then I have other matters to which to attend,” said Lorim and once again picked up his cup of coffee and took a small sip. There was another minor quake outside and the paintings on the wall shook briefly but apparently without harm. The dwarf nodded his head; the short beard black with soot briefly touched his shirt front, and then left the building. A moment later a woman came out from a door on the other side of the room. She was dark skinned naturally, not an effect of the soot, and had purple eyes and silver hair. “The dwarf is a fool,” she said.
“He is a Firefist,” said Lorim, “and even the darklings must recognize the power in that.”
“Craggen Steep is a legend,” she snorted, “for children and weak minded humans. He may take the name Firefist but anyone of that family has long since passed the barriers of the living if there ever were rulers of that mythical realm.”
“He is a master smith, an Edos as the dwarves say, and his appearance in our little township has provided the monks with great wealth to go with their fighting spirit. If he were to leave then much would change and not for the better.”
“You are a fool then Lorim,” said the woman with a sneer as she held her head tilted upwards at a sharp angle. “The dwarf is using you in the same way you use the monks. He is in this for his own reasons and when the darkness enshrouds them no more you will regret ever trusting him.”
“I’ve heard all this many times before Lilithia,” said Lorim and took another sip from the piping hot metal cup. “You have not come up from below in many months. To what do I owe this little trip?”
“You are to have visitors soon,” she said. “Important visitors with important things.”
“Elaborate, woman,” said Lorim and sat back and gazed at her with narrowed eyes. The metal chair scraped against the metal floor giving out a prolonged squeal, the woman winced, turned her head down and right and her hands flew to her ears.
“You do that intentionally,” she said. “And someday the great spider will have her way with your essence.”
“Yes, yes, Lilithia,” said Lorim moving his torso and the chair squeaked yet again. “Yet your purchases of our swords diminish not in volume. Your wars with the denizens of the Deep Below do not abate?”
“Our political concerns are not for your consumption Lorim,” said the woman and her hand went to a spider brooch that appeared to creep up her collar. She took the thing and looked at with soft eyes before she placed it further down her silken shirt. “There is a girl coming, a little girl, a human little girl,” said the woman her purple eyes now gleamed with excitement. She licked her lips and smiled. “This girl is carrying something that we want.”
“A girl, traveling alone?”
“Must you interrupt? You surface dwellers with your puny life spans are always in such a hurry. Be patient and I will tell you everything and I will tell you the price we will pay for this item.”
“Go on Lilithia,” said Lorim and put down his cup and leaned back in his seat.
“The girl is working for an ally of ours although she does not know it. She travels in a merchant wagon led by a man I’m told you deal with, his name is Tanner.”
The man’s long ears twitched at this. “Yes, we know Tanner well. He is a good merchant who treats us fairly with both price and goods. I would hate to alienate such an ally unless the reward was quite high, quite high indeed.”
“Merchants are as common as the black gnolls,” sniffed the woman. “Where you squash one ten more arise. You need not worry that this endeavor will not be profitable to you Lorim. You need not even kill the merchant and his family. Simply let them pass into the hills without incident. We will take care of the rest.”
“Not as easily done as you might imagine my dear Lilithia,” said the strange little man. “The Thilnog Monks do not take orders from me when it comes to who passes unmolested into their territories nor do they take kindly to interference on the mountain from any source, be it human, hobgoblin, or darkling.”
“Are you not the Trade Captain of the Maw?” She said pulling back her head with a motion of contempt. “Have you not the right to authorize which merchants are allowed onto the mountain and do you not supply the monks with the fruits of your labor? Surely they will allow one little wagon full of people to enter the territories unmolested, unsearched, if you request it.”