by Bill Ricardi
Benno’s laughter snapped everyone’s attention to me for a moment. Hemitath offered a brief, tight smile. Donnelly avoided looking directly at me, instead offering a quick, shy wave before going back to his conversation with the elven archmage.
It was Max who found the time to actually attempt to bring me up to speed. He said, “Ah, Sorch. Late but… at least clean, I suppose. We need a subject matter expert, and sadly, you’re all we could find.”
I rubbed my eyes with the backs of my hand. I said, “I’m wet. I’m tired. I was having a great dream about… hells I hardly even remember, but it involved dessert. What do you want, Max?”
The old magus gestured to the books and parchments strewn around the room. “I want clarity. I certainly don’t want to read all of this from cover to cover. So tell me everything you know about Arcane Syphons.”
“I will. But why here?”
Max narrowed his eyes. He asked, “What do you mean?”
I gestured around the tiny office. “There’s five of us in here. You’re about to be crushed by the books that you’ve strewn everywhere. If there’s research involved I can only imagine you’ll want even more books and more parchment an-”
Max cut me off, saying, “Yes, yes. The tribal lad has a point. The dining room is a minute down the hall so let’s grab what we can carry and move this little study session to a more spacious venue. I’ll send apprentices for the rest.”
We relocated to the stone table in the dining room. Tomes quickly covered all available flat surfaces.
I peered at the titles on display and said, “These are all about artifacts and ancient elven magic. I’m afraid what I know about the Arcane Syphons is far more personal and practical.”
Hemitath called over, “That’s alright, Sorch dear. We need to discuss personal interactions.”
I nodded and said, “I’ll be glad to. Could you give me some context?”
It was Benno who got around to providing me with an explanation. My son said, “Bill suggested that we explore the sites where elementals have been spotted. Astrally.”
I made a mental note that my son was on a first name basis with the other psychic. “Okay.”
The younger orc continued, “We were at your most recent sighting, the old arena in the desert. Your pet fire elemental was trying to repair the local damage, but we saw extensive fracturing. And it went down. Way down.”
Assistant Donnelly explained, “As we went further down… if you can call anything ‘down’ in the Astral plane... the gaps started to close up. There were just spiderweb cracks. But we still saw it.”
Before I could ask, Benno jumped back in to explain, “There was a glow. A powerful aura at a scale that neither of us had ever seen before. It was emanating from the earth. And it felt just like the energy that was being manipulated when we went after the Voodoo Engine.”
Hemitath added, “With all of the Arcane Syphons accounted for, this is disturbing news. So we’re discussing ranges.”
I turned back to Max, “You’re asking if I could somehow put the magical energy into a Syphon here, and translate the energy into producing work up in the Glasson Desert.”
Max nodded and said, “That I am.”
I replied, “In that case, the answer is ‘no’. The arcane workers that the Voodoo Engine made weren’t exactly Invisible Servants, but they were close. We tried to direct them to do very distant things. But they got lost or confused after just a few miles. If we had a huge range, we wouldn’t have been limited by the ore that was in nearby hillsides. But they were, and forgive me for being blunt, too stupid to find their way across complex terrain, I’m afraid.”
Everyone was quiet. It wasn’t the answer that they hoped for.
I postulated, “Could the Voodoo Engine have somehow returned? Demonic power or the like. Some kind of mechanism for self repair?”
Hemitath shook her head. “We don’t know Sorch. If you could pull up a chair and help with the research, it would be much appreciated.”
And that’s how my vacation was ruined.
I worked side by side with Benno. We focused on the theory that the Voodoo Engine had somehow returned, while the others were looking for any record of the creation of an Arcane Syphon that wasn’t in the Arcane University’s possession.
After an hour of reading and making notes, curiosity got the better of me. “Kiddo?”
“Yeah Dad?”
I chose my words with care. “You failed to mention that you were making regular trips to the Astral with Assistant Donnelly.”
His reply was smooth. Rehearsed. He said, “Oh, I’m sorry about that. I just considered it part of my studies. I didn’t really think too much about it.”
If he thought I was just going to drop the subject, he was sorely mistaken.
I said, “That must take up a lot of your spare time.”
He laughed a little bit, turning the page of the book that he was scanning through. “It takes up all of my spare time. But it’s worth it. I’m learning so much.”
I closed the trap by saying, “Your new boyfriend must be devastated that you have no free time for him.”
Benno’s muscles froze. His eyes were fixed on a single point, not even able to read as his mind raced.
I kept my voice low, but continued pressing. “What was it you said? Older. Smart human. Good job. Kinda shy. Real cuddly.”
I reached over and tilted Benno’s head up. Soon we were both looking across the table at Assistant Donnelly. The human was deep in conversation with the two older mages, and didn’t notice his boyfriend in distress.
Tears appeared in my son’s eyes. I quickly closed the old tome before he could cry all over it.
I murmured, “Hey. Hey, it’s okay. I’m not mad. I’m just confused. After all of the fuss you made about Rick being too old, I didn’t expect this.”
Benno snuffled quietly and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his robes. He half whispered, “I didn’t want to l-lie to you so I j-just didn’t tell you. I’m sorry. He’s shy and wanted to keep it quiet.”
I didn’t ask about the secrecy. That was their business. Instead I reached out and stroked my boy’s hair. I said, firmly, “I don’t care about all that. He treats you right?”
Benno nodded.
“And you’re having fun?”
This time the nod was quite enthusiastic.
I murmured, “Then assuming his shyness will allow it, invite him to the wedding celebration. Ames will be fine with it. There’s room for one more at our table.”
I received a sitting bearhug from Benno. That did attract the attention of the others, but nobody commented on our father-son moment.
With the elephant in the room addressed, I was able to work with a clear mind. Half an hour later, it paid off. I remembered something.
“Leeson.”
The others looked up at me, waiting for an explanation.
I obliged them, saying, “When we were recovering my belongings from the cultists after my imprisonment, we stumbled upon what was perhaps the largest collection of diagrams and schematics I had ever seen. And they were all about the Voodoo Engine. Currently that collection is in the possession of Leeson.”
Benno chimed in, “He was showing some of those to Will a while back.”
Max and Hemitath exchanged glances. Then the Headmaster said, “I’m not sure we should involve the boy. He’s still recovering from his wounds.”
That irritated me, “So is my son, and yet here we are.”
Hemitath, ever the peacekeeper, interjected, “Perhaps it’s about time that we moved this down to the Artificery. We can enlist the help of some of our young experts and spread out a little bit more.”
I glanced around. Apprentices had been dragging in more old books and scrolls every few minutes. We were out of space again.
The pilgrimage to the Artificery involved half a dozen confused students, several Flat Mules, and color coded Light spells to keep things in order.
When our imp
romptu caravan arrived at Will’s doorstep, all he had to say was, “Oh hells.”
The Artificery was where the creation of magical items became a reality. As these kinds of enchantments were often long and involved, it was even larger than one of the big lecture halls. There were separate sections for alchemical work, metal forging, woodworking, and the stone shelves and cubes used for ‘resting’ works in progress safely.
Our invasion was not subtle. Benno brought Will up to speed while Max had Leeson summoned, along with his papers on the intricate details of the Voodoo Engine. Soon everyone was pouring through ancient texts and Arcane Syphon diagrams.
Ultimately, it was the ‘fresh eyes’ that made the difference. Will’s cheery voice drifted through the Artificery. “Hey. What’s the Original Engine?”
Hemitath’s voice answered the question with another question, “Will, are you reading a book of elven fairy tales?”
The human peered at the title of the document that he was referencing. “The Efficiency of Residual Power Syphoning by Means of the Fergasith Mechanic.”
Leeson commented dryly, “Oh of course, that one is a real barn burner.”
Hemitath hurried over to Will’s workbench. The old elf peered over her former student’s shoulder. “What in all creation is this? It isn’t possible.”
Max asked, “Could you explain for those of us still in the dark? Which is, I believe, all of us?”
The elf said, “The Original Engine is a bedtime story. It’s what the elders tell their great grandchildren as they drift off. A fable about the creation of Panos.”
My exhausted son asked, wistfully, “Tell it to us, auntie? I could use a good bedtime story.”
Hemitath admitted, “I hardly remember any details. I know it was about building Panos from raw chaos. I think it also covered the creation of the moon. And perhaps one or more gods.”
Max said, “Time for more subject matter experts.”
Soon, elven mages were called in from both Arbitros and Civilia. They wanted to call in colleagues from religious areas of expertise. And they in turn needed to consult their druidic brethren.
By the afternoon, a score of mages and their colleagues were going over texts, debating theories, performing small tests, and the like. Benno and Assistant Donnelly were dragging folks into the Astral plane to test their findings or generate data in some form or another.
Finally, Max walked up to me and said, “We have a theory. Would you care to help us to test it?”
I snorted, “If I said ‘no’ I’d be contributing to the eventual death of civilization as we know it, wouldn’t I?”
Max nodded. “Yes, quite.” He paused for a moment, then asked, “Without joining up multiple Syphons as was done in the attempt to destroy Royal Moffit, how far away could you be from the Voodoo Engine for it to absorb a spell’s residual energy?”
I said, “I can show you precisely.”
And I did. We went out into the hallway and I paced out the exact distance that the smart orcs worked out over the years.
I explained, “Any further than this and it won’t register at all. And there’s no drop off, no partial registration. It either feeds the Voodoo Engine or it doesn’t.”
Max didn’t look pleased by this news. He disappeared back into the room. I followed, bewildered.
The old mage called over, “Assistant Donnelly. You’re the mathematician. Here are the numbers. How large of an Arcane Syphon would it need to be?”
There was silence as Donnelly scribbled on a piece of parchment. He had to dip for more ink several times. When the human got to his final result, his visage paled.
“Massive. The entire core of Panos.”
I held up a hand. “Wait. Your theory is that there’s a moon-sized Arcane Syphon in the middle of Panos?”
Several of the guest mages were nodding. Several more were shaking their heads.
Seeing no consensus, Max snapped, “We’re working on it.”
And work on it we did. It took a couple more hours to reach the final conclusion.
Max walked back over to me as I double checked some of my geographical estimates. So far everything seemed to check out.
The old archmage said, with confidence this time, “Our theory is that there’s a moon-sized Arcane Syphon in the middle of Panos.”
I nodded and said, “I’m starting to believe it.”
Max said, “To be specific: The Original Engine may indeed be real, but it would be deep underground where it could access the powers of creation that were once, or may still be, active closer to Panos’ core.”
I said, “And the closest a mortal could get to it would be the bottom of the Great Trench, in the cove Southeast of the foothills that lay at the southern tip of the main continent.”
The old human stared at me, “How in the hells do you know that?”
I gestured around to all of the maps strewn about my area, “What do you think I’ve been doing for the last few hours Max, plotting my next pleasure cruise? Besides, I’m the smartest orc on Panos.”
Max shot back, “Second smartest.”
I said, “Yes, well, the smartest orc on Panos is taking a nap.”
I pointed down to the far end of the granite table. The exhausted Benno had surrendered to unconsciousness. Leeson joined him. The two convalescent young mages were sitting side by side and shoulder to shoulder, propping each other up in their slumber. Even under the circumstances, I found the sight a little bit endearing.
Max rolled his eyes. He asked, “What’s near this Great Trench that we can use as a base of operations?”
I unrolled a small map of the area. My calloused green finger poked at a small dot in the hills on the southern coast. I stated, “Braxen. A small human township in the nearby hills. It’s a sleepy little place, but is a popular retirement destination for those who have spent their lives at sea. They have docks, and they aren’t unfamiliar with adventuring types. My ship is out of dry dock in about 36 hours. I can take a small crew above the Trench for some initial investigations.”
Max turned and announced to the room, “We’re done for the moment. Thank you everyone. Please make your final notes, I’ll arrange for you all to be transported wherever you need to go. We’re closer than ever to solving this thing. I will contact the Adventurer’s Guild and start to send runners and resources to the Braxen area so that we can set up a base of operations. Get some rest.”
I made sure that both Benno and Leeson got back to their rooms. Then I went back to the guest quarters. I was going to put together a proposal for Max. I set about planning the membership of an elite, rough and ready crew for the initial investigation.
Chapter 13
“How in the hells did we end up with this crew again?”
I was asking this of Assistant Donnelly. At the same time, I hoped my tone implied that I was in no way absolving him of his own uselessness aboard a sailing vessel.
The human looked around to see why I was complaining this time. Rick and Will were arguing over who’s turn it was to use ‘the big wheel’. Hemitath was trying to teach Dutch how to crawl along the low rigging, and tittering merrily every time the huge snake rolled down the protective netting and back into her arms.
The psychic said, “Well in my case, it’s probably punishment for taking Benno on Astral trips without telling the Headmaster.”
“Good.” I growled. I had already taken the other mage aside and let him know that I approved of his relationship with my son, since Benno seemed happy and healthy. But that didn’t excuse getting Benno in trouble with Max. The fact that they came forward about their discovery mitigated any other punishment that they might have received. But that didn’t mean that I couldn’t be salty about it. Besides, it was my job to give whoever my son was dating a hard time, whether they deserved it or not.
Will called over, “The two of us volunteered. We needed some time away from The Magic Shop, and this sounded like fun!”
Rick said, less enthusiast
ically, “Yeah. Fun.”
Hemitath played dumb as she put Dutch back up on the thick rope, “I thought this was a cruise of some sort. Are we going somewhere in particular?”
I ran fingers through my hair roughly, exasperated with my ‘crew’. But instead of expressing further frustration, I announced, “I’m going to get ready.”
I managed to avoid stomping as I made my way below deck. Keeping my mind focused on the mission helped. We were about to make one of the deepest magic-assisted dives ever recorded. In the back of my head, I knew why both Hemitath and Assistant Donnelly were along for the ride: They were excellent swimmers with deep sea diving experience. And despite their bickering, Rick and Will had taken the Taboo out before with no issues. The reality of the situation was that whenever you took five mages on an outing, some amount of silliness and absent mindedness was to be expected.
I stripped down to the bare minimum, sporting only breeches and a belt that would support the pouches containing my material components. Knowing how well the Minor Polymorph spell handled cold water, I didn’t bother with the grease coating this time around. Besides, should we encounter any sharks, I didn’t want to appear as a more tasty treat than I already was.
When I finished stowing my gear, I made my way back above deck. The silliness and bickering had stopped, likely for my benefit. Will was at the wheel, and Hemitath was just handing Dutch over to Rick so that she could get ready. I walked back over to Donnelly as the elven archmage disappeared below deck.
“So you’re comfortable serving as a communications medium during all of this?”
The human psychic nodded. He said, “Yes, Benno explained how all of that works. Fascinating. I had never considered the tactical advantage of being able to pass on messages in secrecy, in all environments. Normally we avoid being an ‘open conduit’ to prevent embarrassing accidental communications. You know, through incidental contact.”