Luminaries & Lies

by Jeremy Dwyer

  “Tristan, you make the first play, and then it will circle around back to me,” Yared said.

  Tristan played a card with a value of four (4) from his hand to the center of the table. “I’ll take from the two (2) cost pile,” Tristan said.

  “You overpaid by at least two (2); therefore, there will be no auction,” Yared then said.

  Tristan took a facedown card from the pile with the cost of (2) and kept the card facedown. He peeked at it and then placed it facedown again in his own pile of point cards. Caemgen also recorded the facedown card, as well as the play that Tristan made to pay for it.

  Nina then played a card with a value of three (3) from her hand to the center of the table. “I’ll take from the two (2) cost pile,” Nina said.

  “You did not overpay by at least two (2); thus, there will be an auction,” Yared said.

  To Nina’s right was Carter, who said: “I will pay four (4).”

  To Carter’s right was Alistair, who said: “I will pay five (5).”

  Everyone else passed.

  “Alistair wins the auction and draws the card,” Yared said.

  Alistair then played two (2) cards – a card with a value of four (4) and a card with a value of (1) – to the center of the table and drew the next facedown card from the two (2) cost pile. Alistair peeked at it – and Caemgen peered over his shoulder and peeked at it as well to record it. Then Alistair placed it facedown next to himself in his own pile of point cards.

  Now, it was Carter’s turn to make an actual play – the end of the auction was the end of Nina’s play.

  Carter then played two (2) cards – a card with a value of four (4) and a card with a value of (6) – and said “I’ll take from the eight (8) cost pile.”

  “You overpaid by at least two (2); therefore, there will be no auction,” Yared then said.

  Carter then drew a facedown card from the eight (8) cost pile, peeked at it and Caemgen looked at it as well to record it, and then Carter placed the facedown card next to himself in his own pile of point cards.

  On Alistair’s turn, he looked at his hand and decided that the remaining cards were of too little value. Then, he said: “I’ll trade in a pair of cards.” Alistair then gave two (2) cards from his hand to Yared, who placed them on the bottom of the deck.

  Then, Yared said: “Instead of drawing a card from a mine pile, you will receive one (1) card for your two (2).” He then dealt one (1) card to Alistair.

  Receiving one (1) card for two (2) in the exchange was the penalty, and it also limited the number of times the action could be used. Experienced players also did this to extract information about the distribution of remaining cards.

  Caemgen recorded this move as well, including the pair of cards that Alistair gave and the single card that he received, although no one else could see them.

  On Tomiko’s turn, he played a card with a value of six (6) from his hand and said: “I’ll take from the three (3) cost pile.”

  “You overpaid by at least two (2); therefore, there will be no auction,” Yared then said.

  Tomiko then drew a facedown card from the three (3) cost pile, peeked at it and Caemgen observed and recorded it as well, and then Tomiko placed the facedown card next to himself in his own pile of point cards.

  On Yared’s turn, he played a card with a value of four (4) from his hand and said: “I’ll take from the two (2) cost pile. As I’m overpaying by at least two (2), there will be no auction.”

  Yared then drew the last card from the two (2) cost pile, peeked at it and Caemgen observed it as well, and then Yared placed the facedown card next to himself in his own pile of point cards.

  The game went around in this way until the “mine” piles were all exhausted.

  “All mines are fully excavated. Show all your point cards for a total,” Yared said.

  Everyone turned up their point cards and Yared looked over all of them carefully.

  “The winner is Alistair, with a total of forty-five (45) points,” Yared said.

  Caemgen recorded the point totals and the winner of the game in his book.

  Yared read Alistair’s mind throughout the entire game, looking for signs of cheating, but found none. The old man didn’t peek at cards and didn’t slip in any extra cards. The game was played fairly, and he was disappointed that he couldn’t catch the thief – this time.

  Tomiko then gathered up all the cards and began to count them, and found that the deck was in proper order – there were seven (7) suits of cards, numbered from one (1) to fifteen (15) in each suit, for a total of one hundred five (105) cards. The suits on the cards were ignored in this game, but they were tombstones, rubies, daggers, flames, vipers, lyres and shields. The suits had various symbolic meanings related to the powers of the waters, even though the cards themselves were paper and had no enchantments on them.

  Caemgen also watched carefully as Tomiko did this, and quickly saw for himself that the deck was valid. He was also watching for signs of cheating – not that he would have warned anyone, but he did so for the record. The Ursegan Ocean waters that he drank – and which gave him long life by slowing time – also gave him the form of quick sight common to Chroniclers of the Oath. If any sleight of hand had been committed, he would have seen it, and there wasn’t any during that game. He recorded into his book the fact that the deck was proper and that no cheating occurred

  “You pressed your luck, old man, so now you’re a little bit richer. Just don’t press your luck too far,” Nina said.

  “Luck doesn’t run out. When the deck is properly shuffled, each game is independent from the last. The probabilities of the card permutations don’t change. Only a different strategy can change your chances,” Tomiko said.

  “Unless you’re cheating, but we’ll catch you, so don’t get any ideas, old man,” Nina said.

  “The game was fair,” Yared said.

  “This time. But never trust a sly old man like him. He’ll try something, sooner or later,” Nina said.

  “After all I’ve done for you and you’re already thinking the worst of me?” Alistair asked.

  “A girl can’t be too careful. You’ve been around long enough to know quite a few dirty tricks,” Nina said.

  “I also know how to be nice,” Alistair said.

  “And he knows how to be handsome,” Nina said, looking to Caemgen, promising with her eyes what she did, in fact, hope to give.

  The captain of the ship entered the cabin and interrupted them, saying: “We have arrived at the port on the eastern edge of the Scholar’s Path.

  Caemgen recorded all of this conversation into his book, including Nina’s flirting.

  CHAPTER 11: The Music of the City of Myth

  “Now we can find out if things are where you left them – and if they have anything to contribute to our current procurement operation,” Tomiko said.

  “The more we find, the more your share is worth,” Yared said.

  “You’re up to twenty (20) percent now, Alistair. Very fortunate,” Tomiko said.

  “If all the right things are in the right places after so many years, maybe you’ll get lucky again, old man,” Nina said, referring to the flute and the fountain that were said to be in the temple, but realizing the added meanings due to her word choice.

  The group disembarked from the Escapade and made their way on foot through the Scholar’s Path, carefully traveling along the narrow paths of its many mountains and hills.

  Nina drank repeatedly from her vials of Atrejan Ocean waters to energize her and give her a connection to the sounds of the stars. However, she felt something different and it bothered her. She suddenly had a strange look on her face.

  Tomiko looked at her and asked: “What’s wrong?”

  Yared read her mind and instantly knew, but waited for the admission.

  “It’s getting a little dark up there,” Nina said.

  “What do you mean?” Tomiko asked.

  “You don’t see it? Squint a little –
it’s there,” Nina asked.

  “It could be storm clouds from the tempests,” Tomiko said.

  “No. It’s not. They wouldn’t do that,” Nina said.

  “What do you think it is?” Tomiko asked.

  “I don’t know – but it’s wrong. Like something…else is up there,” Nina said.

  “What else could be up there?” Tomiko asked.

  “I don’t know. It’s a strange feeling,” Nina said.

  “Can you still navigate? Are we walking in the right direction?” Tomiko asked.

  “Don’t worry until you have proof of something. It doesn’t do you any good, and just makes you sick. We’ll deal with a problem if – and when – it happens,” Yared said. He could read thoughts and emotions, and was an expert in many aspects of the mind. The Elanatin Ocean waters resonated within him, multiplying his keen telepathic and empathic senses many times over to where they were quite powerful. Reading thoughts wasn’t his only expertise. He also knew very well how to think better thoughts to keep the negative ones in check, because worry can truly be a source of illness.

  “We’re still on the right course. Just listen to the old man, follow the stars, and don’t fall down the cliff and break your neck. We all picked our waters – or had them picked for us – so it’s a little late to choose good health,” Nina then said.

  They walked for nearly fifteen (15) days until they arrived at the place that Alistair remembered, but the careful navigation paid off.

  Surrounded by an alcove of overhanging rocks, they found what appeared to be a temple. It was a finely polished blue and red marble building, with an elliptical shape. The temple was over two hundred (200) feet on the long axis and one hundred twenty (120) feet on the short axis. It curved toward the top, which was sixty (60) feet high.

  “This is an elaborate and stunning structure. The architecture and stone work is masterful,” Tristan said. He was keenly aware of the level of skill necessary – even for a Kazofen-water-drinking crystal bender – to construct such a building.

  Carter drank anew of the Zovvin Ocean waters from his vial and detected nothing in the spirit world around here. “It has no sign of any spirits. Stone-worshippers practiced here, based on the design. That usually means that no sacrifices were performed. This place is at spiritual peace,” he said.

  Caemgen walked around the perimeter of the temple and took his own measurements of it and recorded them into his book. He had instruments for measuring curves and was quick and accurate about it.

  “So it’s not haunted. But is it useful?” Nina asked.

  “Let’s look more closely,” Tristan said.

  They entered the temple and immediately saw the fountains rushing from the ceiling as Alistair had described. The flowing waters did, in fact, make a musical sound as they hit the ground.

  Tomiko, Stephan and Tristan each looked closely at it and counted the falling streams of water. “One hundred twelve (112) streams of water,” Tomiko said.

  “The active fountains are being driven by a mechanism that is, perhaps, underground. I see no sign of it here,” Tristan said.

  “They are musical. What do you know? Your memory is still good, old man,” Nina said to Alistair.

  Stephan looked at where the water hit the ground and realized that there were differently curved bands of material around the apertures where the water entered the ground when it fell.

  “There’s metal bands on the ground – they’re all different. That’s why the falling water’s making musical notes,” Stephan said.

  “Perhaps this is the harp we were looking for,” Tomiko said.

  “Play it and find out,” Nina said.

  Stephan drank anew of the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean from his vial and was energized.

  “Can you show me those numbers again?” Stephan asked.

  Tomiko reached into a backpack he carried and pulled out a book. He opened it and showed the numbers. He read them off, saying: “three (3), four (4), five (5), five (5), six (6), six (6), seven (7), seven (7), seven (7), eight (8), eight (8), eight (8), nine (9), nine (9), nine (9), nine (9).”

  Stephan began playing the correspondingly numbered “strings” of the harp by running his skillful fingers through them. He did so in a way that brought about a melody that one could not without drinking those waters – the music permeated his being.

  “Nice tune. Is it called ‘Nothing Happens’?” Nina asked.

  “Try it starting from the other end,” Tomiko then said.

  Stephan then reversed direction and played again. The tune was pleasing to the ears, as before, but nothing happened.

  Caemgen recorded the music that was played – and the fact that it was played in both directions. He saw which numbers were in the book that Tomiko had and recorded them in his own book.

  “What do you expect to happen?” Alistair asked.

  “And where’s that flute? No sign of it, is there?” Nina asked.

  “That was a while ago. Anyone could have come here and moved it,” Alistair said.

  “I’m not too concerned about that. This may not be the right harp, though, if it’s even a harp,” Tomiko said.

  “Did you expect the music to do something interesting?” Alistair asked.

  “Maybe it is the harp, but the wrong music,” Nina said.

  “Where did you get the numbers?” Stephan asked.

  “From a book,” Tomiko said.

  “What book? Where was the book from?” Nina asked.

  “From the ruins of an old temple – the temple of Mev’Kna,” Tomiko said.

  “Where was that?” Stephan asked.

  “That’s a famous architectural disaster from centuries ago. It was in the Admiral Ramalaxis Bridge,” Tristan said.

  “Famous disasters from centuries ago? One of them brought us here, didn’t he?” Nina said, looking to Alistair.

  “The real disaster was Ramalaxis herself,” Carter said.

  “What do you mean?” Nina asked.

  Yared read Carter and knew what he meant, and found it to be a dubious story, but many people around the world had their own version of it. They all believed what they said, but the facts varied.

  “Admiral Gabrielle Ramalaxis served in the Ihalik Empire over seventy-five (75) thousand (75000) years ago. She faced off against multiple enemy fleets. They could hide using the darkness of the Ikkith Tar waters they drank, and she couldn’t match their stealth or speed. So, she brought on spirit guides – all Zovvin water drinkers – on dozens of ships. She had them call up the ghosts of fallen sailors in both the Zovvin Ocean and Kazofen Ocean. The awakened spirits tormented the enemy fleets – pirates, most of them – and drove them to crash their ships and sail into mountains and jump overboard. She won the war, but the spirits haunted her, too. She went insane, and could never enjoy her military victory. She was called a hero, and the land bridge was named after her,” Carter said.

  “That’s a myth,” Tomiko said.

  “It’s no myth. It’s a true and tragic tale. No victory is worth your soul. Hers was tormented for decades after that. I don’t believe she met a good end – those who rouse spirits to war gamble away their own spirits,” Carter said.

  “You believe it, but that doesn’t mean the facts are accurate,” Yared said.

  “A lot of people will tell you the same story. There’s a lot of evidence that it happened,” Carter said.

  “The facts vary. The stories don’t all agree,” Yared said.

  “One day, maybe we’ll look into it. But not today,” Tomiko said.

  “We can go insane anytime we want. Right now, we need to find that harp, and get paid,” Nina said.

  “Agreed,” Tomiko said.

  “I wouldn’t mind going insane afterwards,” Nina then said, playfully.

  Caemgen looked at her, wondering if it was more innuendo. He had heard multiple accounts of Admiral Gabrielle Ramalaxis, but they differed substantially in the facts with each telling. He recorded the tale as
it was told, but not that it was true – only that Carter told it that way.

  “What else is in that book?” Carter asked.

  Tomiko opened a few pages and showed Carter.

  “That’s a book of nature worship – suns and trees and spirits and oceans. These musical notes mean something more. It’s not like sun worship or tree worship or anything else by itself. It’s the totality of it all, as well as the individual parts. All are part of the whole, and the whole is the sum of all parts, but neither is enough by itself,” Carter said.

  Stephan also looked at the book and asked: “How did you pick this song?”

  “It’s the song of the hidden waters, by a hidden city. That’s what this is about,” Tomiko said.

  “Hidden city? You’re looking for a hidden city?” Alistair asked.

  “Well, now you know. Congratulations,” Nina said, sarcastically.

  Tomiko drank Medathero Ocean water from one of his own vials that he kept in his coat. His mind was energized and calm and clear. He considered what had been said, and it started to become clearer.

  “Totality! That might be it!” Tomiko suddenly said.

  “What do you mean?” Stephan asked.

  “Those numbers I gave you from the song – they are sum totals. But they can be formed by expressing them as the ‘totality’, as you called it – the sums of smaller, different numbers. Let me show you,” Tomiko said.

  He then started writing down numbers on a blank sheet of paper that he carried. Caemgen watched as he did this, copying these into his own book.

  Tomiko wrote down: “three (3) = two (2) + one (1); four (4) = three (3) + one (1); five (5) = three (3) + two (2); five (5) = four (4) + one (1); six (6) = four (4) + two (2); six (6) = five (5) + one (1); seven (7) = four (4) + three (3); seven (7) = five (5) + two (2); seven (7) = six (6) + one (1); eight (8) = five (5) + three (3); eight (8) = six (6) + two (2); eight (8) = seven (7) + one (1); nine (9) = five (5) + four (4); nine (9) = six (6) + three (3); nine (9) = seven (7) + two (2); nine (9) = eight (8) + one (1).”