Previously, the heroes made their way into the Newport Vault in order to search the library, convinced that the Book of Woe, which Epidemius had charged them to find, could be found there.
Sixth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262
(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is in low sanction, Darkmoon is waxing)
The heroes had found more than a dozen books that were either magical, or of other interest. Neamhan had found a piece of bark which had symbols burnt into it which was an archaic version of druidic. She was convinced it held knowledge of a connection she had not established yet. And Chakuq had found a white leather tome, fashioned from horse hide with velum pages painted in gold. He sensed that the book had some significance to him and his tribe.
Luca went to task on the magical books, using a ritual to be able to identify a handful of them. Even though it would reveal the properties and abilities of the chosen books, the ritual could not establish the provenance of them, but, the young warlock reasoned, at least it would be something that could lead them to the Book of Woe.
The Demonic Articles of Golnaz was one of the books which Luca identified, a libram written in red ink, bound by monstrous, red hide, trimmed with bone. Whenever it was opened, other magical items worn by the reader would cease to function. Another book was Archeros’ Manuscript, a compendium bound in thick, cream-coloured hide, which contained the instructions to help anyone achieve mastery over polearms, provided they dedicated time to read the book.
Blackstar was singularly focussed on another book, a simple, unadorned, black leather book, and it urged Luca to focus his attentions on it, too. It became so insistent that Luca took that to mean that this was the book the heroes had come down to the vault to find. To Luca’s mind, the book appeared to be a spell book containing several necromantic spells, meticulously documented, and was nothing like what he expected the Book of Woe to be like. He suspected there was another reason why Blackstar was so insistent.
In the meantime, Quentin was inspired by Garven and Brandomiir’s work and he managed to convince the pair to create a hidden compartment inside one of the walls they were repairing which could hide not just Muirgheal, but Lash as well. Brandomiir, who was helping the heroes in the catacombs underneath Lynnecombe, remembered that the heroes had found Muirgheal, Blackstar, and Toruviel there, understood what the intent was. A price was agreed and Quentin handsomely overpaid the pair with the help of some of the gems that Emrys still had in his possession, lifted from the Atilesceon’s treasure after his defeat. The last request the heroes put in was to inform Emma once the vaults had been completed and the weapons were stored.
Neamhan became increasingly uncomfortable with being this far underground as the conversation between Quentin, Emrys and the two builders continued. The thick walls all around her, and the knowledge of all that earth and stone bearing down on her was making her itching to get to the surface. She wondered how the dwarves of Ard Thoradun endured living like that.
Both Emrys and Quentin picked up on Neamhan’s discomfort and they, together with Chakuq, moved to go back to the library to see how Luca was faring. When they passed the entrance, Neamhan spotted a warm, golden light call to her from down the other corridor which lead to the gallery and she headed there, accompanied by Quentin, while Emrys and Chakuq continued to the library.
While Quentin had seen the gallery before, the site was new to Neamhan. There were rows upon rows of paintings framed by wooden frames from which different types of plants grew that sprouted flowers which glowed with scintillating colours. Small crystals were wrought into the wood of each frame, and each of the paintings depicted a different verdant scene.
Between the entrance and the paintings stood two sets of tall statues, both depicting three women; the maiden, the mother, the crone. They were holding up their hands and in their palms rested a coloured fire; one set of three carried a golden green flame, while the other set of three carried an icy blue flame.
It started to dawn on Neamhan that the gallery would allow for natural growth, though she could not quite discern how it did so. It gave her the idea to communicate with one of the plants sprouting from a frame. Neamhan found that each of the frames was a living plant, and that their roots grew very deep. They did not have names, but they had “made a connection” with another whose name was Bláthnaid, who was responsible for the spring that fed the royal palace. The roots of each of them came forth “from the past”, and each guarded a different “doorway”.
Learning that the plants did not have names, Neamhan took the time to give each of them a name. She named the one she spoke to Sadhbh, and in their joy Sadhbh encouraged her to name the others. Sadhbh also shared that Bláthnaid had shared that the mood inside the palace was sullen, and that the queen had turned angry, and was “beholden to another”, someone who was responsible for “a scarlet rain in the east.”
Back in the library, Chakuq and Emrys find Luca sitting in a cricle of magic, while Falka stands at a distance looking on. Chakuq wanted to get a move on and grabbed a burlap sack from the provisions stacked up at the entrance, emptied the contents of cabbages, and started to load up the books which were of interest. When prodded to help, Falka did not react, and Emrys noticed her hesitation.
Falka requested that Quentin and Neamhan join the rest of the group, and she revealed that she had found the Book of Woe. The book looked as if it was made of skin that had been inflicted by a bad burn wound. A crystal which seemed to have trapped a foul liquid was embedded into the front of the book. Falka had been hesitant to reveal the book to the heroes because she was fearful that they would hand the book back to Epidemius. She felt she had lost touch with the friend she had made while corresponding with Luca, and was not sure who had Luca had become since then.
Falka had chosen to be cautious and had already sent word to the Order of the Shield to report that she had found the book. She felt that the book was best returned to the Apothecaries of Photus, who had been guarding the book for centuries, but she was unsure on what to do. Eventually, Falka put the book back into her bag until it was clear what the heroes were intending to do with it.