Chapter 33 - The Secret of the Sphere

“Can you hear me, Yoshimo?”

Aerie hovered over the battered thief, doing her best to keep him comfortable. She'd cast a pair of healing spells to ease the pain somewhat, and the Ioun Stone circling about his head appeared to be slowly putting him back together. Yoshimo’s face remained ashen, however, and his expression was pained.

“You have to stay awake, Yoshimo. You mustn’t fall asleep. N-not yet.”

Yoshimo grimaced and nodded weakly.

Neracer had been occupying himself by studying the remains of the golems near Yoshimo. He glanced over at Aerie and watched her work. Intrigued, he tossed a mangled arm aside and knelt down beside her.

“You have the healer’s instinct, Aerie.”

“Hm? Oh. Oh, I suppose I do. Being a priestess, and all.”

Neracer chuckled. “No, I don’t mean that. Any cleric can cast a healing spell. Well, unless they serve Loviatar. Or Ghaundar. Or – well, you get the idea. I meant you have an intuitive grasp for caring for the ailing.”

“R-really? I never thought of it like that.” Aerie’s cheeks turned slightly pink, and she busied herself on Yoshimo again.

“Enough banter, wizard” Valygar said, coming up behind the two. “You were about to tell me something in the library when Yoshimo was attacked.”

“Ah, yes. I was indeed” Neracer replied.

“And?”

“And what?”

“And *what were you going to tell me*, blast it!”

“In a minute, Valygar. It’s best that Theodoric and Jaheira be here too.”

"W-where are they, anyway?" asked Aerie. "They've been gone an awfully long time."

"I think they had some things to work out, Aerie" Neracer said.

"Oh, oh of course." Aerie said, now flushing a bit deeper.



*



Outside the dojo, Theodoric and Jaheira stood silently. Jaheira was gazing out across the promenade, still composing herself. After several minutes, the young warrior broke the silence.

“Are you going to be okay, Jaheira?”

Jaheira turned to him. Her eyes were still puffy and red from her earlier tears, but her face was calm and composed.

“I believe I will be, now” she said.

“Jaheira” he began. “Jaheira, I’m sorry.”

The druid waved her hand dismissively, though not harshly. “There is no need. You are not responsible for what the halfling did to me.”

“I wasn’t just talking about that” he said softly. “I meant if I…”

Jaheira cocked her head. “Yes?”

“If I could have saved him, Jaheira…”

Jaheira shook her head. “No. There is no need for that either.”

“There *is* a need, Jaheira. I need you to know I would have given my own life to save his. I need you to know that my words to you in Irenicus’ dungeon are as true now as they were then. Khalid will be avenged, and Irenicus will pay in full for what he has done.”


Though the words were not unexpected, the resolve and determination in Theodoric's voice stunned Jaheira.

There is that look again she thought. Strangely, though, she found his intensity reassuring rather than troubling.

“Yes. Yes, I do know that” she said. “I do.”

Another silence, though not an uncomfortable one, settled in between the two adventurers. Finally, Jaheira spoke.

“*Ahem* Perhaps we should rejoin the others?”

“Agreed, my friend.”



*


Theodoric found the rest of the party waiting expectantly. He noticed Aerie’s eyes flittered between himself and Jaheira for a moment before turning back to Yoshimo. Theodoric thought it odd, but realized the elf was likely still shaken from her blowup with Jaheira. Mentally, he made a note to speak to Aerie about it.

“At last” grumbled Valygar. “Theodoric, our wizard has uncovered something about the sphere. Perhaps now he’ll *tell us*.”

“Indeed I will” Neracer said triumphantly. “Only, I need to show you. Can you follow me back to the library?”

Valygar gave him a sharp look. “Now, just a minute-”

“Really, it’s easier if I show you” the illusionist added.

“All right” Theodoric said. “We’ll go to the library. Aerie, can you look after Yoshimo?”

“I-I think so” she replied.

“I’m sure the child will do fine” Jaheira said, a bit forced in her words. More smoothly, she added “though we should not leave her alone.”

“Minsc, you stay here with Aerie, all right?”

“Minsc will keep little Aerie company” the big ranger said cheerfully. “And Boo will do his best to raise Yoshimo’s spirits.”

“Ah, I’m sure he will, Minsc.”



*


Valygar’s agitation was evident by the time they reached the library area. Neracer seemed to take no note of it, however, as he sat down in front of the strange device they’d found amongst the books.

“Here is the answer to the sphere, Theodoric.”

Theodoric looked at the odd device, noting the buttons on the metal box and the thick, snakelike tube connecting the box to the pane of glass atop it.

“What is it?” the paladin asked.

“I’m not sure, entirely. It’s some sort of reading device.” Neracer held up a handful of crystal rods. “It reads these, with the help of the right rune card.”

“How does that tell us anything about the sphere?” Valygar asked.

Neracer chuckled, a bit chagrinned. “It confirms what has been in front of our faces from the moment we stepped into the sphere, Valygar."

"Which IS?"

The illusionist became very serious, and addressed both men with gravity. "Whatever this place is, Valygar, whatever its original purpose, your ancestor did not build it.”

“What?!?” The ranger looked at him with stunned amazement. Neracer continued.

“I’m saying this vessel…yes, I think that’s what this is, a vessel…was built by someone else.”

“How can that be?” asked Theodoric. The paladin looked at the device, and thought of the many odd things they'd discovered in the sphere. It all seemed so incredible. And yet, it seemed possible, even plausible.

“Valygar, is what Neracer is saying possible?”

“I don’t know” Valygar admitted. “The legends never explained *how* Lavok obtained the sphere, only what happened once he unveiled its power. My ancestors always assumed he had built it in secret.”

Neracer selected one of the rods he was holding and held it up. This particular rod was tipped with a yellow rune.

“This rod is sort of tome, Theodoric. It contains information on the surgery needed to reattach lost limbs.” Neracer selected another. “This purple tipped rod contains metallurgical knowledge for forging and shaping alloys of incredible strength. This red one, the operation of the ‘wand’ that the halfling chieftain used on you.”

“Sorcery?” Valygar mused.

“No, not magic!” Neracer said irritably. “Knowledge. Some kind of wondrous learning far beyond our own. Some world where the scholars have mastered subjects that our sages do not even yet envision.”

“This is incredible” Theodoric said. “Who were these scholars?”

“They were human beings, of a sort. Much of the text is foreign to me, but I could make out certain elements, along with the images contained on the rods. They were men, of that much I am sure.”

“But those degenerate halflings, and the golem we found in the gardens” Valygar pointed out. “Surely those were Lavok’s doing?”

“The necromancer has built on the sphere, that is true” Neracer admitted. Shrugging, he added “though I cannot say why.”

“So we have solved one mystery, only to find another” Valygar said coolly.

“I suppose that’s one way of putting it” Neracer replied, a trifle defensive in his tone.

Theodoric stepped in before the two men could start bickering again. “Will any of this knowledge help us to find Lavok?”

Neracer further deflated. “Ah, I haven’t gotten that far yet, to be honest. I was hoping that I might find another clue. Now that I’ve figured out how these runes work - Ooh, let me show you that!”

Neracer’s face brightened as held up the rune cards.

“I tried mixing and matching the rods and the cards. It appears that the symbols are not only categorical, but also hierarchical. With the green card, I was only able to access green-coded crystals. But with the yellow card, I could access yellow crystals, and also green and purple crystals. The red card had the same effect, though neither red or yellow could access the other.”

“How does that help us?” asked Valygar.

“Well, it tells us something about the people who created the sphere, Valygar. The gardeners and craftsmen in their society rank lower than warriors or healers, who seem to be more or less equal. That could mean something.”

Theodoric remembered the black rune card in his pouch and withdrew it.

“I found this in one of the shops” he said. “Have you a rod to go with this?”

Neracer gave the card a careful look. “I don’t.”

“See what you can find out, then” Theodoric said, kindly but wearily. It had been a long day.

“I’ll see what I can do, chief” Neracer said enthusiastically, already tinkering with the card and the odd reading device.