Turn 146

    Okay, we're doing some nip and tuck work here as we continue constructing this scene from several ongoing threads.

    * * *
    [Before the group meeting]
    After meeting with his family connection, Ibn Hassan also approaches Brother Pham, to see if he has any information about this apostate Hextorian.
    "I have heard the story, or stories should I say, for there are several." The priest sighs. "Times like this I still miss my friend and teacher, Marcus... I'm sure he knew more than he told me. Given the... unusual nature of our faith, I suspect that he hoped to seek this man out someday, when he was ready."
    "Perhaps he already has," ibn Hassan suggests sympathetically. "What stories have you heard? My source only knows the bare fact that this man probably exists."
    Pham settles into his familiar story-telling voice. "Many, many years ago -- over a hundred, they say -- there was a young man from a wealthy family on a quiet, isolated world. Like a young god, everything he wished for was his, and he had no notion of suffering. Yet he found himself dissatisfied with his existence, and one day without plan or warning he left his family to see what else the world could offer. He found himself bewildered by the chaos, the pain, the unruliness of ordinary life. That a man could spend his life in striving only to be forgotten and all his works destroyed within a few years of his death... offended him. He left his world, to see what else the universe might offer, only to encounter more of the same. At last and embittered, he dedicated himself to Hextor's service. Over the course of years he grew mighty in the service of the god and without peer in the priesthood, committing many ruthless acts without emotion.
    "And then one day he vanished from his chambers, leaving behind a message for his followers. He had erred, he said, and urged them to reconsider the path they had chosen, for it would lead only to their own destruction. He wandered again, it is said -- there are other stories of that time --until taking up a hermitage. In the years since, some few have found him there. Some stayed to listen to what he might teach them; others came away again. Some say that he is a fraud, that this is but some stratagem of his old god, others that he has become a god himself."
     * * *
    [Also before the group meeting]
    The next morning the half man levels himself from bed before sunup, trading the inconvenience of a pitifully small amount of sleep for the treat of actually seeing a sunrise again. Knowing the day was going to get warmer than the predawn chill, he opts for his lightest kit (one layer of clothes, half naked with only the cutlass and whip) and slips from the room as quietly as his peg leg allows. Once out and about, he starts walking the streets, looking for the telltale signs of useful construction that indicate a church of Gond.
    The sun is pounding down before he finds it, as the useful construction is not of brick and wood, but of glass: a greenhouse whose focus of the pounding sunlight is rapidly evaporating the channels of sea-water, then catching the condensation in a intricate array and directing it to both storage tanks or a tinted, second greenhouse full of flowering plants. Emmett stands flabbergasted just outside the door, then approaches slowly, leaning over one of the channels, one hand dropping down to touch the water.
    "I wouldn't drink that" comes a high voice. "It's very, very salty."
    The half man jerks back, startled, to see a figure dressed in the robes of Gond. Short and powerfully built, the woman looks almost half-dwarfish, with a heavy thatch of unruly, grey-streaked brown hair. She tucks an instrument into a pocket of her robe and looks at him expectantly.
    "Um... Thanks. What are you doing?"
    "Turning the sea-water into rain, actually. But I think the question is, what are you doing?"
    "Boiling. And looking for you, or someone a lot like you." The half man stands, brushings the dust off of his knee and heads over to the robed individual. "Emmett Half-Man, of the TTS Distraction. I need to give the church some information, and hopefully get some advice in return..."
    "Well." She quirks an eyebrow. "Come in out of the heat, then; we'll talk." In one corner is a door leading down, below the earth. "Ship just get in?"
    "Yesterday, ma'am. Sorry it took me so long to get here, but things are always a little chaotic when we just hit port. The Distraction is an exploration ship for Three Trees, and we found something this time out that you might want to know about." Emmett follows the properly heighted if overly broad woman into the cool shade of the tunnel, his eye blinking several times to adjust to the dimmer light.
    "I'm Emmett Half-Man, by the way."
    "Yes, you said. My name is Tama."
    Accepting a chair and some cool not-sea-water, Emmett spins out the tale of Ginevra's world - from the hidden cult in Myrr all the way to the final assault on Highfort, with a coda about how one of the local priests had been tasked by his god to travel off with the Distraction to look into the Hextorian Threat. All the while, he keeps a close eye on her to see her reactions to this news, and he answers any questions or fills any gaps at her request.
    In the quiet, and quite cool, comfort of her study, she listens without interrupting; it's hard to tell what she's thinking, though her expression remains interested and at times surprised. When he's done, she asks for some clarification on a couple of points; more precise descriptions of the clockwork creatures, and to repeat some of what they heard from the few actual cultists they spoke to.
    "That's an incredible story," she says. "And don't take this the wrong way, but I don't suppose you brought any evidence back with you?"
    "Some - eyewitness accounts, a Victor & Sons representative who will corroborate his part of it, and the body of one of the wolf-machines."
    "We'd certainly like to take a look that."
    "We have it back on our ship. Our wizard has looked it over, and Lynden, that's the priest of Rigol's animal gods, apparently had some sort of vision when he touched it." Emmett pauses for a minute "You'd probably like to meet with them as well to get their impressions, so it might be easier for you to come to the ship rather than for me to try to bring it here... assuming the Captain hasn't already handed it over to Three Trees. Still, I'm sure I can get you to see it."
    "Excellent. I've heard the information, now what was the advice you wanted?"
    "What do you, and by that I also mean the church, think I, we should do about this? The Hextorians are certainly posing a threat to unprepared spheres, and seem to be organizing towards some event. Many of our crew feel a desire to get involved, while others are all for staying out of it. Plus, they apparently have no qualms about using Gond's disciplines as a cover for their own activities.
    "Personally, I'm all for looking into it, but I wanted the church to know about the twisting of artifice to such ends, and what opinions they held on the matter."
    "And on a more human scale, the Dwarvish ambassador of this world had expressed a willingness to meet with Gondish emissaries They seem a people of invention and will who might embrace the tenets, and I was hoping that the church had an emissary they might send."
    She shakes her head ruefully. "That last one is the easy part -- I'm sure we can find someone. Lot of keen young lads who want to do great things on the frontier." She smiles.
    Emmett interrupts, "When we talk with Three Trees about the wolf remnants, I'm sure we'll be able to arrange a space for a missionary on their next run there. There's always need for another good cleric on a 'Jammer."
    "I'm actually thinking a fairly large team, given what you've said about the place, but I'm sure we'll be able to work something out. As for what you should do about it, now that's going to take some thinking. I can't speak for the whole church, of course, and this sounds big. I doubt anyone would be averse to your finding out more about what's going on, though." She twiddles absently with a wrench that was lying in the clutter of the desk. "Of course, there's... someone we can ask, if you're willing to risk the answer."
    "Risk the...? Does your high priest here have a bad temper or..." The half man suddenly remembers the hunt augury on Rigol. "Do you mean asking... Gond?"
     "Why, yes."
    The half man's eye waters, remembering those moments between life and death back on Cadin. "If it wouldn't be seen as presumptive, then yes. Very much so. "
    "Well, that's the question now, isn't it?"
    "What would you need me to do?"
    "First of all, come with me."
    She leads the way back out into the hall and up -- not back to ground level, though. No one else seems to be about. There is a faint movement of cool air, and they round a sudden turn and are looking down into the temple; Emmett blinks in the sudden shift of illumination as spells give way to shafts of brilliant sunlight coming through skylights in the domed ceiling. The room itself is a bowl, mirroring the ceiling. Rings of benches surround the central artifact.
    It looks like a frozen explosion of glass and brass, whirling spheres within spheres around a central spire that simultaneously bridges and separates the earth and the sky. There is a smell of steam. Two youngsters are busy polishing the silent apparatus; they glance up at the sound of footsteps and bow to Tama and their visitor.
    "Wait here a moment," she tells Emmett, and proceeds down alone to light a small brazier and throw a couple of levers; incense joins the steam, bringing an anticipatory shiver. Tama gestures to the half-man to join her; when he reaches the bottom of the steps her hands are busy. She is holding a fine wire in one, the other darting between a number of shallow compartments in the base of the orrery, choosing beads of different sizes and materials - gold, silver, brass, lead.
    "I have done my best to compose your question to Gond," she says, twisting the wire to few times to keep them all in place and offering it to Emmett. "Your hand should deliver it." She indicates a smooth opening in the base of the apparatus. "Place it within, and then close the aperture. And be prepared to duck." She clasps her hands together and looks up at the silent spheres.
    For a moment after he does as she says, nothing happens, and he feels a stir of disappointment. Then there is a hiss of steam, and the great arms begin to move above them, almost silently. Turn after turn, gathering speed, more and more of the artifact in motion, passing in and out of sun and shadow, dizzying Emmett -- and the two acolytes, who watch wide-eyed from a safe distance.
    A few moments, or perhaps an hour later, it slows, and halts. Tama surfaces from her meditations and walks to the sphere that has halted nearest her, opens a latch, and removes from within it another metal-strung wire; her fingers dance along it, reading its message.
    "The tool at hand is meet for a time of chaos and war, the red arrows lead to my lost children." She looks up at Emmett in some surprise.
    [GM: Reactions?]
    * * *
    [Introduction of Barrend]
    "Pleased to meet you," he says offering a curt nod to the dwarf. "A navigator, you say? I would be interested to talk with you about that. Perhaps if you have a bit of time, we can discuss a few things."
    While the crew gathers, Val asks the dwarven navigator a few questions. What is the safest route through the Durellion Sphere? What would be the fastest route from the Minos Cluster to the Meridian Sector? What instruments has he used, and in what conditions? It is mostly small talk, but the captain pays close attention to what Barrend replies. He learned quite a bit during his time aboard spelljammers, and he is interested in what the dwarf has to say...
    [Martin, Jeff was apparently looking for a reply there. Sorry, that got past me!]
    * * *
    [At the meeting]
    Lynden is surprised by his inclusion in the division of payment. He'd expected nothing other than the words of thanks he'd already received. Resolving to find a quiet time to thank the Captain for his generosity he coughs quietly before speaking up himself.
    "As The Captain already knows I feel I ought to visit the Hextorian temple here to see what might be discovered." He looks round the assembled crew trying to read their expressions before continuing. " I would prefer not to visit it alone given my lack of experience and Val has cautioned me against it. I don't know what plans you may have already but I would appreciate your indulgence.
    "I don't want to have to be rescued again," he adds wryly.
    Again, Val groans inwardly. He had not expected to bring up the subject in this manner. Especially since he hadn't had a chance to give ibn Hassan's information due consideration yet.
    "Our newest crewman has a good idea," he says, noticing the look of disgust that is clearly painted upon Inez's face. He had not realized this was not a goal of the entire crew.
    "But, we need a plan this time," the captain continues. "And we need to know who is actually willing to pursue this course." He hopes his serious tone reminds the crew of what they could be getting themselves into...
    "There's no need to hurry," ibn Hassan says, speaking up for the first time. "As for willingness, I'll be pursuing the matter on my own if I have to, but the reasons not to do that are nearly infinite."
    
    

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