After he cleaned up for the day, the emaciated house steward, Jon, met with Saul in his lounge.

“So, you don’t know any details, Lord?” Jon clarified, standing across the table from him.

“I was studying a dwarvish text last night, not the contract,” Saul said, “I want to hear your personal impressions before I look at the written material regardless.”

“Of course. Bart Eastfisher, net fisherman, not the brightest sort. My main impression was that he is very physically strong and strongly task oriented. Not likely a good choice as an attendant of any kind, but excellent traits in a guard or bodyguard.”

“What about loyalty? If I am to have him as my personal bodyguard, I want to know if there are any conflicts of interest.”

“That is one of my priorities as well my lord,” the steward nodded, “If you can establish a good rapport with him, he is something of an ideal case in that regard. His family own a number of fishing vessels, but are largely concerned with running the business. In fact, they have begun making small overtures into the lower rungs of nobility over the past five years or so. I believe one of them even managed to attend your birthday banquet.”

“Oh, I think I made a note about that,” Saul said, taking a look at his schedule, “that would be the woman who gave me the book about a power thief, her brother had married the second son of some baronet. If the family are looking to pull themselves into minor nobility, wouldn’t this man have his own ambitions?”

“He does not, in fact that seems to be a point of contention that led to his application. Bart chose to work directly on one of his family’s boats.”

“Not the look they want then, and at an important stage of their ambitions.”

“Just so,” Jon indicated the peonage contract on the table, “this seems to be their solution. No matter how much the man loves the sea, he wasn’t going to turn down a chance to become ensouled. He regularly worships at the Temple of Water, and you know how the temples are about completing the soul.”

“So his relationship with his family is strained, and if I give him a degree of leeway to go sailing sometimes, he’ll be loyal.”

The stewards posture straightened ever so slightly.

“I would say there is a bit more to keep in mind than that, Lord. He specifically asked for an aquatic icon. I suspect that offering him abilities in that vein will go over very well. Some freedom to visit his family and the Temple of Water also. Perhaps once you complete your soul, you could take the odd duty for oceanic monsters?”

“Aquatic abilities,” Saul mused, “but preferably not those that function best actually in water. That sounds interesting. I don’t think I’ll offer him the water icon itself, both my sisters have it, that wouldn’t be very interesting. Also, I read some interesting dwarvish theories regarding the significance of…anyway. Do you have a list of what icons and icon fragments are available for this? Particularly of the animal and plant types.”

“He will only be receiving his third icon and four fragments, Lord, but I can make a list with aquatic creatures as the priority. When do you need it?”

“I would like to have an initial meeting with him today if possible, after I visit the temple library.”

“Of course,” Jon bowed and stepped to the door, “I believe your lordship was pressed for time with the banquet yesterday, I can arrange the meeting for later if you would like. Perhaps six or seven?”

“Six should be fine, I’ll take dinner right after. Would anyone be joining me then, at a quarter till seven or so?”

“Not that I’m aware of at the moment, but I can keep the time in mind and let others in the House know if it suits their schedule as well?”

“Please do. I will be at the library until six then.”

Saul dressed comfortably but presentably, mostly black with forest green trim and deep purple buttons. As he left the Lazarus Building and headed towards the edge of the grounds, he briefly considered taking an extremely roundabout route by the riverdocks his new servant would have been working from before heading to the temple district like usual. It would take him at least an hour out of his way and it was almost eleven.

At the Temple of Knowledge, Saul immediately headed down the stairs past the two idols of the Scholar, stopping on the first landing to step into the small Chapel of the Scholar Saint. There was only one other person there. He knelt on one of the thin cushions, placed his palms together, and bowed to the lifesize stature of an erudite man holding a book in one hand, a scroll in the other, with identically rolled pages emerging from evenly spaced, labeled pockets across his robe. Saul opened his hands and looked down at them as though reading from a book, and recited the Scholar’s first and only prayer:

“Hand of Knowledge,

Patron of Historians and Magicians,

In you I find my own way:

History of what was,

Magic of what is,

To choose what will be”

He rose and went to the altar before the statue, placing two books and a half ring on it. Leaving the chapel he continued down the stairs, his dull footsteps fading away entirely as he reached the silent library. A senior priest’s domain dampened sound, eliminating it entirely if the noise was unintentional. He approached the main desk.

“Good morning,” Saul bowed slightly to the librarian Sister, “I would like to retrieve a book I was reading yesterday, and place a request for information.”

“Of course,” she turned to a shelf behind the desk, pulling his book from it after only a moment, “Maladies of the Soul, only one in the inventory, would you like a copy made for lending purposes?”

“No, thank you, I should finish it today.”

“Very well,” she handed him the book and produced a writing pad, “what information are you looking for?”

“I would like to know what the soul idol of the mirror and element icon combination is. Other combinations that produce it, details about the creature, and places it can be found would also be helpful.”

“We should be able to find that by tomorrow, if we have it,” the Sister said, “the element icon is very rare though. Soul idols are widely shared, but that is an unusual pairing. Is there anything else?”

“Actually, yes,” Saul said, debating how narrowly he wanted to look. “Can you point me in the direction of books about water related abilities? I specifically want to find abilities that don’t require a watery environment and come from non-water icon fragments, but if I need to look for that myself it's no problem.”

She pointed out the relevant shelf on a small map of the library.

“That will get you as far as water abilities, and I think I remember seeing a book about dry water abilities.”

“Thank you.”

He found the indicated section and began looking through the assorted books, records, journals, and papers. The most useful material was going to be hiding in records left by nobles detailing their abilities and accomplishments, always released posthumously. Several books contained more straightforward lists of abilities, but they were usually collections around a specific theme or purpose. As the librarian had said, one such collection did focus on water icon abilities with no actual water component, but it was less about not requiring a watery environment and more the abilities specifically having no obvious connection to water. In a sense, it was the opposite of what he wanted.

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He took three promising nobles’ records, returned to the main desk to retrieve the book he had set down and forgotten, and went to his favorite reading nook. He touched the light and muttered to turn it on, having fed his tattoo earlier.

Opening Maladies of the Soul, he returned to the rather fascinating section about the dangers of icon transfiguration. His original interest in the book had been to see if intentionally damaging the soul could have benefits, such as allowing a person to use more icons and awaken additional abilities. The answer was no, damaging the soul enough to change the way it formed caused so many other problems that it wasn’t worth considering.

Instead, he had found validation for a romantic fiction cliche he had derided in the past: vampires. Of course, vampire was a perfectly valid soul idol for peons who used the blood icon, and was therefore also a creature or monster that could be found, but neither were likely to woo noble ladies into a dark, thirsty alternative to immortality. The trope was clearly the result of some noble lady pining after one of her family’s peons with blood powers.

Except, it turned out there was an element of truth to the idea. A third form of vampire that was somewhere between the more conventional ones. It took the form of a sort of soul curse, able to twist a simple icon already in someone’s soul into a facsimile of the blood and hunger icons. Then, the ‘spawn’ could use a second simple icon to complete their soul. The second simple icon became twisted as well, and something no longer quite human was created.

Maladies warned that this vampiric curse found a foothold among the wealthier commoners, rather than impressionable nobles. It offered those foolish enough to take it a way to complete their souls without signing a peonage contract with a noble house. Once the curse took hold, one simply needed to consume people with fully awakened souls, inevitably nobles or clergy.

“Excuse me,” Sister Young said quietly, drawing his attention.

“Good morning, Sister.”

“Are you still interested in hearing about the new journal?”

“Oh right, something about nature observations?” he recalled, pushing his foot cushion away, “I am.”

She sat on the plush stool and leaned forward, elbows on knees.

“But first, how was your birthday? Get anything interesting to read?”

“I did, actually,” Saul told her about the dwarven cantrip book, “...there was also a record from a noble Thief with some power stealing abilities, but I haven’t started it yet.”

“That’s great!” she whispered excitedly, “I don’t think that we have any direct translations of dwarvish works; I’ve certainly never heard of that writing style. If you could bring it in even just for copying, that would be amazing!”

“I’d be glad to,” Saul softly said, debating whether to say more, “actually, there was some excitement at the banquet too.”

“What did your uncle do?” the librarian asked, rolling her eyes.

“Well, there was some political stuff going on, so I think he felt like he needed to go above and beyond.”

“Oh. Oh no.”

“So when a Death Icon just happened to form in the kitchens during dessert…”

“No! He didn’t!” she exclaimed almost inaudibly, the domain of silence muffling her involuntary outcry.

“He really did,” Saul confirmed with an amused chuckle.

“Not that I don’t believe you, but how’d he even pull that off convincingly? He has the light icon, his illusions aren’t exactly as subtle as fooling sensory abilities.”

“He roped in my eldest sister, one of her water icon abilities lets her guide the flow of ambient power into her blades. I didn’t ask for the details, and I don’t think my father was very impressed with her choosing to go along with it.”

“Did anyone believe it?”

“Probably not,” he shrugged, “it’s like three incredible coincidences at the same time, but no one called him out when he did his whole presentation. He followed it up by giving me the Death Icon that ‘appeared’, and his actual gift, an Element Icon.”

“Oh, that’s why you were looking for the pairing of mirror and element, I was wondering.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“No. I can help look once we start working on information requests in the evening,” she offered, “but what was the death icon for if not…actually, nevermind. No politics.”

“Thanks, sorry.”

They had been friendly acquaintances for a couple years, but both knew to avoid sharing details of house or temple politics.

“But anyway,” Saul said, hoping to finally get an answer, “that’ll be my combination, it seems, mirror and element. Will you finally tell me what yours is? You should have awakened three or four abilities by now, but I’ve never noticed anything?”

“Very well, young Lord,” Sister Young whispered, drawing herself up, “The hallowed Saint saw fit to bestow upon me the raven icon. With the mercies of the Angel of Death and the Angel of Knowledge, I am blessed with the Scholar Idol.”

“Huh. Raven?” he had already been able to guess the rest, “are they particularly smart for birds or something?”

“Apparently so, smart enough not to do what people tell them to. Impossible to train from what little I could find. There is a known death-attuned kind, but not knowledge that I can find.”

“And what—?” Saul started, but she preempted him.

“I haven’t awakened any abilities from death or raven, I’ve put all four icon fragments I earned into knowledge. I’ll put this year’s in it too.”

“Yeah, I guess it makes sense it would be your cornerstone icon,” he admitted, “will you tell me what you get when you awaken a raven one eventually?”

“Not unless you let me tell you about that journal now,” Young said, giving him a faux stern look.

He held his hands up defensively, then gestured for her to go.

“Ok, so I haven’t really read the journal myself,” she whispered eagerly. “One of the sponsored magicians, an ecourgist, explained most of this to me. I did skim the part about the man who wrote the journal since I know you like to hear about new abilities. He had the death icon, autumn icon, and pointy icon—or arrow, needle, whatever you want to call it—for the Ranger idol. His soul was between mist and pool for the trip in question, and his stealth ability had been advanced. It was from the autumn icon, with a sound fragment at mist and plant for pool. Auditory and visual camouflage, weakened by movement, typical stuff.

“Now, he was scouting in a swampy piedmont region. His main goal was observing the formation of a daemon, and recording the reactions of the wildlife. He was recording most of what he saw though, so the journal is really long. I don’t know if he was ever in the right place at the right time.

“One of the early places he observed was a crystal clear pool in the middle of the swamp. It was created by an undine that had chosen to maintain the pool as its territory. While the ranger was watching the pool, a daemon called a lavellan came into the area. They’re like an aquatic poison squirrel, and it swam across the line between the undine’s pool and the swamp water. The daemon got in a fight with the undine and was forced to flee, but over the next couple days, it used its poison to foul the undine’s pool. The undine tried to fight it, but it wouldn’t fully enter the pool, and the undine wouldn’t leave it.

“Eventually, the undine tried to abandon the pool, but the lavellan attacked it no matter which way it swam. The pool kept getting less clear, and not long after, the undine seemed to die. Its body floated to the surface of the water limply, and the daemon entered the now poisoned pool again. But when it approached the undine’s body, the body started shaking and bulging from the back, and a small sylph tore its way out before flying away from the pool. Interestingly, after eating the undine’s remains, the lavellan stayed in the former pool for over a day swimming around and mixing the pool back in with the swamp water until there was no sign it was ever there.”

There was a pause, and Saul realized she was finished. Sister Young seemed to be looking at him expectantly though.

“Interesting,” he said, thinking about what she might want him to notice, “is the bit about the undine becoming a sylph new? I remember they’re water and wind spirits, respectively, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything about them being the same creature.”

“You would latch onto that part,” she said dryly, rolling her eyes, “next you’ll want a book on how to combine the water and wind icons into one or something.”

“No I don’t,” he defended, “I know that that sort of soul modification is a bad idea.”

“Wait, what?” the Sister said incredulously, “is that actually why you’re reading that soul disease book?”

“Noooo?” Saul muttered, sliding the book he’d been reading down between the chair and his leg.

“Saul, not joining the church for family reasons is one thing—Priest Verrat still isn’t fond of you over that, by the way—but if I hear you joined a cult, I’ll get one of my raven abilities and come peck you between the eyes.”

“Ok, ok. So, what’s the interesting part?”

“Well, undine and sylph aren’t spirits, first of all,” she pointed out, “they’re lesser fey. That part might be new, I’m not sure, but that’s a niche topic. The behavior of the daemon is more notable. Attacking anything semi-intelligent is typical, but after driving the faerie off, the daemon continued making the pool mix back in with the rest of the swamp. It should have immediately started looking for something else to menace, but spent time seemingly restoring the environment.”

“So, that suggests that our understanding of their behavior is off somewhat? Has no one ever observed them from stealth before? That seems incredibly unlikely.”

“...huh,” Young sat back, shoulders dropping a bit, “good point, I didn’t think about that. We don’t exactly have access to records from across the continent.”

“It’s still new to us,” Saul said quickly, backpedaling a bit, “as the Scholar says, every new thing we learn is a discovery. What someone else does or doesn’t know is irrelevant.”

“Yes, that we may guide ourselves,” she sighed, leaning her cheek on a palm and looking at the hourglass, “have you eaten yet?”

“No, I was going to get something after I finished the section I was reading.”

“Want to eat in the fellowship hall with me? The students should be finished around now.”