"Your father was a very good man who was also very wise. In the end, I think it was his wisdom that caused his undoing. But I digress. Your father was Chief Adviser to the City Council. It was his job to advise them on all manner of questions related to the running of the city. Normally, not much was required of him, since the city pretty much takes care of itself. So he had a lot of free time on his hands to do research for his own amusement. Apparently, one aspect of his research led him to a very important discovery. This discovery was so troubling to him that he never explained it to me. But he did share it with the City Council. They didn't believe him, and when your father threatened to tell everyone in the city about it, they accused your father of heresy and had him thrown in the city dungeon for a year while they debated his fate. The only visitors who were allowed to see your father were myself and a little servant girl who brought him food every day. Finally, after the year was up, the City Council decided to put him to death before the newly elected council members could take office. They were afraid some of the newly elected council members might be more inclined to listen to your father's ideas.
I was allowed to spend only a few hours with your father each month before he died. He never wanted to tell me about his discovery because he thought that if he did, the City Council would accuse me of heresy as well. The last time I went to see him, he explained all of this to me, and he gave me a message for you. He said it was too dangerous to write down, and he made me memorize it. He said I should give you the message after you had passed 17 Rens. He also gave me this box, and said I should hide it away in a safe place until you were old enough to receive the message."
Derek's mother paused for a moment. Then, as if recalling a long faded memory, she spoke.
"The message he gave me for you is 'Seek the Root of Mount Clayton'."
Derek's mother fell silent after she recited the message. She could see that Derek would need some time to digest this new information.
Derek was puzzled by the message. It didn't seem to make any sense at all. Trees had roots. Mountains did not. And he was troubled to hear that his father's disappearance was over such a seemingly insignificant thing. His mother always claimed his father was dead, but Derek had never been able to accept that. Besides, if his father was dead, why would everyone in the city be so afraid to talk about him. After glancing quickly at his mother for permission, he reached for the box.
When Derek took the box from the table and lifted the lid to peer inside, he saw an object unlike any he had ever seen before. It was about the length of his lower arm, and made of a strange drab grayish material that he couldn't identify. Running along its length were five rows of symbols. To Derek's untrained eye, they looked similar to the symbols that were carved in the faces of some of the official buildings in the city. He lifted it out gingerly, and was surprised to find that it was very light. Turning it over, he found that it was completely flat and unmarked on the other side. He looked to his mother for an explanation, but she only shook her head sadly saying,
"I'm sorry. I've never looked in the box until today. I think I was afraid of what I might find. I have no idea what this thing might be, or why it was so important to your father. Perhaps when you find the Root of Mount Clayton, you'll also discover the purpose of this object."
"But how did he disappear then?" asked Derek. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer now, but he had to know. Derek's mother winced slightly at the word "disappear." She'd never been able to convince Derek that his father was dead. But she didn't feel like arguing about that right now, so she continued her story.
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"They declared him a heretic, and arranged a public execution by burning at the stake. But when he was tied up to the stake and they started the fire, a strange thing happened. Before the fire had grown sufficiently strong to harm your father, he vanished without a trace. Of course the council claimed that this was the final proof that your father was in league with dark powers, but many onlookers were not convinced. Later, I heard that one particular councilman was particularly hostile toward your father. I've always believed that your father's discovery must have threatened him in some way. Soon after, this councilman was elevated to the position of High Counselor of the city. It seems to me that his advance was a little too fast. I've always suspected that some sort of cheating or foul play was involved. Of course, I can't prove anything. That's all I know."
Derek was disappointed that his mother could not tell him more about what happened to his father. He was also upset that the city council had actually tried to kill his father in a public execution. This was new information. They must have been very upset to want to make a public spectacle or his father. Whatever his father had discovered must be very important.
He also wished his mother hadn't waited so long to tell him about his father. It was something he had wondered about for practically his whole life. It had not helped that he often heard his mother crying at night when she thought he was asleep. He wanted to comfort her, but of course, he had not known what to say.
Hearing his mother's story made Derek more determined than ever to clear his father's name, so he began making preparations. He had a rough idea of where he should start, since everyone knew where Mount Clayton was located. It was a large mountain that was just visible far off in the distance to the north of the city.
The next morning Derek set off on his journey to find "the Root of Mount Clayton," whatever that might be. He said a short tearful goodbye to his mother, and started up the road toward the city. Although he could see Mount Clayton rising up above the horizon north of the city on clear days, he'd never traveled any farther from the city than the little hut he lived in, so he had no idea how long the journey might take. Derek had never heard of anyone ever actually making the journey there. On reflection, Derek suddenly realized that this was odd, considering that it was such a well known and clearly visible location. He hoped he would be able to make the food and water he'd thought to stuff in his backpack last long enough to complete the journey. He also had some hazy idea about finding more food and water along the way. He was pleased that he'd had the good fortune to be the first to meet the Newmer the day before. He was going to need the new pair of shoes that had appeared magically at the foot of his bed this morning. Derek was momentarily grateful that even though the city council had shunned his family, the gods apparently still felt that his contribution to the Newmer was worthy of the usual reward. He imagined that this was evidence that his father had not deserved his fate, and was comforted by the thought.
As he approached the city gates, he paused a moment to consider whether he should travel through the city, or go around the city wall. He was in a hurry to solve the mystery his father had left for him, but he wasn't at all sure he wanted to answer the guards' questions when he left the city through the gate on the opposite side. They would surely be curious about what business he might have north of the city. In the end, his conditioning to avoid the guards at all costs - the result of his long persecution - prevailed, and he decided to go around.
The sun was just beginning to set when he rejoined the road on the other side of the city. Derek was somewhat disappointed to note that the mountain appeared to be no closer than it had been when he'd started out that morning. He pulled a blanket out of his backpack and looked around for several minutes to find a particularly level spot with as few stones as possible. He put the blanket down on the ground, made himself as comfortable as possible under the circumstances, and tried to sleep.