Kenon called a servant to show them to their room while he went to speak to Central.
The room was opulent but after experiencing the tasteful decor of Tuck’s Hideaway Adaline found the place a bit tacky. She had remained silent during Tuck's meeting with Kenon because she didn't understand what was being said so she got Tuck order one of the translation sets for her. The servant left and returned with the items and their meal. Tuck studied the jewellery adding the runes for the translation pieces to his growing list of enchantments.
Neither of them discussed the tome Kenon had given them, it sat on the table while they ate but it imposed a presence in the room that both found hard to ignore.
Finally Adaline couldn't take the curiosity and opened the book, much to her frustration it was written in a language she had never seen.
“Of course it is.” She acknowledged, she then turned the book to Tuck. “Altair, can you read this?” Tuck looked at the neat flowing writing, most likely Manager Birkhalt's, and realised he could understand it. By this point he wasn’t even surprised anymore.
“Yeah, I can translate. You can take pictures of the pages and later record me reading aloud for your meeting.” He suggested.
“Good I will, but after I have a bath.” Adaline put the book back and excused herself. Tuck did not want to waste time so he cleaned himself using his Maw since he had some crafting to do while Adaline was away.
He took 3 Signet-rings and placed several enchantments on them. The first allowed wearers to send thoughts to each other. The second was to transform them into spatial rings. The last enchantment was a simple size adjustment. Finally Tuck put his crest on each of the 3 rings, he put the crest in reverse so each ring could function as a seal. He kept the one on his left pinky finger and would give the next to Miriam when he saw her again. If things went well with Adaline she’d get the third.
After her bath Adaline set up her equipment. Tuck had seen devices similar to what Adaline pulled out of her Carry-all bag in the shopping sector of the Warren; they actually resembled old technology from earth but were clearly brand new. She had a box that was a form of collapsible camera and a version of a cylinder phonograph. But despite their similarities these devices were magical and operated differently.
When Adaline activated the ‘camera’ it floated above the tome and the pages flipped as if on their own. At every new page the camera would flash before flipping to the next page. When it completed the book it landed on the table and transformed into a box a list of items floated above it. Adaline read the list and put the items into the box. She put in a roll of leather, a ball of twine, a bottle of glue, a ream of paper, two sheets of card and two medium bottles of ink. Once all the items were added the box closed, it vibrated for a minute then let out a puff of steam and the chime of a bell. Tuck watched in fascination as the box slowly returned to its camera shape while disgorging the excess leather twine and paper as well as the barely touched glue bottle and the two ink bottles, one empty the other half full. The last thing the device produced was a replica of the original book.
“That is cool.” Tuck said, “I should get one of these for myself.” He began to study the enchantments but Adaline took the device away, she had begun to realise Tuck was a bit of an Enchantment nut. If left to his own devices he’d spend all night in study.
“You can play with this later, right now I need you to translate.” She admonished him.
“Fine, Fine.” Tuck said. He picked up the copy and settled into a comfortable chair before he found the relevant start point and began reading the log book of Manager Birkhalt aloud. Seeing the little phonograph-like device spinning before him, Tuck couldn’t help putting on a transatlantic accent.
“News at eleven!” Adaline gave him a confused look but that just made Tuck smile wider. “It is day 128 in the 532nd season of the city Gorram. Temperatures continue to rise but our Casters have no solutions.” Tuck noted that where humans had Champions and Mages, Niwachs had Tamers and Casters, he then continued. “Our spies in the Lord’s manor guarantee that the Volcano is about to explode, the source of heat is the sun. Some form of solar flare is affecting the region but it is good for business …” Birkhalt went on to talk about Merchant Association business, it seemed that the heat wave had allowed the Association to sell a ton of cooling devices. Most of what Birkhalt wrote was daily happenings at the Association so Tuck skimmed until he found a significant change 3 days later.
“Day 131 in the 532nd season of Gorram. Calamity befalls our city.
A beast far larger than any titan I have ever seen has ridden the Solar flare to our fair city and is laying waste to everything outside of our Magical-barriers, only the gods know how long they will continue to last.” From there Birkhalt went on to speak of plans to evacuate his personnel using the small hidden Transit-Gate. Tuck didn’t read any of this outloud and decided he was keeping this copy instead of giving it to Adaline for her master. There was too much Merchant Association business in here for casual people to know.
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“Day 132 in the 532nd season of Gorram.
It has been revealed that the beast we face is a Three Eyed Firecrow, a rare legendary monster that ate dragons the way regular birds ate worms. This Three Eyed Firecroe seems to be in a frenzy, desperately trying to get to the volcano that lies at the heart of Gorram.” The country was built around the volcano because the Niwach Casters used their magics to syphon the heat to power the country similar to the Warren’s set up.
“Already our Magical-barriers show signs of failing.
The city’s most powerful Casters and Tamers have banded together to battle the beast.” The next line Tuck didn’t read aloud, once again it would have painted the Merchant association in a bad light, it read.
‘I have already begun to discreetly withdraw our higher ranked people through the Transit Gate, while there is much profit to be made here, one must be alive to spend it.’ Tuck picked up his narration with the next line.
“We of the Merchant Association have provided equipment to those brave heroes free of charge and the ships of our Fleet are taking away refugees.
I hope I am wrong but I fear this city may die soon.” Birkhalt then itemised what each hero was given and their costs as well with how much they were charging the people they were evacuating. The first people on the escape ships were the lower ranks of the Association and their families, all free of charge. After that Members of renowned Sects were charged for deluxe accommodations. Those who were penniless were crammed into cargo holds and allowed only one piece of baggage. Tuck shook his head at how heartless the Association was to outsiders while commending them on being good to their own members.
“Day 133 in the 532nd season of Gorram.
I am a fool, I should leave, I should have left yesterday but I love this city and have a need to see her fate. The heroes fought valiantly but ultimately the Firecrow prevailed. The backlash we suffered when the beast broke the Magical-barriers over the volcano flattened half of the city. Only this sector belonging to the Association truly survived and that was only because we reinforced this area with our own magics. The beast is building a nest in the volcano. Those who have survived the fall of the city are gathering here and there is talk of taking revenge.
It is madness but idiocy, the Firecrow has now lost its mobility, it must defend its nest or lose its eggs. Any attackers may have a chance at victory. The Association branch is officially closed, but in my capacity as a Bagman I supply the raid party with what they need for their attack although I refuse their offer to join them.” Tuck read on but once again said nothing. Birkhalt had called in a Merchant Association Adventure team to help him loot the city during the chaos. The next day the heroes attacked the volcano turned nest and Birkhalt’s team went looting, they were very successful.
“Day 135 in the 532nd season of Gorram.
The battle still rages on, I had my team sneak me near the base of the volcano. We found where the raid party had set their base camp and I re-supplied them with food, potions and replaced their broken weapons and armour.
The report of the raid party was that they were working in shifts to wear the beast down. It truly tried to defend its eggs and finally took significant damage.
Victory was only a matter of time.” Tuck flipped forward. Every other day for a week Birkhalt would dare to get close to the warzone and bring supplies. The profit from his looting of the city made the vast amount of supplies he gave the Raid team seem a pittance.
“Day 142 in the 532nd season of Gorram. They did it!
The Three Eyed Firecrow has used its magics to pull itself and its eggs deep into the lava, the top of the volcano has already cooled and hardened. Everyone celebrated, no one cares where it is gone, just that it is gone.
Their victory feels a little hollow to me, I look around at the devastated city. Nature already began to encroach into the area reclaiming some of the outskirts. Can Gorram be rebuilt? Will it happen in my lifetime? The knowledge and innovation we have lost. Will we be able to find it again? It all gives me a headache.
I’m leaving this broken city tonight.” There were more laments from Manger Birkhalt but Tuck skipped over them all. He did note that Birkhalt got a massive promotion in the Association, he was also showered with gifts from an assortment of Sects and there are many Bard songs where the random Bagman that helps the heroes has been renamed Birkhalt. The old coot had made out like a bandit, even those he fleeced kissed the ground he walked on.
Tuck closed the book and exchanged a look with Adaline. She ended the recording and stored all of her equipment away in her Carry-All bag. Tuck put both tomes into his reservoir.
"I bet that bird lost its direction and got trapped in the magma layer of Shaards' outer shell." Tuck said. Adaline blinked at him in confusion.
"You mean the ground, why did you call it a shell?" She asked.
“The last time I started telling you about the hidden knowledge you complained about feeling small.” Tuck teased her.
“Yes, I’m going to complain but I still want to know.”
“Fine.” Tuck went on to explain that Shaards was a spherical spinning shell built around this sun, he had skimmed over this before but now he went into it with a bit more detail. Letting Adaline know that what she believed to be flat earth was the inner wall of the shell.
Adaline then wanted to know if the only way in or out of worlds was with a spatial ability like his own. This led Tuck to explaining how special Shaards was when compared to other worlds, the idea of planets fascinated her, so she peppered him with questions. Tuck answered all he could, his centuries of studies made him very knowledgeable and he was happy to encourage her thirst for knowledge. It wasn’t until hours later that their meandering conversation came back around to the Firecrow.
They still didn’t know what to do.