The reign of Carolus Magnus would never have been simple and peaceful. But the founder of one of the great, if slightly short-lived, empires of Europe faces a different challenge than the one True History had prepared for him when a giant metal circle opens up in one of the provinces of his realm.
For him, the Infinite Labyrinth may be a challenge, but for all the people of his realm, it is an opportunity. A singular focus of dreams.
Dramatis Personae
Earth-222
Angilbart of Pesl, potter/dockworker.
Bertelis Lector, scholar and teacher, founder of the Parisius University.
Charles the Great (Carolus Magnus,) Emperor of the Frankish Empire.
Frobhlaith Amhránaí, Targeted Maestro (tier 6), Lord of the Labyrinth.
Mauger of Pesl, woodworker.
Earth-441
Tian Luoyang, Critical Aetherscupper (tier 9).
Yao Shun, Cautious Weighty Aethersmith (tier 9).
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1 City of Dreams
The two men’s spirits rose when they crossed the last hill rise and saw the plains, fields, and the wide river in the distance. And the buildings, so many constructions, visible even from this distance.
“Methinks that’s Parisius, finally.”
“Can’t be anything else,” Mauger replied.
“It looks bigger than anything in the world,” Angilbart said.
“Nah. Rome is bigger. Byzantium is bigger.”
“Have you seen those? No? Besides, Parisius has the Great Gate, and these old cities do not,” Angilbart pointed out.
The bickering among the youths did not hide the lift in their spirits. Their journey from their village had been long, Mauger thought, but the end was in sight. Their final destination, the capital of the Romans and Franks Empire. Well, the new capital, replacing old Aachen far to the northeast.
“Do you think we can make it before dusk?” Angilbart asked.
“Mebbe. Worst case, there looks to be a big farm on the way. Maybe we can stay there for the night.”
The old Roman road was in good shape in the area, far better than when they started from southern Neustria. The road to Parisius had been unequally maintained along the way, but this later section they were on had good pavement.
“Nah, you won’t make it,” the farmer said. “May look close, but believe me, it’s still over a dozen lieues till you get in the city proper.”
“Then can we make camp next to your farm,” Mauger asked.
“Can use the storage barn. Not much hay, the grain harvest starts in three weeks. But it’s better than a wall.”
The farmer contemplated dubiously the two youths, before asking.
“Come to the great Parisius, then?”
“Yes. Angilbart and I are from Pesl, near Tunorum. We…”
“Many people come to the city these days since the Emperor decided to relocate the capital there. Be careful. The Emperor’s men hunt bandits and thieves, but there’s always more.”
“We got good trades if needed. I’m a good woodworker and carpenter, and Angilbart got pottery from his da’.”
“Life is harsh in the city, mind my words. Stay out of trouble, and trouble will not seek you.”
The farmer stopped at the door to a large thatched stone building, opening it. A pair of cats ran out, before jumping on the low wall nearby, looking slightly pissed at the two-legged intruders.
“So you can stay there. No cooking.”
“We’re not dumb”, Angilbart said.
The farmer didn’t even bother to reply, and left, leaving the two to settle.
There might not be much hay left, but it was still enough for both of them, Mauger thought.
“He’s right, you know. We probably wouldn’t have made it.”
“Who cares. We’re almost there,” Mauger replied.
The two men fished some hardtack and venison from their bags, settling to eat in front of the barn’s door, as the sun settled slowly, reddening the light cloud banks. Their gazes still turned toward the northeast and the object of their desires. Finally, as the last rays vanished, they tucked in their bedrolls.
Last time on the road, Mauger thought. Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of our lives.
The farmer had not been kidding when he spoke of some dozen lieues. It was very late morning when they reached what amounted to the border of the city. Mauger could see a sturdy fortification wall further away, across the river, but the city had spilled far beyond its enclosure.
There was a kind of village growing next to the river banks before the city proper. An odd mix of all kinds of constructions. Wood shacks, earth and wood houses, even a single house with its walls to the side made of stone. Some totally wild growth of all forms of architecture from all corners of the Empire.
They crossed a bridge leading to the wall that surrounded the central city. There was a short queue at the gate, but the guards set there mostly waved people in. Mauger and Angilbart, though, were stopped and questioned.
“Purpose of stay?”
“We’ve come to seek employment,” Angilbart replied.
“And the Great Gate of the Labyrinth,” Mauger added.
Both guards laughed at that. Obviously, they saw that happening all the time. But they quickly stilled their mirth and pushed further.
“What makes you think you’re good for that? Parisius has no room for the shiftless. What else can you do?”
“I’m a carpenter,” Mauger said.
“And I’m a good potter,” Angilbart added.
One guard grimaced.
“Most pottery isn’t done around. There are potter workshops further up the river if you want to ply your trade around.”
“Oh.”
“Good advice – most trades around have something called a guild. You want to register with one if you want to work regularly. That mainly applies to you, the carpenter, but to the potter as well. It’s a lot easier that way to find work, especially as a newcomer.”
“What’s this guild stuff?” Mauger asked.
“Some newfangled innovation. They’re supposed to provide a guarantee of quality. They get exams to qualify.”
Both youngsters shared a look of worry.
“You can work without one, though?” Mauger asked to clarify.
“Yea. If you can find someone wanting you to work for.”
The second guard was waving known visitors and turned briefly to add his own comment.
“Anyway, be very careful. The Emperor has decreed that there shall be no thieves in Parisius, so don’t try to turn to that occupation if you fail to find honest work.”
The two found themselves finally in the city proper. Houses and various buildings were jammed together, with the main street they were on crowded on all sides.
“Where’s the Gate?” Angilbart wondered.
Mauger quickly asked one of the passersby, who laughed at the question.
“The inner city isn’t that large. Go further in, and you’ll find it soon.”
They passed a large area being built on. From the look of it, it was some kind of extension to a sturdy building. All of the city was bustling, merchants hawking their wares at their windows, and chariots full of materials coming and going along the main thoroughfare.
They wandered for nearly half an hour before finally finding a large street that deposited them on a central square, whose paving looked brand new.
And in the middle of the square was an enormous circle of metal, sculpted with heraldic beast heads all over. And filled with a warm light that did not even blind you when you looked at it.
There was a crowd gathered, and a few men-at-arms with spears corralling them.
“Wait, what are they doing?”
“Want to test yourself? Take the queue,” a local injected helpfully.
“They’re all…”
“Trying the Gate. To see if they qualify,” the man explained.
“Do you…?” Mauger asked, before realizing the man was already heading into a side alley leading out of the square.
Without any other option, the two joined the crowd. Mauger quickly spotted how that worked out. The men-at-arms corralled people to the right side of the Gate. People steadily came out from the left side, and he realized they were the same ones, leaving out in a mirrored fashion.
“So, have you thought about what your Profession might be?” Angilbart asked as they shuffled slowly forward.
“I’m not that strong. But I’m very observant, and I never suffered much illness as a kid? What are those types?” Mauger asked.
“Who knows. We shall see!”
Despite the crowd, it took them less than half an hour to reach the front of the queue. The man-at-arm waved Mauger in, and the youth wasted no time in entering the Great Gate.
The sensation was odd. He found himself stumbling out, looking at the paved square. He stopped, but the man-at-arms next to him grabbed him as he stopped and shoved him further ahead. Despite the push, Mauger felt a bump behind and when he turned, he found himself facing Angilbart.
“Move, peasants!” the guard yelled, exasperated.
The two hurried out, as more people streamed out from where they’d exited the Gate.
The two stayed silent for a few instants before Mauger swore.
“Bull’s balls.”
“We… do not qualify?” Angilbart said with sadness.
“Hardly anyone does,” the voice came from the side.
The two looked at the man seated on a bench to the side of some house. The speaker looked like he was enjoying the spectacle and the discomfiture of the two.
“It’s a bit less than one in four hundred people. It’s a good day when one of those enters the Labyrinth. Newcomers?”
“Well, we…”
“Everyone does, you know. Think they’re the ones who will be the next Emperor’s men. And then you find out you’re going to be an honest man, instead.”
Mauger was trying to find a pithy reply to the local when a shout made him turn.
A woman had come out of the Gate. Closer to the center, but still, she’d almost stumbled upon one of the hopefuls that had just come out. And now she was yelling what was obviously insults in a strange tongue that did not feel like any form of vulgar Latin or langue d’oil.
The woman herself was odd. She was blond-haired, and from there, he could see that her eyes had the oddest tint, a green like some precious stonework. She wore leather all over, including some kind of trousers with all kinds of lacings and buckles. It looked brand new and well done, without stitches, repairs, creases, or anything. And for some reason, she seemed to dominate the scene, as if the rest of the square was set to her benefit.
“Professional,” Angilbart breathed, as he recognized what was happening.
“Get. Out. Of. The. Way,” she finally carefully – but empathetically – enounced in a heavily accented Francien.
The guard at the Gate wasted no time grabbing the stray people, while his comrade barred the entrance to the Gate to the next person in the queue.
The woman turned toward the Gate, just as two more persons came out.
If Angilbart had only been guessing accurately about the status of the woman that had come out, those two were very, very obviously from the Labyrinth. They both wore impressive robes but unlike most of the religious garments that Mauger had seen on Christian brothers and priests.
One had a fine cloth robe that seemed to shift colors. It had been almost pale yellow when he’d exited the Gate, but the robe was already looking lilac, and as Mauger watched, bemused by the appearance, it drifted back toward an orangish tint that looked almost like a sunset.
The other’s robe was tinted in striking green. But it was also covered in geometric forms delineated in dark green lines, whose outlines somehow suggested fields and meadows, and as the man slowly descended the ramp from the Gate, Mauger felt as if he was looking at nature rather than the clothes of men.
By comparison to their garb, the men’s features were almost normal. Despite the fact that they had elongated eyes as if they were permanently squinting. And the sensation of disconnect between the new Professionals and the city square was even slightly more pronounced.
“You may want to go to the Emperor’s Palace,” one of the guards said politely, pointing out toward a street.
Then, as an afterthought, he stepped from his post to show them. The woman raised her hand, stopping him before she addressed the two newcomers in some odd rhythmic language. The two shrugged, and she bowed to them before turning to the guard.
“The two honored scholars are fine with that,” she said in her heavily accented voice.
The guard made a quick sign at his colleague and waved toward the street he’d pointed at previously. The woman wasted no time and went behind him, followed by the two men.
As they vanished in the street, Angilbart breathed, “Okay. Who was that?”
Mauger noted that the man they’d been speaking to seemed stunned as well.
“You lads got lucky to witness that, I guess. Those were obviously some high-tier Professionals. Probably from a Divergence.”
“A what?” Mauger asked.
The man laughed at his ignorance.
“A different time on Earth. There’s more and more of them coming in recent years. Takes time to come properly across the Labyrinth, I heard.”
He grinned at the two’s baffled looks.
“This is as close as you’ll ever be to Professionals. High tier ones, not like those guards.”
“Wait, the guards are Professionals?” Angilbart blurted.
“Low tier ones. Probably tier three or something. Powerful enough that nobody is going to mess with them, which is why they’re making sure people like you don’t muck the Gate.”
“Is that common?” Mauger asked, but the man was ignoring them, watching the single guard trying to manage the queue of hopefuls people trying to check the gate.
As if to confirm what the man just said, the guard raised his hand, and a flame sparked in the middle of it, making everyone step back.
“One by one. I’m not letting you in until the previous dumb wanker leave the exit!” he yelled.
Mauger saw that they wouldn’t get any further answers from the watching local, and both men moved slightly away to confer.
“Now what?” Angilbart said.
“I guess… we find lodging. And maybe one of those guilds the guard spoke of,” Mauger replied.
Finding guilds was rather more easy than Mauger had expected at first. The so-called guilds had obvious places, made more so by ornate signs displaying their trade. The first one they’d spotted was a carefully-made flat impression of a Roman-style amphora set hanging from the front, clearly indicating the focus of the local business.
And the first smell of failure.
“No, we don’t do pottery here. The place isn’t very suitable for it, no good clay or anything. What we do is sell it.”
“From where?” Angilbart asked anxiously.
“This is Parisius; people expect the good stuff. That comes from Burgundy or other places.”
Angilbart swallowed, feeling crushed.
“There is some kind of local pottery trade for cheap stuff, but that’s further upriver. About sixty lieues from here,” the man said, adding “If you want to work pottery, that’s where you need to go. There’s no potter work in Parisius.”
“Well… I may do other jobs,” the would-be potter said.
“If that was your best trade, then one alternative is dock work, unloading the barges from the Seine. There’s more and more commerce going on there, although there’s always plenty of dockworkers. Or the furbishers, they work out supplies from the Labyrinth, to make great materials for crafters. Patience and precision are key in that job, so maybe a potter will fare well…” the merchant’s voice trailed.
The two men politely thanked the merchant for his time and answers, before getting out of the pottery merchant guild.
“It should have been easy,” Angilbart wondered. “Da’s shop always did well around the area. His stuff sold well on market days.”
Mauger grimaced, before asking his friend.
“Methinks you need to figure out if you want to keep doing that or do something else.”
“I didn’t really make plans. The real thing was that we’d get into the Labyrinth, become the best of the best. But we don’t.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find something,” Mauger tried to comfort his friend.
“Oh, I know. My brother was always better at the pottery wheel than me, anyways. But… what’s the point of coming here, then?”
“Remember Father Egide? He always said it’s better to dream and be disappointed, rather than not look for opportunity and never see a new day.”
“What did that even mean?”
“That the worst we can do here is not worse than the worst we can do back in Pesl.”
“It might even be better than what we would have done, you mean,” Angilbart replied.
The hammer and chisel sign denoting the carpentry guild wasn’t far from the pottery merchantmen. And here, the questions were very different.
“Worked for house construction or housing furnishings? That’s two different guilds. Here we do the small precision woodwork, not the big one.”
“I can do both. Helped my da’ on everything. More the small stuff at the beginning, since I wasn’t strong or tall enough for the hauling of rafters and stuff. That I did later.”
“Then you have to decide what kind of work you want. We do woodwork interiors, furniture, and that’s skilled work. If you want to join, a master will test your skills, to see if you’re up to standards. The carpenters’ guild is less stringent. You can lift it and put it in place, you’re usually good.”
“I can take the test,” Mauger answered.
“Most of the masters are busy anyway,” the carpenter replied. “There should be one to see you next week.”
“What?” Mauger blurted.
“Can’t be helped. That’s why you want guild membership – everyone’s always busy and makes good money,” the clerk replied.
“Now move, and come back next Friday. I’ll try to get you an appointment for then,” he added.
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The two men moved aside and conferred.
“That’s kind of shitty. I mean, we have some coin we saved, but if we can’t work for long, it’s going to vanish quickly,” Mauger grimaced.
“At least they promised you some work,” Angilbart replied.
“If I qualify. Those Parisii want the good stuff, remember,” he said.
Mauger paid distracted attention to the man who’d been just behind them, but his complaints attracted his attention.
“You said the same thing last week. When can I get some workers to come?” the irate customer asked.
“The two ducal delegations that have come need lots of work done on their lodgings,” the clerk tried to justify himself.
The man wasn’t happy about it and made his displeasure known with a string of colorful epithets, even if slightly odd from Mauger’s perspective.
Then, an idea struck him and he dragged his friend out of the guildhouse. Angilbart frowned, as he knew Mauger well enough to notice the man had hatched some plan.
The frustrated customer came out with a dark look, and Mauger wasted no time approaching him.
“Looking for some woodworker, lord?”
The man assessed him quickly, with his dusty clothes and bag on the back.
“And if I am?”
“Well, I have some skill in that. And the so-called guild is too busy to add me to its roster immediately, it seems.”
The man laughed at that, before considering the proposition. He finally said, “Even if they got you, they probably wouldn’t even hire you out to me.”
“Oh.”
“Yea. They look for the one who will pay them the most, or give them easy work. But if you’re willing to work…”
“I am.”
“Your friend?”
“I’m a potter, lord,” Angilbart immediately explained.
“Ah. Not much need for your service around,” the man shrugged.
“So? What is your job?” Mauger asked.
“Custom furniture. And retooling of a few things. If you can do that kind of work?”
“Depends on the custom part.”
“Then let’s go to my place,” he said.
The men walked out of the walled city, crossing back the south gate and bridge to the left bank of the river. The Parisian brought them to a sturdy stone building not too far from the bridge.
Another man was waiting and immediately waved for their escort’s attention. The two conferred quickly and the man turned and apologized.
“I’m going to be too busy. Can you come back tomorrow morning?”
“Sure can,” Mauger replied.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“About that… where can we find a place to stay?” he asked.
“Went straight to find work before even settling? I like that,” the man smiled. “Most new and good housing is on the right bank, north side. They’ll ask for money first, be aware. Nobody takes a foreigner on credit.”
“Any good places?”
“My cousin Allowin built his new home last month and is renting the old. If he hasn’t filled it yet… tell him Bertelis sent you.”
Armed with directions, the two set out back across the river.
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2 City of Lights
The housing of cousin Allowin was a small house, three rooms not far from the banks of the mighty Seine. On that side, there was a secondary enclosure, not as good as the old Roman wall of the island center. But even the expansion was full of houses, stores, and warehouses.
Still, they now had a room. One for the two of them, but they were used to sleeping next to each other during the long trip. The other rooms were similarly occupied by young men, come to seek fortune in the Great Gate or Parisius itself. One was a mason, one was working as a farmhand a few lieues from the city proper, and the other two weren’t at home as the dusk fell.
That is where the two got their big surprise as torches lighted themselves outside while they were sitting on a bench next to the house’s wall. One of their housemates laughed at their reaction.
“Yes, I was surprised too when I arrived two months ago. Those are torches from the Labyrinth.”
“Really?”
“The mayor of the City decreed that Parisius must be lighted even at night. These are some kind of magic torches you can find in the Labyrinth that burn without needing fuel. And wonder, they light themselves up when there’s not enough light.”
“That’s… strange.”
Mauger had almost said impossible, but the legendary Labyrinth was said to be the source of all kinds of wonders.
The mason pointed up above them, and Mauger and Angilbart noticed one of the torches half a feet above the door, near the roof of the home. From there, it looked like a normal torch, slightly brighter than usual. The flame didn’t put out smoke and remained steady, despite the small evening breeze.
“Don’t people steal them?”
“From what I heard, at first, yes they did. But there’s plenty of them. A lot of places just beyond the Great Gate have these laying around. The Professionals just pick them, and they’re back the next time anyone visit. They sell for cheap at the market, at least around here.”
They exchanged their life stories while the night came.
“Yea, the Great Gate rejected me. So, I went back to my old trade. Masons have lots of work, anyway. The city is growing faster than a weed. They say it was around twenty thousand back when the Gate opened. These days, it’s probably closer to fifty thousand. When a house is finished, there’s two more than are sprouting.”
“Wow,” Angilbart said.
“Even if you cannot go into the Labyrinth, Parisius is the place to be.”
“I didn’t dream a city could be that big,” he said.
“Old Rome is bigger,” Huebald the mason said.
“Told you so,” Mauger added for his friend’s benefit.
As the night deepened, Mauger reflected on the oddity of sitting there outdoor, with lights all around. Feasts, you could understand. But who would waste torches or worse, candles, to light your way at night just to sit there?
Parisians, obviously. Since they had magic torches that didn’t burn out.
The morning saw the two from Pesl gnawing some of their last rations from the trip. Then they went out in the slightly overcast dawn, to start to get their bearings.
“I’ll do what the man suggested, check the docks. See if I can get a job there, at least for now,” Angilbart said.
“Yea. With the price Allowin charges for this, we will need some money fast. I’ll see if the work that man Bertelis wanted is doable. Hopefully, he’ll pay good wages,” Mauger replied.
The two men shook hands and went out on their way, Angilbart going toward the upper river where they’d spotted the docks yesterday, while Mauger had to cross the inner city again.
In almost no time, he found himself back at the large building where Bertelis had brought him before being interrupted. He found him talking to two other men animatedly, waving toward the building for emphasis on whatever they were chatting about.
As Mauger waited politely, Bertelis noticed him and ended the conversation. The two men headed toward the bridge as the Parisian turned back to him.
“Good. Let’s get in and I’ll show you what I want.”
The building was sturdy, set around a central courtyard, set with covered walkways. Stonework, which astonished Mauger, who hadn’t seen that much cut stone used in buildings. Rich houses had stone walls, but those stones were rawer.
He revised his estimates of his potential employer upward. That wasn’t some simple wealthy Parisian, but someone more powerful, to commander such a home. Although why such a man would be sidelined by the “woodworker guild” was a mystery.
They went into a side room, which filled the entire structure between the outdoors and the inner walkway, with high set windows leading some light inside. And torches. But with his newfound knowledge, he wasn’t surprised by this. More magical everlasting torches could be left lit in a room with nobody inside.
The only items in the room were a set of shelves, near empty, and a bare table. There, Bertelis pulled a sheet from the shelf and laid it out on the table to show him.
Mauger stared. Both at the sheet itself and the drawing. The sheet was oddly made, and the drawing on it seemed to show a sort of table and chair, meshed together in an odd way.
“That’s what I’m looking for.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a desk. It’s a model based on something I’ve heard about.”
“So, what is it used for?”
“It’s for students.”
Mauger’s face must have betrayed its incomprehension, so Bertelis elaborated.
“This room here will be a lecture room. Ideally, there will be a few dozens of these students listening to the teacher, each with their own desk, where they can take notes. That hole here is where the inkwell will be; the hook will be to hang their satchel. It’s quite clever,” he said.
“Students? Like noble children?”
“A bit more than that. The Emperor has seen what can come out of the Labyrinth, and he wants his Empire to get the most out of it. He delegated to me the task to organize something we’ve seen mentioned in a book. It’s an extension of his school system, on a larger scale. A place of learning where many students can learn from a single teacher rather than needing a hired tutor for every child. That way, the wisdom from the Labyrinth can get spread fast and far.”
Bertelis waved toward the inner patio of the building.
“This will be a center of learning. Future masters of their trades will come from all over the Empire to learn the new ways of things, and it will grow stronger and prosper, as they head out and apply their knowledge.”
Mauger now understood how the man had that much money. He did not, what he did was even better. He had the trust of the Emperor and the Emperor’s money. And some freedom to do a specific task, which he obviously loved.
He turned back to the matter at hand and pondered the schematic for a while before shaking his head.
“It’s overcomplicated. The way you drew it, the table part will get too much effort, and the legs may break if the wood weakens.”
Bertelis frowned, and Mauger added before he could object.
“Plus, if you have some tall people, they’ll have difficulty sitting. If you can’t adjust anything, it’s going to be uncomfortable.”
He immediately pushed further.
“Plus if you add cushion to the chair, and they need changing because they broke and spilled their duvet, you need to remove the entire desk to repair it.”
Seeing the Parisian’s slightly worried face.
“Look, I can make you a small model, to show you better how that works. But I’m suggesting you make separate desks and chairs. It’s easier to make as you can get the chairs separately, and they’re usual furniture.”
“You do know your stuff,” Bertelis said after consideration.
“Helped da’ for years doing it. Mostly repairs, that’s why I always think about how the furniture will last before it breaks.”
“What if the desk and chair can be separated with a latch…”
Mauger could tell the man wanted his combined desk very much. Well, the customer was usually right, but he was going to give him his best.
“It’s going to make everything even more complicated. Look, I will make you a small model to see how that works out before I start trying to make the real thing. Each one, separate, would be easy, but the assembly makes everything harder.”
“And more expensive,” he added, now that he had a better idea about the man’s purse.
“About that… you’re not guilded…”
“Yet. And I will need a break when I get an appointment to test there. I do not know how long this will take, but I do need more work after,” Mauger objected.
They settled to haggling about the daily rate. Having seen the cost of their housing and listened to the market on the way in, he had a better idea about the price he needed to get. After a few counter-offers, they settled on a few deniers a week with “one hour from dawn to one hour to dusk” workday – and the Lord’s day off.
“You should probably get another woodworker or two if you want this to go faster,” Mauger said once they settled his rate.
“You’ve seen how lucky I got to get you. There aren’t that many woodworkers in the city, and the guild is too busy. It will take months to find another one. Besides, this will be the long haul. As the ‘University’ expands, we’ll need more for the new students coming in.”
Mauger shrugged.
“I’ll work on the model outside if that’s possible. More light.”
“The school is not officially open yet, anyway,” Bertelis replied.
As the man departed, Mauger settled with a knife and chisel to make the model he promised. Another reason he’d proposed to make the model was that it was easier to make with the tools at hand. He had some, but the larger tools, like a large saw and planing tools, he lacked, since his father had kept those. He needed to get them before starting to work in earnest.
But no need to bother the Emperor’s man with such details.
Mauger found Angilbart spread over the bed, mouth open like a drowning fish.
“I thought the potter’s wheel needed good strength with feet and arms, but that was wrong. Hauling those bags, that’s strength,” he said.
Mauger laughed at his friend’s misfortune.
“You found work, still.”
“Yea. Not paying much, almost all of it will be eaten by this house. But yes, the docks are busy. You need to be there just after dawn, though, they hire on a first-come, first-working basis. You?”
“Custom furniture. And a long work as well. Two days will pay the house for the week. With what you make, we should be able to save some and try to move out. Paying for housing is unnatural.”
“Tell me about it,” Angilbart moaned. “Got half a denier for the day. If I dump everything in the rent, I got almost nothing left for the rest.”
“The man we found yesterday pays better, he’s got a commission from the Emperor himself. Will pay me ten deniers a week at first, maybe more if he’s satisfied. Don’t worry, you have time to find a better job.”
“I hope so. At least, I’ll get shoulders worthy of a Roman legionary.”
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3 City of Gates
As the morning cool slowly evaporated, Mauger hoisted his tool satchel. He’d asked at the woodworker guildhouse yesterday and the man there had directed him to a tool merchant. He could tell that the man had been disappointed by him, as no self-respecting craftsman should be lacking in tools, but he needed those, notably the larger saw that would come in handy when he would work on the bigger pieces of the ‘desk’ items.
Angilbart, despite his protests, had left at the crack of dawn, not wanting to miss out on the day job at the docks. It might not pay much, but any coin would be missed.
Once at the site, he settled on his perch next to the first study room, to put the finishing touches on his model. Wide as two hands, he had even made the hole for where the inkwell was supposed to go. Now all he had was to wait for Bertelis to show him exactly why it was a bad idea. Some people needed to be shown things to find out why they did not work.
Mauger finally spotted the man coming out from the entrance, but to his surprise, Bertelis was accompanied by people he recognized. Their presence was unmissable, and their colorful robes were unmistakable. Bertelis was talking animatedly, probably explaining things. A few steps behind, the leather-clad woman that came from the Labyrinth gate followed, looking slightly bored.
The four slowly made their way under the porches, and Mauger hesitated a few seconds to attempt to attract Bertelis’s attention. The man noticed him and waved slightly before continuing to talk with his two guests as they continued to move along.
The woman, however, stopped, looking at his desk model.
“What is it?” she asked in the same oddly stilted Francien he’d heard her use before.
“A desk. Bertelis wants me to make those, and I’m trying to show him what it will look like before I waste wood and time making the real ones.”
“Doesn’t look practical. How do you sit?”
“That’s what I was trying to tell him. You can slide yourself behind the desk, but anyone taller or smaller will have problems. And you’ll wear out the cushion faster.”
He looked at her, curiosity burning. She looked pretty normal overall, if not for the green eyes framed by her blonde hair flowing freely. She wore the same leather attire, full of straps and buckles, that was quite unlike anything he’d ever seen. It fit well, accentuating her shape in ways the usual skirts and blouses wouldn’t. She looked barely middle-aged, but without the slightest traces of wrinkles save for a few around those green eyes.
“Who are those men?” he finally asked.
“Ah. True History scholars, from Earth-441. I was hired as a local guide and translator, but it turns out they do speak Latin, and of course most learned people here do.”
“Ah, I thought I’d recognized that. That’s not what you spoke with them, though?”
“Me? No, never learned Latin. That was Sabir, the language used mostly across the Labyrinth’s Divergences and the Lords.”
Mauger’s frown must have been visible.
“What? You never heard of Divergences? I thought everyone around would know by now,” she asked.
“I’m from southern Neustria, not Parisius. I saw you come out two days ago, actually. That was the first time I’d seen the Great Gate.”
“Ah. And you thought you could go in. Everyone thinks they are blessed, but almost nobody is. I remember hearing about the furor of Roibéard, when he found out one of his retainers could get in while he and all his family was rejected.”
“As a Parisian said to me, now I have to be an honest man,” Mauger remembered.
“Still, you’ll learn about the Labyrinth. It’s been open for six years now, and few have made their way around it yet. The truth is, the Labyrinth extends across time.”
“Time?”
“Those two there? They’re from Earth-441. The Labyrinth opened up in the 15th century there, sixty years ago.”
“The 15th century? How is that possible? The 15th century hasn’t happened.”
“It has. In fact, it always has. The two esteemed scholars are historians, they study True History. What has always happened, until the day when the Labyrinth opens in time, and history changes and diverges. Don’t worry. It’s complicated, even for me after six years.”
Mauger couldn’t understand the concept. If the future had happened already, did that mean he was in the past instead? The mere idea was non-sensical.
“So… they are not born yet?”
“Not for six centuries, no. And they will never be. Once the Great Gates open up, the course of history changes. That’s apparently what your Emperor here wants to achieve. Use the knowledge of the ages to better this one.”
“So… those scholars have come to teach in his… ‘university’ of his?”
“No. They might do so, though. But they’ve come to study Europe in this century, or rather, the one before. Apparently, it’s called the Dark Ages because there’s so little written about it, it’s like it’s a hidden history. There’s more about their homeland in far-away China, and so little about here.”
“Are you from…?”
“No. I’m from this era. For some reason, there is a Great Gate that opened among the Cruithne. That’s where I was born. I used to be a songstress, entertaining at the court of Roibéard. Then the Great Gate happened, and I got stranded in the Labyrinth, and I went from singer to spear-wielder.”
“And now, a translator,” Mauger said.
She laughed, a light sound that seemed to echo across the world. If she hadn’t been so… earthy, he could have sworn she’d be an angel, a supernatural agent of the Lord come to earth.
“For now. I’ve been trying to get a spot with Charlemagne’s Lords. I had a failing-in with the two other Lords from Cruithne, and it’s close to impossible to get another team at our tier. But there’s only four from Parisius, so that should be doable.”
She shrugged at Mauger’s look of bafflement.
“Don’t worry about my non-sense. It’s a thing for the Labyrinth only, the kind of worry only some specific Professionals can get. In a decade or two, it will be easier; there are pathways across the Labyrinth I’ll be able to take once I’m tier-eight when I’m stronger enough to survive the first trip to Panomekon. But until then… I’m like you, I have to do honest work.”
The three men were slowly making their way back, and she straightened as they approached. Bertelis finally noticed the desk model Mauger had placed on the parapet surrounding the courtyard and turned to the two visitors to explain. The men looked at him, gesturing, and Mauger handed off the model.
The two looked at the raw wood tiny desk and said a few sentences to Bertelis. Mauger caught only a few words, like “sella” and “spina”, but he quickly caught the gist of it from their expression and that of Bertelis.
He got his model back and the four of them departed toward the entrance. Mauger frowned at the delays, but, hopefully, it wouldn’t impact his pay. After all, it was the customer’s schedule, not his.
It looked as if the visit was over, as Bertelis came back in the courtyard, alone this time. He hurried toward Mauger.
“So, did your visitors liked how you set up the Emperor’s project?”
“Yes. Very disappointed about my library, though. It’s almost all Labyrinth-purchased books, and copies of the old classics they’ve already seen in various editions.”
“Must be nice to have those books.”
“Well, yes, assuming you can read them, though.”
“I had Father Egide back in Pesl show me his Bible. That’s how he taught me the letters,” Mauger said.
“You can read?”
“Yes. I had heard you needed to read to go in the Labyrinth, so I pestered the good Father until he relented and showed me. It helps he’s a schismatic, or he’d have guessed about trying the Gate and forbid me from learning. Or coming.”
“You’d be surprised about the number of people who went in the Labyrinth while illiterate those last years. And then they have to spend many months learning to read before they make any mistake with their Labyrinth abilities. So you can read Latin?”
“Some. Picked it easy, at least the parts in the Bible. But listening to you, it’s not that easy. I would need practice then.”
“Well, you are a man of hidden talents, master woodworker. So… about the student desk…”
“They didn’t like it either, did they?” Mauger said, restraining his smile.
“They thought it was a special desk for easily distracted or unruly students.”
The woodworker repressed a laugh.
“Told you so. See?”
He mimed with his hand trying to slide into the desk. Then he flexed, and you could hear the slight creaking as the small desk legs were strained.
“Now, the desks will be relatively easy to make, depending on how elaborate you want them. And you can get the chairs made separately – as I said yesterday, buy them if you can find some. Or another woodworker to make them while I do the desks.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Then, I’ll make the first desk, to see if you’re good with that version.”
It did not take long for Mauger to make his first full-scale desk. He’d modified slightly the original design, now that he no longer needed to attach the chair to it. He’d moved the hook to the desk itself, placed it in a better location. He’d also slightly simplified the design itself, anticipating the extra work needed to make many desks.
One of the things Bertelis had been evasive was the time available. Mauger had an idea that the scholar had no real idea of when and how many of the students would be there. Or even how many tutors there would be. It could be months or years.
Once he’d been given the go-ahead, Mauger had started work in earnest. Half a dozen desktops at a time, followed by legs and various parts. He moved out outdoors when it came to smoothing out the desks, as that gave so much wood dust that everything was dirtied faster than he could clean it up.
He spotted regularly the two robe-clad exotic Professionals walking around, usually with Bertelis, sometimes with one of the handful of help Mauger was becoming familiar with, as the future staff of the ‘university of Sorbonne’ – a name Bertelis had apparently copied entire from some future historical book – was trying to organize the burgeoning school. Most of the time, their translator Professional was missing, although he spotted her once accompanying them.
“They are staying?” he finally managed to ask Bertelis.
“We’ve discussed it a bit, and they are going to visit the Abbey of Favigny, in Burgundy. They are rumored to have extensive archives of things from the last two centuries. So they’re learning Francien to be able to travel, as Lady Frobhlaith will not be going.”
Mauger made a face, to his boss’s surprise.
“What?”
“I’m going to say, it’s a waste of time. I’ve heard a merchant from Burgundy once – they’re not speaking a langue d’oil. It’s barely understandable. I suppose the good monks will know Latin, but the people around? They’d probably understand Latin better than Francien. It’s good enough for us from Tunorum, but southern Burgundy? No way.”
“Oh. Then maybe they’ll be happier if they don’t have to waste a month or two.”
“And it will help them to get there before winter makes travel hard. Besides, you can probably find an interpreter to go with their escort. If you can find someone with Latin, that is.”
“Oh, no. They’re pretty much able to go around on their own. I suppose they’ll simply go there straight.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? Nobody bothered me and my friend on the way, since we didn’t look that rich, but those clothes mark them as rich travelers. I heard the Professionals from the Labyrinth are tough, but two scholars facing a large band of bandits?”
“Those are offensive-oriented Professionals. Tier-nine, even. They could probably face the entire armies of the Franks and defeat them before they even reached them. While drinking tea.”
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4 City of Fate
Mauger was slowly working his way over the page when the door cracked open, and a blond face with green eyes peered in.
“I was told to bring those tomes here for sorting… oh, I recognize you? Aren’t you the furniture maker?” Frobhlaith said.
“I was. Still would be, if I had time to devote to that,” Mauger replied.
She picked out five large tomes from her side bag and looked around, seeking the place. Mauger waved her to the secondary desk next to him and she dumped – carefully – the new books on the still empty part.
Reflexively, he turned his head to look at the titles on the sides. Looked like one German… three English… and something that looked like Latin without being Latin. He’d have to figure it out later. Probably “Italian”.
“I finish one, and five more come,” he commented.
“I am surprised to see a woodworker as, what, a librarian now?”
“It turns out I’m good with languages, and Bertelis noticed. While you can get many books in proper Latin, the ones from the later Divergences are in all kinds of languages. You got math from “German”, all types of natural philosophy from “English”, a few in some debased Francien, and loads of others.”
Mauger gestured at his desk and the enormous and worn English-Latin Dictionary open alongside another book titled Principles of Geology.
“So, I work at translating them into proper Latin for the students here. Then, Bertelis gets them printed and distributed. We have our own printing press now next door.”
“So, you’ve moved up.”
“The stipend for this work is much better than woodwork. I might have been good for furniture making, but after the glut of work ended, it was easier to pick more woodworkers. Not so with people who can learn a new language from books.”
He looked at the Professional.
“I’m surprised you deliver books, though.”
“Ah. No, we do regular trade runs in a tier-five zone, and my team is busy with things in Parisius, so I decided to do the delivery myself rather than drop it at the broker. Due to geometry, two Divergence merchant companies have found it easier to establish an outpost there for commerce with this one, and our team is the only one with high enough access currently. Most of us have broken into tier six… am I making sense?”
“More than the last time we met. I’ve learned a lot on the Labyrinth… and even picked a few tricks,” he said in halting Sabir.
She laughed.
“Okay. I’m not that good,” he acknowledged.
“No, but I am impressed. How many languages do you know?”
“Not enough. Three-four different Oil dialects, Latin, Sabir, German, semi-modern French, high-time English, and I’ve been trying to make Russian work, but I would need more help than just books.”
“Okay. Now I am impressed. Even with your score in Intellect…”
She spotted the frown.
“Now that I’m in tier six, I have access to descriptors for non-Professionals. So… you have 17 Intellect.”
“Which still isn’t enough to qualify for Professional status,” he said, with a tinge of sadness.
Mauger had made his peace with the fact that he was not a Professional. Still, the old dreams remained, buried but mourned.
“You don’t really need that much. The scores in Potentials do not tell the entire story. If you are gifted, then you’re better than just your number.”
“Still, I dread the day Bertelis finds a Professional with high enough levels that wants to retire and devote his time to translate things.”
Mauger closed his books and stored his sheets as the light outside dwindled. Even with city lighting, he still disliked making his way across the city. The left bank was still too much of a poor area and prone to mugging, despite the efforts by the city to clean it up. Still, his recently-completed home was close by. After Angilbart had left, going back to Pesl in disgust as he couldn’t find a decent job in Parisius, he’d moved out and invested most of his money into a decent home closer to his workplace.
As he neared home, he was greeted by one of his neighbors, Gausbertus.
“So, working late again?”
“Have I ever worked any other way?” he answered good-naturedly.
“Let’s see how that works out this fall after you’ve got a wife in the house,” he laughed back.
“Great, now remind me I still haven’t prepared proper bridal gifts,” he said.
“You still have seven weeks. Assuming you don’t work until dusk every day, that is,” Gausbertus ribbed him.
“Friend, I have lucked out that our papermaker had an eligible daughter. Everyone else is still locking their women, given how many unattached men pour into the capital. Oh, and was trusting enough for an upstart woodworker-turned-half-scholar.”
“It helps you do have good honest fallback trade,” the man joked.
“As if. The guild will never admit me again, after expelling me for ‘failing to maintain enough tradecraft’, as they said.”
“Worst case, you can start a new trade springing from your books, like your father-in-law.”
“I’ll have you informed that this isn’t a new trade from the Labyrinth. He got taught the basic by a craftsman from Samarkand, where they’ve been making that stuff for half a century.”
“I defer to your great knowledge,” the man laughed.
Mauger settled on a bench, to enjoy the falling warmth of dusk in this late July. He still had his heart aflutter a bit, considering the impending nuptials in nearby St. Vincent. He really needed to make sure the gifts would be there. A break was in order after he finished the translation of the Principles of Geology for the printer.
A wife. Children.
And maybe gifted ones, able to prowl the strange place between the eras that was the Labyrinth. He did not know how he’d feel if that happened.
But they would be free to do so. Freed from the shackles of True History. That concept, once he got it fully explained, was terrifying. A mockery of the free will the Lord was said to have provided to every man. No wonder the Schism was raging across all of Christendom, the Pope in Lugdunum against the Old Pope in Rome, doctrine clashing against doctrine, denunciation of the works of Satan versus the theology of the Infinite Lord.
Endless Maugers across the Labyrinth, all in lockstep in whatever destiny awaited them in Pesl – or wherever, but he doubted he would ever have left, if not for the lure of the Labyrinth. Always saved or always condemned?
He might not be a Professional, imbued with that terrifying immortality they got in exchange for endless combat across the strange land. Or worse, when you considered the fate of the ones like Frobhlaith and what he’d learned about her gift and the price she paid for it, as long as she wanted to.
But the Labyrinth, in that golden year of 799AD, had given him the best gift. The gift to be free of the shackles of fate. To be himself, whatever he chose to be in Parisius, one of the five cities that gave freedom to an entire world.
----------------------------------------
Frobhlaith Amhránaí
Health: 4867/4867
Mind: 6771/6771
Endurance: 11700/11700
Aether: 5104/5104
Effective level: 506
Level 41 Targeted Maestro
Level 77 Careful Strategist
Level 71 Virtuoso
Level 72 Bellwether
Level 88 Spearhead
Level 79 Light Commander
Level 59 Tutor
Level 60 Pilot
Experience: 11,987/234,286
Strength: 68
Dexterity: 106
Agility: 58
Constitution: 55
Stamina: 267
Wisdom: 102
Focus: 202
Presence: 284
Fortitude: 104
Intelligence: 80
40% Leveling speed
2% team endurance
3% team aether
30% aether per INT
3% FOC effectiveness
30% endurance per STA
12.5% two-handed weapon skills
1.5% team mind
Milestones: Adjustment VIII, Pilot IV, Tutor IV, Light Commander VI, Spearhead VI, Bellwether VI, Virtuoso V, Careful Strategist VI, Targeted Maestro III