Our odd troop makes its way into the Titan's Grave Guild Hall, pushing past the crowds looking for work and toward the Delivery and Payment desk. The barred desk resembles that of a Bank Teller, protecting them from riled-up adventurers demanding more payment than their due. Vic walks up first and presents the jewelry box and opens it to show the necklace inside. The young woman behind the desk admires it briefly and then closes it, placing it to her left behind the bars before anybody gets a wild hair about stealing it. She provides the forms, and we filled them out, Vic and I took more time as our part in the recovery was far more detailed. After a few minutes, the Half-Elf and I placed our forms down on the desk and slid them toward the young woman.

"Is Galheros in his office?" Reddan asked as she took the papers, "We have something we need him to look at."

"He's down the hall on your right, the last door on the left," she responds, "but I think he might be in the middle of something."

"I appreciate that," he said, "and we'll be sure to respect his time."

She gave a quick nod, pointing us toward the hall, as if to dismiss us. We head down the hall and away from the noise of the lobby. The stone hallways are intricately designed and show little of the wear and tear of centuries. I suddenly know why as I see a couple of young Tiefling mages in dark tunics and pants make their way down the hallway on the right, magically mending any worn sections of the wall. They slowly move down the wall, undoing years of damage in a matter of moments. I nod to them with a quiet 'thank you' as we pass by. Passing two doors on our left, we finally approach the last door, near the corner. On a brass plaque is the name Galheros Luvyre - Order of Scribes. As I open the door to walk in, I see the lines of bookshelves holding books, scrolls, and stacks of parchment. There are tables with potions, ornate boxes, and artifacts. In the center of the room, sitting at a large desk, pouring over books and scribing some notes on a parchment with a raven quill pen.

"Master Galheros," I say, announcing our presence, "We've returned from our first mission, but we've found something that might be of interest to you."

"Where can I set this chest," Ferrik asks, "this thing's getting a little heavy."

"Right here on the corner," Galheros says looking up and moving some items out of the way, "that should be sufficient space."

Ferrik sets the book down in the designated spot. I turn to look at Reddan who enters last, and nod to the door. Catching my intention, they close and lock it behind them, making sure nobody can enter uninvited. Turning back to the desk and our retrieved item, I see Galheros stand to his full height, pulling the hood of his robes back to reveal his Half-Elven ears, dirty blonde hair in a mop of curls, and a slightly graying goatee. He steps around to the side of the desk, and the light begins to shine from inside once again, as though in reaction to his presence. That heavy feeling comes back, adding something akin to a feeling of humidity, now being closer than I was before and in a much smaller space. Galheros opens the chest, its lock no longer fastened. The light fades, and the feeling lessens, as though it now knows it's gotten the attention it needed.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"By the gods, what have you brought me?" the mage asks us, "What is this and where did you find it?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Sarah asks, shooting me an angry glance, "it seems we don't all have the answers you're looking for."

"I can find the answers for you," the mage said, "for all of you, if you give me a day or two to focus on what this is and why it made itself known."

Reddan gives me a look that Sarah shares, clearly wondering why we kept this from them. I start to open my mouth to explain myself, and Sarah shakes her head softly, turning her gaze back to the tome held by Galheros. As I turn my gaze back as well, I notice Galheros shuffle back to his chair, distracted by the book in his hands, and then slowly sit down. As he does, he turns to the desk and places the book in the space his notes had been as we interrupted his day. He slowly opened the leatherbound and silver-trimmed tome, tiny motes of purple light flowing from its pages, filling the room. We stood there, gob-smacked, watching these little purple dots that reminded me of fireflies if it wasn't for their lack of blinking. I slowly notice the uneasy feeling of magic ebbing, as though it were being sucked back toward the now-open book. So did everyone else, as the others begin looking around at each other with quizzical looks. I look back to the Half-Elven Wizard, who is entranced by the pages, his eyes tracking the words like a dog keeping his eyes on a treat in his master's hand.

"Galheros, can you--," I start to say.

"Tomorrow," he cuts me off, "I'll have answers tomorrow."

"You okay, boss?" Ferrik asks.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," he said, now looking up, "go enjoy the evening. I'll have more information by noon tomorrow. By the way, where exactly did you find this?"

"We found it after an earthquake in the middle of the Karonderion Forest this morning," Vic responded, "Cullen, Ferik, and I, I mean. Some catacombs that had opened up after the metal door fell off the hinges."

"Pretty much what he said," Ferrik added, "but it was like the thing pulled us to it once we were inside the hallways. The only reason we found I think, was that Viclamir triggered a trap, so we had to choose a different route into the tunnels."

"You triggered a trap?" Galheros looks almost alarmed now, "And you had how many options of hallways to move down through the place? Were both of these doors in one antechamber?"

He gets up, slamming the book's cover closed. He reaches behind him and pulls a map off a shelf behind him and unfurls it on the desk. He slides his finger across the parchment to the vicinity of Karonderion and its surrounding forest, due East of Kaland.

"Were you North of the city, or East?" he says with a mix of excitement and alarm.

"North of Karonderion and southwest of Umebelmethil Village," I respond, "why the sudden interest?"

"Because you may have just uncovered something that should have stayed buried," he said.

His finger stopping on a double-barred cross, exactly where I had mentioned, he looked up at us with some intensity. As I looked from his down to the map, it started to smoke as letters soon seared themselves into the parchment: Library of the Dread Emperor.

"If this is what I think it is," Galheros continued, "you will be marked, and the next page in your stories already written. Now go and enjoy yourselves tonight, because things will get bloody serious tomorrow."