Delrin makes a friend

Delrin smiled. Yes, this was indeed a fellow druid. A few modifications on the old "secret handshake" that must be local to Pranan, but close enough. The secret greeting exchanged, the dark haired man indicated a wooden bench in a quiet corner.

"Well met brother. I am Walter Griss, out of Oleg. What brings you to our little sanctuary?"

Walter was mid fortyish, with thick black hair that on closer inspection revealed a touch of gray here and there. He was also portly... almost pudgy. Very unusual for a Druid, when the frequent ceremonial fasts and common sojourns to the untouched forest to meditate tended to keep even the more junior members of a Druid's circle thin and muscular. And Delrin did not feel Walter was a junior member of a Druid's circle. The man had a air of self confidence about him that reeked of power. Delrin belatedly answered the man's question. "Chance mostly. Certain persons may be looking for me, so I and my friend have been avoiding civilization recently. While traveling north, I stumbled on your little village. I probably be spending only a night, and I would rather my passage through town was unremarkable..."

"Ahh the evils of city life. Your secret is safe with me of course, but you should consider staying with us. This place is little known, and as good as any permanent shelter."

"Unfortunately I must decline. How about you. Why do you not live in the sacred olive grove with our other brethren? and why do so many diverse faith's live together in this keep? This master must have a forceful personality to keep the different faiths from feuding."

Walter smiled. "Forceful is too weak a word for it. I would venture to say Master Brandin is one of the most charismatic people you will ever meet. You should go to the general service at three. Quiet extraordinary. As to my reasons for being here... well, like many here, I've some... issues I need to think through. Things that are going to take some time to sort out." Walter frowned as he finished up.

Delrin nodded and decided to avoid poking into the man's personal problems. Accordingly, he turned to Master Brandin as a topic. "Interesting. Did the Master found this place?"

Walter smiled even wider. "No, no. The Enclave of Karak has been in existence for over four hundred years. A fascinating history."

Delrin frowned. "Four hundred years.... but that would mean it existed after the second Orc-Human war, and thus would have been..."

"Yes, and it would have been in Urakai territory. It was, one of the few religious, or semi-religious, places that the Urakai allowed to remain open when they held these lands. Not in its present form, of course... they, like we, attempted to ruthlessly eliminate the local religions to prevent the possibility of rebellion from that quarter, sadly enough. But the Enclave of Karak has been blessed with a long history of very influential leaders, capable of bridging the gap between races, and they managed to keep the place open as a place of meditation. Actual religious ceremonies were forbidden until the humans recaptured northern Pranan. But that was a long time ago."

"Ahhh yes. If you will forgive my prying, why is there so much secrecy over the masters quarters, the garden and the library? Do you have some grand plan you are all working towards?"

"The libraries are open to all. The priesthood must be present, but you must realize that the literature contained in those walls is absolutely irreplaceable, some of the only documents in Pranan to survive the Orc-Human wars. The Master's quarters are private as a matter of historical precedent and respect for Brandin. There is no master plan, unless you consider a group of people seeking higher goals and using each other to validate the logic behind their thoughts a "master plan." There is no hidden agenda here, my friend."

Delrin was not as practiced as El Sid, but he managed to avoid sneering. If nothing else, the last few months with his friends had let him realize that nothing they saw was what it seemed. He continued his questions. "You mentioned the priesthood.... so the Enclave has it's own priests?"

Walter nodded and replied "Yes, but not the way you are thinking. The enclave is non-denominational. The priests of the enclave are wanderers that, for one reason or another, found the enclave to be more than a waypoint in their journeys, and decided to settle here. They cross the spectrum of Pranan religions."

"Anyone is accepted, regardless of his or her ghod?"

Walter frowned at this question. "That is not easy to answer. Certainly, you can be rejected initially. While not publicized, it is generally known that if you desire to become a member of the enclave instead of a visitor, you talk with one of the priests in private. I have heard that there is an initiation ceremony in the Garden of Solitude. While I have never heard of anyone that has not been accepted, it is impossible to tell, since it is not known who attempted to join and failed and who just departed for greener pastures. The only thing that I do know is that making your wish to join the enclave too public is almost guaranteed to result in a rejection. Since one of the fundamental principles of the enclave is the recognition of the right of each and every visitor to their privacy in religious and moral beliefs, I find this a reasonable test of a applicant's capability to exercise prudence in discussing sensitive matters. Certainly, based on the number of religions represented by the forty or so priests of Karak, I don't believe there is any religious discrimination."

Delrin nodded understandingly. "So, the Garden of Solitude is an initiation area?"

"Yes, and a haven for the priests of Karak. Non-members are not allowed. I believe it is just an area for the priests themselves to practice the same principles they extend to the rest of us; a capability to extract oneself from the daily routines and duties associated with the temple and to concentrate on the higher ideals of our world and our selves."

As their talk continued on, Delrin noticed that Walter was not so much fat, as bulky. Certainly he could stand to lose a few pounds, but large muscles were evident under his cloak. His visage held the odd wildness that all high level druids seem to have; almost as if their faces masked a core that was more animal than human. As Walter Walter continued on talking in earnest about the history and basis of the enclave, Delrin became more and more convinced that he could trust the Druid. It had been a long time since Delrin had left the Druids of the Salta region as a mere acolyte; since then he had learned much of his faith, but he still had many questions. Thus overcoming his normally shy nature, he opened up with the elder druid.

"Walter, a number of questions have plagued me recently, and I was wondering, if you could offer me some guidance?"

"Why certainly my son. What troubles you?"

Derlin glanced around them once more and continued. "Even before I formally joined our brotherhood, I have always felt unusually close to wolves. Shortly before my initiation, I had an encounter with a wounded wolf. I nursed the creature through a long night, and when I awoke he was gone; in his place I found this." Delrin carefully pulled out the wolf amulet that he wore around his neck.

"Now I am advancing further with our ghod, and I feel still closer to these creatures. Rarely do I travel without one as a companion, but feel I am missing some overall picture here..."

Walter examined the amulet for a minute seeming to pay close attention to the craftsmanship. After a moment he chuckled. "Delrin you have nothing to fear; this is all perfectly normal. There are secrets within our cult that a young acolyte is not taught; mostly for their own safety. I have a feeling that many of your questions will be answered come February, when we have our major ceremony. Let me just say that every druid as they becomes closer to Gaia, will find themselves particularly drawn to a certain element in nature, be it animal or plant. Thus even within our own faith we splinter into subgroups becoming one with a small subset of the whole which is Gaia herself. It is rumored that to pass on to the highest levels of our faith, you must shed this specialization and embrace the whole, but even I have not gotten to that level, though the time may not be to far off for me. So fear not, all will become clearer after the winter ceremony... My only warning is beware of the rat clan. They live in the gray area between nature and civilization, and it is difficult to say where their allegiance truly lies."

Delrin thought for a few minutes on Walter's words, and he sensed a trueness to them. As he looked up to question the druid further, he had a sudden vision of a black bear's face overlaying that of the elder druids. After a moment the vision was gone.

"One other moral issue troubles me; this one even more than my curiosity with wolves. In my travels I am increasingly coming across mysteries and powerful magics. I must decide what course I take in dealing with these situations, but it is never clear what will help nature and what will hurt."

"This is indeed an important question. We must approach each mystery as a separate challenge, trying to decide the correct choice. I can offer little further advice save this; the magics or mysteries we come across, are usually neither good nor bad; it is the peoples who wield these things that we must carefully assess. I usually find this place to be the perfect place to ponder the most difficult decisions. There is much wisdom in the library and the peace of this place lends itself to clear thinking."

"I would ask one more favor, if you do not mind. Out of curiosity, I would like to attend the 3:00 ceremony, but I am not sure I trust myself around such a charismatic man as the master. Perhaps you would join me as a reminder of our joint faith?"

"Certainly" replied the man. "Why don't we meet just outside the temple ten minutes ahead of time?" Delrin readily agreed to this.

After the two parted, Delrin found a quiet corner of a garden. He seated himself with his back to the wall surrounding the garden of solitude and began some quiet meditation. When he thought no one was paying particular attention, he chanted off his commune with nature spell. While he trusted Walter on a level that was hard to rationalize, it would be foolish not to take every opportunity to gather information..

What he got was a jumbled mishmash of information that was difficult to sort anything useful out of. A whiff of a woman, arriving here to make a statement, thinking of nothing but advancement; a man that felt he had made piece with himself after some kind of personal crisis; a group of friends that were trying to prepare for a difficult journey together and were taking the opportunity to establish a solid rapport with one another; many other things.. If the people in the complex had a single driving goal behind them, it probably would have stood out. But there was no such single thread, or not enough of one for Delrin to pick it out of the crowd. He sensed teasing hints of darker motives here and there, but nothing truly sinister, and no more than he thought he would pick up in any random sampling of people. He tried concentrating on the garden of solitude itself and the masters quarters, hoping that would narrow the spell down to the Priest of Karak, but the spell was either too new to him, or it would not work that way.

[Barry’s comments]

He thought for a few moments; he still had a couple of hours to kill, and it was not clear whether further wandering was going to be very productive. Instead, he headed for the library. Just inside the door, a man dressed in robes sat behind a mahogany desk. Tall, thin, with just a touch of Urakai blood. Receding hairline leaving a odd tuft of hair that sat on his head like a odd, furry animal. Delrin liked him immediately. The man nodded pleasantly, nubs of fangs no longer bothering Delrin the way it had before the trip to Pranan. If nothing else, he reflected, these journeys were valuable in teaching one that outward appearances had little to do with true character. "May I help you?" asked the librarian-guard politely.

"Yes," replied Delrin, "I'm looking for information on a number of interesting things I've come across in my journeys through Pranan. The Crystal Forest between Negrata and Micaforo, for one. Korbit's Hole. A few other things like that.

The man smiled. "Kethemer... that's unusual. Not many from Kethem know about, or visit this place."

Delrin wistfully reflected on his lack of ability in faking a Kandayan accent the way El Sid or the Dom could. Of course, they appear to have had a lot of formal training in such things. "Yes; in fact, I and a Kandayan friend of mine were headed for Chelto and wandered across this place quite by accident."

"I see. Well, all are welcome. Even Kadayans, although they were never members of the original empire. There are some rules. You must wear this..." and the man handed across a small, granite cylinder with a small eye hook on top and a cord of leather looped through it... "around your neck. This may seem a bit excessive, but the books in this library are irreplaceable."

"What does it do?" asked Delrin.

"If you attempt to cast a spell inside the building, it will stop your heart." The man shrugged apologetically. "Not friendly, but necessary. One fireball in there, and a thousand year's worth of history is gone."

Delrin looked at the man sharply, almost forgetting about the pendant. "A thousand years? You have documents a thousand years old?"

"Not quite, but just short of it. Those are, I'm afraid, only available to people with very serious credentials in historical research. Even with preservations spells, they are easily damaged."

Delrin could see the sense in that. "But the more recent books?"

"Are available, yes. You must be accompanied by a priest of Karak. They will note certain things... the information you are looking for, the books you selected to look at, things of that nature, but they will also help you find the tomes you need to complete your quest. There is a charge, a gold piece a minute..."

Delrin sputtered. "A...a... a GOLD PIECE A MINUTE?"

The man smiled a little crookedly. "I'm afraid so. The primary means by which we finance the enclave is through the library, and you have to remember that most of these books are one of a kind, details about the seat of the old Empire that exist no where else. They are in an older version of Common, by the way... I hope your reading skills are up to snuff."

Delrin said quickly "I'm going to have to think about this."

"The library is open until ten this evening if you decide you want to take advantage of it. Good day to you, then."

Delrin walked back out. A gold piece a minute was a serious problem, but with the man's last comment, he realized he had a more serious one. What the hell had he been thinking? Doing research in a library required a skill Derlin did not have... the capability to read common.