EL SID, Moonie at large

Sid ruminated. A gold piece a minute? Gad-zookies! Almost the price of a warhorse per hour! Luckily, he'd taken an Evelyn Woodsy Speed Reading course back in Basic so he could keep up with his studies and still have time to practice his dagger-work. Hmmm...he had a Read/Speak Language he might be able to cast on Delrin, but that didn't address the fact that the party barely had two coppers to rub together. Where was a Bank of Kethem when you needed one? He wondered if he could get the K'rack-Heads to take a draft on his Hold account back in Salta. They'd probably charge a handling fee, but hey, who knew where else would they be able to access this kind of information?

His eyes narrowed. Information could be more valuable than gold. He scratched itchy beard and thought. Sid wondered how much library time could be bartered for some of the juicier tidbits he knew. There was the Bradford's Box. True that was in Kethem, but dirt on a Kethem High Council member never hurt and he was confident that the BossMan here knew how to make it pay. And the hassle it might afford the Bradford's was a just an additional plus. Sid smiled. He figured he shouldn't sell out Corbie. That association was too valuable a trump card to play willy-nilly. He considered. This whole business with the Black Ship raiding Pranan and the secret KIA base *might* just be enough to trade for permanent, unrestricted access to the library. That kind of knowlege was beyond monetary value in the right circles. Endanger Kethem security? Pah! It was Melagar and the KIA playing their ill-conceived side-games that was endangering Kethem security. Just because Colonel Hornblower was all puffed up about the base didn't mean it was vital to Kethem security. Just the security of the high honchos in the Navy and KIA who were in on the scam.

Yes, he nodded, *that* little infobyte might be worth unlimited book time. That he was dealing with the Clerical Mafia didn't faze him a bit. Hadn't he studied both Catholicism *and* the exploits of the Rev.Jim Baker? Praise the Lord! And pass the ammunition... Sid rubbed his hands together in greedy contemplation. Clerics, huh? Bet they'd like the poop on the One and Only Trollish High Priest-in-Training. And how the secrets to the Trollish Ancestral relics were stored in the Moonstone. 'Course mere humans might not be able to access that data without Troll Ghod help, but hey, who knew what the resources of the Head Man were. He seemed to have no trouble nabbing seriously high level druids, after all. And if he could 'recruit' Cookie, then he didn't have to worry about the Trolls biffing Humanity after Cookie learned The Big Secret from the Moonstone.

The real question was who the head K'racker 'fronted' for. Himself? Nonhumans? Clearly, this organization had been in operation for hundreds of years. If they had sinister designs on Humanity, he doubted that he personally would be able to derail them. It was *just* possible he could *use* this pud. The question was how not to get brainwashed by the fast-talking s.o.b. *himself*. Sid knew *he* often projected considerable charisma. His dark intensity, personality and hashassin training made him particularly persuasive at times. Hmmm, he pondered, would his talents protect him? Or would Dom's remarkable wisdom be a better security? He reflected that the high wisdom of other clerics didn't seem to prevent their unknowing recruitment to the K'rack-Heads cause. Best *he* did the talking then. They would try the voucher approach first, he decided. See how much that he could draw on his Gold Ring status. He and Dom could throw Read/Speak Language spells on themselves and Delrin *prior* to entering the library, thus avoiding possible translation difficulties and sudden cardiac arrest. They'd see just how good this Library really was. If it proved a true treasure trove, and it was clear that the amount of time they needed to spend as they disguised their search for information on DemonBinder was great, then he would have a little tete-a-tete with Hollywood Smile himself and see what arrangements could be made.

Heck, he already worked for Hold Borgia, the Hashassin Cult and himself. Why not for the Rev. Sun Yun Moon as well...?

Brandon

A few hours later, Delrin met Walter outside the temple. It was made of the same dark stone as the walls of the Enclave, but were seamless and polished until they gleamed in the afternoon sun. Broad, shallow steps lead to a set of eight columns supporting an overhanging roof. Four sets of double oak doors, banded with metal with a silver glint, lead to the interior. Despite the cold, for Delrin estimated the temperature as high forties, one of the doors stood open.

Walter smiled and waved. "Ahhh, Delrin. Right on time, I see."

Delrin smiled and nodded back, then turned to the temple. "Impressive. Interesting stone they used."

Walter glanced at it, but it was clearly something he had lived with for a while and filtered out. "From the mountains around Chelto. Most of the stone buildings along the river of any size are made of the same material, floated down river from the mountains. Good stone is hard to find in these parts."

Delrin breathed a sigh of relief at that one. No wonder the walls of Valen's Point had seemed similar. "I went to the library. I find it hard to believe they can be serious... a gold piece a minute? Who could afford such a thing?"

Walter answered with a small frown "I can help you with that. They do try to discourage spurious use of the library... the books, after all, are very valuable and need to be preserved for future generations. Temples that coordinate ahead of time with the Enclave and establish some credibility as doing serious historical research can usually get down to a gold an hour; if it is a longer term project, four gold a day. Remember, of the fifty or sixty guests here, only a dozen or so are using the library, and that will die down as winter approaches. The entire Enclave's income is from those, since to stay here is free. If you would like, you can explain that you are a lay priest assigned here to help me, and that you did not realize you had to identify yourself as such to get our current rate... a gold an hour. I am here researching some arcane lore concerning a old empire magical process known as "distilling." Since no one knows exactly what it was, it lends itself to looking over a variety of books. You may have to be somewhat creative in coming up with logical links between what you are looking for and finding the distilling process, of course" he finished with a smile.

Delrin smiled back. "Distilling? It sounds interesting."

Walter replied "All I really know is that it was a ancient magical process for purifying and concentrating liquid substances. It could be of great benefit to produce purified, concentrated oil from the olive groves of the Temple of the Olive Grove. Or it could be a wild goose chase, to be honest. It was a good excuse to take a break from my duties at the temple in Oleg." Walter looked at the sky, where looming grayish clouds stood overhead threateningly. "It is time to head in., I think."

Delrin nodded agreement. "One question more. I have been wandering around the compound for the last couple of hours, and I notice that almost every priest of Karak has Urakai blood. In comparison to what I saw in my travels around Pranan, about half the people carry the signs of Urakai blood. Am I missing something?"

Walter frowned and raised his eyes. "Why, do you have a problem with that?"

"No, not at all" backpedaled Delrin. "I am simply interested in odd coincidences, because you often find interesting facts behind them."

Walter nodded, but looked unconvinced. "The message of Master Brandin is a simple one; one of tolerance for others, be they Kanday, Kethem, or Tawhiem, or even non-humans... Urakai, elves, or trolls. After the forth orc-human war, when Pranan was recaptured from the Urakai, there was a ethnic purge. Everything Urakai, and many people carrying Urakai blood in their veins, ended in bonfires or worse. Some of that sentiment remains today; any Lord in any city in Pranan that could be shown to have Urakai in their lineage would be a commoner - or dead - that same day. It is not surprising to me that many of those that have suffered under the yoke of such discrimination would find such a message as Master Brandin preaches to be one they could dedicate themselves too."

"Just as you say, Walter, just as you say. Shall we go inside?"

Walter led the way up the stairs and through the door while Derlin followed behind. The transition into the building was sudden and his eyes took a few minutes to adjust. It was a large, circular room, domed overhead, light coming from slots where the dome melted into the roof. The floor was made of inlayed marble tiles, a random pattern of green and black and rose. Doors stood in the shadows of large columns that supported to dome to the left and right. In the center stood a low platform. As the approached, Delrin saw it was a small pool of water. Walter stood in front of it. "Try to be as still as the water" he said, then turned to the pool. Delrin, slightly confused, did the same. It appeared that the water did not end at floor level, but continued down for some distance. The pool was crystal clear and absolutely still. Delrin found himself following that column of water down into the depths and tried to image that he was suspended in it, floating motionless and weightless. It seemed like a long time before Walter touched his shoulder, and when he looked up he was surprised to see others standing around them.

"I didn't hear them come it" he said in surprise.

"You were a little absorbed" Walter said with a smile. "How do you feel?"

Delrin thought about that for a few moments. "At peace" he said finally, realizing that it was true. Somewhere inside himself, he was still floating motionless in water.

"Good. The pool helps you to focus yourself. You can use it at times other than the general service, by the way. If something is troubling you, it can help to remove that anxiety while you consider courses of action."

Walter pointed to the north. "This way." He lead Delrin through a bleached wooden door with a white marble arch. The wood of the door felt warm and live to Delrin's touch, as if it were still a living tree. Inside, rows of seats sank slowly toward a stage at the bottom of a slight incline. Many of the seats were already taken.He and Walter found two seats together and sat. Delrin thought about saying something, but he didn't want to shatter the feeling of solitude and stillness from the pool. They both waited for a while.

A door that had not been visible before opened in the back of the room, and a man entered. Massive. Gray hair, with streaks of silver at the base, a deep, rich, purple robe. Eyes that cut through the room like scythes. He moved into the room, walking to a dais at the center. Moved like a bird, light on his feet, with quick, determined motion, and yet with the unmistakable impression of mass, of an unstoppable force.

He stopped, and a light suddenly hit him. He looked over the audience. Took their measure. He had a strong face, fully human, with a jutting jaw line and high cheeks. Dark eyes, almost black, and thick black eyebrows a little out of place with the graying hair. The strength of his character was almost palpable, and Delrin could suddenly understand how such a place could have existed for so long, if men like these had been in charge.

Then a smile came to the man’s lips, and it was like sunrise. "Welcome" he said in a deep, resonant voice. "Today, I wanted to share a thought I had recently with you. You all know about the recent attack on Cherifyr, and the role the Kethem Navy played in repelling the invaders. We have much to thank them for," and he nodded a bit at Delrin with a small grin. Delrin would have jumped if he wasn't still wrapped by the strange calm from the temple's pool. Either Brandin had a organization that was remarkably effective at getting trivia sent to the top of the hierarchy, or the fact someone from Kethem was here had more significance than Delrin thought, or he could tell just by a glance where a traveler came from. None of these were particularly settling thoughts.

"Actually," continued Brandin, "the Kethem warships were more than a help. They more than likely were the key in turning away the attackers. Why?" Delrin felt an impulse to answer the question, as best he could, but he had no idea. Someone else in the audience volunteered an answer.

"Currying favor with Cherifyr lords?"

Brandin actually chuckled. "Vlas, Vlas, I didn't mean why did they do it... although that is a good guess. I meant, why were they the key?"

Another spoke up. "Kethem has the best warships afloat. Even a Kethem light is more than a match for the warships of any city-state in Pranan."

Brandin nodded solemnly. "Yes, Merse. Precisely. A Kethem Heavy Warship is worth up to four or five of Cherifyr's best... and three or four of Oleg's. Instead of a half dozen Cherifyr warships, with the Kethem Heavy and Kethem Light that were in port at the time, it was more like double that. In fact, you could make a case that in this particular battle, the Kethemer's ships were even more effective. Concentrated firepower is very significant when you have a concentrated enemy... like a single, if very large, ship. But you answer only the obvious... what everyone knows. The more profound question is why Kethem has better warships. Anyone?"

Again, Delrin felt the pressure to answer the question honestly, and this time he thought he had an answer. He considered for a second, but decided nothing he was going to say would be considered confident information. He spoke up. "I have seen the dock facilities at Cherifyr and those at Hediro. Hediro's are larger, and more modern."

"Why?"

Derlin thought about that for a second. Conversations around the campfire with El Sid came back to him. "Hediro spends more money on docking facilities, and the Kethem Navy on the ships themselves; additionally, because the spending is centralized, a lot of duplication of effort is eliminated. It allows funding research and development, which in turn is shared with other shipyards in Kethem." He shrugged, the rest of the conversation with the Sid a little less memorable. "A pack of wolves works together to bring down their prey, benefiting the entire pack. A lone wolf, no matter how strong, cannot attack similar prey without serious risk of injury, and for a lone wolf, injury is death. They must live off smaller prey."

Sunrise again, as the flash of a wide smile played across Brandin's face. "Very good." He turned from Delrin to the crowd. "And what is Pranan? Not a pack, but a bunch of lone wolves, spending as much time fighting each other over the carcasses of previous kills instead of working together to bring down a new meal.

Brandin continued down the path of the wolf analogy for a while, then shifted to more concrete examples of average incomes per hectare in Kethem compared to Pranan, average incomes of different age groups, median life spans, and the like. It painted a picture of Pranan as a backward, provincial, poor relative of Kethem, not due to the faults of the people of Pranan, but because they had not learned to cooperate with one another. And, as he brought forth example after example of where cooperative ventures between some of the city states had been wildly successful, Delrin found himself agreeing with the man.

"At one time," finished Brandin, "Pranan was the seat of the Lanotalis Empire, Tawhiem was nothing but the outback and Kethem a sparsely settled pioneering community. How far have we fallen? Very far, indeed. How far could we go if we could end the continuous squabbling between the city states? How far could we go if Kethem and Pranan, as an equals, joined forces? And what about our non-human brethern? We have much to learn from them, Urakai, Trolls, and Elves. But people need to make a stand, to recognize that a pyramid requires a solid base, founded in trust, to be erected. The City State Lords have too much history between them to forge that bond. It must come from the religious community, from you, my friends."

Brandin made a slight bow, and Derlin, realizing the session was over, clapped loudly as did the other people in the room. Brandin turned and left, again leaving that odd impression of bird-like motion and massive bulk. Derlin turned to Walter as the stood. "Very inspiring."

Walter nodded in agreement. "And I think you can see what I mean about the man's charisma."

Delrin nodded in turn. As they left the room, a priest of Karak walked up to the two of them and turned to Derlin. "Friend Druid, Master Brandin would like to invite you to a private audience in his chambers if you are so inclined."