Noble Arcana

There were many times when I thought all avenues I’d had in my search of knowledge were exhausted. I always found more though. There is no end to knowledge, only to the time we have to find it.

Victor Morrow’s Journal

Once they returned from church Solomon decided to force himself to meet with Poth before he secluded himself in the hidden study. He found the man nearly waist deep in a patch of dirt, his hands coated in dirt and his beard thick with soil.

“Good morning, Poth,” Solomon said, keeping enough distance to avoid the dirt, but staying close enough that the man could hear him.

Poth pulled himself out of the hole and looked down at himself apologetically, keeping his eyes down.

“Sorry about the state of me, Lord Morrow.”

“You’re a gardener. If you weren’t dirty I’d be concerned you weren’t doing your job.”

Poth smiled, though he kept his eyes down. “I suppose that’s true, lord.”

“Melissa told me that you were waiting on some guidance from me?”

“The garden is nearly cleared, thanks to the help you brought me, but I’m unsure of what you want from here? Do you favor something in the classic style like the Morrow Estate? Or something more modern? Do you favor any flowers or trees in particular? I’ll work to whatever specifications you provide.”

Solomon scratched his chin. For some reason thoughts of large trees creating a canopy filled with gentle shade were the first thing to come to mind.

“I’ve always favored bloodflowers, and would like something blue for when Bernice visits… I would like something that provides a fair amount of shade for when one is walking about, and a garden.”

“A garden, lord?”

“Whatever food grows locally. We’ll harvest what we want for the estate and allow the locals of Moonfallow to have the remainder.”

Poth’s eyes looked up at him, his surprise unhidden.

“It’s not a new idea. Many of the estates in cities have small gardens they allow locals to retrieve food from on occasion. Do you feel it’s a poor choice? Or beyond your abilities?”

“No lord. I would enjoy planting something to eat rather than just for aesthetics.” He paused. “Though I will endeavour to do both.”

Solomon smiled at him. “Thank you, Poth. Let Melissa know what funds are needed to get started and she’ll help coordinate with Duncan on having things wagoned in. Will you still need the help of the locals?”

Poth looked thoughtful. “I could probably do without most of them until the seeds and plants arrive.”

“You could find work for them if they were here though?”

He nodded.

“Then do so. I’d prefer to have them working here until the roads are underway.”

“Ah. Understood, Lord.”

Solomon gave him a final nod and walked inside. He forced himself to calmly and slowly eat his lunch as he reviewed budgets and verified the documents he’d need to bring into the Moonfallow guard office the next day. Once he was done he finally made his way into the library and locked the door. He checked his mana, surprised to find it stable again. He hadn’t exhausted it, which meant that it wasn’t a rapid depletion of mana that had stabilized it before. It needed more focus, but he didn’t have the time to devote to it at that very moment. He activated the suit of armor that guarded the way into the hidden chamber and thanked him once he moved aside, letting out a satisfied exhalation as he did so.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

He placed his walking stick against a desk and walked around the room, observing the dead god on the floor as he took a moment to consider all of the avenues of study he had. He had the Repository of course, and he could now start deciphering Victor’s journals chronologically rather than piecemeal because he was searching for something specific. Aside from that were the less obvious avenues. There was a desk full of alchemical items his uncle had left behind that he had yet to properly go through. The repository not only offered the unending potential knowledge, but the means his uncle had used to access it offered tremendous value as well. How was he transporting his spirit using the crystal orb? How was he puppeting those wooden dummies? There was also the enchantment that made the suit of armor move. He needed to find a way to reverse engineer that information. He also had to determine how the chains and manacles that bound the elven god functioned. The elven god himself may also have value. His body hadn’t shown any signs of decay and he wondered if there was some value in the use of his body as a material.

Solomon decided his first focus should be on the chains and manacles. He approached the corpse of the god and looked more closely at the miniscule runes that were carved into them. Solomon had looked at them before when he was attempting to determine the exact purpose of the ritual his Uncle had prepared, but once he’d found they were only there to bind the god and not part of the ritual itself he’d pivoted his focus.

He looked at the runes, but quickly found himself beyond his depth. He recognized a few sigils from what he’d already studied, but the majority were beyond his current knowledge. Looking closer though he realized that the material he was looking at wasn’t actually silver. It was hard to tell in the gloom of the underground study, but it had an almost rainbow sheen to it. Like a pool of stagnant water on the side of the street being hit by just the right amount of sunlight.

He looked around for the clasp on the manacle and found a small place for a key. He hadn’t found a key in his previous searches of the room and so went to the alchemy desk and found a sprig of dried holly. He then pulled a room key from his pocket and approached the lock.

“Tumble click and set, by holly’s sting and the keys duty met.”

He heard a click. He was a bit surprised, but he surmised that the lock was more to secure the manacle in place than actually provide security for it. That was what the magic was for. He positioned himself behind the gods arm and it fell with a thud as he opened the manacle. He stared at the dead deity for a moment to ensure it wasn’t going to begin moving before he turned his attention to the manacle and chain.

They were lighter than he’d anticipated. He was able to easily lift the manacle even though it was the size of his head. The chain itself was made of the same metal, but unlike the manacle it didn’t have a concentration of runes across it. As he held it, feeling the weight and observing the odd glimmer from it he suddenly began to feel weak. He gently placed it all down and stepped away, taking stock of his mana. It was as if a chunk of it had simply vanished. He sensed the pool of mana outside of him began to fill him once again, trying to fill in the sudden gap.

The chains had eliminated his mana. He moved close again and placed his hands on the chains, this time with his full focus on his mana. In moments he could feel his mana start to simply vanish. He released the chain again. He then went to the manacle that was on the ground, placing his hand on it while focusing on his mana. As before he could feel his mana draining into it, however after it drained it dispersed into the air around him, and then was re-absorbed back into his body. The runes had given the manacles a different effect than the chains. He wondered what would happen if he wasn’t there to re-absorb the ambient mana. Had the god been used to power something? To channel a spell somewhere? Another mystery that would need to wait.

Solomon moved to the wall where the chain was secured. It seemed to be bolted into the wall very securely. He’d need some method to undo the bolt or pry it out. Perhaps he could find a usable tool with Barnabas and his brother. If he could find some way to bind the Lord of the Black Wood he believed he may be able to kill it. It hadn’t shown a glow of mana when fighting it, but the attacks on his mind had a taste of mana to them, that meant that mana was likely the source of its power as the elven god’s had been.

The issue would be finding a way to bind him, or even to damage him enough once he was bound. The Spark spell he’d cast at him seemed to do some damage, but not much. He’d need to find alternative means to kill him.

He sighed. If he was a larger man or more athletically inclined perhaps he could have the chains forged into a spear or sword and fought it head on. That wasn’t the man he was though.

He made a few notes on a piece of paper before moving over to the large collection of alchemical items in the corner. His uncle clearly had them organized based on some rationale only he knew. There were no labels of any kind. Solomon frowned, but opened a drawer finding a number of long, thin vials. He raised an eyebrow as a thought occurred.