Made in Denaviim
- Enekos
- Aug 15, 2023
- 7 min read
And from nowhere, came this lady who shouted ‘Athanasia’ in the same ancient tongue as he. A mix of bravado, arrogance and intrigue was keeping her alive for now…
“Then I went to Ekrinaya, to where the watchmaker Alfonso de Careno lived. I heard the tales in the tavern about the fierce wind and ball of light. A portal? Maybe by a mage?”
“Anything else?” Jean Flint leaned in: a row of teeth glistened in the candlelight.
Bia searched her thoughts, her eyes darting as if reading invisible notes. She stopped, looked directly at Jean Flint, and said, “Music. Someone heard music.”
Euph stared lovingly at her coffee, wisps of hot milk drifted across the room carrying that delicious scent. She had some loose ends to chase up. She read her notes: ‘Talisman. Epumatara, to the west of Veraku. Summoned Ad Hok for a report.’
Then there was Jean Flint and his suggestion she leave Veraku until the Blind Monk fiasco had blown over. Euph did not simply leave nor run away from her actions, even as proverbial pitchforks were gathering against the Ordo. The Queen’s advisors were still mulling over her proposed decree for the rebuilding of Veraku. Damn politics. If there was ever a reason to abandon Veraku, that was it.
Euph took a sip of coffee as a somewhat polite knock came to her door. She waited. While others may excitedly rush to the door to see who their visitor was, hers was always the same: Venu Enarum, her equerry of how many years was it now?
Venu knew when to wait, even with the somewhat boisterous guests waiting aside him. He cast the other men a quick glance: “One moment gentlemen.” In truth he meant gentleman and your – oh my, what is that smell? Have you not bathed for a week man?
After a painful and elongated minute, Venu heard the call of “Yes Venu!” and somewhat relived he opened the door, ushered the two men in and proclaimed, “Messer Ad Hok and his…” He regarded the other man with some disdain… “And his associate. Shall I open the window Ma’am? Yes, I shall. Veraku’s air will be most welcome today.”
“We have news from…” Ad Hok began, impatiently.
“Epumatara!” Bia was now sorting through her actual notes and glanced up momentarily at Jean Flint. “I met this fellow in shiny golden armour... Van Bastardo. In the Uog tavern,” she clarified, noting a raised eyebrow from Jean Flint who waved his hand to dismiss a seemingly trivial detail. Bia paused for a moment, gathered her thoughts and continued.” And he told me the tale of a talisman he acquired from Epumatara…”
“Epumatara!” finished Ad Hok.
Euph feigned ignorance and the other man - the one who had somehow evaded anything close to soap – added: “Where the talisman was mi’ lady.” She took a sip of her coffee and moved closer to the window, where the charred remains of the great fire of Veraku provided her welcome relief from whatever had died on Hok’s associate, servant, enforcer – whatever he’s called.
“Ah yes, your problem with the books and the numbers which moved on the pages. You found the source?” Hok nodded. “And destroyed it?” Euph raised an eyebrow as Hok looked at his associate. The two shared some hurried whispers before Hok turned to Euph and added: “Not exactly destroyed lady Euph. More, returned to whence it came?”
“And from whence did it come?” It was like pulling fine stiches from linen with these two.
“Denaviim.”
“Well mi’ lady it was sunny that morning and I remember saying to the missus…”
“Yes, yes, please skip to when you arrived in Epumatara and tell me about the talisman,” Euph smiled politely.
“Yes, mi’ lady. Sorry mi’ lady. Um, where was I?”
“You just arrived in Epumatara, and you’d found the man who sold the talisman,” responded Euph in a friendly way to move him along, before adding, “I hope” under her breath.
“Oh yes. Well, this Van Bastardo – we call him VB – well, he leaves the Uog area heading for Veraku to meet an old friend in the Lions Den. Along to way, he happens upon Epumatara in the back of nowhere, where they bathe in a river every third Sunday.” Euph shot Hok a quizzical look. “He got there the day after, lady Euph.”
FFS glanced at both, shrugged his shoulders, and continued. “They sell all kinds of nonsense; supposed rare artifacts and treasures from ancient tribes. Most of it comes from Denaviim and most of it was made by children last month. This VB meets one Eqbol Rhushi and asks – actually asks – for any talismans made by a watchmaker called de Careno…”
Euph made a mental note.
“Long story short, VB buys the talisman, comes to Veraku, causes havoc, returns to Uog and then disappears.”
“Disappears?” This part of the story wasn’t important, but when people at the centre of chaos disappear, and when such chaos involve the creation of a man who was murdered some years ago, then the word ‘disappears’ takes on new meaning.
The sands of time rush backwards briefly to that moment in the past winter of 1522 and reveal a conversation between the shapeshifter Fenrir and the one known as Van Bastardo.
“They’re going to kill you. Get back home, sell your armour, buy a big coat, and change your name. Let me see, we’ll call you Njal Ulf… It means young wolf in the ancient tongue.* Then hide in the last place they’ll look for you. Back in the Lions Den!”
*Some translate ‘Njal Ulf’ as ‘small dog’ but even astute scholars think this was a stretch of the imagination.
“Seems this VB had gone to Uog, changed his identity and become one Njal Ulf and… um,” FFS looked at Ad Hok for support. Hok nodded his assurance and FFS continued, “ Well, turns out he’d moved into the Lions Den, taking us for another load of coin and then somehow got himself captured by the Hanseatic League. But, a few bottles of 1499 whisky and turns out he escaped. We believe he’s an enforcer with the Union of Trades mi’ lady.”
“WTF,” she corrected him, curtly.
“What?” asked FFS and then added, “mi’ lady,” for decorum.
“The Union of Trades is now WTF, FFS.” Hok whispered in a sentence he never expected to say.
A quiet fell over Euph’s chamber as FFS processed this new information, before Euph broke the silence.
“So, the talisman was created by de Careno and he’s already dead. Epumatara deals with Denaviim and that’s where the talisman came from. Which suggest de Careno spent time there. Then this VB fellow appears and asks for a de Careno talisman by name. Disappears… and reappears as someone else. Two questions. Why did you return the talisman to Denaviim? Wouldn’t it be safer at the bottom of the Blue Sea?” Four eyes turned to FFS who shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“Well, Eqbol Rhushi wasn’t very co-operative at first. Wanted to protect his sources. Understandable really. Gave him a few gold coins and promised I only wanted to know about the talisman. He tells me about de Careno and other artifacts his source has so I offer to buy everything from them – but has to be the real stuff. Then I asked him how I might break the talisman – our talisman – and he mentions one word…” At this moment, FFS reached into his tunic and gave Euph a parchment. On it was one word: ‘Athanasia.’
Euph regarded the note, turning the parchment, before placing it inside her journal. “I assume there’s more Mr FFS?”
“Yes mi’ lady. De Careno makes talismans that are almost impossible to destroy. They are known as ‘forevers’ and can only be destroyed in the forge where they were made. So, I’ve sealed it in a lead box and sent it by messenger to Denaviim where I have a friend who will look after this box until we find the forge. I didn’t think you’d want me to risk bringing it back to Veraku. And by all counts, dropping it in the Blue Sea wouldn’t make any difference because this bugger would have found its way back to land.”
“And the merchant,” Euph read her notes. “Eqbol Rhushi?”
FFS looked to the corner of the room, “He’s what we in professional circles call not breathing anymore. On account of the knife in his belly. I wasn’t trusting him not to send a goose to Denaviim.”
Euph and Hok looked at each other.
“But I left the gold for his family.” FFS smiled. “I’m good like that, you see. Like to take care of those left behind.”
Euph called for Venu to bring some tea for her guests. Venu had predicted this turn of events and appeared soon after. Small crackers were also served, which FFS sneaked into his tunic. Euph read her notes once more.
“Gentlemen. I suggest you find this Njal Ulf and discover what he knows about de Careno, but please keep him alive. Mr FFS also send a goose to your contact in Denaviim an inform him that the Ordo Divitiarum will be visiting in two moons time. I will address that matter personally. Enjoy your crackers Mr FFS. Good day to you, gentlemen.”
Euph stood by her window and reached for her coffee. When she saw her guests leave the building, she called out for Venu who promptly appeared. “Please find captain Jean Flint. I’m in need of his services. We shall be taking a little voyage east.”
Alone in his cabin, Jean Flint poured a deep glass of rum and begin to think.
He remembered the route he took to the watchmaker and knocking on the door. He remembered checking his pocket watch and the candle that flickered in the window. He remembered distant voices and that he’d knocked once again – the door now slightly ajar. Now he added in the lady Bia’s conversation. A ball of light, fierce winds, music. He strained his mind, his memory, pushing aside the horror of finding the watchmaker bleeding to death and his final whispered words, “Find, must… find… taken… Veraku…” Ball of light, fierce winds, music, portal, mage…
Jean Flint slammed his glass onto the desk, reached for his door and shouted to anyone listening, “Bring me Marc Wick now!! And set sail for Veraku!”
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