Chapter 15
The young Alethosi were up in a trice.
“Stay on guard!” snapped Kaz, to Rynn, who had started to come back into the cave.
It would not do for their attention to be diverted if this was someone deliberately drawing attention.
Kaz left Protasion to undo his own trap and investigate, being prepared to go either way at need.
He came back to report.
“He got his neck broken trying to get through my rocks,” he said. “He looks a lot like the leader, so I am assuming he’s a close relative.”
“He can go on a stake in the morning,” said Kaz. “Take over the watch from Rynn; I’m taking her and Zon to follow that passageway. I apologise, you were right, and we should have done it last night.”
“The stones worked,” said Protasion. “What I like about you, Kaz, is you’re willing to say you’ve been wrong.”
“I only half believed my own suggestion of someone in the village, to be honest,” said Kaz.
The tunnel ran parallel to the cliff face, and came out in what looked like an old mine, behind a mound of tailings. Kaz located some unused pit props, and some boards of solid oak which they took back down the passage.
“If he’s the only one who knows that bolthole is there, all well and good; but if not, I thought we could build a stout door and hang on a couple of pit props,” she said.
Protasion nodded approval.
“I suspect that two brothers found the tunnel and came out here, and saw its possibilities, when the mine was worked out, and they wanted an easier source of revenue,” he said.
Kaz and the other trógling knew a few mining cantrips used by the Toróg, and a doorframe was made and merged to the rock with spells human miners probably did not know. The thick oaken planks laid side by side, and braced made a solid door held into the frame like the door of a byre with two good lengths of pit prop a dropped into brackets fashioned from the sturdy metal bracing of one of the treasure chests. Kaz was satisfied that a greater Toróg would not break through that.
And it was unlikely that they could be smoked out, as smoke dissipated through narrow fissures high in the rock, too small for anyone to traverse, but meaning that there would be fresh air near the ground.
The party of Alethosi rose early, despite the night’s alarums, to raise a stake for the other brother; placed next to the leader, the resemblance was unmistakable. Then they ate, hungry enough to be ready even for trail rations, despite staking another man.
“Protasion, Kuros, sleep now so the rest of us can sleep over the hottest part of the day,” said Kaz. “We’re going to turn the clothing of the brigands into bags for the money and the jewellery. I’m going to take the risk of leaving some oatmeal here, too, in case we need somewhere in a hurry, gruel for us and any beasts is enough to get by on.”
“We can, at least, buy more,” said Lelyn. “And we have not spent all the mission budget.”
“Indeed,” said Kaz. “Protasion, how do you interpret tithing? I know that Evalla spent almost everything she had and tithed from what little she had left on Godday. Do we tithe from savings as well as from what we earn?”
“No, that would be foolish; nobody could save up for better armour,” said Protasion. “Once we have tithed from this unexpected windfall, we will not have to give a tenth part of the nine parts left next Godday and so on.”
“Good, for we will need to make sure of stocking up well,” said Kaz. “When I have achieved the rank of Initiate, I purpose to adventure, looking for other likely places to fortify, and starting to seek out and deal with chaos associated with the red moon.”
“We’ll be happy to go with you,” said Protasion. “I think Svargia and I will have made the requirements soon.”
“I’m not sure what the requirements are,” said Kaz. “I’ve not been a member many months.”
“Oh, time is not important for initiation; it’s how well you fit in,” said Protasion. “You need a sponsor and a second from amongst the initiates and above, and I’ve heard plenty of them praise how well you’ve done. Then you need to go several rounds with a sword-master with a practice sword and show that you can handle yourself, and then you have to spend the night praying, and if accepted you get a visitation from Alethos – or possibly a cult hero standing as his proxy – and you are asked what gift you want, and you get your first geas.”
Lelyn poked Protasion.
“Proxy, indeed! Why, our god wants to know his new initiates, and see which gift you choose.”
“Do you know what gifts there are? You spoke of sensing ambush, and sensing truth,” asked Kaz.
“Sensing undead is one, I think, asking to be made stronger, or cleverer, the ability to fight off poison, initial lessons in using glyphs, which is a bit like what you do, but using godly glyphs. It’s like the staking of the brigands; they are staked on a death glyph because if done so by devout Alethosi, it prevents them from becoming undead.”
“Oh! That explains a lot. I felt magic swirling as we did it, and wondered why,” said Kaz.
“You’re lacking some basic human cultural references still,” said Protasion.
“Indeed; I am glad I have you all to fill me in,” said Kaz. “Dear me! Our lord is generous in such gifts; what geasa might we take?”
“They are ways to make us better warriors; fasting once every four weeks for a day to cleanse our bodies, not drinking too much, or at all, for those people who have trouble with moderating their drinking, using only swords, being more mistrustful of such enemies of Alethos like Toróg,” Lelyn added, “I know that not telling a lie is one of them, and my father told off one initiate for being rude, because never lying does not mean going out of your way to tell the truth if not asked, and is not what was meant.”
“Would I have to mistrust myself if geased to mistrust Toróg?” asked Kaz.
“You aren’t Toróg; you’re a trógling,” scoffed Protasion. “Though I don’t say it might not cause trouble with one of our people who hasn’t yet realised you’re different. You already mistrust Toróg; you don’t need a geas for it.”
“I already asked Alathan if someone who was chaos-tainted ask as a gift to have that removed. A lycoid, for example,” said Kaz. “He said that was possible.”
“It seems fair,” said Lelyn. “I understand that part of your experience of praying overnight is being questioned and tested by Alethos himself. He will take your wishes into account for a gift, and will geas you to help you with any weaknesses.”
“Then I must just place my trust in Alethos to know what is good for me,” said Kaz, much reassured.
“She doesn’t even ask what happens if you break a geas,” grinned Protasion.
“But why would anyone do so?” asked Kaz.
“Well, I know that if you are geased to drink no alcohol, it’s not enforced if there is nothing else to drink,” said Lelyn. “And small beer doesn’t count as that’s only got enough alcohol in it to make dodgy water drinkable.”
“That reminds me of a joke,” said Protasion. “How did the broken-down drunkard Alethos-worshiper defeat a vampire?”
“Let him drink his blood and killed it with alcohol poisoning, that’s an old one,” said Lelyn.
“Even worshipers of Tor will not have any truck with vampires, though they will make zombies and skeletons,” said Kaz.
“Well, that’s because vampires are chaos, the creation of Haima, more often called Aima nowadays, daughter of Daze and Selen, even as Lycos is their son,” said Protasion.
“There are good reasons why siblings are not supposed to procreate,” said Kaz. “Though when people say ‘you will birth monsters’ they don’t usually mean anything quite that monstrous.”
“If there are family flaws they will be magnified if marriages between any close relatives occur,” said Lelyn.
“Yes, and when the High Toróg tried to do a ritual to overcome the trógling curse, one of the secrets they do not like people to know is that a High Toróg hero serviced a dozen of his sisters and cousins for the ceremony. The gods do not like to be mocked by such things,” said Kaz.
“That’s something I wager they don’t want spread about,” said Protasion. “I’m surprised you know about it.”
“I eavesdrop,” said Kaz. “It’s saved my life a few times.”
“I don’t think I need a geas to mistrust Toróg,” said Kuros. “Not after seeing the state Rynn and Zon were in.”
The others murmured assent.
“Well, we’re all on our way to initiateship; shall we just pray for success in our endeavours, before we doze?” said Kaz.
The young people knelt to pray in their own hearts; and rose with uplifted looks, having felt the brush of approval across their minds.
It was late afternoon when they prepared to set off.
“I divided up the money between the eight of us,” said Kaz. “It’s as equal as I could make it, taking into account different coinage. I make it around the equivalent of thirty golden Solosti each, mostly in silver. I put all the copper in another bag as loose change for sundry purchases; was that right?”
“Alethos’s teeth, Kaz! That’s six years’ wages for a labourer!” said Evgon.
“And a year’s wages for a good bodyguard,” said Protasion. “That will help set us up.”
“By eight? You mean, Zon and me too?” said Rynn.
“You did help substantially,” said Kaz.
“I’ve never even seen a Solostos,” said Zon, in wonder.
“Well, don’t go spending it all at once on fripperies,” said Kaz. “I cut off sleeves and trouser legs and tied them up, rather than trusting to my sewing, to make money bags, everyone has one sleeve and one leg, the legs are silver, mostly hydri, hemi-hydri and the sleeves are gold. And one burlap sack full of copper coin, mixed from tetarts through to the odd three-chalko piece.”
“Tetarts add up,” said Evgon, seriously. “If you leave them to accrue, when you have four, you can get a chalco’s worth of meal from a street vendor.”
“Truth,” said Kaz.
“How does money work here?” asked Rynn.
“The golden Solostos, vulgarly called the ‘sol,’ is the coin of highest denomination and is about the same value as the Selenite red-gold Moon, though many people will not accept Moons,” said Kaz. “There are twenty Hydri to the Solostos, the Hemi-hydra is half a Hydra, and worth five copper chalcos. So there are ten chalcos in a hydra, and two hundred in a Solostos. The chalco is divided and you can have a hemo, half a chalco, or a tetart, a quarter of a chalco. Oh, and there’s a big silver coin called an Imperial by the Selenites, a Calf by the plainsfolk, and a Pent by the rest of us. It’s worth five Hydri. A Hemi-Pent is two and a half Hydri, or twenty-five chalcos. The values of the coins from different places vary slightly, but the amount of silver is sufficiently close to be honoured as the equivalent.”
“It would make it inconvenient to have to remember lots of different values,” said Rynn.
“It would, which is why nobody does,” said Kaz. “A Toróg bronze bar is worth about the same as a Pent, and as it’s moulded with divisions on, and breaks into ten, each tenth is worth about five chalcos.”
“And very few people accept Toróg currency,” said Lelyn. “We might buy an ass or another mule in the next village we find.”
“Yes, good thought,” said Kaz. “It’ll make the copper bag weigh less as well.”
“You’re going to be popular, spending seven hydri for an ass in tetarts,” laughed Protasion.
“I don’t think there are two hundred and eighty tetarts in there,” said Kaz, seriously.
“It just feels like it,” grinned Kuros, who had lifted the bag of copper into one of the baskets the mules had slung over them.
“When we get to Kallos, I think we’ll skirt the city, and leave Protasion and Evgon taking the jewellery into the Solos Temple’s Hall of Justice,” said Kaz. “I’m not chickening out – well, I am, but for the good reason that two young men worshipping Alethos will have fewer questions to answer than a trógling. And I confess, I do find going through the explanations wearisome. When I’m a glyph-lord, I can just stare down my nose at them.”
“From several feet below where they can see you,” teased Protasion.
Kaz poked him.
“That’s a bad habit of yours,” said Protasion, giggling as she hit a ticklish spot. “You poked Alathan as well, I hope you aren’t going to poke Alethos on the god-plain when you get to be a high-ranking hero-quester.”
“She will,” said Lelyn. “I wonder if he’s ticklish?”
“Now, that is not the sort of question that should ever be asked about one’s deity,” said Protasion.
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