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.He would have fried you with a lightning bolt before you got within an arm's length.""I don't think this conjecture will get us very far," Akabar said, confused."Shall I continue with the other sigils?"Alias nodded, and Akabar held up the card bearing the sign of three rings, each interlocked with the other two."The trinity of rings is pretty common as well.It was used by several trading houses about the Inner Sea until the Year of Dust, over two centuries ago, when it was taken up as a banner by a pirate gang in Earthspur.After a few years new pirate leaders toppled the old and adopted a new banner."Since then the circles have been used as a signature mark for a notable Cormyrian portrait artist, as a stamp for a Procampurian silversmith, and the sign of an alehouse in Yhaunn in Sembia.The alehouse, by the way, was fireballed fifty years ago by a wizard because their symbol happened to be his sigil.He claimed the exclusive right to use it.He was a pompous northerner known as Zrie Prakis.""I knew some fell wizard had to be involved," muttered Alias.Akabar held up a finger to continue."Prakis protected his mark religiously, seeking out any others who used it and destroying those who would not give it up.It's a mark of his success that the symbol is now considered unlucky among many taverns, silversmiths, and artists.However, Zrie Prakis was supposed to have died in a magical battle some forty years ago, somewhere near Westgate.""Someone must have made a mistake," Olive pointed out."After all, when two mages are fighting, no one in their right mind gets close enough to tell who's winning.This was the symbol on the crystal elemental that attacked us in the Stone circle, isn't it?"Alias nodded, remembering how the sigil had blazed from the monster's chest."Anyway," Akabar concluded, "Master Dimswart got a cleric to do a divination for him.The exact question was: Does Zrie Prakis, whose symbol was the triple rings, still live? The answer was: No.""Well, I'm not a work of art or a silver dinner service," Alias said."That leaves me branded by a defunct pirate gang or an alehouse.Neither very likely candidates."Akabar, though tempted, did not disagree with her about the alehouse.He held up the next copper plate engraved with the insect leg-shaped squiggle."The sorceress who destroyed Zrie Prakis was named Cassana of Westgate.This happens to be her sigil.To the best of Dimswart's knowledge, Cassana still makes her abode in Westgate.She's reputed to be fairly powerful, but she's extremely reclusive.No one's seen her for years.She's not dead, but she must be getting on in years.""Maybe this Prakis fellow had an apprentice," Olive suggested."The apprentice is greedy for power, see, and he teams up with his master's enemy, this Cassana, and tells her how to defeat him.Then, when Cassana kills Prakis, the apprentice takes his master's sigil."Akabar's eyes narrowed into slits."Your expertise on the workings of betrayal is quite interesting."Olive smiled sweetly."Over the years I've made a study of all the evil you humans perpetrate on one another."Alias's head began to throb.Anxious to get this discussion over with, she pulled out the next copper plate, but the writing blurred before her eyes.She held the plate up to Akabar."What about this mouth in the hand?" she asked."Dimswart found this most curious," answered the mage, running his fingers along the engraved fangs in the mouth."This is a holy symbol—or the unholy symbol, rather—of a cult that has been dead for a thousand years or more.They worshipped Moander the Darkbringer.He, she, or it—the texts keep changing the pronoun over time—had a huge temple complex in the days of Myth Drannor, the elven kingdom, and was a continual menace to the forest peoples.Eventually, the elves burned the complex to the ground, slaying all its priests and banishing the god-thing from the Realms."The town of Yulash was built on the site of the complex, but Yulash has itself long since been turned to rubble.Hillsfar and Zhentil Keep are continually battling over its strategic location.Dimswart gave me the name of another sage who may know more, but he warned me that getting an appointment with this person may prove to be a problem"Alias held up the last copper plate.The blue upon blue bull's-eye was represented on sheet metal by three concentric rings, its deepening shades of color not represented at all, but described in the upper right hand corner.Nothing was written below the sigil.Alias looked up at Akabar, her eyebrows raised.The mage shifted nervously."Dimswart has seen naught like this in his travels or his books.He thinks it's something new, perhaps an up-and-coming power [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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