The Kinstrife
Part
12
In
which we learn of local politics and the inanity of bureaucracy; Toürthel is out of business; Brand and Aerin find an
antidote to klytun root; about the vault of Anwar Serni; Pimm's
late uncle Bergil was a bad poet; Adunaphel
was of old one of Sauron's generals; the paucity of
cash.
Evening
The
city of
There
are four quarters to the city:
The
locals do not like Heruvorn, their new governor, who
never moves without an armed guard and is in the habit of arresting people on
sight for the most arbitrary of reasons. He ignores the shanty town (whereas in
Minas Anor, so I learned on the boat, the city cares
for their refugees and many of the problems of Minas Ithil's
shanty town are thereby averted there). Neither is he making any attempt to
re-establish the wool trade, which has long been the basis for the local
economy.
Heruvorn also closed the university and executed
many of its staff but the library remains open, though with but a skeleton
staff and access is only allowed by application via the Steward's Office. Aerin
and Brand both need licenses to visit the library and need my word to get them
so we all go together.
Visiting
the Steward's Office in Heruvorn's half-built palace
is a mindless, bureaucratic farce that takes all morning. Everyone is
obsequious (to me) and completely inefficient but we finally obtain the
necessary licenses (though Aerin's half-blood demands managerial intervention
even with my word in support). Finally she and Brand are able to take
themselves off to the library while I seek Toürthel in
the company of Ilvrin, Pimm
still being nowhere to be found.
In
the market we discover that Toürthel is out of
business. Her assets have been seized and we must return to the Steward's
Office to register my father as an official creditor. This, of course, takes
the rest of the day but now that he's registered father should get a portion of
his capital back – assuming anyone does, of course.
Ilvrin and I get back to the Moonswan.
Brand and Aerin report excellent news: they have found the Herbal and now know
all there is to know about treating klytun root. It
seems that dragul root is a good treatment for all
drug-induced slumbers. Found only in the
While
I'm mulling over the implications of such a long voyage and whether Doronil can survive that long, Brand moves on to his
theories about our recent revelatory dreams; he believes our visions induced by
the Ritual of Hellmoren were about the diversion of
the river Siril, which flows through Minas Ithil. He has yet to research Adunaphel
but believes he's located the vault of Anwar Serni, about a day's ride away in the foothills of the Mountains
of Shadow.
Bearing
in mind the era of its construction, it seems likely that Anwar's
vault was intended to be a (possibly defensible, definitely hidden) place of
refuge to which to retreat his family should Sauron
have won the Siege of Barad-Dûr. As such it would
have been filled with provisions and portable items of value, presumably
pending transfer to a fast ship elsewhere.
After
the Last Alliance had beaten Sauron, the vault would
presumably have been deemed superfluous and, on his death, it seems Anwar willed the vault to 'the Guardians of The Mirror of
Fire' of whom we Brand can find no mention (though Aerin claims 'the Mirror of
Fire' is an area of rocky desert in Far Harad).
After
some centuries, since the 'Guardians of The Mirror of Fire' could not be found,
this will was disputed by Anwar's Serni
heirs but, after decades of legal wrangling, no party could establish a clear
claim and so the vault was declared 'wilderness', which is a technical legal
term meaning that no one has any claim to it and the King no interest. (Perhaps
Anwar didn't like his relatives and willed his vault
to a non-existent organisation to spite them?)
Brand
reckons he can find it and is clearly planning a looting expedition. As it
seems that legally it and its contents belong to whoever finds it first, I'd
far rather any valuables were divided between my companions and I than mere
strangers so it seems I must let Brand have his lead sometime soon.
Of
course, this assumes that Anwar didn't simply will an
empty vault to the 'Guardians of The Mirror of Fire' or that unknown wanderers
have not stumbled over the vault in the intervening millennia and emptied it of
anything interesting. But in such times as these it might yet be useful to have
a defensible, hidden refuge available to the family.
It
is strange that Anwar's heirs sought to dispute the
will when they did. Presumably they were then aware of its location or there
would be no point to all the legal fees. I can only presume we will find the
vault empty – assuming Brand can actually find it, of course.
At
last Pimm turns up late and shows Brand some scorched
papers belonging to his (that is, Pimm's) recently
deceased uncle Bergil who, among other things, was a
bad poet.
The
next morning I pen a letter to father, to be taken by courier, with the news Toürthel is already out of business and father registered
as an official creditor and of the dragul root – if
father can obtain it in Pelargir, then Doronil may be
up and well to greet us on our return. Otherwise it will mean a long and
perilous sea journey before he can recover.
Then
I go to the barracks to ask after Noruinivien's
funeral. She will be buried in Minas Ithil in two
days and I advise her commanding officer that I will be present to pay my
respects.
Then
on to investigate Toürthel's affairs. Her premises are boarded up but it is the
edifice of a person of moderate wealth with shop front attached and is worth a
fair penny so perhaps father will see some of his money after all. I would still
like to speak with Toürthel, though.
Meanwhile,
Brand discovers that Adunaphel was a woman, one of Sauron's generals commanding his southern flank in SA 3429.
She was defeated in 3434 by the Last Alliance but held the river Poros until Sauron's final
defeat. Quite what we do with this information is questionable; we can hardly
return the Siril to its old course, even if we knew
it. Perhaps the best we can do is be on our guard in
case Adunaphel is active once again.
We
are short of cash. I have 11 crowns left of my own money and just one of the 90
from father. My companions have already foregone one payment on their wages, I
cannot ask them to miss another, and the inn needs 3 crowns every night. It
seems time has come to use father's letters of credit. If these are honoured
then I shall pay the missing wages as well as that owing today. Otherwise, we
shall have to retreat outside the city and sleep rough. (Or I suppose I could
sell Al-Han on?)