higher power, an agent of Deneir?” offered another.
Dean Thobicus shook his head to both assumptions, his gaze never leaving Rumpol’s. “I could not collect the information,” he explained to them all. “My attempts at communion with Deneir have been blocked. I had to go to Bron Turman of Oghma to find my answers. At my bidding, he inquired of agents of his god and learned of our enemy’s defeat.”
That information was easily as astonishing as the report of Castle Trinity’s fall. Thobicus was the dean of the Edificant Library, the father of this sect. How could he be blocked from communion with Deneir’s agents? All of these priests had survived the Time of Troubles, that most awful period for persons of faith, and all of them feared that the dean was speaking of a second advent of that terrible time.
Fester Rumpol’s expression shifted from fear to suspicion. “I prayed this morning,” he said, commanding the attention of all. “I asked for guidance in my search for an old parchment-and my call was answered.”
Whispers began all about the room.
“That is because…” Thobicus said loudly, sharply, stealing back the audience. He paused to make sure they were all listening. ‘That is because Cadderly has not yet targeted you!”
“Cadderly?” Rumpol, and several others, said together. Throughout the Edificant Library, particularly in the Deneirian order, feelings for the young priest were strong, many positive and many negative. More than a few of the older priests thought Cadderly impetuous and irreverent, lackadaisical in the routine, necessary duties of his station. And many of the younger priests viewed Cadderly as a rival that they could not compete against. Of the thirty in this room, every man was at least five years older than Cadderly, yet Cadderly had already come to outrank more than half by the library’s stated hierarchy. And the persistent rumors hinted that Cadderly was already among the very strongest of the order, in Deneir’s eyes.
Dean Thobicus had apparently confirmed this theory. If Cadderly could block the dean’s communion with agents of Deneir, and from all the way across the Snow-flake Mountains…!
Conversations erupted from every corner, the priests confused as to what all of this might mean. Fester Rumpol and Dean Thobicus continued to stare at each other, with Rumpol having no answers to the dean’s incredible claim.
“Cadderly has overstepped his rank,” Thobicus explained. “He deems the hierarchy of the Edificant Library unfit, and thus, he desires to change it.”
“Preposterous!” one priest called out.
“So thought I,” Dean Thobicus replied calmly. He had prepared himself well for this meeting, with answers to every question or claim. “But now I have come to know the truth. With Avery Schell and Pertelope dead, our young Cadderly has, it would seem, run a bit out of control. He deceived me in order to go to Castle Trinity.” That claim was not exactly true, but Thobicus did not want to admit that Cadderly had dominated him, had bent his mind like a willow in a strong wind. “And now he blocks my attempts at communion with our god.”
As far as Thobicus knew, that second statement was correct. For him to believe otherwise would indicate that he had fallen far from Deneir’s favor, and that the old dean was not ready to believe.
“What would you have us do?” Fester Rumpol asked, his tone showing more suspicion than loyalty.
“Nothing,” Thobicus replied quickly, recognizing the man’s doubts. “I only wish to warn you all, that we will not be taken by surprise when our young friend returns.”
That answer seemed to satisfy Rumpol and many others. Thobicus abruptly adjourned the meeting then and retired to his private quarters. He had planted the seeds of doubt. His honesty would be viewed favorably when Cadderly returned and the dean and the upstart young priest faced off against each other.
And they would indeed, Thobicus knew. He
Dean Thobicus shook his head to both assumptions, his gaze never leaving Rumpol’s. “I could not collect the information,” he explained to them all. “My attempts at communion with Deneir have been blocked. I had to go to Bron Turman of Oghma to find my answers. At my bidding, he inquired of agents of his god and learned of our enemy’s defeat.”
That information was easily as astonishing as the report of Castle Trinity’s fall. Thobicus was the dean of the Edificant Library, the father of this sect. How could he be blocked from communion with Deneir’s agents? All of these priests had survived the Time of Troubles, that most awful period for persons of faith, and all of them feared that the dean was speaking of a second advent of that terrible time.
Fester Rumpol’s expression shifted from fear to suspicion. “I prayed this morning,” he said, commanding the attention of all. “I asked for guidance in my search for an old parchment-and my call was answered.”
Whispers began all about the room.
“That is because…” Thobicus said loudly, sharply, stealing back the audience. He paused to make sure they were all listening. ‘That is because Cadderly has not yet targeted you!”
“Cadderly?” Rumpol, and several others, said together. Throughout the Edificant Library, particularly in the Deneirian order, feelings for the young priest were strong, many positive and many negative. More than a few of the older priests thought Cadderly impetuous and irreverent, lackadaisical in the routine, necessary duties of his station. And many of the younger priests viewed Cadderly as a rival that they could not compete against. Of the thirty in this room, every man was at least five years older than Cadderly, yet Cadderly had already come to outrank more than half by the library’s stated hierarchy. And the persistent rumors hinted that Cadderly was already among the very strongest of the order, in Deneir’s eyes.
Dean Thobicus had apparently confirmed this theory. If Cadderly could block the dean’s communion with agents of Deneir, and from all the way across the Snow-flake Mountains…!
Conversations erupted from every corner, the priests confused as to what all of this might mean. Fester Rumpol and Dean Thobicus continued to stare at each other, with Rumpol having no answers to the dean’s incredible claim.
“Cadderly has overstepped his rank,” Thobicus explained. “He deems the hierarchy of the Edificant Library unfit, and thus, he desires to change it.”
“Preposterous!” one priest called out.
“So thought I,” Dean Thobicus replied calmly. He had prepared himself well for this meeting, with answers to every question or claim. “But now I have come to know the truth. With Avery Schell and Pertelope dead, our young Cadderly has, it would seem, run a bit out of control. He deceived me in order to go to Castle Trinity.” That claim was not exactly true, but Thobicus did not want to admit that Cadderly had dominated him, had bent his mind like a willow in a strong wind. “And now he blocks my attempts at communion with our god.”
As far as Thobicus knew, that second statement was correct. For him to believe otherwise would indicate that he had fallen far from Deneir’s favor, and that the old dean was not ready to believe.
“What would you have us do?” Fester Rumpol asked, his tone showing more suspicion than loyalty.
“Nothing,” Thobicus replied quickly, recognizing the man’s doubts. “I only wish to warn you all, that we will not be taken by surprise when our young friend returns.”
That answer seemed to satisfy Rumpol and many others. Thobicus abruptly adjourned the meeting then and retired to his private quarters. He had planted the seeds of doubt. His honesty would be viewed favorably when Cadderly returned and the dean and the upstart young priest faced off against each other.
And they would indeed, Thobicus knew. He
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