NOTHING seemed to prevent the robed figure from approaching the door of the underground building. The person placed a hand on the centre of the double doors that was the entrance into the structure, chanted a spell, then retracted the hand as the doors swung themselves inwards. The figure walked into the gloomy interior of the building, leaving the doors both open and unlocked.
“Now or never!” exclaimed one of the party men, prompting the entire expedition to gather their courage and dash for the opening.
The building looked like a temple on the inside. Pillars of marble and carpets marked the paths along which holy men would supposedly traverse. Torches lined the walls on either side, filled with tinder and incense to provide both illumination as well as a psychedelic smells that could subdue a person into a trance.
“Sheath your weapons,” Jéne E. said. “We don’t want to attract hostility in a place of worship.”
“Too late for that.”
It was the voice of a man, and at those very words the dormant torches burned to life and the doors closed themselves tightly. The beauty of the now-brightly-lit temple was lost as the expedition waited with baited breath for the punishment that would surely follow, punishment for trespassing and intended robbery. They knew they shouldn’t have intruded into this place of prayer, but as adventurers they sought riches and glory and nothing was going to get in their way. Nothing except death, of course.
“We come in peace,” Jéne E. announced. “We’re a research expedition sent here to study and glorify the magnificence of this hidden temple. Please permit us to perform our task.”
The robed figure replied, “And yet there are those among you who seek only to raid this holy place of its treasures. What excuse do they have?”
Jéne E. answered, “I’ll keep them in check. My main goal is research and the exaltation of knowledge. I have little need of material wealth.”
“You keep your eye on them, and I’ll keep my eye on you,” the figure said. He approached a pillar and leaned against it. “Carry on.”
Jéne E. may have spoken the truth regarding his intentions, but the gold-diggers within the party were undeterred. They plotted to get their pay one way or another. Realising this, the woman of the expedition approached Jéne E. and voiced this predicament.
“I am aware,” he replied. “I’ll think of something. For now, we work.”
* * *
The Tavern was where he left it. Jéne E. and all members of the expedition trudged back up to the surface world for a filling dinner and a good night’s rest at their given quarters. Curiously, the robed figure followed them using his magic to navigate the harsh terrain, leaving the underground temple unattended.
After dinner was served, Jéne E. retired to his room only to find that the robed figure was already there, leafing through the many books he had stored on the shelves.
“May I ask what you are doing, kind sir?” Jéne E. said with some irritation.
“I know your secret,” said the figure. “That makes you all the more dangerous, even to a person of great power such as me.”
“Everyone knows that I captain The Tavern,” Jéne E. retorted. “Everyone knows that The Tavern can move between worlds.”
“That’s not what I meant.” The figure sat down in an armchair and flicked through a book. “What I meant was your person.”
“I don’t follow.”
“‘I, me, myself’, as you so elegantly put it in your notes.” He held up an opened book.
Jéne E. understood the cryptic words immediately. A hand slowly went for the dagger kept at his belt.
“I am not offering enmity,” the figure said before any harm befell him. “I’m offering advice. The Magus is heading straight for danger. I want to help you mitigate that peril. You will soon meet a man, a man of mystery and of multiple names. Gain his favour. That is all I ask.”
>End of story.
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