The Necromancer's Legacy - part 66

Surprised but not shocked the seneschals welcome the unexpected consul to the house. Quadrata asks for Horacio and so Charon and Thriatos hurry (well, eventually) away to find him. In the middle of a house meeting Horacio is surprised - and not pleasantly so - to find the consul litterally in his doorstep. His fellow mages hurriedly makes excuses and leave the scene, leaving Charon, Thriatos and Horacio alone with the consul. Quadrata wastes no time and begin asking about the orb the three of them brought to Leupthia and once she learns it is safe she begins talking about a journey to Amoros. Not quite according to the plans of the mages, Horacio tries to complain that it's not a good time but quickly realizes its no good. Charon is quickly persuaded as the consul lets him know that she has a copy of the book he is seeking and promises to lend it to him once their current business have been concluded.

Quadrata wishes to leave as soon as possible so the wizards deal with their most critical affairs and make a light pack. While catching a ship in Neddam they are met by a sympathic Acidus (who is however not so sympatic as to risk the consul staying any longer than usual) and after saying their good byes they leave for the mainland.

Amoros seems to be the same old Place regardless of the insurgencies across the Empire. Charon immediately runs off to purchase the necessary materials for copying the Book of Unlife. He is joined by Thriatos and Horacio as their only other option is to tag along with the consul. Taking the opportunity to inspect their old quarters at the wizard house they return to the consul late in the evening.

During the evening dinner Quadrata finally sheds some light on the current events. Her desire is to head to the graveyard city of Haomas' Grave as she has learned about divinations predicting the reunion of the three orbs of the Necromancer's Legacy will soon take place there. As consul Savvas has already begun acting to have the imperial legion move to occupy the site Quadrata is keen to get there before she succeeds. She also mentions the orbs represent magic on a scale which has not been seen for centuries. They all realize they cannot be the only ones to covert this power and Quadrata suggests Savvas is their chief competitor as she believes Seneca - who was last seen heading into the desert of Ten Makao - to be, at least a temporary, ally. Consul Callissios should not be forgotten, but she finds him illusively hard to judge on the matter. She suggests the three seneschals learn as much as they can about the politics before they head out in 2 days as news might be hard to come by in the desert.

The next day Thriatos thus travel to the Temple to speak to one of his old contacts there. He gets confirmed that Savvas is indeed mobilizing the army to march on Haomas' Grave and also learns the Temple holds maps over the ruins. Arranging such maps to be sent to Quadrata's palace before they departe.

Meanwhile, Horacio learns that Acidus nephew Kaeso have been sighted in the city and hurry to check up on the young man. Kaeso, found at an inn in a less than sober state, is shocked to see him and has a long story to tell - beginning with how he ventured to Pantoria in the company of seneschal Ignatia. Horacio isn't exactly destitute to learn of his colleauge's demise but do find the information most interesting. He brings the drunken Kaeso with him back to Quadrata's palace.

Lastly, Charon heads to the harbor to speak with an old acquaintance. While most of what he learns concerns everyday politics it appears the city has been stockpiling resources for some unknown purpose.

Meeting back at the consul's palace the three share what they have learned and while they are keen to enlist Kaeso to their next endeavour he does not seem overly excited about a new adventure and soon withdraws to his quarters to rest a while. In truth, however, he flees the palace at the first opportunity - an adventure in the company of four wizards of high rank currently one of the least attractive options he could ever imagine. The others are however unaware of this as seneshal Silus, servant of Callissios, shows up at the palace claiming he has important news to share. Surprised to the Horacio, Charon and Thriatos back in the city he nevertheless bring the news that consul Seneca has returned and is believed to be gathering support among the legionnaires of Areanacre. Many in the imperial city, lead by Savvas, fears he will gather an army of his own and march towards Haomas' Grave and thus the plans for the army has been rushed. Quadrata decides they must leave before the army so they hurriedly pack their things and leave the city to spend the night at consul Seneca's estate as it is on the road to their destination.

Arriving late in the evening they are met by Julius and Constance, who both appears to be aware of consul Seneca's return, but there aren't much time for them to catch up as the mages leave at dawn on the following day. Accompanied by an impatient Quadrata the mages make their way to Haomas' Grave and the Wizards' Mausoleum where the consul claims a secret entrace to the deepest level of the royal crypts can be found. After reaching the mausoleum they find a set of labyrinth-like catacombs which Charon realizes is tied to the Octagon of Wizardry - a symbol of the schools of magic. Using this knowledge they manage to find a secret entrace in the tomb representing the school of divination - the art of dicerning the truth. From there a set of stairs leads deeper down beneath the earth...