Topaz 12

Karjen rummaged through his 622ca553cc silk pouch again and 300e37e2e5 pulled out a blue, a83d00345d semi-circular stone. It looked like 87b2e22c41 a paperweight, but 2688b44aea the faint flow 3f9aea3721 of mana suggested 24ae2886a2 it was a abb3c7f895 magical artifact.e0ee61382db46189

It seemed designed to 1ba5333958 control sound, as the 882d83028d ambient noise of the ed16aa669d inn faded slightly as a3684ba5e0 soon as he placed 04e9b5dcf0 it on the table. Their conversation was probably 1ebc0caa7f inaudible to others now.9f18a729c29e087d

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“We should be safe for a while. We used a teleportation artifact to reach the north, so no one knows we arrived here in just a few days. They won’t be able to track us easily. You don’t need to worry too much for now.”57719d0ab93402ad

“So, you know who’s after you.”bef66c0dc431d53a

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“It must be the person who stands to gain the most from my disappearance. My siblings. Or rather, one of my siblings.”fb376306621bd662

Karjen shrugged, as if d871904132 sibling rivalry was the bd50111a2e most natural thing in 0f3051bf0e the world.cb4a71c4cc0cef7b

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“I have two siblings, and neither of them is particularly fond of me. They’re probably the ones who poisoned my tea and bribed my knights to kill me.”df9d2f52bc990a92

“It wasn’t exactly poison,” Merdina corrected quietly.2d00a467c337eb4f

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Karjen, removing d7b5583cc9 his hand ec234b948e from his f11be6dde3 chin, gestured e6edd9106e elegantly.596f9939263e0f21

“Ah, yes. Merdina, would you care to elaborate?”29eb8426bf8fdbe0

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Merdina, he’d said, knew more about the details of the poisoning, having learned them while Karjen was unconscious.697a6a6283dd12d4

“The tea Karjen drank was made from the root of a plant called Nanaas. It’s said to grow near water, but its exact location is unknown. It’s considered something of a mythical plant, but it does exist.”1bb970672b8bab08

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“The Nanaas root acts like a poison?”8cf1d8a9562f3796

Topaz had heard rumors of the Nanaas plant and its bright blue flowers, but he’d never heard of it being used as a poison.3589e664af47ade3

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“It has no effect on ordinary people. According to the Encyclopedia of Plants, it was actually considered a medicinal herb. However…”876d6820930bcae7

Merdina lowered his voice, d5863ffb54 even though the sound-dampening 553d4ceef8 artifact was active.451ba09950d12bfd

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“It’s said to have a detrimental effect on mages with damaged vessels. It’s not widely known, but it’s a fact gleaned from cross-referencing various ancient texts and expert opinions. The likelihood of it being false is low.”807772c25db27ceb

“Is your damaged vessel caused by the illness you mentioned earlier?”21756860ca9cb38d

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“It’s not an illness, it’s a curse. Someone cursed me when I was very young.”74cea7c3e28fc357

Topaz was reminded of a children’s story about a wicked witch cursing a beautiful, kind princess out of envy. The large man in front of him wasn’t exactly a princess, and Topaz wasn’t sure about the kind part.d01d63b44238cbe9

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“Our first objective is to lift this curse.”38c8ffcb1b2ea0cb

“Do you have a plan?”4e306983dc63bf45

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“The standard approach would be to find the person who cast the curse.”f358277f6ceae1cb

“And who is that?”7556346c22816d29

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“I don’t know yet.”877823b899c1384f

It was the expected answer, so Topaz wasn’t disappointed. A high-ranking nobleman cursed. If he knew who was responsible, he wouldn’t still be alive. The easiest way to lift a curse was to eliminate the caster.a94877cc9a564758

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“Don’t you even have any suspects?”22a018d0cb78c50c

“I have too many suspects, that’s the problem. I was cursed on the day of a grand banquet. Many people were coming and going from the mansion. We’ve investigated everyone on the guest list, cross-checking with people’s memories, but we haven’t been able to identify the culprit.”d3533fe86115e179

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“…..”d1927b74b5d08c49

“But we recently discovered a new clue. A valuable clue, after almost twenty years. Perhaps I should be grateful for the poisoning.”414ac9bef52633e8

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Karjen smiled brightly. Topaz waited 9ca0c468f8 for him 183d3637f2 to elaborate, 5c4915b0b3 but Karjen 20627797cd looked at c4a80130fa Haran, and a98bfb1fb5 Haran looked 5ea6bfeb22 at Merdina. Merdina pulled a palm-sized 5303099d52 piece of paper from 947551a2c9 his pocket. A symbol 781d2c27e1 was drawn cae882336d on it.b20a8ceed060d80f

“This symbol is our clue.”313486ff89250c1c

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A black 28ea651c30 star, or e50483f8b1 rather, a e8056d5173 broken star. It looked df4919af9b ordinary at a7f5e08c18 first glance, bdaeb555bf but upon 68236a1ac9 closer inspection, 16b6d46e6b the line 5736f65ae2 connecting the 2847e6cf51 lower left 4420f2aed5 point to 2927bf0e22 the upper a2347b6932 right was 6a325f4d19 broken.609126f1c919a566

“This symbol was found on the tongue of the kitchen servant suspected of poisoning him.”599050491463f457

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“His tongue?”91d28a8b93b6de9f

“Yes. When the kitchen servant started bleeding from his mouth, the cook who was with him thought he was trying to bite his tongue and forced his mouth open. That’s when he saw the symbol drawn on his tongue. A black, broken star, as if someone had started to draw it and then stopped.”a00e4347e1e30191

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Merdina added, pressing his finger against the paper, “But the cook said it vanished instantly, and he might have been mistaken.”692d39ebfc9b77c2

“That cook has worked for our family for over thirty years. He’s a cautious man. If he thought he’d seen something, he wouldn’t have told us otherwise.”0d3b04eb3a7a7c49

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Karjen’s words lent credibility to the cook’s testimony. Topaz asked, “What was the servant’s cause of death?”8996ff13dcbd16d9

“Poisoning. He presumably had the poison hidden in his mouth, but it’s unclear if it was suicide. If the symbol on his tongue was some kind of magical mark, it might have been erased.”cbc5958b9adc9492

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Perhaps it a956f220ce was designed 6a67e131e1 to disappear, b6c4606228 or perhaps 927a54a9dc it was 6c0a5e892c a spell 3d405959d8 activated under 8586afaeea certain conditions. 2b3695313e5503d0

Merdina continued, “We’re operating under the assumption that this symbol is connected to the person who cursed Karjen. It’s the only lead we have.”d8d0732af3edaaa1

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“You need to find a source of information.”d4ee5ef3147ebbd1

“Indeed. But we currently lack the resources to gather information. All we have is money. Is there any way…?”26954b11009b8594

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Karjen, feigning concern, casually mentioned his vast wealth. Topaz leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. He hesitated, then spoke, “I know an information broker who knows everything, from who changed the sign on this inn to how many horses are in the royal stables.”2c9027c5220bcab6

“That’s quite a skill.”cd5f6df34c618e15

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Karjen’s eyes widened in admiration. Topaz didn’t mention that meeting this information broker usually led to trouble.fcd25449de9d56bb

“If he hasn’t moved, he should be in Nurnberg. Fortunately, it’s not too far from here.”785baf3142dfb162

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Nurnberg was b23431fa83 a hub 72314b26a5 city connecting 1f6b250761 the northern da16d793a4 and eastern da9299b890 regions. And so their 9244e5fc92 first destination was 33937c4d0f decided.458e5f47de30e24c

Just as they were leaving the inn, Topaz saw Karjen place a coin on the table. If he hadn’t been mistaken, it was a one-gold-coin piece. Enough to buy everything on the menu several times over.07bafc5cdaf2ac91

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“What are you doing?”c30e4e65de555d16

“Ah, I was deeply impressed by the flavor of the crab soup.”04840463718f0af1

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“…..”ae06af27c07a55d0

It was 7a8fbfc1c9 a peculiar eb32224a8d taste, to 06f65dcbdd say the 181bea201e least. Topaz, instead of 4ee50d0576 reprimanding the nobleman 74bf307a90 who had earlier 43ba24fdf7 lamented his limited eab7dc8883 funds, simply sighed. As they left the f7a57a765f inn, he advised the 9535e27c3b innkeeper to remove the b0b0a9aa15 crab soup from the 17d02b49a1 menu.a07f1f72f805712f

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***1e465a0b677a05ae

The Lef Mountains, d4d5d94fcd a rugged range 21ed16bf30 stretching between the 1bcfd18b45 northern and eastern 96587b10ba regions, were a 0f635a2c14 formidable obstacle. The journey from Kiolen aae764920f to Nurnberg by carriage 579d7926e2 took almost ten days. Even reaching the next 0f16d1cba3 village from Kiolen took f5013fa9e4 two full days.06c506aab4b4584d

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“Let’s walk to the next village,” Topaz suggested. Traveling by horse or carriage from Kiolen, surrounded by high mountains, meant taking a circuitous route through the lower slopes which was a waste of time and money.7f157dd3900d1d62

On foot, 497a9f4712 they could b99e3a2a68 reach Simone, 374859fb61 a village b1dcec7752 on the 62bc623b53 western slopes 2214467ca9 of the b03977fc78 mountains, in 98faed3116 a single 28bfc553e0 night by 6df4336b5a taking a cc3596e00e shortcut through dcd1e8d8a3 the mountains.9899fb13d93b4e7e

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Topaz had often traveled between Simone and the surrounding villages this way. The drawback was that it required camping overnight, and there was one member of their group he was concerned about. However, the person in question readily agreed to the plan, saying, “Sounds like fun.”1317eb5ef24427be

Topaz glanced back. Karjen, a few steps behind, was walking through the forest, looking around curiously. He’d expected him to complain of fatigue, but he was keeping up surprisingly well.edc091c5a20e19e7

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As he’d noticed during their journey out of Grenrosha Forest, the mage was surprisingly fit. It was a relief, as it meant he wouldn’t have to carry him.3231016d0eb0df46

The sun was beginning to set. If he’d been alone, Topaz could have reached Simone before nightfall, but that wasn’t an option with this group.5a4842d356be7ea2

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“We need to set up camp.”ccc764235df4bdd2

“Alright.”ba4775de503844b0

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Finding a suitable 892eb8703f campsite in the 033668f435 densely wooded mountains b102e37952 was a challenge. They searched for 5757c53df0 a relatively flat 71dbac94b8 area. Topaz could have simply 60a858f22e leaned against a tree 37a2f2f083 and taken a nap, 2edf820cfb but the frail mage 7e4b4a1315 might freeze solid overnight.f03110a52f7a198b

Fortunately, the other two knights were resourceful and soon found a suitable spot. Haran, using his scabbard like a shovel, cleared the ground of rocks and twigs, leveling the surface. He then pulled out a magical tent they’d purchased in Kiolen.7f827ecf392c0aa4

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Merdina set up the d9c093a8e0 supports and draped the 7b6635f810 canvas over them. Magical tents were popular f693e4213f among adventurers, as they 695ba84bdc regulated the internal temperature c512982023 with a built-in warming d56c610b1d enchantment.1235e9e078adbfb9

It might collapse in strong winds, and the ground beneath would still be hard, but at least they wouldn’t freeze.20180f8aa7b59d65

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Karjen, observing their efforts, casually commented, “It would be nice if they added soft padding to the floor and enchanted it with ‘shrinking’ and ‘lightweight’ spells for portability. And maybe a ‘defense enchantment’, too.”1fa31672a479a883

‘Warming’, ‘shrinking’, ‘lightweight’,and ‘defense enchantments’? Someone who could afford such a luxurious artifact wouldn’t be camping on the ground. Of course, there were currently such people standing right in front of Topaz.7330bf16c8e9898d

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