Pirot nods in recognition as Arianwyn shows him Kyleth's rod.
"Used to be mine. I gave it to her in the early days. Vicious thing. Keep it."
He picks up the charred remains of the book. "The Library won't be happy, but I'm grateful. I won't be saying that often I suspect. You look like meddlers to me. I should know. Cup of tea?"
Arianwyn nods appreciatively and grins as he examines the rod further.
"Yes, a cup of tea would be most welcome. Do you have Synorian Blend?"
"Tea?" Vel sounds slightly disbelieving. "Very well, tea."
"Tea. It keeps me alert. Synorian if you wish, although I prefer something with more punch."
Pirot leads the way back to his now familiar study and stumps about preparing Vel's despised tea.
"What brought you here? Apart from my ex-pupil?"
Arianwyn examines the other teas on offer. He motions to Gobi as if to say "He can explain."
"As a group, or individually?"
"Is there a difference?"
Pirot stirs his tea and surveys the group. You see that he is shaking slightly.
"Kyleth feared you. I knew her well enough to sense that. Believe me, the feeling is mutual. Almost the only thing we ever had in common," he adds bitterly.
"Most people leave me alone. Both Ibrox and the gatekeeper summoned enough courage to send notes saying you'd wanted to see me. Why?"
"I came here because my companions wanted to, and to stop Kyleth. Of course, given that there is no body, we might have to do that again."
"I doubt it. The book will hold no more runes and her rod fell. If she was planning to return again, she cannot use that route. I believe you have truly vanquished her."
Gobi shuffles uncomfortably.
"Ummm. Actually - defeating Kyleth was an accident. I mean," he goes on meticulously, "we didn't come to Namarth to defeat her. We came to see you. Hroaldr sent us. He thought you'd be interested in some tracings we made a little while ago. A set of rune stones. I think Kia or Reason have them."
"Hroaldr? One of the few people never to waste my time. Show me."
Pirot sweeps the contents of his desk aside and waits for the copies.
"As my colleagues have stated, the elimination of that tiresome witch was a secondary adjunct to our actual mission, to whit, the rubbings of the stones."
Vel produces the rubbings she took so long ago.
All:
Kia sips her tea and looks on intently as Pirot takes the rubbings.
"What do you make of them?"
Carefully flattening the rubbings, Pirot looks long and hard, tracing some of the runes with a finger and cross checking them against each other.
"I don't know what instinct made Hroaldr send you to get these things," he says quietly, "but he was right."
Abruptly he sits down and looks again, apparently not really believing what he's seeing.
"You know what these things say, of course. And have possibly experienced the benefits?"
A sudden thought strikes him. "Where are the stones now? Not together still? Look. Here and here. There is a hidden map in the runes. It shows the location of the Wards of Balance. And why they were ever written down at all is a mystery. A mystery and an abomination."
"The Wards of Balance? Why do I sense we are about to be sent on another errand? Never mind, it's what we do - we fix things."
"Like Kyleth."
"Someone has to fix things. It might as well be us." the gnoll opines. Not suprisingly she's not sipping tea, but she is politely listening to the conversation.
"As I said, you look meddlesome to me."
Pirot goes to the door and chants quietly.
"Locked. Precaution. Most of the university are scared enough to stay away, but there's always someone stupid."
Turning back to the group, he surveys you all and then goes and rummages in his bookcases. Finding whatever it was he was hunting for he turns back to the table.
"Story time, meddlers. You will tell me about those rune stones Hroaldr sent you to copy. Where they are now, and who has them. In return, I will tell you about the Wards. It's an old story."
Arianwyn explains the background to the Runestones' recovery (from his perspective), about their aid to the spirit and the defeat of the duergar. He offers the floor to the relevant party member to explain the present whereabouts of the stones.
Kia explains the story from her point of view.
"There were some duergar who were moving the stones around for their own purposes. I don't think the stones are all there or in their original places. They were inscribed by a man called Einvar, persuaded to it by someone called Zembow, or something like it anyway. We redeemed him. Einvar that is, not Zembow. I think he is dead, or she. But mind you, Einvar was dead as well."
She explains about the gifts Jarovit allowed them to keep.
"I'm sure Jarovit said something about effacing the stones as well. Anyway, we can't go back there. He made that pretty clear."
"So what are these wards?"
"Oh yes, and that was on an Island called Pharoe, which wasn't that far from Riggarth. Took about a day to get there."
"For myself an expedition into the Underdark was thwarted by the attentions of the dark dwarves."
Pirot looks grim as the tale unfolds. "Jarovit's involvement should tell you that this is no small thing. He and his kindred are the first and oldest gods and they have not had anything to do with this world for aeons. Just as well. They weren't a kindly bunch then and I doubt they've changed much.
Jarovit himself knew that and set up the Wards to check himself and the others. Zemeboh found a way around them it seems."
The mage pours himself some more tea.
"The Wards of Balance were created by the oldest gods to stop themselves from tipping the world into chaos with their antics. I'm a historian, primarily. Origins are my speciality - which is why I went to the ruins of Bael Turath and why I know meddling when I see it. Meddlers have been trying to break those Wards ever since they were set up and it looks to me as if the cracks are starting. Jarovit may have protected the stones, but the copies exist now and can't be unmade.
Kyleth must have been on the same trail as you. Hunting the stones and their secrets. She was farsighted, I'll give her that. It explains why she needed to imprison me. I was to be held hostage I think, until I told her what I am now telling you. If I had given way back in that hellish illusion of Bael Turath, she'd have sucked me dry to come back to life, but before that, she'd have stripped me of this information.
Each Ward is an object - a treasure of incredible value and unknown purpose. Individually, they are potent and desirable. Together, they can turn a mortal into a god. They are hidden on many planes and nobody knows now what they look like. They are hidden in stories, but there are clues. Small ones only, nothing reliable. One thing I'm sure of. If the Wards are found and used, or worse, found and broken, the consequences might well be beyond our imagining. Bael Turath will look like a children's game in comparison.
If Kyleth was hunting them, then she won't have been the only one. Find the Wards of Balance."
Pirot sighs.
"I believe I can help you with your first step at least."
"You already know that the secrets of the Runestones - and by extension the secrets of the Wards of Balance - were not intended to be written down. Words are powerful."
Pirot's voice takes on a lecturing tone.
"It follows that the best records of these ancient things are held in societies which do not favour writing. A strong oral tradition is the purest source of information for such knowledge. Have you heard of the Kargzant?"
Arianwyn
You know that the Kargzant are a warlike nomadic tribe who live in what used to be a forested area. They loathe the fey and the feeling is mutual.
Arianwyn raises an eyebrow and smiles an enigmatic smile.
"Horse nomads. We," (he indicates Kia and himself) "would not be welcome amongst them. They are a particularly loathsome example of humanity."
Kia knew that, of course, and dredges her memory to see what else she can remember.
Kia
"Perhaps if I had further access to the Library, I could research more about these nomads..."
Kia vouchsafes the following snippets of information.
"These people are convinced they are unbeatable because they live a tough life and they are lead by their horse god. They live for their horses, which probably makes them pretty smelly."
"And their leaders are called Ur-Pan"
"Hmm, an unsavoury rabble indeed. They have a dislike for those of fey origin. The feeling is mutual."
"All very true as far as it goes."
Pirot brings the discussion to a halt.
"They are not an easy people to know and their hatred of the fey is legendary. Do not underestimate them as mere barbarous savages however. Their shamen are an untapped font of much hidden knowledge. Somehow you will have to find a way to impress them enough to let them visit those shamen."
"I spent two summers with them and my name is not unknown to them. I accomplished more than many in their dealings with the Kargzant - they accepted me as human. Look."
Pirot opens his robe and shows a deeply etched tatoo. "The Bone Riders are the most approachable of the tribes. They allowed me to wear their mark and leave them breathing. Go to them. Talk to their Ur-Pan. Tell them that Pirot Death Speaker demands his blood debt."
Arianwyn grins.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you. Full of surprises." he says, before savouring another drink of tea.
Kia puts down her tea.
"Do you have any cider? or beer at least? It seem wrong to be discussing blood debts over a cup of tea."
Looking pale, Gobi takes a long swig of his cherished keg of Fruitful Bloom cider and passes it over to Kia.
Vel sips her tea with a look of disdain while considering Pirot's story, convinced she remembers something important of the horse-folk. Meanwhile, Adalram appears on her shoulder, bobs his head at the tea, and aaws softly.
Whiteclaw quietly listens as well, not adding anything, but trying to take all the information in.
Kia puts down her tea.
"Do you have any cider? or beer at least? It seem wrong to be discussing blood debts over a cup of tea."
"Tea is the best drink for such a discussion. The pinnacle of civilisation in counterpoint to the wonders of barbarity."
Vel's formidable memory does not betray her...
Vel - Warning. Wall of text follows. Vel clearly did extensive research for some unknown, but fortunate reason.
The Kargzant do not believe that anyone who is not of their race can be truly human. Their entire culture revolves around proof of worth and they value courage above all other virtues.
Kargzant children undergo an early introduction to this philosophy. At the age of four, they are taken to the woods and left overnight. Survivors are true Kargzant. It is considered a sign of remarkable good fortune for a child to be attacked and scars from such attacks are filled with ash to make them stand out.
Their society values men and women equally, but horses above both. The herds are the life of the tribes. Women are held to have the ear of the Moon Mare who guides the cycles of life. Men follow the Blood Stallion, who fights for his territory. There have been cases of men who follow the Moon Mare and women who follow the Blood Stallion, but these are not common and the more conservative tribes do not allow it.
Warfare between the tribes is common, and considered good training for battle. All Kargzant willingly band together under a warlord when the Great Pan demands it. The Great Pan is chosen every ten years at the summer gathering, when horses are traded and marriages are arranged. Kargzant divide themselves into major tribes, each of which is then sub-divided into smaller bands.
The Bone Riders Pirot speaks of are in charge of the burial of the dead and alone of the tribes are in conflict with no other. It is considered a killing offence to war with the Bone Riders as only they have the skill to allow a Kargzant to pass from this world to the next. Brutal death and eternity in the Shadowfell awaits those who violate this code.
No chieftain is appointed for life. An leader remains a leader only so long as the elders agree that he fit. Death is not always the end of such rulings. An leader may resign at the request of the elders and join their ranks voluntarily. If he is felt to be dishonouring the Blood Stallion or Moon Mare, matters are tested in a duel to the death.
The origin of the Kargzant hatred of the fey lies in the distant past. Panish, son of the Blood Stallion, lead the Kargzant to the forested lands and gave them to his children. As a sign of his faith in their worth as warriors, he trusted them to make it their own. Inhabited by the fey and with portals into the feywild, the inevitable battle for supremacy raged for months.
Final victory came when Kargzant sorcerers united to call down the Skyfire, obliterating the forest and the hated fey in one night. No fey now live in Kargzant, but it is certain that the portals remain.
Pirot pours the last dregs from the teapot and closes his robe. "If I, or anyone at the University can help you prepare, we will. You are owed a substantial debt."
"There is more to it than hatred of the fey," Vel puts in, with an annoyed glance at Arianwyn. She then summarizes in a pedantic manner what she knows of the Kargzant.
"Oh yes, much more to it. They are also genocidal maniacs."
Pirot shakes his head.
"The Kargzant would not understand those words. There are no people other than themselves. Even so, needless killing is not in their nature.
The problem, of course, is identifying "needless" in this context. Do not show them fear and be warned - there is a streak of the mystic in all Kargzant. They live close to their gods and their gods speak to them more often than not."
"Oh, I shall not show them fear, I will show them fear in a handful of dust." Arianwyn says in a chilling tone.
"From what Vel has said, these Kargzant sound interesting. Even if they do dislike the fey, I think we can find some a way to prove ourselves to them. It will be interesting in any event."