• Solo • On the Trail of Cassion's Trial

[Doran]

Saun 7, Arc 721

The son of Ziell had woken up before dawn, as was his habit and eaten a light breakfast before he left the Knight’s Rest Inn where he had rented an elite room for the duration of his most recent stay on the island – he travelled to Scalvoris on a regular basis in order to hold guest lectures. In the morning, the temperatures were still comparatively pleasant – the second sun had just risen – which was why he found himself enjoying his walk through the city that was just rising from its slumber. All around him, people headed to work, children headed to school, and shops were being opened.

There was, he decided as he watched a fruit seller prepare her stall for the trial and line up shiny red apples, something special about those early breaks, a sense of hopefulness and peace, something almost magical.

Somewhere near him, he noticed the delicious smell of freshly made baked goods and turned his head slightly in order to find out where it was coming from. A few moments later, he stepped out of a bakery, holding a roll that was topped with sesame seeds and poppy seeds in a hand and occasionally taking a bite from it. It was still warm and quite fluffy.

Once he had eaten it, he briefly wiped his hands with his handkerchief before he quickened his pace. His destination that morning was the local library. Following the events of the Forging, the Immortal Qylios had given him a task – she wished to understand what had happened in Scalvoris and how Enri Von Smooglenuff had been involved.

He had already found stories about Enri’s heroic deeds at the Scholar’s Nook, he had learned a bit about his descendant Rodrigues’ murder mysteries and even discovered a link to the Pirate Lords through his cousin (He had learned that the Warden's real name had been Araman).

This time, he wanted to research the Cassion side of things – from what he knew, Enri Von Smooglenuff was a Blessed of Cassion, just like he was now, and Cassion’s Trial had played a part in the murder mysteries at Smooglenuff Manor and was an important festival on the island of Scalvoris.

He had to admit, he was also looking forward to seeing Rose Lefluer again though. The librarian’s help had been invaluable during the events of the Forging. She had been part of the research team and brought her books from the library to the Glass Temple, among other things.

When he entered, he immediately noticed her, sitting behind her desk. She was dressed just as unusually as always, in a floral dress that would have been more appropriate for a high-society wedding, and there was a hat with a fascinator on her head. Her outfit choices sometimes made him wonder, but in the end, it was her business alone. She was a fine librarian and a kind woman, and that was all that really mattered in his opinion.

With that thought in mind, he approached her, smiling slightly and inclined his head politely and respectfully. Before he could say something, the librarian already raised her voice though. “Professor! It’s good to see you again. What can I do for you to-trial?” she wanted to know before she added in a slightly thoughtful tone of voice that managed to be strident at the same time, “It was quite something, wasn’t it? I still think about the Glass Temple every now and then!”

[Doran]

“It was”, Doran replied with a light smile on his face and inclined his head. “I’ve been alive for quite some time, but I’ve never experienced anything like that before. To think that the fate of the entire world was at stake”, he murmured and shook his head before he told her in a serious tone of voice, “I’d like to thank you again, Miss Lefluer. Without you and without all the books that you brought to the Glass Temple, our work would have been much harder. Your help was most appreciated.”

He meant what he said. Rose Lefluer was one of the people who had truly impressed him that trial.

“Lady Qylios gave me a task”, he continued. Rose had asked him what she could do for him, and he had decided to share the exact nature of his task with her. Somebody who had not been there might wonder if he had really been given a task by an Immortal – such things were not exactly commonplace – but Rose had witnessed most of the events in question with her own eyes, although she had not accompanied his companions and him to the Heat of Scalvoris itself.

As far as he knew, Rose Lefluer was not one of the Forged.

“She wishes to understand how Enri Von Smooglenuff was involved. I already visited the Scholar’s Nook last season and learned about his adventures and the murder mysteries that Baron Rodrigues, his descendant, held at the manor on a regular basis. I’d like to take a look at the Cassion side of things now, starting with Cassion’s Trial and going from there, although, I have to admit, I hope to eventually get to know Enri Von Smooglenuff through more than just books”, he remarked.

Qylios had not told him that he needed to find Enri; he had come to the conclusion that the best way to find out how exactly Enri had been involved was to try and find the man himself though, provided that he was still alive.

Rose’s eyes widened for a moment when he explained the reason for his visit, he noticed. A moment later, she furrowed her brow, and then her eyes lit up and she asked, “You know that Cassion’s Trial is a festival that takes place on our island every arc, right, professor? People meet up somewhere and bring a story each”, she continued once he had nodded – he knew at least that much. “In the evening, there are feasts all over the island, and people share stories. Later on, those stories are brought here.”

“I love that festival, and those feasts”, she admitted in a dreamy tone of voice before she told Doran, “I can show you where the books on our traditions and Cassion’s Trial in particular are, and I’m sure that we also have some material on Enri Von Smooglenuff. Come with me, please”, she told him and exchanged a few words with one of the librarians working under her – Lissie would be manning the desk in the meantime – before she rose from her chair and began to lead Doran through the library.

“Thank you, Miss Lefluer”, Doran spoke as he followed her. “I really appreciate that.”

[Doran]

There was, Doran decided as he knelt on the floor in front of the shelf that Rose had shown to him and that contained books about Scalvoris’ culture, its holidays and its traditions, something special about libraries, apart from the fact that they constituted sources of knowledge. The atmosphere was calming and relaxing, and the smell of books reminded him of home, as much as the smell of ice and snow, or most recently, the sea.

He removed a book bound in red leather that was called “Scalvoris Throughout the Arc” out of the shelf – he could see the title on the spine – and carried it to the table that he would use for the duration of his stay before he went back for more and finally decided to peruse the library catalog.

Once he had gathered a sufficient number of books, he sat down, opened his notebook and started to write – he always took notes about his research and summarized his findings.

Before long, he knew that Cassion’s Feast (or Cassion’s Trial, both names were used in the sources that he had found) was a festival that took place every arc on the 24th of Ymiden. During the day, people congregated to predetermined locations in their town or village and brought a story each. If they could write, they brought their stories in written form, but there were also scribes that wrote the stories down (He thought that was a nice gesture).

Throughout the evening and the night, there were feasts everywhere on the island. Large groups came together to share stories, and always left a space for Cassion and a meal in offering. It was believed that the Immortal himself visited Scalvoris at that time of the season to sample the food and read through the thousands of stories that were left for him and later stored in the library (which was something that Rose had already told him before).

Cassion’s Feast sounded, he decided as he finally put the pen down again – the first part of the trial’s research had finally been concluded - wonderful, and he would make sure to take part the following arc. More than that, what he had learned made him curious though. Had Enri himself ever left stories at the library for Cassion’s Trial – and had anybody met Cassion then, provided that he used his real name when he visited the island?

The stories for Cassion’s Trial, he remembered, were stored in the library later on which meant that Rose, the head librarian, might know something about Cassion's appearances. With that thought in mind, he returned the books to their correct shelves before he decided to approach her.

The librarian raised her head when she noticed him – she had been writing something – and looked at him with a friendly and curious expression on her face. “Is there anything else I can help you with, professor? Did the books I showed you help you with your research?”

“They helped me a lot, thank you very much”, Doran replied, smiled at her and inclined his head slightly. “I have another question though, one that may seem a little unusual. Have you ever met Cassion, Miss Lefluer? The literature that I found mentioned that he visits Scalvoris for Cassion’s Feast”, he added as some sort of explanation.

To his surprise, Rose did not look at him strangely at all. On the contrary, the librarian appeared to be absolutely delighted and excited when he wanted to know if she had ever met Cassion. “Oh yes!” she told him, and her eyes shimmered brightly for a few trills. “At least I’m pretty sure that he is Cassion. There is a handsome man that comes here every arc. He always looks a little different. I think that Cassion visits the library in disguise”, she explained and proceeded to let out a sigh. There was a dreamy expression on her face for a moment.

[Doran]

Doran agreed with Rose that the mysterious handsome man that came to the library every arc might be Cassion, and he liked how excited the librarian appeared to be about that. He stood in front of her desk for a while in order to chat with her, but when another visitor entered the library and had a question for her, he politely stepped away in order to let her do her job and moved on to the second part of that particular trial’s research.

He had familiarized himself with Cassion’s Trial itself; now he wanted to see if he could find any stories about or by Enri himself. To that end, he started in the history section and then moved on to geography - and finally to folktales as well as myths and legends, for such stories often contained a kernel of truth. Historical events sometimes became the subject of myths.

His focus was always on Scalvoris itself, but he did not ignore the rest of the world.

Enri was a storyteller and an adventurer – he always used the present tense when talking about him or thinking about him because he refused to consider the possibility that his fellow Mortalborn was dead until he had definite proof of it. It seemed unlikely to him that Enri had never left the island, at least not before he had been made Baron Smooglenuff.

The kind of research that might have taken Doran entire trials before took him but breaks now, and what might once have taken him breaks, was accomplished in mere bits. Before long, he came across a most interesting book, about the pirates that travelled the seas of the north. He already knew that the Warden had been a Pirate Lord and wondered if Enri had gotten his information on the Pirate Lords from him before.

He knew that far from every source was accurate, but the newest book that he had found made him consider the possibility that Enri had actually accompanied the Pirate Lords for some time more seriously.

The book contained a story about Enri’s travels on a pirate ship. It talked about how he had travelled from port to port, and from city to city. Everywhere that the ship had stopped, Enri had given people gifts. Sometimes they had been exotic gifts from faraway lands, and sometimes they had been simpler things, but they had always thoughtful and something that brought a smile to their faces, and he had told people stories.

Enri might have some sort of connection to the Pirate Lords, but everything that he had read so far gave him the impression of someone who was kind, and genuinely good. Enri was adventurous, but he was never mean, or evil. He was, at least based on the impression that he had gained so far, a truly heroic figure. That circumstance increased his desire to meet him and talk to him. Parts of his story made him think of a kindred spirit, but there was also the matter of his family.

Back in the Glass Temple, Cassion had said that the Warden and Enri had been like brothers. From what he knew, the Warden had not always been desperate and without hope. He wondered what their time together had been like, and whether something had eventually driven them apart. Had they ever talked about the woman that the Warden had fallen in love with and that had turned out to be Audrae who had played a cruel game?

And what about The Girl?

[Doran]

In the end, Doran decided not to waste too much time on such speculations. He would know what exactly their relationship had been like, if – no, when – he had found Enri; besides, there was the possibility of talking to Qylios, Xiur or Cassion, all three of which had played a part in this particular story. Instead of engaging in some sort of largely unproductive game of “what if”, he decided to research one more topic – a topic that he had initially not planned to take care of that trial. There was still time before he had to leave again though.

He decided to take a look at those folk tales of traditions that weren’t directly related to Enri, or Cassion, or Cassion’s Trial now, with a focus on the Pirate Lords. Enri’s cousin, the Warden, had been a Pirate Lord. They had been very close at one point. Learning more about the people that the Warden had surrounded himself with, even if the stories in question were likely not entirely accurate – such folk talks rarely were – might thus help him when it came to understanding Enri and his past, to some extent at least.

There were, as he discovered when he looked for stories about the Pirate Lords, quite a few of them that were centered around the one that was known as The Guardian, or Liathen Almund. He had to admit, he could not help but wonder why her last name was the name of a city, at least for a moment, before he decided to dismiss that matter as largely irrelevant.

He wanted to focus on the bigger picture for the time being.

One of the stories that especially caught his attention also featured one of The Guardian’s crew members, a man known as Leopo, who had apparently been a prisoner at first, and yet been treated well. The story spoke of a woman that obviously had two faces – The Guardian had been brutal to any ships that she had attacked, but she had cared about her crew – just like Araman, the Ageless, the Warden, he remembered.

That had been one of the things that Qylios had told him when he had asked her what her son had been like. Araman had been a man who had devoted himself wholly to the things he had cared for, his city, his crew, his family.

He checked the cover in order to find out the name of the author. Enri had already written a book about the Pirate Lords – albeit under the alias of Enri T'nooh-Meougg. It was likely that there were more. The author who had written down Leopo’s story was unfamiliar to him though – which, he decided, did not necessarily have to mean anything.

Enri Von Smooglenuff had a penchant for pseudonyms, for anagrams and secret codes. It was possible that he had published some of his works under a name that didn’t have anything to do with his real one. Maybe some of the books that he had found so far had been written by him. Maybe he had even written them for Cassion’s Trial and taken them here.

With that thought in mind, he continued to look through the library’s collection of folk talks as well as its books on the local traditions. He discovered more stories about pirates, although not all of them had something to do with the Pirate Lords themselves – and even entire games and traditions that were related to pirates, but not necessarily the Pirate Lords.

And then there was the tale of the Blue Beachcomber, the Blue Maiden and the Blue Sands. The tale of the man who mourned his missing beloved and song for her every trial, hoping that she would return to him, in vain, put him into a somewhat melancholic mood.

At the same time, he found the man’s determination impressive. He had never given up, not even after decades. He wondered if that was a story that Enri would like, if perhaps, he had told that particular story himself once. Back when Enri had saved the children, he had not given up either, but said to them that they ought to be brave, every trial, a hundred times.

[Doran]

The picture of Enri had, Doran decided, as he put the final book – a book that dealt with card games, of all things – away and looked through his notes once more, become considerably clearer. He had a much better idea of what kind of man he was now. The individual pieces of the puzzle – his research that he had started in Cylus, back in Viden, what he had learned during the events of the Forging, and the research that he was working on now – were finally starting to come together. He could almost see them in front of his inner eye, like shards of glass. He was beginning to see links, clearer than he had before.

There was still a lot of work that needed to be done before his task was even anywhere near completion though, and for that reason, he put his notebook and his writing supplies back into his bag and rose to his feet. He did not simply leave the library though, but approached Rose’s desk once more in order to thank her again. He would, he decided, pay her another visit sometimes, and chat with her, even if there was nothing that needed to be researched.

As he slowly made his way back to the inn – he did not look forward to being in his room when it was so warm, but he wanted to organize his notes properly – he thought about what his next steps would or should be. Enri Von Smooglenuff was an important historical figure. It was likely that the history professors at the university possessed some information that might help him understand him better and ultimately, hopefully find him; and Enri’s connection to the Immortals – both as a Mortalborn and a likely Blessed - might warrant a conversation with the former Devout. This was also a matter of faith.

And then there was Stan, of course. As the Knight’s Rest Inn finally came into view, he wondered whether it would be helpful to talk to him and visit the Glass Temple again as well.

Later that trial, when the second sun was about to set and his work for the trial was done, he made his way into the common room where he sat at his usual table, a glass of fine wine in front of him, thinking of his previous meeting with the Tunawa priest in more detail.

Talking to Stan, he decided, would, likely, not be an entirely pointless venture, especially considering his involvement in the events of the Forging.

[Jackalope]

Experience: Tier 2 Plot Progression.

Knowledge:

Tier 1 Knowledges:
Detection: The smell of freshly baked goods
Investigation: Qylios’ Task: Figuring out which people to talk to next
Investigation: Qylios’Task: Figuring out who likely knows something about Cassion’s visits to Scalvoris Town

Tier 2 Knowledges:
Research: Cassion’s Trial
Research: Enri’s travels on a pirate ship
Research: The folk tales of Scalvoris

Skillplay: Appropriate to level

Loot: None.
Injury/Overstepping: None.
Renown: None.
Wealth Points: None.
Collaboration: No.
Magic Experience?: No.

Comments:
My first Tier 2 Review.

I’ve not reviewed Doran as a researcher before, so this is a first for me on many levels. He is obviously methodical, thorough, and incisive in his research. He also has the sense to maintain good relations with the people who can assist him in his endeavors.

I think the most interesting thing about this story is Doran’s working thesis that Enri von Smooglenuff is still alive, and that this research could culminate in his meeting the man. I hope he does; that would be a fantastic thing to read!

The stuff about the Pirate Lords, and how both the Warden and Enri tie into them, was fascinating as well. Doran obviously has a mind as synthetic as it is detail-oriented. If anybody can piece together how it all fits together, it will be he!

Enjoy your rewards!