The Master Of Zooz

[Malchik]

The door is opened by a man in a brown wizard's robe.

 

"Huh! I should have known you would come and pester me in person. Your cohorts can stop hiding, my magic is older and more powerful than anything you have today. My name is Mascor, former wizard of the School of Life in El Rhun, more commonly known nowadays as Zarim Bembolia (I am, that is not El Rhun). And no, I am not and never have been a Zombie. I suppose you had better come in."

 

You all realise at once that this man is well above your league in magical capability. He is not hostile, simply irritated by the disturbance to his routine.

 

"So you found me. What did you want to find me for?"

[tiaxanderson]

"To put it bluntly we seek wisdom, knowlage and understanding.."

"But we can be quite precise now."

Tiax looks to Baba John.

"Baba would you have to honor of telling master Zarim Bembolia what we are doing here? I prefer to stay still and listen."

No further word left Tiax's lips as he looked at Zarim Bembolia and then again at Baba John.

[phawk69]

"Master Mascor, how is it that we can see your abode, and yet the townsfolk seem to have no idea it is here?" T'ksar asks, "And more importantly, I suppose, what can you tell us of the Swords of Zoos?"

[Malchik]

Mascor grunts. "If you want to know my history you had better come inside. I dislike standing long at my age. And that is of course why I have set a ward of forgetfulness about the place. For most humans the sight of someone several thousand years old is disquieting. Not in El Rhun, of course, because there they are all the same. But there is almost no magic in Bashkher and what there is now is here courtesy of others like me - Damiel and Auran near Selma, Nikishastra in Ippikander and so on. We all avoid publicity.

 

As for the 'nine' swords of Zooz - which ones did you want to hear about? There are five in museums, one was lost at sea, one I believe was lost in the desert near Akitaron and I am myself convinced one will be found in the master's home town Zooz. As for the ninth - if it exists - I have no clue whatsoever."

 

He opens the door. You can see inside it is light as most of the roof is glass. Furnishings are few but there are a lot of books.

[mordred kaides]

Mandrake walks in and looks around in wonder.

"you said ward of forgetfulnes, does this mean that as soon as we leave this place we would forget everything you have told us?" Mandrake puts his staf against a wall and looks eagerly at the books.

 

"would you mind if I would take a look at those?" mandrake asks pointing at the books.

[tiaxanderson]

"No Mandrake we will most likly not forget this.. Though powerfull we are mostly used to magic since ever our quest started we have been surronded by magic, followed by magic and misled by magic."

Walking towards Mandrake and the bookshelfs Tiax pauses a moment.

Smiles at Mandrake and says

"Besides you seem to have an exelent memorie my friend. I one of us where to forget this it would be either Baba-John or me."

Inspecting the rest of the room Tiax continues.

He seems a little impressed.

"Shouldn't holding up a ward like this consume a lot of energy? Even for a man like you it should be.... troubling."

Then Tiax turned to the host.

"Or do you posses and external energy source? Something to sustain the ward without draining power from you?"

[phawk69]

"I suppose we would like to hear whatever you will tell us, Master. As for the Swords, the one with the missing tip is the one we would like to find out about. And what draws the swords together? So many questions, so little time." T'skar sighs.

[Baba-John]

Slow down all of you………………… :wacko:

You ask me to talk, then carry on like chickens with their heads cut off, in all directions at once.

 

Baba recites the story told by the Bharat Desani, adding a little of what they had learned on their travels.

 

He ends with the question, ”Can you help us in our quest, Master?” :(

[karkarinus]

Kalmer waits silently in the background behind his comrades, hardly noticeable, and not at all perturbed by what seems like three whole days of complete silence, while Mascor appears to be preparing his answer.......

[Malchik]

OOC> I am directing a play that opens next week. The last weekend was rather chaotic.

 

Mascor stares from one to another.

 

"I have endless time but there are things I don't understand. What do you mean 'draws them together'? And a sword with a missing tip? I have never heard of it. I can't believe it is one of those in museums or word would have reached me."

 

There is nowhere to sit in his dwelling save one overstuffed armchair quite obviously Mascor's.

 

You show him how the sword tips move together and he gets very excited.

 

"Magic! Indeed I always believed there was magic involved. The swords seem to anticipate action, if you know what I mean. I wonder..."

 

He goes to one of his books and leafs anxiously through the pages. "Ah! Here it is. The Castles of Levdia."

 

He holds out the book towards you. It does not seem to have anything to do with swords.

 

"No. The parallel. There are four castles. If you place the correct offering in each it is said that a fifth appears. What if the swords are the same? We have always wondered why it says '1 for 9' not '1 of 9'. Perhaps if all eight were together some fabulous mystical ninth sword would appear."

 

His enthusiasm is infectious but you are brought down to earth when he grunts. "If only we could try it out. But I cannot see how."

 

He sits in the armchair. "Even if you could acquire those from museums there are still the three missing. One is supposed to be in the ocean near here, you know. But no one has ever found it. As for the sword lost at Akitaron... Well, the person who can tell you most about that is Nikishastra in Ippikander. And you will have to go there to find one of the museum swords so better you should learn from him than me. Do you want to know my theories of the other two?"

 

The inside of the dwelling isd stiflingly hot and there is no sign of refreshment.