A Dark Path - Prt 04

Ursa Blacksong - 96rd of Autumn YSTR 112

In the ancient tales and myths from the time of the elves before the coming of humankind to these lands, legends speak of the three ancient symbols of elven sovereign power, these ancient and powerful relics being known individually as The Crown, The Sceptor, and The Sovereign Orb.

As a matter of course such relics appeared time and again across many of the ancient stories and each having many names.

The Crown, for instance, being the most notable of the three relics having gained such titles as The Iron Crown, The Cursed Crown, The War Crown, as well as a host of other such names.

It had been clear enough that Sarah objected to the idea of Ursa’s unplanned departure but at the same time the elderly widow also apparently understood the need and thus had elected to say nothing on the matter choosing instead to help Ursa prepare for the road by preparing provisions and helping her check over her gear before finally seeing her off.

It was well after dark that Ursa made her move, slipping through the nighttime streets of the township like a shadow. Taking great care to avoid drawing the unwanted attention of either the town residents or the town guard as they patrolled the quiet streets. A short time later she finally able to slip through the main gates unnoticed and into the darkness beyond.

…

After having traveled through the snow nearly a half mile along the northern road Ursa finally sought shelter in one of the empty barns that dotted the northern countryside. It was there that she built a small fire to warm herself while she changed clothes trading the cotton dress and sandals she wore for the familiar comfort of her old tunic and leather breeches & boots.

Seeing no need to take the dress and sandals with her she stuffed them into a sack that she placed a ward upon to protect them from pests before hanging the sack from a hook on the back wall to be recovered later.

Pausing Ursa taking note of the heavy snowfall and elected to turn her attention to preparing a warm meal before she continued northward. A meal of thick broth coupled with hard bread proving ideal while she focused her attention on decoding the identity of the artifact that had been hidden in the requiem.

Determining what artifact might lay hidden in the Northern Requiem was not a simple matter of hunting through the pages of the Orders Book of the Dead and associating the marks on a map with an entry in the book.

To protect the secrets recorded within its pages the book contains hundreds of false or misleading entries that ultimately require a key to separate the true entries vs. the false ones. A key that only the few remaining Order members remain aware.

It was only after several attempts to decypher the text that Ursa finally came to an answer. The image of a spherical object called the Sovereign’s Orb.

…