"Though I rule the masses, failure to hear the lowest peasant gives me bombastic speech and meaningless stutter.
"Though I hold the gold of a thousand kingdoms in my hand, unwillingness to staunch the pangs of hunger makes me bile and sputum.
"If I command the use of all weapons such that I win every battle, and know arcana such that I comprehend all mysteries, yet lack compassion, I stand defeated."
Calmet stood on the threshold of his greatest triumph. He had climbed the highest hill, handled the gold of a thousand kingdoms, and won a number of battles. Yet he stood alone. He stood alone and waited for his enemy and mentor to express his approval.
Oh, Pelor, thought Calmet, why did you forsake me?
Waiting on the threshold of his greatest triumph, Calmet almost thought that a voice answered him. A calm, soothing voice seemed to speak directly to his mind.
Why, dear Calmet, did you forsake me?
The apostate touched his empty eye socket and felt tears well up in his other eye. He had forsaken Pelor because the god of goodness, healing, and the sun allowed him to lose his eye. He had forsaken the god who taught love and compassion because that god showed no love and compassion for him. The tender moment passed and Calmet, like an emperor of long ago, hardened his heart.
Laud turned the corner surrounded by a retinue of slaves and the guards chosen to keep them in line. Behind the slaves was another group of guards and two familiar shapes. Laud had brought two of his monstrosities with him. He held his crosier before him, and the staff glowed with the mossy green light of Gruumsh. Laud nodded to Calmet as a token symbol of approval, but rushed quickly past him in order to take in the long-neglected shrine. His light shone around the chamber, and even the archprelate's breath caught as he realized the severity of the desecration that had occurred within.
It looked as if one of the clerics associated with the southern kingdoms had invoked an earthquake in the chamber. A rockslide had destroyed the ceremonial door and filled the passageway that led upward to the little village of Scaun. The southerners had defaced a mural depicting the classic battle wherein the elf god, Corellon Larethian, mutilated Gruumsh's left eye. A pile of colored shards rested on the cavern floor where they had been scraped off the mural. Only the portion showing the bloody eye remained, the desecrators' not so subtle way of showing that the forces of good had once more injured the so-called god of strength. Looking around the carved cornices that once rimmed the top of the cavern, he quickly noticed two places where the desecrators smashed the stone into rubble. Since there was an admonition against weakness carved into the cornice, it didn't take much effort to see that the damage had deliberately excised the name of Gruumsh himself from the carving.
The archprelate turned his attention to the rubble in the center of the room. He reached out with his hand and wiped away some of the loose sand and small rocks from what he suspected to be the statue's head. Seeing the tip of Gruumsh's center eye, he hurriedly brushed more dirt and stone aside. Satisfied, he turned around and shouted instructions to slaves and guards alike. With clean-up operations under way, he turned to speak to Calmet for the first time since the chamber was opened.
"Well done," Laud said with exaggerated enthusiasm. "We'll clean up the rubble immediately. You will climb onto those rocks over there and use your power to shape stone to replace Gruumsh's name in the carving. I will clear the small passageway that opens to the sky."
"As you wish, Your Potency," responded Calmet.
"Then," the archprelate said, glaring at his minion, "you will stand behind my creations and make sure that your pupil and his friends do not disrupt the ritual."
"My pupil?" choked Calmet.
"Your pupil," affirmed Laud. "Jozan and his companions have breached the mouth of the mine and found their way to your inner sanctum. You didn't think I would begin such an important day without scrying the complex, did you? I have sent two of my creations to distract them. If they fail, you will need to hold them off till sunset."
"Till sunset?" asked Calmet.
"Between now and sunset, these slaves will be melting more of the gold ore. My artisan, Fluhrn, will reshape the statue's head to its original condition. At sunset, the light will shine through the center eye, the power of Gruumsh will flow through us, and we shall invoke his avatar. If you hold them off till sunset, we'll let Gruumsh himself destroy the infidels. The revolution will begin."
Calmet tuned out as Laud blathered on megalomaniacally. He was beginning to think that no amount of power could ever be enough for the archprelate. Worse, all of Laud's concern about the defaced idol reminded Calmet of a parable preached by the clerics of Pelor. The Pelorans told a story of a man who carefully selected a tree and carved it into the image of his god. The man shaped it and worshiped it, praying for its protection. Eventually, a foreign army besieged the city where the man lived. Many people had to flee for their lives, hearing of atrocities committed by the army when it conquered elsewhere. The man packed his gold and fled the city in the dark of night. Calmet chuckled as he remembered the final line of the sermon: "Do you really want to seek protection from a god that needs you to protect him?"
Well, interrupted the calm, soft, inner voice he had heard before Laud appeared, do you?
21
While Laud celebrated his triumph in the shrine once dedicated to Gruumsh, the Peloran intruders imbibed healing potions and entered the gloom of the mine. They advanced only a few steps before Jozan gently whispered, "Lux!" and his sun symbol started to glow. "No sense walking in the dark. They've known we're coming for days. The traps will be prepared."
At first, the five companions were concerned that they heard no sounds. Then they realized that all of the work must be going on deeper in the mine. Eventually, they knew they would run into a work gang of slaves and would need to kill the guards before the slaves could be harmed, but the knowledge that it was likely to be later rather than sooner allowed them to breathe easier for the moment.
The tunnel floor sloped steeply and they soon entered into a rhythm as they traveled deeper into the mine.
The group came to a point where a side tunnel branched off the main passageway. Yddith pointed to a gray statue attached to the cavern wall and squeaked out a question, "What's that?"
"It looks like a statue of a gargoyle," answered Alhandra. "It's probably here to mark this side tunnel as being significant."
As the group huddled together and discussed their next move, no one spotted the gargoyle turning its head to observe them and eavesdrop on the conversation.
"If we explore the side tunnels," observed Jozan, "we'll probably find dead ends where they've already mined out the ore. If we stay in the main tunnel, we should be able to hear where they're working and find everyone right away."
"I'm not sure about that," countered Alhandra. "What if Calmet and Laud are doing something down here besides mining?"
"Like what?" asked the young priest.
"Maybe they perform rituals with human sacrifice," suggested Krusk. "They might have some alcoves far enough away from the other slaves that the slaves don't hear the screams."
Alhandra chimed in with another option. "What if they're hiding powerful scrolls and artifacts down here? They would be easy to protect. I don't see why this mine wouldn't be as full of monsters as any dungeon or cave complex we've ever explored."
"Well," interrupted Yddith once again, "I don't know about you, but I'd rather be walking than talking. At some point, any guards left outside are going to figure out where we've gone, and we could be caught between two enemies."