Bread Pudding and Gnomish Spirits

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 50020

Astra looked the Captain in the eye. "The garnet is pretty, but I think that the ring is more nickel than silver. Keeping an inflammable keg of wine near me might not be a good idea. We dragons do spit fire, you know. The copper coin is a nice thought. Keep that here. Some of my problems, and my power, began when I took a pair of small silver coins, but I think that I should be safe with this. Please, if you can find any gold, or valuables, I would dearly like to borrow them for the voyage. I will give them back when this is over."

The Captain looked at her with sympathy, and then looked away. Even though she was really a dragon, pleading from a beautiful woman does have a way of softening male hearts. But did not doubt that Astra would find a way to keep any valuables that he gave her.

"Sorry, Astra." He continued honestly, "We don't have that much, and what we do have we will need when we get to Colonia Gallia. I don't doubt that you would intend to give it back, but I can't take any chances." Astra was lead below decks, powerless to resist. She languished until she fell into a fitful sleep.


Below the decks of the Elaine, two women each struggled with fear and doubt. Poverty, prison, and scorn were relatively easy to endure. The wise could always withdraw from the world, and after the external source if misery was gone, they could rebuild their lives from the resources of their mind and soul, much as the owner of a house repairs it after a storm.

Sartoma’s pain went deeper. The very core of who she was – her memories, her magical ability, and her personality – had been exposed and assaulted. She had no idea of how much damage Charlie had been done. She felt that inside of her, like a cherished book that had its index ripped out, and had some of its pages hurriedly scrawled with obscene pictures or phrases. She could remember bits and pieces of the spells and enchantments that she once knew, but these memories came to her unbidden, and she could not harness her knowledge. Sartoma the Archivist, with her great memory and potent charms, had lost, at least for a time, and perhaps forever, the power that she had taken for granted. She lay in the dark and damp, feeling unable to help herself, much less participate in the great undertaking of rebuilding Mount Erebus.

Checkers’ problem was not her health. She still had to watch her wing, but was otherwise remarkably unaffected from the sailors’ handling of her. But in any case, she had long ago stopped hoping. She considered herself condemned to not only die, but die outside of the Dolomite community, alone amongst the anglideri. She had long given up any hope for a normal life, and thought of only one thing: to do her duty and bring the dragon to justice. Her reward was that she would live and die like a Glider.

But nothing was simple. Suddenly, and against all expectation, the dragon was vanquished! Yet somehow another dragon, perhaps more benevolent, now had her fate tied to her homeland. And the dragon had lost the source of its magical power – the hoard of treasure, and especially the spearpoint and the two coins. Checkers felt much like someone alone on night patrol that smells smoke from a new fire, but does not quite know from whence it came. She had a fear that all this was going to do something bad to her homeland - something that every Glider in the RDL feared worse than their own deaths. And one of the most powerful of her new companions had suffered some sort of spiritual wound as a result of a surprise encounter with another mage. Checkers banished her worst fears for the moment. If her homeland was in trouble because of the dragon, there was little that she could do from here. Astra was far away. The one person she could try to help was Sartoma.

"These pirates are far more organized than when I crossed the sea," said Checkers. "And I did not know of any that attempted to use magic, beyond the black powder, which is more for show than anything else. What happened?"

"When I tried reading the thoughts of the captain, in order to put a spell on them, Charlie found me," said Sartoma. "Checkers, I hope that you never have to go through anything like that. I caught by surprise, and he … well, it is like having a thief ransacking your home, but it all took place in my head. I don’t know if I will ever be the same."

Checkers looked at her, and said, "You look quite whole, and even strong. Do you feel any pain?"

Sartoma replied, "No. But I feel diminished, as if some part of me has been hurt. I can’t recall a lot of what I knew. I feel worthless."

"Why so? There is more to life that just magic."

"Magic is a large part of who I was."

Checkers blurted out an answer which one might expect from a Glider, where many stories of the arrogance and power of human mages were told. "So those of us who are not magic users aren’t as valuable."

Sartoma turned red, and cried, "Damn you, you just had to say that. You couldn’t know how it feels."

Checkers slinked away, and looked at the floor. She had always felt uncomfortable with magic, and she had never seen a mage who had been hurt in the invisible combat. Sartoma’s pain was real. What could she say?

She thought, "I am ashamed of myself. I am sad for her, but she is one of the knowledge hoarders. The ones that I have known have always thought themselves special, and some of them hurt their own kind, and they were the ones that helped the humans take over most of the Morninglands. But she said that she wanted to help us, and she is hurting." Checkers looked at her sister prisoner, and thought intently, "Sartoma, what should I do?"

Sartoma replied, in the silent speech, "How did you do that?" Checkers had trouble making it out, as if Sartoma were speaking against the sound of a strong gust of wind rustling the leaves of trees.

"Do what?"

"Start talking to me using the silent speech?"

"I did not think that I was. I was thinking to myself."

"I see. Well, continue to concentrate and do that. It helps. Use of the silent speech is a basic exercise that people like me use from time to time."

"I am continuing. It is hard. I have trouble understanding what you are saying, like there is a storm going on."

"That's to be expected." Sartoma was silent for a few seconds, and then spoke silently again. You did not hear the question that I asked just now, did you?"

"No."

"Good. You do not pick up everything that I think. Now I am going to try to contact Astra. It is unlikely, but I shall try it."

Sartoma saw now saw a glimmer of hope, and more than a touch of irony. Someone who was not attuned to the modes of magic could not initiate the silent speech; they could only respond. But Checkers had started the silent conversation. Sartoma could do little for her, as most of her enchantments were useless for Gliders. They thought differently. Even the silent speech between Glider and almost anything else was difficult; Sartoma had the same difficulty hearing Checkers as Checkers had hearing her. "Better not tell her now. It is tempting, especially after that crack about the assumed superiority of magic users. But if she comes from a background like that, being informed of what she could be might well be traumatic. I have to concentrate on contacting Astra. If she goes, then I fear for the consequences, for both the Glider homeland and my own mission."


Solbert was quiet, but hardly idle. In the conflict earlier, Charlie did not detect him, but Solbert had managed to distract Charlie just long enough so that he could not break Sartoma. Solbert was now drained, and could do little magic, but only a little might be needed. Captain Jerimiah had taken a fancy to he and Fred, and he would take advantage of it. The ship's chow was uninteresting. Hardtack, jerked beef, some sweet, starchy vegetable that the cook called a sweet potato, some grapefruit (from Atheline Island, part of the plunder that the pirates did not want), and lots of liquor. With a little skill, he could make a sweet pudding from the hardtack and potatoes, and a wicked cocktail from the grapefruit, ouzo, and maybe a little sprinkling of magic. The cook seemed interested in his proposal for gnomish recipes, provided that Solbert taste the food that was prepared first. "This probably won't work, Solbert thought, "but a little in the right place, at the right time, can yield results out of proportion to its power."


Fred leaned back, and ate another helping of Solbert's excellent bread pudding, which caused a sensation on the ship. The bits of pudding went down like rocks, but they were good. The pudding at first had been fed to the men, who wolfed it down gratefully, as a change from the bland fare that they were used to. The ship's first mate introduced Solbert and the cook to the Captain's table, where they were heartily thanked. The cook also announced that Solbert had created a gnomish cocktail of great potency. Both had had a tasted it, and the cook pronounced it even better than the pudding.

The Captain shouted to Solbert, "What is it called?"

"Sir, this cocktail is called Little Bess where I come from."

"Then fill up the glasses and pass the Little Bess around," bellowed the Captain, who was having a good time. "Now Fred, you finish tellin' ush about them orders in 'Laria agin." The captain had had three glasses of ouzo already, and was in an elevated mood.

"Well, the Order of the Snowdrop is a good one to belong to. Just about anyone who has run his estate well or has loaned money to the king gets into that one, but one gets to visit Saint Eustace's Cathedral, which is always a treat. The hall is one hundred fifty paces long."

There was some laughter, and jeering, and one of the old salts said, "That's longer than our ship! Do you expect me to believe that?"

Fred replied, "Of course. My father has long been in the order, and went to Camelyn to receive the medallion and the bouquet of snowdrops. I believe him. He does not tell tall tales."

"So if you make it back, having been in a group that killed the dragon, you get in, right?"

"Oh, yes, at least. I would think that the Order of the Panther, which is given for exemplary valour would be my reward. Or maybe, if I have performed additional feats, and am popular at court, I can join that most august society, the Order of the Red Bottom."

The First Mate looked at Fred skeptically, "Order of the Red Bottom?"

"Oh, yes. The Marshall of Suffex, who knew the King from his time in Camelyn, is a member. It is all male, of course, and one has to be recommended by the King himself and two other members of the royal family. Good deeds are required, but one also must be able to sing, dance, and tell stories. The ceremonies are highly secret, and no one who is not a member of the society, on the pain of terrible punishments, can view them."

"Why are they called the order of the Red Bottom?"

"Members have a special cup at the King's table. Each member has their face painted on the side of the cup. The base of the cup is a crimson red. I think that is where the name of the Order comes from. The Marshall said he could not tell me any more. He showed me the special 'Plank of the Order', which each member gets, and it had all sorts of strange symbols. He also showed me a little silk pillow that each member gets after the ceremony of investiture. I wish I knew its significance. They also are allowed to wear a white ribbon with two red circles on it. It is coveted."

The quartermaster said, "The closest thing that we have is to a thing like that is the Albatross Society, which a lot of the rich merchant captains belong to. Unless you count the Terminal Reef Society, for those who have sailed beyond Terminal Reef, far to the west."

The Captain said, "Let's drink a toast. To the nobility!"

"I'll drink to that." said one of the officers.

"I'll drink to anything!" said another.

"Captain," said Lord Fred, "I need to wash down this heavy pudding. I will bet two silver pieces that I can outdrink any man at this table."

The crowd roared. "Good man!" "He's got spirit." "We'll give him lots of spirits."

The quartermaster, who was a large man, said, "I will take you coins, Fred. I'll be stone cold sober when you are under the table. Where are the coins?"

"We will see about that. I will produce them if you win, or you can make me run the gauntlet twice around the ship. I would much rather give you the coins." said Lord Fred, more softly than everyone else. He thought that he detected a slight nod from Solbert. The weight of the pudding should force the issue with the getting the coins. Solbert seemed to approve of this suggestion.

"And you want us to stake two silver pieces?"

Does the copper coin have any magical effects on Astra? Can Sartoma talk to Astra using the silent speech? Does Fred accept two silver pieces? Or does he suggest different stakes?

  1. The copper coin does have an unexpected effect.
  2. Sartoma can talk to Astra.
  3. Neither of the above happen. But the drinking contest begins!

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