Arrows at Dawn (Iasc)

[Guido Faragas]

“You are right,” nodded Guido. “Let us have no more gloomy talk. I will simply finish my tale.”

The True Story of the Bow (part 4) Baltimus wandered around the clearing for a while, peering closely at every mound.Once, he stood in front of a small circular bump in the ground for several chimes, shaking his head and stroking his beard. He mumbled a few words which I must have misheard, as I thought he said “garlic and sapphires in the mud” - but that doesn’t make sense, so it could not be correct. Finally, his face lit up as he stood before one of the larger overgrown pieces of masonry. “We should dig here,” he said, with a serious tone in his voice. I unpacked the archaelogical tools from my back pack and knelt down before the ruin. It was about a quarter of my height and was totally covered in moss, bushes and mud. Baltimus turned to my father. “I need your services, master archaeologist.” “Guido will dig for you, I need a piss.” My father, stood up, hitched up his trousers, broke wind and flounced off into the forest. Poor Baltimus. His mouth dropped wide open and his lip quivered. “But I must have a Master... I thought that...” He turned to me. “Have you sufficient skill, young Guido. This will be a delicate operation. I had thought that your father was highly skilled in these matters but now...” “I have learnt much from my father.” I lied. “I have undertaken several digs such as this once. I am sure that I can do what you wish.” “Very well,” said the bearded man, regaining his composure. He delved around in a pocket inside his jacket for a few chimes before producing a congealed ball of dried fruit decorated with fluff. He picked off a piece and then offered the ball to me. Politeness prevailed and I helped myself to a small portion. It tasted very good, despite the fluff, which caught on the edge of my tongue and took me several attempts to spit out. “You must take extreme care with the surface of the stone. I believe that there will be carvings in the stone, which I must be able to interpret.” I nodded. I began by carefully pulling out the roots of a few of the bushes that covered the ruin. Then, I picked up my small scraper and set about scraping away the moss and surface dirt. It took a good few bells to clear away the foliage. After a while my father returned and sat back down on the mound, still refusing to help. Eventually, I reached the bare stone. There were three steps that led down to a small, arched doorway that clearly led underground. Around the arch were a series of symbols. Baltimus was getting increasingly excited and even my father was staring at what had been revealed. The door was firmly shut and there was no obvious lock or other opening mechanism. The old fellow stood close by the door, tracing the carvings with his fingers. He kept uttering a few nonsensical words ..”Rigat...Lampod...Firvig..” .. or, something along those lines. After a while, he scampered back up the steps and gave me a surprisingly strong hug that almost lifted me off my feet. He winked, turned to face the door and then waved his arms around, muttering some of the words that he had previously mumbled. I knew then, that he was a wizard of some fashion. When he had finished enunciating the final word, he lowered his arms and frowned. Nothing happened. He placed his arms on his hips and tapped the ground with one foot. Then, he stomped down the steps, gave the door a little push with one finger. Immediately, it swung open and he vanished inside. A few chimes later, he called to me. “Guido, come and help me. It is too heavy for an old man.” With a feeling of trepidation, I entered the dark hole. Wild thoughts raced through my find as to what might lie within. A treasure trove of jewels? A King’s tomb? A maze of traps and monsters? To my surprise, the door simply led to a small, bare room. The only thing in the room was a battered old chest that the wizard was struggling to move. “Would you mind, awfully, helping me?” Baltimus was red in the face and his breast was heaving as he attempted to push the chest. It took the combined effort of myself, my father and the old man to lift the chest from its vault. We all collapsed in a heap on the steps. “There’s no damn way of opening this thing.” My father’s voice rose to a shrill crescendo. He was right, there was no obvious way of opening it and no carvings as there had been on the door. “Patience,” said a beaming Baltimus. He reached inside his cloak, which appeared to have a never ending set of pockets. This time he produced a small flask. “I think we all deserve a drink. This is a fine wine I have saved to celebrate this occasion.” He took out the stopper and offered it to me. My father’s hand shot out to grab the bottle and he downed a few gulps before passing it to me. I drank deeply. It was a good wine. Baltimus took back the flask and fitted the stopper. A wave of weariness washed over my senses. I could scarcely keep my eyes open. I heard a dull thud as my father fell onto his side. The old man leant close to me, his beard tickling my face. “Sorry, Guido but I don’t trust you father. You will sleep for a while and when you wake I will be gone. If you have keen eyes, you may find a prize. Name it when you are ready.” I passed out. When I awoke, the wizard was gone. The chest was open and empty. I glanced around the clearing and caught sight of something lying on top of a broken down wall to one side of the clearing. “What’s that then?” My father had woken, he strode to the wall. I hurried along behind. Lying on the wall was the bow. Mt father picked it up and sneered. He thrust the bow into my hand. “I want nothing from that damn wizard, you take it. Let’s see if we can catch the bastard.” He ran out of the clearing. I lifted the bow in my hand, It felt right. Was it in the chest, or had we merely chanced on it? I will never know, for I have not seen the wizard again and I doubt if I ever will. Yet, I know that the bow has a name. But it is a mystery to me.

[Iasc]

Iasc sat in silent thought after Guido had finished his story. He was trying to make sense of the old man; the wizard, as the youth had called him.

“Name it when you are ready”, Iasc mused. “Maybe someday you shall see the man again, or perhaps he shall see you. You never know what wizards are capable of.” Another chime of silence as he continued to contemplate Baltimus.

“Do you get many old men at your door raving about adventures with rewards as fine as your bow?” Iasc asked. “If so I may have to consider a career change”, he smiled. He took an apple out of his back pack and began to eat it, offering a second one to Guido.

[Guido Faragas]

Guido took the apple and chuckled. “For some reason archaeology does attract eccentric clients. There are a few collectors of ancient artefacts in the city and they do all tend to be elderly old men. I guess that wanting to dig up and examine old relics has an appeal for that type of person. Perhaps you should join me next time I have such a client so that you might experience it all at first hand!”

“It also attracts those who believe that old objects are a source of magical power. In truth, it is something that stirs my own imagination, I often wonder if there is some power in this bow, although I have yet to see any evidence of it. It is thinking about such matters that stirred my own interest in the magical arts.” He paused for a chime gazing quickly at Iasc, wondering if such an admission was wise. After all, few knew of Guido’s interest and talent in reimancy.

[Iasc]

Iasc looked at Guido strangely. He had never met anyone interested in magic before. The idea of magic had never really crossed his mind either. It was something he had heard about but that was it. He had no knowledge or understanding of it, he was completely ignorant of it, but that didn't bother him.

“I'll be honest,” he said. “I don't know the first thing about magic. I've never thought about it in any detail. My knowledge doesn't extend that far, I'm afraid. I would be willing, however, to take up your offer of accompanying you on an archaeological expedition to possibly find out more about it and the interesting items you find.” Guido looked a little uneasy to Iasc, who smiled reassuringly. “I would offer you a chance to come and see me perform in the tavern but you could do that anyway, so how about I teach you a little bit about music instead, as repayment.” He thought for a moment. “Or I could teach you about mathematics if that is more your thing.”

“So, what kind magic are you interested in?” Iasc inquired.

[Guido Faragas]

“I would welcome your company on a dig,” replied Guido with a beaming smile on his face. “I had an interesting time on a recent dig. I was thinking of returning later in the fall as there may be more to find there – and I don’t want to take my father. If you are interested, you may accompany me and I’ll teach you a little archaeology and give you a share of anything we find – which may be nothing! It is close to the town so we should finish in the day.” He shuddered a little as he spoke. “It is a graveyard – it gave me the creeps the last time I was there but I’m determined to return. Perhaps you might tell me a little of mathematics – I have a feeling it may be useful in my business deals.”

“As for magic, well I am interested in glyphing – the writing of magical runes – and reimancy. An old fellow I worked for taught me a little of these matters.”

[Iasc]

“I have never heard of Glyphing or Reimancy before”, Iasc mentioned. “Which isn't surprising.”
He shifted uneasily in his seat, wondering how to approach his next question for he didn't want to offend his new friend. “As I said I've never met a person who practices magic before”, he began rather slowly, trying to pick his words carefully. “The only experience I've had is what other people have told me about them.” He paused for a moment. “I have not heard many things about mages but the one thing that seems to stand out in people's minds is that they are very... arrogant. People I've talked to say that those who study the magical arts generally consider themselves smarter and superior to others.”

He gave a shrug of indifference. “That doesn't seem to be the case with you, so I guess I must tell my sources that they are not entirely right.”

"What are magical runes?" he asked suddenly, finally processing what Guido had said.

[Guido Faragas]

“Magic potentially confers a lot of power,” admitted Guido. “So, it is possible that some may seek to abuse that power. However, the same can be said for many others skills. Some swordsmen may seek to exploit their skill with the blade, whilst others merely use it defensively and for the common good. The same is true of the magical arts, although there is a danger that they become addictive – much like ale!” He laughed aloud, although there was a serious note in the way he spoke.

“Glyphs are magical symbols that can enhance or store magic,” explained the reimancer.”Once the usage of glyphs was common but now it is much rarer. My master describes them as the alphabet of magic – just as we use letters to form words to express the meaning of ideas, a series of glyphs can form sigils that can have magical effect. Here I will show you.”

Guido picked up a long stick and then placing the edge of the stick in the earth, he quickly drew three symbols. All three involved a vertical stroke upwards followed by one of more branches to the side at differing angles.Although he was only drawing them roughly to show Iasc, Guido felt the tingle of their potential power in his fingers as he completed each one. “These are three of the runes that I know – different reimancers use different symbols – these were taught to me by my master.”

[Iasc]

Iasc looked at the symbols with wonder in his eyes. He had never seen anything like them before. He traced them out in his mind, even though they meant nothing to him.
“They are quite strange to me”, he said. “I'm sure that you have a good understanding of them, though.”

He was very impressed by Guido's range of interests and skills. A storyteller, archaeologist, archer and magician.

“You have shared a lot with me about what interests you”, Iasc told the young man. “I think it only fair that I repay you likewise. I'm not sure this is the place to teach you about mathematics, unless you want to do it in the dirt”, he motioned to where Guido had drawn his glyphs. “So, instead, how about I tell you a...”, he thought a moment for the right word. “Well, it's many things”, he said. “A story, a problem, a wondering. It all depends on how you look at it. It's a philosophical view of something that most people would consider to be trivial”, he tried to explain.

He gave Guido a second to think. “So. How about it?” He asked with a smile, as if daring him to accept a challenge.

[Guido Faragas]

“I have some understanding of glyphs,” replied Guido. “But I am far short of being an expert.” He idly brushed the symbols away with the side of his stick before tossing it to the far side of the clearing. Then, he listened intently to Iasc’s proposition.

“Perhaps we will leave mathematics until later. However, your story sounds intriguing,” said the reimancer, grinning widely. “I definitely want to hear it. You have stirred my interest straight away – you obviously have potential as a storyteller!”

[Iasc]

"I am no storyteller", Iasc said. "Anyway, I, personally, do not view this as a story. It is a problem to me." He smiled. "And without any further ado, here it goes."

This is about a race between a runner and a turtle. The fastest runner you can think of and the slowest turtle you can think of. Now, to make it fair, the turtle gets a hundred metre head start for he travels at, let's say, one tenth of the pace of the runner. So, the runner runs this one hundred metres in a certain amount of time and in the same amount of time the turtle moves ten metres, for he moves at one tenth of the pace of the runner. Now, the turtle is ten metres in front of the runner instead of the previous one hundred. Again, the runner catches up the ten metres but the turtle is now one metre ahead of the runner. This one metre is covered by the runner and the turtle is one tenth of a metre ahead. As you can probably work, this doesn't seem to have an end. The question is: When does the runner catch up?

Iasc posed the question to Guido with a smile waiting for him to untangle the problem.