Домагой Курмаич - Mother of Learning

Since nobody wanted to discuss the invasion of Cyoria and similar topics in front of the waiter, a brief silence descended upon the table. Zorian made use of it to consider their interaction with Quatach-Ichl thus far. Sadly, the only conclusion he had was that it was all very strange. He really couldn’t see through the ancient lich’s plots.

Zorian had been watching their adversary like a hawk, but Quatach-Ichl never tried anything underhanded or gave any indication he wanted to drug them or target them with some subtle soul magic spell or whatever. He also never got visibly angry with them, even though this conversation probably wasn’t going the way he wanted it to, and even after Zorian subtly scanned the beer he had ordered to make sure it was safe.

No, their interaction with Quatach-Ichl had been entirely peaceful thus far. Aside from clearly fishing for information about them and throwing in a subtle threat or two in his statements, he seemed to really want to just talk.

Hmm…

"Well, I can see this is not going anywhere, so let’s put all that aside for now," Quatach-Ichl said after the waiter left and a couple of seconds passed. "Instead, let me raise another issue – you have been looking into me in these past few days."

"Big deal," Zach scoffed. "Clearly you have been looking into us, too."

"As a response to your own actions, yes," Quatach-Ichl said with a small smile. "But you misunderstand. I’m not being outraged at you trying to get to know your enemy – I’m just wondering if there is more to it than that. Sure, you could have been simply looking for a personal weakness or a more effective tactic of dealing with me, but maybe… you actually wanted something from me?"

"You think we were trying to establish contact with you?" Zorian asked incredulously.

"It happens all the time," Quatach-Ichl shrugged. "People regularly come to me for help."

"They come to a sinister bag of old bones like you, begging for help?" Zach asked incredulously.

"Of course," Quatach-Ichl said with a big grin, not the least bit insulted by Zach’s choice of words. "I’m a millennia old archmage. I have survived several world shaking events, and even participated in some of them. People seek me out for all kinds of reasons. Some want lost or restricted magics that are almost impossible to get otherwise, some want to borrow my strength and expertise, and some are simply curious historians trying to get first-hand accounts of bygone eras. I usually help the latter ones for free, being a man of culture and generosity that I am, but others have to make it worth my time. Don’t let that intimidate you, though – I don’t deal in souls or demand people’s firstborn sons or whatever you read about liches in all those slanderous books your government keeps shoving down your throats. I’m an honorable lich, only ruthless to my enemies, and I pride myself on my fair and honest dealing with others."

"I see," Zach said, tapping his finger on the table thoughtfully. He then leaned forward conspiratorially and said, "As a matter of fact, we do have something we want from you."

"Oh?" said Quatach-Ichl, leaning forward as well. "Do tell."

Zach opened his mouth and then paused for a second, no doubt purely for the sake of drama.

"We want the crown you’re wearing," he whispered in a low voice.

For the first time since the meeting had begun, Quatach-Ichl seemed genuinely surprised. Zorian didn’t blame him. He was pretty shocked Zach had decided to bring that up, too. He didn’t say anything, though. Hopefully his trust in his fellow time traveler wasn’t misplaced and Zach actually knew what he was doing instead of simply being a little tipsy and ignoring the possible consequences.

In any case, the surprise on Quatach-Ichl’s face didn’t last long. He soon began laughing instead, leaning back in his chair and shaking his head.

"Oh, you two… I knew it was a good idea to come here," the lich eventually said, having managed to compose himself again. "You’re not even joking, are you? I say, sometimes I wish I could go back to being as young and brash as this… do you even know what this crown is?"

"Of course," Zach said. "It’s one of the artifacts of the first Ikosian emperor."

"Good eye," Quatach-Ichl said, giving them a thoughtful look. "It’s been quite a while since someone had recognized it for what it is. Most people think I’m just a megalomaniac for wearing a fancy crown all the time and leave it at that. How did you know? I thought you had never actually seen me before today, but I guess your investigation of me has been a lot more thorough than I suspected…"

"In truth, we knew you were in the possession of one of the imperial artifacts before we had even started investigating you," Zach said.

"Oh?" Quatach-Ichl asked in interest.

"It’s because of this," said Zach, retrieving the portable palace orb from his jacket pocket.

He extended the orb towards Quatach-Ichl, letting him inspect it in detail.

The old lich stared at the orb for more than 20 seconds in total silence, gazing into it with a serious face.

"The imperial orb…" he finally said. "I thought it was lost."

"It was," Zach nodded, yanking the orb back and shoving it back into his pocket. "And now it has been found again."

"So it has," Quatach-Ichl agreed. "However, I don’t understand how it is related to the crown I’m wearing. Unless you’re saying the orb can detect the other imperial artifacts?"

"That’s precisely what I’m saying," Zach nodded. "Well, to be more precise, the owner of any of the imperial artifacts can detect all the others. If one can access their hidden functions, that is."

What an impressive pack of lies. Not that Zorian cared too much about Zach lying to the murderous old lich in front of them, but it was kind of impressive that Zach could think up something so misleading, yet technically true. After all, the Key pieces did have hidden functions, and if one could access them, then they clearly had a marker as well…

"Truly impressive," Quatach-Ichl praised. "I always knew there was more to the crown than I had managed to uncover, but the hidden abilities had always eluded me. I don’t suppose the orb is for sale?"

"Is your crown for sale?" Zach replied, countering a question with a question.

"Not for all the money in the world," Quatach-Ichl said.

"Well then," Zach shrugged. "You have your answer, then, don’t you?"

"And yet… I feel there is a reason you showed me that orb," Quatach-Ichl speculated.

"How about a trade?" Zach tried. "You tell us what your crown does and in return we tell you what the orb does. Very simple and innocuous, and we both get to satisfy our curiosity without having to part with our precious priceless artifacts. How about it?"

"Very simple and innocuous, indeed," Quatach-Ichl deadpanned. "But the thing is, I already know what the orb does. It’s just a particularly large pocket dimension, no?"

"No, no," Zach said, shaking his head. "It does more than that."

"It does? I see…" Quatach-Ichl said thoughtfully. "I think I’m still going to refuse that offer, though. I have a feeling that I would still end as the loser in that exchange. Give me something more to work with. Say… the location of one of the other artifacts you uncovered?"

"Sure," Zach said, agreeing with the suggestion immediately. Of course he did. At the end of the day, the very nature of the time loop made this kind of information exchange inherently biased in their favor. Everything they said to Quatach-Ichl today, he would forget when the time loop reset itself. "Shall we go first, or do you want the honor?"

"It might as well be me," Quatach-Ichl shrugged. He didn’t seem terribly concerned about revealing such an important personal secret. "It’s not such a big secret, anyway. I actually use it as a form of intimidation sometimes. You see… the crown is one massive mana battery."