Quothar So much so that when the band needed to go down to the Kali jungles, he was too sore to go. They went to go deal with some group attacking Arsul's old tribe, but it was just Arsul, Aurelia, Arlie, and Bartleby.

Quothar And Maraddonian soldiers

Quothar Anyway, they returned from that with some news: Rex had gotten and given a list of almost everyone any band in the Contest cares about and given it to the various servants and soldiers he and his cronies have, and sent them to Shem to destroy all of them. Amongst the fallen is your brother Cyril.

• Jack_C is saddened and alarmed by this.

Jack_C and nearly immediately prays to Venuvea to warn her.

Quothar You feel no response.

• Jack_C takes that at face value for now.

---

Quothar Meanwhile, Jack, one night, as you are resting from training, you hear a voice, a soft, female voice, "Jace Crane."

Jack_C "Can I help you?"

• Jack_C looks around.

Quothar A tone of amusement, "You already are trying to."

• Jack_C goes wide-eyed. "Is that You?" in his mind meaning "mother of Music"

Quothar "Not quite so lofty."

Jack_C "Then...who are you?"

Quothar "Her Champion." She sounds tired.

Jack_C "Great. So what can I do for you?"

Quothar "Word has reached me of the fate you claim Grayson Caer met. I would hear the details from you directly."

Jack_C "RIght. Well..." Jack outlines the whole story, including the circumstances of how he attained the info.

Quothar She listens, then says, sadly, "He was a great man, but Despair ruled then. Not even a Messiah could truly have resisted. And his heart had been broken by a close friend."

Jack_C "I asked my friend Arsul to look into how to help him, but it didn't work out well."

Quothar "I will... look into it myself. Rest easy on that score."

Jack_C THanks. You need anything, stop by here. I'll do what I can."

Quothar Humor in her tone, "I was wondering if you'd like to hear a story."

Jack_C "I'd love to."

Quothar "Once, long ago, a great man succumbed to a terrible fate.

Quothar "His best friends in that time were a mysterious woman with a voice that could master spells in song, and a man who could do the same. The woman was devoted, a leader of the cause against the forces of Terror.

Quothar "But the man was bitter, dark, and driven to power. He sold information to the forces of Despair and brought the great man low.

• Jack_C listens raptly.

Quothar "Millenia passed, the woman hiding and fighting as she could, the man serving and finding immortality and power. The man devised plots to infiltrate the forces of the rebels, and the woman worked mostly alone, wary of another betrayal.

Quothar "Many, many years later, a small group came together to face the evils that ruled, in the Era of the Spider, and the man came out of his hiding to face the woman.

Quothar "And in doing so, drove her to seek more power to face him again.

Quothar "Such was their enmity that she put all she had into destroying him. A duel in a fortress occurred, and the woman prevailed, through cunning and power. She valued trickery, precision, and beauty, and it won her through.

Quothar "In her long years, she had but few friends.

Quothar "One, though, was a being as bright as the sun, and that is what he served.

Quothar "Until another, darker foe took him, consumed him.

Quothar "The woman was again incensed. She sought revenge.

Quothar "She found the key to hurting him, and damaged the body he had taken from her friend, driving him to seek a new one, but not finding a way to slay him.

Quothar "In retaliation, he arranged to kill one of few her friend's children. She fought back by spying on him during a war, and making him lose face in the eyes of his goddess.

Quothar "Many ages later, he stole the body of another ally of hers, a close friend, and posed as him for many years. His attack was subtle, for he stole much knowledge, much treasure, and many people in this time from the woman.

Quothar "And her revenge for this was to seal him in the Hells, unable again to kill him, despite her powers.

Quothar "There, he made an alliance with another dark force. This force arranged, apparently, for the rise of many in power, and did so for him, too.

Quothar "But amidst the knowledge he had stolen from one dear to her was a subtle trap.

Quothar "In his rise to power, he inflicted her with a foul disease, but he also took into himself that which will be his demise.

Quothar "His name I will not speak, but can you guess his title?"

Jack_C "I would guess...the King of Thorns?"

Quothar A tone of approval, "It has been a long battle, and I've lost much to him. We've both made mistakes."

Jack_C "Then you are the lady in the story?"

Quothar "I am."

Jack_C "What did he take in that will be his demise?"

Quothar "He has begun consuming the soul of my goddess, corrupting it. I have the tool to destroy him, but his disease... weakens me."

Jack_C "What is the tool to destroy him?"

Quothar "The Song."

Quothar This is said so quietly you barely hear it

• Jack_C nods.

Jack_C "Teach me what I need to know?"

Quothar Quietly, "It is not what you know that concerns me now. It is what you believe."

• Jack_C nods. "My words mean nothin' here."

Quothar "What do you mean?"

Jack_C "Whatever I say I believe, it won't mean anything. I can't convey what I believe."

Quothar "My hearing is sharp, Jack Crane, but I deal only in sound, not thought... for now. Speak of your faith, even if words will not suffice. There is more to a word than just its objective meaning."

• Jack_C nods. "When I was a boy, I learned to sing from my sister Rubella. She...taught me that so I wouldn't be afraid in the dark. There were...things there. She knew I was afraid, and she wanted me to be strong like her."

Jack_C "Dad was always hung over, so he hated noise,":

Jack_C "And he would always...tell us to shut up."

Jack_C "Rubella never did, but I did."

Quothar She listens.

Jack_C "She...I started singin', and it lit the dark for me."

Jack_C "And then...I don't know I just...it wasn't enough. I felt like I was lightin' a candle in a windstorm, and I said to hell with it, but I never stopped singin'."

Jack_C "I never let go of that."

Jack_C "I hated the gods for that, for leavin' me on this world with nothing,"

Jack_C "But...It's not like that."

Jack_C "For the first time in my life, I can light the dark again."

Jack_C "I don't care how. That's what I wanna do."

Jack_C "That's what I believe in."

Quothar "So the music is a comfort to you, a protection from the unknown dangers?"

Jack_C "But not just for me anymore. I feel like I can give that to /Everyone./"

Jack_C "Like Rubella did for me."

Jack_C "I wanna make peace. With the gods, with men, with...for gods' sake, with Sir Mark if I can manage it,"

Jack_C "I wanna bring music back,"

Jack_C "And I wanna see her flourish."

Jack_C "I know, I sound pretentious. I can't help that. I am the way I am, and I don't appologize."

• Jack_C squints. "...well, not often, anyway."

Quothar "Your words suffice more than you know, Jack Crane. Look for your sisters."

• Jack_C nods. "Any advice on where to start? Or should I ask Arsul?"

Quothar She doesn't answer.

• Jack_C looks around.

Quothar You never saw her around to begin with

Quothar She's not there now