Quote:
The door clicks shut behind you. It takes a few seconds for your eyes to grow accustomed to the dimly lit interior, but the room appears to be the antechamber of a larger hall. Following the faint sound of voices, you pass through an archway, along a corridor, and into the main hall. Gathered about a circular table of gleaming steel, a group of elderly men are poring over books, star charts, and astral maps, engrossed in discussion. Globes of blue-white fire hang motionless in the air above them to illuminate their work. The old men do not see you until you are close to their steel table. Their reaction to your sudden appearance is astonishing--they look as though they have seen a ghost. There are yelps of shock and startled expressions; sweat forms on their brows. The sight is too much for one old man, who swoons and faints, falling limply across his books and maps. Only one man remains calm and collected.
(I am asked if I have ever visited a hut on Raider’s Road, and I have.)
Instantly, you recognize the old man who stands before you now, calm and smiling. It is the same old man whom you encountered in a hut on the road to Ruanon some years ago; the same man who handed you a scroll that foretold the dangers of the Chasm of Doom.
'Welcome, Lone Wolf,' he says. 'Once again the stars have dictated that our paths would cross
Calm yourselves, my brothers. It is he--it is the Kai Lord.'
Slowly, as the startled old men regain their composure, their shocked expressions change to ones of awe and reverence.
'I am Gwynian,' says their leader. 'We have been expecting your arrival.' He points to the charts that cover the table and to a massive telescope that is fixed to a platform in the domed ceiling.
'The stars divine the shape of things to come--they are our advisors. We know of your quest for the Lorestone. We know that it is the true quest and we pledge our help, but there are many of our brethren who fear its power. They choose to ignore the wisdom of the stars and they have pledged themselves to a foolish and dangerous vow to keep hidden the location of the Lorestone and to kill all who seek it, for fear they would use it for their own ends.'
