"There is also the matter of my fee". "Fee?" Ayla asked. Hasan moved the tapestry back into place, conceling the yellow door. "Yes. You may come and go as you please, as per our prior arrangement, Ayla. But that agreement did not include guests". "That's fine" Dervish said, interrupting the two. "I have some gold I brought for incidentals. Also bribes".
"It is a fee, not a bribe" Hasan corrected him. "Most of my income comes from selling carpets. I am a man of modest means. I did not charge you when I allowed you entry to my labyrinth. Nor for the use of my cloak. I am a very generous man".
"What about 200 Zahiran Dinars?" Dervish asked. Hasan raised his eyebrows. "That is a decent opening offer" he concluded. "Yet quite far from where I would like to end up. As the Dreamweaver, the labyrith is mine and mine alone. As is the Hall of Mirrors. Others have accessed it without my permission, though many of them perished. Negotiating the labrith is nigh impossible for someone who does not possess the cloak. Though you should be safe if you enter the Hall using the alternate entry. And do not venture into the labyrinth".
"500 Zahiran Dinars?" Dervish countered. Hasan appeared to be considering the offer. "The price is 1000 Zahiran Dinars" Hasan declared defiantly. "Though, for a friend such as Dervish Sanders, I can give a 20 percent discount. Something I have never done before. I have collected the fee several times previously". Hasan counted on his fingers. "You will be the 6th. To only 5 others have I ever granted access. Each of those individuals paid 1000 Zahiran Dinars. They talked me down from a greater price. 1000 was as low as I was willing to go".
"For you, my good friend, I will settle for 800". Dervish considered the offer. "How much for a lifetime unlimited pass?" he asked. Hasan looked shocked. He stroked his beard. "Yes, for you, and only you, that is a possibility. But the price would be steep. I would grant you lifetime free unlimited access if you were to kill The Wise One. Though that task is likely impossible, even for the legendary Dervish Sanders".
"What is The Wise One?" Dervish asked. Then he remembered rumors he heard in discussions with fellow intellectuals. An Al-Qarawiyyin University professor elaborated on some rumors he heard in the streets of Fes. The Wise One was a being worshiped by the organization known as The Church Of The Wise One. The Wise One, as per the professor, was some kind of malevolent deity or demigod. One that supposedly resided within Fes itself.
"We can negotiate with a demigod?" Dervish pondered after relating what he knew of The Wise One. Ayla explained, "The Wise One is a very powerful entity, but it is not a demigod or a god. It has only fooled its gullible followers into believing it is". Hasan agreed. "They are fools" The carpet merchant remarked.
Dervish considered Ayla and Hasan's words. "You've encountered The Wise One before? I'm getting a sense you have". "A couple of times" Ayla confessed. Before we met". Hasan confirmed that he too had parlayed with the Wise One. Dervish weighed his inclination toward caution with the need for speed. He trusted Ayla unreservedly, so he paid Hasan the 800 Zahiran Dinars. Though it was most of the gold he brought with him for the journey.
"Be careful, my friend" Hasan cautioned. "By the way, if you are able to defeat The Wise One, or come to some other arrangement with xe, I would greatly appreciate it. I don't like it at all that xe set up shop next to an access point to my demiplane". Dervish and Ayla approached the yellow door.
"Some other things you should be aware of" Hasan remarked. "The Wise One knows not that there is a portal to my demiplane in it's chamber. Or anything about it's existence at all. So keep your guard up and do not disclose this. Also, beware Don The Old". Dervish did not know who this Don The Old was, but Hasan assured him Ayla would fill him in.
"There is much more to Hasan than I realized previously" Dervish remarked when the yellow door shut behind them. "Dude has his own demiplane". "Actually", Ayla replied, "the Dreamweaver's labyrinth is accessible to the one who possesses the Dreamweaver's cloak. The cloak is what is an artifact". "An artifact? That's a magical item with extraordinary powers". Dervish was impressed. "Maybe I should have held on to the cloak while I had it".
"The cloak has but one master at a time. It would have simply dematerialized and returned to Hasan had you not returned it. Hassan was only worried that he had misjudged your character, not that he would not get his cloak back". Dervish agreed that made sense. They walked along a dimly lit passage for some time, continual light lanterns illuminating the way.
Eventually the tunnel dead-ended. Or seemed to. Ayla pressed her face to the cold stone wall. She seemed to be looking closely at something. "The coast seems to be clear" she finally declared. When she stepped back Dervish noticed a small peephole. Then, after a command word was spoken, a hidden door appeared.
"Don't worry about The Wise One", Ayla assured Dervish. "I have parlayed with xe before". Dervish wasn't sure what he was about to see, but did recgonize it when it floated down from above. He read about such creatures back in his early days before he became an adventurer and was but a scribe.
Who was the coast clear of? Members of the Church of the Wise One. Inhabitants of Fes who came here to worship and pay tribute to the creature. A shaft of light from above illuminated the cathedral as a giant spherical being floated down from the ceiling high above. The Beholder had spotted them. Its central eye was fixed on the couple.
It's numerous eyestalks rotated to face them as well. Dervish realized this encounter was deadly serious, given that the Beholder could likely annihilate them easily. So Dervish was relieved that Ayla said she could parlay with it. Yet he was still very uneasy to be in it's presence. It was understandable why some might view xe as a demigod.
Although he recognized it as a Beholder, sometimes called an Eye Tyrant, it was unlike any one he had read about. Dervish had never seen one before. Even so, he could see xe was not a typical specimen. It had more than the usual 10 eyestalks. And it appeared to lack the large fanged mouth. Though the lack of a maw filled with razor sharp teeth did not put him at ease. Not in the least.
It was his understanding that each eye atop every eyestalk was capable of emitting magick energies that could cause instant death, disintegrate objects, transmute flesh to stone, and so on. "It is good to see you again, Ayla" the creature thought. While xe only thought this, Dervish could hear the creatures words in his mind.
"What have you brought to pay for passage though my chamber?" The creature inquired. "And who have you brought with you?". "Dervish Sanders" Ayla replied, honestly. TWO (aka The Wise One) considered what Ayla said. "I have heard of the human adventurer called Dervish Sanders" xe said, descending to ground level and floating closer. TWO eyed Dervish. "You wish passage as well? The price will be double".
swtd-436. dsa-16. Previous. Next.
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