Forgotten Realms.
Lost Empires.
Faces of Deception.
Troy Denning.
Chapter 1.
Perhaps they thought ugly ears could not hear.
The celebrants sat scattered throughout the half empty temple, men with cleftchins and women with doe like eyes, all strikingly handsome or ravishingly beautiful,dressed in silken elegance and bathed in exotic perfumes. They were reclining onvelvet love couches and resting on marble settees, murmuring in soft distress as they waited for Atreus Eleint to walk the Aisle of the Adorer. Some thought it blasphemy to let him drink from the Pool of Dreams. Others claimed his presence hadalready ruined attendance. They all agreed that today would spell the end of theChurch of Beauty in Duhlnarim.
"What you waitin" for?" whispered Yago, looming over Atreus from behind. "I thought you wanted this."
The ogre was dressed in his best ceremonial armor, filling the marble entrywaywith a ten-foot wall of burnished leather and gleaming bronze. He had a raw, heavy-boned face with the sloping forehead, jutting jaw, and wart-covered hide typical of his race, but even this brutish visage drew less comment than Atreus"s.
"I do," said Atreus, "but I"m nervous."
"What"s to be nervous about?" Yago thumped Atreus"s back with a hand the sizeof a buckler. "Go on." Atreus nodded and started up the aisle, his arms spreadwide to display the brocade inside his cape. The pattern depicted the tail of the sacred peac.o.c.k, fanning out to either side of Atreus"s body. Though a masterweaver had embroidered the design from thread of gold, it drew no more ovationthan his velvet doublet or silk leg cannons. Even the :finest clothes could notmask Atreus"s singular shape; the hunchbacked form with the lopsided humpand jutting neck, the oversized arms, the bowed legs and one pigeon toed foot.
Atreus stopped at the Show Ring and executed a graceful pirouette, spinning aslightly upon his deformed toes as any dancer. The celebrants covered their mouths and fell to t.i.ttering. No one clapped, even when he folded his arms in frontof his chest and brought the two edges of his cape together, displaying thegolden likeness of Sune Firehair. After today, he would be a celebrant in the Church of Beauty, and they did not consider that worthy of applause.
Atreus swallowed his disappointment, pasted a shad-lipped grin on his mouth,then executed a deep bow. If most of the celebrants grimaced and turned away,he did not blame them. His face was a gruesome, misshapen thing covered withlumps and swellings, laced with red veins, so abhorrent to look upon that he could not pa.s.s a mirror without shuddering himself. But if his appearance offended the worshipers of Sune Firehair, his wealth did not. They had been happy enough to accept the new couches upon which they reclined and thegurgling fountains and marble statues that decorated their temple"s new garden.
Atreus turned toward the silvery dais in the front of the chamber, where three heartwarders stood waiting. Like all of Sune"s priests, they were incredibly attractive. Their faces had that balance of symmetry and proportion that was the foundation of human beauty, a certain natural harmony that did not strike the eye so much as simply please it. By comparison, Atreus"s own features were grossly imbalanced, with some parts much too large and others not large enough and nothing quite where it belonged. Had someone divided a portrait of his face down the center (not that he had ever asked an artist to paint such a hideous work), it would have been impossible to tell that the two halves belonged together.
"Atreus Eleint, through your devotion you have earned the right to look into thePool of Dreams," said Heart-warder Julienne, the founder of Duhlnarim"s Church of Beauty. "Will you avail yourself?"
"I will." From the seats behind Atreus came a chorus of disapproving groans thatYago quickly silenced with a muted growl. The three heartwarders pretended not to notice the exchange, flashing smiles as l.u.s.trous as they were practiced, Unlikethe celebrants, who were guests of the templeand therefore free to behave however they wished, etiquette required theheartwarders to make every worshiper feel welcome. Of course, good manners had not prevented Julienne from broaching the subject of a nice silken hood, but Atreus had politely declined,citing Sune"s sacred exhortation to "hide not away." Besides, if he had to havesuch a hideous face it did not seem unfair to ask others to look at it. Julienne extended her hand.
"Then come." Her a.s.sistants, a hazel-eyed beauty and a handsome young man, descended the stairs to take Atreus"s gangling arms. Though the lightness of their touchbetrayed their revulsion, Atreus"s grin broadened into a heartfelt smile. Juliennegrimaced at the sight of so many gray, snaggled teeth.
Leaving Yago at the base of the stairs, the a.s.sistant heart-warders escorted Atreus up to the Pool of Dreams. It was a raised oval basin about twice as largeas a bathing tub, with silver sides embossed in a tangled pattern of intertwinedlovers. Atreus kneeled beside the basin and kept his gaze fixed on Julienne,reluctant to shatter the joy of the moment with a glimpse of his own reflection.
"Why are you looking at me, Atreus Eleint?" Julienne cast her emerald eyes upon the water. "What you seek is in the pool."
Atreus took a deep breath, then lowered his gaze and gasped in astonishment.There was no reflection, only still black water as deep and dark as a rainy night.Remembering Julienne"s words, he kept his eyes fixed on the gla.s.sy surface. Ascarlet halo appeared far down in the depths, growing brighter and larger as itrose toward the surface.
Behold, Adorer, the Face of Beauty. The voice was at once breathy and dulcet,and so soft that Atreus could not tell whether he heard it with his ears or his heart. Hear, Worshiper, the Voice of Love.
The halo became a flowing mane of flaming hair, and then a woman"s face appeared inside the ring. She was impossibly beautiful, with sapphire eyes and a tiny nose and lips as red as fire.
"I*I hear, 0 G.o.ddess!"
The face hovered just beneath the surface of the water, shimmering and staringup at Atreus with no sign of revulsion or distaste. The rest of the temple darkenedaround him. and he lost all sensation of place and time. To Atreus it seemed he was floating in the night sky, hovering face-to-face with Sune Firehair herself.
The G.o.ddess pursed her lips in an almost mortal way, then asked, "Atreus Eleint, what are we to do with you?"Atreus"s answer was quick, for he knew exactly what should be done. *Takeaway this face, G.o.ddess. Make me handsome." "Take away your face?" The G.o.ddess furrowed her brow, and even her scowl wasradiant. "How can I make you handsome? Beauty comes from within." Atreus"s heart fell. He grew so dizzy with anger he thought he would fall into the pool. How many times had he heard that same clich from some well-meaning matron or sanctimonious priest? He had expected more of a G.o.ddess, but he knew better than to say so. "If beauty comes from within, then only a demon could look like this." Atreus ran aset of spindly fingers down his cheek. "What have I done to deserve such a face?"
"What have you done that you don"t?" Sune asked. "From the time you were a child,all you have thought of is your face, of how fate cheated you. Perhaps you would havepreferred your mother had let you die?"
Atreus fell silent, afraid to admit how many times he had wished just that. He knewlittle of his true family. According to Yago, his entire clan had perished during the Ten Days of Eleint, when the peasants of neighboring Tethyr had risen to ma.s.sacre theirn.o.bility. Atreus had survived only because the family sorcerer had disguised him as ababy ogre and entrusted him to the care of his mother"s loyal Shield breakerbodyguards. Yago, the captain of those guards, had taken the newborn back toRivenshield to raise as best an ogre could, faithfully safeguarding the enormous inheritance sent along by the child"s mother.
Unfortunately, the spell that had saved Atreus as an infant became a curse ashe matured, altering his life essence so that he grew into the ugliest youngn.o.bleman in Faerun. He had tried everything to change his appearance, using hiswealth to seek out mighty wizards, famous miracle workers, and theatrical make-upartists, even surgeons. Nothing worked, and in some cases the efforts left him uglier than before.
Nor could Atreus seek help from the wizard who had cast the spell in the first place. The entire Shield breaker tribe claimed to have forgotten the ident.i.ty of Atreus"s family. Considering the mental capacity of ogres, this seemed just barely possible, but Atreus suspected they had other reasons for their silence. Over the years he had tried hundreds of times to cajole Yago into telling him more. The ogre always maintained that he could recall nothing except the month of Atreus"s birth, the month that had provided Atreus with the only family name he"d ever known. In the end, Atreus had no choice but to accept Yago"s word and continue his quest with no knowledge of the magic that had made him ugly in the first place. Finally a perplexed sage had suggested joining the Church of Beauty, in the hope that the G.o.ddess would take pity on him and use her divine powers to make him handsome.
Atreus had immediately rented a small villa in Duhlnarim and dedicated himself tothe worship of Sune Firehair, G.o.ddess of Beauty and Love. Now he was kneelingbefore her Pool of Dreams, hardly able to believe the plat.i.tudes with which she wasrepaying nearly two years of faithful devotion.
"If I have felt sorry for myself," Atreus said, "it is with good reason. My failingsare no worse than those of most men." "Perhaps." Sune"s face rose closer, breaking the surface of the pool. "But onlyyou can change what you are."Her sapphire eyes grew bright and cold, and Atreus sensed that she waswaiting.
*Then tell me how to change, and I will do it."
A slight smile crept across the G.o.ddess"s lips. It was a flirtatious smile, such asbeautiful women have always used to entice favors from willing men.
"There might be something you can do." Her sapphire eyes darted to theircorners, as though she had only at that moment thought of what she would ask."You could bring me a vial of sparkling water from the Fountain of Infinite Grace."
"The Fountain of Infinite Grace?" Atreus echoed.
"In paradise," Sune explained. "A place called Langdarma."
Before Atreus could ask where Langdarma was, the G.o.ddess"s face rose completely out of the water. The visage turned vertical and hung in the air before him, its fiery hair hissing and crackling. The celebrants gasped, and the heartwarders folded their hands over their hearts. Yago merely grunted, unimpressed by what seemed to him a face too dainty to be attractive.
"Remember," said Sune. Her beautiful face dissolved into smoke and flame. "The water must be sparkling."
The temple remained as still as a painting. Never before had the G.o.ddess manifested herself at the Rite of Dreams, and Atreus could feel the gazes of the astounded celebrants on his back. Whether they had heard what pa.s.sed between him and Sune he did not know, but he could tell by their stunned silence that he had become something more to them than an unpleasant joke.
"Look!"
The male heartwarder pointed into the Pool of Dreams, where a raggedparchment had appeared, floating on top of the water. On the sc.r.a.p were drawnhundreds of mountains and dozens of long, snaking valleys with exotic names suchas Gyatse and Yamdruk. And on the eastern edge, lying at the foot of threemountains marked the "Sisters of Serenity" was a valley called Langdarma.
Yago, who was so tall he could see over Atreus"s shoulder without stepping onto the dais, peered into the Pool of dreams. "Don"t tell me that"s a*"
"Map!" Atreus confirmed.
Yago groaned. He could see what was coming next, and were not ones to place their faith in a piece of parchment scratched with a few lizard tracks.
Atreus s.n.a.t.c.hed the map from the water and started down the steps, forgetting in his excitement to bow to Julienne. "Come on, Yago," he said. "We"re going to Langdarma!
"Langdarma?" Yago grumbled. He turned to follow Atreus down the Aisle of theAdorer. "Never heard of such a place. It"s probably clear up by Arabel or something." "Or something," Atreus agreed. He glanced down at his map. "Ever hear of the Yehimals?"
The ogre shook his head, and the celebrants began to close in around them,babbling congratulations and trying to sneak a look at the map. A few of the lesssqueamish even slapped Atreus"s disfigured back or squeezed his round shoulder. The pair soon found themselves being swept along by a jabbering swarmof well-wishers.
Once the crowd had carried them out of earshot the a.s.sistant Heartwarders turned to Julienne.
"Do you think this will work?" asked the hazel-eyed beauty.
"Of course." Julienne"s smile was small and a little heartless. "The Yehimals are far, far away, and Langdarma is difficult to find ... very difficult to find."
Chapter 2.
Three days after leaving the ship, Atreus still felt the sea rolling beneath his feet. He and Yago were standing outside the Grand Audience Hall of the Paradise Mahal on a white marble floor as firm as the bedrock of the world, swaying gently as they awaited an audience with the queen of Eden-vale. In the distance behind the palace loomed the jagged white wall of the great Yehimal Mountains, where*somewhere*the Sisters of Serenity stood watch over the valley of Langdarma.
By the way the door guards eyed them, Atreus knew that his and Yago"s constant rocking made them appear drunk or worse, but they could not help themselves. They had pa.s.sed most of the four-month journey from Duhlnarim to the Utter Eastaboard a square-rigged cog Squall d.u.c.h.ess, which rode the waves like a piece offlotsam. It would be some time before their legs grew accustomed to solidground again. Atreus only hoped their unsteady stances would not prevent QueenRosalind from providing the help they needed.
A small courtier in billowing silks emerged from the scalloped portal of the audience hall. With black hair, a thin build. and golden skin, he was obviously oneof the Mar natives who had inhabited this hot and sultry land when rosalind"s Faerunian ancestors arrived to claim it. He dismissed Yago"s imposing bulk with adisdainful smirk, then turned to Atreus, his lip curling as he took in the polished boots, linen trousers, and silk tunic beneath a brocaded cape. When his gaze reachedAtreus*s disfigured face, he gasped and stepped back, speaking sharply to the guardsin Marari*a strange, melodious tongue of short syllables and throaty clicks.
The guards answered in the same language, pointing across the courtyard to the gates where the hired elephant that had carried Atreus inland stood waiting withits driver. As Squall d.u.c.h.ess"s captain had promised, the mere fact that Atreus had an ogre bodyguard and traveled in such luxury marked him as a man of consequence.
"1 have a letter of introduction from my own liege, King Korox of Erlkazar," Atreus said. From inside his cloak he withdrew a folded parchment that Heartwarder Julienne had procured from the king"s sister, Princess Dijara. Atreus bowed, displaying the unbroken wax on its royal seal. "I am Atreus Eleint of Rivenshield, in Barony Ahlarkhem of Erlkazar."
Though the Mar showed no sign of understanding Atreus, he accepted the letter and examined the seal, narrowing his eyes at the royal crown pressed into the golden wax. He glanced at the golden brocades in Atreus"s cape, then bowed.
"I am Jyotish, chamberlain to Queen Rosalind," said the Mar, now speaking an archaic form of Realmspeak known as Thora.s.s. The language was so outdated and heavily accented that Atreus had to guess some words from the context of others. "I will arrange an audience with Her Radiance."
Jyotish returned the letter and stepped aside, waving Atreus toward a huge pair of mahogany doors. As they started up the stairs, the sentries quickly crossed their glaives in front of Yago. The ogre scowled, then jerked the weapons from the guards" hands and tossed them into the courtyard. The guards cried out and reached for the swords, and Jyotish whirled on Atreus. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I go where Atreus goes," Yago said, paying no attention to the sword tips now pointed in his direction. "I"m his bodyguard." "Bodyguards are not permitted in the Grand Audience Chamber." Jyotish spoke directly to Atreus, as though Demanding that he bringhis pet under control. "No man may take his own guards into the queen"s presence."Atreus nodded. "Of course. I should have thought of that myself." He turned to Yagoand said, "Why don"t you wait here?"
A growl of displeasure rumbled deep in Yago"s throat, but he was too good asoldier to argue the matter in front of others. He stepped back into the courtyard. "Givea yell if you need me."
"I"m sure I"ll be fine," said Atreus. "There"s no reason to expect trouble." "That"s when it"s most dangerous." Yago snarled down at Jyotish, displaying hisorange fangs, then spread his feet and folded his arms. "I"ll be listening."
Jyotish scowled at the ogre"s not-so-subtle warning, then turned to lead the way into the palace. As he opened the mahogany doors he quietly asked, "Is your bodyguard always so unruly?" "Unruly?" Atreus raised his brow, genuinely surprised.
That"s not unruly. Not for an ogre." He stepped through the doorway into a dark, many- pillared room full of droning voices and sweet-smelling smoke. The lower walls were decorated with floral patterns of gold filigree on deep red lacquer. The upper parts were covered with brilliant frescoes depicting charging war elephants and strange, golem like warriors. Tiny, shaven-headed Mar priests sat in apses along the walls, rocking back and forth and chanting in gravelly voices while toothless old women squatted on the floor chattering incessantly and spinning yarn with their fingers. Children ran about laughing and chasing each other, paying so little attention to where they were going that one of them crashed into Atreus at a dead sprint.
The little girl landed at Atreus"s feet still yelling and giggling, then suddenly fell silentwhen she noticed how one set of the stranger"s toes turned inward. As her eyes ranup his bowed legs to his thick midsection, she scowled and began to scoot backwardacross the floor. Her gaze continued to rise toward his gruesome visage, and Atreusknew what was about to happen. He could only stand and watch as the girl"s mouth fell open.
"Ysdar!" she bawled, pointing at him. "Ysdaaaaar!"
The room fell instantly silent and all eyes turned in Atreus"s direction. Knowinghe would only make the situation worse by reaching out to comfort the child, Atreusspread his hands at his side and tried a smile.
The girl"s wail became a shriek. She leaped to her feet and disappeared screaming into the chamber"s dark recesses. Jyotish stared at Atreus in horror, then stepped aside and began to click and prattle in the strange language of his people. The other Mar backed away, clapping their hands and jabbering admonitions Atreus did not understand, save for the occasional reference to "Ysdar." He could only shake his head and smile.
After a moment, a handsome young Mar with satyr like ears and a cultured bearing stepped out of the crowd. Attired in cotton trousers and a silk tunic, he was dressed more in the manner of Faerun than that of the Utter East. He started chattering at his fellows and waving them back. When the tumult finally began to subside, he turned to Atreus and said, "Honored Guest, it is better if you keep your teeth hidden." This Mar"s Realmspeak was modern, tinged with a Sembian accent, and*unlike Jyotish"s*easy to understand. "The Mar are a backward and superst.i.tious people who already think you one of Ysdar"s fiends. There is no need to encourage them in this silliness." "Encourage them?"
"By implying you want to eat them." The Mar flashed a pearly grin and tapped his bright teeth. "This means you are hungry."
Atreus brought his lips together. "Please apologize for me. Tell them I am an ignorant foreigner who is not hungry at all."
The Mar spoke first to Jyotish, then to his jabbering fellows. Jyotish nodded, and the crowd stopped hissing and clapping, though they continued to warily eye the stranger"s hideous face.
Atreus"s savior bowed to him. "Honored sir, allow me to introduce myself. I am Rishi Saubhari, a bahrana only recently come to Edenvale myself."
A bahrana was a member of the Mar upper cla.s.s. Atreus did not yet grasp thesubtle differences of appearance between bahranas and the lower cla.s.s taroks, but after coming ash.o.r.e in the Utter East, he had quickly learned what a grave insult.i.t was to ask a bahrana to do a taroks work.
"In his wisdom, the esteemed Jyotish senses that you nave need of a companionfamiliar with our customs," said Rishi. "He asks that I serve you in this capacity, if youwill have me."
"What a relief that would be," Atreus said, then gestured at his face. "As you cansee, it"s hard enough for me to make a good impression."
Rishi"s expression remained unreadable. "I do not see why that should be." He drew closer and spoke in a quieter tome. "But we do have need to discuss compensation."
"Have no fear," Atreus replied, jangling his heavy purse. "You"ll be well paid."
Rishi"s eyes lit up. "A blessing on you, sir!" He took Atreus"s arm and startedforward as he spoke. "Shall we attend to the queen?"
The sea of Mar divided before the procession, shaking ta.s.sels at the ugly foreigner and softly murmuring about Ysdar.
Atreus leaned down to speak quietly to Rishi. "What is this Ysdar?"
"Pay no attention to those heathens!" Rishi lowered his voice and spoke in aconfidential tone. "The Mar of Edenvale are superst.i.tious fools who would not know a devil of Ysdar if they saw one."
"All the same, I would like to know why they fear me," insisted Atreus.
"Very well." Rishi cast a meaningful glance at Atreus"s purse. "But you must remember I am only doing as you command."
"Your truthfulness will be rewarded."
*Then as you wish," said Rishi. "According to legend, Ysdar is a devil fromanother world, an ancient evil unleashed many ages ago when the Lords of theFive Kingdoms weakened his prison."Rishi was speaking of the Bloodforge Wars, of course. No traveler to the Utter Eastcould escape hearing about the ancient carnage, for the wars were more a part ofthe region"s history than the Ten Days of Eleint were part of Tethyr"s. Shortly after conquering the Utter East, the Lords of the Five Kingdoms discovered thebloodforges, ancient war machines capable of manufacturing whole armies of magicgolems. Unrestrained by the expense of raising and maintaining armies, the lordswent mad with battle-l.u.s.t, nearly destroying their lands and their peoples. To make matters worse, the lords did not realize that a horde of antediluvian horrors had lain trapped beneath the land so long they had vanished from memory. Every use ofthe Bloodforges weakened the mystical bonds of their prison, and the creaturessoon began to overrun the Five Kingdoms. Eventually, the lords realized their follyand struck a bargain not to use the terrible war machines but the damage hadalready been done. According to rumor the land had been filled with slime-smeared monsters and slithering horrors ever since. "Ysdar is one of the Forgotten Ones?"
Rishi nodded. "The King of the Forgotten Ones, if the myths are to be believed." He glanced away, then added more quietly, "It is said his face is sougly that anyone who looks upon it goes mad ... though this is in no way a reflection on your honored person.""Of course it is," Atreus replied, trying to keep the bitter-ness out of his voice. "Edenvale is no different than my ownhome. When people see ugly, they think evil."
The golden faces and black hair of the Mar began to giveway to the creamier visages of the Ffolk, who stood conversing quietly in smallgroups of three and four. In many ways, the Ffolk still resembled their conquering ancestors.
They were larger than the Mar and lighter of complexion,with pale eyes and square, western jaws. Though they had long ago exchangedthe heavy furs and dreary wool of the Moonshae Isles for the bright cotton andcolorful silks more suited to the Utter East"s sweltering climate, they still preferred tight trousers and snug tunics to the billowingfashions of the Mar.
At the far end of the chamber stood a large enclosure surrounded by redvelvet drapes, through which the Royal warden was ushering a sporadic stream ofhaughty-looking supplicants, Ffolk and Mar alike. More often than not, the pet.i.tioners looked content as they departed, a sign that the queen consideredherself duty bound to serve her people as much as they served her. Atreus hopedher sense of fairness would extend to foreigners.
As they approached, the warden raised a hand and spoke quietly to Rishi andJyotish in Thora.s.s, all the while frowning and stealing glances at Atreus. Jyotish said something about a hired elephant and a royal letter, while Rishi spoke in rapidMaran and plucked at his own tunic.
Finally, the stony-eyed warden gave a reluctant nod, and Rishi removed his silkshirt and held it up before Atreus. Though such behavior would have scandalizedany royal court in the west, no one in the Paradise Mahal paid the Mar"s shirtless chest the slightest attention.
"If you would be so kind as to bow down," said Rishi. "No disrespect is meant, butQueen Rosalind is not well, and the Royal Warden fears your singular appearance might prove too much of a shock."
Atreus hesitated. "I understand, but covering my face is a sacrilege to my G.o.ddess."