Role

Chapter 3

During his time on the street in Galadon, young Rylwaequarth rather enjoyed
attending public speeches and lectures that were routinely given by visitors
to the city. He had vague memories of attending similar functions with his
mother when he had been much younger. Had she spoken, too, sometimes? One day,
a striking monk from the south had spoken on finding peace in life through a
calmed, meditative mind. The topic had inflamed Ryl's curiosity, and while
talking with the monk afterwards, he was most surprised when he was invited to
return to Moudrilar's monastery and take up the robes as an apprentice. This
was an offer Ryl was unable to refuse - he had to know what lessons could be
learned. Oh, but he would learn so much more than he bargained for.

Over the next few years, Rylwaequarth found a comfortable home in the routines
and communion of the monastic Order. Everybody there had been welcoming, if
subdued, but the monk that brought him from Galadon, Jomved, and his friends
had been especially friendly and helpful. Although he was the youngest
apprentice there, he thought nothing of it beyond thinking that he must be
wiser than most his age. (Although he was not yet wise enough to wonder why
they had robes that fit his adolescent frame.) Sometimes Jomved would slip him
a little extra food or help get him out of particularly onerous work details.
After a time, Ryl even ventured out occasionally with Jomved on his trips to
Galadon. He was also progressing in his studies quite well, and, according to
Jomved, was steadily weakening the red aura that hung about him. Did Ryl
believe this? He did not know.

However, the peace of mind and spirit was not to last. And, as is oft the
case, the unraveling began with an innocently soft tug at a thread that
initially seemed inconsequential. One morning, Jomved offhandedly asked Ryl to
"cover" for him by saying they had been together if Feristle or Qendriko
happened to ask. Ryl agreed without a second thought, as he trusted Jomved
implicitly. But, as the day wore on, his curiosity took root in the fertile
soil of this unexpected request and grew with as much ferver as any magic
beanstalk ever had. By nightfall it had consumed him so entirely that he could
not find sleep until he resolved that he must discover why Jomved had asked
him to lie. Thus began Ryl's obsessive quest.

Every free moment was dedicated to watching, listening, or otherwise
investigating Jomved's activity. Ryl's drowish heritage made it all too easy
for him to sneak about an enclave of men who sought to turn their own focus
inward on themselves, and within a week's time he had followed another monk
and uncovered his use of a hidden door in one of the store-rooms to access a
disused basement storage area beneath the monastery. Following him further in,
Ryl watched the man slide behind a stone door, only to exit again a few
discovering the secret that had captured his focus.