Field Notes from Diamonds Hadder: On the topic of Zabble and Skylark and the discovery of Medlins hidden door in the lower level of Kilwaughter.
(Master Medlin has died and Zabble and skylark make for the lower level of the castle.)
Zabble, the new keeper, wandered the castle hallways clutching Medlins puzzle medallion that now graced his neck. There was a somber feeling that hung in the halls of Kilwaughter,.. aside from the various portraits of medlin of course… it’s master was dead.. a few magic books followed Zabble the best they could although they seemed to be lost and moving differently.. frantic a bit… bumping into each other.. books without their master.. like the spells that kept them at peace were unraveling.. Zabble was rather deliberate in his footsteps with skylark close behind as well.. she occasionally jumped as a book or two leapt from a shelf or window ledge and opened on the floor.. the pages vibrating and making a rather awful rattling sound. A slight Bokonion mist filled the hallways.. carried in from the outside as winter approached and the warm Klipso ponds lifted to met the cold and drifted in from the outside. They too were searching for their dead master… morning his loss. Dim firelight flickered on the walls as they walked for what seemed like forever.. passing various portraits of Medlin along the way, portraits that mysteriously started showing up in the hallways last winter, one of Medlins final acts he supposed.. they shifted and scrapped the walls as Zabble walked past.. he thought maybe the wind of his movement was rattling them.. he stopped and stared a moment at one, it was almost lifelike, “Is that you master” he spoke, his voice echoing down the hall.. “ .. “you master… you master.. you master” there was a moment of silence as Zabble awaited some sign or response from the portrait.. but nothing came… skylark groaned a little and turned her head to the side.. as if she saw something or sensed something in the portrait that Zabble could not see.. she made a strange groan as though she was saying something to someone. Zabble seemed frustrated, the notion a Fanglor could see something he couldn’t.. hmmm.. he made a little “grumble grumble” himself, and huffed and puffed a little…. He then walked closer to the portrait.. very close and softly whispered.. “I know your there master… I hope your having fun at my expense.. and that your ok.” His voice echoed down the hall “ok… ok.. ok..” Zabble smirked and turned to skylark, “let’s go girl.”
They continued spiraling down each level of the castle until they finally came upon a very familiar candleholder….. a candle holder Zabble knew all to well in a place he was forbidden to go.. Medlin was very protective of this part of the castle.. it was indeed under a spell.. a visionary spell that hid it from wanderers.. or seekers.. or nosey wizards.. Zabble once became a little to inquisitive and tried to investigate where Medlin was spending all his time… he quietly followed him one morning down into the lower levels of the castle.. sneaking behind him keeping to the shadows… not exactly the quiet type is that Zabble.. but as soon as he starting thinking he was all so clever.. laughing inside at Medlin for being so stupid, followed by a clumsy wizard.. he soon found himself wandering in circles… he placed a mark on a candleholder.. and kept walking and soon after a few minutes of walking he came upon the same candleholder bearing the same mark… no doors.. no turns.. no Medlin, he soon realized that Medlin had outsmarted him with a tricky Placement spell. Placement spells are simple mind spells that confuse a person and keep them from seeing things, it alters the perception of place and direction, it falls in the controller category of spells.. volume 1 of Harkins bible of spells.. child’s play to cast, but not so child’s play to unravel.. and it can be quite powerful, even making a person walk off a ledge if you wanted such a thing. In this case it was quite harmless.. just a little misdirection. There’s a spell for every thing you could ever want. “A good wizard is well read and undead.”, Medlin would say.
On this day though.. while Medlin lay forever quiet in his upper bed chambers above the castle.. Zabble was not walking in circles… just past the candle holder that still wore his mark.. he came upon a small spiral stairwell.. how bizarre that he never saw it before. The stones were black and shiny almost like glass.. they seemed rather unique and were obviously carried here from somewhere off the grounds.. He had never seen rocks quite like this. He touched them and rubbed his temple.. pondering what they were and where they came from. A thought for another day perhaps. The mist from the Klipso ponds had followed him to this point as well.. it spilled down the stairs in a beautiful display.. like a smoky waterfall to a hidden pool. It was to dark to see where they led.. so without to much thought they continued on down the stairwell… into the misty pool of fog.. At the base of the stairs was a flat polished mirror stone….. it was a bit dirty with an obvious dulled and worn area indicating its frequent use.. it led to a black marbled wall graced by a single door dressed in 2 black granite steps. A strange door… the wood on this door seemed not of the place, it was very old.. perhaps carried from the same area that the polish black stone came from.. the door had an area that looked as though it aged differently from the rest of the wood.. as though the door had something attached to it at one time, weathered differently.. a distressed color shift in the form of letters or numbers it appeared.. it was to hard to make out.. it could have been symbols as well… symbols perhaps that might be explained beyond the door itself. Suddenly Zabble felt a warm sensation on his chest… the medallion.. it was vibrating.. and buzzing slightly.. like it was speaking to him. He reached for it and pulled it out from his cloak.. holding it closer to the door.. as he did it began making strange clicking noises.. tiny gears and sprockets we’re turning and unraveling until it cracked open once again.. but now the red glow of the key spilled out onto the door… from the red glow of the key the letters that once graced the door could be seen again. “408”, another of Medlins visionary spells I suppose… 3 is the universal law of magic.. it’s a long story but all things of the earth revolve around the law of thirds.. it’s unclear why… but “3” as we understand the concept is woven into all spells… there seems to be a balance in 3rds that is written in the very DNA of this universe.. it’s fitting that the door is 3 numbers, “Three numbers in a row and not another more”… as Medlin would often say. It’s obvious this is a magic place, and that Medlin put these numbers on the door. A small keyhole also graced the door.. hidden until now, it seems to have appeared in the red glow of the key as well. Zabble looked a skylark who seemed bored and ready to continue on… he smiled and rubbed her head, “you ready girl” it takes a lot to excite lord Zabble… his eyes were sparkling in the red glow of the key.. a crazy wizard look on his face.. and an inquisitive grin danced on his lips. Skylark grumbled at his look, confused but eager to follow along. He turned and placed the key to the hole… and a loud crack was heard.. a thunderous boom.. like the sound of a giant clock gear winding and turning.. metal teeth banging into one and other in a complicated but perfect harmony… not like the delicate and unknown magic of the key, but more of a tinkering wizards mechanism. Then the door cracked open in a thump.. both Zabble and skylark jumped back… it was a bit startling. From the crack A few magic books ran from the room out into the hallway.. Klipso fog which by now was waist deep and settled on the black polished floor seeped into the room through the now cracked door… a strange knocking sound could be heard through the crack.. like wood banging together.. but not in a rhythm.. more frantic and random.. and it seemed to move inside the room.. Zabble turned to skylark, who now was pleasantly more focused on her new magic book friends than to care about anything more important than chasing them around… Zabble spoke anyway, perhaps it was to himself… “well… let’s see what master Medlin was “keeping” down here”.. he smiled and opened the door fully.
“Not another more..” he whispered under his breath as he crossed the threshold of the doorway and stepped into the room.
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