> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 11:43:42 +0000
> From: Michael Cule <mikec_at_...>
> Subject: ISSARIES IN THE PALACE OF BLACK GLASS
>
> A Story based on an offhand remark by Nick Brooke.
Why doesn't Issaries have a doubled Communication rune ? Because he sold his spare one to Argan Argar !
>
> Well, now you saw that did you? Well spotted young Arkilla, well done
> indeed. Now how often have I told you, lads? It's the details that
> matter. Keep your eyes open for the details and the profits will follow.
> As a reward, young lady you can sit here by the fire and help me cook
> the supper while the others curry the horses. Yes, I know we do it that
> way every night but tonight it's a special reward. Why? Because I say
> so.
>
> Ahh, now they're off you can get your real reward. You saw for yourself
> how the uzko lady came up to me at the end of the market. Asked if she
> could be of any further service, didn't she? And what made you think
> there was anything special about that?
>
> Yes! Yes, well done! That is Old Darktongue. Only the nobles and a few
> of the troll traders know it nowadays. Sounds strange to our ears
> nowadays but before the Pharaoh came it was the way they all spoke up
> there on the Shadow Plateau. These times, they saves it for special
> occasions. For formality like. And that question she asked me is very
> special, very formal. Goes back a long way, a long, long way.
>
> Yes, I knew I was onto a winner when I picked you to apprentice what was
> it? Four years back?. You've been a good lass for all you was a bit
> squeamish with some of the folks we've met. But you soon got used to our
> ways and you've been a grand help around the camp. Never eaten better
> since I started and you haven't shirked an hour, not in work nor in
> learning. Not like some hereabouts I could mention. So what I'm saying
> is I'll miss you.
>
> No, no, I'm not sending you home lass! No, not at all! I'm sending you
> on! Your time as my apprentice ends tonight and I'll send you on as a
> journeyman, fully qualified and ready. Yes, I know Jorry thinks he's
> going to be made journeyman this year. Jorry's going to be disappointed.
>
> I have to send you on, lass. Because I'm not allowed to tell apprentices
> the story I'm going to tell you now. It's the story behind that question
> the troll lady asked us tonight.
>
> Open that chest over there. The maplewood one. Fine craftsmanship that,
> sturdy and good to look at. Got it from the estate of a baron in
> Heortland after his peasants burnt his manor house down around his ears.
> Now fetch out what's on top.
>
> That's a herald's tabard. To announce to whoever sees it that the one
> wearing it is protected by the Speaking God. It has our Master Issaries'
> marks on it, the signs of His power. Movement. And the mark that is His
> Mystery. Now, take a close look and tell me: what's strange about it?
>
> No? Can't you tell? Now, here's another thing you must learn from me
> tonight. Look not only at the things you see that are new but also the
> things you see that you've seen every day of your life. What's strange
> is this: Our Master is the source of the mark that bears his name, the
> mark that is Talking and Trading. If you look at the banners of the
> other gods that are sources, at Humakt for Death, at Umath for Air,
> you'll see that they bear their Powers twice over. So why doesn't our
> Master have His Mark twice over?
>
> Well, that's a very good question. I'm glad you asked me.
>
> See, back in the days of Darkness, after the Sun fell from the sky Our
> Master Issaries was roaming the world, as we do now, looking for what
> was good and fair and fairly priced so that he could trade for it and
> take it back to his Lord Orlanth's tula. He learned all the languages
> and all the customs in the world and what each people wanted but didn't
> have and everywhere he went he moved things from where they was cheap to
> where they wasn't and he made sure he was welcome at the table of every
> lord and every farmer. His mule drawn cart took him everywhere and he
> saw everything.
>
> But one day (not that they had days then) he got a little careless. He
> was going along, driving his cart, thinking hard about something I
> suppose, like you gets when you're learning a new tongue, when before he
> knew it, whang bang wallop he'd been whacked over the head with a dirty
> great club and shoved in a bag. He was slung over someone's shoulder
> (and a big muscle-bound shoulder it was too) toted a good long way, his
> head pounding and then dumped out of the sack into the middle of a great
> big hall.
>
> Now, this hall was made of black glass and looked very fine indeed with
> walls that reached up to the dark skies and a huge, huge throne. But
> what filled the hall wasn't so nice. The hall was full of trolls, big
> hungry looking trolls who looked at him like he was a particularly nice
> bit of roast pig, with lots of crackling. And sitting on the throne was
> the biggest troll he'd ever seen.
>
> But you don't get to be God of Trading and Talking by imitating a
> wallflower so Our Master pops right up and introduces himself.
>
> "Greetings, your lordship! I am Issaries! Issaries Silvertongue,
> Issaries the Trader! All sorts of goods bought and sold, your lordship!
> No deal too small or too large! Who have I the honour of addressing?"
>
> The big fellow on the throne he rumbles (his voice making the glass
> palace quiver) that he is Argan Argar, the son of Night. And what did
> Our Master mean by wandering around his territory?
>
> "Fine larynx, you've got there me lord. Wonderful projection. Marvellous
> diction. If I had a voice like that... Yes, yes... I'm coming to
> that.... Don't let your lads poke me with their spears, lordship. This
> suit is crushed velvet. Well, as to what I was doing, your Eminence, I
> was going about my business. Trading, sirs. Oh and ladies! Sorry. Buying
> and selling. Moving the goods. Making a living." He cast his eyes about
> and saw that his cart and his mules had been brought into the hall with
> him. "Look here, me lord. Finest silks from the furthest east, look very
> good on your ladies. A couple of hogsheads of finest kvass. Some
> mahogany spear shafts. Anything I could interest you in? Hmmm?"
>
> The trolls in the hall came forward and poked their noses into the cart
> and sniffed everything including the terrified mules. And then the
> chappie on the throne said:
>
> "You're a puny little thing, aren't you? How did you come by such fine
> trinkets as these? You couldn't possibly have robbed anyone of them. You
> must be some sort of sneak thief."
>
> Well, Issaries couldn't stand to hear that. Especially since so many
> people had uttered the same slander after he had left them and they
> started thinking they could have got a better deal out of him.
>
> "No, sir! No your lordship. If you'll pardon me for saying so, there
> your lordship speaks most ignorantly. No, everything I get I get by fair
> and honest trade. Open and above board in everything that's me."
>
> "You've said that word before. What is this 'trade' thing?"
>
> Well, when he heard that he knew that he had a chance of coming through
> alive. He pulled himself back and let rip with his greatest feat of all.
> He Sold them on Trade.
>
> If you think you've seen something when I've got a prospect lined up in
> front of me and willing to listen then I'm here to tell you that what I
> can do at my best is just a pale shadow of an imitation of our Master
> Issaries when he got going. Of course, it helped that he'd spread the
> word to most of the rest of the world first because, being trolls, they
> had some unique objections of their own.
>
> "So," said one big fellow, "when they come with the stuff they've
> made... Do we get to eat them then?"
>
> "No, no, sir. Look, if you eat them then they won't be back next year,
> will they? If they eat them then their children and their children's
> children won't be back. Not ever, unless it's with sharp pointy things
> and fire. If you give them something they want and you don't and they
> give you something they don't want and you do, then they'll be back year
> after year after year. That's Trade for you."
>
> Now the fellow on the throne had listened all the while as Our Master
> explained this idea of his. He'd liked what he heard and he'd been
> flattered by what Issaries had said about his voice. But he was also a
> very clever fellow in his way and he knew that what he was seeing in
> action wasn't any ordinary wanderer.
>
> "This Trade thing, did you think it up yourself?" he asked Our Master.
>
> "Yes, indeedy," said Issaries, "All My Own Work."
>
> "Then you'd know more about it than anyone else in the world?"
>
> "I think I can say that, in all honesty and humility, yes sir."
>
> "Well, then, if I were to grab hold of you now and eat you up, brains
> and all, then I'd eat up your Trade idea with you, wouldn't I? And I'd
> know more about this Trade thing than anyone else in the world. You
> see," he added in a kindly way, "what we Trolls know more about than
> anyone else in the world is Eating."
>
> Well, Our Master swallowed and paled a bit at this but he rallied and
> said: "Ahhh, you see your Lordship, that wouldn't work. That sort of
> thing, taking without giving in exchange, that's the very precise
> opposite of Trade. And you can't control a thing by its opposite can
> you? Logical impossibility!" And he made a mental note to thank Lhankhor
> Mhy for the tedious lectures in philosophy he'd been made to listen to
> when they journeyed together.
>
> Argan Argar settled back into his throne and admitted that this might
> very well be true. (And for all I know now or Issaries knew then it
> might really be true.)
>
> "So what would you propose as an alternative. Because I am determined
> not to let you leave this hall unless I have in my hand and my heart and
> my head the secret of this power Trade."
>
> "Weeeellll," said Our Master, "I suppose that I have a bit more of the
> magic of Trade than strictly speaking I need. I could cut my veins a bit
> and you could drink my blood and have a bit of my magic inside of you.
> That would work."
>
> "Yes, that would be good," said the troll god. And then he added (which
> showed he had really been paying attention during Issaries' explanation)
> "What would you want in exchange?"
>
> And when they'd agreed on a price the deal was done and the power of
> Trade passed on.
>
> Now, young apprentice, for the last test of your apprenticeship. What do
> you think it was they agreed on?
>
> No, not money. You're right to rule that out. The trolls hate the bright
> fire of gold and Our Master wasn't going to lug huge amounts of lead
> around.
>
> No, not spider silk. (Though it's a good thought and we're carrying a
> good lot of it nowadays.) Nor honey nor royal jelly nor any of the
> insect wares we're taking back to Boldhome.
>
> No, certainly not their drinks. (I wonder what that barman up in
> Furthest does with all the Powzie we send him...)
>
> No, you have one last guess. Think hard about what you saw tonight and
> you'll know. For what he took away didn't increase the weight of his
> cart by a feather's worth.
>
> Yes, that's right. He asked the Son of Night for a favour. A favour to
> be done some time in the future. And it hasn't yet been repaid. So
> whenever you treat with the Argan Argari they will ask 'Is there
> anything more we can do for you, Trader?' And you must be careful,
> always, to say no, ever so politely.
>
> And this tabard is for you, the mark of a journeyman. Not as a gift (a
> gift would be against the way of Our Master) but as due payment for your
> years of apprenticeship. And now here's the boys back and we can have
> supper. Put your tabard on lass and we can both enjoy watching young
> Jorry seeth into his rabbit stew.
> - --
> Michael Cule
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