The Encounter with Papyrus

At the door next to the waterfall, a sprite awaited your arrival. "You're late, I've been waiting. Much to do, time does not wait, and neither can I. Typical mages, you are both, arriving here three minutes past the hour. Now, I must find the time somewhere else."

"Talik, this is Papyrus, an old family friend and sprite helper to Mister Minz," you say proudly, holding out your hand as if to introduce him.

"Your great-grandfather was also late to everything. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a late delivery, your great-great-grandmother walking about the room saying, 'he should be here by now after weeks of additional labor.' How do you expect me to keep track of all these documents if I am not back at my post by 11:15? Who is this?" Papyrus stops and looks at Talik. "You didn't say anything about a friend. Since when do you have any friends at all anyway? Oh wait, yes, I do recall a report for Librus. I have to stay abreast of all sprite reports. You had a group of friends at the Dark Tower. What were you doing there anyway?"

He leaves a pause for you, and you seize your opportunity as you know it won't last. "That's kinda why I am here. I want to speak to Mister Minz about something that happened to me while we were battling Delrona."

"Yes, well, first it's 'kind of,' not 'kinda.' You did finish school before you went running off around Solea, didn't you? And 'heroes' was a very strong term, don't you think? I rewrote your reports to say 'participants and active resisters to the Witch of the Water.' Has a nice ring to it, wouldn't you say?"

"Particpa...active what?" Talik repeated Papyrus's comments. 

"I'm sorry, who did you say this was again?" Papyrus asked you.

"Paps, I get the feeling you are pressed for time. Perhaps, Paps, you could take us up to see Mister Minz like you said you would," you suggest, feeling that annoying Papyrus slightly might make him move on and get you out of the awkward situation.

"Yes, of course, I'll take you. Just stop calling me that! Come this way." He mumbled to himself as he led you down a corridor and then to an elevator. Papyrus looked up at the top of the elevator and said to himself, "Of course I'll look out for your children, and your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren, and their children, and their children's children. At least there are only a few generations left." He turned and looked directly at you. "You're not married, are you? Never mind, no time to listen." 

Papyrus points at a lever and a crystal button, "pull that down and press that button." With a shudder and a squeak, your carriage starts to rise slowly up towards the Vault and Mister Minz.

At the door of The Vault, Papyrus made a circular motion with his hand, whispered some inaudible words, and opened his closed fist revealing a small blue crystal. The door slowly swung open on its heavy hinge without a sound, and Papyrus said, "I'll leave you here. I have much to do. Don't have too many children; I don't have time to watch them. Best of luck in your search." With that, he vanished in a circular turn and a very quiet popping noise.

We leaned through the doorway to peer into the vault. It was a magnificent room, ornately decorated and well-lit by natural and crystal lights. A polished circular crystal shrine dedicated to the pursuit of Illumination was on the far wall, embedded in stone. It added a cool blue-green light to the warmth of the fire crystals used to light the shelves. A single table with two lamps sat in the center of the room for research. It was certainly a privilege to be in such a place, but the texts and tomes were not your goal today, although they were very tempting.

Mister Minz put his head around the corner of one of the shelves and spoke to you quietly. "I thought I heard someone there. How are you? And you brought Talik. Quite the adventure you had all over the archipelago with your band of Soleans. I read every word and followed every report. Sit down and regale me with your quests. There are blanks I would appreciate your filling in, for posterity's sake, you know."

You felt at ease in Mister Minz's presence and quite happy to spend as much time as you could with the keeper of the greatest source of knowledge in all of Solea, himself a mine rich in wisdom and gems of incalculable value, having seen generations of the tribes come in and out of existence.

"Well, I actually have some questions for you if you don't mind," you say, making sure you don't forget the purpose of your visit amidst all the possible leather-bound distractions.

"Of course, lass, I'm here to help," he responds. "Whatever knowledge you seek, I am sure I have the key," he said as he rattled the chain of brass and iron keys that hung around his neck.

"Has a page of the original works of Ky ever been stolen?" you ask point blank.

"Stolen?" Mister Minz repeated incredulously. "Stolen from this library? Just not possible. Too many reasons to explain why. Just accept that."

"Then how did Delrona have the page she used to increase her powers?" Talik added. "I saw it in her hand just before it... it disappeared."

"Appeared, disappeared, then it didn't really happen, am I right? You two are asking the wrong questions. You should ask what are Horos time crystals. That is a question for you. You know, red in the center, two little ones spinning around the outside. Immense crystal energy..."

"Well, what are they?" you ask, somewhat frustrated that this conversation isn't going the way you imagined.

"Don't know. Never seen one. Not sure they have been created yet."

"But how do you know about them?" you asked, confused by his response.

"Reports, stories, documents, conflicting history. Just summation on my part."

"Is that what happened to her? She went back in time?" Talik asked in support. "But when, and for how long?"

"That's the wrong question again!" Mister Minz responded with a smile at both of you. "By whom, is what you need to know. Delrona was stopped by you, young mage, with the help of a journey that only you know about."

"I was there," Talik interjected, "as were Haden and Alster. We were there from the start," she said, feeling slighted that her more than a year of trials were being ignored.

"Not that quest," he explained. "'The who' will remain a mystery until the one who cast Horos crystals reveals themselves. 'The why' we know as you have defeated Delrona. What I sense you need to know now that you know it was real is 'the what.' I was intrigued by your report. Galmon was a leader, I looked him up, and his rule is to be found in Morian history books, some of which we have copies of here, you may read downstairs," he waved his hand in the direction of the great room below. "The others you spoke of, Patrice injured in the mountains and left with a non-healer, Lukinder? tsk, tsk. And the ones who combined their skills to help you get access to the stolen page, left alone in a collapsing cave,  they are not historical characters worth recording here."

"But you said a page had never been stolen!" Talik interrupted, causing Mister Minz to float back a tile or two.

"And I spoke the truth. Look," he said as he pointed to a parchment floating in a beam of light in a nave of the stone wall. "That's the remnants of the original book of Ky. It's a relic and has been copied many times so its knowledge has been spread far and wide. Delrona didn't use its knowledge; she used its connection to Ky to accentuate her powers. But as you can see, it's safely there, all there," he said for emphasis, "and it's never been anywhere else. Thanks to you," he smiled again at you.

"I want you to go to Morian before you return to Kath," he continued. "There you can meet the descendants of Galmon and in their Great Clan Hall research any history of your friends, which is why you are really here, is it not? You left them in those mountains, and you want to know what happened to them. And as that is specifically Morian history of some unimportant players, this library won't be able to help you."

"Unimportant players?" you say, feeling highly insulted. "They saved the entire island chain, and now there is no news, no history, nothing about them anywhere?"

"Don't be upset," he said. "What I mean is they haven't been recognized in history because what you did never happened." 

Frustrated and sad, you speak some more with Mister Minz, who after some time says, "That's all the time I have. Unless you have an Horos crystal, just kidding, nobody knows where they come from. You may look around this special room, but don't put back anything you take off the shelves. Just leave them on the table, and I'll have someone reshelve them for you. I have a meeting with the elders and must go."

Talik was reeling, trying to take it all in. "So when, I mean, after the page disappeared you had already been gone for months, and then you were back before you were gone?"

"I'll explain it on the way," you say as you close a book you were browsing. "Let's go to Morian... again!"

Mister Minz wants you to find your own question from his vast selection available. Choose a question that you want to answer. Write both your chosen question and the response in Thy Quests below. 

1. Who is Papyrus, and what role does he play in the story?

2. What is the main reason the protagonist wants to see Mister Minz?

3. How does Papyrus react when he learns about Talik?

4. What is the significance of the original works of Ky mentioned in the story?

5. What does Mister Minz suggest the protagonist should investigate in Morian?

6. How does Mister Minz describe the stolen page and its impact on Delrona's powers?

7. Why does the protagonist feel insulted during the conversation with Mister Minz?

8. What is Mister Minz's response when asked about the Horos time crystals?

9. Why does the protagonist decide to go to Morian at the end of the chapter?

10. What does the interaction between the protagonist and Mister Minz reveal about their relationship?

Mister Minz says that these questions should help readers to better understand and engage with the text.

Next: E9Q1 Stores and Supplies