J'role nodded, clapped his hands together. Everyone joined him in applause. "Well," said Merrox. "It's a start. And even if we don't find it, at least we've brought more life into this place than I've seen in years."
The search seemed hopeless. For the rest of the day Merrox and Releana searched the main codices for any mention of Parlainth. The dwarven language of pictures-with symbols added to the illustration of a dragon's head or a sunset to highlight certain syllables of the object presented- allowed countless permutations for representation of the word Parlainth. Though most common words or names had well-known, standardized presentations, the hidden city was not well known at all. The search took days.
Meanwhile J'role studied one dwarven map after another, looking for a city located in the area where he had found Parlainth. He found nothing, and a fear began to grow in him that it had all been a dream; a fulfillment of desire created by his confused mind.
When they had completed the search of the maps and main indexes without success, Releana suggested that the group scour the stacks anyway. If the memory and maps of the city had been altered, she reasoned that the indexes could have been transformed as well.
So the three of them walked up and down the stacks, climbed up and down ladders, and generally made a nuisance of themselves to the other dwarfs busy at work. Releana had made a list of possible spellings of Parlainth for J'role, and he compared the symbols on the list with those he found on the scrolls and tomes. As the days passed J'role became dizzy from the constant cross-referencing of the titles with this scrap of paper. With each passing day it all seemed more and more hopeless.
After a week had gone by and they had still checked only half the Hall of Record's massive stores, they gathered around their table, slumped dejectedly in their seats.
"Are you sure this is the name of the city?" Merrox asked J'role.
Was he? It was what the elf queen had called it. Did her people have a different name for it. Had she lied to him?
He shrugged.
"Maybe we're going about it all wrong," said Releana. "J'role got the name of the city from the elf queen. But the people of Parlainth probably didn't count on people under the spell's influence meeting with her. J'role found the city, and then deduced that the stones were where the magic was stored. So what matters is the stones, not the name; and because the name itself seems to have been erased from the records, we need a new approach anyway."
"If that was the name," Merrox said and shook his head. "It all seems so improbable …"
“If the entire population of a massive city-and according to J'role's visions it was massive-invested themselves into the spell it might be possible. Add the tight restrictions that the city put on the spell-they could not bring themselves back, that only a single ring indicated that they even existed, and that the ring itself provided few clues-
and such power is definitely possible. The limitations on the spell were enormous. The effects could be enormous as well."
A silence fell over the table, and each of them slipped into deep contemplation. Then Merrox said, "What a horrible decision they made; to hide themselves away like this. To have no power over returning home."
"They must have been terrified of the coming Scourge," agreed Releana.
"Were they more frightened than the elves of Blood Wood?" asked a dwarf who stood nearby and had overheard the conversation. "What they did to themselves …"
"No," Merrox said firmly, his voice tight. "I cannot imagine doing what the people of Parlainth did. But to do what the elves of Blood Wood did, and what countless other peoples did for protection, corrupting themselves to stave off the corruption of the Horrors…. It is unconscionable."
Another silence came, even deeper than the last. Then Releana said, as if speaking from a terrible distance, a sadness cutting through her words, “The Scourge did things to us that will never truly heal."
J 'role found himself nodding, though he had no desire to share his thoughts or feelings.
But no one noticed. The truth of the matter weighed on each one. And in that moment they were bound together in a way no words could express. They had all been reminded of the pain that each living person shared in being alive.
"Well, at least we can try to get this city back," Releana said firmly, rousing the group from its deepening despair.
"Yes," said Merrox, shivering as if shaking off a chill. “You suggested we look at the stones we cut for Parlainth."
"Yes. Let's leave the name behind for now. It might not exist anywhere in this room. But they would have left something behind so the city could be brought back. It might well be in the records of your stone quarries… I don't know. But let's get to it. Let's search through the construction work you did before the Scourge."
"And we can make it more specific because, if it is a huge city, the stone work would be listed under our city records, and would bet quite detailed."
"Well, let's look," said Releana.
"But what are we looking form asked Merrox with exasperation.
"Anything," said Releana. "Anything at all."
29
In the dream the creature in J'role's thoughts said "Now, what would be the best thing for a little boy to do if he caused his parents pain?"
J'role did not know. He could not even venture a guess. He was too frightened. Something was in his thoughts. Something flowed and slid around in his mind.
"Come, now Don't worry so much, little boy. We're going to be together for a while, I think. Now what would be the best thing you could do for your mother and your father?"
At the mention of his father, J'role sensed something, someone, just out beyond the edge of his perceptions- standing behind his mother.
Crying.
They found seven volumes of stonework designs-all without labels. When Releana brought them to Merrox he furrowed his forehead and turned the books around and around searching for a label. "We label everything," he said with whispered astonishment. "I mean, everything. I recently found a receipt for the purchase of a ten-foot pole that didn't cost more than a scrap of copper. The date of purchase, the buyer, and the seller were all carefully listed on the scrap."
As Merrox flipped through the pages and pages of designs his brow furrowed even more.
"What is it?" Releana asked, a barely contained excitement creeping into her voice.
"These designs. Here. Look." The dwarf turned the open book so she and J'role could see.
In the center of the yellowed page was a picture of a stone block. On the block was a symbol from the written language-the foot of a dragon surrounded by three dots, with two dashes beneath the foot.
Because these were the designs for the city's outer walls, J'role assumed they were part of the glyphs used to ward off the Horrors.
Merrox explained that the dwarfs often designed the patterns for the stones ahead of time, making a Master Sheet of the glyphs, and then a grid of these Master Sheets, with one block per square. That way they could be sure all the glyphs would fit on the actual wall or gate. The nameless volumes on the table before them contained the Master Sheets, as well as illustrations of all the blocks that would make up the city's outer wall.
What was odd about this page, Merrox continued, was that in the upper right-hand corner was the picture of another, smaller block. There was another drawing of the dragon's foot, but this time on the left side of the block rather than on the side facing out. On the side facing out was a squiggle of lines and a circle.
"These smaller blocks…," said Merrox, fanning the pages of the thick tome to show the small block in the upper corner of each leaf. "I don't know what they are. I've never seen anything like it before."