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The Order of the Gemstone
Thealdi led his group back to the house, he thought it better for them to get a bit of rest before they would join the celebrations so they gathered in the main hall and settled at the fire place. “What a day, so full of exciting moments. Exceptional…”, the old man started, but paused for he seemed to look for the right words.
“Lendear, why don’t you go and fetch us all a nice drink. There should be some fine apple juice for you and young Lillyveen and a bottle of wine for Lady Myrtha and myself. You’ll find everything in the repository behind the kitchen, just down the floor. I’ll fetch some glasses.”
He wanted the boy out of earshot for a minute so he could speak to the two in privacy.
“Ladies”, he began as soon as Lendear had left the hall, “today you have received a truly exceptional gift. First and most important I need you to promise me that you shall never reveal to anyone about what has happened in the dungeons of the Great Hall. It is of utter importance that not a living soul shall ever learn about it. The items you received are valuable beyond your imagination and you’d be in grave danger, should the wrong people ever gain this knowledge. With these amulets not only were you equipped with a key to new happiness, but you were also granted access to a secret group of quite exceptional people. Even if that seems inappropriate, I need you to promise that you will not tell Lendear anything about what I am going to say. This is only temporary, but he needs to stay ignorant of the facts I am about to lay out.”
He looked at the two, waiting for their affirmation and only after both had nodded, he continued. “It is very important for the success of Lendears upcoming training that he is of the opinion that he alone carries a special duty. He must feel that everything will depend solely on him. If he’d knew about this, he certainly wouldn’t be able to muster the required focus. See, this is a general mechanism of groups. Each member of a group will never contribute fully of whatever is required in the knowledge that there are others who help. The full potential will only be set free if an individual is under the impression to exclusively depend on him- or herself.
But let us go back to the topic at hand. These people I just mentioned are members of the secret Order of the Gemstone. They have had a protective hand over the Gemlats since the beginning. The orders origin dates back to times way before the High Council was founded. Precious few people know of their existence nowadays. Apart from the High Council, you two and myself I doubt if there is anyone else aware of their presence.
With these amulets you have been granted the privilege to enter the circles of this Order. Tomorrow you shall be introduced and you will learn all the details I have no time to explore for I hear the boy returning.”
He got up and fetched some glasses and together the four toasted to Lendears appointment. Myrtha soon excused herself for she wanted to catch some sleep before they would set out to the celebrations and Lillyveen followed suit.
Thealdi beamed at the boy, raised his glass and said:
“To you, my dear friend. Today you proved me right and I am really glad that you accepted the skean, I’m proud beyond words!”
The glasses clinked, Lendear returned the beam, now clearly feeling elated himself on his masters approval and the two lingered in this moment of shared haughtiness.
“Now, if you like, we can discuss the latest happenings. Of course, you could be as wise as the ladies and take a little rest before we go out to participate in the celebrations, but I do understand if you would rather stay here and elaborate on your assignment and the initiation.”
The boy hesitated. Certainly he wanted to discuss the latest happenings with his master and there were many questions to be asked. On the other hand he was looking forward to the celebrations, after all the suffering, the pain, the exertions he had experienced since their departure from Gheenteld. Despite the rushes of excitement that had run through his body during the initiation, he did indeed feel tired and therefore decided to decline the old mans offer and rather following Thealdis advise, Lendear retreated to his chamber.
Lillyveen in the meantime had followed Myrtha to her chamber, she preferred discussing the amulets to taking a nap and Myrtha soon gave up trying to convince the girl that she would benefit from a little rest. Myrtha too was excited about it she had to admit to herself and so the two sat on the bed, each holding the amulet, marvelling at the beauty and skilled art of the make.
Lillyveen let out a sigh, halted and then practically exploded:
“Myrtha, what do you think this order will be like? I mean what are they doing and why is it all such a secret? I hate not being allowed to tell Lendear about it. And Thealdi, did you see how pleased he was, he was clearly very proud of Lendear and did you see how he beamed at us when we got these amulets? Wasn’t this just absolutely incredible with the High Council people?”
This waterfall of girlish babbling caused Myrtha to laugh out loud. How good that felt, for she couldn’t remember when she had last experienced the joy of spontaneous peals of laughter she now had with this little whirlwind jumping on her bed, eyes sparkling with excitement. She couldn’t help but close her arms around the girl and give her a big hug. A brief knock at the door and Thealdi let himself in, grinning is grin at the sight of the two.
“I see, you altered your plans, Ladies. It’s a great pleasure to see you two in such high spirits. May I be let in?”
Thealdi soon regretted his last comment when he was confronted with another sample of Lillyveens high speed chatter.
“I was just telling Myrtha how this is all so exciting, you know, the people in the Great Hall, there were so many! And the council, wasn’t that stunning? And your speech and how everyone reacted. All that noise and excitement. And then when we went down to this chamber and Lendear receiving this weapon and the amulets…”
“Hoh! Hold it!” Thealdi raised his hand.
“Breathing time, young lady.”
He laughed, blinked at Myrtha who still giggled and approached the bed.
“Ladies, I’d rather not interrupt this little happy meeting, but I need to tell you a few more things. Later, when we will go out to participate in the celebrations there will be no time. And when we return, I assume we will all want to go straight to bed. So – let’s have a word now.
Even if it is very hard on you,” and he looked directly at Lillyveen, “I must again press on the secrecy. Please promise, no word about the amulets, no word about the order and no word about the weapon, Lendear received.”
“I promise”, replied Lillyveen with a nod attempting to look solemn.
“Very well, now let me tell you a little about the order. In the early times when life was still very dangerous and the lands full of hazards, long before the people of Beakil Khum came into existence, and long before the Gemlats first learned of the existence of the Yakhath, the hunters often fell victim to the wild beasts that inhabited the areas of the Thari Cees. Until such a day, when a woman who was out searching for herbs and roots was approached by such a beast. Sure that she would die, she made a fateful decision. Rather than attempting to run away, she slowly approached the beast, catching its black eyes, stretched out her arm and when she was in reach, touched its forehead. Instead of the expected charge, the beast lowered its head and allowed the woman to stroke it behind the ears. For whatever reason the woman was without the slightest trace of fear is lost today, but the revelation that the widely feared aggressiveness of these beast was triggered by the dedicated victims trepidation changed the relation between man and beast forever.
And it changed the woman for good. After her encounter with the wild beast, she spent many years studying her feelings and in the end, mastered the absolute control over them. In the early times of her studies she came to realize that her gifts were related to a gemstone she once had found when she was out in the mountains of Thari Cees looking for a sample of exceptionally rare roots she required for a certain brew. She learned to control the powers of the gemstone and in her subsequent travels in the High Mountains she would find out that quite often samples of this kind of gem could be found in the vicinity of said roots.
Eventually she started to share her knowledge for she was not only exceptional when it came to matters of the heart, but she also knew more about plants and how to put them to good use than anyone. Many women joined her, together they learned, adopted from each other, altered, added, and improved their skills in every conceivable aspect of life. Each new member of the group would be given a gemstone and soon this congregation of wise women was known under the name it carries until today.
The order gradually came to great power and people started to fear them. Not that they ever put any kind of threat on anyone, but the sole existence of these women and their legendary abilities by and by led to prosecution and they were forced to go underground. Nevertheless, many fell victim to fear-driven assaults.
Using their skills, concentrating on camouflage and evasion, the order after many years accomplished the extinguishing of their existence from the public mind and eventually the Order of the Gemstone became a myth, fading into legend.
You undoubtedly now understand my insistence of absolute secrecy I daresay?”
He looked at Myrtha and Lillyveen who in turn watched him wide-eyed, clearly enthralled by this story. Then Myrtha spoke:
“Good grief – the Council has made a terrible mistake. How could we possibly be of any help for the order? We’d only be a burden. I better hand the amulet back to the High Archmage.”
“Myrtha, you better never question the actions of the High Council”, replied Thealdi in a grim tone, but immediately softened again.
“Trust me and please trust the High Council. You have a lot to give even if you are not aware of it right now. Tomorrow you will see it in a different light, so much I can promise. For now I beg you to have faith.”
Reluctantly, Myrtha nodded. Lillyveen initially hadn’t made the connection, but now came to the same conclusion. The last words of Thealdi however made any comment moot and so she remained silent, her thoughts already wandering to the celebrations.

Two hours later, the house once more was filled with the vibrating sounds of the gong and soon after the group stood reunited and excitement about the prospects of joining the festivities was accompanied by another outbreak of Lillyveens high speed chatter on the anticipated events.