Later that same night...

At Kendra Lorrimor's house in Ravengro

Many of the guests return with Kendra to her home. One exception is Councilman Hearthmont who has other business to attend to. He will arrive some time later, however, for he is the acting solicitor for the town and is expected to disclose the contents of the will. Besides the five strangers to the town (who are lodging at the house during their stay in Ravengro), the other guests do not stay long. They partake of a drink or share a few pleasant memories of the professor before departing.

When everyone else has left, and Kendra waits for Hearthmont to arrive, the five outsiders gather in the den to remember the professor and wonder to themselves why they have been invited to be a part of the will. Truly, Petros Lorrimor has played some significant role in each of their lives over the past few years, but they were hardly close.

Zooblub does not engage in conversation with the others... he simply pulls a book from off the professor's shelf and sits in a corner of the room reading. He has let his hood fall back, revealing his wriggling ears, blue skin, and the yellow slits that are his eyes. Valamir stands with his arms crossed in the opposite corner of the chamber gazing out the window into the rainy night. He appears very uncomfortable, and does not speak. The only ones he has spoken to if at all are Kendra and the knight, Wilhem.

The others are gathered in the center of the room while awaiting Hearthmont. Yala and Tatyanza share some good memories of the professor, some of which elicit a smile from Kendra. Wilhem, however, seems troubled by the incident at the cemetery. When there is a pause in the conversation, the knight says, "shouldn't the councilman have arrived by now? It is getting quite late." In the very next moment, there is a pounding at the door.

Kendra answers it and soon Hearthmont steps in shaking raindrops off his cloak. As he cleans off his boots, he gazes suspiciously at the five strangers gathered in the next room. "This is everyone?" he asks. Kendra nods and invites the councilman in.

 

From beneath his cloak, Hearthmont produces a scroll case. Upon opening it, a heavy iron key falls out and tumbles noisily to the floor. Zooglub, who has set his book aside, scurries forward and scoops it up. "You dropped something, your honorableness, hee-hee!" The councilman ignores him and pulls forth the sealed scroll from within the case. He breaks the seal and begins to read. Most of it is simply legal terminology and deals with the professor's estate and property being bequeathed to Kendra. But towards the end, the others gathered around become involved...

 

"As some of you know, I have devoted many of my studies to all manner of -- " Hearthmont clears his throat before continuing, "-- evil, that I might know the enemy and inform those better positioned to stand against it. For knowledge of one's adversary is the surest path over victory over its nefarious plans.

 

"Over the course of my lifetime, I have seen fit to acquire a significant collection of dangerous tomes, any of which could have led to some unfavorable complications -- legal and otherwise -- in the wrong hands. While in life, they served me well, in death I do not wish to burden my daughter with the darker aspects of my profession. As such, I am entrusting my collection of tomes to my friends: Wilhem, Tatyanza, Valamir, Yala, and sharp-tongued Zooglub. It is my wish that the five of you deliver my trunk and its contents to the university in Lepidstadt and my trusted colleagues there.

 

"Yet, before you leave for Lepidstadt, there is one other favor I ask of you. Please delay your journey for one month so that you may stay here in Ravengro to aid my daughter in putting the matters of the estate in proper order. With my passing, I fear she no longer has anyone left to count on. For this service, you will have my eternal gratitude. In return, I bequeath to each of you one-hundred platinum crowns which are payable upon your arrival in Lepidstadt with the tomes safely delivered no sooner than one month from the reading of this will. I have entrusted Embreth Daramid with these funds for safekeeping." 

 

With that, the reading was done. Councilman Hearthmont takes his leave, and Kendra has the men bring the small, iron-bound oaken chest brought in. Zooglub, who still has the key, moves to open it. Valamir expresses his disapproval. "The professor said these books are dangerous. I will not permit you to open the chest out of curiosity. We ought to do what the professor should have done long ago and burn them all." While Kendra vehemently dismisses any notion of destroying the valuable objects, she agrees that nothing in the will stipulated opening the chest. Grumbling, the goblin hands over the key, and all of the guests retire for the evening.

 

Upstairs, Kendra has the master bedroom at the end of the carpeted hallway. Yala and Tatyanza share a room just down the hall from her. On the opposite end of the house, Wilhem and Valamir share a guestroom (though the latter sleeps not at all, it seems). Zooglub, already being traditionally nocturnal, cannot rest with so much great reading in the professor's extensive libraries. He stays up all night and gets a visit from Valamir in the predawn hours.

 

Without looking up from his reading material, Zooglub says with a sigh, "come to keep an eye on me, eh? Fear not... I'm not opening the trunk. Kendra took the key from me."

"I don't trust you, goblin," is the hunter's disgusted reply.

"Well, I don't expect you to -- Valamir, is it? The professor did trust me, of course, otherwise I wouldn't be here. And, no offense, but I regard his opinion much more highly than yours."

"Perhaps with the sorts of things he was reading, the professor was not of sound mind when he included you in the will. How do you know the professor, might I ask?"

Finally the goblin looks up. "You might."

 "Well?"

"We shared various academic interests. He also didn't immediately mistrust me because of who my parents were. I respect that. After all, I was one of his only colleagues with the intelligence to keep up with him. He didn't just see a goblin, he saw a mind."

"Were any of these interests evil in nature?"

"Oh, most definitely!" Zooglub giggles. "Folk like the professor and myself do not descriminate... all knowledge is valuable."

Valamir gazes down at the goblin with narrow eyes, "it seems to me then, that you are just as dangerous as the books in that chest. Perhaps you already know what is hidden within."

"No, I do not. Though, I admit, I wish I did. Books are not dangerous, Valamir, unless you fear paper cuts. Books are like minds... what matters is what you do with them."

 

The discussion is interrupted as Yala -- clothed only in a black cloak -- comes down the steps and moves to exit the house. Zooglub says, "don't any of you humans sleep at night?" She walks out to a grove of trees behind the house and disrobes in the falling rain. Then she calls her familiar, a raven she has named Storm, who comes circling down out of the trees. Yala kneels and raises her arms towards the sky, appealing to her elemental patrons. 

 

Valamir and Zooglub watch briefly from a window. The goblin titters to himself.

"Something amusing, goblin?"

"It seems that the professor had some rather interesting friends! Be glad you have two eyes, Valamir. You'll have to keep one on me, and the other on the witch." He cackles gleefully.

Valamir clenches his jaw and returns to his room.