A westward turn off the Coast Way led onto the Way of the Lion. Candlekeep stood at the road's end, a sprawling complex perched atop seaside cliffs like a jewel set into a crown of stone.
Dawn had only begun to break when several adventurers emerged yawning from their tents at a campsite two miles east of Candlekeep.
Three fine horses approached through the pale morning mist, with a bright beam shining from one of the saddles and illuminating the road ahead.
The half-elf ranger among the adventurers immediately grew alert. His sharp eyes pierced the thin fog and made out the travelers who had been riding throughout the night.
Skyl led the group on a chestnut horse, using the severed head of the succubus Pencheska as a lantern. Mia sat behind him. The undead girl no longer looked particularly different from a living person, aside from her bloodless complexion, exhausted expression, and hollow cheeks that made her appear severely malnourished.
Mia held a flowerpot in her arms. The Silver Tree had taken root inside it, its candle flames burning quietly and swaying in the wind like snow resting upon its branches. She stared at the tree with complete concentration and rarely allowed it out of her reach, displaying an extraordinary affection for it.
An undead creature who loved trees gave Skyl a strange sense of déjà vu. He vaguely remembered hearing about a skeleton who also enjoyed planting them.
Stan continued studying even while riding, although the material in his hands was nothing more respectable than Playboy and similar adult magazines.
Doric quietly conversed with a flower sprite. The tiny creature had also been attracted by the Silver Tree and hoped to settle among its branches one day, so she had followed Skyl's group for the past several days. Flower sprites were fey creatures only a few inches tall and were generally timid by nature, but this particular sprite was an exception. Doric had promised to protect her.
The travelers stopped beside the camp.
"Hey, you travelers who've been riding all night. You're heading to Candlekeep, aren't you?"
"That's right," Skyl answered with a smile. "Did you just leave Candlekeep?"
"How did you know?" the adventurers asked curiously.
"It was only a guess."
Skyl switched off his succubus headlamp, dismounted, and smiled.
"We have just arrived and intend to rest, while you're preparing to leave. Since fate has brought us together, why don't we share a meal? It would be a shame to waste the opportunity."
The adventurers exchanged glances. The fighter among them was already smiling, clearly won over by Skyl's charisma. The rogue and wizard also relaxed their guard. Only the ranger remained focused enough to notice something troubling.
"Friend, perhaps you should first explain why you've tied that girl to your horse."
"Her name is Mia," Skyl said simply. "She doesn't know how to ride, so I had no choice but to secure her to the saddle."
"Tiefling."
One of the human adventurers frowned when he noticed Doric.
"She's my friend," Skyl replied calmly. "A kindhearted druid. Let's not be racist, all right?"
Stan joined the conversation as well. With two extraordinarily charismatic men working together, resistance was practically impossible. Before long, everyone was eating together like old friends reuniting after years apart.
"Candlekeep is unbelievably greedy," the wizard complained after drinking a few cups of wine. "You have to pay an entrance fee just to get inside. I spent two thousand gold pieces on an ancient elven manuscript, and it only bought me ten days there. You're allowed to read whatever you want, but they won't let you copy anything. To obtain a duplicate, you have to pay Candlekeep's monks to transcribe it for you. Guess how much they charge."
"It can't be cheap," Skyl replied thoughtfully.
"One hundred gold pieces for a copy of an ordinary book. If the text contains spells, they demand ten thousand gold pieces for a single copy! I'm convinced that if someone cracked open a statue of Oghma, the god of knowledge, they'd find Waukeen, the goddess of commerce, hiding inside. Those people would charge you for the air if they could!"
Skyl nodded.
"Knowledge is priceless, so how could it ever be measured in money? True wisdom has never existed in books alone. It exists within people's minds. As a public library, Candlekeep should make its collection freely accessible instead of treating knowledge as capital to be bought and sold."
The wizard nodded enthusiastically.
Stan scoffed. "Skyl, you don't understand business. Everything in society revolves around money. Candlekeep needs income to continue operating. Charitable donations and goodwill can't support an entire organization of spellcasters."
"That merely proves their system of production is underdeveloped," Skyl replied dismissively. "Winterhold doesn't operate through private capital, and no one there needs to keep even a copper coin in their pocket. Magic is being wasted instead of used where it actually matters."
"Suppose Faerûn abolished currency," Stan said, raising his eyebrows with excitement. "What do you think the goddess of commerce would do?"
"She'd probably come after you herself."
"And what of it?" Skyl waved a hand without concern.
The surrounding adventurers listened in growing confusion and alarm. They lowered their heads and ate faster, hoping to finish the meal quickly and distance themselves from the two madmen.
Skyl continued questioning the wizard about Candlekeep and learned that the person in charge was known as the Keeper of the Tomes. The current Keeper was Ulraunt, an arrogant and thoroughly unpleasant human wizard.
"Anyone who wants to enter the central keep must have dinner with him and endure his endless interrogation," the wizard explained.
He gave Skyl a meaningful look as he spoke, clearly implying that Skyl's own relentless questioning was equally annoying.
Skyl was briefly speechless. After considering the matter, he had Mora's Book reproduce an otherworldly grimoire and presented it to the adventurer.
"Take it. The knowledge inside may seem obscure and unusual, but it should benefit you."
"A spellbook? Isn't this far too valuable?"
The wizard said the right words, but his hands moved with remarkable speed as he snatched the book. Spellcasters were endlessly hungry for knowledge. Their obsession with books resembled a starving man's longing for a feast or a drunk's craving for wine.
After saying farewell to the adventurers, Skyl looked toward the brightening sky.
"Candlekeep isn't far now. We'll rest once we arrive."
Stan and Doric had no objections. Skyl covered Mia with a heavy hooded cloak to shield her from the sunlight, then urged the horses forward and quickly reached Candlekeep.
The guards at the gate wore finely crafted chain mail. Beside them stood warriors dressed like monks, each equipped with half plate and carrying an enchanted club. All of them appeared disciplined and well trained.
Skyl approached the entrance but made no attempt to pass through.
"I've heard that Candlekeep is the greatest library in Faerûn. Alaundo the Seer left many prophecies here, and a great number of them have already come true. Does this ancient and celebrated sanctuary of knowledge truly deserve its reputation?"
The guard puffed out his chest and smiled knowingly.
"Do not doubt it, seeker. You will never find a greater library anywhere else."
"Is that so? I disagree."
Skyl chuckled, raised Mora's Book, and declared in a clear voice, "I believe that every book within Candlekeep combined is less valuable than the single volume in my hand. Compared to its contents, everything stored in this fortress is merely a drop in the ocean. This book contains more knowledge than Candlekeep's entire collection."
The guards and monks frowned as they stared at Skyl in suspicion, wondering whether he had come to provoke them.
"You don't believe me? Very well. Take the book and examine it yourselves. If any of you can finish reading it, I will donate it to Candlekeep without asking for payment. Anyone may accept the challenge. Anyone may try."
Inside Candlekeep, bells suddenly rang from the temple of Oghma.
Every priest within the temple received the same divine revelation.
Go to Candlekeep's gate and accept the white-robed man's challenge.
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