By the time the embers of the old hermit’s pyre had burned out it was too late to attempt the trip back to Dor Areson, through a marshland they didn’t know, with possible enemies still lurking about. The Hand decided to overnight in the now-abandoned cabin, and after a subdued but filling meal (old Torkin had a well-stocked larder) most everyone bedded down where they could.

Devrik took the first watch, patrolling outside the cabin, while Mariala, unable to sleep despite being given the one bed, decided to work on deciphering the text on the map of Nah-henu they had discovered among Arlun Parek’s possessions. By the light of the fire and a single candle, she studied the text, recalling all the lessons in cryptography she’d had over the years.

Perhaps it was because she had been focusing so intently on the complex cypher of the late Ser Danyes’ private journal, that she failed to see at once the nature of this code. But after she had set it down to take her turn on watch, and returned to it when Vulk relieved her, the solution came to her in a sudden flash. It was, in fact, a relatively simple substitution cypher. Proof against most would-be readers, to be sure, but not at all difficult for anyone trained in the art. Curious, she thought, for such a secretive group as the Vortex appears to be…

But even as she began to piece together the meaning of the main text, it began to shift and swim before her eyes, the letters sliding greasily around the page. In a few seconds the text had settled into a new configuration on the page, a somewhat longer message than before… it appeared to be in the same code, however, and she quickly began to translate, writing it down on a separate paper this time.

Her urgency seemed unnecessary, however, as the new text remained fixed and seemingly completely normal, even after she had double-checked her final translation. The sun was just beginning to light the eastern sky when she sat back with a sigh and a frown, and contemplated the meaning of what she’d just read.

“You’re still awake?” Vulk spoke softly as he came back into the cabin. “Did you sleep at all last night?”

“No,” she replied. “I really wasn’t tired, and in any case the idea of sleeping in poor Torkin’s bed was… unappealing. But my time wasn’t wasted, Vulk!” She held up her translated copy of the text in one hand, the map in the other.

Before she got too far in her explanation, Vulk suggested they wake the others, so she could tell the tale once to all. Devrik was already awake, stoking the fire, and in a few minutes the entire group was gathered around the hearth to hear what Mariala had discovered.

“I think this map is something like my own magic parchment,” she began, holding up the page for everyone to see. “The text on it shifted while I was decoding it – it was a fairly simple cypher, actually; not child’s play, but nothing like as difficult as the one Ser Danyes was using – and the old message was replaced by a new one as I watched.

“I didn’t get a chance to completely decode the original, unfortunately, but it seemed to be instructions to ‘begin the harvest of urve oil…’ then something about ‘his Lordship’ (and a title I couldn’t translate) having perfected… something… sorry, that was about all I could make of it before it began to change.

“I thought at first the shifting of the letters was a magical defense against someone breaking the code, but this new message has remained on the page, so I don’t think that’s it. Instead, I think this is how the Vortex sends messages to their agents!”

“Well, what does it say?” Erol asked, as everyone leaned forward.

Mariala smiled, and began to read from her translation.

Brother Arlun, from the Council of Regents, greetings. Your are summoned to come before a tribunal of the Council’s Inquisitors to offer testimony on the recent failures and breaches of our works in your charge. You will present yourself at the regional Chamber on the evening of Höl Kopia, when both moons have risen, and await the pleasure of the Inquisitors. As always the lemmings of Kalos will cloak our activities, especially so on this rare holiday conjunction, when so many will flock to grovel at the absent feet of their false god. Let Aranda greet you on this visit, and then be guided, as always, by the tripartite light, which will lead you to the hidden Chamber. You know the penalty for disobedience, but you may yet redeem yourself in the Eye of Chaos.

“The message isn’t signed, as such, but the Vortex symbol appears just below it,” Mariala concluded. As the others sank back and pondered what they’d just heard, the thought racing through each mind that Höl Kopia was just five days away…