168
You ask a street trader the way to the Halls of Learning and he points impatiently to an avenue on the west side of the square. A rusty plate fixed to the corner building says ‘Quill Street’.
You ride along this narrow avenue, which is flanked by aromatic jala houses and perfumeries, until it turns abruptly right into a wider thoroughfare called Brass Street. A smile cracks your travel-grimy face when you see the courtyard entrance to a grand building. It has changed much since you were last here, but despite its new brick and marble façade you recognize Varetta’s Halls of Learning.
You ride along a gravelled path to a fountain where you stop to ask a brown-robed scholar if he knows where Gwynian can be found. Without speaking, he points to a nearby hall. A sign hanging over its richly-carved oak door says ‘Library’. You thank the robed man and dismount, leaving your horse tied to a ring which is set into the wall. Then you push open the door and enter the library’s cool interior.
Countless thousands of books and parchments crowd the stone shelves of this magnificent library. Your eyes travel along them until they reach another door at the far end of the hall. There, standing framed in the arch, is the man whose help you seek.
‘Welcome, Grand Master,’ says Gwynian the Sage. ‘I have been expecting you.’
