Wyz the goblin waited by the side of the road, wringing his hands. His friends had left for the barrowmaze that morning as many aspiring adventurers did. That was hours ago. Now the slow trudge of discouraged feet returning to town rang loudly in his ears. There had been no sign of his friends. As each new group returned. Wyz clutched at sleeves, asked for news, collected whatever tales he could of the horrors that lay beneath the earth. From any that would indulge him, he collected details, facts. Specific barrows, specific creatures, partial tales of treasures found.
As the last of the survivors trickled in, Wyz sighed. His friend Sidney and Khezzean would not be returning. They had fallen. But as he mourned, he also ruminated. The news from the delvers he had gathered hinted at something worthwhile. Something more valuable than mere gold. Perhaps even a hint of future power. Several of the stories spoke of an arcane book, one where the sigils on its cover twisted and changed even as you tried to read them. That was a mark of true arcane power. However, those who touched the book vanished without a trace. Some of his friends had done just that. Others had been ambushed by bandits and fled back inside the same borrow. Perhaps they had taken the same arcane path out, or perhaps they had been killed buy the bandits.
But the book itself? That was valuable.
With his notes from the returning adventurers gathered, Wyz sought out the local wizard, Mazzah. The man was busy and reluctant to grant an audience, but the novelty of a literate goblin and dropping the name Azcruush the Arcane convinced Mazzah to spare a few minutes from his experiments. Mazzah agreed that the book was obviously an arcane tomb, but he had little to add about the name of the wizard associated with it. He immediately suggested casting Read Magic to read the arcane script on the cover in the hopes of learning more, but I had yet to learn any arcane script nor any spells. Mazzah could offer no other help as he was unwilling to enter the barrowmaze himself, though he was willing to examine the book if I could bring it to him. In the end, Massah advised me to leave the book well enough alone until I had more arcane knowledge to understand the nature of the puzzle.
Still, if I could not claim the book for myself, I would hide it from others. This treasure would be mine.
Gathering two of my friends, we set out for the Barrow Maze that afternoon. We couldn’t touch the book, but we could hide it, and did. It would take a greater fool than this goblin to write down where. I will strive to return to claim the book later, when I have the necessary knowledge.
