The old prelate smiled and shook his head. “The Ishapians are a noble order, and we venerate them, but despite their authority and knowledge, they tend to vanity from time to time. Their library is prodigious but hardly exhaustive. There are things that have not found their way into their library.”

“But have into yours?” observed Jim.

Smiling even more broadly, the High Priest said, “We all keep our prerogatives. What we find is ours unless we wish to share with others.” Then his mood turned somber. “And much of the knowledge we do not share is of the sort about which you inquire; some things are best kept secret or at least closely guarded by those who understand them best.” He turned to Amirantha. “While we are waiting, I believe you had other points to make?”

“You are perceptive, Holy Father. Beyond my ignorance of the nature and purpose of this death magic, or as you pointed out, the stolen life force, I have never in my study of the demon realm found any connection.”

Pug said, “A thought I’ve been holding for a few moments is there is something from my past that should be mentioned.” He looked at the three other men and said, “Back when the Emerald Queen’s host sailed across the ocean from Novindus and invaded the Kingdom of the Isles, their leader, the Emerald Queen, had been replaced by a seeming of her, a false guise worn by a demon named Jakan.”

Amirantha tilted his head slightly, as if pondering this.

“What is not known to any but a few of us who were there—” He hesitated a moment, remembering that among those who had been present at the events he was about to describe was his wife, Miranda, and he felt a pang. “I was about to say, this was not about simple conquest, but rather a massive assault to reach the city of Sethanon.”

Jim’s brow furrowed. “Why? Sethanon had been abandoned since the end of the Great Uprising. There was nothing there.”

Pug said, “Even your Kingdom annals were not privy to what took place below the city after the sacking of Krondor and the final victory at the Battle of Nightmare Ridge.”

Pug paused, gathering his thoughts. Then he said, “During the Chaos Wars, the Dragon Lords fashioned a mighty artifact that was called the Lifestone. I never had the opportunity to fully study it, as it was deemed so dangerous we left it—” He considered the wisdom of revealing the true whereabouts of the Oracle of Aal, and decided not to burden his companions at the table with that information. “It was hidden in a deep cavern below the city.” He looked at the High Priest and said, “I believe the Lifestone was constructed from captured life elements, as you have described.”