The four men remaining in the room exchanged strange glances, which became expressions of curiosity as time dragged on. “Right back” became a half hour when the monk finally returned, a dusty old leather-bound volume in hand.

“It should be in here,” he said as if he had merely stepped out of the room, then reappeared.

“What is it?” asked Pug as the monk laid the book down on the table and gently opened it.

“It’s a chronicle of one Varis Logondis, a Quegan trader who lived about four hundred years ago. He was a compulsive journal keeper who felt every detail in his life was worthy of mentioning.

“In fact, most of his life was remarkably un-noteworthy, unless you are an aficionado of travelogues, long discourses on mercantile trends of the day, or the state of Varis’s digestive health at any given moment in his life. But, in passing he remarks on many issues of the day, useful in providing corroboration or refutation of other histories and accounts of the time.

“But one remark in particular stuck with me over the years.” He scanned the page. “Ah, there it is. Let me read—the dialect is somewhat antiquated and his spelling is atrocious. ‘In the evening, we came upon a village, by name Hamtas on Jaguard, whereupon we were welcomed at an inn by name, the Restful Station. There did we encounter soldiers of the Empire, at their ease after a battle.

“‘I remark on this for two counts’—reasons is what he means, I am certain—‘that first they were not of the militia, yet were Legionaries from Queg that had been haste posted to this region, and last that they had struggled mightily against the Demon Brothers and their living dead.’”

“Back then most of the Bitter Sea was still under control of the Empire of Great Kesh,” Pug remarked.

“What’s interesting about this passage, Pug, is that it supports two other sources we are aware of, one in our possession, another not.” He looked at the magician and his two companions with a satisfied smile. “Varis wrote sixty-five volumes over his lifetime, so I had to skim a couple before I could find this passage.” He pointed to the page and said, “The source we possess along with this is a fairly standard tally of captured goods returned to Queg by the expedition encountered by Varis. We know that Varis was surprised to find Imperial Legionaries in that town instead of local soldiers; it implies something significant was being undertaken. Legionaries were only stationed in three garrisons around the Bitter Sea at that time: Durban, Queg City, and Port Natal. They were not used unless there was an uprising or some other menace of equal weight.