[CHAPTER 1] [CHAPTER 2] [CHAPTER 3] [CHAPTER 6]
[ZONE 3]

LOCKLEAR: It's a hot day to be idling under the sun without shade. Can I assume you're waiting for someone?

ABUK: So I do. A spice trader come from Malac's Cross bound for Silden. I must assume his journey is delayed for a time. We shall drink full a fortnight or two in the Empress Inn.

LOCKLEAR: Do you fear that this trader will be harmed in Silden?

ABUK: Ah! With an eagle's eye you see the problem - The danger that awaits there is not intended for him, nor for any man alone. Strangers live short lives that cross into Silden when the Crawler has convened a secret session of his assistants.

LOCKLEAR: And this Crawler has called such a meeting?

ABUK: Even so. At dusk two nights ago a raven was nailed to the doorpost of the Anchorhead Tavern, the sign any that hadn't business in Silden should quit the town and quickly. Such it has been for several years.

LOCKLEAR: What of the town constable? He does nothing about this criminal?

ABUK: In Kesh it is said that a man cannot see that has gold in his eyes, a man will not look that has sin in his heart.

LOCKLEAR: I believe I understand... I think we shall be on our way then and thanks for your news of Silden.

ABUK: Remember, heed the roadsigns. Wander no closer to Silden than you must, for the Crawler's assistants have great cajunlo - great power.

LOCKLEAR: Thank you, Abuk. We will remember your warning.

Owyn's pulse quickened as he saw the lone figure approach; but when it became apparent they were not being attacked, he relaxed a bit, squinted slightly in an attempt to see who was about to join them.

LOCKLEAR: Are you still waiting for your friend?

ABUK: Even so. Though I have blisters on my tongue and boils on my feet, I shall wait until the sun boils away my flesh and maggots chew my brain and even then shall I wait until I have word of him.

LOCKLEAR: Maybe something has happened to him.

ABUK: I will wait! My thanks for your concern, but I cannot quit my duty to a friend. Travel fairly, sir.

LOCKLEAR: I will. Good luck to you.

Owyn's pulse quickened as he saw the lone figure approach; but when it became apparent they were not being attacked, he relaxed a bit, squinted slightly in an attempt to see who was about to join them.

ABUK: Excuse me, sirs. I will detain you only a few moments. Can you show me the way to Lyton? I am told that there is someone there who requires my services to pick a Webber lock. The letter I received from there sounded most urgent.

JAMES: Impossible. A Webber lock cannot be picked.

ABUK: Perhaps not by you, but one skilled in the arts of subtlety, he may know how to penetrate even the most difficult of locks. It is a matter of patience.

JAMES: I don't care how patient you are, a Webber lock cannot be picked. You're making idle boasts.

ABUK: And what would Abuk gain telling strangers a fact that was not true, eh? I merely say these things so I may advertise my services and you might make use of them one day. I state simple fact. There is no lock in this Kingdom of yours that Abuk cannot pick. None.

JAMES: Is that so? Perhaps you could teach us how to pick Webber locks...

ABUK: It would take more time than I think you would care to spend. I spent five years at the foot of my master Caliphad in the shadow of mount Ashunta learning the art. But I could perhaps improve whatever skill you may already possess. A small fee of seventy gold sovereigns should pay for my time.

JAMES: Seventy gold pieces for a lesson in lockpicking? That's nothing short of robbery.

ABUK: You are wise. I should not cheat myself in this fashion. Eighty sovereigns, but I cannot raise my price any higher, despite the great deference you show to my person. Is the arrangement to be sealed?

Owyn's pulse quickened as he saw the lone figure approach; but when it became apparent they were not being attacked, he relaxed a bit, squinted slightly in an attempt to see who was about to join them.

ABUK: Dear friends! Come, Abuk will teach you how to pick locks. I believe we fixed my price at eighty sovereigns on my last meeting. Shall I give you a lesson now?

ABUK: You must open yourself to new things. This is the first learning. Without this opening you will not be complete. Opening your self is like opening a lock. If you cannot open, then the lock may not open. You should understand that there is no difference between yourself and the lock that you pick. All these things I will demonstrate with a test lock that I carry with me. Now I want you to observe.

JAMES: Keshian double...talk. Wait a minute...how did you do that? I couldn't see... Do that again.

ABUK: That is it. You have received your first lesson, darkeyes.

JAMES: That was too fast. I couldn't catch what you were doing.

ABUK: In time you shall realize what was done. In your mind, the events will unlock and thus your hands will unlock as well. I must go now. Good bye.

JAMES: Wait...

ABUK: Indeed it is unfortunate, for I wish to one day be embarrassed. Perhaps when you have more money, you can come and we shall test one another. Until that time, I bid you fair travelling.

JAMES: I look forward to the day we meet again. Goodbye.

JAMES: There are many things I enjoy in life, but wasting hard earned money is not one of them. Any man that claims to be able to pick a Webber lock is undoubtedly a fraud.

ABUK: Perhaps you are right. I shall consider these things while I unlock one in Lyton. If you should change your mind and we should meet again, however, I would be willing to teach you the things that are impossible for me to know. Travel well.

JAMES: That we will. Good day.

SECOND:

JAMES: As I told you last time, any man that claims to be able to pick a Webber lock is a fraud. I'm not going to throw my money away.

ABUK: If you should change your mind and we should meet again, I shall attempt once more to prove you wrong. Travel well.

JAMES: That we will. Good day.

Owyn's pulse quickened as he saw the lone figure approach; but when it became apparent they were not being attacked, he relaxed a bit, squinted slightly in an attempt to see who was about to join them.

ABUK: The sun shines favorably on you traveller. I am Abuk of Silden, master of locks, son of Kardeji and student of Caliphad, master among masters of locks.

JAMES: Save your breath. I haven't the need for a locksmith at the moment. I need information about a company of Kingdom soldiers that may have visited Silden recently.

ABUK: Many soldiers visit Silden. Some come from the boats that dock there, some come from Lyton or places further away. What would distinguish the men you seek from any other men?

JAMES: If you noticed them at all, they should have seemed conspicuously inconspicuous. They would have drank little and paid whatever shopkeepers asked, no matter how outrageous the price. They would have avoided fighting unless it was forced upon them and then it would have been very evident they were skilled fighters.

ABUK: I know of these men. They came to Silden to hire assassins, but Abuk told them they do not need assassins.

JAMES: Hire Nighthawks? No. These men would have been looking for the Nighthawks, but they didn't wish to hire them. If anything, they wanted to trick them into the open.

ABUK: They asked Abuk to hire assassins, but I told them about my spider and they did not wish to hire assassins anymore. They bought the spider and went away to Romney.

JAMES: You sold them the silver spider? Why did they wish to buy it?

ABUK: They did not tell Abuk and I did not ask. I am only a master of locks and the business of the King's men is their own.

JAMES: No one is accusing you of anything. Where did you get the silver spider from? Did you buy it from some one?

A man of the Guild of Assassins learned where I keep my modest treasures and wished to open it. Having considerable skills, he opened its strange lock but he was struck dead by the trap which he had thoughtlessly triggered. When I found the silver spider on his person, I kept it until the day I sold it to the King's soldiers.

JAMES: They may have believed they could use it to track down the Nighthawks. Was there anything else on the dead Nighthawk that could have told you anything about him?

ABUK: He had a ticket for passage to Krondor on the Night Crawler, a boat that sometimes harbors in Silden. I had no need for it so I threw it away.

JAMES: I think we have all we need for now, Abuk, but please stay here. We may need to speak to you again.

Owyn's pulse quickened as he saw the lone figure approach; but when it became apparent they were not being attacked, he relaxed a bit, squinted slightly in an attempt to see who was about to join them.

ABUK: Abuk, master of locks at your service. How may I be of assistance?

JAMES: It appears that you are master of more than locks. What do you know of the Prank's Stone north of Romney?

ABUK: A tongue wags loose in Silden. I see my enterprises may be silenced.

JAMES: I am interested only in a brass spyglass that you sold to Joftaz in Silden. Tell me about it and I will choose to forget about any other thefts you may have participated in. How did you come by it?

ABUK: A year and twenty ago, I bought a box in Silden from a trader. He told me it would bring me great fortune, but I wished only for a strong chest to hold my things and I told him that he would be a fool to sell such a box. We haggled and at last I purchased it for ten sovereigns, a price that the seller seemed positively glad to receive. I too was pleased with the exchange, but began to wonder at the nature of what I had purchased. The chest was possessed of cajunlo.

JAMES: Cajunlo? What does that mean?

ABUK: It was a box of trickery, of magic. Objects would appear in the box, things that I had not placed there. Then one day I met a man from Romney and he told me of the true nature of my chest. When things were lost in a certain place, they came to my box and we could sell those items. We decided of course that we would never tell each other more about ourselves so our business would be safe should one of us fall into harm.

JAMES: And you two would split the profits of whatever appeared in the box. I take it that the brass spyglass was one of the items he arranged for you to find?

ABUK: It was one of many things.

JAMES: The day you got the spyglass, did anything else appear in your box?

ABUK: A few things. I keep the things whose value I do not know, so those items which arrived with the spyglass are still there as well. I believe there was a note whose contents I do not remember.

JAMES: Where was this box? Is it close-by?

ABUK: It lies behind a mountain with two other boxes near Silden and is locked with a special lock. You will have to spell out Thorn so that it may be opened. If you do not understand of what I speak, you shall when you find the box.

JAMES: Thorn? We will remember your kindness. Thank you.

Owyn's pulse quickened as he saw the lone figure approach; but when it became apparent they were not being attacked, he relaxed a bit, squinted slightly in an attempt to see who was about to join them.

ABUK: Greetings, traveller. I am Abuk, picker of locks and teacher of souls. How might I serve you?

OWYN: You said you were a teacher. Would you be interested in teaching us how to pick locks?

ABUK: Abuk is always interested in making money. I propose a price of seventy sovereigns. Is this offer acceptable to you?

Owyn's pulse quickened as he saw the lone figure approach; but when it became apparent they were not being attacked, he relaxed a bit, squinted slightly in an attempt to see who was about to join them.

ABUK: I still may improve your knowledge of locks, young one. If you are still interested, my price is still seventy sovereigns. Shall I instruct you?

ABUK: You must open yourself to new things. This is the first learning. Without this opening you will not be complete. Opening yourself is like opening a lock. If you can not open, then the lock may not open. You should understand that there is no difference between yourself and the lock that you pick. All these things I will demonstrate with a test lock that I carry with me. Now I want you to observe.

OWYN: You cover your cantrip poorly. Though I very nearly missed it.

ABUK: Can-trip? This is a word that Abuk does not know. Perhaps you will teach me.

OWYN: Just now, as you were demonstrating with the lock, I noticed that you motioned only very slightly with your right hand - a casting gesture. What sort of spell did you just effect?

ABUK: You observe keenly, but I am not of the magician's breed. I know nothing of cajunlo and yet I have this...ability... I may take a seed of knowledge and plant it in the fertile soil of another man's mind. I have done as requested, however, I have taught you something of the art of picking locks and our deal is still as valid.

OWYN: Agreed, but a bit of advice if you want to keep your secret hidden. Make sure that your students keep their eyes on the lock. Perhaps you should arrange it so that sparks flew from it or you had it painted in a shiny color. I know that many of the trickers who pose as magicians use that to keep people from seeing what they are doing.

ABUK: We both learn in this exchange. Your advice is appreciated young magician. My thanks. Travel to the sun on cool sands.

OWYN: Our paths may one day cross again, Abuk. Until then...

OWYN: I will have to consider your offer for a while. Let me think on it.

SECOND:

OWYN: Sorry, I've got better things to waste my gold on. Perhaps you will find someone else to teach.

ABUK: An unfortunate choice for you, but one I shall respect. Travel well.

OWYN: Our paths may one day cross again, Abuk. Until then...