Gary Gygax - Dangerous Journeys 2 - Samarkand Solution Read Free

naturally."
    There was a nod from Harphosh. He seemed satisfied. "Have you heard anything about them recently? Are their shamans doing something which is detectable?"
    "Khaziria? With Olmar as kagan? Nobody goes there that isn't a grubbing merchant or trader, and their clerics are renowned for nothing save their ineptitude."
    "I have come across something which might interest you, Magister," the prince said slowly. "By chance, I happened to come across a registry of foreign students enrolled in universities here in my nome—then I decided to check all records for the whole of /Egypt. Do you know what I discovered?"
    "Not unless you allow me to read your mind."
    "There are thirty-six Khazars attending our schools. All are studying some form of heka practice, mostly dweomercraeft and priestcraeft. Five attend colleges here in Innu and On."
    Inhetep sat up. "Odd! Who would have supposed that those barbarians would have such a penchant for magicks' finer arts?"
    "Evidently, Olmar has long-ranging ambitions, but I wouldn't be overly concerned, old fellow. Twelve years of study, then another eight or so years of practical application and personal research before one of them might prove a factor in concerns of magick—statecraft, diplomacy, or warfare too, for that matter." The governor seemed unconcerned. "There is at this moment one of these very men about to move from study to a more advanced stage, Magister."
    "Really! How so?"
    Prince Harphosh nodded vigorously. "At your grand convocation, Setne. There is a Khazar who has completed the courses required in your school, the University of Innu. You will be voting as to his becoming a kheri-heb."
    The priest-wizard did not bother to tell Harphosh that the tests made the vote mere acknowledgement of an already proven status. "That bears some looking into, Governor. Still, I don't think I'll uncover anything beyond the obvious. Kagan Olmar has quietly managed to institute a plan to reinforce the power of his state. That it has only come to our attention now is indicative of a heretofore unrecognized ability in the sovereign ruler of Khaziria. You must report this to the Utchatu. Intelligence will have to keep a closer watch on Olmar henceforth, but that should please them."
    "How so?"
    "What better excuse for a bigger budget, more operatives?"
    Both men chuckled then. "Do see what you can learn, Setne. Better to pass it through me, though, unless you want to rejoin the Merit-f. . . ."
    "Not on your life, Harphosh! Believe it or not, I am enjoying my freedom and leisure."
    "That's why you're roaming all over /Erth as an independent consultant, I suppose."
    "Merely a sideline to travel and study the foreign lands and people, my dear Governor. Besides, someone has to keep the truly sinister elements of our world in check."
    That concluded the meeting, and Inhetep wound up sitting at a sidewalk table at Ra's Chariot, merely passing time. Three weeks! Why had he taken lodging in the Fashionable district near to the governor's palace? Because of the erroneous assumption about what Harphosh would need of him. Khazar students, indeed! The prince was growing far too suspicious in his declining years. Although the matter was noteworthy as a measure of Kagan Olmar's ambition, it was clearly no complex plot. The students were not smuggled in on false papers. No, they were openly in /Egypt, and the fact that there were lower-class members of the group simply showed that the state was sponsoring the effort. These were undoubtedly the cadre with which the ruler of the Eastern kingdom hoped to train a whole corps of able full practitioners of both priestly and magicka. In his position, Inhetep thought he would have done that long ago. I'll make a point of talking with the would-be kheri-heb, however, the tall man noted mentally. I'm not quite ready to train outsiders in our most arcane and potent arts. Damned liberals will push for it, and that's why I wasn't informed of this whole business sooner!