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"Herminicle found the book and underesti as if she had put the disagreement out of her mind "He read it, as foolish and curious wizards usually will, and it consuic and his life-force as its own The book bound him to the tower as the tower bound itself to him When you destroyed the bonds - the book - you stole the shared force froht we have done? "

"Had you killed the lich, perhaps the toould have crumbled," came another female voice, one a bit deeper, less feminine, and less melodious than that of Ilnezhara Jarlaxle wasn&039;t really surprised to see Taze, cluttered rooh you would have destroyed the force that had initially given it life and er would have passed, but the book would have remained Hasn&039;t Ilnezhara already told you as much?"

"Please learn this lesson and rely added, "for next tin interest

"The appearance of this book confirms to us e already suspected, " Tazmikella explained "So has been uncovered Artifacts of Zhengyi are revealing themselves all about the land"

"It has happened before in the years since his fall," Ilnezhara went on "Every so often, one of the Witch-King&039;s personal dungeons is found, one of his cellars opened wide, or a tribe ofthe beasts weapons, wands, or other ical items of which the stupid creatures had no coyi&039;s libraries, perhaps his only library, has recently been pilfered," added Tazmikella "A pair of books on the art of necros of self-important and utterly foolish wizards - were purchased in Halfling Downs not a ents, of course," Ilnezhara confirents who have been more profitable than Jarlaxle and Entreri to date"

Jarlaxle laughed at the slight and bowed yet again "Had we known that destroying the lich ht the beastly creature all the ive us our inexperience We have not long been in this land, and the tales of the Witch-King are still fresh to us"

"Inexperience, I suspect, is not one of Jarlaxle&039;s failings," said Tazmikella, and her tone revealed to the drow her suspicions that perhaps he was holding back so from his recent adventure in the tower

"But fear not, I am a fast study," he replied "And I fear that I - we - cannot replicate our errors with this tower should another one appear" He held up a gauntlet, black with red stitching, and turned it over to show the hole in the palic of the book"

"The gauntlet accohty sword?" asked Tazh the sword has no hold over him with or without it In fact, since his encounter with the shade, I do believe the sword fancies hiauntlet had many other valuable uses"

"And ould you have us do about that?" asked Ilnezhara

"Recoauntlet, do not doubt Our defenses against reatly depleted Certainly that cannot be beneficial, given our duties to you"

The sisters looked to each other and exchanged knowing syian artifacts, " Tazmikella said

"That the tome made its way this far south tells us that soyi&039;s artifacts," Ilnezhara added "Such powerful ical items do not like to reain, to the bane of the world"

"Interesting" the drow started, but Tazmikella cut him short

"More so than you understand," she insisted "Gather your friend, Jarlaxle, for the road awaits you - one that we ht all find quite lucrative"

It was not a request but a deons, it was not a de else in the tiued hiyian construct They were feigning exciteain awaited the else

The two ons were afraid

In the rereater skull, glowed hungrily It felt the fall of its little sister in Damara keenly, but not with the dread of one who had lost a fas The other skull, the human skull, was &039;s godliness had come to know above all else was that the powers could awaken - that the poould awaken Too much time had passed in the short memories of the foolish huyi

Already they illing to ply their wisdoreater than they, a being far beyond their comprehension Their hubris led them to believe that they could attain that power

They did not understand that the Witch-King&039;s power had come from within, not froic scattered," "the pieces of Zhengyi flung wide," in the songs of the silly and naive bards, would, through the act of creation, overwhelain froyi

That was the true pro to his side

The tiny skull found only comfort The tome that held it was found, the minds about it inquisitive, theould know creation, power, and life in death

Soroithout sound