That resonance, it turned out was inside the central keep. Jace located a nearby inn, which was actually an inn, not an inn/brothel, and paid a much more reasonable 1 silver tal for a huge luxury room on the 4th floor. Of course the innkeeper, a scrawny old man who had a staff that looked like family not slaves, treated them like Royalty, when he intentionally tried to pay with a gold Tal, figuring flashing a roll worked in any world. He even preposterously offered to have some of the serving girls, likely his granddaughters, help Jace up the stairs.

Once in the room Jace and Verna started to plan. In all his time in this world he sort of let things come to him and happen. Had he taken charge after the kindred attack and chosen a different path, Sam would be alive, and perhaps he’d be closer to getting home. Verna could have taught him most of what he had learned on the island.

Verna of course didn’t sit back and let things come to her. Granted she was put out of action trying to find who was hunting him, the only reason she was alone in that danger was because Jace never really felt the need to help her. For some reason he thought it best if he left it to Verna. He left the wards on the keep to Verna too. So when Sam was taken he didn’t know it happened. All these mistakes, just kept adding up.

The most egregious, though blessedly the one with the fewest consequences, was being caught in that inn/brothel. Verna of course knew about the group of soldiers. She scryed for foes all the time. She saw no reason to tell him about it because she didn’t think anyone in this city was a threat to them. If Jace as he currently was trained stumbled facing that rabble, then he wasn’t strong enough to be allowed outside. So Jace spent most of the rest of the day learning the ins and outs of scrying.

Scrying was an interesting field of magic. It relied on the glyphs of future and past pretty heavily, and implied at far more complicated magic. When he started learning it he felt he could almost predict what Verna was going to teach him next as if he had an innate skill with this field. Or perhaps it’s with a related field. He paused at one point and asked her about something he was pondering.

“Verna, Future and Past. They’re pretty major glyphs, immensely complex. It seems to me you could use these to tell the future. Or perhaps see something from the past. It actually seems related strongly with Scrying, only scrying adds a few other things in the mix to be a bit more specific. Tell me, these prophecies the gods give you, would they just happen to be complex magic rituals utilizing the future glyph?”

Verna sat for a long moment then shook her head.

Verna started talking in a lecturing tone he had started to find extrodinarily sexy. He even had a brief fantasy of her in a slim knee length skirt white blouse, and glasses, a truly naughty teacher. The fantasy of course lasted just a moment as what she was speaking about soon grasped his full attention.

“I wouldn’t say that you can’t create a vision of the future. Or that this vision might seem like an augury. However, the auguries of the gods are different from what the ‘future’ glyph can manage. The future glyph can tell you things like how likely you’ll die before sunset if you leave this room right now. But it’s nothing more than a guess, a highly accurate guess. The future is generally in motion, and the future glyph can form pictures, impressions or even predictions about it. What auguries are, is they are insights which touch on all parts of including the roots of the Fate Plant, or Fate as we call it. Fate, is a Plant which spreads out its branches and touches all lives. Through its branches called the ‘path of fate’ or the ‘strength of fate, or perhaps even the ‘string of fate’, certain events ALWAYS will happen. These momentous events are considering the ‘branching of fate. Those branches of fate are what form the core of true prophecy. They are immutable events, of which will occur no matter what actions another takes. “

She paused for a moment then continued, “For example, your mother passed of a disease correct? Let us say this wasn’t something random, but instead an important branch of fate. Her string was to be cut at that age, from this disease. For you, your family and your mother, this event was unchangeable. Now let’s say I receive guidance from the gods. The gods tell me your mother will die, and from their locating of this branching of fate, the god is now able to tell about the possible. The gods might tell me that your father MAY become a drunk and kill himself, but to be sure you and your brother keep an eye on him. This is an augury. We received certain ‘branchings’ and possible outcomes because of them.”

“Now I make it sound very simple I’m sure. No true augury would come in so clear a manner. True auguries often obscure parts of the Plant of Fate to prevent certain changes. You see auguries, come from the Plant of Fate. Fate itself wishes for those “branchings” to occur. So for most branchings we never hear of it because they will happen with or without our interference. However, let’s say your mother was trending toward death, but fate wished for the branching to remain “true” which would be a world in which she lived. Fate would give an augury which told enough to create the future which is ‘right.’

“Fate is a force of order. Fate believes it knows how the world is to work. So fate tries to enact changes in the world through auguries to keep the world on the path as decided by fate.”

Jace frowned for a long moment. “Then Elis’s followers claiming a prophecy as justification for my death. For Eldridge’s death. This would mean my summoning here risks something fate does not want changed am I correct?”

“You are absolutely correct. You offended Elis and by extension Fate because even being here you are on a collision course with a branching of fate, which is about to become something other then what fate decided is right for the world. Be warned though. Fate is far smarter then Elis. It is not beyond possibility that Fate is giving those auguries in hopes the attacks by Elis will drive you to a course of action favorable towards the right fate.”

“So then I might be dancing in fate’s palm anyway even though fate seems to be trying to make me it’s enemy?” Jace was frustrated, this was giving him a headache. “So why isn’t the future glyph more widely researched? It seems like it’s the key to the [Tree] of Fate.”

Verna paused on Jace’s use of the English word tree, a word which did not have a translation in this language. “[Twreee]?” She looked at him curiously. With no explanation coming she continued, “Beings in the past have come to that conclusion. However, the future is dangerous and fate far too clever. The images you’d get from using the future glyph will be misleading, as pretty much every future vision comes from fate in some way.”

“I don’t understand is fate a symbolic Plant, something you call a plant to help visualize some outside force of predestination, or is fate a god with a conscience?”

“Both. Fate is both a Plant and a God. We do not know more than that, but we do know fate is intelligent, it is not a mindless force of nature.”

Jace was silent for a long moment, then started casting various spells he thought might work melding with the future glyph. He paused a frown on his face, then closed his eyes.

‘What was it my friend was always talking about?’ He cast his mind back to half remembered conversations with his Star Trek fan/friend Earl in middle school. Earl used to carry around a Klingon dictionary, and had books, technical manuals of different space ships from the show. He thought he might have found an interesting spark of inspiration.

“What about time?” Jace finally spoke.

“Time?”

“There is a glyph for ‘Time’, it’s hard to find, buried deep in the form.”

“Ah, another glyph like regeneration we have no use for.”

Jace nodded. Then changed topics. “So what is that resonance. No matter what scrying spell I use I cannot see anything about it. I just know it’s there.”

“It’s a known magical treasure. It’s not really a secret. No one knows it’s use, no one can move it. So they left it here, and built a city around it. Many grand wizards and a few sorcerers have tried to play out its secrets, but never got anywhere. I suspect even the Dragon King sought it out once.”

“Will they let us see it?”

“I doubt it. You just killed a solid 70 people plus a respected prince. I suspect you’re a very wanted individual.”

“You mean that priest was a prince?” Jace thought about it again and decided in the end, it probably didn’t matter. Had he known he still would have killed him. He might not have hung him up though.

Verna spoke up, “Why not just level this city? You’re certainly strong enough to do it with the aid of a magic circle”

Jace frowned. “Level a city? This city is almost entirely made up of slaves. And before you suggest it, no I’ll not just level the keep. There is a huge difference between killing people willing to harm you and killing them for convenience.”

“Only if the ones not trying to harm you only are holding back because they can’t harm you.”

“-let me handle it Verna.”

“Nana”

Jace gave the sexy aluring woman a flat look. His mind once again wandered off topic toward that delicious fantasy of her dressed up as a naughty teacher. He couldn't believe how well she would fit that look.

Snapping out of the fantasy he shot down her wish. “I’m not calling you Nana.”