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To Dream of Darkness

A story by DoggyStyle57

Chapter 36, Written February 2012

===

Chapter 36 - Increased understanding

Lady Portia and Sarina sat in the workshop, looking at a map of Europe.

"The difficult things with a long-range portal, or a portal to someplace you haven't been before, is placing the far end accurately," the canine mage said. "If you know both places well, you already have a feel for what is in both locations. The more you know about what you expect on the far end, the easier it is to lock in on that spatial configuration, even over a great distance. Distance also adds other variables, such as differences in altitude, and there are calculations that must be done accurately to counteract those differences. I have taught you those calculations, and you're doing them quite well."

"Thank you, my Lady," Sarina said. "But what is missing then?"

Lady Portia pointed to a spot on the map in France, and said, "Let us say we want to go to a place on that mountain. If the map is accurate, we can get a fairly close value for the differences in latitude and longitude. But what of altitude? And what if there are errors in the map? How then do we open a safe portal to that distant mountain top?"

"Could we complete the formulae by finding out the missing information some other way? A traveler's journal might reference the height of the mountain that we seek to visit," Sarina offered.

"Perhaps so. But even if we had such a useful journal, the information might be inaccurate. We need a way to lock in the far end, without foreknowledge of all the details," Lady Portia said. "Once we have as much information as we can gather, we need to make the far portal able to form, and then home in on a spot that resembles what we seek. As an example, I know that on that peak there is a small monastery. I also know that it has an octagonal central keep, and that there is a river to the East of it, about a mile distant. I would like to appear on the roof of the keep, since it is an open area unlikely to have people or wagons or vehicles passing through it. If I add that information into the spell, by envisioning those particulars as I cast it, the far portal becomes a 'seeker', and will move of its own accord to the nearest place that matches those particulars. Even if I know nothing at all about the destination, I can at least specify 'an open, unobstructed space, with stable ground to walk upon', or something similar. Once the portal has sought the likely position, you can look through it and fine-tune the position, or move the portal to somewhere nearby."

She got out a small spell book and showed Sarina the variations in the spell that made it able to seek specific features at the far end. Then they put it to the test, and Sarina opened a portal to the roof of that monastery keep. It worked on the first try, with very little movement of the portal once it formed.

"Very nice!" Sarina said, as she turned the portal to look at the roof area. "I want to try a greater distance next."

"As you wish. Where, on this map?" Lady Portia asked.

"Way over on the edge. Right here. That would be Hong Kong Island, to the South of this great river estuary. There is a mountain on the island called Victoria Peak, above the harbor. It was not far from my home there, and I have a very good mental image of how high above the sea it was, and where it was in relation to the coastlines," Sarina said. "While I don't know the precise details, and this map has some inaccuracies regarding the Asian coastline and islands, I think it may be close enough that the seeker portion of the spell could lock on from my rough distance and location fix, and seek the open place on the mountain top where I liked to relax and watch the sea and the harbor."

"A good choice, and a good challenge, as well. Nearly halfway around the globe. Proceed," Lady Portia said.

Sarina took some measurements on the map, took the time to actually write out the compensation calculations, and then she cast the spell. As the portal formed, she at first saw nothing but water and a night sky through the portal. But then it turned on its own, and the viewpoint raced along the surface of the sea, past several Chinese boats, to a shoreline that could only barely be seen, and up the terrain to a mountain peak. When it stopped moving, she turned the portal slightly, and said with satisfaction, "Without the seeker portion of that spell, the far end would have formed far out to sea - a failure. But what you see now through that portal is definitely Hong Kong Harbor. Interesting that it is night there, while it is mid-day here."

"Proof that the world is round, and not flat like that map. The formulae in that advanced spell also compensate for the inaccuracies caused by forcing a map onto a flat surface, and not a globe. If your map reference was a spherical globe, you use these calculations instead," Lady Portia said.

Sarina copied the spell variations diligently into her own spell book, and then asked, "You mentioned opening a portal to a ship. Wouldn't the motion of the waves make it harder to get the far end, or your end, if you were on a ship, to be stable?"

"It would indeed! And for that reason most mages never would try to make a ship to ship portal. The variables change too fast. But if you apply the seeker spell to both ends, you can lock the frame of reference to the deck of the ship, so the portal appears to be stable relative to those on the ship's deck, who are moving with it," Lady Portia said. "Try that with one of the ships at sea, near the island. Locate a ship, get the portal relatively close to the deck, and then make the rolling deck be the stable ground, and not the steady horizon. I'll warn you though, the view through a moving portal like that can make one a bit nauseous."

Sarina tried that, and did manage to make the far end of the portal lock relative to the deck of a Chinese Junk at sea. The horizon rolled in very odd ways, while the ship seemed to be calm and stable, as if it was tied up at the dock. "That definitely does look strange, to see the horizon move so," Sarina said.

"Stepping through it is disorienting as well. I wouldn't recommend it, unless the need was great. You would be better off using some sort of flight spell, making the portal in the air near the ship, and then flying through the portal and down to the ship's deck," Lady Portia said. "And I believe that covers all the lessons you asked of me. Is there anything else?"

"Just one thing," Sarina said, as she produced a fat little pouch, and handed it to Lady Portia. "Please take these silver coins, as payment for your invaluable service to me. They are Chinese silver, and of a very high purity."

"You know I'll just donate this to the church?" Lady Portia asked. "I know you're not on the best of terms with the church, though you do not openly act against them. It doesn't bother you that they benefit from this?"

"The coins are yours. If you choose to give them to the church, I do not care. You are right. I have little love for the church. But at the same time, I will not oppose them, so long as they do not oppose me. Both you and Sister Meghan have found a place within the Church's folds. If that brings you peace and contentment, I will not speak against your choices. Do as you will with my gift to you," Sarina replied.

===

Two days later, a coach arrived at the Pennington Mansion. A bulldog in the uniform of a police officer got out, and knocked on the door. Sarina and Lord Pennington met the officer in the parlor.

"Begging your pardon, My Lord. We have a bit of a quandary on our hands. Were you expecting a visitor? A Chinaman?" the officer asked nervously.

"Is his name Lu Chen? A grey-furred wolf with a black braided queue for his hair, and in his 20's? We were indeed expecting him! Where is he?" Sarina asked.

"And who would you be, Miss?" The officer asked politely. "Afraid I don't know his name, as he speaks hardly a word that we understand. But that does describe him fairly well. He showed us a letter with the Lord Pennington's name and address on the envelope, and seemed to want to seek his Lordship."

"He is a courier from Hong Kong that we were expecting," replied Lord Pennington. "And this is my niece, Lady Sarina Randall. Did you read the letter this Chinaman had with him?"

"Ah, no, My Lord. You see, the boy wouldn't let go of it. Just jabbered in some heathen tongue and pointed at the address on the envelope. Got into a bit of a scuffle with two of our dock patrolmen, and as he had no identity papers that we could tell, we locked him up to cool off while we checked out this lead," the officer said.

"There is only one Chinaman that would have a letter in his possession with this address and my uncle's name on it. I must insist that you release him to me, at once, along with his baggage and possessions. Lu Chen is my servant. If you insist, I can show you the contract that I hired him under, written in English and Cantonese, because he entered my employ in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong," Sarina said as she stood.

"Very well, Miss Randall. If you an' his Lordship will come with me?" the officer said.

===

Soon they had the matter settled, and Lu Chen and his baggage were at the Pennington Mansion.

"I am sorry for the difficulties, Mistress." Lu Chen said, as they brought his bags inside.

"No, I should be the one to apologize, Lu Chen. It never occurred to me that you spoke so little English!" Sarina replied.

"Mistress always spoke to me in such good Chinese, that I never needed to mention it. But I speak very little of any other language," Lu Chen replied. "For most of the journey, I was in the company of men from the East Asia Trading Company, and at least some of them could translate for me. But we got separated when we arrived here. Those uniformed men detained me, and all I could understand of what they said was that they wanted me to give them my paper. I showed them every piece of paper I had, but I did not dare let them take the letter that you said I had to give to your uncle."

"What the devil is he saying?" Lord Pennigton asked. "You act as if you understand him, and he understands you, but I can't make out a word he is saying, though you're talking to him in plain enough language. How can a man understand our language and yet not speak it?"

"This was my error, Uncle. Lu Chen speaks Cantonese Chinese, and apparently speaks very little English. Lord Randall also spoke that language, though only well enough to make basic requests of the servants, order food, and do simple business with the natives," Sarina replied. "Lu Chen understands me because to his ears, I am speaking fluent Cantonese. You hear the same words in your own language, English. It is a magical gift that I have had since I was a very young child. When I was little, I had to concentrate to speak another language. Now, I give it no thought at all. Whoever I want to have understand me simply does, and I understand them. If there were a hundred people in this room, and they all spoke different languages, they could all understand me, and I them. Or I could choose to only speak the language of any one of them."

"You never cease to amaze me, Sarina," Lord Pennington said. "Ask him about Lord Randall's remains, please."

"Lu Chen? I trust that you were able to bring my father's remains here safely?" she asked.

"Yes Mistress. I trusted no one with them. His reliquary box is in my baggage, but his ashes are here," the young wolf replied. Then he opened his loose jacket, and brought forth a silk pouch on a silken cord, which had been settled in the small of his back, with the cord around his neck and shoulder. He had to remove the jacket to take the pouch off, and when he had done so, he reverently placed the pouch in her hands, saying, "May the remains of your ancestor rest serenely with the remains of his ancestors, for a thousand times a thousand years, Mistress."

Then he opened one of his portmanteau cases, and from a place deep in the luggage he produced a small silver box, just large enough for the ashes, and presented that to her.

Sarina turned to Lord Pennington and said, "My father, Lord Edward Randall, has come home. Here are his ashes, and a fine silver box to rest them in, for eternity. May he rest in peace. Please make the arrangements for the funeral, Uncle. I wish to talk to Lu Chen, alone. His inability to speak your language may change my plans for his future."