The origins

The Monastery Board:

The side door opened again, and a sleepy porter brother entered, followed by two other very young brothers who had just arrived at the monastery. They were still not very clear about all the schedules and chores, so they had been given, as usual, the easiest tasks. One of them was to help the brother doorkeeper open the temple in the morning and close it in the afternoon, as well as to keep it in order during the day.

Fra' Kaistos, aware of the effect that the scene in front of them could have on impressionable, little-traveled, less experienced, and half-asleep beings, stopped them. I had to warn them, but above all, someone had to go and warn the monks who made up the so-called board that governed the place: the abbot, the monk-treasurer, the monk-first librarian, and the monk healer, the keeper of the stables, and other animals, including pigeons and owls. To all of them was added the brother watchman, in charge of maintaining order in the community, not only among those who lived in the monastery but also with the faithful and other visitors.The Abbot maintained his supreme authority over all of them, but even so, the Abbot, at least this one in particular, liked to listen to the others and make whatever decision it was, being sure of the decision made. Perhaps this would lengthen the decision-making, but he preferred to be cautious, especially on complicated issues. After all, everyone in the monastery depended on the decisions being made to be the right ones. Even the faithful and the monasteries and small places of prayer dependent on their area of influence also depended on the opportunity of the ideas people proposed.

When the two youngest, named Arbis and Eilos, had gone out simply with the urgent message that the board must go to the temple, even though they had not finished breakfast, only the brother porter, Jaryon, a lean, short man, who never neglected his duties and little given to superstitions, remained there with Fra' Kaistos and the huge black dog. The entity, seeing the porter, had gone to hide in one of the nooks and crannies in one of the reliefs on the ceiling: that porter lacked a sense of humor.- What happened? - I don't know, Brother Jaryon, something terrible has happened: the night watchman, Lasanides, has been attacked by two dwarven beings that I can only describe as very rare, who have given him a poison that has not miraculously killed him. And now we have here this absolutely gigantic snakeskin that, as we can see, has been able to get here: we don't know how it got in or what it came to do. In fact, there is some damage but it is not proportional to its size. To this we can safely add the gigantic egg of the same species as this snake that we have found in the dovecote: Tunadros, the blacksmith brother, has broken it, but he was splashed by part of its viscous liquid and I have sent him to the infirmary. -I understand. Has Lasánides improved?- Yes, that man is very strong. But that doesn't mean he wasn't given something dangerous." - Then he stared at the porter, so he really understood what she was going to say-. Jaryon, Lasánides has been given something, I can't really know all the substances it was made with: in fact, there are two of them that I don't know anything about.The more I think about what I know that has happened tonight, because there may have been more things that I know nothing about, the more I can't understand what they are so interested in. That is, what do we have here, that interests them so much as to take so much trouble. The doorman was hardly impressionable, but even so, the monk's words troubled him: as a scientist who made experiments, he was not given to exaggerations or extravagances. He could understand his concern, even his fear. - If Lassanides have been poisoned, that means the serpent has come through the tunnels. How could it leave an egg in the dovecot? - I've asked myself the same question. The tunnels, much older than the monastery, do not reach that part which is much newer. So, either that monster has gone through the garden to lay that egg, or we have a mole in here. Either possibility is worrisome and puts this community in a very dangerous situation. If you've been able to get in once, you can get in more times: now you know how, and if the first time it was so easy for you, it gives me chills just thinking about what they'll do next time.-I agree. There are few bolts that can resist a snake of this size," he added, worriedly. What do you think will happen to Tunadros? - I have no idea, I'm not a specialist in this type of liquid, but taking into account the color and smell and, above all, that it's tremendously corrosive, we'll have to see how he evolves. I've had an ointment given to him that we've made but I haven't tried it before and I don't know if it works or if, for example, it might not be effective in this case or, even worse, have side effects. It was sent to me by a colleague with whom I coincided in Os and, according to him, it works. I would have liked to try it before using it on anyone, but it came to me less than a ten days ago and I've been busy with other things because I couldn't imagine this being so urgent.- "We'll see how this plays out then". He turned and looked so worried at Fra' Kaistos. "I would need to know your conclusions, I want to know what we are going to face at the gates in the coming weeks". -"Jaryos, whatever they decide, whatever I find out, I'm going to keep you updated. It can't catch us off guard, because coming back, it's going to come back. I don't know if it's the same being or if it's a different one, but they won't stop until they find what they're looking for". The porter stroked the dog's head, saying:- "This looks bad, really bad. I'm going to open the back door and send someone out and talk to those outside. They'll have to wait until we can open". He came out of the temple, taking a last look at the gigantic skin, and Fra' Kaistos and the huge dog were once again left alone inside. The monk sat cross-legged on the ground and began to say the morning prayers, while Awlin, very suspicious of what was going to happen next, came out of his hiding place but remained far away and again hidden in another hole at ground level. The dog didn't even flinch, lying as he was with his head on one of his front legs, he stretched a little more, knowing that the wait was going to be a bit long. That's how they were when the members of the board, quite angry at having to get up while eating breakfast, showed up at the temple.The Abbot, who knew Fra' Kaistos, and liked him after long conversations on various subjects, which had entertained and distracted him many evenings from the colder season when little else could be done, supposed that something very serious had happened. But not everyone was satisfied with the Abbot's confidence. In particular, and in the first place, the scientist was strongly opposed and despised by the monk-treasurer, a very fat man who had been forced to go on a diet several times because he had done little exercise, named Fra' Rilaus. He was specially angry with the cost of the works to rebuild the scientist's chamber in the tower three times! He had been told that no one could have foreseen the unfavorable results of certain experiments, but he was convinced that the scientist enjoyed watching the vein in his forehead swell every time he was informed of the cost of a new repair.Nor did the first librarian, Fra' Sabelior, think much of the scientist after the latter had been given permission to buy some volumes for his room, which, although they had not been destroyed, never went down to the common library, and all the stairs in the south tower had to be climbed in order to read them. The Abbot had told him that these books were to be consulted on a regular basis only by the Fra' and the two or three monks or brothers who would help him. That was true, but those books had been taken from his library, even though he had never had them. Still, he craved power over books, even if he wasn't going to read them, and secretly hated the Abbot for allowing Fra' Kaistos to do so.The giant snake skin couldn't be missed: as soon as they entered, they saw the Monk sitting on the ground praying silently, and a few feet from him, almost in the middle of the great ship, the gigantic skin of the monster. Any quarrel that any one might have felt he should start died at the sight of it. The Abbot stepped forward, and with the cane he carried, struck Fra' Kaistos gently on the shoulder, who opened his eyes and nimbly rose from the ground. - "I understand why you have called us. The brothers you sent for us, who, unsurprisingly, were not very willing to return, told us that more strange things have happened".-"Yes, unfortunately: Lassanides has been poisoned with a substance of which I have not been able to find out the two foreign ingredients they have added (I do know the ones here and I have studied them, so I deduce that the ones I don't know anything about are foreign) and, although he has already regained consciousness, he is still very weak. And, on the other hand, an egg of the same type of snake has appeared in the dovecote, egg that Tunadros has taken out: I have sent him to the infirmary because some of the liquid has leaked out on him and it is convenient ha has the right treatment". -"This must be discussed by the Board," said the librarian at once, trying to exclude the scientific monk from the meeting.Fra' Kaistos did not object: he beckoned the dog to leave, but it was the Abbot who stopped him. - No, you're the only one who knows what's happened. We may have questions that need to be answered and I'm sure there are people here who will need them answered. -"Fra'o Abbot," he said, bowing, "I am not opposed to answering any questions you may have, but it is better that you talk to each other, you can ask me your questions later, and in the meantime I may go and have a little breakfast."-"Yes, maybe that's a good solution. Well, we're not going to do anything here either, so we're going to go back to the dining room and then we're going to meet in the Covenant Room to decide what we are going to do next. We have to see how we can clean this up, and the egg you told us about. And we also have to check what other damage there is, without forgettin the tunnels". They went out into the central courtyard and saw in the distance an imperial messenger owl coming towards them or, more specifically, towards the Abbot.- "Bad news, for sure," said the short, stocky watchful brother, Fra' Tinodar, who was in charge of maintaining order in the community. - "I think so, too," replied the Abbot, in view of what we have seen. The great bird descended and perched on a large apple tree about 20 meters from the exit of the temple. Then he flew a little farther and handed a sealed scroll to the Abbot, who opened it and, after reading its contents, made an even more worried face."It is from the Grand Master of the Monastery of the imperial capital, Askanides. The Emperor has just died, it seems that his sons are going to dispute the throne of the heir". Fra' Tinodar spoke again: - It should not be ruled out that what has happened here today is not a part of that war in the making. - The note comes with a written warning written in a hurry: it tells me that strange things have happened there too and that an army scout reported sightings of various gigantic creatures had been made in areas that had never seen them before. They have added "careful" written in capital letters. Fra' Litoep, the priest who took care of all the animals living in the community, added: - We can't spend a lot of time speaking as there is a real need to check the lower rooms and investigate how they have been able to enter here. The gates should be fortified and and the surveillance of the animals must be strengthened. Then we can start talking about other measures, as it seems this is not an isolated attack.The abbot, thoughtful, said: - I have to reply to this letter. Let's finish breakfast first, and once we've learned and thought about what has happened here, we'll proceed to take these measures and others, and I'll send a letter to all those who need to be alerted. The procession continued walking towards the dining room: the fact that the suns had risen and it was a wonderful day did not diminish the concern of the group: even those most opposed to the scientist had remained silent because they saw the seriousness of the situation and could not take advantage of it. The future, for the first time in many years, seemed uncertain: no one even knew what they were facing. One thing was clear to them, even if none of them had said it out loud: no son of the Emperor had the power to call any of the giant beasts that had appeared.

Originally published at my blog: https://histolatos.blogspot.com/2024/04/la-junta-del-monasterio.html