Unmade trove

Drusa stared at the contents of the box, delighted to find them as new as the day they were laid down. The Torchbearer picked up the elegant staff gingerly. All her instincts told her it must be fragile, but she forced herself to ignore them. They had argued for a day over what the winter ritual they had detected could have been for, and now she was proved right. The only rational explanation was this... this treasure - no this trove, was what the spell must have been intended to preserve.

The weapon was beautifully made, superbly balanced so that it moved easily in her hands. She wondered for a moment if it were magical in some way. But no, the arete was purely that of the craftsmen, there was no magic here she was sure of it. Livius was stood to one side, an almost bored look on his face. She quelled the urge to drive the butt of the staff into his solar plexus and tried to remind herself that she could have brought Ushabti instead, but she had been lonely last time and wanted company.

"Beautiful isn't it?", she said trying to make him grasp the enormity of what they had discovered.

Livius shrugged "It's a mage staff, you've already got one and I prefer a rod - so it's worthless. You said we'd find treasure - and all you've got is a pile of mage staffs."

The Torchbearer closed her eyes and summoned the image of a three pointed star to mind. She doubled the points and then doubled them again. Once she had regained her poise, she tried again.

"There is armour too." she said, lifting up the beautifully painted and layered silk gorget. "Do you see?"

"You're wearing a warlock's net already, I have a hero's girdle. Neither of us need a set of non-magical mage armour."

Drusa ground her teeth together and tried to imagine that Livius was being dense for effect. He could identify her armour just by looking at the conjunctions sewn into it, so he couldn't possibly be as stupid as he was making out.

"In this box is a beautifully made set of battle mage's implements Livius. Now, how many boxes are in this chamber?"

Livius cast his eyes around the vaulted chamber making a swift count of the boxes that surrounded them. "Somewhere between 800 and 900. Fine, you have enough regalia to outfit a host of magicians, so what?"

Drusa's poise finally snapped. "You idiot! There are enough implements here to outfit an army!"

Overview

The mystery of the Unmade Spire in Redoubt has long baffled historians and scholars. The discovery of a trove of mage weapons and armour in a vaulted chamber underneath the ruins by the Torchbearer Drusa of Mute Spire has created as many new theories as it debunks. Were the Unmade Spire planning to raise their own army? Where would the magicians have come from? Did the other spires learn of their intent?

The debate may well range for another hundred years before the mystery is solved, but what is certain is that the find presents the citizens of Urizen with an invaluable opportunity now. While there are not nearly enough weapons to outfit an entire army, there is no doubt that that these weapons could significantly enlarge the capabilities of the Army of the Citadel.

Significance

The civil service have calculated that by expending a further 150 mithril, the Citadel Guard could become a large army. While such a sum of mithril is not inconsiderable the real saving would be in time - with the normal time needed to enlarge an army reduced from a year to a mere two seasons. Of course such an action would require the approval of the Imperial Senate.

There are viable alternatives for the cache, they might theoretically be gifted or sold to another nation which could then employ them to make it easier to grant a new army a similar mastery of magic in battle that the Army of the Citadel enjoys.

There are even some speculative claims that for a significant investment of ilium the weapons could be worked by artisans to enhance the abilities of the Army of the Citadel in new ways, further refining their mastery of the arcane arts in battle. Such costs would of course depend on exactly what the Urizen were trying to achieve.

Whatever is to be decided, it seems certain that General Tanwyn Ankarien is likely to be extremely interested in what happens to the Unmade trove. Legally a treasure trove of this kind is regarded as the property of nation of Urizen, and is assigned exactly as if it were a national appointment by the Senate. This means it can be assigned by a successful Senate motion or by a unanimous decision of all the Urizen senators, whichever comes first.

Resolution

No resolution was reached with regard to the trove; the opportunity is still outstanding.