Decius

Forbidden Knowledge

Forbidden Knowledge

Decius V

Decius V

In hindsight, it had been a foolish idea from the very start. Like so many such ideas, it began with a few drinks. They were in the common room of the Ivory Tower, a popular drinking spot near the Collegium, just off Regent's Square. Decius Capricius Sallax and his friend Gnaeus Avidius were up late one night, drinking Vestinian reds with Orosian Sarus, a brash young man from the provinces. The three of them slouched in their seats, several empty bottles on the table before them, and beckoned to the serving wench for another.

"She's a pretty one," mumbled Gnaeus as she turned toward the kitchen. Decius nodded. She was tall and slender, with long black hair and green eyes. He knew from past nights of drinking at the Ivory Tower that she was good with her hands and tongue as well.

"You've never had her?" Sarus pressed, and Gnaeus shook his head. "When she comes back with our wine, take her upstairs. She's never one to refuse."

"Indeed," Decius said, sighing at his empty glass. The wench was taking too long already. "It has taken the luster off of her."

"Interested in the chase, Capricius?" Sarus teased. "You find serving wenches too easy?"

"I am interested in something new," Decius replied. He set his glass down and waited for the fresh bottle. "There are so many women in and around the Collegium, and I've already had them all."

"All?" said Gnaeus with surprise. "I doubt that."

"All that I can," Decius replied. "Some of the instructors have no interest in me. I would so love to bed an elf."

"Aye," Sarus agreed, "but the elves are a stuck-up lot. They would no sooner bed one of us mortal than you or I would fuck a dog."

"There are those who would," Decius protested. "I've heard many tales of men who lay with elves. It just so happens that by a struck of ill-fortune, none of those elves are here."

"They are at the emperor's palaces," Gnaeus put in. "I hear about it all the time. The emperor has elves in his harem."

"Well then," pronounced Sarus, "we shall just have to get an invitation to one of his orgies and see for ourselves. Decius, you're the highest born prick around here. How about you write your rich father and get us in?"

Decius scowled. The wench returned with the bottle and Gnaeus passed his eyes over her, but their minds had already moved on to greater conquests than easy tavern wenches.

"We are not going to get invitations to anything outside of a dormitory cell until we are long graduated from here," he grumbled. His path to power and luxury was long, but he had been convinced from an early age that he would reach the highest halls of power in his own time. But until then, it was tavern wenches, Collegium students, and the occasional courtesan when his allowance came through.

"I would love to fuck a nymph," Gnaeus murmured, uncorking the new bottle even as the previous ones told on his cheeks and in his slurred speech.

"And where will you find one of those?" demanded Sarus. "I can assure you that the emperor doesn't have any of those in his palace!"

"I didn't think he did," Gnaeus grumbled. "But once we are full sorcerers, we will travel and have adventures. I want to go to Diboria. I hear there are nymphs under ever rock and tree there."

Sarus snorted. "Men in Diboria only fuck their sheep and you'll understand why once you meet their women. If you can choose, get assigned to a province with culture and civilization. Like Patrassia!" He beamed at getting the opportunity to mention his homeland for only the ninth time that night. "Sostrum is most assuredly the second greatest city in Auria's Empire, and her star is still in ascendance. I find it likely that it will pass the Imperial City in time, especially once I return there to open my own Collegium."

Decius sighed and took the bottle from Gnaeus. He poured himself a glass and sipped as Sarus went on about his home city. The wine was rich in flavor, and its headiness threatened to overwhelm his already addled senses. But the night was growing late, and he was headed for his bed soon enough either way, so he drank the whole glass and poured another.

As he did, his thoughts turned to women. The tavern wench had disappeared into the back again, for the taproom was emptying and they were soon to close up for the night. Decius was resigned to having his bed to himself for the night, for neither Sarus nor Gnaeus struck his fancy. But he could not put women from his mind as he drank his wine.

"Tomorrow night," he said with a slight slur to his speech, cutting through Sarus' paean to Sostrum's gardens, "We will find ourselves some women." Sarus sat back in his padded seat and tapped one finger on his glass. "And not tavern sluts," Decius went on. "We will head down to the salons near the Imperial Palace, where the quality women drink. And, by the Gods, we won't come back until we've fucked some fine women!"

"It's fine women you want?" asked Sarus, sipping his wine. Decius could see the young man's cheeks were almost as red as the wine. "Or perhaps something more exotic? For I have an idea..."

"Exotic?" Decius echoed, painfully aware of how dull his drunken words sounded. "You're thinking of the Harbor Quarter? Or the Merchant's Quarter?"

Sarus smiled impishly. "More exotic than that. Tell me, fellow students of sorcery, what do you know about summoning?"

"Summoning?" Gnaeus echoed, now sounding as drunk and dull as Decius. "You mean..." his tongue failed him.

Sarus reached into his tunic and produced a piece of folded, yellowed paper. With one slightly ragged edge, it looked as if it had been torn from a book. With clumsy hands, he smoothed it out on the table between them. Decius leaned in to see better, for the Vestinian wine had left his vision somewhat blurry.

The lower half of the page was a thick text block written in the Amoeritic script, an ancient language from the distant land of Churax, whose progenitors had been skilled in demon lore. And above the text was a charcoal drawing of a woman. A beautiful woman. She had long legs, full breasts, round hips, and an ample ass. The illustrator had given her a sultry smile, one hand teasingly covering her sex as the other beckoned to the viewer.

But what most caught Decius' attention was the unfurled pair of bat wings behind her. In an arc above her head was written in Amoeritic "Azefiya, Lady of Desires." Besides an explanation of her name, there were instructions on how to summon and bind the demon to the summoner's will.

"A succubus?" Gnaeus asked slowly, and Sarus nodded, his eyes bright.

"I took this page from theCodex Erotica," the Patrassian said in a low whisper. "The authors of that tome compiled a list of all the lustiest demons that they summoned to pleasure them."

Decius nodded slowly, drinking in the sight of the woman. Sarus had offered them exotic, and she certainly fit the bill. He imagined the feel of her big tits in his hands, the softness of her skin, the folds of her cunt around his cock. He had never had a woman like that before.

Not a woman, he reminded himself.A demon.

"We are not yet full sorcerers," Decius protested. "We are not prepared to summon a demon of this power."

"Aye," Gnaeus added, "I've attended Augusti Gylaen's lectures on summoning and I've read Vallian's books, but I've never summoned anything, even an imp."

"I have," Sarus declared. "Last month, I attended one of Augusti Gylaen's demonstrations and we summoned a Wyrdman to ask it questions of the future. Besides, I hear he summons succubi to pleasure him all the time. And some of the other instructors join him."

"They are considerably more experienced than we are," Decius pointed out, but Sarus merely scoffed.

"How hard can it be?" he asked, and Decius felt himself flinch.

"Famous last words," Gnaeus muttered. Decius had to agree.

"Enki surely sat up at that and has begun concocting some horrible fate for us."

"Oh, listen to yourselves!" Sarus laughed. "This is nothing the three of us can't handle. We are three of the Collegium's finest sorcerers. A single demon like this will be as easy to control as a mortal wench."

"What will we do with her?" Gnaeus asked. Decius could not help but roll his eyes. The wine had really gotten to Gnaeus. Sarus seemed to think so as well. He turned an incredulous look toward Gnaeus.

"What do you do with any beautiful woman, Avidius? You fuck her!"

"Will we take turns?" Gnaeus asked slowly. Decius sighed in frustration.

"This ritual's instructions are complex," he screwed up his face in confusion. "I'm not fully sure I understand the script, or the sequence. And look at this! It requires one anqy of spice!"

"Is that a lot?" asked Gnaeus with genuine curiosity.

"Not at all," replied Sarus, but Decius was not so easily persuaded.

"I don't know how much it is. Some writings say it is about equivalent to three quarters of an ounce, while others treat it as equivalent to slightly more than two ounces."

"Well, surely it can't be both," replied Gnaeus.

"There must be a way to figure it out," Sarus added. "I think three-quarters of an ounce far too little for a ritual like this, it must be two."

"We can simply do it both ways," suggested Gnaeus, who was always willing to experiment. "First with the smaller conversion of three-quarters of an ounce, then again with two ounces if the first way fails."

Decius was not sure what would happen if the first ritual failed, but decided that would not persuade his friends.

"That is all well and good, but where will we get three ounces of spice? Have you thought of that, Sarus?"

Sarus frowned and sat back in his seat. "I have," he said, more subdued now. "My father provides me with a generous allowance of not only money, but spice."

Decius cocked an eyebrow. "How do you get it past the Arcani?"

Sarus smiled. "My father was born a merchant. He knows every smuggler's trick there is. I do not receive any parcel from home without him hiding at least a pinch of indigo spice in it somewhere. Trust me, Capricius, I am well-supplied."

Decius felt a bit of envy at that. His own parents were far richer than any provincial merchant, but even they would not chance trouble by smuggling their son spice in contravention of the Collegium's strict rules.

"Alright," Decius nodded, feeling already that he was making a mistake. "Where?"

"From his own suppliers," Sarus replied, and Decius groaned.

"No," Decius shot back with exasperation. "Where will we do this?"

"Oh," Sarus mumbled with evident embarrassment. "Well, we will have to do it off-campus somewhere. The instructors might sense the summoning otherwise. Perhaps in an inn room, or a brothel room... or if you know someone who has an apartment we could borrow..."

"What about the Crooked Crane?" suggested Gnaeus. "They have nice rooms for rent for the day, and it has a spice den in the cellar, so the smells won't alert anyone."

"Perfect!" Sarus cried, slapping Gnaeus on the back. In his drunken state, he swung his hand with more force than intended and knocked the other man into the table. However, Gnaeus was drunk too, and hardly seemed to either notice or feel the pain.

"Then it's decided!" Sarus beamed. He slapped a hand onto the table, folded the page, and put it back into his tunic. "One last drink? After that, I am headed back to my cell for the night."

They drained the bottle and stumbled out into the street and back to their cells, dreams of mastering and bedding a demon running through their drunken minds.

---

The sober clarity of the next morning provided the first opportunity to disavow their plan. It had been made late at night and only after several bottles of strong wine. Surely, they would not stick to it now? Stealing spice from Collegium stores to summon demons for a lustful romp was too far beyond the usual degree of mischief and deviance expected from students of the Collegium.

And if they were looking to wet their cocks, courtesans would prove not only the safer option, but the cheaper one as well. A summoning ritual would require no small amount of spice, which traded at three times its weight in gold at the Guild's price and only a little less among the smugglers.

Decius rose to find his valet gone, likely busy with some errand he had assigned the day before. He dressed and washed himself before eating a lonely meal in the dining hall. It was already mid-morning, and everyone else had eaten. Outside, the Collegium was already in the full swing of the day. He hurriedly devoured a plate of cheese and salted pork before rushing to the East Hall where Augusti Gylaen was giving his lecture on demons.

The elf sorcerer stood before a small audience in the East Hall, drawing on a chalkboard. The elf was tall and thin. He wore his long black hair up in an intricate series of braids, and his gray robe was dusted with chalk. Decius could tell from the state of the audience that he had been speaking for quite some time and likely nearing the end of his lecture.

He saw Sarus and Gnaeus seated toward the front of the hall. Obviously they had recovered from their night of drinking more easily than he had.

The elf dusted off his hands as he completed his latest diagram and turned back to those seated. He did not seem to notice Decius' late arrival.

"Now, the most important thing to remember about summoning is this: Demons will always try to find purchase in the mortal realms. While mortals will find the demon's home utterly inhospitable, demons will thrive in the mortal realms if given the opportunity. For this reason, any sorcerer trafficking with demons must be cautious to an extreme. Demons are ever cunning when it comes to persuasion and seduction. They offer promises of power, wealth, desire--whatever they think the summoner finds enticing--in order to secure their place in the mortal realms. Always be on guard against this."

A murmur went through the audience, heads nodded in concurrence. Gylaen looked over them once to ensure that he had been understood, then clapped his hands.

"Very well. That brings us to the end of today's lecture. It is almost midday, and I find myself hungry. I will be in the North Library for another lecture in the mid-afternoon. Until then, Gods keep you."

The augusti gathered up his things and left, paying little attention to those who wanted to ask him further questions. The lecture hall began to empty out and Decius made his way against the flow of the crowd toward his friends, at least until he saw them exit through another door.

He followed them through the crowd to their usual spot on the campus green. In the shadow of the Collegium's Tower, they seated themselves against a low wall. Decius felt his hands quiver. It was time to disavow their plan.

Sarus turned toward him, an eager smile on his face. "The augusti's lecture was most fortuitously timed," he said in a rush. "A pity you missed it, Capricius, for I had hoped to entrust the summoning to you. After all, you are the strongest of us."

Decius was surprised at the compliment. Usually Sarus acknowledged no equal. So taken off guard was he that he lost the use of his tongue and surrendered initiative in the conversation to the others.

"I still think Decius should speak the words," said Gnaeus. He cast a look around them for any eavesdroppers, then spoke again in a lower voice. "And certainly he should draw the symbols, for he has the steadiest hands."

"Indeed he does," Sarus agreed with a nod. "But fear not, we will guide you on the way. Gylaen will not speak on demons for another week, and I am not a patient enough man to wait that long."

"Ah, yes," Decius said, finally regaining the power of speech, "On that matter. Would it perhaps not be wise to wait? We are only three students of sorcery, and these conjurations are a difficult matter for even an augusti like Gylaen."

"Are you getting cold feet already, Capricius?" Sarus teased. "I had thought you patricians made of sterner stuff than this."

"We are relying on you, Decius," Gnaeus protested. "Come on, we will manage." He gave Decius an encouraging smile. Decius was honored by his friends' faith in him, but the whole endeavor still had the air of disaster about it.

"I..." Decius' words failed him. His friends looked at him with expectations of greatness, and he could not disappoint them. He decided to try a different approach. "We still don't have the spice."

"That's an easy matter," Sarus proclaimed with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Come on, let's go see my man."

Without waiting for Decius to reply, Sarus stood up and headed west toward the edge of the campus. Decius followed after a pause, not sure why.

They crossed the campus through crowds of Collegium students and instructors, all going merrily about their day. The students were busily engaged in their chatter about either the study of sorcery or just the everyday concerns of life. Sarus passed easily through them and out the gates at the edge of the Collegium's campus.

The Collegium had long since overgrown the bounds of its walls, and the streets just beyond the official edge were crowded with taverns, bookstores, tailors, and other businesses oriented toward the students. The three of them passed disinterestedly by them, heading for the Green Quarter beyond it.

The Green Quarter was a bustling trade district that had grown up only in the last decade. The artisans and merchants who lived there had little patience for students and their rowdiness, so the sight of the three obvious students drew a few annoyed stares.

"What are we doing here, Sarus?" Decius asked. He slid up beside his friend and tried to shut out the stares. While the stares did not bother him in the least, he did acknowledge that the three students had no reason to be in the Green Quarter.

"We are visiting my man," Sarus replied easily. "I can't keep the stuff on the campus, the Arcani are everywhere."

The mention of the emperor's spies and mage-slayers caused Decius to reflexively look around for any signs that they were being watched or followed. An old innkeeper glowered at the three of them, no doubt imagining that they were up to no good. Two doors behind him, a potter looked up from her wheel to shake her head disapprovingly at him, then returned to her work. They passed in front of a drover, urging his ox forward with a cart laden with hay in tow, and the man in the cart scowled at them blocking his path. There were plenty of unfriendly looks, but none looked like spies.

Even spies do not look like spies, or else they would be poor spies,Decius thought. Decius cared little for the glowering Green Quarter denizens, however, and followed Sarus into an alley between two buildings so new that the masons were still at work in their upper levels.

Sarus passed through a narrow door and into the backroom of a shop. Its shelves were bare, though two crates were stacked in one corner. Beside the door they had entered through, only one simple door led out of the windowless room. Decius felt uneasy, almost as if they were in the jaws of a trap.

"What is this place, Sarus?" Decius asked, but before Sarus could respond, they heard heavy, booted footfalls in the hallway just outside. The door pushed open and in walked a dwarf in a thick robe, something odd in the Imperial City's warm climes. Around his waist was a wide belt of gold braid from which hung an ornate dagger in its sheath. Like most of his kind, he had a long beard that hung from his chin to his waist, but above that he was nearly bald. His face was wrinkled, and his thick hands gnarled with age, but not from work. The dwarf stopped at the sight of them. He thrust his hands into his wide belt and leaned back in consideration.