Notes on The Stolen Soul:
Legends from the Shashka Desert:
According to Gahila, there are almost no written records of the versions that come from the desert. The primary one that is passed from generation to generation is that the gold used to make the Golden Dagger was mined in the Agma mines located at the center of the desert. These mines are legendary on their own. According to Shashka tradition, Agma was abandoned after the river that flowed through the center of the desert dried up. Agma was believed to have been the grandest city and would still be the greatest if it remained standing to this day. Unlike most legends, the Shashkans do not claim any tragic or ominous reason for the drying of the land. Their legends of Agma focus more on who was there and what was in the mines. They fully believe there were many survivors that integrated smoothly into the other cities and were the source of the legends of Agma; but the people never spoke of how they achieved such glory and what was in the mines other than typical metals and gems. They claim that Agma contained all metals and gems, unlike the localized mines found elsewhere, as well as magical stones. The description of these stones reminds me of an elven legend I read about. In both legends, these stones range greatly in size but unlike what would be expected the size has no correlation to how powerful they are: one of the most powerful one could fit in my hand, while a weaker one could be as large as someone’s head. I do not remember the elven legend mentioning where these stones were from, meaning they could have been from Agma, but focused on what they could be used for (which seemed endless).
According to the Shashkans, the Golden Dagger was forged from pure gold mined in Agma and infused with the magic from a stone that could fit on the hilt (which was also made of gold). It is in that stone that the souls of those killed by the Dagger are stored. The Shashkans believe that the gold acts as the passageway for the soul to travel from the body to the stone.
It is fascinating how the Shashkans focus so much of their legend on the origin of the Dagger, how it was made, and how it functions rather than who the Keeper is.
The 14th Day of the 9th Moon of the Year
Lessons resumed today. Our instructor did not tell us why they were cancelled, but no one else seemed to care. I wonder if it has anything to do with all the commotion going on in the castle. I had trouble concentrating on anything though, not that I actually missed anything. My thoughts kept shifting from the guild to that girl. At least one of them was a happy thought. She was beautiful. I still have not figured out how to convince Franklin to let me go back to the marketplace any time soon.
