Temper of Wisdom summary

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This topic summarizes the events of Lynn Abbey's The Temper of Wisdom novel.

The Story

The Temper of Wisdom begins three weeks after the events of the prior book, The Forge of Virtue, and six months after Lord British's fateful descent into the newly formed Underworld.

The Return

After a frustrating week in Yew, and two weeks on the road to Britain, Jordan Hawson finds himself sitting on a stool before the great wizard Annon. The magician counts to three, creating glowing glyphs in the air using In Lor. Jordan opens his eyes, attempting to see the symbols. Althea, Balthan, Drumon, and Jordan's brother Darrel wait, although Squirt is less than patient. Jordan's eyes pulse with the magic, and although he knows the common magic runes he can not read the floating symbols.

Annon tells the friends that Jordan's eyes, and his mind, are fine--the fault is in the miscast magic that affects them. It would fade, in time, and Jordan can wear it. Annon gives them coin enough to see them home, and as they set out, Shamino joins him to watch. The old friends discuss Blackthorn's apparent corruption, the shades and the growing Resistance. The regent has sent Inquisitors to the Peerage estates, including Hawksnest; that one a truly evil man named Lohgrin.

Drum takes a few silver to repay some of his guild debts, Balthan takes more to buy reagents from the apothecary, and Squirt runs off. When they return, they purchase as much food as they can before passing through the gates of the city. Before long, they are caught in a summer squall, which keeps up all evening. Eventually, they stop to camp beneath some trees, but the rain continues the next day. When they reach the charterhouse, twelve miles outside of Britain, they spot an Inquisitor and decide to move on. They stay in a teamster's turnabout that night, not trusting the washed out roads and unable to reach the next charterhouse.

A teamster meets them during the night, greeting Balthan as a magician which unnerves him. She allows them to sleep within the covered tent, and to ride with her the following day. When they reach a stream running three feet above its bridge, she convinces Drum, Balthan, and Jordan to aid her in guiding the wagon while Darrel takes the reins. As they wade through the muck, the wagon slips, but they manage to brace the wheels and make it across.

The storm finally lifts as they set camp for the night. Balthan creates glyphs for Jordan, thinking only a few will be enough for him to recover, but after twenty seven with no signs of change, the mage is exhausted. The next morning, they retreat into the dark wagon to try more runes. Balthan plans to add mandrake, to strengthen the glyphs, but he has no mana. Jordan files into a range, accusing Balthan of conspiring against him and nearly breaks the mage's neck--an eerie echo of the miasma that so affected him in Britain.

They pass Malamunsted estate, where Jordan traded his favorite horse, the Valorian Fugatore. Without the now-defaulted loan to recover him, they pass by and continue their journey. They enter the northern boundary of Hawksnest, passing Rosignel villa. The mud keeps them from the estate for one more night. Jordan, after five hundred thirty two glyphs, can see no more than when he was first blinded, and dreads the meeting with his father the next morning.

Girding himself with Honor, Sacrifice and Valor, the virtues of Courage, he mentally prepares himself by shedding his feelings. Balthan confronts him, and the rage seizes Jordan once again. He tosses the mage from the front of the wagon, nearly causing him to be run down. Balthan crawls into the wagon canopy, invoking Mani to take away the worst of the pain.

At Hawksnest, Lord Erwald Ironhawk and Lady Barbara come to meet their sons, but Jordan's blindness causes a bittersweet reunion. The black-clad figure of Lohgrin stands beside them, and when Balthan looks at the Inquisitor, he could see the darkness of the wraiths within him. Drumon warns the mage that Lohgrin has turned the household against him. The farrier pretend to give chase to the escaping Wanderson, while Balthan escapes.

The Conspiracy

Attempting to hide in his room, Jordan is thwarted by Hugh, his father's friend and Jordan's armiger. He realized that something had overcome him in the yard, making him call down Balthan--much like the miasma had overcome him in Britain. Hugh explained that much in Hawksnest is wrong, since the three "guests" arrived: Lohgrin and his thugs, Ivo and Dench. Lohgrin punished the inhabitants for their infractions of Blackthorn's Code. Apalled, Jordan bathed and allowed Hugh to shave and groom him. When he realized he could not atend the feast without looking like an invalid, the rage took him. Hugh retreats, and Jordan eventually finds himself lying, staring signlessly at the sun. As he rubbed his eyes, he realized he could see the motion--a first since the accident.

Lord Erwald bursts into the room, and disregards his son's outburst that he could see, believing him mad. As his father beat him, Jordan detached from his pain, restraining his rage, until he heard a scream.

Althea had gone to her room and cried after Jordan denounced Balthan. Lady Barbara had surprised her, asking what actually had happened. They visited the great baths, to clean up after the harrowing journey. As she returned to her room, Althea was accosted by Lohgrin and his lackeys. Her sceam brought Lord and Lady Ironhawk to face the Inquisitor.

Jordan listened to the confrontation, and watched what he could, but was disgusted by the apparent lack of authority his parents had in their own keep. A friend of Jordan's, Donsal, pulled him away and told him of the Inquisitors on Windemere. Jordan listened as Lohgrin convinced his father to wed Althea to him. Jugh tried to talk Jordan into understanding his parent's position.

At supper, Lohgrin came bearing an enameled box and dressed in mismatched, moth-eaten velvets. He presented the crumbling box to Althea; within was a necklace bearing an irregular freshwater pearl and garnets. Instead of beautiful, the impressive necklace was grotesque. She reused it, saying the only bride-gift she would accept was his promise to not persecute her brother and protect her lord's family from retribution. Infuriated, Lohgrin stormed out. After Althea returned to her room for the night, a mage crept in and took her.

Drum had secreted Balthan in a bolthole beneath the forgeyard, and once his family returned to their rooms he was let out. Drum's cousin Minette said Althea has been found poisoned and taken to Lohgrin for healing. Balthan escaped into the sewers, trying to figure out how to rescue his sister without being taken by the Inquisitor. He found himself at Rosingel, and confronted by a swordsman.

Darrel skipped out on his lessons with Aldonar and decided to visit Althea, who was still sick. He broke into the Inquisitor's apartments, and began snooping. He found strange beetle shells, and was thinking of the scarabs that Annon had in Britain when Lohgrin entered. The Inquisitor looked for reagents, invoking the name Nosfentor.

"A dragon's gall, a gazer's cowl, steeped in the blood of an unborn soul and dried in the dark of the moon--that should keep her under control."

Squirt saw other dark magic artifacts as well; a leathery troll's hand; a leatherbound book of what appeared to be skin, smooth as vellum, written in blood with strange symbols he could not read.

Squirt took the beetles to Jordan, and explained what he had seen. His brother was watching a candle intently, the flame was as good as the glyphs and he could mostly see now. They returned to Lohgrin's rooms. When Jordan examined the items, everything suddenly made sense to him.

"Its as clear as winter crystal... Its all one and the same." ... "It's magic--Blackthorn's a magician! Not Balthan's kind of magician, or Annon's, but some other kind. Maybe something ancient from old Sosaria. I don't know. But they're magicians, Squirt. Blackthorn, the Inquisitors--Lohgrin anyway--and they're eliminating everyone who could stand against them."

They go to get Althea, but Lohgrin and his lackeys are with her. Jordan rushed in, Althea screamed, and Squirt ran.

Jordan was captured by Ivo and Dench. Lohgrin tells him that he will accuse Ironhawk's son of ravishing the girl in the grips of his berserkerang. Althea is already enspelled, pale and nearly lifeless, but forced to obey only the Inquisitor.

Darrel, on the roof above, overheard them beating his brother and calling for Lord Ironhawk, who was out hunting. Lohgrin called for the tocsin to ring, summoning everyone to the great hall as witness to the meting of Justice. Darrel ran to meet his father as he arrives, telling him of what they had found. Disbelieving, Lord Ironhawk came to the great hall where Lohgrin stood on a platform awaiting him.

Althea was made to speak the story Lohgrin wanted told, and as Squirt headed for the door, the Inquisitor called for him to be captured as well. He slipped free and ran.

Seanna was returning from the Cape with an empty wagon, in route to a teamsters' call. When she arrived at the charterhouse north of Trinsic, she was surprised to learn the roadmaster was tallying teams as they arrived, rather than the traditional evening tallies, and that some teamsters were not even staying the night. She paid the road tax, and was apalled to learn that Blackthorn decreed that teamsters must repurchase their bells at each call, which normally is a significant portion of purchasing a teamster's wagon. The other options, skipping call and dodging fines, joining the Resistance, or hauling for the Inquisition, were worse.

At dinnger, a normally quiet journeyman named Thykel recounted his encounter with a madwoman in Spiritwood named Shanna. She raved about shadows attacking Lord British and her friends Arionis. Geraci, Meridin, Noin, Roin, and Remoh. Afterwords, Thykel took her to Milan in Britain, and was accosted by the Inquisitors. Ever since, he had dreams of the wraith's himselves.

Seanna realizes that the secret lies in Spiritwood, which lies just northwest of Hawksnest. That night, she dreamt that Squirt was up a tree and she had to stand on Jordan's Valorian, Fugatore, to get him down. As the sun rose, she was already in route to Malmunsted.

Lohgrin had offered a purse of coins for his capture, so Squirt had to hide in the villa for three days, dodging menials and wage-servants. While stealing fruit, he found a folded parchment. Inside was a powdered poison and a sketched note on how to use it. Across the way, the gardner toiled to move roses, and exposed a bricked-over window leading to the storeroom where Jordan was being held. It bagan to rain, pulling Ivo and Dench out of the courtyard. Once they were gone, Darrel ran inside to free his brother. Minette, Drum's cousin, stopped him. Squirt hid when the churls returned, and the laundress gave them the poisoned wine. They fell asleep almost instantly. Together, Darrel and Minette moved the burly men, then helped Jordan from the cellar.

They plead with Minette to help them; finally, she agrees to tell Drumon their predicament. Jordan led his brother into the sewer. At dusk, they emerged to find Drum at the postern gate. The farrier gave them swords, food, silver, and a vellum sheet that Balthan had left for Hawson. The brothers head out of the gate, toward Rosignel.

Barely into the fields, Jordan senses the Inquisitor's magic, and they ran. Althea watched them from the window, bewitched by the dark mage. The Inquisitor summoned a phantom gazer, placing his own sight within the incantation, and sent it down on the Hawsons. They managed to jump into the circle of stones surrounding the moongate, hallowed by Lord British, where it could not pursue.

The boys set out again the next morning, intent to seek the gypsies and Lord Shamino. The letter Balthan had left them was ruined. They found Rosignel, and Balthan awaiting them there. As he healed Jordan, they spoke of the Inquisitor and his distateful magic.

Lohgrin told everyone they had been consumed entering the moongate, and they could not be found in Trinsic beyond. Two empty coffins were placed beneath Hawksnest's dome, and Lord Ironhawk named Althea his heir. Jordan, Darrel and Balthan stayed three days in Rosignel while Jordan healed, and the others practiced their swordwork (rather poorly).

They discussed what they could expect when they arrived in Hawksnest. As night fell, they set out for the villa, soon being overtaken by dark clouds. They approached Drum's home, and were welcomed by not just the farrier, but by his entire family, shocking the Hawsons. Drum not only agreed to help, but would accompany them. The clouds were not a storm, but a miasma that settled on Hawksnest not unlike that of Britain. Balthan wove them all talisman necklaces, then they climbed the wall and snuck to the Inquisitor's rooms. They split up to search for Thea. Drum and Jordan located a secret door leading into the sewers, where they found Lohgrin, seemingly sacrificing Ivo and Dench to the dark figure of Nosfentor. The wraith showed Lohgrin the path to enter the Maelstrom while they watched on, then Jordan and the farrier ran.

The black fog infected the residents with Nosfentor's cowardice, scattering them and causing chaos as tremors shook the villa. The wraith's scream shook loose masonry, starting fires and causing countless injuries. Lord Ironhawk, sounding steady, sounded through the dark to direct his retained, helping to disburse the panic. Jordan, breathing that miasma, was filled with the terror of his father than he normally set aside. He pushed through to the foregate before he could bring himself to stop, and found himself facing a fire. He waded into the water, calling for others to help form a bucket line. For hours, they labored passing buckets until the miasma lifted, revealing dawn and the call that the fire was doused.

With dawn came Darrel, who reported Althea was with her brother, but the Inquisitor and his two henchmen had taken horses and rode north at first light. Drum took them to the forgeyard, and told Jordan he had found Darrel and Balthan hauling an unconscious Althea, still bound, out of the villa. When he had stopped them, and freed the girl, she had turned on all three of them. Jordan recognized the sound of her enchantment, and reassured the farrier. Drum also said Balthan threatened them, even calling by Nosfentor's name, until they released him and his sister. Jordan knew the mage, as well, and recognized his do-anything tactics when cornered. The farrier swore that it was an honest mistake. The Hawsons left for Rosignel, Jordan napping on the way.

Balthan met them. So far, he'd been unable to remove Althea's necklace, but he was keeping her asleep. Jordan asked about Nosfentor, and Balthan admitted he was one of the wraiths who tempted him last year. Jordan neveals he knows Lohgrin's destination, but that he needs to heal and rest.

The Chase

Repairs began at Hawksnest; by autumn, it would be as if nothing had happened. Drum tried to fit in, back in the forgeyard, but felt empty. Finally, he left for Rosignel. A furlong out, he heard the tocsin and began to run to meet them as they returned. Instead, he found Seanna, bringing Fugatore home. Darrel meets them, and they turn the wagon towards Rosignel.

Althea had healed, but was still not herself. She scratched the necklace constantly, leaving her throat raw. When the animals senses the uneasiness in the courtyard, Fugatore went wild. Seanna managed to calm him, but Althea fainted.

After eight yards searching, Balthan "heard" the Inquisitor's magical call for aid, but nothing came. Not long later, however, Jordan found Lohgrin's trail and followed them back to the Inquisitor's camp, set above a huge cavern. They set triplines and snares, hoping to take the dark wizard and his churls unaware as they exited. Suddenly, the gently yawning cave began to inhale, seeming to suck lines of darkness across the sky, obscuring the moon. The darkness descended, becoming an icestorm.

When the storm passed, and they had time to rest, Jordan and Balthan realized that the dark wizard may not need their horses once they had their prize, instead escaping by magic. They needed to enter the cave and stop them from finding what they sought. After a long journey through the Maelstrom caverns, they found Dench and Ivo digging, while Lohgrin paced near the black underground river. The queer luminescence that the Inquisitor has cast sapped Jordan's will, enthralling him with its shimmering. Balthan attempted to use An Xen Ex to stop him from looking; as he was not a Sixth Circle mage, the spell would not cast properly but was still able to impart a small compulsion.

Eventually, the churls gave up digging, and waded into the water to search for Ramoh's sandalwood box. Dench pulled it from the water. Balthan and Jordan crept toward them while they celebrated. Jordan charged, slashing Ivo before he could draw his blade, and dueling Dench. Balthan, stumbling from the magic wracking his body, rushed forward to stab Ivo before he could attack Hawson from behind. Dench turned toward his friend's killer, but Jordan slew him before he could charge the mage.

The friends stumbled from the acrid air, wretching. The luminous cloud disbursed, plunging the cavern into darkness until Balthan could gather enough energy to manage an In Lor spell.

A dark storm cloud had passed Seanna's wagon just after sunrise, hovered at the northern horizion, then dispersed. Althea had led them from Rosignel a week ago, choosing their path after being asked gently by Darrel which way to go, and concentrating on the necklace. Thea was aware of her friends, but was unable to communicate with them through the enchantment. Seanna, not for the first time, thought to turn back, but unlike before Squirt did not protest. Finally, as she was reigning Willie to the wagon, he approached Althea and asked her to speak with him. His voice approached the mystical cadence of mother's-voice when he asked of their brothers, and touched it when he asked where to find the Inquisitor. She thrashed, unable to comply, until Lohgrin's touch came through to pearl, allowing her to answer. He showed her visions of the confrontation in the cave, where Jordan and Balthan must surely be dying, and she told them their fate as he misrepresented it to her.

In his grief, Darrel ran off Fugatore. Drum placed Althea within the wagon, as Seanna comforted the boy, and they prepared to head back. Suddenly, Squirt called Ironhawk!, vaulted onto Bobbintom's back and set the horse running. Seanna quickly unfastened the other horse, riding after the boy, leaving Drum to guard Althea until they returned.

It took a day and half for Jordan and Balthan to exit the cave, and they spend another day collecting the seven Hawksnest horses and getting underway. They encountered the storm the next morning, and had followed it, and the Inquisitor, unerringly since. They caught up with him in a valley, and prepared to rush it to attack. Instead, Fugatore burst into the valley, startling the wizard. Then, Squirt did the same on Tom. Jordan and Balthan galloped forward as Seanna crashed through as well. As Darrel and Seanna thundered toward the Inquisitor, Seanna drew her whip, snapping the dark mage's face as he fled the horses. He stumbled, only to be run down by the heavy hooves of the teamster's pack.

They gathered around Lohgrin's corpse. Balthan retrieved the sandalwood box, leaving the other box and the Inquisitor's other effect undisturbed. They gathered wood and lit a pyre to immolate Lohgrin, while Seanna took her team back back to the wagon and gathered Drum and Althea. As Balthan brought the body to the pyre, Squirt noticed a strange light flash between the dead man and the mage, and tried to use mother's voice again. Balthan called him on it, but said he might just possess the spark of magic within him. The wagon appeared as they were preparing to light the pyre, and Althea brought down the cursed necklace and added it to the pile. Balthan had just caught up with the wagon as the dark mage's version of a sandalwood box exploded into a great transluscent sphere.

It was midsummer, two weeks since they left Rosignel, when the group returned. Jordan, Balthan, and Darrel would come to Hawksnest at sunset; Drum, Seanna, and Drum would not, for their own reasons. Lord Ironhawk met his eldest son as they arrived at the hall, proclaiming that he would undertake his Virtue Quest that very night, when the moongate rose. Jordan declined, saying they would leave for Britain the next morning, and their quest would be the return of their monarch. Ruffled, Lord Ironhawk stared down this rebuke of his offer, until Lady Barbara came to lead them to the feast.

"Lord British can be saved tomorrow. Tonight we are all together and we will celebrate."

Trivia

• Under construction

References

• Abbey, Lynn. The Temper of Wisdom. Questar Fantasy: 1992.