"Who are you?" asked Gope, his eyes fixed on mine. "You speak Old Vallonian, you rake up the forbidden knowledge, and challenge the very Powers...." He got to his feet. "I could have you immured, Drgon. I could hand you to the Greymen, for a fate I shudder to name." He turned and walked the length of the room restlessly, then turned back to me and stopped. "Matters stand ill with this fair world," he said. "Legend tells us that once men lived as the High Gods on Vallon. There was a mighty Owner, Rthr of all Vallon. It is whispered that he will come again--" "Your legends are all true. You can take my word for that! But that doesn't mean some supernatural sugar daddy is going along and bail you out. And don't get the idea I think I'm the fabled answer to prayers. All I mean is that once upon a time Vallon was a good place to live and it could be again. Your cities and roads and ships are still here, intact. But nobody knows how to run them and you're all afraid to try. Who scared you off? What broke down the memory-recording system? Why can't we all go to Okk-Hamiloth and use the Archives to give everybody back what he's lost--" "These are dread words," said Gope. "There must be somebody behind it. Or there was once. Who is he?" * * * * * Gope thought. "There is one man pre-eminent among us: the Great Owner, Owner of Owners: Ommodurad by name. Where he dwells I know not. This is a secret possessed only by his intimates." "What does he look like? How do I get to see him?" Gope shook his head. "I have seen him but once, closely cowled. He is a tall man, and silent. 'Tis said--" Gope lowered his voice, "--by his black arts he possesses all his lives. An aura of dread hangs all about him--" "Never mind that jazz," I said. "How can I get close to him?" "There are those Owners who are his confidants," said Gope, "his trusted agents. It is through them that we small Owners learn of his will." "Can we enlist one of them?" "Never. They are bound to him by ties of darkness, spells, and incantations." "I'm a fast man with a pair of loaded dice myself. It's all done with mirrors. Let's stick to the point. How can I work into a spot with one of these big shots?" "Nothing easier. A driver and piper of such skills as your own can claim whatever place he chooses." "How about bodyguarding? Suppose I could take a heavy named Torbu; would that set me in better with a new Owner?" "Such is no place for a man of your abilities, good Drgon," Gope exclaimed. "True, 'tis a place most close to an Owner, but there is much danger in it. The challenge involves the most bloody hand-to-hand combat, second only to the rigors of a challenge to an Owner himself." "What's that?" I snapped. "Challenge an Owner?"