"03 - Song of the Saurials - Jeff Grubb & Kate Novak [2.0]" - читать интересную книгу автора (Finder's Stone)

Nameless had acquired. Like the blank pages of a journal, the stone could store
other information as well. Nameless claimed it could recall for him an entire
library of tomes. It could also recall his songs and 'sing' them, as it were, in

Nameless's voice, exactly as he sang them. He added other enchantments so it
could project the illusion that he was actually sitting there, singing the
song."
"A little stuck on himself, wasn't he?" Breck noted with a grin.
Morala huffed in agreement.
"More than a little, good ranger," Elminster replied, smiling at Breck. The sage

was pleased that the young man wasn't afraid to speak out and even more pleased
that the failings of others amused rather than annoyed the ranger. "Despite all
that he had accomplished," Elminster went on, "Nameless still was not satisfied.

The stone's illusion of himself needed to be commanded when to sing and told
what to sing. It had no vital force to sing of its own will, or judgment to
choose a song appropriate to the moment, or ability to gauge an audience's
reaction and build upon their emotions. So Nameless abandoned the stone as a
failure. He planned next to build a powerful simulacrum of himself. The creature

was to have Nameless's own personality as well as all the knowledge Nameless had

placed in the finder's stone. So that none would shun it as an abomination,
Nameless researched ways to make it indistinguishable from a true human.
Finally, he intended to give it immortality."
Breck gave a low whistle of amazement. The priestess Morala shuddered, even
though she was already familiar with the story. Kyre's expression remained
neutralЧinterested, but emotionless. The tune from the prisoner's cell swelled
into a bold fanfare.
Elminster continued. "Having found it useful in his alterations of the finder's
stone, Nameless obtained another shard of para-elemental ice for the heart of
the simulacrum." The sage paused. It was easy enough for Elminster to speak of
Nameless's brilliance and daring, and even his obsession and vanity, but the
sage's heart ached to recall the bard's crime.
It was better he should tell it, though, than let Morala give the account. "Yet,

for all his brilliance and natural ability with magic," Elminster explained,
"Nameless was a bard, not a trained magic-user. He recognized his own
limitations and tried to enlist the aid of several different wizards, but
without success. There were not many people whom he had not offended with his
arrogance. Among those mages he counted as friends, many thought his project
silly, a waste of time and energy. Some did not believe it would even work.
Others thought the creation he proposed to be a heinous act. A few pointed out
that the creation could be copied and used by malicious beings for evil
purposes. They tried to convince him that he should be satisfied with the
finder's stone's recreation of his music. Whatever their opinion, every mage he
spoke with told him the project was too dangerous. It would prove fatal to
himself or some other."
"He went ahead and did it anyway, didn't he?" Breck asked, as eager as a child