"Jack Vance - Elder Isles 3 - Madouc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

post which they emplaced at the summit of Mount Agon. SartzanekтАЩs scion Tamurello took refuge at
his manse Faroli, deep within the Forest of Tantrevalles and there protected himself by dint of
careful magic.

That further events of this sort might be avoided, Murgen, most potent of the magicians, issued
his famous edict, forbidding magicians employment in the service of temporal rulers, inasmuch as
such activity must inevitably bring magicians into new conflicts with each other, to the danger of
all.

Two magicians, Snodbeth the Gay, so-called for his jingling bells, ribbons and merry quips, and
Grundle of Shaddarlost, were brash enough to ignore the edict, and each suffered a severe penalty
for his presumption. Snodbeth was nailed into a tub to be devoured by a million small black
insects; Grundle awoke from his sleep to find himself in a dismal region at the back of the star
Achemar, among geysers of molten sulphur and clouds of blue fume; he too failed to survive.

Although the magicians were persuaded to restraint, travail and dissension elsewhere were rife.
Celts who had been placidly settled in the Daut province Fer Aquila became inflamed by bands of
Goidels from Ireland; they slaughtered all the Dauts they could find, elevated a burly cattle
thief named Meorghan the Bald to the kingship and renamed the land Godelia, and the Dauts were
unable to recapture their lost province.

Years passed. One day, almost by chance, Murgen made a startling discovery, which caused him such
vast consternation that for days he sat immobile, staring into space. By degrees his resolution
returned and at last he set himself to a program which, if successful, would slow and finally halt
the momentum of an evil destiny.

The effort preoccupied MurgenтАЩs energies and all but eliminated the joy in his life. The better
to guard his privacy, Murgen set out barriers of dissuasion along the approaches to Swer Smod,
and, further, appointed a pair of demoniac gatekeepers, the better to turn back obstinate
visitors; Swer Smod thereupon became a place of silence and gloom.

Murgen at last felt the need for some sort of alleviation. For this reason he brought into


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existence a scion, so that he might, in effect, live two existences in tandem. The scion,
Shimrod, was created with great care, and was by no means a replica of Murgen, either in
appearance or in temperament. Perhaps the differences were larger than Murgen had intended, since
ShimrodтАЩs disposition was at times a trifle too easy, so that it verged on the frivolous: a
condition which was at discord with current conditions at Swer Smod. Murgen, nevertheless,
cherished his scion and trained him in the skills of life and the arts of magic.

In the end Shimrod became restless and with MurgenтАЩs blessing he departed Swer Smod in all good
cheer. For a period Shimrod wandered the Elder Isles as a vagabond, sometimes posing as a peasant,
more often as a peregrine 'knight' in search of romantic adventure.

Shimrod at last settled into the manse Trilda on Lally Meadow, a few miles into the Forest of
Tantrevalles. In due course the Ska of Skaghane perfected their military apparatus and invaded