Warcraft: The Last Guardian (Warcraft: Blizzard Legends) by Jeff Grubb

Author:Jeff Grubb [Grubb, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment, LLC
Published: 2018-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

NINE

The Slumber of the Magus

This is very important,” said Medivh, staggering slightly as he slid from the back of the gryphon. He looked haggard, and Khadgar assumed the battle with the demon had been worse than even he let on.

“I will be … unavailable for a few days,” continued the older Mage. “If any messengers arrive during this time, I want you to keep track of my correspondence.”

“I can do that,” said Khadgar, “easily.”

“No you can’t,” said Medivh, starting roughly down the stairs. “That is why I need to tell you how to read the ones with the purple seal. The purple seal is always Order business.”

Khadgar said nothing this time, but just nodded.

Medivh slid on the edge of the stairs and stumbled, pitching forward headlong. Khadgar lunged to grab the older man, but the Magus had already caught himself against the wall and pulled himself upright. He didn’t miss a beat, “In the library, there is a scroll. ‘The Song of Aegwynn.’ Tells of my mother’s battle with Sargeras.”

“The scroll that Guzbah wanted a copy of,” said Khadgar, now watching the mage carefully as he lurched down the stairs ahead of him.

“The very one,” said Medivh. “This is why he can’t have it—we use it as cipher for Order communications. It is the master key. An identical scroll is with each of the members of the Order. If you take the standard alphabet, and move everything down, so the first letter is represented by the fourth, or the tenth, or the twentieth. It is a simple code. You understand?”

Khadgar started to say he did, but Medivh was already hurrying on, almost urgent in his need to explain.

“The scroll is the key,” he repeated. At the top of the message, you’ll see what looks like a date. It’s not. It’s a reference to the stanza, line, and word you start at. The first letter of that word becomes the first letter of the alphabet in the code. From there it proceeds normally, the next letter in alphabetic progression would be the second letter of the alphabet, and so on.”

“I understand.”

“No, you don’t,” said Medivh, rushed now and tired. “That’s the cipher for the first sentence only. When you hit a punctuation mark, you go to the second letter in the word. That becomes the equivalent for the first letter of the alphabet for the cipher of that sentence. Punctuation is normal. Numbers are as well, but they are supposed to write things out, not use numerals. There’s something else, but I’m missing it.”

They were outside Medivh’s personal quarters now. Moroes was already present, with a robe slung over his arm and a covered bowl resting on an ornate table. From the doorway Khadgar could smell the rich broth rising from the bowl.

“What should I do once I decipher the message?” asked Khadgar.

“Right!” said Medivh, as if some vital connection had snapped closed in his mind. “Delay. Delay first. Day or two, I may be up to it after that. Then equivocate.

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