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Back to the previous chapter: Uprisings
First Draft
The party had parted company with Sir Atenburg a few days earlier. The road to Arabel Cinlu was another of the Via Avillonia, the ancient stone roadways that connected all of the larger cities in the Kelltic regions of Avillonia. The stretch of Via from Llwelyn to Arabel Cinlu was in fair condition, since most of the traffic along the route was merchant caravans. The land was sparsely populated, and the few towns and villages along the way maintained only that section of road within their city limits. During the winter months, there was little to no road traffic, and the party had passed the time talking and riding several abreast across the entire road.
Two days of relatively warm weather had melted the remains of snow and ice from the Via, save for those sections of road shaded by trees. The third day was cooler, and lightly overcast. The Via had left the River Llwelyn, which was little more than twenty paces wide this close to its headwaters. The road turned southward, winding around the low foothills of the Middle Ranges while climbing towards the snow-capped peaks to the south.
The Via had entered a forest near midday, and the hills were noticeably taller. The party had resorted to riding in single and double file, since large sections of the road were still obscured by snow.
The tracks of a cart or wagon drawn by a pair of horses led south along the road, along with the hoof marks of several additional horses. It was an unusual time for any kind of wagon to attempt Yeti Pass north of Arabel Cinlu, since snow routinely would accumulate several feet deep in the pass, in spite of the winds.
As the party rounded another of the turns in the road, Rishala sniffed loudly. "Do you smell that?" he asked. "I smell brimstone."
The silence after Rishala spoke was palpable. The muted crunch of snow under the horses' hooves was the only sound to break the quiet.
From the lead horse, Sturm spoke. "There's a wagon around the bend. I see bodies on the ground." He loosened the strap securing his sword to its scabbard and started a steady visual sweep, looking for threats.
The scene around the bend was one of death. Bodies of half a dozen men were scattered around a clearing through which the road ran. The men's horses were likewise lying in the clearing. In the center, on the road, was a spartan two axle carriage, the back of which was smashed open. Some boxes were piled haphazardly on the ground near the front of the carriage, next to another man's body.
All of the bodies wore armor. Sturm stopped his horse near the first one and dismounted.
The man lay face down in red-stained snow. His footprints were widely spaced, and led back to the rearmost of the dead horses. His sword was still in its scabbard, as was his dagger. The dagger caught Sturm's attention.
"Kasey, you better come here."
As Kasey climbed out of his saddle, Bilbus rode along the road through the clearing, looking at the bodies scattered about. He felt a chill run up his spine that he knew was not from the cold. Once he reached the end of the clearing, he turned and rode back towards the wagon. He looked at Sturm and Kasey, on the far side of the clearing. Sturm was standing near the first body, and Kasey had kneeled next to it and rolled the body to look at the man's face. The Church Knight's expression turned mournful.
Sturm looked at the face, frozen in terror with open eyes. His chest had been savaged by something -- what looked like large claw marks had torn through his armor and body. The Sun Knight then noticed Kasey's expression. "Do you know him?"
Kasey nodded as he let the body roll back into the snow. "He's from Castle Treasa in Londoun."
Sturm warily walked through the clearing, looking in the snow for marks from something other than the men. Kasey walked to the next nearest body and looked at him, as well.
"I found its tracks," Sturm said. He was standing next to two of the dead men. They had died fighting something -- both had drawn weapons, and the snow around them had been violently disturbed. Both of their swords were pitted, and both men had been savaged like the first one.
Eric had climbed off of his horse. He and Kasey walked over to the fight scene while Rishala, Adria, and Breanna remained on their horses at the entrance to the clearing.
Eric looked at the prints in the snow. The prints of the two men circled around the middle of the disturbed area, but the prints in the middle were definitely not those of men. They were three-toed, almost two feet long, and they had distinct claws on the ends of the toes. The prints had pressed into the ground, as if they belonged to something heavy.
Kasey looked at the two dead men. "They're from Londoun, too. All of the men here are Church Knights from Castle Treasa."
The Church Knight started moving the bodies to one side of the clearing. As he did so, he removed the weapons from each body, along with coin purses and jewelry or other personal belongings. Kasey's expression was somber, and he treated the bodies reverently. Once the bodies were lined up, Kasey went back to Farran to get a small shovel. He started digging a grave for his fellow knights.
Adria finally rode into the clearing. She stopped near the three-toed tracks. Eric kneeled near one of the better-preserved tracks, sketching it in his travel journal.
"What was it?" Adria wondered aloud. "A dragon?" She remembered the dream Eric had mentioned having about the dragon guarding Fragarach, an ancient sword that appeared to be important to the prophecy.
Eric looked up at Adria. "No, I think the prints are too small for a dragon's feet, and it appears to be bipedal. Dragons normally move on all four legs."
"A wyvern, perhaps?" Adria speculated out loud. Wyverns were smaller cousins of dragons that tended to move on two legs on the ground. She had never heard of a wyvern in Avillonia, but she could not remember hearing reports of dragons, either, other than those so old that they had become legends.
Bilbus had dismounted Acquisition 2 near the broken wagon. He glanced at Kasey, who had stopped to look through the belt pouch the Church Knight had recovered from the driver of the wagon, then looked at the smashed open boxes next to the front of the wagon. The mountebank kneeled next to the boxes and looked inside. The contents were blackened and charred. Whatever had been in the boxes had been destroyed by a fire that had not affected the wood of the boxes.
Apprehensively, Bilbus tipped first one box, then another, dumping the burned remains on the snow. He noticed that some of the debris had not completely burned. He grabbed the piece and looked at it. It was the spine of a book, and someone had written the name of the book on it: "Stalgraf Imports ledgers, 2044".
Bilbus stood up and had started to call to his comrades when Kasey interrupted.
"Guys, I found a note!" He then read the note.
High Father Gillifin,
These Knights have brought you a prisoner whom we must question. He has been singularly uncooperative for us in Cathedral Treasa. Perhaps someone in Cathedral Kells will have better luck?
He was brought to us by one of the Shield, Lord Sir Kasey Bittrand, eldest son of Lord Idrun Bittrand of Sulster.
The prisoner calls himself Franz Stalgraf. He is a practitioner of Sorcery - we found a spellbook and protective wardings within his home here in Londoun. Please treat him with all due caution. Sir Bittrand's companions tell us that he had summoned a particularly foul demon.
We are also sending Stalgraf's shipping logs. It appears that he has been aiding the Dark One's forces by smuggling, but we have had limited success in breaking the code he used.
Yours,
Father Medraut Davenold
Cathedral Treasa
When Kasey finished, Bilbus held the book spine up. "And here were Stalgraf's ledgers. It looks like the Church did raid his place after we turned him over to them. Wait a minute." Bilbus dropped the charred book spine and rushed towards the back of the wagon.
The wagon looked like a prison wagon -- boxy sides, iron grills on the windows, and no effort at comfort. The back end had been smashed open. More accurately, Bilbus realized, it had been torn open. The rear axle was snapped like a twig, and the spoked wheels were in dozens of pieces. What had been the cell door was lying on the ground a pace away from the rest of the wagon. Bilbus steeled himself and looked into the wagon.
The wooden flooring of the wagon was well worn, but there was a distinctive circular scratch in the middle of the floor. A triangle had been inscribed in the circle, its three vertices touching the perimeter of the circle proper. The marks had been crudely cut in the wood, and they had an odd discoloration. Bilbus kneeled close to the markings and inspected them closely. Satisfied with what he saw, he stood up and turned to his companions.
"There's a pentacle in the wagon. I think he scratched it by hand. It looks like there's dried blood in it, too." He looked around the snow, then spotted an irregular set of prints moving away from the back of the wagon. He followed them to an area of the clearing where the snow had been blown away. The prints stopped in the cleared area.
Sturm walked over to the spot as well. "It carried him away. I think it is too much to think that the pentacle was bad and the thing ate him. It wasn't a dragon after all."
Bilbus nodded as he looked around the clearing again. Kasey had resumed digging a grave for his fellow Church Knights. Wordlessly, Bilbus walked over to his horse and untied the shovel he had strapped to his saddle bags. The knight and the mountebank finished digging the graves in silence.
After the two buried the fallen knights, Kasey kneeled over the grave and uttered a silent prayer. He then took the knights' possessions to Farran and put them in a saddlebag. Once he finished, he said, "I will deliver their effects to Kells to be properly handled. I'm ready to ride on."
The party left the site of the massacre behind as they continued towards the imposing mountains of the Middle Ranges.
The party reached Yeti Pass shortly before midday the following day. The wind blew snow mercilessly under a crisp, clear blue sky. The pass was the lowest in the Middle Ranges, but it still was high enough to have powdery snow over a pace deep. The party led their horses, moving slowly along the final climb. Poles jutted out of the snow every several paces, marking the sides of the Via beneath the snow. The peaks framing Yeti Pass towered overhead, lost in the swirl of snow.
After a painfully slow ascent, the party reached the top of the pass. Ahead of them stretched the Arabel Valley. From their vantage point at the crest of the valley, they could see the city of Arabel Cinlu, three miles away and several hundred feet lower. The vicious winds blew up the valley, blowing the snow through the pass to the north side of the mountains, but the winds in the town seemed much calmer than the winds in the pass.
Arabel Cinlu was a sprawling city. The town filled the valley to the east of a stream that started somewhere under the snow of the pass. A dark stoned citadel stood on the west side of the valley, commanding an excellent view of the city beneath it and the valley in general. The town itself was composed of several regions that were distinct even at this distance. The Via Avillonia passed through the town down the valley, and the buildings between the Via and the citadel looked like residences. Opposite the residences were numerous large, cleared regions that were paved in stone. Clusters of buildings, some garishly colored, stood in the cleared areas, and a few tents and wagons were visible in one of the large open-air markets. Between the markets and the river were more buildings. This last region looked like a rat's warren, with twisting, narrow roads and buildings that hung over the avenues.
Across the stream, the ground had large patches that were clear of snow. Columns of steam rose lazily from unseen openings in those patches, and a column of steam and water marked an erupting geyser. The stream itself was flowing, its water kept from freezing by the numerous geysers and hot springs near its banks. Wisps of condensed fog floated over parts of the river where an incursion of boiling water met the cooler water of the stream. The barren ground of the western side of the valley had numerous colors, ranging from sulfurous yellows to vivid blues, with dead white mounds marking extinct geyser cones.
"It looks empty," Breanna said as she squinted through the sun's glare at the town.
"It's winter," Bilbus replied. "The markets are empty, other than the merchants who actually spend the winter in town. You should see it during the warm months. Those big, empty areas are so packed with colored tents and wagons that you almost can't move through them."
"That's fine," Adria said. "But I'm cold, and I want to get into town." She started leading her horse towards Arabel Cinlu.
"You should like this town," Bilbus replied. "They have hot baths down on the south end of town, near the stream, that are fed from the stream itself. The water is naturally hot enough for a bath."
A long, low howl rose from one of the peaks overhead.
"What was that?" Breanna asked.
"Probably the wind," Bilbus said dismissively.
"No, that's not wind," Breanna insisted.
"It's not near us, so don't worry," Bilbus said. "Besides, I don't think it likes human flesh." He kept his head pointed away from Breanna so she would not see his smile.
The winds died down quickly once the party was well away from the pass. It was little more than a stiff breeze when the party was a mile from town. The distance was marked on a sign next to the Via, and the Via itself had been cleared of snow, although a few small drifts of snow had managed to accumulate along the sides. The road itself was dry. After pausing to brush snow off of their legs, the party climbed back into their saddles and rode the remaining mile to Arabel Cinlu.
The edge of the city proper was marked by a shack on one side of the Via. A sign above the shack read "Point of Entry, Arabel Cinlu. Departure Bonds, 10 Crowns".
"'Departure Bonds'?" Breanna asked.
Sturm looked at her. "Arabel Cinlu is a very free market. There are more ways to spend or lose money in this town than any place I have ever seen. The city sells a Departure Bond to visitors that allows a person to leave town if he's spent all of his coin."
"What if you don't have a bond?" Breanna asked, worried.
"City laws allow a person to be pressed into servitude to pay off their debt..."
"Which, of course, takes a long time," Bilbus interjected. "You may earn several coppers a day, depending on what you do, but you also have to pay for your food and shelter. And, if you go too far into debt, the city can sell you."
"Sell someone? Slavery? Is that legal?" Breanna exclaimed in alarm.
Sturm nodded slowly. "Arabel Cinlu is a free city. Neither the Kingdom of the Five Crowns nor Eiresud has claim to the city. You can buy anything here."
Bilbus grinned. "Yes, you can..." His voice trailed off.
Breanna looked at Sturm "Do you have a Departure Bond?"
Sturm nodded. "I got one when I was escorting merchant caravans."
Bilbus patted his jacket. "And I still have mine from when I came through town. I should make sure it's still current."
Breanna looked at Sturm nervously. "I ... I think I want to get a Departure Bond."
"As do I," Eric said.
The party dismounted their horses. They tied the horses to posts outside the shack and went inside.
The man inside the shack regarded them for a moment. "We don't have too many people stopping here this time of year. How was the pass?"
"Not too bad," Sturm said. "About four feet of snow." He unfolded a worn piece of paper. "I have not been in Arabel Cinlu for a while. I want to make sure my bond is still valid."
"Certainly," the man answered. He took the paper and looked it over. He made some notes in a ledger, then wrote on the bond. "It will cost three Crowns to update it."
Sturm gave the man three silver coins, then took the bond, folded it, and put it away.
Bilbus handed his bond over. "Same here."
After Bilbus had updated his bond, the rest of the party purchased bonds.
Once everyone had his or her Departure Bond, the party returned to their horses and rode into town.
"I've heard stories of this town," Eric said. "Where is a safe place to stay?"
Bilbus gestured forward. "The inns and shops along the main road are safe. Merchants and visitors stay in them, and it would be very bad for business for any trouble to develop. On the other side of the marketplaces are the other inns. I would not recommend them if you have a choice."
A pair of city watch walked along the Via. They waved and greeted the party as they rode past. Both men wore maille armor, and each had a sword hanging in a scabbard from his hip. Both swords had a green ribbon tied around the grip, with the long silk tails of the ribbon hanging to the men's knees. One of them said, "Good day, Lords and Ladies."
"At least the watch is nice," Breanna said. "Is there some sort of celebration? They have ribbons on their swords."
Sturm looked at Breanna. "No. There are two types of city watch in Arabel Cinlu. The honest ones guard the citadel, or man the points of entry, or guard the road work crews. A few also patrol the main road of the city. The other watchmen patrol the rest of the city." He watched Breanna's expression turned worried. "The green silk ribbon indicates that the guard is amenable to ... gratuities. Did you notice the large, empty coin pouch on those guards' belts?" Breanna shook her head. "Bilbus could rob you at swordpoint in front of those two men, and they would do nothing. That is, unless you offer them some coin."
Bilbus chuckled. "Or, in your case, maybe something other than coin. But then I could offer them more coin to ignore you."
Sturm scowled at Bilbus, then turned back to Breanna. "And the bidding continues until one side quits or runs out of money."
"But..." Breanna protested.
"You can buy anything," Bilbus said, "or anyone..." He leered at Breanna for a moment, then chuckled at the shocked gasp she made. "Including information. We might be able to find someone who knows where to find Erelhei Cinlu here -- I was told it was close to this city." He looked at some of the shops along the road. "Oh, and if you see any inns or taverns with colored lanterns hanging in front of them, tell me."
The party rode some distance into town before stopping at an inn. The front face of the inn was an aged white, and it had a steep, dark wooden roof above the second floor. Small balconies jutted out of the roof in places, showing a third floor in the attic of the inn. The sign above the entrance showed a crudely-drawn man covered in grayish hair. Above the man were the words "Hoary Man".
"Charming," Adria said sarcastically.
The party tied their horses to hitching posts, then walked into the inn. The interior was much different than the exterior -- the far wall had numerous glass windows looking out over one of the large open-air markets. The walls were stained wood, and a large fire raged in a fireplace large enough to hold a fair-sized table. The common room was to the left of the entrance, and it was recessed two feet below the entrance level. The common room did not double as a tavern -- it had plush chairs on a thick fur pelt carpet. A sign next to the steps down to the common room said, "Please leave dirty shoes here."
Opposite the inviting common room was the innkeeper's counter, bracketed on both sides by open doorways. The front doorway had a sign: "Restaurant".
The innkeeper waited patiently as the party surveyed the room. When Eric finally approached the counter, the man smiled. "Welcome, Lords and Ladies, to the Hoary Man Inn! Will you be needing rooms?"
"Yes," Eric said.
"Our rooms are three Crowns a night," the innkeeper said.
"Three?" Breanna asked. She had been accustomed to two Crowns being the customary price for a good room.
"Lady may take a room across the markets," the innkeeper said as he nodded towards the back of the inn. "I would not recommend it."
Kasey looked around the common room again. "What about stables?"
"Sir Knight, we have fine stables, and our hands are good with even the most spirited warhorses."
"We'll see," Bilbus muttered.
The party took rooms in the inn. They went out to their horses to remove saddle bags and belongings while stable hands waited patiently to one side. Kasey admonished Farran to behave as the hands led the horses back to the stables.
After everyone had settled into rooms, they met in the common room. Adria rubbed her arms to warm them as she stood on the wide stone floor in front of the fireplace. She glanced at Bilbus. "You mentioned hot baths?"
"Yes. There are bath houses with naturally hot water near the stream."
"Where are they?"
Bilbus pointed towards the southwest. "They are by the stream, on the south end of town. If you want to go to them, head down the main road and follow the signs. You don't want to go across the markets and try to follow the stream."
"Why not?"
"There are parts of that end of town that even the honest watchmen will not enter. The really unusual shops are in the warrens."
"You know we can heat water here," Eric suggested.
"No," Adria said sternly "The water always gets cold before I'm done. I want to go to the bath house."
Breanna looked interested. "Yes. Let's go to the bath house!"
Bilbus gazed out the windows on the back of the common room. The marketplace behind the Hoary Man Inn was mostly empty -- a stone-paved field over a hundred paces on a side occupied by a dozen wagons, thirty horses in a temporary corral, and one large tent. Several dozen men worked busily around some wagons that were being ready for travel, securing the tack on the horses and loading bundles onto the wagons. Several armed men waited on horses for the wagons to depart.
"Sturm," Bilbus said. "What do you make of this?"
Sturm walked across the fur carpeting to look at the activity. "I see a heavily escorted group of wagons loading up to depart. From the shape of some of those bundles, I'd guess they're hauling weapons."
"It'd be nice to have some escorts with us when we leave town, in case Stalgraf decides to pay a visit." Turning to the Sun Knight, Bilbus asked, "Weren't you a merchant escort, Sturm?"
"I was. I could ask them if we can ride along with them." The Sun Knight walked towards the back door of the common room.
"I'll go with you," Rishala offered as he trotted after Sturm.
The knight and the story teller walked across the empty marketplace towards the caravan. One of the escorts moved his horse to intercept the two.
"Sirs?" he asked gruffly.
"We're heading south, and we were wondering if we could ride with you for protection," Sturm stated. "Four of us can handle weapons well, the other three will not be a problem. We'll set separate camps."
"I don't think the merchant will be interested. We're heading south about a half day, then cutting across to Twin Saddles."
"Mmmm." Sturm looked at the wagons. "That's a lot of weapons. Is Twin Saddles that big of a town? I'm not familiar with it."
"It's not big, but their lord, Nighvass, wants to make sure everyone in town has a weapon. He's afraid orcs might start bothering his town."
The name was familiar. Sturm glanced at Rishala, who looked pensive, then looked back at the escort. "Lord Nighvass?"
The man nodded. "Lord Anmae Nighvass has been lord of Twin Saddles as long as I can remember."
"How soon are you moving out?"
"I think the merchant wants to be on the road before sunset." He glanced towards the sun, now well into the western sky. "I don't know if we're going to be able to get far before we need to pitch camp."
"Well, quiet journey, swordsman," Sturm offered the traditional greeting of merchant escorts in the Kelltic lands.
"And to you," the escort replied.
The two men quickly returned to the inn. The common room was empty, save for the innkeeper standing politely by the service counter.
Sturm asked tersely, "Where are our companions?"
"Sir Knight, the ladies were most insistent on warm baths, and they refused my offer to bring a tub down to the stones of the fireplace to keep it warm. The ladies and the men have left for the bath house, by only a minute."
Sturm strode to the front entrance of the inn, swung the door open and looked down the wide Via to the south. He jogged out the door and down the street as Rishala briskly followed him.
A hundred fifty paces down the road, Eric, Kasey, and Bilbus walked quickly, trying to keep pace with the two women ahead of them. Eric glanced around at the shops, inns, and gambling halls lining the road.
"Bilbus," the Azirian began pensively, "are these Departure Bonds really that necessary? How could one overspend in a city like this?"
Bilbus pointed towards a gambling hall across the road. "Have you noticed how many gambling halls there are?"
"Yes. I was curious how many of them a town this size could need."
"During the summer months, those halls are crowded with visitors trying to strike it rich."
Eric looked puzzled. "But most of them will not win. Do they realize that the odds are against getting rich?"
Bilbus sighed and looked skyward. Some clouds were creeping over the western peaks of the valley. "Eric, not every person is as rich as you. The lure of winning enough coin to purchase a noble title is strong in most of the middle and lower classes. It doesn't matter that most of them will go home poorer than they arrived. Some of them -- very few, actually -- will go home richer. And some of them do not pay attention to how much they spend, especially after the fifth or sixth drink. The Departure Bonds allow some of those people to leave, provided they can settle their debts satisfactorily."
Bilbus stopped when he heard the noises of someone approaching at a run from behind him. He glanced cautiously over his shoulder to see Sturm at a dead run. Rishala walked quickly towards them as well, but he was farther behind. Bilbus stopped to wait for the Sun Knight.
Sturm stopped in front of the mountebank, stooped over, hands on knees. He growled under his breath about the altitude and a need to start training harder, then straightened. Eric and Kasey had stopped as well, but Kasey kept a worried eye on the two women, neither of whom had stopped.
"Lord Nighvass," Sturm started, then paused to gasp again.
"Huh?" Bilbus said.
"The caravan is an arms shipment to a Lord Anmae Nighvass," Sturm said once he had gained his composure. "The name is familiar, but we can't place it."
Eric pulled his journal out of the large pouch in which he carried it. He thumbed through several pages until he found the passage he wanted.
"This may be it. The paper Kasey found in Franz Stalgraf's hidden sorcery room. 'Anmanivas has the glory'." He read the rest of the passage aloud:
"Lord Dragon reigns
Instrument of power entrapped
Answerer now silent
Anmanivas has the glory"
Bilbus regarded his friend. "Isn't 'Answerer' the sword you dreamed about?"
Eric nodded. "Perhaps this Lord Anmae Nighvass is the same being? It is too much of a coincidence, I think." He paused, looking at Sturm. "Weapons caravan?" Sturm nodded. "I don't know if I want that many weapons getting delivered to him. He may be supplying the orcs."
Bilbus wondered aloud, "Could Franz Stalgraf be with them?"
Eric paused contemplatively. "It may be. When is this caravan leaving?"
Rishala caught up with the party. Sturm looked at Rishala, then answered, "They are getting ready to leave now."
Eric looked over his shoulder at Breanna and Adria. "Adria! Bree! Wait a moment, please."
Breanna's pace faltered for a moment, but Adria raised her hand in a dismissive gesture. Her fingers were partially curled. Bilbus saw the gesture and snickered to himself.
Eric glanced at the thief. "What is so funny?"
Bilbus straightened his face until he looked serious. "The Lady Adria has made a suggestion of what you should do with yourself. It is not a suggestion that I will repeat in polite company." His efforts to be serious failed, and he laughed again.
Kasey worried aloud, "Should I follow the women to keep them safe?"
Bilbus chuckled to himself. "No, go follow the caravan. We will keep an eye on the women when they get to the bath house."
Eric sighed. "We do not want the caravan to know they are being watched. No offense, Kasey, but you have all the subtlety of my father's spiced beef stew." He looked earnestly at Kasey. "Will you please escort the women, and protect my beloved betrothed. We will watch the caravan."
Bilbus grumbled to himself, "Do you know how long I've been wanting to get those two into the bath house?"
"Okay!" Kasey replied cheerfully to Eric. He jogged after the women, who had reached a sign pointing to the right with the words "Bath House" painted on it in large letters.
At the end of the road was a large white, square building with columns in a Hellenic style. Several other buildings were nearby, but the colonnaded building was alone at the end of the road. The stream beyond the building steamed, casting a foggy haze that obscured the far side of the flowing water.
Adria and Breanna led Kasey into the large bath house. Inside the front entrance was a small room with two curtained doorways exiting on the far side. A sign between the two passages indicated in several languages that women should go through the right door, and men through the left. An attendant stood in the entrance. He bowed slightly to the three as they entered from the chilly exterior.
"Lord, Ladies, welcome to the Arabel Cinlu Baths." He looked at Kasey. "We request but a copper coin for each visitor."
Kasey nodded and produced three copper coins from his coin pouch. He looked at the two doorways. "Do these go to the same rooms?"
"Men and women have separate changing rooms, but there is but one room beyond."
Kasey's forehead furrowed as he thought about the answer. Finally, he said simply, "Okay." To the ladies, he added, "I'll see you in the baths."
Breanna looked worriedly at Kasey. "What do you mean?"
Adria grabbed the older noblewoman and dragged her towards the women's changing room.
Kasey stepped through the other curtained doorway. The room beyond had a faded sea-green paint on its walls and floor. The paint was old, and had started to peel in a few places. Lockers of various size and shape filled the walls, and more stood freely in aisles. A lone city watchman, wearing maille armor and a helm, walked along the aisles. His face, visible through the open visor of the helm, glistened with sweat in the warm, moist air that flowed in through a curtained doorway opposite the entrance. Kasey noted that the man did not have a green silk ribbon on his sword.
A second man, dressed in a white shirt and trousers, stood by the other doorway. He had a stack of towels next to him.
Kasey chose one of the tallest lockers and opened it. He removed the bandolier belt holding Caladbolg and placed the ancient greatsword in the locker. Several minutes later, he had finished undressing from the layers of traveling furs, leather armor, and small clothes. He approached the attendant, who offered Kasey a towel. Kasey wrapped the towel about his waist and stepped through the curtain.
The bath house proper had a thin veil of fog throughout it. It did not completely obscure Kasey's view, but it did make the far wall indistinct. That far wall was nearly fifty paces away, and the room was about sixty paces wide. A third of the room, the section farthest from the entrance, was a single large pool. Between the pool and the entrance, the room was divided by walk ways into numerous recessed stone tubs, some large enough for a couple of people, others large enough for a dozen. About two dozen people were in the bath house. Most of them had congregated in the various tubs, and half a dozen swam in the pool. Four people -- two men, two women -- carried serving trays as they walked along the pathways. The servers wore only loin cloths; no one else in the house wore anything.
"Oh, it's like the Javik bath houses," Kasey said to himself. "Just bigger." He removed the towel and flung it over a shoulder. An embarrassed shriek to his right drew Kasey's attention.
Adria and Breanna were in one of the medium-sized tubs. Adria was sitting in the pool, just her shoulders, neck, and head above water. Breanna had sunk into the pool until the water was lapping at her chin, her face beet red as she stared at the ceiling.
Kasey crossed the damp stone floor until he stood at the edge of the tub. "Hi! Mind if I join you?"
Adria looked at him. "There's plenty of room."
Kasey set his towel on the edge of the tub and climbed in, sitting opposite the two women on the submerged stone bench that lined the edge of the tub. The Church Knight sighed contentedly as he felt muscles relax. "This is great! I haven't been in a bath house since I lived with the Javik. I didn't know there were any down here."
Adria had sunk into the water a little farther so her head could rest against the edge of the pool. Breanna had tilted her head forward to look at Kasey, but the water still covered everything but her head. "But, there are men in here! And... and no one is wearing anything! The towel wasn't even big enough to wrap around me!" Her voice trailed off.
"Of course not," Kasey said. "It's just to dry yourself off when you're done? Why would you wear a towel in a bath?"
"There are men in here!"
"Well, we like to take baths, too," Kasey said, still not understanding Breanna's worry.
"But it's not proper! Look, men and women -- strangers -- walking around undressed!"
Kasey pointed to one of the serving women. "Not everyone is undressed."
Breanna glanced at the woman, her blush deepening. "But she doesn't even have a shirt! She is wearing a loin cloth that barely covers her..."
"It is awfully warm in here," Kasey said calmly. "But at least you can tell who the wait staff are."
Breanna sighed, a sharp, exasperated exhalation, and tried to relax. The flush on her face started to recede after a few minutes.
The rest of the party reached the market square behind the Hoary Man Inn. Bilbus had mumbled throughout the entire walk back to the square, too quietly to be understood. When he saw the caravan ahead of him, he stopped.
"I've been planning this since last year. Get those two in the bath houses... Do you know what we're missing right now?"
Sturm growled under his breath, "Yes."
Bilbus looked at the caravan. The horses had been unhitched from the wagons, and one team was being led away. "Sturm, didn't you say the caravan was leaving?"
"They were."
Bilbus grumbled again as Rishala approached the caravan. One of the guards -- the one who had stopped Sturm and Rishala earlier -- once again moved his horse to block the approach.
"Greetings again," Rishala said cheerfully. "Are ye not leaving this night?"
"The caravan master decided he wanted to spend a night in a warm bed, and they don't get this warm in Twin Saddles." The man winked at Rishala. "He did not spend all of his coin on weapons, but he was afraid Lord Nighvass would question him returning with so much coin."
"Ah. Beds usually are warmer when there's more than one person in them..." The escort nodded, smiling. "Where is he staying?"
"One of the green lantern inns over there," the rider jerked his head towards the warrens opposite the market square.
"I see. Have a good evening, and a good journey to..." he paused to remember the town name. "Twin Saddles?"
The escort nodded and reined his horse about to ride back to the wagons. Rishala walked back to his friends and relayed what he had been told.
Bilbus looked at Sturm, who nodded. The two turned and started to race one another back towards the bath houses. Eric shook his head disapprovingly and followed them at a walk. Rishala watched them leave, then went to the inn.
When Eric reached the changing room of the bath house, Sturm and Bilbus were nowhere to be found. The Azirian undressed, leaving his clothes in one of the lockers, then took a towel from the attendant by the curtained exit. He neatly folded the towel into a thin roll, slung it on one shoulder, and walked through the curtain. After a quick glance around at the spacious interior of the baths, Eric spotted his friends in one of the tubs to his right. He walked towards them.
Breanna noticed him, her eyes sweeping once down his body before her face flushed red once more and she tried to sink under the water. Eric climbed into the water next to her and used the towel as a neck rest.
"Eric!" Breanna said in a loud whisper.
"What?" Eric replied.
"We can't sit this close!"
"Why not?"
"Well..." She looked around at the rest of her companions. "We're not married!"
"Bree, we share a room at the inn. I don't understand..."
"You're not wearing any clothes. Neither am I!"
"We're in a bath house, Bree," Eric said gently.
"But..." Breanna slapped the surface of the water with her hands, splashing water on her friends. Bilbus immediately shoved his hands towards her, pushing a wave of water over the red-haired woman as he grinned a mischievous smile.
As Breanna made ready to thrash back at the mountebank, a woman's voice over her shoulder asked, "Drinks for milords and miladies?"
Breanna half-turned in the water and looked up to see one of the half-nude serving women. Stammering, Breanna managed, "Dwarven wine?"
The woman nodded as Breanna sank once more into the bath water. She glanced across the pool at the men.
"Scowling Knight Red," Bilbus said.
Sturm then followed with "Scowling Knight Port."
"I'll see if we have any, milord," the serving woman said.
"A chilled beer," Kasey said.
When the serving woman looked questioningly at Adria, Adria made a dismissive wave. Eric likewise passed on a drink.
After some direction from the innkeeper, Rishala had visited a caravanserai that had maps of the region. The Caledonian had readily found Twin Saddles, a village that was well off the Via between Arabel Cinlu and points south. A road, probably little more than a wagon trail, led from the Via to the village. Satisfied that he knew enough to find the road on his own, Rishala returned to the inn.
"Milord found the maps he needed?" the innkeeper asked.
"Aye, and everything I needed but one thing. I want a good meal, decent beer, and good service."
"My own restaurant is every bit as good as any other in town, and my service is better, good sir."
"Well enough," Rishala said. He walked through the doorway from the common room to the restaurant.
The restaurant was not well lit, but it had a very comfortable air to it. There were a dozen tables, most of them along the edges of the room. No one was in the restaurant.
The innkeeper had followed Rishala into the restaurant. "Follow me, milord," he said as he crossed the room.
The innkeeper led Rishala to a small round table in a recess in the wall. The table had two chairs, and a candle burned on a stand in the center of the table. The innkeeper pulled one chair out and held it for Rishala. After Rishala was seated, the innkeeper left the restaurant through a different door. The sounds of a kitchen drifted out of that room -- voices and the banging of pots and pans.
After a few moments, a woman came through the door. She was attractive, with a fine green woolen dress. Her pale brown hair lay loose over her shoulders, which were bare. Rishala was sure she had some coloring on her lips, for they were too red to be natural. The bodice of her dress was too small, giving her distracting curves and bulges just below her neck.
"My name is Fianna. What may I get for milord?" she asked as she curtsied deeply.
"Bring me beef stew. And a good, dark beer."
"Milord would like a Caledonian stout?"
"Aye, if ye have it."
"Of course," she said as she smiled prettily at him. She disappeared back into the kitchen for a minute before returning with a large pewter mug filled with a dark brew.
Rishala sipped appreciatively at it as she waited at the table expectantly. "A good beer. Thank you."
She curtsied again and returned to the kitchen.
Some number of minutes later, other people had taken seats in the restaurant. Rishala watched a different serving woman stop at those tables and take orders. Fianna returned with a large bowl of stew and set it in front of the Caledonian story teller. She waited for him to taste it.
It was a good stew, Rishala decided. It had some of the spices found in coastal Eiresudian meals, enough so to make it distinct from Kingdom stews. "Good stew, lass," Rishala said. She remained standing at the table. "Do ye need to take orders from the other tables?"
"I don't have any other tables," she said. She winked at Rishala when he glanced up at her.
"Aye, then. Perhaps you should get something to drink and take a seat."
Fianna disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, then returned with a bottle of wine and a pair of crystal goblets. She poured herself a generous serving of the pale red wine, then looked questioningly at Rishala. He looked at the label on the bottle, and quietly sighed relief that it was not one of Sturm's bitter concoctions. He nodded, and Fianna filled the other goblet.
"Lass, I dinna expect you to have just me to serve for the meal."
"Oh, I don't have to serve you just for the meal," she said, smiling suggestively.
"Is that so? No wonder this town has such a reputation for service."
A thought crossed Rishala's mind as he kept eating the stew. He kept from laughing as he glanced up at the woman. "Do you have a friend, perhaps, who could visit us later?"
"There is an extra charge, milord," she answered.
"Aye, but that's all right."
The party had spent half an hour in the baths. Breanna had quickly consumed the dwarven wine, and she was very clearly drunk. When the party was ready to leave, Adria had to help the other woman to her feet, and Breanna had leaned against the younger woman to stay upright.
The men waited in the entrance of the bath houses for nearly ten minutes before Adria escorted the tipsy Breanna out of the women's changing room. Breanna's clothes were disheveled and uneven, and her bodice was not laced. The lacing for the bodice had been wrapped around Breanna's midsection twice and tied in an intricate knot.
Bilbus chuckled. "I thought you knew how to lace bodices, Adria."
Adria shot a brief scowl at Bilbus. "Someone decided it would be fun to unlace her bodice entirely... She was not much help."
The party managed to get Breanna back to the inn and into her room. Eric remained with her to help her get into the bed, while Adria returned to the room she and Bilbus shared. The other three went downstairs to the restaurant for a meal.
Kasey spotted Rishala in a reclusive table in the restaurant. A voluptuous woman was sitting with the Caledonian, sharing a bottle of wine with him. Kasey approached the table, grinning as he did.
"Hi, Rishala! What are you doing?"
Rishala glanced at the woman, then looked at Kasey. "I'm enjoying a quiet meal."
"Do you want to join us?" Kasey asked as he pointed back towards his comrades, who had discreetly chosen a table on the far side of the room.
"No, Kasey, that's alright. I am going to retire to my room pretty soon."
The woman giggled quietly and sipped from her crystalline goblet.
"Oh," Kasey said, not hiding the disappointment. "Okay, then." He turned and joined his other friends at their table.
As Kasey, Bilbus, and Sturm started on the large meal Kasey ordered, Rishala left the dining room. The woman at his table removed the plates and glasses, then left as well.
Breanna was feeling better. She had dressed herself a while ago, and she had gone down the hall to Adria's room. Breanna was still confused about the bath house, and the difference in attitudes between her and the rest of the party worried her. She was sure Bilbus had been laughing at her after she had reacted to the serving woman, and now she was confused by her own discomfort. She had seen other women's chests -- the scar on Adria's from the nearly fatal injury Adria's father had dealt was nicely healing. But that's different! Adria was a patient, and her injury needed immediate tending. If I would have taken the time to be proper, she may have died.
Adria had been patient with Breanna, but she had been no help. Still confused, Breanna decided to return to her own room to wait for Eric. Eric always had good insight.
The door to their room was unlocked, but Breanna did not remember if she had even locked the door in the first place. She opened the door and looked with dismay at the pile of dresses on the floor. Did I make that much of a mess? she wondered just before she realized there were two women in the bed, covered with only the bedcovers to their bare shoulders. They looked like they were waiting expectantly for someone.
"I'm so sorry!" Breanna said, blushing, as she started to leave the room. She then realized that her own travel packs, as well as Eric's, were in the room as well. "This is not your room. What's going on here?"
One of the women replied, "We are room service." She looked at the other woman in the bed. "I thought you said it was a Caledonian man?"
Breanna stepped back into the hallway. Her head was spinning -- either from the dwarven wine or exhaustion or both. Someone was approaching down the hallway. She looked up hopefully for Eric, but managed to hide her disappointment that it was only Bilbus.
"Feeling better?" the mountebank asked, his lips half-curled into a smirk. "Although you were feeling pretty good when we left the baths."
Breanna leaned close to Bilbus and whispered, "There are two naked women in my bed."
Breanna was not sure how to read the expression on his face. At first he looked like he did not believe her, then seemed genuinely curious. He gently pushed Breanna away from the doorway and stepped in, peering past the door.
Bilbus looked at the two women. The one with darker hair looked familiar. He glanced at the pile of clothing on the near side of the bed and recognized the too-small bodice. She was the woman at Rishala's table in the restaurant earlier in the evening. She smiled and waved at Bilbus just before the mountebank stepped back into the hallway.
"Rishala..." he said, chuckling to himself. He turned back to Breanna, who was rubbing her temples. "Why don't you go to my room. I'll take care of these two."
Bilbus watched the confused woman walk away. He glanced down the hallway towards the stairs and saw Sturm approaching. The Sun Knight was scowling to himself, lost in thought. Bilbus pulled the door closed and waited for the knight to get closer.
Bilbus stepped in front of Sturm to block his passage. The Sun Knight nearly failed to notice the mountebank. He stopped a half-pace in front of Bilbus, still scowling.
"Hey, Sturm," Bilbus greeted the warrior. "Eric has something for you in his room." He struggled to keep his expression neutral.
Sturm looked suspiciously at Bilbus, then noticed Breanna at the end of the hallway, entering Adria's room. He turned to Breanna's door and opened it carefully. After regarding the pair of women in the room, he turned back to Bilbus. "Shouldn't they be in Rishala's room?"
"Maybe it was a mix-up," Bilbus replied nonchalantly. "Go ahead. There's enough for Rishala, too."
Sturm took a step into the room. Bilbus grabbed his arm. "Bree and Eric are going to need a room. Give me your key."
Sturm handed it to the mountebank, then stepped into the room and locked the door.
Bilbus started to head back to his room when he heard Eric call out behind him.
"What are you doing?" the Azirian asked quietly.
Bilbus turned about to face the explorer. Eric looked puzzled as he approached.
"Sturm wanted to switch rooms with you," Bilbus said as he offered Sturm's key to Eric.
"Where's Bree?" Eric asked as he took the key.
"She's talking to Adria," Bilbus answered. "I'll go tell her you're back."
Eric tilted his head as he heard noises from his former room. Shrugging, he walked down to Sturm's room and went in. Bilbus followed him down the hallway, then continued past Sturm's room and Rishala's room to his own. He heard laughter as he passed the Caledonian's door.
As Bilbus reached his own open door, he heard Breanna trying to explain to Adria that two strange women were in her bed. Breanna stopped abruptly when Bilbus stepped in.
"There was a room mix-up," Bilbus said. "They were supposed to be in someone else's room. Sturm is taking care of it, and he said you and Eric should just take his room tonight."
"Oh," Breanna said. "I guess I'll see if Eric's there."
"He is," Bilbus offered.
As soon as Breanna had shut the door behind her, Bilbus burst into a quiet laughter.
"What is going on?" Adria asked.
"Rishala is a genius," Bilbus said. "This is something I should have come up with. He sent a couple of prostitutes to Eric and Bree's room."
"Oh?" Adria said archly.
"Well, you and I thought maybe some diagrams would help those two figure out what to do with one another... I guess Rishala decided to try some live demonstrations."
"But Sturm is taking care of it?"
Bilbus laughed again. "I sent him in there, and told him it was from Eric. I will have to congratulate Rishala tomorrow."
Adria sighed to herself, but was unable to keep from laughing as well.
Sturm walked along the rows of trellises. It was a pleasant summer afternoon, and the calls of birds in the nearby forest made for a calming sensation. The Sun Knight stopped next to one of the numerous vines that wound its way up the wooden supports. Deep red grapes, bulging in their ripeness, were everywhere on the bright green vines.
Sturm plucked one of the grapes and popped it into his mouth. He chewed slowly on the grape, enjoying its tartness. This crop may be better than last year's.
The Sun Knight kept strolling down the aisle between the vines, until he reached the edge of the Scowling Knight Vineyards. He turned to look at the modest vineyard that he had built himself, a handful of acres of vines carved from the willow forest that had taken root in the Chuthaim Valley.
Sturm bristled when he realized that the birds had become quiet. He looked around the grounds, wondering idly why his groundskeepers had not started gathering the ripe grapes. He then turned south, towards the distant Middle Ranges.
Hordes of orcs charged across the green fields, from the river on one side to the gentle slopes of the valley on the other. The howl of the hordes was just reaching an audible level.
Sturm drew his hand-and-a-half sword, swinging it to the ready, the tip of its blade pointed slightly rearward to one side of his head. He found his shield already in hand, but he could not remember carrying it with him as he walked the grounds. He brought his shield forward, pushing it a little farther away from his body in preparation for it receiving blows from the orcs. A quick glance around confirmed again that the Sun Knight stood alone.
The increasing roar of hundreds of orcs screaming incoherent battle cries drew Sturm's attention back to the approaching mass to his south.
The fastest orcs quickly reached the Sun Knight, slamming into him as if he were little more than a shrub in their way. One of them fell to a savage cut from Sturm's sword, but the rest ignored him. He found himself lying on the ground as orcs streamed past him for the vineyards.
Eternal seconds passed before Sturm was able to catch his breath and regain his feet. He surveyed the vineyard. The vines were ruined, now little more than shredded foliage. Trellises had splintered like toothpicks, and Sturm's house and his warehouse had collapsed into smoldering heaps.
As Sturm surveyed his destroyed lands, a black rip appeared in front of him, as if the very fabric of reality were being torn open. The rip spread quickly, encircling the Sun Knight until he was standing alone in blackness. He glanced down and found he was still able to see his himself, as if an unseen light still shone upon him.
"We meet at last," a disembodied voice said from nowhere, or from everywhere.
Sturm turned about, his sword instinctively held at ready.
After completing a turn -- or what he thought was a turn -- Sturm found himself facing a man with browned skin, similar to the complexion of people from al-Rhayidh. The man wore exotic robes detailed with thread-of-gold and jewels, and the dark hair of his beard contrasted with the vibrant hues of his clothing.
Sturm faced the man, keeping his sword between himself and the unarmed man. "You are?" Sturm growled in question.
"Someone you faced long ago." When Sturm did not react, the man smiled slightly. "You don't remember, do you? The blood has thinned to the point that your memories are lost." The smile turned to a smirk.
The man started to walk on the blackness, circling around Sturm as if he were inspecting livestock.
Sturm kept turning to face the man, still ready for an attack.
"Still untrusting?" the man asked, still smirking in bemusement. "You never understood. You were so mad with your power and responsibilities that you never could see the greater truths."
"What are you talking about?" Sturm growled.
"You were always so prone to fret about the 'good of the people'. There are greater things than lowly peasants. I simply wanted you to step aside and let me finish my work. You could have shared the glory with me -- and the power, but you didn't want the people" -- he said the word sarcastically -- "to be hurt."
"You are mad," Sturm snarled dismissively. Still, the Sun Knight paused as he felt a memory nagging at him.
The man laughed mirthlessly. "None of this jars your memory? Perhaps Uther's blood is gone at last. It has been a long wait, but the stars will once again be right. At last the circle of time will end as it should. I will be free to call the Great One from his death slumber. He will revel on the lands, and I will be blessed with powers beyond your small mind's comprehension."
The man looked at Sturm once more, dispassionately. "So, Blood of Uther. You are all that stands between me and the world. Will you really fall on the spear when the time comes?" He laughed once more, a cruel, short bark. "No, of course not. You don't have the honor and nobility to do it. Your blood is far too thinned. You will squirm and cower like the other peasants."
The man disappeared abruptly, but an echoing laugh continued in the darkness for some time before Sturm awoke in the inn's room, with a woman on each side of him.
Back to the previous chapter: Uprisings
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Original Draft 28 February 2002
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