 |
  |
 |
|
|
|
Back to the previous chapter: Escorts
First Draft
Bilbus walked stiffly, grumbling about the pain he felt but refusing offers to let him ride in the cart.
"First time I don't have any armor on, and what happens?" he asked no one.
He and his friends had spent several minutes looking at the cavern into which they had entered. The cavern was truly enormous. Glowing points of strange colors above gave the illusion of improbable stars, providing enough light to give the cavern the light of a waning moon. That moonlight showed a cave easily six miles across, and perhaps four wide. A veritable forest of mushrooms, most taller than a man, grew to the left of the road. A smaller patch of mushroom-trees grew to the right, but there were open fields farther in the distance. The road itself led into the darkness, surrounded on both sides by a carpet of lichens and moss that glowed subtly. On the far side of the cavern, readily visible, was the bright glow of a city, a yellowish haze coming from another large cavern that touched this one. A crenellated wall cut sharply across the bottom of the glowing city-cave opening.
Nearby, to the left of the road, was a region where there was little moss or lichen on the floor of the cave. The area had a thin layer of dirt, and wagon tracks and footprints covered the area.
"It looks like a waiting area, or a staging area for convoys," Eric observed. "Do you think it's for outbound wagons?"
"Aye," Rishala said. "I don't think it makes much sense to stop here on the way in."
After several minutes of walking, Bilbus pointed at one of the stars overhead. "Hey, Rishala. See that yellow star? The one that's pulsing?"
Rishala looked up. The yellow star was too big to be a star. It would have looked more like a wanderer, had the party not had a stone ceiling above. "Aye. So?"
"Look over there." Bilbus pointed at a location near the pulsing yellow light. A mauve star was heading towards the yellow one. "That purple bug is going to attack the yellow one. A copper says the yellow bug wins."
Rishala snorted. "If ye think I'll bet on which bug will win the fight, you're crazy."
"They're big bugs," Bilbus protested.
Breanna "ooohed" excitedly as the party approached a patch of smaller mushrooms that grew to one side of the road. She stopped her horse and quickly found a travel journal. From horseback, she started sketching one of the mushrooms.
Bilbus moaned to himself. If Breanna stopped to sketch every one of the mushrooms in the cavern, the Dark One would have ample time to destroy the world before the party even reached the city gates of Erelhei Cinlu, just six miles away.
Breanna hopped down from her horse and kneeled next to the mushrooms. "Look at this, Adria," she burbled. "I've never seen a mushroom like this. It looks like the cap has glowing stripes on it!"
"We could leave her behind," Rishala suggested. Instead, he stopped the wagon.
The party waited several minutes for Breanna to finish sketching the first mushroom, and then a second one. Before she started on a third, she realized her companions were still on horseback, waiting impatiently.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly as she returned to her horse.
The party continued into the cave. After forty-some minutes of riding, they spotted people approaching on foot from ahead on the road.
"They may be drow. We should get off of the road, just to be safe," Bilbus warned.
A patrol of five drow approached. They wore the black, adamantine breastplates and the leather pants that the gatehouse guards wore. This patrol also had a blood-red sash worn over one shoulder. Each carried a drow longbow, with its strange purple wood, and an adamantine rapier. One of the patrol scowled at the humans on their horses, but none stopped or said anything.
Once the patrol had passed the party, Kasey leaned close to Bilbus. "We should take them out. There's only five of them."
Bilbus nodded. "We can hit them fast, before they have a chance to react. And we would have several of the drow long bows."
Adria glanced over her shoulder from the wagon bench. "No."
"Adria's right," Eric agreed. "It would be bad for us when the gatehouse guards start looking for the missing drow, and they only see us out here."
Adria scanned around the cavern. With her keen low-light vision, she could see better in this cave than her friends. "There are orcs over there." She pointed ahead and to the right. "It looks like they are guarding some farmers. I can see people stooped over picking something out of the ground."
"How close are they?" Bilbus asked, hiding his exasperation.
"Half a mile."
"Well out of bow range."
"Forget it, Bilbus." Adria said flatly. "It is not worth the risk."
"Fine," Bilbus said. He started walking towards town once again. The rest of the party followed.
The party had traveled for over half an hour, passing along the edge of a forest of giant mushrooms.
Adria looked at her fingers, her nose scrunched in disgust. "I never have time for a manicure. I really could use one."
Walking next to the wagon, Kasey glanced at her hands. Before commenting, he noticed a light pulse among the mushrooms stalks on the far side of the wagon.
"Did you see that?" Breanna asked in hushed alarm.
"Yes," Eric replied.
"So did I," Kasey added. "It looked like a green glow."
The sickly green light flared brighter again.
"I'd better see what it is," Kasey said. He stopped walking for a moment to let the wagon pass, then crossed the road and went towards the pale green glow.
"I don't think that is a good idea," Eric warned as he followed the knight.
Breanna stayed farther behind, stopping to look at smaller mushrooms every couple of paces. She finally stopped under the cap of a taller mushroom, looking in wonder at the bottom of the broad top.
Kasey and Eric found the source of the light. A huge beetle with a sharply domed back was among the mushrooms, fifty paces from the road. Its four-foot tall back pulsed slowly, emitting the green glow that Kasey and Eric had spotted. The beetle chewed on a smaller giant mushroom -- one whose cap was only two feet from the floor of the cavern.
"Okay, Kasey. Come on. Let's go." Eric turned to walk away.
Kasey got closer to the giant bug, looking at the glowing beetle. After another moment of inspection, the tall knight was satisfied. He and Eric walked back towards the road, stopping to collect Breanna, who had resumed sketching in her journal once more.
Once those three were back on the road, the party continued towards Erelhei Cinlu. The cave-city's lights were already starting to brighten the ground around the party, even though the city wall was still over two miles away.
After another mile of riding, the party could see buildings outside the city wall. The buildings were spread around the wall haphazardly, from one side of the cave opening that separated the City Cave from the Wilds to the other, and out up to a half mile from the gatehouse. The road the party followed went straight through the village to the gatehouse itself.
When the party was closer to the village outside the gates, they could see the buildings much more clearly. All of them were small, no more than two rooms. Those closest to the road were in poor condition, made of scraps of building material with canvas or cloth covers to give some semblance of privacy. Several of the shabby buildings were little more than dried mushroom-tree stalks and caps cobbled together to form haphazard walls and supports.
All throughout the shanty town were people -- mostly human, with a fair number of orcs and very few drow. Most of them were dressed in rags, and all of them were scrawny and sickly.
The party rode on towards the city gate. Coming out of the gate was a pair of large wagons, each pulled by a lizard similar to the one that pulled the merchant wagon at the Outer Gate. Once more, the party got to the side of the road to let the drow merchants pass.
After the two wagons were beyond the party, Bilbus looked at the gatehouse, just seventy paces away. "You know, the more layers we go through, the harder it is to get out."
Breanna looked at him. "Are you keeping track of how to get out?"
Bilbus shrugged. "Sure. We get through the gate on the other side of this cavern, past the giant, evil statue, and into a castle controlled by the bad guys. Easy."
The party approached the city gate. One of the several drow guarding the gatehouse approached the wagon.
"What do you want?" the drow asked levelly. His purple eyes glowed in the shadows that the gatehouse cast.
"We want through," Bilbus said.
"Why?"
Bilbus raised his black medallion. The drow ignored it.
Bilbus jerked a thumb towards Sturm. "He's invited to a party at the House Eilservs."
The drow walked towards Sturm. He inspected the disguised Sun Knight, then his eyes fixed on the copper pin that Sturm had affixed to his shirt. The drow stood to one side and waved the party through.
Once the party passed through the gatehouse and entered the city of Erelhei Cinlu proper, Bilbus immediately pointed towards some buildings. "The drow buildings have green lanterns. The human buildings have red lanterns. Yellow is for orc, or maybe drow who want to mingle with lessers. No lantern means it caters to everyone's tastes."
The party surveyed the city. The wide avenue upon which the party stood was crowded with hundreds of humans, orcs, drow, and a handful of other beings. The avenue curved gently to the left, until it reached another gatehouse just over a mile away. The gatehouse was at the bottom of a large circle of darkness that showed where another large cavern connected to the city cave.
Bilbus pointed towards the dark opening. "That's where the nobles live. And where the Portal is."
From the wide avenue were numerous smaller roads, none of which seemed to go in a straight line.
Buildings crowded the sides of the streets. Every one of them was stone, some painted, others not. Most of the buildings were two or three stories in height, but a few were four to five. Many of the taller buildings looked like the upper floors were afterthoughts -- the architectural styling was markedly different, the color and cut of the stone did not match the lower floors, and, in many cases, the upper floors hung over the road to some extent.
Bilbus warned, "It is easy to get lost in town. I stayed on this main road last time I was here."
"You know where we're going, right?" Breanna asked apprehensively as she looked at the press of people.
"Yeah." Bilbus pointed off to the right, into the bowels of Erelhei Cinlu. "That way."
"What a wasteful way of moving water," Kasey observed. He was looking back towards the gatehouse.
Bilbus turned. There was an open-walled tower next to the gatehouse, about seven paces tall. A large tank on the top of the tower dumped water past a wheel, turning the wheel. The water fell into a reservoir in the ground, where buckets on a conveyor belt lifted the water back into the water tank. The conveyor was driven by two humans lashed to a large turnstile. On the face of the tower, near the water wheel, was a large white disk in front of a series of gears. The white disk had a wedge of red on it, and a metal arm in front of the disk that pointed down and to the right.
Bilbus chuckled. "What? Are they marking time until the Great Lord returns?"
Adria nudged him and pointed towards a plaque near the bottom of the tower. The plaque had drow engravings on it, with Cinlu-Kelltic underneath that read "Time until Outer Gate opens".
"Well, let's find the house," Bilbus said as he led his friends into the city.
At the corner of one of the intersections was a push-wagon. The wagon had crudely drawn letters on the side that read "dwarf jerky". A single orc stood behind the wagon.
"I haven't had dwarf jerky in a long time," Bilbus said absently. "I've been out since last month."
"Bilbus!" Adria said in alarm. "It's not right to eat a sentient being!"
Bilbus snorted derisively. "Dwarves aren't sentient. Look at how quickly their mountain castle fell."
"It's not up to you to judge who is sentient," Adria chastised.
Bilbus led the party down one of the wider side streets, into the city. The crowding was incredible, with people scarcely making room for the horses and wagon. The smells were overpowering -- the stink of unwashed people, the stench of waste that filled small gulleys on the side of the road, the sooty smell of the perpetual haze overhead. The noise of the crowd nearly rivaled the smell. The conversations of passersby competed with the shouts of hawkers in front of shops. Distant screams occasionally punctuated the noise.
Lights were everywhere. Colored lanterns hung in front of some of the shops. Others had plain lanterns, while many had brilliantly burning torches. Many of the buildings had glowing balls of light, colored or white, that floated next to the walls or danced around.
"Magickal lights..." Breanna murmured in wonder.
"Not every society hates Heka use," Bilbus reminded her.
The road was narrow and twisted, challenging Rishala as he navigated the wagon behind Bilbus. As the party rounded another of the endless turns, they spotted a patrol of drow ahead of them, approaching. There were four drow, all in the black adamantine breastplate and black leather pants that were common to drow troops. A blood red sash wrapped around each of the four soldiers. One drow carried a bow in hand and a rapier on the hip; the other three each carried only the rapier.
Kasey tsked. "Look at that. Black on black on black, with silver hair and a red sash. You would think they could use some creativity on the colors. Maybe something that could highlight the purple in their eyes, and the purple of the bow."
"Kasey!" Breanna whispered sharply. "They may hear you!"
The party moved to one side of the road, mimicking the other non-drow on the road. The drow were passing in front of a bar that had a green lantern hanging by the door. Three humans staggered out of the bar, the first looking over his shoulder and talking to his companions. He never saw the drow patrol until he ran into one of them.
The drow patrol stopped immediately. The drow who was hit grabbed his assailant tightly by the shoulder. The other two men ran away, terror across both of their faces. The drow swore in his native tongue, creating an eerily musical stream of snarling, convoluted words. He drew a dagger, glaring at the pasty human, and sliced it deeply across the man's throat. With a brutal shove, the drow pushed the dying man into an alley. The patrol walked away as the drow sheathed his dagger. The crowd acted as if nothing had happened.
Breanna was already sliding off of her horse and reaching into a saddle bag. Kasey glanced around from Farran's back. He spotted a pair of orcs coming out of a building on the near side of the road, heading towards the alley where the man lay dying. Both orcs were salivating.
Kasey jumped down and ran towards the body, ready to defend it from the two orcs. He kneeled next to it, keeping one eye on the orcs as he did so. Running his hand on the side of the man's throat, ignoring the sticky warmth of the blood, he felt for signs of life. His fingers felt a faint pulse.
"He's alive!" Kasey shouted as he stood, putting a hand on Caladbolg's grip.
Breanna ran over to the alley and kneeled behind Kasey, opening her bag of herbs and poultices. Kasey took a step forward, a wild grin on his face.
The orcs were passing Bilbus and Eric, their pace slowed from uncertainty.
In orc, Bilbus commented to Eric, "I've heard he eats humans. He must be hungry again."
Eric looked at Bilbus, puzzled. Before he said anything, Bilbus winked. Eric nodded and looked at the orcs. They had stopped, looking from Kasey to the wounded man. Kasey had lifted Caladbolg several inches from its hanger, until the bottom of the blade was free. He could bring it to bear in an instant.
The orcs talked quickly to one another, then turned back to their restaurant, disappointed that they would not have a fresh meat entree this day.
Breanna putting a healing poultice against the deep wound, staunching some of the blood flow as she channeled Heka through the herbs of the poultice and into the wound. The edge of the cut mended slightly. Switching to a different tactic, Breanna uttered a silent prayer to Bres for healing. She felt the Heka flow into her, and she directed the energies into the wound. It was still a disfiguring mark, angry red and covered in blood, but it was no longer life-threatening.
"He'll survive," Breanna said quietly.
"We need to move him," Kasey said as he lifted the unconscious man.
The man wore threadbare clothes that may have been fine once upon a time. He had a sword hanging from a belt. The belt was well-worn, but the sword looked new.
Kasey set the man on the back of the wagon.
"We can't take him to the safehouse," Eric said.
Bilbus looked around at the crowd. "Say it a little louder next time, Eric." No one had reacted to the Azirian's comment.
"We can take him back to the tavern he came out of," Kasey said, pointing at the building they were next to.
"It has a green lantern," Eric observed. To Bilbus, he asked, "Didn't you say that that indicated a drow establishment?"
"Maybe I got it backwards," Bilbus said. "Peek inside."
Eric did. There were no drow in the tavern. He relayed that observation to Bilbus.
"That's right. Green is human; red, drow."
The man was waking up, moaning quietly. Kasey lifted him and carried him into the tavern. By the time Kasey set the man down on a chair, he had regained consciousness. His eyes revealed his surprise at still being alive.
"Thank you," he whispered hoarsely.
A servant arrived at the table to take orders.
"Food and beer," Kasey said.
"We don't get much beer around here, surface dweller," the servant said tersely. "We have mushroom ales."
"Okay. I'll try it," Kasey said.
The servant looked at the rest of the party. Only Bilbus ordered: "Scowling Knight Red."
The servant returned with a small platter of meats, a bottle, and a tankard. He set the tankard and platter in front of Kasey, and the bottle in front of Bilbus. Kasey dropped some coins on the table, then sipped the ale. His face twisted in disgust.
"Maybe it's an acquired taste," Bilbus asked, containing his laughter. "Here. Maybe this will help." He dumped some of the Scowling Knight wine into Kasey's tankard.
The Church Knight took a tentative sip of the concoction. "It's an improvement." His face still showed disapproval, and he pushed the mug away.
Kasey took a large bite of the meat on his platter. He turned to the man that he had rescued. "Why did you come here?" the knight asked.
"I was born here," the man replied.
"Why not leave? It seems to be a dangerous city."
"You need a pass to leave the town. I just got a license to escort merchant wagons. I'll get to see the other cities. Maybe I can see Arabel Cinlu someday, too. The surface sounds interesting."
"It might be nice to have a guide," Kasey said to himself. He reached into a pocket and placed some coins on the table. "Consider this a retainer. We may need a guide in a few days."
The man took the coin. "I am Broedrick."
Kasey offered the man a hand. "Kasey."
Kasey glanced towards the door of the tavern. The wagon was no longer visible. Kasey ran to the door and looked out. Someone was driving the wagon away.
"Farran!" Kasey shouted to the kelpie-warhorse.
Farran ran towards Kasey. The Church Knight quickly climbed into the saddle as Farran raced after the wagon. Kasey leaned out to the side to grab the thief, but he slid out of the saddle and into the bed of the wagon. He rolled to his knees and slammed a fist into the base of the man's head. The man fell forward, rolling off of the driver's bench and falling to the ground. The wagon bounced as its wheels ran over the thief. Kasey had the wagons' reins. The wagon stopped.
The party and Broedrick caught up with Kasey.
"We should find you a healer," Kasey told Broedrick. "Can you take us to one?"
Broedrick nodded. Rishala and Adria got back on the wagon with Broedrick, who directed them to one of the many buildings on a side street. Broedrick dismounted the wagon.
"Thank you again, Kasey," Broedrick said. "Where will you meet me?"
"We will meet you at the tavern when we're ready."
"Very well. I will see you later, surface dweller."
Broedrick entered the healer's shop.
Once he was gone, Eric turned to Bilbus. "Lead us to the house."
Bilbus walked in front of the wagon, leading it through the warrens of Erelhei Cinlu. The rest of the party followed the wagon on horseback through the crowds.
Ahead, the road became a tunnel underneath upper stories that completely covered the road. It was poorly lit, and a number of people -- humans or drow -- lurked in the dark corners of the passage. Bilbus walked through the middle of the road, staying wary. None of the lurkers reacted.
Farther down the block was another tunnel. This one was substantially different -- two buildings on opposing sides of the street had large overhangs that very nearly covered. But the overhangs both sagged, so the tops of the buildings were in contact, but the bottom had over a foot of space between the two corners. Bilbus could see cracks in the walls of both overhangs, and it was clear that it would not last for much longer. Bilbus hurried as he passed underneath it, not slowing until he had turned at the next intersection.
The entire block ahead of the party was lit with gaudy colored lights. Buildings were packed tightly along both sides of the street, with glowing Heka lamps and signs everywhere, flashing and changing colors and, in some cases, making noises. Women, and a few men, orc and human, and a couple drow, stood by entrances to most of the buildings in various states of undress; a few were nude. One of them was demonstrating some of her services on a co-worker. Many of the signs were in Cinlu-Kelltic as well as drow. The signs proclaimed the lewd names of the shops, and most had price lists for various sexual services.
Bilbus picked up his pace, wanting to hurry the party past this block. He was sure he did not see mention of a row of brothels in the instructions he had to reach the safehouse. He would have remembered a detail like that. As he rushed along, he glanced to one side at a storefront. In front of the wall, floating in mid air, Bilbus saw a miniature version of himself, undressed, being "serviced" by an employee of that particular brothel. Bilbus glanced at his comrades. Rishala, Eric, and Sturm were all looking at the same sign.
"That's an interesting way to advertise," Bilbus commented.
"Aye. It gets your attention," Rishala agreed.
Bilbus quickly turned down another side street. Twenty paces later, he regretted his turn. Another patrol approached down the road. A lone drow strode arrogantly in the middle of the road, ignoring everyone. A few paces behind him, eleven orcs wearing red sashes followed, spread from one side of the road to the other. All eleven orcs carried heavy siege bows, and all eleven were intentionally using as much space as possible, forcing the human and orc civilians to hurry to the side of the road to avoid being knocked down. Drow were accorded some courtesy -- the orcs carefully avoided touching them.
Bilbus quickly got to the side of the road. Rishala was hurriedly getting the wagon as far out of the way as possible. The party members on horseback sidestepped their horses against the buildings. Kasey was laying flat against Farran's neck, his back pressed against the overhang of a building.
The drow passed the party, ignoring them just as he ignored everyone else. The orcs sneered at the humans on horseback, and one of them made gestures like he was going to eat the horses. One of the other orcs stopped next to Breanna and her horse. He had a sharp-fanged smile on his face as he reached towards her and grab her backside, giving it a hard squeeze. Breanna yelped painfully, but refrained from kicking the orc squarely in the face. The orc guffawed noisily as it jogged back to its place in the formation.
Bilbus chuckled quietly. Adria slapped him on the head, but the mountebank ignored it as he saw the orc gesturing back at the party and laughing. One of the other orcs tossed a coin to the one who had groped Breanna.
"That's why hanging around with orcs is so fun," Bilbus said.
"No one said adventuring was easy," Eric said consolingly.
Breanna glared sharply at her fiance, her temper simmering.
Bilbus walked back out into the road, pushing his way past a couple of humans, and led the party farther into the city.
A short time later, Bilbus was walking towards a bridge that crossed a 10-pace-wide ravine in the middle of the town. The bridge was covered, with small shops on the sides of the bridge. Large bronze doors were roped open on both ends. Combined with the crenellations of the battlements atop the bridge, it had the look of a gatehouse. The look was enhanced by the group of guards on each end of the bridge and the orcs atop the bridge with siege bows. The defenses looked like they were oriented against the far side of the bridge.
Bilbus glanced back at his comrades. "Well, here's the covered bridge we were looking for."
He walked to the edge of the covered bridge and looked into the ravine. A dark, swiftly-flowing river raced along the bottom of the ravine, flowing from left to right. The ravine was about twenty paces deep. Looking up and down stream, Bilbus saw several other bridges across the ravine. Every one of them was covered, like this one. The mountebank glanced back at his comrades, then hurried into the covered bridge, hoping no one else would notice that all of the bridges were covered bridges.
As the party crossed the bridge, Bilbus heard Breanna squeal in excitement. He turned around in time to see her drop from her horse and head towards a shop on the side of the bridge. Glowing drow letters hovered above the shop entrance, and shriveled mushrooms hung in the window.
Breanna backed out of the shop cautiously a minute later. "It's... It's a drow shop. The shopkeeper is a drow."
Bilbus sighed. "What do you expect, Bree? We are in a drow city."
Breanna grabbed Bilbus by the wrist and dragged him into the shop. The drow shopkeeper -- a female, but Bilbus couldn't guess an age -- asked, "Are you looking for something?"
"Poisons?" Breanna asked carefully.
"Raw or processed?"
"I'll be back," Bilbus said after he freed his wrist. He went out to Adria and relayed what the drow had said.
Breanna browsed through the various jars and containers in the shop. The few herbs she recognized from the surface were very pricey, and there were not many of them, but there was a plethora of mushrooms and fungi of various sizes, shapes, and colors. Adria entered the shop and immediately started looking at the various dried mushrooms.
"Excuse me," Breanna said. "What does this one look like fresh?" She pointed at a shriveled purple mushroom that had a dark red, gelatinous rim around its cap.
The drow walked into the back of her shop, then returned with a thick book. She flipped through it to a particular page, then set it on a counter near Breanna. Breanna looked at the pages. The left page showed a colorful illustration of a purple mushroom. There was drow script above the mushroom, and more below it. The facing page had an illustration that nearly matched the sample in the jar about which Breanna had asked. Below the illustration of the dried mushroom was more text, and a small table. It looked like a recipe.
Breanna and Adria huddled over the book, flipping through it. Other than a dozen pages at the beginning that were all text, all of the pages used the same format: illustration of a live mushroom on the left side, dried on the right, with some text below the live mushroom and a recipe of some sort below the dried. Some of the text had color markings near it, in bright red or green.
"The book is for sale, four Shekal," the drow said.
"Shekal?" Breanna asked.
"Silver coins."
Breanna and Adria pooled four silver coins. Breanna gave them to the drow.
"What are these markings?" Breanna asked, pointing at the red markings near one line of text.
The drow took the book and flipped to a page near the front. "This page tells you how poisonous the plant is. More red means more lethal. Green means safe."
"Thank you," Breanna said as she closed the book. She and Adria left the shop.
Breanna offered her horse to Bilbus. She wanted to ride in the wagon, where she could thumb through the book at leisure without having to pay attention to guiding a horse.
The party finished crossing the bridge and followed Bilbus down another twisting road.
The buildings on this side of the river/ravine were in much worse condition. Some of them were near collapse, and a few had rubble piles on their tops where additional levels had collapsed. The roads were much less densely packed, and there were far fewer drow. The humans were waxen, they were so pale. Few of the people had weapons, or even utility daggers. None wore armor.
The party wandered through the twisting streets of the Erelhei Cinlu ghettoes for twenty minutes. As the party crossed an intersection, Bilbus glanced down the side street. There were six nearly-identical beings standing there, wearing identical pastel-colored robes, with head scarves that covered everything but a space for the eyes. Bilbus staggered a step when he recognized the merchants from the Black Galleys of the dreamlands.
"Eric," Bilbus blurted. "Remember the people we saw while I was juggling up above? The ones in the cute, colorful robes?"
"Yes," Eric replied guardedly.
"Don't they look a lot like those people to the left?"
Eric glanced down the side street at the six merchants standing in the middle of the next intersection. The six were staring at the party, four of them standing in a line, almost shoulder to shoulder, with the other two standing in front of them, one between the first and second of the four in line, the other between the third and fourth.
Eric kept watching them as he rode. "I remember that they did not react well to flame. Does anyone know flame spells?" He paused. "I still have the flare arrows we took from the orcs at Camelough."
The party rode onward.
When the party crossed the next intersection, they once more saw the merchants standing down the road, staring at the party. Crossing another block, the party saw the merchants down the road once more. This time, however, there was a patrol of eight drow with the merchants. One of the merchants was talking to a drow, and the merchant pointed at the party. The drow nodded, and the patrol started walking towards the party. The two archers had arrows nocked, and had the bows partially drawn.
The party sped up. Bilbus cut down a side street that quickly turned several times. He kept leading the party down side streets, doing his best to evade the drow patrol.
After another of his random turns, he spotted the merchants again, down at the end of the street. Bilbus walked straight towards them, his friends following. The merchants backed away down another side street, avoiding the party.
Bilbus took a different path than the one that the merchants had taken. After several more twisting alleys, the party found themselves on a wider, straighter road. Standing against one of the buildings along the block were seven men and a pair of orcs. All were dressed shabbily, with filthy clothing. All of them had swords hanging in scabbards that were in as poor condition as the clothes. The nine said nothing as the party approached.
As Sturm, who was at the back of the column of riders, passed the men, one of them commented loudly in Cinlu-Kelltic, "There's some gall. A drow-loving sell-out coming into this part of town, wearing his little House Eilservs pin openly."
Kasey turned Farran around in time to see two orcs approaching the Sun Knight. Sturm was already drawing his sword; both orcs were raising theirs. Kasey kicked Farran, and the kelpie charged back towards the emerging fight.
Sturm swung his sword in a crossing slice. The orc he targeted reacted clumsily -- definitely not like a trained warrior would. It missed the block entirely, and Gretorixmar cleaved deeply into the orc's shoulder and chest. That orc fell backwards, yelping as it collapsed. The other orc grabbed Sturm's leg and yanked on the knight. Sturm lost his balance and fell from the horse, hitting the ground in a jarring thump. The landing was hard enough that he lost his grip on Gretorixmar, and the sword slid a foot from the Sun Knight's hand.
Farran had quickly closed the distance with the orcs. He sliced at the orc, an awkward maneuver from horseback with Caladbolg. The orc fell to the ground messily, mortally wounded. Kasey dropped from Farran's saddle, landing on his feet facing the human ruffians. Farran reared and twisted. The orc whom Sturm had struck was reaching feebly for Gretorixmar. Farran brought his forehooves down on the orc's back and neck, killing it immediately.
The human ruffians charged Kasey and Sturm. Adria, Rishala, and Eric had all readied bows. Rishala loosed first, putting an arrow between the ribs of one of the men, who stumbled and doubled over, one hand grasping the arrow. Adria and Eric each slew a ruffian.
Kasey closed with the four remaining men. Arrows from the archers took out three more of them quickly, and Kasey dispatched the last one. The wounded man dropped his sword and raised his now free hand, keeping the other on the arrow.
Sturm recovered Gretorixmar and stood, scowling at the carnage around him.
"Leave him," Eric suggested. "He's not worth it, and we need to get going before the patrol catches up."
The party once more got underway.
Bilbus led the party through the warrens of the ghettoes for fifteen more minutes.
Eric rode next to the mountebank. "Are we lost, Bilbus?"
"I wouldn't say..." His voice trailed off. "Let's go this way," he blurted. "The patrol is over there."
The party took another turn and moved away from the patrol.
Adria glanced at her nails. "I really need to work on these nails. Look at this, Rishala," she shoved her hands in front of the Caledonian's face, blocking his view of the horses he drove and the road.
"Bilbus," Rishala called loudly to the mountebank, who on horseback ten paces ahead of the wagon. "Ye have no idea where we're going, do ye?"
Bilbus ignored the story teller and took another turn. Ahead, at a turn in the side street, were the six merchants.
"We should find out what they want," Bilbus said. He loosened his whip and charged the merchants.
With a whoop, Kasey joined the charge. Bilbus, already close to the merchants, snapped his whip at one of them. All six scattered in different directions. Kasey directed Farran towards one of the fleeing merchants. Hanging from one side of his saddle, Kasey scooped the merchant and swung him onto the back of the horse. The other five had disappeared into buildings and narrow alleys.
Bilbus and Kasey returned to the party with their prisoner. The party had stopped moving. Kasey threw the merchant roughly to the ground, where the party surrounded it. Bilbus jumped down from his horse and approached the merchant.
"Why are you following us?" Bilbus asked the captive merchant.
"You are opposed to the baroness," it replied. Its eyes were disquieting, with the broad horizontal iris, like a cat's that had been turned sideways. It blinked its eyes, revealing three eyelids.
"How are you following us?"
"You are surface dwellers. Your skin is darker. You are easy to see in a crowd."
Kasey joined the questioning. "What are you?" The bulges on the thing's forehead, covered by the pastel turban, resembled small horns.
"Merchants."
"Of what?"
"Rare rubies."
Eric quietly reminded Kasey, "In the dreamlands, they trade rubies for slaves that they buy by the pound."
"Now what?" Kasey asked.
"I think the girls want to talk to him, and try something on him," Bilbus suggested.
Adria folded her arms. "If you want him dead, cut his throat and toss him in the alleyway."
Bilbus shrugged. "Sturm?"
Sturm picked the merchant up roughly and carried him to an alleyway. He returned a moment later without the merchant, just putting his dagger back in its scabbard.
Bilbus climbed back into the saddle and rode off down the street, party following. After a few more twists and turns, he spotted a four-story building -- the first four-story building he had seen in a great while.
"This is it," he said optimistically. "We needed to find the four story building." He stopped his horse and hopped down. "Kasey, come with me. You might be helpful."
Kasey climbed down from Farran and followed the mountebank into the building. It was clearly an apartment, with numerous doors inside on the first story. It was also clearly a two-story building with an additional two stories placed on its flat roof. Bilbus led Kasey up the stairs to the second floor. A pair of glowing orbs lit the stairwell, providing a steady, bright light. The two had to spend a few moments on the second story to find the stairwell that led up. The stairs were an afterthought, and an old, rusting ladder suggested the original way to reach the upper two floors. Kasey led Bilbus up the stairwell, along the front interior wall of the upper floors. Windows on one side provided some light, as did more Heka globes. The third floor had a single door on the side wall, and the top floor had a small landing and a door.
Kasey paused at the door at the end of the stairwell. Quietly, he asked, "Hey, Bilbus. What's the secret knock?"
Bilbus sighed quietly. He rapped on the outer wall three times. Kasey mimicked the knock.
The door opened a few inches. A man peered out through the opening. He was about Kasey's age, with a mop of brown hair and a stern expression. It took Kasey a moment to recognize him. He was hiding out in the Church safehouse in Caelioradh, the Caledonian capitol, when the party had rescued the legitimate King of Caledonia from Ezeka and the Anlor Balsil Agralem.
"Uhh. Hi?" Kasey ventured.
"Can I help you?" the man asked gruffly. He showed no sign of recognizing a fellow Church Knight.
"Do you have any sweetbreads?" Kasey asked hopefully. "I'm hungry."
The man on the far side of the door looked sternly from Kasey to Bilbus.
Bilbus managed an embarrassed grin. "Just a minute." He turned and raced down the stairs, just keeping his feet underneath him as he rushed out to the street.
Sturm was still on horseback, keeping watch up and down a nearly-empty street for drow patrols, Black Galley merchants, or any locals who took too much interest in the party. Rishala was still on the driver's bench of the wagon. The rest of the party had dismounted and were stretching their legs.
"Eric!" Bilbus barked. The Azirian turned to him. "Do you remember that note I had with the directions on it?"
"The note you ate? Yes."
"Do you remember what it said at the bottom?"
Eric pondered for a few seconds. "'Do you see often the wolves around here?'" he quoted.
Bilbus grabbed the explorer's arm and ran back towards the building, Eric in tow. Up the stairs he raced, until he reached the landing on the top floor. Kasey still stood there, and the man on the other side still had the door open. Bilbus shoved Eric up towards the door.
"Do you see often the wolves around here?" Eric asked.
"No," the man replied. "The wolves never alight here." He stepped back from the door, opening it as he did.
Kasey stepped in. The knight who had answered the door had a sword in hand, where it was hidden before the door opened. The knight grinned at Kasey.
"So, do you have sweetrolls?" Kasey asked again.
"Yes."
"Milk?"
"No."
"Water?"
"I would not drink it."
"Wine?" Kasey was becoming desperate.
"Yes."
Bilbus cut in. "Where do we park the horses and wagon?"
The knight pointed towards the front of the building. "The building across the street is empty. We've been using it as stables."
"I'll help Sturm put the horses away," Bilbus offered. "And I'll send everyone else up."
Eric surveyed the apartment. It had one large room that functioned as a living room, kitchen, and dining area. Five side rooms had doors. The first was a toilet -- little more than a hole in a bench that dumped out somewhere just below street level. The remainder were furnished bedrooms, one of which had a tub.
Besides the knight, there were two other people in the safehouse. One was an older man, his hair more gray than anything, who was in the kitchen preparing a meal. The other was a woman about the same age as the knight, who watched the party guardedly as she passed the time embroidering a dress.
Kasey greeted the older man in the kitchen and glanced out at the road behind the apartment. The five remaining Black Galley merchants walked down the middle of the street, four in line, the fifth offset in front of them. All five heads swiveled to and fro, looking for their missing comrade.
"Maybe we should take out those five merchants?" Kasey wondered.
"I would not recommend it yet," the older man replied. "I would prefer not drawing attention to this house."
Someone knocked on the front door. The knight took his sword and went towards the door. Kasey joined him, staying behind the door with Caladbolg ready. The knight opened the door.
Bilbus stood there, waiting for the knight to move. The knight remained in place.
Bilbus rolled his eyes. "Do wolves shack up here?"
The knight stood aside, a grin just creeping onto his face. Bilbus and Sturm entered. The knight shut the door behind the two.
The older man addressed the party. "I am Father Ilsinan." He nodded towards the knight. "This is Sir Omyos Mochain." He then gestured at the woman. "She is Tydanae Pryse. Welcome to Erelhei Cinlu. Please, make yourself comfortable. I assume you're here for the baroness's ball. You still have plenty of time before it begins."
Eric introduced his companions to the three people in the safehouse: "I am Eric Ithell, of Armagh." He gestured towards Breanna. "This is Breanna Ceiturin, also of Armagh. Over there are Bilbus del Cartach and Adria del Cartach. The tall knight is Kasey Bittrand."
"Of Sulster," Kasey added quickly.
"Rishala of Orkney," Rishala introduced himself.
"And that is Sturm Sunblade," Eric nodded towards the Sun Knight.
"Well met, all of you," Father Ilsinan said. "I have seen some reports about your exploits. Please, make yourselves comfortable. It must have been a long journey so far."
The party settled into the spacious apartment. Breanna had the drow book lying open on a rug that covered much of the floor of the main room. She sat on the floor in front of it, her journal open to one side, a stylus in hand, a bottle of ink next to the journal. She concentrated on the drow script as she channeled Heka into the page.
Father Ilsinan approached her, watching the transcription. "Lady, there are easier ways to translate strange tongues. Watch." He started weaving Heka into the page. Breanna watched, fascinated. She could not see the magick in any normal sense, but she could feel the energies moving. "Try it," the priest instructed.
Breanna did. The casting was not too difficult to mimic. As she completed it, she realized that she could comprehend the page. She thumbed through the book. She could understand all of the writing, not just the page on which she had cast. She looked up in surprise at Father Ilsinan.
"Here. Let me teach you a few others that you need to know. You studied elementalist techniques, right?"
Breanna nodded cautiously.
"Let me show you some things that will help you survive if things go badly around here." The priest started demonstrating various magicks to Breanna. Rishala paid close attention, as well. The limited training that he had had likewise involved the elemental schools of magick.
After several minutes of demonstrating various offensive and defensive castings, damaging one of the interior walls of the apartment doing so, Father Ilsinan gestured to Rishala and Breanna. "Come here. This one I can't do indoors. It's too powerful." He walked to the kitchen, which faced a wide alley behind the apartment.
One of the windows was a tall one, from floor nearly to ceiling. It opened onto a cramped balcony.
"Watch closely. I don't want to have to cast this one too much. It will draw attention." He weaved the magick in a much more complex manner. When he unleashed the casting, it darted down the alleyway, a flaming orange streak. Fifty paces away, the streak exploded into a brilliant flash. The thunderclap afterwards was tremendous, and it echoed for seconds after the ball of flam vanished.
Bree exhaled sharply. She understood the casting, and she was sure she could repeat it.
Rishala shook his head and blinked quickly, trying to get the afterimage of the blast to fade. "I dinna catch all of that. Can you do it once more?"
Father Ilsinan looked around at the alleyway. A number of people were looking out of windows and doors, trying to figure out what had just happened. "In a few minutes, perhaps," Father Ilsinan said. "We need to let the crowd thin, first."
Several minutes passed, then Father Ilsinan returned to the balcony. "Rishala, come watch. Here's a good demonstration. It looks like your friends are still looking for you."
Rishala looked into the alleyway. Where Father Ilsinan had detonated the previous ball of fire, the five remaining Black Galley merchants walked along, heads swiveling to and fro, still looking for the party, or for their missing comrade. Rishala watched Father Ilsinan closely, feeling the weaves of magick as the priest quickly shaped them into a concentration of energy. The final moments of the casting were slightly different -- the Kelltic priest was pushing more energy into the weaving. When he unleashed it, it darted towards the five merchants. All five turned towards the bright streak at once, frozen in surprise. The fireball erupted once more, a brilliant flash and thunderous concussion. When the flames dissipated, the five merchants were charred beyond recognition, the remains of their robes little more than smoky ash on the blackened piles. Father Ilsinan stepped back into the safehouse.
"The end of that casting -- you did it differently," Rishala said.
"Yes. You can squeeze more Heka into the casting to increase the power and heat of the blast. The better you are at controlling Heka, the more energy you can stuff into the fireball."
Rishala nodded to himself as he mentally rehearsed the steps. This time, he knew he could duplicate the casting.
The priest looked at Rishala's quarrel of arrows. "You're an archer? Here's another one you might like to learn."
He took eight of Rishala's arrows and set them on a table. The priest spent minutes over them, slowly wrapping Heka into the arrowhead, shaft, and fletching. When he finished, he gave the arrows back to Rishala. Rishala grinned as he mentally probed at the Heka in the arrows. They would fly more accurately, and cause more damage.
Eric had watched the exchange. He approached the priest holding some of his own arrows. "Father...?"
Father Ilsinan repeated the casting on two sets of arrows for Eric. He likewise duplicated the casting on some of Adria's arrows. By the time he had finished, Rishala, Breanna, and Bilbus had all learned the casting.
Adria settled on the couch, at the far end of it from Tydanae. She yawned loudly, stretching one arm as she covered her mouth. "How long do we have before the ball?"
Father Ilsinan paused for a moment, eyes looking towards the ceiling. He turned to her. "About a day and a half. There's plenty of time."
Breanna looked at her companions. She lifted part of her skirt. "We can't go to a baronial ball dressed like this. We look like pirates."
Adria looked curiously at Breanna. "We are pirates."
Kasey shook his head. "Lady Breanna is right. We can't dress like this for a baronial ball, even if we are pirates."
Adria sighed quietly. To herself, she muttered, "If we tie her bodice tight enough, she can't complain as loudly."
Kasey ran downstairs for a moment. He returned with his saddlebags. He dropped them on the floor and rummaged through them. He pulled out a crumpled silk shirt.
"This shirt needs ironed."
Adria looked at it. "I can iron it."
Eric turned to Adria. Incredulously, he asked, "You can?"
Adria shook her head. "No. Not really."
Tydanae rolled her eyes. "I can iron it."
"I can not presume on you to do it," Kasey protested. "May I use your iron?"
Tydanae put her embroidery aside. She stood up and walked across to one of the four bedrooms on the far side of the apartment. She returned a few moments later with an iron that she gave to Kasey.
Kasey went to the kitchen to heat water. "We can not go to a baronial ball dressed like commoners. Especially to an elven ball. Even if they are dark elves." He paused for a moment, forehead furrowed. "Who am I supposed to be, again?"
Eric sat down on an empty chair. "Sigurd's personal guard."
"Oh. Sturm should wear my silk shirt, then. It might be a little long, but it should be okay underneath his captain's jacket."
Bilbus looked at the black shirt he wore. "I will need a different shirt."
Eric fished through his own travel pack. He held a shirt out to Bilbus. "Here."
Bilbus took the shirt and inspected it. It was Azirian-styled, with no collar and numerous fasteners on the front. "How many buttons does this shirt have?"
"Twenty-five," Eric replied. "There is a particular way to button the shirt. You need to alternate from the bottom to the top, fastening one button at a time. To do otherwise is to guarantee bad luck."
Bilbus handed the shirt back to Eric. "That is way too much work for a shirt."
The party went down to the erstwhile stables to fetch saddle bags and supplies from the wagon. Once they were back upstairs, Breanna pulled out one of her dresses. It was one Adria had given to her months ago in Londoun, a dress that was more revealing than anything Breanna had previously worn. It was still appropriate, with a few changes. "I need some lace for this dress," she decided.
"We should find a tailor's shop," Kasey suggested. "I need to get a proper jacket."
"This could be fun," Bilbus said. "I'll go with you two."
Adria yawned again. "Maybe I should take a nap."
"You can use my room," Tydanae offered. She led Adria to the room from which she had fetched the iron. Once Adria was in the room, Tydanae shut the door.
Kasey took the pot of boiling water from the oven. "I'll iron the shirt when we get back." He looked out the kitchen window. "Hey. There's drow looking at the burned merchants. Should we go get them?"
"No," Eric said. "Maybe you should wait until they leave before you head out. It may be the same drow who are looking for us."
Kasey, Breanna, and Bilbus waited for the drow to leave. Once they were gone, they waited another ten minutes before heading for the door.
At the door, Bilbus stopped. "Sturm, can I borrow your pin?"
Sturm considered the request for a moment. He removed the pin from his shirt and gave it to the mountebank. Bilbus dropped it into a coinpurse. He and his two companions left the safehouse.
Once they were out of the building, Bilbus stopped and leaned close to Breanna. "Try to remember our way back, okay?"
Breanna blanched. "I thought you knew the way here."
"I do," Bilbus replied. "Kinda."
Breanna fought the brief urge to panic. Bilbus was chuckling to himself again, and he had already strode off down the street.
The three wandered through the streets for some time before Bilbus found a bridge. He frowned briefly when he realized that it was not the same bridge that they had crossed on the way to the safehouse.
"Is that the same bridge?" Breanna asked, her voice trailing off.
"Oh, sure it is," Bilbus said confidently. "Work crews rearrange the shops every day, just to keep things interesting."
"But the top of the bridge looks different. And it's not as long."
"The work crews are very busy," Bilbus replied dismissively.
As they got close to the bridge, Breanna peered up and downstream. She realized that all of the bridges she saw crossing the river and its ravine were covered.
Bilbus crossed the bridge, not slowing to wait for her. Breanna hurried to catch up. Once he was across the bridge, the mountebank pinned Sturm's staff-pin to his shirt.
After more wandering through the streets of Erelhei Cinlu, the three adventurers found a tailor's shop. Green and yellow lanterns hung outside the entrance. Bilbus stepped in and looked around.
A single human shopkeeper was in the shop's main room. He was busily working on a gaudy cape, stitching together two pieces of cloth that should never have been used in the same garment. All around his shop were jackets, capes, fabric, and smaller bric-bracs that could be used on clothing. He glanced up briefly at Bilbus, his pasty face waxen in the bluish-white magickal lights of the shop.
Breanna stepped in behind Bilbus and immediately spotted ribbons. She grabbed Kasey by the sleeve and dragged him over to the ribbons. She found segments of lace nearby as well, and grabbed samples. "Do you think this will go well with the blue dress?" she asked Kasey.
Bilbus wandered through the store as Breanna and Kasey discussed lace and ribbon. The shopkeeper paid scant attention to the three visitors, his attention focused on the travesty of a cape that he was assembling.
After a few minutes of discussion, Kasey went through the shop, looking for a jacket. He found several completed jackets sized for orcs. After trying several of them on, he found a smaller one that fit him fairly well. With just a little bit of alteration, it would work.
"That's a big jacket," Breanna commented when she saw it on the Church Knight.
Bilbus nodded agreement. "It's big enough, it can hide you, me, and Adria under one of them," he said to her. He grinned. "Kasey, buy two."
"You don't need one," Kasey replied. "You're going as a fop."
"I am not a fop," Bilbus said levelly.
Kasey went through the human-sized clothes. After minutes of rummaging, he had collected a bright red jacket, a golden-yellow satin shirt, yellow hose, and a red and gold cape. "Fop's clothes," Kasey said as he offered the clothes to Bilbus.
"I am not a fop," Bilbus protested once more.
Ignoring the mountebank's protests, Kasey spoke past Bilbus to Breanna. "He needs a hat. One with a feather."
Breanna giggled.
Kasey rummaged through the shop until he found a suitable hat. It was obnoxiously red, close to the same color as the jacket. It had a single feather that drooped in front of it.
"Oh. And we need a tabard, too," Kasey added. The Church Knight wandered away from his two companions.
Breanna held up a sample of lace. "Do you think this will match my dress?"
Bilbus looked at the lace and shrugged. "I don't know." He was starting to regret accompanying Kasey and Breanna on this trip.
Kasey returned a moment later with a tabard. He also had gloves with fur trim and a shiny, rich brown cloak with fur trim. "Put this on." He offered the clothes to Bilbus. Grumbling to himself, Bilbus took the clothes.
"Where do I change?" Bilbus asked.
The shopkeeper looked up from the cape. "Over here," he said, pointing to a door.
Bilbus took the stack of clothes and went into the changing room. After changing, he came out and looked at himself in a full-length mirror. "Ho, ho, ho!" he said, using the nasal tone of a Fronchan accent. "I see now why those people talk like this!" He dropped the accent. "But, Kasey, it doesn't fit."
"The tailor can alter it," Kasey said. He asked the tailor how soon he could adjust the fit.
The tailor walked over to Bilbus. After a brief surge of Heka, the clothes fit Bilbus perfectly.
"Neat!" Kasey exclaimed. "Can you adjust this jacket, too?"
The tailor did.
Kasey paid for Bilbus's outfit, his jacket, and Breanna's lace trim. The three left the shop.
Once on the street, Bilbus stopped. The feather on his hat was hanging in front of his face. He blew upwards, trying to get it out of his way. It drifted upwards, then settled again.
"We need to go by an armorer's shop before we head back," he said.
They wandered the streets for a while before finding a suitable shop. Bilbus stepped in and found an orc blacksmith.
Using the orc language, Bilbus said, "I want a breastplate for this woman, styled like the drow wear. In steel."
The orc eyed Breanna, who shrunk back a step and shielded herself behind Kasey.
The orc, speaking in his own tongue, said to Breanna, "You need to undress for measurements."
Bilbus chuckled quietly, then translated for the orc: "Bree, you need to take off your dress."
Breanna blushed. "Why?!?"
"For measurements."
"Why?!?"
"It's for plate armor," Bilbus said. "You need better protection, and plate armor needs a better fit."
"But! Plate armor is expensive! You can't spend money like that on me, Bilbus. It's not appropriate."
"It's an early wedding present, Bree."
"Well..." She eyed the orc.
Kasey intervened. "Surely the lady would feel more comfortable if someone she knew did the measurements, Bilbus. We'll need a sheet, of course, to cover her."
Bilbus relayed this information to the orc, who left the forge-room for a minute. He returned with a bed linen. Kasey held the sheet around Breanna as she removed her dress. The orc spoke to Bilbus, explaining the measurements he needed, using hand gestures to illustrate some of the measurements he needed. Bilbus relayed this information to Kasey. The orc then gave Kasey a measuring tape.
"Bilbus, stand behind her and hold the sheet up while I take the measurements," Kasey instructed.
Kasey took the measurements, holding the measuring tape out to the orc to indicate lengths. The orc took notes. Once Kasey had relayed all the relevant measurements, Breanna dressed again. Bilbus returned the linen to the orc, and Kasey returned the measuring tape.
Bilbus provided final instructions to the orc: "Have this shipped to Lord Hogain, staying at the Hoary Man Inn in Arabel Cinlu. Have it ready within a week."
The orc wrote down the instructions. "It will be five Klal. If you wish it delivered, you will pay now."
Bilbus pulled out some gems. He counted out a number of them. "Will this suffice?"
The orc took the gems, inspecting each one closely. He nodded. "Thank you for your visit, Lord Hogain."
Bilbus and his companions left, seeking their way back to the safehouse.
Eric was resting lightly on the couch in the safehouse's main room. He came awake quickly when someone knocked on the door. Sir Omyos grabbed his sword and went to the door. Eric got up, strung his bow, and readied to loose an arrow, through the door if need be.
Sir Omyos opened the door slightly and peered through the crack. He staggered back, dropping his sword, and collapsed to the ground laughing. The door swung open, and Eric took aim.
Bilbus stood in the doorway, wearing a red and yellow outfit composed of tights, a tabard, jacket, cape, gloves, and hat. A feather hung in front of his face from the hat. The mountebank exhaled sharply, and the end of the feather shot up, then drifted back down into his face once more. Bilbus's arms were crossed, and he had a look of disgust on his face.
"Who is that?" Eric asked.
In the hall behind Bilbus, Breanna answered, "It's Bilbus."
"Are you sure? It does not look like him," Eric replied.
In the hallway, Kasey said, "We don't need to be standing around in this hall."
Bilbus removed his hat and glared at Eric. The explorer lowered his bow. Bilbus, Breanna, and Kasey entered the safehouse.
The party spent some time preparing their ball outfits. Adria woke from her nap in Tydanae's room and joined her companions.
As she helped Breanna pin lace to Breanna's blue dress, she looked at her friends. "We should get an inn and move our stuff there. We don't need to leave from here straight to the ball. That way, we can establish ourselves in town as pirates. And, if we need to leave town quickly, we won't have to come all the way back here, then back out to the city gates."
Eric nodded. "That's a good idea. We don't want to draw attention to the safehouse."
Adria yawned. "Maybe we should get some rest, first. Then move to an inn."
The party settled down to rest for a few hours. The people running the safehouse pulled shut heavy curtains to keep the main room of the apartment dark, then they retired back to their own rooms.
After a few minutes, Breanna quietly padded to the priest's room. She tapped lightly on the door. He answered it a moment later.
"Father Ilsinan, can I talk to you?" she asked quietly.
"Of course," he replied in a low tone. He opened the door to let her in, then shut it quietly behind her.
Breanna paced in the small bedroom.
"Please, take a seat," Father Ilsinan offered, gesturing to a chair. He took a seat on his bed.
"I don't understand," Breanna said, still standing. "The magick you were teaching us, welcoming us in like you did. The Church hasn't done anything to help us during our journey. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but why are you helping us now?"
"The Church has done nothing to help?" Father Ilsinan asked, his voice chiding gently. "You are here, now. Only a handful of people -- all of them in the Church -- know I am here. Someone in the Church told you where to find me."
"Yes, but that was recently," Breanna countered. "We've been traveling all over Avillonia trying to stop what's happening, and no one helps us."
"Didn't you travel to Hellenas very recently? How did you get there?"
Breanna failed to hide her surprise. He knew we went to Hellenas? "We took a ship..."
"...that the Church paid for. I believe Mother Byddir went with you. Meri, right? She paid for the ship. She had reason to go along. I believe she did not actually accompany you on your trip to the Academy. There was a reason." Breanna started to interject, but Father Ilsinan talked over her. "Bilbus is an interesting young man, isn't he? Have you ever been around him when he uses Heka, especially the dweomer crafting disciplines?" He caught the look in Breanna's eyes. "You already know that he practices black magicks. He recently has tried to learn something else, now that he is no longer protected from the effects of black magicks. Do you think he broke into a Church library without someone noticing? Especially the Forbidden Stacks of a Church library?"
Breanna finally took the empty seat.
"My dear Daughter, Bilbus took books of magick from the Church library when he lived in the orphanage. He taught himself how to use magicks. Why do you think his style seems so undisciplined? It's not because of the magicks he uses; it's because of how he learned those magicks. But he did not do it without our knowledge."
"You knew he was learning black magick?"
"The Church has prophecies of its own. There is reason behind what we have done, and what we appear not to have done. I can not tell you all the reasons, for even I don't know all of them." He glanced towards the heavy curtains covering his room's window. "Considering where I am, that is perhaps for the best. But know this, Breanna Ceiturin of Armagh: the Church has been helping in many ways, some you see, and some you do not, or can not. There are those in the Church who are painfully aware of the difficulties you face. However, our enemy is far too dangerous for us to reveal the cards we hold too soon. The stakes are far too high for them to gain a greater advantage than they already have."
Breanna mulled over what the priest had told her. "Thank you, Father. For everything. I am sorry to have disturbed you." She stood nervously.
"Nonsense. It was no disturbance. Perhaps what I have said will quiet some of your anxieties."
Or maybe it will give me something new to worry about, Breanna decided. She took her leave of Father Ilsinan's room and found an empty space on the floor near Eric where she could try fitfully to sleep.
After a number of hours of rest, the party awoke from their slumber. After a cooked meal, they gathered their belongings, loaded them on the wagon in the building across the road, collected their horses, and went back through the ghettos towards the main part of Erelhei Cinlu to seek an inn.
Back to the previous chapter: Escorts
Continue to the next chapter: Baronies
Back to the Book IV Index.
Back to the Dark Mysteries Campaign Chapter Index.
Original Draft 15 April 2003
Contact for this page: JourneyMaster@BabylonByCandlelight.com