“Message Section 2: To whom it may concern, please detach this from Section 1 and forward Section 2 to the address written in Docket 23A - 21 Line 4 Column 8.
Dear Sophie, Aryana, and anyone else who gets this,
(Scratched and scribbled out words) I can’t lie to you guys. This whole expedition back to Melton has been a disaster from beginning to end. Things really spiralled out of control and I really thought I could manage it, I’m sorry. I know you both might think me rude and uncaring and on some levels I can’t deny that.
Though I want to write to you both as a (Countless crossed words) friend, I do not find myself deserving of that honor. Especially after what had happened. Before I explain any further, know this: We went to Harweald, Annalise and I. It was decimated by plague and Kimmie was infected too. I tried to stop her but Annalise broke, she took Kimmie with her and shot me with an arrow. I know she’s your friend, and mine too, I hope. But, not only duty, but the fate of Melton hangs in the balance if this plague spreads. I’m hunting her down and have her cornered in some small village on the outskirts of the Melisi river. I just want you both to know, for me, it was an honor to have traveled with you. I hope we meet soon but I fear that not even I can easily forgive myself for what I’m to do, much less you both. If you can’t, then I rightfully understand why you might shun me. I just want you to know I’m sorry. I don’t think I can save her, I’ll try but that’s all I can promise. I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve done more, be as understanding or caring as you. Please, I hope you both understand why I must do what I do. I’m sorry…”
- Apprentice Inquisitor Lyudmilla Vesel, Letter to Arteria, Section 2
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Sophie felt hollow inside, her emotions in shock after having read through the reports Inquisitor Janos had given her. Melton was in chaos, the succession crisis having left deep resentments between the two main factions. Adding fuel to the flames were claims that King Edward was a kinslayer who killed his brother to seize the throne. Add another dash of raids and plagues and it wasn’t too surprising for Sophie when she read that they were in another small scale civil war. All sparked by the execution of Duke Haukr in a bid for the crown to clamp down on opposition. The poor people of the land, they get no reprieve from all this... this violence.
Then there was the more concerning news that Mila was out hunting down Annalise. Sophie couldn’t quite believe that the ranger would stray so far and even now, still couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Of all the things to have happened… On one hand she felt pangs of resignation, of helplessness and surrender. Knowing that whatever happened next is firmly out of her hands. On the other hand, she felt worse than that, she felt guilty. Guilty at not having been as attentive to the usually capable ranger, at not helping her truly move past her pain, or even being as good of a friend as she could be for Anna. It was a demoralising thought that left her more apprehensive than ever. Goddess, I hope it all turns out alright. Fuck.
She swayed quietly on a small box that she found unused in Saint Konrad Plaza. It had been empty and was conveniently near enough that she now sat under the shadow of who she assumed to be Saint Konrad, her cone of vision allowing her to see both the All Hogs Arms, and the main street. Sophie was in a bit of a daze and simply sat silently, the throngs of people that passed all around her nothing more than a muted buzz to her scrambled senses. She found herself trying to think of anything at all that she could do to help, to change what seemed like certain death for Annalise. She seemed so normal back in Sturmbreaker, even in the Ascari plains she seemed pretty level headed. Yet, news of orc raids in Melton was all it took to spur her into a frenzy? I wonder if I just wasn’t a very good friend. I always burdened her and it seemed like she handled that fine but… Sophie sighed and clenched her fists before unclenching it once more. Her muscles were still a little sore, her mind a little slower. Though I suppose I never really did ask how she was doing. She was pretty beat up over everything after Eichafen and... I guess you hadn't really gotten over it.
She granted herself one small chuckle before it vanished back into a soft frown. There was little light at the end of her path, Eva perhaps, and life at the Academy. But just as it was back at the estate, she doubted she would fit in. Eva was rugged too, sure, but the girl probably fit in fine. Sophie on the other hand, knew she had seen too much, experienced such horror that she wasn’t sure if she was ready to just take it easy. Her jaunt through Arteria with Aryana the past two months had proven quite pleasing alongside making new friends. Yet, she also knew it was because she had a greater goal in mind, to see Eva. But what then? I make it in and now I see Eva. How do we even catch up? How do I even tell her that I’ve killed people… and in Melisgrad… Goddess forgive me.
A mournful feeling tinted with guilt floated into her chest and she took a few deep breaths. She didn’t know what exactly she should do besides continuing her search. Aryana had, after all, pointed out that Karzan the dwarf merchant would be her next best lead. Still,to do this without Aryana felt almost wrong, the girl having helped so much and apparently even somehow acquiring documents that might shed some clues on the scholar. And hopefully about the Myndiri. Though she was already keenly aware that the next most likely avenue of approach would be to cooperate with scholars within the Academy of Arteria itself. Their resources and pockets go a lot deeper. Tsh, as if any of that matters anymore. Sophie grumbled to herself and sighed once more, attracting the attention of a few passers by who turned to stare. But for once, Sophie could care less about what attention was placed upon her, she just felt tired and drained. As the stars do turn and the skies do change, I call upon you, Stellesia, the guide of guides, patron of travelers. To help us all, guide us back to the right path… please.
Her musings were interrupted by the harsh step of a heavy fur boot, the distinctive tap against the cobblestone streets making her ears perk up. Out of the corner of her eye she spied a familiar stocky looking dwarf bound for the tavern. Surprised but realizing what this meant, Sophie quickly scrambled to her feet and made her way towards the dwarf.
“Sir Karzan.” Sophie called out.
The dwarf paused to look around and gave her a good squint before waving back.
“Ho ho! It’s the elf!” Karzan chuckled, “Glad to see you’re up and about!” The dwarf patted his beard.
Sophie was somewhat uplifted at the sight of a familiar face, yet found she still had to force out a smile, her gloomy mood not entirely hidden.
“Ho! Something got yer mind lassie? You seem more than a little out of it.”
“Ah… a little. It’s just… personal problems, s’all.” Sophie lied, “Nothing too big.”
“Huh, suit yourself. I was actually coming to find you two!”
“Aryana and I?”
“Aye, the lassie cut a deal with me to get some documents translated, and well…” Karzan’s face immediately darkened as he broke into a concerned frown, “here they are.” He tapped a small bag he was wearing.
Sophie nodded appreciatively, curious at what might be on them. Though her mind hadn’t entirely forgotten the concerns of the North, she at least finally had somewhere else to focus her energies on.
“Come on then, if you’ve got nothing pressing, this is… stuff ye might wanna see without other eyes around.”
Sophie followed along and tried to steady herself, the day’s bewildering series of events evidently not over yet.
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The two managed to settle down in a private room in the All Hogs Arms, Karzan apparently quite the known figure there. Especially given that the bartender just nodded knowingly at his arrival and directed them towards a side room on the first floor. Dinner had been a quiet if slight reprieve to her hectic day so far, but the thought of potentially needing to handle yet more information had tired her out. When the two had finished their meals they exchanged tense glances before Karzan huffed and pulled out the papers from his bag, much like how the Inquisitor had a few hours early. Sophie sighed quietly and just cocked her head sideways, Karzan taking this as his cue to spread the papers out.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Did the lass explain anything to you?” Karzan asked.
“No.” Sophie shook her head, “Just that you had something related to the rogue scholar.”
“Heh, I guess you could say that. Hells, this is some… concerning stuff here. Reckon she wouldn’t expect it either, her and that friend of hers.”
“Friend of hers?”
“Ahh, right you were out. She investigated with some preppy academy type, could just tell by the way she carried herself.”
“Academy… type…” Sophie mused, Suzuki maybe?
“That’s ‘sides the point. Let’s focus back on these eh?”
Sophie nodded and leaned in, the pages filled with a variety of strange scripts and symbols. The ancient script was handwritten in some elegant almost refined style, but, along the sides were countless far more crude and rushed words taking on more familiar shapes.
“Ach, don’t mind those on the side, tis just scribbles the hired help jots down. This is, after all, written in a language that’s beyond our generation. Took a little extra brain power before we could wrap our heads around it.”
Sophie grunted, it wasn’t like she could read dwarvish, ancient script, or even elven anyways.
“Alright… let’s see here…” Karzan hummed to himself, “So this first one looks to be a letter addressed to someone called Kermenadies. Ever heard of him?”
“No.”
“Figures. Me neither.” Karzan grunted as he slid the paper forward, his hand pointing at what Sophie assumed was the first paragraph. “Far as we can tell, this section here discusses the current state of one ‘Verdant Project’. Ye run into any clues that might tell us what this is?”
Sophie shook her head.
“Damn, well, it was worth a shot. But, moving along. Our scholar was evidently friends or at least subservient to this ‘Kermenadies’ fellow as well. Given how, see here, how he uses what my contact said is a more polite or formal speech here. But then, down here, the scholar uses informal speech to refer to ‘Kermenadies’.”
“Okay.” Sophie blankly agreed, her mind still not focused on the task at hand.
“Here’s where it gets worrying. Our errant scholar then starts talking about how they've finally succeeded in the third part of this ‘Verdant Project’ in the ‘stronghold of humanity’. Whatever that means. Phase four is when they mentioned Arteria and what I’m guessing is its infiltration.”
“The scholar and whatever that mess in the Grand Library was.”
“Aye, that’s what I reckon too.”
“Do they mention any other places in specific? Like landmarks or towers?”
“Huh, what a specific question, lass. Let me see…” Karzan squinted at the handwritten notes on the margins, “Would ya look at that! How’d you guess? It faded from my mind cause it seemed so off handed, you know. Like how someone might mention places they’ve visited in a letter. But, now that I look at the translator’s notes again, they specifically mention places with towers. There’s the ‘Tower of Ostongrav’, ‘Tower of Kalxia’, ‘Tower of Aphorus’, ‘Tower of Mirsalma’, and here, the last one, ‘Tower of Mercy’. Huh, well one of these doesn't sound like the others.” Karzan chuckled.
“Ostongrav, Kalxia, Aphorus, Mirsalma and Mercy.” Sophie repeated to herself.
“Those are their names.”
Sophie furrowed her brow and committed the names to memory before tilting her head slightly, “Do you happen to have some old maps from… from… whenever this script was written?”
“Old Himec? You’d have better luck asking me to find you all the first edition copies of Gunmar and Aurelia. Myndiri script is rare enough. Himec? I doubt anyone outside of dwarven kind even knows Himec. Hells, I studied history and even I only know passing references. Had to pull some strings just to find someone who could read it. Even the poor sop struggled to read this gibberish.” He grunted.
“Hmm, do you think there’d be references within the Arterian archives?”
“Ya mean, like in the Academy?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Perhaps. Given how often nobles rave about being more educated thanks to the knowledge within those walls.”
“But what if they don’t?” Sophie worried out loud.
“That part sounds very much like a problem for you, unless you’re paying to make it mine.” Karzan joked.
“Sorry, thinking out loud.”
“No worries. Anyhow, we good to continue?”
“Of course, sorry master dwarf.”
“Heh, ‘master dwarf’.” Karzan smirked, “Could get used to that.” He sighed, “Anyhow, past that first section we get to more mundane recollections on things that have happened; like their interactions with the community at large. Though it's also here that they state how they’ve visited some of the nearby lands and the towers.” Karzan frowned, his lips pursed in displeasure, “They also talk about the ‘Verdant Project’ again, huh. It’s also where our scholar mentions Ostongrav first. Then a bunch of pleasantries before listing how things are going well at the other towers as well.”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm indeed. Ultimately, it ends with our scholar telling 'Kerm' that everything will be fine, and that the project will be on track. Now, the second letter is where things kick off a notch. Ye ready?”
“Yeah.”
“There is apparently some gap between the first and second, let’s say, perhaps a few centuries, give or take.” He chortled at his own joke.
“A few… centuries?!” Sophie exclaimed, wide eyed.
“Aye, I mean just look at the paper, it’s old. But much newer than that one. Hells, we were worried that one would just disintegrate if we so much as breathed on it. But, that’s beside the point. For here, our scholar is more frantic in his writings, angry even.”
“That’s… good to know… I guess?” Sophie grimaced, “ You mentioned he was angry? At?”
“At this ‘Kermenadies’ fellow. Apparently, our scholar worked on Arneathian research and managed to sequester anything too scandalous, but his silence and findings were interrupted and seized by someone claiming to be ‘Her Director’. That’s a Carradorian moniker isn’t it? So would that make it more like ‘ Heer Direktor’?” Karzan stroked his beard.
Sophie just shrugged before she froze, Direktor? Could that be… the same Direktor in ruins? Melisgrad? Her horror must’ve shown because when she finally blinked, she found Karzan studying her face.
“Take it that rang a familiar bell somewhere?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Huh, well that’s again, a problem for you to solve. But let me continue.”
Sophie grunted her affirmation, a few pieces of the puzzle starting to grow clearer in her mind.
“Our scholar accused ‘Kermenadies’ of sabotaging the ‘Verdant Project’, of leading a new wing astray. He also accuses this director of being an agent sent by ‘Kerm’, that ‘honored ones’ will now take charge if ‘Kerm’ can’t sort his people out. After that, there’s some niceties here and there, but what we noted as distinct is this line right here,” Karzan tapped a part of the page, “the scholar talks about finding a different way to finish the ‘Project’. Different from that of ‘Kerm’ and the others.” The dwarf finally sighed and pushed the papers forward. “That’s all there is too it then, take care of these.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Huh… I dunno, I guess I just expected…”
“A bit more? Maybe, but it tells us plenty already.” He looked at Sophie expectantly.
“I guess. We do have names, locations, and this ‘Project’ they keep mentioning. And judging by the last bit, we now also know that there’s two seperate groups working on this thing. Whatever it is.” Sophie nodded to herself.
“Aye. Though I dare say, make sure to give that to the inquisition or whoever you’re working with.”
“Oh?”
“Who knows, might prove useful to them. Given the whole actively hunting down the cult thing.” Karzan shrugged. “But I’ve dallied long enough, ye reckon you can handle it from here?”
“Of course. Many thanks Sir Karzan.”
“Heheh, tis been an interesting challenge admittedly. Though, I’d personally not get wrapped up in a conspiracy myself, if ye don’t mind.”
“Of course not.”
“Good… good. Well I’ll be heading back out, aye? And make sure if you do show this to the church, I was never involved, got it?”
“Understood.” Sophie snappily agreed before dipping her head politely, “Thank you though, properly this time.” Sophie bobbed, “And for helping Ary out when I was… less than present.”
“Hoh, don’t worry about it. We’ve already cut a deal between us and I’m fulfilling my end of the bargain. Besides, let’s just say I feel it in my stones that something nasty is on the horizon and I’d rather start making more friends early rather than later.” Karzan chuckled, “You know where to find me if ye need me though.”
The dwarf flashed one last grin and dropped some coin on the table for his food before he hopped off his chair. Sophie exchanged a quiet farewell with him and within just a moment, he had disappeared out the door of the inn. Gone as fast as he had arrived.
Sophie sighed and leaned back on her chair, her mind now abuzz with speculation and activity. So many questions, answers, and Goddess knows whatever the fuck else is going on with this cult. What do they want with the city? The towers have names? I wonder if there’s an accurate map of where they are? What the hells do I even do? Her curiosity quickly turned into a deep scowl as her palms felt the grip of a sword once more, if I see that damned Direktor though, he’s done. Whatever pain the cult’s caused will end one way or another. As her hand tightened with a bubbling fury, Sophie could only lament the fact that there was nothing she could do, for now.