An eye-watering stench wafted up from the valleys of Tonberg’s sewer system. Drayya pinched her nose while Lieze squinted her eyes to make out the markings of a faded map.
“You can forget about asking me to come down here ever again.” Drayya said, “I’ve had enough of sewers for one lifetime. And right after I decided to bathe, too…”
Lieze didn’t respond. The diagram in her grasp had clearly been hand-drawn by either a man with two fingers on each hand, or a suitably maddened patient of a mental asylum. Scribbled pathways were layered over one-another like two separate maps accidentally stamped onto the same slip of parchment, annotated with the sort of lunacy only an enthusiast of sewers could muster.
“If I’m reading this correctly - and I can’t guarantee that - then we should be directly below the city square.” She paused, “Place the barrel upright against that wall. This is as good a spot as we’re ever going to find.”
Drayya was hunched over, rolling a barrel across the uneven walkway and trying her best not to let it fall into the river of waste flowing down the middle of the sewer. With a heave, she set the wooden cylinder upright against the wall, staring towards the featureless ceiling with a look of concern.
“Are you sure?” She asked, “Wouldn’t there be a manhole somewhere in the square?”
“There wasn’t one when we were there during Alma’s execution..” Lieze replied, “We should be underneath the fountain. I was half-expecting the sewers to open up a little, but this will do.”
“And Sokalar will come through here? You’re certain of it.”
“The square is a point of strategic importance. It provides access to every major road running through the southern district.” She explained, “If my father is going to attack the south, then the square will be his goal. It won’t be possible for Alistair to reclaim ground if he progresses that far.”
“What about this black powder?” Drayya rapped her knuckles against the lid, “It’s damp down here, so it might not end up exploding. And we’ll need someone to detonate it.”
“A stray spark could ignite it, and it will remain dry for as long as we keep the lid on.” Lieze replied, “When the time comes, I will detonate it. A more realistic worry is that it won’t do quite the amount of damage we desire. We’ve never tested the powder, after all.”
“Believe me - they use barrels like these to blow holes in the sides of mountains.” Drayya smirked, “You won’t believe the kind of destruction this little barrel is capable of. That’s why I yelled at you when you shoved it into the manhole, and it’s also why I don’t want to be the one to detonate it. Frankly, I don’t think it’s possible to blow it up here without sacrificing a cultist.”
“I’ll find a way.” Lieze said, “We should return to the surface. I’m expecting a fruitful report from Marché.”
Kill Sokalar’s Deathguards.
It wasn’t the sort of objective Lieze ever thought she’d be considering, but it was the most sensible option given their disadvantage in numbers. Killing them one-by-one would be too methodical and risky. If Sokalar discovered that Lieze was still alive, he wouldn’t hesitate to hunt her down. He was the sort of man who despised annoyances with a passion.
Lieze had acquired a map of the sewers beneath Tonberg from Baccharum. His allegiances technically rested with the Order, but there was no reason for Lieze to divulge her betrayal to him. She would bleed him dry of resources while she still had the opportunity.
The barrel of Dwarven black powder she and Drayya had retrieved from the workshop was about to fulfil its purpose. If the Deathguards couldn’t be killed individually, then Lieze would simply decimate their numbers all at once.
The trip back to the eastern district through the sewers was tiresome but steady. A half-hour later, Lieze was pushing aside a manhole in an alleyway, peeking out from the ladder for any signs of enemies before vaulting over the top. Drayya followed closely behind, accompanying the girl as she wandered out to the main road before disappearing into the first house on the left.
The staircase creaked underfoot. A stepladder had been extended from the dusty loft, causing cold air to waft down. Lieze held back a sneeze as she ascended the steps and walked over to an open window angled against the descending ceiling, lifting herself with both hands onto the rust-coloured shingles of the roof.
Marché was perched next to a creaking weather vane, spyglass held to his single working eye.
“Have you spotted the Order?” Lieze asked.
“I’ve glimpsed them here and there, between the gaps of buildings.” He replied, “They’re moving, just not very quickly. I haven’t seen any more of them here in the east, so Sokalar must have mobilised his entire army.”
From that vantage, the entire city and the world beyond its walls could be seen. Artificial Scions circled the royal castle like gulls, patiently awaiting Alistair’s orders. Lieze surveyed the dying city, taking note of the eerie silence which had descended upon its streets.
“To think I’d ever see the jewel of the Sovereign Cities reduced to an uninhabited husk…” She said, “I wonder what Alistair fights for? He may be king, but now there are only beasts to recognise his reign. Most of the remaining civilians will be killed by my father once he reaches the southern district.”
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“How are you planning to communicate this plan of yours?” Marché asked, “I suppose you’ll be able to hear the army from above, but it takes a good half-hour to reach the square from here. By the time you make it there, Sokalar may have already moved on.”
“I don’t expect him to attack during the day.” She said, “A good thing, too. We can use the cover of darkness to stalk his army from the shadows. Once we’re close enough and certain that he and his Deathguards are approaching the square, I’ll duck into the sewers and detonate the barrel.”
“Is that wise?”
“No.”
“Of course not…” Marché handed the spyglass in her direction, “Have a look for yourself.”
She tried her best to peer through the gaps of buildings, but it was near-impossible to survey Sokalar’s army from that distance. The most she could spot were stray Gravewalkers or the shadows of particularly high-level Deathguards levitating through the air.
“We’ll stay here for a few hours.” Lieze handed the spyglass back, “Once the sun falls, we’ll approach the southern district. How are the rest of your followers handling the orders I gave them?”
“About as quickly as you would expect.” Marché replied, “They’re currently prioritising the improvement of weaker thralls. We’re approaching the upper limit of our maximum capacity for undead servants, so losing the corpses in the cemetery wasn’t as big of a loss as you might think.”
“If the two of you are quite done, could we perhaps get back inside?” Drayya clutched her shoulders, “There’s a terrible draft up here.”
The three of them descended into the loft once more. It was only a matter of time until Sokalar launched his attack on the southern district, so there were a few hours for Lieze to waste away. Thankfully, there was something worth investigating during that downtime.
While Drayya and Marché idled in the cramped living room, she retreated to the safety of the second-floor bedroom. There was still the matter of the Blackbriar’s ‘contract’ to consider, and the benefits she had reaped from signing it. The two Heavenly Favours she’d received from the Gildwyrm and Furainé were gone, presumably replaced with two others of the Blackbriar’s choosing.
Ability - Heavenly Favour (Strengthen Undead) Description - Use 1 Heavenly Favour to bestow a gift of strength upon every thrall under your command. For 15 minutes, every thrall that fulfils this condition has its level increased by 30%, with all the benefits that accompany the change. Thralls will return to their original level at the end of the duration.
It was useful. Far more useful than the Gildwyrm’s antithetical [Destroy Undead] Favour. Specimens like the Blackbriar created from Helmach’s corpse were already formidable in combat, but under the effects of [Strengthen Undead], they would be near-unstoppable.
“Let’s see what the other replacement is…” Lieze muttered.
Ability - Heavenly Favour (Summon Supreme Flesh Golem) Description - Use 1 Heavenly Favour to summon a Supreme Flesh Golem for 2 hours. The creature is level [80], 50 ft tall, and follows your every command until the end of this Favour’s duration, at which point the Golem disintegrates. Multiple Golems can be summoned using multiple Heavenly Favours.
“A Flesh Golem… they’re not particularly difficult to create using alchemy, but they generally require a large investment of preserved flesh…” She placed a hand to her chin, “And this is an especially high-grade Golem which I can summon as long as I have Favours free… I’m sure it will come in handy.”
The Blackbriar had granted her power, but at what cost? Lieze was still unaware of the Scions’ true purpose, and the Gods seemed especially defensive regarding their origins. There was a greater mystery yet to unravel, but with the destruction of the Library of Uke, there wasn’t anywhere left in the city Lieze could visit to gather information.
“...No. That isn’t true.” She blinked, “Surely Lüngen will have something to say about it.”
The Order’s archivist was the most well-read man Lieze had ever known. Indeed, his appearance in Tonberg marked one of the rare occasions when he was actually absent from his library in the Deadlands. If there was one man who knew a thing or two about the Scions and the elusive Light in Chains, it would be him.
“...And he’s now my enemy.” Lieze’s hopeful expression deflated. Reducing the man who had tutored her from a young age to something as basic as an ‘enemy’ caused the patch of thorns in her heart to tighten.
“I’ll have to make sure not to accidentally murder him…” She noted.
There was nothing left to do but whittle away the hours until sunset. When she returned to the downstairs living room, Drayya was watching for threats through a window overlooking the street while Marché had his nose buried in a bestiary plundered from the bookshelf.
“This is an old, old revision.” He grumbled, “It speaks of Drakes and Dragons as if they’re still clouding the skies above the northern mountains.”
“You have to admit that those Dwarves really know what they’re doing when it comes to exterminating nuisances.” Drayya replied, “We’ll be headed that way after Tonberg, won’t we? Then to Akzhem once we’ve smoked every last Dwarf out of their anthills.”
“That’s if we ever move on from Tonberg…” He muttered, “Bascoroch, Dolore, and Saptra fell without much resistance at all. What is it about Tonberg that’s managed to stall the Order for so long?”
“Well, I don’t think any of us were expecting Ricta to rope the Gildwyrm into the siege.” Drayya said, “If he hadn’t gotten so lucky, we would have taken the city right then and there.”
Lieze couldn’t stomach the thought. If the Gildwyrm hadn’t appeared that day, she would have never received her scale. The mere possibility of returning to those days was enough to make her gag.
Hours passed in welcome silence, and soon enough, the azure sky became stained with amber. In another hour, the stars would be visible.
“...It’s about that time, isn’t it?” Drayya glanced towards the window.
“Yes.” Lieze stopped leaning against the wall, “It’s time to move. We need to observe Sokalar’s movement if we want this ‘ambush’ to be effective. Marché?”
“Yes, yes. I’m coming.” He stood from his chair, “There’s an alleyway that runs parallel to the southern road not far from here. We can use that for cover while we observe.”