Chapter 40 - Infiltration
The Acolytes were still reeling from the attack by Baccharum’s thugs. With no connections to the Church to speak of, they could only rely on themselves for protection. Those who decided the risk was far too great - zealous countrymen with families and children - began to abandon the brotherhood in droves as morale collapsed. Those who remained were linked by a single chain; the ever-fervent Helmach, who had brought the Acolytes back from the brink of disintegration more times than he could count.
But all was not well with the man. While Helmach had always been a quiet sort, he certainly wasn’t above friendliness or the occasional round of banter. When he returned from a certain nightly outing, however, his silence seemed less contemplative and more forced. The news of Helmach’s cardinal punishment spread through the precinct slowly, but not even his most trusted lieutenants dared to ask the man if he still had his tongue.
“We were short on gold again this month…” Sitting at his desk, he quietly listened to his follower’s report, “Three men left today. Four yesterday. But, even with them gone, we still don’t have enough money to pay every man a living wage.”
Over the course of his leadership, Helmach had been paying for the support of his men out of his own pocket. The wage he’d received as a Dragon Cardinal was generous enough to buy loyalty quite comfortably for a number of years. But no longer was he a Dragon Cardinal. Wherever that gold had disappeared to, it no longer belonged to him. His coffers had finally dried up, leaving only the most loyal Acolytes tolerating his cheapness out of misplaced honour.
“...Besides that, we’ve had a number of men scouring the city for info on Lieze’s whereabouts.” His follower continued, “They haven’t turned up much. Bits and pieces. But she can’t stay hidden forever. Not if she intends to make a move here in Tonberg.”
A simple wave of the hand told the Acolyte that Helmach had heard all he needed to know. It was a gesture of dismissal. It had become rather clear that one was required to understand those gestures if they wanted to remain under Helmach’s wing. Without another word, the follower disappeared.
Helmach was copying lines from the Verse of Staraz onto fresh pages - a habit no longer expected of him beyond the monastery's walls, but one which he nonetheless continued. The written word seemed to calm his ever-tested nerves, though at that moment, it only served as a grim reminder of his sudden inability to speak coherently. Even the half-eaten loaf of bread on his desk brought too much attention to his discarded tongue.
He wanted to see Morgan. She whose words would always soothe his heart. Lieze had assured that even that simple desire was snuffed out. He could no longer leave the precinct without painting a target on his back. His bastion against the darkness had transformed into a crumbling prison.
Hatred stirred in his heart. He wanted to maim somebody. The hateful desire to injure and harm had always cursed him in moments such as those. His mentors in the monastery had put everything to use in suppressing those urges - whips, canes, belts… they forced him to believe that such feelings were a test of his faith. He needed to bottle them up, or the Lord would never accept him as worthy.
Morgan had pushed him in the opposite direction. His curse, she had told him, was neither a bane nor a boon, but a form of penitence. It was his responsibility to accept the burden of those urges, and direct them towards the enemies of mankind. If it wasn’t for her gentle forgiveness, the death of Noma would have destroyed Helmach’s mind long ago.
He was no monk. Not anymore. Even at that moment, as he devoted himself to scripture, the flesh of his palm twisted with a wicked longing to be released again. Placing his quill down, Helmach took hold of the blade propped up against the desk, placing it back into its harness as he suddenly felt a need for fresh air.
Two Acolytes recoiled as they opened the doors of the precinct to reveal his gargantuan form. Yes - they attempted to hide it, but for an instant, all they could see in front of them was a beast, rather than a man. Helmach’s blood boiled at their shared silence. He imagined how easy it would have been to cleave through their midsections with a single swing of his greatsword.
Then, collecting himself, he could only manage a tired sigh as he wandered past the two returnees, who quickly shuffled through the doorway.
Once the doors were closed, the twin Acolytes hovered by the entranceway. While their faces were hidden by rust-coloured hoods, their body language made the two seem like it was their first time ever setting foot in the precinct.
“...Nobody here.” One of them spoke, “-Or, at least, not in this room.”
“Try to keep your voice down.” The other replied, “Attracting attention is the last thing we want.”
“As long as we don’t let anyone touch us, the illusion will hold.” A beat passed, “...We timed this well. Helmach won’t be back for a while.”
“Do you think he suspected anything?”
“I’d like to say ‘no’, but knowing him…”
Despite wearing the uniform of the Acolytes, the two of them couldn’t have worded their intentions more suspiciously. Indeed, though they wore the faces and mimicked the inflections of Helmach’s subordinates, the truth was far more sinister. A truth masked by the guising influence of the God of Many Faces.
Lieze felt uncomfortable. Her voice wasn’t her own, and the robes she wore hovered a few inches away from her skin, as if propped up by some invisible force. She couldn’t have felt any less like herself, and neither could she be convinced that the man accompanying her into the precinct was actually Drayya.
Quest "Hidden in Plain Sight" Complete! Reward - 1,000xp
“Just how much time did you spend practising transmutation magic in the Order?” Lieze asked.
“T-That’s not important, is it? It’s just a hobby of mine…” Drayya replied, “Let’s turn our attention to more pressing matters, shall we? Helmach seems to have left his desk unattended.”
-And what a desk it was. Despite his excommunication from the Church, Helmach still seemed to be receiving plenty of letters stamped with golden wax. He didn’t appear to have opened most of them, leaving precarious stacks of envelopes piling up on the peeling wooden desk. A paper still wet with ink awaited in the centre, half-filled with verses written with slow, deliberate calligraphy.
“Verse of Staraz… Verse of Staraz… Verse of Staraz…” Drayya allowed her fingers to explore a bookshelf off to the side, exposing layers upon layers of repeated writings, “Goodness. Is this really what he gets up to in his spare time? I almost feel sorry for him.”
“I was hoping we would find a personal letter or two, but Helmach doesn’t seem like the type of man who enjoys receiving anything in the post…” Lifting an envelope, Lieze broke the seal and allowed her eyes to scan the top of the most recent letter, “Minister Murin, 29 Honeysuckle Lane… ‘I wish to express my gratitude for the labourers you provided to aid in the reconstruction of our chapel…’”
“Try to stay focused, Lieze.” Drayya reminded.
“What am I to do? There’s no way of telling who these letters were sent by without painstakingly opening each and every one…”
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“Don’t search for the unopened envelopes. Those are the ones he could care less about.” Shamelessly knocking over a tower of letters, Drayya pulled out the first one that seemed to be open from the resulting pile, “...Here - ’Furainé Morgan’. This is our woman, isn’t it?”
“Does it say anything interesting?”
“Hm. ‘Dear Helmach…’” She began, “‘It has been far too long… wish to see you again. Uh… rumours of necromancy…’ I have to ask - are these two bedding one-another?”
“It does seem that way.” Lieze replied.
“-Wait. Hold on a minute…” Drayya’s gaze returned to the letter, “Listen here: ‘How is your ‘gift’ treating you? You seemed positively horrified during our meeting with the young master. I want you to understand that we were assigned these roles from birth. Do not think for a second that being chosen by the Blackbriar has anything to do with your beliefs. I know you are devoted only to our Lord. I would like for us to meet again in a few days’ time. Won’t you drop by the chapel at some point?’.”
“...Gift?” Lieze repeated the term with apprehension.
“Isn’t this sounding a little familiar to you?” Drayya asked.
“That’s… no.” She answered, “You’re reading into it too much. I think this might just be a coincidence.”
“Are you sure about that?” Drayya paused, “‘Chosen by the Blackbriar’? That sounds to me like precisely the sort of thing that occurred between you and the Gildwyrm on the day of the siege.”
Quest "Miracle" Complete! Reward - 3,000xp
Level Up! You are now level [18] HP + 0 MP + 55 MIND + 1
Level Up! You are now level [19] HP + 5 MP + 50 MIND + 1
The notification only confirmed Lieze’s fears. Was it really possible that she and Helmach were cut from the same cloth? If the Gildwyrm granted her the scale, why wouldn’t other deities be capable of bestowing the same gift upon others?
“...It might be possible.” Lieze admitted, “It would explain quite a few things. It always struck me as odd how suspicious he was of me from our first meeting. If his powers are comparable to mine, he would have been able to tell that I was a necromancer from a passing glance.”
“...Lieze.” Drayya’s face wasn’t her own, but her expression was worrisome regardless, “-Didn’t we just cross paths with Helmach a few minutes ago?”
“We did…” She paused, “Meaning, if what this letter says is true… he would have seen straight through our disguises.”
“But he didn’t attack us. For what reason?”
“Perhaps… because he’s like me?” Lieze theorised, “He wants to hide his blessing. It’s too powerful of a tool to be revealing to just anyone.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that he knows we’re here. Inside of his precinct.” Drayya warned, “I doubt we’ll discover anything more substantial, so why don’t we make ourselves scarce before he decides to come back?”
Unfortunately, there was no time for Lieze to decide, as her attention was suddenly caught by the sound of a door being kicked in. Craning her neck, she witnessed the outline of an Acolyte standing in the doorway of what appeared to be a miniscule scriptorium. A single golden spear hovered near his shoulder, which just as quickly flew towards Drayya with incredible speed, impaling itself in her midsection.
Technique Observed (+12%)
“Ugh!” Reflexively, her hands descended to take hold of the javelin, but the spell had already dissipated, leaving a clean hole in her robes. As the effects of her transmutation magic quickly faded away, the Acolyte uniform she’d ‘borrowed’ from an unfortunate victim was suddenly a few sizes too large for her.
“As I expected…” Their attacker deduced, “How very like a pair of necromancers to so shamelessly guise themselves with the faces of the deceased.”
Lieze quickly scanned the nameplate above his head while he was busy speaking.
Bartholomew Porter Level 13 Priest HP: 152 / 152 MP: 261 / 299 BODY - 2 / MIND - 4 / SPIRIT - 7
“-On my honour as an Acolyte of Reunification, I will personally see the two of you delivered to the afterlife.”
“Hah… this one likes to talk, doesn’t he?” Drayya’s breathing quickened as she placed a hand against her wound, “I do hope you brought some blood with you, Lieze…”
She had, but only a single litre’s worth. With no thralls to defend her, she would have to rely on her wits to survive the battle. As the Acolyte named Bartholomew wasted no time in summoning another javelin of light, Lieze took hold of Drayya’s arm and yanked the two of them behind Helmach’s desk. A combination of desperation and adrenaline allowed her to flip the table over without much effort at all, clouding the air with countless sheets of paper. As the two of them ducked behind the desk, a spear of light penetrated the space between their heads, sinking into the far wall.
Technique Observed (+12%)
“Dr- Drayya.” Lowering her voice to a whisper, Lieze placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder, “Can you cast a spell of invisibility on me?”
“...It’s not ‘invisibility’, Lieze. It’s-”
“I don’t care. Can you do it?”
Another spear broke through the desk, landing squarely in Lieze’s flank.
Lieze's HP - 129/172
The notification was almost a comfort. She knew she wasn’t going to die, at the very least. Though that didn’t make the searing pain any easier to tolerate.
“Okay! Okay…”
Relenting, Drayya closed her eyes in preparation for communion with the God of Many Faces. The mere seconds it took for her to cast a simple transmutation spell seemed to last forever, especially with burning javelins flying through their only cover. By the time Drayya was finished, another spear had already found its mark in Lieze’s side.
Lieze's HP - 84/172
“Go.”
As a strange tingling overwhelmed her senses, Lieze could only take Drayya’s word that the spell was successful. She half-expected to be targeted as soon as she moved out from behind the desk, but Bartholomew was so concerned with his magical assault that he didn’t even notice her shimmering form slinking towards the edges of the room.
With great difficulty, Lieze tried to avoid disturbing anything while sneaking around behind the enraged Acolyte, dipping into the cosy scriptorium behind him. While preparing to cast a spell of her own, she drew her dagger slowly so as not to make a sound. Blood pooled from her Bag of Holding into a crimson spike hovering in the air.
Her attack was twofold. First, the [Blood Spike] sank cleanly through Bartholomew’s spine, giving him barely any time to react as Lieze launched forward to thrust her dagger beneath his baggy robes.
Bartholomew’s HP - 102/152
Bartholomew’s HP - 71/152
-As expected, it wasn’t enough to deal a killing blow, but the sudden attack had caught Bartholomew by surprise, leaving Lieze with enough time to capitalise on his weakness and restrain him with her free hand, pulling the dagger from his flesh only to plumb his innards with a series of rapid stabs.
Bartholomew’s HP - 46/152
Bartholomew’s HP - 13/152
Bartholomew’s HP - 0/152
[Bartholomew Porter] Defeated
13xp Rewarded
The Acolyte died with a sudden gasp - equal parts pitiful and tragic - as his life seeped out from the deep cuts. Though he struggled against Lieze’s grasp, the rapid weakening of his body proved too much to bear, and within a matter of seconds, he was but a limp corpse held upright.
“Ah…” Lieze winced as pain surged from her twin wounds. She released her hold, allowing Bartholomew’s corpse to drop to the floor, “Drayya? Are you still alive?”
The girl in question poked her head over the top of the desk.
“Just about.” She answered, “Nice work.”
“There’s no time to celebrate…” Lieze replied, “Let’s get out of here before Helmach returns.”