There were four guards currently manning the front gate, each one wearing a combination of gambeson, chainmail, and tabard that displayed a shield insignia with intricate decorative patterns. It was probably the local lord's family crest or some other regent identifier. Regardless, these guards looked dressed for war and ready for trouble. They seemed like the grizzled and hardened type, forged through combat and difficult situations. I was feeling nervous that they might see through my disguise by pure merit of being impenetrable hard asses.
We would be finding out soon enough as we came to a stop before the gates and a guard approached us. “State your business,” he said simply, though with a slight air of boredom. This was another day at the office for him, and I wondered if that line was drilled into him through repetition.
“Yes, I am a merchant looking to sell some of my quality goods. I assure you that I have an excellent selection for purchase by the discerning customer. If you are also in need of some more supplies of a military nature, I have in my possession a crate of high-quality crystals just waiting for you to snatch up.”
The man craned his neck a bit to see into the back of the cart, eyeing the supplies that were there. “We could use a fresh infusion of goods. There have been reports of banditry as of late, and it’s already disrupted several of our normal shipments.”
That sounded like Norwik was in the area and holding true to his promise. I’d definitely have to thank the man the next time I got the chance. The guard continued with his job though. “Might I see your permits for these goods?” and held out his hand expectantly.
“Of course, sir,” I responded as confidently as I could and started fishing around inside the satchel for the forged document. With a fluid motion I removed the paper with a soft rustling and presented it to the man, who scanned through all the necessary areas. As he confirmed that the document was legitimate, I did my best not to hold my breath, but it felt like he was taking an eternity. My grip on the leather reigns tightened as each painful second crawled by while trying to maintain a casual countenance.
Finally, he confirmed, “Everything seems to be in order here” and handed back the paper. “We’ll get these gates open for you. Proceed down the street and to the left and you’ll find the guest quarters where you may acquire lodging for your stay here. Be forewarned, sir, wandering about in certain areas without consent may land you in trouble. If you aren’t sure, ask any soldier you see, and they’ll point you in the right direction. I hope your stay is beneficial for us all.”
“Thank you for the welcome and the words of advice. May the rest of your day be pleasant,” I responded, cordially, and with a great amount of relief.
The guard nodded at me and then shouted up to an unseen person inside the gatehouse, “Open the gates!” It took a moment, but in response to the command, the creaking and groaning of heavy metals and woods started to fill the air. First the drop gate slowly rose from its place of rest and into the internal structure of the portcullis. Then, the large wooden and metal reinforced gates started to moan and part open for us.
This was it; Yol’vastume had opened its doors for us. We were past the point of no return. It was do or die now, and I was determined to see that this was a success. The doors finally completed the process of opening all the way and banged slightly against the walls of the gatehouse, echoing a little against the arched stone pathway.
With the way now clear, Holdrem spurred the horses forward and we proceeded into the belly of the beast. I’m not sure what I expected the interior to look like, but I was pleasantly surprised, and maybe a little disappointed, to see that it looked quite similar to other cities. It seemed that Thrainian architecture was standardized, which probably made it easier to plan out cities and castles like this. Well, I guess they are adherents of the good old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
The streets between the buildings were cleaner than most I had seen, at least; probably a side effect of having drilled littering and other disruptive behaviors out of the soldiers who dominated the population. Soldiers were wandering around in groups, dressed in more casual clothing, apparently off duty but with swords attached to their hips, just in case something happened. The squads were most likely born out of some shared fondness for their casual activities.
Shortly after, as we followed the direction of the gate guard, I saw something small suddenly dash out into the street in front of me from between a pair of houses. I yanked on the reigns which caused the horses to whinny as they came to a stop. A sharp exclamation drew my attention down to the little obstacle and I realized that it was a child. They looked rather shocked, evidently not expecting a cart to almost hit them.
I felt a little annoyed at their carelessness. “Watch where you’re going, kid. You can get hurt running into the street like that.”
“S-sorry, sir!” they quickly replied before running away.
I shook my head. Kids will get into trouble no matter where they are... Kids... A sudden realization struck me, and it filled me with dread.
There were young Thrainian kids running around, laughing, yelling, and generally just having fun with their friends. A few mothers were nearby; ladies wearing lovely dresses and gossiping with one another while keeping an eye on the kids. As I realized the implication of this, the thought that we would be laying siege to this place and putting these women and children into the middle of a warzone with no guarantee that they wouldn’t be part of the casualties created an acidic feeling in the pit of my gut.
It was a grim reminder of the reality of the situation, of war. I probably couldn’t do anything to keep them safe from the chaos that was unknowingly falling upon them without tipping our hand, but I wanted to. I really did. There was no point in dwelling upon it right now; it would only make me feel worse, and I needed to keep my wits about me until I could get some measure of control over this situation.
The first thing would be to acquire some lodgings, and after that, begin selling my wares and making connections here. I needed an opportunity to see more of the castle grounds, get a backstage tour of a sort to see if there was something hidden from the wandering eye that I could exploit. Not only that, but I needed to find out where they kept the slaves so we could conduct a rescue operation and get them out of harm's way, or perhaps into the fight that would happen, should they be willing.
The directions that were given to me allowed us to quickly find the guest inn. It was marked with a sign hanging out over the front door that showed a simple picture of a bed with the words for inn underneath, for any who could read. We stopped out front for now, and I went in to talk with the owner about getting a room.
It was rather plain inside. Wood predominated and there were hardly any decorations. I suppose this wasn’t exactly a tourist destination and it was probably the only inn here, so there wasn’t any need to attempt to make themselves more appealing to outdo the competition. There was a man behind the greeting counter who looked a little bored before noticing me.
“Ahh, welcome, sir. Just get in I take it?” His greeting seemed friendly enough, more so than mere professional courtesy anyway. Maybe he just wanted someone to talk to.
“Yes, I was directed here by the gate guard. He said that I could find some lodging with you.”
“Indeed! Good man that Gareth, a little too serious, though, if you ask me. Could definitely stand to have a drink and relax every now and then.”
“Well, I only met the man today, so I'll just take your word for it. Now, to business then. I need a room and a place for my horses, cart, and slaves. Do you have the appropriate facilities for all these things?”
He nodded assuredly. “Aye, we got what you’re looking for and we’re the only inn that accepts guests here. How long you looking to stay?”
“Not sure exactly; depends on how fast I can conduct business here. It will probably be a few days at the very least.”
He stroked his chin a little in a contemplative manner. “A few days, huh. Well, considering all your luggage, and the cost of feeding your living property, let’s say a silver and a half for three days.”
I raised a brow at that price. “Seems a little expensive for three days.”
The man shrugged and looked a little smug. “Hey, it’s not easy keeping someone else's property fed and watered. You’re free to look for another option if you don’t find the prices agreeable.”
He was trying to leverage his position against me, but I wouldn’t be so easily taken advantage of. “How about you make it five days and I will give you some favorable deals if you come by while I'm selling some of my goods.” This was in line with my current disguise and might attract some other customers from whom I could harvest information.
By the look on his face, he seemed interested and confirmed as much a moment later. “I can work with that. Will definitely be stopping by, then, once you’re set up. Best keep your end of the deal though.”
“Don’t you worry about that.” I put the money on the table, and he swept it away and out of sight. “Why don’t you show me what I just bought.”
“Sure thing.” He stepped out from behind the counter and started walking into the building with a gesture for me to follow. “We got the rooms down this hall over here. Have your pick; no one else here to contest you on that.”
The simple hallway had four doors, two on the left, and two on the right. Small candleholders were placed on the wall between each of these doors, the candles currently in them were in various states of melting. Other than the candles, there
“Do I need a key?”
“Nah, each room is unlocked, but they do have privacy bolts on the inside.”
“Not worried about theft I take it?”
He burst into boisterous laughter. “Theft, ha, that’s a good one. Who would be stupid enough to come to this place and attempt to steal anything?”
The self-assuredness of being surrounded by a literal army. Everyone here knows the person next to them, and that person knows the person next to them, and so on and so forth. Strangers like myself would stick out like a sore thumb, making it very easy to pick out a culprit for any kind of nefarious activities that might have taken place.
I took a peek inside a room to see what I was dealing with. The room itself was a bit larger than the last one I had been in. The bed was bigger, higher quality too. I suppose the wealth of this town can find its way into even the most unassuming of places. There was a trunk at the end of the bed to hold my personal items, a table pushed up against the corner of the room with a simple chair in front of it, and lastly a window with wooden shutters. All told, I was satisfied with the accommodations.
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Moving on, he went out to the back of the building. Once there, he pointed out a little addition that was attached to the side of the main building like an afterthought. “You can have your slaves stay in there.” He commented offhandedly before gesturing over in another direction. “Your horses can be put in there.”
‘In there’ was a stable, though it wasn’t a full building, more like someone took one and cut it in half. “Very well, I'll get them all situated in their proper places. Anything else I should know or that you wish to tell me?”
“Nothing that comes immediately to mind. If something does come up, I'll be sure to mention it then. I guess you’ll be getting into your business now. Let me know when you’re open, and I'll browse the wares.”
I nodded to him and then went to retrieve my companions from the spot where they were patiently waiting. With a little urging, the horses were driven behind the building and just left to idle while we all checked out the accommodations for slaves. The little add-on of a room was cramped and dark. It seemed bunkbeds were the flavor of the week this time, and there were many of them, aligned and stacked to maximize capacity. It all gave the impression of sardines in a can.
Jorn spoke up first, as he stumbled into the dark room. “Well, at least it beats the stables, barely.”
“Hey, we slept in worse places,” Otar commented. “Remember when we stopped for the night in that ruined house while tracking Thrainian patrols? It rained all throughout the night with a giant hole in the roof.”
“Rain is quite awful,” Holdrem chimed in. “Sleeping in the mud always leaves my scales filthy, and difficult to clean.”
“This isn’t too different from the room I slept in while I was a slave,” Kala pointed out. “It was less cramped though.”
They all meandered about and picked a bed out that they thought best suited them. As they started that, I made an announcement. “You guys get settled in. I'll be back in a little bit.”
“Where are you going?” Otar asked.
“To see how far I can get into this place before I'm stopped, and then pick out a spot to do some business. It probably won’t take more than an hour. Also, it would be wise to keep the chatter to a minimum. Probably not the sort of thing that is tolerated around here and we don’t need any slip ups.” Everyone acknowledged that with some grim nods.
With nothing else keeping me here, I went out for my little scouting session. Well, I called it scouting to make it sound more like I knew what I was doing. In truth, I was mostly just wandering around and taking in the sights and trying to identify anything of use. So far all I found was a handful of bars spread about intermittently, a few smiths, woodworkers, and fabric stores accompanying them. These were all things that were probably necessary for keeping a population of soldiers both equipped and entertained.
I was stopped and redirected a few times by guards protecting the divisions between what was essentially the common areas, where the businesses were located; the private sector, which was only open to the soldiers and their families; and the upper echelons, which were reserved for officers and nobles. The main keep was in the upper area, and its stone square of a building was daunting as a prospect for sieging by itself. I was too far away to pick out the details, but from what I could see I imagined there were plenty of places from where defenders could attack while leaving those on the offensive completely exposed.
The more I saw, the more this place looked like a harder nut to crack. Perhaps it was time to start getting connected to the people of this place and seeing if they could give up some secret weakness. There was a spot in the common area where a lot of foot traffic goes through that would be good to set up and begin selling some goods while getting information from the locals.
I went back to the inn and collected my little ragtag group and the cart so we could get to business. The cart, having been left with the horses attached, was already good to go, so we set out towards the chosen place of business. I gave a heads-up to the innkeeper about where I was going, and he acknowledged that he would be stopping by after finishing a little work of his own.
Fine by me; I would get started without him. We made it there and had no issues with getting the contents of the cart prepared for sale, which was mostly just arranging them in a way that would ensure it was all visible. We were ready to go, and I awaited the first customer eagerly.
I admit that I might have had a little bit of an unrealistic expectation for how it would play out. I assumed that the simple presence of the goods would just start attracting people who wanted to buy something, but it seemed that there were certain elements that were needed in order to drum up business: showmanship, personality, something to get their attention and make them willing to spend their money. You might get a few customers just sitting there and waiting for them to come to you, but being proactive was necessary to get more than just a wandering glance.
I was a little nervous, maybe a little embarrassed as well, but I took a breath and called out in my best barker voice to the passersby. “Come all and see the many goods I have for sale! I’ve got something for everyone, from the mundane to the master-crafted, there will be at least one thing that takes your fancy amongst the plethora of objects before you.” I really hoped that my ears wouldn’t turn red from the awkwardness of this, and with them being larger than normal they would be even more noticeable. Suddenly I had a new appreciation for the casual way that other street vendors seemed to attract customers.
My embarrassment wasn’t for naught though, and I managed to capture the attention of two passing soldiers and a lady who came over to see what the commotion was about. A small start, but one has to start somewhere. I still seized the opportunity to talk with them and attempt to ask some subtle questions that appeared to be nothing more than a mundane curiosity. The questions ranged from idle talk about the soldier’s postings, if they see trouble all that often, and I even ventured to ask if there had ever been any close calls while they served here.
To my dismay, they confirmed that no outside force had ever gotten close to breaking past the outer wall. There must be some trick that they use, perhaps magic, that keeps the walls from crumbling in the face of a siege, but I had already been talking with them for a while and that seemed like too much of a risk to ask such a question when I was supposed to be interested in selling them things.
At least I did manage to make some money, so little victories. One soldier walked away with a new woodcutting axe and the other purchased a bottle of wine. The lady seemed interested in the tea set, but she didn’t have the funds to make a purchase like that, as it was high quality. She didn’t have any information that was useful to me either, mostly just details about her husband’s job.
That was fine though; plenty of other people to probe for answers. The innkeeper came around a little while later, and I asked him some fairly innocuous questions as well, while leading him towards mentioning something juicy about the defenses of this place. Nothing overly insightful, but he did make an offhand complaint about the smell from a nearby armory during cleaning week. While it wouldn’t be anything crippling, denying them access to some of their arms and armor would probably help any assault. Making note of that for potential sabotage, I moved on and sold him a discounted bottle of wine.
Maybe it was because I was still new at this whole spy business, but even after an hour and a couple dozen more customers had passed, I still could not find any weaknesses through simple chatter with the rank and file. Perhaps I wasn’t asking the right questions, or maybe I didn’t know how to ask the right questions, in a way that wouldn’t arouse suspicion. Every time I opened my mouth I was overcome with a sense of fear that I would say something wrong, do something suspicious, blow our cover and doom everyone. My response to that fear was caution. Maybe too much of it. But in my mind, it was better than the alternative.
I needed something though, and these simple questions weren’t getting me anything other than a friendly conversation. It felt strange, smiling at the enemy, pretending that I wasn’t plotting to destroy this place, and that most of them would probably be dead if I did manage to pull something off. It created a twisting feeling deep in my guts; like every smile, chuckle, and handshake between us was overshadowed by me holding a knife behind my back.
I shook myself out of it. This was a war, one that was being perpetuated by a particularly deranged individual. It was past the point of talking it out and finding a peaceful resolution long before I came here. People would die, whether I did anything or not. I just had to make sure that the best possible outcome has the highest chance of occurring once all the bloodshed is done.
There were many faces that passed by my little display, some staying longer than others. None of them were anyone special, and I didn’t think I would be seeing anyone that was. But it seemed that I would be visited by a very interesting character.
The first thing that was different and what initially brought my attention to this individual was that all the soldiers saluted as he passed. The second thing was the way that he was dressed. On his upper torso he wore an expensive looking royal blue coat with gold trimmings and a tail lazily flapping behind him as he walked. Below that were pure white pants that looked to be made from exquisite material that would never chaff. The uniform ended in black boots, polished to a shine. Upon the chest of his coat was same sigil I had seen on the gate guard’s tabards, which would make him a member of the ruling house.
His features were fair, angled and powerful. Golden hair was tied in a short ponytail that touched the lowest part of his neck. Not a single hair graced his face, leaving its surface smooth and practically glistening. He was no slouch, either. His shoulders were broad and chest full. His arms had enough muscle that they were impressive but not so much that they would appear to be brutish. And the grace of a dancer was in his steps as he glided across the stone street with a confident gait. By all accounts, the man was probably as close to perfection as you could wish for in a person, and he was heading directly towards me.
In the face of such radiating power, I briefly forgot my etiquette, but luckily remembered myself just as he came to a stop in front of me. Giving a formal bow I addressed the man as cordially as I could, “Greetings, sir. It is a pleasure to have you visit my humble stall. I assume I speak to a member of the ruling house of this land?”
“You would assume correctly.” He replied in a masculine voice that rolled off the tongue smoothly. “It speaks well of you that your observational skills are refined enough to recognize that much from a brief glance. I must also applaud your demeanor, sir. You conduct yourself as a proper gentleman should. Raise your head, I would prefer to speak directly to you.”
I did so and was now face to face with him. “How might this humble merchant assist you, sir...?”
“Balidor Kirthwain, head of the Kirthwain household and owner of the ground upon which you stand. I wish to purchase some of your stock.”
The fucking owner of Yol’vastume! Panic leaped into my heart, and I had to fight to keep it from my face. No, wait, don’t freak out; this could actually be a good thing. If I were able to get close to him, I could potentially get him to let slip something important. All I have to do is not fuck this up.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir. I am Arkin Sothalis. How might I assist you today?”
“Word has come to me that you are in possession of crystals in bulk. Perhaps we might come to an arrangement on their transfer of ownership?”
“I would love to discuss such a deal, sir.” I turned and gestured at Jorn and Otar. “Bring out the crystals so that Lord Balidor might inspect them.” The two of them got to it and moved the heavy crate of magical minerals so that it was right next to me. I cracked open the lid, revealing the plethora of glowing crystals. “Feel free to appraise them, sir.”
He did just that, reaching into the box and retrieving a large crystal from within. The crystal was turned over a few times and examined with a discerning eye from different angles. “These are impressive. Clarity is high, energy flow is clean, and the size is certainly worthy of respect.”
He looked into the box and scanned over the other crystals there for a moment before returning his attention to me. “What say you to three gold pieces for the lot?”
Three pieces of gold was not an insignificant amount of money; however, in my training with Dart I learned the approximate price for such things, and he was low-balling me. “Three gold would be good, if these were lantern crystals. I feel that for the quality of goods I offer, the price would need to be somewhat higher than that if I am to part with them in a manner I could be satisfied with.”
Balidor chuckled a little before placing the crystal he was holding back into the crate. “Well, it appears you are no fool pretending to play the part of a merchant, at least. That is good. I am interested in discussing this deal further, what would you say to...” He cut himself off as he turned his head down the street.
When I followed his gaze, I saw someone jogging towards us. The focus of this runner was on Balidor, and when he reached him, he bowed quickly and then presented two letters. “My lord, I apologize for interrupting, but these just arrived from Lord Toldir and Lady Renval. They are marked as urgent.”
Balidor sighed before accepting the messages. “Can’t even have an afternoon to myself,” I heard him mumble before turning his attention back to me. “Forgive me Mr. Sothalis, but it seems that I am needed elsewhere. Perhaps we might continue our negotiations at a later time?”
I can hardly pass up such an opportunity. “I will look forward to it, sir.”
He clapped his hands together in a satisfied way. “Excellent. I look forward to our conversation.” With that, he turned on his heel and strode off back to whatever business would occupy his time today.
I was a bit stunned by the whole interaction and found that I couldn’t even move for a brief moment after he had left. This was so beyond what I expected would happen on my first day here. However, if I played my cards right, I could walk away from this with the insight I needed. But first, I would have to prepare for a date with the devil.