When the captain, Rynn, and Jenika returned, Khaska and Amara were sitting outside the high justice’s office speaking to another man in slightly more fancy and polished armor. Two guards stood on either side of the door. As the group approached, the man speaking with Khaska turned to look at them. The captain immediately snapped to attention. “Colonel Abner, sir!” He saluted.
The Colonel returned the salute. “Welcome back, captain. We were worried about you. Last we heard you had discovered the missing carriage but were still tracking this Seth.”
“Yes sir, but, sir, we have other news.”
“Veleria was a vampire,” Rynn said. The colonel seemed unperturbed.
“We suspected as much. Your friends Khaska and Amara discovered evidence to that effect at Judge Stoneheart’s. Wait … she was a vampire?”
“She is dead, sir.”
The Colonel grimaced. “That’s unfortunate. She could have provided much information. And Seth?”
“He is the one that killed Veleria, sir. He left before we could persuade him to come here to the Hall of Justice.”
“He saved our lives, colonel,” said Jenika. “Veleria was about to kill Rynn.”
“That would have been a tragedy.” He held a hand out to Rynn. “Mister Fowler, I am Colonel Gareth Abner. Jenika of Shinadoh, it is a pleasure to meet you. Thank you both for your assistance in this matter. Please, tell me your story. What happened after you left the other city guards with the carriage?”
The Captain, Rynn, and Jenika all detailed what had happened. The colonel had Amara and Khaska tell what they had discovered.
“This is disturbing,” he said. “I will make a full report to the high justice. Please, wait here.”
He knocked on the door and waited. “Come in,” came the voice. The colonel disappeared inside.
“If Colonel Abner is here, that means they are taking this all very seriously. He is the highest-ranking member of the city watch,” the captain said.
They talked more about what had happened to them and the discoveries they had made while they waited. Eventually, the door opened, and the colonel beckoned the party to come inside.
The high justice was sitting at his large desk, the files and papers Amara had brought spread out in front of him. “I have been studying these for about an hour now, ever since Ms. Palladia brought them. It was obvious that Hormon was not doing his duty as a judge, and that also applies to the case he decided this morning. The one you were involved in. I haven’t fully decided how to handle these cases, and it is late and I wish to consult with some of the other judges. However,” he stood, “I have decided on your portion of the case, Mister Fowler. It is true that I disagree with how you handled the situation with this Adrian fellow. In a city bound by laws such as ours, the proper procedures must be followed. If we allowed everybody to run around killing those they thought deserved it, there would be no end of bloodshed, and I will not abide that. I hope you can understand.” Rynn started to say something, but the man held up a hand sharply. “Let me finish, young man. It is true, however, that in your vigilantism you have done this city several great services in uncovering the Shrine of Piety and now tracking this Veleria at my behest when time was critical. So, while I cannot in good conscience erase your conviction of vigilantism, for you did kill an unarmed, bound man, I will drop the fine to a single gold piece.” He reached down for a quill and ink and crossed out something atop one of the pages, writing something else in. “If you have the gold piece now, we can put this entire thing behind us.”
Rynn reached into his haversack and pulled forth a single coin. The high justice took it, and then handed it to Colonel Abner. “Colonel, make sure this gets into the city coffers.”
“Yes, high justice.”
“Now, you were also injured. Colonel Abner says that you have been partially healed, which is good. Downstairs you will find a cadre of city clerics with Hormon. Colonel, please show them out, and make sure Rynn is healed up on the way.”
“Yes, high justice.”
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Back at their inn, the party collapsed into a booth. The magical healing had put Rynn back to his full self, though Khaska was curious to examine the wound on his neck. There were two small scars where Veleria’s teeth had penetrated—and they would remain there forever, the cleric was quite confident.
As the party sat around the table and ordered food, that was when Amara brought out the note from Veleria’s desk and passed it around. “I bet they’ll find my fake,” she said. “But we have this one.”
“So the question is,” said Khaska. “What do we do with this information?”
“What do we do?” Rynn almost snapped. The ranger was clearly exasperated. “What do you mean? Haven’t we done enough already? We’ve already helped the innocents of this city as much as I know how. And how are we thanked for it? We get yanked around by the chain! No matter what we do, we get reprimanded or attacked. And now we don’t even know who we can trust.” He pointed at the letter. “Read it closely. ‘The services they bring us.’ ‘They,’ the Knights.”
“Whoa!” Amara looked at him quizzically. “I never got that impression. I thought it was referring to the Peaceful Children.” She glanced down at it again, rereading it. “I still think that’s who it’s referring to. If the Knights are forced to investigate, the Peaceful Children won’t be able to continue with … well, whatever they were doing.” She folded the paper up and set it back down on the table. “Besides, we all know the Knights can be trusted. They may not always see eye to eye on everything, or completely agree on the best way to handle things, but their oaths as paladins wouldn’t leave them much wiggle room when dealing with people like Veleria and her boss, this Lord Maramos. That’s just not how paladins work. If they did, they would likely lose their powers. It’s the nature of their divine magic.”
“Amara is right,” said Khaska. “The Knights, as paladins, are bound up by their particular form of divine power. Good clerics loose their magic if they stray too far from their God’s ways. This is even more true of paladins. Theirs is a very narrow path.”
“So do we give this to the Knights?” asked Jenika, indicating the letter.
“I did not get the impression that the high justice and Colonel Abner were untrustworthy,” Khaska said. “And I do think that we may be relying on the Knights too much. Sir Destinaxe said as much, and I do not think he was entirely wrong.”
“I think that Colonel Abner would be most interested in this letter,” said Jenika. “The fact that they are bringing in such a high-ranking authority does mean they are taking it seriously.”
“Or that the corruption is endemic at the top,” mused Amara. “Then again, giving such a letter to them may be useful for us. Perhaps they would tip their hand.” She thought about it. “I say we give it to them.”
Rynn shrugged. “Fine by me. I’m kind of done here. Time to move on from this city.”
Khaska gave him a long look, but didn’t object. “It is late,” the cleric said. “I will go to the Hall of Justice first thing in the morning.”
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“Under the circumstances, I cannot say I blame you for keeping this from us,” Colonel Abner said. His personal office was very sparse, but papers dotted the floor. He was a disorganized man. But Captain Jespers had warned them of this as he took them to see the colonel. Now Jenika and Khaska stood among the various files and affadavits and writings as the colonel looked over the letter. Captain Jespers was waiting outside.
“It was addressed to Feddy Rastirman,” Khaska said. “Perhaps he goes by an alias, and is secretly this Lord Maramos.”
The colonel shook his head, and folded up the letter. “Thank you, for bringing this to me. We will use it in the investigation.” He indicated all of the papers around the room. “As you can see, there is much work to be done.”
“Then we will leave you to it. Please let us know if we may be of further assistance,” said Khaska.
The colonel laughed. “You should take a break for a few days! We’ll handle it from here.” When he noticed that Khaska was not smiling, he grew just slightly more serious. “You have done a lot. Let some of us do our jobs for a change!” There was still a twinkle in his eye.
At that, Khaska did smile.
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Rynn walked up to the Faatin Merchant House’s headquarters. He had been serious when he said that he was mostly done with Hammerdine, and wished to get specific details from Hartwin about the caravan, so he could just show up the day of. He had been wanting to finish his other bow, and looked like he would have about eight days left to do so. Should be just about the right amount of time. He had spent yesterday wandering around the outside of the city and it was now getting towards late afternoon today. He had left again before the sun had been even a glimmer of light, just wanting to get away. Being away from the hubbub of the city was relaxing, even if it wasn’t true wilderness he had been traipsing through. He had found a nice grove of trees and worked some on his bow alone among nature with few of the sounds of the city reaching him over the brook that gently wound its way through the trees.
It was a complete difference to see the Faatin Merchant House’s complex. The courtyard was engulfed in chaos. Filled to the brim with various crates, boxes, carts, the place was absolutely crawling with people running about. “One of the guides?” a dwarven woman said, looking at him from her perch atop a filled cart, “your place is over there.” She indicated a corner, and then didn’t give him a second look, checking things off on a sheet of paper she was holding and barking more orders.
A man walked by, talking rapidly to another. “Had to move my merchandise here, now that they shut the Sendylus down!”
“Just glad we could help.”
“Move!” said one man, carrying a heavy sack through to place it on a cart. Rynn had to jump out of the way and Ranna had her tail stepped on as she also dodged people moving about and loading the carts up. Rynn whistled to her and they moved over to where the woman had indicated. Several people were standing around, including one elven woman feeding a hawk perched on her shoulder. Druids or rangers, by the look of them.
The elven woman glanced up. “You assigned to our caravan? Hi, I’m Lunatris, and this is Chilali.”
Rynn’s look of puzzlement must have tipped her off that he didn’t have a clue what was going on.
“So you’re not assigned to our caravan?”
“I was supposed to escort one in about a week, actually.”
One of the other men, who had been sharpening a longsword, looked up. “Oh.” He paused, then his eyes got wide. “Oh! You must be Ryan!”
“Rynn.”
“Rynn, sorry.” He indicated all around. “This mess is your fault you know,” he indicated the courtyard.
“What? How is this my fault?” Rynn was a little angry at the man.
Lunatris laughed. “You haven’t heard? The city watch shut down the Sendylus guild yesterday. Arrested Feddy Rastirman and everything. So now I guess I work for Mister Hartwin.”
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“You worked for the Sendylus guild?” he asked, immediately wary.
“That I did. Escorting caravans between here and Khel Zin, mostly.”
“If they shut down the Sendylus guild, then why are you here at all? Didn’t you get arrested?”
“Trade has to keep moving,” one of the others said. “And it’s not like every employee of the guild was involved in … well, whatever it was. Some nice Zones of Truth later, most of us were let go.”
“Yeah, word on the street is it was you and your friends that were involved in getting that whole thing started.” She looked at him amusedly. “So what was all of that?”
“Now, now,” came a voice, “let’s not pester Mister Fowler. I’m sure Hartwin wants to meet with him.” Another man walked up, and put his arm around Rynn. “Come on. You came to see Hartwin, right?”
Rynn nodded.
“Come with me.”
A few steps later and out of earshot of those they had just left, the man turned to him. “It was sure good to see you two nights ago. If you want to catch up, for old times sake, let’s meet at the Dragon’s Head Inn tonight for a drink. Eight o’clock. Don’t be late! Bring your friends if you want.” He looked at Rynn, quite serious. “I have much I wish to talk to you, personally, about. Now go see Hartwin.” The man gave Rynn a small shove and then turned and practically vanished into the crowd.
Puzzled, Rynn continued into the building, pushing past various guards and employees running about.
“Rynn Fowler!” came a booming voice. It was Waltheof. “So good to see you again. We’re quite busy here, yes, yes we are.”
“What’s going on?”
“Well, with the Sendylus guild shut down, did you hear about that? Anyway, with the Sendylus guild shut down, most of the people who need things to be moved are coming to us! We’ve been flooded with requests and Hartwin has been running around busy as a bee since yesterday afternoon. Poor elf. I don’t think he slept a wink last night!”
“I had hoped to see him, to get information on when our caravan would be leaving.”
“Let me go see if he can squeeze you in,” the heavyset man walked off, motioning for the ranger to follow.
Hartwin let them right in.
“Well, Rynn, look what you started!” The elf was practically beaming. “We’re drowning in new customers. I knew you were a good investment! Worked out better than I could have possibly imagined.”
“Having ‘heroes’ on your payroll.” Rynn almost grimaced at the term “heroes.”
“Yes indeed. You’ve been busy while here in the city. Finding out about the Sendylus guild’s machinations. Finding out about the Peaceful Children. And then uncovering … well, something else, that finally exposed the Sendylus guild, apparently. Feddy Rastirman was arrested yesterday and his entire organization shut down. High Justice Thomas informed the customers that we might be a good alternative while the investigation continued and, well, here we are, up to our eyeballs in new trade agreements, and even employees! As it turns out the Sendylus guild wasn’t all that good about paying people on time, or at least in a timely manner, so we’ve had to dip into our coffers to get things organized and make their employees at ease, but … well, things are getting organized!” He paused for a breath, and then slowed down. “And all because of you and your friends.” He was still grinning ear to ear, but his next sentence was spoken clearly and crisply. “Thank you, Rynn.”
“Will we still be escorting a caravan next week?”
“Yes. Yours was scheduled to leave on the 14th, but if you want to leave earlier,” he guffawed, “I’m sure we can find something.”
“I would have to ask my friends. I know Amara would like some time to finish her studies with Master Hiddel.”
“Well, let me know! Is there anything else I can do for you at this time?”
“No. I’ll leave you to your work.”
“Yes. Thank you, Rynn. Thank you very, very much.”
Rynn inclined his head and left. He still wasn’t sure what to make of Hartwin, but decided it would be best to tell the others the offer of leaving early. There was also that unusual man who had pointed him inside. He said they had met two nights ago? Who had he met two nights …
Seth.
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Amara was utterly uninterested in going to “that place.” Khaska and Rynn were not sure why, but the sorceress specifically made mention of the fact that she would not be going to the inn, not even persuaded by the fact that they were going to see Seth. Jenika had no interest in going either, but wasn’t as vehement about it. So it was that Rynn and Khaska found themselves sitting in a booth at the Dragon’s Head Inn later that night.
As it was, after ordering something and sitting around, it was some time before anything happened. Rynn was getting antsy as the time approached 9 o’clock. “Is he coming?”
Khaska shook his head. “I hope so. Your description of his actions indicated that he was a very powerful cleric. I would speak with him.”
“He did say that he wanted to speak to me personally, though I could bring my friends. I assumed he was talking about you and the others.”
At that, a man from the next table over came to sit down. “Couldn’t be too sure that you didn’t bring some more official friends,” he said as he put his large tankard of ale on the table. “I like to work alone and don’t like official attention, so I wanted to be sure. Rynn. Khaska. Good to see you two again.”
Both Rynn and Khaska looked at the man, puzzled. This was not Seth. This man was wearing leather armor, like Seth, and a cloak, like Seth, but his face was different. A large scar ran across his cheek down his neck, and he had a full beard where Seth had not two days ago.
“Don’t let my appearance fool you. It’s me. As I’m sure you’re aware, there are many ways of disguising oneself.”
At that, both of them were able to tell that it was Seth, though he still looked very different. “So,” Rynn said, “that really was you at the Merchant House earlier today?”
“Yup. Got myself hired on as a helping hand. They need the manpower, and I need information.”
“Who are you?” Khaska said, leaning forward.
Seth also leaned forward. “The more appropriate question, Mister Cleric, is what am I?”
“Then what are you?” asked Rynn.
“I’m a Hunter of the Dead.” The two of them looked at him blankly. He sighed. “Well, that’s disappointing. I would expect that one of the two of you had heard of us. A ranger and a cleric, and neither of you know what a Hunter of the Dead is.”
Seth explained, in general terms, Rynn noticed, that he had once been a cleric of a small village near the Death Side of the moon before it had been attacked and overrun by a cadre of vampires. “They drained me and left me for dead. Lucky for me a … friend, was able to stabilize me. I’ve not been the same since, and have been tracking undead and killing the abominations ever since.”
“You hunt the undead professionally?” asked Khaska. “For what purpose?”
“For what purpose?” he scoffed. “They need to be stopped. They need to be killed! In the coming years their ranks will swell even more after the war with Arkenos! If they are not culled now, then they may very well overtake us all in the years after the Dark Times.” He took a swig from his mug. “I came here tracking a vampire organization. Not sure who or where they come from, but I know that they traffic in slavery and other horrors on the Death Side of the moon. I knew that they had sent an agent here, but, well . . .” he smiled. “That’s one less vampire in the world.”
“Veleria? Was she alone?” asked Rynn.
“I had been under the impression of that, yes. Just her. I’ve been doing some digging since I first got wind of it.”
He explained that he had been in Laishtek and was first alerted to the vampire activities after discovering a kidnapping organization. Their leader of the kidnappers, under … questioning, had revealed that he was paid a handsome fee to skirt some of his victims to vampires for feeding and other uses. A bit of searching showed that there were letters back and forth from Feddy Rastirman. A little bit of searching here in Hammerdine had revealed that Feddy was sending the letters along between someone locally and the kidnappers in Laishtek.
“But they’ve arrested Rastirman,” Khaska said.
Seth waved him off. “Rastirman was a middle-man. Don’t ask questions. Pass letters along as needed. That sort of thing. He was being paid handsomely by some anonymous benefactor, but wasn’t any kind of high official in the organization. I imagine the benefactor was Veleria, and that she was the local contact, but she took whatever secrets she held with her to her grave. Er, to her . . . mist form. That metaphor really doesn’t work with vampires, does it?
“The city watch has done a fairly thorough job of investigating the Sendylus guild though, even just in the last few days. Turns out they did a lot of business ‘no questions asked.’ Now that Colonel Abner is asking a lot of questions about what they were transporting.”
Khaska glanced at Rynn, catching the ranger’s eye. The two of them knew about this mysterious Lord Maramos. Apparently it was not Feddy, but yet another player in this mystery.
Seth smiled at the two of them. “I imagine that I will be able to get more information out of the investigation as it progresses, to find out my next move.”
“Now, then, to the matter at hand.” He grew serious and put down his mug, drained now. “I wanted to warn you that you may have gained serious enemies by your involvement in all of this. Veleria was a vampire, and they usually work with other vampires. There’s no love lost between many of them, but sometimes they strike back if one of their coven was killed.”
“Aren’t you in danger as well?” asked Rynn.
“I can handle myself. Besides, they have to know what I look like to track me. I would actually invite such an encounter.” He smiled and rubbed his hands together. “More information.”
“And you think we cannot handle ourselves?” asked Khaska.
“You’re clearly not incompetent,” Seth said. “That’s not my meaning. You discovered the Peaceful Children were a front for a cult of the Reaper. You survived an encounter with a vampire. Working for the Faatinn’s for a day helped me know what else you’ve been doing with them. But this is an entirely different matter. You, especially, Rynn, I feel have great potential. I know a bit of the ways of a ranger. I’m going to remain in town for a little while yet. There are likely more undead threats in a city this big, and I mean to hunt them down while gathering more information on these vampires and these merchants that were working for them. I know you are to leave in about a week, but while you’re here, if you would, I would like your assistance in these hunts. I could teach you some of the ways of the Hunters of the Dead. There are not many of us, and we could use someone like you.” He glanced at Khaska. “Like both of you.”
He leaned forward. “At the very least, however, I feel we can be friends, and share information. When I mentioned that Veleria had taken her secrets with her, you both looked at each other. I have shared what I know. Are there some secrets that you would like to share with me, that may aid me in my quest to hunt down the undead?”
Rynn and Khaska both looked a little sheepish for a moment, but then the Maha’i’s ears perked back up. “There is more information that may be of use to you that we uncovered during our investigation of Veleria. The night you saved Rynn and his companions from her.”
The cleric explained about the letter and gave the information contained therein. Seth was most intrigued. “It’s clear to me now that Feddy was just sending the letters between Veleria and this Lord Maramos. Your intitial thought that he might be Lord Maramos was a good one, but untrue. He was just a middle man. But who this Lord Maramos is, that is a mystery. Perhaps he is another figure in this vampire organization. Perhaps their leader. More troubling is the fact that the Peaceful Children were working for them. It is not unheard of for clerics of the Reaper and vampires to work together. The vampires take victims and turn them, or enslave them. It is very much a mutually beneficial arrangement. I fear this may be what is happening now, much like that kidnapping ring I discovered and . . .” he smirked “disbanded.”
“I’m sure this same thought has occurred to the Colonel or to the Knights,” said Khaska. “Colonel Abner has the original letter now, and so the connection has been made between the peaceful children, the Sendylus guild, and at least the one vampire.”
“He doesn’t know about the kidnapping organization, but it seems to me that the vampires may very well have more than one source of victims. This is disturbing to me. Normally they are not so organized as this.”
“You do know a lot about these vampires, don’t you?” asked Rynn.
Seth nodded. “It’s why I offer to teach you what I know. The undead are a threat, and sometimes one that is less seriously considered by those in power. I fear if the undead threat is not dealt with, the entire moon could be overrun with them after the Dark Times. Like Tjavan.”
“I accept your offer,” Rynn said. “I don’t know about becoming a Hunter of the Dead, but I would certainly like to learn some of the practical aspects of hunting them. I don’t know that much about them, really.”
Seth grinned happily. “You do not need to dedicate your life to our cause to be our ally, Mister Fowler. I will look for opportunities to teach you.”
“I would also like to join you. You are a powerful cleric, that much is certain,” said Khaska. “I too, would learn what I can from one such as you.”
“I have studied and learned from many different people,” said Seth. “A cleric is just one of the paths that I have walked for a time. I will teach you what I can. Be in your inn at sunset each night, and I will come find you and we will hunt and slay the undead here in this city.”
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Jenika did not want to join them in their excursions, and Amara made it quite clear in her cold way that she was also uninterested. So Rynn and Khaska would go nightly with Seth, who would appear every day in a different disguise. Rynn spent his days wandering the outside of the city (after sleeping in) and working on his bow. He and Ranna continued to bond, and he taught her some more, the magic link between ranger and companion animal strengthened as they became more and more of a team.
Khaska wrote a formal letter to Rider Reitman thanking the Knight for his services, his kindness, and his help and support. The cleric also wrote to Colonel Abner informing him that, should they discover anything further about the Peaceful Children while in Laishtek, he would not hesitate to write back with that information.
Amara informed Master Hiddel that she would be leaving, as had pretty much always been the case for her plans. The master sorcerer was unhappy, but noticed that she had made significant advancements with her burgeoning powers through her adventuring, so was supportive.
Jenika spent more time with the monks of the Hawkfeather Monastery, meditating and conversing with them. The thoughts of Kaylee pushed their way to the forefront of her mind, and inquired with some of the master monks about how to bring her wayward sister back, should they ever run into each other again. Their answers were, to her mind, bland and trite, but she acknowledged the reality was that there was no simple way to answer such questions. Also, the monk found that she missed Orensland more than she expected. Without the elf’s quirky sense of humor the group seemed much more dour.
Rynn and Khaska were in contact with Hartwin, who informed them with the incoming rush of business that it would actually be the morning of the 15th before their caravan was ready to depart. Rynn was pleased to find out that Akle, their little gnome friend, would be joining them again, as one of the other guards. “We aren’t expecting an ambush, but besides, we don’t need no more guards. Because, you scary Rynn!” the funny little gnome laughed at the ranger one morning in the Faatin Merchant guild’s headquarters, which was slightly less busy than immediately after the influx of new customers and employees, but still clearly overflowing.