Part XX: The Massacre of Ramimilk

By Agent Miron Hlaalo, Office of Redoran Intelligence

I have been witness to many things in my service to the Office of Redoran Intelligence and some of them have been things that sicken to my core, but what has happened tonight is far worse than anything I’ve ever seen. The Cultists knew they were being hunted like animals, but they didn’t know that they weren’t going to die a quick death—no—they thought they’d fight and quickly be cut free of the Mortal Coil, but that’s not how it’s gone for any of them. The Councilor has seen to that and as I look at the mess of severed fingers, ripped out teeth, and gouged out eyes, I find myself struggling to maintain composure. I’m aware of the violence done on behalf of the House, but to see it—so close—so real—that’s different. The Councilor he just—he—I don’t even know how to put it into words, but I can’t look him in the eye anymore. I’m scared. Terrified even.

He interrogated them one by one and when he thought he had taken them the way, he slit their throats and kicked them into the ash and moved right on to the next one and started again. To think that men and women like these ones—cultists of all things—could be so afraid; it’s just hard to comprehend. I would watch them get more and more nervous as he’d get closer to them in the line and they would beg, and beg, and beg, and he didn’t care. Those who kept begging instead of giving useful information—well—there’s a reason there are so many body parts strewn about. I just—I can’t believe that the rumors weren’t only true—they underplayed the sheer brutality of the Councilor. I don’t dare to say the worst things he did to them to get them to talk, but his ability to induce pain—it far surpasses anything I thought possible.

The cruelest aspect about his methods were that he would ask their name before he began and he would ask them to tell him about themselves. I asked him about it afterwards and he said, “It brings them to this moment—it makes sure they’re not disassociating.” For the most part, he didn’t even seem to care about what they said unless he thought he could use it to hurt them more and he did that with some of them. As he ripped out one woman’s tooth with a pair of pliers, he asked her about her long lost lover who used to say she had the prettiest smile and if he’d still think that. But something when he reached this one cultist in particular. A Dunmer Male, roughly eighty years old by my guess, dressed better than the rest of them, and when asked his name, he said: “Evos Tharen”.

Something changed in the Councilor when he heard that name and he gave the order to kill the rest of the Cultists and dismissed the Team after, emphasizing that they vacate with haste so that he could finish his work in privacy. For some reason though, he didn’t send me away. He just had me keep recording the conversation and this one went differently than the others.

Councilor Sarethi: “Your name is Evos Tharen?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Evos Tharen: “No reason to lie to y’; you’ve got me at a bit of a disadvantage so if we could just hurry this along.”

Councilor Sarethi: “Do you remember a young man, about twenty-four, Dunmer, was in Marandus when you and your ilk attacked it?”

Evos Tharen: (Laughing) “The boy? Ah, yes, how could I forget—he had the tightest little ass I’d ever had.”

The Councilor picked up his knife and started cleaning the blood off of it, nodding at Evos before he spoke again.

Councilor Sarethi: “Why did you attack Marandus, Tharen?”

Evos Tharen: (Laughing) “Ha! Why? Because I wanted to—that’s why!”

And the Councilor nodded again, still wiping the blood off his knife.

Councilor Sarethi: “I am asking you politely. Please tell me why you attacked Marandus and I will give you a quick death.”

And just as Evos Tharen started to laugh, the Councilor grabbed the back of his head and shoved his index finger into one eye and his middle finger into the other. The screaming was loud. The blood gushed. I had watched the Councilor all night long as he had tortured these cultists one by one trying to suck out any useful information, but this was not something his interrogation with—no. He saved the eye gouging for the most rebellious and yet here he had started with it, but the Councilor seemed completely unfazed, bored even, despite the pained screams of this man that echoed through the Ashlands.

Councilor Sarethi: “I am going to ask you again: why did you attack Marandus?”

Evos Tharen: “To hell with you, you son of a Nix, you motherless kwama-scum monster, I’ll kill you! I swear to Molag Bal, I will rape your skull, you fetcher!”

Councilor Sarethi just nodded to the freshly-blinded man as he thought of what to say next. It took him a moment.

Councilor Sarethi: “Why did you attack Marandus?”

The Cultist let off another stream of obscenities and then Sarethi grabbed that knife and plunged it into the cultist’s right thigh and twisted. The Councilor wasted no time in asking his next question either.

Councilor Sarethi: (Raised Voice) “Why?”

Evos Tharen: (Screaming) “BECAUSE OF THE REDORAN WHO CAME! HE TOLD US TO! HE PAID US!”

Councilor Sarethi: “Who?”

As the Councilor asked that question, he twisted the knife a bit more.

Evos Tharen (Screaming) “AROBAR! THE COUNCILOR! HE TOLD US WE KILL THE KID OR DIE! WE DIDN’T HAVE A CHOICE!”

I don’t dare repeat what was said after or go into much detail about the series of events that followed, but Councilor Sarethi couldn’t believe it at first and he took—body parts—because he thought that Evos was lying, but in the end, as the Councilor took away his favorite body part, he held true to his claim, and when he did, the Councilor slit his belly open and kicked him face-first into the Ash.

I still can’t believe the things I’ve seen or heard tonight, but I don’t have a choice. The Councilor explained to me that this is why he brought me here, because he needed someone in the Office of Redoran Intelligence to be able to testify to the truth of his claim when he brings up Councilor Arobar’s crimes against not only the House, but also his own son. I still can’t really process all of this and Councilor Sarethi has warned me that if I speak a word of what happened here tonight to anybody, even my superiors in the Office, then what he did to Evos—that will seem like child’s play.

I just don’t know what to say or think—I just—I’m speechless. And terrified. And I very much can not wait to go home and can not wait for Councilor Sarethi to shed light on Councilor Arobar’s betrayal, because once that’s done—I’m submitting my request for resignation and I’m moving somewhere far away. Maybe Hla Oad, maybe Khuul, maybe Gnaar Mok, but somewhere far, far away. Yeah, somewhere far away.

-Miron Hlaalo