[Mkguild] Investigating Calamity (1/9)

[C. Matthias]

My next story for Metamor Keep.  I would like to thank Chris Okane 
whose generous assistance and patience has made this story possible.

Without further ado, enjoy!

Metamor Keep: Investigating Calamity
By Charles Matthias

Mar 14, 708 CR

         Spring was fast approaching the hilly country in the 
southmost reaches of the Outer Midlands.  In the lands just west of 
the Sylvan mountains, where low rolling hills flattened into the 
broad northern steppe rife with flowing grasses, the snows were all 
gone and the air was warming to the wet and comfortable.  Another two 
months and the air would be muggy, rich with insects, and hot.  But 
for now travellers abounded while farmers tilled their fields and 
shepherds took their flocks back to freshly green pastures.
         Amidst this lively throng, drunk with Spring after the 
chastity of Winter, a lone carriage with but two men driving it went 
unnoted and unremarked as it made its way around the western reaches 
of the Sylvan mountains climbing up from the Steppe on the 
southwestern road toward Marigund.  Both men were dressed in long 
brown cloaks though there faces marked them for foreigners.  The 
first was dark like clay with black hair apart from a single white 
lock that kept dangling over his eyes.  The second had ruddy cheeks 
and heavy brows shadowing dark eyes that roved with a lackadaisical air.
         Their carriage was equally unremarkable with heavy cloths 
draped over its sides.  A veneer of black cloth was hidden beneath 
the drapes, but even this seemed a mere affectation befitting 
foreigners.  Farmers would glance at them, then returned to their 
fields with a mere shake of their head.  Fellow travellers would note 
them with polite curiosity and then continue on their way with no 
more word than to ask after the condition of the road ahead.  The man 
with the white lock replied with an accent but not one that any was 
familiar with.  None looked close enough to note that he had no left arm.
         And so they continued their passage along the ancient road 
of close fitting stones that glistened in the late afternoon sunlight 
until they reached the remains of the outer wall of the city of 
Marigund.  What had once been a mighty Suielman curtain was nothing 
but scattered heaps of rubble and sections that stretched for dozens 
of yards before crumbling into ruin.  Beyond scattered caravans and 
makeshift hostels clustered along dirt tracks and a few attempts at 
stone byways.  The main road led straight to the new curtain wall 
which cloaked the city behind a continuos edifice of large stones and 
mortar.  An open and guarded gate permitted traffic's passage into 
the city.  At least a dozen soldiers stood at the ready to inspect 
any who entered.
         "It is the moment of truth," the man with ruddy cheeks said 
in the Southlands tongue.
         "It is not a matter of choice," the one-armed man replied 
with a slight smile. "This will be a day of many firsts.  But I think 
we three have seen enough to be confidant that we'll live through 
these ones too."
         The other man chuckled and cracked the reins, eyeing the old 
walls as they passed them by with a certain degree of nonchalance. 
"Very true.  But we should not be overconfident.  There are a great 
deal many more of them than there are of us."
         A quiet breath rolled from the man with the white lock and 
missing arm. "One man is all that is needed; so long as it is the right man."
         "Are we the right men?"
         "Of course.  We were chosen for this."
         "Could any other have been chosen for this task?"
         "No.  Which means were are the right men twice over."
         The other man laughed, and in so doing, a brilliant pink 
scar that clove his face stretched wildly like a bolt of lightning 
through a forge.  He shook his head to still his laugh and his cloak 
fell open, revealing a pair of swords strapped to a buckler about a 
black surcoat.  With one hand he quickly pulled the old garb back 
across his legs and concealed them anew.
         They passed the caravans and several old buildings tottering 
on too few beams without comment.  The sun shone behind them, casting 
their shadows like a vast hand before them toward the gate.  Soldiers 
shielded their eyes as they neared.  A quartet of soldiers lowered 
their spears and blocked their way.  Four other stood in reserve, 
fingering their long bows which were as tall as they with the boredom 
of a long turn at the gate.  The last four approached them.
         Each man was dressed in chainmail draped in a broad 
tabard.  The tabards all featured a golden wolf with snout raised in 
a snarl on a blue background.  The captain, a man with balding pate 
and narrowed his blue eyes as he studied their unfamiliar 
complexions.  He had a battleaxe with grey haft in one hand, while 
the other clenched and unclenched.  In the common tongue of Galendor 
he asked, "Where have you come from and what brings you to Marigund?"
         The man with the white lock of hair replied. "We are here at 
the request of your mage guild.  If you would permit us to enter, we 
will trouble you as little as possible."
         "You will trouble us not at all," the captain replied with a 
snort.  His men laughed. "Many claim to be on guild business.  Do you 
have any proof?"
         "This letter is a letter of request sent by the Guild to our 
master." He produced from inside his brown cloak a scroll case 
bearing the crest of the Guild.  He did not hand it over.
         "We've received no orders to expect anyone like you." The 
captain gestured at the scroll case. "Hand that over.  I will need to 
see it before I let you pass."
         "No, you may not.  By order of the Guild, the nature of the 
inquest is to be kept in strictest confidence.  You only have to do 
as you are ordered and open the gates."
         Swords were drawn.  The captain stood taller and stepped 
back. "We do not take orders from you!"
         "It is not my order.  It is the Guild's.  If you will not 
believe me, then send someone to the Guild to verify the authenticity 
of the inquest.  We are content to wait here for vindication."
         The captain's cheeks flushed red. "I have no reason to do 
that!  I should detain you and search you immediately."
         "I am not trying to be difficult," the man with one arm said 
in a somewhat gentler tone. "But the nature of the inquest prevents 
me from telling you anything more."
         The softer words seemed to help.  The soldiers relaxed their 
grips while their captain mulled over the words.  After several 
seconds he asked, "I will send someone to the Guild.  It will take 
some time for them to return.  Whom should I say is answering this inquest?"
         "That also I cannot reveal.  But the inquest was signed by 
one Elizabeth Lumas."
         Their eyes widened and a few sucked in their breaths.  The 
captain scowled but nodded. "Very well.  Wait here."  He returned to 
the gate and disappeared within.  The remaining soldiers kept a wary 
eye on the strange carriage with the two men who sat draped in brown 
cloaks like mendicant friars.  A few minutes later the captain 
returned with an officious glaze to his eyes.
         "I have sent someone to the Guild to seek Mistress 
Lumas.  If you really are here on Guild business then you may 
pass.  It will be sometime before they return.  In the meantime, you 
must submit to a routine inspection.  Guild business or no, it is 
required of all who enter Marigund."
         The one armed man shook his head sending the white lock of 
hair flicking back and forth. "For the sake of the safety of your own 
people I suggest strongly that you do not."
         "Noted." He gestured to the three soldiers flanking the 
carriage. "Proceed."
         The two men atop the carriage sighed and shifted their arms 
beneath their robes.  The three soldiers tapped their spear points 
against the wooden sides listening for anything unusual.  One dropped 
to hands and knees and peered beneath the wheels.  The captain threw 
aside the drapes and revealed a red cross upon a field of black.  His 
garbled scream of horror was joined by the screech of unsheathed swords.
         "Questioners!  It is death to enter Marigund!" The captain 
yanked open the door and gestured at the man dressed in a black 
cassock who waited inside. "Get out!"  Two of the soldiers guarding 
the ate ran within the city as if their breeches had caught flame.
         The priest stood and climbed from the wagon even as his two 
drivers remained where they sat apparently unconcerned.  The captain 
grabbed him by the collar and yanked him to the ground.  The priest 
landed on hands and knees, a man young with dark black hair and 
sun-burned skin.  He turned his head and half-smiled. "I have not yet 
entered Marigund."
         The captain kicked him in the side, rolling him onto his 
back. "But you were going to, damn Questioner.  How does it feel to 
be the one at a Rebuilder's mercy?" He kicked him again while the 
other soldiers kept their spears and words on the two men.
         The Questioner priest smiled faintly and sighed. "Like my childhood."
         Another kick and then the soldier grabbed his cassock and 
yanked it up over his head.  He gasped and almost dropped his 
axe.  The Questioner's back was a maze of crisscrossing lash 
marks.  Not a single inch was unmarred by the touch of a whip.
         "You are exceeding your authority, Captain," the one armed 
man said without any trace of alarm. "We are here in response to an 
inquest from the Mage's Guild.  Harm us and you will face their 
judgement.  Further, harm us and you will almost certainly guarantee 
civil war in your precious city."
         The captain sneered and gestured his sword at the one armed 
man. "Folly!  Not even the fool Followers of Marigund want or like 
your kind here."
         The Questioner priest struggled back into his robes and 
gestured with one hand like a dog lifting a leg. "They might like 
him.  He's the one who defends the Patriarch.  He's Kashin the Yeshuel."
         Kashin tossed aside his cloak, revealing a green surcoat 
with a cross in the centre.  A jewelled blade rested at his side. 
"Now you know, Captain.  I recommend you call your men back and wait 
until you hear from the Mage Guild and from your own superiors."
         The guards looked very uncertain now.  The captain ground 
his teeth but he did lower his axe. "Draw back men.  But keep a close 
watch on them." As the soldiers fell back from the carriage, the 
captain looked Kashin in the face and scowled. "I have no love for 
your Patriarch.  That lapdog to the Adversary can burn for all I care."
         "Mistake that was," the second driver grunted.  The 
captain's sword sprang from his sheath and hovered in midair, the 
point pressing beneath his chin. "So ill of the Patriarch you shall 
never speak!"
         The captain spluttered wide eyes and fell back until he had 
tumbled to the long grasses.  The soldiers rushed to draw their 
weapons again while the priest brushed his cassock off, walked up, 
and plucked the sword from the air. "Forgive my Yesbearn knight.  He 
is far too exuberant in performing his duties." He turned the sword 
around and held it out hilt first to the captain. "He will not 
trouble you any further.  Is that not correct, Sir Czestadt?"
         Czestadt nodded his head. "For my intemperance I apologize."
         The priest smiled and stood beside the carriage with hands 
folded as if in prayer. "Now that you know my protectors, my name is 
Father Akaleth.  Together we shall wait for your guild's arrival.  I 
shall personally vouch for your professional commitment to your duty."
         "Hollings." The captain said as he straightened his uniform, 
a bitter anger marring his features. "My name is Hollings.  And I 
want no word of yours to besmirch my name.  Your kind killed my grandfather."
         "And your..." The rejoinder died on his tongue.  Akaleth 
neither smiled nor frowned.  "Since you wish not my word, I will say 
nothing." He climbed back into the carriage and closed the 
door.  Kashin tossed the drape back over the Questioner symbol on the 
door.  It did little to stir the curious onlookers from within the 
city walls.  Already a sizeable crowd had gathered just within the 
gate and whispers were spreading throughout the district.  The 
soldiers under Hollings begrudging direction spent most of the next 
thirty minutes keeping the crowd back rather than keeping the trio of 
Followers out.  Many were curious, but as the rumours spread, 
especially the rumour of a horde of Questioners come to forcibly beat 
the city back into the Ecclesia, the crowd began to discover a vast 
assortment of stones they could throw.
         Czestadt stood, drew both of his swords, and artfully 
deflected the stones with precise swings.  This only infuriated the 
numerous Rebuilders who saw themselves as patriotic defenders of 
their city.  By the time another compliment of Caial soldiers had 
arrived to break up the disturbance, several enterprising youths had 
scaled the battlements and were raining even larger rocks on the 
carriage.  They quickly fled when Czestadt sent one of his swords to 
chase them.  Like an obedient dog the sword rushed through the air 
back to the Yesbearn's side.
         Another ten minutes later and another carriage, this one 
bearing the seal of the Mage Guild arrived, flanked by yet another 
compliment of the Caial.  The seal was three concentric circles with 
six smaller circles woven together within the largest ring.  The 
guards of the city watch pushed back the crowd with the blunt end of 
spears, but the mob did give way at last.  The carriage rode up 
alongside the Questioner's own.  A blue garbed woman in her thirties 
leaned properly into the window. "I am Elizabeth Lumas, Mage of the 
Third Circle.  You say you are from Yesulam in response to my inquest?"
         Kashin produced the scroll case, jumped down from the 
carriage, and held it out to her. "We are.  I am Kashin of the 
Yeshuel.  My companion is Sir Czestadt of the Yesbearn.  We protect 
Father Akaleth of the Questioners."
         Elizabeth's blue eyes hardened even as she took the scroll 
case. "I did not request your presence, only answers from your 
Patriarch regarding certain events."
         "We are the witnesses of those events," Kashin replied with 
eyes bowed. "The Patriarch chose to send us, and so we have come.  We 
are at your disposal to answer your questions at whatever length and 
to whatever depth you wish to ask them."
         Elizabeth opened the scroll case and peered over the letter 
within.  She gave no hint except a slight displeasure as she read.  A 
moment later and she returned the scroll to its case and handed it 
back to the one armed man. "Your letter is genuine.  My own 
handwriting in fact.  But what possessed you to come by this 
gate?  This is one of the fiercest Rebuilder quarters of the 
city.  You should have come by the Dawn Gate.  That would have taken 
you through the East Quarter which is all Follower."
         "Expediency and ignorance, Mistress Lumas.  This was our 
road and it led here.  And we did not know what lay beyond the gates."
         "That I believe." Elizabeth glanced over their carriage and 
then leaned back in her seat. "Come and join me here.  It is not safe 
for you to ride in that wagon through Marigund.  I will give orders 
that it be untouched during your stay.  Do you have anything you need 
to bring?"
         "All else we have are some foodstuffs and toiletries."
         "You will not need them.  I will ensure you are given fresh 
provisions when you leave Marigund." Elizabeth gestured for them to 
enter her carriage.  Kashin held open the door, while Sir Czestadt 
escorted Father Akaleth from one carriage to the other.  The 
Questioner priest bowed his head in thanks to the mage before sitting 
opposite her on a richly upholstered bench.  Czestadt and Kashin 
joined him a moment later.
         To their surprise, Elizabeth was alone in the carriage, but 
she carried an aura of power that each of them well understood.  She 
leaned out the side and said, "Dawoud, take us through the Dawn 
Gate.  We will go through the East Quarter." She paused in thought 
for a moment and then added, "Take us around the Suielman wall."
         A crack of the whip and the carriage started off, riding 
smoothly over the road back to the southwest.  Father Akaleth pursed 
his lips. "That will take us some time to reach the Guild."
         "It will also give the Caial some time to restore 
order.  And It will take us through one of the Follower 
districts.  You will be safest there.  Already word of your arrival 
has sparked much indignation amongst my people.  Neither am I amused 
by your visit.  Why shouldn't I send you back to Yesulam?"
         "We are the witnesses of the evils you sought to 
understand," Akaleth replied. "For better or for worse, it is to us 
three that you must pose your questions and make your inquiry."
         Elizabeth's eyes glared at the priest. "You will be the 
first Questioner in a century to enter Marigund.  Why shouldn't I 
leave you behind and take these other two.  What do you know that they do not?"
         "We each played a different role in fighting the evil of 
Marzac." Akaleth spread his hands. "If you wish to exclude me, you 
may do so.  But Sir Czestadt is bound to me and will not leave my 
side.  If you wish his perspective, then you will need tolerate my presence."
         The mage studied him for several long seconds.  She steepled 
her fingers before her face, eyes passing from one to the next and 
back again. "We want your answers, not you.  But seeing as how you 
are offering yourselves, I will accept you.  But what guarantees do I 
have, and that I can give the Guild and the Caial, that you will not 
ferment trouble in Marigund?"
         Akaleth tapped his cowl which spread about his shoulders 
unused. "I am under strict orders from the Patriarch himself not to 
engage in any Questioning while answering this inquest.  My sole 
purpose here is to answer questions, not ask them.  Neither am I 
permitted to speak to any who is not a Follower unless they are civil 
authorities or members of the Mage Guild.  To this I shall hold."
         If the answer satisfied her, Elizabeth did not show 
it.  Instead she turned to the two warriors.  "And what of you?  I 
have already heard of your magical display with swords."
         Sir Czestadt's face was as warm as a gravestone. "Once a 
Kankoran swordmaster I was.  To protect Father Akaleth I am sworn." 
He grimaced even further at his words, paused to ponder them, and 
added, "I am also under an oath.  In defence only am I to act."
         "I, however," Kashin replied, "am under no oaths beyond 
which I have already given as a Yeshuel.  My life belongs to the 
Patriarch, and as such, if I act reprehensibly, then he will be 
sullied.  Such a stain upon him I will never commit.  You have our 
word, Mistress Lumas."
         "And you will be held to it," she said firmly.  Her 
expression soften some, but it did not lose its gravity. "Now, as you 
have created this imposition, I will tell you how you will behave in 
my city, and what will be expected of you while you are here.  I 
assure you that your visit will not be a long one but it will be an 
exciting one."

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May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,

Charles Matthias


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