[Mkguild] MK Past Present and Future part 11

[christian okane]

Here part 11 - the final part of the story!


Thanks for reading. Please feel free to send your comments

Chris
The Lurking Fox



   The three felines gathered around the opening the paladin had discovered
earlier and examined it. It was a small hole about a foot across. With a few
swipes of the hand Edmund enlarged the opening revealing a single step. More
work revealed a flight of stairs leading downward into the darkness.

   "So this means more wandering through dirty, half collapsed tunnels,"
Stealth muttered.

   "Over the years I've discovered that most adventuring consists of
deliberately going into nasty, filthy, dangerous places," Nestorius
commented.

   "We could stay back at the keep and just wander around in the sewers
there," Stealth muttered. "And save all the traveling."

   Edmund scowled at his friend for a moment. "If we're to succeed at our
mission we all must persevere no matter what the obstacles."

   "Even if it means wading through 700 year old sewer?" Stealth asked.

   "Yes!"

   Edmund drew his sword and took two steps down. The stairway led downward
for a short distance before leveling out into a good sized corridor. Gently
he placed his feet on the floor of that corridor and started to slowly move
along it. In spite of the lack of care over the passing years the walls
around him looked as strong as the day they had first been built.

   The trio walked along the corridor for a short distance before an opening
loomed up on either side of the corridor. Edmund peered into the opening on
his right and the dim light revealed a large room filled with dust, dirt,
broken pieces of stone from the ceiling and various bits of unrecognizable
debris. Turning around he looked into the opposite doorway and saw a similar
scene with nothing that looked valuable.

   "Hard to tell what was in these rooms," Nestorius commented.

   "Nothing left in here now," Edmund commented.

   "Undoubtedly a detailed search will find something of interest," The lion
said. "But that is for another day. Let us explore the entire complex
first."

   A short walk down the corridor brought them to another set of doorways.
Behind those openings there was more debris and wreckage. There was just
enough rotted wood and corroded bronze to confirm they had been barracks of
some sort. The end of the corridor was blocked by a bronze door that was
green with age and corrosion. Walking closer to that door revealed that it
was not closed but was partly open. A pale light spilled out of the doorway
brightening the hallway and its occupants. Peering inside they saw a large
room filled with many things. In the center of the room was a massive table
that was so covered with dirt and dust that it was barely recognizable as
being of marble. Scattered around the room were a half dozen more, much
smaller tables. Also scattered about were various tumbled and rotted piles
that had once been various pieces of furniture. Standing against the wall
opposite the door was a large object made of bronze and gold standing over
six feet high. It was topped by a glass globe from which came the light that
illuminated the room.

   The wall behind the globe was covered with a mural. Once of vibrant
coloring it had faded to various shades of black, brown and gray. It was
barely recognizable as a map of Camulodunum. All that remained of that city
was the ghost haunted-ruins the three felines were exploring.

   Edmund walked up to the massive table and examined it closely. "Good
lord!" He exclaimed. "This was carved from a single piece of marble!"

   "Amazing craftsmanship," Nestotius added.

   "It is beautiful!"Stealth said. "What's it doing here?"

   Edmund shrugged.

   From a pouch Nestorius pulled out a small piece of parchment. He unfolded
the paper revealing a map of the long ruined Seuilman city. "This is a copy
of the map that was discovered in Hareford. back when we freed the town back
in 699," the mage explained. He ran a finger along the paper for a moment
and suddenly stopped.  "This looks to have been some sort of headquarters or
command post. It shows a large structure that is labeled Vigilis Argunta
Comandio."

   "Vigilis Argunta Comandio," Edmund said slowly repeating the lions words.
"That means Vigilant city heart."

   Stealth tilted his head to one side. "What does that mean?"

   "That's taking the translation too literally," Nestorius explained. "A
more correct translation is the headquarters of the city's Vigilis. The
Vigilis were roughly equivalent to the Watch in Euper."

   "So from here they commanded the Watch for the entire city," Stealth
said.

   "Yes, Edmund answered. "This was probably some sort of emergency command
post in the basement of the real headquarters."

   "The commander of the Vigilis would have been an important person,"
Edmund said.  "And I'm sure he knew what happened here the night the city
fell."

   "You can't be sure of that," Stealth countered. "He might have been too
busy fighting the lutins."

   "Perhaps, but he is sure to have had some information on what happened,"
the lion added.

   "Any information is welcome," Edmund commented. "Let's explore the rest
of the room and see if we can find anything."

   The rest of the room held a collection of scattered bits and pieces, most
of which were so buried under dust and dirt or badly corroded as to be
unrecognizable. One wall of the room had a series of niches in it. Each
opening was a foot wide and twice that deep. Some were empty but many held
sections of parchment either rolled up into a scroll or as bits and pieces.

   Nestorius cleaned off the top of a stone block and then covered it with a
white silk cloth he had produced from a pocket. Then tenderly and gently
each piece of parchment was removed from its niche and placed onto the
cloth. Soon the top of the cloth covered boulder held had a large collection
of scrolls, parts of scrolls and various scraps of paper and parchment.

   Nestorius spoke a few words as his hands moved in complex gestures over
the scrolls. All of the scrolls and parts of scrolls glowed a bright yellow
for a moment. When the light vanished the pieces were still there seemingly
unaffected. "That spell strengthened the scrolls enough for us to handle
them but be careful for they are still fragile."

   The lion carefully unraveled one of the larger scrolls moving slowly and
with surprising gentleness. His care was rewarded with the revelation of a
large page filled with a tight script. "Again our scouts report that still
the enemy is gathering to the north," he said reading from the document. "I
estimate that the enemy is over two hundred, seventy five thousand strong."
He stopped and peered closer at the scroll. "I can't read the next part too
clearly," the lion explained. "But it seems to be an inventory of something.
It mentions something called the Dripping Blades and the Raging Killers."

   "Let me see," Edmund said and leaned over the document.

   Nest pointed to a part of the scroll. "There."

   "Dripping Blades, Raging Killers, Death Walkers," the paladin read out
loud.

   "Those sound like the names of Lutin tribes," Stealth commented.

   "They are," Edmund responded. "At least I recognize the Dripping Blades
as one. We fought them several months ago."

   "We can show this to Misha," the mage suggested. "He will be able to
confirm it."

   The lion placed that scroll aside and picked up another that was badly
tattered and torn and seemed to only be held together by the felines magic.
Edmund was afraid that if he breathed too hard to document would
disintegrate. "It is all too apparent that emperor Thorius is incapable of
understanding the threat we are facing. We must deal with this coming crisis
only with what is available locally. We must consider actions that others
might find terrible."

   "What were the actions others might find terrible?" Stealth asked. "That
has an ominous ring to it."

   "That sounds like a murderer trying to explain why their killing someone
was actually justified," Edmund commented.

   "Agreed," Nestorius answered. "But unfortunately the document does not
say any more."

   "Of course not!" Stealth commented sarcastically. "He didn't want to say
more in case someone intercepted the letter."

   "An excellent point," the lion commented. "Whatever this entailed it was
something they did not want anyone to know."

   Nestorius put the scroll aside and began looking at another. "This looks
interesting. It seems to be another message." He leaned closer and examined
it. "Now this is interesting!" He exclaimed. "I do understand the need to
explore all possible ways to win. But I must again strenuously object to
your patronage of Salvius Pompilanius. That mage is a vertansula. Whatever
he is planning might be worse than the barbarian horde to the north."

   "What is a vertansula?" Stealth asked.

   "I will admit that title does sound familiar," Edmund said. "But I don't
remember what it means."

   "It's an old title that fell from favor long ago," the lion explained.
"It roughly means deep evil of some sort but I need to do more research on
it."

   Edmund let out a loud curse and snarled as he pounded the walls with his
fist. "What did those desperate fools do?" After a few moments he regained
his composure. He looked calm but the tautness of his muscles betrayed a
deep anger. "We have done enough exploring here for one day," Edmund said in
clipped tones. "Gather up all the scrolls and let's go home."


The End


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