Chapter 55: A Small Misstep
What to do? That really is the question.
This may not be any of your business, Jan might really be running off to a meeting and you have a number of other tasks you could also be pursuing...
But...
Well you are a mage and an adventurer and he is acting awfully suspicious so...
"Alright, I have a plan," you declare triumphantly.
Thaïs smirks, already well aware of the general thrust of your thinking, "Whenever you are ready."
The sisters nod enthusiastically, it is not in them to turn down a little adventure and tracking the dwarf through the bowels of the Academy is sure to provide some.
Buoyed by their collective confidence and enthusiasm you begin, "We-"
"
We going to charge after him, headlong into danger with no concern for ourselves or the children in your care," Caoilainn chimes in, in a dry monotone, "
Can't wait."
You frown, "We aren't 'charging off', I have a plan-"
She largely ignores your protest as she outlines the disadvantages you will be operating under, "
We do not know the floor plan of the building. We have no way of knowing what sorts of dangers await us, and there will be dangers. Worst of all we have absolutely no expendable grunts with us to die when something goes wrong."
"Nothing is going to 'go wrong'," your friend assures her, "We will manage as we always do."
"And," you are quick to add, "We do not need to do this alone."
"
No?" the disembodied officer answers, he mood shifting for the better.
"No," you insist, "We do not need to do this alone. Thaïs will go find Janine and get reinforcements while I trail Jan with the girls."
"Wait, what?" Thaïs objects.
Naturally she was never going to like the idea of leaving while the three of you creep closer to danger. You would expect the girls to have the exact same reaction, hell,
you would have the exact same reaction. However, someone has to go for help and it only makes sense that it should be the most convincing representative possible. You tell her as much and rapidly add further assurances, "We will merely watch him, we won't actually do anything dangerous until you get back with help and we will use Uttu's arrows to leave a trail you can follow. We will be in no real danger."
That was probably a lie.
At the very least you can not guarantee it.
And really she knows that.
Hell, she probably knows that you know that she knows... if that makes any sense.
At any rate, she plays along.
"Very well," she hands you her two magazines of bolts, "Do not waste Uttu's arrows creating a trail. You might need them."
She turns on her heels and makes for the stairs, pausing momentarily before she plunges into the stairwell, "I will be back as soon as I can."
You give her a nod as she disappears.
"
Now what?" you ethereal observer enquires.
"Now we pursue," the girls grin at that and the three of you are off.
-------------------------------------
"
Derryth, I have lost her," Caoilainn speaks as you catch your breath, she sounds weak in your mind.
Jan is quick for a dwarf and it has taken all you have just to keep up with him to this point.
"Lost who?" you whisper in response.
"
Thaïs," the officer answers, "
That last flight of stairs, it- it split me."
"Split you?" you are going to need a better explanation than that.
"
I-" your observer fumbles for the words to express her condition, "
Since you split up, I could feel a pulling, a stretching sensation. Sort of like if you grabbed me by the arms and she grabbed me by the legs and you both pulled.
"Is that normal?" you take in your surrounding.
Cool, grey, stone walls, cool, grey, stone steps and the three of you perched on a small, grey, stone landing. The entire stairwell is bathed in a dim white light that mildly pains you, a dull ache behind the eyes. Behind you are the hallways leading to Jan's lab, to the stairs and ultimately back to the surface. Ahead of you is Jan and whatever horrors he may have at his command.
The voice in your head grows weaker, "
Yeah, the further you get from one another the harder it is to keep tabs on you both. Well, that last flight of stairs was it. I finally snapped."
While her description of the sensation is a little enlightening it does nothing to help you understand the actual significance of the event, assuming the is any, so you prompt her for more, "Meaning?"
"
I don't know. It feels like half of me is gone but not dead or anything and it doesn't hurt either. I am still here and there and both and neither and these parts of me, they are-" she stops again, it is entirely possible that she simply does not have the means to express her ideas, "
No. I don't know. I can't feel my other half, I don't know where it is or what its doing but I know it is there, somewhere. Does that make any sense?"
You decide to be honest with her, "Not really, no."
She laughs weakly.
This is strange and you do not remember anything like this happening with Faceless either. Of course Faceless was an accomplished archmage with thousands of years of magical experience and near complete control over the bracelets, "Do you need us to turn back?"
"
No, no," she insists, "
I will be fine, I think, I just won't be of much use to you for the time being."
As much as you want to catch Jan you do not want to lose someone to do it. Still, if she says she is fine than you will push on for now, "Then we will keep going but if you experience any further weakness I expect you to tell me immediately. I did not haul you out of the Dreaming just to have you die down here, understood?"
The is a little genuine warmth in her response, "
Understood, thank you."
Below you, you hear a door open.
"Sounds like four, maybe five, levels below us," Biliku whispers.
"Five, definitely," her sister agrees with a determined nod.
Who are you to argue with your pair of trackers? They may be kids but they have spent almost their entire lives hunting and tracking underground. You give them a nod and follow as quickly as you can.
--------------------------------------
That first stairwell was just the start. Five levels down, just as the girls guessed you found a clue, a witness and a guide.
Standing just inside the doorway to the eighth floor is a dwarf that seems vaguely familiar to you. He stares at you, evidently the feeling is mutual, it takes him a moment but he figures out who you are, "Miss Derryth! A pleasure to see you again! How have my gloves been working for you?"
Of course! It is the head naturalist from your first visit to the Academy. He is quick to grasp your hands and begins shaking them vigorously, "What can I do for you today!"
Well, he can start by being quiet, "We are actually pursuing a party we suspect is acting against the interests of the Crown so if you could maybe give us-"
"Really!" he seems quite taken aback by this revelation, "A traitor, operating under our very roof!"
"Please sir, be quiet," you insist, slipping one hand free of his grasp.
"Oh, right," he drops to a whisper, "Might you need any help apprehending this vile traitor?"
"If you could tell us whether you have seen Jan lately and where he might have gone that would be appreciated," you respond as you scan the hallway beyond the dwarf.
"Jan?" the naturalist whispers, "Jan is the traitor? No, no, no, now that I can not believe. That boy is loyal through and through."
Admittedly you can not be certain that Jan actually is up to anything untoward, "Well if he is loyal then I will apologize to him when we find him but he was acting very strangely when we talked earlier today," you hand the dwarf your written permission to act on behalf of the King in all things.
The naturalist frowns as he reads your permission and hands it back, "I can not believe that boy would do anything treasonous but I did see him and I do know where he is going, it is the only place he ever goes when he is not in his office. Sub basement twelve, where we store all of the items we come into possession of that are interesting but not terribly dangerous. If you want I can take you there immediately."
"
There is something off about this guy," Caoilainn cautions you. She still sounds weak but no weaker than earlier and you hope she is not keeping anything from you.
"I know," you whisper in response.
It is entirely possible that the head naturalist just happened to be down here at exactly the right moment. It is entirely possible that he is being completely honest with you as well. Entirely possible but highly suspicious and it is good to know that you are not the only one that thinks so however you can not really turn down the naturalist's help. He would insist, you would refuse and likely things would get heated. If he really is a well meaning loyalist then you will have offended a possible ally and if he is another cultist then it could lead to a direct confrontation that would nicely remove your chance of ever finding Jan.
"Pardon me?" the naturalist shatters the silence of your thoughts.
"Ah, I know," a shame you are not better at lying, "I know that you will be the best guide we could possibly ask for," not too bad all things considered.
He grins and nods, "Well, right this way ladies."
-------------------------------
The naturalist leads you across the floor and explains the layout of the Academy as he goes, "You see ladies, sub basements one through seven all contain labs, archives and offices for 'low threat' experiments. The sort of research that might still be dangerous but is unlikely to wipe out the Kingdom in an afternoon for example. Sub basement eight which we are on is merely temporary housing for our researchers. Teams and individuals working on projects in the lower levels all stay in rooms on this floor. It lets them stay closer to their work and avoid going up and down all those stairs," he adds with a wink.
As he leads you around the corner you are confronted by a wide chamber and eight burly dwarfs in full plate armour. Four man what look to be very large crossbows mounted upon thick tripods.
"Scorpions," the naturalist declares in response to your questioning glance, "Some of the finest we have ever produced. Each fires bolts a metre long in rapid succession. If anything tries to crawl out of the stairwell it is in for a terrible surprise."
Well it is reassuring that the dwarves have defences in place, it is also more than a little disconcerting that they have things down their that would need such weapons to contain.
As your group cross the chamber the naturalist waves down a guard as he continues to instruct you in the Academy's defence protocols, "We also have three teams of twelve veterans in the adjoining chambers to ensure that containment is not broken," he turns to the approaching guard, "Did Doctor Jan come through today Captain?"
"Yes, maybe fifteen minutes ago," the guardian answers with a yawn, "Now I need to know your names and destination."
"Of course," the naturalist nods, "I am Doctor Hallr, this is Lady Derryth, and-"
"
Derryth! Mayer-" Caoilainn begins.
You clear your throat and nod slightly to let her know that you understand as you cut in to mask your own surprise at his name, "Lady Biliku and Lady Uttu."
The girls grin at such titles as the dwarf continues, "They are accompanying me to the twelfth floor on government business."
The guardian records your information and allows the four of you to continue. Once more you slip into a grey stone stairwell and begin your descent.
Hallr continues to play the part of the guide, "The ninth floor is for dangerous items, those that are not animate on their own but which can cause a great deal of harm if they ever fall into the wrong hands."
You eye the door cautiously as you pass it, unlike the other doors you have encountered this one is cast of solid iron and bound by enchantments, without the proper spells it would take hours to break through. Probably a good thing when all is considered.
You continue your descent, "The tenth floor is for the assorted sentient creations of the academy that are simply too dangerous to release into the wild."
"Sentient creations?" you feel compelled to enquire.
"Yes, well," he shifts uncomfortably, "Sometimes our brightest minds make deals that they should not or pursue avenues of inquiry best left unexplored. We, as an institution, are often left picking up the pieces of these failed experiments. The occupants of floor ten are not treated cruelly and we do our best to find quick and humane ends for all those that suffer but they can not be allowed to run free. Not because they necessarily wish to do harm but rather because they can be easily and readily used to cause harm. The same can not be said for the occupants of floor eleven."
The door, or rather doors, to floor eleven are the most heavily warded that you have yet encountered, "The occupants of floor eleven are malicious to their very core," Hallr shivers slightly as he presses on, "They are things that should never have entered our world and if we had it in our power to do so we would end their lives. Thankfully that floor has but a few occupants."
He leads you deeper to the bottom of the stairwell. The door to the twelfth floor is made of simple wood, there are no enchantments on it and he pays it little mind. Instead he begins searching the far wall, tapping at a cluster of brick a metre off the ground and half a metre from the left, "In truth, Derryth, the twelfth floor holds nothing of value. It connects to a shallow cave filled with old crates of junk and an underground spring. I have been told that the spring flows from the nearby mountains and that one could, in theory, swim out that way. Provided you could hold your breath for a few hours," he laughs, "And provided that the guardians did not kill you."
"Guardians?" Uttu nervously asks.
"Legends," the dwarf waves a hand dismissively, "Some say that dwarf-like creatures live deep under the city but no one has seen them and the last recorded claim of their existence is over two hundred years old. It was just a joke child, nothing more."
"Ah here we go," he presses in a brick and the wall slides away, "This way please."
He leads you down one final flight of stair and stops in front of a heavy black stone door. Splashed across its surface is what appears to be blood and it has a single flawless enchantment etched on its surface in the form of a silver web, "This is the oldest chamber in the entire academy and it is warded by the oldest magic as well. I will ask that you not tell others about what you are about to see. There is but one way to gain entry to this chamber, one needs to believe."
He draws a knife from his belt and you tense, readying a spell. He draws the blade across his hand and smears the blood across the door as he hisses and clicks.
"He is praying," Biliku whispers to you, "He is asking the Goddess to reveal her knowledge and show him the true path."
Well, you are definitely getting results even if it is not what you imagined when you set out. Hallr is leading you right to where you want to go though you will have to be ready to deal with him quickly when necessary as it is now clear that he is, in fact, a cultist.
As you watch him chant you begin to notice that under his words a spell is forming. It takes you a few minutes to figure out what he is doing, he is unlocking the door with this spell and it seems to have little to do with the words he is speaking or even the blood on the door. If you had to guess you would say that this whole ritual is nothing but a bit of theatre with the spell actually driving the action. In fact, you could probably do it yourself if given a little time and practice.
The door creaks and swings open on its hinges. He steps through, his back to you and his arms spread out before him, "Ladies I give to your the first! The oldest! The greatest temple to the Goddess in the entire-"
Biliku cracks him once over the back of the head with the hilt of her blade as you and Uttu watch in stunned silence.
"What?" she shrugs, "We were going to have to knock him out eventually."
Well, she did have the right idea, "Good swing kid but it might have been wise to let him lead us all the way to Jan first," you reply with a laugh as you set to tying up the dwarf.
You bind his wrists and ankles together. You gag him and bind his fingers together. Then you slip your staff under the bindings and give one end to Biliku and Uttu. They can carry the dwarf the rest of the way.
------------------------------------
The temple is magnificent in its dark beauty. Black marble with the odd piece of gold trim. A single vaulted chamber ringed round by smaller cells and above them on the long, high walls and the great domed roof is a single spectacular mosaic. Gemstones, gold, glass and painted rock, together they form a dazzling series of images. The story of the Goddess' faith. It is a story you have heard many times already. The Goddess battles the Swimmer, she traps him, entangles him and hangs him high in the sky to die. From his corpse she creates the world, time and all of existence. Her followers grow and learn. They learn of her existence and all that she has done for them and they serve her, follower her and worship her. It is not an accurate story. Nor is it a true story but here, in her temple, surrounded by the indescribably beauty of the place and a work that must have taken dozen, perhaps hundreds, of hands and years to complete, here, you can see why some do.
It is the girls that draw your attention to the main feature of the temple, pointing and pulling on your sleeves as they do. In the center of the sunken basin that constitutes the main hall of the temple stands a grand statue in the shape of a stunning dwarven woman, skin of solid obsidian, eyes of cut rubies and a pair of great ivory fangs poking out over her full lips. It is a magnificent work though personally you prefer the mosaic.
Below her is an altar.
Below that, a tomb and it is open.
Beside the tomb, your dwarf.
Jan spots you as soon as you seen him. He yelps and dives behind the altar.
"Jan!" you call to him, "Jan come out this instant!"
"No!" he yells in response as you descend into the central chamber and approach the altar. As the last of your group steps off the bottom stair the door you entered by swings shut behind you. Some sort of timed mechanism perhaps or a spring in the stair. You have seen similar mechanisms in temples all across the lands. You might even be trapped in here but one problem at a time. First you deal with the dwarf, then you can try to leave.
"Don't come any closer!" the dwarf yells, "I- I have the spearhead and if you try anything I- I will destroy it!"
Now what is he going on about?
You might as well try to talk him down though you know what the likely outcome of that will be, "Jan, I have no idea what you are talking about! Come out into the open and we will talk about this! We just want to know what you are doing!"
"To hell you do!" the dwarf yells, "You're cultists! You serve that blasted Goddess and you are after the spear! Well you- ah, you will have to go through me to get it! This is part of our Kingdom's history! It belongs in a museum where it can be studied and not with a bunch of fanatics!"
Wait? He thinks you are cultists?
"Jan we are not cultists!" well technically the girls were cultists but even you know better than to say that.
"Right! And I am a Fallen Lord," the dwarf spits back, "You have told me far too much to play stupid now!"
"What are you talking about!" now you are genuinely confused.
"Miosguinn!" the dwarf yells, "I am the foremost scholar in my field! You do not think that I have not heard what happened to the doctor! He went into he ruins under Muirthemne, looking for information on the Smiths and their cult, and he was murdered by his own employer! Murdered by you!"
Well, technically by Bari, you just helped...
"That is not true! Miosguinn was a cultist and-" sadly he does not let you finish.
"Right, he was the cultist! He was a seeker of truth in a dangerous world and a man I have corresponded with for over a decade. You know him for less than three months and he 'falls', very convenient! About as convenient as showing up with a pair of children that can read a supposedly dead language! No, you are cultists, you killed Doctor Miosguinn and now you are going to kill me to get your damned artefact."
"I'll kill you if you don't stop slandering me," you mutter.
"What was that?" he shouts.
"I said, would it kill you to stop slandering me?" you reply.
"Not slander if its the truth!" he hollers mockingly.
"Well what about you!" you lose your temper a little, "You go racing off to a 'meeting' but instead we find you in a temple to the very Goddess you claim to oppose in possession of some sort of artefact sacred to her! Hell you even left Hallr here," you step back and grab the unconscious dwarf by the hair, "To lead us down here! What was the plan? Was he supposed to set off some sort of trap? Maybe give you a warning so that you could dispose of us together."
"Hallr?" Jan pokes his head up over the altar, "I have no idea what you are talking about! As for the rest I left in a hurry because I knew that you cultists would make for the spear now that you have the combination to the tomb! You merely confirmed my suspicions by arriving so quickly!"
You are no diplomat and Jan's mind seems to be made up. If you want to take him in you will likely have to incapacitate him. If you believe him though it might be wise just to let him leave with this spearhead, whatever it is.
The question is what to do, you-
"
Derryth, the bracelet-" Caoilainn begins.
"Here is what you are going to do dwarf!" a voice interrupts your thoughts as the door to the temple once more swings open and eight figures file in.
Good timing, Thaïs must have succeeded in bringing help.
Your eyes light upon her and for a brief moment you smile. Then you notice the expression on her face, the blade pressed to her throat and the man holding it.
"Rand!" you tense at the sight of the man, "What the hell-"
"Not Rand and not now," he dismisses you with a sneer, "Dwarf, I want that spearhead!"
"Who the hell are you!" Jan calls out.
"A loyal follower of the Goddess and a protector of her artefacts," he calls in response.
"Well if you come any closer I will destroy the spearhead!" the researcher give this 'not-Rand' the same response he gave you.
"If you do that I will kill you and all these other people as well," he calmly replies, "You don't want their blood on your hands do you?"
"What- what do I care for cultists killing cultists?" he does his best to bluff in response but it is clear to all that it would bother him.
"They are not cultists, dwarf! In fact, I would say there are few that our Goddess would love more to see dead," you have been observing this 'not-Rand' and he is right. He does not have the same slippery air to him and there is a cruelty in his bearing that the Rand you know does not display. If you had to guess you would say that the man before you was one of the men that escorted Rand away from Blackrock.
"I-" Jan tries to stammer a response.
"Look," the Rand clone cuts him off, "This is quite simple. You give me the spearhead. I give you back my hostage. You get to save one of the 'Heroes' of the Kingdom and I get to recover an artefact of great, cultural, importance to my people.
Or, you destroy the spearhead and I slaughter you all and no one gets what they want."
"Where is Janine?" you interrupt their negotiation while Jan dithers.
"Dead," the pseudo Rand replies.
"Bastard," you spit at him.
He laughs, "You misunderstand. Janine, much like dear Hallr, there was a loyal follower of the Goddess. I did not kill her. Your friend did," he positively grins, "She really is quite a good shot even with only a single magazine for her crossbow. Dropped Janine within the first minute of our little scuffle. Really you are lucky that I am the one they sent this time. If she had pulled that in front of my brother he would have broke her neck on the spot."
Jan remains silent behind the altar.
You do not like the idea of waiting on the dwarf when Thaïs' life is on the line. Maybe you can strike another sort of deal, "What if I trade you Hallr for Thaïs."
"No," he answers all too quickly, "Hallr knows nothing but what I tell him and he is worth nothing. Hell, he believes the Goddess is merely an allegory for the dwarven transition from underground fishermen to farmers, he is a good preacher but he is no soldier. Kill him, torture him, do what you want with him, he means nothing to me."
Jan finally speaks, "What guarantee do I have that you will let us go once you have the spearhead?"
"You have my word," Jan laughs at this, you can't help but laugh a little as well. Your stomach turns.
You ask the next obvious question, "Why should we believe in your 'word'?"
"Well," he begins with a sinister smile, "It is the only way your friend lives through this. Hell, it is the only way any of you will live through this. But, if that is not good enough then how about this? There are several armies to the south and most of them would see the Kingdom reduced to ruin. My Goddess does not want that, the dwarves were her first followers and if she can, she will save them by whatever means necessary, even if it means letting you live for now. How is that for a reason?"
"So she will defend the dwarves out of loyalty?" the idea sounds ludicrous to you.
"Not loyalty but yes, she will defend them," he replies without further elaboration.
You glance over to the altar and catch Jan staring at you. He is terrified and confused, maybe you could convince him to hand over the spearhead, or maybe you can come up with some other way out of this situation.
1. What to do?
A) Convince Jan to give the spearhead to the Rand clone.
i. Verbally convince him to hand over the spearhead. You can't beat the clone at the moment so you will just have to trust him to keep his word. Hopefully you can convince Jan of this fact.
ii. Use your mentalist spells to make him hand over the spearhead. You are not good at convincing others but you could always try to subtlety alter his thoughts. If he notices what you are doing however he may react in an unfortunate manner.
iii.
freeform
B) Attack the cultists. Admittedly you are outnumbered and it is likely that at least some of the cultists are mages of some sort or another but you might be able to pull this off.
i. You open with Warrior's Mask on Thaïs. Hopefully this Rand clone is not a mage and won't be able to detect your casting till it is too late. She might be able to break free if the Rand clone is not too strong and once clear of the group you can open up on them with more powerful spells.
ii. You open with Mentalist spells targeting Rand. You need to get him to lower that blade before you risk doing anything else and mentalist spells are by far the quickest tools in your arsenal.
iii. You do not try to protect Thaïs. You have mandrake roots and a ring with a stored heal spell as long as she is not dead you will be able to heal her after you have dealt with the cultists. Of course if she is killed then there is nothing you can do.
iv.
freeform
C) You wait. You think Jan will hand the spearhead over and you think that the cultists will keep their promise. Interfering right now would just make matters worse.
D)
You pretend to go along with their demands, then attack them when they least expect it.
E) Threaten Rand with a Greater Energy Bolt (stored in your ring), while he thinks you are casting the spell cast the Warrior's Mask to shield Thaïs instead.
F) Use Caoilainn to negotiate with Rand in order to secure the spearhead. You will negotiate in good faith.
G) PRAY to Mazzarin for help
H)
freeform
