The morning passed as usual for them all.
After breakfast, Kirnoth went to be alone with his spellbook in the Secret Room.
Finian took up with Curly in the side yard, trying to get the dog to stand guard over Gwaedry. So far, the animal hadn't really gotten the idea that he wasn't supposed to let the girl move, and spent more time licking her face than he did anything else.
Ledare went back to her books in the Library and, by the time Kirnoth announced that he had learned the new incantations she had managed to translate another four lines of Kunglaren Hargrath's epic poem.
"Yes, yes!" Abernathy's voice echoed off the vaulted ceiling. "I'll see that your petition reaches the Grey Lords! Rest assured!"
The three rounded the corner of the Inner Hall in time to see Abernathy shutting the front door in someone's face. The manservant huffed and turned around with a scroll in his hand. He saw them and shook his head.
"I pray that the Grey Lords return soon," he said with a scowl. "The requests for the Company's aid are beginning to pile up. This is the second one this week and it's only Waterday."
"What kind of requests?" Finian asked the man.
"This particular man claims that he's being haunted by the ghost of a sphinx," Abernathy said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I don't recall to what the others pertained. I place all the petitions in the Study if you feel capable of dealing with them."
"A sphinx," Finian said again as they walked along King's Way. "That sounds interesting."
"First things first," Ledare cautioned. "We have to complete the King's task before we become embroiled in some other affair."
"I know," the Archer replied. "I'm just saying: it sounds interesting."
They turned off of King's Way onto the side street, heading toward the brewery.
"I've never seen a sphinx," Kirnoth confessed. "Have you?"
Finian shook his head and Ledare sighed.
"There's reportedly one that lives in Rogan Forest north of Barnacus," she said. "It's supposed to lair somewhere between the Northcoast Road and the Farmin Mountains, but I've never actually seen it."
"Interesting," Finian said again.
"Is that it?" Kirnoth asked as they approached the run down building.
"Yes," Ledare replied, signaling for them to stop. She fished in her belt pouch and produced the Ring of Invisibility. She surreptitiously handed it off to Finian. "You'll sneak in invisibly, scout it out and then let us in. Agreed?"
Finian nodded.
"I love action like this," he said with a smile.
"No heroics," Ledare cautioned. "Just check it out and then let us in."
"You know me," the Archer said, resting his hand on the butt of his mace as he hurried around to the side of the building.
"That's why I'm worried," the Janissary muttered as he disappeared into the shadows.
Once he was safely out of sight in the alley to the right of The Ogre's Eye, Finian took the ring and slipped it on his finger. He could still see himself, but he noticed that his shadow vanished away, so he assumed that he was invisible.
Grinning, he approached one of the shuttered side windows and carefully examined it for traps. He saw none and found that the shutters were locked with a simple latch on the inside. He produced a dagger from his boot and slid the blade between the two shutters. With a flick of his wrist, the latch gave way and the shutters groaned open.
He checked the window again for traps, found none and slipped quietly inside.
The interior of the old brewery was a single, mostly empty chamber. To the Archer's right, opposite the big sliding door stood several large vats. One vat rested on a rusted metal framework three feet off the floor. Near the vats sat a dozen barrels. The floor around the vats was littered with old cloth sacks.
He listened carefully, but could hear nothing apart from the usual city noise from outside. The interior of the place had a stillness about it that spoke of disuse. Dust lay thickly on everything.
Keeping close to the wall and moving as quietly as he could, Finian made his way to the front door. It was operated by an elaborate pulley system and held closed with a stout pin. To the right of the door was a small, two-wheeled wooden cart. Next to the cart was a sturdy, yet unfinished wooden table. The Archer took quick note that, unlike the rest of the place, the area in front of the door and the area around the cart and table were both free of dust.
He checked the door for traps of any kind and found none. He yanked the pin and put his weight against the door handle. With the assistance of the pulley, the huge door trundled back along its track a few feet and Ledare and Kirnoth slipped quickly inside.
"Well?" Ledare asked in a whisper, looking around for some sign of Finian.
"Empty," he replied and pulled the ring off his finger, making himself visible again. He handed the band back to the Janissary and she slipped it into her purse.
Kirnoth craned his neck, looking at everything from the rafters to the floor.
"Gordigan doesn't smell anything except rats and rotten grain," the mage announced.
"Maybe there are tracks of some kind," Finian suggested and examined the ground.
While he searched, Ledare spotted the wooden cart and looked at it closely.
"This cart has a brand new wheel," she said, noting the pristine condition of the rim.
There were bits of wood and wood shavings on the ground around the half-finished workbench. Work on the table had stopped abruptly.
"Got 'em!" Finian said happily. He was hunched over and he peered at the dusty floor, indicating some trail there that only he could see.
"What is it?" Kirnoth asked. He was looking inside the various barrels which were, so far, empty.
"Footprints," the Archer said happily. "Tiny footprints. Just like the ones I found at The Five Elements when the sausages were stolen."
Ledare came and peered over his shoulder. The prints were visible, but she could make little sense of the overlapping trails.
"Were there many of them?" she asked.
"I'd guess at least twenty," Finian told her. "Maybe more. And they weren't alone; there are giant rat tracks here too. At least three sets. Big suckers too."
He took a few minutes to trace the various paths in the dust. They all led to and from a small iron grate set into the floor and surrounded by scrape marks. Like the one in the former witch's laboratory, it was far too narrow for any of them to fit through, being roughly a foot across. Finian listened at it and could here the far-off sound of water coming from below.
"The sewer," he muttered to Ledare and they both grimaced.
"Hey, look here," Kirnoth said. He stood up holding a hand full of pouches and purses that had been dumped inside one of the barrels. There straps had all been cut and their contents taken.
A harrumphing sound came from the open doorway and they saw a large, cloaked figure silhouetted there, leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed.
"So I leave you all for little more than week and you need beer so badly that you break into a brewery," a familiar voice said. "What am I going to do with you all?"
"Soriah?" Finian asked, standing up quickly. He was smiling, but he kept his hand on the handle of his mace.
She walked forward and drew back the hood of her cloak and they could see that it was Soriah, although she seemed changed somehow. The scar tissue that marred the left side of her face seemed much less pronounced than the last time they had seen it, and she seemed to have regained some of the life that had seemed absent in her when they'd last seen her in the fields outside the city.
"Aye, it's me," she said. "You don't need to bash me with your mace to prove it, either. But I would like to know why you're breaking into abandoned buildings."
"Welcome back Soriah!" Kirnoth said happily. He tossed the slit purses back into the barrel and moved toward the others. "We need to fill you in on all that's been happening!"
Soriah smiled at the elf's enthusiasm and shook her head.
"I am sure we each have much to tell," she said. "But this is no place for my tale. What are you all doing here, may I ask?"
"The question is what are you doing here!?" Finian snapped. "You disappear for days and have nothing to tell us!"
He muttered a few grumbling curses. His hand still rested on the handle of his mace.
"You have changed too," he added. "How do we know you are really Soriah?"
The woman laughed. The cheery sound seemed somehow out-of-place in the deserted brewery.
"Oh, how I have missed you, Finian," she said with a smile. "I see you have not changed. I have missed all of you."
"You look well," Ledare told her, offering her hand to the Battleguard. They clasped wrists and the Janissary smiled. "Time away from this party must do that."
"To me, it has seemed much longer than a week since I left you all," Soriah replied. "It seems I have been gone an eternity."
"Our group as not been whole without you and I am glad you have returned. Are you back permanently?" Ledare asked. "Do you intend to continue with us?"
"That depends," the cleric said, growing more serious. "I have much to tell you, but again not here."
"Actually, Soriah, we were just finishing up here, but we are expected back at Grey House shortly," Kirnoth piped up. "Will you join us?"
She scowled at the suggestion and shook her head again.
"I also do not want to meet in Grey House," she said. "We can speak freely at the Temple of Shaharizod. Is there anything I can assist you with here?"
"Yes," Finian told her. "We came here to explore the brewery. We are looking for-"
"Hey!" the elf interrupted. "How did you find us, anyway?"
Soriah looked at the mage oddly.
"I hired a runner," she said. "He shadowed you here and then told me of your whereabouts."
"So you haven't had a chance to explore the area?" the Archer asked.
"No," Soriah told him. "But I may be able to help you find whatever it is you're looking for."
"Like I said," Kirnoth replied quickly, "We were just about to head back to Grey House. Finian needs to get back to feed Gordigan, as he had promised Gwaedry."
*That's a good idea,* Gordigan said in Kirnoth's head. *I could do with a nice bit of watercress.*
"Who's Gwaedry?" the cleric asked Finian.
"Abernathy's daughter," he mumbled in reply, making a dismissive gesture with his hand.
"It seems that we do have much to tell," Soriah repeated.
"Since you won't join us at Grey House, shall we meet you at temple later this evening?" Kirnoth asked.
"Yes," Soriah said with a happy nod. "That seems like a fine plan. It will be good to get reacquainted."
The three looked over the contents of the warehouse one last time after Soriah departed. The large vats were empty and smelled heavily of aged hops. Likewise the sacks that were scattered about on the floor of the place contained nothing but holes and long-rotted grain scraps.
After a long silence during which they searched fruitlessly, Ledare spoke.
"I don't know why you were so untrusting, Kirnoth," she said in a mildly irritated tone. "It's Soriah, for Ibrahil's sake!"
"Is it?" the elf asked.
"Of course it is," the Janissary responded. "I believe it with all my heart. You haven't known Soriah for as long as Finian or I, but I would trust her with my life."
"Ledare, of course I trust Soriah," the mage countered. "But we have been away from her for a week, and she is acting quite differently. Until we can insure that this is Soriah acting of her own accord and that she has not been influenced by some force outside the group, we must tread cautiously."
"None of us knew when you'd been charmed, Ledare," Finian added, prompting the Janissary to blush with embarrassment.
"Did you not hear her say she did not view Grey House as a safe place? We must be sure she is still a part of our group before we take her into our confidence," Kirnoth went on. "Recall the last time we trusted too soon? Heurist and Sir Brin very nearly killed Finian."
Ledare sighed and nodded her submission.
"I disagree," she told the others. "Soriah is our ally."
"True. But the change in Soriah is dramatic and we should consider the possibility that she has been overpowered by someone- brainwashed, hypnotized or cursed," Kirnoth concluded. "She would do the same if the situation were reversed."
The afternoon passed quickly. The weather was beautiful with a warm, dry wind blowing from inland keeping the storm clouds well away from Barnacus for a change. Rain could be seen far out to sea in the East, but sunshine and blue skies were the order of the day.
Finian, Kirnoth and Ledare arrived at the Temple of Shaharizod at dusk, avoiding Livermore Avenue and Selejian's studio in favor of the somewhat circuitous Crescent Street approach. As on the Archer's previous visit, they found the small door set into the mirrored gate to be open. The courtyard was dark and fairly sinister-seeming in the twilight, filled with the exotic chirping of early spring insects. Fireflies flitted about in the shadows like fairies.
The doors to the temple proper opened as they mounted the broad white steps under the watchful eyes of the stone kestrels perched atop the lintel. The same two children greeted them that Finian had met before. They were dressed the same as they had been last Freeday, in sleeveless robes with small ceremonial scimitars tucked into the sashes they each wore about their waists.
"Thou hast returned, diseased-one," the girl said, looking arrogantly at Finian.
"Mayhap thy illness was less than thou didst suppose," the boy added with a contemptuous glare.
"Haytham. Nuhab," Soriah's voice called out from inside the temple.
"Yes, teacher," the two chimed in unison, bowing deeply.
"These are my friends," Soriah said as she stepped out onto the wide marble porch. "They are here at my request."
"Yes, teacher," they repeated and Soriah shook her head and grinned at her Companions.
"Children," she said by way of explanation. She stepped aside and gestured to the interior of the temple. "Come with me. I have arranged for us to speak in a private sitting room."
"We looked for you here several days ago and they told us you had gone on some sort of journey," Kirnoth said once they had settled into the small chamber.
"Indeed," Soriah replied. "I was in quest of Atonement."
"You certainly do seem different. More peaceful," the elf told her. "Can you share your experiences with us? What was it like?"
"My story is long, but I will make it brief and hit the highlights," the Battleguard said with a deep cleansing sigh.
"Take your time," the mage suggested. "We are very interested in hearing what has happened since you left us."
"The tale begins before that - with the ambush on the Riverneck Path," she explained. "After the death of Muddah, I felt only anger and loss. These are emotions a Battleguard is supposed to be able to control. I was not. The rage inside of me grew and grew until I unleashed it on poor Acoamma."
"Who's Acoamma?" Finian asked.
"One of our attackers," the Battleguard explained. "The one we captured. The one I murdered."
"I'm not sure I'd call it murder, exactly..." Ledare began, but Soriah raised a hand to silence her.
"Call it what you will. She was the outlet for my rage whereby I slew her," she told the Janissary. "She needed a healer not a killer. And after that moment I knew I had committed a vital sin in the eyes of my Goddess breaking one of the first 19 of my 40 Castes."
The cleric swallowed hard, as if reliving the experience as she recounted it.
"Soriah," Finian said in a comforting tone. "I told you before, anyone of us could have done the same thing in your situation."
"But you are not one of the Shaharizod's chosen," Soriah replied. "I immediately lost communion with my Queen. That is like dying while living. I became part of the walking dead. I was here, yet I was disconnected with my surroundings. You all noticed my change, and I knew I had to do something about it. That is why I left you. I had to go to Temple to atone for my sins. I had to perform the Curwauch."
"What's that?" Kirnoth wondered aloud.
"The Curwauch is an ancient ceremony whereby a lost Battleguard enters her Temple with all her worldly possessions and asks to either be forgiven or killed," she told him.
"That seems a little overly harsh," Ledare suggested, but Soriah merely shrugged.
"That is as it has been since before the arrival of the Young Gods," she explained. "I placed the blade at my throat, but my Queen did not take me to her breast as of yet. During the Curwauch I was stripped of all my worldly and spiritual possessions. I still could not tell the phases of the moons or feel contact with my Queen. I was stripped of all my weapons and armor. Was stripped of my very visage and my spell casting abilities. I was lower than the lowest initiate of the Order."
She paused, feeling once more the loss she had experienced.
"What do you mean, you were stripped of your visage?" Kirnoth asked.
"One of the requirements of my quest was that I was not permitted to reveal my identity to anyone. Shaharizod changed my face, taking her marks from me and making me unrecognizable to others," she said and a smile played upon her lips. "I actually sought you all out to see how you fared and you of course saw me, but did not know it was me."
"What?" the Archer asked, flabbergasted. "When was this?"
"Oh, I don't know," the Battleguard said with a wave of her hand. "A day or two after we parted company. I watched you and Ledare head off down South Gate Road toward the harbor."
"On our way to meet with the King," Ledare postulated.
"You met with the King?" Soriah asked, sounding somewhat impressed.
"Yes, but let's hear more of your tale, Soriah," the mage interrupted.
"Let's see: I performed the necessary cleansing ceremonies and was granted the period of Atonement where I had to perform a deed of Her choosing then ask for forgiveness," she went on. "I had to seek out Acoamma's brother, Coreloth, and bring back to the Temple an item that he possessed and the Queen needed."
"What was it?" Finian asked. "A magical sword?"
"A book?" Ledare said with a grimace.
"A map," Soriah told them. "It reveals the route to an evil sepulchre. But that's getting ahead of the story."
"I sought Coreloth out in my disguise," she said, picking up the thread of the tale. "I eventually found a contact that hooked me up with a way to find him. We left on a river barge that was overcome by orcs."
"Orcs!" Finian shouted, rising uncontrollably to his feet. "This close to Barnacus?"
"Yes," Soriah said in a calming tone, pausing until the Archer had settled back into his chair. "I was taken prisoner by them with an old friend of ours actually: Nirlar."
"Nirlar?" Ledare asked, and this time it was her turn to sound flabbergasted. "How did you meet up with him?"
"He was in disguise too," Soriah told them. "And he never knew who I was because Shaharizod had changed my face. He had his own agenda why he was there, something about disrupting the trade... or something. But we were captured and thrown into a cave prison with a bunch of slaves, where I accidentally revealed his true identity to our captors."
She sighed.
"I actually left him in a pretty bad spot and we may want to swing around and see if he is okay," she said with a grimace. "Anyway, at that point Nirlar and I were going to be fed to the "Gnasher". I do not know what this was, as you can now tell, since I am here. Nirlar and I were able to escape, but the prisoners were not."
"And the orcs were keeping these slaves?" the Janissary asked.
"Yes," the Battleguard said with a nod. "And we might want to free them when we go check on Nirlar."
"Anyway at some point after our escape, he crept into the shadows and I got recaptured," she continued. "I took some orcs down with me, but alas was caught. I was again going to be fed to the Gnasher. I was tired of this, and told my captor, Coreloth, the brother to Acoamma, to go ahead and do it. But in doing so, he would never know who killed his sister."
"Which was you?" Kirnoth asked to make sure he was following the story correctly.
"Yes and I told him a partial truth about what happened to her to show him that I knew who had killed her," Soriah went on. "He did not buy it all the way, but was intrigued enough not to feed me to the Gnasher right away. I then told him I would reveal the killer to him once he performed his end of the bargain."
"Which was?" Ledare asked.
"Returning with me to the Temple here in Barnacus," she replied. "He 'let' me escape and I fought my way free, met up with him in the woods, then was smuggled into Barnacus."
"And got this map, you were supposed to find?" Finian asked.
"Yes. He carried the map literally tattooed on his back," she explained. "So I turned him over to my High Priest and fulfilled my second promise to him: I informed him that I was the killer of his blood, and that he could strike me down now if he wished, but that I would defend myself but not strike him back or kill him as I did his sister."
"How did he react?" Ledare asked.
"I am afraid I made a mortal enemy of him," Soriah answered. "And I cannot kill him or let anyone I know kill him as that is my vow to him. He came to smite me, but my Queen forbade it as he was forced to kneel in submission and be carried off. I then performed the end of the Curwauch and was granted communion with my Goddess again."
"Wow," Kirnoth said.
Soriah stood then and drew the two scimitars at her hip.
"I have learned how to fight with these," she said and made a flourish with the two weapons before sliding them back into their sheaths. "And I was again granted my face, although for a reason I do not yet know, my scars are lessened. I then sought you all out to see if we can all enter the sepulchre together to regain the object my Queen needs."
She sat back down and smiled.
"That is my tale."
"Let's do this," Finian said rising to his feet. "Nirlar was a friend and we need to see if he is okay."
Ledare held up her hands and shook her head.
"We have been given orders from the King, Finian!" she said in an exasperated tone. "Unless the situation with Nirlar is somehow connected to these disappearances, I can't justify spending time on it."
"I suspect Nirlar knows something about 'the trade' that Soriah mentioned," the Archer explained. "It seems obvious to me that the reference is to slave trading. A slave ring could explain the disappearing artisans. I vote to rescue him."
"I believe we should prioritize," Kirnoth said softly.
"I would hate to see orcs do any thing to Nirlar because you didn't think his life was a priority!" Finian snapped, glaring down at the seated elf.
"I am sorry about your friend, but I do not believe we can take on another mission until we figure out what's going on with what's already on our plate," the mage explained calmly.
"Kirnoth is right," Ledare stated. "The King's assignment comes first, Soriah. However, since you were not in our company when we were specifically assigned to this task, it is not your responsibility."
"I'm not sure what you're all talking about," the Battleguard admitted. "What orders from the King?"
"Much has happened since you left," the Janissary said with a sigh.
"We are on a mission from the king to find out about the missing artisans that have been disappearing," Finian offered.
"What disappearing artisans?" Soriah asked. "Could you start at the beginning, mayhap, and fill me in?"
"The King gave us a mission to find missing men from Barnacus," Ledare told her. "Two skilled craftsmen had vanished before we were given the assignment and a third has gone missing since we started investigating."
"We suspect Selejian is behind these disappearances," Finian added. "He has come up with art that looks like the missing craftsmen."
"And who is Selejian?" the cleric asked.
"Selejian is an artist," Kirnoth offered. "A sculptor who did decent enough work until recently when his sculptures of artisans became quite amazing. At the same time, artisans have begun disappearing out of Barnacus. We believe he may be turning them into stone, and that this is somehow connected with the evil Goddess, She Who is Coming."
"An evil goddess?" Soriah asked, getting a very serious look on her face. "How does a deity figure in to this?"
"We've found some clues that point toward the approach of a great evil," the mage told her. "We found a poem and some notes that indicate this. We'd like to show them to you if you don't mind."
"Please do," she replied holding out her hand.
Kirnoth frowned.
"I left them back in The Grey House library," he told the woman and her face fell.
"Why do you not want to go to Grey House, Soriah?" Finian asked. "What happened on this little Quest of yours to make you afraid to tell us what's wrong?"
"I have no problem telling you why I do not want to go to Grey House," she said flatly. "Finian, I had forgotten how suspicious you are of me. Was I that cruel? If so, I am so sorry."
"No," the Archer replied, dropping his eyes. "Not cruel. Although you are often disagreeable, you are at least kind. Unlike the arrogance I've seen in the other members of your church."
The cleric smiled.
"It's how Battleguards are trained," she said with a chuckle. "Initiates are made to believe that they are better than those who do not follow the path. Only their superiors in the Order are treated with respect. Sometimes this belief stays with them after they become full Battleguards."
"What about Grey House, Soriah," Kirnoth asked. "I too am curious about your reluctance to return there."
"I think someone evil has infiltrated it," she said.
"What?" Finian asked. "Why?"
"When I was studying how to use the twin moon blades with Cerrakean, she showed me a demonstration utilizing a death blow called the "Dominguez Necktie"," Soriah explained. "I asked her about it and she said it was very rare and only known to a few people. Well, I noticed that Muddah was killed by the Dominguez Necktie, so either Cerrakean did it or someone she taught did."
"But Cerrakean has been past the chimera heads in Grey House, hasn't she?" Ledare interjected. "Remember that the one
detects evil."
"What do chimera heads have to do with Grey House?" the cleric asked.
"That's right," Ledare replied. "We learned of the chimera heads soon after you left. They are stuffed heads mounted in the Grey House on the landing leading up to the second floor."
"I remember them, but you said they detect evil," the Battleguard added.
"They're enchanted," Kirnoth told her.
"One - a goat's head - detects evil, another - a serpent - removes curses, and the third - a lion - dispels magic," the Janissary concluded, counting off heads on her fingers.
"So if Cerrakean passed by the head, she must not be evil?" the cleric asked and her companions nodded. "I think it seems strange that I see this killing blow performed twice in such a short time and in such a limited geographic area. Perhaps the chimera doesn't work like it's supposed to."
"But that's how the former members of Grey Company were found out," Finian explained. "They knew of the Dominguez necktie and they were most likely part of the party that ambushed Muddah and us on the Riverneck Path."
"What do you mean the former members of Grey Company?" Soriah asked. "Do you mean a group like ourselves that have turned evil?"
"Precisely," Kirnoth said with a nod. "They were found out when they passed beneath the goat's head and its eyes glowed. The Grey Lords then kicked them out."
"Who are they?" she pressed.
"According to Cerrakean and Afendemar, there are only four of them left alive," Ledare told her. "One of them, Rowan Cormaeril, has gone mad and is locked in the King's dungeon. Magnus may still be in Barnacus, although he's not been seen in some time."
"Another of them is half-drow" Kirnoth said, his mouth twisting in disgust as he said the word. "Mice'talaburra is her name."
"And the last is a human named Fendathiel," Soriah finished.
"How did you know that?" Ledare asked.
"Coreloth told me that it was Fendathiel who killed Muddah," the cleric explained. "What he did not tell me was that Fendathial was a former member of Grey Company."
"Well, that clears Cerrakean of any wrongdoing," Finian said and the Battleguard nodded agreement.
"Did the Grey Lords say what caused the apprentices to turn evil?" Soriah asked.
"Not really," Kirnoth said. "They joined some kind of mysterious religious cult and returned from a meeting one night evil enough to make the chimera react."
"We believe their headquarters are in the sewers," the Archer added. "That is where I was infected with blood rot that made me very sick."
"Why the sewers?" the Battleguard questioned.
"There have been several connections to them," Ledare said. "First, the missing nurses from the Crescent Street Hospital were tracked as far as a sewer grate on Shop Street. Second, whoever killed the wizard, Poppof entered his house through a door leading to the sewers. Third, Cerrakean told us that the former apprentices often returned from their cult meetings smelling of shit. Fourth, blood rot is only caused by exposure to sewage, and Finian's was not the only case of blood rot to occur in Barnacus recently. Fifth, we found some clothes and other supplies hidden in the sewer near the Shop Street grate."
"Along with that partially-burned note and the 'Rejoice, For She Is Coming' graffiti," Kirnoth added.
"I saw the same thing painted on the Crescent Street Hospital," Soriah told them. "Exactly the same thing. Rejoice, For She Is Coming."
"I noticed that too when I was by there a few days ago," the Archer agreed.
"If we add all of that to the fact that the witch, Khaana's lab and the Ogre's Eye Brewery both had drains opening onto the sewers," Ledare concluded, "an awful lot of evidence seems to be pointing in that direction."
"What does the witch have to do with this?" the cleric asked, not seeing the connection.
"Remember when we laid Victoria Moore's ghost to rest?" Finian asked. "Goodwife Fletcher had left us some sausages to snack on and they vanished while we were in the basement."
"I vaguely remember something about sausages," Soriah admitted. "There were little footprints or something, wasn't there?"
"Yes," the Archer said with a smile. "When we were following up on that with Goodman Midzer, we encountered some little creatures in what used to be the witch's laboratory."
"I think they were some sort of fairies," the Janissary suggested and indicated the bald patches on her head. "They cut off some of my hair. Like it?"
"I wasn't going to say anything, Ledare," the cleric replied. "But it looks pretty terrible."
"Well, Alyllyra did the best she could," the half-elf said with an little chuckle. "You should have seen it before."
"Who's Alyllyra again?" Soriah asked.
"Abernathy's wife," Kirnoth told her. "She's helping Abernathy out around Grey House while the Grey Lords are away."
"The Grey Lords are gone?" she asked.
"Yes. They have taken Cynder to Myth Drannor," Finian explained. "They took him in a bottle and promised it would not hurt him. I miss the big fella. There is supposedly a crisis across the Realms that has taken all of the senior members from Grey Company."
"Where is Myth Drannor?" Soriah asked. "What crisis are you talking about?"
"It's in Pellham," Kirnoth said. "I studied there with my grandfather while they worked to excavate the ruins of the old School of Wizardy."
"The Senior Members of Grey House seemed very bothered about a prophecy, and Cynder seemed to play some part in it," Ledare added. "They wouldn't say precisely what it was about."
"And they left you in charge of Grey Company?" the Battleguard asked, leaning back in her chair under the weight of all the new information.
"Well, not really," Kirnoth said. "Abernathy and Alyllyra run the place, mostly. Gwaedry watches Curly and we come and go as we like."
"And Gwaedry is...?"
"Abernathy's daughter."
"And Curly is...?"
"Finian's dog."
"You've got a dog?" Soriah asked the Archer. "Is there anything you three haven't done while I was gone?"
"Yes," Ledare deadpanned. "We haven't solved any of these mysteries."
There was a moment of silence while all four Companions turned clues over in their heads.
"Tell me again why you were at the brewery," Soriah said at last.
"I found it written down on a piece of paper in a ledger belonging to one of the missing artisans," Ledare told her. "And the wife of the most recent disappearance told us that her husband had gone to that same brewery and never returned."
"So why do you suspect this artist?" the cleric asked.
"Selejian?" Kirnoth asked and Soriah nodded.
"It is quite clear he is hiding something and we want to sneak into his house to find what it is," Finian piped in.
"Look, Soriah, maybe this will all make more sense once we show you the written clues that we've collected," Kirnoth suggested. "Can we count on you to come with us back to Grey House?"
Soriah scowled at the blood-stained slipper that her three companions had discovered in the sewers beneath Shop Street.
"We also found this there," Kirnoth told her and handed her a heavily charred scrap of parchment.
She read it and scowled.
"A beer recipe?" she asked and the elf handed her the grille they had also located in the sewer. He spent a few moments lining up the parchment with the cut outs, but eventually Soriah was able to read the fragments of text concealed in the undamaged section of parchment:
"....the witch has the... once you've finished... to Magnus in the temple...
book is irrelevant... it's the map... wizard has out-lived... and meet us in..."
"Hmm," the Battleguard intoned.
"And I found this when I was doing research in the Library," he added, taking the grille and encoded message and handing her a single sheet of paper.
She read aloud:
"Mirelich-
If the bit about the dragons is true, then what about the rest of it?
Etowyn claims these are more fragments of the same canto. What do you think?-Afendemar"
She then read the two sets of rhyme that were arranged beneath:
and
"What did Afendemar mean about dragons?" Soriah asked.
"It's part of a prophecy," Ledare said and recited the rhyme that Cerrakean had related to them on the day they returned to Barnacus with Cynder.
"That sort of poetry reminds me of what you found before we left for Riverneck," Kirnoth told the cleric. "That poem about the Black Bishop."
Soriah nodded, remembering well to what the mage was referring.
"It does sound like it could be the same poem," Ledare said.
"Yeah," Finian offered. "It's all equally bad."
Soriah snorted laughter at the Archer, but he stood up and began pacing around the Morning Room.
"Enough of these mysteries," he said. "We need to save Nirlar. Helping him may help stop the skin trade which may stop the disappearances in Barnacus all together. We need to stop these orcs once and for all! I went off alone before to hunt orcs and I can do it again!"
"I feel responsible for derailing the party's decision-making," Soriah said. "But I do think I left Nirlar in a bad spot."
"I guess a search of Selejian's home or shop could wait a little while, if Nirlar has been left in a precarious position and needs our help," Ledare said.
"But you said-" Kirnoth began and the Janissary raised her hand.
"I realize that this completely shifts my position, but I am reconsidering," she said. "On the walk over here I remembered that note which we found on the crossbowman who attacked us the first time on the Riverneck Path. I found it amongst our belongings when we got back here. The note was addressed to Branatchtchu, made reference to the 'skin trade,' and then was signed, 'Rejoice, for She is Coming.' That seems like a pretty big connection between the situation with Nirlar and the bigger picture of evil."
She handed the small scroll to Kirnoth. He unfurled it and read aloud:
"Branatchtchu-
Your squeamishness continues to surprise me. I did not think that one from Clan Thouyscrfad would shy away from the skin trade.
I implore you one final time to reconsider. There is much to be gained here. Temmi is a fair man, and I'm sure that he'll grant you entrance if you but recant. I wish that you could gain happiness from this miracle of mine the way I do. But how can someone whole understand the joy I feel regaining what was lost all those years ago!
No matter. If we must part company I feel that the least I can do is invite you to join me one last time at the Brass Bell. I will introduce you to a man who knows The Knave. You could do worse than to join up with him!
If I do not see you tonight, I'm not sure when we'll cross paths again, for I've been called to serve the Temple directly. Lalceps has said he will be sending Nafro and I southwest at first light.
Rejoice, for she is coming!
-Nioklyatode"
The moon elf nodded his silver-tressed head and rolled the scroll up tightly.
"Your point is well taken," he admitted. "The slave trade likely relates to 'She Who Is Coming' and could possibly be where the craftsmen have gone. Are we all in agreement about using the Dreamstone tonight and searching out Nirlar in the morning to help him and also to learn more of the slave trade and its connection to She Who Is Coming?"
They all nodded and Ledare rang the small bell that rested on the end table. A few moments later, Abernathy appeared at the door.
"You rang?" he asked.
"Yes," the Janissary replied. "Can you arrange to have some pillows and blankets brought downstairs? We're planning to sleep in the Secret Room."