Finian and Omrixx were already up and eating by the time Kirnoth made it downstairs that afternoon.
"Well, not knowing this Roach you speak of, I can't really say," Omrixx was telling Finian. "Is he someone that knows something about the cultists and would he be of help to us?"
"I'd say yes, on both accounts," Kirnoth told him. "Without his help, we could never have rescued you in the first place."
Omrixx nodded.
"Okay then," he said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "In that case, I think we should contact him. We'll need to be as strong as we can when we go back in there."
"Do you think we can find Roach, Kirnoth?" Finian asked as the elf took a seat and poured himself a cup of juniperberry tea.
"Probably," Kirnoth told him. "I can't say whether he'd be willing to help us or even whether I'd be willing to disturb him again."
"What do you mean?" Omrixx asked. "If he can help-"
"You haven't given me enough reason to want to help," the elf responded. "How am I supposed to convince someone else to do that very thing?"
Omrixx turned to the Archer with a concerned look on his face.
"Finian, old friend, tell him how important it is that we go back to the temple," the half-elf urged.
"No, Omrixx," the mage countered. "Why don't you tell me? What have you left there that is so important?"
The half-elf grimaced and tossed his napkin on the table. He leaned back in his chair with a resigned sigh.
"As I have already pleaded to Finian," Omrixx said. "It is my spell book and I have worked hard and suffered much to achieve that which is in it."
Ledare awoke from a deep and dreamless slumber. What she felt wasn't pain exactly, but more a sense of depletion. An awful weakness and a dull distant ache clung to her body, unrelenting.
Her eyes opened and she looked around. She was in bed, but no bed she'd ever seen, and the ceiling overhead was stuccoed stone reinforced with heavy timbers. There were torches burning somewhere beyond the screens of white linen that shielded her on two sides. She could hear the sounds of people sleeping nearby - soft snoring and deep sonorous breathing. She could smell the sweat of many bodies packed close together, even over the cloying odor that seemed to be coming off of her own bandaged form.
To her right, she saw Ruze sitting askew in a backless chair that he had pushed against the wall beside her bed. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be asleep. A small wooden bowl rested on the arm of the chair and Ledare could see a half-eaten bunch of grapes sitting within it. Her mouth tried to salivate at the sight of the grapes and she reached gingerly out to grab a one with her right hand.
Ruze's hand reached up and grabbed hers by the wrist so quickly that she almost didn't see it.
She sucked in breath to shout and the Battleguard chuckled.
"You need only ask, kitten," he said with a wink. "I would have shared my bowl with you."
"Y-you can see?" the Janissary stammered in reply, once he'd released her arm.
"Indeed," he said and smiled. "Blessed be the Silver Queen."
"What happened?" Ledare asked, her mind still a little hazy. "Where is this place?"
"This place is the temple of Shaharizod," Ruze said and then he launched into a recounting of what had occurred since Ledare was rendered unconscious some few hours ago. He told her of their defeat of the cultists, their discovery of Omrixx and the departure of Roach.
Ledare scowled at the news.
"I have to admit that I am at a loss as far as how to proceed with the King's assignment," she said. "Between Roach and Omrixx, that leaves only three who seem to be of one mind and purpose here."
"Perhaps," Ruze said with a shrug. He placed the bowl of grapes on Ledare's chest where she could both see and reach them easily. "Omrixx actually seemed very anxious to return to the sewer to recover something the cultists had taken from him."
"Well, that's something, I guess," she replied and popped a grape in her mouth. "Perhaps Omrixx will be willing to return to the sewers in search of his lost gear? But this time we need a careful plan."
"And thou wilt have time to carefully make one," Nasser-Ubeen's voice came to them from beyond the screen. A moment later, he stepped into view. "Thy injuries were most grave. And even with the healing touch of The Queen, thou wilt require several days' bedrest to recover properly."
He looked at Ruze then and added, "The Initiates have made the proper preparations. Get thee now to the cell of Yulthweah and return once thy mind and spirit are free of the Taint."
"As you wish, High One," Ruze said with a slight bow.
He hurried off without another word, leaving Ledare and the High Cleric alone behind the screen.
"And how dost thou feel, Janissary?" he asked her.
"Weak," she answered and the big man leaned toward her.
As he bent over her his hand kept the large symbol of Shaharizod that hung around his neck from falling forward and striking her head. He looked at her bandages and she felt her eyes drawn to the silvered symbol. He caught her glance and stood so that she might see the symbol more clearly.
"Art thou a follower of the Silver Queen?" the High Priest asked and Ledare shook her head.
"No, but I spent some time with one of your sisters... followers... whatever you'd call her," Ledare felt her way through unfamiliar territory. Military ranks and procedures she knew, but the navigating the world of the clergy was quite another matter.
"Thou speakest of Soriah Chaste," Nasser-Ubeen said with a knowing nod.
"Yes," Ledare replied. ""This place reminds me of her."
"It is good to remember those who have passed to the other side," the cleric told her. "And yet the loss oftimes makes the remembering painful."
"Soriah's devotion to her Queen was an inspiration to us all," the Janissary said.
"Indeed," the man admitted. "She disdst cling tenaciously to the old ways - more so than any Battleguard in recent memory. I am sure that she wilt go swiftly to the feast of Gorliana for her devotion."
There was a pause and the Janissary added, "I miss her company."
"Such sentiments will count for much when my sister doth stand twice-dead before the Great Balance" he added with a small grin as he placed a hand on Ledare's shoulder. "For the true measure of a soul's import is the mark they place on those left behind and the void they leave in their hearts."
It was cold for Flocktime, and the wind off the Tyredemia cut through their protective clothing as they made their way up Festival Street toward the Crossroads Inn and the well behind it. Once they were in the moss-carpeted courtyard, it was somewhat better since there were no alleys letting onto it from the windward side. Still, the sound of it whistling through cracks and howling around eves was quite eerie.
Kirnoth looked up at the oppressively clouded sky and swallowed.
"Okay," he said again. "I'll approach him with our request, but I'm not going to pressure him into anything. And no matter what Roach says, we'll at least wait for Ruze to finish his ritual before we head back to the temple. Agreed?"
Finian nodded.
"Let's see what this Roach has to say," Omrixx said, casting his eyes at the dark opening of the well.
Kirnoth nodded and clamored over the low stone wall and into the shaft of the well. As before, he found the iron rungs set into the side of the well made the climb an easy one. The dark shaft was at least ten degrees cooler than the air above had been, and the elf was shivering by the time he reached the access hatch. He opened it and, casting a final glance up toward the circle of light far above, stepped into the dark area beyond. As before, it was empty, and Kirnoth called out to the filthy curtain hanging at the end of the chamber.
"Roach?" he called softly. "It's me, Kirnoth."
There was no reply and the elf took a hesitant step closer to the curtain.
"It's Kirnoth. Of Galerideleli." he said. "Are you there?"
Again, there was no reply and this time the mage felt in his pockets for his light tube.
"Gordigan?" he whispered and felt the duckbunny stir inside his tunic. "Do you sense anything?"
*BAD SMELL* his familiar spoke into his mind. *I DON'T LIKE IT DOWN HERE*
"Roach? I'm going to create some light," Kirnoth said and unscrewed the top from the light tube. The chamber was instantly flooded with light and a faint scurrying and squeaking came from behind the curtain.
*RATS* Gordigan confirmed what the elf already suspected. *I SMELL RATS*
Kirnoth edged up to the curtain and drew it aside using the tube. He kept his other hand curled tensely into the Force symbol, ready to cast Magic Missile should the need arise.
The light revealed a square chamber filled almost to the ceiling with junk, much of it rusted and rotted, interspersed with food scraps, oily rags, and other odd trinkets and bones. Another purple curtain at the far end of the room obscured another passage. Several large, but not monstrously large, sewer rats scurried away under the far curtain, squeaking their displeasure at having been disturbed.
But Kirnoth hardly noticed them.
His eyes were riveted to the horror on the right-hand wall. There were several bane midge skins there stretched and drying on wooden frames. In their midst was Roach, splayed, naked - his misshapen hands and feet held to the wall with climbing pitons that had been driven through them. His face was swollen and crusted with blood from a beating that had likely brought him very near to death. To finish the job, however, his belly had been laid open, and his intestines hung across his thighs in bloody coils.
The light tube dropped from Kirnoth's nerveless fingers and he backed up until his back came in contact with the wall. Then, the scream of horror that had been building in him broke free, echoing off the cold stone.
On the wall above Roach's head were written words in blood.
"YOU CANNOT STOP US"
Kirnoth's scream erupted from the well like a banshee's cry.
"Shit!" Finian blurted as he hoisted his leg up and into the shaft.
Omrixx followed closely behind him and the two half-elves found Kirnoth still leaning against the wall opposite Roach's desecrated body. The elf's violet eyes seemed very large on his pallid face.
Finian looked at the wizard and interposed himself between his shocked eyes and the corpse.
"Brutal," Omrixx muttered as he studied the mongrelman's form and the warning written above it.
"Kirnoth," Finian said, giving the mage's shoulders a shake.
The elf blinked several times and his eyes at last found focus on the Archer's face.
"I-" he started to say. "Roach. They killed him."
"Yes," Finian said. "We will avenge him!"
Omrixx stooped down and picked up Kirnoth's light tube.
"How will we do that?" he asked, shining the tube around the cluttered chamber.
"I suggest we make a plan for rest and then invade the lair again," Finian said. "We'll want to get your book and find more clues as to what's going on in that temple."
"I need to get out of here," Kirnoth said. His face looked as if he might throw up.
"I agree," Finian said with a nod. "Let's get out of here."
They started back the way they had come, but Omrixx stopped them.
"Hold up a moment," he said, parting the curtain at the opposite end of the chamber. "I think that we should spend a bit of time searching through this area."
Beyond the tattered purple curtain was a narrow tunnel that ran straight for about fifteen feet before it turned right.
"To what purpose?" Kirnoth asked. "It is dangerous for us to be here."
Omrixx let the curtain fall back into place and drew the King's shortsword that Finian had given him to use. The glowing blade instantly flooded the chamber in harsh light. The half-elf began poking at Roach's haphazard collection of detritus with the blade.
"There may be maps or something else of value," he told them. "Something that may help us in the sewers."
Finian looked from Omrixx to Kirnoth and sighed.
"That's a good point," he admitted. "Can you wait a little while for us to quickly search through this stuff for anything that may help?"
Kirnoth shivered and turned away from the two half-elves.
"Yes," he said. "But please hurry."
Ledare had no idea what time it was. The only thing she knew was that the people who slept beyond her screened-in area had left the room some time ago. And she was beginning to get hungry.
No sooner had the thought occurred to her than an older man with olive skin and salt-and-pepper hair stepped around the screen with a tray in his hands. The smell of sugar and spices accompanied him.
"You're awake," he said with a bow. "That's good. I've brought you some tea and cakes."
He approached her with the tray and set it on the chair beside Ledare's narrow bed. There was a covered kettle, a cup, saucer, a small jar, and a plate of oval-shaped cookies sprinkled liberally with crushed nuts.
"Thank you," the Janissary responded and pushed herself into a sitting position. She was surprised at how much better she felt today that she had the night before.
The man poured her a cup of tea with his well-callused hands, added some honey from the covered jar and passed it to Ledare. She took a sip and smiled as the spicy warmth settled into her belly.
"Is there any way I could talk with Nasser-Ubeen or Battleguard Ruze?" and the man jumped, dropping the honey spoon onto the floor.
"You- you know Battleguard Ruze?" he asked hastily dropping to his hands and knees after the spoon.
"I do," Ledare responded warily. She watched as the man hunted about under her bed for the piece of errant silverware.
"Is he a good man?" he asked once he'd risen triumphant with the spoon in hand. "Is he strong and noble?"
"I think so," the Janissary told him. "He's certainly very strong in his faith."
The man smiled with a measure of pride and nodded his head.
"Good," he said. "That is good to hear. I-"
"Battleguard Nolo Rothari!" Nasser-Ubeen's voice thundered from beyond the screen and the man dropped the spoon again. This time, however, it clattered onto the tray.
"Y-yes, your holiness?" Rothari said, bowing fearfully as the High Priest came into view.
"Why hast thou remained here when I didst instruct thee to deliver sustenance to the Janissary and to remove her waste?" Nasser-Ubeen growled, crossing his thick arms across his chest.
"I- I was just-" the Battleguard Nolo stammered.
"Thou wast ignoring thy duty," the priest replied. "Thou dost make a lifetime out of ignoring thy duty."
"Y-yes, your holiness," Rothari admitted and reached under Ledare's bed for her chamberpot.
"Get thee hence," Nasser-Ubeen commanded. "The midden pit needs tending."
Bowing deeply, Rothari hurried off with the chamberpot. Once he was gone, Nasser-Ubeen shook his great head and let out a disgusted sigh.
"How art thou?" he asked Ledare, his face softened somewhat as he examined her bandages.
"I feel much better," she told him and he nodded.
"Yes," he said. "Thy injuries are responding well to my ministrations."
"Well enough to leave the temple?" Ledare asked hopefully and the High Priest eyed her skeptically.
"I merely wish to continue my recovery from Grey House," she explained. "I promise to stay restful there. It would allow me to do some quiet research using the resources of that place while I recover."
Nasser-Ubeen's fingers played thoughtfully with the waxed curl at the end of his forked beard.
"Battleguard Ruze could make sure that I get the proper rest," she added.
"Battleguard Ruze shall remain unavailable to thee until the 'morrow," the cleric told her. "His ritual of cleansing requires a full day to complete and will surely leave his strength depleted."
"May I leave prior to then?" Ledare asked again.
"Provided thou dost swear to remain restful until thy injuries are fully healed, I can do little to force thee to remain within these walls," Nasser-Ubeen told her. "But mark well my words: thou dost bring ill to none save thyself if thou does not rest as I bid thee."
"I will," the woman said with a smile. "If there's one thing a Janissary knows how to do, it's follow orders."
Nasser-Ubeen harrumphed and turned to go.
"I will arrange for someone to accompany thee to thy Grey House," he said. "But for the nonce, rest and eat."
The search of Roach's lair took longer than Kirnoth would have liked, but yielded many seemingly-valuable items including: a large, flawless ruby; a bronze ring inset with three azurite gems; a large holy symbol of Aphyx of gold filigree, silver and ornamental emeralds and amber beads; a small metal vial filled with clear, odorless liquid; one silver plated mug and a full set of heavily-tarnished silverware; one gold statuette of a rat with one ruby eye; two matched amethysts; three partially stained tapestries of beautiful women; a solid silver lap harp engraved in elvish with the name Valalemir; four short swords; one blowgun and 24 blowgun darts; and roughly 100 gold pieces worth of mixed coins.
Ledare had already returned to Grey House and settled into one of the comfortable chairs in the Day Room. She had a glass of Haven Nectarwine sitting on the table beside her and a fire burned in the hearth. They introduced Omrixx and recounted what had happened to their one-time companion, Roach.
Ledare was saddened by the news and she shook her head and looked into the fire.
"As mysterious and unusual as he was, we owed Roach much," she said. "This is very sad news."
She looked over at Kirnoth. who was staring desolutely into the fire.
"All the more reason for us to continue in our efforts against this great evil, right Kirnoth?" she said.
Without looking up, the mage muttered, "We'll probably die if we keep at this."
The Janissary frowned.
"Clearly we can't go back into these sewers without a much more organized plan," she said. "But there's no reason we can't succeed if we keep trying."
"We may have found some magical items," Finian said. He picked up the silver harp they had recovered from the sewer and plucked at one of the strings. A sweet melodic note hung beautifully in the air and the harp string danced with motes of silvery-blue light.
"Clearly you've found at least one magical item," the Janissary corrected. "Kirnoth? Can you examine these things that you've found?"
The elf looked up and nodded.
"Good," Ledare replied. "I got an idea while I was convalescing: we could start questioning midwives about anyone preparing for an upcoming birth. Assuming that someone is going to deliver a child soon (according to what we overheard in the sewers, and the prophecy) they would probably need the help of a midwife, right?"
"That's not a bad idea," Finian admitted with a shrug.
"What about going back to the temple for my book?" Omrixx asked.
"I still think we need to go back in there," Finian assured the half-elf. "It'll be dangerous, but I don't think we have much choice. Given what they did to Roach, it's obvious that they're on to us."
"If we are encountered by anything overwhelming while we're down there we could retreat immediately," Omrixx suggested and the Archer nodded.
"How long till you're back on your feet, Ledare?" Finian asked and she shook her head.
"I don't know," she told him. "Nasser-Ubeen said it would be a few days."
"What about the cleric?" Omrixx asked. "Ruze?"
"He won't be available until tomorrow at the earliest," Ledare explained.
"So the question is: do we sneak back in or wait until our group's at full strength to storm the place?" Omrixx asked.
Kirnoth shook his head.
"No," he said, looking at Omrixx. "I think our top priority right now should be to properly bury Roach. I'd like to go back for his body immediately before something else happens to it."
"Back where we just came from?" Finian asked. He was still holding the silver harp and as he spoke he picked up the bronze ring. "I think we should examine all of the items we found first."
"If others of you want to help me that's fine," Kirnoth replied. "Otherwise I'll do it myself."
"Kirnoth, hold on a moment," Ledare said. "You can't go down into the sewer by yourself. How would you even hope to move his body?"
The elf stood and shrugged his narrow shoulders.
"I can't see how I'll be able to lift the body on my own, but I'll just have to figure out a way to do it myself," he told them with a disappointed tone. "I feel that we all owe Roach a huge debt, but I can't force anyone to go with me any more than I can allow him to languish there. I have no doubt that Roach would do the same for one of us."
"Kirnoth..." Ledare started to protest, but the mage held up his hand to silence her.
"My mind is made up, Ledare," he explained. "He risked his life for us. This is the least we can do."
"I will come with you to retrieve Roach's remains," Omrixx said, getting to his feet.
"You will?" Kirnoth replied, looking at the half-elf.
Omrixx nodded and said, "It seems that you all have lost someone that risked much to free me. Although that may not have been his direct goal I feel that I owe him as well."
Kirnoth's face brightened.
"Thank you," he said. "Your help will make the task much easier."
They started for the door and Ledare called to them.
"I'll have Abernathy send a runner to the Necropolis," she said. "The mortician who runs the place, will send a someone to pick up the body at the well. The Watch tends to frown upon people carrying corpses through the streets. Once you bring his body to the surface, wait there with it."
"Thanks," Kirnoth replied.
"Finian and I will stay here and compile a list of all our resources, magic and otherwise," the Janissary told him gesturing at the Archer who was examining the damaged rat statue. "All the vials of unknown liquid we have, rods, etc."
"That sounds like a good plan," the mage said. "We'll return after we've made arrangements for the burial."
Omrixx and Kirnoth moved north along Festival Street, noting the increased traffic from the coming festival undeterred by the falling rain. As they went, Omrixx talked again of the proposed journey back to the sinister temple.
Sighing heavily, the elf cut him off.
"As far as going back into the sewers, I want to be clear about our goals there," he protested. "If we're just going in for your book, I don't feel like I know enough about that to risk my life."
"I'm sorry I have not conveyed the importance of my book. Let me try to explain," Omrixx said. "I have been through many situations that I do not wish to repeat in order to acquire the spells that are in that book. I do not say that any of you owe me anything but rather, that I should owe you. Without that book I will not be worth much and therefore not be able to repay you for the kindness that you have all showed"
"Omrixx, that is all well and good, but I still do not know what spells I would be risking my life for," the elf countered. "What EXACTLY is in this book?"
Omrixx looked a trifle insulted by Kirnoth's persistence.
"I do not ask what coins you carry to sustain your needs but yet they exist, or at least, the need for them exists," the half-elf replied.
They turned into the alley beside the Crossroads Inn, passing several men and a few women who were relieving their bladders in the shadows there, protected by the overhanging eaves. The sounds of a minstrel and dozens of cheerful revelers emanated from the building's interior.
"We're not talking about coins, Omrixx," Kirnoth whispered, covering his mouth and nose as they skirted around a pair of drunken halflings squatting beside an empty barrel. "And I'm not asking you to risk your life over the contents of my purse."
"If my entire spell collection only allowed me to turn frogs to princes then I would be a rich man to some but truly silly to others," he countered. "Please hear my plea only to know that they are the world to ME."
Kirnoth scowled as they passed through the alley and into the open courtyard beyond. It was empty, being wholly unprotected from the rain.
"Come on," the mage replied. "We'll discuss this more later."
The two trotted across the way to the stone well.
Ledare sat in one of the ornately carved chairs in the Inner Hall, her glass of wine resting on the sideboard as Finian trotted items they had collected under the chimera heads. She had a piece of parchment and a quill and was making notations of what they had gathered. None of the objects so far had caused the stuffed heads' eyes to glow.
"This is the last of them," the Archer said, holding the enormous ruby up so that it caught the light.
"And nothing evil or cursed amongst them," the Janissary stated.
She looked down at the list. It was rather lengthy; they had collected a good deal more than she had remembered. She read off the list to Finian.
Finian picked up the bronze ring and looked at it intently. After a moment, he caught Ledare studying him with a bemused smile on her lips.
"What?" the Archer asked, knowing full well why she was grinning. "I love rings! Is that so wrong?"
The Janissary chuckled and held up her hand in a stopping gesture.
"By all means, try it on" she said. "Don't let me stop you."
He slipped it onto his left hand and felt a pleasant but unidentifiable sensation slide easily through his body. His limbs felt lighter, his joints more limber.
"Well?" Ledare asked him. "What is it?"
"I don't know," Finian grinned back. "But I like it."
The recovery of Roach's body went without incident, and through the use of teamwork and the judicious application of Kirnoth's Reduce spell, they were just able to bring the hulking corpse to the surface. Even so, both Kirnoth and Omrixx were panting and sweating by the time they'd laid Roach's shrouded remains out beside the well.
"Heavy," Omrixx breathed.
"Yeah," Kirnoth agreed.
Someone coughed nearby and both men jumped at the sound.
"Scuze me, nohble peepul," wheezed a stooped man in a well-patched suit of brown clothes and a heavy, oiled talmuc. "I's from da nacropliz. I's here ta clect yer dead."
The man stared at them, his dark beady eyes glinting from under his grime-streaked cowl. Hacking out a cough, he wiped his dripping nose on his sleeve and pointed at the corpse.
"Dis mus beda one," he said and slung Roach's body almost effortlessly onto his hunched back. "Da boz says dat muh fees bin paid. So now I says g'night ta ya."
The man turned and started shuffling toward the alley that lead out to the road.
"Wait!" Kirnoth called and hauled himself after the man. "I would like to say a few words at the burial."
The man didn't stop, but he did bob his head up and down.
"Da boz takes care a dat stuff," he wheezed and started down the alley. "Won't be buried till mornin' anyways. Lots more stops tonight."
Drunks staggered out of the man's path as he went and Kirnoth and Omrixx followed behind him.
In the street was a two-wheeled cart with a single lantern mounted on a pole in the rear. Many pairs of feet stuck out from under the dirty canvas tarp spread over the cart bed. The man casually peeled back the tarp and dropped Roach's body onto the pile.
"Bizniz haz bin gud tonite," he muttered as he drew the canvas across the bodies. "Ya kin talk to da boz cum mornin' if ya cumz real early like."
Ledare gritted her teeth as Finian plucked discordantly at the harp. He'd been doing it for what seemed like forever, muttering the elfish word - Valalemir - over and over as he did so. So far, however, his cacophony had produced no magic other than the dancing motes of silver blue light that shimmered around the strings as he plucked.
"Finian," Ledare groaned. "I don't think-"
"Valalemir," the Archer said again as he strummed.
"I don't think that you know how to-"
All at once, the Inner Hall was filled with a gale that snatched Ledare's papers away and sent several of their collected items flying off the sideboard where they'd been arranged. The brass lantern struck the floor and the glass body shattered. Several of the tapestries on the wall fluttered and paintings careened, threatening to rip free of their hooks. Finian stopped playing and the wind died down at once.
Ledare looked at the Archer who was smiling from ear to ear.
"Whoah," he said. "It came to me while I was playing. The harp is infused with two spells: Gust of Wind and Wind Wall. Playing the harp activates the spells."
Ledare stooped to gather her papers.
"Next time, maybe you could warn me before you activate any spells," she suggested.
"GOOD GODS!!" Abernathy cried from the other end of the hall and Finian cringed. "What in Sato's name are you doing in here?!"
Abernathy awoke them before dawn as Kirnoth had asked. The manservant wasn't very happy since he'd spent most of the night tidying up the Inner Hall after Finian's impromptu windstorm. Despite the Archer's offers to help him with the clean-up, Abernathy would have none of it.
They breakfasted on toast and jam, ham, and fruit and were just finishing up when Ruze walked in. He wore his full armor and it looked as though he might have spent all night polishing it. The circles around his eyes and the greenish cast to his face hinted that he might have spent the night in less wholesome pursuits.
"Good morning to you all," he said with a smile as he picked up a piece of toast. "I hadn't expected to find you all up so early."
"We have to get to the Necropolis early so that we can attend to Roach's burial," Kirnoth said with a frown.
"Wha-?" the Battleguard grunted with a corner of a slice of toast jutting from his mouth. He swallowed and chewed frantically and finally managed to sputter, "Kirnoth, what say you about Roach's burial? You mean he is not safe and sound in the sewer?"
"He was killed," Ledare told the cleric and they quickly filled Ruze in on the details.
"How sad," the man said. "Roach was a valuable, if ugly ally. I will assist in his burial, of course. But first, I need all of you to strip naked."
He turned quickly to the Janissary and added, "Except for you, kitten."
"What the-?!" Finian shouted in disbelief. "Are you crazy or what?"
"No, Finian," Ruze said as he spread some jam on another slice of toast. "I need you to strip naked so I can check you all for marks of chaos. Things like warts, boils, evil-looking blemishes in the shape of horns, that sort of thing."
"You are a wacko!" Finian asserted. He threw his napkin on the table and crossed his arms defiantly.
"I'm with Finian," Omrixx chimed in. "You must be crazy if you think I'm going to strip down for you! I knew that Shaharizod and Azril were celestial allies, but have your two faiths now begun exchanging vows?"
It was a well-known fact that services to Azril, the Mistress of Many Pleasures, were conducted entirely in the nude.
Ruze chuckled.
"Omrixx, come now. This is business," the Battleguard said, flipping his ponytail over his shoulder. "If I was interested in you that way I would at least have offered you some spiced apple brandy first."
The half-elf looked back at him suspiciously, unsure of the cleric's intent.
"Now let's go," Ruze said. "Off with them."
"Why are you asking me to strip naked and not Ledare?" Kirnoth asked and Ruze came over and laid a hand on the elf's shoulder.
"I need to check you for the Taint," the Battleguard explained looking sincerely into the wizard's eyes. "Chaos can manifest itself in any manner ways. One of the ways is blemishes to the skin."
"But why not check Ledare, too?" Omrixx asked.
"Ledare is exempt, as she was checked over by Nasser-Ubeen himself. She has been declared clean," Ruze said and he looked at the Janissary as if he'd just remembered that she was there. "Ah... Ledare you look much better."
"Thanks, I-" she started to say and the cleric crossed to her in three quick strides. He turned her head to the side so that he could examine the bandages on her neck where her metal shoulderguard had burned her flesh.
"You seem to be mending well," he told her with a smile. His hands moved over her body with professional swiftness, poking and prodding at various injury sites until she finally flinched away from him uncomfortably.
"Does it still hurt here?" he asked, reaching back for her until she flinched away again. At last he nodded and stood up. "Hmm... it seems Nasser-Ubeen has done excellent work. The burn on your neck was one of the most severe, and the scars there are very, very faint. How do you feel?"
"Like I need some air," she said, getting to her feet. "I'll be waiting for you all in the Inner Hall whenever you're done with whatever you're doing."
She crossed to the door and it was plain to everyone that she was feeling much better than she had been. There was hardly even a hitch in her gait.
"Say, Ledare, would you like to share in a glass of warm milk?" Ruze asked. "My stomach seems to have gotten the better of me this morning. And it seems to me I have already up thrown in your presence before; I'd not like to do it again."
"I'll have Abernathy fetch you one," the Janissary said and closed the door behind herself.
Ruze looked at each of the three males and made a 'get on with it' gesture.
"Come on now!" he said. "Off with your clothes."
"Sure, Ruze. Whatever floats your boat," Finian said as he got to his feet and started to unbutton his leather vest. "Why don't you lock the door. It could look a little strange if Abernathy, his wife or - gods forbid - Gwaedry would walk in. She could think we were some type of kinky homo group or something."
"I do not think we have to lock the door," Ruze said, his face deadly serious. "Or are you afraid of Gwaedry seeing what you are hiding down below?"
Finian stopped untucking his shirt and glared at the man.
"Okay. Okay," the Battleguard said, locking the door to the hall. "Just kidding."
Kirnoth fished the protesting Gordigan out of his shirt and set the duckbunny on the table where it began to sample the jam. Grudgingly, Omrixx got to his feet and began unbuttoning his shirt.
While they undressed, Ruze sat at the table sipping hot tea and eating fresh fruit. Once the three of them were completely naked, the Battleguard stood up.
"Line up," he instructed. "I want you all to examine yourselves and each other."
"What?" Finian protested. "I don't want to -"
Ruze cut him off without missing a beat.
"Look for boils, cysts, warts, and open sores that appear seemingly without any cause," the Battleguard told them. "I'll start at this end and work my way down the line."
"Just make it quick," the Archer grumbled. "It's breezy in here."
Ruze began checking Finian, staring by examining his scalp and working his way down.
"I'll be just as quick as I can," the Battleguard said as he dropped to his haunches. Then he smirked. "I am so sorry, man - or should I say, boy."
"What?" Finian jerked away from him, covering his privates with his hands.
"No. No," Ruze grinned. "I know it is a tad bit chilly in here."
"You asshole!" the Archer spat back. "There's nothing wrong with me! What about them?"
He pointed at Kirnoth and Omrixx.
"Don't go studying me, Finian!" the half-elf good-naturedly protested, turning away from the Archer. "We're not that kind of friends."
Finian's face was a shade of red that verged on purple.
"No, Finian. It's okay," Ruze soothed. "I know the ladies must understand."
He chuckled and moved on to check Omrixx.
The sky was overcast and a stiff, cool breeze was blowing in off the sea. But the rain had stopped, and the Companions were pleased of that as they trudged northward through the muddy streets toward the Necropolis. It was located in a section of Barnacus that had never been rebuilt after the Undead Wars and the scars of that horrible campaign were clearly visible in the blasted shells of the buildings that bordered the graveyard on three sides. The fourth side of the roughly rectangular gap was sealed off with a rusted, wrought iron fence, five feet high. Set into its lone gate was a bronze plate covered in verdigris bearing the single word: "Necropolis".
Beyond the fence were a collection of weed-covered mounds just beginning to turn late spring green, slate stones, weathered statues, moss-choked obelisks, small stone crypts, and a few skeletal trees devoid of foliage. Tiny points of pale reddish light flickered here and there amidst the stones and statuary. At the nearer graves, they could see that the lights came from small candles placed at the gravesites. A low wood and stone building squatted in the far corner of the cemetery.
Even at dawn, the place was an eerie one.
"You must be here for the mongrelman," a voice said and a tall man stepped out from behind the stone pillar at the left of the gate. "My associate, Slid, told me that you wished to attend the interment."
The man was thin and handsome in his late twenties with pale skin and black eyes and hair. He wore a black cloak and a wide-brimmed hat that shaded his face. Beneath the cloak, his was dressed in finery - velvet and ruffles fit for nobility. A silver clasp decorated with a deaths head held his flowing cloak around his neck.
"The fee for a normal private burial is one-and-five," he said opening the gate for the group. "But a full funeral with all the cultural trappings is quite a bit more."
"How much more?" Kirnoth asked and the pale man smiled thinly.
"One hundred gold is the cheapest I can do," he told the elf. "Mongrelman tradition requires that the body be ritually devoured by the rest of the tribe."
The group blanched at the thought and the man's smile broadened mischievously.
"They call it Feasting," he explained. "It's really quite interesting. Really..."
"We'll go with the regular burial," Kirnoth interrupted and the man led them to an open grave. The hunched man that Kirnoth and Omrixx had met the night before was leaning on a shovel. At his feet was Roach's body, wrapped in a burial shroud with only his battered face exposed.
"Slid, if you please," the pale man said with a simple gesture and Slid wrapped up Roach's head and lowered him into the grave.
"You may speak, now," the man told the Companions and he took a discrete step back from the grave.
Kirnoth stepped up to the graveside and bowed his head. For what seemed like a long time he stood there without speaking.
"I owe Roach my life," he said at last. "He was there for me when I was terrified and alone in the sewers and continued to be there for me in situations where I feared for my life until his own death."
At that point, he looked up at the other faces around the grave before he looked up at the cloudy sky.
"He was good and noble and I personally will miss him," he said and everyone could hear the weight of sadness in his voice. "I truly hope he has gone to a better place."
The elf wiped a tear from his cheek and stepped away from the grave.
Ruze stepped up.
"Shaharizod, we come to you with tears in our eyes and sorrow in our bosom for the fall of one of our companions," he said. "May he find his way to your Light, and may thy Light shine upon us all. My Queen, I ask that my companion, Kirnoth, be allowed to share his grief with you this day, to feel your presence, and to know his is not alone in his time of sorrow."
The Battleguard laid his hand reassuringly on Kirnoth's shoulder.
"Let Kirnoth know, my Queen, that despite the horrors of Chaos, despite their attempts to influence this Realm, despite their attempt to darken the world, let Kirnoth know this: we will not let them!" Ruze went on, his normally cheerful face darkening with deadly seriousness. "The balance must be preserved, and through the goodness of others upon others; through Faith, Shield and Sword; through sacrifice and sorrow; the Light will not yield to the Dark. Not as long as thy Battleguards roam in your name, Holy Mother, and not for as long as I roam in your name!"
He dropped suddenly to his knees with his hands crossed.
"I am yours, Mother!" he vowed. "Let me be your shard of light, and I will guide your will true!"
He swung his hands out then to indicate the whole group.
"May you protect my companions from the Taint, My Queen, as they serve the Path as well. Thy will, will be done."