Centoriel

[Graybeard]

"What is more relevant to me right now is 'what did this' and 'is it still around.' That's the sort of thing that troubles me."

Brother Miguel nodded. "We'd better find out. And Rose, I don't think you're going to like this."

He returned to the ruined structure and stepped gingerly over the body, pointing down the blank hall beyond the entrance, one of the few intact pieces of building remaining. The hall seemed to end in a featureless wall -- featureless except for one thing.

The Malletarian insignia.

"You're right about that," Sister Rose said...

[Sareth]

"Hey..." Lillith's voice broke in from over in the bushes. "I think I found something."

Not wanting to see anything further, Lillith had refrained from examining the bodies, or coming even close. Instead she had edged away as far as she could get and still feel reasonably safely protected by the presence of others. Walking through the brush at the edge of the ruined town, she'd stumbled.

Looking down, she'd found that the object her foot had caught up against was a small singed satchel. The straps had snapped under whatever force had burnt it, but that had caused it to fly far and fast enough for the damage to only be superficial. Glancing about she'd found two more items, similarly tossed by the blast, a pistol and a wallet.

Gingerly, she had picked up the pistol. She'd never handled one before, and knew nothing about how it worked. Nor did she want to. Still, she was sure the others would want it. The wallet had contained a map that meant nothing to her, and a photo of a man in Veracian robes. She's pocketed both wallet and pistol, and looked at the small satchel.

She'd flipped the top open, and realized the contents were still intact. Curious, she'd reached in and pulled out a perfectly smooth and beautiful crystal ball. She hadn't known what it meant, but she'd known one thing... It was important.

"You'd better take a look at this," she called.

[Graybeard]

Brother Miguel studied the image, then the map. "I think this pretty well dispels all doubt as to whether these two were the people looking for Egbert. This is definitely his portrait." In fact, the building behind him looked to be the Veracian temple, although it was hard to be sure. "Wonder where they got that?"

"I don't know," Sister Rose said, "but I agree, it would just be too much of a coincidence for them to be anyone else. But where's the girl? I'm pretty sure these are the only two bodies around here, and nobody else was moving when I put on the Clairaudience. I didn't see any tracks leaving this little plaza, either. That only leaves -- Aha."

A hair comb, apparently made out of some kind of shell, lay in the hallway that ended in the blank wall with the Malletarian emblem. I wouldn't go into that hallway at the point of a gun, Rose thought, but just the comb spoke volumes. Liz, or Leilani, or whatever her name was, had been there. And if there were no tracks to be seen, she hadn't come back out.

[OOC: I'll gen up the map some time this weekend.]

[Sareth]

Lillith's eyes followed the same path that Sister Rose was looking down and saw the opening to the hallway. The gloom beyond looked intimidating. "Do you think that she went in there?"

[Drannin]

Argus frowned. "If she did, and there are locals, didn't you mention that this... sect... is somewhat unwelcoming?"

Sister Rose's expression indicated that 'somewhat unwelcoming' was worthy of an award for understatement.

[Graybeard]

"It isn't just that they're unwelcoming," Sister Rose replied. "Many groups that live in isolated communities are 'unwelcoming,' and that applies to small towns all over the world. North and south Veracia are full of 'em, and so is the Northern Confederacy." She watched Lillith's reaction to this last statement out of the corner of her eye, but wasn't sure what she saw, so she went on.

"What makes the Malletarians special, and especially to be avoided, are two things. One, they have magical skills at least on a par with Tsuirakushiti in some areas, particularly combat magic. Remember that flash we saw last night? Two, and the real thing that makes the rest of Veracia avoid them, they aren't exactly 'unwelcoming' of foreigners -- rather, when they roll out the welcome mat, it's so that the visitors can become the guest stars at a ritual human sacrifice."

Brother Miguel nodded. "Of course, that makes them ... less than popular ... among the neighboring communities whose citizens get sacrificed. So back to Rose's first point. They're potent enough in magical combat to repel attackers trying to get their sacrificial-victim citizens back, and they've got to the point where they pre-empt on people that approach their compound -- the 'unwelcoming' part."

"They're not supermen," Rose added. "You'd think that with those skills, they'd have taken over Veracia by now, but they have some shortcomings that keep that from happening. For example, they're not nearly as skilled with magical artifacts as the Tsuirakuans, or even our own Orthodox Church. For another, they're peculiarly repellent to horses and other pack animals -- the animals don't like their auras or something." This with a slight nod to Lillith. "All of that means they have no way to get around except by foot, which isn't a good way for an expansionist culture to send their military out. They tried once, and that was when the rest of Veracia finally got together and chased them back where they came from, and eventually into exile. It actually was a very important event in the history of the Church. So now, they stay confined to their hostile little compound in the mountains of Farrel -- more or less."

"So if they don't leave their homeland, who fired that thunderbolt last night? And what was that transport system that scooped up Kureji Mesuinu and ported her off? And how did those emblems get onto these ruins?" Argus asked.

Miguel and Rose both looked at him, and Miguel said, "Good questions. Damn good questions..."

[Drannin]

There was a long silence. Argus pondered the situation, and from what he could tell, his companions were doing the same. Finally, he began to speak. "The way I see it, we have two options. Firstly, we can throw caution to the wind and investigate these ruins more carefully, and never mind the threat of the Malletarians." The look on Sister Rose's face was not unexpected. "I know," he agreed. "I just said it's an options. And it may provide us with a clue as to what's going on here. Hell, for all we know, the Malletarians launched that golem in the first place."

This was a distinctly unpleasant thought, and it showed on everyone's faces.

Argus coughed and continued. "Otherwise, we cut and run, and look for Father Egbert elsewhere. This is also a viable option. However... all the clues are screaming 'there's something here' to me dangers notwithstanding, I think this place bears further investigation. Thoughts?"

Sister Rose's mouth was already forming the word 'no.'

[Graybeard]

Before Sister Rose could give her expected answer, not merely one carrier parrot, but a whole small flock, came over the trees. Most wheeled and headed for the wagon; apparently these were the spares that had been promised. One, however, dropped down to where the group was waiting.

"Should we take this in confidence?" Rose asked Brother Miguel. "Looks like another classified message."

"I think we're okay here," Miguel said. "If it was Top Secret, things would be different. You folks all understand that if you tell the Malletarians what this bird says, we'll have to kill you, right?" It was intended as a joke and delivered with a chortle, but it didn't go over that way, so Miguel apologized and exchanged the code words.

{LUMINOSITA'S SECRET) Thanks for your promptness in sending the pieces of the spider golem. Courier bird C130 -- I believe you would know him as "Herky" -- arrived overnight and a quick analysis has been done. Full results will take some time, but for now:

(LUMINOSITA'S SECRET) We are reasonably sure that this golem does not represent either Veracian or Tsuirakuan technology, at least none that existed at the time of the Mage/Priest Wars. You would have to talk to a specialist for the exact reasons, but it certainly exceeded anything that we were capable of at the time, and the means of construction are inconsistent with anything else the Tsuirakuans are known to have done.

(LUMINOSITA'S SECRET) But if it wasn't Veracian, and wasn't Tsuirakuan, whose is it? We would prefer not to speculate at the present time, and advise you not to do so either. As a reminder, all connections of unspecified dwarven technology with the Veracian military are classified LUMINOSITA'S SECRET, and connections between our military and specified dwarven technology are usually classified at the LUMINOSITA'S TOP SECRET level and cannot be conducted through this medium. Please keep this guidance in mind as you prepare subsequent reports.

(LUMINOSITA'S SECRET) Your countermeasures of depleting the golem's magical energy were commendably ingenious and will be incorporated into our field manuals. However, we would like to know exactly how you killed the thing once its mana was exhausted, so that that too can become part of the tactical regulations in case something like this is encountered again. Please transmit that with your next parrot, classified at the appropriate level, of course.

(CONFIDENTIAL) Meanwhile, there have been a few other developments. Wilbur Hamael has definitely been sighted in the Lorenzel area, although he actively avoided contact. We have at least been able to reassure his wife that nothing fatal has happened to him, and with that assurance, our authorization to search for him has reached an end. One source reported that he was, quote, "unreasonably hostile" when approached. Take this as a word to the wise if you encounter him.

(UNCLASSIFIED/OUO) No significant news from Kiyoka, although Sister Margaret again sends her regards. The Cardinal Inquisitor's investigations are continuing. A preliminary finding is expected today; Margaret claims to have no idea what will be in it. I suspect you're better off where you are, however.

(SECRET) Regrettably, our searches for more information on the non-military sites in the Centoriel region have turned up nothing you didn't already know. I'm afraid you're on your own in continuing the investigation. Please keep us posted, at the appropriate classification level.

Bernie

[Sareth]

There was a silence. No one quite looked at one another.

Finally, Lillith spoke, her voice quiet, almost as though she were afraid of speaking. "I'm not going to pretend I understood all of that. I don't think I even got half of it. But I think I understood one thing. Neither you guys or the Tsuirakans made that gollum, right?" At the small nods, Lillith's expression became even more worried. "But then, who did? You don't think..." And she looked at the black mouth of the hallway.

[Graybeard]

"Honestly? No, I don't," Brother Miguel said. "Remember, that's the kind of thing they're not thought to be good at. Besides, if they could make something like that, they wouldn't waste it out here in the middle of nowhere. Finally, whatever that thing was, it didn't become active until the giant war golem was out of the way. I think that means it was buried deeper than the other one, which means it's been there at least as long and probably longer."

"Still, the fact that the Malletarians are here, or at least have been here, changes some things," Sister Rose pointed out. "One thing we definitely do not want happening is for there to be more of these nasty weapons underground, and the Malletarians find them and activate them. At the very least, we need to tell some people what we're finding here. I'm predicting a full-scale military expedition from Lorenzel once they figure out the implications."

Miguel nodded. "Right. I gotta go load up a parrot. Who's coming with me back to the wagon? ... Oh, wait a minute, what's that?"

He was looking at the crystal ball that Lillith was still clutching, not having had a chance to say anything about it yet.