Chapter 16 Answers that make more questions

I awoke to the aromas of Pancakes and eggs. Bacon brought that distinct smokey scent that is different that any other smell in the shop, and for a few minutes I was able to just lay there and not worry about anything but the wonderful way my bed felt, and the coming meal that would taste better than most before it. Willing myself out of bed, I dress, and stubble out into the work area of the shop. Dani is there, with Max just finishing setting out breakfast, Leona joins us and we sit to eat. Blessing murmured to the gods, we eat, and I pull out of my pocket the letter in which Lilith had given me. I had completely forgotten about it until last night when we had seen her, and Max had run off. Well, Walked off. If he had run of, there would have been a easy path of destruction to follow. When Max reaches out for the letter, and keep a grip on it and make sure he really wants it. When I let go, and he reads it, various emotions cross over his face. Looks of deep thought, then concern cross his face, and he smirks as he folds it back up, to place in his own pocket.
Looking to Dani, I tell her that her tower is very effective, and I can practically feel my head still rings. Looking at me stunned, she pokes me to make sure I am still here, and not some phantasm. I also tell her that her friends have escaped the city using the means of the guild, and the tower has some very interesting features. A very guarded look came over her face, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking. I simply wanted to let her know that her people were safe, but she seemed to be... Angry? Maybe alarmed? I can't tell.
She asks Max for some privacy, and he leaves the table. I expect her to start yelling at me, but when I hear her, it is in my head. Lips not moving, she is just sitting there, looking at me with such a fierce gaze I am worried she is wondering how best to kill me. In fact, I don't think she has to think about it, she probably knows already. She asks me in this strange new way if Lilith had shown us the bottom of the tower, and after struggling for a second I Think I respond. I'm not really sure what thoughts she can hear or read, or just has knowledge of. I”m not sure if she could understand what I was thinking about, and I quickly try to focus on the conversation at hand, and not the piercing eyes, or any other... features.
I ask her what she is going to do now, and she says that she has to report back to her people and check in on them. I ask if there is anymore information about the attack, and if she needs anything to let me know. I am aware of various ways she can talk to us without being there. She gets ready to leave the shop, beckoning her Accordion to her, and it floats over to her as she exits. I clean up the dishes thinking about just how much power I just witnessed. Deciding that I can think about that while working, I clean up, and set some stock to heating in the fire. There is work to be done.
Breathing easy, and with the steady rhythm of the hammer, Leona and I slowly shape the first bar stock, and we leave each other to our thoughts. Dani has a good amount of power, and she was just casually throwing it around. I used to hunt people like that. I didn't enjoy it, I was getting paid for it, but it was something that was just done. But now that I have talked with them, eaten with them, cared about their safety... Hmm. And they do have a good amount of power. Frightening really. Those men outside the tower died with no chance to do anything. Fear of that kind of raw output, unchecked and controlled. That is what leads people to launching an attack like last night. And I felt that power. It rocked us to the core, even knocked one of us out. Is it better that those with that kind of power are away from the general public? One person without the control needed could kill hundreds. But, Dani and her friends are just trying to get by, and to be attacked for just trying to scratch out a living. And those who have a small amount of power, scared to use it should someone they know turn on them. And what about me? These powers that I have been blessed with now, do I have to worry about people fearing me? Am I putting Leona and Max in danger? Why do we differentiate between divine power and power from within?
I realized that I have stopped hammering, and Leona is giving me a weird look. Telling her that this metal is reacting odd, I set it aside, and reach for new stock. The order is for a Manica, or the armor for only the shoulder and arm. Kinda odd to want just that piece, but for what they are paying, It will be the best. As I start bending over the bit for the vambrace, I can't help but try to think about who is bending the ear of those we have stood against. The kidnappings, the murder of a guild leader, and the attack last night. We were told that the leaders of the accountants, infrastructure and the Hunters guilds were a bunch of shifty bastards. And While we have been active, we have been trailing behind the motivations the entire time. We can investigate things further by asking the mushroom folk in the sewers, and by asking Holden Cockswell, or really his assistant, what was going on in the steam guild, maybe they were angering someone by what they were doing. Maybe infrastructure didn't want things to change, and steam guild was pushing too hard? Yeah right.
I work while I think, and get a whole project done, and start on a second when I hear a wet meaty thump against a wall of my shop. It startled me out of rhythm and my thoughts, I started looking around, as do Leona and Max, and a small winged... creature flies up to sit on a window sill in the wall where the noise came from. At First I think it is some sort of bird of prey, but the longer I look at it, the more I see that there are characteristics of the creature that make it look more like a pigeon. It looks like some insane being has decided to mix a falcon, or similar bird of prey, with a pigeon, and created this monstrosity. The hideousness of this poor creature has caused me to nearly miss the message strapped to the creature altogether. I take the message of the bird, and it starts to flutter and hop onto my table, just generally causing a ruckus. Reading the message, it is from Melfina. She is asking where I am, and requesting me to come over to the estate. I hurriedly scrawl a message out, telling them that I will start heading over, grad the grotesque bird, attach the message, and chuck the infernal thing out my window. I'm not sure where Rorin got the thing, but it flies just like a rock, and bounces off the ground before it takes to the air again.
Doning my armor, and grabbing my weapons, I tell Max and Leona where I am going, and head out across the city. Destroyed carts, and charred buildings shows the damage from the previous night. I would bet that most of the carts had nothing at all to do with what the attackers were doing last night. Like the destruction in the residential area last night, and the people trying to attack the estate, I get the feeling that these were just crimes of opportunity, and innocent people lost livelihoods because of it. It is going to take some time to clear this all out, and I can see that people have already started, but an air of mistrust is also in the air.
Getting over to the estate, I can hear Marda singing in one of the rooms, and Aurane is bent over one of the tables working on paperwork. He is looking a little disheveled, and I remember him saying he was going to get up early and go inquire about what happened with the guards. When I find Melfina she looks tired as well, as if she had been up all night. We all gather together back in the room with Aurane, and we go over what the others have found. Aurane says that he stopped by the city guards barracks, and found that they would not give him a whole lot of details, but they would be releasing a statement soon. Really they are still trying to figure out what had happened when he was there. As we are going over this, a special delivery shows up at the estate for us, a dispatch stating that the second in command, a one Jake Warrenthall was captured as one of the traitors, and will be executed in the morning. After reading this, Melfina, Aurane and Rorin would all like to talk to him, but before we can do that, we need to go see the Marquis. We get ready, and head over to the Sanctum.
When we get there, the usual monks guarding the gate are there, and I jokingly wave to them. Once waves back before he catches himself, then he quickly goes back to his job of guarding the gate. As we enter and head to the office of the Marquis, there is a stoic looking Halfling, in a slightly different garb than the rest of the guards, waiting outside the closed door of the Marquis' office. Older, Salt and pepper hair, an insignia of a higher class then the normal monks, Marda says he is Jericho Rockfoot, a Guardian Hunter Monk, and if the Marquis wasn't in, this is the guy we would be talking to. We tell him that we have been summoned here, and he tells us that we will be able to go in once the Marquis is done with their meeting. Rorin tries to get in using his station in the city, and as it fails, I decide to try out one of my new powers, and, muttering something under my breathe, an imaginary bat starts flying above his head. I have no idea how long that will last, but about five minutes later when the door opens, it is still there. The people leaving the office are unknown to us, and Aurane whispers to us they they are all members of the city Inquisitors, and Melfina says the others are the Sanctum's internal investigators.
As we are waved into the office, I notice that all the files the Marquis normally kept out for references are gone. Not put away somewhere, but Gone. The rest of the office looks disheveled, as if Platoons had been marching in and out of it for a few days. The couch has a slept on look, and the Marquis looks like he had been doing the sleeping. He mutters something about a rough night, and a rough festival. Apparently they had increased security as well but that didn't work very well for them. They tell us that we are going to be sitting in on the execution as representatives of the sanctum and some of the city factions. I'm not sure why they would choose Me for this, but I suspect something more may come from this, and I want to be there to help if that is the case. There seems to be a lot more anti-bard sentiment than was thought, and people can be touchy. I know that folks like Max and I are really only tolerated, and we tend to keep to ourselves, or regular contacts which suits us just fine. I have always liked the same food at the same stores anyway, I don't need to go out and try the next brand new thing.
A knock comes from the door, and the Marquis straightens their attire. Jericho presents us with a message from a falcon, saying that we are going to need written authorization to interview Warrenthall. We are immediately gives said authorization, they tell us that Warrenthall is being kept in the military post on the East side of town. They are aware that many members of the old Crimson Dragons faction was rehired as City guards, and we are to find out what we can of the other members, and where they are. The head of the Witch Hunters guild, a “Vandrin” needs to also be looked into. When asked about this mysterious person, we aren't even given a description, as very very few people know what they actually look like. Apparently this person isn't seen much publicly. Vandrin probably isn't an old member of the Crimson Dragons, nor should most of the city militia, but Warrenthall should be able to give us some information. Apparently he hired a good amount of people, and all of them are suspected now. We also need to find out how many temples are involved, and what land owners. Really, how far down does the hatred for magic users spread. Some of the old Crimson Dragons did not take up arms, and have not been detained, but are under guard, and none of the prisoners are in the current Witch hunters Guild. Marda and I decide we can talk to the retired Crimsom dragons, while Melfina, Rorin and Aurane talk to Warrenthall.
We head over to the fort, and decide that I will lead the talking the retired Crimson Dragons, while Marda will try to act tough. While the three others head to the Prison, Marda and I head to the holding cells, where we find a fair amount of older retired military personnel, most of which would have outranked me when they retired. Gnomes, Halflings and Older Humans are the vast majority, but One old elf in particular seems more talkative than the rest. Most of the people here didn't want to be witch hunters, and don't like the current Crimson dragons. The older Elf says that he doesn't mind current day casters, but what he did when he was in was for the greater good. Casters during the war were bad news, and the casters today are not even close to what it was like. None of the folk here have been active in the last fifty years, and really they are only under guard to make sure they aren't involved. It is remarkable that an Elf is anti magic, as most of their race can cast minor things nearly from birth.
Meeting back up at the front gate, we tell the others that we didn't really find out anything, but the others did get some information from Warrenthall. Not as much as they wanted, but some. No one knows who the faction leader is, and most of his orders come in the form of dreams. A dwarf named Ronald Rump got him started from the Tipsy Tavern. He knows nothing about Vandrin. He was sent a list of what duties to put his people on, and those people had their own duties they were told about in secret. He had seen members of some church groups at events, and even some Council Members, like Lavender Thatcher, the Leader of the Accounting Guild. Priests form the temple of Zits was another. Apparently he did a lot of despicable things, and Melfina did something to him to the point where Aurane had to heal him to keep him alive.
As we get back to the sanctum Poor Jericho is still there, looking as if he has aged a couple years, and hasn't slept during those years. When we all get into the office, Melfina slaps down a pair of human testicles, and starts ranting about what Warrenthall had done before the Crimson Dragons. All vile things, all morally bankrupt. I'm surprised he got away with them in the Dragons, as If he had been in my unit we would have just killed him and left his body for the gnolls. The Marquis takes one look at the organs on his desk, pulls out some clear liquid in a bottle, drinks some of it, and pours some on the slimy pile on the desk. I ask for a sample of that liquid, and wow, does it burn. And Burn it does. He lights the balls on fire, and once they are out mutters about needing a new desk. They dismiss us, telling us that the execution is at dawn, and we head out of the sanctum back to my shop.
A large wagon near my shop had come in with the rest of the festival goers. A woolly bovine creature stands nearby, and an old woman sits behind a small table. If she was standing, and not stooped over, she would be very tall, at least as tall as I am. A small pig is sitting near her, and the whole scene is just out of place in the city, but it also seems very practiced, and comfortable, as if anything different would be wrong. Wrapped in shawls, a voice comes out from her, and she introduces herself as Madame Xihroni. She introduces us to Sven, her yak, and Boris her little pig. Asking if we have come for fortunes or wishes, we all look at each other, and I say that we have come for fortunes. Not sure really what to do, and since I brought everyone over, I figured I would go first. Putting one card down she looks up and tells me through the cards that she turns over that I am ethical and hard working, and that I have come into new power, but my potential is not fully unlocked. With the final card, she says that tough times are ahead, but they will be followed by public celebration. I'm not really sure how she knows all that just from some paper cards, but there have been more mystical things happen recently, so I take it as is. I hope the celebration won't be too public, and I don't have to stand in front of people. Sure, it would bring more customers to the store, but I have never really been that popular with everyone.
She is also offering a reading on one question, and while the others get their fortunes read, I try to think of something to ask. I don't really want to be caught off guard like I was yesterday at the temple. Once I think of one, I wait for everyone to get fortunes, and I sit in front of her again. “Are the Crimson Dragons being used as a Pawn to get us looking somewhere else?” She thinks long and hard, pulls the first card, and it is the Queen of Hearts. They are not a ruse, and they are a source of inspiration for the masses. That's rather unsettling, as a massive group like that would just fuel more violence, and cause more problems.
With all of our questions answered, and fortunes read, she stands up, and tells us that there is a corruption in the forest, and here in the city, and while we are not powerful enough to deal with the powers in the city. Turning her wrist, she shows us the Arch tattoo very similar to the arch we have seen. Those of us who are strong in faith should bring our most pious drinks to the Ravenswood, as we may find corruption in nature itself, and she finishes stating that she is going to take her caravan elsewhere, most likely to see us again at some point.
I wonder what Marda is thinking, as she was living in the Ravenswood, and now there are problems there too. I guess we are just going to have to look into going there, but first, we have to watch someone die, and it seems that some of us are going to enjoy this more than others. I just wonder how the guards are going to feel with me being fully armed and armored. At least one person is going to die tomorrow, I want to make sure that those that are supposed to live do.