Losian: Chp 104 – Arkthame

We sat at the table of the second floor, a mug of mead at the table for each of us. Frejr across from me while Qent sipped at his drink beside her. “Gaven passed away two week ago.” Frejr said, leaning forward onto the table. She looked tired, world-weary.

I bowed my head. Her response involuntarily reminded of my family. Somewhere out there they had to know I’d disappeared, that I was most likely dead, I would never have run away from home. Somewhere out there they mourned me… and it was for that that I had to return home.

“He left a message for you specifically for a particular situation.” Qent said. He grimaced. “Only a few of the irregulars know this, but something came through the portal a few days ago. Something that we believe will require you to come to the front.”

Losian: Chp 103 – Arkthame

“Ugh…” I groaned, pulling a few shards from my stomach. “Why the heck was this one still active? Damn things should stick to their schedules.” I grumbled to myself, tossing aside the shards and sealing the punctured sections of my armour. The ice had managed to puncture what I’d made to be practically steel, the rest of my armour was just scored, and that was easy enough to fix.

I was otherwise unharmed, which was nice, Numen looked uninjured, though she patted herself down all the same. “No idea. Just bad luck.” She said with a shrug. “Some slimes are just… good for the winter. At least they’re still easy to deal with.” She said, walking over to the slime.

“What was that arrow?” I asked, following her. “Never seen you use it before. Though I assume it delivered the poison to the slime somehow.” She stepped carefully through the slime, making slow, low movements. Eventually she picked out the arrow, and began moving back out of it.

Losian: Chp 102 – Arkthame

I turn to see Numen, her armour a little darkened at the edge. “I thought you went scouting.” I said. “It looks more like you had a close encounter.” I arched an eyebrow. “Though you look less rattled than I’d have expected.” When I’d been with Maria and Qen I couldn’t imagine them shrugging off the effects long enough to only be lightly scorched…

“It gets easier…” She said with a grimace. “I was a lot more cautious the first few times.” I folded my arms, leaning back to stare at her incredulously. “… What?” She asked, looking at me confused. I made a gesture with my arm.

“Who was it that was on my case about taking dangerous jobs alone?” I asked, arching an unseen eyebrow. She frowned. “Pot meet kettle I know.” I said sarcastically. “But still, why lecture me about it if you’re willing to do it yourself?” I said, unfolding my arms and giving a shrug.

Losian: Chp 101 – Arkthame

It was the next day when Cale came to find me. I’d been waiting for him for a while, ready to leave if afternoon passed without sight of him. “What happened to you yesterday?” Cale asked. “You  never returned, and I feared the worst, especially with that incapacitating surge… I was bedridden for the day, same as almost everyone in the city.”

“… About that.” I said, shouldering my pack from the bed. “I was part of the reason why that occurred.” I admitted. “The details are complicated, but ultimately all it means is that I’ve probably pissed someone off… I need to leave the city as soon as possible. I really can’t guarantee my own safety otherwise. You don’t need me for anything else do you?” I asked, hopeful.

“No. I don’t believe so, do they know your identity?” He asked. “If so, that could prove troublesome… Not that they would treat the irregulars any differently, just with you they might be a lot more lethal.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I assume you would prefer if no one else was informed of this? I still have things I need to do here. It would seem all of them need minders…” He said, chuckling darkly.

Losian: Chp 100 – Arkthame

He clutched at my wrist for a moment, his expression stern, before letting out a breath. “Don’t go too far.” He said. “If anything happens, we will need you here.” I nodded. No promises though. I thought to myself internally, feeling the slightest hint of guilt for Cale. He’ll make it if anything happens… I thought to myself, eyeing the other guards in the room. I’m sure…

Following her is difficult, the corridors wind and twist almost nonsensically, she seems to hide from me as I go, winding deeper and deeper into the complex. The centre of this place lights up as I Delve, so bright I can’t believe I’d never seen it while Delving in the city itself. It’s seeped straight into the walls of this place, the very foundation… I thought to myself, mystified.

Blinding as it was, it showed me the layout of the building, letting me take shortcuts to move ever closer. The further she moved in the less she seemed to notice me, barely reacting unless there was only a single wall between us. We soon reached what looked like an atrium, nested into the centre of the building. All the runes tied into this one, all perfectly, precisely placed.

Losian: Chp 99 – Arkthame

Sleeping that night had me in a room, Page having pulled me into a subconscious… pocket? From what I could tell it didn’t substitute sleep, more a form of lucid dreaming, certainly helped with interpreting the pages though, as I flipped through them, considering the sheer amount of data.

Fonxe had been meticulous when it came to records, it covered the expenses he had paid, the goods, the quality, the destination, even a total summary at the end of each moon. It did hint to several other buildings, implicating associates, but I suppose the only people who would know who the buildings belonged to would be Oroen, if anyone.

A light clop caught my attention. The sound of boots stepping onto a wooden floor. I woke, but kept my eyes closed, extending Sense. Someone had entered the room through the window, and was walking towards my pack. I took a moment to take stock of where my weapons were, my sword still lay against the bed, propped up, while my pick lay on the desk.

Losian: Chp 98 – Arkthame

The estate itself put into our world’s context would be small. Nothing like the sprawl of green and brown further than the eye could see. Even so, it took up a major portion of the city, enough to make up perhaps a twentieth of the land. Studying it was a risk in and of itself, I couldn’t just pretend to be a gawker and wander into the grounds. The only way was to either case it by night, infiltrate their staff, or get someone else to provide details.

The latter two were an immediate bust, Oroen hadn’t managed to get a single one of them to turn ever, and they were close-knit enough that if I pretended to be one of them I would be noticed in short order. That left me with a night observation…

I hid in one of the trees, watching as the guards passed. I had to switch often between Delving and not, one let me see the guards, but not very well or very far, nor could I see the buildings and their structure. The other let me see further, but with what little moonlight was about it was difficult to discern much anyway. I slid down the tree after the last guard passed, doing my best to creep through the shadows of the grass and clouds.

Losian: Chp 97 – Arkthame

The man seemed to look around and frown sadly, his shoulders slumping down, words formed, rapid fire, in a language I couldn’t even begin to understand. Then they disappeared, leaving me with water that now misted like dew onto the ground. What was that? I wondered, staring at the device. That… probably wasn’t it’s intended purpose, just that image… It must be something more, something must’ve been wrong…

[I’m still not entirely sure what exactly occurred.] Page said. [How did it perform all of that?] It wondered, seeming to frown at the device itself.

We know how… I thought back. Fire to heat the air into steam, water to move the steam where they want it. Probably fire again to create light, but how did they control it with that kind of precision, it looked very convincing… I cupped my chin. That kind of magic was as far as I knew out of reach for every single nation out here… At least, at the time…

Losian: Chp 96 – Arkthame

I stuck the shaper back into my pack, holding out my hand and pulling the bits of my armour to me. I cradled it in my hand, sitting down in my chair. To be expected… but still unwelcome, and unpleasant. I noted. Now the question is… what do I do about it?

Letting them continue to sneak into my room didn’t bode well, if they came in while I slept to go through my things… But to do otherwise risks showing my hand… I thought to myself. I sighed. Doesn’t matter. I doubt there’d be much of a difference if they knew I didn’t trust them. I grabbed my chair and jammed it under the door handle, shutting the windows as I went to sleep.

The next night I watched their schedules again, but this time I was alone, my mysterious companion nowhere to be found. The snow continued to fall, good for obscuring my tracks once I had left, but as it was it was nothing but another annoyance. I pushed the snow out of my face again, fighting the urge to simply go home for the night.

Losian: Chp 95 – Arkthame

There were a group of archers here as well, practicing their skills. I briefly wondered if I could ask to practice myself, but dismissed it. They were likely part of the military, or… I suppose the councillors’ private armies. In either case, they wouldn’t look upon the request fondly I should think.

[Especially considering their views towards the irregulars themselves.] Page observed. [More than likely it would not be a polite response. Do you suppose the previous work they gave us was meant to be busywork? They certainly didn’t seem to trust us enough to do the job properly.]

I sat down and leaned up against a tree, cupping my chin. It’s not exactly out of the question, but I would have expected them to at least have said it to my face. And considering that Cale went all this way to bring me here… I cocked my head. Do you think it was just a ruse to bring me over to their capital? I thought. Cale didn’t strike me as the type of person who would be able to think on his feet that well, and the threat on his life certainly seemed real enough…