The Tale of Sudhendra Vahl: Every Day a Walk In The Park... Options

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The Tale of Sudhendra Vahl: Part Seven

Darius, according to Master Demnevanni, ran his office out of the Madach Tradehouse in Gnisis. So, after translocating there after breaking my fast, I made my way into the lower half of the “shell” that comprised the Tradehouse. Darius was short, stocky, and clad in gorgeous armour – all gilded metal with a flowing red cape. He looked up at me and said, “So, you want to join the Legion do you Citizen Vahl? Well, it’s true that we have a shortage of Manpower ~ and Merpower for that matter. You look capable enough. Tell me, are you capable of following orders?”

“Excellent,” he said when I assured him I was. “It’s a Mer’s life in the Legion. Every day a walk in the park, every meal is a banquet, every pay check a fortune. It’ll make a Ma... Mer of you. Right, Recruit Vahl, here is your regulation-issue chain cuirass. You will wear it when you address a superior officer, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes… sir,” I replied.

Darius shook his head. “The first and last word I want to hear out of your mouth when you address me is ‘Sir’. Now sound out like you got a pair. Do you understand me?”

“Sir, yes Sir,” I said in a clear voice, desperately trying to ignore the sniggering Orc in the corner of the room.

“Outstanding,” he said. “Now get that cuirass on and I’ll give you your orders.

“You might be wondering,” he said once I’d got the chain cuirass in place, “why I am billeted in the Tradehouse? Well, it’s because we have no room to expand. The widow Vabdas has a parcel of land the Legion needs to expand. I want you to come back to me with the deeds as quickly as possible. Is that understood?”

“Sir, yes Sir,” I replied, turning to march out of the room. As I went up the stairs, I heard General Darius addressing the Orcish Trooper, “gro-Khazor, what is your major malfunction?”

Vabdas had a house just west of town, out past Arvs-Drelen, so it wasn’t difficult to get to. Her reaction, when I spoke to her about the land-deed was to slap me across the face ~ hard. I suppressed the spells that roared into my mind and, speaking carefully, said, “you would be wise not to do that again.”

“Why?” she snapped, and now I could see the tears in her eyes. “Because you’ll kill me like you did Mansilamat?”

“I assure you ma’am,” I told her, “I had no part in the death of Mansilamat. Tell me what happened…” Bit by patient bit, I dragged the story from her. It seems that her husband, the aforementioned Mansilamat, had gone to the Egg-Mine at Gnisis to get some eggs. There, according to the widow, the Legion had killed her husband.

As I walked back towards Gnisis, I reflected that whatever power controls my life has an infinite capacity for capriciousness. What should have been the simple acquisition of a deed to some land had now become a murder investigation. Of course, that was how General Darius saw it and he told me to obtain proof that the Legion had been involved. Fortunately, the guard at the door of the Egg-Mine proved amenable to my charming behaviour and, after checking that there was nobody watching, he gave me the key to the door.

There was a familiar stink about the mine, one that I remembered from the Mudan-Mul Mine. Drawing my sword, I advanced with some care. Fortunately, whatever was blighting the mine was confined to the lower quarters and the Scribs in the upper chambers were not aggressive. I wish the same could be said of Trooper gro-Ogdum. The Orc gave me a three count to get the Oblivion out of the area he was guarding. As quickly as I could, I chose one of the passages and headed off down it. From up ahead I could hear the drip-drip of water and a strange noise ~ like wind. As I rounded the corner, I came upon the source of the sound. There, in the middle of the passage, was an Ancestral Spirit.

“Hear me Mortal,” it moaned, as I made ready to swing my sword, “Stay your hand ~ I am Mansilamat Vabdas, I was murdered, most foully, by the Orc Lugrub gro-Ogdum. I beg you, avenge me…” The last syllable was drawn out as the spectre faded from view. I knew that the word of an apparition would carry no weight with General Darius: I needed more proof. I found it in the depth of the pool nearby ~ the corpse of Mansilamat and a notched Imperial axe.

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“Are ye sure that foul-mouthed son of a Guar will keep his mouth shut?” Frald demanded. I replied that I thought that I had given the Ordinator sufficient cause to keep quiet. Frald grumbled a bit, but finally seemed willing to accept that. “Aye well,” he said, giving me a strained smile, “I suppose we can always deal wi’ him if he starts up again.”

“Forgive me for asking,” I said, “but is there a problem?”

“Aye lass,” he said heavily. “A good friend of mine, Saprius Entius, is bein’ sought for the crime o’ murder.”

“Is he guilty?” I asked.

“Oh aye, that he is,” Frald responded after a second’s silence. “Struck down some Dark Elf in anger, totally unprovoked…”

“Then what is the problem?” I asked. “Surely it’s a matter for the local justices?”

“Nay, it’s no that simple lass,” Frald said. “See, given the strain between the Empire and the locals, we dinnae think he’ll get a fair trial.”

“If he’s guilty,” I said, genuinely puzzled and angry, “does it matter if his trial is fair or not? After all, in the Empire there are people who are innocent and don’t get a fair trial.”

Something in my voice must have registered with Frald, because he looked at me sharply. Whatever he needed to see must have been obvious in my face: he nodded and said, “aye lass, there’s many an exile serving sentence that was nae passed fairly. Still, there would be great unrest, both here and on the mainland, if Entius didn’t get a fair trial.

“I know it’s unfair of me to ask,” he continued, “but I need you to travel to Vivec City and find Entius and bring him back here. I swear,” he added quickly as I glared at him, “that he’ll be tried and found guilty. There’s nae a doubt about it lass, he’s as guilty as sin itself. But the Empire will be seen to provide a fair trial, and that’s what matters.”

Reluctantly I agreed to travel to Vivec City and see if I could find him and bring him back to Fort Hawkmoth ~ I knew it would be no easy task with the Ordinators hunting him. I thought bitterly of my words to Suryn Athones defending the Empire. Now here I was, doing the very deeds that Athones had maintained the Legion was always doing.

A few quiet questions of the gondoliers directed me to the Arena Canton where, according to Devas Irano, he’d seen a Man dressed as I was. Since I was clad in full uniform, and no legionnaire would have any business at all at the Arena, this could only be Entius. As I was ferried to the Canton, I thought about Saprius Entius. If I were trying to hide out in Vivec City I’d want somewhere where there were very few patrols and few people went. That would mean either the Canal-Works or the sewers.

My reasoning proved to be correct, the murderous Knight was hiding out on a storeroom down in the Canalworks. “Saprius Entius?” I asked. He nodded, stepping forward with his hand outstretched. Before I could respond, the door to the storeroom crashed open and two Ordinators strode arrogantly in.

“Told you one would lead to the other,” Suryn Athones said, giving me a contemptuous glare. “You will both come with us and you’ll be charged with murder and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.”

“I cannot allow you to do that Athones,” I said, my heart sinking as I realised there could only be one outcome to this confrontation. “Entius will stand trial in an Imperial court.”

“Where, no doubt, he’ll be found innocent of all charges,” the other Ordinator snapped.

“It will not be like that…” I began to say but Suryn Athones had already heard enough.

“Liar,” he snapped, grabbing his mace and advancing. “I have heard enough of your lies Arch…”

“ENOUGH!” I thundered, cutting across the potentially disastrous revelation of my rank and position. “Entius will be tried in an Imperial Court and found guilty. He will not be made to stand trial here where unscrupulous people can make political capital from it.”

That was too much for the indignant Ordinator, with a scream of pure fury; Athones lunged forward, striking out with the heavy mace. My Ebony blade was already in motion, the crash of the blade meeting the shaft of the mace echoed by the clash of Entius’ sword blocking the other Ordinator’s mace. While Entius fought the second Ordinator, I drove Athones back towards the entrance, my sword whickering in a deadly figure-of-eight pattern.

Realising he was running short of room, Athones pushed back, blocking my blade with his mace and striking at me. As the heavy mace thumped against my armour and I felt the bite of its magic, I slashed the sword across ~ the blow tearing open Athones’ cuirass and drawing blood. With mounting fury, I hammered blow after blow in, paying little attention to his increasingly fewer counter strikes.

Who was I furious with? It was difficult to say. Partially I was livid about Saprius Entius’ behaviour: his wanton act of murder had forced me into this position. Some of the anger was directed at Frald and the Legion; whose desire to protect ‘their own’ had brought about this fight. Another part of me was furious with Suryn Athones and his stiff-necked, self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitude. And some was directed inwards.

Athones had moved from an aggressive-defensive stance to one of purely defence as I hammered in blow after blow, denting and tearing the armour with the force of them. His eyes widened as my blade punctured his armour, the ebon point sliding deep into his stomach. Whipping the blade clear, I made a crosscut that smashed several ribs and drove the shards into his heart. As he slumped against the wall and slide, bonelessly, down it I turned to face Saprius.

He grinned at me, wiping his bloodied blade on the cape of the Ordinator that lay at his feet. “Say a single word to me killer,” I hissed, “and your blood will join theirs.” His eyes widened but, wisely, he kept silent. “Head up towards the gondolier,” I instructed the ashen-faced Man. “if you try to run, or do anything that irritates me, I’ll cut you down before you can blink.”

Keeping the Man in front of me, I guided him upstairs and out to the gondolier who, quite naturally, was happy to take a double fare to ferry us to the Foreign Quarter. From there, I guided Entius down to the docks and charted a vessel to carry us to Ebonheart. The journey, needless to say, was a quiet one.

He scrambled onto the quayside as the boat-owner tied up the skiff, reaching down to give me a hand onto dry land. With a contemptuous flick of the fingers, I levitated up and out of the boat, allowing the spell to collapse the instant my feet touched the cool stone. He raised an eyebrow, but made no comment as I marched him off towards the Fort. Once I had him safely behind locked doors, I marched upstairs to face Frald.

He sensed my mood and, quite disconcerted, fumbled his way through a thank you. “I have some news for ye lass… erm, Knight Vahl,” he said, quickly amending his avuncular style as I glared at him coldly from hooded eyes. “Ye’re tae report to Fort Frostmoth on Solstheim as the personal agent of Varus Vatinius. Vatinius wants ye tae investigate reports of unrest and disobedience up at the Fort. ‘Tis a surprise tae me, Carius is a canny soldier ~ a little standoffish wi’ his men perhaps, but a good Captain nonetheless.”

“Is that all?” I asked.

“Afore ye go,” Frald said, “I’m sorry I got ye involved wi’ Saprius Entius, I didnae think it would affect ye so much. As a personal thank you, I’d like for ye tae have this…” Frald fetched a helm from his chest, well polished and gleaming as if new ~ even though it was of an older style than the current helms. “This belonged tae my father, Graff. I’d like for ye tae have it.”

I thanked Frald for his gift, warmer towards him than I had been since my return. Taking the orders from him, I translocated to Balmora and spent a quiet night at the former home of Dura gra-Bol.