Shaddar listens intently to the minds around him to determine what they think about these reported goings-on.
“More than one rogue villain? That’s never happened before.”
“How can this be?”
“These acts of rogue villainy seem almost… organized.”
“How will we find the one who is mad enough to insult the Lords of the city in time?”
“Murder-Most-Foul? I can’t believe it!”
“’Something else’, sir knight says – but what does he mean?”
The knight speaks to the villains as a whole, “Have you discovered who is performing these acts of rogue villainy? What have you learned as to their numbers or identities?”
Answers are called out from the crowd.
“We have hunted them, but they do not stay in one place long enough for us to find them!”
“They stay in the border zones, where our power to detect them is weaker!”
“They are like ghosts, sir knight – slipping into the ether before we can grasp them!”
“What shall we do, sir knight?”
The knight holds up one hand to stop their cries and turns to the group of heroes to address them next. “And what have you done in solving these murders?”
“The lone witness is brain-addled! He needs healers!”
“If it was not the Guild of Villains, then who – ?”
“I believe it is a new form of undead with the ability to hide from our magical detection, sir knight!”
The knight stops these replies as well and raises both arms above his head.
Shaddar can see that the knight is quickly putting things together – he is quite intelligent and much more world-wise than the common people who fill the ranks of the guilds.
“If there is something that is willing to go this far in… wickedness: committing depraved acts against all commands from the Lords of the city; and if there is something that is willing to murder in a foul manner unknown to us in order to hide their identity; and if there is something that would be so foolhardy as to insult the Lords of the city directly, then… perhaps all of these things are connected in the form of a single cause. Any one of these events would be shocking in itself, but it is unlikely in the extreme that all of them would occur separate from one another. No. We do not face three problems here – but one.”
Shaddar can see the lights go on in the eyes of the people as they begin to understand the knights meaning.
“You mean… there is one person who is responsible for all of these crimes?”
“How could anyone be so evil?”
“Mist demons! It must be mist demons!”
“Why would anyone act in such a suicidal manner? Don’t they know that the Lords of the city will not stand for this? Don’t they know what the Lords of the city will do?”
“But what of the rumors of the new guild? The rogues?”
The knight focuses on this last question. “Ah, yes. What are we to make of this? The information you have gathered clearly indicates multiple sources of this plague of wickedness. Allow me to offer a simple solution: if someone is willing to go so far, then would they not also be willing to tell lies?”
More faces light up with dawning comprehension. Shaddar is revolted by the molasses-like speed of thought that these pea-brains display.
The knight nods somberly while speaking; “I have learned much – as have you. Now. Focus your efforts on finding the perpetrators of the crimes done in the name of the group of rogues – there will be much more evidence in multiple events to be gleaned. The murder of the constables is, pardon the expression, a dead end. The murders can only be brought to justice by finding them through their other crimes. Continue your search, but work together to find the source of this taint! We must cleanse it at once, for I do not know how long the Knights will be able to keep this news from the ears of the Lords of the city. I will go consult with the Senior Knights and seek their wisdom.”
The knight wheels his mount around in a fine display of horsemanship. With a loud voice he shouts, “This riot is ended! Be about your work! The word is: Haste!”
The knight gallops off the field and the leaders of the two guilds shake hands and murmur a few phrases to each other before the groups separate slightly. At a sign from both groups, the villains begin to flee in a simulated rout, with the heroes following close behind. Shaddar is forced to run with the rest of the villains back across the wrecked portions of the streets and into the border zones.
Some people have begun to try and sort through the mess already, but they scatter when they see the fleeing villains charging down the streets. Constables are on hand to ‘protect’ the citizens from the fleeing villains as well. Shaddar looks back and sees that the heroes are getting trinkets, flowers, and confetti thrown down from upstairs windows of the buildings as they pass.
“The entire place is nothing but a show. Where is reality, I wonder? The knight seems to live there,” Shaddar thinks.
Shaddar can hear the populace cheering and singing praises to the heroes for vanquishing the villains and driving them away from the streets as he rushes into the border zone and makes his way back to the meadhall.
Well. He wanted to prod the power centers of the city into action – and he has done so! Shaddar is quite thoughtful, pondering all of the new information he has learned.
“The first thing to do is speak with Hawke,” he resolves.
Hawke hears him enter the through the back door and is amazed when he realizes who it was that was outside during the riot.
“You were really out there? During the riot? And the villains didn’t catch you? Didn’t beat you?”
“No. Of course not,” Shaddar says carelessly, removing the black cloak he was hiding behind while running with the villains.
“What am I thinking,” Hawke thinks bitterly, “Of course they didn’t. ‘The boss’ is a much scarier villain than they are.”
Shaddar walks over to the bar to get closer to Hawke before he says, “I have a question for you, Hawke. For one with a repository of knowledge such as no other seems to possess in this meadhall.”
“I haven’t told him anything! What’s he on about?”
Shaddar speaks softly as he asks, “Tell me about the knights…”
“The knights?” whispers Hawke.
“One was there.”
“One was there, where?”
“At the riot, naturally.”
“You were at the riot?” Hawke is stunned.
“Did I not say that I wished to witness it? I usually get what I want, Hawke.”
Hawke is amazed. “But,” he sputters, “you’re not a member of the Guild of Villains! How –?” His thoughts continue, “How did he do it? The villains know their own! How could the heroes not realize that a rogue villain was in their midst?”
“I am resourceful. Attend me Hawke: the knights?”
Hawke’s mouths hangs open and he does not answer, but his thoughts give Shaddar all he needs: The knights are the actual administrators of the city. They are the go-betweens and agents for the Lords of the city and the populace. Commands from the Lords of the city pass through the knights to everyone else. “Granted, this isn’t the High City, so we don’t have that many Lords who reside here in Big City, but those that do require their Knights to serve them as a buffer from the commoners. More importantly: why does ‘The Boss’ think that I’ll tell him anything when I have told him nothing about any of his other queries? Why does he think I know the answers? It’s distressing and can mean nothing good - why would one of the Lord’s Paladins be present at the riot? They so seldom interfere with our affairs… Unless the Lord’s of the city are angry?”
Hawke stumbles over his normal verbal dodge, “Don’t know… much about that… haven’t seen any knights for years… Knights. Oh, Mist demons!” He hesitates, then asks in a rush, “What did the knight say?”
Shaddar leans on the bar with one elbow and relates to Hawke everything that was said in the arena. This is much more information than he has given Hawke before and the man is surprised at the level of confidence ‘the boss’ is taking him into. As Shaddar describes the murder victims, he goes pale. As he describes the violent activities of the ‘band of rogues’ Hawke stiffens with recognition.
“But! That’s him! How can he speak of it so coolly?” the man thinks with shock.
Shaddar continues to tell the tale and the man grips the bar with white knuckles as he hears of the insult to the Lord of the city.
“What was the insult?” he whispers.
“The knight did not say, but I happen to know that it was of a salacious and nasty nature, regarding odious acts done in the city's blackest brothel.”
Shaddar pauses in his story to see if the man will pass out. He stays on his feet, but only because he pours himself a small shot of stiff liquor and knocks it back.
The conclusion is brutally delivered with a tone of slight amusement. “At the end, the knight was clever enough to connect the dots and inform everyone there that these events were all one. That they have all been perpetrated by the same organization… by a single... individual…”
Shaddar watches Hawke’s thoughts most carefully now. The man has been leaning towards rebellion for some time now and Shaddar feels that it is time for the experiment of giving the man free reign to end. If the man can’t put things together or reacts badly when he does, then he is nothing but a liability to Shaddar and he will be killed at once. So. Will the fellow pass his test? The tension is wonderfully relaxing after his run through the streets…
The man goes white as a linen sheet as it hits him.
Shaddar speaks in a soft, deadly voice, “You understand now, don’t you, Hawke?”
“Y-yes. Yes, I – I – I do,” the man stutters in a hoarse croak. His thoughts move quite quickly now through the pieces that he has heard and the clues all around him as he puts it together and everything leads to one, inescapable conclusion.
“If the Lords of the city find him!” he thinks with panic, “Their fury will know no bounds! They will kill everyone even remotely connected with him! Mist demons… That means me… I have only one chance at survival now: the Lords of the city must never find out who insulted them and that means…”
“Are you going to be a problem, Hawke?” Shaddar asks in that same soft voice. He lazily drums the fingers of one hand one the bar in a gentle staccato of ticking noises.
The man makes up his mind – unhappy, but resolved that he has no choice.
“No. No, Boss. No problems from me.”
“I am pleased to hear it. Your loyalty will be rewarded,” his tone harshens, “And your lack thereof will be punished.”
“Yes, Boss. I understand completely now.”
“I know you do, Hawke. I know you do,” Shaddar whispers evilly.
Chapter 1 < Chapter 19 Chapter 21 >
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