The Silver Sphinx

 

Sigil has many names: the City of Doors, the Great City, the Ring, the Center of the Multiverse, the Eternal City....

But apart from all these rather poetic terms, the inhabitants themselves usually call their city simply "the Cage".

 

Fourth Lady's Day of Capricious, 125 HR

Naghûl was a little nervous as he and Sgillin climbed the steps to the Private Sensorium. Not because it was the first conversation with his factol. It was not. They had exchanged a few words in the Festhall, at one or another exhibition or theater performance. He had also once received a smaller order from Lady Erin - and probably completed it to her satisfaction, since another had followed a few months later, and then another one. But a personal invitation to the Private Sensorium? Coupled with a request to "not hesitate to bring trusted assistance"? That was something else. Something that was likely to send even Naghûl into a tizzy. As for trustworthy support, he had chosen Sgillin. He could certainly have asked his wife Morânia, but they had agreed to keep faction-related assignments separate from their marriage. Two factoti from different factions could otherwise quickly get lost. The half-elf had complied with his request, unconcerned as he usually was. Naghûl could have prepared him for what awaited him at a meeting with the factol of the Sensates. But he had decided to allow Sgillin this experience without influencing him in any way beforehand. A young aasimar stood guard outside the door to the Private Sensorium, but when Naghûl called his name, he and Sgillin were immediately admitted. In the spacious vestibule to the private sensory stones, a Corillian marble fountain splashed, surrounded by flowering honey palms. Seated on one of the silk-upholstered wooden chairs was the factol, and Naghûl could feel Sgillin's breath catch briefly. Yes, to call Lady Erin beautiful would have amounted to a shameless understatement. The thick auburn hair, its contrast to her fair, perfect complexion, the high but fine cheekbones, the perfectly arched brows had already been sung about by many poets. Yet it was her green eyes, brightly sparkling and alert, that made her most fascinating. Nothing seemed to escape them. The factol of the Sensates could not be called anything but ravishing, and although Naghûl knew her, he was always enchanted. Sgillin, on the other hand, had not been prepared for the sight ... Erin wore a dress of dark blue silk that covered only her left shoulder. Sewn to the short sleeve were dozens of thin night thrush feathers that fell long and silvery over her upper left arm. The dark blue fabric was so finely embroidered with silver threads that it looked like the night sky itself. Only part of her auburn hair was pinned up, the rest curling long and wavy over her back. A silver tiara with three stars was almost plain by Sensate standards, but set a perfectly fitting, simple, yet elegant accent. Sitting on Erin's lap, her white tressym Aurita snuggled against her, purring.

"Naghûl Ka'Tesh. I greet you." Erin's smile made the sun rise even in Sigil. "I'm glad you could come so quickly."

Her voice was warm and had a velvet overtone, but there was a strength in it that could not be ignored. Then her eyes fell on Sgillin and she eyed him for a while. The half-elf had been speechless as soon as he had caught sight of Erin, and this had not escaped Naghûl's notice. Could one blame him? "A friend of yours, Naghûl?"

Sgillin bowed silently and Naghûl nodded. "Indeed, this is Sgillin. A prime, but he has my complete trust."

"I uh ... greet you, dear factol," the half-elf brought out, stuttering a little.

Erin smiled. "Well, let us not foster any prejudice against primes." Her voice got a little louder at that, which didn't quite seem to fit into the conversation - almost as if this had been directed at someone else. Then she spoke more softly again. "Why don't you sit down?"

Naghûl motioned Sgillin to sit down on one of the chairs.

"Gladly, uh ... thank you." The half-elf could not take his eyes off Lady Erin. His foot caught on the chair and he stumbled. The factol smirked and watched him completely openly. Sgillin cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I ... um yes ..."

He finally took a seat and Erin smiled again. "You are lovely," she remarked.

"I'm afraid I don't know of any words", Sgillin replied, "with which to return that compliment.”

"No need. Your looks say it all." The factol winked at him. When Sgillin blushed and lowered his eyes, she turned to the tiefling. "Well, Naghûl, if you trust this man, all the better. Perhaps you will need assistance."

The white cat stretched out on Erin's lap with pleasure, and Naghûl nodded. "I trust him completely. Several times our fates have been alternately in both our hands."

"Very good. Quite wonderful." Erin cuddled the tressym, who began to purr contentedly. "It is a mission, as you will guess. But not for the Sensates."

Naghûl's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, that is unusual. But of course I will comply with your request."

"You will be even more surprised when I tell you to work for the Harmonium. - Indirectly, of course."

Naghûl faltered for a moment. "Indeed."

"I'm sure I don't need to mention that I expect the utmost discretion in this assignment." The factol looked at Sgillin. "That goes for you, too, of course." Her voice suddenly became sterner, the voice of a woman who was used to commanding and being obeyed.

"Of course," Naghûl assured her, a tiny bit paler than he already was.

Sgillin looked unusually intimidated as he replied: "Uh, yeah sure ... no issue ... I won't say anything to anyone, of course."

Erin smiled and her voice warmed again, her eyes bright. "You must know that we have been on relatively good terms with the Harmonium for the past few months. There are several reasons for that, all of which I won't go into now. It also means, of course, that we work together a little, here and there. Not quite officially, but when we do, it's always been effective so far."

Naghûl was now even more irritated, but kept nodding. Sgillin was obviously starting to catch himself and was now looking at Erin more closely. The look on the factol's face indicated that she was well aware of it.

"Your ... client has turned to me because he is very concerned that the matter not become widely known within his faction." She gently set the cat on the ground and stood up. "But I am sure he will explain that to you himself now."

"Don't worry," Naghûl whispered to Sgillin as Erin walked to the door in the next room. "You're not the only one feeling a little lost right now."

"I don't feel lost," Sgillin replied, now with his trademark grin again. "I'm absolutely fascinated."

The tiefling was about to retort something, but the sight of their client now entering the room made him jump up from his chair. "Good heavens … ," it slipped out of his mouth, he just managed to suppress the rest of the sentence.

Irritated, Sgillin looked at Naghûl, but took the precaution of standing up as well. The man who entered had a strong aura, for which he certainly would not have needed the red armor with the sharp metal spikes on the shoulder plates. However, it also did not hurt in making him even more impressive. His short black hair turned a little gray at the temples, his dark eyes looked sharp but not unfriendly. He might be in his mid-forties and exuded a natural authority.

Erin indicated a curtsy as she pointed to one of the chairs. "Please, take a seat, factol Sarin."

Naghûl noticed that he was unconsciously standing at attention somehow. Only at Erin's amused wave did he sit down again and Sgillin did likewise.

"Well." Sarin had also taken a seat, leaned back and examined first Naghûl and then Sgillin closely. Finally, he decided to address Naghûl. "So you are the man that factol Erin so kindly recommended to me?" His voice was low, but calm. Anyone who had lived in Sigil for any length of time knew that it could effortlessly fill the streets of the Cage, even when they were busy.

Naghûl nodded, still surprised at this sudden turn of events. "I always strive to serve my faction and to fulfill the factol's wishes to the fullest. If she has recommended me to you, then she will certainly have her best reasons for doing so." He nodded to Erin, who was quietly smiling as she listened to the conversation.

"Very well," Sarin replied. "I'd best get straight to the point." He rubbed his temples with a sigh, looking somewhat exhausted. "It's about that unfortunate concert that recently took place in the Hive."

Sgillin coughed briefly and Naghûl gave him a warning sideways glance before replying: "You mean Rock in the Ring."

"Right." The factol looked less than enthusiastic. "I don't know if you were there. After all, the young people are crazy about some of these ... rather dubious groups. My daughter ..." He sighed again. "Well, she was there, too. I know how that looks." He raised his hands defensively. "Yeah, the factol of the Harmonium lets his firstborn go to that concert. But children can be very ..." He interrupted himself, perhaps because he realized he was about to justify himself to two ordinary citizens. "Never mind. She was there. She was supposed to come home after Nectar and Ambrosia. But she didn't."

"After that, the Black Lungs played," Naghûl remarked as matter-of-factly as he could, and Sgillin drew in a whistling breath.

"She must have fallen a little for one of the singers at the first concert ...," Sarin continued. "I know it from my younger children's nannies, who had overheard a conversation between her and one of her sisters. So far, so good, but Marinda is only seventeen and so it should stay with that crush." He was visibly uncomfortable with the topic. "The guy calls himself ... what was it? Um, the Woodpecker?"

"The Blue Jay," Lady Erin interjected.

"That's it!" Sarin nodded affirmatively, then shook his head disapprovingly, whether because of the name or the singer per se was not entirely clear.

Naghûl closed his eyes briefly. This simply could not be true. "Yes," he replied slowly. "The name is casually familiar."

Sgillin, on the other hand, snapped his eyes open, but fortunately was able to twig quickly enough not to look at Naghûl. Meanwhile, the factol of the Harmonium continued his explanation.

"Very well, if it were only that. But apparently she is striving to meet this man. I don't know how she's going to do it. But she certainly won't tell me. She's only seventeen years old, but already a member of the Harmonium and my daughter. You understand that as the daughter of the Harmonium's factol, she is a target. Which I neither can provide nor want."

"Un... understandable," Sgillin replied, apparently still silently shocked.

"Yes, very inconvenient," Naghûl agreed. "To put it discreetly."

He bit his lips at this afterthought, but Sarin didn't seem to take offense. He sat back and eyed the tiefling and the half-elf closely. "I certainly don't need to mention that this issue makes me uncomfortable. What matters to me most is that not everyone within my faction knows about it right away. I trust the discretion of my people and their loyalty. But in dealing with such people and situations, the Sensates admittedly have more experience. Your charming factol was kind enough to accommodate me. What I specifically want from you is to keep a little bit of an eye on my daughter and see if she meets this man. I don't want to accuse him of anything, but this is no company. He could be whoever. If someone is wearing a mask all the time, he certainly has something to hide."

"Um yes, obviously," Naghûl replied with a clearing of his throat.

Sgillin nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that is indeed suspicious."

His answer did sound a bit too committed to the tiefling and he gave him a quick sideways glance.

"And if you catch him," Sarin continued, "you bring him before me. I don't want to arrest him right away, but I want to see his face. And I don't want my daughter to know about any of this. Nor my other eight children or my adoptive daughter, nor the fostress, the nannies, the tutors, my deputy Tonat Shar or anyone else in the Harmonium. My wife, of course, knows."

The factol's energetic tone and final instruction made Naghûl gulp. "Bring ... him before you? Then what exactly do you intend to do, if you will allow me this question?"

"As I said, I want to see his face because I find him highly suspicious." Sarin's dark eyes sparkled. "And I will see if he has been guilty of anything."

Naghûl felt his palms grow moist, but ventured an interjection nonetheless. "I don't want to take any sides, but to me he seems more like a ... spoiled artist from the upper wards. A little rebel."
"One who turns the heads of innocent young girls," Sgillin retorted, barely able to keep from grinning.

Naghûl struggled inwardly to control himself. Sarin had gotten into a bit of a temper during the conversation, his annoyance quite evident.

"A rebel?" he shouted, now more fiery than before. "Wonderful! Rebels rattle the whole Cage. And we, the Harmonium, are then to clean up the mess!" A crease formed between his brows. "That's the way the Lady wants it, and I take very seriously what She wants."

Naghûl, feeling the last bit of control slipping away from him, raised his hands placatingly. "No, no, I didn't mean he was about to throw incendiary devices around like an Anarchist. I mean more like a little self-appointed moralizer."

"As if the Harmonium needed a moralizer! We of all people!" Sarin's voice had grown noticeably louder and he made a throwaway hand gesture. "We know what's right and wrong. Why do you think we try so hard to make everyone understand that? Only in common harmony ..." He interrupted himself and looked to Erin. "Excuse me. That's not for me to say in your faction headquarters. Here, your philosophy applies."

The factol of the Sensates smiled benignly. "It's all right. I understand your agitation."

"Agitation?" Sarin flared again, but then contented himself with an apologetic glance toward Erin. "Well, you can call it that, I guess."

Naghûl decided to make another effort at damage control. "Forgive me," he said. "I did not mean to upset you and I did not relate his attitude solely to you. I rather think he's a bit of a braggart, with a cheeky quip on his lips here and there. Nothing more. Rather harmless and as soon as it becomes tight, he will certainly cower. You know such people. I only wanted to reassure you that he is certainly not a serious criminal."

It seemed his charisma and silver tongue did not have completely left the tiefling, he noted with relief. Sarin actually smiled for the first time since entering the room.

"You are right about that. No, I'm not afraid of that either. Still, I don't want my daughter to get into those circles. She doesn't realize that as my child, she can be a target."

Sgillin nodded gravely. "Yes, who wants to see their daughter in the company of such fly-by-night blokes?"

"I'm glad we understand each other." The factol rose, while Lady Erin looked to Naghûl.

"I thus confidently place the matter in your hands," she told the tiefling.

Sarin nodded to Naghûl and Sgillin. "I thank you." Then he turned to Erin and bowed. "Factol, you have my thanks. I am in your debt."

Erin rose as well and smiled, even more charming than when Naghûl and Sgillin entered. "Oh Sarin. A man of your merit to our fair city is in no one's debt after all. However, if you insist ..."

Sarin returned the smile, but not without a raised eyebrow. "You are a dangerous woman, Lady Erin, though some may not realize it. Nice of you to hide it under so much charm." He took the hand she held out to him and kissed it briefly.

"Give my regards to your charming wife and wonderful children," Erin asked.

Sarin smiled again, albeit somewhat painfully. "Wonderful they are. If not always quite as disciplined as you would like." He nodded again to Naghûl and Sgillin, then left the room.

Naghûl nodded likewise and swallowed. Only when Sarin's footsteps had faded on the stone steps of the stairs outside did he take another deep breath and drop into his chair. "Forgive me, factol ..."

Erin also took her seat again. "What do you want me to forgive? You sold yourself well, after all."

Naghûl buried his face in his hands, while Sgillin could no longer hide the grin.

Erin raised her brows. "Now I'm curious."

"There are still some important things you should know," Naghûl explained with a sigh.

"I agree with you that I should always know important things." The factol took Aurita back onto her lap and eyed the tiefling attentively. Sgillin just kept silent and grinned.

"Freddy and some organizers want to set up a stage in Sigil - presumably faction-independent," Naghûl explained.

If Erin was surprised at the sudden change of topic, at least she didn't let on. "Why is that? Our collaboration for Rock in the Ring went well, didn't it?"

"Yeah, but in the Hive. They don't want to stay in the Hive, especially Nectar and Ambrosia. Likewise Five in Mind." Naghûl hesitated. "Among others, the Blue Jay is also involved."

"Well." The factol eyed him carefully. "That sounds interesting."

"The plan is that the stage will be constructed at the Triona statue. And I know all that ..." Naghûl closed his eyes for a moment. " ... Because I am the Blue Jay." There it was. Now it was out. Naghûl buried his face in his hands again.

His factol looked at him with widened eyes, her expression changing from incredulous to stunned. "You are the Blue Jay?"

"Yes." The tiefling shook his head with another sigh. "I thought it would be a great experience to start a double life. One on the Prime Material and in the Festhall, the other one as the Blue Jay, a little rebellious musician. All this with only a few initiates. Those would be Sgillin, my wife, her sister Raralia and ... well, now you."

Sgillin laughed softly. "I'm shocked," he quipped. "Turning innocent girls' heads ..."

Erin looked at Naghûl wordlessly for a while longer, but then suddenly laughed, causing Aurita to jump indignantly from her lap. She rose and walked over to Naghûl.

The tiefling looked up. "And I swear I didn't touch the girl."

Erin stood behind him and put both hands on his shoulders. "Oh, Naghûl. You are a rascal. A real rascal. I believe you that you have not touched her." She leaned forward until her mouth was next to his ear. "And now you shall shadow yourself and bring yourself before the Harmonium. It will be quite a wonderful, wonderful experience! I almost envy you for it."

Sgillin hadn't stopped grinning since Sarin closed the door behind him. "I won't rest until I find that bad, bad Blue Jay, either."

"There would be no great harm in itself if the true identity of the Blue Jay were to become known," Naghûl agreed. "Except for a terrific experience. I'll think of something to wriggle my head out of Sarin's hands." He grinned. "I'm beginning to think that's not such a bad idea, either."

Erin let go of his shoulders and returned to her chair. She looked a touch more serious now. "But there is one problem. It would be even more wonderful if the girl wasn't exactly Marinda. Our philosophy is in line with this story. But Sarin would certainly find it less funny if he found out. And since our relations with the Harmonium are politically very important, I have to think about that, too. Be very careful not to be exposed. The matter is quite dicey. For me as well as for you. You have just experienced Sarin - probably for the first time in person. His demeanor and character may have made it clear to you why he holds his office - and does so very successfully. He did not threaten ... He didn't need to."

The urgency with which Erin spoke now made Naghûl grow more serious again. She was right, of course. This story, if uncovered, could cause quite a commotion. Erin had chosen Naghûl in that matter for Sarin without knowing that he was the Blue Jay. But whether Sarin would believe this - or care - if he found out the truth was questionable. Quite possibly, the paladin would feel betrayed in this case - not only by Naghûl, but by the Sensates more generally. This could not only destroy a valuable alliance, but even lead to enmity. And one did not like having either the Harmonium per se or Sarin personally as an enemy.

"Hmm." Naghûl nodded thoughtfully. "It would probably be best if the girl lost interest in the blue bird. Maybe then everything would adjust itself."

"Yes, perhaps," Erin agreed. "I'll leave it up to you to figure out how to handle it. I'll leave the independent stage issue in the hands of Da'nanin and Annali. But on the matter of Sarin, you will report exclusively to me."

"Of course, factol."

"Or you could pay an actor we introduce to Sarin as the Blue Jay," Sgillin suggested. "What's he supposed to do with him? I mean, he can't punish him for his daughter's crush on him."

"Keep in mind that Sarin is a powerful paladin," Erin replied warningly. "He may well see through certain lies."

Naghûl weighed his head. "But if he learns afterwards who the Blue Jay really is? Then the air is doubly on fire."

Erin nodded at Naghûl's words. "You don't want to be responsible for your factol ending up arrested, huh? If things went too far, Sarin would have the authority. The Harmonium is feared for a reason."

"Never," assured the tiefling. "I will settle the matter and in any case in such a way that you are protected. The last resort would be for me to turn myself in ... It sounds like I've done something wrong." He shook his head, barely perceptibly.

"I'm sure you'll find a competent, watertight solution," Erin stated encouragingly.

Sgillin, meanwhile, bobbed his foot thoughtfully. "Whether he prefers a daughter with a crush or a daughter with a broken heart, though, that's the question. After all, we know what girls of that age are like."

"Then I'll introduce her to one of the Five in Mind guys and Sarin gets to put him through the wringer," Naghûl countered.

Erin laughed heartily as she rose. "I knew you would be creative, Naghûl. Then I hereby dismiss you. Thank you for your help in this matter and for a truly shocking as well as refreshing surprise. A good experience!"

Sgillin bowed to the beautiful factol. "And I thank you for the extraordinary experience of having met you. I never expected such a thing to be bestowed upon me."

"He's my guitarist, by the way," Naghûl interjected, enjoying Sgillin's first startled, then annoyed look.

"Thank you ..." the half-elf growled softly.

"Is that so?" Lady Erin seemed delighted. "Well, I will remember your name, Sgillin. And that's not a threat."

Naghûl grinned and likewise bowed in farewell. "I thank you for your confidence, factol Erin. Lady's Grace."

When the door to the Private Sensorium had slammed shut behind them and they were far enough away from the guard, the two stopped. They looked at each other, undecided whether to grin broadly or bury their faces in their hands in despair. In any case, Naghûl was sure, they should have a drink. Preferably in the Gehenna Lounge, because there they had the strongest drops.

 

(played November 12, 2011)