Lady's Grace, cutters!

 

"Everything is falling apart. We are only here to help along."

Factol Pentar

 

 

First Guild Day of Retributus, 126 HR

Sgillin, Lereia and Naghûl met Jana and Kiyoshi at the Athar's house as agreed and reported on their conversation with Ambar the night before and with Derioch and Blackhoof shortly before. Jana, in turn, had followed Eliath when he had left the Black Sails late at night. She had managed to track him to his lodgings, a small apartment in a house near the Armory. The group quickly agreed to seek Eliath out there and once again made their way from the Madhouse District in the Hive to Swordhold in the Lower Ward. Jana led them to the house where she had seen Eliath disappear the night before. It was a three-story stone building, not in the best condition, but quite acceptable by the standards of the Lower Ward. The floor space was not very large, so Eliath could only have a small apartment, even if he lived on one floor alone. They knocked, gently at first, then more forcefully. But no one opened the door, neither Eliath nor any other resident. They couldn't see any movement behind the windows either - as far as they could tell from the cloudy, dirty glass. A bit at a loss, they stood around in the street, then retreated to a side alley to watch the entrance from there in case Eliath returned. But almost an hour passed without him showing up. Since they didn't want to go to the Armory and didn't have anything else to go on, they decided to try the Black Sails again. Although it was only afternoon, there would certainly already be some guests there. Perhaps they could elicit some information about Eliath from one of them. However, when they entered and looked around for a table, two familiar figures immediately caught their eye: a medusa - and Eliath. They had obviously come to the tavern to drink, play and chat, just like the day before. The only question now was how they could strike up a conversation with Eliath inconspicuously without alerting the other Sinkers. They sat down at the free table right next to Eliath's group so that they could listen in on the Sinkers’ conversation. In addition to himself and the medusa, there was also a red dragonborn, a kobold and a human woman. Sgillin got a large tankard of ale while Naghûl dealt cards for a game and Jana and Lereia began a superficial, meaningless conversation. The Sinkers were having a relatively loud discussion about how to stop the next Modron March. The dragonborn and the human woman were obviously already quite drunk. Then they made a bit of fun of the Godsmen. Who would want to become a god if the Multiverse was going to perish anyway? Naghûl watched as Lereia slightly rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement. What idiots , he thought to himself. He noticed, however, that Eliath's manner of speaking was rather polite and his phrasing quite educated. He didn't seem like a typical resident of the Lower Ward or even the Hive. Then the conversation next to them became much louder as the medusa slammed her tankard down on the table.

"Mibix!" she shouted at the dragonborn. "We don’t have to break anything! It all breaks by itself, that's it!"

"But too slowly!" he replied grumpily. "Much too slowly! You have to help it along a bit."

"You don't have to do anything, Surtak, you idiot! It all works by itself, you don't need to help it along." She mockingly mimicked his tone of voice and the human woman laughed.

The man addressed as Surtak stood up jerkily, almost knocking over his chair. "Why are you always so uptight, Rakalla?"

Naghûl listened up. Rakalla . That had to be medusa's name and he immediately memorized it. She stood up as well, pushing back her dark-colored glasses a little. "I'm not uptight, you birdbrain. I just think our philosophy works without randomly setting things on fire."

The dragonborn laughed derisively. "You Preservers are the ones who are birdbrained!"

"I'm not a Preserver, you apple-chaser!" The medusa's snakes became more agitated and hissed softly. "I'm an Ob server!"

"Pfft," Surtak snorted snidely. "Preserver, Observer, all the same."

"You Ravagers annoy me," Rakalla growled.

"Careful!" The dragonborn let out a throaty growl. "The factol is also a Ravager."

The medusa twisted her lips into an amused grin, baring two pointed fangs. "Let's see if the factol saves your ass when I give you a kick in it."

Surtak crossed his arms provocatively. "Come on, little girl. I'll teach you about entropy."

"Don't be ridiculous, you pompous lizard," Rakalla replied scornfully. "But if you want me to decorate the Armory with your stuffed body, go ahead."

The human woman laughed again, and the kobold giggled as well. Their amusement certainly seemed to annoy the dragonborn. "It's about time someone gives you what for, Rakalla," he growled. "Somebody should shut you up."

The medusa didn't say anything back, but instead turned to the woman sitting next to her. "Hey, Lyssa, was it your suggestion to drink with a Ravager? I'll give you a thrashing for your stupid ideas right after that one!"

The young woman grinned. "You're welcome to try. But first I want to see how you put our bigmouth here down."

The only Sinker who didn't seem to like the way the situation was escalating was Eliath. He looked around a little helplessly, almost as if he didn't really belong.

Meanwhile, the dragonborn took a step towards Rakalla. "Come outside with me. I'll do you a favor and give you a good bath in the Ditch. You'll smell better than before!"

The medusa drew a dagger with a long blade. "That's enough! I'll mop the floor with you! Do you think you can outclass me, you pathetic excuse for a reptile!"

The kobold slid excitedly from his chair. "I'm coming with you!" he announced. "I have to see that!"

Surtak leaned towards the medusa and grinned suggestively. "You need a guy, Rakalla," he explained. "If you want, I can take you right afterwards."

She took off her glasses and Naghûl winced instinctively. But she made no move to use her gaze. All the tiefling could see now was the disdain in her orange glowing eyes as she scrutinized the dragonborn. "You won't be a man anymore when I'm done with you," she remarked with a small grin. "Come on!"

Surtak laughed uproariously and headed for the door, closely followed by Rakalla, the kobold and the human woman. The medusa turned to them on the way out. "Lyssa! No more Ravagers, alright?"

The woman just giggled, then the four of them left the tavern to settle their differences outside. Only Eliath remained at the table. He cleared his throat sheepishly. "I ... I'd rather stay here," he explained quietly, not addressing anyone in particular, as his companions had all already left.

There it was, their chance. Naghûl looked at the others, who obviously had the same thought. They took their tankards and went to Eliath’s table – except for Sgillin who quietly followed the Sinkers outside to keep an eye on the medusa.

"Hello," Jana greeted in a friendly manner. "May we join you? Looks like you've just been left alone rather unexpectedly."

"Oh ..." Eliath nodded hesitantly. "Well, certainly. Drinking alone is ... boring, isn't it?"

Actually, he seemed much more like he was rather longing for a little peace and boredom. He didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the Sinkers at all. He wore simple clothes, seemed to be in his forties and had shoulder-length brown hair. He was obviously unarmed and in general, he seemed far too inconspicuous for a Sinker, far too ... harmless.

They took a seat and Lereia, who was sitting to his right, smiled encouragingly. "I'm Lereia," she introduced herself. "Everything here is still a little ... unfamiliar to me, because I haven't been in Sigil for very long. And you?"

"My name is Eliath," he replied. "I'm not originally from here either, but from the prime world of Toril. I visited a mage academy there, but I came to Sigil about fifteen years ago. I worked in the Hall of Records in the arcane section."

"Ah, I wanted to apply there too," Jana explained. Naghûl suspected it was a bluff to get deeper into the conversation with Eliath. "But it didn't work out because I’m not a woman of learning. I'm a sorceress. But you ... have done a lot with books, huh?"

Eliath took a sip of beer and sighed. "I've done a bit too much with books."

"Forgive my ignorance," Kiyoshi said with a puzzled undertone. "But how can one study too much?"

"I found a magic book in a library that had a devastating effect on me," the mage replied gloomily. "It had a curse on it that drove me mad."

"Oh ..." Jana looked at him in dismay. "And then what? Did you end up with the Bleakers?"

"Yes, I ended up in the Hive, with the other barmies," he replied. "That was three years ago. I was in the Gatehouse for quite a while."

"But you don't seem so crazy," Lereia interjected cautiously. "Have you recovered?"

"No, not really." Eliath sighed deeply. "But eventually I got out. And then ... I know that sounds crazy now ... then I was murdered."

Naghûl shook his head gently. The same strange story. He quickly put on a feigned uncomprehending expression. "Huh?"

Lereia joined in and laughed a little. "Yeah, sure."

"No, really!" Eliath affirmed. "I was attacked and strangled. I was dead. But then ..." A smile now spread across his face. "Then I got a second chance. Lathander, the god I had worshipped in my youth, appeared to me! He was shrouded in light and kind and ... it was incredible! He told me I had wasted my life. But I was going to get a second chance. He said there were things I still had to do. I should ... that part was a bit strange, but he said it ... I should go back to Sigil and join the Doomguard. Then I woke up in the Lower Ward - sane. Perfectly sane!"

Naghûl raised his brows. This story sounded a lot more inconclusive than Tylaric’s about Cuthbert and the Harmonium. "I see ..." he said slowly.

Jana, on the other hand, put down her tankard and shook her head. "Well, I don't know much about this powers stuff. But it doesn't fit Lathander, does it?"

She looked around and then back at Eliath, who actually looked genuinely confused. "I didn't really want to join the Doomguard," he explained. "But ... but the Morninglord told me so. I don't quite understand it either."

"I’m waiting for someone to come along and claim that Kelemvor sent them to the Dustmen," Naghûl remarked sarcastically. "Smashing."

"Forgive my ignorance," Kiyoshi spoke up with his typical introduction. "But is it Lathander's goal to bring about the downfall of all things?"

"Um, no," Eliath explained hesitantly. "Lathander is the god of dawn and the sun, of hope, vitality and creativity ... so, no, honestly, it doesn't fit. But he told me so!" Helplessly, the wizard spread his hands to emphasize that it didn't really make sense to him either.

"And you are sure it was Lathander?" Kiyoshi asked seriously.

"Yes, I'm sure ..." Eliath nodded. "I don't know, it was just ... It all fell into place at that moment."

"Can I ask you something else?" Jana cut in again. "When you were killed, have you seen who did it?"

Eliath frowned and seemed to be thinking. "Yes ... I remember it dimly."

"I think I could sleep a lot better if I knew what the guy looked like," Jana said. "Can you draw?"

"Unfortunately not," Eliath replied regretfully. "But he was a half-elf, quite attractive, I would guess. Long, black hair, green eyes."

Jana opened her bag, took out a thin folder and a charcoal pencil, opened the folder and searched for a blank page. Then she began to roughly sketch the half-elf described. From time to time, she asked the wizard questions about his appearance. "Like this?" she finally said and showed Eliath the portrait. He leaned towards Jana so that he could take a closer look at her drawing. Quick-witted, Lereia also leaned further to the left, pretending that she too wanted to look at the sketch. But Naghûl realized that she was actually looking at Eliath's neck, more specifically the spot behind his right ear, which was visible at that moment because the shoulder-length brown hair had fallen back. Then she sat up straight again, reached for her mug of ale and nodded slightly to Naghûl and Kiyoshi. The mark mentioned in Marvent's letter? Had she been able to spot it behind his ear? It certainly seemed so.

Meanwhile, Jana finished drawing the portrait. "Did you notice anything else?" she asked.

"I guess the man was dressed quite darkly," Eliath replied. "But that's all I can remember."

At that moment, Sgillin returned and sat down at their table. "That was quite a fight out there," he remarked, impressed.

"How did it end?" Eliath wanted to know immediately.

The half-elf poured himself another tankard of ale. "The lady with the snakes gave the dragonborn quite a beating."

Eliath laughed, not really surprised, but a little relieved, it seemed. "That's what I thought. Rakalla's a good sort. And pretty skillful with her blade."

Sgillin nodded. "Yeah, you wouldn't guess she could lash out like that. Then she carved something into his skin. Some kind of victory ritual, apparently."

"I didn't know we had a Ravager with us today," the wizard explained with a sigh. "Otherwise I might not have come at all."

Sgillin obviously wanted to answer something, but then he just stared at Eliath, lost in thought, while his tankard slowly slipped from his hands. Kiyoshi just managed to catch the mug before it fell to the ground, but a good portion of the ale spilled all over Sgillin's clothes. Lereia looked at her companion in alarm. Eliath also froze for a moment and then looked around in confusion.

"Where ... where am I ...?" he asked, looking around in complete bewilderment.

"Oh oh," Naghûl said softly. That looked like another body swap from Sgillin.

Meanwhile, the half-elf, whose body was now probably Eliath's, stood up. Kiyoshi immediately rose to block Sgillin's path as a precaution.

"Who ... where am I?", Eliath asked again.

This in turn confused Naghûl. If Sgillin was in Eliath's body, shouldn't he know what was going on by now?

Lereia also seemed unsettled. "Eliath?" she asked the wizard.

"Yes?" Sgillin replied promptly. "What is it?"

So apparently he was in Sgillin's body after all. The half-elf in Eliath's shell still seemed strangely confused, however. "What in all the hells is going on?" he groaned in a slight panic, staring at his actual body.

"Honorable Sgillin-san?", Kiyoshi turned to Eliath.

"What?" The wizard - or Sgillin in his body - shook his head in confusion. "Yes ... I ... oh, damn."

He held on to the table and Lereia grabbed him by the shoulders. "All is well, we're in the Black Sails , like we have been all along. Had a drink and a nice chat. It's me, Lereia."

"I don't think that Sgillin is here ...", Naghûl stated slowly, feeling goosebumps on his skin. This was not how Sgillin's body swap had gone so far. Something was wrong ...

Eliath was still looking at Lereia in confusion. "In the Black Sails ? Yes ... that's right ... It's not like it was last time ... Something else is in here ..."

"There is something or someone else in play," Naghûl said quietly.

"You mean two minds in this body?" Lereia asked worriedly.

Then Eliath sank back into his chair and Sgillin slumped slightly, holding on to the tabletop. Was it over? It seemed so, because Sgillin looked like his old self again. He stared at Eliath. "What are you hiding?" he asked him sternly.

"Me?" Confused, Eliath looked around. "I'm hiding ... nothing at all. What have you done to me?"

Naghûl exhaled with relief. This strange situation had been anything but pleasant and he was thankful that the exchange was over. "Everyone back home?" he asked matter-of-factly, although he was feeling quite agitated at the moment.

Eliath also looked disturbed. "What was that? I ... You are very strange people. I think I want to leave ..."

Sgillin sat down again and took a deep sip of ale. "No." He shook his head at Eliath. "You stay here for now."

Kiyoshi nodded gravely at these words. "Forgive my frank words, honorable Eliath-san, but I fear you are in danger."

Eliath was now clearly restless and nervous. "But I have done nothing wrong. Why would I be in danger?"

"I think someone is using you," Kiyoshi explained. "Someone deceived you into joining the Doomguard, and that can't be safe."

"Deceived ..." the wizard muttered, still quite pale around the nose. "Well, I ... I wondered why Lathander sent me to the Sinkers ..."

"I don't think it was really a god who saved you," Jana remarked seriously.

Naghûl nodded in agreement. This had nothing to do with the Athar’s faction philosophy. Eliath's story just didn't make sense, especially not in connection with Tylaric's.

The wizard now eyed Sgillin with some discomfort. "I ... I was in your body, wasn't I? Isn't that how it was?"

The half-elf nodded. "Indeed ... And I was in yours. But I wasn't alone there ..."

The wizard closed his eyes briefly and swallowed hard. "And when I was in your body ... something was different too. At least I thought so."

"What was different?" Sgillin wanted to know, and when Eliath didn't answer immediately, he jumped up with a jerk. "WHAT?"

He almost shouted, and Lereia looked at him in astonishment. Naghûl flinched as well. He didn't know his friend like this.

Eliath promptly slid his chair back a little. "He's crazy ...", he muttered.

"Sgillin?" Naghûl carefully placed a hand on the ranger's shoulder to ground him a little.

The half-elf took a deep breath. "I'm fine ..." he explained and then turned to Eliath. "Forgive me. Please, help us shed some light upon this." He sat down again, but Eliath looked around intimidated. "Try to remember," Sgillin asked. "What did you feel in my body?"

The wizard relaxed a little as the half-elf calmed down and rubbed his temples. "Well, the feeling ... is fading already. It was ... It's so hard to describe. It was as if I was ... free. And in my actual body ... I feel constricted. What did you feel?"

Sgillin nodded gravely. "I was not alone in your body. There was something else there."

"Something else?" Eliath looked at his hands in horror. "But now ... now it feels like everything is normal again."

"It felt like being caged," Sgillin explained his experience. "But the cage was ... was me. I was holding something inside you, Eliath."

The wizard looked at him with wide eyes. "But you ... that means me , doesn't it?"

"Yes," Sgillin said. "And you felt free in my body because I am alone in it."

Lereia leaned on the tabletop with both elbows and frowned thoughtfully. "So, the cage was Eliath's body?"

Sgillin shook his head. "No, it wasn't anything physical."

"Something mental then," Lereia continued the thought. "And when you were in Eliath's body, you held that something captive somehow. But otherwise Eliath's mind does?"

The wizard looked rather overwhelmed, while Sgillin leaned back. "It was ... another consciousness."

"What does that mean?" Eliath asked unhappily.

"Perhaps something was transferred into your mind," Lereia speculated. "After that death incident."

Naghûl sighed inwardly as it occurred to him what that sounded like. "A sleeper?" he said.

Lereia nodded. "That was my thought, too."

Eliath stared helplessly at the table. "I returned from beyond the Eternal Boundary ..."

"How did you come up with the term Eternal Boundary?" Lereia wanted to know, and the wizard raised his shoulders. "Lathander said that to me."

Jana, who had been listening for a while with a furrowed brow, hesitantly asked the question that was obviously bothering her. "What ... is a sleeper?"

"A consciousness that is deliberately induced by a specific method and dominates for a certain period of time," Naghûl explained. "So you can use other people as tools and they don't even realize it."

"That might also explain the question with the seal," Kiyoshi interjected.

Eliath stared at them. "That's terrible! How can I get rid of it, if that's the case?"

"We'll need someone who knows a lot about it," the tiefling replied. "But until then, you should go somewhere safe. Where nothing can be done to you and you can't do anything to anyone."

"The list," Jana muttered. "I wonder if they're all such sleepers?"

Lereia nodded and looked at the clearly overwhelmed wizard. "If that's the case, you're certainly not alone, Eliath."

Her words didn't exactly seem to comfort him, however. "Not alone? There are others?"

"It would seem so," Naghûl answered with a sigh and stood up. "But now we should get you to safety as quickly as possible."

"Eliath," Lereia said gently. "I know you're scared, but please trust us. We want to find out what all of this means. We'll go to my house, where we'll be safe for now and can get some rest."

Unhappy and hesitant, the wizard looked from one to the other. "But ... I have to go to my own faction with something like this ..."

"What if your faction thinks of you as a danger?", Lereia objected. "Don't you want to know what's going on first?"

Naghûl nodded in agreement to her words. "You are not even entirely convinced of your membership. And some of them would certainly love to cut you open to see what's going on."

Eliath stared first at Lereia, then at Naghûl, his eyes widening as various thoughts seemed to flash through his mind. "Pentar would ... perhaps ... Oh help!"

Naghûl nodded, pleased to mentally distance the poor wizard from the Sinkers. "That's right. Come with us, and we will take you to safety."

"All … all right ..." Eliath muttered.

He let them pull him along rather than following actively, but he didn't resist either. Kiyoshi came in last, as if to cover a retreat, and they left the Black Sails for the Foundry District.

 

Arriving at Lereia's house, the young woman pulled back the hood of her robe and closed the door after everyone had entered.

"Sweetie, do you have any mead?" Sgillin wanted to know, already on his way to the kitchen.

"I'm not that well equipped yet," Lereia called after him. "But there should be drinks, yes. Please bring something for everyone."

"I'm afraid I will have to say no to mead," Kiyoshi stated politely.

Lereia walked to the entrance of the common room and kept open the curtain, looking at Eliath. "Find a seat," she said kindly, pointing to the cushions. "Try to relax."

"Relax ...?" The wizard looked at her doubtfully. "Uh ... I'll try."

Meanwhile, Naghûl prepared the water pipe without being asked to do so. But he definitely needed some more alcohol and strong tobacco after all of that. Sgillin returned from the kitchen with three jugs, apparently wine, beer and water.

"Does anyone mind if I mix some fly agaric into the tobacco?" Naghûl asked the group.

Eliath was obviously completely rattled and didn't seem to hear the question, but Sgillin nodded. "Feel free."

Jana poured herself a beer and looked at the dried toadstool that Naghûl pulled out of his pocket. "Go ahead."

Lereia, on the other hand, raised her hands defensively. "I don't smoke."

"Neither do I," Kiyoshi declared as he took a seat on the cushions.

Naghûl nodded and began to crumble small parts of the toadstool into the tobacco. Then he poured the Heart Wine that Sgillin had fetched from the kitchen into the glass vase.

Lereia looked at him with some irritation, but then turned to her guest. "Eliath, without going into further detail, we have met someone who has experienced a story similar to yours. So you are certainly not alone."

"I’m ... not sure if that makes things any better," the wizard replied wearily.

"I have a suggestion," Naghûl explained as he conjured a small flame between his fingertips to light the tobacco. "I would like to have Eliath taken into protective custody. If he agrees. He'd be safe in the Barracks and wouldn't be able to hurt anyone if the sleeper were to be activated - if we're right in our suspicions, of course. But the matter could be investigated there under the best of circumstances."

Lereia nodded. "If we explain it to the Factol, I'm sure he won’t lack anything."

Eliath looked at her unhappily. "But ... the Hardheads ... well …”

Kiyoshi looked at him, but his expression showed no emotion.

"They're not that bad," Naghûl tried to reassure him. "More of a great fuss than truth to the stories."

Jana nodded to Kiyoshi. "This one will take care of you."

"Oh ..." Startled, Eliath looked over at the young man. "You're from the Harmonium?"

A small smile now appeared on Kiyoshi’s face, but - so it seemed to Naghûl - it panicked due to the unfamiliar surroundings and immediately faded again. "Indeed, honorable Eliath-san," the young soldier replied. "I belong to the honorable faction you called the Hardheads."

The wizard turned a little pale. "I would like to take back the term Hardheads and apologize for it," he muttered.

Naghûl reached for the hose of the water pipe and took a good puff while Sgillin nodded. "I'd say we follow Naghûl's suggestion and take Eliath to the Barracks for now. We'll discuss everything else later." He turned to the wizard. "Is that alright for you?"

Eliath looked at him wearily and smiled wanly. "Do I even have a choice?"

Naghûl drank a good swig of ale after the first puff and already felt a little more relaxed under the influence of the toadstool. "We can't force you," he said to Eliath. "But you are a wizard and possess a logical mind. So tell me: does our plan contradict logic?"

Eliath just sighed. "I ... I understand."

Meanwhile, Jana put down her jug and took the folder out of her bag. She pulled out the portrait of the supposed murderer that she had drawn in the Black Sails according to Eliath's information and scrutinized it once more. "I wonder ..." she murmured. "What was the name of that half-elf from the Harmonium again?"

Naghûl shook his head slightly. Now this was starting again. "Do you mean Killeen Caine, the Legate of Arcadia whom Sgillin wants to check up on?"

He gave his friend a teasing grin, but Eliath listened attentively. "Wait ..." He widened his eyes. "You think the Legate of Arcadia ... murdered me?"

"Not me," Naghûl replied, raising his hands defensively.

"No," Lereia also assured him. "He only roughly fits the description of the possible murderer. Sgillin is a bit ... well ... paranoid."

The half-elf shrugged and Eliath gave him a doubtful glance. "I see ..."

"In my opinion, that's mibix," Naghûl stated emphatically. "But I'm definitely not going to be the one to present this assumption to Factol Sarin. So I'll take things as they come."

Kiyoshi nodded in satisfaction at these words and Lereia tried to put the subject to rest. "If we meet him, I can unobtrusively check whether he has the same soul signature as the murderer. That should settle the matter." Then she turned to Eliath. "Don't let this unsettle you. We'll get you to safety. And we'll take care of everything else."

The wizard nodded, resigned to his fate, and they turned the conversation to more harmless matters so that the evening could at least end on a more relaxed note. The next morning, they unanimously decided, they would take Eliath to the Barracks.

 

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(played April 19, 2012)