The Silver Sphinx

 

“Sigil will remain a cage until we have eliminated the last of the so-called factions. Rise up and break your chains!"

ninety-first proclamation of the Anarchists

 

 

Third Lower Day of Tithing, 126 HR

Krystall stood at the window of her small house in the Alley of Dangerous Angles, watching the half-elf slowly move away through the gray fog that hung thick and cool over the City of Doors that day. He had his bow and quiver with him, and his long, black cloak moved in the haze of the narrow street like one of the shadows that now, in the evening, crept out of every corner.

Rianna stepped up beside her and followed her gaze. "Well?" the young half-elf asked expectantly. "Did I make a good choice, Krystall?"

The leader of the Razor Angels smiled. "I'd say so."

Rianna had noticed a few weeks ago, rather by chance during a short stay in the Blood Pit, that Sgillin and his friends had taken up the cause of the Hive Wrangler Murders. She had therefore told the ranger how she had witnessed the Shadowknave committing one of the murders - and thus put him on the trail of the villain. The murders had been a bad thing - and as usual, no one in the Hive had really cared. Except for two groups who had obviously had an interest in solving and ending the matter. But since the half-orc in one of the groups seemed to be a member of the Red Death, Krystall had decided to stay away from those people. The other group had been more promising - until one of them had turned out to be a Hardhead. But by then Rianna had already made contact with Sgillin. Yet, whatever Krystall thought of his choice of friends, the murders had stopped a short time later. So the archer may well have had something to do with ending this unpleasant affair. That was why she had asked Rianna to keep an eye on him. Her friend had done so and had watched as Sgillin had met up with Shemeshka - and had apparently swapped bodies with her. Rianna had guessed what had happened, as she had witnessed a similar incident that evening in the Blood Pit. She had observed that Sgillin had swapped bodies with a minotaur fighter there. That was why she had been so certain that he had done the same with Shemeshka. The arcanaloth had been furious. She would surely have torn Sgillin apart with her own teeth and claws had Rianna not taken advantage of her initial confusion and the helplessness of her tiefling servants to pull Sgillin through one of the windows into the street and flee with him. A daring move, considering who they had been up against, and Krystall admired Rianna's courage. The half-elf was audacious and brave, sometimes to the point of recklessness, that had been Sgillin's salvation. Through the maze of Hive alleys she had led him to Krystall's house. Then he had stood in front of her and told her that he and his friends had actually stopped the murders and tracked down the masterminds behind them. The fact that he had told Shemeshka about the prophecy was not ideal, of course. But Krystall could understand it, given that the queen of cross trade had threatened his companion quite blatantly. Of course, he could have used his contacts with several of Sigil's factions - contacts even with factols obviously, the very thought was outrageous in itself. All the more so as one of those factions was the Harmonium. These people would certainly have had the means to protect him and his girlfriend. As refusing, even hostile, as she was towards the factions, Krystall could not deny their power and influence. After all, these were the very reasons for her dislike. But Sgillin was new to Sigil and had certainly not been able to assess the situation so accurately, especially given the pressure he had been under. She had been impressed by him stopping the murders, as she had to admit to herself. And had therefore offered Sgillin the chance to join the Razor Angels. She had explained to him that they were not brutal thugs who only preyed on the weak who could not defend themselves. That they had other targets, rich merchants in particular, and that they shared the spoils with the poor of the Hive. They were usually around ten to twelve people, although the number of members naturally fluctuated. Sometimes someone new joined, sometimes someone left the gang - sometimes someone was arrested or even killed. Of course, they also had a few other friends and allies who helped the Razor Angels and were also supported by them: urchins, prostitutes, the odd thief who worked for himself. Sgillin had agreed to become the newest member of the gang. She had given him the amulet, telling him not to wear it in public and not to show it to anyone. She hadn't mentioned the Revolutionary League - not yet. She was afraid that the others had already influenced Sgillin too much, that he might distance himself from them if he knew they were an Anarchist cell. Not that the Anarchists saw themselves as a faction like the others - with the possible exception of the Free League. In their eyes, each cell was independent and all Anarchists were just a very loosely connected group of people who had one basic view in common: that the factions had too much power and had long been corrupted. That this system had to be broken up and abolished to make way for something new and better. But that was where the similarities ended. While cells like the Razor Angels took from the rich to give to the poor, they didn't want to kill anyone in the process, by no means innocents, but also no high-ranking faction members, Golden Lords or rich merchants. At the other end, however, there were cells that saw violence, destruction and even murder as legitimate means of achieving these goals. From them Krystall dissociated herself as much as she did from the Hardheads or the Red Death. When Sgillin's place among the Razor Angels had been cemented, when they had gotten to know each other better, after one or two raids together, she would reveal the whole truth to him, Krystall decided for herself. She was convinced she could win the half-elf to her cause, no matter what his friends might think. He seemed to be the type of man who went his own way. Rianna had stood silently beside her for a while, watching Sgillin disappear into the fog of the alley. But now she tore Krystall from her thoughts.

"And you think ... he's one of the Chosen of this strange prophecy?"

"You saw what he did to Shemeshka," she answered. "And you know what it says on the parchment we found. I'm afraid we can't just ignore it."

Rianna nodded seriously. "Probably not. But do you really want to contact the others about this?"

"Want might be too much to say," Krystall replied with a sigh. "But that goblin woman's blood made the razor vine bloom! I mean, have you ever heard of such a thing? I've seen it with my own eyes, otherwise I wouldn't believe it either, I can assure you. And if an adlate of the Dustmen meets up with such a jittery creature, then there must be a really good reason for it. A reason that obviously includes this minotaur and the medusa."

"You realize how crazy that sounds, right? Even for Sigil." Rianna flopped down on Krystall's bed and stared at the low wooden ceiling. "But if he really is one of the Chosen ... Shouldn't he somehow join us permanently? Instead of hanging around with the others, one of whom is a Hardhead of all people?"

Krystall sat down next to her on the bed and grinned. "Well, that's the great thing about it. He's obviously even in contact with his friends' factols. What could suit us better?"

The half-elf sat up and eyed Krystall warily. "But you're not planning on ...?"

"No!" the leader of the Razor Angels replied immediately and forcefully. "Our codex will not change: no unnecessary violence, no senseless destruction and definitely no killing. But I think having such an ace up our sleeve can still be quite useful for us. Even if I don't know exactly what I want to do with it at the moment, having it is worth a lot."

Rianna grinned. "True enough." She glanced at the window again. "Well then - a glass of rum to toast our promising new arrival?"

Krystall took her rapier from her weapon belt and placed it on the bed. "Sounds like an idea. Why don't you get the others to join us so I can tell them about it? In the meantime, I'll pour you a drink." She paused once more. "So, I'll tell them about our new member. Let's keep the prophecy between the two of us for now, shall we?"

"Good idea." Rianna nodded. "Even more so because everyone who knows about it could be a target. For Shemeshka and who knows who else."

 

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based on the role-play with Sgillins player on June 3, 2012