The Silver Sphinx

 

“Anarchy is defined as any conscious act that directly or indirectly aims to or tends toward destabilizing or damaging the governing institutions of Sigil, that is, the factions.

Each faction represents an important aspect of Sigil, so an attack on the factions or on one of the factions is an attack on Sigil itself. This is punishable by death without the possibility of appeal or pardon."

point 4 of "The Five Major Violations in Sigil", as enacted - 496 HR

 

 

Third Market Day of Savorus, 126 HR

After Abaia had feasted on the hare, the fox, a honey badger and another hare, it seemed reasonably satisfied. The day was drawing to a close and the rays of the setting sun adorned the Oreb Hills with a fringe of gold. So they decided to set up camp and continue their search for the phoenix the following day. They took some of the provisions they had been given in Conclave Fidelis and lit a small fire, over which Kiyoshi boiled water for tea. Abaia crouched down a little way away and soon seemed to fall asleep, while the Chosen gathered around the fire. When they were all sitting together in a circle with a steaming mug of tea in their hands, Sgillin looked at them with an unusually serious expression and took a deep breath.

"Since we're sitting here in such harmony," he said, "I think I should tell you something."

A worried expression came into Lereia's eyes. "Has something happened, dear?"

"Hmm, yes." The half-elf sighed. "You could say that."

Morânia exchanged a quick glance with Naghûl. Sgillin actually made a rather bashful impression, which was uncharacteristic of him.

Her husband also gave the ranger a puzzled look. "I think we can talk about everything, my friend."

"Let's see if you still feel the same way after this conversation," Sgillin replied gloomily.

Lereia looked even more worried now, but didn't seem to know what it was about any more than the others. Jana just kept sipping her tea and looking over the rim of the cup at Sgillin. Kiyoshi's expression was stoic as so often. In response to the half-elf's remark, Naghûl only waved his hand placatingly and nodded to him.

Sgillin hesitated for a moment, but then pulled himself together. "Perhaps you remember that I was away just before we left for Elysium."

Something about his tone worried Morânia, but she only raised one of her golden-blonde brows gently. It did not escape her notice that Kiyoshi seemed to be eyeing Sgillin more warily now.

Naghûl, on the other hand, raised his shoulders unconcernedly. "Well, that's normal. None of us are serfs ... All right, maybe of the prophecy, but you can go wherever you want."

Lereia sipped her tea and looked at Sgillin in silence, unusually tense.

"During this ... well ... let's say, excursion ... it happened again," the half-elf continued. "I swapped bodies with another person."

"Hopefully not with Skall or something?" Morânia wanted to make the question sound jokingly, but realized that it ended up at least half-serious.

Sgillin promptly looked at her, definitely in low spirits. "No, not with Skall ... but from what I've heard and experienced ... the difference is not so great."

"What?" The bal'aasi put down her tea. "Sgillin, you're scaring me. What happened?"

"Sgillin has a penchant for the dramatic today," Naghûl interjected as Lereia tapped the rim of her cup restlessly with her fingertips.

The half-elf took another deep breath before answering. "It was ... Shemeshka."

Morânia frowned and took a closer look at him. Was he serious or was he joking?

Naghûl seemed to have already made up his mind. "Yes, suuure," he replied with a grin.

"Sgillin, that's not a good joke," Morânia said reprovingly.

Kiyoshi frowned, perhaps trying to remember the name - but apparently without success. "Forgive my ignorance, but who is the aforementioned Shemeshka?" he asked.

"A fiend," Morânia explained to him. "And one of the queens of crime in Sigil."

To her growing alarm, the half-elf now sighed deeply. "And I wish it was just a joke."

Slowly and uncomfortably, the realization seeped into Morânia that Sgillin was indeed serious. "And how, by all hells ..." She swallowed the curse that was on the tip of her tongue and tried to remain calm. "And how did that happen?"

Naghûl nodded in agreement to her question and frowned. "Exactly. Assuming you really had swapped bodies with her, then ... um, don't you have to be in her immediate proximity?"

"I was," Sgillin replied quietly. "I was sitting directly opposite her."

Lereia looked at him in horror. "What? You ..."

Kiyoshi sat up even straighter. "Why?" he asked, very calmly, but the look in his now orange dragon eyes was rigid.

Sgillin faced Lereia. "Well, it's almost ironic. Actually, it all started with you."

The young woman choked on her tea and coughed. "I beg your pardon? I'm supposed to have brought you to criminals?" She widened her eyes and her hands trembled slightly.

Kiyoshi now looked skeptically at Lereia too, while Jana stayed out of the conversation for the moment, but had also put down her tea. She didn't seem particularly tense, but listened with interest.

Sgillin sighed once more. "I think I'd best start from the beginning."

"Good idea," Naghûl stated, now also less relaxed than at the beginning of the conversation.

"About a year ago, Lereia and I were traveling to Sigil for the first time." The half-elf ran his fingers through the soft grass as he reported. "In the Market Ward, we came across a man who seemed to be in pretty bad shape. We, or rather Lereia, wanted to help him and so we did. He gave us a book and said it was very important that we take it to a certain place because he wouldn't make it. Less pleasing was the fact that the destination for the delivery was the plane of Acheron. But we had promised him our help, so we took the portal he described. It led to a cave or a mine shaft, something like that. There was actually a man waiting there, to whom we could hand over the book."

"I remember that we actually only wanted to help." Lereia nodded. "And that we delivered the book. But I don't remember someone called Shemeshka."

Sgillin cleared his throat. "You weren't around then either."

"I see." The young woman tightened. "You never told me about that."

Morânia looked from Lereia to Sgillin with an alarmed expression. Clearly, the half-elf had not only been keeping a little secret from them as a group, but also from his own consort. Of course, the two of them had to sort that out between themselves. But such disagreements on an important mission were unfavorable to say the least.

"It turned out that the guy who had taken the book was just a middleman," Sgillin now explained. "And that he fetched it for Shemeshka. But she had become aware of me as a result and then called me back to her alone shortly afterwards."

"Well, I'd be suspicious too if I were Lereia," Jana interjected casually. "I mean, if Sgillin in particular is hiding encounters with other women."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Morânia had to suppress a small smile. Jana was obviously unaware that Shemeshka was an arcanaloth, a wolf-headed fiend. She was certainly not Sgillin's type.

"It's not about the woman," Lereia clarified. "Well, not the fact that she's a woman. It's more about what she appears to be."

"Jana, this is not just a woman," Naghûl explained. "She is a fiend with significant and, more importantly, illegal power in Sigil."

Jana picked up her tea cup again. "Oh. So he was simply breaking bad?"

Kiyoshi had been eyeing Sgillin very warily since the beginning of the conversation, and his expression became even more serious at the word illegal. Now he returned to the actual topic. "What did this aforementioned oni want from you at that meeting?"

"She told me that she would keep an eye on me because I had served her well. And that she would contact me again at some point." Sgillin raised his shoulders. "The pay was good, and as long as it was just messenger services, I had no problem with it. Like I said, I didn't know her."

"Wait ..." Morânia could hardly believe her ears and leaned forward a little. "You worked for Shemeshka?"

"Yes," Sgillin replied, but immediately backtracked when he saw the sparkle in the bal'aasi's eyes. "Well, actually, no."

Naghûl frowned. "How now?" Gradually, he too seemed to be anything but relaxed about the matter.

"Sgillin ..." Morânia said seriously.

The half-elf raised his hands defensively. "I haven't heard from her for a long time since that story and had almost forgotten about it. Like I said, I had no idea who Shemeshka was. And it was a good opportunity to earn some gold."

"At least you knew she was someone who took deliveries on a hellish plane," Kiyoshi explained, his orange eyes narrowing. "In any case, it's good to know what you are willing to do for your gold, Sgillin-san."

Lereia was obviously feeling increasingly uncomfortable and silently scrutinized Sgillin.

The latter, however, merely shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't do it for her back then, but for the guy in the Market Ward. And believe me, Shemeshka isn't the kind of person who accepts a no, I'd rather not work for you."

"That's true," Naghûl conceded. "And let's not forget, Sgillin is not a paladin nor does he belong to the Harmonium or anything like that. An errand that began as a well-intentioned act cannot be held against him, I think."

Sgillin and Naghûl had been close friends for several years, and Morânia understood that her husband was defending his friend.

The half-elf nodded gratefully. "Yes, it was just this one errand, nothing more. And as I said, I didn't hear from her for a long time and had almost forgotten about her. But a few months ago, shortly after our visit to the Blood Pit, a street urchin approached me and slipped me a note. It was an "invitation". While you interrogated Toranna in the Mortuary, I went to a house in the Hive, where she was already waiting for me. She had a new assignment, namely to tell a trader and smuggler that he should let her share in his profits. Apparently nobody is supposed to partake in the smuggling business in Sigil without her permission. I was told to pay him a visit and point out that he owed her a tribute. But nothing came of it, because in the meantime the matter of the prophecy became more and more concrete. So I hadn't been to this guy yet. At some point, I found another note in my pocket: She had summoned me again."

"Probably not very pleased about your unfulfilled mission," Lereia said with a sniff.

"Quite the opposite." Sgillin spread his hands. "She didn't even seem interested in that matter anymore. She was asking about other ... things." At these words, he lowered his eyes, which worried Morânia all the more.

Jana shook her head in annoyance. "You should have talked to the Harmonium! Kiyoshi would have helped you for sure!"

The soldier nodded gravely, but Sgillin shook his head dejectedly. "If I had done that, Lereia would probably be dead by now."

The young woman turned a shade paler than she already was. "How ...? I ... Why ... " She was visibly struggling for words and her voice trembled a little.

Naghûl, who was sitting next to her, put a hand on her arm reassuringly. "So she extorted you?" he then turned to Sgillin.

"Yes, of course," the half-elf replied seriously.

“Unfortunately, that suits her ..." Morânia muttered. She buried her face in her hands for a moment, not really wanting to hear the answer to her next question. But she had to ask it. "And what kind of things did she ask you about?"

Jana seemed to share her thoughts, but spoke more directly. "She asked about the prophecy, didn't she?"

Sgillin shook his head. "No, she didn't ask anything about the prophecy. She wanted to know why I keep meeting with certain factols."

"Blex," Naghûl hissed, and Morânia felt her heart sink a little. Of course, they had known they would not be able to hide these meetings forever. They had made a conscious decision not to hold them too secretly. Someone would have noticed nevertheless and it would have been all the more suspicious. Hence the decision to disguise these meetings as factional gatherings, as a loose cooperation between a few factions, as was often the case in Sigil. The fact that the Ciphers had been brought in had been all the more fitting because it could have conveyed the impression that a certain amount of mediation was needed between Athar and Harmonium. It might have fooled a few curious people ... but not a woman like Shemeshka. They did not know, however, that she had such direct access to one of them ...

"At first I tried to talk around the whole thing," Sgillin explained. "But unfortunately I'm not such a good liar that I could have fooled her."

"Even a good one would have had a hard time," Naghûl comforted him.

Kiyoshi, on the other hand, eyed Sgillin sternly. "And what did you tell the oni, Sgillin-san?"

"I had to come out with part of the truth," the half-elf replied. "I also had the ulterior motive of obtaining information from her that we might not have been able to get otherwise."

Jana put the tea down again, gripped her forehead with both hands and groaned softly. "But you didn't ... didn't tell her about us, did you?"

"She already knows about us anyway, Jana." Naghûl sighed deeply. "Even if Sgillin didn't reveal a word."

Lereia nodded in agreement. "She must have seen us together."

"But I still didn't tell her anything about you," Sgillin assured. "Neither about what we are. But about ... the prophecy." He bowed his head. "There was no other way ..."

Naghûl buried his face in his hands and Lereia ran her fingers through her hair in despair, staring into the fire that was slowly burning down.

Morânia consciously tried to breathe calmly and deeply. "There was no other way? We should keep this a secret at all costs, Sgillin!"

"I had no choice," the half-elf defended himself. "Either I would have told her something or she would have torn me to pieces."

Lereia, however, was not placated by his explanations. "How long have you been in Sigil's criminal circles?" she demanded to know.

Morânia had never seen her this upset before. She herself was also somewhat stunned by Sgillin's story.

The half-elf looked at his consort. "Do you think that would have been easy for me, hm?"

"No, but why didn't you say anything?" she replied indignantly. "We have five powerful factions supporting us. Well, only four at the time, but still enough!"

"Yes, perhaps." Sgillin raised his shoulders. "But I wanted to prevent us - and especially you - having a knife in our backs at some point, despite the four powerful factions."

Still agitated by the whole story, Morânia shook her head. "Ambar! Terrance! Erin! Sarin!" She had raised her right hand to count demonstratively with the help of her fingers. "Four factols! Powerful and capable factols! Sgillin, you wouldn't have been alone. They could have protected you!"

"Morânia is right about that," Naghûl forestalled an objection from the half-elf. "They could certainly have made her leave you alone." He looked a little resigned.

"They could have protected us all," the bal'aasi added with a sigh. "Shemeshka is powerful, but not omnipotent. - Wait ... Sgillin? Please tell us exactly what you have told her."

"Well, it wasn't entirely without ulterior motives," the half-elf explained. "We were pretty much in the dark about the prophecy at the time. Shemeshka was also a source of information for me. I had hoped to learn things from her that we wouldn't have found out otherwise. For example, about the murders."

"I see," Kiyoshi interjected sharply. "So you weren't just scared after all? Did you think you could do business with the oni on your own?"

"No, I wanted to get information," Sgillin replied, obviously feeling more and more cornered.

Kiyoshi, however, did not let up; on the contrary, he seemed to take the ranger's defensive stance as an invitation to continue the interrogation. He leaned forward a little. "What did you tell the oni?"

"Not much," Sgillin assured. "Only that there is this prophecy and that we have spoken to the factols because of it."

"Does the oni know about the Deus Machina?" Kiyoshi continued. "Or only about the Chosen?"

"She knows about the Deus Machina, but nothing about the Chosen." Before Kiyoshi could say anything, the half-elf raised his hand. "But she knew about the Deus Machina beforehand, I must emphasize. And she knows that the Prophecy is connected to the God Machine."

"Then we'll have to talk to her one way or another," Jana stated.

Sgillin raised his eyebrows. "I would strongly advise against that."

"But what if she knows something we don't?" Jana countered. "About the Prophecy? And she's after us anyway. We were just told that several powerful factions are supporting us."

"That's true, but we are not going to do anything with Shemeshka," Morânia emphasized, nipping Jana's adventurous plans in the bud. "That's a matter for our factols."

"When she rots in a cell of the Mercykillers, she'll talk," Kiyoshi stated with his own mixture of composure and planar unworldliness.

"My friend," Naghûl objected diplomatically. "If it were possible for Sarin to lock Shemeshka away, he would have done so long ago."

"But I think Kiyoshi is right," Jana replied. "He could get permission from his factol to go and arrest her."

The sorceress' behavior was increasingly annoying Morânia, it even upset her. It was understandable and forgivable that Kiyoshi, who was still so new to Sigil, could not correctly classify who Shemeshka was and why she could not be taken off the streets so easily. But Jana had already been living in the Cage for a few years and should know better. The fact that she didn't - or worse, perhaps deliberately played dumb - annoyed the bal'aasi just as much as the fact that she might have given Kiyoshi reckless and dangerous ideas. "Jana, please don't act so sheepish," she said irritably.

"I'm not sheepish!" The sorceress grimaced and crossed her arms defiantly.

"Apparently you are, in that respect," the bal'aasi replied curtly.

Naghûl leaned back, rested his elbows on the soft grass and gave Jana an annoyed look.

Sgillin, although obviously relieved not to be the target of the general displeasure for a moment, decided to turn the attention back to himself. "However ... there was one good thing about that whole story," he said. "I, or rather we, have a few new allies."

"Wait a minute!" Lereia interrupted the half-elf, now unusually energetic. "I'd like to know a few specific things first: What happened after the body swap with Shemeshka? What is your relation to her now? And who do you mean by new allies?" By her standards, she was quite short-tempered and upset.

"Things got pretty confuseg during the swap," Sgillin explained quickly. "Shemeshka's underlings almost cut her down - well, in my body, of course. And I could see panic in her eyes. When the swap was reversed, she was on the verge of tearing me to pieces. But she seems to think I can use this ability at will. Apparently because I've been saying the opposite all along."

"Wait ..." Naghûl listened up. "You told her before the swap that you couldn't influence it?"

"No, during the swap," Sgillin explained. "She didn't know about my ability beforehand."

Morânia nodded. "I understand. That's good. Something we could use to our advantage ... And what happened then?"

"Just before Shemeshka was about to charge at me, a hooded figure opened the door and pulled me out into the open. I followed her for quite a while, deep into the Hive. Then she revealed herself ... and it was Rianna."

"I see," Lereia remarked dryly. "Well, then everything is clear."

Naghûl rubbed the back of his neck. "Who is that now?"

"Rianna is one of the Razor Angels," Sgillin answered readily. "They're a ... well, they call themselves a gang ... They live in the Hive, but unlike most of the others, they don't cause terror, they try to protect the inhabitants. They stand up for the needs of the poorest."

"If that's the truth, their motivation is at least commendable," Lereia said thoughtfully.

"Yes, you mentioned them once." The tiefling nodded and glanced over at Jana. "Can you confirm that?"

"Hmm." The sorceress, who had been silent since the brief quarrel with Morânia and still looked disgruntled, seemed to think for a moment. "Yeah, means something to me. These Razor Angels at least don't have a bad reputation."

"And why was she there to help you?" Morânia wanted to know.

Sgillin raised his shoulders. "I had met Rianna before, shortly after the first meeting with Shemeshka. She gave me the clue about the half-elf mage back then. She had witnessed one of the Hive Strangler Murders."

"Yes, that's when her name came up, right." Naghûl nodded, obviously remembering.

"Rianna followed me when I went to Shemeshka and then pulled me out when things got dicey," Sgillin elaborated. "She said that she and her gang liked the fact that we had ended the Hive Strangler Murders because no one else was interested. Their leader, Krystall, also a very likeable person, then sort of accepted me in the gang."

"You ... are now a Hive basher?" Naghûl's question sounded a little hesitant, and it was clear from his tone that he had not yet decided on his feelings on the matter.

"No, of course not," Sgillin hastened to assure. "They're not thugs. But I am a Razor Angel. So, more of an unofficial member."

Lereia had poured herself another cup of tea and was now looking at her companion thoughtfully. "If the Razor Angels are really what they claim to be, they may not be a faction, but they're not a bad institution either, and they suit you ... But everything else, mainly the thing with Shemeshka, I don't like it at all."

"I understand," Sgillin explained with a sigh. "But my gut feeling was right about the Razor Angels. They've got their hearts in the right place, even if they may sometimes be on the edge of legality."

"Well, the whole Hive is," Naghûl said in response to a sharp look from Kiyoshi.

Morânia nodded seriously. "I hope you don't misgauge them."

Her husband whistled softly through his teeth and shook his head. "I still think you should have joined the Sensates."

For the first time since the conversation began, Sgillin put on his trademark mischievous grin. "How does the saying go? Don't seek the faction, the faction seeks you?"

Naghûl gave him a brief grimace. "But neither Shemeshka nor the Razor Angels are a faction, berk."

Morânia also smiled for the first time in a while. "And actually, it goes: Ask not what your faction can do for you. Ask what you can do for your faction."

Jana grinned a little as well, but then frowned and gave Sgillin an alarmed look. "My goodness ... Do they know about the Prophecy now, the Razor Angels?"

Sgillin shook his head. "No, they don't know about the Prophecy. But Rianna has observed my swap in the Blood Pit as well as the one with Shemeshka."

Naghûl looked up at the sky, partly theatrical, partly serious. "Sgillin, you spread secret news faster than SIGIS ... by the Lady. All right ... Right now I just want to digest everything. I'll let you know if I'm angry or not. But one thing is certain: I don't think it's great and I can't relate to everything."

The others nodded in agreement, then Morânia thought of something she hadn't considered in all the agitation. But it was nonetheless significant. "By Lathander ..." she murmured. "What will Sarin do to Sgillin when he finds out about this?"

Naghûl sighed. "The factols will quarter him ..."

"But they're not here now, the factols," Jana interjected. "And they don't need to know, do they? At least not right away."

Morânia was about to reply, but Sgillin unexpectedly beat her to it. "Of course they need to know," he said.

Morânia was surprised by his willingness to share his lapse openly with the factols, but it also made the half-elf rise in her esteem. Not that she had had a bad opinion of Sgillin. His inexperience in Sigil coupled with his deeply chaotic nature had put him in this position. She wasn't happy about it, but after the initial annoyance she could show him a certain amount of understanding - at least in part. So she nodded her thanks to Sgillin and then turned to Jana. "I don't know what kind of relationship you have with your factol," she explained as matter-of-factly as she could. "But I don't keep information of this import from my factol."

"No, that is absolutely not possible," Naghûl agreed with her.

"As for me, I will certainly not withhold any information from my lord and prince, the honorable factol Sarin-gensui," Kiyoshi also declared seriously.

Lereia nodded. "I don't want to hide this from Ambar either." Downcast, she added a little more quietly. "I'd really like to talk to him now."

Jana raised her hands defensively and shrugged her shoulders. "We have to take care of Abaia first anyway."

"That's true," Morânia agreed. "But we'll get back to Sigil and then ... Well, Sarin is the one I'm most afraid of."

"Terrance won't hurt him," Jana said lightly. "And Sarin can't hurt him, because we need him."

Kiyoshi gave Jana a hard look. "However, the honorable factol Sarin-gensui might come to the conclusion that he could lock Sgillin up as a precaution and only let him out if we need him for the Prophecy."

Lereia looked at the young soldier in horror at this remark, but Sgillin remained surprisingly calm and only slumped his shoulders. "I guess that's how it is," he said. "At worst, I'll rot in prison until I'm needed again."

"Then at least he won't be able to do any more damage," Jana remarked, almost in a good mood.

"Very funny," the half-elf replied with a sigh, then seemed to remember something. "Oh yes, one more thing." He reached under his shirt and pulled out an amulet hanging from a thin leather cord. "This is the sign of the Razor Angels, should you encounter any in the Hive."

Morânia leaned forward to take a closer look - and felt her blood freeze in her veins. It couldn't be. It had to be a bad joke or a bad dream. Kiyoshi also looked at the amulet, frozen.

"Leatherhead," Naghûl muttered behind his hands folded in front of his face.

Jana also seemed to recognize the sign, as she giggled softly.

For Morânia, however, it was not a matter to laugh about. Because the amulet that Sgillin held out to them showed the symbol of the Anarchists ... "Are you crazy?" The bal'aasi jumped up jerkily and took a step towards the half-elf.

Kiyoshi had also stood up and slowly picked up his naginata.

"What is it?" Sgillin looked genuinely confused, but as a precaution he also got up and took a step back.

"You berk!" Naghûl snapped at him as he sprang to his feet as well.

It took Morânia quite a bit of self-control not to grab Sgillin by the collar and shake him. "I ... I'll strangle you!" she growled, struggling to compose herself.

"Easy, love." Her husband gave her a worried look, obviously able to accurately classify her barely suppressed anger as a clear alarm signal. "Please stay calm."

Sgillin quickly hid the amulet under his shirt again, as if the fact that no one could see it anymore would defuse the situation. The bal'aasi felt the blood pounding in her veins. The Anarchists! How could he get involved with the Anarchists behind everyone's back?

"How am I supposed to stay calm?" she shouted. "That's really off the charts!"

Kiyoshi's expression was even more stoic than usual, but he now pointed the naginata at Sgillin. "In the name of Sigil's laws, I must arrest you," he declared.

Lereia jumped up, her eyes widening in horror. "What?"

"He doesn't know any better," Naghûl tried to reassure both, his wife and the Harmonium soldier.

But Morânia felt anything but appeased. "Are you serious?"

"He's clueless," the tiefling said and raised his hand in an imploring gesture towards Kiyoshi, who was still pointing his weapon at Sgillin.

Jana shook her head with a sigh. "Naghûl is right, you are a berk."

Sgillin looked from one to the other, helpless and overwhelmed. "What the heck is wrong with the amulet?"

His confusion seemed genuine, he was downright distraught at the violent reactions of the others. Morânia took a deep breath, trying to ground herself, to calm down and realize that the still clueless half-elf might really have no idea what he was wearing around his neck.

Naghûl sighed deeply. "It's the sign of the Anarchists," he explained to his friend.

Sgillin froze and for a while he was at a loss for words - which was rare enough. "Oh," he finally said, almost tonelessly.

"Yes, damn it," Morânia snapped at him. When he returned her angry look with the same mixture of helplessness and confusion that he had shown the whole time, she ran her hands over her face, shaking her head. "You ... really didn't know that, did you?"

"That doesn't absolve him of his guilt," Kiyoshi interjected dryly, making no move to lower his weapon.

"Of course not!" Now the half-elf's insecurity turned to anger. "Sigil is starting to piss me off. You can't even blow a fart without immediately getting into trouble with some faction."

Naghûl laughed briefly at this remark and Morânia also felt a hint of amusement when Sgillin touched a very true - and sometimes sore - spot about the Cage. "True enough," she replied. "Well put."

Jana, who seemed to be the only one taking the situation somewhat calmly, grinned broadly. "Then maybe just stay on the Prime, how about that?"

Sgillin gave her a sour look. "How am I supposed to know this is from the Anarchists? I'm not from Sigil! And then you're always called a clueless or a berk or something if you don't know any of the twelve billion Sigil rules."

Lereia, who had obviously used the exchange of blows between the others to regain her composure, raised a hand. "I would like to defend Sgillin on that point. I am also a clueless, as the Sigilians like to say, and I often find it very unfair how we are treated. We didn't choose this and haven't had time to settle into everything yet."

Morânia sighed. Lereia was right to object. She and Sgillin were still new to the City of Doors and there were many things they simply couldn't know. The Cage was extremely complex and multi-layered and it was impossible to understand all its rules and mechanisms in just a few months. So she raised her hands apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's all so obvious to me that it's hard to imagine anyone not knowing. But you're right, Lereia."

"My comment had less to do with the fact that he didn't recognize the symbol," Jana explained. "More with the fact that he let it get that far in the first place. Still, that wasn't nice and I'm sorry."

Morânia looked at the half-elf, who now seemed a little appeased, and her voice was calmer, though no less serious, as she asked. "Sgillin, what do you know about the Anarchists? Do you know anything about them?"

The ranger took a deep breath. "Yes, I know that the Anarchists want to crush the factions and have killed people. They're actually a terrorist organization."

Kiyoshi nodded sternly. "That's right."

"At least many of them are." Morânia sighed. "However, as a Cipher, I feel obliged to point out that there are also Anarchists who don't plant bombs and kill people. I do think that the faction remains highly problematic because of these violent members, but for the sake of completeness, I want to add it."

"What do the others do?" Lereia asked cautiously.

"They support the poor and weak, giving them money, food and so on. These Anarchists also want to destroy the faction system, but without violence."

Kiyoshi looked seriously at Sgillin. "In case you are not aware of this: Anarchy is punishable by death in Sigil."

"Unfortunately, that's true," Morânia explained in response to Lereia's terrified look. "So it's a dicey situation here. It's a paradox of the Cage: The Anarchists are considered one of the fifteen factions, but they don't want to be one themselves and what they do is punishable."

Sgillin's eyes had widened in shock as Kiyoshi had explained the possible consequences of his actions, and Naghûl patted his friend on the shoulder in sympathy. "Sorry about the leatherhead and the berk," he said. "It was the initial anger. But there's one thing I still don't understand: If you feel so lost, why don't you just turn to the people you know? To your friends? Or can you not trust us?"

Sgillin relaxed and smiled faintly. "Yes, of course."

"Here again, I agree with you." Lereia nodded gravely at Naghûl's words.

Exhausted, the half-elf rubbed his temples. "Out of the frying pan and into the fire, from Shemeshka to the Anarchists ... oh man, this city is not for me. It'll be great when I confess this to the factols: I'm rid of Shemeshka by now, but I've made friends with the Anarchists ..."

Lereia took a deep breath. "I have a suggestion. And Kiyoshi, could you please lower your weapon? I'm sure Sgillin won't run away."

The young soldier hesitated briefly, but then nodded curtly and put his naginata back down on the ground next to him.

"Tell us about your proposal," Morânia said to Lereia, nodding encouragingly.

"We've heard a lot today and have a lot to digest," the young woman explained. "We should now turn our attention to our task here in Elysium. When we return to Sigil afterwards, we won't let Sgillin out of our sight. He will accompany me to my home and stay there until we have arranged a meeting with all our factols."

Morânia smiled. "That sounds good, Lereia."

"Yes, I think so too," Jana agreed.

Kiyoshi thought about it for a while, but finally nodded. "Very well. We have to finish this important mission for the kami first. But you must still consider yourself under arrest, Sgillin-san."

"Sure." Sgillin nodded, not even mockingly. "Of course."

"And one thing above all." Now Lereia raised a warning finger. "No lies, no secrets. We have to be honest with each other."

"I can only wholeheartedly agree with Lereia," Morânia stated, and Naghûl, Jana and Kiyoshi nodded to her words.

The young woman seemed relieved at the group's agreement and encouragement. Then she looked at her consort. "One more thing. Will you promise us - will you promise me - that you will share everything with us in the future? And if the factols tell us to do something, we'll stick to it?"

Sgillin nodded. "Yes, of course. I've got my fingers burnt more than enough on this one."

"Good." Now Lereia seemed as calm and in control as usual, even though Morânia could imagine all too well that things looked still very different inside her. "Sgillin, we'll talk about us both after this. Like Naghûl, I need to think about everything first."

The half-elf closed his eyes briefly and nodded. He looked very downcast - not surprising after everything that had just happened. They didn't talk much after that, but spread their blankets and sleeping bags around the fire in silence and contemplation. It had almost burnt down, but the nights in Elysium were so mild that they had needed the fire to brew tea rather than as a source of warmth. Morânia had feared that she would be far too agitated to sleep. But she should have known better the calming power of her home plane. Even in this situation, Elysium smoothed the waves on the troubled ocean that was her soul, and soon she sank into the warm depths of a calm and restful sleep.

 

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played August 3, 2012