The Silver Sphinx

 

"He screamed, turned purple, and writhed on the floor for an hour after just one sip?

Okay, I'll give it a try."

Flishard Willowheels, a Sensate

 

 

First Market Day of Mortis, 126 HR

Erin sat on a chaise longue in her chambers with a glass of Cloudy Dream . The drink was made from almond milk, white pumpkin syrup and rum, sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg, and garnished with a sprig of blooming fire thyme. It always reminded her of an adventure in the Flowering Hill, one of her more amusing and harmless trips, compared to some of her other experiences. She was in urgent need of a cheering up right now, as her thoughts were less amusing and harmless. At peak, she had watched a rehearsal of the Lizard Ballet in the Ren Hall and didn't have a meeting with the Sylvanian emissary until two hours later. She used the time in between to withdraw, to give her white tressym Aurita a few caresses and to think.

Two weeks earlier, Naghûl had told her about Lady Juliana's visit to the Barracks, the three-verse Sword Prophecy in the Old Tongue and the pictures of the three legendary blades. He had also mentioned Jana's vision in which the sorceress, Factol Sarin and he himself had seen the white katana Hope in the depths of the catacombs underneath Broken Reach. And of course, he had also vividly described Lord Valiant's surprising arrival and his exchange with Sarin. She sighed to herself as she recalled it. Lord Valiant's return to Sigil did not bode well, of that she was sure. All the more so since they knew from the Envoy that he was not necessarily well-disposed towards the Chosen and was apparently working against them. His innuendos had been of uncomfortable nature, according to Naghûl, and her factotum was certain that the celestial knew something. At least, the presence of the Chosen at Sarin's office hadn't really surprised him. Thus, it was reasonable to assume that he was informed about some things concerning the Prophecy. Moreover, he seemed to want to pressure Factol Sarin. Comments like “whether what I see here satisfies me ...” were a clear sign of that. Erin's gaze darkened as she petted the winged cat curled up in her lap. Putting pressure on Sarin was something she generally considered a very bad idea. Even a celestial like Valiant had to have an ace up his sleeve when he tried that. On top of that, Sougad Lawshredder seemed to be becoming an issue again. They had to make sure that Lord Valiant didn't obstruct their work and take up too much of the Harmonium's factol's time.

At a meeting with Sarin, Ambar, Rhys and Terrance, they had all agreed that they should plan the next step quickly, before anyone could get in their way. The question was, of course, what was the next step ... Lawshredder or the sword Hope? They had quickly agreed that Lawshredder would come to them whether they liked it or not. Besides, they didn't even know exactly when. Therefore, it made more sense to pursue one goal after the other. Which unfortunately meant that the Chosen would have to travel to Broken Reach to search for the sword. However, they would have to do so without Morânia and thus without the Envoy. Taking her to Pazunia as a paladin would have been madness. The risk of her holy aura being detected despite the use of obscuring magic was just too great. The others also had to think about appropriate disguises and roles in order to be able to move around the Abyssal fortress as inconspicuously as possible. If the inhabitants themselves had no idea that the legendary sword was there, all the better. But of course they had to assume that they knew about it.

The current plan was to pretend to be ore hunters who wanted to acquire black mithral. It was common knowledge that these groups paid well in Broken Reach, so they were usually let in quickly. With Kiyoshi, they also had an expert with them, as the young soldier was skilled in blacksmithing. Erin had taken on the task of procuring a good and rare poison for the Chosen to carry with them. Should they find themselves in an unpleasant situation, they would need something to win the favor of the powerful succubus mistress of Broken Reach. And rare poisons as a gift usually won over Red Shroud. However, the factols had charged their respective Chosen to handle the whole affair without an encounter with Red Shroud wherever possible. A succubus over two thousand years old was dangerous enough, but the Mistress of Broken Reach, daughter of the demon lord Pazuzu and Malcanthet the Queen of Succubi, was an opponent to be avoided at any cost. The fact that the sword Hope apparently lay in a tomb deep below Broken Reach was inconvenient but also exciting – seen from a purely Sensate-philosophical perspective. Erin almost regretted not being able to join the mission. But she was factol now and could no longer undertake such adventures as recklessly as she once did. Those days were behind her. She felt a brief pang of regret at the thought, remembering the experiences she had shared with her lover Da'nanin not so many years ago. Well, one couldn't have everything, and she had deliberately aimed for the office of factol, knowing what it entailed, for better or worse.

“What do you think, Aurita?” she asked the tressym, whose fur she ruffled absentmindedly. ”Should I have stayed an adventurer? Or was becoming factol the better option?”

“I'm not entirely neutral on the matter,” the winged cat replied, stretching herself luxuriously on her lap. ”If you hadn't come to Sigil, we wouldn't have met.”

The intelligent tressym understood Common yet couldn't speak. But Erin possessed an amulet that allowed her to converse with Aurita. They rarely spoke to each other in the presence of others, however, preferring to let believe outsiders who knew little about the winged cats that Aurita was only Erin's pet and not her confidante.

“That's probably true,” Erin replied with a smile. “But I could have settled here and still remained an adventurer. A planewalker with all sorts of destinations and a permanent residence in the City of Doors. Wouldn't have been a bad idea either, would it?”

Aurita looked at her with her sapphire blue eyes and then meowed in disapproval. “No, my dear. I think you are exactly where you should be.”

“Well, I agree with that,” said Da'nanin, who had entered the room at that moment. As a ranger, he could understand Aurita as well.

Smiling, Erin put down the now empty glass of Cloudy Dream. ”Well, if my consort and my confidant both agree, then there must be something to it.”

“How nice that you're listening to us, once in a while,“ Da'nanin said teasingly, as he stepped up to her to greet her with a brief kiss.

“Don't be so harsh.” She pushed back a strand of his white hair that had fallen into his face. “I always listen to you – if you have better points than I do.”

“Which, admittedly, is not easy,” the half-elf conceded, then scrutinized her. Of course, after all these years, she couldn't hide the fact that more serious thoughts were on her mind. He knew her too well. “What's going on?” he asked immediately. ”Is something bothering you?”

“She's just thinking,“ Aurita said, stretching her feathery wings. “About the creepy serial killer.”

Da'nanin frowned. “Lawshredder?”

“Among other things,” Erin punted. “Because of Jana's vision, the Envoy's answers and what Ambar and Lereia experienced in Harbinger House.”

Her companion now took a seat next to her on the chaise longue and shook his head disapprovingly. “This bizarre house is almost as eerie as Lawshredder himself. I wouldn't tell it Ambar to his face, but personally, I find it more than dubious.”

“It's an interesting concept,” Erin objected.

But in this case, Da'nanin's dislike seemed to outweigh his Sensate curiosity, as he made a dismissive gesture. “No, honestly: a facility that houses nascent powers? Sounds a bit suicidal here in the middle of Sigil. Who came up with that? Not Ambar, I know. Not his predecessor Curran either. But someone in the faction must have come up with this crazy idea at some point.”

Erin smiled. “Why don't you ask Ambar about it? You two seem to get along quite well.”

“Maybe I will.” The half-elf ruffled Aurita's fur between the wings and she purred contentedly. ”Next time he's in the Festhall, I'll invite him to a glass of Arborean Red and broach the subject. In the meantime, to take your mind off the dark thoughts about deranged serial killers, how about a visit to the Sensorium before you meet with the emissary? There's still that experience waiting, with the kobold pirates on the Oceanus and the forgetful water dragon.”

Erin's expression brightened. This was actually an experience she had been looking forward to for quite some time and had never found the muse for in the past few weeks. There was still over an hour to go, so why wait when they could enjoy life here and now? Unpleasant experiences were coming her way, so it couldn't hurt to seek out the beautiful and fun ones. She reached for the hand that Da'nanin held out to her and nodded. “I'd love to!” As she stood up, she turned to Aurita. “What do you say? Kobold pirates and water dragons?”

The tressym rose gracefully. “I'm not really keen on water, but the kobolds sound funny. I'm in.”

Erin linked arms with Da'nanin, while Aurita floated in a gentle glide from the recamier to the door. Her consort was right, she could worry about Lawshredder later. Much of what was connected to the Prophecy seemed to be coming their way anyway, without them having any influence on it. So why not instead experience an unusual boat trip on the river Oceanus?

 

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based on the role play with the players of Naghûl, Sgillin and Kiyoshi on December 30, 2012