The Silver Sphinx

 

“In these hallowed halls, the wheel of law brings justice to the wrongdoer,

vindication to the wronged, and order to the disorderly.”

inscription above the entrance to the City Court of Sigil

 

 

First Market Day of Decadre, 126 HR

 

Yelmalis sat in his small office on the first floor of the City Court, working on one of his current cases. For him, this place was an oasis of silence and order amidst the chaotic noise of Sigil. Many of his clients noticed that the air here seemed lighter and fresher than outside in the streets. This was partly due to his air genasi heritage, which caused a gentle breeze around him from time to time, but also due to a subtle spell that kept unpleasant odors at bay. The room was painted blue, a light sky-blue, and a single painting hung on one of the walls, depicting a vast cloudscape on the Plane of Air. The motif always gave Yelmalis a feeling of calm and contemplation. But the centerpiece of the office was the elegant polished maple desk at which he was sitting. On it stood a finely crafted silver pen holder as well as a dark glass inkwell, and next to it lay the files for his current case. Next to the desk was a shelf with Sigil's codes of law and a small collection of magic crystals, arranged by color and size. Yelmalis' familiar, the monodrone F-45, had just dusted them off and was now organizing some legal documents in a slim file cabinet made of light wood. All the drawers were neatly lettered with precise labels. The air genasi smiled as he watched the little modron for a moment. The presence and activities of his familiar never really disturbed him in his work; on the contrary, they gave him a comforting feeling of order and familiarity. Just like his office, which was much more than just a workplace for him. It was a reflection of his personality and values, a place of clarity, a refuge from the chaos and unpredictability of Sigil. Here he could advise his clients and prepare his cases in peace, knowing that he was surrounded by an aura of order and protection. It was a mild day, so the window was ajar. The background noise of the city, otherwise often distracting and disturbing, had a strangely calming effect that morning, a pleasant bit of normality after the horrors he had experienced in the Abyss. 

 

 

Once again, his thoughts wandered away from the files on his desk. The days of captivity, fear and uncertainty had exhausted him more than he wanted to admit, and even the sleep of the night had brought him little rest. Again and again, the same images and sounds haunted his dreams ... The Abyss. The distorted landscape, the cruelty of the demons, the torture chambers and the pervasive despair had etched themselves deep in his soul. They had found the sword Hope, yes, but at what cost ... Garush, Lereia and he had been captured, subjected to Red Shroud's sadism, facing the looming fate of slavery or death on this abominable plane. Even at the beginning of the mission to the Abyss, Yelmalis had feared that he was not really prepared for what awaited them. However, reality had far exceeded his fears. And it wasn't just the malice of the plane, but also the omnipresent chaos. Order and goodness were not just abstract concepts for Yelmalis, but a truth. Things had their place, places had laws, rules were valid and light and hope would ultimately triumph over darkness. But the Abyss had not only disproved all these beliefs, it had shaken them to their core. Demons who tortured for fun, simply because they wanted to. Landscapes shaped by hatred and hopelessness. The Abyss was chaotic evil. On an abstract level, he understood that. What was harder for him to bear was the realization that order did not protect there. That righteousness was not a shield, but only a silent, desperate witness. Perhaps this had been the real shock.

And yet that wasn't primarily what kept him awake at night. It was the fact that no one had beaten him, no one had caused him pain. He himself, Lereia and Garush ... spared. Almost untouched. That thought nagged at him. That others had screamed in pain while he had sat untouched inside the cell. That he had been relieved when they had escaped, knowing that others would not be saved. That he was grateful not to have been broken himself. Each of these feelings was understandable, Dilae had assured him. And yet each one felt like a silent betrayal to Yelmalis. All the more so because he knew why they had been spared pain and abuse. Because they had served only as a means to an end. As objects of bartering, as currency even, that Red Shroud had wanted to spend on something else: a kiss from Factol Sarin. And Sarin had done it, the outrageous, the unspeakable. He was a husband and father, a factol, a paladin, and he had risked his office, his oath and his family for them. Yelmalis knew that he had had no say in this decision. And yet he kept asking himself whether he could have done more to prevent that kiss. Not with his gift, that much was certain. At the time of their capture, it had been exhausted and he had been unable to time travel to change anything. And by the time it had recharged, the period within which he could travel back in time had already passed. After that, they had been stuck in a cell, no matter how far forward or backward he jumped in time. So he had saved his gift for the battle in the naga palace in the Outlands. Sekhemkare had assured him that it had been the right decision.

And yet it preyed on his mind. He didn't know how he could ever repay his debt to Sarin. The fear that Red Shroud's kiss could change the paladin or his life forever would not leave him. He wanted to do something, anything, to help. But he didn't know what. He had talked to his factol about it, but Hashkar had explained that Sarin himself did not yet know what lay ahead of him. And that he was not the kind of man who wanted to be assailed with questions and offers now. That made sense; it fit in with how Yelmalis had come to know the factol of the Harmonium. But it didn't make the guilt any easier to bear. He knew that Garush felt the same way, even if she didn't talk about it. Yelmalis had tried to talk to her about what they had experienced in the Abyss, but the amazon had shrugged it off. She was not a woman of many words. She was reserved and wanted to deal with everything by herself; Yelmalis knew that much about her by now. But she was honorable and, like himself, suffered from the fact that Sarin had fallen into the hands of Red Shroud because of her. Yelmalis was sure of that. Sekhemkare wasn't exactly the best person to talk to about such topics either. Unlike Garush and the yuan-ti, Tarik and Dilae had had a sympathetic ear for his concerns and feelings, and he had poured out his heart to them during a long evening by candlelight and with two bottles of Celestial gold wine. At least, he thought to himself, the Prophecy had given him friends he could confide in - if nothing else, at least that.

F-45 interrupted his unpleasant thoughts by pushing a stack of parchments closer to him. The little monodrone said nothing, but remained standing next to his desk, wiggling its little wings expectantly and invitingly. Yelmalis nodded. F-45 was right: the work would not do itself, and a distraction was necessary now anyway. His current case would certainly help him silence the nagging doubts and feelings of guilt, at least for a while. His client was K'Shayli, a githzerai merchant who traded at the Great Bazaar. She sold rare plants and herbs from Limbo that were highly sought after in Sigil. Now she was accused of selling a potentially dangerous plant called shadow sprout without the required permit. The plaintiff was a hobgoblin named Baruk, an influential member of the Planar Trade Consortium, who claimed that K'Shayli's sales endangered the safety of the Bazaar. K'Shayli explained that she had sold the shadow sprout as a decorative plant and had not been aware that it was classified as dangerous in Sigil. Baruk, on the other hand, argued that K'Shayli's intentions were irrelevant and that, as a merchant, she had a duty to inform herself about the applicable laws. The problem was that the licensing guidelines regarding the trade in plants in Sigil were very complex and not always clear. Yelmalis therefore first had to familiarize himself with the exact legal situation in order to determine whether K'Shayli had actually committed a violation of the rules or whether Baruk simply wanted to eliminate unwelcome competition. This took more time than he had initially thought. He knew that the case was also politically charged. Baruk was an influential man who, because of his membership in the Planar Trade Consortium, had good relations with the Fated and some of Sigil’s guilds. K'Shayli, on the other hand, was a loner who ran her business in the City of Doors without the backing of a network of merchants or a guild. But that should not be a reason for her to lose this case, Yelmalis thought resolutely. Equality before the law must apply to everyone, not just the rich and powerful. That was why he had taken on K'Shayli's case. He would delve into the details, comb through precedents and do everything he could to ensure that justice would prevail in the end. He would bring the truth to light, no matter how powerful their opponents were. Perhaps he could make a difference here, at least in this small corner of the multiverse. It might be just a tiny drop in the ocean of chaos, but every drop counted. And right now, that was all he could do.