Black Hart

Gradsul by Twilight

Chapter 25 - Talking Dead

Eloi stood and walked over to Helden and Bekkar.
"As to the questions, I assume the corpse will only be able to give simple answers to simple questions? Sort of yes-no answers? In that case I suggest we ask the following question first. 'Is the other gate in Gradsul?' If he answers positively, then we know there definitely is another gate? If not we should reconsider. We should perhaps also ask about the number of gates. If he cannot answer the number directly then we should ask if there is more than one?"
He turned and looked back at the others "Can anyone think of anything else to ask?"
He walked over to where Akhan sat and stooped down beside him.
"My friend, I realise you are eager to get on the trail again, but we have no clues and very few leads to follow up. The best thing to do is wait here, first to find out what Helden finds out from Sbetlath's corpse, then to find out the news from Sbetlath's manor. Once we have this information we can decide our next move. As to this warren, my last comments stand. They had nothing to defend here and have abandoned this gate. They will also need time to regroup and decide their next move."
He watched Helden and Bekkar as they prepared to interogate Sbetlath's corpse.
Akhan surprised himself by his lack of irritation. He watched Eloi's hugely self-satisfied performance with growing resignation.
"BURP. Excush me." Smokelight sat silent, for the most part (except for involuntary bodily noises) while Eloi and Akhan did their little dance. The mage gulped down the fine Keoish brandy, reflecting that he didn't know many half-orcs with a taste in liquor as good as his noble comrade's... He decided nothing could be gained by interfering with a typical Eloi-Akhan debate, though he could see both sides, to some extent. But after all had their say, Eloi had the final decision, and that was that. For this mission, Eloi was the leader. Normally, Smokelight had no more respect for nobles than any other blokes, but this wasn't a class thing, this was a military operation, and to be practical, there had to be a chain of command... The wizard accepted his role here to advise and help to the best of his ability.
Speaking with the dead was something Helden usually left to some other priest to do, if he could help it. There was something about the charade of it all that bothered the back of his mind. But it seemed expedient to do so now, so Helden propped the corpse up against the edge of the nearby wall, near enough to the rest of the party, set the incense up next to the head of the dead Sbetlath, took out his holy symbol and was about to begin his ritual when he spied the bottle of brandy and leapt over, snatching it out of the surprised hands of Smokelight. He took what seemed like an inordinately long and seemingly satisfying swig.
"Fer the ritual of courshe. Olidammara absholutely demansh it." Helden smiled broadly, and then began to chant over the corpse.
"Hey!" Smokelight's ruminations were interrupted as Helden snatched the brandy from his hand. "I wash drinking that."
As Helden began his chant, Smokelight added, "Ask the corpse if there is any more Keoish brandy stored away in these Nerull-forsaken tunnels... Nyah, just kidding," the wizard guffawed. "Ask it if it knows O'Shad, if O'Shad is in Gradsul now, if O'Shad is in this part of the city or another part, and if he was here tonight. Those sorts of questions. We won't be able to locate him precisely, but it may narrow our focus where to look. I'd ask those questions in addition to Eloi's about the Gate, and possible other Gates in the city."

"I'm quite sure I don't have to ask the spirit only simple yes or no qu..." Helden started to reply to Eloi as he finished the chant, when suddenly the corpse drew in a deep breath and Sbetlath's dull eyes stared out as his eyelids flickered open.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Sbetlath hissed menacingly. "You draw me back to tell my truths and light your path through the darkness of lies and deception that surrounds you."
To a man, everyone in the room had their hands on their weapons as though they expected the corpse to jump to its feet and recommence the slaughter.
"Do not judge Garrald Sbetlath on what you know and saw, on his actions as the poisoned blood that ran through is veins determined how he thought and felt. I once was a very different man, oh so long ago now... but haste, you brought me here for a reason! Ask your damned questions and leave me be, let me return to my eternal suffering."
Helden stared straight at the spirit of Sbetlath with all the intimidation he could muster. He was not about to be taken aback by the spirit's bluster if he could help it. A bit more of that brandy would do very well right now, Helden thought distractedly to himself, before phrasing their first question.
"Where is the location of the other magical gate that is being built with all this jade and jet?"
"I do not know exactly, priest, but it is close, somewhere in Gradsul," he replied. "A location that Chary said was 'particularly suited' to her magic."
Upon hearing Sbetlath's answer Eloi glanced across to Smokelight.
"Any ideas? Where in the city would be particularly attuned for magic? Particularly Chary's kind, if indeed she has any style?"
He returned his gaze to Helden and Sbetlath. This was interesting stuff.
The mage stood, eyeing the animate corpse in disgust, trying to keep silent as the priest conducted his questions. But then Baron Eloi burst out into a series of comments and questions of his own. Smokelight circled over next to the half-orc, and spoke in a low voice in an attempt not to distract Helden.
"The magic would seem to be sonic in nature, and a requirement seems to be a certain kind of acoustic environment. So, where would there be other environments similar to this in Gradsul? This is a round, vaulted chamber; presumably the chambers for the larger Gates will have a similar shape, but on a larger scale -- but keep in mind I don't know that for sure.
"Are there abandoned music houses or theaters in Gradsul? Any castles or temples or large structures known to have big acoustical chambers? We'll have to inquire with some locals."
"Helden," Eloi said, "the first question was vague as to the number of gates. Establish if there are any more. Also ask if he knows where O'Shad is? If we can find O'Shad then perhaps we will find the other gate there too?"
He looked at Akhan and shrugged, there was no satisfaction in his voice. "Your trapsing around these tunnels would have been fruitless. Let us listen to what else the ratman has to say."
Listening to Eloi's comment about the existence of more than one other gate, Helden thought about the answer that Sbetlath gave, which seemed to imply that there was only one other. Not wanting to distract himself though, and aware of the limited time he had to ask all he wanted, Helden proceeded.
"And where is Vellip O'Shad now?"
"I have no idea," the corpse replied. "I have not seen him since the other night when he visited me here, and I have never known where he stays."
Eloi quietly cursed. It would have been too easy for Sbetlath to know the whereabouts of O'Shad. The gods of fate took great delight in making their route a tortuous one.
"One more question boys, lets make it a good one. What else do we need to know? We've asked about the gates whereabouts, we've asked about O'Shad's whereabouts. What else do we need to try and find out? Perhaps, what is the purpose of the gate?"
"Two more questions," Cinion added. "Helden said he had four. What about we ask him something we're sure he'll know the answer to, something that we want to know?"
"Hurry up gentlemen," Helden took a moment to talk to the rest, without losing his concentration. "I don't have that much time left. I'm going to ask him what the gate is for. Is that..." Helden stopped short, careful not to phrase anything he said as a question, just in case.
Akhan cudgeled his brain, trying to thin of what Sbetlath was bound to know which would also be useful to them. He approved of Cinion's suggestion heartily, though he couldn't resist a suspicion that the corpse still might be an evil lying bastard in death as in life. What interested them here was what O'Shad's mission was - which was boiling down to what the Gate was going to be used fo? That was a mark in favour of Eloi's suggestion. Sbetlath might also have known details of the Brotherhood's agents here in Gradsul; but then, were they Brotherhood at all? "It might be interesting to know why there are wererats involved in this scheme. But I agree that we should ask what they were intending to use the large Gate for." he said.
Sbetlath likely wouldn't have known anything of Whisper so there probably wasn't much profit in that line of questioning. Akhan shrugged in defeat. He just couldn't think of a suitable question. "Maybe ask where the rest of the gold and materials is hidden?"
"Who or what will these magical gates be used to convey?" Helden racked his mind for the best and most specific way to phrase his question so as not to leave it open to ambiguity.
"The gate here was used to bring in the Jade for Chary's main gate," Sbetlath answered. "I was never told what the big gate is to be used for, but whatever it is the smaller one is not large enough, so they are planning to move something big through it."
Adder raised his eyebrow at the corpse's last answer. "Hmmm..."
What possibly could the Brotherhood want to move that would need a bigger gate? Adder thought to himself. And how much bigger was "bigger". Were they looking to move oliphaunts or war machines through? Giants? Or maybe just lots of men simultaneously. Overt military conflict wasn't the Brotherhood's strength or style, so this information left questions still unanswered. Addered continued to ponder the possibilities quietly while the others talked.
Eloi smiled. "Right, a little bit of assistance there. We know the other gate is somewhere in Gradsul in a location suited to Chary's magic. Let's assume somewhere whith particular sound qualities. Let's wrack our brains, is there anywhere in Gradsul that fits the bill? Perhaps Vespher or one of his men would know of such a place? Do we assume there is only one other gate? Sbetlath wasn't specific in his answers."
He walked over to the corpse and kicked it. He then turned to Helden. "I assume we'll get no more from it?"
"Argh, you fecking idiot!" Helden swore at Eloi, making a mental note never to trust the half-orc with anything resembling remotely sophisticated magic, and quickly turned back to Sbetlath's spirit, wondering if that ill-conceived kick would disrupt his spell. "I have one more question!"
"But quickly. We can ask when the expected major gating is supposed to take place. We can ask if Gelders is involved in some way. We can ask where the gate leads to. We can ask what the next step of their plans entail." Helden looked urgently at the rest for their input.
"Why don't we ask what Vellip O'Shad's role in all this is. After all, that's what brought us all to Gradsul in the first place. At least we'd know if he was in charge of all this or not."
"Yes," Smokelight chimed in. "Ask it what O'Shad's role is in all of this. We know from a previous answer that he is, or was recently, nearby. Perhaps another question will help us... perhaps give us a clue in how or where to look for him! Because right now, we are at a standstill."
Helden nodded, asking,""What is Vellip O'Shad's role in this affair?"
"O'Shad was my contact with the Brotherhood," Sbetlath said. "May he burn in the Nine Hells, he told us what to do and provided the money for it."
As his words ended, his chest deflated with a hiss, the eyes flickered once and then were closed. Cinion  gave him an inquisitive poke with the end of his sword, then looked around at everyone.
"So what now?" he asked.

Eloi walked back to the area of ground he had sat on earlier and eased himself back into a sitting position. He grabbed his bottle of brandy which Helden had sat back down and went to take a long swig from it. Eloi stared in disgust as merely a drop dripped down from his once-full brandy bottle. He gave an accusing look at Smoklight as he tossed the empty bottle of brandy away. He would need to make a stop a local pub on their way to the next port of call.
"So, our next step? I vote for visiting Gelder's. If he has been supplying raw materials to the Scarlet Brotherhood then he may have a delivery address. A merchant is bound to keep good records, even for his non-legitimate customers. The only thing we know about O'Shad and his habits in Gradsul is that he frequents Red Hannay's. Gelder's is also a link. O'Shad probably is already aware that we've blown Gelder's cover. He won't run because his mission isn't finished. So, he'll either try and silence Gelder's or hide out for a while, possibly at Red Hannay's.
"I suggest that we pay Gelder's a visit. He is the weak link in the chain. If he knows we have discovered the smaller gate and his involvement then I think he may crack. Following that we go to Red Hannays and tear the place apart, to hell with Vespher. What do you think?"
"Gelders is as good a target as any." Akhan commented to no-one in particular.
"Well, that's not exactly the great revelation I'd hoped for," Adder exclaimed, "but you get
what you pay for I suppose. At least it's something. Unfortunately, we're stuck watching this gate while O'Shad does who knows what. We definitely need to know our next move by the time we're relieved of our duties here. There are too many players we didn't catch here, and we're giving the Brotherhood's remaining agents time to act and regroup." Adder pursed his lips reflecting on the no-win situation.
"Well I didn't see any of the players we know of," Cinion said. "No Vellip O'Shad, no Gelders and most thankfully no Whisper. Of course that doesn't mean they weren't there, but it wouldn't really make sense. The Brotherhood are professional enough to know the dangers of keeping all their eggs in one basket. Do you think that Gelders will know of Sbetlath, or Chary about O'Shad?"
"If they were half-way competent, which they seem to have been to operate under our noses for so long, I'd say they're working in a closed cell, and perhaps O'Shad is the only link between them." Cinion looked at the expressionless faces around him. "Tell me, you guys have worked in this line of work before, haven't you?!"
He looked quizzically at his companions.
Eloi was starting to get annoyed. "Look, I have made several suggestions as to our next course of action and you lot continue to dither. Do we target Gelder's or do we go to 'Red' Hannay's or can any of you suggest anything better?"
"I suggest we do both, going to the place that's closer first" Adder replied.
"Well, we still need to find out where the other gate is. Some of the materials are here, which means soon the others involved in this know that the other gate's not being built. And tracking O'Shad is also a priority. Staking out Gelders might be useful. I'm not so sure about Red Hannay's. We need more information. I assume we're moving on after replacements arrive."
Helden settled down again, "and I'll be in meditation until we're ready to go."
Cinion yawned a big-mouthed yawn, then said, "And some sleep too. Assuming our replacements ever get here."
He looked over at the entrance.
"Well there's six of us, which is good for two teams of three to cover each place but I take it  you're talking about watching them rather than just barging in there, Zeb? I mean we'd look pretty stupid if we ram the door open and none of them are there - explain that to the Mareschal!"
"Maybe you forget what happened last time we split up, half pint. Maybe you'd like Whisper to tie your ass up again?"
"Not at all," Cinion replied to Adder's jibe. "And I have a plan to take care of him. What we can do is, you lie down and open that over-sized, over-used and halfways-useless mouth of yours, and when he comes along he'll either fall in and never be seen again or pass out from the smell of the shit that seems to be the only thing coming from it in the short time I've known you!"
There was a pause, as they looked on stunned at the halfling, the mild-mannered halfling who just didn't seem the type to indulge in such an outburst.
"As Papa Whitewillow used to say, 'It's easy to criticise, paddlebutt, but why not try and come up with a better idea'."
"You've alot of guts, saying something like that...shorty. But I'll let it go for now. Next time I'll just leave you tied up." Adder had never found it hard to fathom why the lot of halflings across the Flanaess never amounted to anything.
"Save the machismo for Gelders!" Helden opened one eye to level at Cinion and Adder, and then lifted his own brandy bottle to his lips again. It seemed that meditation and prayer in the name of the god of rogues also required a goodly amount of libations.
Eloi noticed Helden lift the brandy bottle to his lips and  suddenly Helden became Eloi's new best friend. He shouted across the room. "Helden!"
He then motioned with his hand cupped to his mouth before making a general remark to the party. "So, is it agreed then? We beat the living shit out of Gelder's until he tells us what we want to know? I think Gelder's should be our next port of call. And I don't mean watching. Let's take the fecker out. We capture him and beat the information out of him. He is the only strong link we have at the moment to O'Shad and the gate. The time for pussy footing about is over. We need some strong actions"

They had been sitting about for what seemed like hours by the time the Mareschal returned. Of course they could not be sure how long it really was, but Smokelight's magical tunnel had disappeared, and they had been worried for a short while as they were trapped there by Chary's ice wall. Some time later however that too had disappeared into magical steam, and it was not long after that when Veshper walked in.
"Sorry it took so long," he announced, "but I waited for a reply. No reinforcements, the orders are for the gate to be disassembled so that it is useles, and then my men can watch it until some of your colleagues arrive to investigate it."
Veshper motioned the remaining marines there towards the gate, and, yawning, they set about trying to dismantle the arch.
"My men found about half a crate of counterfeit gold at the other end of the tunnel here, which I guess means they had dispersed some of it.  Thoggin's reply asked for you to send a brief interim report to your contact because of these developments, I only told him the brief nature of my own involvement."
Eloi shrugged at Vespher's story.
"Oh well, if that's what the guv wants, then thats what the guv gets." He turned to Akhan with a wry smile on his face. "Well, I told you we should have informed me Dad. Would you provide us with an appropriate report now?"
Eloi stood and approached Vespher.
"I thank you for your assistance in these matters. I will make sure Thoggin knows of your support. We have some further leads we wish to investigate and once we have rested some more we should be on our way. " Eloi turned to the others. "Okay, while they work on dismantling the gate, let's get some sleep. The next day may be a long one and I want us in best condition, before we set off."
He threw his backpack down on the ground and curled up beside it. Within minutes he was fast asleep, dreaming of the female orc mudwrestler's with the massive breasts.
Smokelight sat down with his back against the cold stone, after retrieving his cloak from the arch of the Gateway. He pulled his cloak around him, and thought about the next day. It had been a long day, and they all needed rest. The mage thought about the spells he would need... he started to think of persuasive and divinatory spells, in case half-orc intimidation didn't work on the likes of Gelders.
Cinion scerwed his face up as he watched Eloi settle down to sleep.
"Eh, boss," he said tentatively. "I dunno if you forgot, but we do have warm beds we could go to." Cinion shrugged and waited for more of Eloi's wisdom.
Cinion's last comment certainly distracted Helden from his meditations, and he let out an involuntary snort. If Eloi wanted to watch the place, that was fine by Helden. If only there was some way to find the other gate. Gelders might not have the information they needed. But unless they could get hold of O'Shad, they was obviously much more to do still, and less and less time to do it.
Eloi barely grunted at Cinion's remark as he dozed. "Feck off short stuff. Your really starting to piss folks off. If you want
to go trapsing off to yer kip then carry on, but the floors fine for me."
Eloi continued to slumber and his fine dream was enhanced tenfold as the two female mudwrestlers bludgeoned each other by swinging a certain personage of small stature who smelled strongly of rotten apples.
They were definitely beginning to get on each other's nerves, Helden thought as once again he was distracted by Eloi and Cinion. Lurking underground tended to do that to people. "We should send for some meat and ale. No point us starving and tetchy down here." He looked at the others hopefully as his own stomach protested over the lack of a hearty roast chicken after the conclusion of all that hectic fighting.
"That's fine!" Cinion said, obviously irritated by Eloi's comments. "Sleep on a filthy floor fifty feet underground for no reason at all if you want, its just another nail in the coffin of your incompetence! If you ever decide to stop playing at hard-man and lead this team for real you'll find me at the guesthouse."
As Cinion left the Mareschal's marines finally managed to topple the keystone of the arch, and the whole gate crashed to the floor with an almighty crash. A cloud of dust erupted from the floor and everyone therein began choking and coughing. It was impossible to find their way out, so they just had to wait a few minutes until the dust had settled before breathing properly again.
"That should do it!" Mareschal Veshper announced, looking smug. "Well if you guys are sleeping down here, I'll just send these guards away then, let the ones upstairs know when you leave in the morning and they'll continue the watch. I'm off to bed."
Veshper led the marines away, leaving a couple of torches to light the room.

Only the Gods knew what hour it was, certainly Eloi didn't except that it was too early.
But still the halfling had run into the freezing cold chamber, yelling and screaming for them to get up, muttering something about a beggar's dog and throwing items of equipment at them.
"Get up, get ready, we've got to go now!"
Eloi was pissed off - after his stomp-out now the half-stuff was interrupting his beauty sleep and rambling like a lunatic. Not that the sleep had been any good, it was cold down here in the tunnels and rather than some nice warm company of the female kind Eloi's dream had been of being trapped in a block of ice, helpless to do anything but watch, as a whole swarm of Sea Zombies lumbered towards him, jaws gnashing.
"Cinion!" Akhan yelled, clutching his aching head. "Calm down and tell us what you're wittering on about!"
"Whisper!" Cinion gasped, and immediately everyone jumped, starting to get ready. "I know where he's staying, come on, follow me..."
He half-ran out the room and one by one they grabbed all their equipment and followed him out.

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