The Kinstrife
Part
24
In
which we disembark and settle in to the Drunken Southron;
we take a guided tour of Umbar in the afternoon; we
discover the remains of the Temple of Melkor is under
Earnil’s Tower on Tol Cirya; in the evening, Ilvirin
takes us on a tour of the dockland taverns, in which we meet Rastarin, an (allegedly) reformed pirate; we discuss
politics; Ilvirin mentions her father is a cultist; we
find the Street of the Smiths; Ragnor has an
interview with governor Telemnar, the Queen’s father;
we discuss politics and posit an exploration of the Haradwaith
to find the source of the Cult of the Dark Lady; Brand locates Bergil’s house on the Street of the Smiths and we find it
was recently purchased by the late Celebrindor; we
apply to the Governor for access to Celebrindor’s
estate as ‘interested parties’.
Afternoon
It’s mid-afternoon by the time we’ve all
disembarked and settled ourselves in the Drunken Southron,
a home-from-home run by a retired sailor called Perian.
I am advised that King Castamir’s
representative, Daeron, has already arrived and is
staying at a Royal residence in the centre of Umbar.
(Strange how one of us isn’t advised of the other – I wonder how often the King
and Queen talk to each other?)
Brand wants to find the remains of Melchior’s Temple and we all want to see the sights of this
magnificent city so, at Brand’s suggestion (while he pens letters to Governor Telemnar, Squire Gordacar, Daeron, Commander Marmedon and
Captain Mardil advising them of my arrival, with
implied requests for audiences), I ask master Perian
to find us a guide and we all embark on a short tour of the places of interest.
Umbar is a city constrained
by its own walls; unlikely the suburban sprawls of Pelargir,
Umbar instead reaches upwards to form a very compact
but highly populated city.
Our guide first shows us the Governor’s Palace.
Actually it looks too small for a palace, little more than a large town house
but built in the Old Numenorean style with pillars
and frescoes, etc. This is a working building and we are not allowed inside for
the nonce. From there we’re shown the Town Hall, a large building we will be
seeing a lot of in the next few weeks as this is where the Great Council will
be held. We see the great chamber with a gallery above for the public to view
proceedings. Quite impressive!
The East Gate and a very tall, striking tower
wherein are the quarters of the City Watch. Again access is prohibited as they
are very busy. Not far on we’re shown the Theatre, a building of which Umbarians are inordinately proud, currently showing a
comedy on the merry fall of King Eldacar, complete
with pratfalls, no doubt.
The guide does a good line in background
stories, often centred on a ghost or an unhappy end, as he continues to show us
the Houses of Healing, the Loremaster’s Hall
(by-the-by, Brand now claims to be a full loremaster
– I hope he doesn’t expect a rise) and various guildhouses.
I find the architecture rather stirring but
Brand is beginning to chafe at the lack of temples dedicated to evil gods. He
presses the point, gaining a filthy look from our guide, who then confesses
that when Earnil (nephew and heir to Tarannon) slew Zimrakhil, the
last High Priest of Melchor, Earnil
levelled the temple and in its place erected Tar-Cirya,
also known, appropriately enough, as Earnil’s Tower.
Tar-Cirya is on Tol-Cirya,
the island in the bay where the navy is currently constructing a new naval
base. The island is relatively uninhabited but access is restricted due to the
construction work and naval security, of course.
On returning to the Drunken Sailor, I am advised
that the Great Council will formally convene in early July. I need to see
certain people but overall it seems we have roughly a fortnight to amuse
ourselves before duty calls.
It’s not yet dark when Ilvirin
suggests a dockland pub-crawl. With nothing to otherwise occupy my time I
accept and we all, Aerin, Brand, Pimm,
Ilvirin and myself all tour the dockyard taverns.
In the fourth inn, Ilvirin
encounters someone whom I can only call ‘an old shipmate’ (funnily enough we
stop changing pubs at this point and I get the strange feeling that Ilvirin was searching for this woman all along). Her name
is Rastarin; I’ve never met or heard of her before
but she immediately endears herself by buying a round for everyone.
Rastarin reckons Umbar is a weird place – very loyal (by which she seems to
equate ‘weird’ and ‘loyal’). She goes on to comment that Neithan
and Ilvirin’s father are both good men, in a tone
that suggests that good men are in short supply.
Ilvirin advises Rastarin that Neithan wants Rastarin to command his ‘auxiliary police force’, with the
implication that they will be used against the pirates. However, I am more than
a little disquieted by Ilvirin and Brand intimating
that they know of a good place to quarter this force. I’m certain they’re
thinking of Tarannon’s Fort, which is already
promised to The Straight Man and in any case I think we would not be doing Rastarin any favours by giving it to her.
Rastarin says she’ll talk to Neithan but she’s not willing to take up the position
herself. However she does see merit and is willing to donate three ships to the
cause and put Ilvirin in command of one, as Rastarin is temporarily short of one captain, after a
disagreement over ownership of the contents of a hold.
Ilvirin then produces a coin,
which she claims to have been given by The Straight Man. I recognise it
immediately as very similar to those coins we found in Khoradûr’s
trunk. Rastarin admits to having dealt with The
Straight Man in her time but volunteers little information about him.
Then the conversation turns to the Benish Armon cult and Rastarin claims it’s rife in the camps on Tol-Cirya full of indentured labourers, mainly recruited
from the Ethir and serving as navvies.
Ilvirin touches on Beruthiel’s diary (I must remind myself never to impart any
discretion to Ilvirin as she seems to spill every
last item of information gleaned in the last three months). Rastarin
says if we want to find out more we should talk to Zimrakhil
(no, not the dead priest – I hope – but one of the brothers involved in
creating the Southron Confederacy) as he has had
dealings in those parts relevant to her story.
At last, which Rastarin
answers a call of nature, Ilvirin’s verbal
indiscretion works the other way and she tells me that Rastarin
used to be a pirate but with an implication that she holds some moral ground
above those pirates currently troubling the Ethir and
the West Coast of Dor-in-Ernil. Rastarin
was in some way sympathetic to the Ethir fisher-folk
but she was forced out by someone called Lannaigh,
who treats the Ethir natives with contempt.
Ilvirin tells me her father is
‘rather high up’ in a cult that directly opposes Benish
Armon. She’s surprisingly evasive when I ask what
cult but eventually she admits it’s called Perhaladin.
I’ve vaguely heard of it but I’ll need to look it up in the Loremaster’s
Halls for details.
Talk then turns to meta-politics, which in Umbar means the nature of the threats, to whit Cult of the
Dark Lady versus The Storm King. I regard the Storm King as semi-mythical but Aerin confirms he does exist. The Raj
first heard word of him some 400 years ago. Then about a hundred years ago, the
name was implicated in a serious of assassinations across the Raj.
Finally, the Storm King sent an invasion force
of the Army of the Southern Dragon (just one of his armies, apparently, though
I’d like to know where this intelligence comes from) but it was defeated in the
mountain passes to the south. He is since rumoured to be consolidating his
power before attempting another strike.
With this small talk the evening draws to a
close and we make our way back to our beds.
I receive a formal invitation to attend upon him
at the Governor’s Palace this afternoon but the morning remains free. Ilvirin reminds me that Bergil’s alta-parma
mentioned the Street of the Smiths in Vinyamar as a
place where he hid some treasure in a ‘low-roofed storage chamber in a dark
room’ belonging to someone called Zorahathôr.
Brand quickly discovers that Zorahathôr’s
family name was Calenal so it should be a simple
matter to discover the precise building. But all we have time for is a quick
look at the street itself, where we can identify no building that might be
regarded as ‘low-roofed’ – this is Umbar, after all;
anything under four stories is ‘low-roofed’ here.
So Brand and I meet with
Governor Telemnar amidst the luxury of the palace
(whilst unimposing on the outside, inside it looks every inch as sumptuous as
any governor’s palace). He is fairly old but looks fit and well. His manner is
haughty, suiting his position, but he’s respectful enough to me.
I begin by conveying greetings from his
daughter, Queen Mûrabeth, and he in turn welcomes me
to Umbar. Talk quickly turns to the matter in hand.
Telemnar reckons the Sea Faction
is simply trying to promote naval interests (to a man with a hammer, every
problem is a nail). He freely admits that a hazard exists to the south in the
form of the Storm King but feels the Dark Lady Cult is a much more immediate
threat and just the most recent of a slew of cults that repeatedly emerge in
the area of the Haradwaith.
As an aside, it seems Telemnar,
like most people, is unaware that the Dark Lady and Adûnaphel
are one and the same, as Brand discovered in Minas Ithil,
“The legend of Adûnaphel of Lurgalûr
is an ancient one among the tribes of the near Harad.
Variants upon it are especially strong among the Nûrniag,
Dônan, and Haruze tribes.
They tell of a fearful warrior queen and dark sorceress who inhabited a tower
named Lurgalûr in the southern foothills of the Ephel Dúath. I have been shown
this supposed tower, a well-fortified but uninhabited ruin. Any sign of the
Dark Lady having long since vanished.
“The deeds ascribed to Adûnaphel
are various, frequently involving blood sacrifice and worship of Melkor. This legend can be assumed to be the basis for the
Cult of the Dark Lady, an unpleasant but fortunately uncommon group found in
the eastern Harondor. It is despised for its vile
practices by the Haruze warlords and the death
sentence is pronounced upon all its followers. Although I have seen poor
wretches executed for membership of this cult, such irrational hatred does it
inspire I have never been able to find real evidence it exists outside the
fevered minds of the Haruze. The merest suggestion of
association with the cult is sufficient to destroy livelihoods and reputations
in some parts of Near Harad and accusations of
association are frequently used by one warlord to justify his treatment of a
defeated party.”
He sees the Southron
Confederacy as a golden opportunity to turn a collection warring tribes in to a
civilised state, with an army trained and equipped by Gondor
and Umbar, eventually to form a buffer zone to
protect Umbar’s desert frontier.
Playing Sauron’s advocate,
I posit the point of view that creating such a state and giving it an
efficient, drilled army operating in the Gondorian
manner, might one day result in that army being used against Gondor but Telemnar reckons the
state could ultimately be made a reliable
This seems a little optimistic to me, given our
current inability to maintain cohesion within Gondor,
let alone those province immediately adjacent that are reckoned by most to be
naturally governed by Gondor. We haven’t even managed
to colonise Mordor, after nearly 1500 years!
I ask Telemnar what he
wants from me. In reply he touches on the subject of the Queen’s previous
envoy, Rîvonthel. It seems there’s no mystery over
what happened to her. In Telemnar’s view she became ‘unreliable’,
so much so that he ordered her on a mission to Harondor
to keep her out of trouble. He basically wants me to stay out of trouble too.
Speaking of unreliable agents, I mention Khoradûr. Telemnar immediately
apologises for having recommended him, which it seems he did sight-unseen, as
the man was in turn recommended by Zimrakhil (no, not
the priest but the other one again – though I’m beginning to wonder if there
might not be a deeper connection). Zimrakhil is also
truly sorry. He had known the man from childhood but had no idea he had gone to
the bad.
Telemnar keeps returning to the
subject of the cults of the Haradwaith and claims
this is yet another example of the evil emanating from the area.
I offer to make a reconnaissance in to Harad. Telemnar, exuding a sense
of keenness, produces a map and sketches out the area in question. It’s a good
500 miles east of Umbar. It will need a true
expedition with guides and provisions as well as the support of at least some
of the indigenous population and must wait until after the Great Council but if
the Queen is willing to read a written report, I may have a lot more
information for her (and others) by the time I make my formal delivery.
Brand and I repair to the Loremasters,
where Brand uncovers more about the Calenal family.
Some forty years ago, in 1402, Adrahil Calenal owned a house that unfortunately burned down, along
with most of the rest of the Street of the Smiths. Sadly, none of family
survived and, without heirs, the site passed to the Crown.
The ruins were demolished and cellars filled
with the rubble. The plot remained vacant for a year or two before someone
bought the plot and built a domicile known as the ‘Red House’ on the
foundations of the Calenal house.
Just recently, the Red House was bought by an
engineer of Minas Ithil called Celebrindor!
(Yes, the very same!)
This is too much of a coincidence. Suddenly I
think it imperative that we see inside the Red House. Luckily, we can advise
that since Celebrindor died while perpetrating a felony
(after all, I can attest that I saw Pimm nail him to
a wall with a crossbow bolt), his estate passes to the Crown. Pimm (who now appears to be practicing law) advises that we
can name ourselves as interested parties and we hatch a loose plan to gain
access or even possession.
Now I’m sure that, judging from the glint in
their eyes, Ilvirin and Pimm
are thinking mainly of a treasure-hunt, but I think it more than likely that Bergil may have been using the word ‘treasure’ in a more
poetic sense, at least partly. Evidently Celebrindor
thought so too or he wouldn’t have bought the house. Definitely not a
coincidence, I think.
As far as we know Celebrindor
had been in Minas Ithil for some weeks prior to his
death so it seems unlikely that he’d had a chance to visit his new property and
somehow I doubt he would trust an agent to search the place for him (after all,
he didn’t trust his hirelings to rob the Moonswan
without his direct oversight) so, if there was anything to be found, I think it
likely that it may still be there.
I have an appointment with Squire Gordacar this afternoon (it seems Umbar
has a culture of afternoon visiting, which suits me), so we have the morning
free again.
With Pimm’s advice,
Brand and I draft a letter to Governor Telemnar
explaining the circumstances of Celebrindor’s death
and that his estate is forfeit to the Crown. We apply for possession or access
to his estate in Umbar as ‘interested parties’. Brand
then spends the rest of the morning reading up on Tol-Cirya.
Leads to
be followed:
Inquire after Perhaladin
– might be a cult for Ragnor
Talk to Squire Gordacar
Gain access (or even better possession) to the
Red House on the Street of the Smiths
Plan a visit to Earnil’s
Tower on Tol-Cirya