Name of the book: Dent final
Author: MW Bell
Type of book: Fantasy
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Very Olden Times
Millions of
Eons before, a God of immense power had created the entire universe. Somehow,
this God was aware of everything and able to see the results of future actions.
This God was beyond the comprehension of uncounted trillions and trillions and
trillions of sentient beings on untold trillions of worlds lucky enough to have
been granted life and among these life forms intelligent - perhaps better said
what could pass as intelligent life - enough to try comprehending
"God".
God was alien enough
that its reactions were beyond the comprehension of its creations and yet some
of these comprehended minute aspects of the "Nature of God".
God decided to
delegate aspects of existence to "local" Gods.
Different Gods
controlled "their" own areas of Earth. Sadly, they grew bored and
began to interfere with other's territory. The three "controlling" fought
a very bloody fight. Severe damage occurred with massive releases of energy.
The uber God had to interfere and he removed the excess heat, changed the
climate of a large section around the Great Central Sea and did so by changing
the meteorological conditions made sense to future generations of humans (i.e.
"Humans", Neanderthals’, Denisovans, Orc, Hobbits, Elves, "Big
Feet" and other who remained in either the far north or on isolated
islands.
Deep in the South, groups of different humans worked together
and with some help, evolved different ways of seeing the world. The various
groups needed help to maintain good order and good relations. Thus, was born
the Royal Families. From them came small Armies and the House of Assassins and
from the House of Assassins came the House of Thieves. The Houses of Religion
and Business and Industry rose on their own. Eventually, matters settled and
the various Houses moved to the North and established what became known as
"The Central City". Satellite towns spread out around Central City
and in time, five cities developed to the west.
Crystal
In the Year 44
of the Death and Resurrection of the Nazarene and the 177 Year of the Birth of
the Devine Gaius Julian Caesar, to the Orc Wife Emerald and her husband Plait
of the Fifth Mine was born their first child: Crystal.
The
Midwife/Medical Doctor, a Half Elven named Ayah Ghanem gave the child a quick
physical and said “he is a perfectly formed boy child but I am going to give
him a more in depth examination.”
Eventually,
she completed her exam, made some notes on a sheet of populous (Egyptian paper)
and smiled at the young couple.
"You have a very healthy child. I could
hear nothing wrong with his heart or lungs. He is a well-formed child and I
think I can safely say he is healthy baby."
"That is very good, " his Mother
said.
"That is very good " his Father
agreed, "and also very bad. I don't want my son to go into the mines. We
both agree our child should be physically fit but should be a warrior of the
mind. We would like him to be the most deadly of mind warriors: a lawyer!"
Their Clan
Leader, Thunder on the Craigs and his wife, Snow on the Peaks, nodded to each
other and Thunder said “I think he can have his way.”
“The nearest Monastery
with teachings in Law is the Temple of the New Way. I will write Brother Stegg
about arranging tutors for Crystal’s Legal Training should it come to that,”
Snow on the Peaks replied.
This lead to an exchange of letters which lasted decades.
Outraged Outsiders
Far away, in
an ancient city north and east of the Central Sea, a group of species purists sat around a long
Cedar Table. They were horrified by the spread of Neanderthals, Denisovans and
Elven from the Northern Steppes.
There were
Orcs living among the remaining Dire Wolves a land of tall jagged mountain
peaks and nearly inaccessible valleys that were arable in small plots. They looked at the thousands of acres of lush
farmlands in the flatlands with lust and with knowledge of their hunger in the
winters. These peoples were the fiercest
and most terrifying of the lot. Yet, the Orcs were not by nature violent. They
were, after all, a breed of humans under stress.
To their
south, in the City called “The Central City”, there were reports of genetically
modified blends of the various “breeds” being raised in the city. Their
intelligence reports suggested there was one group of these people living in
the Fortress called “The House of Assassins”, one that might have been in a Temple or perhaps a School of Magic and
a third group which had “gone missing” one or perhaps two decades before. (One
of the Intelligence Agencies kept very silent the knowledge that they knew exactly
where this third group had gone missing to.)
This group, representing different polities, was in itself a
polity, a very hidden polity. They decided they “must do something about those
sports” and they began planning…
Lebanon Refuge
In the Mountains of
Lebanon on the high reaches of the “Qurnat as Sawda” (just short of 10,131 ft), a former Zoroastrian Monastery, a group of “mutants” serenely
moved about their duties and their education. The small group of expatriates
from Constantinople thought they were in complete charge. They were not. The
“Mutants” were far smarter than their “minders” realized and had to a large
extent been managing these “minders” for years.
Even the most intelligent can be manipulated when their
intelligence is carefully picked. These “mutants” easily were able to insert
agents into the Emperor’s middle level staff and found there “mutants” in the
House of Assassins. This in itself was profoundly disturbing as it sounded like
they were being directed against their own blood kin. Then, the matter appeared
to change. They were given different training goals and apparently attended to
them.
Late one evening, they easily penetrated the security around
their Abbot’s office and found reports that their theoretical study had been
used to sneak assassins into the House of Assassins. They also found out they
were the descendants of someone called “Dent” and someone else called “Loraine”.
This was the first they had learned of their true lineage.
To think they had been so used ignited a cold, deceptively
calm, rage in all of them. With this rage came a complete cessation of their
normal smells. They met in their main exercise room.
Their Leader was called 7Male (their “Masters” could have
given them real names but did not want to humanize them) and he spoke in the
private language the group had evolved.
“We knew that we came from highly genetically modified stock.
It now turns out we owe our existence to two heavily modified ‘mutants’ from
the ‘Central City’. Assassins infiltrated
into the House of Assassins and attempted to kill these two ‘mutants’ and then
kin folk. I found a report from our friends of the Sublime Nation – which our
minders could not decrypt – and reports sent to our ‘minders’. They were lucky
to be alive. We are clones of the blood lines created in the House of Assassins
and most of our genetic twins were murdered. The people who apparently directed
this slaughter and who used us to kill our blood kin are our so called
‘masters’. I am beyond furious.”
Everyone knew this. They felt the same.
“Now, what do we do? What are our options?”
Twelve Female broke the silence: “We can kill all five our of
‘minders’ or interrogate them in depth. This is either putting off killing them
or letting them live.”
Three Male mussed out loud: “We have had training in
interrogation techniques and multiple analysis of results. This training came
from the people we presume to interrogate. Logically, we should
have no change against them.”
Seven Male waited several minutes before proposing: “I
suggest we take this to someone who is far better skilled at interrogation than
we are and who has never revealed private information to them. I suggest we
take them to the House of Assassins in the ‘Central City’. I will make contact with the People of the
Sublime Nation tomorrow. Now, let us pray for the souls of our murdered blood
kin.”
“We pray for our kinfolk.” Then, the whole group joined Three
Male in:
“Through the mysteries of our redemption, may Almighty God
release our blood kin from all punishments in this life and in the life to
come. May He open to you the gates of Paradise and welcome you to everlasting
joy. Father, look with compassion on Your servant Edward, who has trusted in
Your promises. Welcome him to Your Kingdom in peace. By the authority which the
Apostolic See has given me, I grant you a full pardon and remission of all your
sins. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
The group then wandered to
their quarters hoping for a pleasant night sleep but knowing it would be
anything but.
The next morning, their “masters” told the group they were
going to be in meetings all day and they should “carry on; you know what you
need to do”.
Seven Male and 19 Female (known to outsiders as Abdu Roman
and Adiba) dressed in street appropriate garb and wandered into town. They were
given allowances and were able to buy fine lunches. They had also stopped at a
food stall and passed an innocent sounding phrase that meant “make immediate
contact”. Then, they walked to an over look and enjoyed the view. Moments
later, another sight seer wandered up and made the response to their contact
phrase. This then, was the agent from the People of the Sublime Nation.
The time for business was at hand.
“We recently learned that we are one of triplets. The other
two of us were in Central City. Most of one group lived in the House of
Assassins and were murdered by killers staying in the House. The other set are hidden
in or near the Central City. We did not find where these kin folk are hiding or
what became of those who fled the City.”
The Sublime Nation representative cursed in an unknown
language.
“We knew something had happened but could not find out
what! How did you learn of this?”
“Our minders had reports in quote highly secure safes unquote
in their vault. They forget we have very sensitive hearing and could hear the
sounds of the wheels clicking in the safes. The same people who taught us safe
breaking were the ones who though their safes were secure. “
“I will attempt to find out further information regarding
them. Will it be possible to penetrate your House and take these ‘minders’?”
“Yes.”
“Then, Abdu Roman, I will work with my fin folk to develop a
plan. We can use your internal knowledge
to capture all five.”
***************************************************************************************************
Seven Male and 19 Female went to a sports facility where
their remaining kin folk were waiting. Both were startled to see them.
“We located them and brought all here. Your five ‘masters’
are going to be fairly busy with what they think is a very important meeting.
We know since we wrote the agenda for them. Yes, we run the office these
visitors came from. Now, we believe you wish to be free and we think you want
to be gone from here. Is this correct?”
All 60 nodded in agreement.
“We were able to find the floor plans for the Temple your
home used to be. These plans include the basement and two sub-basements. We think
there are hidden tunnels but the floor plans did not mention them. Comments,
please?”
Three of the 60 stood. One said “show us the plans”.
The Sublime Nation people spread their copies of the plans
out on a long table. These plans were for the basement, a first and a second
floor and the attic. The first and second floors were based around a large
atrium with rooms in a U shaped ring of room around this. The attic had
multiple small rooms in it. The 60
crowded around the table of plans and closely examined them.
One spoke: “There is a second attic under the peak of the
roof. It just looks like a ceiling b ut I found a way into it and have
wondere4d why it has both files and emergency weapons. Access is through a door
in the roof that is meant to look like simple roof. This would be a fine
entrance.”
Another spoke: “There are pseudo secret passages. A person
could go to the correct spot on a floor in the attic or the second floor, lift
this hatch and drop to the floor below. The hatch would drop itself and would
not be visible. Well, in the original times anyway, the hatches do not fit well
not.”
“How did people going through these hatches get back to a higher floor?” The
person from the Sublime Nation did not mind asking obvious questions.
“They could stand on tables or climb shelves. That was the
reason they were made so sturdy.”
Another person replied, “Ultimately, the ‘secret passages’
did not matter as no one apparently invaded the Temple and the folks in the
Temple did not need to sneak around. We believe they were made to facilitate
the fear of needing to hide from invaders.”
“They would be pointless,” the same person from the Sublime
Nation commented. He had seen palaces with truly well hidden secret passages
and stairs that went no where and trapped This Temple simply lacked the need
for such.
“Where do they sleep at night?”
“There are bedrooms on the second floor. One of the five is
supposed to be the duty officer and is supposed to be awake watching over us.
We are supposed to sleep on thin matts on the Temple floor. Over the years, we
have taken to bringing mattresses out from two surrounding rooms and to raising
four foot high privacy barriers. We can be very quiet” All 60 snickered and one of the Sublime Nation
people murmured “teenagers!”. This led to louder laughter from the 60.
“Are we correct in the assumption you have ‘paired up;?>”
“Yes and those five idiots do not seem to realize this. Some
of their reports write of us not displaying sexual activity. As he said, we can
be very quiet and there are times we go places away from here and can be very loud!”
All 60 laughed.
The People of the Sublime Nation just looked amused.
The plan was a simple one. The minder would be taken by some
of the 60. It would be easy since the person
having the duty that night was noted for sleeping soundly. Also, he would be helped.
The other four liked to have drinks before going to bed. Since the 60 prepared
their drinks, no excitement was expected.
With this simplistic plan in place, the 60 planned stories
about what they had done during the day. Some stories were simple, some a bit
fantastical. This was just an exercise in wishful thinking since their “five
supervisors” simply did not care what their charges did when away from the
Temple. To the ‘minders’, the 60 were ‘test animals’ and presumed to be too
stupid to have lives worth noting.
They would regret this
attitude…
The People of the Sublime Nation went to their ship and
brought back a tasteless none odorous drug. One of the 60 was instructed in administering
the drug and found it very easy.
After dinner and after the ‘minders’ settled down to some
drinking, the doctored drinks were brought out.
The five raised their glasses and one uttered a toast. This
was routine.
Then the five chugged their drinks. This was routine.
The five lapsed into
unconsciousness. This was not routine.
The five were taken to their rooms and tied to their beds.
One of the five was awaken.
“Who are you?”
“We will ask the questions.”
“You look like those pests from the south, the what do they
call you? Ah, yes, we were told you are called ‘Nubians’?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Then, Nubian,” the minder said, “why am I here apparently
strapped to a bed?”
“We have questions for you. Why do you want to hurt these 60
young people?”
“We do not want to harm them!”
“Have you been with them long?”
“The five of us have been with our 60 from the time they left
the primary care center at about 3 months.”
“Where was this primary are center?”
“They came from the Central City and came to us with a number
of teachers, nurses and doctors. We were their main teachers until they had
absorbed what we had to teach.”
“You taught them to be killers, assassins, thieves and evil
people!”
“We did not,” the minder bellowed. “Others taught them that.
We taught them magic, self control, religion, law and self respect. We had
others who taught them humour. Well, they tried to teach them humour…”
“Do they – your 60 children – know about the letter you
received today?”
“No, they do not. None of us have the courage to tell them.
We wrote angry rebuttal letters demanding to be told why this order was sent
and demanding to know who in Constantinople ordered it. We promised to send an
additional, longer, letter explaining the advantages of keeping these quote test
subjects intact and unharmed and allowing them to have normal lives. We will
need help in writing that letter.”
“Why not just release them,” one People of the Sublime Nation
asked?
“Because they are not human.”
“What?”
“It is true. A group of Mages, Medical Doctors, genetic experts and Gods
know who else decided to genetically modify genomes and to make quote needful
improvements unquote. Initially, none of the fetuses survived. Finally, someone
called the quote All Father unquote made incredible changes to one boy zygote
and this zygote developed into a perfectly normal fetus and then baby.
Perfectly normal if not truly human. The All Father then modified a female zygote,
which developed into a female of this new species. The boy, named ‘Dent” and the girl named ‘Loraine’
were given to their parents, who were told to raise them as normal as could be
expected.” He sighed.
The People of the Sublime Nation looked at each other and
said a few sentences in a language unknown to the “minder”.
“Why do you sigh?”
“None of them are human. They can not reproduce with standard
human or the related human variants; there simply are too many changes.
Actually, they did not come to us. My 60 were triplets. One set stayed in the
House of Assassins and most of them were murdered recently. A second set were
put into a safe house near the Central City. None of the Intelligence Agencies
in Constantinople, Lebanon and apparently the Central City know where this
group went. The third group were
intercepted on their journey south along the Great River and brought here.”
“They seem fine to all of us.”
“There were pills designed for each of them; each must take
their pill at the same time every day. We have created a ritual in which we put
each one’s pill in a small pastry and one of us has a pastry without a pastry.
We east our pastry, drink a cup of strong coffee and we offer them blessings.
There is a Mage in Beirut who can copy
each pill exactly. This Mage has an expert apprentice and we look to him to
continue this custom of treating the 60.”
“What would happen if they do not get their pills?”
“We were never told that. We have raised these young people
from before they learned to walk and we do not want to take chances with their
health!”
“Tell us about these killers?”
“Don’t you know?”
“No, we don’t; we were sent here and told to make contact
with elements of the 60. We did. What are we facing now?”
“A team of 14 will be sent. Two will be military and
assassins. The remainders are experts on human bodies and some on comparative
physiology and the rest on genetics and genetic analysis. All of this is
something you would think unlikely to cultures as low as most people are but we
have cultures of very high achievements mixed with those at a very basic level.
This will change but the very wealthy must want to allow change. They probably
will not…”
There was a dead silence.
“I assume you strange people know this much better than we
do?”
“Yes, we do.”
“We’ve been told they will need 2 or perhaps 3 days to go by
horse from Constantinople to the Naval base on the eastern side of the Bosporus.
From there, two days by Courier Boat to Beirut. Standard doctrine is for the
local Satrap to arrange a half way house in Beirut with horse rides to view the
Temple. They were at the Safe House south of Constantinople when this letter
was sent. They would have waited 2 days to allow the note to arrive here and
for the local Satrap to make arrangements. I suppose you are going to help with
this. We are a scenic addition to the
community despite that we do not let outsiders in.”
“I’m curious about something. What don’t you let outsiders
in?”
“I feel so candid, did you put something in me?”
“Yes.”
“Well, well, well, we don’t want them outsiders in because
our 60 have paired up and like all young folks, they think they invented sex.
Believe it or not, these little farts don’t fuck quite as quietly as they
apparently like to think they do. There are times we swear a competition is
going on and we need to leave the building. I swear it is noisy enough to make
Tom Cats shriek ‘take it outside’!~” He sighed. “Ah, kids!”
All of the 60 “kids” were
listening with horrified intensity.
It was four
days later when a twin master boat flying two mains and a jib off the bow
charged into the Beirut Harbour. She dropped
the main sails and came along side the main pier. The docking was very routine,
even for the group of 14 waiting below deck.
There was paperwork to be exchanged and gold coins from an
ancient government. This was not a.
bribe to have the Harbour Patrol ignore the 14 but a gift to the Temple of the
Local God. (Ironically the same God the
locals worshipped.)
Eventually, in
the afternoon, the crew tending to the superstructure had spent a fair amount
of time observing the surrounding pier. There were shaded windows opening into
the deck house and members of the “Wet Work Staff” took turns looking out
across the Harbour. They found not threats or people keeping watch on them.
There simply
was no one watching them. When their boat had come into harbor, and after
boarding her, the Pilot had studied the superstructure and evaluated those
above deck. After a short period of this, he had been invited below deck to lay
out his Harbour Charts and brief the Courier Boat Captain on current conditions
in the Harbour and his plan for taking the Courier Boat to his designated spot.
<<modify the earlier portion to include this>> Over the span of a
half hour, he could tell how many were below deck and evaluate what they were
there for. The violent ones stood out.
Then, he went
back on deck and worked with the Captain and deck crew to safely dock the boat.
The Pilot truly loved his work, this showed and the idea he could be a Customs
Police Officer simply did not enter anyone’s minds.
He went to the
Satrap’s Safe House.
“I saw perhaps
12 to 15 men who radiated violent resolve. This are likely to be your killers.
He then gave good descriptions and departed for his lunch in the Harbour Master
Mess. This was food he loved.
After
receiving his next assignment from the Port Master, he went to his Pilot Boat
and briefed them on the next arriving boat. They topped off their emergency
supplies and departed for the Outer Harbour. On the way, they passed the
Courier Boat and the Pilot waved happily.
He liked
seeing proof he and his crew were helping folks.
The 14
killer/evaluators discussed this Pilot and decided he must be an Idiot Savant,
that is, a person very good in what he did but limited in what he could do. The
Pilot would be the first to agree with this assessment…
They just did
not grasp the scope of all the Pilot could do and what he knew…
They carefully
dressed in their prepared “civilian” clothing, picked up duffle bags and left
the Courier Boat with their Pass Ports easily accessible. They were prepared
for operations in the various kingdoms in the lands north of the Central Sea.
They didn’t realize the government in Lebanon simply did not care. After all,
the Central City was ruled by it’s Emperor and vast staff (the less said about
how fleeting this control was as one went further from the Central City the
better. There could have been – gasp – unknown self-governing polities well to
the west of the “Central” City…
The first day
ended with them enjoying a meal meant to settle their stomachs. The next
morning saw them served a lavish breakfast (intended to reduce their awareness
and fatigue them) and they did a survey of Beirut. This was to evaluate their
intelligence briefing and to put them in a bit of contact with people they
would never have professional contact with…
In the afternoon,
they paid for a tour of the various sites. This included the Temple, which they
were told was closed to the public. Their lack of surprise pointed them out to
the People of the Sublime Nation who were also riding on the tour.
The People of the Sublime Nation decided to strike that night.
The evening
meal served in the Safe House was one of the finest they 14 killers would ever
eat.
They were
seated at an elaborately set table and were told by the “Minders” that a good
meal was a prerequisite to a busy day. They planned to enter the Temple the
next morning and put knock drugs in the resident’s food. Then, they would tie
up the residents, decide on who their victims would be and would commence the
vivisection.
This was
anticipated as taking two days.
Sometimes the
most sneaky people can be the easiest to trick.
There was an
Imperial Safe in the basement of the Safe House. The door was open and the keys
available for changing the combination. All recognized this safe as one that
was nearly impossible to crack.
They put in a combination
that all knew and put their highly classified Operations Plans. The plan was to
study their attack plan that evening and sneak in early. They expected to have
the help of the “minders” in poisoning their charges.
They did not
realize their final toast of the evening was literally that as the Save House
Staff had put a knock out drug in that final drink. They never realized when
they passed out…
The “minders”
were taken to the safe, which already stood open.
“How did you
get into that safe?”
“One of us
designed the safe mechanism decades ago. There is a master code to open all
these models of safes. We read their all so secret operations orders. Please,
have a seat and read their assault orders.”
The Head Minder
did as he was bid and read out loud: “They are going to vivisect 33 victims.
Half of our kids is 30; don’t they know how to add?”
“You did not
read the footnotes. They plan to torture half your kids and three of the
minders. They apparently think you have survived your tour of duty here by not
being fully human yourselves.”
“This is not
true!”
The full files
on the surviving minders showed they were descendants of a group of people who
lived at very high altitudes north of a place called “The Sub Continent”. The People of the Sublime Nation were very
good at intelligence work and in collecting information where ever they went.
“What shall we
do with them?” This was the leader of Sublime People.
“We shall gift
them to the House of Assassins in the Central City. They will not treat this
scum kindly and I like that idea.” The Head Minder was coldly merciless in his
rage.
“We can move
the 14 to the Central City easily,” stated the Sublime Nation Leader.
“Good. I will
tell the ship to standby and to enjoy the city. If the intelligence reports are
correct, the Mages of the House of Assassins can create appropriate data. We
can then fake our deaths. I will need to move my brothers and our children to
places of safety.”
“Go home, get
a good night’s sleep and brief your children on the marrow.”
“It will be
done.”
They rode
mules back to the Temple and found their youngsters still awake and conducting
personal business. The Head Minder clapped his hands and spoke:
“Events are
moving faster than we thought they could and we will need to adjust. Abdu
Roman, please have everyone awake when we come down the stairs tomorrow. There
is something we feel the need to demonstrate.” He looked around. “Yes, Abdu
Natume, I am using your chosen names. The times of those disgusting descriptions
has ended. All will be revealed tomorrow morning. Good night and we wish you a
pleasant sleep.”
Another of the
minders spoke: “Those who would attack and harm us have been dealt with. Their
happy time has come to it’s end. Sleep well!”
These remarks bothered the young ones and they slept poorly.
The following
morning, all 60 were awake and dressed when their ‘minders’ made their
entrance.
There was a
wide staircase with sturdy bannister going from the third floor to the main
floor. One after another each of the ‘minders’, using a small ladder, stood
upon the bannister and sedately walked down it. This should have resulted in
their falling but this simply did not look like a possibility.
At the bottom
of the bannister, each dismounted with
an elegant forward somersault. The youngsters were stunned.
“None of the
five of us are human; we are a blend of humans and a human variant that arose
very high in a mountain range. Now that you know this, we are going to tell you
about your heritage, perhaps in a way you have not thought of it. Then, we
shall began to exfiltrate this place. We know this means all 65 of us will have
to leave our homes but we hope to find better places to life.”
He paused.
“Your lives are truly going to begin now!”
There was a
pause and the Leader of the Minders spoke again: “We might as well give our
true names. I am James, he is Jack, he is William, he is Black Throne, he is
Luther and he is Singleton. We already know your names and the descriptors you
were given. From this moment on, we will call all of you by your chosen names;
what you call each other is none of our business.”
There was
laughter.
“We need to
brief you on the tactical situation and who the players are. We were initially
sent here from a base in Constantinople. Then, we were taken to the Central
City and kept there for weeks. We were given tasks to do, did them so slowly
our ‘leaders’ did not increase the work load and in our fairly abundant
untasked time, we studied the geography and politics of the area from Central
City out to here. We also studied child psychology. We later learned this
rebellion was hoped for and our self-tasking was even more hoped for.”
“Are any of
you Fathers?” Kathryn was often curious.
“None of us
can reproduce below an altitude of ten thousand feet. Unfortunately, most of
the mountains have not been surveyed or if they have been surveyed, that
information is not available to us. Also, none of us have been on dates for
over 20 years.”
Again Kathryn
spoke: “Would you date if you could?”
“None of know
and God knows we have talked about it enough. It gives us something to obsess
when we’re drinking bad vodka in Beirut.” Singleton was amused and it showed;
all five “minders” snickered then laughed.
“Are you in
contact with your families?”
“There is an
Embassy of our people in Central City. Actually, it is an adjunct of the Temple
of the Way. We don’t know how they facilitate mail or packages to and from our
nation but they do. It probably has to be none of the nations such mail must
travel over an see anything worth stealing. Also, our letters tend to be rather
boring.”
The 60 “kids” were not sure how to react to this
humour and candor. The five older men could tell this and were amused.
Three of the
women huddled together, smiled and said “please tell us how to contact your
people. We wish to praise you.”
In their
native language, one murmured “they want to fix us up with brides. Is there any
disagreement?”’
After a brief
pause, William said “I will instruct you in the correct protocols and introduce
you to our Trade Minister.”
After clearing
his throat, James said “our immediate problems are thusly: we need to take the
would be assassins to the House of Assassins in the Central City. They will be
able to interrogate these 14 and obtain useable intelligence. I would not bet
on their taking kindly to these 14; two angry women we have been told about are
‘Great Aunt Beverly <check name>, Aunt Cleaver, and the Son of Assassins.
The Son commands internal security in the House and her lost face when his house
was overwhelmed. He wants blood and he has a house full of angry people who
want to help.” In a somber tone “I would not want this level of rage waiting
me. On the other hand, as someone who would have been vivisected, and knowing
my kinfolk, 64 of them, were to be vivisected kills off any mercy I might be
thinking!”
A week before,
the “kids” saw the older men as enemies. Now, they saw them as older family
members. It felt better…
“The most
important is your futures. We believe you need to remain together as a group. You
can split up and move around but that is a horrible idea in so many ways. This
means finding a good place and settling down. We have studied intelligence reports for the area north of
here to the Central City and south. There are no places we feel will be safe
enough and comfortable. Face facts, we are folks who evolved in a cold climate
and we find this area to be warm and occasionally damned hot. You have been
raised in this climate and I don’t know how well you can handle the heat down
south. Still, it could be possible to go there when the weather is cooler since
the heart land of the People of the Sublime Nation is south along the Great
River and stories are their various intelligence agencies are also there. We
hope to find a decent home in a secluded place. One of these friends spoke of
an odd community that could be perfect for us. We need to get much more
information on this.”
“Must we be
patient and await further information?”
“Yes, we must
Abdu Ramon. Part of their security relies on both the security of their
location and the security of their existence. If what we’ve learned is true,
this would be a special place.”
“We have many
things to sort through, pack, throw away and abandon memories of. You may not
think we have a lot but I think we do!”
“We know how
much you have and we also know how much you need to keep these belongings. All
of us and originally there were about 30 of us, had to lose belongings when we
came here. Our first goal is to make many copies of the drug each of you need.
By the way, you must never take another’s pill as that could kill you painfully
or perhaps merely make you very sick. There is also the problem that going into
the deep south exposes your drugs to heat which in turn destroys the pills or
makes them simply too dangerous to use. Having said that, we are reasonably
certain we can come up with ways around this.”
“We will keep
you informed and hope to have easy solutions to our problems. We are going to
exercise an option inherent in the secret orders of those murders. We are going
to send a highly classified message to Constantinople stating the killers need
several months. We are also going to release their ship and they an go about
their normal affairs. One of the reports stated they normally operated in a sea
north of Constantinople and some times into a small sea north of that. It is
enough to make us wonder how much truth is there?”
There was a
brief pause while one of the people on mess duty told them coffee was ready.
They wandered back to the kitchen, not noticing one of the “minders” had gone
back there, moved his hands through stylized gestures, spoke several words in
an odd language, grinned, snickered and left. Those getting the very cold –
near freezing – coffee were very confused…-
NOTE: Have the minders experts in spells that reduce
temperatures
Have the minders experts in spells
that counter gravity
A problem Intelligence Agencies have is maintaining a presence in
foreign lands (including lands in the hinterlands of the hegemony and the
Imperial Government was definitely a Hegemony with each of the Major Cities
being a separate government). The Imperial Intelligence Representative worked
in the whole sale of Cedar Wood export and the importation and exportation of
coffees and teas.
He was under a great deal of stress. Several of the People killed in the House
of Assassins had been close; some of those in the Intelligence Section of the
House of Assassins and some of those in Imperial Intelligence and in the Combined
Naval and Military (Army) Intelligence had almost forgotten who they
represented. He was a Naval Intelligence Officer serving as an Imperial
Intelligence Command Officer who was getting rich pretending to be a Merchant
Lord!
Several years before, he had been a Senior Naval Officer and worked closely
with the Assistant Director of Analysis for the House of Assassins, a man named
Dent.
Dent and his family had spent time with this officer and his family. They were
more than friends, they were family. Now, he had to find a Naming Day Present
for one of Dent's children. He was not supposed to know Dent's Widow and their
four children lived in the Temple of the New Way, a building guarded by a
platoon of Imperial Assault Soldiers. He knew.
He was pleasantly surprised to see the Leader of one platoon of Sublime Nation
External Intelligence Operators walk in.
"Maheeb, welcome to my very humble home! Are you seeking the finest lumber
for your palace in the Deep South? "
Andrew, we both know I live in a very modest home, not the mansion some Cedar
merchants live in."
The two had spoken thusly since Andrew had been a Naval Commander in
Intelligence and Maheeb a visiting Intelligence Liaison Officer.
"Have you obtained a present to give your wife on the coming Naming Day
for the Nazarene? "
"Not really, do you have something in mind? "
" Perhaps I do, perhaps something she [Maheeb's wife] might like. "
They went back to Andrew's corner of a large workshop. There was a very elegant
chair made of Cedar and Aurochs leather -
it was probably dyed Hippo leather as Mahesh knew Anorch had died out thousands
of years before. This was not true, a small herd of some 1,000 *Anorch"
lived in the highlands of Lebanon and many more in the Home land of James's
People. The leather had come from an old bull who had died from natural causes.
"Here is the gift you can give her!"
" I don't know how to thank you. "
" You'll think of something, you always do. "
" Andrew, I know you have heard that Dent and his family were attacked by
unknown assailants during the night I their home. We have captured a group of
killers sent to attack a group of 60 young Monks and five Priests in the
Temple. They were intercepted because they thought the Priests in the Temple
would turn their young Monks over to a team of Assassins who would vivisect the
kids. The Head Priest contacted me and we poisoned the Assassins last night.
Technically, we did not poison them, we gave them knock out drugs and have them
secured with rope and additional drugs. We need transportation for them to the
House of Assassins. There are 14 of them. "
Andrew raised his voice and called "Donald, attend us!" <>
Donald trotted over.
"Donald, Maheeb needs prisoner transport of 14 please.
"Is this special, sirs? "
" We have evidence these 14 were involved with the killings in the House
and we very much want the House of Assassins to 'speak with them'. "
Donald had been one of Dent's Apprentice and was no where close to forgiving
their killers.
" I can arrange for a light cargo boat, a coastal freighter, to carry the
meat. Perhaps if you get the chair wrapped up? "
" That is going to go separately. Donald, would you be will willing to
escort this boat to the Intelligence Pier at Central City? You'll need to take
a squad with you. "
" We will need a much larger boat for the rest of our guests and Maheed
and I need to work that out. "
Donald saluted, both Maheed and Andrew nodded (neither were covered).
It was remarkably easy for Donald to arrange for a boat.
Donald simply went to the Lebanon Naval Commander and asked to see
him.
“Sir, thank you for seeing me.”
“Always a pleasure, Donald. How are your parents? They are both
fine, sir.”
“And you wife and your lovely children?”
“All are fine, Sir.”
“Good and good to hear. Please, come over here and have a seat.
Would you like some melons and coffee?”
“Yes, Sire, I would.”
“Good! While we wait, what did your Cedar Merchant send you for?”
“We need a coastal freighter and were hoping to get the ‘Grace
of the Madonna’. There is some interest in a cargo transport.”
“Has your Andrew spoken with Maheed?”
“Yes, Sire, they have talked of Andrew making a very fancy chair
for Maheed’s wife. They were talking about a more serious matter when I was summoned.”
“Perhaps relating to matters in a Royal House in the Central
City?”
“Perhaps, Sire, perhaps; I point out that when I served in the
Central City, I worked directly for the Patriarch of a large tribe. It might be
we wish to send persons knowledgeable to the House.” Donald did not realize his
voice had risen into a snarl.
“Be aware young warrior that you are not the only one who lost kin
folk that horrible night.”
“Yes, Sir, there is hope these captives can give useful, perhaps
even actionable, intelligence.” Donald
was livid; the Naval Commander was furious but had decades of experience at
hiding his emotions. Still, his rage burned through his façade.
Donald was happy he was not the target of the Commander’s rage.
After several minutes passed, the Commander rang a bell and his Adjunct
came in.
“Our friend Donald needs the “Grace of the Madonna” for a
classified mission. Donald will need to brief us on supply needs, guard service
needs and their projected travel agenda. Perhaps you and the Cabinet Maker
would like to send messages by high speed Courier Boat to a certain House in
the Central City?”
“Sire, I can not say yes but I certainly will not say no to this
wonderful offer. Perhaps if I could take some notes?”
“Don’t worry about that. My Adjunct will draft a proposal and both
the old gentlemen at the Cedar Shop can decide what they need from our ‘modest
little Naval Force’!”
“Might I have some more coffee?”
“Of course”.
Donald delivered the letter to his Andrew and Maheeb. He spread the letter, read it and then spoke:
“The letter from the Lebanon Naval Commander’s offers an armored
coastal freighter (“Grace of the Madonna“), Naval Officers and Sailors,
Naval Soldiers and support troops. He also offered a high speed Courier Boat to
take advance warning to both the Intelligence Collective and the Grandfather of
Assassins. We need to gin up a letter to the Grandfather advising him of the
gift we are going to send them.”
“That won’t be necessary Sir. You may not have noticed there was a
second letter behind the one you read.”
Andrew had written a polite but very succinct letter informing the
Grandfather of Assassins that 14 potential enemy agents were being sent to him two
days later. Andrew signed the letter and gave it to Maheeb who added his
signature and formal title.
The letter was placed in his envelop, Donald dripped wax on the
flap and sealed it with his signet ring. Then, with several guards, Donald took
the letter to the Office of the Lebanon Naval Commander and delivered it. Early
the next morning, the high speed Courier Boat departed the Beirut Harbour and began
her high speed run through the Western End of the Central Sea.
Then, there was the problem the 14 killers presented. They did not
have means to feed them while unconscious. They did not know how to deal with
fully aware men as dangerous as these. Finally, Andrew’s daughter had an
insight.
“Why not accuse them of being drunk in public. A little booze on
their breath and being informed they had gotten drunk and disorderly could
explain why they were in cells.
The unconscious killers bodies were examined once more for poison
pills in their mouths, pills in their arm pits and public hair and they shaved
their heads. The 14 were placed in single cells, a guard of City Police was set
and the watch was on.
In a short while, all 14 awoke and realized they were in cells.
This lead to them demanding to be released. These demands garnered no help from
the guards who were very hardened to drunks in their cells.
Finally, a Senior Guard Officer arrived and told them of the
“drunk and disorderly charges” they faced and that ;they would see the
Magistrate the following day. They were told when food would be available and
when the chamber pots would be emptied. They were also warned to behave!
Their first day went well save for the 14 prisoners demanding
attention. That at least was what the guards said. Finally, the Guard Captain deigned
to speak.
"What are your complaints?"
" What are we doing here? The last any of us remember, we were enjoying a
nice meal. How did we end up here? "
" You were found drunk. Most of you were in a tavern screaming about the
end times being here and about demons walking among us. Three of you were
rolling in the street, rubbing 'mud' in your hair and laughing about
the reactions of the surrounding people. One of you mud balls was able to
convince the rest to 'put mud in your hair'. Sadly those streets were not
covered with mud... "
His audience of 14 clearly did not grasp his meaning.
"The jail input folks were not in the mood to go to great lengths to
shampoo you so they just shaved your heads and arm pits. Be glad they did not
decide to shave elsewhere. " He laughed, the guards laughed and they left.
That night, the 14 were told they were being released the day and that the Head
Priest had arranged for them to have a fine meal. They were given feasts:
falafel, vegetables, Fattouh, baklava and both Chateau Mused Lebanon Blanc and
Chateau Mused Lebanon Jeune Red. Their final drinks were of a excellent Brandy.
The next morning they were given coffee mixed with drugs...
"The
more I learn about people, the more I like my dog" -Mark Twain (1904)
Twain had three dogs which he named "I Know", "You Know"
and "Don't Know"
In mid morning, the 14 were
bound and taken unconscious from the jail to the boat transporting them
to [8787] Cairo. It would take the boat perhaps 25 hours for the trip. The two
medics going along would use subtle and somewhat magical methods to keep the 14
unconsciousness and yet hydrated. (Dead prisoners can not be questioned.
Usually…)
The trip from the jail to the pier was first sanitized by police
carefully observing everyone on the streets. Then, the 14 were taken out through
a hidden tunnel into the basement of a building across the street. (This was
left from ancient wars and a time when some factions needed to be ab le to move
about unseen.) They were then put into boxes and taken to the piers and loaded
into the boat.
Later that day, a meeting was held at the Temple. The subject?
Getting 60 unworldly young Monks (who thought they had all the answers) to
decide on their futures was not going to be fun. It absolutely had to be done.
The 65 occupants of the Temple were seated in Lotus position when they
received guests. John did the honors.
“This is Maheeb, who is with the People of the Sublime Nation. He
is going to tell you of your options for the future. The Intelligence Services
of the Sublime Nation sends out teams. These teams make contacts, collect
information and analyze it and dispense it to the Intelligence Agencies of the
Empire and send it back home.
He paused.
“Do you have any questions before I start my briefing?”
There was no reply.
“First, you can stay here and I assume you could live in this
Temple. This is a horrible idea because a follow up team will go to every place
those 14 were supposed to go to. That includes your Temple which makes all of
your vulnerable. Besides, it is time for you to leave home and begin your lives
as adults and in the case of you five, resume your lives as adults. Probably
grandfathers in the next five years.”
“Second, you can move into the community but that leaves you
vulnerable to a follow up team going through residential rental reports or
house buying reports. Both are reported to a city bureau. You would also have
to find work and learn to live ‘on the outside’. This would take time.”
“Third, you can move into one of the towns near Central City. This
has the problems of your obtaining work, places to live and staying safe. The
police will be noting who moves into their towns or cities or in isolated
hamlets within their areas. We don’t know how manty of these officers are
bribed but there has to be a great many.
Your safety would depend on the either the House of Assassins or House
of Thieves or Universal Assembly of Faiths getting this information and keeping
it from those serving your enemies in Constantinople. Unfortunately, we do not
know who they are.?
“This is hardly helping and it not settling the minds and spirits
of our people”, James stated
“Good, because the most important alternatives remain. You could
take boats south long the Great River and take refuge in one of the mountain
homes of my people. We are a large and diverse collective of peoples. My people
came from the Saudi land mass and have lived in the Deep South for centuries.
You can learn to live outside the Temple there. Finally, we know of hidden
cities and hidden tribes elsewhere on the Great Continent. You have options and places to live other
than in Lebanon or near the Central City. “
He paused as the 65 listeners had began to talk with excitement
among themselves. Maheeb was amused to note the “kids” were talking to the five
“old men” as teenagers to their parents.
“We could travel south on traditional river boats. These an hold
small groups of your 65 and security teams of my people. You would have to
remain under cover during the day for the first several days and then would be
able to come on deck during the day time hours.
This is not the first time we have transported folks in this fashion and
we have never felt threatened. Of course, it helps we have coverage from
certain governmental agencies. If you think yourself hidden from the government
then you are mistaken.”
“We will need to discuss this in private,” James said.
“Of course,” Meheeb agreed, :”in the mean time, we need to release
that courier boat.” Maheeb bowed towards the group and left
Maheeb went to a “fresh” safe house and sat at a table3 and
outlines orders to the Courier Boat releasing it to return home. He then
outlined a letter to “his:” superiors stating the work was going well but the
internal details of their subjects were unusual and in some cases highly
modified. They would report when more conclusions were reached. After this, his
XO drafted the orders to the boat and drafted the letter to “their “ superiors.
The Operations Officer and Senior Enlisted Soldier each performed these tasks.
After that, the various letters were read, critiqued and a final
draft of each was made. Maheeb, as Commanding Officer read the final drafts,
read each of his officer’s drafts, made several small changed and circulated
the modified drafts to his officers. Over the years, each of thee people had
written letters or notes and they had to assume each of these products had been
captured by their enemy.
Maheeb then took the step of going to the Cedar merchant to talk
about his wife’s chair. Actually, he went there to get Andrew’s opinion of the
letters. That meeting went well and one of Andrew’s men carried the letters to the
Courier Boat. The man was dressed as one of the Harbour Police and this made
him an acceptable courier.
The letters were taken. The
letter meant for his superiors was put in a small safe. The orders for them to
get under weigh were decrypted. They then plotted their sail plan, gave it to
the Harbour Master and they left for home on the tide that afternoon.
The 60 “kids” broke up into group0s and discussed their options.
This did not take very long as fleeing
to the Deep South seemed like the only viable option. Being very intelligent
and know how much they thought they did not know (which was more than they
knew), they quickly went off into the realm of fear and inventing things to
worry about.
Finally, the five “minders” having returned to watch the worrying,
decided the time to intervene had come.
“We have listened long enough to realize you seem to have come to
a conclusion of what to do and are now indulging in fear. We are sympathetic
because we faced the same fears of the unknown when our tribal Chiefs decided
to send us here to help teach and to help raise you. We still fret about that.
We have a suggestion. My brothers and I will position ourselves around this
room. If you want to speak with one of us, please gather around that person. If
you wish to continue talking among yourselves, then remain where you are.”
The five minders went around the edge of the room. There was a
brief swirl of moving bodies as the 60 decided on which “minder” they wished to
speak with. Finally, they started talking and listening to each other. After a
while, there fear was replaced by something as bad: excessive hope.
It took even longer for the five groups to settle down and begin
to make sobor assessments.
The five “minders” each told the group “we have a consensus”. \
James, the Eldest and Leader, spoke: “I think I know what everyone
would like. Still, we have to be certain. We could have a show of hands with
everyone closing their eyes and voting for each option. The final option will
be “do nothing”. If enough wish, we could
arrange for a vote involving putting a ball into a bin. Suggestions?”
To James’s delight, Abdu Roman politely stood and waited to be
recognized.
“Yes, Abdu Roman?”
“James, we all know the safest place is to go into the Deep South.
I think we should have a simple ‘closed eyes, raise arm’ to vote both for and
against going into the Deep South. Is Mister Maheed next to you?”
“Yes, he is,” Minder James replied.
“Then, I suggest the 65 of us vote and Mister Maheeb can take the
votes both for and against the group going into the Deep South.”
Maheeb stepped into view and said “I stand ready to serve as
needed.”
No one disagreed and Maheeb took charge.
“I’d like everyone to have a seat. Thank you. Now, I’d like
everyone wishing to go into the deep south to raise a hand. Thank you, I
believe that I counted everyone. Now, please lower your hands, again thank you.
All those opposed to a move south, please raise an arm. I thank all of you. My
count is that all 65 of you voted to move into the Deep South and absolutely no
one voted not to. Now, we need to plan
the details of the move.”
Everyone opened their eyes and saw broad happy smiles on everyone
including Moheeb.
“I will arrange for transportation of everyone and such personal
items as you want. How much do all of you actually have. I’ve seen how you live
in little boxes. Do you have favorite items in the attack and perhaps the
basement?”
“What basement?”
“We were ordered to maintain security by not letting any of you
know of the basements. The people in Constantinople don’t know about them – all
three of them – either. We have been storing items you thought were lost.
Perhaps you like to go through them?”
There was a long pause and thoughtful looks on faces.
“We’ll go through the items after breakfast. Is that acceptable? “
Black Throne spoke in an amused voice.
A problem for those living in the Temple is the practice floor had
been covered with impromptu living quarters and the actual practice was done in
a nearby abandoned barn. Actually, it was not abandoned but had been bought
years before, cleaned, and was used.
The rest of the day was spent
learning ab out the Great River, various cities south along it and the promise
of being told about the destination.
Maheeb had no trouble arranging for a ship. He had one close by;
it was a ship of the Empire but manned by his people. The ship was generally
always ready to get under weigh and the crew went about topping off the water
and wine, and getting consumables aboard. Then, they started waiting for the
alert order.
Back at the Temple and
after the breakfast dishes were done, the entrance to the basement was
uncovered. In there were rooms devoted to each of the 60 that had various items
celebrating their youngest years. The Five minders were more moved and were
very teary eyed. This got most of the 60 teary eyed…
There were many items that interested all 65 but nothing they
wanted to try bringing with them. It
felt like they were visiting a museum. Even the five “minders” could not bring
themselves to take items with them as they left and sealed the entrance again.
The five “minders” held the legal title to the Temple. Priests of the Temple of the Way, who needed a
Temple as they were holding services in a tavern, were visited at the home of
the Head Priest. There, she was offered the Temple. They were told there were
conditions on this gift (the previous occupants had possessions stored there).
The Government of Lebanon would help finance their new home.
The new owners were ecstatic but cautious. The people who were
arranging the exchange of legal ownership were pleased by this.
Years later, the Temple of the Way {get name} worked with the
Temple of the New Way (Lebanon) to establish the basement as a shrine. This status
lasted for many centuries.
In the distance
The whole purpose of encryption is to hide the meaning of your
message. There are a great many ways of doing so, some of which actually have
merit. (Bizarre symbols are really an exercise in calligraphy rather than useful
encryption.)
Their enemy used Latin - a language they hoped would be unknown in Lebanon -
and a simple 3 letter encryption scheme in a polyalphabetic encryption scheme.
For really sensitive information they used a "book code". "Book
Codes" are fairly good unless your enemy knows your book of choice. When
the hit squad had come ashore, they had brought five books including a copy of
the Memoirs of the Glorious Gaius Julius and a second copy buried in the
rucksack of one killer. (The People of the Sublime Nation and the Temple were
amused when no copies of the life and teachings of the Nazarene were found...)
Their enemy had odd and amusing communications customs. One was for the kill
teams to release their Courier Boat by giving them a set of 3 Letters code
words. This was used in the event they were pinned down by work. The People of
the Sublime Nation had written appropriate messages to the enemy headquarters
and sent them with the Courier Boat.
When the messages arrived, they were taken to the Evaluations Committee and
distributed. Some of the Committee Members looked crest fallen; others looked
elated.
The Agency director was amused for he had been briefed on the
messages before the meeting.
“It would seem our pet killers must have been taken by their prey! On the
surface, this looks like a perfectly legitimate message; it even has the team
commander's crest in the wax seal. Yet it lacks the errors the Communications
Sub-Officer seems to enjoy putting in his messages. "
There was a pause and one board member said "Then do you suppose we'll
receive further messages from this team?"
"At the moment I think they were taken by the so-called minders. I never
thought they would endanger their children. I suspect we will get a message
reporting they are about to set sail for home. They won't arrive. " (heavy
sigh) "Merchants arriving at the mouth of the Bosporus will talk about one
of the worst storms in memory. I think we can write off our pet killers. I
believe there were some bets riding on this? I declare these 14 to be dead! Pay
up my men, pay up!"
Money exchanged hands.
When the merriment ceased, one board member asked "So you suppose they had
help from the people whose names we dare not speak? (He meant the People of the
Sublime Nation.)
" They had to have. Does anyone believe five Fathers trying to raise sixty
children would have the ability to conduct an effective operation against 14
Special Operations Soldiers. Does anyone really think we would learn anything
from vivisection? "
No one answered.
" The five minders will take their sixty teenagers to various places of
safety. We can track them from reports of our field agents and possibly detect
aspects of the Sublime Nation networks. The important thing is we have 65
agents about to go stumbling around the Northern end of the Land of Madness to
our south. Now, to more pressing business. The Imperial Investigation Corp is
going to inspect our books early next month. They had better balance and had
better be the legal books! "
In Lebanon (both in Beirut and east of there)
The transfer of legal authority over the Temple was progressing
smoothly.
A Naval vessel had been arranged and supplies loaded. It was
mid-morning and early for lunch. None the less, a farewell dinner had been arranged
and the 65 enjoyed what would be their last meal in Lebanon. Kit was quite
pleasant and when their ship left the Beirut Harbour, they were happy the seas
were quite gentle.
They sailed in a two master
with main sailors on each mast and three
jib sails ahead of the forward mast. It was a fine arrangement and the ship had
sailed well, with winds across the deck. While the ships had heeled to port,
she had not handled at all roughly and the specialized “lands men” food (made
for those with weak stomachs) settled easily and the land lovers (which
included the 42 man and woman People of the Sublime Nation Intelligence unit)
had enjoyed their leisure and had slept well.
The entrance to the Cairo Haerbour awed the landsmen. There was a
gigantic light house which featured a 300 foot statue of the Nazarene with arms
raised and palms facing outward; at night, powerful light reflecting off highly
polished bronze mirror carried scores of leagues out to sea. The number of
larger vessels – their boat was one of them – and the truly ridiculous number of single masted
fished boats stunning the mind. Yes, somehow, all vessels managed to avoid collisions.
One of the sailors said to the landsmen watching: “It is the law
of gross tonnage. He who has the gross tonnage has the right of way. There are
several vessels much larger than ours that we must avoid hitting.”
When they entered the restricted Naval Inner Harbour, their ship
took on a well seasoned pilot who easily brought their boat along side the
pier. The salty among the crew were astonished the Pilot was able to tact twice
during his rather dangerously fast transit of the Inner Harbour. (It was a busy
day and he could not dawdle.)
As arranged, Abdu Roman and Haheeb went to the Embassy of their
“Minders” people.
They announced to the reception person they had personal business
to transact and needed to speak with the Consulate General.
It was a typical quiet day and the Consulate General was quite
happy and bemused to be summoned. Both
visitors stood at attention until the Consulate General motioned them to sit
and she said “Seats, please, take seats”.
“What can I do for you?”
“I am Haheed of the People of the Sublime Nation. My young friend,
Abdu Roman, is somewhat more difficult to explain. Perhaps calling me a political
refugee might do?”
“I know of his people and I know of the five Priests of the Nazarene
who have been watching over and teaching your young friend. I know his blood
kin – the ones who were murdered and the ones who hide in the open – and I
recognize the spell coming from Abdu Roman. Something to do with anxiety or
perhaps a bit of fear? Relax! You are among friends!”
This was comforting to both.
“Would you care for refreshments?”
Without waiting for an answer, the Consulate General rang a little
bell and a young man, who have been and probably was a grandson, brought out
fruit and glasses of a sweet tea. The Consulate General gestured for them to
enjoy and enjoy they did!
The made desultory polite conversation until the Consulate General
made a hand waving gesture and her office staff gathered at a polite distance
from the little group.
“If you would forgive me for asking, what might we do for you
today?”
“Your Grace,” Abdu Roman showed the diplomatic skill he would one
day possess more fully, “do you know of the Gentlemen serving in the Temple
east of Beirut? I am referring to gentlemen known to us as James, Jack, William, Black Throne, Luther and Singleton?”
“Yes, we know them quite well. They are
members of my Clan and were sent here as part of a diplomatic settlement. We
were told by Oligarchs in Constantinople to provide someone like them in order
to receive needed supplies. The odd thing is the government of the Eastern
Empire had already promised these needed supplies.”
“This has to do with a necessary item for
them.”
The Consulate General held up her palm
and stopped Abdu Roman’s voice.
“Are you one of the children our five
Priests were entrusted with protecting, raising and preparing for their
eventual life with the Nazarene and his Father and his Saved?”
“Yes, Great Lady” both visitors replied.
This had been a standard question in Temples for decades.
“And what is it you wish?”
“Our Fathers have lived as single men for
far too long. We’ve come wifeing for them and wish you could arrange suitable
wives for our Fathers.”
All of the people in the Embassy burst
into laughter.
“Do your Fathers know why you came here?”
“Officially, we told them we would be
sending a letter to their people praising them for their skills at raising us.
We all suspect they were amused by our desire to find them wives and made no
effort to prevent this.”
Maheeb smiled and shook his head.
“This is something that I believe would
amuse all five of them. Ah, is there any chance of finding suitable wives?”
“We have been keeping lists of suitable
wives for over a decade. They tend to be married off and we will have to
arrange for suitable letters of introduction to be sent. I believe we can trust
the People of the Sublime Nation to deal with both the secrecy needed and the
communications.”
Abdu Raman cursed under his breath in the
private language of his people.
“I will never be a diplomat. I forgot to
give you our gift.”
He handed a wrapped object to the
Consulate General, who gently removed the wrappings to find an exquisite
sculpture of an Eagle; the sculpture was done in Cedar.
“We thank
you,” the Consulate General said, truly moved by the exquisite gift. This will
go into a place of great honour. It did. For centuries afterwards, many visitors
to the Ceremonial Center of the Embassy saw the Eagle and thought it a symbol
of their people. In a way, it was…
Later that day, the entire group mustered at a private dock.
There, they boarded a number of river boats and went below deck. The departure
from Cairo ws uneventful. They remained below deck during the daylight hours until
they were 3 days south of Cairo and were seeing virtually no one on the shore.
Once on the decks, the
group enjoyed the view of the wide river and the crop lands on either side of
the river. They had nice meals, caught and ate fish, discovered the joys of the
local ales and eventually entered the deep south.
It never occurred to any of them that they could have gone to the
House of Assassins and they could have put them into protected housing or moved
them to safe housing in the far West. No one wondered why the Dent Folks were
safe in the Temple of the New Way and no one made truly serious attempts to
track where Dent and family actually went.
No one realized Dent and family had not been betrayed.
It would have been enough to wonder about divine intervention (but
that could not be?)
On their boat, James was sitting on deck with his four fellows.
“Do you realize we’re out of jobs now? These Sublime people will teach
the kids Tradecraft we could not and they will get covert action troops.”
“They can’t help smelling James,” Singleton replied.
“Maybe they can learn to control that. I wonder if Abdu Raman
arranged for wives to be sent us. What is the point of arranged marriages if we
have to wait so damned long? Maybe these human and their promiscuous mating
habits have the right idea? If it moves,
fuck it!”
All five laughed and that had the kids shaking their heads. They
had heard the bitter sadness in what was otherwise bright laughter.
Finally, they came into a fertile land with interesting building,
a variety of different breeds of humans and several mountain peaks above 12,000
feet. The five “old men” smiled and they knew their people could have a second
home. But first, they would have to
explore them.
Black Throne looked at Haheeb.
“Tell me, my friend, are you taking in refugees? Our people have
several hundred who would like to escape and need places of safety. Those
damned Han are pressuring us and are telling us we are uncivilized and they
want to come up into our lands and bring us the advantages of civilization. We
regard them as primitive barbarians. All of them!”
“Our leaders suspected you would want to bring your people in and
will be happy to discuss this with you. What of your children?”
“I think they want revenge for those brethren in the House of
Assassins and for us in that we were not supposed to have needed to raise them
in our House east of Beirut. Se love them dearly but need some time away from
our 60 teenagers, who are not almost 20 and who are heavily in the mating
game.” He sighed.
“Is there anything else bothering you?” Maheeb asked.
“We have spent our lives raising children from diapers to adults.
We don’t know what else we can do. We are Monks and know small amounts of
spells. We would like to study magic and try to understand the underlying
basis. Our people in the homeland want to escape and this is perhaps the best
pace for us to come. We are farmers and miners and intellectuals. I believe we
could add to your community.”
There was a brief pause. “Are your people capable of subtle and
very detailed magical coping of complicated chemicals?”
“I would normally say ‘yes’ but I don’t know just how complex your
needs are.”
“All 60 of our children were genetically engineered. We have pills
which are essential to each one’s health; each set of pills is unique to the
individual and will kill anyone else taking the pills. Kill them rather
horribly. We don’t know what will happen when they stop taking the pills but do
know that if they miss the pills for three days, they can never take the pills
again. Your Mages will have to work quickly and very accurately.”
A short distance away, some of the kids were standing with people
of the Sublime Nation. Maheeb’s Uncle Abanoub was allowed to speak for his group. In the distance, a large
group of people were walking towards them.
“What are they saying?”
“James is making a sales pitch
in hopes of bringing several hundred of their people here to colonize
the high reaches of your surrounding mountains. James is telling them about the
virtues of his people. Please keep in mind these people are miners and farmers,
intellectuals and warriors and very calm people. We think you will like them.”
“Then he was talking about the pills we need to take daily. We hope
you can duplicate them.”
“What would happen if you stop taking them?”
“After several days, our bodies would change sufficiently the
pills would be lethal. We think of them as poison to keep us alive. I’m not
sure if they truly are beneficial.”
“Nor are we.”
“One of the People of the Sublime Nation was looking into the
distance and said “we never told you about our nation and government, did we”.
“No,” Abdu Roman replied.
“We are an ancient people with a long history. We have communities
of different people who sometimes mix and mostly remain a bit apart in order to
preserve their people’s unique styles and appearance. We also have an ancient
political system, blended with modern beliefs and methodologies. For example,
one of the old Royal Families went north and negotiated an end of a major war.
In return , they were allowed to be the Pharaohs.”
“What did they do as Pharaoh?”
“They were chosen to rule on disputes between the various factions
– Royal Houses, Academic Houses, the Military, Castes, Guilds and outsiders. To have equal status with these other state
organs, the Pharaohs were given wealth, power and the right to summon the
entire population to needful activities. They lead the combined Nation of the
Upper and Lower states to a great deal of power. Unfortunately, the wars with
the major power to the north nearly destroyed them. The Royal Family along with
the Pharaoh were consigned to living in the South.
“Do they like this?”
“They have not said for several generations. After all, given
enough time, changed situations become the norm and then eventually, the
previous situation seems strange.”
“Tell us more about life among your people?”
Discussion happened for some time between the “kids” and the
“locals” visiting with them. They did not notice the crowd had gotten much
closer.
One of the kids, looking at the crowd nearly upon them asked “Does
the Pharaoh ever visit people, perhaps even new comers?
“Only very seldom, she is very busy.”
“Then, who is the person wearing the smile and the fancy head gear
walking towards us?”
Uncle Abanoub turned and
gasped “It is the Pharaoh!”
Safe Port In The Storm
It was in the year 1 of the new “Crystal Calendar” ( Year 45 of the Death and Resurrection of the Nazarene and the
178 Year of the Birth of the Devine Gaius Julian Caesar) when 25 political refugees were brought from
the House of the Fish south into Sanctuary. These people were still drugged
from short term memory erasure drugs and hard core grief.
Of these people, their Leader, Dent, was the most grief and guilt stricken.
From what Dent said, it was clear the 24 people he lead were far more than
fellow Clans Members, far more than even his people. They were in many ways his
children. This important fact did not sink in immediately…
After several days, the 25 were allowed to recover from the drugs
and to awaken naturally. Dent was not the first to waken nor was he the last.
It obviously took him several seconds to orientate.
“Where am I? Where are my people? How long have we been asleep?”
His nurse, a somewhat demure Half Elven, walked to him and said “I
will tell Doctor that you are awake and asking about your family.”
She then rang a bell and getting no reply from without, sighed and
said “I will be right back”. She then walked out and minute later, a Half Elven
wearing the robes of a healer entered. What puzzled Dent was a Half Orc, also
wearing the robes of a healer was with him.
The Half Elven spoke: “I am Dr. Kelvir and this is Dr. Tomur. He
is a Mind Walker (psychologist) and Priest of the Temple of the Raven. I am a
general physician. Do you know what day
this is?”
“No idea.”
“What is the last you remember?”
“We were south of City Five or what it City Four? We were going to do a quick recon of Taverns
to see if we could learn anything from the drinkers. I lead the group. I don’t
remember what happened but I have the sensations attendant upon having done the
‘Monk Gliding Down A Wall” magic. Then, there are confusing impressions of
combat and the feeling I had engaged in very violent, very angry ‘wet work’. I
an a Priest and Intelligence Analyst and we are not supposed to use our Martial
Arts skills in actual combat.”
“They say you were incredible in your violence and in your command
of the Western Father’s personnel. I speak now as a Half Orc and not as your
Mind Walker.” Dr. Tomur sighed.
Dent looked horrified; Dr. Kelvir rushed to say:
“Relax Dent, The Father of Thieves – who is really the Grandfather
of Assassins – and his son the Father of Assassins, declared your existence a
state secret. We don’t know really what the official word is but they are
saying a gang of hoodlums assaulted a group of Pilgrims on Pilgrimage and that
the Leader, Dent, is very likely a senior Assassin from the House of Assassins
in Central City. All speculation was ordered silenced; clearly, you and yours
are now ‘Legend’. Enjoy!”
“The Grandfather told us ‘do not become known and especially do
not become legends’. People would be scared and might attempt to kill you.”
“Your Grandfather was wise. Who is he?”
“Grandfather is Pentu. Yes, he is the Grandfather of Assassins and
I am biologically his grandson. Well, partially his grandson biologically. It
is complicated.”
“Are you saying that you and your people are synthesized from
several different breeds of human?” Dr. Tomur asked respectfully. He suddenly
did not seem like a Half-Orc.
“That is one way of putting it,” Dent admitted. “I’m told it was a
long process and that it was not perfected. We had to take pills for some time
to cause corrective actions.”
“Where are your pills,” Dr. Kelvir asked.
“If we did not take the pills for a period of time, they would turn
lethal if ingested. We were unconscious for several days and having missed the
pills, had to come them up. We gave them to a friendly clan who told care of
us.”
“Just out of curiosity, who
caused all of you to become unconscious?”
“The friendly clan who caused us to become unconscious. They did not
realize the drug they used to become intoxicated would have such an affect on
us. They were somewhat upset.”
“I can imagine that”, Dr.
Kelvir remarked.
“We felt the compulsion to move west and we left several of us
with these people. A voice in our heads kept telling us they would be all right
and then that they were all right. The odd thing is all of us heard the same voice.”
“Perhaps we should tell you where you are now. You engaged in
combat in a tavern in City Five and ordered Orcs and Half-Orcs in the vicinity
to kill your enemies. Then, he Monk slid down the wall of the Tavern and went
to places where your kinfolk were. You killed one attacker – so we were told –
in one tavern and your killers finished off the other two attackers. After
that, you went to the last tavern and found the attacks of your people had been
rather brutally killed.”
Dent was shocked and horrified.
Dr. Kelvir then continued: “You were taken to wagons which took
you and yours to a place called “House of the Fish”. This is a fishing
community and home to smugglers. They work with both Houses [she meant
Assassins and Thieves] and government agencies. You met the Patriarch of the
House of Fish, his Aunt Beverly, the true ruler, and Rowena, the Matriarch of
the Half Elven You were incoherent and
were given a drug to degrade formation of short term memory for several days of
memory. Then, you were allowed to wake for breakfast and sanitary needs before
being brought here in escorted wagons.”
Dr. Tomur continued: “Once
you were here, in Sanctuary, we made up rooms and placed you there. You are in
rooms that used to serve the bastards who called us “subjects” and who required
our ancestors to call them ‘Masters’. We don’t call them that now…”
Both Drs and at least one Nurse laughed in a nasty fashion.
“What is funny?”
“It really wasn’t funny, Elder Dent,” said Dr. Tomur. “It is more of
a cultural response to our history. We will let the politicians – the Elders –
tell you of this. Now, before you take a nice nap, our nurses will take you to
the ‘relief stations’. You need not be embarrassed about them attending to you
while you are in the ‘jakes’. Our nurses washed you and discussed your appearances
during and after those baths. Nurses can be crude…”
The Nurses snorted and then entered the room to take Dent to his
appointment with destiny (in a manner of speaking).
The next day, his doctors told Dent it was time for him to leave his
hospital room and see the world. It was quite a surprise.
The building he had been in had three levels based on the windows.
In the near distance were spires, tall conical spires made of a soft stone which hardened after exposure to air. In
another direction was several large buildings, some of whose original purpose
was long forgotten. In another direction were underground houses, whose roofs barely
went above the ground.
An odd grass covered covered hill was in the near distance.
“That is the home of some senior people and visitors. It was covered
generations ago to give goats lush grass and us goat milk cheese. They say that
different flowers give different flavours of cheese I don’t know; I don’t eat
it. Maybe you do, Elder Dent?”
“I have Dr. Kelvir and found I liked it. Where are we going?”
“First, we needed you to see what our little town of Sanctuary
looks like. Then, we wanted you to meet the elders. After that, you will want
to speak with your people.”
Dent was walked into a large room with several people in it.
“I will make introductions. This is Rowena, she is the Matriarch
of the Elven and Half-Elven. (She is a Half Elf). This is Forrest Martin, how
is the Patriarch of the people in Home of the Fish and his Aunt Beverly. (Both
are Denisovan Human). This is Thunder on the Crags and this is Olde Chef. (Both
are Half Orc.)
“We will introduce their wives later. Rowena is a widow.”
After a pause, Dr. Kelvir continued: “We are here hiding from
ancient enemies. We hope they are long dead but history never ends. We
suspect you and your people are now in that category. Everyone in the area has
reason to stay here. Some of us do live in House of the Fish, which is our contact
point with the outside world.”
The Olde Chef growled in Orc: “give us a quick description of your
lives before and then go see your kin folk. We have much to tell you and should
do that once.” Then in Elven: “The stories will have a spontaneity that will
not be there in subsequent telling.”
In Common, Dent said “I agree with your Elder Chef. We should speak
in a common language.” He switched to Latin, which was the language the Denisovan
spoke with their business partners with whom they traded. “There is much we need
to tell tell you and I suspect much you wish to tell us.”
“Please take me to my people.”
There was a brief pause during which Olde Chef whispered something
to a young Half Elf who slipped out of the meeting hall and ran to the building
where Dent’s people still slept.
“The Elders say to awaken these people and have them outside the
room of the one called Ten. Dent is coming!”
Dent was walked back to the building he’d awaken in, never once
looking back and walked into the room of Ten, his oldest friend.
“Hello, brother, how are you feeling?”
“Horrible Dent, just horrible. The good thing is the urge to go
west is gone. The bad thing is all of the grief is crashing down on me. I keep
thinking I could have done something, anything, to prevent the losses. I can
not think of anything.”
“Neither can I my Brother. I have been awake a bit longer than you
and my emotions are roiling. I feel like they are battling for my soul, like I
am being eaten alive. I feel worst than when one of my daughters died. I don’t have the words to sooth your pain and
grief because I’ll be damned if I have them for myself.”
Then Dent did something profoundly disturbing. He hung his head
and began to weep loudly. Around him and 10, the remaining 19 of their tribe
also wept. The emotional outburst went on for a very long time.
Dent was embraced by the Half Elf Lady and by his sister KG. The Half Orc called “Olde Chef” was being
hugged by two of Dent’s sisters, Dent’s people were embracing each other before
being embraced by the Elders and the people who worked in the building.
Finally, the tribe began to pull out from their traumatic outburst
and looked around themselves. They were surrounded by Elders: 4 Half Orc, 3 Denisovans,
a Half Elf and multiple medical doctors, nurses, technicians and the cleaning
staff.
None of them had lacked for someone to hold them and to try to comfort
them. It would be an event that all remembered the rest of their existences.
This was the first of several such emotional outbursts. They had
the affect of helping restore sanity to Dent’s People and most important, Dent
himself.
The Elders asked Dent and his folks to sample some of the Olde
Chef’s medicines. They gathered in a large meeting room. Unnoticed, a number of
children – Half Orc, Half-Elf and Denisovan – had infiltrated into the room and
near the adults.
“Thank you for coming,” Forrest Martin, the titular Patriarch of
the little village called “House of the Fish” began. “I wanted to host some conversation
and better yet, give us the chance to drink some of the Olde Chef’s Medicine. We are all glad the God’s rid us of the blood
disease because drinking the Olde Chef’s
Medicine meant to defeat the blood disease was leaving us drunk too often. I
wonder if the children’s version, which had almost none of that strange drink
he puts in might have done just as well. Old Chef?”
“My reduced strength medicine may have been just effective but it
tastes horrible. Why would I want to inflict it upon those who are old enough
to drink medicine?”
“So, Dr. Olde Chef, are you saying you give the children bad
tasting medicine?” KG could ask pointed questions
in such a respectful tone of voice that they could upset a Saint. Fortunately,
Olde Chef had skin thicker and tougher than a Hippopotamus and didn’t realize
he had been called out.
“Of course I do! If
children got the fine tasting adult version of my Medicine they would want to
sample many glasses of it. That would lead to illness among the little darlings
and worst, disrespectful drunken louts. It is an old tradition.”
“That was the tradition in the House.” Ten, who was second only to
Dent in age, was quite definite.
“Are you telling us you gave us horrible drinks and called them
medicine, Dent?”
“Not me James, not me! Despite
some experience with medicine, experience under very strict supervision, I did not prescribe medicine. Remember
please, that I was a Monk, trained in physical arts including martial arts and
some magic.”
His people would later wonder at this emphatic denial of being
licensed to prescribe horrible “medicine”.
The answer would prove an embarrassment to Dent.
“Having cleared that mystery up,” Forrest Martin could have a delicate
touch with sarcasm, “how are you mentally and spiritually?”
“I have the feeling of a fog bank filling the backgrounds of my
mind. It was like the fog had been there unnoticed and then began to move forward.”
“I have had a different haluhnation,” Debra, one of Dent’s Folks
said “Mine is like a migraine headache. It is like I saw a sudden bright dot of
light that expanded into a bend ring with sharp pointy teeth around the ring.
The teeth are moving. The ring has expanded and covered my head with the ring
of teeth behind my Head. I can not see it. The ring stopped hurting when it
went behind me. I know it is there.”
“Is there anyone else who had felt something strange?”
James said “I have had the migraine teeth as well.”
Several others nodded in agreement.
Another of Dent’s people spoke: “My vision is that of blood
raining down. Each drop was full of pain and hurt until the pain stopped,
mostly stopped.”
Another said “I have dreamed of cold white dandruff falling from the
sky. I don’t know what it is called but the dandruff burned when it struck me”
Several others nodded in agreement.
Dent then said “the cold white are called ‘snow’. Be glade you
didn’t experience hail!”
“Are any of you young ones feeling these horrible waking dreams,”
Olde Chef asked.
A number of Dent’s People nodded in agreement.
“Then, “ Olde Chef continued, “you must try the full strength
version of my Triple Medicine.”
Some of his helpers brought in glasses and he poured his “Triple
Medicine” into them. Then the glasses were distributed around the room. He
looked at his audience and said “drink half of my Triple Medicine, put your
glasses down, close your eyes and mediate on the merciful affects.”
This was done. Then, the various children snuck over and sampled
the “Triple Medicine”.
The offended reactions to drinking this mixture of gin, lime, quine
water and whatever else the wife of the Olde Chef had chosen to put in the “Triple
Medicine” amused the adults who had been quite aware of the children’s attempts
to quietly infiltrate the meeting. The children either did not appreciate the
joke or simply did not realize a joke had been played on them.
“Now that everyone has enjoyed their Medicine, perhaps all could
talk of the affects?” Forrest Martin was not sure there was any real affect but
he felt the need to ask.
“The fog has lifted,” Dent said.
“So has mine,” KG added.
The group – but not the children – drank more of the Olde Chef’s “Triple
Medicine”.
The happy news was the fog was gone.
The unhappy news was the fog was gone.
“I am remembering the first fight I was in. I don’t recall how
many enemy soldiers we fought but they fought well. I was just happy we could
disengage. I wish we could have given our dead better burials.”
“I think that would have been taken care of Janet. I know we left
subtle ID on each both and that members of the Imperial Intelligence and both
Houses would recognize this ID. Our people would have been given good albeit
secretive burial. I remember the past as well,” Dent said. Dent then sighed.
“I was a Senior Officer in the Intelligence Agency of the House of
Assassins. I remember now that there are small offices in cities 1 and 2 and
then City 4. City 3 had a somewhat larger Intelligence Agency Office and City 5
an agency second only to the Combined Agencies in Central City. “ Dent looked
disturbed.
“What is it, Dent,” Rowena asked?
“There is someone very important in City Five but the memory keeps
hiding from me. Does anyone else remember who this is?”
Ten said “I an almost picture him, he has quite a beard.”
KG nodded and added “he dresses like a sailor and wears some kind
of military or police authority but what kind, I can not recall. I have the
feeling that we’ll think this obvious when we remember.”
The meeting continued for some time and the adults finished off
the rest of the “Triple Medicine” some
time before their next meal.
The village called “House of the Fish” was known as a fishing
village which also imported items from the lands north of the Central Sea. This
in itself was illegal but much of what was brought in ended up being sold or
traded in City Five (also called “The City of Last Refuge”). They were mainly
known for their fishing, for their harbours utility as an emergency port and
the fact the Harbour Master was a former Imperial Naval Officer. This Officer
insisted on the highest standard for his fishing and for his Courier Fleet.
Forrest Martin had a great reputation.
There were rumours of a secret village well to the west of the House
of the Fish. Imperial boats had explored that area but beyond finding deserted
villages, there was nothing. Some people thought this area was haunted
They were right…
South of the House of the Fish was Sanctuary. Sanctuary was a hidden
city established by very rich and very “humans”. They captured Half Orcs, crudely
genetically modified them to make them mining slaves and sent them into the
rocks where they died young.
They also captured and genetically modified (slightly) half Elves
to serve as Administrative Personnel and to work farms. Their “Masters” gave these Orcs Magical
Spells to help them work the ore better and to filter the water. They gave the
Half Elves other Magical Spells to clean water, to make copies of written
material and to remove disease from their farm animals. (Trichinosis was
unknown in both the House of the Fish and in Sanctuary.)
What was unknown was the “Masters” had obtained a large number of
ghosts who served as the “External Guard” for Sanctuary. In an unexpected event, at a small village on
the Great River, a community held annual baptism. One man apparently drowned. He would later deny drowning and simply said
he had been reborn as a ghost.
This “ghost” was moved to Sanctuary where it became apparent that
someone or something had intended for him to assume command of the External
Guard, to change it’s nature and to delete the “Masters” who still subjugated
the peoples. He was successful.
Finally, to the north, the peo0ple in House of the Fish had lived
n the old desert in the far north of the Asian landmass. They were called “Denisovans”
and were the remnants of a very old people. Several hundred of them were brought
from their cold homeland to the warmer lands on the south side of the Great Sea
and suffered some genetic modification. They were then better able to survived and
in fact, they thrived in their roles of fishermen and smugglers.
They were the final significant players known to exist in the
region.
Buried in the mass of humans – that is “standard” humans, Elves,
Half Elves, Orc, Half Orc, Hobbits and some other human “breeds” were highly specialized
types. These types included the Houses
of Assassins (who seldom killed), Thieves (who licensed the right to steal
mostly outside of towns, Religion (the authorities taxed them lightly and
preferred to not know what the Religious Folks were doing), Education (which
actually were ore corrupt than any of the other house and demanded more direct
governmental intervention) and the Royal Families.
In a secluded building, a meeting was about to take place. The Father
of Assassins (local head of Assassins) and the Father of Thieves (local head of
Thieves) had been reviewing the violence from about a week before). Their Chief Investigator was speaking.
“A group of people came into parts of our city. Two each – a man
and a woman – went to a different Tavern. There, they reportedly ordered drinks,
engaged in conversation and covertly studied everyone. They were thought to be
emitting subtle, changing, odors. An older man with a strong command presence
went to one of the Taverns as well. He sat at a distance where he was believed
to be able to watch the younger couple who entered ahead of him. He clearly
studied everyone in the Tavern.”
“As they say, he was the 1000 pound hippotemus in the room and
probably as deadly. Outsider entered, attacked the couples in each of the three
taverns. The older man roared in rage, attacked the outsiders and roared ‘kill
them all’. This order was immediately
obeyed.”
“Why was this order obeyed?” The Father of Assassins was curious
but also angry; he gave off an odor that usually meant “anger”.
“The order was given in Assassins
Cant, with the inflections of inflections of a Father or perhaps a
Grandson. Regardless, the order was obeyed immediately and was spread. The
manner in which this Great One’s order was spread suggests he was a member,
perhaps a leader, of a Special Operations Unit.”
Both Fathers became very still.
“From the physical description, I recognize the person described. He
is a member of an elite unit. You will not discuss him with anyone. Is that
understood?”
“Yes, Father, it is!”
“Leave your papers and you may carry on. We thank you for your excellent
service.”
The investigator did as her was ordered, braced to attention, saluted sharply, turned
and marched out of the room. He waited until he was on a different floor before
sighing in relief. Facing one of the Fathers was bad, facing both was something
out of a nighmare.
He, like many others, was totally convinced the “Father of Thieves”
was really the “Grandfather of Assassins and Thieves”. Surviving a meeting with
both was something he could not talk about. He could wear a “number 2 pin” like
a number of others did until they were told “that is too dangerous to wear”.
So they just got sneakier about when and where they wore the number
2 pin.
“Your conclusion, Father” the Father of Assassins asked the Father
of Thieves?”
“The mystery man is clearly Dent. Why he is out here I do not
know! The message from the House of Assassins suggested they would go south
with the People of the Sublime Nation. Clearly they did not and now we wait for
reports of what one of their distant reconnaissance platoon wishes to report home. Where could they be?”
“I have never been convinced there is not a secret little city
south of the House of the Fish. There is
a majoir secujrity presence south of the Fish House For the moment, it does out seem a good idea
to probe in that direction.”
“I agree my son, we can still wait.”
