Imperium

Thornal, Erlyid Empire, 20th July, 1601

Swiftly, the group checked their erstwhile foes for clues and loot. The dual impacts of the fifty-foot fall and Surya's armoured form had smashed the potions carried by the Maven, but the cloak she wore - a peculiar and unfamilar design - was clearly responsible for the displacement effect that had made her so hard to hit, and Sack secured that - trading it with Surya for his shield Gutblock. Hansen paused, then caught up a small shield of well-polished metal. Sack turned over the body of "Cloak" and discovered to his surprise that the dead man was Senator Gravincia - the head of the Imperial Secret Service. He had some keys in a pocket, and hidden in a secret fold of his robes a selection of identification papers, real and fake.

Sack was shocked - when they'd met him - in the daytime! - no clue had betrayed his real nature, even to the highly tuned senses of a Render of the Dark. Even now, he did not resemble the other vampires; only slightly pointed canines gave any clue - and yet, when the half-orc had arrived atop the Gate, his Detect Undead had clearly signaled that the cloaked form was of the walking dead. Clearly, Sack had just slain his second Daywalker; and his judgement that the cloaked form represented a danger worthy of an Arrow of Slaying was vindicated. Swiftly, he hacked off the senator's head, and stripped him and the shredded remains of Princess Calpurnia of their signet rings. All Dahrserai wore such, and without them, the bodies were just anonymous corpses.

Then they hurriedly left the illuminated area of the Gate, for the sound of heavy marching feet was already audible as the Praetorian Guard approached, investigating the phenomena so perceptible from the palace.

They divided into two almost immediately. Sack, and his two fellow vampire hunters, took to the rooftops like ghosts and followed the Thieves' Highway across the city, heading for Gravincia's house. Hildraft, Surya and Hansen, none of them terribly suited for stealth, used the dwarf's powers to slip into the Ethereal plane, and disappeared into the maze of streets, heading back towards the Jealous Wench.

There, they found Prince Crixus had recovered a great deal of his composure. Gathering those of his noble friends capable of travelling, and assigning the horses of those who weren't to the Hunters of Cain - he led the way up to the Palace itself.

There, he was greeted with great relief by the black-armoured guards, who passed him and his companions in without question. Once inside, the horses were led of to be stabled, and Crixus led the way through the intestinal corridors of the palace buildings.

The northern visitors were awestruck. Other buildings they'd been in since arriving in Thornal had been magnificient, but this was almost beyond description. The might and masculinity of the architecture, coupled with the rich and beautiful decoration, took their breath away. Crixus, and to a lesser extent his young friends, appeared to accord the wonders they traversed no more notice than Surya might the hall of a Trialtan inn.

Passing through a heavy gilded doorway, Crixus halted, and turned to the three newcomers. "These are my rooms," he announced, "and I am glad to have you as my guests. Make yourselves at home." The young blades of the drinking party were already doing so, handing off outer cloaks and boots to the well-trained slaves who approached.

Surya raised the point that they wanted to see the Emperor as soon as possible, but after some consideration, they agreed that the Emperor was likely to be in a far more receptive temper in the morning than at this time of night.

Hildraft used his magic of Mending to restore his battered and cloven helmet before setting it aside, growling faintly at the slaves who offered to take his armour and weapons off. A billow of steam appeared through an archway, and Crixus cried "Splendid! The baths are still hot. A bath!" and with that, all the Erlyid headed in that direction, shedding more clothing as they did so. Surya and Hildraft looked at each other. A bath?

Approaching Gravincia's house across the rooftops, Sack and the Renders paused and eyed the structure. The house was dark, locked and silent, but Sack's practiced eye roved over the building, taking in the cleverly-sized windows, the clear area around the building, and the solid doors, and he realized that this place was designed secure by an expert. The use of Detect Magic was even more informative; every door and window glittered with spells and wards. Even the "open air" garden atrium Gravincia had met them in was actually domed in with a shield of arcane power. Not the sort of place Sack, in his days as a housebreaker in Karennal, would have ventured lightly.

Fortunately, he had something of an edge; the keys to the door. Slipping quietly across the street, he examined the lock on the front door, and riffled through the ring of keys he'd taken from the owner's body. One looked right for the door, and he slipped it cautiously into the lock and turned gently.

The key turned easily, with little resistance, and the door locks released. Sack could hear bolts grinding back deep within the stout structure, far larger than it should be possible to move with such little effort. As this happened, the aura of protective magic surrounding the door shrank down, dissipating to almost nothing. Cautiously, Sack shoved on the door, and it swung open.

Back at the palace, the young Erlyid lords, and Hansen the bard, who'd obviously picked up a few cultural pointers already, had shed their clothes and plunged into one of the three pools beyond the arch; once hot, one warm and one bitingly cold. Despite some misgivings, Surya and Hildraft shed their clothes and equipment, and slipped into the water. Attentive slaves handed them goblets of rich deep red wine, far finer than any they'd tasted before, and with chunks of ice floating in them, providing a pleasant cool counterpoint to the hot water. The pair declined the attentions of the hovering slaves, especially when one offered to shave Hildraft, and declined to have their equipment taken away to be cleaned - though in truth, none of the slaves appeared keen to approach the heap of black plates that were the Armour of Asildur.

Surya had been working on the excercises taught him by the mage-guild in Reital, and now, relaxed and comfortable, felt ready to try his first spell. A curl of his fingers, a word, and he released a Clean cantrip which neatly removed the dirt and stains from Hildraft's clothes where they lay on the tiled floor. Pleased, he did it again, banishing the dirt from his own equipment, before settling back into the warm water with a sigh. Maybe this Imperial lifestyle had its' good points....

Beyond the door, Sack and his companions discovered the long hall Sack remembered from his previous visit. Two doors pierced the wall on either side, and an open archway ended the hall some fifty feet away. From beyond there came heavy, pacing steps, neither approaching nor receding - presumably walking sentry duty.

Working up the hall, the half-orc and his followers checked the doors, one by one. At one they heard snoring; in sudden inspiration, Sack selected a key from his ring and quietly locked it. The door opposite led to a small dining room, equipped with three low couches in the Erlyid fashion. Beyond he could see a kitchen, and walkways leading to the slave quarters; all quiet. He locked this door too.

The next door opened onto an indoor training room, with the usual open sparring area, stuffed dummies, and racked weapons. As he turned to leave, though, something caught his eye. One of the dummies was impaled throug the chest, with a simple spike of wood. Strange. A vampire practicing techniques for slaying other vampires. He thought back to Mazahir, Daywalker; yearning to belong with his peers, but never trusted.

The last door led, as Sack remembered, led to the bright pleasant atrium where he, Hildraft and Surya had met the daywalker previously. After checking it, he locked it. Then he approached the arch at the end of the corridor. What he saw there made him pause for a second. Walking backwards and forwards across a broad hall was a massive humanoid figure, seven feet tall at least, hefting a heavy ironbound oak club. It appeared to be an ogre; but his trained senses told him that it was undead as well, almost certainly a vampire. A vampire ogre!

Swallowing hard, the ranger signalled for the other two to wait in the entry hall. Then he slipped on his ring of Spider Climb and swarmed up the wall, then onto the ceiling. Silently, he worked his way around the stair-hall, and into the huge elegant stairwell leading up to the floor above.

There, he explored, finding three bedrooms, long unused for their original function but each containing a very recently placed coffin. These the ranger sterilized, sprinking them with holy water and garlic extract. The final two doors, however, the ones at the front of the building, were locked and enspelled. No sound was discernable from within, but peering through the keyholes, he saw a glimpse of flickering flame cross his line of sight, and - now he'd seen it - he realized he could hear a gentle flutter and snap of flame, like a torch burning in a windy courtyard.

Moving to the other door, the half-orc unlocked it very carefully, and peered in. He saw another bedroom, larger and more decorated than the others. A bed stood against one wall, clearly unused for some considerable time; a long wardrobe and shelving occupied the opposite wall. Dominating the centre of the room was a massive carven marble tomb, ornamented with scrollwork, vampiric symbols, and with a carved Erlyid soldier at each corner, hands rested on grounded shield and head bowed. Around the base ran a broad channel, from which came the ominous crimson glint of bloodbane.

The wardrobes contained the normal assembly of garments normal to a senator of Gravincia's status. Leaving them, Sack circled the tomb cautiously, examining it, and managed to locate a hidden panel on one of the ends. His rogue skills made short work of the mechanism, and the contents revealed.

Sugistratus

Neatly stacked inside were the components of a sugistratus - the armour of an Erlyid soldier. It fairly reeked of magic, and Sack shoved it into his Bag of Holding before 'desecrating' the catafalque and leaving the room.

Finally, he came to the last door, and opened this with enormous care. It revealed a slightly larger room, dominated by a huge desk, cluttered with papers and books; bookshelves lined the walls, loaded with books and scrolls.

On the right of the door, in clear space in the midst of the floor stood a square unit about 5' across, with books shelved on it. Arcane power came off this in waves, and it struck Sack that he was probably looking at Gravincia's spellbooks.

The source of the flame sounds now became clear. Patrolling slowly back and forth across the room was an animate, mobile ball of living flames - a fire elemental! Sack was taken aback for a moment; what a stupid choice, he thought, for a guardian of a library and study. Then it occurred to him that if the contents of the guarded location were papers and volumes that should never be alowed to fall into enemy hands, it was an extremely clever choice - any fight with it was pretty likely to reduce the room's contents to ashes. He took a step into the doorway, and immediately the creature moved to confront and block him, with a distinct air of waiting for something. Sack realized it was awaiting some sort of password, and chuckled at the irony; not only didn't he know it, but he couldn't say it if he did.... Cautiously, he backed off, noting the elemental resuming its' patrol as he did so.

Backtracking through the house, he carefully returned all the doors to their locked/unlocked state, collected his followers in the hallway, and left the house. Knowing he would have little chance of pepntrating the palace, he returned to the group's rooms for what remained of the night.

Thornal, Erlyid Empire, 21st July, 1601

The next morning, after his friends had departed to their own homes, Crixus and his Northern guests prepared for their audience with the Emperor. The slaves made a determined attempt to dress both in Erlyid court attire, without success, and there was nearly a disaster when one attempted to shave Hildraft's beard. Finally, however, the party was ready, and they marched through the halls until they reached the throne room.

The double doors parted, and Surya, Hildraft and Hansen found themselves in the mighty heart of the greatest empire on the face of Alair. Towering columns, dusty banners from centuries of conquest, breathtaking works of art, guards in glittering armour, magnificent courtiers in the height of Erlyid noble fashion met their eyes. In the midst of all this, seated like the chill core of the hurricaine, was a wiry, tough-looking old man, white-haired and bearded, with pale, piercing blue eyes that appeared no whit dimmed by his considerable years. The commanding presence of the man, the power of his personality, was such that for a moment, he seemed to be almost the only man in the room. Not only was this a man accustomed to and skilled at wielding power; this man was power. Crown Prince Crixus, his honour guard and Hansen knelt. One of the guards noted that Surya and Hildraft were still standing.

"Bow, you fools!" he hissed "He is the Emperor Heredatus; bow or be destroyed!" The pair made bows, but did not kneel, and a white eyebrow raised in interest for a moment. Then Heredatus gave his son leave to rise, greeting him, and asking his account of events the previous night. He spoke warmly of what he knew of the deeds of the Hunters of Cain, crediting them with defeating what he insisted was a plot on his sister's behalf; it was clear that there had been no love lost between brother and sister.

Once Crixus' account was done, the Emperor turned his eyes on the outlanders. Speaking mainly to Surya, the old man asked him for his story. Surya started off by asking if he knew who they were. Heredatus returned that he was sure his secret service could tell him in detail; as he said this, one of the courtiers stepped towards him, meekly offering a rolled and tied scroll. The Emperor made no move to take it, instead gesturing to Surya to tell the tale.

Squaring his shoulders, the Tellaran launched in, telling the story of their involvement in the Cain plot from the beginning, missing out only Gravincia's involvement at the Vintares Gate. When he was done, the Emperor smiled coldly. "Your story tallies with the part accounts that have come to me through other means," he said. "It seems the Empire owes you its' thanks."

"Before now, these... vampires were nothing but fairy stories here. Yet you seem to have encountered them in other places. Tell me of them." It was not a request. Hildraft and Surya looked at each other, and then both looked at Hansen.

"Imperial Majesty," said the Tellaran, "we have in our company a trained bard, Hansen of Tellare here, who can best unfold for you the events of the last few months." Unable to believe his fortune, Hansen unslung his lyre from his back and swiftly tuned it, closed his eyes for a second, and launched into "The Fall of Vane the Mace". Before the Emperor of the Erlyid himself!

The tale wound it's way, fundamentally true though decoratively expressed, until the name of the slayer of Vane - Crask Ronin - at which point the sharp-eyed Surya noticed that one of the courtiers' staff, which had glowed green through the audience, suddenly flared red for a moment. Lie detector, he thought, and realized how wise they'd been to tell the truth earlier.

The song ended, and the court applauded, more than politely, but with real appreciation, and Hansen, bowing low, backed away, overcome and nearly in tears of joy.

Heredatus looked back to Surya. "We have much to think on," he said. "Our secret service requires purging, I think." Hildraft, sensing the moment right, opened his Bag and brought out Gravincia's head. The man who'd offered Heredatus the scroll earlier started violently as two black-armoured praetorians appeared at his elbows and arrested him.

Surya spoke up. "May I request that we be allowed to offer our assistance in his interrogation - and in the investigation of Senator Gravincia's house?" he said. The Emperor chuckled. "So... I did not feel such delights would be your pleasure, but each to his own. You may indeed. Word will be sent when the torture is to begin. Crassus!"

At this last, a tall, gaunt man with a harsh face assembled of flat planes stepped forwards and bowed. "Crassus, commander of the praetorian guard. " said Heredatus by way of introduction. "Weave these barbarian experts into your investigation," he ordered. Crassus bowed in acknowledgement of the order, not cracking an expression or glancing at the northerners.

"You may go," said Heredatus to Surya, Hildraft and Hansen. "but please do not leave the city. We may need you again. We may also need to consider a response to this attack," he added flatly, and for a second a feral glare flared in the pale, clear eyes, and Surya shuddered at the thought of the might this one man could command. Then he turned and followed Crixus out of the throne room, observing with the corner of his eye Crassus bow and follow them.