The Orëska House

Nysander sat back in his chair thinking and let the others talk while his mind wandered.

"The woman had facial tattoos, i don't know of anyone else doing that except your people Seregil." Micum carried on eating, having been a former soldier he was used to grabbing food when it was offered, never knowing when he might next eat. "I did the usual inspection, hands, feet etc. She had no collar marks on her neck, holes in her ears but no earrings, clothes were Skalan, boots were Faie, no Sengai." He took a swig of ale to wet his mouth for the next part. "her hands were calloused but not overly so,i'd say an archer from the pattern. A small silver ring on her little finger shaped like a haba and an Akendi charm bracelet. Lastly...her tongue was cut out." he sat back with his tankard of ale looking at Seregil.

Listening to Micum’s further explanation of the events, Thero caught onto the details. “Did you bring the ring or bracelet with you?” These were things that were most likely personal items to the faie woman, and hopefully something the young wizard could get information from.




It was painful watching Alec find out about Aurenfaie slaves in such a way, Seregil almost felt guilty for never having told him in the past. Looking at the younger half faie with a small sympathetic frown, he went on to explain briefly. “Unfortunately, faie slaves in Plenimar are highly sought after. Slave traders make a lot of profit from capturing and selling them on to nobles and high society.” The thought disgusted the older faie. The idea of such prideful people, his people, being belittled and robbed of their freedom left a knot in his stomach. “They’re not the only ones. The Zengati are pretty fond of faie slaves, too, but considering the circumstances and track records, we’re probably focusing on Plenimar here…As for trading, only the Viresse have such ties to Plenimar, but no one trades slaves. Not that I’m aware of anyway. To say it would be frowned upon is an understatement.”

Finally turning his attention to Micum, Seregil tried to make some sense of the situation, which was easier thought than done. “Sounds like Khatme. What would you say killed her? Do you think it was blood loss from her tongue being cut out, or was that an after thought?” It was difficult piecing this one together, and they hadn’t even touched on his and Alec’s own findings from today. “If she was a slave, she couldn’t have been for long if she had no marks…I can’t see why she would be found with two collars, but not one on her own neck… Unless..” The faie picked up the gold collar again, and paid more attention to where it closed, rather than the design and material. There were dents and scuffs where the rivet would have been. “….To get that far. She must have been an impressive woman.”

"That's...horrible", hearing it straight from Seregil was possibly even more saddening. The thought of part of his own kin being sold into slavery. The fact that it was through Plenimar and that aurenfaie were so highly sought out made it all the worse. He couldn't begin to understand how tis made Seregil feel, as he was only half faie and had lived believing he was just an average human his entire life. Trying to regain his focus, Alec placed the collar down slowly, as if it might explode.

Noting the evidence they had in front of them, the younger man remained stuck in his own mind, nodding along with the older faie's words.

Micum stuck his hand down his trousers and pulled the small silver ring out of his pocket and leaned over to pass it to the wizard and handed a piece of paper over to Seregil. Nysander was still at the head of the table eyes closed, deep in thought. Turning again to his friend Micum continued, "I scouted the area, sent Beka up the mountain pass and i went the opposite direction. I found a mess to be honest, the ground was soft, it was hard to tell, but looked like there had been horsemen, at least four and two on foot, it was halfway down the road. I couldn't tell what happened if i'm honest." he pointed at the paper, "i'm no artist but i took a drawing of her markings if that's any help. I'm sorry i can't tell you more and i left instructions for her to be burned, we have nowhere to keep her. I left her bracelet on, couldn't let her travel without something personal."

The man swigged again at his ale, such topics were distasteful at best but bringing slavery into things was worse. "The tongue cut wasn't fresh but was recent, had already healed up quite a lot, maybe less than a year or up to a year, certainly not old. Superficial cuts on hands and arms, it was the stab wounds in her back that killed her, one must have stuck a kidney, would have taken anything from half an hour to two hours but certainly a death sentence." the ale and food were sour in his stomach, no one deserved such a fate as slavery.
"The reason i brought you all here and think it's watcher business is that those collars are definitely Plenimaran. Finding them here in Skala and so close to Rhiminee...well it concerns me."

Giving Micum a nod, Thero took the ring, turning it around between a thumb and forefinger thoughtfully. It was tiny next to his fingers, but that wasn’t surprising if it came from a faie woman. The thought left a pang of sympathy which he hadn’t expected. Just thinking of her slight structure somehow brought the woman to life, her pain and suffering had been real as it was for hundreds or thousands more. “Akhendi bracelets are magicked anyway, I would probably have been able to tell more about the person who created than our faie woman.”



Nodding in agreement with Thero, Seregil left the wizard to his own magic as he unfolded the paper to take a look. “Yes, those are definitely Khatme tattoos. The designs are similar to ones I’ve seen before, though I couldn’t tell you more than that. Perhaps someone would recognise them, but the time and effort probably wouldn’t be worth it. Shame really, she deserves to be honoured. I’m sure your family will see her right.” Folding the paper back up, the faie said his own silent prayer for the woman, eyebrows furrowed as he pictured her death. “Stabbed from behind by men on horses…” The very idea angered him. Seregil wasn’t necessarily honourable in all his actions, but to stab a presumably innocent woman in the back from the safety of a saddle was as cowardly as it got. “She must have kept her pride until the last. Slave-masters cut out the tongues of slaves for talking back or being disrespectful.”

Prodding his food around the plate, Seregil still didn’t have much of an appetite, but he’d hardly eaten anything since the previous day. “You haven’t even heard our latest yet, either….Both point to Plenimar. I wonder if they could be related..” It was hard to say at this point. Just because they both pointed to the same country simply wasn’t enough for them to be linked, but Seregil couldn’t shrug off the possibility.



All the while Seregil had been speaking, the young wizard did his best to discover what he could about the faie victim Micum had discovered. The first few images were hard to make out, but he could tell what he was seeing and hearing was from a happy time in the woman’s life. Someone spoke what he somehow knew to be her name, ‘Rhania’. She was given the ring at a young age, which could be why it was now found on her little finger. It was from a female relative, mother or aunt perhaps…Trying to push past these fleeting and patchy memories linked to the ring, Thero sought to find something more recent. Strong feelings and life changing events usually left their marks on personal items, especially ones that had been with the owner for so long. It was difficult working through it all.

Finally, Thero managed to pluck out some more relevant information. “The woman’s name was Rhania…” He finally spoke out again, not aware if anyone else had been speaking before him. “She had been a slave… I think in Plenimar.. It was hard to tell the exact location… But.. She didn’t escape.. Not until she was already here. ” Trying to piece together every bit of useful information, he continued. “She was brought here.. I can’t say why…. Just that she heard something she shouldn’t have….It was enough to make her run, but.. I don’t know what…” The fact that he couldn’t quite grasp what he instinctively knew to be the most important piece of information visibly left the young wizard frustrated. Gripping the ring tightly in his palm, he pushed himself again, straining to ‘see’ more. Suddenly his expression twisted into a mixture of confusion and concern, like he was questioning what he had just seen. “…Mardus…” No. He scolded his own findings, it couldn’t be Mardus, he was dead. “… The name Mardus keeps coming up, but.. I don’t see how…” Once again, he pushed himself, trying to understand.

The young blonde couldn't help but feel sorry for the woman, and pure anger towards those who had caused such pain and inevitably killed her. He watched Thero with interest as he tried to find out more information, glancing at Seregil when he heard the older faie speak of there findings. "Yes...it would seem there is a possibility we have multiple things to contend with..and the likelihood of them being linked is quite high."

Shuddering to himself, Alec suddenly felt a cold chill across his spine, suddenly he didn't feel right. Ignoring it, he looked once more to Seregil. "Did you happen to find your lead earlier? Because I'm pretty sure what I saw will be of interest. It's possible we've taken on something-".

Cutting himself off at the name Thero spoke, Alec felt as if a vice suddenly held him, his body tensed and stiffened, his throat tightened to the point that it felt like he was swallowing shards of glass.

It was silent for a while, each locked in with his own thoughts. Nysanders had been going like crazy while they spoke. He’d let the conversation flow over him trying to pinpoint the source of his unease but unable to.  “Alec. I think you better share what you found today. You too Seregil, I think this is something we all should hear. It’s all linked. I know for certain but not how. I can’t explain it.” He was perplexed and turned to his apprentice, “It is possible that Mardus had heirs and they have taken the title and name of that cursed man.” He shook a finger at the younger wizard, “Stop trying to extend yourself so far, I could feel the strain from over here. You stretch yourself too far and you’ll run out of power when you most need it, it could mean the difference between life and death dear boy.” He sighed at the umpteenth warning he’d given the younger man. Although talented, Thero still lacked a little control and judgement.

Micum listened in silence to them all; he was just a normal man and sometimes felt left out among all these talented people. He knew none of them would change him but still sometimes he felt on the outside. There was more? What in Billarys’ name was going on in Rhiminee these days? They seemed to be staggering from one crisis to another. “Okay, let’s hear the latest then.”

Reluctantly Thero placed the ring on the table knowing his mentor was right as frustrating as it was. Only now did the young wizard notice the pounding in his head; his headache had gotten about ten times worse making his vision blur around the edges. Yes, he really must learn to pace himself more in the future. Relaxing back into his chair, he tried to persevere with the pain, refusing to burden the others.


It didn’t take their bond for Seregil to tell how Alec was feeling, but nonetheless, it was there, making the older man reach out and place a hand subtly on his talimnios’ knee. It was rare for Alec to freeze up like that, though hardly surprising considering the revelation. With a gentle squeeze, he glanced to his friend, trying to reassure him. There was no way he’d let history repeat itself, the faie would happily die than allow Alec to suffer like that again.

Keeping his hand where it was, Seregil turned to Micum. “Well, I suppose we should start from the top since you’re here now.” The older faie went on to explain the events of the previous night, sparing no details about his lead; the swiftly rotting corpse and his gruesome piece of dyrmagnos jerky. Taking a sip of his wine, he continued onto his finding, or lack there of, from this morning. “When I went back, the corpse was gone. I’m not as good a tracker as you, Micum, but I didn’t see any signs of gaterunners or scavengers. There were only one new set of prints and those led from where I left him and were identical to the prints he left the night before. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think a corpse should be able to do that…” Finishing his glass, he glanced around to everyone in the room. “I followed the new set of prints, but they just led up behind an old tavern and were trodden out by the traffic from the locals.”

Thinking back to the series of events, plus the mention of Mardus made Seregil’s skin crawl. If corpses could get up and walk off, what was stopping this Mardus from being the Mardus he had previously killed? ‘No, that was too long ago. There is no way he could be brought back now.’ The thought seemed ludicrous when put into perspective, but it still left him with an ill feeling.

“I don’t suppose my lead had the decency to take himself to the charnal house?” He now looked back to Alec, knowing his friend had gotten into a scuffle and had something to add, but it was unlikely he’d found the corpse.

The younger faie was sat completely silent, body still tense, his heart pounding so fast he could feel it thumping against his chest. He knew there was no way Mardus could still be alive, it was impossible, yet any mention of the man's name had him freezing up. He shook off  the feeling, finally coming back to his senses and paying attention to the conversation that was taking place.

Feeling a gentle touch to his knee, the youngest of the group glanced down, spotting a hand squeezing gently, sighing softly at the gentleness, Alec smiled slightly, glancing at Seregil. He let his thoughts reassure the older man across their bond.

Once Seregil had relayed his side of the story, Alec took a deep breath, chuckling slightly at the older man's comment. "Unfortunately no, I don't think he was feeling quite that generous."

Glancing to Thero and the others, the young blonde relayed his own findings. "Nothing at the charnal houses, except...what I thought at first was just another guard checking deaths to report. He left before me, which didn't seem out of the ordinary until I got to the gaterunners. I didn't get to speak to anyone there, but I did happen upon the same guard, threatening some of our usual connections."

Pausing for a moment to to clear his thoughts, Alec glanced to his talimenious. "Story cut short, I believe he knows about your lead, knows where he was going likely, and knows that he is...or...was dead. He wanted answers. When he didn't get them, he started making threats. Needless to say, it didn't bode well for them but he eventually backed off. Unfortunately, he...heard me listening and evidently he didn't want anybody spying on him. Luckily, he didn't see my face. This is the kind of man who had a secret he wanted kept, clearly. Something happened in those sewers and now we are one dead body short and are no closer to understanding this mess it would seem."

Deciding to leave out his little mishap, Alec watched the others intently, wishing to hear their own thoughts on the situation. He knew Seregil would question him again later most likely.