Post by mcian on Mar 5, 2024 10:05:43 GMT -5
Governor Idril granted Kerridan's request for Itannar to discuss terms of a plea bargain, in which he sought to avoid the death penalty. Itannar agreed to do this and paid the prisoner a visit in the special containment cell at the Yew Town Hall building. Itannar's second, Jared, was on watch at the time, as was his assignment. They greeted one another and Jared left the room so they could talk privately.
"Thank you for coming," Kerridan, unusually polite, offered. "I imagine the governor told you about our discussion?"
Itannar nodded, noting through the cell bars the haggard, unkempt, appearance of the prisoner and his unusually yellowish skin color. "Are you unwell?" he asked.
Kerridan rose from his seat and stepped closer to the bars separating them. From that distance, the man's sallow cheeks and somewhat skeletal hands were distinctly visible. "I am sick, apparently. The governor has sent for a special healer. The potions given me do not seem to help. I think my blood is infected from a rat bite," he said, showing him the wound on the underside of his wrist. Itannar could see a reddish lump and several punctures which were a darker, reddish, color.
"Yes, yes, I can see that. Sometimes they carry disease. We kill them on sight on patrols and whenever possible," he remarked.
Kerridan covered his hand and sat back down. "I asked for mercy. I have information I know is important. I want to barter with it for my life."
"Then you freely admit your guilt... the killings, attempted murder, extortion, kidnapping, torture and defiance of the Abbey's benign policies?"
Unhesitatingly, Kerridan nodded affirmatively. "I do. There is no use in denying it. I deserve whatever punishment you give, yet I ask my life be spared."
Surprised, Itannar nodded. "I will see what I can do. This change of heart is good, if it is sincere. For all that you have done, and from what your brother tells me, your past casts a bad reflection on your trustworthiness. The default view of anything you say is weighed down heavily with a history of lies and deceit. Know this."
"Of course, but this is for my life. I confess a man in my position would do anything to hang onto any chance of living, but I do tell you the truth - you, and by that I mean all of you - need to know what I tell you."
"I can promise you nothing except my recommendation to the governor and other officials involved. Tell me what it is you know and I foreswear I will do what I can to fulfill your request."
"If that is it, then I accept."
"I am listening. Say on."
Kerridan took a deep breath. "This will be the end of me most likely, but I care not. I grasp at a straw of hope... the church of Light, the organization to which I belonged, is not what it appears to be."
"I already know this, as does most everyone else who needs to," Itannar countered.
"Yes but it runs deeper. It is a network of cultists who seek to overthrow the entire realm, casting it into the grasp of oblivion's darkness."
"We suspected this also and have some evidence. Continue."
"The network includes many powerful figures; some you would be surprised to know. I knew one of them. He hired me to spy for him. He had spies in Yew; has several there now in fact. He needed eyes and ears to conduct his business with the cultists. They needed bases and still do. Cove is one."
"Perhaps was."
"No matter. This man fell in league with them. He bargained with them. He used Papua to harvest Black Rock for them... tons of it. He had it shipped to them continually. They needed ports for their ships and I facilitated the use of Yew's docks in their efforts. I met him once in Papua. He told me what he was doing. It was as if he did not care I might talk; I guess he knew he could kill me anytime he wanted. He said these friends of his sought the same thing he did. His god was a nihilist entity, seeking obliteration of the order of things that it might enter this plane to sate its insatiable bloodlust. They were working together in aim, though the means were different. I suppose they did not care how it happened, just as long as it happened. This man's name was Lord Thraxas. I suspect he is not quite human entirely."
Itannar listened, but knowing through his friend, Scar, what became of that enemy; that Papua was free of him once and for all, he smiled. "Thraxas is gone. He has been banished from the realm by a cabal of powerful mages. He is no longer a threat to anyone."
"Gone you say? Not dead?" Kerridan blurted.
"My understanding is they used a spell of banishment upon him; sent him far from this realm. Where he went, I have no idea."
Kerridan looked away and down at the floor. "A mistake," he mumbled. "He will be back... but even if not, he has made sure his plan will continue. He made sure his friends had all they needed and he still has allies, minions, servants if you will, all over. Every one of them is in league with those cultists! You see, it is much bigger than you think! It is well-nigh unstoppable at this stage, but if you all band together, you may yet defeat it."
“How did you fall in with Thraxas? Did the previous Abbot know of this?”
“I cannot say if he did or did not. I was of similar mind to Abbot Costello it seemed; we worked well together. He appointed me to handle certain business at the Abbey so it was I whom Thraxas contacted. I made sure I never spoke to anyone of it… until now. Is this not enough to trade for my life?” he pleaded.
“If what you say is true, and these cultists succeed, it may be a short life indeed. Yet I will report this to the governor. It would help to have names and places of these cultists.”
Kerridan shook his head. “He was not so foolish as to tell me who they were and it was not necessary he did. He did say they had a plan and we would all benefit in the end, in the renovation that his god would usher in, if we were compliant and obedient.”
“And you believed this swill?”
Kerridan scowled. “Of course not! I thought him a fool like the rest. I wanted the money and some power. He obliged. It was business only for me, whatever it was for him and the others.”
Itannar stepped away from the cell. “I thank you for this information.”
“Will you recommend my life be spared? I have told you everything… everything!”
“I will not tell you that, but I will barter in good faith. If you remember anything else, you must convey it. It may help your chances.”
Kerridan nodded and sighed, knowing it was all he could hope for.
Itannar departed to seek an audience with the governor.
Kerridan stared at the floor, absent-mindedly scratching the injury to his wrist.
Outside, concealed and invisible to human eye, Damien Racsen watched Itannar leave the building. He had discovered the location of his quarry through the mental link between he and it. He smiled to himself, admiring the vast and formidable array of potent magical warding placed skillfully around the perimeter of the building, fully inhibiting any supernatural entrance or egress even though he had been given permission to enter by the unwitting human slave within.
This human is of great value to someone. It bears need of my continued interest and supervision.
"Thank you for coming," Kerridan, unusually polite, offered. "I imagine the governor told you about our discussion?"
Itannar nodded, noting through the cell bars the haggard, unkempt, appearance of the prisoner and his unusually yellowish skin color. "Are you unwell?" he asked.
Kerridan rose from his seat and stepped closer to the bars separating them. From that distance, the man's sallow cheeks and somewhat skeletal hands were distinctly visible. "I am sick, apparently. The governor has sent for a special healer. The potions given me do not seem to help. I think my blood is infected from a rat bite," he said, showing him the wound on the underside of his wrist. Itannar could see a reddish lump and several punctures which were a darker, reddish, color.
"Yes, yes, I can see that. Sometimes they carry disease. We kill them on sight on patrols and whenever possible," he remarked.
Kerridan covered his hand and sat back down. "I asked for mercy. I have information I know is important. I want to barter with it for my life."
"Then you freely admit your guilt... the killings, attempted murder, extortion, kidnapping, torture and defiance of the Abbey's benign policies?"
Unhesitatingly, Kerridan nodded affirmatively. "I do. There is no use in denying it. I deserve whatever punishment you give, yet I ask my life be spared."
Surprised, Itannar nodded. "I will see what I can do. This change of heart is good, if it is sincere. For all that you have done, and from what your brother tells me, your past casts a bad reflection on your trustworthiness. The default view of anything you say is weighed down heavily with a history of lies and deceit. Know this."
"Of course, but this is for my life. I confess a man in my position would do anything to hang onto any chance of living, but I do tell you the truth - you, and by that I mean all of you - need to know what I tell you."
"I can promise you nothing except my recommendation to the governor and other officials involved. Tell me what it is you know and I foreswear I will do what I can to fulfill your request."
"If that is it, then I accept."
"I am listening. Say on."
Kerridan took a deep breath. "This will be the end of me most likely, but I care not. I grasp at a straw of hope... the church of Light, the organization to which I belonged, is not what it appears to be."
"I already know this, as does most everyone else who needs to," Itannar countered.
"Yes but it runs deeper. It is a network of cultists who seek to overthrow the entire realm, casting it into the grasp of oblivion's darkness."
"We suspected this also and have some evidence. Continue."
"The network includes many powerful figures; some you would be surprised to know. I knew one of them. He hired me to spy for him. He had spies in Yew; has several there now in fact. He needed eyes and ears to conduct his business with the cultists. They needed bases and still do. Cove is one."
"Perhaps was."
"No matter. This man fell in league with them. He bargained with them. He used Papua to harvest Black Rock for them... tons of it. He had it shipped to them continually. They needed ports for their ships and I facilitated the use of Yew's docks in their efforts. I met him once in Papua. He told me what he was doing. It was as if he did not care I might talk; I guess he knew he could kill me anytime he wanted. He said these friends of his sought the same thing he did. His god was a nihilist entity, seeking obliteration of the order of things that it might enter this plane to sate its insatiable bloodlust. They were working together in aim, though the means were different. I suppose they did not care how it happened, just as long as it happened. This man's name was Lord Thraxas. I suspect he is not quite human entirely."
Itannar listened, but knowing through his friend, Scar, what became of that enemy; that Papua was free of him once and for all, he smiled. "Thraxas is gone. He has been banished from the realm by a cabal of powerful mages. He is no longer a threat to anyone."
"Gone you say? Not dead?" Kerridan blurted.
"My understanding is they used a spell of banishment upon him; sent him far from this realm. Where he went, I have no idea."
Kerridan looked away and down at the floor. "A mistake," he mumbled. "He will be back... but even if not, he has made sure his plan will continue. He made sure his friends had all they needed and he still has allies, minions, servants if you will, all over. Every one of them is in league with those cultists! You see, it is much bigger than you think! It is well-nigh unstoppable at this stage, but if you all band together, you may yet defeat it."
“How did you fall in with Thraxas? Did the previous Abbot know of this?”
“I cannot say if he did or did not. I was of similar mind to Abbot Costello it seemed; we worked well together. He appointed me to handle certain business at the Abbey so it was I whom Thraxas contacted. I made sure I never spoke to anyone of it… until now. Is this not enough to trade for my life?” he pleaded.
“If what you say is true, and these cultists succeed, it may be a short life indeed. Yet I will report this to the governor. It would help to have names and places of these cultists.”
Kerridan shook his head. “He was not so foolish as to tell me who they were and it was not necessary he did. He did say they had a plan and we would all benefit in the end, in the renovation that his god would usher in, if we were compliant and obedient.”
“And you believed this swill?”
Kerridan scowled. “Of course not! I thought him a fool like the rest. I wanted the money and some power. He obliged. It was business only for me, whatever it was for him and the others.”
Itannar stepped away from the cell. “I thank you for this information.”
“Will you recommend my life be spared? I have told you everything… everything!”
“I will not tell you that, but I will barter in good faith. If you remember anything else, you must convey it. It may help your chances.”
Kerridan nodded and sighed, knowing it was all he could hope for.
Itannar departed to seek an audience with the governor.
Kerridan stared at the floor, absent-mindedly scratching the injury to his wrist.
Outside, concealed and invisible to human eye, Damien Racsen watched Itannar leave the building. He had discovered the location of his quarry through the mental link between he and it. He smiled to himself, admiring the vast and formidable array of potent magical warding placed skillfully around the perimeter of the building, fully inhibiting any supernatural entrance or egress even though he had been given permission to enter by the unwitting human slave within.
This human is of great value to someone. It bears need of my continued interest and supervision.