* * * * *
After the space of ten minutes, the nearest members of the City Watch arrive; like in any other city on Kalda, the watchmen are sworn protectors of the people, enforcing civil order within their jurisdictions. Some of their ranks ensure the people’s safety while others investigate crimes.
Soon after, more watchmen arrive. They set their own guards at the guild’s outer gate, while others investigate the main building or interrogate Iltar’s men.
The story all the members of Iltar’s expedition share is the same, with only slight variations from their personal perspectives. Each recalls they were told they were going on a mission to recruit new apprentices, not just students for the necrotic arts, but other schools of magic as well.
However, after a seven day journey they arrived on some unknown island and came back fewer in number. Each of them recounts what Iltar had told them concerning the council’s secret, and then relayed their subsequent arrival and actions on Soroth. For the bulk of the men, what they were told was perceived as truth, and they parrot it with sincerity.
However, those that went ashore and survived the encounter with the tarrasque do not disclose the events on the island’s interior; nor do they mention any truth about the three dragons they fought, except to say they were unintelligent animals.
Iltar is the last to be questioned; he sits in the small office on the northwest side of the grand foyer. It’s a room once used for interviewing those who wished to become a part of the magical brotherhood.
Opposite Iltar stands a high ranking officer of the City Watch in charge of the interrogations, a discerner; a rank with the responsibility to oversee investigations into crimes. They prepare evidence of any nature to present before the judicial authorities.
The discerner is a tall muscular man, standing slightly higher than Iltar. His hair is short but wavy, and is a light brown color with dashes of gray. He wears the traditional garb of the watchmen: a charcoal tunic and pants with three thin yellow stripes along the sides of the pant leg and the long sleeves of the tunic. His clothes are thick due to the multiple layers of cloth and metal woven together to create a protective garb that commands respect and authority.
Various items adorn his belt; on his left hangs a pair of metal bindings used for restraints, and a short metallic rod running the length of his right thigh to his knee. A sheathed short sword hanging on the opposite side, its ornate hilt of silver bears the mark of the City Watch: a serpent wrapped around a straight double-sided sword rising out of the water, contained within an oval.
One question after another, Iltar patiently replies to the discerner.
“Tell me again, why did you murder them?” the discerner demands with his arms folded.
“I already told you, Brandir,” Iltar shakes his head, “They were a threat to all of Soroth. And like I said before, we were defending ourselves. It would have been an inevitable battle. We simply made the choice that would limit the loss of life.”
“On your end, perhaps!” Discerner Brandir retorts, slamming his hands on the table and violently leaning into Iltar’s face. “What my men found did not look like self-defense! Bodies mangled by deadly magic, men twisted and deformed in ways no one should ever see! You tortured those men before they died.”
“You don’t understand,” Iltar’s tone is filled with annoyance toward the watchman’s sense of justice. “Perhaps your mind is too small to comprehend what I’m trying to tell you. They wanted a power that would plunge our people into destruction,” Iltar feigns sincerity towards the citizens of Soroth. “Those men had to be stopped.”
“So you’re telling me you did us a service?” Brandir laughs. “How do I know you didn’t try this beforehand? Maybe you enticed the acolytes to rebellion? Then when they failed, you killed all of them to erase any trace of your involvement. No matter how you try to spin it, you committed murder.”
“Then why didn’t I kill the council when the acolytes held them?” Iltar’s shakes his head. “It’s no different. They were bound and barricaded in the council chambers. You’re theory is flawed. Just admit it… I’m telling the truth.”
Brandir’s control over his anger wanes and it shows through his features. He turns away and lets out a deep breath as if expunging his emotions from his body.
“You necromancers are nothing but trouble,” Brandir grumbles with his back toward Iltar.
“That’s why they needed to be eliminated!” Iltar throws his hands in the air. “Don’t you see we share the same opinion? Like I said before, I am reconstituting the guild’s affairs. It will be restored to its original framework with a new and varied council.”
“But it will still be controlled by a necromancer…” Brandir mutters in annoyance.
“Perhaps,” Iltar leans back in the chair. “Perhaps not. That is for the new council to decide.” Further anticipating the watchman’s thoughts, Iltar continues, “Even if I would have gone straight to the local authorities there would have been a terrible power struggle. Alacor would have struck out against anyone who was in his way in order to silence me.
“And if they would have survived they would have sent more men to their deaths.
“None of them, none of them,” Iltar repeats with a firmer tone, “Believed me about what happened on that island. You can search the Farling, Cornar’s house, and this building. We found no artifact.”
“Your friend said the same thing,” Brandir says, referring to Cornar. He turns to Iltar, but before he can speak the door opens.
“Discerner Brandir!” a young watchman calls out from the open doorway. “We found scrolls and books that match what the man described to us!”
“Bring them here,” Brandir commands, and the young watchman runs out of the room.
After several moments of silence, two other City Watchmen enter the room, carrying a large trunk. They set it on the ground near the chair where Brandir was sitting. The senior watchman kneels by the chair’s armrest and lifts the unlocked lid.
Iltar sits back and watches as the contents of the chest are revealed. Among the stash of scroll cases are five crimson, porous textured boxes familiar to Iltar, as well as the two worn books.
So that’s where they put them, Iltar thinks to himself. It had taken the City Watch quite a while to find the ‘evidence’ planted by Tilthan and Kalder; enough time for each of the twenty-one other men to be questioned by several discerners.
Amid Iltar’s thoughts, the watchmen in front of him discuss their discovery, then Brandir turns to the necromancer.
“Are these what you were talking about?” Discerner Brandir points to the five odd scroll cases and the two old books; they were lying next to several other cases and tomes of a newer nature.
“Yes…” the mastermind of the entire affair leans forward. “Those are the texts, at least the books. He could have put the scrolls in other cases, but those are the cases.”
Another watchman enters the room and pulls Brandir aside, whispering into his ear. The watchmen who brought the chest are busy removing the contents and placing everything, including the five objects of note, on the desk just in front of the two chairs.
“My men say they can’t find any notation about scrolls or any tangible discovery from that expedition several months ago,” Brandir states, then asks, “Care to explain that? And what of this Krindal that gave this report, where is he?”
Irritated by the senior watchman’s questions, Iltar sighs and takes a moment to respond. “They were trying to keep a secret. Why would we record such a thing in any of the notes of our meeting? And Krindal was sent on another expedition that would take over a year. I am the only other person who knows the source of these things.”
“And that’s what disturbs me,” Brandir says as he walks out of the room.
Iltar turns to watch the men who are carefully opening the scroll cases and discovering the contents within them. While watching, Iltar thinks, I hope they’
ll be clumsy enough to damage the scrolls further. The more illegible the better.
After several minutes of waiting, Brandir returns, removing his metal restraints. He boldly steps to Iltar and firmly commands,
“You’re coming with me. We are going to pay a visit to the governor.”
The Dragons' Legacy Page 29