Return To Zarcum

They spent a few more days in Meirgrand giving Alissa time to regain her strength. It was here that Julius decided to leave them. He had to return to his home, to find his family. They said goodbye to him on the second day, hoping to see him again. Sister Gladis was gracious enough to allow them to stay in the temple on a few cots they reserved for any traveling members from sister temples. When Alissa had her strength back and was ready they left, heading back to Zarcum to inform the Sultan. They had no idea what awaited them.

Zarcum had changed, the Brand had doubled their guard at the gates to each district and the Ember now patrolled the outside of the city. Lord Ottothal had turned the city into an authoritarian state, with the Bearers acting as his personal gestapo, led by the infamous Executioner. Between the three militant groups the city was under immense scrutiny and security. A curfew had been put in place at sun down and anyone known to have criminal ties or a threat to the Empire had their places searched and thrown in jail or chased into hiding.

The Sultan had thought his establishment safe but that was not the case and someone close to him informed the new regime. When the raid came, he barely escaped having to leave his personal collection, including the pieces to the Armor of Tavasor. The Sultan had another location in the city as a last resort, a place only a handful of people know of. From there he could continue to run his small criminal empire, however with crime mostly on hold, his focus shifted to stopping Ottothal. He needed the Sect to return, they had been gone a lot longer than he had hoped. He had sent a messenger to meet them on the road between Meirgrand and Zarcum to watch and wait and bring them to him upon their return.

It had been a few days and he still hadn't seen the Silver Sect. He was told to wait no matter how long until they returned. On the sixth day he began to pack up, willing to take the wrath of The Sultan, then wait another day in the middle of nowhere for a group that wasn't returning. As he readied to leave a group neared his camp along the road.. 'Why bother checking, it wouldn't be them,' he thought. He ignored them as they passed. He mounted his horse a short while later. Up ahead the group came back into view. Four beings walked in silence. His horses' hooves gave his approach away, and one turned around to face him. It was Harim. He pulled back in the reins, slowing his horse down to a walk. They all eyed him suspiciously, hands on their various weapons.

"Harim and the Silver Sect." He said with his most official sounding voice. "I am Josef. Our mutual friend has requested your presence at once upon your return to Zarcum. He has asked me to take you to him."

Harim slowly eyed him, inspecting every detail. He had heard about the many ways Harim could dispatch someone with his fists. "We can make our own way, kid."

The Sultan warned him they might not be trusting. He said the line he was told to say. "Unfortunately Zarcum is no longer safe for those in league with our friend, he has had to relocate in order to avoid the new Champion Garrok." They murmured to each other. He tried to listen but they turned away. He sat awkwardly on his horse until Harim addressed him again.

"What do you mean the city is no longer safe?"

He explained to them everything that had happened during the nearly two fortnight they were gone. They all shared the same grave look before agreeing to go with him. He took them back towards the secret tunnel they had initially escaped from atop the mountain staircase.

The darkness of the tunnel was an unwanted familiarity. Even though they knew this was a well traveled passage Erigos held onto Alissa. He wasn't about to let anything happen to her again.

"Eri, I'm fine," she shoved him away in a friendly protest. Reluctantly he stepped away, but stayed within arms reach.

The unwelcome smell of the old city sewers told them they were nearing their destination. The now dismounted messenger, having left his horse at the bottom of the stairs, took a new path through the sewers then the one they had taken to escape the city. Eventually he came to an unmarked dead end. He ran his hands along the old stone until he found the spot, he pushed. The wall began to rumble before sliding back and over to reveal an open doorway to another room behind. They ducked through the secret entrance into the new area. The small square room had four wall sconces that gave off a dim light. On the left wall was another narrow passage leading further into the secret rooms. The messenger stopped in the first room and pointed down the narrow hallway.

"He's in there."

Rothox took the lead, cautiously entering the narrow passage where he could see a room at the end. It went on for ten or so feet before opening into a similar square room, only slightly larger with a few more light sources. The Sultan sat at a desk mulling over a ledger. He looked tired, even disheveled. His two bodyguards stood right behind him. Sitting at a smaller desk off to the side was Carson. The four of them were the only ones in the refurbished sewer access room. The Sultan glanced up from his work, with an initial annoyed look on his face which quickly turned upon seeing it was the Sect that had interrupted him.

"Please tell me you found it." He stood, his lavish robes, still in better condition than would be expected for such a location.

"We did but Garrok beat us to it," Rothox said.

The Sultan slumped into his chair, "Fuck...Well that's it then, he has it."

"Has what?" Erigos asked.

The Sultan slowly raised his head, "Tavasor's armor." He looked defeated.

"No he doesn't." Erigos nudged Alissa forward.

The Sultan froze, his head stayed down, his greasy hair falling in front of his eyes as he glanced towards the elven man. "What."

"Show him Lis."

Alissa removed the necklace from her pouch and walked it up to The Sultan. The ruby dangled from the gold chain, catching the light as it did. It was a beautiful piece.

He brushed his hair back, reaching for the necklace with his other hand, disbelief in his eyes. "Where did you get this?" He clutched it tightly, as if it would somehow escape his grasp.

"She too--" Erigos was signaled to be silent.

"I want to hear it from her."

"I took it in Meirgrand, from the museum."

"Is this the truth?" He clenched the necklace harder.

"I saw it in a case, it said it was Tavasor's, so I took it."

The Sultan stared at her for a few seconds. He started to laugh, internally at first but it grew louder, turning into a chuckle than into a boisterous howl. They had never heard him laugh, especially not like that. It was a laugh of desperation, a laugh of a man who had given up. "This is perfect...Here I am thinking it's over, he has the last piece, but then you have the most important one." He shook his head, still in disbelief.

"What does this mean?" Rothox asked.

"What does this mean," he slapped the desk in excitement, "...It means we have a bloody chance! Without this," he held up the necklace. "Without this, Ottothal just has an ancient artifact, a collectors item. It has no power."

Harim stepped in, "Why does he want this armor so desperately?"

"He means to give it to his Champion." He paused looking over them all. "General Tavasor's armor was once said to be imbued with powerful magic. If the legend is true, no other Champion stands a chance to beat...Garrok. Ottothal will become Emperor and the reign of his evil dictatorship will begin, but not without this necklace." He walked back behind his desk and sat down staring at the jewel, spinning it in his fingers. A dangerous thought crossed his mind, "Does he know you have this?"

The Sect looked at each other as if they were expecting one of them to have been keeping a secret from the group and would reveal that he does, none of them did. The Sultan watched their silent interaction picking up on it.

"Good. This will buy us some time to get a plan in play."