[Royal Guard] To Captain Lucius Von Stahl

[Sinner or Saint]

((A copy of this letter would also be left for Commander Maitayna Roche.))

Captain,

I had a rather strange visit from Professor Stygian yesterday, in my 
guardhouse at the Wharf. He entrusted to me some very disturbing news, that 
if it proves to be true, will be very destructive, should something not be 
done. I gathered as much information as I could, and enclosed with this 
letter, a copy of which I have also sent to Commander Roche, are the notes 
that I took. I also have in my care a copy of the letter referenced in the 
notes, should you wish to see that as well. I am unsure what we can do about 
this, but I told the Professor that we would keep an eye on things, and I do 
plan on making several passes over the entire city while on patrol. Other 
than that, I await your orders on this matter.

Respectfully,
Commander Zesstra Riknueth, Wharf Garrison

((And since I'm lazy, I'll just post the short log from the meeting so 
everyone can see it.))

[23:39] <Stygian> 6It wasn't a question of whether or not the Guard ought 
to be made aware of information such as he now possessed, but how he could 
possibly explain bad news of this magnitude in a way that didn't make it 
sound as if the situation were completely hopeless. And that was the problem 
that the professor had been wrestling with on his way over to the Wharf 
Garrison to find a Guard to report this all to. Constance would be expecting 
his ans
[23:39] <Stygian> 216 be expecting his answer soon, and the Guard had to 
know what was going on without any further delay.
[23:40] > 6She stormed in through the door, shaking water from her cloak, 
the beads running easily down the waterproof weave. It had begun a light 
rainshower outside, about halfway through her evening patrol, and thus she'd 
called it off early, lightning getting increasingly dangerous to navigate 
through. Maw had been left to his own deviced, which would most certainly 
involve either a good long swim, or the hunting1 ---
[23:40] > ---6 and devouring of a dozen deer or so. She shook the water 
out of her hair, and gave a curt nod to one of the younger wharf guards who 
passed her, snapping to smart attention as his commander strode past.
[23:43] > 6She unshoulderd her crossbow from her back, and nudged the door 
to her office open, going to her desk and plopping down in her chair. A 
slender arm reached down, and she pulled open the bottom most drawe on the 
left side, fishing out a wooden box, and a clean rag. It was a kit that 
contained various things for maintenance of her crossbow, and she pulled the 
bolts from their notches and set about drying it1 ---
[23:43] > ---6 off with the rag.
[23:46] <Stygian> 6He hadn't come here looking for the commander, but since 
she'd just entered, he might as well take this right to the top and not 
waste time dealing with someone who might not believe him, or let his 
tidings get lost in the shuffle. The Commander apparently wasn't in a very 
good mood tonight, and it wasn't about to get any better. He follows after 
her, and as she pushes the door to her office open, he tries to get her 
attention. 1"C
[23:46] <Stygian> 216 get her attention. 1"Commander, if I might have a 
few minutes of your time..."
[23:49] > 6She glanced up, stormy grey eyes flashing huge amounts of 
annoyance at someone disturbing her. A slightly bushy brow lofted, her 
blue-tinted face softening, well, as much as hers ever would, at the 
Professor's recognition. 1Professor Stygian. Please, come in. 6The tall 
half-drow stood, and laid her bow aside on her desk. 1Please, sit down.
[23:52] <Stygian> "Thank you, Commander." 6He comes into the office, taking 
a seat in the offered chair. 1"I'm afraid that I haven't come here for 
social purposes tonight. I have some rather bad news that I need to make the 
Guard aware of. It's more of a potential danger than an imminent one at this 
point, but it's unsettling enough that I didn't want to waste any time in 
making you aware of the situation."
[23:54] > Oh? 6She took her seat again, and pulled the middle drawer of her 
desk open, slipping a piece of paper out from it. A rather frazzled looking 
quill pen was plunked into an ink well, and she placed thepaper down atop a 
scattering of other such things on her desk. It was the typical desk of any 
high ranking official, cluttered, various piles of parchment and such 
occupying it. 1What manner of trouble have you1 ---
[23:54] > ---61 discovered?
[23:54] <Stygian> "It
[23:57] <Stygian> "It's not so much that I've discovered it, as it's 
discovered me. I was recently contacted by a woman calling herself Constance 
Oblivie, on behalf of an organization called the Order of the Blue Flame. 
She is, as I am, a lich, and the organization she represents is a 
brotherhood of liches. She was rather evasive about its nature and purpose, 
claiming that it was a loose organization devoted to sharing and furthering 
magical knowledge.
[23:57] <Stygian> 21 furthering magical knowledge. What I've been able to 
find out about them indicates that whereever they appear, disaster follows." 
--
[23:58] <Stygian> "Plagues, hordes of undead, unnatural natural disasters, 
and similarly unpleasant occurances tend to accompany their presence. If the 
numbers she gave me are correct, they number around two hundred and fifty 
liches of varrying abilities, led by a master who calls himself Azad'hun 
Myrhal."
[00:01] <Stygian> "From every account I can find of him, Myrhal was driven 
mad by his obsession for power while he was alive, and several thousand 
years of undeath have only magnified his madness. He wants to come here, to 
Drache, to meet me in person and convince me to join them. I want nothing to 
do with him or his Order, and I worry about the consequences of his interest 
in me.
[00:01] <Stygian> "
[00:05] > 6As he spoke, the quill went into motion, long, scrawling 
letters, not all of them in the common tongue, darted across the page, 
taking shape. She dipped the pen in the ink well a time or two, dragging ti 
along the lip of the bottle to rid it of excess ink. Her writing was smuged 
in a few places, as she was a southpaw, and writing quite fast. She took 
down everything he told her, and took a moment to review1 ---
[00:05] > ---6 it before her stern gaze lifted to meet his. 1Professor, 
you do realize that this sounds a little far-fetched, even for Drache.
[00:11] <Stygian> "Yes, I realize that. This is the letter she sent to me." 
6He removes it from his pocket and leans for ward so he can place it on the 
desk in front of Zesstra. 1"That's the letter she sent me inviting her to 
meet with me. I met her a few days ago at the Sorcerer's Eye, if you'd like 
to send someone over there to interview the owner. If this woman whom I met 
was alive, then I am Illurst the Templar Lord."
[00:15] > 6A slender, long-fingered hand reaches out, plucking the letter 
up and bringing it closer to examine it. Her other hand reaches over, 
turning up the whick of the oil lamp on her desk, illuminating the room a 
bit more. She read over it, and held it up. 1Mind if I hang onto this? It's 
not the validity of your claim that's in question. You've reputation enough 
that I'd be ridiculous if I denied your statements1 ---
[00:15] > ---61 as the truth. I simply meant that it's a little odd, 
that they'd want to come here. Do you have any idea why they want you to 
join their ranks so badly?
[00:24] <Stygian> "You're welcome to keep it, yes. I have no further need 
for it. As for why the leader of their order is willing to come here to 
convince me to join him, rather than me seeking him out and begging for 
admittance to their ranks, I'm not entirely positive just yet. This woman 
was evasive with me during our conversation, giving me partial answers if 
she answered my questions at all. However, I think that they may believe 
that I know somet
[00:24] <Stygian> 21 believe that I know something which I don't, or have 
access to something they want."
[00:26] <Stygian> "They know the wizard I once studied under, though I can't 
fathom how they could have possibly made the connection. Trying to puzzle 
that out has been bothering me for some time now. But, I think that at the 
heart of the matter is my old teacher, whom I've not so much as corresponded 
with in over a thousand years."
[00:29] > Have you met any of them before? 6She stuck the letter he'd 
handed her under the paper she'd been writing on, frowned, and dug another 
piece out from her desk drawer, laying it atop the other. 1I can't say that 
I am terribly familiar with things like this. Liches, rather. But certainly 
a large number of them coming into the area would be noticed? They'd have to 
have somewhere to stay, correct? I wouldn't1 ---
[00:29] > ---61 think two hundred and fifty people would just go 
unnoticed, as inns would fill up, or...?
[00:31] <Stygian> "Other than this woman Constance, I don't believe so. I 
may have come across a few of their members in the past, but I don't exactly 
have much of a sense of kinship with others of my kind, and don't have 
dealings with them frequently." 6And considering that he'd struck down 
Astyrum the Cruel himself, that wasn't really in doubt. Defeating one lich 
was enough of a challenge. But to defeat a small army of them?
[00:33] <Stygian> "They're wizards. Should they decide to make Drache their 
basis of operations, it's more likely that they'd simply open some sort of 
magical gateway to their headquarters in some discrete location in town to 
make their comings and goings less obvious."
[00:35] <Stygian> "So, we might not notice their presence until bad things 
start happening."
[00:36] > Alright. WHat would you like from the guard, Professor? We can 
certainly keep an eye on things, though our ranks certainly don't contain 
wizards powerful enough to deal with this. Do you think this... Myrhal would 
bring his entire "school" with him? 6Her pen paused, hovering over the 
paper as she gave him her full attention. The cruel cast to her features 
never once changed, and in fact, they darkened and1 ---
[00:36] > ---6 clouded over. This was certainly not the news she'd been 
wanting to hear.
[00:40] <Stygian> "I don't know. That is the absolute worse case scenario if 
he has some huge fit of pique and decides to take it out on the surrounding 
countryside. I don't know enough about him to predict how he'll behave. A 
single lich could reduce to a city to a mound of dust if sufficiently 
motivated. Aside from divine intervention, I don't know what could stop two 
hundred and fifty of them. I don't expect anything of the Guard, Commander, 
but I c
[00:40] <Stygian> 21 Guard, Commander, but I couldn't keep news of this 
sort to myself."
[00:41] <Stygian> "I felt it my duty as a citizen to at least report it, 
even if I can't offer any solutions at the moment."
[00:45] > 6She sat back in her chair, eyes narrowed at her notes. She held 
one page in her hand, thumbing the edge of it lightly as she thought. 
Propping an elbow on the arm of her chair, she leaned against it, chin 
resting on the back of her knuckles. 1Well, I am unsure as to what aid we 
can offer in this situation. It was right of you though, to at least let us 
know. I would hate for guards to fall needlessly at1 ---
[00:45] > ---61 the hands of something that cannot be destroyed by 
normal means. That much, I know. 6She thought a bit more. --
[00:45] > Tell me, would you have even the faintest idea, if they were to 
set up a portal of any sorts, or a residence, something of that nature, 
where you might think it would be? I can easily have patrols increased 
there, as well as fly over it myself.
[00:58] <Stygian> "Not yet, I don't. I'm hoping to learn more."
[01:01] > Alright then. I'll draft up a letter to the Captain, as well as 
the other Commander, informing them of what you have told me. We will try 
and keep a watch out, and have some of our spell casters try and see what 
they can do. 6She stacked the papers atop one another, and pressed the 
fingers of one hand against her temples. It was going to be a long night, 
afterall. Perhaps the letter could wait until the1 ---
[01:01] > ---6 morning, after she'd gotten at least a few hours of sleep 
and had time to think on it a little. 1Is there anything else?
[01:02] * Stygian nods. 1"Thank you, Commander. That is all for now."
[01:03] > 6She nodded, and stood, to see him out. 1If you find out 
anything else, feel free to leave word for me, or any of the other guards. 
They will see that either myself, the Captain, or the other Commander gets 
it.
[01:03] <Stygian> "Certainly."

-Suz

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