Fable - Ask The Futures of Fae - Ragash

[Adra Eden]

"Ahhh, you must be the mercenaries sent by the Shadow Hand," a komodi Priest met them in the atrium of the temple, pale pastel skin and vibrant silks contrasting against the backdrop of granite and sandstone structure around them. It smiled quietly at them, though the pinched line along its brow perhaps signified an underlying distress, "Please, this way."

Riding along on Brynneld's shoulder, the strange insect did not seem to draw any attention from his men or from those they met in the temple. It was almost as if they could not see it at all.

"At first," said the Priest, its voice a gentle tone that did not easily suggest gender, "we believed it a poltergeist ... or disturbed spirits. The trouble began when we brought in an artefact discovered in a newly unearthed structure found outside of the Forbidden City. When the Shadow Hand came to inspect, she concluded the evidence was not spiritual in origin, but of fae."

"I know very little about fae, but I understand they can be quite a bit more troublesome than mere ghosts. They have proven this point in spades in little more than two evenings..." clawed digits lightly steepled and spread at its front, the Priest issued a despondent sigh as it lead them through an open and airy side passage flanked by sandstone pillars and crimson draperies, "they have destroyed nearly half the storehouse. I beg of you, before they claim anything more irreplaceable, put an end to their mischief."

 

[Erland Karr]

Atani Staal stayed on Bryn's heel as he followed the priest. The ugly little man said very little. What he said was usually loud and interspersed with curses. Brynneld found him a remarkably useful sergeant for keeping the men in line. He also did not strike Bryn as someone who would be frightened by monsters.

When watching the little man shave his head every night with an open knife, Brynneld suspected monsters told each other stories about Atani Staal.

The Shadow Hand seemed to know a lot about mystical creatures. He wondered if it was a topic of interest or if she had those hands in lots of places and was the cause of this trouble in the first place.

"Troublesome, but are they really dangerous?" Brynneld asked.

 

[Adra Eden]

"For your sake," the Priest turned a level, concerning gaze to him, "I pray for only the former."

They came to a stop at the far eastern end of the temple complex, outside a set of great wooden doors. It was here the Priest deposited the team, leaving instructions to the attending Guards that the doors were to remain closed at all times and that, under no circumstances, were the creatures inside to be let free.

The komodo wished them good luck, begged that they take care of the artifacts and other contents stored inside, and look an anxious leave of the area.

Upon Brynneld's shoulder the curious creature clicked and flickered its wings, whisking away from the man to land upon the wooden doors. No one seemed to notice it as it crawled toward the bottom and sleekly slipped through the narrow space between the stone floor tiles and the doors.

 

[Erland Karr]

"Where the fuck are you going?" he muttered under his breath.

"Captain?" Staal asked.

"Nothing, bring everyone up here," Bryn replied.

On one hand he had a job description of 'rounding up vermin'. On the other hand, the warning from the tree spirit and the tone of the komodi had him on edge.

Staal came back with a another ten men. A dozen to round up whatever was living in the catacombs.

"Simple job," Bryn reminded them. "But they could look real nasty so don't bloody panic down there. Boys, you're tooled up?"

Krinnis and Keld laughed and held up a jangling collection of traps. The two brothers had been caught poaching on am estate in Elbion and shipped on out here. They were really very good at what they did, both capable with a bow too. It was why they were here instead of in a quarry.

Brynneld stepped forwards and took a short spear. His sword would be unmanageable in narrow corridors.

"Two groups. I lead one, Krinnis with me. Staal leads the other with Keld. We do a search, lay some traps."

It all seemed very straightforward when he said it like that. Which was, of course, the point of the brief talk to people who already knew the plan.

He even gave himself some confidence. It lasted as long as it took for the guards to seal the doors behind them.

Bryn took the lead in following the path down.

 

[Adra Eden]

The doors opened up to a catwalk structure supported by stone columns that lead through and dissected the open space of the storehouse. From where they stood torchlight shone along the various levels surrounding the open middle of the building. Stacks and rows of shelves upon each where artefacts and objects of various sizes were stored - not on display. Most things were covered with cloths of white or tan linen. Some things were stored in chests or crates. A few rows housed tomes and books, manuscripts and scrolls. Down below in the open atrium of the storehouse, much much larger storage crates sat for seemingly much much larger objects. The newest sat at the far end, near the larger bay doors where it had been delivered a few nights prior on the wheels of a 3-team horse drawn wagon. The crate was the largest of all, the side of it pried open, and the exterior covered in tiny markings.

No movement as of yet, but some distant sound of scritch-scratching that anyone might mistaken for the common pests of such a place.

Brynneld would here the skittering wings of his strange companion, then a chirp. It alighted on the handrail ahead of him, then buzzed off down the nearby ladder to the lower level.

 

[Erland Karr]

He had known it would be relatively dark down here. There was a difference between knowing and experiencing. To being in here and imagining shapes moving in the shadows.

It took time to let his eyes adjust. The sunlight on a ragash day could still sting, though the heat was worse than squinting most of the day.

"Staal, stay on this level," he said, following the creature towards the ladder down. If he was following a figment of his imagination then he probably had bigger problems than faerie pests.

He heard a sound, twisting sharply and extending the point of his spear towards absolutely nothing.

"Mind the artefacts," he said, "Might be worse things than what they already let out by accident."

Bryn handed his spear Krinnis as he started down the ladder. He stopped and reached up to take it back and continued down using just one hand.