FateGuard

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Then die, Tahan thought irritably, staring at Alyss' back. What worth was there in doubting the path of one's life? Life was meant to be taken as the one absolute thing a person had control over. It could be used for others or oneself, the choice being one that should never be judged by others. This was why he found all the chaos surrounding the news of this confusing. People afraid of people afraid of people. People afraid of death.

Death made people commit strange deeds. Out of fear of death, they would choose one man and shoulder their responsibility onto him. In exchange for the mass' dignity and servitude, the leader had the right to be blamed or worshiped for his acts. If something went wrong, the populace would convene and exile them - Ferrick - for the greater good. The collective cowardice of many punished the few - stole his life away from him to satisfy everyone else.

Tahan pulled his hood back, the dim candle light illuminating his boyish face. His eyes were abnormally dark in the shadow of the candles as he listened to Corben's sermon. Most of the implications were lost to him. More names. His eyes shuttered, sleepily.

--

When he was woken from his slumber and moved to stand with the rest, his eyes had caught the small exchange between Derek, Erilyn, and Arkavenn. Though quiet, he was not a fool, and guessed at what Derek would bring up - sometime or later. By chance, he stood next to Erilyn.

"They were probably going to talk about me." No hurt in his words, no opinion. Just a simple statement of facts. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and returned his placid attention to Corben.
 
Eric arrived late, the moon was already high in the night sky by the time he stepped foot through the entryway of the chapter house. The previous day he had spent organizing and aiding the citizens of Gothenheim in repairing the remaining damage from the dragon attack. He had gone to sleep that night, blissfully unaware of the chaos and violence that had gone on in the banquet and celebrations.

That morning he had left in the predawn light as part of the escort with the logging crew, still unaware of what had occurred. It was only after they had returned did someone inform him, a mixture of fact with fantasy. Rumors were spread that the Fateguard itself had attempted to usurp the king, or that Corben had attacked the king. The citizens of Gothenheim were fearful and restless, and tension ran high in the streets.

Eric believed none of the more outrageous rumors, still some spoke of traitors among the Fateguard. While retired he decided to heed the call of the summons, if anything he could provide at least some moral support.

Thus he arrived late to the chapter house, still unaware of the details and the truth of what exactly had occurred but he knew who did, he just had to find Corben.
 
Men like him were used to being treated with a certain coldness, that feel of mistrust from the people he came to know as brothers and sisters, Corben's eyes, looking into his own for a sign of deceit, estrangement was to be expected.

And he certainly did expect it, he was quick to put things together, even with little information, there was a reason for all the mistrust. He still had nothing to help with, besides what little his sorceress had told him, even then, she wasn't the most reliable of narrators, nobody ever was besides one's own eyes. Still, he knew of the betrayal, and that was enough for him to begin with.

He went to serve himself some wine as Corben spoke the names of the renegades, it tasted divine, absolutely divine. For a man who hadn't drank nothing more than infusions made of odd plants, chants and manners unknown to him, anything sweet tasted divine.

Alyss' rambling mutters surprised, he didn't expect the girl to be speaking that way, or that much, but he guessed she needed to unload it, they were going through the difficult road, her far more than him, at least he could say everything about him was just a rumor, as long as nobody saw him taking a life.

"Killing a man's easy, Alyss, we just need to find him, he'll die for his betrayal." He said, "But we're not doing much staying here."
 
Derek glanced up at Alyss as she unloaded her feelings. Something like this is what he meant when he told her he thought being around Ulric would be toxic to her learning to control her own body temperature. Being around him would not only make her angry but it would put her in a position where she would be unable to not think about it and that would make it difficult to concentrate. He was rather disturbed about the part with Ulric trying to kill her however. She had not mentioned that back at the castle. Before Alyss could take another drink he walked up and took the glass from her, "Alyss, stop. Alcohol is only going to make your body temperature go down," setting the glass down away Derek paused as he digested Corben's words. Suddenly remembering something Derek met the Marshal's eyes.

"Damn. I should have known better...Corben about a week ago there was a break in at the shop where Aidan and Nadia work and they called me. Nothing had been stolen but there had been a circle...or rather symbol of ink on a tapestry they were selling. I wasn't even the one who found it. The twins found it with their masks. I'd never seen the symbol before so I was going to have Atlas look at it but he was asleep and I couldn't wake him up. Lilith was there though and she used his equipment to discern that there was no magic in the symbol. She said that she'd take the tapestry back to the twins at the Lighthouse Tavern. It's a...well...less than respectable establishment on the south docks. I thought it was a little strange but paid it no mind in the end..." after a moment of silence Derek shook his head and sighed.

"I should have said something. Lilith had no reason to be learning alchemy with Atlas in the FateGuard. Not to mention she and the twins had no reason to be meeting at a place like the Lighthouse Tavern. The number of drunk and disorderly, assault, property damage cases I've had to go look at there. I should have known. I'm sorry, but I think I've made a terrible mistake."
 

Despite the complete lack of contrition on Derek's part for his thoughtless and wounding words, Erilyn knew that she had to swallow her hurt feelings and keep them from interfering, for now. The words of the boy, despite lacking any emotion, were at least somewhat bolstering. It was true that she did not consider him a member of the Fateguard, not one of her fellows to defend and offer aid even at the expense of her life, but there was something about his words that reminded her that if she was something almost akin to an outcast in this group, he was a full-blown pariah. It was enough to at least ease her defensive stance and make it easier for her to draw near when Corben gathered the Guard to talk.

The outpouring of Alyss attracted, from many of the members, a degree of sympathy and the consolation of words. Clamping her mouth shut and averting her gaze slightly, Erilyn offered no words of that nature. She couldn't understand the girl's reliance on support and her openness with her emotions. It made Erilyn feel both slightly awkward and also, guiltily, emotionally distant. She was laying out her life, as well as her fears, hopes, and inner workings with all of the Fateguard and she didn't seem at all concerned about it. It might be that her skin was chilled and she feared herself icy, but she was easily the most emotionally open member of the Fateguard that Erilyn had seen thus far.

Now, though, it was Derek's turn to speak. Forcing herself to calmly listen and be objective, to forget her anger with him, Erilyn contemplated his words. These things were suspicious and unusual, but she had no trouble believing that Derek had implicitly trusted all of the members of the Fateguard without a second thought before. Certainly there was no malice in it, he just refused to believe that any member of the Fateguard that he liked or trusted could possibly be the perpetrating of any crime, as they had seen with the werewolf affair.

Anger rose in Erilyn's throat and she rapidly suppressed it, but her thoughts were turned to Derek's almost fanatical hatred for Leo and the boy. Willing to ostracize loyal members of the Guard, who had held their own in more battles than the Twins had even seen and when it came down to it, he had needed no explanation from her. He was a fool, a prejudiced and blind warrior too busy caught in his own view on the world. For that, Erilyn could almost release her anger for him completely. She almost pitied him for his inability to see past the facades he created for himself.

Stepping a bit closer to the group, Erilyn felt it appropriate to try and keep things from become a wallow in self-pity and past mistakes. What could be done about these things now? They had no means of traveling back in time and thus they would have to continue on with the decisions made. Now was the time to examine the information that had been gained over time. She avoided looking at Derek, but addressed him.

"Could you recreate the symbol from your memory, or is it lost to you? It could potentially help in some way if you could recall the design, even if it is likely we will never see the tapestry again" she would speak then to the rest of the Fateguard about what she knew of the situation at hand. "As for Elayna, I may have some information on her. For all of the money that she gives to the less fortunate of Gothenheim, it never seemed terribly suspicious until you look at it through this lens, and then council had more pressing concerns than the spending habits of a citizen, but by far the group who has received the largest sum from her has been the gypsy community. She donated money to many of the poor, but she gave them not only large sums but did so for many years. "
​
 

"I remember the break-in," Corben nodded, choosing to ignore the nervous tirade of Alyss. "It was just a circle - a tiny circle drawn on one of the tapestries they make with their mid-mother. Anyone else would not have spotted it. But Aidan's eye-mask found the mark."

He looked to Derek, wondering silently at the rest of his comments. The Lighthouse Tavern was indeed not the sort of place the Twins would go to. They were only just getting comfortable being around people, and the Lighthouse held the worst kind of sensory bombardment. A man needed eyes in the back of his head to go to a place like that.

But what did that have to do with a break-in?

Perhaps Lilith...

He slammed her head down again. Spittle and mucus dashed the flagstones. Then a third time, and her teeth came loose.
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The memory slashed like a knife, each visceral sound in echo. Corben blinked then focussed on what Erilyn was saying. The girl served on the civilian council during the day and was privy to the comings and goings of various guilds and families. The news of Elayna's donations were unexpected. He frowned at Erilyn.

"The gypsies are less in need than the lepers, beggars and orphans. Why would she give them so much more money?"

 

Alyss gripped at the empty air where her drink had been, a cold anger setting in her heart as she looked up to Corben.

"Sayra... Sayra was much closer to Kael than I.... she was a better archer, they shared interests an he would give her private lessons... I was never invited." Sh admitted, her voice cold and monotone. She was trying to calm down, frost and ice dispersed from her skin. "I merely had thought they.... were having a relationship..." She murmured. "Or that they just got along better without me..." She added, her hands lowered to her sides.

"I'd see them together a lot... very close, whispering, in front of me..." She looked to the ground. "I never thought that they...." She trailed off thinking back to watching that arrow hit that archer.... her teacher.... "I believe I should learn more about other weaponry... and I'd like to learn what had been used to poison the king, so I can come up with medicinal herbs, if we get hit by any more weaponry that involves poison like that. I believe I need to pay a visit... to my father, to try and gather what herbs and plants I might need for this... also... as his.... daughter, I have good knowledge on....

On.." She trailed off, eyes wide.







"Alyss, do you know anything about plants that Ulric might consider poisonous?" Kael had asked while she had been stringing her bow- the last string had broken when she had put too much strain on it.

Without missing a beat, Alyss had given an affirmative, and when asked, had given the names of everything that came to mind, thinking it was merely something he had wanted to know for future fights, if he needed it.
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"I'm sorry, I might have indirectly helped him... He had asked me what plants were used to make poisons. I had told him.... Corben.... I need to know what had been used to poison the king, I need to know if it was something.... I had said." She added, looking away. "I'll need to borrow a book from my father... it keeps track of herbs and plants, for all kinds of uses, I'm sure it could be of help." She admitted, looking to the rest, surprised that all of them had known something, yet in passing, it hadn't seemed important.

"We've truly been tricked..."
 
The Chapel was near silent, but for muttered prayers and the the wafting incense was so thick and strong that it nearly burned the eyes and nostrils, the room was lit by Torches and before the Altar of the Fateguard, atop which lay the Banner of the Fateguard a figure knelt in full plate armor, his helm resting beside him, the figures head was bowed low, and he murmured vows and prayers, though if one listened closely, it would seem as though he conversed with himself.

"All this terror, this travesty, all committed whilst i labored in the catacomb beneath, betrayers and comrades in strife whilst i did nothing, i shame our name" he muttered, and the spectral figures that he knew knelt beside him placed one of their hands on a shoulder of their living descendant

"it is in these moments that we define ourselves little one" The acid scarred spectre of Dieter said, not unkindly
"and it is whether we stand tall or fall that is important" the spectre of Alesia added, and Richtor felt a sudden warmth spread through his body, thundering into the shame and guilt the Fateguard Standard Bearer felt like the crashing of waves against the shore, eroding and clearing the negative emotion, first came the glory and Pain of Dieter's death, dying to save his comrades, next came the howling shame and retribution of Alesia, her Brother, Lucian, had been a necromancer of the foulest sort, and Alesia's elation at the sound of his final, gasping breath and Dieter's knowledge that his freinds would still live due to his sacrifice entered Richtor's mind, then, when like the tide they receded, all that was left was grim determination to not fail again.

Richtor flicked swifly through his tome, looking for any reference to his assailants, finding nothing, he closed the book, clasped it to his belt and strode from the chapter house Chapel to the Chapter house proper, looking Corben directly in he eye as he approached
"Forgive me Marshall, but to my shame i have been inactive too long, whilst I labored on Ferrick's tomb, many of you were fighting for your lives, I would ask you give me a task that i may find redemption for his failing" he spoke with confidence, but it was a brittle thing, easily shattered, and those around could hear the pain evident underneath Richtors bravado.
 
It finally got to him. A flicker of anger crossed Corben's face. For a girl who had been so quiet in the days before, this new verbosity in Alyss was troubling. She spoke as if in flood, all emotions boiling, all events conspiring in the heart. It was like a reversal, and only reminded them all how great a disruption had come amongst the FateGuard.

"Alyss!" His voice held authority, but anger was close. "Calm yourself. You saved the lives of a dozen men when you drove Kael away." It seemed for a moment he would calm. But things had been building in Corben too - the betrayal, the investigation, the people's disdain - and Alyss was in the wrong place at the wrong time. His motioned to the window and the streets beyond. "If that does not comfort you then unswear your oaths and go back to all the other ingrates!"

The last words were near shouted. They brought tension to the room. It was broken only by the clanking approach of Heydrich, who came likewise to seek atonement. Or was it revenge? How thin was the line now for any of them? Turning from Alyss the marshall glanced at Heydrich then the ground, putting his mind to task. There had to be a connection to the things his people were reporting. Lilith learning alchemy... Kael learning poisons... Kael training Sayra... the Twins going to the Lighthouse... the break-in... Elayna's donations to the gypsies... To find the connection would be to catch a glimpse of the inner workings of the Wounded Hand.

When at last Corben spoke again, he was calm and vented. Perhaps an apology would come for Alyss later, if leaders had the luxury of such things. Heydrich's approach had seeded an idea... one in its infancy... but growing strong. For Heydrich knew this Chapter House better than anyone.

"Heydrich... I heard there were tunnels built in Dieter's time... for escaping the Chapter House should a siege set in... Can you still access them? And would they take us as far as the Dockers Ward?"

 
Derek shook his head to Erilyn's words, "It was just a simple circle. Lilith checked the ink and there was nothing magical to it."

Corben's words of the tunnels brought Derek to pause, "Corben...you can't possibly be thinking..." though his words implied doubt Derek knew that the marshal was dead serious in his intentions, "Corben, you of all people know what we'd be risking by going out there in these circumstances," normally Derek wouldn't give a second thought to disregarding a containment if it meant they could come back with evidence that would steer everyone in the right direction but tonight there were far too many variables. Someone would find flaw in it. Someone would try to take the sudden retrieval of evidence or revelations into a matter of coincidence and turn it against the FateGuard. Even worse, if they were discovered then any credibility or weight that his word or Corben's carried before would be crushed and scattered to the winds. There was a great part of Derek that was unwilling to risk making a bad situation even worse. This wasn't a simple case of "might as well". The FateGuard quite frankly would either come out of this victorious or they'd lose everything and then nothing would be able to stop the Wounded Hand.

"Corben, please, Reconsider. Think of everything we put at risk by doing what you're planning. If we're caught they will use it against us. If we're forced to disband through some bureaucratic drivel then we'd be throwing Gothenheim away to the Wounded Hand. How do we know this isn't what they wants us to do? This is an enemy we just barely became aware of. If they managed to slip into our ranks what's to stop them from being within city officials? What to stop them from...from...aaaaaagh!" Yelling in frustration Derek began pacing back and forth clutching his head as his thoughts tormented him.

And then suddenly he stopped.

"My sister...Corben, is your girl still sending messages between here and the castle? My sister can still move about freely. I realize she's not actually one of us but she still trains with her Holy Blessing every single day. She can at least take care of herself. Perhaps we can send her to scout ahead for us," it was Derek's only idea he could think of to at least reduce the risk of having to go so many places. The FateGuard needed to start considering their outside resources and at that moment in time no resource could prove more valuable as someone they could trust that was capable of moving about freely as a pair of unhindered eyes.
 
He received the summons and Atlas acted quickly.

Large hands opened the cabinets in his alchemy lab, swinging them open with a loud bang. Clad in only loose linen pants, Atlas didn't wear a shirt however his entire chest was wrapped with bandages. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead as his ribs protested the rapid movements. He grabbed a rucksack and started dumping potions and empty vials into the bag: poisons, antidotes, tonics, it all went into there. As of late Atlas always arrived to disasters unprepared. Well that was going to stop.

Clutching his ribs, he staggered towards his bed and donned his robes. The fabric felt heavy, perhaps that was because of his injury. Nonetheless it hid his bandages which suited Atlas just fine. His magical tome, enchanted to forever have limitless space, lay at the foot of his bed. Frowning Atlas remembered the last time he brought the tome out and it wasn't for his own research, but rather for someone else's.

Poor Lilith... While Atlas appreciated her determination, the woman was horrible with potions.

"It's a wonder you didn't burn up with the rest of her concoctions," he mumbled, eyes still on his tome.

His eyes grew dark then, pondering. Grabbing the rucksack once more, Atlas started rummaging feverishly. Something was missing. Puzzled, he looked through his cabinets once more, but finding nothing. Puzzled, but knowing that he was running out of time, the mage took off to the Chapter House where Corben instructed all of the Fateguard to meet.

Ignorant to what had happened the night before, Atlas opened the door to the Chapter House. Clutched under his arm was his tome, and in another hand was his rucksack. The smells of cooking and horses filled his nostrils, the crackling of torches filled the space, eliciting chills from the mage. With every step, the voices of his fellow Fate Guard grew louder and louder. Their tones did nothing to quell Atlas' growing worries.


​
 

It was disappointing to hear that there would be no knowledge gained from the symbol, but it couldn't be helped. There was something amiss, however, with all of the pieces slowly forming a picture that none could se the full scope of yet. The entire city, the king, the queen, and the heir to the throne were all in danger, as was every single citizen. Wasn't this what the Fateguard had sworn to do, fight against all odds to ensure the safety of all of these things? Whether the town appreciated them or not, it was their duty. They would not be the unsympathetic defender who looked over the bloody ruins of the town and uttered only words such as "You should have listened to me..."

They were the guardians against all harm, the steadfast steel bars of tradition locking in place to keep evil from the city. Any who were not willing to risk a loss of reputation, the fury of the townsfolk, and perhaps even death... then they were not truly worthy. Even hated, feared as monsters and madmen, as long as the Fateguard could still protect the citizens, it was still what would be done so long as Erilyn had a say. She would live as a hermit, associating with no one and finding no comfort in the arms of another if it meant that she could still keep all of the sleeping children whole and untainted. And she dared any of the townsfolk try to bear arms to stop her. She might not raise her sword, but her shield was useful for incapacitating those whom she would not slay.

"You're a coward, Derek. You might not think much of me, but your words reek of cowardice. What will you do, stay quietly in the Chapterhouse all night and play chess while evil rampages through the streets, because you want the people to love you? You are no traveling performer who needs the adoration of the crowd to survive. I thought that you were a proud warrior, sworn to protect the city at all costs, as I am. Perhaps I thought wrong. I will risk everything: life, limb, and reputation to see that the innocents remain here. Would you not do the same? We cannot sit by and let your timid sister try to ferry us messages to determine what's going on. That simply will not work for our cause. Besides the fact, she never swore the oath. How do we know she won't betray us the moment she gets in hot water? Even those who swore the oath couldn't be trusted. And you want us to put all of our faith on one untested girl? I will not stand for it. I will go alone if I must."

Tirade over, and having said more than she could remember having done with anyone besides Leo in the past few days, she folded her arms over her chest and kept her challenging stare trained on Derek. She would do it alone if no one supported her, because she had things in the city that she must protect and with evil afoot, that could done be done from the confines of the Chapterhouse. She was so focused on her words, on her convictions, she did not even hear Atlas come tumbling in through the door.
​
 
Something snapped. Derek strode up to Erilyn and stood less than foot away from her glowering down at her. There were a few things that people knew not to say to Derek and she had just said just about every one of them.

"How dare you. How dare you question my resolve. I was training to be in the FateGuard and defend this city when your mother was still wiping shit out of your arse!!! I have been invested in this since I was ten year old! You talk like all we're risking by doing this is ourselves! Well get a grip on reality because if we fail at this then it's not we who will pay, it will be all of Gothenheim with no one left to defend it!" very few in the FateGuard were as proud Derek. This was more than an insult to him. It was more akin to slander in his eyes. He pointed to the two tombs on the wall directly behind Erilyn. The tombs of his parents, "THAT is my resolve lying dead in that wall. At this point I care about protecting their legacy and what they left behind more than I do protecting any one person in that city that would demonize us!"

Having given all the fury he felt Erilyn as worthy of he turned to Corben, "I need to know what the plan is before going through with this. The entire plan, including how you plan on keeping this a secret. I still insist on trying to send anyone we can on the outside to scout ahead. We cannot make a single mistake here..." as Derek's breathing steadied and he calmed himself, "...but I guess you know that, don't you?"

Derek's sudden outburst at Corben's original plan hadn't been intended. Between the investigation, having to keep what he knew about Tahan secret, and the sudden fear he instilled in himself at the idea of Arcanium somehow being alive and connected to the Wounded Hand had stressed him significantly and pushed him to a mild breaking point.
 
Richtor had been about to answer Corben when Erilyn and Derek began Arguing, though as the Towering form of Derek drew so close the Standard Bearer though Erilyn must surely be able to smell only the big mans breath, Richtor's sword left its scabbard, almost of its wn accord, the flat of the blade slapping Derek's chest

"I have a great deal of respect for your strength and skills with your blade, but i urge you be cautious when attempting to intimidate your fellows" Richtors voice was both anger and regret, and he hoped that the bigger man would just step backwards, but feared that Derek's temper would overcome him and violence would follow
"Erilyn, reason has often been called cowardice at times, a differeing opinion seldom does harm" hes voice softened and he turned to the Marshall, his eyes lit with the fire of purpose
"There Are indeed Tunnels that lead from the chapterhouse chapel to the walls, and to a great many other places in the city, so the Fateguard of old could react rapidly to threats within and without, i would urge Caution however, such passages have not been used in at least a half-century by my research, and whats more, Derek has a point, I may disagree with the intricacies, but capture or discovery would be a blessing for our enemies and spell damnation for our order, I do however, Believe Erilyn has the right of things, we should not go fully armed and armored, nor all leave the chapterhouse, but at a bare minimum some of us should travel disguised, and at least try to defend those to whom we've sworn our lives, and find out who plots against us in the dark" he said, going on to explain how there was no mention of their shadowy assailants in his tomes, barring militant orders of dark forces long since destroyed or disbanded, and even then the details had been scarce.
"overall Marshall, i beleive this threat to be human in nature, more political than mythological" he said, sheathing his blade , though his body language spoke volumes for his hesitancy to do so.
 

Alyss flinched at Corben's words, though they snapped her out of her odd attitude.

Honestly, she was grateful.

Alyss watched the dispute between Derek and Erilyn and then stepped in, pulling Erilyn a couple feet away, trying to keep them apart. She sighed a bit at the ordeal, understanding the stresses that these problems were causing. She looked to Corben, then to Derek before furrowing her brow as Derek spoke to Corben. Within moments, she slung her quiver from her back, and carefully drew her arrows out, then turned the quiver down, a small locket falling into her hand. With that, she placed the arrows and the quiver back on her back and pulled the chain of the locket to her neck and smiled to herself. Within the locket was a small piece of dried, crumpled leaf. The importance of it was that it was a good cure for most poisons, though it had its downfalls. It was all a matter of weighing the severity of the poison against the leaf's side effects. Wearing it made her feel safer, and more assured, perhaps if she had it ready, she could help her team if someone was severely poisoned... though...those side effects...

She'd have to look through that book, maybe there would be a better plant?

Slyss quietly thought to herself, trying to think of better ways to help
 

Her words were not meant to fall gently upon the ears of Derek, at whom much of the bitterness was directed due to his treatment of her earlier, but they were also meant to urge the others into some action, to push for doing something. Antagonizing Derek was only a side effect, not an unhappy one though. Her true intention was to argue with his logic, with the reasoning that the members should stay cloistered in the Chapterhouse. It seemed that Derek was on a short fuse this night, however, and he quickly sought dominance through intimidating, bringing himself close to Erilyn's face.

Nostrils flaring, Erilyn uncrossed her arms to Derek, but she did not make any intimation of backing down. She held her ground as Derek launched into an emotional tirade. As Derek finished speaking, Richtor drew his sword and separated the two of them, speaking on his own and Alyss tugged at Erilyn. Lifting her head, Erilyn turned away from Richtor and Derek and listened to him in his speech about the tunnels. One fight for the evening was enough, though she had no clue where Alyss had found the audacity to try to pull her bodily from her disagreement.

"Control your emotions, Derek, you're not the only one who lost family defending this city and if you can't keep a level head..." as much as she was tempted, she would not go further, for the sake of maintaining some facade of balance. Her eyes flashed in the flickering light, though it might have only been a trick of the eye, and she inclined her head stiffly in Derek's direction.

"Accusing you of cowardice was... out of turn" she breathed finally, shifting her stare to Corben. There would be nothing without the word of the man who led the Fateguard, no matter how high tensions might soar. He was the end-all judgement and his word was law. She turned to face him instead, her imperious posture of before lowered after she had dipped her head to Derek, and now she was in the most compliant stance that she could take.

"What say you, Corben? If you give the word that we musn't go..." the words caught in her throat and she lowered her head to shoot a glance at her leather boots "I would not defy your words, would not dream of it, Corben. How would you have us proceed?"
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Eric heard yelling as his approached the group. There was Atlas at the fringe of the group, Alyss next to Erilyn, Ricktor between Derek and Erilyn with a drawn sword lowered but facing the man, and Corben at the center of the group with what appeared to be the weight of the city upon his shoulders. Eric tilted his head to one side as approached; noting the boy from two nights ago was at the edge of the group silently watching all that happened. The tension of the citizens on the outside had apparently seeped in.

"Riktor Heydrich, if you'd please, sheath your sword, we are brothers and sisters in the chapter house" Eric asked in a calm and measured tone, reminiscent of the authority that he had once held, although completely unaware of what had moments ago transpired. Without waiting for a response he looked toward Corben.

"If you would please sir, give me a short idea of what has occurred in the last day that is not filled with the fear and anger that runs rampant in the streets of Gothenheim?"
 
There it was... that calm, that humility which had pervaded in the time of his predecessor. Eric was of a different generation, when the Pilgrims kept emotions bottled and had an etiquette in their deeds and words. Some people missed those days. They said the City Wall was stronger for the walls the people built around their own hearts. Though no less fearsome and no less troubled, Eric was a leader who had not shown his hand, who had not lost his temper with girls like Alyss, nor let lieutenants make demands like Derek, nor stood for members provoking one another as Erilyn had done. There was a quiet respect in Eric's time - one which had been all but lost now that Ganthor's rule had made a virtue of fiery passions.

For a moment, as Eric's voice calmed the room, Corben wanted for all the world to take back his oath and let the old man lead them again.

Corben stepped between Derek and Erilyn. Now at the centre of the gathering, he put aside the questions and comments that had preceded Eric's arrival and chose to answer the former marshall directly.

"Thank you for coming, Eric. We have ill news. Lilith is dead by my own hand. She was poisoning the King and with her were a band of assassins who brought chaos the King's Feast last night. We believe Kael was with them too. We have been accused of treason and the Council is in night session as we speak, deciding our sentence. All have answered the summons for curfew, save Elayna, Sayra, Aloysius and the Twins. We..." He paused to gather his thoughts. "...We think the Lighthouse Taven, in the South Docks, may yield some answers. It is where Sayra works and she has been seen there with Lilith and the Twins. Perhaps..." Again another pause. "... perhaps we could take the old tunnels from the Chapter House, and go there in disguise. We could find answers about this group, this Wounded Hand, before the Council strips us of our powers."

His eyes glanced towards Tahan, who remained on the edge of the group, blinking angrily. Could Corben trust him not to report this to the Church? Could he trust anyone? Were there traitors in this room, even as they spoke?


 
The large man nodded his head to Corben, a grin forming on his face when he noticed the Marshall's eyes admire the cane he had in his hand - it was a beautiful thing, really. Not too pleasing to the eye but it felt right in his grip, the weight heavy enough and ... Arkavenn knew that if needed, he was able to fight well with this cane. He followed the rest of them and stood in the shadows as they convened - he always stood behind when it came to the meetings, mainly because he rarely had anything constructive enough to add to the discussion but also because his bulk might pose an inconvenience to people. So, the giant had resolved to stand at the sidelines and only spoke when he was spoken to; unless, of course, he had something constructive to say.

However, tensions in the room rose with every minute that passed by, to the point where Erilyn - that dumb girl, had begun to spout words that, on many grounds justified a duel at Derek, one of the proudest that walked amongst them. A large hand was raised and there was a vaguely audible smack, muted by the raised voices as he face-palmed himself. This had happened once, when they were investigating in Ferrick's house and by the looks of things it was going to happen again. This was the problem with them. There was far too much tension and distrust in between members of the FateGuard.

Arkavenn's eyes narrowed when Richtor drew his bleed - bumbling fool! Drawing a blade in the presence of an entire group of people that knew how to fight, and did so on a regular basis while emotions were running high? The giant continued to watch on, however, seeing no need to interfere since Corben was around and he trusted Corben enough to keep the peace. Only if Corben failed would he make his own attempt, and it wouldn't have been nice. Eric's voice came and Arkavenn knew that everything was going to be fine - even if they were at each other's throats, the giant understood that everyone had at the very least a moderate amount of respect for the former Marshall of the FateGuard and the man's words drew attention from all, as if they had gravity of their own.

Remembering something - something that reinforced what was to be carried out, Arkavenn opened his mouth and spoke, his deep, booming voice despite all attempts to keep it hushed reverberated from every corner of the room they were standing in. "The Lighthouse Tavern is somewhere I go, occasionally and I must say I've seen the Twins go there quite frequently. Apparently they're invited by Sayra for a couple of private drinks so that she could know them better." An amused smirk crossed his face when he said that, remembering the Biblical implication of what 'know' could have meant before he continued, "I've asked to join a couple of times but Sayra has always made a rather pathetic excuse each time, but I know when I am unwanted. Also, if some of you were to leave the Chapter House in this covert operation, I will not be accompanying - My bulk is far too recognizable, especially for the denizens of that tavern and it doesn't look like I can be disguised very well."
 
There never was a sigil for this FateGuard. What should have been a woven tapestry of trust, companionship and mutual, unspoken assistance was instead a patchwork quilt of emotions sewn together by belief. Except everyone believed something different. Was it the outside that caused them to fragment? Or was it their own different ideas of the way the world worked?

He sighed. Perhaps this was simply an inevitable consequence stemming from bringing so many misfits together. Misfits who had no confidence.

At Corben's glance, he started, eyebrows rising in moderate surprise. Was this a summons for action? Perhaps he was finally given an iota of trust? He pondered - was it worth mentioning the whispering that floated through the church, the accusations of paganism laid upon Elayna? Whatever gods the church worshiped were immaterial, as it seemed that any of them could be blamed - or credited - with the magics that flowed through the scriptures laid on his skin. Yet Elayna had taken to worshiping a pagan goddess, Aurora, an old relic of the peasant past.

He decided not to mention anything for now. Instead, he moved forward.

"I can go outside. No one will recognize me."
 
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