Turn 22 and 23 - Days 127 to 142 - Tidjit

Lord Gizor's men were not tender with the captives.  "The terror of this war is changing us all", thought Godric, grimly, and when he knew he would not intervene, he fell pensive.

"You already know that their camp is a few days west of Mankhundun", drawled the Afghan Hound, undisturbed by the blood across one side of his face.  "These men did not come from there.  They come from Killingtara itself".

Godric looked at Partho, who looked back, betraying nothing, and certainly not surprise.

Gizor's good graces, and the increasing fame of Godric and his company amongst the townsfolk, ensured a swiftly granted audience with the mayor.  Godric had specifically asked to see him alone, not the entire Council.  That allowed him to come straight to the point.  "Tell us everything you know about the Priestess of Sisyn", he asked.  It was not a request, the tone broking no argument, whilst Partho quietly locked the heavy door to the mayor's chambers, and Krik towered above the aedile to his right.

The mayor was forthcoming, as were the various Council members that he individually summoned, with Godric's blessing.  Until the interview was finished, those who left the room were politely but very quietly detained by Lord Gizor.  They could not risk a messenger getting away before they had found out how much trouble they were in.

In trouble they were.  Whilst Partho nodded solemnly at each new revelation, Godric felt more and more fazed.  How, he asked himself, did I not see it ?

Even the little chipmunk was amazed however, when the true intentions of Sisyn's High Priestess were finally clear.

"She is going to what ?" blurted Godric, unable to believe his ears.

The dead were going to walk.  Partho had learned from the monks' library of the magicks known as the Pull, that the Priestess of Sisyn could wield, magic that certain objects could amplify.  Objects that Godric's company had looted from a place called The Shroud, where they had fought a necromancer...and the dead.

Although Sisyn's cult has always left him uneasy, whenever he read about it, or studied its artefacts, Partho had always assumed that the Pull was meant to ease a soul's passage into the afterlife, to ensure no doubt his welcome into Sisyn's bosom. 

It wasn't.  It was magic used to bring back the Dead.  Sisyn was no Death God, he was a twisted god of resurrection.

"Those statuettes weren't dug up by the necromancer", Godric hissed.

"He brought them with him", Partho finished.  "To that great burial mound, to help him raise the dead. To a Taran burial mound, because those men" - and he nodded towards the hapless prisoners - "look, I am sure, exactly like the ones Kehar described to us from the stele he saw there".

"That has to mean", interjected Lord Gizor, who Godric had invited into the room some time ago, for the King of Alladore would need to hear all this.  "That has to mean", and it was testimony to his quick thinking.

It had to mean that the necromancer was Sisyn's High Priest, and that when Kehar had rather prematurely killed him, the "Daughter of Sisyn" had stepped up to take his place.  Over-enamoured with the seemingly forthright and hospitable folk of Tidjit, Godric has aided and abetted the entire dreadful scheme.

"By the Cascades waters", swore Gizor.  "Do they stand with the Deep ?".

Parthoghimeos mulled that over for a while, whilst the mayor looked terrified.  The aedile had not thought of that, and the chipmuk's answer might see him swing for treason.

"No.  No, I don't think so", replied Partho.  "Much of the lore I have gathered has to be assessed in this new light, but, no, I am sure they do not".  He paused, at some length, and no-one sought to break his train of thought.

"I see now, yes.  It is clearer now...the sacrifice texts, I thought they were obscure, but I was reading them through the fog of my own misconceptions.  In the most ancient days, the Pull might be used to bring an ancestor back, or a powerful leader, to ask for help or comfort.  That was its true purpose.  Now, when the people of Sisyn feel threatened, they use the Pull to defend themselves.  I...I believe they know it is perverted, but to them the end justifies the means". 

"Even if you are right", said Gizor, with surprising aplomb, "they might join the Deep later".

"They might", answered Partho.  "Even if they do not, I think they have underestimated the strength of the enemy they face, and therefore the perils of the path they are treading".

"We cannot have the Vale overrun by the restless dead", stated Godric.

"The Whispers from Beyond", uttered Partho, and although his voice was low, that name hissed in their ears and echoed around the room.  "That is the name the cult of Sisyn give to those they bring back from death, into this uncertain world". 

 

"You will have our best horses, and one of my men will go with you", said Gizor to Godric.  "I cannot imprison the mayor and his councillors, but I can force them to accept my entertainment, in the name of the King.  It should give you a good few hours, a night even if I can bore them to death with my conversation".

Godric could only smile wanly.

"You do not bear the blame for this", Lord Gizor said gently, laying a hand on the Ranger's shoulder.  "In truth, neither do those that have just become our enemies.  The Deep does such terrible things to our world.  Our uncertain world, as your wizard friend so justly named it". 

Godric thought of Kehar, of the fate that must surely have awaited, on the other side, the tiger-man who had slain Sisyn's High Priest.  It has been unwitting, but it was unlikely that would weigh in the balance.  He turned away, to hide his tear. 

 

Godric and his companions must ride hard, for Tidjit. Radovan, Ruairidh and Mina were all three recovering from their wounds in that northern village.  They would go, in a blink, from being guests to being hostages, or even victims, should the Priestess of Sisyn realise that she was unmasked.  Godric was ready to wager that someone from Okerdik would try to tip her off by a fast messenger, and none of his company would take that bet...

NB : by achieving an Adventure Milestone, the Hideout of the Whispers from Beyond is revealed.  I spent a Story Point to make place it at the Temple of Sisyn.

 

Travel to Tidjit was uneventful [thanks to the map-making kit, NDLR], and more to the point, the villagers displayed friendly faces when the company rode in, and even threw a feast in their honour, enough food to last them through the night and the following day !

The three members of the company were all in good health, and raring to go.  Despite their having been in Tidjit for over a month, they had nothing but good to say, demonstrating the skill with which Sisyn's cult was able to hide its true nature.  Godric felt a little better at that.  Ever so slightly.  Nobody breathed a word of what they had discovered to their companions, that risk could not be taken.  The Priestess was away, at the Temple, and Godric was relieved he did not have to lie to her muzzle; she would surely have seen straight through him.

***************

They were through and they were out, skirting the northern edge of the White Hills, with the great mountains drawing closer, and the peak of Killingtara cutting off the sun earlier and earlier in the evening.  The Ranger had lied to Ruairidh, telling the enthusiastic little hedgehog that they were, at last, setting out on the quest that Sisyn had given them.  How could he have done otherwise ?  Then Godric and Partho briefed the entire company on everything they had learned, and of course the Ranger guaranteed safe passage for Ruairidh, obliging him only to travel a few more days with them to ensure none from Tidjit could attempt to stop them, and get hurt in the process.

Ruairidh decided to remain with the company; Godric was not entirely certain if he was pleasantly surprised, or a little dismayed.  However, apart from outright treachery, he could not see what the hedgehog might accomplish, if he intended them ill. 

A few days out, and Mina, who was already in on the secret, had come loping into the camp.  A messenger from Okerdik had indeed arrived, and they would never be able to return to Tidjit, at least not with their weapons sheathed.  The herdsmen had not, however, picked up their trail.  They had sent word to the Priestess; but Mina reasoned that by the time she arrived, the company would be long gone.