Chapter 78: Stranger in the City
SENA
The three servants chatting in the hallway abruptly dispersed, shuffling to either side to make way for Sena’s passage. They were typical laborers, each one sporting short cropped hair and the telltale fuzzy, slightly pointed ears of the totems that made up their caste – the humble gezar. Physically sturdy and with a reduced need for sleep, they made excellent servants in the Hall of Voices.
None wanted to get in Sena’s way. Her stride was purposeful and powerful, and the faint click of the claw-caps on her foot talons – worn to keep her from scratching the gleaming, polished stone of the Hall – announced her approach well ahead of time. The bronze sword dangling at her hip told everyone that she was high up in the military, allowed to bear weapons in this sacred space.
They likely feared that interrupting her would result in punishment… perhaps fatal. It was rare to enact Low Justice upon a servant here, but they served in the Chosen Wards at the discretion of the Highest, and all knew it.
Sena was feared even by the Highest here, and the servants picked up on that. They presumed she would not be pleasant when crossed. Her subtle snout, the sharply-pointed ears, the feral and digitigrade legs, her obvious claws and deadly, lithe body… it all pointed to a violent, dangerous warrior. Her metals told all that she was a high-ranking one, ready to dispense bloody solutions to any threat to the Chall Domain.
All of these assumptions were wrong about her. She would never be so wasteful as to murder a servant for simply being ignorant or too slow. But they didn’t know that, and she liked it that way. The fear and respect she commanded with her mystique were… useful.
She heard as the three cautiously shuffled back into place to resume their conversation. Her sharp hearing picked up a few whispered words, which revealed a simple discussion concerning recent rumors about a shortage of a popular grain. Nothing she hadn't heard before, and nothing that she need concern herself with at this moment. Sena already knew about this and had taken appropriate steps.
That was her job.
Like many of the high officers, she had a personal room within the Hall of Voices. It was here that she stepped inside, closing the heavy wooden door behind her. Anyone who glimpsed inside the room would see various weapons and training dummies and other paraphernalia expected of an officer that would lead troops into battle. They would also see many decorative woven tapestries, each one crudely displaying a piece of history – of the founding of Chall.
But no one was watching, so no one could see her lift aside at tapestry and slide open the hidden door behind it to step into her office.
This was a far cry from what anyone would've expected of her. Sena was known as a violent, trusted officer who had the ear of High Commander Genth. Some rumors spoke that she had killed the previous advisor, while others said she had a cruel but effective talent for guiding soldiers into deadly but brutally effective ambushes.
She should know. She spread most of those rumors.
This was a quiet, simply-appointed room with two desks, an oil lamp, and numerous tablets and even some scrolls tucked on the shelves that lined the walls, each carefully-arranged and indexed. Sena had read most of them – indeed, she enjoyed reading, for pleasure or business.
“What is it?” Sena asked, the words curt and abrupt. It was rare that she received a message before the scheduled time.
Tiall, the agent waiting for her, shook her head. “Perhaps nothing, but the signs are too many to ignore, and this traveler is attempting to hide his origins.”
Sena eased into her chair, and gestured for Tiall to take the other chair in the room. Formalities were all well and good in public, but she needed her spies to feel comfortable when speaking to her. She could not maintain order through the same methods she used outside. Fear made those useful as agents flee and hide… and most were very good at hiding.
The supple tulpos-core woman settled into the opposite seat, her hands on her lap. Most who traveled through the docks of the city found the subtle tulpos features exotic and attractive, something that Tiall had learned to leverage to her advantage. One of many agents in the area, the gossip came directly to Sena, rather than surprising the city later. With the discontent in the Low Castes, having an early lead on any possible problem was imperative to keeping order.
Yet calling her in was far beyond the normal procedure. She received weekly reports from each agent, and that was usually enough. Something must be very different to trigger an early report.
“It isn’t that strange to hide one’s origin.” Sena pushed back anyway. Apply pressure, and all the details came out when an agent defended their decision.
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Tiall was having none of it. She had her answers ready. “He took on an accent, but not one I had ever heard before. He claimed to be a Challenger from the Frosted Forest, but they have short, simpler words there. He drew out his words, and some of his pronunciation sounded more like a nearby Totem Tribal.”
Before Sena could ask for more clarification, Tiall added more by herself. “His totem was also unusual. He is a nightsleek, and I’ve never heard of a Tribal hunting that core. So maybe he is a Challenger who learned to speak from a Tribal, but it made me wary. So I checked on what he’d done.”
Now Sena was interested, and she did not interrupt. She leaned forward, placing her hands on the desk. A simple nod told Tiall to continue, though the girl looked nervously at the tail that slid out from under Sena’s cloak and waved ominously. Few vaskan chose enough of their feral traits to gain tails… it put many on edge.
“He did not have any local money… but he did claim to be a [Wanderer]. He acquired money by selling some rare metals and gemstones, instead of pelts.” Tiall hesitated at the next part. “And then when I was trying to learn more of the stories he told, he brushed me off and went to his room… where I could smell mana on the door.”
“I see.” Clawed fingertips drummed on the resin-coated desk, considering what she was hearing. Sena would need time to process all of this. It wasn’t necessarily a problem, as those compelled to wander often had strange stories, but any nightsleek-core in the city was a potential danger and merited scrutiny. “Anything else?”
Here, Tiall was quiet as if choosing her words carefully. “He did tell a strange story about a place where the System broke, but that sounds like many of the stories to entertain. It felt different, though. He watched them like he needed them to know it, even though he pretended it was just a story. And…”
She spread her hands and looked at Sena. “I touched him, and when I tried to sense his mana it was… too much. If he is a spellcaster, he may have had a spell active. If he didn’t, he must have more levels than even you. I can’t be sure I felt that right. And when he looked at me… his body was young and healthy, but for just a moment, his eyes were so… old.”
That explained Tiall’s reaction. Sena had worked with this agent long enough to know that the woman based a lot of her decisions on the feeling she got from people. They weren’t always accurate feelings, but if Tiall was emphasizing it, this feeling was strong… and she was right often enough that Sena paid attention.
“Tell me anything else you know. Name, description, arrival time and ferry or boat, room and inn. I will handle it.” Sena requested all of this with a firm, smooth confidence.
It put Tiall at ease, for she knew she’d made the right decision in reporting this now.
Here in the outskirts of the city, with daylight fading, Sena was more at ease.
It could be dangerous for those in her Caste to be here so late, but her feral features were unusual in her Caste, and her totem rare. The shadowy cloak, and her own [Silent Killer] class, aided in keeping too many eyes from seeing enough to realize she didn’t belong here.
Though Sena believed she did. The Chosen Wards had plenty of rot and corruption to weed out, and that made the simple and straightforward feel of the Lower City somehow more relaxing, for her. The complicated machinations of the Council always had to be weighed against their final effect, while those here had simple needs, simple desires, and simple methods to get them.
This often led to the Order quietly disposing of troublemakers, or capturing them for interrogation, but at least those were problems Sena knew how to handle.
She rarely came here in person, but the speed at which she needed to operate had required it. The Order of Silence was powerful, but operated in secrecy. Their agents were relatively few, and the number who reported to Sena directly were even fewer. Her public rank in the military let her commandeer troops when needed, but the spies that kept the operation running were far more precious.
It was a chilly night, too. Not cold, exactly, but cool enough that Sena pulled her cloak tighter about her, resisting the impulse to pump her tail side to side to get her blood flowing. The brutal combat additions were all part of her cover… she’d sacrificed some of her [Silent Killer] class abilities to take them. Less effective at being a murderer, but her job was administration and investigation. If she were doing the killing herself, something had gone horribly wrong.
At long last, the two agents faded into view, emerging from the shadows behind the inn. Both were ekeling-cores, one of the lowest classes in Chall. Relegated to maintenance of the storm drains and foundations, most preferred that they stay out of sight and out of mind. The sharp features and petite builds were perfect for doing just that.
Sena adored them as spies, when she found competent ones.
“He’s not there.” One of the agents – the female one – whispered that with a strangely worried tone.
“I see. So he snuck out of his room unseen already…” Sena mused to herself for a moment. “I suppose that means he is up to something.”
“No,” the second agent interrupted. This was a much more rare find… a [Mana Seeker], a rare caster class that specialized in analyzing traces of mana left behind by abilities and casting. It was a much more versatile version of Tiall’s [Mana Sniffer] class, though it lacked the latter’s ability to get a sense of a target’s level.
“No?” Sena prompted, curious.
The agent shook his head. “The spell on the door is powerful, but it only stopped the door. Entering through the window was easy, but no one was there.”
The first agent fidgeted in agitation, her nose doing that distinctive twitch of nervousness. “I could smell when he entered, earlier today, but the trail stopped just inside. The bed was never used. The window had not been opened.”
“No magic,” the second continued. “Not even traces. If he used Umbral magic, it was powerful enough that I couldn’t sense it.”
Interesting. A nightsleek had many stealthy abilities, but outright vanishing without leaving any sign at all would be a feat even for Sena’s best agents. She scratched at her chin with a sharp finger-claw.
This needed more investigation, after all. Tiall had been right. But was it really her problem? Was this something the Order needed to get involved in?
“Keep watch on the room.” She pointed at the first agent as she gave the order. To the second, she gave a short ‘cutting’ motion. “You stay nearby, but return to work. You’ll find your payment in the usual place.”
The two scampered off, leaving Sena to her own thoughts.
It had been some time since she’d had a real mystery to solve.
The Gods Must Be Crazy
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