"Brothers, it is time for us to renew our efforts." Uriah's visage was even more lean and craggy, showing the signs of stresses and pains -- but the old light was once more in his eyes as his gaze swept the small chamber. "We suffered setbacks in our campaign, but they are only setbacks, not failures -- unless we decide to fail ourselves and the god by stopping short."
From the farthest end of the table, the blind priest spoke: "I follow your lead, as the god commands, Presbyter, let there never be doubt of that. And there are questions that I feel should be asked and answered, so that we are certain we have learned what is needful from what has been in order that it may not come again."
"Your faith and loyalty are known and undoubted, Eldest." Uriah's reply was firm. "Speak your concern, and I will answer fully." Others around the table turned expectantly towards the back as the old voice spoke again. "Very well. There were two prisoners held securely in the crypt cells: a girl, and a man. When the attack came from outside, both had already vanished. Do we know how this was accomplished? Have we probed the depths of that error so that it cannot occur again?"
Uriah slowly scanned each face around the table before responding. "The girl, named Sharise, was a harlot, as you all doubtless recall, one whose body had been unlawfully used by an errant deacon of ours while he was lost in some madness. I had the Serjeant locate and capture her, to assure ourselves that she did not carry our miscreant's child. The erring deacon was destroyed for his sin. The sniffers were certain that she was the one; she had the memories of her encounter with the deacon within her mind, there was no doubt of her identity. She was thoroughly bound and locked within the cells, awaiting disposition. I had intended to have her memories burned away, leaving her as a properly mindful convert, and said as much to the Serjeant when I examined her. You are correct; before the attack on our Temple began, she had already escaped where no escape was possible." The measured tones held no trace of uncertainty or doubt. "Let us hold there on her account while I fill in the picture with other relevant matters."
"The man who also escaped was named Arrek; a curious case. He looked exactly, precisely in all details, like another man by the name of Raker, with whom you are all likewise familiar. You recall the story of the duel with the daemon, with Raker's child's life and the daemon's Name at risk? The tale in the street had Raker dead at the hands of the daemon, his head shattered completely and his child stolen away in the nick of time by his friends. The daemon, though victorious, was thwarted; the prize of the child snatched out of his hands. Some time later, this Raker appears back in Rhydin, tending yet another child, Aidenn by name -- and that name you know as well as a daemon-spawn destined for the flames at the stake." An unsettled feeling went about the table, and the assembled cowled men shifted in their seats.
"The decision was made to take this Aidenn, to complete the sentence pronounced upon all daemon-spawn by the god as an example to the town, and the method chosen was to seize Raker and use him as bait to trap Aidenn, who had suddenly vanished from view. At this time, we did not know that there were two men that looked identical to each other, and the one we captured turned out to be Arrek rather than Raker. While in the process of discovery, Arrek somehow escaped from the cells some time before the assault on our walls."
"Now, let me begin to tie these events and people together." Uriah continued. "Arrek told me that he had been trained by an old man after having been revived from death at the hands of the daemon, and set to guarding Raker's child. He so served until that child, named Emerald, attained her majority and left to make her own way; whereupon he returned to Rhydin to begin a new life for himself. There, one of our deacons mistook him for Raker and brought him captive to the Temple as per my orders. "
"The missing harlot; Sharise? Brothers, she had encountered an old man after her assignation with our errant deacon, and was also said to have been trained by that old man after she made the decision to leave her life on the streets. Aidenn, too, has a rumored connection to that old man. The one who thwarted the daemon's lust for Raker's daughter, Emerald? The same old man. His name is Tao, and there is more to tell of him that is pertinent to us."
"Hearing of him from several sources, I set the Serjeant to find him and bring him to me for questioning. This Tao was said to be very old and feeble, even rumored to be dying in the aftermath of an exorcism somewhere out in the woods. The Serjeant tracked him down late one night, and set a squad to take him. Unfortunately, the old man turned out to be better with a sword than any man that old should have been, and the Serjeant was forced to put him down for good in the exchange. The body was brought here to the Temple; I examined it myself. Dead, and his sword in fragments on the stone slab. But would he remain so? The Serjeant had heard stories of earlier deaths and returns of this Tao; was this to be another? "
There was no movement around the table; all eyes were locked onto the Presbyter standing at the head. "Now we come to the night of the attack, brothers. Before the invaders came over the walls, the harlot and the man Arrek were gone. So, too, was the body of this Tao, leaving only the shattered pieces of his sword and its ornaments behind in the locked and sealed crypt. The brother who took my place at the Evening Rite was slain; was he mistaken for me? Was I the true target? It seems probable, but does the assassin know of his failure? Was it Arrek? Or was it this Tao, restored again to life?"
"I am alive, brothers, and returned to do the god's work here in this cesspit of a city. Answers are needed, and I propose to obtain them. We will renew our efforts to capture those who have escaped; the harlot, the demon spawn, the mirrored men -- Arrek and Raker -- and the old man, this Tao that is linked to all of them. The god did not send us here to fail, to leave this sin-soaked city in its wickedness and corruption. We were not aware before of the linkages; by the god's will, we are now. We did not know that evildoers might find hidden assistance even within the holy precincts; we are now. The weakness here shall be burned away, and the god's plan accomplished."
The blind priest kept his face turned towards Uriah. "And the method of the escapes, Presbyter? Have the holes been filled so that it cannot happen again?"
"I know their names, brother, and at the proper moment, their crime shall be fully punished."
From the farthest end of the table, the blind priest spoke: "I follow your lead, as the god commands, Presbyter, let there never be doubt of that. And there are questions that I feel should be asked and answered, so that we are certain we have learned what is needful from what has been in order that it may not come again."
"Your faith and loyalty are known and undoubted, Eldest." Uriah's reply was firm. "Speak your concern, and I will answer fully." Others around the table turned expectantly towards the back as the old voice spoke again. "Very well. There were two prisoners held securely in the crypt cells: a girl, and a man. When the attack came from outside, both had already vanished. Do we know how this was accomplished? Have we probed the depths of that error so that it cannot occur again?"
Uriah slowly scanned each face around the table before responding. "The girl, named Sharise, was a harlot, as you all doubtless recall, one whose body had been unlawfully used by an errant deacon of ours while he was lost in some madness. I had the Serjeant locate and capture her, to assure ourselves that she did not carry our miscreant's child. The erring deacon was destroyed for his sin. The sniffers were certain that she was the one; she had the memories of her encounter with the deacon within her mind, there was no doubt of her identity. She was thoroughly bound and locked within the cells, awaiting disposition. I had intended to have her memories burned away, leaving her as a properly mindful convert, and said as much to the Serjeant when I examined her. You are correct; before the attack on our Temple began, she had already escaped where no escape was possible." The measured tones held no trace of uncertainty or doubt. "Let us hold there on her account while I fill in the picture with other relevant matters."
"The man who also escaped was named Arrek; a curious case. He looked exactly, precisely in all details, like another man by the name of Raker, with whom you are all likewise familiar. You recall the story of the duel with the daemon, with Raker's child's life and the daemon's Name at risk? The tale in the street had Raker dead at the hands of the daemon, his head shattered completely and his child stolen away in the nick of time by his friends. The daemon, though victorious, was thwarted; the prize of the child snatched out of his hands. Some time later, this Raker appears back in Rhydin, tending yet another child, Aidenn by name -- and that name you know as well as a daemon-spawn destined for the flames at the stake." An unsettled feeling went about the table, and the assembled cowled men shifted in their seats.
"The decision was made to take this Aidenn, to complete the sentence pronounced upon all daemon-spawn by the god as an example to the town, and the method chosen was to seize Raker and use him as bait to trap Aidenn, who had suddenly vanished from view. At this time, we did not know that there were two men that looked identical to each other, and the one we captured turned out to be Arrek rather than Raker. While in the process of discovery, Arrek somehow escaped from the cells some time before the assault on our walls."
"Now, let me begin to tie these events and people together." Uriah continued. "Arrek told me that he had been trained by an old man after having been revived from death at the hands of the daemon, and set to guarding Raker's child. He so served until that child, named Emerald, attained her majority and left to make her own way; whereupon he returned to Rhydin to begin a new life for himself. There, one of our deacons mistook him for Raker and brought him captive to the Temple as per my orders. "
"The missing harlot; Sharise? Brothers, she had encountered an old man after her assignation with our errant deacon, and was also said to have been trained by that old man after she made the decision to leave her life on the streets. Aidenn, too, has a rumored connection to that old man. The one who thwarted the daemon's lust for Raker's daughter, Emerald? The same old man. His name is Tao, and there is more to tell of him that is pertinent to us."
"Hearing of him from several sources, I set the Serjeant to find him and bring him to me for questioning. This Tao was said to be very old and feeble, even rumored to be dying in the aftermath of an exorcism somewhere out in the woods. The Serjeant tracked him down late one night, and set a squad to take him. Unfortunately, the old man turned out to be better with a sword than any man that old should have been, and the Serjeant was forced to put him down for good in the exchange. The body was brought here to the Temple; I examined it myself. Dead, and his sword in fragments on the stone slab. But would he remain so? The Serjeant had heard stories of earlier deaths and returns of this Tao; was this to be another? "
There was no movement around the table; all eyes were locked onto the Presbyter standing at the head. "Now we come to the night of the attack, brothers. Before the invaders came over the walls, the harlot and the man Arrek were gone. So, too, was the body of this Tao, leaving only the shattered pieces of his sword and its ornaments behind in the locked and sealed crypt. The brother who took my place at the Evening Rite was slain; was he mistaken for me? Was I the true target? It seems probable, but does the assassin know of his failure? Was it Arrek? Or was it this Tao, restored again to life?"
"I am alive, brothers, and returned to do the god's work here in this cesspit of a city. Answers are needed, and I propose to obtain them. We will renew our efforts to capture those who have escaped; the harlot, the demon spawn, the mirrored men -- Arrek and Raker -- and the old man, this Tao that is linked to all of them. The god did not send us here to fail, to leave this sin-soaked city in its wickedness and corruption. We were not aware before of the linkages; by the god's will, we are now. We did not know that evildoers might find hidden assistance even within the holy precincts; we are now. The weakness here shall be burned away, and the god's plan accomplished."
The blind priest kept his face turned towards Uriah. "And the method of the escapes, Presbyter? Have the holes been filled so that it cannot happen again?"
"I know their names, brother, and at the proper moment, their crime shall be fully punished."