Batten Manor - basement level
Since he was a child, he'd loved puzzles.
It started in the normal way, of course - cardboard cutouts in a variety of patterns and pictures with interlocking pieces. twenty pieces, a hundred, a thousand, or more. From there to things of a more three-dimensional variety - puzzles, yes, but also interlocking blocks, then Erector sets, Connex sets, and then on to taking apart and putting back together machines. Simple things at first - a toaster, a pencil sharpener, his dad's RC vehicles - and graduating to more complex things.
He'd never lost that long-ago love of puzzles, of taking the pieces and putting them together into a coherent pattern that made sense. And here, before and all around him, he had a doozy.
Standing in his office space, he looked at the myriad holographic displays hovering all around him. Visual and audio displays, mostly, but also Watch files, transcripts of recorded conversations, records of conflicts, old government files.
It was amazing what you could get hold of with the right questions, the proper application of funds and a little sneakiness.
One person connected all of the displays, the man whose face was displayed in a prominent position.
Brian Ravenlock.
He'd been over these files dozens of times, if not hundreds, since the bodies in the Marketplace had been found, along with those at the South Gate. The files and reports on those individuals were among those displayed, and they made a point to be seen plainly, even if he didn't have a transcript of a conversation he'd recorded between Katt and Ravenlock more than a week ago...but even though he did not doubt the man's reasons and motives, he could see that it was a red herring, bait dangled for the purpose of leading those trying to predict the man's next move off of the proper course.
But what was he plotting? What was the next move, the big picture, the weapon hidden amongst all of these many clues and hints?
He reached out to one of the displays and pulled it closer, setting it to hover in midair before him - a transcript of recorded conversation picked up in the Inn itself, just the day before. He'd looked over the video file that accompanied it, and there was something there, something that he could see right before his eyes, if he just looked things over long enough.
The dead bodies were those of government employees, all appointed either during the last administration, or before. All had been suspected of some kind of corruption, of betrayal. Nearly all of them, in the attacks that had taken place shortly before he himself arrived in Rhy'din, had emerged from them unscathed, which pointed an accusatory finger at them as being a part of a greater conspiracy to aid the man behind the attacks - a man who went by the name of Travanix - in his efforts.
There was a lot of damage, and he had read the reports, seen the scars on the city even now, when it was almost completely rebuilt. Many had died in those attacks, many had simply vanished, either fled or gone into hiding, the question of their return still yet to be answered. Ravenlock's Ministry during that time had been among the first things to be hit, and he could see why the man took it so personal that the longest-standing protectors of the city had not been there to help him when he needed it most. Some had been there, new ones had risen...but those that had stood by the man, his allies, had not been, and there was evidence that that he and much of the city had been betrayed from within its own foundations.
It made sense - Ed had seen this type of thing before, many times. Vengeance could turn the best people against their allies if they felt sufficiently wronged.
He could understand that, if not wholly sympathize. But that didn't make it right, either. He might not always take the hero's side of things - his aiding Renna in her release from her prison being a prime example - but he did believe life should be preserved, nurtured and encouraged rather than being outright taken and destroyed.
Renna's release. Ravenlock's antagonism of her, a front, a ruse to throw the heroes off. His taunting of Icer, his 'sister', with...something. A fang, it looked like, and words of improving something that Icer was fiercely protective of...the word 'pestilence,' spoken as though it were a name...constant references to the attacks by Travanix, the Public Works building in particular...
...and it clicked. It should have been obvious before, really.
"Diana, get me de plans fer de Public Works buildin' dat was leveled last year. Complete schematics, includin' sublevels."
Since he was a child, he'd loved puzzles.
It started in the normal way, of course - cardboard cutouts in a variety of patterns and pictures with interlocking pieces. twenty pieces, a hundred, a thousand, or more. From there to things of a more three-dimensional variety - puzzles, yes, but also interlocking blocks, then Erector sets, Connex sets, and then on to taking apart and putting back together machines. Simple things at first - a toaster, a pencil sharpener, his dad's RC vehicles - and graduating to more complex things.
He'd never lost that long-ago love of puzzles, of taking the pieces and putting them together into a coherent pattern that made sense. And here, before and all around him, he had a doozy.
Standing in his office space, he looked at the myriad holographic displays hovering all around him. Visual and audio displays, mostly, but also Watch files, transcripts of recorded conversations, records of conflicts, old government files.
It was amazing what you could get hold of with the right questions, the proper application of funds and a little sneakiness.
One person connected all of the displays, the man whose face was displayed in a prominent position.
Brian Ravenlock.
He'd been over these files dozens of times, if not hundreds, since the bodies in the Marketplace had been found, along with those at the South Gate. The files and reports on those individuals were among those displayed, and they made a point to be seen plainly, even if he didn't have a transcript of a conversation he'd recorded between Katt and Ravenlock more than a week ago...but even though he did not doubt the man's reasons and motives, he could see that it was a red herring, bait dangled for the purpose of leading those trying to predict the man's next move off of the proper course.
But what was he plotting? What was the next move, the big picture, the weapon hidden amongst all of these many clues and hints?
He reached out to one of the displays and pulled it closer, setting it to hover in midair before him - a transcript of recorded conversation picked up in the Inn itself, just the day before. He'd looked over the video file that accompanied it, and there was something there, something that he could see right before his eyes, if he just looked things over long enough.
The dead bodies were those of government employees, all appointed either during the last administration, or before. All had been suspected of some kind of corruption, of betrayal. Nearly all of them, in the attacks that had taken place shortly before he himself arrived in Rhy'din, had emerged from them unscathed, which pointed an accusatory finger at them as being a part of a greater conspiracy to aid the man behind the attacks - a man who went by the name of Travanix - in his efforts.
There was a lot of damage, and he had read the reports, seen the scars on the city even now, when it was almost completely rebuilt. Many had died in those attacks, many had simply vanished, either fled or gone into hiding, the question of their return still yet to be answered. Ravenlock's Ministry during that time had been among the first things to be hit, and he could see why the man took it so personal that the longest-standing protectors of the city had not been there to help him when he needed it most. Some had been there, new ones had risen...but those that had stood by the man, his allies, had not been, and there was evidence that that he and much of the city had been betrayed from within its own foundations.
It made sense - Ed had seen this type of thing before, many times. Vengeance could turn the best people against their allies if they felt sufficiently wronged.
He could understand that, if not wholly sympathize. But that didn't make it right, either. He might not always take the hero's side of things - his aiding Renna in her release from her prison being a prime example - but he did believe life should be preserved, nurtured and encouraged rather than being outright taken and destroyed.
Renna's release. Ravenlock's antagonism of her, a front, a ruse to throw the heroes off. His taunting of Icer, his 'sister', with...something. A fang, it looked like, and words of improving something that Icer was fiercely protective of...the word 'pestilence,' spoken as though it were a name...constant references to the attacks by Travanix, the Public Works building in particular...
...and it clicked. It should have been obvious before, really.
"Diana, get me de plans fer de Public Works buildin' dat was leveled last year. Complete schematics, includin' sublevels."