Kalag's Memoirs, Part 2 (book) - Revision history

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Chapter One: Time Passes

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	I've already gone into detail about a few incidents in my first		I've already gone into detail about a few incidents in my first
	few months in [[~~Crossings~~\|River Crossing]]. Maybe it bored you a little; if		few months in [[The Crossing\|River Crossing]]. Maybe it bored you a little; if
	so, too bad. It was important to make you understand how I first		so, too bad. It was important to make you understand how I first
	got some of my training, because buried in me are your		got some of my training, because buried in me are your

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			Note: this book is the continuation of an earlier book, [[Book:BkkKM1\|Kalag's Memoirs, Part 1]]

	==Kalag's Memoirs, Part 2==		==Kalag's Memoirs, Part 2==

Maintenance script: New page: ==Kalag's Memoirs, Part 2== ===Chapter One: Time Passes=== I've already gone into detail about a few incidents in my first few months in River Crossing. Maybe it bored you a little; if ...

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New page: ==Kalag's Memoirs, Part 2== ===Chapter One: Time Passes=== I've already gone into detail about a few incidents in my first few months in River Crossing. Maybe it bored you a little; if ...

New page

==Kalag's Memoirs, Part 2==

===Chapter One: Time Passes===

I've already gone into detail about a few incidents in my first
few months in River Crossing. Maybe it bored you a little; if
so, too bad. It was important to make you understand how I first
got some of my training, because buried in me are your
beginnings, too. Annoyed at the amount of time it takes you to
train today? Whatever it may be, I'll wager it's a damn sight
swifter than the catch-as-catch-can training of my youth.

See, I didn't have it easy like you. There weren't a couple of
thieves always around town, willing to teach a skill. That held
true for most of the guilds, the warmages, paladins, empaths,
barbarians and above all the traders; but what we call "thieves"
today weren't a guild back then. We weren't even a group you
could point to. We were just ordinary citizens with a bunch of
different interests. No one thought much about passing along
more than their own little fund of knowledge to a few select
friends or brats.

I'll move quickly over the next five years by just giving you to
understand it was more of the same. Lyanothe and I gradually
built our locksmithing business up to such an extent that we
added 2 assistants-in-training. I continued to learn a lot about
locks from the master, but with more time on my hands, it seemed
like a good idea to branch out. An elven bard, down on his luck,
taught me pickpocketing in exchange for regular meals and liquid
refreshment. A ranger (part of the newly formed guild, created
to scout the wilds and make the countryside safer in these
troubled times) showed me how to hide, stalk and ambush.

I remembered everything I was taught, and I practiced it as often
as possible. Not for me, lounging about and passing time in idle
chatter. I worked hard at my skills. Did I mention that I once
caught that ranger's hand in my pocket? I hid and stalked him
outside the town, then tapped him on the back of his skull with
the hilt of my katar. We chuckled about it afterwards, but he
stopped teaching me. It didn't matter. He had nothing left to
offer. His woodlore was way beyond my knowledge, but I figured
out more about melting into the background and targeting a quarry
than he'd learn in a lifetime.

We shifted locations, too, after the hut we'd used all this time
was attacked in the middle of the night by a small band of thugs.
Nothing was lost, except our sense of security-- well, Lyanothe's
sense of security. I'd never felt good about the place. After
hammering at him a while the old man saw the sense of shifting
our operations. We had a disagreement about its location,
though.

"The sewers?" he said, blinking several times. "Why, in Damaris'
name?"

"Almost no one ever goes there."

"They have reason."

"Well, I've gone there, and I can tell you that it offers some
perfect defenses against attack. Do you know that there are
miles and miles of sewer tunnels underground?"

Lyanothe shook his head. "I'm not trying to establish a kingdom
of rats and stink, Kalag. I want a shop."

"And the authorities won't give you a permit for a real shop," I
said, pressing my point. "So we can't locate in a decent section
of town where there's adequate security, even though we can pay
the damn fee.

"If we remain here, you know what it'll mean: more attacks.
Stronger ones, next time."

The old man thought a bit. "But how will a sewer location help
us?"

"We'll still be able to take in business on the road, like we do
now. Only instead of coming back here, we'll just drop down
beneath the nearest hidden grate, and find our home in perfect
security."

"Surrounded by rabid rats."

"Rabid rats are nothing compared to beserking barbarians who
think you picked 5 coppers off their kid sister fresh from a
convent. Listen, Lyanothe. It will work. Trust me."

Of course he did. It's just that the idea took him some getting
used to. Lyanothe's nose was keener than mine, and he hated
nasty smells. Not for the first time I briefly considered the
mystery of his origins, and quickly gave it up.

We managed to find an area which was higher and less damp than
most, well aerated and hidden. Here we based our operations.
And from here, we expanded dramatically in the years to come.

===Chapter Two: A School, A Guild===

Over the years I've developed a reputation for foresight, but it
isn't true. I simply deal with whatever opportunities are at
hand, and I try to build solidly. That's the way it was with the
school. Our first apprentices, Siff and Moosky, were eager to
learn all they could about lockpicking from Lyanothe. I'd also
received an increasing load of requests to personally teach the
subject. It made good sense to combine the two, and invite
students into a separate area of the sewers where all could learn
at once.

(You understand, we weren't afraid of competition, not with the
reputation we had by now. Besides, it was a good draw for a
novice lockpicker to hang out a shingle saying LOCKSMITH TAUGHT
BY LYANOTHE, and acknowledge the master.)

We spread the word and quickly had as many applicants as we could
reasonably handle. All students were expected to cough up some
kind of payment, be it coins, supplies, or services rendered in
kind. That part worked out as intended. But what we didn't
expect was that after instruction our students would hang around
and start teaching their additional knowledge to one another.
The class would break up, and then start to reform in small
groups. Soon, nearly every person was giving and receiving
teaching once more.

What they taught and learned were always the same skills.
Weapons. Armor. Hiding. Pickpocketing. Backstabbing. On a
whim, I suggested that Lyanothe fail to show up one day. The
students took the opportunity to separate into their accustomed
non-lockpicking skill groups for training, and remained until
long after the Scorpion crept over a darkened horizon.

It didn't take a genius to realize from this that we had the
makings of a new profession centered around these skills. A
profession drawn from those who live in the shadows, who know its
ways and used it for their protection. A profession that, for
better or worse, could only be summed up by the word other people
used half out of contempt: "Thief."

After several years of watching the classes swell in size and
frequency I broached the idea to our students. They required
little persuasion to move from a school to more tightly knit
concept of a guild, with its pride in ownership, location and
status. Most were openly enthusiastic. The small businesses
that were scattered all over River Crossing and already engaging
in "thievish" activities took much longer to convince. They all
had only one purpose: turning a profit by exercising a
specialized skill. River Crossing was dotted with these beggar
societies, protection rackets and black marketeers. In the end,
though, many gave up a part of their authority to join our guild,
for fear of missing a good thing on the rise.

Getting the Town Hall of River Crossing and the other guilds to
recognize our legitimacy was a very different, much larger
problem. Individually, they made use of our skills, but all
distrusted us. Some even hated us. Approaching them for guild
recognition would be like casting fire shard at a barrel of tar.
It was going to require a lot of organization and preparation on
our part, so that the first negative reactions didn't send my
more timid members reeling back forever into commoner status.

I had extensive plans drawn up for all this when events forced a
change of course. Almost overnight our problem shifted from how
the other guilds viewed our presence in River Crossing, to how we
saw ourselves.

===Chapter Three: Changes===

At first it was nothing you'd notice, because there were too many
small things happening in isolation. An empath dies from
overwork, and no one is available to take their place. Scraggly
vegetable gardens are planted inside the husks of abandoned
houses. The trading quarter is gradually abandoned as contacts
with the outside world decline and roads fall out of repair.
Farms and crops vanish, dams crumble, spring floods and sickness
become an annual occurrence accepted with resignation.

It became progressively harder to get reliable information about
the outside, and what we did hear wasn't reassuring. Tales of
swamps, iceflows and volcanoes appearing magically, armies on the
march, great doings in far off places. The bards had a field
day. No one else was thrilled, but most people discounted the
rumors in the same way they probably always have.

That these tales were not completely idle chatter became clear in
my 15th autumn spent in River Crossing, just after the copperleaf
trees acquired their yearly sheen. One day, a few refugees
appeared from the west. The next day, there were more. Within a
week we had about a hundred worn out, terrified folk-- all that
remained of the ten thousand or more who had occupied the first
city of Zolaren, Lanival's Town.

It had been older and larger by far than either River Haven or
River Crossing. I'd never seen it, yet those who had, mostly
traders, spoke of its beauty and power. No longer. It had been
overrun, every building in it systematically torn down and burnt.
All who remained, died. So the survivors said. No one doubted
them.

A month later reports drifted into town of a huge army on the
move, far to the west and heading slowly in our direction.
Strangely enough, little was done in preparation, and business
continued as usual. In hindsight, it was as though the town
government and guilds lacked the will to acknowledge a challenge
and meet it.

So nothing much occurred until a a fateful day when a huge war
ogre strode into town carrying a white flag of truce at the end
of an iron pike. Clad all in white shining leathers he was, and
his armor glowed with a dark energy that seemed to drain the
color from whatever surrounded it. The creature did not make for
the City Hall as we initially suspected it would, but went
instead to the Official Announcements posting board that stood
out front. There, with a heavy fist, it pounded in four nails
around the following parchment:

"Zolaren is not yours. Zolaren is ours. It was given to us by
the World Dragon long ago when the Elves were only puking
children by the sea, and the Elotheans were no more than blue
sticks sniffing herbs in moldy caves.

"We have come to reclaim our heritage. The shadow of the
adventurer Lanival and his posturing band of comedians will be
banished forever from this realm.

"Your choices are clear. Submit your lands to our rule within
two passages of the sun, permit the occupancy of our Theocrat
Crakhan and the destruction of your blasphemous temple. Or we
shall burn down your walls, your houses and shops, with you and
your children in them. Not a stone will be left to proclaim
where River Crossing once stood, not a soul will be left to tell
of its final hours.

"In the Name of the World Dragon, in the Name of Sh'kial, in the
Name of Oss-Magaim and his devout servant Crahkan, what was, is,
and ever shall be! The True Religion of the Dragon has
returned."

===Chapter Four: Planning===

We were in our makeshift Guild Hall, a long, sparsely furnished
underground chamber where the stones sweated less frequently and
the stink was almost imperceptible. I was there, quoting the
Dragon Priests' message from memory. Hearing me, along with
Laynothe, were 30 other thieves.

They were a motley audience of beggar chiefs and would-be
princelings; proud rag-covered crones and shifty youths with
barely enough age to bear a beard. Some thieves came armed to
the teeth. Some brought their weapons in the form of huge
bodyguards. Some came armed only with the power they wielded
over parts of the city or groups of citizens.

This bunch held but 3 ideas in common. They were all thieves;
hard times were coming; and today's meeting was going to have
weighty consequences whatever we did.

I started the meeting with a brief summary of recent events.
When I finished, and there was silence. I took a deep breath.
"We've formed a guild, so we no longer have the luxury of
reaction and blaming others for the results. We need a policy.
We need some kind of response to the written demand. We need a
plan of action. But above all, we need a policy."

"Well, if it's policy we need first, shrewd policy will oppose
all those who seek to dictate to us. This was always the flaw in
Moliko the Balance's idea of United Rule," said Lyanothe,
sighing. "Revealed for all to see, alas, too late. United rule
devolves on the strongest and most ruthlessly efficient, not the
most righteous or best suited to govern."

A one-eyed Dwarf with a look of the angry warrior about her spat.
"Pah, there's a sewer grating that leads into the paladin's guild
if I want to debate philosophics," she snarled. "We got a
fullscale invasion coming that's going to smash up everything we
built, and it's up to us to defend it."

"I'd remind you, Birna," said a soft voice belonging to an Elf
dressed all in colorful silks, "that your *we* refers to your
clan, your territory, all the clients who pay your protection
fees. The *we* of the Aes-Halan is a different one, and includes
4 members whose deaths you haven't paid the restitution fee
agreed upon for 3 years."

"Alsharbi, they've been bad years, as you know." Birna glowered.

The Elf nodded. "They'll be worse still until you pay us."

"We're here," I interrupted, "not to discuss territorial
disputes. If you both want to argue the matter anew, fine, we'll
do it later. This Council's called to consider what means we
must use if any to defend the town."

"What means we must use to defend their town, you mean." That,
from a stocky, well-armed Human who insisted on attending with 4
personal bodyguards. His name was Stouthe. He'd erupted into
the southeast area of River Crossing down by the ferry this past
year. I'd been doubtful about bringing him and his in, given
reports of his heavy-handed tactics and attitude, but a few of
the others said it was better to influence than ignore him.

"Their town," he repeated. "A town of marks and suckers. Golden
snot meant for us to suck dry. Who cares what happens to them?"
He chuckled loudly. His bodyguards followed suit.

"We make our living off those marks, as you call them," said
Lyanothe. "When they find chests, we open them. When they stock
their shelves, we empty them. When their pockets are full, we
pick them."

Stouthe leaned back and propped up his feet on the table. "So
what's the problem? If they're killed, more suckers will show
up."

Birna shook her head vigorously. "That's not the way it works.
Look at Lanival's Town. It's gone."

"I don't believe it," sneered Stouthe. "That's all propaganda
just to get us frightened and worked up. I think Lanival's Town
just caved into demands from these Priests and is doing fine, and
the scum that floated out were on the losing side. No, what I
suggest is this. We send an ambassador in secret to this army
and offer to cut them a deal. Use of our guild for their
temporary headquarters, free access and complete knowledge of our
tunnels.

"Then, when they take over, we become the guards. We run the
place for them. You think they're going to want to hang around
here much? No way. We'll be forgotten as soon as they continue
their advance...then we'll run the place the way we want. So
what do you think?" He grinned and settled back while his
bodyguards nodded enthusiastically.

Reading:
"It wouldn't be a good idea if the Priests were just another
mercenary army," commented Lyanothe matter-of-factly. "As it is,
they're much worse, and so is your idea." Stouthe jumped to his
feet but before he could speak another voice, deep and detached,
made itself heard.

"The idea could be adapted to fit our needs, perhaps." The
speaker was a short, massively muscled Human whom everyone called
simply The Block. "What does it matter whether we keep all of
the city, or just some of it? We should strive for a reasonable
settlement, not surrender. Offer them a portion of the
town...then help them secretly occupy it...then rule it. All the
while we can play loyal citizens among the other professions and
man the defenses."

"That," snarled Birna, "is the most disgusting thing I've yet to
hear." The Block chuckled at her with a rumbling hum.

Stouthe slammed his fist on the table, booming his call for
attention around the echoing Guild Hall like a hailstorm. "Do
what you want, then. If you're not going to show any
commonsense, me and my boys are. We'll go to the Priests as
emissaries of the real Thieves' Guild, and when they take over
you can expect to be taking your orders from me."

"No way." I spoke very loudly but calmly. All eyes turned to
me. "There's only one Thieves' Guild. It comes out of the
school we built over the years and the ideas we have. It's here
with us. It doesn't leave with you, though you can leave it.
And if you go to sell us all to the Priests, Stouthe, I'll
personally denounce you before the Town Council."

"Not if you're dead," he sneered. Stouthe snapped his fingers
and his 4 hoods jumped at me, swords drawn.

They were well-muscled, dangerous men, but I was no longer a new
arrival with a trick or two to stay alive. I quickly tossed a
chair at their legs and drew my katar. Stepping to one side I
slit open the belly of a foe as he stumbled past, and dropped a
second with a sharp swipe to his unprotected bull neck. I looked
up to see a scene which remains in my memory to this day: Birna
astride the table, double-handed axe in release, the head of a
third bodyguard frozen briefly in midair as blood sprayed
everywhere. The fourth bodyguard lay at the feet of The Block,
his head sitting at an odd angle. The Block grinned and flexed
his huge hands.

"Stouthe," I said. Lyanothe pointed to the door, and I hurtled
through it.

There was no need to rush, however. A scant 12 paces down the
corridor lay a dazed Stouthe, bleeding badly all over his scalp.
He must have glanced back for signs of pursuit while sprinting
ahead. You should never sprint through narrow, low sewer
corridors while distracted.

I trussed his arms and legs with his own red sash, then went
through his pockets. There were coins, a stiletto, and a
medallion. Without giving him another thought I returned to the
Guild Hall.

Younger thieves were removing bodies and wiping up the mess when
I arrived back. I ignored them, and threw the medallion onto the
table. It landed with a hollow thunk and slid halfway down.

"It would seem friend Stouthe has been lying," I said. "He's
already been in touch with the Dragon Priests."

The only S'kra Mur in our group, an ancient rackets master from
the northeastern town quadrant by name of S'dec, hobbled forward
for a glance at the thing. He hissed loudly. "By Ushnish. This
guaranteess ssafe passage," he said. "To Thievess' Guild Leader
Stouthe."

I nodded soberly. I couldn't read it, but I'd guessed something
like that. "So Stouthe was planning betrayal in any case," said
Lyanothe. "He'd already contacted the Priests in the name of the
Guild, posing as leader."

"Planning to become leader, perhapss," ventured S'dec. "Typical
of Humanss." There was muttering from the Human thieves in our
group.

"Come to terms, we must come to terms," boomed The Block, "if the
Priests win, we will be in fine shape."

"We'll be in finer shape if we support the other Guilds and
defend the town successfully. Otherwise, we'll be hated by all
the peoples of River Crossing whatever the result," I added.

The Block shrugged, a massive thing like a mountain shifting. "I
care about no man's hatred."

"Begging your pardon," said Laynothe. "No man's hatred bothers
me as long as I deserve it. But I don't care to receive hatred
for something I did not do."

"Hatred is wasted on the dead. We make terms, or we die."

"Coward's talk," Birna spat.

The Block grinned. "I am a coward?" he asked.

"The Elves," said Alsharbi in a strident voice, "will never help
these damned bloodthirsty Dwarves."

"I think," pondered S'dec aloud, "that we should postpone any
dessision until we can think it through calmly. Calm headss are
good headss."

I raised my hands and my voice at the same time. "There's no
time for calm heads, now, S'dec, though normally I'd agree with
you. Alsharbi, your complaint against Birna's Dwarves-- you've
never put it to arbitration by this Council, have you?"

"That is correct," the Elf replied stiffly.

"I will give you my word as guild leader that if you set aside
this quarrel now, it will be dealt with speedily after the
current crisis ends. I will ask S'dec to personally head the
panel, if he will agree." The old S'kra Mur rose and
ceremoniously bowed.

Alsharbi considered this. "What if the city be overrun, and all
forced to flee or die?"

"Corpses make poor litigants. Will the blood money truly matter
then?"

Alsharbi took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Then I had a
thought. "Fellow thieves," I said, "each of you has a position
which is of greatest benefit to your own group and in your own
eyes. You have heard the proposals of others, and disapproved of
each. Were we to take a vote, here, now, on each proposal, none
including your own would receive more than your party's support.

"Let's take a vote, then, on the proposal you'd favor second
behind your own. Whatever wins, let's agree to implement that."
There were a few raised eyebrows, but the consensus was
favorable.

The first ballot was unanimously in favor of my proposal for
defense of River Crossing alongside the other Guilds.

So we had a policy: resistance. The plan for war would follow.
In the meantime, I dealt myself with the response to the Priests
later that night. A couple of my Gor'Togs quietly dumped
Stouthe, tied and bleeding, in front of their camp, and returned
without incident. Like as not the Priests were so confident they
never figured on a visit from the over-awed citizens. Stouthe
never gave the alarm, because he was gagged with his own
medallion. We never heard of what became of him, nor did any of
us care.

===Chapter Five: War===

If the next two days were a madhouse of preparations in town,
they were even more intense down in our tunnels. Above ground,
the defenders went about building and shoring up defenses,
training, preparing for battle openly and with tense excitement.
Down below, there was an added requirement of secrecy. We could
not rely upon support or information from above. Nothing we did
could become known, or we'd risk a second attack front from our
traditional enemies who could imagine no good of our efforts.

What we decided was this. We'd set up a series of 3 patrols
along the main sewer corridors that ran the western, eastern and
northern borders of River Crossing. Individual runners would
check every few minutes with all 3 patrols for signs of attack.
When an attack was spotted by any patrol, half the forces of the
other 2 patrols would rush to join them, boiling out of the
grates and our secret entrances as soon as the attackers had
occupied a specified area. We would meet the enemy while they
were engaged, the element of surprise being at least briefly on
our side.

We had supplies enough to last us through the crisis, meaning
that we'd live as long as our friends above. Meanwhile we kept
up our spirits by constant training, encouraging advanced members
of the guild to teach people they'd never met before. Old
arguments between cliques were temporarily thrust aside. It
didn't matter if your neighbor never saw a mountain, or hissed.
When the battle began their sword or crossbow maybe your only way
of cheating death.

Two hectic days. We actually felt relief when those days had
passed. Now it was no longer a matter of "what if." It was
simply a question of a few minutes or hours. Many of us awaited
the Dragon Priests with a kind of expectant joy.

The attack came quickly, and (so our scouts said) from the west.
In their arrogance, the invaders decided to thrust everything at
the Main Gate and its surrounding area. Their rock trolls cast
spells that brought down sections of wall. Their war ogres
lashed slave armies that hadn't been fed in days and looked upon
the defenders not as enemies, but as food.

How long has it been that you're reading this account since it
was written? Fifty years? Two hundred? Your towns are
certainly bigger, right? To you, an army of 4000 strong may seem
like nothing, a minor incident. Well, let me assure you that a
great deal hung upon the outcome of this little battle between
4000 attackers and 1000 defenders. The Dragon Priests had
already wiped out a city older, larger and more important than
River Crossing. With us gone, the south would be open to them.
I've read somewhere that small matters can make a big difference;
here, in River Crossing, that was a lot hanging on the outcome of
a single battle.

The carnage was awful on both sides, but the Dragon Priests had
the larger forces and did not care about their loss. Slowly they
pushed back the paladins and barbarians who formed the first line
of defense. Within a few hours they had made it past the gate,
and the fighting spread out into a series of pitched battles that
spanned the streets of River Crossing.

In many areas the local forces held, for here they were on their
own ground. They knew the roads, and they fought with
desperation. They had the support of rangers and bards sniping
from nearby buildings, with clerics and empaths easily within
reach. Larger numbers were also less of an advantage while
wedged in deadend lanes or down narrow byways.

But large numbers couldn't be effectively resisted, either, not
when always new, fresh opponents climbed over mounds of dead
carcasses to continue the attack. The line first began to falter
on Larikan Street; and that's when we decided to strike. On my
command hundreds of thieves jumped out, ambushing the hordes. We
took the enemy (and our fellow citizens) by surprise, and stemmed
the advance.

It was awful that day. The concentrated stink of fear and
corpses was far worse than the sewers. No paladins yelled
stirring cries. There were just grunts of effort and cries of
death everywhere. Skill didn't count. It was slash, duck, and
breathe if you could before you were killed.

At one point several hours later I found myself just south of the
Gate, on top of a mound of dead bodies, fighting back to back
with a doughty mace-wielder against all comers. There was a
brief lull in the fighting, and we both turned. Staring back at
me was the face of Arnile Hanskwin.

His furs and satin were gone, his entire body covered with chain
mail. Blood saturated him from head to foot, but most of it
didn't appear to be his own. "Syndic," I gasped. "Pardon me for
not bowing."

"Ah, Kalag. I had forgotten you and your school."

"So you knew about that? Our guild, I mean."

He nodded, chuckling wearily. "Your guild. Agreed." Exhausted
as I was, I felt a thrill when he said those two words. It was
an admission of sorts. It was more than that. It was an
important voice on our side for Guild status. If River Crossing
survived.

We turned to look out over the hills to the west that lay beyond
the Gate. The enemy was contained or killed inside the city, but
outside they remained in force-- not as many as before, but more
than enough to crush all opposition by sheer force of weight.
The Dragon Priests themselves sat impassively atop huge steeds,
not unlike varna bonebats but bigger, waiting to see whether
their magic would be needed.

Just then the entrance to the street spewed forth more enemy
chattels, waving sickles, longswords, whatever they had or could
find. The volume of battle increased from a tide's roar to a
seacoast storm. We lifted our weapons against the enemy's
assault and forgot all else for a time.

It lacked one hour of sunset when next I had a chance to gaze
about. Our forces still held but we were reduced, four hundred
perhaps clustered around the Main Gate, a few thousand of the
slave army outside. Our rangers and bards had long since run out
of ammunition, and switched to handheld weapons. The paladins
and barbarians were dropping from fatigue. Some empaths died
from overhealing. It couldn't continue like this, and as the
enemy regrouped for another assault, I think we all knew it.

Just then we saw a second army appear over the horizon, from the
south. My initial reaction was, great, they've decided to
quickly finish us off. They couldn't do it with the troops they
had, and that's a tribute of a sort. I looked around, and saw
Birna leaning heavily on a badly notched axe. She grinned back
tiredly and said, "Well, we'll die game."

Then as they approached we saw they weren't Dragon Priests, after
all. They bore the blue banner of River Haven; and it was people
like ourselves, not monsters, who were swiftly approaching,
unnoticed by the slaves of Crahkan. They uttered a loud, wailing
war cry, and dived into the Dragon Priest army which slowly tried
to swing about and meet this new threat. Sensing our opportunity
we uttered a howl in return, and drove fiercely outside the Gate.

Caught between the two armies, ours and River Haven's, the Dragon
Priest leaders hesitated. It was their downfall. Like a vise
our forces closed in from opposite sides, slicing up all
opposition. The ogres and trolls died killing their slaves, who
panicked and tried to flee. The Dragon Priests themselves proved
more formidable, having not taken part in the battle thus far;
but River Haven's warmages and a small group of moonmages from
legendary Shard held them at bay.

Suddenly, the Dragon Priests turned their lumbering beasts and
fled west simultaneously, as if in private concert. We had won.
We had won. We couldn't believe it, but we had won.

===Chapter Six: Aftermath===

In coming days there would be much congratulation, sorrow,
healing and rebuilding. Before the Town Council I announced-- I
did not propose-- the existence of the Thieves' Guild; and though
some faces scowled, Arnile Hanskwin stood up (once again decked
out in his sleek furs) and spoke briefly but firmly to our
defense. Others followed who had seen us in action or merely
lacked courage to speak out before. It was sufficient. The
Thieves' Guild of River Crossing was an acknowledged reality.

But at the moment, right after the battle, my first thought was
to check on old friends and comrades, and one in particular.
Last I had seen, Lyanothe was being targetted by a grinning war
ogre with a mattock. The press of fighting had parted us, and
he hadn't been seen since.

Searching, exhausted, among the dead bodies that night was not
something I wanted to consider, so I headed back instead to the
Guild. It was nearly deserted but Lyanothe had a private, hidden
room here where his few odd sticks of furniture were stored. He
called it home, and it was where he worked and slept when his
teaching and lockpicking were done for the day. I pressed the
stone panels in their proper order, and entered.

There was no Lyanothe, but there was a note on the desk. The ink
on it still glistened slightly. It was in Lyanothe's spidery but
refined hand. I read:
<pre>
"Friend Kalag, I hurt myself rather badly a short while ago, and
decided to rest up a bit down here. While doing so, it occurred
to me that a vacation might be in order. There is no disguising
that my years lengthen, and the dampness of these sewers do
little for my outlook or joints. Do not seek me. You cannot
follow where I've gone.

"Kalag, you have made something of yourself since we first met,
haven't you? You are clearheaded, a voracious learner, a leader
on par with any paladin or proud trader-princling. To you the
glory goes for the School, and for the Thieves' Guild. Perhaps,
who knows, some of the praise for the battle's success as well.
Had you not carried the meeting, the thieves would have remained
divided. Many more citizens would have perished. River Haven's
line might have cracked before a River Crossing already claimed
by Priestly fervor and flames.

"Friend Kalag, lead well, be of strong heart. If I know my
Kalag, what he has begun is only the foundation of so much more."
</pre>
There was no signature to this. But holding it down, stabbed
into the wood of the desk, was a dagger, its gold hilt surmounted
with a strikingly large emerald.
[[Category:Book]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:11, 17 November 2007
Line 6:		Line 6:

	I've already gone into detail about a few incidents in my first		I've already gone into detail about a few incidents in my first
	few months in River Crossing. Maybe it bored you a little; if		few months in [[Crossings\|River Crossing]]. Maybe it bored you a little; if
	so, too bad. It was important to make you understand how I first		so, too bad. It was important to make you understand how I first
	got some of my training, because buried in me are your		got some of my training, because buried in me are your
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	I'll move quickly over the next five years by just giving you to		I'll move quickly over the next five years by just giving you to
	understand it was more of the same. Lyanothe and I gradually		understand it was more of the same. [[Lyanothe]] and I gradually
	built our locksmithing business up to such an extent that we		built our locksmithing business up to such an extent that we
	added 2 assistants-in-training. I continued to learn a lot about		added 2 assistants-in-training. I continued to learn a lot about
Line 65:		Line 65:

	Lyanothe shook his head. "I'm not trying to establish a kingdom		Lyanothe shook his head. "I'm not trying to establish a kingdom
	of rats and stink, Kalag. I want a shop."		of rats and stink, [[Kalag]]. I want a shop."

	"And the authorities won't give you a permit for a real shop," I		"And the authorities won't give you a permit for a real shop," I
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	isn't true. I simply deal with whatever opportunities are at		isn't true. I simply deal with whatever opportunities are at
	hand, and I try to build solidly. That's the way it was with the		hand, and I try to build solidly. That's the way it was with the
	school. Our first apprentices, Siff and Moosky, were eager to		school. Our first apprentices, [[Siff]] and [[Moosky]], were eager to
	learn all they could about lockpicking from Lyanothe. I'd also		learn all they could about lockpicking from Lyanothe. I'd also
	received an increasing load of requests to personally teach the		received an increasing load of requests to personally teach the
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	week we had about a hundred worn out, terrified folk-- all that		week we had about a hundred worn out, terrified folk-- all that
	remained of the ten thousand or more who had occupied the first		remained of the ten thousand or more who had occupied the first
	city of Zolaren, Lanival's Town.		city of [[Zoluren\|Zolaren]], [[Lanival's Town]].

	It had been older and larger by far than either River Haven or		It had been older and larger by far than either [[Riverhaven\|River Haven]] or
	River Crossing. I'd never seen it, yet those who had, mostly		River Crossing. I'd never seen it, yet those who had, mostly
	traders, spoke of its beauty and power. No longer. It had been		traders, spoke of its beauty and power. No longer. It had been
Line 217:		Line 217:

	"Zolaren is not yours. Zolaren is ours. It was given to us by		"Zolaren is not yours. Zolaren is ours. It was given to us by
	the World Dragon long ago when the Elves were only puking		the [[World Dragon]] long ago when the Elves were only puking
	children by the sea, and the Elotheans were no more than blue		children by the sea, and the Elotheans were no more than blue
	sticks sniffing herbs in moldy caves.		sticks sniffing herbs in moldy caves.

	"We have come to reclaim our heritage. The shadow of the		"We have come to reclaim our heritage. The shadow of the
	adventurer Lanival and his posturing band of comedians will be		adventurer [[Lanival]] and his posturing band of comedians will be
	banished forever from this realm.		banished forever from this realm.

	"Your choices are clear. Submit your lands to our rule within		"Your choices are clear. Submit your lands to our rule within
	two passages of the sun, permit the occupancy of our Theocrat		two passages of the sun, permit the occupancy of our Theocrat
	Crakhan and the destruction of your blasphemous temple. Or we		[[Crakhan]] and the destruction of your blasphemous temple. Or we
	shall burn down your walls, your houses and shops, with you and		shall burn down your walls, your houses and shops, with you and
	your children in them. Not a stone will be left to proclaim		your children in them. Not a stone will be left to proclaim
Line 233:		Line 233:
	of its final hours.		of its final hours.

	"In the Name of the World Dragon, in the Name of Sh'kial, in the		"In the Name of the World Dragon, in the Name of [[Sh'kial]], in the
	Name of Oss-Magaim and his devout servant Crahkan, what was, is,		Name of [[Oss-Magaim]] and his devout servant Crahkan, what was, is,
	and ever shall be! The True Religion of the Dragon has		and ever shall be! The True Religion of the Dragon has
	returned."		returned."
Line 266:		Line 266:
	"Well, if it's policy we need first, shrewd policy will oppose		"Well, if it's policy we need first, shrewd policy will oppose
	all those who seek to dictate to us. This was always the flaw in		all those who seek to dictate to us. This was always the flaw in
	Moliko the Balance's idea of United Rule," said Lyanothe,		[[Moliko]] the Balance's idea of United Rule," said Lyanothe,
	sighing. "Revealed for all to see, alas, too late. United rule		sighing. "Revealed for all to see, alas, too late. United rule
	devolves on the strongest and most ruthlessly efficient, not the		devolves on the strongest and most ruthlessly efficient, not the
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	built, and it's up to us to defend it."		built, and it's up to us to defend it."

	"I'd remind you, Birna," said a soft voice belonging to an Elf		"I'd remind you, [[Birna]]," said a soft voice belonging to an Elf
	dressed all in colorful silks, "that your we refers to your		dressed all in colorful silks, "that your we refers to your
	clan, your territory, all the clients who pay your protection		clan, your territory, all the clients who pay your protection
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	agreed upon for 3 years."		agreed upon for 3 years."

	"Alsharbi, they've been bad years, as you know." Birna glowered.		"[[Alsharbi]], they've been bad years, as you know." Birna glowered.

	The Elf nodded. "They'll be worse still until you pay us."		The Elf nodded. "They'll be worse still until you pay us."
Line 295:		Line 295:
	"What means we must use to defend their town, you mean." That,		"What means we must use to defend their town, you mean." That,
	from a stocky, well-armed Human who insisted on attending with 4		from a stocky, well-armed Human who insisted on attending with 4
	personal bodyguards. His name was Stouthe. He'd erupted into		personal bodyguards. His name was [[Stouthe]]. He'd erupted into
	the southeast area of River Crossing down by the ferry this past		the southeast area of River Crossing down by the ferry this past
	year. I'd been doubtful about bringing him and his in, given		year. I'd been doubtful about bringing him and his in, given
Line 333:		Line 333:
	bodyguards nodded enthusiastically.		bodyguards nodded enthusiastically.


	Reading:
	"It wouldn't be a good idea if the Priests were just another		"It wouldn't be a good idea if the Priests were just another
	mercenary army," commented Lyanothe matter-of-factly. "As it is,		mercenary army," commented Lyanothe matter-of-factly. "As it is,
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	"It would seem friend Stouthe has been lying," I said. "He's		"It would seem friend Stouthe has been lying," I said. "He's
	already been in touch with the Dragon Priests."		already been in touch with the [[Dragon Priests]]."

	The only S'kra Mur in our group, an ancient rackets master from		The only S'kra Mur in our group, an ancient rackets master from
	the northeastern town quadrant by name of S'dec, hobbled forward		the northeastern town quadrant by name of [[S'dec]], hobbled forward
	for a glance at the thing. He hissed loudly. "By Ushnish. This		for a glance at the thing. He hissed loudly. "By Ushnish. This
	guaranteess ssafe passage," he said. "To Thievess' Guild Leader		guaranteess ssafe passage," he said. "To Thievess' Guild Leader
Line 638:		Line 636:
	more formidable, having not taken part in the battle thus far;		more formidable, having not taken part in the battle thus far;
	but River Haven's warmages and a small group of moonmages from		but River Haven's warmages and a small group of moonmages from
	legendary Shard held them at bay.		legendary [[Shard]] held them at bay.

	Suddenly, the Dragon Priests turned their lumbering beasts and		Suddenly, the Dragon Priests turned their lumbering beasts and
Line 693:		Line 691:
	Kalag, what he has begun is only the foundation of so much more."		Kalag, what he has begun is only the foundation of so much more."
	</pre>		</pre>

	There was no signature to this. But holding it down, stabbed		There was no signature to this. But holding it down, stabbed
	into the wood of the desk, was a dagger, its gold hilt surmounted		into the wood of the desk, was a dagger, its gold hilt surmounted