Session 47, Part Two - Ascent of Screaming Souls, Part One
Every thirty feet or so a doorway led inwards, but the interior of the tower had collapsed long ago. In places the stairs had shattered too, but as the party neared each breach, the Arc of Reida reassembled them.
The magic of the Arc reacted strangely with the Dead Magic Zone. As they headed up the steps they encountered not just memory events, but the shades of those who had died by their hand:
The first spirit was friendly. Nilasa Hume – the young rebel whose murder began their investigation – appeared to thank them for avenging her murder, and warn them of the vengeful ghosts that lay ahead. Not long after that, they ran into Eberardo and Valando, the dragonborn arsonists, who roared at them and breathed fire as they passed.
At two-hundred feet, they came to their first memory event – one shared by both Kasvarina and Uriel. She and Nicodemus were in chains, escorted up the steps by two soldiers and an acolyte. The acolyte was Adriel – Uriel’s first, human form. He was supposed to leave them here, having presided over their imprisonment and escorted them to this waypoint, where two more guards and another acolyte stood. But Adriel said he would relieve his brother of the burden of the climb, as he had never made the pilgrimage to the top of the Lance and today was as good a day as any to do so. When they moved on, in the company of fresh guards, Nicodemus said, “So, you’re coming with us then? I am glad. Does this have anything to do with what we spoke about last night?” Adriel told him to be quiet and lapsed into conflicted thought.
The event faded, but Uriel found himself overwhelmed by a sudden rush of memories. Five-hundred years of lives, thoughts and feelings came upon him at once and he struggled to stem the flow. Dazed and confused, he had to be helped the rest of the way.
Next, they were assailed by Cillian Creed, who split apart like a rotten fruit and released a flood of witchoil; then Kaja Stewart, who shot herself in the head, causing Quratulain to reel as if she had been the victim; and Lady Margaret Saxby who screamed and flew at them in a deafening rage.
Breathless, they arrived at the top of the ruined tower, to find that the Arc began to rebuild the Lance floor by floor as they advanced. At five-hundred feet, Kasvarina witnessed two key events:
In the first, from just a few years ago, she meets with Han Jierre and Nicodemus – the latter in the form of a Danoran soldier and smoking anxiously. They each reports on key Obscurati projects:
•Golden Cell. Han says his niece Lya has been briefed to take control of this cell, since her predecessor died on Axis Island. Caius Bergeron thinks he’s closing in on the last ziggurat. All that remains is deciding which planes to connect to, and passing that information to the tier four members throughout the continent.
•Convocation. Nicodemus explains that he plans to put the form of the new world up to a vote to the leaders of the various cells. Kasvarina smiles and asks if he’s finally abandoning his idealistic “everyone will get along nicely” plan. Nicodemus stamps out his cigarette and says he’s never been hesitant to kill those who have outlived their usefulness.
•Colossus Cell. Kasvarina says the colossus is effectively complete, but Quital believes one of its designers – Alexander Grappa – has been seeding Borne with doubts. Nicodemus asks Kasvarina to go look into that and make sure they won’t have a loyalty problem. Kasvarina agrees, but says they trained Borne well; he feels destined to help the Obscurati save the world.
•Lantern Cell. Han Jierre says this project is the only real bottle¬neck, because they need to get Luc’s lantern working properly, then scale it up to lighthouse size to focus the ritual.
•Risuri Assassination. Kasvarina explains that due to its unique rites of rulership, as long as the king of Risur resists, the whole nation will resist. They’ll need at least to abduct and brainwash the king, and possibly assassinate him, but the timing has to be right before they perform the ritual. If they move too soon, a new leader could be more hostile and actually oppose them. Nicodemus shrugged and said, “Just kill him when the time is right. It’s cleaner. We have our agents installed in senior positions. The transition shouldn’t be too difficult to manage.”
At that, Uriel had a sudden revelation, filtered out of his influx of memories:
Malthusius helped the hostages from the train. Stanfield was calm, collected and thankful. Malthusius indicated that he wanted a discreet word with the Governor, but Stanfield said that there were more pressing matters: the safety of the hostages, and swift action to avoid a public panic. He said he would talk with Malthusius before the opening of the Peace Talks and swept upstairs to address to the crowd outside, where he made sure to praise the decisive actions of Korrigan's squad. Rumdoom watched him go with a muttered curse, having never trusted Stanfield. "Do you have to tell him everything we get up to?" he grumbled. Offended, Malthusius reminded his hot-headed friend that without Governor Stanfield, they would never have been able to take down Lorcan Kell. Malthusius decided to try to persist and speak to the Governor sooner rather than later, and when the situation was dealt with, jumped in his carriage and rode back with him to his mansion.
There, the Governor busied himself instructing his aides on how they should deal with the morning's events. It wasn't possible to discuss sensitive matters until they reached the privacy of Stanfield's office. Even when they reached the mansion, over an hour after they set off, there were countless distractions and duties that left Malthusius hanging around like a spare part. Stanfield apologised for keeping him from his important work, and even suggested they talk 'at the Opening of Peace Conference'. (Odd, thought Malthusius, as he would not be in attendance at the event. In fact, they hoped to be moving on the Ob on the night of the 13th. Stanfield was clearly distracted.) But having lost so much time already, he decided to wait. Four hours after they left the subrail station, Stanfield's closest aide, an intense little man named Grimalkin, showed Malthusius into the Governor's huge study.
The room was the most impressive in the whole mansion, filled with warm, yellow light from gas lamps. Stanfield sat at his desk and apologised once again for the delay. Malthusius quickly brought him up to speed on the Kell initiative and told him what Quentin Augst had revealed about the rusted iron rings in the Stanfield Canal. Stanfield was horrified. Malthusius asked for permission to scour the records of the canal's construction for any clues. Stanfield acquiesced at once and nodded for Grimalkin to make the necessary arrangements. Then he stood and paced over to the enormous window that looked out over the city.
"That canal was the first great public work to bear my name. It is an offense," he said, as he turned back, "that something intended for the public good should be tainted in such a way."
Something in those words broke Malthusius' visions. Suddenly he realised that it was possible for someone to become morally compromised even as they strove to do good. Stanfield was an idealist, which is why Malthusius had always trusted him. Now, for an instant, he saw his calm, beatific face replaced by the snarling visage of a tiger - the tiger of his vision in the Ziggurat of Apet, the rakshasa who had helped in the capture of Andrei, and a beast that had haunted his dreams ever since. Horrified, he tried to maintain his composure, but flinched imperceptibly. Everything fell horribly into place, and Malthusius realised that his old friend was lying to him, and had been lying to him all along. His heart began to beat heavily and his first thought was to escape - to leave as quickly and discreetly as possible and warn Korrigan. (If only he hadn't given his messenger wind to Dester Rathtine!)
Before he could make his excuses and rise, he realised Stanfield was speaking to him, asking him if he was all right. The Governor had come to sit on the edge of his desk, just inches away from where Malthusius was sat, and now leaned forward and placed a friendly hand on his arm.
"I've tried to avoid this, old friend," he was saying, "believe me, I have tried. But it's no use. You always were too clever for your own good." Malthusius tried to move, tried to speak, but he could not. "I want you to know that I do not bear you any malice. This has been exasperating, but it's not your fault. You are on the wrong side without even knowing it. Trust me when I say that everything I have done is for the best." Grimalkin had not left the room at all, but had lingered by the door. Stanfield spoke to him now: "I don't have the heart for this. Please arrange for the inspector to be taken to Cauldron Hill at once. Let Quital deal with him."
“It was Stanfield!” Uriel blurted out when the memory was finished. “He’s the one who handed me over to Quital. Stanfield is the leader of the Colossus Cell, and the head of the Obscurati in Risur!”
(“I knew it,” said Rumdoom and Uru both together.)
