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<blockquote data-quote="Delemental" data-source="post: 5152305" data-attributes="member: 5203"><p><strong>Inner Conflict</strong></p><p></p><p>They were half the distance to Chrysanthemum when Kaliel suddenly reined in his horse. He sat silently for a moment, an odd look on his face, as he stared up into the light rain that was falling around them.</p><p></p><p> Zanka was soon by his side. “What is it?”</p><p></p><p> “It is… strange,” he said. “The connection that I feel to my people, those that have chosen to revere me… I can feel it slipping away.”</p><p></p><p> Zanka frowned. She knew that there were a few in Kaliel’s city who worshipped him directly as a divine being, and that their faith helped to strengthen him in some small measure. But he rarely spoke openly on the subject – he did not try to prevent his worshippers from displaying their devotion, but neither did he actively encourage it. “Do you believe something has happened in Chrysanthemum?” she asked.</p><p></p><p> “No,” he said. “That would feel more… sudden, I believe. This has been more gradual, more subtle. Still, I would not be averse to traveling with a little more haste.”</p><p></p><p> Many days later, after an otherwise uneventful journey, the four travelers came within sight of Chrysanthemum. As they rose closer, Kaliel’s face darkened.</p><p></p><p> “We should have been met by outriders by now,” he said. “And I know that I ordered the sentry tower on the eastern wall to be raised.”</p><p></p><p> “Could this be related to the unease you felt earlier in our journey?” Rutendo asked.</p><p></p><p> “It is too early to tell. Come, let us make for the gate.”</p><p></p><p> The gate to the city stood open, with only a single sentry posted, who was half-asleep until their horses were only within a few yards. The sentry quickly rose and saluted as Kaliel rode forward.</p><p></p><p> “Soldier,” said Kaliel, in the stern tone he reserved for those under his command who had disappointed him. “Would you care to explain?”</p><p></p><p> “Explain what, sir?”</p><p></p><p> “Choose.”</p><p></p><p> “I… I’m not certain what you mean, sir.”</p><p></p><p> Kaliel closed his eyes, and took a breath. “Perhaps we start by asking why you are alone on gate duty, and why the gate stands open.”</p><p></p><p> “Orders, sir. Only one sentry per gate.”</p><p></p><p> “Where is Sergeant Brusk?” Kaliel asked.</p><p></p><p> “Gone, sir.”</p><p></p><p> Kaliel grated his teeth. Zanka stepped forward.</p><p></p><p> “I believe that this will go better for you if your answers to your captain are a bit more detailed,” she advised him coolly.</p><p></p><p> “Of course, ma’am.” The sentry looked up at Kaliel. “Sergeant Brusk is currently assigned to a long-range scouting mission to the north, in order to determine the status of the forces of the Bull of the North and what threat they pose, if any, to our city.”</p><p></p><p> “Brusk was sent on a scouting mission? On whose authority?”</p><p></p><p> “The town council, sir.”</p><p></p><p> “And they assumed control over my forces by what authority?”</p><p></p><p> “Why, yours, sir, of course.”</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">۞</p><p></p><p> Things were worse than he feared.</p><p></p><p> None of the maintenance projects or defensive improvements he had ordered had been completed, and many had not even started. Discipline among the troops was lax, and many were spending their days idling. A few complained that the problem was the lack of a paying contract after their service to Lagan had ended, but most pointed their fingers squarely in the direction of the civilian town council, who had assumed much of the authority over the Chrysanthemum Knights. And everyone told Kaliel the same thing; that the council’s new powers stemmed from authority he had given them.</p><p></p><p> Less than two hours after they had arrived, Kaliel, Zanka, and Rutendo were standing before the the members of the city’s civilian town council, listening to their explanations. Luc sat off in a corner, trying not to look bored.</p><p></p><p> “Why have none of the projects I assigned been completed?” Kaliel demanded.</p><p></p><p> The council leader, a small balding man named Darrant, blanched. “We… we received your orders canceling those projects, my lord.”</p><p></p><p> “My orders?”</p><p></p><p> “Yes, my lord, sent by courier.”</p><p></p><p> “How were those orders verified?”</p><p></p><p> “Your seal and signature were on each,” Darrant explained. “They were matched and verified.”</p><p></p><p> “Where did my supposed orders come from?” the Bronze Tiger asked.</p><p></p><p> “I can’t say for certain, my lord. You were traveling extensively at the time.”</p><p></p><p> “No, I was not. I have been in Petgrana for several months, and then went to Lynnisbrook for a week. Then I came here.”</p><p></p><p> “This is troubling,” one of the other members of the council said. “You say that you sent no orders?”</p><p></p><p> “None. Why would I need to, when Sergeant Brusk was here? And please, explain to me why a command officer was sent on an extended scouting mission.” Kaliel held up a gauntleted hand. “No, wait. I assume that I ordered the mission?”</p><p></p><p> Several heads nodded in agreement.</p><p></p><p> “Show me these supposed orders,” he commanded.</p><p></p><p> Kaliel and the others were led back to the basement of the council hall, where records were stored. When he came down the stairs, he was surprised to see that the number of shelves in the room had trebled, and each was stuffed with scrolls. Each shelf was marked with a string of seemingly random numerals, and the outer edge of each scroll bore a similar set of markings.</p><p></p><p> “What is all of this?” Kaliel asked. </p><p></p><p> “My lord,” Darrant said, “one of the first orders we received was instructions to begin creating a new filing system. Once that was completed, we found that we had to significantly increase our storage space to accommodate all of the new paperwork.”</p><p></p><p> “New paperwork?” Zanka asked.</p><p></p><p> “Requisition forms, copies of new procedures, old procedures which Lord Kaliel insisted be transferred into written documents, and the like.”</p><p></p><p> “This is…” Kaliel simply could not speak.</p><p></p><p> “Admittedly,” Darrant said, “some of these orders seemed odd to us, but your seal was verified. But if you say that you did not send these….”</p><p></p><p> “Where is the order that sent Brusk away?”</p><p></p><p> “That… will take some time to find, my lord,” Darrant said.</p><p></p><p> “Then do it,” Kaliel snapped. “I will be with the Knights, arranging for someone to go and find Brusk and bring him back.”</p><p></p><p> “I will remain here,” Zanka said. “Perhaps I can help to sort out some of this and find some useful information. Luc, you may stay here and assist me.”</p><p></p><p> “Good,” Kaliel said. “And see what kind of orders have been given to the merchants and craftsmen in town. I want to know what we have been making.” He looked around the room. “It is good to be home again, but... damn.”</p><p></p><p> As they walked out of the town hall and down the street toward the main garrison, Rutendo spoke. “Kaliel,” he said, “allow me to go and find Brusk for you. I can travel faster than any of your scouts, and can track him just as easily.”</p><p></p><p> “That is true,” Kaliel admitted. “But I have no better information to tell you on where he went than ‘North’. Perhaps some of my men will know more details.”</p><p></p><p> They passed by the temple block along the way, noting that they appeared much the way Kaliel had left them, and a brief conversation with the priests revealed no change in the worship. Still uncertain what had caused the lapse in worship he had felt a few weeks ago, and with more immediate concerns on his mind, he returned to his office at the garrison to try and sort out what he could there, while Rutendo went to speak to the other Knights.</p><p></p><p> While he was reprimanding the soldiers assigned to outrider duty, one of the gate sentries approached him. “Captain,” he said, saluting. “There is a supplicant here to see you at the western gate.”</p><p></p><p> “A supplicant?” Kaliel asked.</p><p></p><p> “That was the word he used to describe himself,” the sentry said. “He also claims to be a ‘sun priest’.”</p><p></p><p> “Very well.” He walked out to the western gate, where he saw a man dressed in the garb of a monk, sitting quietly in the lotus position in the road ten feet away from the gate. The man was of indeterminate age, and his head was shaved clean. The most prominent feature of the man, however, was the golden disk of light on his forehead marking him as one of the Zenith caste.</p><p></p><p> “Welcome to Chrysanthemum,” Kaliel said.</p><p></p><p> The man unfolded himself and rose. The man was tall, but thin, with long, almost gangly limbs. The monk bowed. “I am High Bright Sun,” the man said. “With your permission, I have come to bring the worship of the Unconquered Sun to your city.”</p><p></p><p> “That is a faith which is already observed here,” Kaliel said.</p><p></p><p> “But is it widespread throughout the populace? Do they all believe in him with great faith and fervor?”</p><p></p><p> Kaliel’s thoughts could not help but turn to the sudden diminishment in worship he had felt recently. “At one time they did,” he said. “They had faith in me, and through me, him.”</p><p></p><p> “As I said, with your permission I would like to help restore their faith in him. And in you. If you wish to turn me away, there are other towns where I may be accepted.”</p><p></p><p> “Very well,” Kaliel said. “I will have to observe your conduct closely, however. We are in the midst of a delicate situation here.”</p><p></p><p> “All of Creation is in the midst of a delicate situation,” High Bright Sun said.</p><p></p><p> Kaliel escorted High Bright Sun into the temple district, and introduced him to the high priest of the Unconquered Sun’s shrine in the city. Once he had been settled, Kaliel returned to the garrison to continue his work.</p><p></p><p> Zanka did not return until late at night. “This will take longer than I expected,” she told Kaliel. “This filing system that you supposedly ordered is designed to make it difficult to find specific documents. It appears well-organized on the surface, but in fact there is no clear and obvious pattern to the filing.”</p><p></p><p> “Where is Luc?” Kaliel asked.</p><p></p><p> “He has been going around to the various merchants in the city,” Zanka said. “He is making ‘official’ requests for records from the merchants as part of an audit you are conducting.”</p><p></p><p> “I see. I hope to have some of my soldiers ready to assist you soon,” Kaliel said. “They have currently been assigned to attend to a few matters here at the garrisons which have been neglected for the past few months. I have given them until dawn to fix the problems.”</p><p></p><p> There was a knock on the door, and a soldier opened the door, letting Luc inside. He was dressed in an ill-fitting page’s uniform.</p><p></p><p> “What have you learned?” Kaliel asked.</p><p></p><p> “About half the merchants I talked to got real nervous when I started using words like ‘audit’ and ‘records’,” Luc said. “Very few even had anything they turned over to me. I think that some of your merchants have been up to no good while you were gone.”</p><p></p><p> “Another problem to deal with,” Kaliel sighed.</p><p></p><p> “There was something else, too,” Luc said. “I didn’t catch it at first, but I started noticing that everyone who got nervous when I asked questions was wearing a ring on their left pinky finger.”</p><p></p><p> “What kind of ring?” Zanka asked.</p><p></p><p> “Black iron, I think,” Luc said. “At least, I think so. I didn’t see any markings or anything. I saw a couple of rings just like it on people just walking around in the street.”</p><p></p><p> “Some sort of mercantile cooperative?” Zanka asked.</p><p></p><p> “Or something else, considering that only the dishonest merchants bore this ring,” Kaliel said. He stood up, and walked to the door. The soldiers stationed outside saluted. “Get Corporal Tapas and tell him to put a detail together,” he ordered them. “We will be detaining some of the merchants in the city. I will provide you with a list once the troops are ready.”</p><p></p><p> The door closed, and Kaliel turned to Luc. “Now, tell me, who exactly was wearing these black rings?”</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">۞</p><p></p><p> Rutendo languished on a threadbare but comfortable divan, letting the smell of incense waft over him. The sounds of various conversations and activities filled the barracks, echoing off the solid stone walls.</p><p></p><p> He had come here to ask Kaliel’s soldiers about Brusk, in hopes of finding out more details about where he might have gone on his scouting mission. He found they were more than willing to speak to a companion of Lord Kaliel, and when Rutendo saw that some of them were giving him looks that were more than just professional courtesy, he decided to use a more casual approach in his questioning.</p><p></p><p> The subject of one of those casual encounters, Corporal Broxa, was now laying next to Rutendo on the divan, and was well into his cups. Rutendo had worked the conversation around to the recent problems in the city.</p><p></p><p> “Y’know,” he said, “it all started going wrong when those letters started comin’ in. That’s why I say that you never do orders on paper, because somethin’ always goes wrong.”</p><p></p><p> “I have seen the records in town hall,” Rutendo said. “I have seen many battles, but never something as horrific as those shelves.”</p><p></p><p> “Carnage!” Broxa agreed. “But that was only the start. Things got really nasty after Brusk started acting up.”</p><p></p><p> “Acting up?”</p><p></p><p> “Yeah, he was going around saying that somethin’ was wrong, that Kaliel wouldn’t do that, stuff like that. Then he got sent away. For a while, I don’t mind tellin’ you, we thought the captain has lost his mind or somethin’.”</p><p></p><p> “I remember Kaliel talking about Brusk constantly,” Rutendo said. “I was very much looking forward to meeting him. And now, to find out he has been sent ‘north’ on a fool’s errand…”</p><p></p><p> “It’s not a fool’s errand,” Broxa said. “We don’t know where the Bull of the North is hiding. If he decides to come wipe us out, we’d have no chance. But you don’t send Brusk for a job like that – if Kaliel is a god, then Brusk is like… God-Blooded, or something, I don’t know. You send Jaree for a job like that.”</p><p></p><p> “So, there is no way that Kaliel would send that order.”</p><p></p><p> “Right. Yeah, right!”</p><p></p><p> Rutendo smiled. “Well, until they sort out that bureaucratic nightmare, I think that someone should try and bring Brusk back closer to home. Any idea where he might have gone?”</p><p></p><p> The Dragon-Blood set out the next morning, little the worse for wear despite his night of debauchery. The soldiers had not had much information to give him, but it was enough to point him on a slightly more focused path. Less than an hour outside the city, as the walls disappeared from view behind him, Rutendo dismounted to begin searching for signs of Brusk’s trail, and was surprised to find relatively recent tracks. Following them, he soon came within sight of a lone mounted figure, traversing through the woods. Rutendo watched the figure for a while, and then, recognizing the pattern in the man’s travels, began to laugh.</p><p></p><p> He rode up to the figure a few minutes later, who regarded Rutendo warily. “I was wondering when you would come closer,” he said. “You are from the city, but I do not know you.”</p><p></p><p> “I am Rutendo,” he replied. “Son of Ayama, who is a companion of Lord Kaliel and someone I believe you <em>do</em> know.” Rutendo looked around. “So you have been riding in a circle around the city, just out of sight of the walls, in order to ‘scout’ for the Bull of the North?”</p><p></p><p> “A half-circle,” Brusk corrected. “We know the Bull is not south of us. I have learned, when given orders that I do not agree with, how to follow their letter if not their spirit.”</p><p></p><p> Rutendo laughed again. “I have a feeling that I could learn much from you.”</p><p></p><p>---------------------------------</p><p></p><p>Yes, this is the story that answers the question, "Why would anyone buy Bureaucracy Charms?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Delemental, post: 5152305, member: 5203"] [b]Inner Conflict[/b] They were half the distance to Chrysanthemum when Kaliel suddenly reined in his horse. He sat silently for a moment, an odd look on his face, as he stared up into the light rain that was falling around them. Zanka was soon by his side. “What is it?” “It is… strange,” he said. “The connection that I feel to my people, those that have chosen to revere me… I can feel it slipping away.” Zanka frowned. She knew that there were a few in Kaliel’s city who worshipped him directly as a divine being, and that their faith helped to strengthen him in some small measure. But he rarely spoke openly on the subject – he did not try to prevent his worshippers from displaying their devotion, but neither did he actively encourage it. “Do you believe something has happened in Chrysanthemum?” she asked. “No,” he said. “That would feel more… sudden, I believe. This has been more gradual, more subtle. Still, I would not be averse to traveling with a little more haste.” Many days later, after an otherwise uneventful journey, the four travelers came within sight of Chrysanthemum. As they rose closer, Kaliel’s face darkened. “We should have been met by outriders by now,” he said. “And I know that I ordered the sentry tower on the eastern wall to be raised.” “Could this be related to the unease you felt earlier in our journey?” Rutendo asked. “It is too early to tell. Come, let us make for the gate.” The gate to the city stood open, with only a single sentry posted, who was half-asleep until their horses were only within a few yards. The sentry quickly rose and saluted as Kaliel rode forward. “Soldier,” said Kaliel, in the stern tone he reserved for those under his command who had disappointed him. “Would you care to explain?” “Explain what, sir?” “Choose.” “I… I’m not certain what you mean, sir.” Kaliel closed his eyes, and took a breath. “Perhaps we start by asking why you are alone on gate duty, and why the gate stands open.” “Orders, sir. Only one sentry per gate.” “Where is Sergeant Brusk?” Kaliel asked. “Gone, sir.” Kaliel grated his teeth. Zanka stepped forward. “I believe that this will go better for you if your answers to your captain are a bit more detailed,” she advised him coolly. “Of course, ma’am.” The sentry looked up at Kaliel. “Sergeant Brusk is currently assigned to a long-range scouting mission to the north, in order to determine the status of the forces of the Bull of the North and what threat they pose, if any, to our city.” “Brusk was sent on a scouting mission? On whose authority?” “The town council, sir.” “And they assumed control over my forces by what authority?” “Why, yours, sir, of course.” [center]۞[/center] Things were worse than he feared. None of the maintenance projects or defensive improvements he had ordered had been completed, and many had not even started. Discipline among the troops was lax, and many were spending their days idling. A few complained that the problem was the lack of a paying contract after their service to Lagan had ended, but most pointed their fingers squarely in the direction of the civilian town council, who had assumed much of the authority over the Chrysanthemum Knights. And everyone told Kaliel the same thing; that the council’s new powers stemmed from authority he had given them. Less than two hours after they had arrived, Kaliel, Zanka, and Rutendo were standing before the the members of the city’s civilian town council, listening to their explanations. Luc sat off in a corner, trying not to look bored. “Why have none of the projects I assigned been completed?” Kaliel demanded. The council leader, a small balding man named Darrant, blanched. “We… we received your orders canceling those projects, my lord.” “My orders?” “Yes, my lord, sent by courier.” “How were those orders verified?” “Your seal and signature were on each,” Darrant explained. “They were matched and verified.” “Where did my supposed orders come from?” the Bronze Tiger asked. “I can’t say for certain, my lord. You were traveling extensively at the time.” “No, I was not. I have been in Petgrana for several months, and then went to Lynnisbrook for a week. Then I came here.” “This is troubling,” one of the other members of the council said. “You say that you sent no orders?” “None. Why would I need to, when Sergeant Brusk was here? And please, explain to me why a command officer was sent on an extended scouting mission.” Kaliel held up a gauntleted hand. “No, wait. I assume that I ordered the mission?” Several heads nodded in agreement. “Show me these supposed orders,” he commanded. Kaliel and the others were led back to the basement of the council hall, where records were stored. When he came down the stairs, he was surprised to see that the number of shelves in the room had trebled, and each was stuffed with scrolls. Each shelf was marked with a string of seemingly random numerals, and the outer edge of each scroll bore a similar set of markings. “What is all of this?” Kaliel asked. “My lord,” Darrant said, “one of the first orders we received was instructions to begin creating a new filing system. Once that was completed, we found that we had to significantly increase our storage space to accommodate all of the new paperwork.” “New paperwork?” Zanka asked. “Requisition forms, copies of new procedures, old procedures which Lord Kaliel insisted be transferred into written documents, and the like.” “This is…” Kaliel simply could not speak. “Admittedly,” Darrant said, “some of these orders seemed odd to us, but your seal was verified. But if you say that you did not send these….” “Where is the order that sent Brusk away?” “That… will take some time to find, my lord,” Darrant said. “Then do it,” Kaliel snapped. “I will be with the Knights, arranging for someone to go and find Brusk and bring him back.” “I will remain here,” Zanka said. “Perhaps I can help to sort out some of this and find some useful information. Luc, you may stay here and assist me.” “Good,” Kaliel said. “And see what kind of orders have been given to the merchants and craftsmen in town. I want to know what we have been making.” He looked around the room. “It is good to be home again, but... damn.” As they walked out of the town hall and down the street toward the main garrison, Rutendo spoke. “Kaliel,” he said, “allow me to go and find Brusk for you. I can travel faster than any of your scouts, and can track him just as easily.” “That is true,” Kaliel admitted. “But I have no better information to tell you on where he went than ‘North’. Perhaps some of my men will know more details.” They passed by the temple block along the way, noting that they appeared much the way Kaliel had left them, and a brief conversation with the priests revealed no change in the worship. Still uncertain what had caused the lapse in worship he had felt a few weeks ago, and with more immediate concerns on his mind, he returned to his office at the garrison to try and sort out what he could there, while Rutendo went to speak to the other Knights. While he was reprimanding the soldiers assigned to outrider duty, one of the gate sentries approached him. “Captain,” he said, saluting. “There is a supplicant here to see you at the western gate.” “A supplicant?” Kaliel asked. “That was the word he used to describe himself,” the sentry said. “He also claims to be a ‘sun priest’.” “Very well.” He walked out to the western gate, where he saw a man dressed in the garb of a monk, sitting quietly in the lotus position in the road ten feet away from the gate. The man was of indeterminate age, and his head was shaved clean. The most prominent feature of the man, however, was the golden disk of light on his forehead marking him as one of the Zenith caste. “Welcome to Chrysanthemum,” Kaliel said. The man unfolded himself and rose. The man was tall, but thin, with long, almost gangly limbs. The monk bowed. “I am High Bright Sun,” the man said. “With your permission, I have come to bring the worship of the Unconquered Sun to your city.” “That is a faith which is already observed here,” Kaliel said. “But is it widespread throughout the populace? Do they all believe in him with great faith and fervor?” Kaliel’s thoughts could not help but turn to the sudden diminishment in worship he had felt recently. “At one time they did,” he said. “They had faith in me, and through me, him.” “As I said, with your permission I would like to help restore their faith in him. And in you. If you wish to turn me away, there are other towns where I may be accepted.” “Very well,” Kaliel said. “I will have to observe your conduct closely, however. We are in the midst of a delicate situation here.” “All of Creation is in the midst of a delicate situation,” High Bright Sun said. Kaliel escorted High Bright Sun into the temple district, and introduced him to the high priest of the Unconquered Sun’s shrine in the city. Once he had been settled, Kaliel returned to the garrison to continue his work. Zanka did not return until late at night. “This will take longer than I expected,” she told Kaliel. “This filing system that you supposedly ordered is designed to make it difficult to find specific documents. It appears well-organized on the surface, but in fact there is no clear and obvious pattern to the filing.” “Where is Luc?” Kaliel asked. “He has been going around to the various merchants in the city,” Zanka said. “He is making ‘official’ requests for records from the merchants as part of an audit you are conducting.” “I see. I hope to have some of my soldiers ready to assist you soon,” Kaliel said. “They have currently been assigned to attend to a few matters here at the garrisons which have been neglected for the past few months. I have given them until dawn to fix the problems.” There was a knock on the door, and a soldier opened the door, letting Luc inside. He was dressed in an ill-fitting page’s uniform. “What have you learned?” Kaliel asked. “About half the merchants I talked to got real nervous when I started using words like ‘audit’ and ‘records’,” Luc said. “Very few even had anything they turned over to me. I think that some of your merchants have been up to no good while you were gone.” “Another problem to deal with,” Kaliel sighed. “There was something else, too,” Luc said. “I didn’t catch it at first, but I started noticing that everyone who got nervous when I asked questions was wearing a ring on their left pinky finger.” “What kind of ring?” Zanka asked. “Black iron, I think,” Luc said. “At least, I think so. I didn’t see any markings or anything. I saw a couple of rings just like it on people just walking around in the street.” “Some sort of mercantile cooperative?” Zanka asked. “Or something else, considering that only the dishonest merchants bore this ring,” Kaliel said. He stood up, and walked to the door. The soldiers stationed outside saluted. “Get Corporal Tapas and tell him to put a detail together,” he ordered them. “We will be detaining some of the merchants in the city. I will provide you with a list once the troops are ready.” The door closed, and Kaliel turned to Luc. “Now, tell me, who exactly was wearing these black rings?” [center]۞[/center] Rutendo languished on a threadbare but comfortable divan, letting the smell of incense waft over him. The sounds of various conversations and activities filled the barracks, echoing off the solid stone walls. He had come here to ask Kaliel’s soldiers about Brusk, in hopes of finding out more details about where he might have gone on his scouting mission. He found they were more than willing to speak to a companion of Lord Kaliel, and when Rutendo saw that some of them were giving him looks that were more than just professional courtesy, he decided to use a more casual approach in his questioning. The subject of one of those casual encounters, Corporal Broxa, was now laying next to Rutendo on the divan, and was well into his cups. Rutendo had worked the conversation around to the recent problems in the city. “Y’know,” he said, “it all started going wrong when those letters started comin’ in. That’s why I say that you never do orders on paper, because somethin’ always goes wrong.” “I have seen the records in town hall,” Rutendo said. “I have seen many battles, but never something as horrific as those shelves.” “Carnage!” Broxa agreed. “But that was only the start. Things got really nasty after Brusk started acting up.” “Acting up?” “Yeah, he was going around saying that somethin’ was wrong, that Kaliel wouldn’t do that, stuff like that. Then he got sent away. For a while, I don’t mind tellin’ you, we thought the captain has lost his mind or somethin’.” “I remember Kaliel talking about Brusk constantly,” Rutendo said. “I was very much looking forward to meeting him. And now, to find out he has been sent ‘north’ on a fool’s errand…” “It’s not a fool’s errand,” Broxa said. “We don’t know where the Bull of the North is hiding. If he decides to come wipe us out, we’d have no chance. But you don’t send Brusk for a job like that – if Kaliel is a god, then Brusk is like… God-Blooded, or something, I don’t know. You send Jaree for a job like that.” “So, there is no way that Kaliel would send that order.” “Right. Yeah, right!” Rutendo smiled. “Well, until they sort out that bureaucratic nightmare, I think that someone should try and bring Brusk back closer to home. Any idea where he might have gone?” The Dragon-Blood set out the next morning, little the worse for wear despite his night of debauchery. The soldiers had not had much information to give him, but it was enough to point him on a slightly more focused path. Less than an hour outside the city, as the walls disappeared from view behind him, Rutendo dismounted to begin searching for signs of Brusk’s trail, and was surprised to find relatively recent tracks. Following them, he soon came within sight of a lone mounted figure, traversing through the woods. Rutendo watched the figure for a while, and then, recognizing the pattern in the man’s travels, began to laugh. He rode up to the figure a few minutes later, who regarded Rutendo warily. “I was wondering when you would come closer,” he said. “You are from the city, but I do not know you.” “I am Rutendo,” he replied. “Son of Ayama, who is a companion of Lord Kaliel and someone I believe you [I]do[/I] know.” Rutendo looked around. “So you have been riding in a circle around the city, just out of sight of the walls, in order to ‘scout’ for the Bull of the North?” “A half-circle,” Brusk corrected. “We know the Bull is not south of us. I have learned, when given orders that I do not agree with, how to follow their letter if not their spirit.” Rutendo laughed again. “I have a feeling that I could learn much from you.” --------------------------------- Yes, this is the story that answers the question, "Why would anyone buy Bureaucracy Charms?" [/QUOTE]
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