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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7392311" data-attributes="member: 143">Gotta shake things up every now and again, lest our heroes become too complacent. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />* * *Chapter 145Quellan had tried to talk Bredan out of it.“I understand your feelings,” the cleric had said, “but I think the wizards may have the right of it in this instance.  Until we understand fully what is happening to you… what happened to all of us in that shrine in the Silverpeak… we shouldn’t do anything rash.”“I just want some answers,” Bredan had replied.  “The wizards either can’t or won’t tell me anything more about my father, just that he used to work for them until his organization or whatever was disbanded.  And more vague statements about hidden threats and dangers to the realm.”Even that information had come reluctantly, and only to direct questions.  The wizards—members of a prominent faction at the Apernium—had explained that Colvas Karras had been part of a specialized group of soldiers known as the Silver Gauntlet.  They’d served as bodyguards and troubleshooters, apparently running missions for the wizards in and around the capital, and occasionally escorting them on more distant journeys.  Apparently, there had been traitors in the organization, a group within the group that had turned against the wizards.  Konstantin had told him that Bredan’s father had been instrumental in defeating those traitors and their plots before they could cause real damage.After those events, which had taken place almost four decades ago, the Gauntlet had been disbanded.  According to Konstantin, Colvas Karras had left the service of the wizards shortly thereafter and disappeared from their records.  The wizard said that wasn’t unusual; many of the loyal members of the Gauntlet had still been young men and women, and reluctant to retire on the pension that the Apernium had offered them.  Some of them had gone on to serve as mercenaries or security consultants for noble houses in the capital, but most had left Severon and disappeared, much like Bredan’s father.“I’m continuing my research,” Quellan had continued.  “It hasn’t been easy.  Forty years is not that long in terms of organizational history, but there isn’t much in the church’s archives about either the factions within the Apernium or the Silver Gauntlet.”“Xeeta says that these wizards are secretive by their very nature, since so much of their power is based upon the written word.  They don’t want to share their lore since it would diminish their own status.  And I can’t imagine that they would want to publicize information about a group of traitors within their own ranks, especially if they came close to succeeding in their plots.”“The wizards have always been a prominent ally of the Crown.  I understand and share your concerns, Bredan, but they’ve only been helpful thus far.”“I don’t feel helped,” Bredan had said.  “I’ve been poked and prodded and subjected to a dozen tests both magical and mundane, but no one has been able to tell me with any clarity what’s been happening to me.”“We need to be patient.  I’m taking Xeeta with me to meet with one of the hierarchs of my church tomorrow, to brief him on what we found in the Silverpeak Valley and our encounter with the Blooded warlock.  I’m worried that the casters within Murgoth’s army are somehow connected with the organization that Xeeta described in Li Syval.  We already know that the power that’s been affecting you is something that these Blooded are interested in.  We need to know more, to start putting the pieces together.”“Good, that’s good.  Go ahead and meet with him, they should know that that guy’s still out there somewhere, he was dangerous.  But I’m not going to wait any longer.  Like you said, forty years is not that long, there may still be people living here who knew my father.  I’m just going to ask around, see what I can find out.”“I’d feel better if you waited for me, at least.  Severon’s not the frontier, but it has its own hazards.”“Glori’s going with me, she’ll make sure I stay out of trouble.  But like I said, I’m only going to ask a few questions.  I’m not looking for trouble.”But trouble had found them, Bredan mused back in his cell.  And he’d blundered right into it like a fool, dragging Glori down with him.</blockquote>

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