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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Seravin" data-source="post: 3125309" data-attributes="member: 6783">Marching OrdersEarlier this morning…“I warn you, Captain,” sneered the thin, little man dressed in the latest court fashion.  “It would serve you better to learn from the mistakes of your superiors than to emulate them.  Your general is exiled north and your colonel is all but convicted of treason.  You would do well not to give the Duke any reason to believe you shared in her conspiracy with the Raptoran woman.” Years of discipline kept the snort of derision from escaping the senior-captain’s mouth, though his contempt for the man before him was visible to all with the wit to see it.  Instead the tall captain, still wearing his dented and stained armor, stared stoicly at the young merchant who had brought him orders with the Duke’s seal. Ker Quentin Merith was not known for being a brilliant judge of character but in truth he was more discerning then he was given credit for.  Right now he only cared that the captain before him dare not voice his contempt.  Quentin believed that the captain feared the power he wielded, and Merith decided that he liked the feeling of power.  As one of the prominent citizens advising Aruk he was finding more opportunities to weild that power; such as now.  In the wake of the Raptoran conspiracy His Grace was relying on trusted advisors to be his eyes, ears, and voice within the city.  Aruk had entrusted him to bring His Grace’s orders to the Sarathians and to ensure that they had not gone rogue.Captain Dax Rusuk*, senior-most captain of the order of Victorious Dragons in Corlean and currently the officer in charge, counted to ten in dwarfish before he allowed himself to reply.  Standing in The Square, surrounded by the bustle of the soldiers and the guards, he should have been directing the next assault on the Cathedral (and wasn’t that sentence full of irony); not dealing with a jumped up little weasel of a merchant.The senior captain, already a good six inches taller than Ker Merith stood a little straighter, all put pushing his dented and dirtied armor into the merchant’s face.  “If you’re through I have a Cathedral to take.”  His brown eyes were hard as he spoke.  He was deliberately trying to intimidate the little man and he was past the point of caring whether or not he should.“Do NOT ignore me, Captain!”  Ker Merith’s voice was almost shrill.  The head of his family’s trading concerns in Corlean, Quentin Merith had gained very little respect in a city dedicated to its soldiers.  “These adventurers are to be captured at once.  This is a direct order from His Grace.  The matter of the Cathedral will take care of itself.”Captain Rusuk stared dumbfoundedly at the merchant.  His Grace would never have said that no matter the rumors of conspiracy.  Crown’s Vigil was the heart of the city and would not, could not, be left in unknown hands.  “The cathedral has been violated…” He started.“Yes, yes.  I heard from your more excitable soliders.  Surely you were not taken in by some Library-made apparition?”  Ker Merith was all but sneering again.  “Angels?”  He snorted.  “The adventurers almost certainly conjured up the images, one of them is a wizard.”  He shook his head.  “According to Ker Aruk’s sources the orgin of all this madness is these mercenary adventurers and it is your duty to capture them.  His Grace agrees with Ker Aruk.  Things will sort themselves out after that.”With that last sentence everything clicked into place for senior-Captain Dax Rusuk.  Ker Aruk was the Duke’s newest advisor and rumors said he was gathering a coterie of syncophants (or advisors of prominent influence if you asked them).  With a growing sense of dread Captain Rusuk wondered just what kind of influence the Duke’s newest and closest advisor really had.  He then wondered if he might be going mad.  Colonel Megara in jail, a Tresh-born presence in Crown’s Vigil, and now His Grace giving orders that made no sense.  Then he remembered the visitation of the guardian angels that had brought the survivors out of the Cathedral.Looking into the eyes of the conniving and venal merchant before him, Captain Rusuk chose his words carefully.  “Very well, Ker Merith.  If we are able to capture the mercenary adventurers we will bring them straight to…you?”Ker Merith frowned and studied the older-looking soldier in front of him.  There was no duplicity but the man was leaving something unsaid.  “That would be right, Captain.  Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated.”“Then we’ll be about things then.  I expect to be in the Cathedral within the next hour.”“What…!”  Sputtered the merchant.“The mercenaries are almost certainly in there so we’ll have to capture them once we’re sure we’ve cut off all avenues of escape.”“In the cathedral!?”  Ker Merith was suspicious but he was starting to see where the captain was leading him.“Yes, in the cathedral.  The angels…the apparitions rather, said they were in there.  Even if that was not true we have had a few people escape that have also described them as inside.”Ker Merith hesitated.  He wasn’t sure how Ker Aurk would like this but he had his orders.  The Sarathians were to capture the mercenary adventurers at all costs.  Quentin knew better then to fail Aruk, and the Duke’s advisor hadn’t explicitly said that the cathedral was off-limits, just that it shouldn’t be the focus for the Sarathians.“Very well, Captain.  Proceed.  Find these mercenaries at all costs.”“I can assure you, I have every intention of finding them Ker Merith.”  The captain managed to keep the grim humor out of his voice.  “In the meanwhile, would you like to wait in Sword House?  Or would rather join us?”“I’ll wait in the Colonel’s office.”Captain Rusuk paused a moment then nodded again.  “Very well, though I would caution you against looking through her effects.  It’s standard for an officer to ward official communications with powerful and possibly deadly wards.”The look on Merith’s face was worth it thought Rusuk as he turned and walked away.---*Some of my notes indicate that Major Rusuk was actually the senior captain, not a major as I remembered.  I’ve updated previous posts to reflect this.</blockquote>

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