The Chronicles of Bael

The Chronicles of Bael Part 28

Clayday, Disorder Week, Storm Season, 1600

I am finally resting safely in Fazzur's camp tonight, for which I must give thanks, but to which God I do not know. Not the god that my Master must surely have sought divine intervention from as he felt his assassin's blade drawn across his neck. For that God did not answer his prayers. Is that the lot of an Illuminate, do the gods we deceive know of our deception when their worldly minions do not? How can that be when Lhankor Mhy has allowed my Master to sacrifice for his Rune magic?

Shortly after I left the Temple last night, I was set upon by one of my Master's killers. The evening was dark with but a sliver of the red moon in the sky. Furthest is a new city, with wide avenues and alleys, nevertheless, there is much construction that litters the avenues. It was at just one of these construction sites, upon a street quiet of any traffic that I felt the sudden and unexpected blow to my back. I had been caught completely by surprise, but to my good fortune, my assailant's dagger first struck the blade of my great sword that lay hidden across my back under my cloak. With the force of the powerful blow taken by my sword, my attacker's dagger slid off the links of my chain mail hauberk without biting my flesh. As I reeled forward from the blow, I reached high and drew my great sword, turning upon my foe.

Despite the dim light, I could see that my assailant matched the description of one of the cowled figures provided by the Priest's Reconstruction spells. Drawing a long rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other my foe leapt forward to the attack. Fighting an opponent with two weapons can be difficult, but I had learned much from sparring with Fazzur.

My opponent did not possess Fazzur's skills, nor did his weapons possess the weight of Fazzur's two iron scimitars. He was strong however, unnaturally strong, and the rapier is a weapon well suited for a thrust through a chain hauberk. My opponent's confidence was also high, no doubt believing that he was faced by some soft Lhankor Mhy scholar, and in his confidence, he sought to unsettle me with his tongue. In a guttural New Pelorian dialect he spoke.

"Give us what is ours food-man, or I shall feed upon your flesh while you still live".

In so speaking he revealed himself for what he was, an Ogre. For only an Ogre possesses the appearance of a man and would willingly seek to eat the flesh of man. My Master's "Bestiary of Chaos" describes Ogres as a race of men that sided with Chaos during the Great Darkness. Here was the link between the scroll of Tukar Thal and my Master's death. I parried a blow from his rapier and then spun to avoid the thrust of his dagger.

"Perhaps my Master would prefer to sacrifice you to Cacodemon, I will leave him most of your body", the Ogre snarled as I stepped outside his reach.

Was he referring to his accomplice, or was there a higher power behind my Master's death? His master would be a Rune Priest of Cacodemon to be able to sacrifice directly to his God, and therefore far more powerful than I would be likely to defeat. He bounded outside the reach of my swinging sword.

"Your Master died like a pig upon my blade".

I swept my great sword down with all my might and rage, shattering his rapier as he raised it to parry my blow and clove his skull to the collar bone. By then an alarm had been raised, it would not be long before the town guard arrived. I hurriedly searched the Ogre's clothes but found nothing of note. Hesitating for a moment before I fled, I picked up the Ogre's dagger, cut open his pants and sliced off his substantial manhood and thrust it in my pocket.

When I arrived at Fazzur's camp, he greeted me with a smile that quickly vanished when he saw the look upon my face. I explained all that had transpired in the last two days, leaving out only the reason for my departure from the Temple. Fazzur readily offered me the sanctuary of his camp. He was clearly puzzled and troubled by my story, explaining to me that it was not uncommon for Ogres to masquerade as merchants in the Lunar cult of Etyries, for it provides them with the cover to travel anywhere within the Empire on their evil errands. He was adamant that their anti-social habits are generally not tolerated, except by some elements of the Lunar government, who see an opportunity to make use of their special talents. Fazzur was reluctant to speak further of the matter, but did suggest that my course was simple. I would find the reason for my Master's death by discovering the object of the Ogre's ambitions.

This I knew could only be achieved by extracting my Master's notes from the Truestone and this could only be done by a Priest of Lhankor Mhy. Therefore, he suggested that I return to the Temple upon the morrow and have Salmar Bat read the crystal. His logic was sound, but the reading of the Truestone would also likely reveal my tryst with Chaos.

After Fazzur left me to rest, the answer occurred to me. If I needed a Priest to discover the reason for my Master's death then that priest must be Gorangian Bronzeguts, the Chief Librarian at the Temple in Jonstown and my Master's former Master. What little my Master had related to me of his Illumination as a young man by Ameras of Elz Ast and his travels into Dorastor, I could not believe that Gorangian was not aware of my Master's relationship with Chaos. When we were in residence at the Jonstown Library two years previously, Gorangian and my Master were inseparable from one another. He would be the one priest I could trust with my Master's works.

But before my journey began for Jonstown there was one thing I must do. Ensuring that I was alone, I took out the flask of Chaos Goo and raised it to my lips. My Master had always been my one true guide. Only the brave and the strong can master their own destinies.

As the last drop of the Chaos Goo fell past my tongue I fell to the floor with a wracking pain in my stomach. Then as quickly as it had come the pain left me to be replaced by an extraordinary sense of power. Power filled me in a way I knew was not possible for a mere mortal, I had become favored by the gods, almost as if my very soul had expanded beyond my physical body. My body had not just gained great spiritual Power, but I found myself more in tune with the universe, everything seemed clearer. An overwhelming sense of confidence filled me and I found myself bursting with an incomprehensible joy in the knowledge that my 'Chaos Gift' was a gift indeed, and one that I could, with some effort, conceal.