Eudaimonia: Maya's Journey

The Erudit

If legends were true, the Bohemians lived on the margins of society. They mainly made a living from thieving, but it was also believed they had integrated into all parts of society. They had a strong code of honour and would never give into violence unless it was absolutely necessary. They were very discreet and skilful and if caught they would never admit to being part of the Bohemians. In this regard their entire existence was viewed with doubts or mysticism.

To earn a living, they would rob empty houses, organise shows on the streets, and swiftly steal people's wallets, but they were also available to hire, spying on people, running high stakes gambling card games, and were often accused of running the black market.

Aroth had disappeared for almost two days before he resurfaced at the White Swan Tavern. North had totally recovered and he and Maya looked at him impatiently. Aroth made them sit down and he examined them for a few seconds. He didn't know where to start, as he didn't want to give them false hopes.

Maya broke the silence, "Come on old man... spill it!"

"OK, OK, I just don't want you to be too excited as we still have a lot of work to do." He was pretty happy with his introduction so he carried on. "I went to see Mimosa, the baker's wife of East Ecclesia. Mimosa speaks to everybody, and everybody speaks to her. Now you have to filter the information with her. She has thousands of different stories about Bohemians and loves to talk about them. There is a common belief that the Bohemians live in a place called the Catacombs and those Catacombs are accessible through the Gate of Hell... Mimosa has many theories about where the place is. One theory in particular captured my attention and this was that the Catacombs were underground.

"The theory goes that the Catacombs were the ruins of the old Ecclesia. The old Ecclesia was destroyed over two thousand years ago during the War of the Worlds, and was rebuilt on top of its ruins bigger and stronger than ever. It is believed the king's castle sits on top of what once was Ecclesia. The central sewage system is built around the castle and potentially is the point of access to the underworld."

Almost out of breath he stood and went to grab a glass of water.

North couldn't wait. "Let's go now and check it out!"

Aroth slowly walked back and repositioned himself on his chair. "Patience son... The police have already explored this lead for years with not even a shred of evidence so far. The castle is immense so are the canalisations surrounding it." He drank a sip of water and loosened a large roll of paper. "I went to see an old friend of mine working at the city council and he provided me with the exact plans of the canalisations."

They studied the roll attentively. On the plan there were over 150 manholes around the castle giving access to sewers leading in all sorts of directions.

"I'm almost certain if there is such a thing as the Catacombs, the entry is there somewhere. The first problem is that it's almost impossible to search for it properly with our limited resources and the second is if the Bohemians are real they are a band of brigands, and this old witch is most likely a legend they propagated to contribute to their mysticism."

Maya was no longer listening and was drawn to the map. She felt dizzy, her mind was empty, her eyes lost focus, and the map almost disappeared to leave only one black point on it. Then clarity and certainty filled her and mechanically she pointed her finger to the only remaining point, on the west side of the castle. "Here," she said. Then she fainted.

When she regained consciousness a few minutes later she immediately said, "It's there, I felt it." There was no manhole at the place she pointed out, but the strength of her conviction left them with no doubt. It would be where they would start their search.