Day Twenty-Nine in Draven’s Reach

I approached the city walls openly.

There was no need to hide. The guards on the wall were the marshal’s men, and for all intents and purposes my allies, yet… the faces my sharp-eyed gaze picked out from the distance were uniformly grim and unhappy.

Of its own accord, my right hand drifted closer to the hilt of ebonheart. To maintain my guise as Taim, I had stowed away my second blade in my backpack. My eyes scanned the walls again.

Something had happened.

It must have. And whatever it was, my intuition was telling me it wasn’t good. Drawing to a halt in front of the still-barred city gates, I raised my head to hail the guards gathered on the parapets.

Multiple unknown entities have failed to pierce your disguise.

“Go away!” a thick-set soldier snarled. “City’s closed.”

My eyes rested on him. “Closed?” I repeated mildly.

“Yeah,” he sniffed disdainfully. “No riff raff allowed.”

The insult did not perturb me. “Don’t you recognize me? I’m Taim, the—”

“The marshal’s pet. Yeah, we know who you are,” another guard added.

My gaze drifted in his direction. The second speaker was a dark elf, and by the insignia on his arm, a captain. “But the thing is, Elron is no longer in charge,” he continued. “And you are definitely not welcome.”

Outwardly, I stayed calm, but inwardly, my thoughts raced. What was happening in New Haven?

Elron had been ousted? How? And more importantly, why?

When I’d left the city, the marshal’s position had been secure. I’d been the fugitive, not him. Either Elron had overestimated his influence or something had happened to trigger his downfall.

Leaning over the rampant, dark elf glared at me. “I said: get lost!”

“If you know who I am, you know what I am,” I replied. “Your threats don’t scare me.”

“Oh, I know what you are,” he sneered. Lifting his hands from where they had been concealed below the rampant, he drew a heavy warbow and pointed it unerringly at my heart. “But not even a player can outrun a hundred arrows.” Raising his head, the captain yelled, “Draw!”

In response, dozens more bows appeared, all pointed my way.

I didn’t move.

Folding my arms across my chest, I studied the soldiers lining the city walls. Every face was grim, every gaze was stony, and while some refused to meet my eyes, no one looked scared. If I pushed them, it would come to a fight. And then I would have to kill a few. Perhaps more than a few, I amended as I measured their resolve.

Something is not right here.

Ever so slowly, so as not to trigger a hasty response from the archers, I raised my right hand as if to rub at my chin, but in reality, tugged on one very particular chink in the sorcerer’s coif.

Unlike the spectacles of ward seeing, the coif’s enchantments were not always active—that would drain its magic too quickly—and had to be enabled. Aside from that small drawback, the coif was superior to the spectacles—in every way. Not only did it let me perceive spelled wards, it also identified the castings they contained.

You have activated a sorcerer’s coif.

Glowing lines of magic appeared in my sight. Glancing left and right, I saw that the spell weaves covered the entirety of the city’s walls in both directions.

You have detected a hostile spell!

The target is the tier 2 ward spell: shrieking vines.

My eyes tightened fractionally. Just as I suspected, the city was warded. Shrieking vines. I didn’t recognize the spell, but I could guess what it did.

Lifting my head, I scanned the faces staring down at me anew. There were no youths amongst them. Every soldier on the wall was a veteran. And that, I suspected, wasn’t happenstance either. My arrival had been expected.

And prepared for.

“What’s wrong?” the dark elf jeered, mistaking my silence for fear. “Don’t tell me the big bad player is afraid of a few proles?”

I didn’t respond, not sure what to make of the dark elf’s obvious animosity. I’d never met him before, and he had no cause to dislike me, yet clearly, he did.

“Come on,” the captain said, egging me on. “Step forward. Give me an excuse to kill you.”

Why do you need an excuse? I wondered but kept the thought to myself.

A nearby sergeant threw his superior a sharp glance—cautioning him maybe?—but didn’t otherwise intervene. Had the soldiers been given orders to turn me away, but only to turn me away? If so, the dark elf officer was skirting the edge of those orders. “What’s your name, captain?” I asked finally.

“And why would I tell you that?” he scoffed.

I shrugged. “It’s only your name. Where’s the harm in sharing it?”

The captain grew tight lipped, saying nothing.

I didn’t need the elf to tell me his name, of course. I could simply analyze him and find out that way, but I didn’t bother. Tilting my head to the side, I studied the officer curiously. “Now, who’s afraid?” I asked softly.

The captain’s hands tightened around his bow. Yet, even so, he did not release the arrow he’d knocked.

I stepped back. I’d learned all I was going to, I decided. Time to de-escalate. “Alright, you win,” I said, raising my hands, palms out. “Don’t shoot and I’ll go—peacefully.”

The dark elf’s lips curved upward in a triumphant grin. “Then get! And don’t you dare come back!”

Now that I can’t promise.

Bowing deeply—and with more than a hint of mockery—I retreated from the gate.

✵ ✵ ✵

Your deception has reached rank 16.

Multiple hostile entities have failed to detect you! You are hidden.

I didn’t go far, just far enough to wrap myself in shadow and ponder my next move. The encounter at the city gates had been disturbing and not as enlightening as I’d hoped. Central in my thoughts was the question: why had the council closed New Haven?

It could only be the council who were responsible; no one else had the power to remove Elron from office. Well, the possessed did, but they should be long gone from the city by now.

I’d discussed the problem of Castor with Adriel before we’d parted ways, and she had assured me Farren would recall the city’s possessed contingent. And given what I’d seen of New Haven’s wards, Farren appeared to have already made good on that promise. No way would Castor or any of his cohorts expect such lower tiered spells to keep me out.

And keeping me out appeared to be the city’s only intent.

There had to be more to it, though, surely. The city wouldn’t risk leaving their fields unattended solely to bar me from entering. Would they?

I bit my lip, thinking. I wasn’t certain what game New Haven’s council was playing at, but it didn’t appear well thought out. Closing the city and letting the fields lie fallow—and not just the southern fields but the northern ones too—was stupid.

Soon, the city’s populace would starve—if they weren’t already. After which, the people would riot. And then, the council would lose their grip on the city, and I could simply stroll in. All I had to do was camp outside the city and wait for that to happen.

But I couldn’t do that.

For one, I didn’t have the luxury of time, and for another, Elron might need help. It had not escaped my notice that the captain had not reported the marshal as being dead. And if Elron was alive, I would not abandon him.

So, I had to enter the city. The only question was how I went about that.

The wards around on the walls were an… inconvenience. Still, they had me wondering what role New Haven mages played in matters.

“What about the north gate?” Ghost suggested.

Setting aside my wandering thoughts, I focused on her. The two of us had been discussing potential strategies for infiltrating the city. “What do you mean?”

“You said the south gate was the same one we used the last time,” the pyre wolf pointed out. “If the city was expecting you to return, maybe that’s why it’s so heavily guarded. And maybe the other city entrances are… less so.”

“Hmm, you might be onto something there.” Rising to my feet, I studied the city. I was more than one hundred yards outside the walls, far enough that the guards could not spot me lurking in the shadows, but close enough for my own sight to remain unimpaired by the distance. “Let’s see if you’re right.”

Slipping quietly through the abandoned fields, I circled the city. From what Elron had told me, I knew New Haven had four entrances, one at each point of the compass.

It didn’t take me long to draw even with the east gate. Pausing, I scanned the walls above.

The city’s eastern perimeter was almost as well-guarded as the southern one, but that didn’t negate Ghost’s theory. Given New Haven’s geographical location in the dungeon, the southern and eastern entrances were the ones I was most likely to use when approaching the city. “The east gate is a no-go too,” I reported.

Continuing on, I angled past the east perimeter and made for the north wall.

It, too, was warded, and its gate was also closed, but less than fifty soldiers lined the ramparts. “You were right, Ghost,” I murmured. “The northern entrance is poorly guarded.” But were the defenses lacking enough that I could teleport into the city without alerting the guards?

Only one way to find out.

Veering left, I made for the city.

✵ ✵ ✵

Cloaked in shadows, I crept closer to the walls. So far, the soldiers atop the parapets were oblivious to my presence.

At the fifty-yard line, I paused.

I was within shadow blink range. Teleporting past the shrieking vines would be easy from here, but that still left the problem of remaining unseen once I was on the ramparts, although I could probably escape detection by the soldiers long enough to teleport out again.

But why take that risk?

It would be simpler—and safer—to blink past the wards and the soldiers on the wall. For that, though, I would need to find a teleportation target. Sending psi rippling outwards, I activated my mindsight.

Tendrils of my will flooded the space around me, revealing every consciousness within a hundred yards. There were fewer than I expected. Still, there were enough to give me options. Disregarding the mindglows on the ramparts, I focused on the ones beyond.

Thirty yards past the wall, I spotted a cluster of mindglows, which by the subdued nature, I judged to be the dreaming minds of a company of soldiers. Given the barracks I’d spied next to the city outer walls during my previous visit, that was the most likely scenario, anyway.

Reaching out with my will, I inspected each consciousness in turn until I found what I was looking for.

The target is…

The target is…

The target is Egan, a level 93 human.

A human was perfect for what I planned, especially one, who was likely a soldier. I aim for him, I decided. Rising to my haunches, I padded forward.

Forty yards separated me from the wall. Thirty.

Multiple hostile entities have failed to detect you!

Drawing to a halt, I recast fade, then resumed my silent stalk through the field of overripe crops. From the ramparts, the sounds of the guards’ chatter floated downwards. They were relaxed and at ease, no threat.

Twenty yards from the wall, I stopped. My target was within range. This is it. Spinning together weaves of psi, I stepped out of the real and into the aether.

You have cast shadow blink.

✵ ✵ ✵

You have teleported 50 yards. You are hidden.

I was in a bedroom.

Utilitarian and small, it housed only a bed, a wardrobe and a single table and chair. Glancing up from where I was crouched on the floor, I took in the snoring shape stretched out on the bed.

He was garbed in the same uniform as the other city soldiers and bore the insignia of a lieutenant. I’d found an officer. Even better, I wasn’t in a barrack’s dormitory and except for Egan and myself, the room was empty.

For a moment, I was tempted to explore the building I was in further but decided against it. Sleeping or not, I could trust soldiers to be more alert than the average citizen, and there were easier means of finding out what was going on in the city.

Unbending, I rose to my full height and studied the oblivious figure on the bed more carefully. When I was certain I had memorized his features, I slipped towards the wardrobe and opened it.

Three pairs of uniforms were stacked neatly on the shelves within. I smiled broadly. Perfect. Swiping the first set, I redressed and adjusted my disguise.

You have cast facial disguise, assuming the visage of Egan, a level 93 human. Duration: 3 hours.

Time to go. Directing my mindsight into the city, I searched for another teleportation target. It didn’t take me long to find out.

Forty yards was a solitary individual. She was moving quickly, angling away from me, and I had to act fast if I was going to use her. Drawing psi, I shadow blinked.

You have teleported into Noli’s shadow. You are hidden.

I emerged out of the aether behind the dwarf who was in far too much of a rush to notice the new shadow at her rear. Staying still, I took in my surroundings.

I was on a city street, out in the open and exposed.

A side street—narrow and overshadowed by the leaning buildings bordering it—was close by. I jogged towards it, my footfalls silent, and before Noli or anyone else had a chance to spot me, I ducked within its sheltering embrace.

“I’m in,” I reported to Ghost.

“Good job.” She paused. “What now?”

With my back pressed up against a wall, I peeked out of the alley. Noli had disappeared around a corner and the streets were empty. My arrival in the city had gone noticed.

“Now, we find Gamil,” I replied. Trusting in my disguise, I slipped out of hiding and strode boldly down the street.