The Kinstrife
Part
25
In
which we enjoy an invigorating fight with six automata left by Celebrindor in the Red House and Pimm
suffers severe trauma; we plan an excavation and Aerin finds some letters and
an enigmatic map.
I send a message
to Zimrakhil (whom it seems Aerin knows, having
stayed with him during her voyage south from the Raj), requesting an
appointment later this week and Squire Gordacar
confirms that I have an appointment with him this afternoon (it seems Umbar has
a culture of afternoon visiting, which suits me), so we have the morning free
again.
With Pimm’s advice, Brand and I draft a letter to Governor Telemnar explaining the circumstances of Celebrindor’s death and that his estate is forfeit to the
Crown. We apply for possession or access to his estate in Umbar as ‘interested
parties’. With remarkable speed, Pimm receives
letters of authority which, as he puts it, means ‘we can do whatever we want’
with the Red House (though Brand’s reading of the text indicates we are to
enter, secure the premises and make an inventory of the contents, pending
disposal by the Crown.
Armed with
official authorisation, Pimm, Brand and Aerin go
direct to the Red House (‘to see if the back door was left unlocked’ as Brand
puts it) while Ilvirin and I visit Esgaliel, the lawyer who handled the conveyancing,
in the hope that she can tell us where to find the keys. Regretfully, Esgaliel can offer no help. Celebrindor
seems to have left no paper trail and Esgaliel knows
nothing of the keys after having given them to Celebrindor.
Ilvirin
and I return to the Red House to find the front door well open and suffering a
gash which definitely wasn’t there yesterday and looks like the mark of an axe.
Fearing the worst, we find the other three taking lunch nearby, with their eyes
on the door.
It seems
it’s not quite as bad as it looks. Finding everything secure and too impatient
to wait for us, they hired a locksmith, who apparently just knocked out the
lock (so much for finesse). It was as the locksmith pushed open the door that
he ducked under an axe swung from within!
Pimm
says he saw an armoured figure inside and shot it with his crossbow, upon which
it withdrew in to darkness. They’ve all been waiting for our return as they
believe dealing with armoured axemen is the work of a
nobleman.
So,
borrowing Pimm’s shield, I cautiously lead Ilvirin and Aerin inside the house, rapier drawn. Brand
utters a Word of Power and I feel my step quicken, which is just as well, as
things turn out.
As my eyes
adjust to the gloom, I quickly see the figure. It stands, menacingly, in the
hallway. I briefly wonder if it’s Celebrindor’s
butler or housekeeper diligently defending his master’s property but something
about the mechanical way it steps forward and swings the great-axe tells me
it’s not alive. Metallic clanks echo as it moves.
With my
rapier conferring the advantage of speed, I hit first but my point skitters off
the breastplate, while I knock aside its blade with the shield. We trade blows
like this before I disarm it. By this time Ilvirin
has joined me, which is just as well as I can hear similar clanking from the
doors to our right. I manage to get my point deep inside it and it shudders,
even as it retrieves its weapon, and then Ilvirin
removes its head.
At this
point, I hear further clanks and two more automata advance from rooms to our
right. I engage one, immediately disarming it. It starts groping for its axe
but I can’t seem to land a killing blow (not what a rapier is intended for).
Brand joins me as Ilvirin goes for its companion to
the right.
In a
somewhat comedic performance, I repeatedly disarm ours only to have it retrieve
its weapon before Aerin gets the opportunity to steal its axe away, whereupon
it turns to fisticuffs. We keep inflicting light blows, neither Brand nor I
seeming able to get our weight in to a hit. With a heavy heart, I hear more
clanks coming from the stairs – three more automata are advancing on our rear!
Thankfully,
Ilvirin downs hers hers and
she and Pimm spring forward to take on the three at
the bottom of the stairs. Luckily, though very tough indeed, they seem
ponderous and inaccurate; Pimm and Ilvirin hold the line long enough for Brand and I to finish
ours.
We turn to
find Pimm slumping from the floor, blood pouring from
a scalp wound. I leap forward to prevent his automaton from hewing his body or
assaulting Aerin as she stoops to tend him. As I twist my new opponent’s axe
from its grasp, Ilvirin downs her third.
Again my
automaton retrieves its axe but on the second disarm Aerin steals it away as Ilvirin smashes hers. At last I land a fair hit and then Ilvirin lands the killing (dismantling?) blow. Ilvirin has accounted for five of the six automata, a
remarkable effort. Brand advises that although heavily engineered, they are
magical in nature. I imagine they must be quite expensive, though what their
value might be now I couldn’t say.
We pause to
catch our breath. None of us are hurt save for Pimm
who is seriously wounded but Aerin staunches his bleeding and within minutes
he’s conscious. She announces that he will be fine in a few days but for the
moment he should avoid all strenuous activity. So Pimm
guards the stairs while the rest of us open the shutters and search the house.
The hallway
and all ground floor rooms have been stripped of furniture and even the carpets
removed. The kitchen is in good condition, though it hasn’t been used for a
while. Brand observes certain marks made by tools in the hallway, indicating
that Celebrindor intended to excavate but was unable
to follow through before having to leave for Minas Ithil.
Upstairs,
one bedroom is full of boxes and crates, another is an empty bedroom. The last
room is a bedroom apparently pressed in to service as a dining room, no doubt
in anticipation of excavations rendering the downstairs untenable.
So it seems
Celebrindor’s interest in the Red House was entirely
limited to the buried cellars it inherited from the Calenal
house that burned down in 1402. Brand elects to attack the marked flags with a
crowbar (he’s always equipped to appreciate architecture in his own unique
‘hands-on’ fashion) while Aerin sorts through the lumber-room.
Brand lifts
a flagstone to reveal earth, packed but soft. To excavate further will need a
tarpaulin to protect the remaining flags, spades and a wheelbarrow to carry
away the spoil.
Meanwhile,
Aerin has uncovered some interesting documents: an unmarked an unscaled map of what looks like a cave system with plans
for a large four-story building and some letters received from a correspondent
in the Raj, dealing with Celebrindor’s enquiries
about Sharg, a local warlord, whom Brand recalls from
Bergil’s alta-parma.
So it looks
as thought a lot of digging must be done but I must away to change my shirt and
visit Squire Gordacar.
Leads to be followed:
Dig up the
cellars of the Red House – and repair it afterwards
Talk to
Squire Gordacar
Inquire
after Perhaladin – might be a cult for Ragnor
Plan a
visit to Earnil’s Tower on Tol-Cirya
What is the
significance of Warlord Sharg?