The Kinstrife
Part
29
In
which Rastorin fingers Rhavas
as the ‘mastermind’ of the Menelmir attack; we
uncover an incriminating letter and trace it to the Umbar
civil service; Aerin learns that Rhavas
is being hidden in the Southron Quarter; Telemnar advises that Rhavas is
the key to unmasking a Sea Faction conspiracy; we attend a meeting of the Pimm/Brand appreciation society in which Brand pulls.
Session 29:
In the
morning, Rastarin offers her report on who might be
implicated in the assault on Menelmir: she can find
nothing conclusive but a Southron called Rhavas went missing the day of the attack. Rhavas came to Umbar as an
apprentice shoemaker, later setting up his own business. He then fell out with
his old master and the Guild of Shoemakers, lost his shop and his fortunes have
since steadily declined, with him getting involved in more and more dubious
activities.
Rastarin
feels Rhavas may have been involved in the attack. It
seems he went missing the morning of the attack and his personal effects have
been at his lodgings, the Desert Storm Inn since then. The landlord of the
Desert Storm is willing to let anyone have them if Rhavas’
outstanding lodging fees are paid, which amount to 2 crowns.
I thank Rastarin for her efforts, paying her an extra crown beyond
the 2 outstanding, as I feel she’s done well, and ask her to take Ilvirin and I to the Desert Storm. I pay the 2 crowns and
in return get a saddlebag and a bedroll. A brief inspection of Rhavas’ bed (in the communal area) reveals nothing.
Back at the
Drunken Southron, Rhavas’
effects come to some clothes, small change and…a letter!
“Our master
has decided that Menelmir is too great a nuisance and
decrees his death. Recruit any assistance necessary for this deed and proceed
accordingly. Expenses will be handled through the usual channels. May the eyes
of Akhôrahil watch over you!”
Brand
advises that the Storm King has occasionally been known as ‘Akhôrahil’.
On the face
of it, this letter is bad news, confirming the Storm King as the ultimate prime
mover in the affair, yet certain things about the letter smell fishier than an Ethir fishing smack on a hot Friday afternoon. Is it likely
that a failed cobbler can read? If so, while I can understand leaving his
belongings in safety, why leave such an incriminating letter?
It occurs
to me that government bureaucracies typically train their clerks to write in a
certain style, to facilitate legibility, so I show the letter around and Pimm identifies the style as that of the Umbar civil service!
Now it is
possible that Rhavas is a long-serving secret agent
of the Storm King, controlled through a puppet-master in the local civil
service, though it’s hard to see why his star should have been allowed to fall
so steadily.
But to look
at it another way, cobblers are rarely literate and if the Storm King has to
ask a failed cobbler to mastermind an admiral’s assassination, we probably have
little to fear from him. I resolve to lay this information before Telemnar and perhaps Daeron. I
advise my companions that the existence of the letter is not to be revealed,
that Rhavas’ belongings amounted to some clothes and
small change and that they are available at the Drunken Southron
for the price of a shilling.
Ilvirin
and I visit Colfen to volunteer for his raid. He
wants to keep it an Ethir expedition but is willing
to accept our help. He stresses that it could prove very dangerous indeed and
participants may have to leave precipitously after. For this reason, it must
wait until after the Great Council as Neithan must
attend. Colfen will send word toward the close of the
Council. In the mean time, he wants Ilvirin to write
a letter absolving Colfen of responsibility in the
event of her death. It seems he fears vengeance from her family.
Brand asks
at the shoemaker’s guild after Rhavas for a
description and whether he was literate, and also why he was expelled. The
Guild believes Rhavas was illiterate and looked like
a typical Southron. He was expelled for breaking
Guild regulations governing the type of leather to be used in certain types of
shoe. It looks like our case is strengthened.
Meanwhile, Aerin asks Hamza Al-Tayyib whether he knows of Rhavas
and the attempt on Menelmir and she strikes gold! Rhavas is being kept hidden in the Southron
Quarter until he can be spirited out of the city. It seems he was paid to climb
in to Menelmir’s garden but jumped back over the wall
when he saw his companions being butchered by Menelmir’s
bodyguards. Hamza confirms Rhavas
cannot read or write. He believes he received a verbal briefing but doesn’t
know from whom.
We all
exchange stories of our exploits over lunch in the Drunken Southron.
It seems we are definitely getting somewhere so Brand and I call on Governor Telemnar at the Governor’s Palace to lay our findings
before him.
Telemnar
agrees that we have evidence of a conspiracy within the Sea Faction to
manufacture hysteria over the Storm King but we need more to convince the wider
polity. He expects most of Umbar’s civil service to
attend the Great Council and suggests that Rhavas
might be able to identify who briefed him from the public gallery.
This is an
excellent notion but I have to express my doubts: Rhavas
is scared and the Southrons are protecting him; he
will probably be unwilling to appear in public, especially as he may himself be
identified. Telemnar suggests he could be bribed with
safe passage to, say, Pelargir, and there set up in
business as a shoemaker again. This, together with assurances for his safety,
might induce him to co-operate and he would, of course, appear in the public
gallery hooded and cloaked.
I mention
my conversation with Daeron, and my opinion of his
ability. Telemnar feels it would be premature to take
the letter to Daeron at this point as he would feel
honour-bound to make the letter public and, without other evidence, on the face
of it the letter merely confirms the official story put about by the Sea
Faction.
However, if
Rhavas proves a credible witness and can affirm his
illiteracy, explain how the letter came to be in his belongings and also
identify the man who briefed him, he could prove
crucial in proving the existence of the conspiracy. This all seems feasible and
I promise to do my best to apprehend Rhavas and bring
him before Telemnar so we can evaluate his
credibility as a witness.
On our
return to the Drunken Southron, I ask Aerin to send urgent word to Hamza
that we need to interview Rhavas in person, with
guarantees as to his safety and that he will benefit materially from
co-operation.
I had
forgotten that we have an invitation this evening, from Esgaliel,
Brand’s woman in the floating dress, with her society, the Tindómë-Lië.
(Why do Elves so love accents and exotic punctuation?) Just as with Esgaliel, everyone hero-worships Brand as Umbar’s saviour from Celebrindor.
Brand gives an excellent presentation on how Celebrindor
met his end, whereupon the society splits in to three: one third hero-worships Pimm as the wielder of the sacred crossbow, another third
worships Brand as the ‘mastermind’ of Celebrindor’s
downfall, while the final (sane) third discusses more prosaic and constructive
subjects.
This last
group is for me; I’m on my best manners, my most witty and charming self, yet nothing
can eclipse Brand’s splendour in the society’s eyes. He seems to be forming a
special attachment to Mallefinndes who has
constructed a map from all the reports from Celebrindor’s
construction workers and thinks she has narrowed down the likely location to a
shortlist of six sites. Brand is sure he can narrow it further and invites her
along on our expedition. He seems smitten so I concur but I hope he recalls
this should we meet Iriel again. (When I mention this
in an aside to Ilvirin, she reminds me that Iriel is Colfen’s half-sister!
Isn’t it a small world? And Ulbar is also Colfen’s half-brother – I wonder if I am too?)
Brand asks Mallefinndes about the various dreams from which the Tindómë-Lië drew their dire warnings of Celebrindor’s
activities. The consensus opinion held that a loremaster
would come to Umbar, stay at the Drunken Southron (so specific?) and rid the city of the curse of Celebrindor.
They have
also had dreams of dark foreboding about Tol-Cirya
and the ruins of Melkhor’s Temple from which Brand
(or Pimm, according to some) will save the city
(again). Of course, if you’re going to have dark dreams then Melkhor’s
Leads to be followed:
Aerin’s
Umbar relatives to arrange an interview with Rhavas June 25th
Bring Rhavas before Telemnar and then
before Daeron, the King’s representative June 25th/26th
Great
Council meets June 27th
Colfen’s
raid on Tol-Cirya at end of Great Council
Search for Celebrindor’s construction site
Approach Zimrakhil over the Umbar portion
of Key of Fuinur’s Well
while touring Near Harad
Inquire after Perhaladin
– might be a cult for Ragnor