The Kinstrife
Part
44
In
which Ilviren and her crew scour the stews of
Lond-Ernil; Ragnor has lunch with Iriel;
Adrazôr’s sons return and fall to squabbling at the
foot of his sickbed; Ilviren’s investigations discover that Boron was hired by Hwiniel and our heroes track her down to the Blind Voyager,
an inn in Gatetown; our heroes elect not to storm the
inn.
Pimm
asks to see the poison. He examines it with a profession sniff and analytical gaze,
like someone who knows what he’s about, but eventually admits it’s outside his
experience.
I ask Aerin if it might not be a good idea to send for Mordulin, partly for her healing arts but also because it
occurs to me that she left Tolfalas before knews arrived of her father’s condition. But Aerin has already thought to send for the head of her
order. The Valar only know when the news will reach Mordulin.
Checking a
map, it seems Aerin’s message will be chasing Mordulin up the Anduin and she
will have to return the same way. I’m not sure it is wise for Estel to pass twice through Pelargir but there’s probably
no choice and in any case the decision is out of my hands.
The watch
are searching for Ioreth but I have a feeling that
more informal techniques may prove more productive. It seems Coruion has artistic skills and sketches a passable
portrait of Ioreth. I take her likeness to Ilviren who gets some of her crew to scour the city taverns
looking for news of Ioreth and Boron and to assess
the locals’ opinion of their prince.
As per my
promise of yesterday, I take lunch with Iriel. She is
charming and seems genuinely delighted to renew our acquaintance, as am I,
despite my agenda and distant suspicions about her possible involvement in Maeglin’s Bane.
Iriel
has an eclectic view of her profession but her current studies focus on early 3rd
Age exploration to the south. It seems the early explorers and merchants
brought back tall tales of what they saw.
Iriel
isn’t concerned so much with the truth behind individual stories so much as
with the revelations that her meta-analysis bring to the relationships between
the story-tellers. She believes the consistent way the stories are presented
implies a degree of co-operation between the story-tellers, that they presumably
formed a social unit.
I take the
opportunity to raise the one legend of the southern realms that has been on my
mind recently, that of the Mirror of Fire, couching my question in terms of the
legend of the fallen Lamp. Iriel seems briefly
irritated by my question, as if somehow I might have the wrong end of the stick
– perhaps that legend isn’t exactly what she’s interested in? Nonetheless she
gives an overview of the legend that matches what we’ve heard but without
giving any new information.
Changing
the subject, Iriel believes his people are fond of
Adrazôr, at least partly for keeping Lond Ernil and Belfalas out of the
civil war. It seems Ioreth’s poisoning of her prince
is not an act inspired by general discontent.
Having
taken leave of Iriel to return to my duties, I hear
that the princes’ ship is sighted mid-afternoon and I spend the next hour
ensuring everything is in place for their arrival. I want the exchange of
responsibility for Adrazôr to pass as smoothly as possible and I am at the gate
to greet the princes as they arrive.
Aradan
acknowledges my greeting with a nod but states he wishes to see his father
before all else. I fall in beside him on the way and he asks for a briefing on
the situation. I give a loose report on Adrazôr’s
condition but taking care to omit any mention of poison as I don’t want
anything bandied about in public.
As the
three princes enter Adrazôr’s chambers, I ensure
menial sevants are excluded save for Perion and the princes’ personal valets. Once privacy is
assured, Aerin gives a full report on Adrazôr,
including the poisoning.
Aradan
and Giladan immediately demand to know what I’ve done
about Ioreth and I tell them about Ilviren’s searches
and our attempts to identify the substance. I am expecting either congratulations
or condemnations but instead the two princes fall to arguing; Aradan wants to send Halbarad’s
cavalry to kick down doors throughout the town while Giladan
favours my softly-softly approach.
I
intervene, reminding both men that their behaviour is unseemly in this place. I
then tell Aradan that he is in charge, that I have
already relinquished all responsibility, and that therefore his orders must be
obeyed, but it is wise to listen to counsel before acting. I tell him that my opinion the greatest asset
of the Prince of Lond Ernil
is the love of his people but kicking down their doors is the quickest way to
squander that love.
Aradan
seems to accept my argument but retires to his rooms in what I can only
describe as a huff. Giladan thanks me for supporting
his view. I acknowledge his words but comment that Aradan
must be feeling the responsibility of his position keenly.
Ilviren
turns up in the early evening, looking slightly the worst for wear. She
confirms Iriel’s view that Adrazôr is generally popular
with his subjects. I suppose it’s quite possible that Ioreth
has a personal grudge against the prince but it seems more likely that she is
part of the conspiracy.
Ilviren
has learned nothing of Ioreth; she seems to have
vanished completely. Obviously the next step must be to contact her family but
that’s an internal political matter for Aradan and Giladan. But Ilviren has
uncovered something about Boron. It seems he was recruited for a job by Thurindir, a merchant in Gatetown.
She also
discovered that another merchant by the name of Hindir,
with a much more upmarket operation, supplying perfumes to the gentry and wives
of wealthy merchants from his shop in Castletown, is
also known to sell poisons under the counter.
Taking Aerin, Pimm, Ilviren’s quartermaster
and the sailors who have helped guard Adrazôr’s
chambers these last few days, we visit Hindir first. Aerin enters his shop while we wait a discrete distance
away. Hindir cannot identify the poison and Aerin thinks he’s not hiding anything. It seems whatever it
is must be exotic indeed. I think back to Doronil’s
malaise last year, courtesy of klytun root; someone
has a penchant for exotic poisons.
We move on
to Thurindir; he initially claims no knowledge but
under threat he eventually mentions Hwiniel. He
describes her as a big woman with curly black hair who currently resides at the
sign of the Blind Voyager. She wanted a man for a job but didn’t want her
people involved. Thurindir recruited Boron but a
couple of days later Hwiniel told him that Boron had
tried to ‘dob her in’ and
had to be ‘dealt with’. It takes some goading but Thurindir
eventually (cowed by Aerin, of all people) admits
that he thinks Hwiniel wanted to hush-up that one of
her men had killed Boron under provocation. Thurindir
doesn’t believe Boron would ever have threatened to go to the watch.
We find the
Blind Voyager – it’s basically a round tower of red stone; more than a little
out of place among the rund-down hovels of Gatetown. The entrance is essentially a tunnel through
thick stone walls; it looks and feels like a small castle. I start to think we
will need troops to take it so Aerin and Pimm return to the castle with a note asking Halbarad for a squad of cavalry to meet at the nearby gaol,
called the Iron House.
Meanwhile, Ilviren and her men scout the interior of the Blind
Voyager. They quickly spot Hwiniel holding court.
They find lots of men upstairs and down, many no doubt hers and able to hold
their own in any close-quarters fighting. The entrance is guarded by two
ruffians but Ilviren also finds a rear exit.
If the
bouncers hold up our guardsmen for more than half a minute Hwiniel
could be away and we would have a brutal bar-room brawl on our hands with
nothing to show for it. Tactics suggests we send in a small force to enter
noisily from the front while we picket the rear entrance to catch the rats that
run from the beaters but a search to the rear of the Blind Voyager finds no
exit so Ilviren returns to explore the rear exit more
closely.
While she’s
gone, Halbarad’s men arrive but without Halbarad – it seems he is unsure this is the right move;
evidently he wants to show willing to the King’s Emissary but doesn’t want to
soil his hands if it turns sour.
Ilviren
returns to say that she found the door she explored led to an intermural corridor leading both ways. Turning left she
found a crawlway to a passage she thinks leads up the
street but she got cold feet in the dark and failed to follow it to the end.
The passage
probably exits in a basement up the street but we don’t know where and the
right-hand corridor may have another tunnel going down the street. From the
cavalry officer we learn that the Blind Voyager is known to have but the one
entrance but is rumoured to have secret entrances that legend states lead as
far as a secluded cove the other side of the cliffs!
So we don’t
have Halbarad’s support and we don’t know the rear
exit. Sending in Ilviren a third time would be
foolhardy but to attempt entry without knowing the exit courts disaster. I have
no alternative but to order everyone back to the castle. If Hwiniel
feels secure she will still be there tomorrow or the day after.
To do list:
Find and
interview Vorondil and Arthradur
Talk to Aradan – brief him on what we’ve learned and what I intend
to do about it, encourage him to accept counsel
Talk to Giladan – find out if he has any info and contacts,
encourage him to support his brother
Establish
what is to be done about Morthond – it can’t keep the Royal army out long
without strong political leadership
Survey my
estates and produce a plan to improve them
Ensure
Brand looks for the 5fth part of the Key of Fuinur’s Well
Who was Tevildo from the Benish Armon tomb in the Ethir Anduin?
Inquire
after Perhaladin – might be a cult for Ragnor