The Kinstrife
Part
54
In
which our heroes begin the offloading of their contraband cargo under cover of
night; Gelmir is killed by ‘Ornendil’s
Ghost’ and all the west bank of Osgiliath is thrown
in to disorder by riots; order is restored and Angbor,
the last of Neithan’s treacherous lieutenants left
alive, starts taking hostages from the Calenardhon
folk of Wilwarin Hept; Ragnor, Ilviren and Sern visit the leader of the Calenardhon
and learn that Angbor is trying to force them to find
‘Ornendil’s Ghost’.
It seems the
regular grain shipment is due in this evening and Pimm
and Ilviren are deep in frantic plans to offload
their illicit cargo - I get the feeling that tempers are fraying over profit
margins.
Taking a break
from smuggling, Ilviren diligently reconnoitres the Ethir enclave, apparently hoping to spot Neithan on the
streets, while Sern pickets Rozin’s
Keep, ostensibly to spy on Gelmir while the regular
grain shipment is stored there, but also, I suspect, in anticipation of Gelmir’s likely assassination by Neithan. I think his
strategy is more likely to bear fruit than Ilviren’s.
Meanwhile, Brand
continues to trawl through ancient documents while I shadow Mordulin,
who mainly stays in the Citadel of Stars and busies herself in her
correspondence. When she wants a break from writing we indulge in witty
conversation of little consequence.
No one is killed
in the night and presumably no one spotted Ilviren
and Pimm offloading their contraband.
Today the
regular grain shipment is to be moved from the ship to storage in Rozin’s Keep under the watchful eye of Gelmir.
Early on soldiers line the route from Wester Fort,
where the ship is docked. Gelmir himself will lead
the escort of twenty mounted guards.
Then, early-morning,
word reaches Mordulin and I in the Citadel of Stars
of a riot. At first it seems to be no more than the usual disturbances that
accompany the monthly arrival of the grain shipment, but then come rumours of Gelmir’s death and wholesale slaughter of soldiers.
News filters
through in drips and drabs: guards pulled from their horses and torn to pieces;
Gelmir is rumoured killed, then kidnapped, then
killed again; but the only thing clear is that all order on the west bank is
overthrown. With no reliable news I grow fearful for Aerin,
Brand, Ilviren, Pimm and Sern. But then comes word to Mordulin of casualties being treated at the Houses of
Healing, so it seems Aerin may be safe at least.
Mordulin wants to go to the Houses of Healing where
her skills may be needed, but the
Thankfully it
starts to rain in the afternoon and the rioters melt away with dampened ardour.
Mardil sends out armed reconnaissance parties and
shortly after moves out in force over the
Around dark word
arrives from Aerin that she, Brand, Ilviren, Pimm and Sern are all safe in the Houses of Healing. Our sleep will
be troubled but we will sleep.
Mardil doesn’t return until well after dark but
by then he can affirm that everything is more or less back to normal – or as
near normal as it can be in the circumstances. Many more soldiers have survived
than initially feared. Most barricaded themselves within abandoned buildings
and Mardil believes final losses will prove to be
only about 20-30 out of some 200…
…but
the survivors are badly shaken and morale is rock bottom even among the east
bank guards.
With the crisis
over, Aerin, Brand, Ilviren,
Pimm and Sern visit the
Citadel of Stars, where I am heartily glad to see them. Between them they give
an account of the riots as they saw them unfold.
Ilviren (when does she sleep?) and Pimm were on the street amidst the thronging crowds that
always gather for the grain shipment and had a fair view of the start of the
incident.
Gelmir, at the head of the column, halted the carts
and pointed to something on the ground in front of his horse. One of his guards
dismounted to pass the object up to him. Whatever it was frightened Gelmir badly. He promptly spurred his horse and galloped
for Rozin’s Keep, face white with fear.
His action threw
the guards in to turmoil and the crowd, aware that the grain was vulnerable,
surged forward. Archers on the roof shot in to the crowd, creating more mayhem
but without helping order in any way. The mounted guards were overwhelmed by
numbers; some fought their way clear but many were dragged from their horses.
The shipment was plundered but I suspect a lot of it must have been spoiled
rather than stolen.
Sern near the Keep had a good view of what
happened next. Gelmir came hurtling down the street
between lines of infantry keeping back the crowds. He galloped through the gate
of the Keep and ordered the doors shut so urgently that a dozen of his guards
were shut outside as the bar fell, at the mercy of the crowd.
Weapons appeared
among the crowd as if from nowhere, some obviously hidden pending just such a
riot but most simply improvised…whatever lies to hand when the blood rises.
They converged on the Keep. Archers shot from the battlements and arrowslits but the guards outside fled in the face of
overwhelming odds.
The Keep proved
secure to the besieging crowd but about ten minutes later they produced a
makeshift ram from the timbers of some ruined building and started battering
the gates, which soon began to splinter.
But Sern, away from the action and viewing with commendable
dispassion, noticed a figure climbing the side of the Keep away from the focus
of the crowd. He moved forward to see better but the figure vanished over the
battlements before he could get a clear view.
Some minutes
later a shout went up and the masked figure appeared on the battlements (where were
the archers?). It hurled a body in to the crowd below. Someone shouted ‘Ornendil’s ghost has returned to avenge Osgiliath!’
This incited the crowd to greater ferocity but the figure vanished, presumably
back in to the Keep.
Sern worked his way through the crowd to the
fallen body and found, unsurprisingly, that it was Gelmir.
His professional instincts made him spot something clutched in the dead man’s
hand and, while prising it from his grasp, he noticed a similar pendant round Gelmir’s neck. With astounding clarity of thought and no
little physical effort, Sern threw the body over his
shoulders and made off through the crowd, who apparently were distracted by the
gate of the Keep giving way.
Some twenty
minutes after the riot broke out the first casualties reached Aerin at the Houses of Healing. It was early enough that
Brand found himself cut off from his beloved archives.
Aerin was kept busy with mundane staunching of
blood and setting of bones until guards were brought in from Rozin’s Keep. As with Damrod’s
men two nights ago, they seemed relatively unharmed physically (which is
astonishing in view of the crowd’s hostility) but all were in shock and raving
about a white face with staring cat’s eyes!
A little later Sern made it to the Houses of Healing with Gelmir’s body. Brand had taken both pendants and showed them
to me. They bear the device of Morthond and are effectively badges of office,
given by the Prince of Morthond to his trusted lieutenants. Damrod,
Gelmir and Angbor would
have been given such badges when they served under Neithan four years ago.
Doubtless one of these was the thing Gelmir spotted
in the street that caused him to flee for the Keep in terror.
Sern speaks of having heard someone in the
crowd shout ‘Ornendil’s ghost has returned to avenge Osgiliath’ as Neithan (for surely it was he) threw down Gelmir’s body – words which found a warm reception with the
rioting crowd.
Gelmir’s death is worrying. We all expected Neithan
to make the attempt and frankly I cared little whether or not he succeeded, but
this was not accomplished the same way as Damrod’s
killing.
The sophistication
needed to kill Damrod was relatively low, requiring
mainly just the opportunity. Once he was observed to cross the bridge to the
Citadel of Stars, it would have been easy to ferry Neithan across the river
under cover of darkness and a single sentry on the western bank would warn of Damrod’s return. On receipt of the word of his approach it
would have been a simple matter to ambush him on the approach to the West Gate.
But Gelmir’s killing was orchestrated. The pendant was placed
for Gelmir to find and his reaction was anticipated,
as was that of the crowd. Now it is possible that the shout about Ornendil’s ghost was just a spur-of-the-moment cry from a
rioter with his blood up but I wonder if it weren’t a deliberate – and
successful – attempt to manipulate the crowd in a political sense.
To me it feels that
while Neithan is pursuing his personal vendetta against his betrayers, someone
else may be trying to make his private war somehow symbolic to the people of Osgiliath of their own struggle against Castamir, though in
reality the two are linked only tenuously, if at all.
If so, the
purpose must be to reignite the civil war. I can see Eldacar taking advantage
of any further strife and Castamir is weaker now then he was then, as many
people who tacitly supported (or at least accepted) his deposition of Eldacar
will now feel he’s no better and in many ways worse than Eldacar. Pelagir and Umbar have gained from Castamir but all of
northern Gondor detest his rule. Minas Anor and Minas Ithil must hate
him and even in the south much of the coast has suffered from the Corsairs.
And Aradan is not his father; he is volatile and rash with a
chivalric cast that I suspect may make him eschew neutrality and throw Belfalas in to any future conflict. I doubt he will support
Castamir.
But how many
would follow Neithan? I have a feeling that if he should seek the throne
himself then effectively he will steal potential supporters from Eldacar. A
three-way civil war may be just enough to save Castamir but it would be dire
for Gondor. I sense an evil regard looks toward Gondor from Mordor, Harad and beyond
the Raj that waits for just such an opportunity.
But while hearing
about yesterday’s events, I receive an unexpected visit from Mardil, who requests a private audience. We talk in my
chambers with Brand. Mardil has come to
‘unofficially’ warn me that Angbor is taking hostages
– the families of Calenardhon prisoners in Wilwarin Hept are being moved úvëa (literally
‘in abundance’) across the Great Bridge to Belthil Hept. He shows the pathetic straggle of women and children
crossing the bridge even now.
What is Angbor doing? Is he trying to create a turma fírimaron (literally, ‘shield of
mortals’)? But these people weren’t involved in the riots (Wilwarin
is the northernmost hept on the east bank) and are
utterly unconnected to Neithan.
Mardil obviously thinks someone should do
something…and he can’t! He suggests the Calenardhon
people have a spokesman, Cealen, who runs a
black-market business not far beyond the end of the northern bridge from Tol Gilthoniel. I briefly
consider slipping over the brick wall at the end of the bridge but it’s not
practical in broad daylight with the guard present. It looks like we’ll have to
go the long way round by the
We stay close to
the docks, hoping that Angbor is using the broader
thoroughfares to the east in the middle of Menelvagor
Hept and we seem to guess rightly but there are still
the residents who pay us sullen attention. These are mainly rebels from Anorien and Anfalas but Ilviren meets someone she knows who confirms Mardil’s directions to Cealen’s
shop.
We have little
difficulty in finding the place. The half-dozen men within all fall silent as
we enter but surprisingly they seem cautious and guarded rather than sullen and
resentful. I ask after Cealen and a man at the back
speaks up. At a glance from him the others file out and we’re alone with him,
though I expect his friends would return quick enough if he called.
I tell him I’ve
come at Mardil’s behest, who obviously feels what is
going on is wrong, but first I’d like to know just what is going on. Cealen seems to accept our credentials and explains that
the women and children are being taken as hostages to ensure good faith from
their menfolk.
Angbor wants the Calenardhon
men to find ‘Ornendil’s ghost’ for him. I’m not sure
why Angbor thinks these people can serve him in this
better than any other but presumably he has some reason for choosing them.
Cealen explains his delicate situation: Angbor may balk at venting his spleen on their families at
an outright refusal but he already has a reputation for ruthlessness. If it
becomes widely known that they are serving Angbor in
looking for ‘Ornendil’s ghost’ their relations with
their fellow prisoners may become untenable. I get the feeling that Cealen has agreed but intends to do as little as possible
and hope either Angbor is killed or other events
overtake ‘Ornendil’s ghost’ before Angbor does anything critical. It seems Cealen
doubts that his people could find Neithan within such a large city – he’s one
among ten thousand, after all.
It occurs to me
that Neithan should be apprehended, not because of any misguided fondness for Angbor or even my genuinely felt sympathy for the hostages,
but because Neithan’s actions threaten the weal of Gondor.
With some
misgivings, I confirm what Cealen undoubtedly already
suspects, that ‘Ornendil’s ghost’ is Neithan. But I
also reveal that Neithan was kidnapped by the Ethir fisherfolk and this is news to him. I leave it to him to
decide what to do with this information but assure him that whatever he decides
we will do what we can to ensure the hostages come to no harm.
We return to the
Citadel of the Stars and I take advice on what to do about the hostages. Angbor, vengeful and ruthless as he is, will probably have
left orders for the hostages to be killed in the event of his death but Brand
thinks, given the command structure of the Cor Aran,
if Angbor is killed it may be possible for me to
assume direct command of the troops involved and countermand such orders.
If the troops
are of a like mind to Angbor then this cannot be
successful, but the soldiers are Gondorians and I’m
sure they are by the main honourable men who will think twice before spilling
innocent blood. Of course they will feel obliged to obey orders but if the
orders are unpalatable then an ‘officer’ appearing in a moment of crisis with a
suitably plummy voice may
very well be all they need to do the right thing.
I have no qualms
about doing this; I don’t see Angbor’s life as worth
even one of the hostages, but I can’t be in two places at once and I feel Mordulin may still be at risk. We still do not know Neithan’s true intentions and I suspect he’s not in full
control of his own actions.
To do list:
Guard Mordulin at the ceremonies of the Day of Memory
Try and
apprehend Neithan before he does something silly
Visit Minas Ithil
Talk to the
survivor of the 1st Mordor expedition before entering Mordor
Survey my estates and produce a plan to improve
them – consider Pimm’s offer but be cautious