Chapter 6: Old Shames

Chapter 6: Old Shames

In Marianne's opinion, the cities of Ariouth were all the same: old, dusty, and overflowing with wealth.

Also known as the red desert, the Domain of Ariouth was one of the most inhospitable caverns that mankind colonized over the centuries. Its high temperature, second only to the volcanoes of Sabaoth, made it difficult for vegetation to thrive; even though Marianne used magic to strengthen her body, her throat felt dry and thirsty. The landscape wasn't much better, with rocky hills and gulches bordering a vast desert of red sand. Only the undead could thrive in this hostile realm.

The Dark Lord of Ariouth, Phaleg, was the empires greatest summoner and wouldn't let a hostile climate get in the way of his ambitions. The summoner had called upon hordes of extraplanar servants to improve his realm, using earth elementals to dig water wells, air elementals to make the atmosphere more bearable, and used fire elementals to illuminate the layer. Hundreds of these burning creatures seethed inside magical cages attached to the cavern's ceiling.

Though poor in food and water, Ariouth was rich in metals and mineral resources. Hordes of undead workers toiled in its mines and quarry, fueling the empire's economy and Lord Phaleg's coffers. His capital city of Balamon was proof enough of his wealth. Most of the buildings were made of purple porphyry, with maze-like marble streets and obsidian walls. None of its spires and towers could rival the lair of the Dark Lord, a gargantuan statue of a faceless sphinx. Made of golden stone stronger than steel, the structure rivaled the Pleroma Institute in size and age. An ancient civilization had raised this monument long before men built a city around it, and some said that Lord Phaleg spent all his time trying to unlock its secret chambers.

But Marianne wasn't here to visit the sphinx. Her investigation had led her all the way to the local cathedral of the Light, and to an audience with its head inquisitor.

Originally, she thought she would receive answers from the Knights of the Road. This knightly order had coordinated the Verney purge, but their master Phaleg had been the former apprentice and now bitter rival of Lord Och. Few people knew what happened between them, and Marianne wasn't one of them. The last time the Dark Lords directly clashed eight decades ago, the resulting civil war nearly annihilated the empire. Even today, only the threat of external enemies like the Derro Kingdom or incursions by surface monsters kept them loosely united.

Marianne had expected that the Knights of the Road wouldnt care about her being an envoy of Lord Och, especially since she consulted them on a case they solved many years ago.

She had been wrong.

The Knights of the Road had welcomed her with gruffness on her first day, and asked her to come back tomorrow if she wanted an audience with their commanders. She obeyed, only to be told that the people involved in the Verney case were still unavailable and that she should come back the next day. After wasting half a week, Marianne wised up and looked elsewhere for answers.

Thankfully, not all knightly orders answered to the bickering Dark Lords. The Knights of the Light were the churchs inquisitors, and as such followed the ecclesiastic hierarchy. It had taken a while, but Marianne eventually found someone involved in the Verney purge and willing to talk to her.

Priests in white garb led her through the cathedrals majestic halls and fiery altar to a more discreet sanctuary deep in the basement, where Inquisitor Penhew awaited her. Marianne had to go through three security checkpoints before reaching her hosts office, and noticed plenty of protective and alarm wards. Though they didnt hold a candle to the Institutes defenses, no thief could raid these halls undetected.

Inquisitor Penhew had been transformed into an undead many years ago, and only bones remained beneath his colorful plate armor. He was signing parchments behind his desk when Marianne entered his office, a yellow glow shining from within his empty skull.

Welcome, Lady Reynard, the undead inquisitor said with a ghostly voice, though his jaw didnt move. He invited her to sit on a chair before him. Please give me a moment to finish, and Im all yours.

Marianne politely followed his suggestion, and took a moment to observe the trove of parchment scrolls and holy texts on the shelves. She was slightly worried by the number of candles in the room so close to the books, but priests of the Light didnt fear the flames.

Many gruesome items decorated the room. The dry and mummified hand of a troglodyte; an eerie golden goblet shaped like a skull; a black cube covered in eldritch symbols; a broken mirror made of purple glass; an allegorical illustration of the cursed Whitemoon, the ghoulish rogue moon that obscured the sun in ancient times. The two craters on its surface seemed to gaze at Marianne like soulless eyes, making her look away.

The inquisitor even had a picture of a dissected monster from the world above. The alien creature looked superficially like a worm, with three eyes on each side of its elongated skull. Powerful mandibles protruded from its mouth, the drawing revealing them as larval forms of the adult creature forming a perverse symbiosis with their parent. The dissection revealed the monsters organs, from its elongated brain to a maze-like circulatory system.

Our orders words are We light the way, the inquisitor said as he put down his pen and focused on his guest. How can I illuminate yours, Lady Reynard? I can see questions forming in your mind.

Indeed. Almost all the items on display were magical in nature, though their power was suppressed. Marianne sensed secret wards in the rooms walls, lessening her own power as well. If I may ask, do these items

They belonged to cults, the undead confirmed. It is customary for our church to destroy everything related to the Strangers when we wipe them out. Dangerous ideas kill more than swords, and knowledge of the Strangers alone is often enough to give them a foothold in our world. However, we always keep some artifacts and information behind, in case we face a similar cult in the future.

Marianne wondered if one of these artifacts had belonged to the Verney family. Why are you allowed to keep these artifacts? she asked. I thought prolonged exposure to some Stranger artifacts was dangerous.

As an undead, I am naturally resistant to mind magic; I am not tempted by the earthly pleasures or promises of immortality that the Strangers usually use to attract converts; and I have handlers to keep check on my sanity. Finally, our security systems will destroy this room and most of the floor if any of these items leave the room. You are actually fortunate to see this room.

Marianne couldnt help but blush. Thank you for the honor.

It wasnt meant to be one, the inquisitor replied coldly. I wanted to show you why you should execute the cultist you allowed into your Institute.

Marianne bristled at his words. As she had worried, she hadnt been invited to an interview out of altruism. You are speaking of Valdemar Verney?

I recommended that the Knights of the Chain execute him when he was caught, but Lord Och vetoed it. Sparing him is a mistake.

Are you questioning the Dark Lords judgment, inquisitor? Marianne regained her composure. Valdemar Verneys crimes were completely unrelated to the Strangers.

That you know of.

Where I come from, we do not execute people without proof, Marianne replied defiantly. If you have any, bring them to me.

Penhew joined his armored fingers together. Citizens have a wrong vision of our inquisition, Lady Reynard. Over the course of my century-long career, my order prosecuted over one hundred thousand people for cultist activities. We only ordered the execution of five thousand of these criminals. Five percent. The rest we usually let go with warnings, fines, or after a short jail time. Do you know why? Because nineteen cultists out of twenty are relatively harmless.

Marianne couldnt help but raise an eyebrow in skepticism.

I said relatively, the inquisitor clarified his words, as most cultists dont understand what theyre dealing with. Jaded bourgeois invoke the name of the Mother of All to spice up one of their private orgies. The young rebel against their parents by professing obedience to another deity than the Light. A local congregation is led astray by a charismatic con-man saying that the Nightwalker will lead them to a hidden paradise on the surface. Most of these people we let go with a fine, a short stay in jail, or a memory alteration spell, because theyre harmless.

And the one cultist out of twenty?

Theyre the madmen and the monsters. Penhew pointed a bony finger at the drawing of an alien monster. A group of them assaulted one of the gates to the surface to let that thing come through. They believed that it was a messenger of the Nightwalker, and that those it devoured would be reborn as its brood. In their mind, feeding innocents to an alien beast was kindness.

Then he glanced at the various items, explaining what each of them did. The hand belonged to an undead troglodyte shaman-priest, whose revival ritual involved the ritual murder of five innocent men and women. The cube in the corner? It actually holds a pocket dimension full of monsters, and the last owner used it as a convenient way to dispose of business rivals. The mirror, at its full power, could enslave the mind of anyone

Though it was impolite, Marianne interrupted the inquisitors spiel. Nobody denies the work that the Church does in keeping people safe.

Truly? The inquisitors bones rattled. If you did, Lady Reynard, you would have killed the Verneys brood when you had the chance. When we hesitate about these things, people die.

All I ask for is an objective account of the Verney purge, Marianne insisted, at her wits end. I do not have the power to slay Valdemar Verney. My master alone holds that right. I shall make a report to him in due time, but for now, I am not asking for your opinion. I am asking for the truth. If you will not give it, we can end this meeting here and now.

Her harsh tone silenced the knight. He didnt say a word nor move a finger. Instead he looked at her with his burning eyes, as if he could peer into her soul.

When he didnt advocate for Valdemars execution again, Marianne took it as a sign to go on.

"You were not my first pick as a contact," she admitted. "I looked for all the inquisitors involved in the Verney purge. Imagine my surprise when I learned a fourth of them had either committed suicide or asked for a discharge within five years of the operation.

Many of them asked to have their memories of the incident erased, Inquisitor Penhew confirmed with a nod. I cant blame them. The reason I didnt follow their example was that someone had to remember what the Verneys did. And what they can still do.

Of course he hadnt given up. Valdemar was a child when his family was purged, Marianne countered. Whatever his sire and grandsire did, he took no part in it.

The inquisitor glanced at the Whitemoons illustration, his gaze hollow and distant. "Lady Reynard, do you believe in evil?"

The inquisitor observed Marianne closely, waiting for her to recover her composure. Now, you understand why so many of my colleagues chose to die or forget, Lady Reynard. Its one thing to hear it and another to be there, finding the bones, seeing the horrors these madmen kept in their castles basement, witnessing the worst humanity has to offer. We are trained for it, and we even have oneiromancers to help us deal with our fears. But sometimes, even all of these measures aren't enough. The Verney purge was the breaking point for many knights.

She could almost taste the sorrow in his voice. It was one for you as well, Marianne guessed.

I asked to be transformed into a skeletal knight after it, Penhew confirmed. My kind of undead is less susceptible to emotions, and we do not dream. We do not suffer from nightmares.

Im sorry for you. This experience had clearly been the most harrowing of his existence. And sorrier for the victims.

I wished we could have saved them, but we were too late, the inquisitor replied. "We coordinated with the Knights of the Road to raid Aleksanders castle and run an inquisition in Vernburg. Almost everyone in that cursed town was in on it, Milady. If they weren't part of the cult, they supported its activities. So we torched the whole place, castle included, to make sure nobody was left to pick up where the Verney had left off.

Except Valdemar, Marianne said. Why did your commander decide to spare him and his mothers side of the family? Was it related to the informant?

"Probably, but I cannot confirm it. Our Knight-Commander took the secret with him to the grave. Penhew waited a moment, briefly hesitating to tell her something. But between us, I have a theory. Only a theory if you are interested in my opinion after all.

Marianne encouraged him to speak up with a nod. You told me the truth. I guess I can listen to your advice.

Good, he said, before confessing. Mona's kidnapping was incredibly brazen, and I took it as a sign that the cult was getting desperate. Maybe their god had run out of patience with their failures, and the Verney only had a limited time to finish their artifact. I think that they were considering extreme measures."

Marianne caught on. "You think that they considered sacrificing Sarah Dumont, even though she wasn't a maiden."

"She was almost part of the family, but not quite either. Anyone can kill an outsider, but your own daughter-in-law? I think Baron Aleksander decided to sacrifice her as a show of faith to his god, and Isaac turned informant to save her. It would explain why we were asked to let her, her infant son, and her aging father go, even though they had to at least be aware of the cults activities. I cant confirm it, since I was never privy to our informants identity, but I trust my instinct."

That... that would neatly explain everything. Only a high-member of the cult could have provided such detailed information about the disappearances. Isaac Verney made perfect sense as the informant.

And yet Marianne felt something didnt add up with that story. She couldnt put her finger on why, but her intuition told her that the inquisitor had overlooked something important.

"How did Aleksander Verney perish?" she asked.

We burnt him at the stake, Penhew answered with relish.

And his son Isaac?

This time, the undead inquisitor avoided her gaze. "The rats, Milady. The rats ate him."

The rats? What what do you mean?

"They The undeads armored fingers shook, and the light within his eye sockets dimmed. No, I... I'm sorry, Lady Reynard, but no, I..."

He was there when it happened, Marianne thought. He saw it, and it still terrifies him decades later.

I have already told you everything that matters. The inquisitor seemed to regain his composure, but went into a rant right afterward. I did it so that you may understand who you are dealing with. I knew this Valdemar was up to no good the moment I heard of what he was trying to achieve. Reaching that other world full of sunlight he took the words right out of his familys book! The same madness possesses him!

Marianne winced. The similarities were worrying indeed.

If you let him live, he will repeat his familys crimes all over again, and they will be all on your conscience, the inquisitor said harshly. Lady Reynard, I beg of you. Return to Paraplex, hang that blackblooded bastard, and let the dead rest. For their sake, and yours."

Marianne left the cathedral with just as many questions as answers.

When she reunited with Bertrand, her retainer was busy preparing their carriage for the return trip. The giant beetle pulling it enjoyed a tasty meal made of dung and other substances Marianne couldnt identify, its antennae rising up in happiness.

At least one of us is happy here, Marianne mused, as she petted the beasts back. Even Bertrand looked dismayed with the results of his own investigation.

"I couldn't find any birth certificate for Pierre Dumont, her vampire retainer admitted with a dejected look. Bertrand prided himself in his thoroughness. As far as the empire is concerned, he appeared out of nowhere."

This was highly unusual. The imperial bureaucracy was slow, but extensive and efficient. Few things completely evaded its gaze, and never without the intervention of the Dark Lords or powerful figures.

"So he did come from another world," Marianne said.

"Or from a distant, lawless corner of the empire, Milady." Bertrand clearly didn't believe in Valdemar's story. "In any case, the first time Pierre Dumont appeared on any document was for the birth of his daughter, Sarah. Her mother was listed as a certain Alayne Marne, a very common name. Too common, I would say

A promised land where the sun still shines, Marianne thought while listening to her retainers report. Pierre Dumont died pretending that he came from another world full of light What are the odds that his daughter would frequent a cult looking for one such paradise?

Marianne didnt believe in coincidences. She didnt think Valdemar was a cultist, but Penhew might have been partly correct in seeing a connection between his beliefs and his familys cult.

yet I couldn't find any marriage document involving Pierre Dumont, Bertrand continued. At first, I thought it likely that Sarah Dumont had been born out of wedlock, but considering that marriages are overseen by the Church of the Light, I am tempted to consider another possibility."

Marianne quickly guessed the implications. "You suspect her birth certificate was forged."

"It is not unlikely. The Verney family ruled their territory with an iron fist and had a relatively free reign in nominating local bureaucrats. But priests of the Light are chosen by the Church. Which was why the cult informant went to them. If Inquisitor Penhew had been truthful, then the Verneys had subverted everyone else in their lands. Hence, while the cult could hide the girl's true parentage, a false marriage document would have been quickly identified."

"But what would be the point of such deception?"

"I do not know," Bertrand admitted. Milady asked me to consider all possibilities, and so I am.

Marianne reviewed the elements of her case, and immediately identified the problem. Valdemars genealogical tree is full of suspicious holes, she stated out loud, trying to put her thoughts into words. Aleksander Verney, a vicious cult leader, made him a secret heir. And yet he, his mother, and grandfather were spared from the purge.

Did the Verney believe Pierre Dumont's tale of coming from another world, and did their best to keep it a secret? Did they believe his grandson was important to their cults goal?

"The more I learn about these people, the fishier this all smells," Marianne said. And the more she felt that the Knights had overlooked something critically important during the Verney purge.

What do we do then, Milady? Bertrand asked. Do we return to Pleroma?

No. The report to Lord Och would wait until Marianne had found something tangible. "We will look for more clues at the source.

It was time to visit the lost Verney lands.