03-24-2015, 09:35 PM
Magus followed Lud down a long, makeshift tunnel lit with intermittent torches lining one of the walls. Every fifteen feet or so, the tunnel was braced with huge wooden beams, like a mineshaft. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all living rock that the tunnel had literally been carved into.
“Have you many of these tunnels hidden beneath the city?” Magus inquired, casting glances around the tunnel as they walked. The sneering, disfigured pale man who tortured him still followed behind, silently glaring at Magus’ back.
“Aye,” Lud answered. “We have tunnels running through all of Minas Tirith. Many lead into the sewers as well – they’re unpleasant, but useful. Between them and the tunnels, we have ways to move throughout the city without being seen.”
“Where are we heading now?”
“A meeting place, of sorts.”
“If these tunnels go all over the city, how do you keep track of them?”
“Some are documented. Some… you have to learn. Can’t steal a map that isn’t written down.”
“If I am to work with you, access to these tunnels could be very useful. I could benefit from a map to make my way around.”
The old man and the wizard walked side by side in silence for a while before Lud finally responded. “That can be arranged. But first you’ll need to receive your first assignment.”
“Need I remind you that I’m operating on a truncated time schedule?”
“Indeed,” Lud responded. “You’ll be on your way to Omni soon enough, though I might add that it might be simpler to just slit your throat. The outcome is likely to be the same.”
“We’ll see,” Magus responded.
They didn’t talk anymore after that. Only the sound of boots on stone broke the silence for a long time.
They came to another hall intersecting with their own, and rounded the left corner before continuing down the new corridor. Later, they came to place in the tunnel that forked into two new corridors. This time they went right. Magus noted that the route they took was the only one that was lit; the other directions they’d passed by were plunged in darkness. The wizard could only assume that someone had gone ahead of them to light the torches, or perhaps by sheer coincidence, they were simply following the same path someone had taken not long before. Either that or Lud was completely lost and following the torchlight in an attempt to pretend he knew where he was going.
Finally, though, the tunnel opened up into a large room. Bricks ringed the mouth of the tunnel where someone had obviously broken through a wall. Inside the room, casks and crates were piled all over, and a couple of doorways and a decrepit old stairway led out from it.
“Please follow along; we’re nearly there,” Lud announced as he slowly made his way up the stairs. With each step, they creaked and groaned, threatening to give way beneath his feet.
Magus followed up the creaky steps and found himself in what seemed to be a small dining hall. It was modest; three long, plain wood tables surrounded by chairs of the same material. Clay plates and cups and plain iron dining utensils were set in their places neatly on the tables. Some small statuettes lined one wall, but the room was otherwise plain.
The statuettes were likely religious; one was a woman in matronly robes with her hands turned palms up to the sky. Another was a four-armed mammoth of a man riding an equally massive six-legged tiger. The others were various figures in dramatic poses.
It suddenly struck the wizard that he had no idea where he was. He had no idea where he had been when he’d woken up, and the tunnels gave no indication as to where they were going.
Interesting.
Lud led the way through another doorway into a small hallway. Like the dining hall, it was modest. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of the same roughly hewn cobblestone as the dining hall, and dimly illuminated by torchlight.
“Come, we’re almost there,” the old man beckoned, leading further on to another doorway. He heaved the door latch with a raspy groan, and the mechanism clunked heavily, allowing the door to give way. Lud pulled the solid wood door halfway open and slipped through.
Magus squeezed through after him and stepped into another corridor that ran perpendicular to the last. The first thing he took note of were the two guards in armor who stood watch on either side of a large, lavishly crafted set of double doors.
Besides the guards, this hall was much more luxurious. It was better lit and adorned with a long, purple rug running nearly the entire length of the hall. Coves in the wall housed more of the religious statuettes; these ones more ornate than the ones in the dining hall.
At either end of the hall were two sets up stairs led went up and down, and in the center was the guarded door. Lud moved toward it and without a word between them, the two guards pulled open the doors, revealing a small cathedral with airy ceilings.
They stepped inside a bustling sermon room that had been converted into some sort of makeshift office-slash-war room. Boards covered up all of the stained-glass windows from the outside, leaving only sparse torchlight to illuminate the place.
People rushed about everywhere. Desks and tables were scattered throughout, and chairs and pews had been rearranged from their original purpose into their new one. Thick smoke hung in the air from the various pipes and rolled cigarettes being smoked by the many people.
“This… this is your center of operation,” Magus surmised.
“Indeed,” Lud replied, gesturing to a table covered with sheaves of paper. “The nerve-center of our operation. Very few people ever see this place for what it is since the church was ostensibly abandoned.”
“I see,” Magus replied, glancing around the room. It was a dichotomy of imagery: religious pictures and idols clashed against posters of political ideology, maps with strategic routes and locations, and so on. Hand-painted portraits of various figures unknown to Magus seemed oddly reminiscent to communist propaganda, heavy with reds and blacks in the imagery. “Impressive. Perhaps, though, we could forego the introductio-”
Before he could even finish, Lud had loudly demanded the attention of the room. “Friends, may I present to you, Magus the Prime. He’s come from beyond the Nexus and has agreed to help our cause. He is a formidable ally and I expect it will be relayed to all of our associates that the proper discretion be shown to him,” the old man spoke with a surprisingly commanding voice; a far cry from the husky rasp he normally spoke with. “He will be helping us with some delicate work to help turn the tide against our oppressors on the throne.”
Magus felt a twinge of discomfort at the various eyes upon him. It was odd; he was used to being the center of attention for various speeches. But then, he was used to introducing himself and not working on behalf of another. It didn’t take long, however, before Lud gave a brief wave and those in attendance went back to their business.
“So,” he breathed, running a gloved hand through his lavender hair. He was agitated; ready to get started on the first step toward confronting Omni and finding a way home. “What is it you need me to do?”
“Yes, of course,” Lud responded, motioning for Magus to follow. He led the archmage to a desk in an isolated corner. The old man went around it, opened a drawer, and rummaged through a stack of paper before withdrawing one page and setting it on the desk. It was a highly detailed, hand-drawn portrait of a man in armor. “This is Captain Heironymus Lex. A captain of the city guard here in Minas Tirith, not a captain in the military. He’s responsible for the slaying and incarceration of more than two dozen operatives of the PADC. Additionally, he is rumored to possess a great deal of evidence against several more, and may have planted a mole in our organization – it seems strange that he’s suddenly become so successful.”
“So you believe he’s being fed information. I suspect you’re concerned your identity as the leader of your group might be exposed,” Magus remarked.
“Indeed. This simply can’t happen. I need you to steal his files – all of them. Apparently, he keeps information closest to him at home. So steal the files form there and burn the rest. They can’t know what was taken.”
“You want me to commit arson against the captain of the fucking guard,” the Fiendlord grumbled. He leaned in over the desk. “I’ll do it. But you had best not consider doing anything to betray me.”
“Ah, there is one more thing.”
“What?”
“Heironymous knows entirely too much. You need to eliminate him.”
“Have you many of these tunnels hidden beneath the city?” Magus inquired, casting glances around the tunnel as they walked. The sneering, disfigured pale man who tortured him still followed behind, silently glaring at Magus’ back.
“Aye,” Lud answered. “We have tunnels running through all of Minas Tirith. Many lead into the sewers as well – they’re unpleasant, but useful. Between them and the tunnels, we have ways to move throughout the city without being seen.”
“Where are we heading now?”
“A meeting place, of sorts.”
“If these tunnels go all over the city, how do you keep track of them?”
“Some are documented. Some… you have to learn. Can’t steal a map that isn’t written down.”
“If I am to work with you, access to these tunnels could be very useful. I could benefit from a map to make my way around.”
The old man and the wizard walked side by side in silence for a while before Lud finally responded. “That can be arranged. But first you’ll need to receive your first assignment.”
“Need I remind you that I’m operating on a truncated time schedule?”
“Indeed,” Lud responded. “You’ll be on your way to Omni soon enough, though I might add that it might be simpler to just slit your throat. The outcome is likely to be the same.”
“We’ll see,” Magus responded.
They didn’t talk anymore after that. Only the sound of boots on stone broke the silence for a long time.
They came to another hall intersecting with their own, and rounded the left corner before continuing down the new corridor. Later, they came to place in the tunnel that forked into two new corridors. This time they went right. Magus noted that the route they took was the only one that was lit; the other directions they’d passed by were plunged in darkness. The wizard could only assume that someone had gone ahead of them to light the torches, or perhaps by sheer coincidence, they were simply following the same path someone had taken not long before. Either that or Lud was completely lost and following the torchlight in an attempt to pretend he knew where he was going.
Finally, though, the tunnel opened up into a large room. Bricks ringed the mouth of the tunnel where someone had obviously broken through a wall. Inside the room, casks and crates were piled all over, and a couple of doorways and a decrepit old stairway led out from it.
“Please follow along; we’re nearly there,” Lud announced as he slowly made his way up the stairs. With each step, they creaked and groaned, threatening to give way beneath his feet.
Magus followed up the creaky steps and found himself in what seemed to be a small dining hall. It was modest; three long, plain wood tables surrounded by chairs of the same material. Clay plates and cups and plain iron dining utensils were set in their places neatly on the tables. Some small statuettes lined one wall, but the room was otherwise plain.
The statuettes were likely religious; one was a woman in matronly robes with her hands turned palms up to the sky. Another was a four-armed mammoth of a man riding an equally massive six-legged tiger. The others were various figures in dramatic poses.
It suddenly struck the wizard that he had no idea where he was. He had no idea where he had been when he’d woken up, and the tunnels gave no indication as to where they were going.
Interesting.
Lud led the way through another doorway into a small hallway. Like the dining hall, it was modest. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of the same roughly hewn cobblestone as the dining hall, and dimly illuminated by torchlight.
“Come, we’re almost there,” the old man beckoned, leading further on to another doorway. He heaved the door latch with a raspy groan, and the mechanism clunked heavily, allowing the door to give way. Lud pulled the solid wood door halfway open and slipped through.
Magus squeezed through after him and stepped into another corridor that ran perpendicular to the last. The first thing he took note of were the two guards in armor who stood watch on either side of a large, lavishly crafted set of double doors.
Besides the guards, this hall was much more luxurious. It was better lit and adorned with a long, purple rug running nearly the entire length of the hall. Coves in the wall housed more of the religious statuettes; these ones more ornate than the ones in the dining hall.
At either end of the hall were two sets up stairs led went up and down, and in the center was the guarded door. Lud moved toward it and without a word between them, the two guards pulled open the doors, revealing a small cathedral with airy ceilings.
They stepped inside a bustling sermon room that had been converted into some sort of makeshift office-slash-war room. Boards covered up all of the stained-glass windows from the outside, leaving only sparse torchlight to illuminate the place.
People rushed about everywhere. Desks and tables were scattered throughout, and chairs and pews had been rearranged from their original purpose into their new one. Thick smoke hung in the air from the various pipes and rolled cigarettes being smoked by the many people.
“This… this is your center of operation,” Magus surmised.
“Indeed,” Lud replied, gesturing to a table covered with sheaves of paper. “The nerve-center of our operation. Very few people ever see this place for what it is since the church was ostensibly abandoned.”
“I see,” Magus replied, glancing around the room. It was a dichotomy of imagery: religious pictures and idols clashed against posters of political ideology, maps with strategic routes and locations, and so on. Hand-painted portraits of various figures unknown to Magus seemed oddly reminiscent to communist propaganda, heavy with reds and blacks in the imagery. “Impressive. Perhaps, though, we could forego the introductio-”
Before he could even finish, Lud had loudly demanded the attention of the room. “Friends, may I present to you, Magus the Prime. He’s come from beyond the Nexus and has agreed to help our cause. He is a formidable ally and I expect it will be relayed to all of our associates that the proper discretion be shown to him,” the old man spoke with a surprisingly commanding voice; a far cry from the husky rasp he normally spoke with. “He will be helping us with some delicate work to help turn the tide against our oppressors on the throne.”
Magus felt a twinge of discomfort at the various eyes upon him. It was odd; he was used to being the center of attention for various speeches. But then, he was used to introducing himself and not working on behalf of another. It didn’t take long, however, before Lud gave a brief wave and those in attendance went back to their business.
“So,” he breathed, running a gloved hand through his lavender hair. He was agitated; ready to get started on the first step toward confronting Omni and finding a way home. “What is it you need me to do?”
“Yes, of course,” Lud responded, motioning for Magus to follow. He led the archmage to a desk in an isolated corner. The old man went around it, opened a drawer, and rummaged through a stack of paper before withdrawing one page and setting it on the desk. It was a highly detailed, hand-drawn portrait of a man in armor. “This is Captain Heironymus Lex. A captain of the city guard here in Minas Tirith, not a captain in the military. He’s responsible for the slaying and incarceration of more than two dozen operatives of the PADC. Additionally, he is rumored to possess a great deal of evidence against several more, and may have planted a mole in our organization – it seems strange that he’s suddenly become so successful.”
“So you believe he’s being fed information. I suspect you’re concerned your identity as the leader of your group might be exposed,” Magus remarked.
“Indeed. This simply can’t happen. I need you to steal his files – all of them. Apparently, he keeps information closest to him at home. So steal the files form there and burn the rest. They can’t know what was taken.”
“You want me to commit arson against the captain of the fucking guard,” the Fiendlord grumbled. He leaned in over the desk. “I’ll do it. But you had best not consider doing anything to betray me.”
“Ah, there is one more thing.”
“What?”
“Heironymous knows entirely too much. You need to eliminate him.”
![[Image: Magus.jpg]](http://rpnexus.com/sig/miscsig/Magus.jpg)