Chapter 38: Underground Unity

“And yet… I don’t recognise any of you?” she pondered, the playfulness dropping away as her voice turned cold and her hand glided to rest on her sword's hilt. 

All across the cavernous chamber, eyes locked onto us and hands moved to draw weapons.

“So tell me; who are you, how did you come by our protocols and why shouldn’t I throw you to the nearest nest of abyssal crawlers?”

Silence nursed her threat as the room’s attention was focused on us with a pressure that I could almost feel gripping at me. 

“Aisling…” 

I flinched.

“Aisling,” Gale repeated with a composed slow cadence. “I need you to drop our disguises.”

Taking a calming breath and slowly raising my hands, I shrugged my shoulders as I released our illusionary disguises and the strain of holding them. 

A ripple radiated across the chamber as our audience reacted to our sudden changes of appearance. The three local women of approximately similar height fading away to reveal two shorter women with cat-like animal features and an imposing giant of a woman.

“Gael Eiriol Silvertail! As I live and breathe,” barked our host warmly as she pulled the smaller woman into a bear hug, shattering the tension with her voice. Following on the toes of the host's loud outburst came a startled snore from behind a pile of crates, briefly drawing eyes. “I thought I sensed your hand in this. You’re looking a bit less wild eyed than I recall, I’m guessing Enfys managed to gentle you some by the look of things. Not too much though I hope.”

“A little,” she admitted, smiling with embarrassment. “My abductor is a harsh taskmistress. But enough of that. I thought you’d retired, Alaïs. That you’d traded your sword and armor for an abacus.”

“Just like you traded yours in for a maid’s uniform,” teased Alaïs in reply. 

I could only begin to describe how fascinating this was to watch. Judging from their friendly banter, Gael and Alaïs were obviously well acquainted and had met in the Palace.

“Anyway, you’re right. I had retired from the knights to move out here and become a merchant, but then this civil war started. And it wasn’t long before I decided it would be better if I didn’t stay out in the open waiting for one of the Baron’s cronies to remember that my maiden name is Beynon and try to take me hostage.”

“A hostage to be wielded how? You do have several siblings they could target.”

“Good question. I could see them attempting to use me to ground dear sister Mair and her knights, or perhaps to buy the unhappy support of my dearest brother Aiden the Baron Beynon, stealing his allegiance away from the Duchess. Or much less inspired, ransom me off to either.” 

“You sure your siblings would cooperate or pay ransom?” asked Gael, doing her best to look innocent even as the corner of her mouth twitched with the effort to resist wearing a shiteating grin. “I mean out of the four of you you’re considered the wild sibling and troublemaker. They might be relieved to finally be free of you.”

“Naww. Poor thing… Has little Gael been struggling to find an outlet for your horrible sense of humor while serving at court?” 

“... Maybe,“ blushed the catgirl, before quickly changing the subject. “So what made you think I was involved?”

“Aside from the strangeness of three unknown but ordinary looking women knowing that pass phrase and the coin’s importance and meaning? There have been people looking for you and your companions and not just the Baron’s people who have been issuing descriptions of you to the gates and guardhouses.”

“I expected as much.”

“Good thing though, the reason why the Baron’s forces want you slipped out and now there are a lot of people out there who would turn a blind eye or assist you. Your actions at that refugee camp have made you all heroes in the eyes of those upset with Baron’s rule.”

Coughing loudly to gain their attention, Roxi interrupted their two woman comedy skit. “I don’t want to interrupt any long awaited reunions, especially one as humorous to watch as this one. But aren’t you going to introduce us, Gael?”

“Hmm?” she hummed eyebrow raised, only to shrug moments later as she let out a long suffering sigh. “I guess…”

“Serr Alaïs Halwyn of House Beynon, merchant and retired knight of the realm formerly sworn to the Duchal court,” Gael intoned, falling into a perfect court curtsey compensating for her lack of skirts by taking hold of the corners of her cloak. “I most humbly present to you my companions. Mistress Roxadice Umbrial, a terribly intimidating and capable Priestess of Ruin and Miss Aisling Mistmirror, a Cait Sifv of great talent whose illusions do not fail to live up to the infamous reputation of her people. Both Blessed Adventurers entrusted with the Duchess’s favor and traveling together with my humble self on a most important investigative mission.”

Awarding the dramatic mercenary an amused golf clap, the resistance leader turned her attention Roxi and I’s way before greeting us warmly. “All who are aligned against the Baron Haverhill and his rule are welcome here. Most especially any friends of Gael, but your actions on the way here certainly haven’t hurt your standing any.” 

“Thank you. It might not be an inn, but it is nice to be able to rest somewhere warm and safe,” I voiced and it was true. 

One night we’d been attacked, the next wasn’t as bad as we were in that burrow nest, but the last night had felt too exposed camping out in the open. Not to mention the smell of the swamp behind us and surrounded by damp earth and cold dew-slicked grass.

“Umm, so how come you haven’t been betrayed and routed out yet?” Shit. The question from earlier had slipped out.

Appearing as shocked by my question as I was, Alaïs stared at me blinking as her brain caught up with her surprise.

“Compartmentalization of information, solid protocols to limit risk of exposure and losses if exposed, and a clear mutual enemy to bind us together,” she answered after some thought.

“Everyone here or working with us within the city has their own reasons that have brought them together to oppose the Baron. You have Duchal loyalists like myself. Non-humans who have been targeted by his escalating human supremacist policies. Then there are the merchants, smugglers and members of our city’s organized criminal caste who have found the Baron and his allies disruptive to their businesses with his conscription of their workers, seizures of goods and increased searches of their ships and wagons.”

Behind us one of the men who brought us here laughed. “Yeah! I was a kidnapper and a legbreaker for wunnava the dockside gangs y’see. Now I gets to use me talents delivering folks like you for the underground. Pays better and… Yeah, it's nice being a ‘ero for once.”

Pointedly ignoring the rough behind us, Roxi lifted her chin up and to the side as she nodded at our surroundings. “What are these tunnels? The city obviously isn’t using them for sewage or they wouldn’t need those foul smelling open sewers running along the streets.” Roxi

“I suppose I best welcome you to our base and give you the story then. Welcome to the Tunnels of Plumôr. These tunnels weren’t built for Port Marchnad, but instead for a much older city that existed before it. Plumôr was a city built during the old Parcosian empire, though some stories say part of it dates back to a Highborn Aurelling settlement before that. Later during the Kingdom era the city was the capital of the Duchy of Dwyrain Parcosia.” 

“What happened to it? To Plumôr,” eagerly asked the amazon.

“The city was razed, burned and largely reduced to ash and rubble during the power struggles following the disappearance of the last King and his heir, burning the tunnels and their entrances below a thick layer of mud, ash and gravel. Years later people returned to the region and built Port Marchnad. Only the harbor, lighthouse and the basements as well as part of the first floor of the old keep, on which the new one was built, remained. In the years since, smugglers and blackmarketeers have mapped a significant proportion of the tunnels and excavated a number of entrances for their own use.”

“Plumôr’s tunnels now serve our resistance as both a base and a means of moving about the city unseen. Which brings us to the matter of your party… You are welcome to use this as a place to rest and plan, as well as making use of our tunnels and guides to move about as long as you remain in Port Marchnad.”

“Thank you Alaïs, I am sure my companions appreciate your hospitality as much or more than myself,” Gael replied, wearing a grateful smile.

“I should also be able to aid you in your mission. I won’t ask for any form of payment, but there is a matter you could help me with if you found yourselves willing.”

Making eye contact Gael and Roxi conversed wordlessly before looking my way. I guess it was up to me to decide. “What’s that?” I asked.

“Now I haven’t yet been away from the palace long enough to not be able to guess at your mission’s purpose. Knowing the Duchess as well as I do and the general situation, she probably has suspicions concerning the Baron and his forces, and you have been sent here to investigate and dig up hard evidence?”

Blinking with surprise, I nodded.

“What if I told you I have someone exceptionally capable who is going to take care of that tonight? Would you be willing to do a different, but related job for me?”

“That would be uh… Convenient if you did, but friends or not we can’t agree without hearing what the job is,” Gale answered distractedly, as she pulled a smoking pipe from one of her pouches and began filling the bowl.

“Since I trust you and only because I trust you Gael, I’ll give you all the ground information and let you decide after then,” relented the former knight, pausing to pull a pipe of her own from her coat pocket. Quickly packing it with dried leaf from leather pouch, she lit it with spark from her finger before leaning towards Gael to lit hers as well.

“I’ve received reports from all sorts of informants. Some is just more evidence on the pile, but others paint the beginnings of an interesting picture. The reports both support the Duchess’ suspicions and give signs that something big is about to happen soon.”

Pausing again the pair took a moment to savor their pipes, visibly relaxing where they were standing as they exhaled thin tendrils of wispy smoke.

With a nod from Gael, Alaïs began speaking again. One hand holding the pipe by the bowl and gesturing with it as she spoke.

“There is a lamplighter among others who has reported that a large number of soldiers wearing the Baron’s colours share a foreign accent. One of the smugglers has reported that the port has been visited by a large number of merchant ships from Pagutum that seem to be unloading hulls full of goods, but not trading them. They also report that they appear to be leaving with less sailors than they arrived with.”

“And people have connected all this with Pagutum backing the Baron?” Roxi voiced with some disbelief. 

“They more than likely have,” she answered, smoke lazily escaping her mouth as she did. “But who is going to say it and risk drawing the wrath of a Baron willing to betray his liege lord for a foreign power?”

“Continuing on, an informant from within the city guard itself has claimed based on word in the barracks they share with the soldiers, that they are preparing for a big offensive.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” mused Gael. “From what I saw on the way here, the other factions this side of the highlands are already struggling to hold back and fight off Haverhill.” 

“Also there is more in favor of the Duchess’ suspicions. There exists a suspicious but unconfirmed report. Informants overheard a Duchal Tax Inspector that worked down in the docks making some outrageous claims whilst drunk. He claimed that a Pagutum Carrack had docked prior to the Duke’s final visit to the Barony and said it stood out to him because it had been flying Rhystosian colours. He also claimed that the sailors he met on board sounded as though they were the Empire and in hindsight their accents were similar to some of the new soldiers. Without any corroborating reports his claims couldn’t be confirmed, but the fact that he was mugged and killed days later makes it sound suspicious.”

“You’re not suggesting it was Haverhill and the Pags that killed the Duke and not a bandit ambush as suspected. I’ll agree it was pretty brazen of bandits to ambush a Duke and his escort, but he was far from Haverhill territory on his way back when it happened and at the time the search parties reported the ambush site picked clean of weapons and anything of value.”

“Like I said, it isn’t corroborated or confirmed. However given the Pag’s apparent investment in Haverhill and covert aggression here, I wouldn’t put assassination or spreading rumors concerning the legitimacy of the Duchess’ child past them if they wanted the Duchy busy turning on itself so they could invade by proxy.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Gael nodded in agreement, angrily chewing on her pipestem. “I wouldn’t fucking put it past those Imperialist Shitchugglers.”

“Moving on to why I suspect something large is about to happen. A merchant has reported on a recent shortage of firewood, the keep had been buying up or seizing where people will not sell, a vast quantity of firewood and oil and transporting it out the North gate. She says that the keep has been spending a lot more coin than they should have access to, which has thrown around prices with many things becoming more expensive for normal people due to the keep buying it all up when they don’t just seize it.”

“Stockpiling firewood in summer? Ok, that is suspicious,” Roxi agreed.

Gesturing agreeably with her pipe towards Roxi the resistance leader continued. “Corroborating with the merchant’s report is one from one of the Keep’s stablehands who reports that they accompanied one of the loads as part of a wagon team and that they were taking them to a cove north of the city where they were being stored beneath oiled canvas.”

“In conclusion, I believe that Baron Haverhill is not just working with Pagutum, but that their relationship predates Duke’s death and civil war. To what extent we don’t yet know, but I suspect it goes deeper than just supplying the Baron coin and soldiers for the civil war. Hopefully we will know after tonight. Meanwhile my every sense is screaming that something big is about to happen north of the city, but I do not have people who have the freedom and skills to investigate outside of the city.”

“That is however something I know you can accomplish,” stated Alaïs confidently, pointing at us with her pipe. “Between Gael’s experience and leadership, those illusions you came in with and how you managed to make it not just across the Barony, but into the city without being discovered by soldiers that were on the lookout for you, I know I can place my trust in you.”

“That sounds suspiciously reasonable…” mused Gael somewhat agreeably. “But… Before we accept, we'll first need to meet this exceptionally capable someone who will be gathering evidence instead of us.”

“I did mention that the Baron’s people were not the only individuals that have been looking for you, yes? Good. In that case seeing as both parties are interested in meeting, I find your conditions to be most workable.”

“Is that my cue to join the conversation?” asked one of the roughs standing behind her with a voice that was both familiar and entirely out of place for that body.