4:15 P.M.

Redgrave and Tantalus sat alone in the office of the highest-ranking NPC of the West Gate. The office was strangely similar to the kinds of offices Redgrave would see on TV shows about expensive lawyers. The windows looked out at the City of Osiris below. They were on the fifth floor, and Redgrave could see the tall buildings of downtown Osiris far in the background. In fact, Redgrave could have sworn he was sitting inside of a tall building rather than a city-spanning wall if not for the gargantuan slabs of concrete that stretched for miles in Redgrave’s peripheral vision. If he squinted, Redgrave could see the wall on the other side of Osiris.

Inside of the office was a large mahogany table, two visitors’ chairs, one comfortable-looking chair behind the table, a coat rack, and a filing cabinet off to one side. A name plaque sat on the table, though Redgrave could not be entirely sure that the text it bore was a name. The text on the plaque was written in the usual inscrutable text that the NPCs used. The plaque read:

ꦑꦜ’ꦩꦔ ꦕꦮ’ꦨꦦꦑ

Redgrave couldn’t even begin to try to read the text. It clearly used no European alphabet. As far as Redgrave knew, the letters could have been Asian, African, or even completely made-up by GM. Redgrave didn’t even know if “letters” was the right word to describe the text.

Tantalus had propped the pump-shotgun he had looted from a dead goblin up against the wall. He had completely disassembled his 1911 and left many of the gun’s parts on top of the table.

Just as Tantalus began to reassemble his pistol, the NPC officer walked in. The officer was a middle-aged Middle-Eastern-looking man. The NPC’s hair had not yet begun to turn grey, but the lines on his face indicated a wealth of experience. He was wearing a thick gambeson shirt under a green coat that bore the symbol of a dragon in flight. At the officer’s belt was a cavalry saber and three throwing knives. Above the officer’s left breast pocket was a symbol of a crown. Redgrave knew that this was the insignia for an officer with the rank of Colonel in the British Army. Based on the officer’s expression and body language, he didn’t look happy.

The NPC officer walked to his seat, conspicuously passing by Tantalus and Redgrave such that he could put as much distance between himself and the shotgun propped against the wall. Both Tantalus and Redgrave got to their feet as the officer entered, though Redgrave rose significantly slower.

“Colonel Dolok,” said Tantalus, “it’s good to meet you.” Tantalus held his hand out for the Colonel to shake, and the Colonel shook his hand with only a moment’s hesitation.

“And you must be the Butcher of the West Gate,” Colonel Dolok said evenly. “The soldiers have been talking about how you killed all of those Deluvians.”

“I’ve already got myself a title, I see,” said Tantalus, chuckling. “You can just call me John Tantalus.”

After shaking Redgrave’s hand, Colonel Dolok took his seat, and the two players soon followed suit.

“I hear that you’re something of a leader among the Revenants. Is that right, John Tantalus?” Colonel Dolok said.

“Command was somewhat foisted upon me,” said Tantalus, “but you’re right.”

“Then perhaps,” Colonel Dolok said, his tone of voice becoming dire, “you can answer for some of the actions that other Revenants have carried out over the past six hours.”

“Perhaps…” Tantalus said casually. As he said this, he snaked his sidearm’s recoil spring back into the removed slide on the table.

“To begin with, it is my understanding that you ordered some of my soldiers to burn down several dozen civilian homes,” said Colonel Dolok. “Private Cahlad claims that you gave this order for tactical reasons, but I don’t see the purpose myself. Why did you decide to ignore the chain of command and the laws of Osiris when you sent this order?”

“Well, to explain that,” Tantalus said coolly, reconnecting the 1911’s slide with its frame, “I need to explain to you how guns work.”

“Guns?” Colonel Dolok asked.

“Uh…” Tantalus said, unsure how to explain. “What do you call these?” Tantalus then gestured to the partially reconstructed sidearm in his hand and the shotgun in the corner.

“Fireshooters,” Colonel Dolok said matter of factly.

“Well, we sometimes call them firearms,” said Tantalus. “Just know that when I say ‘guns,’ I mean ‘fireshooters.’ Anyway, the point is that guns can easily kill when the target is more than a thousand feet away. Us Revenants can fight much more effectively when the Deluvians need to spend a long time in the open to reach us. If they need to spend a minute charging us, then…”

“Enough,” Colonel Dolok interrupted. Tantalus had locked the recoil spring in place with his slide stop. The sidearm was reassembled. “Fine. I’ll accept that you had your reasons, but you can’t completely ignore the chain of command when it suits you.”

“With respect, sir,” Tantalus said, slapping a fresh magazine in his sidearm, “more people would have died had I not had those houses burned down. If I was in that same position again, I’d do it again.” Tantalus racked his slide, and the sound of metal-on-metal filled the office.

The implied threat was lost on Colonel Dolok, who did not understand how guns work. “I should have you arrested for insubordination right now, Private,” the Colonel snarled.

“That’s your right,” said Tantalus, “but I think you’re gonna want me to answer your next question before you do that.”

“Why?” Colonel Dolok said, fuming. “I can just have you answer the question from the brig.”

“Trust me,” Tantalus said. As Tantalus spoke, Colonel Dolok felt the shadow of death pass over him. As a career soldier, the Colonel had felt afraid for his life many times before, but he had never been made to feel that way by a man peacefully sitting in a chair. The Colonel could sense the Revenant’s absolute confidence in his own skill. This man, John Tantalus, truly believed that he was in no danger from anything that Colonel Dolok could do to him. Either this Revenant was completely insane, or he was a true threat to all of Osiris.

A part of Colonel Dolok wanted to take his sword and stab Tantalus in the heart or conjure fire to burn him to death, but another part was terrified of what would happen if he did.

“Fine,” Colonel Dolok said, managing to hide the fear from his voice. “I’ll humor you and not have you confined to the brig… yet. The second topic I wanted to talk to you about was the North Gate. All of the regular defenders at the North Gate were reported dead two hours ago. All fifty men were found dead. They had been killed with fireshooters and swords. Observers on the scene report that they had most likely been dead for several hours before the deaths were reported, meaning they were killed long before the current incursion. High command believes that the defenders were killed by Revenants. Do you know anything about this?”

“Yes, I do,” Tantalus said. He turned his head to the side and swore at Ashcroft venomously.

“Ashcroft?” Colonel Dolok asked.

“Yes,” said Tantalus. “He was the one who killed the NPC… the defenders at the North Gate.”

“How do you know this?”

“He told me,” said Tantalus. “He said that he asked an officer for his sword and, when the officer said no, Ashcroft killed him. According to Ashcroft, the situation ‘escalated’ and ended with him killing all of the non-Revenants at the North Gate.”

Colonel Dozok reached into his desk and pulled out an old-fashioned tape recorder. He clicked a button and said, “So, to reiterate what you just told me, this man ‘Ashcroft’ ordered the Revenants to kill the defenders of the North Gate.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“What are you talking about?” Colonel Dolok shouted. “You just said…”

“I didn’t say that Ashcroft had the defenders killed, I said that Ashcroft killed the defenders,” said Tantalus. “It’s my understanding that he killed all fifty of them himself.”

“How?”

In response, Tantalus pointed to his sidearm.

“May it be noted for the record,” Colonel Dolok said shakily, “that witness John Tantalus pointed to his fireshooter in response to my question.”

“Sir,” Tantalus cut in. “I highly advise against trying to pursue any substantive criminal action against Ashcroft. I know him very well, and he will resist any attempts you make to arrest him. It will only result in dozens of unnecessary deaths.” By Tantalus’s tone of voice, it was clear that he sincerely wanted to prevent unnecessary deaths. “The Revenants don’t need to be your enemies. I will talk to Ashcroft and make sure that this won’t happen again.”

“Out of the question,” Colonel Dolok said, remembering his position. “We can’t just allow a mass murderer to go free. In fact, I should have you arrested, Private John Tantalus, for not coming forward with this information earlier.”

Tantalus sighed deeply. Redgrave had heard this sound before. In preparation, Redgrave subtly unholstered his pistol. Tantalus quickly made a symbol with his left hand using the battle-language created in the days of the Scions of the Blue Flame: Stand Down.

“There’s something you should know,” Tantalus said with a smile. “The Revenants have a ranking system. Of the ten thousand Revenants in this city, less than fifteen hold the highest rank. Ashcroft holds that rank… and so do I.”

“What’s your point?”

“You’re free to try to arrest me,” said Tantalus, “but I will tell you right now that I won’t go quietly.” Tantalus rose from his chair, pistol in hand. Colonel Dolok hurriedly got to his feet a moment later. “Earlier, you called me the Butcher of the West Gate. Personally, I’m not a fan of the name. If you try to arrest me, I’m afraid that the name will stick.”

“What?”

“This can go one of two ways, Colonel,” Tantalus said. “Either you can work with me, and we can all go home unharmed, or you can become one of the first victims of the Butcher of the West Gate.”