Chapter 29: Chapter 29 – Nothing Ventured

When things start to go wrong, people reflexively, instinctively turn to the one strategy they know best. Life is filled with natural disasters. Things happens that are completely out of our control. Despite that fact, blame must be assigned. It’s the fault of the leaders for not seeing the future and preparing, it’s the fault of the individual for taking precautions to protect themselves and their property.

I only had myself to blame.

As one of the few magical experts in Pascen, it was almost inevitable that I would be targeted as the cause of the latest catastrophe.

“So, the Amendment sees fit to interfere with my work?”

The white cloaked Ashmorn who stood before me preened like a vibrant bird. He and the rest of his flock had decided to invade my private property with a gaggle of armed guards and fling worthless accusations at my feet.

“Pah. Your work is the reason why this city is in such a dour state,” he insisted, “As soon as I heard that the likes of yourself resided here, the answer became self-evident.”

“And yet you provide no evidence to support your claims. Don’t take me for a fool – I know that the Amendment dislikes my distribution of theory.”

“You are a witch, manipulating the etheric winds to bring chaos and destruction. You will be shown to the court of the Duke, and your crimes will be explained in full. As soon as we find that spineless assistant of yours, he’ll pay too.”

“The only invertebrate here is you. This is my property. Begone.” To my frustration, he and his thugs remained steadfast. They continued to block the only exit from my temporary home. I crossed my arms impatiently.

“As I said, you will answer for your crimes.”

There were no crimes for me to answer for. If they were expecting my incarceration to ease the giant problem, they were going to be sorely disappointed. Even I, with all of my wisdom and knowledge, was struggling to pinpoint the exact source of the disturbance. Something on such a large and sophisticated scale couldn’t just happen on accident. The Amendment had gotten that far, and in typical fashion given up on the truth, and decided to use it as an excuse to bludgeon, arrest and frame their competition.

I held out my scale covered hands, “Very well. Let’s see this font of evidence you have against me.” As they wrapped the iron chains around my wrists and dragged me from my home, I hoped silently that Adrian had found someone willing to help.

---

“They took your Master into custody?”

The young man nodded, “Yes, yes! They stormed the house, before I could move to defend her – she told me to flee and seek assistance!”

“…And the first person you came to was me?” I didn’t paint a pretty picture. Unshaven, messy long hair, pale skin, old, rusted armour. I looked like a dead man come back to life.

Adrian withdrew his body slightly, “Yes. Master Dora frequently hires people from the taverns for her expeditions. Lest ye not be available at this present time?”

“I’m available, but I don’t see how we can help. I’m not a lawyer.”

“A… lawyer?”

I slapped myself, they didn’t have lawyers here, or any kind of real legal system.

“Never mind. What I’m saying is if they’re trying to stitch her up on false charges, it won’t matter what we say. They’ve already reached the conclusion that it’s her fault. They need someone to blame for all the trouble that’s going on.”

“T-That’s why she gave me this,” he reached into his jacket and placed a small notebook on the table, “This is her working theory for what’s causing the disturbances. The only piece missing is some of the data for this sector here.”

He opened it to a specific page and pointed to an empty spot in a large, number filled table. “If I can get out there, get those figures for her, she can put everything together and present her hypothesis.”

I shook my head, “They aren’t going to let her go based on logic. They want someone to blame, so unless your Master can pinpoint the exact fucking location of the person doing this – she’s staying behind bars.”

“She can! I promise you she can! A-And she’s very wealthy! She binds and sells her work to scholars around the world, she can pay you if you help us.”

I grunted and poked the table with my finger, “…Pay up front.”

Adrian reached a shaking hand into his pocket and poured out three silver bars. “These are all I have on me. I grabbed them before they broke in.”

Good enough for me.

I laid out my terms, “That’ll be enough for an escort to this location you’re talking about. Tomorrow at the break of dawn, we go out there, get this information you’re looking for, and come straight back. It’s still dangerous – and I don’t want to be caught out there in the dark.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, “Okay.”

“And when we’re out there, you need to follow my orders down to the letter. I’ve done a lot of jobs like this, and people who can’t listen end up dead half the damn time.”

“I know, the giants make the outside very dangerous…”

“Who is this Master anyway?” Not that the information was relevant to the job at hand. I was merely curious who could have incurred the wrath of the Amendment.

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“Ah! How rude of me. Her name is Benadora Clorawmstant, though she prefers to be called Dora or Master. She’s one of the foremost experts in the study of magical winds, the principle that drives many schools of magical thought such as affixes. I’m lucky enough to study under her as an apprentice.”

He turned downcast. “The thought of the Amendment imprisoning her is dreadful! A wise mind like hers is a rare thing, no other scholar in the field is as daring or innovative. They always despised her for her contributions to the independent research community.”

“I can’t say I’m familiar with the state of things for you,” I added, “Though it sounds similar enough to dealing with the Inquisition.”

“Hah. At least with the Inquisition their malice is plain as day. The Amendment is secretive and just as dangerous if you cross the wrong people. Master moved here to try and avoid them in the first place, but this giant situation has put our work into jeopardy.”

He reached into his canvas bag and placed a small wooden box onto the table. At first, I thought it was some kind of primitive camera, but upon closer inspection I notice several small magical instruments poking out of the top and an exposure window that allowed him to open up the inside.

“This is your device?”

“Aye. We’ve been using it to measure the strength and the direction of the winds for months now. We were the first people to notice the sudden changes, though even we couldn’t predict the full consequences.”

“It looks pretty advanced; did you build it?”

He seemed confused by my interest and understanding, “Uh, yes. I didn’t take you for a technically minded man.” He wasn’t trying to be insulting. Mercenaries and rogues didn’t have time to read books and learn high concepts in the sciences.

“I’m not. I’m just used to seeing stuff like this. If you asked me to explain it I couldn’t for the life of me. Cali might though.”

Cali poured water on my proposal, “My family’s magic is very traditional, analytical tools such as this are foreign to me. In my father’s words, understanding isn’t necessary for mastery.”

“We’ve heard that from a lot of people, they degrade her work and tell her that it’s a waste of time. But I think this… invasion shows that there’s merit to the study and her hypothesis. People could make proper preparations if they knew in advance that something like this was about to happen.”

Too much time, money and effort to protect some farmers – I thought cynically.

With the conversation reaching a conclusion, I reminded him of the preparations he needed to make. “We’re heading off first thing tomorrow, get some good walking shoes and a coat.”

“I’ll meet you by the gates. Thank you again for your assistance!”

---

After a comfortable night sleeping in a warm inn, it was time to go back into the wet and windy wilds to complete this new task. Cali and I marched down to the gate at the crack of dawn to see the nervous scientist waiting for us. The only people around were the guards manning the wall and us.

“Are you good to go, Adrian?”

He held out the wooden measuring device and nodded, “I’ve calibrated the device, and made a route we can follow to gather as much data as possible, as quickly as possible. The difference between knowing the area and not can save hours.”

We huddled around under the cover of the stone wall and looked at the map he’d prepared. He had drawn a red line that winded through the north west side of the area, leading to the top of a nearby rock formation. This was the kind of area knowledge that I wish I had. I rarely visited Pascen myself and hadn’t taken the time to memorize the best routes to take inside and outside of the city limits.

“How long are we stopping at each of these marks?”

“If the weather is good enough, twenty minutes for each. Eight data points need to be gathered, so it’ll take us most of the morning to finish. Then I need to interpret the data and input it into our model, and find a way to contact Master so I can share my findings…”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself pal, we haven’t even stepped outside yet.”

He bowed his head, “Apologies. Shall we proceed?”

I tightened the jacket wrapped around my body and led him out into the farmland. We walked side by side so he could assist me with the navigation. The weather had taken a turn for the worse since the previous evening. Visibility was down and the winds were high. Water snuck through the gaps in my clothes and soaked me through to the bone. They didn’t call it the Rumbling coast for nothing…

When we reached the first mark, Cali and I established a two-man perimeter around Adrian as he placed the box onto the ground and opened the shutter. Moss covered rocks surrounded us on all sides. I could see the rain wavering in the distance. An occasional gap in the clouds allowed a strong beam of blinding sunlight down onto the ground below. It was beautiful and wild, the full force of the climate putting on a show for us. One thing I never complained about was seeing sights like this.

I was dragged out of my musings by Adrian speaking over the loud rainstorm that engulfed us, “These readings are incredible! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“What does that mean?”

He raised his voice again, “They’re becoming even more severe! I can’t make a conclusion from just one measurement, but the winds are changing even more!”

“Does that mean more giants?”

“No, I don’t think so! Let’s move on to the next!” He retrieved the box and carried it in his arms. The ground was treacherous, and on several occasions, I nearly fell and injured myself against the rocks.

With a careful step we ventured onwards…

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