Sapphire:Sessions:20140621

Harvest Time 19, near sunset.

Rory picks up the sword of the guard who surrendered. Inside the room the guard came from, Rory finds a young woman, dazed or drugged, bound with leather straps to a bed. From the family resemblance, he guesses this is Ed Taylor's daughter. He calls to Gavin and instructs him to free the girl and take her downstairs to her father.

Chalker sizes up the guard, who says his name is Todd. "When are the other soldiers due back?" "Tomorrow, sunset." "If you're lying," Chalker growls, "I'll cut your thumb off and stick it up your ass."

Chalker searches the dead mage, finding a small symbol of Cor, a couple of rings (including a poisoner's ring), and a purse containing 10 silvers. He notes that the mage looks older that he did while alive. Going through the desk, Chalker loads up a sack with scrolls, maps, and a strongbox containing several bags of gold and silver coins as well as an assortment of gemstones of quality ranging from poor to excellent. He opens the strongbox's false bottom and finds a document, decorated with heraldic symbols, evidently linking the mage to the lineage of the local dukedom. "He was going to use this to legitimize his takeover," Chalker reasons.

Rory checks the bed and its immediate surroundings. Simply being near the bed causes an unpleasant tingling and a feeling of tiredness, perhaps caused by magic. A nearby chest contains an assortment of sex toys. There are a few places around the room where a voyeur could observe any proceedings through peepholes. A hidden door opens onto a stairway leading down to the next level, the mage's room. Rory makes sure to retrieve his poofball arrow before heading downstairs.

Chalker directs Todd to carry the unconscious Torturer downstairs to the dungeon. In answer to Chalker's questions, Todd says there are six more guards assigned to this tower. He has been working here for about a year. Yes, he sometimes captured people for the mage. "I only signed on for six months, but he made me stay longer. I didn't know he was a necromancer at first. He said the guards were only in the torture room as a precaution. He would often draw blood from the prisoners. Some of them he would question."

Rory walks into the kitchen, startling the younger woman. The older woman merely looks up at him quizzically. "How long have you worked here?" Rory asks. "Been cooking for the tower for 'bout two years." "How much are you paid?" "Enough." "What's 'enough'?" "Couple o' coppers a week." Rory counts out two stacks of five silvers and sets them on the table. "Your employer no longer needs you." "But how will we get back to..." "Todd says there's a stable and a wagon." "It's a two-day journey. Is he going to drive?" "If you can vouch for him. Do you have a healer for the prisoners?" "I can gather bedding, try to keep them comfortable." The younger woman is her granddaughter, Adalene. When the older woman scoops up the ten silvers, Rory makes her give Adalene half. He instructs them to continue with their meal preparation, making a soup or stew that will be easier for the starved prisoners to eat.

Down in a dungeon cell, Chalker straps the Torturer to a table and renders just enough first aid to bring him back to consciousness. "Are you and Todd friends?" "No." "Hm, score one for Todd." Chalker turns his head. "If I leave you here, Todd, will you be tempted to turn him loose?" "No." Facing the Torturer again, Chalker asks, "You know what's coming?" "Yes." "I suggest you have a discussion with Dar and whichever of the First Chosen you choose."

Chalker beckons those of the freed prisoners who are ambulatory into the cell. "Would you like to do it, or me to do it for you?" Two women and a man step forward. Rory discreetly takes Gavin and the other prisoners upstairs to the dining area.

Chalker hands a sharp knife to one of the women. "Cut his thumb off." She takes her time about it, and the Torturer screams with pain. After cauterizing the stump, Chalker tells the woman to cut his other thumb off. He cauterizes that stump. "Here, let me show you how it's done." He brings over some shears, saying to the Torturer, "I'm gonna leave you like you left Ed -- two toes on each foot." After lopping off several more digits, Chalker says his final words to the Torturer, "I want you to go to Dar, and remember how it felt." Chalker drives a long dagger straight into the Torturer's heart. The Torturer screams one last time, and dies.

To the Torturer's victims, Chalker says, "I hope you feel better now." The three reply emphatically in the affirmative, the man adding, "He tortured so many." Chalker hands each of them five silvers and sends them upstairs. 'Leave me and Todd to talk."

Out of sight of the others, not trusting Grandma to play fair (and because he senses that the girl is intimidated by her grandmother), Rory gives Adalene two silver pieces and a dagger. "Relatives don't always do things in your best interest." Adalene straightens, looks Rory in the eyes, and replies in a low voice, "At the proper time, the world will be better off without Grandma."

Chalker leads Todd into Ed's former cell and shackles him next to the other guard. Todd bears up stoically. "If your friends return when you said they would," Chalker says, "you'll be here only for a day. If they return while I'm still here... you know what will happen. I seem to appear where bad mages are, and I usually kill the guards."

Rory tells Gavin, "Get everything you think these people will need." Rory goes down and rousts out the sleeping stableboy and helps him get the wagons ready. As they work, the stableboy says he's been working here about a month, having been recruited by his cousin (the man Rory shot through the heart). Those employed at the tower have a compulsion spell that forces them to return there. Rory gives him three silvers.

Using his penetrating vision, Chalker locates two thin volumes of the necromancer's journal, dating back five years. He returns to the necromancer's body and cuts off its head, hands, and feet.

Trace says to Malcom, "Chalker, Rory, and Striker have been gone too long. I'm going to poke my head through the hole, and I need you to stay here. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, see these crystals? Pull one out." Entering the gate and passing through the junk room, Trace asks the men shackled to a wall, "Have you seen a couple of guys and a dog?" "Yeah," replies Todd, "They're upstairs feeding the prisoners."

Trace finds his way to the kitchen. Chalker is sitting at a table. Trace: "You guys are never gone this long." Chalker: "We had to kill the mage, torture the torturer, and free the prisoners."

Ten minutes later, having been brought up to date, Trace says "I have to go back now, or we'll have a long walk." Returning to the manor, he finds Malcolm contemplating the crystals. Trace: "This was a good trip. They killed a necromancer who was impeding our trip. You can go now."

Rory brings the wagons up close to the tower, and Chalker helps the prisoners get aboard. Gavin: "The night is young. How far should we go tonight?" Chalker: "If you find a road, three or four hours." Rory: "Where are the guards coming back from?" Stableboy, pointing down the road: "From village that way, about two days' ride." Chalker: "All right, after about four miles, pull off into the woods somewhere." Rory: "And cover your tracks." Chalker: "I figure you can avoid the guards." Rory: "Some of the guards might not come back."

The wagons roll out. Rory and Chalker close and lock the gates, then enter the tower and lock the doors behind them. Chalker visits Todd briefly and gives him some ale, then he and Rory pass through the gate and Rory pulls the crystals. Chalker hands Trace the rings and jewels to examine.