Everwake (Tim)

[Bannanachair]

I take a second, biting down how much it hurts to say what I feel I must. "Enoise is right," I say. "If there's a way out where we don't risk death, we should go that way."

[Tikobe]

"My boss agrees with me? See, the day's starting to really turn up for me," Enoise says with a shit-eating grin. "Well, jests aside, are there more of you?"

"Yep, in the main hall," Mule points out.

"Main hall. Where the door is. Let's see," Enoise mutters as she pulls out her journal. You noted that it didn't look like the journal that you saw previously. "Gotcha! Right about here."

Enoise goes to a stone on a pillar along the wall, and presses hard on it...

Except it didn't move.

"Uh... Uh..."

"Here, let me try," Bayod says, giving the stone a violent push and moving it back. The section of the wall next to it swings backwards.

"I would like to retract my statement about the day turning up for me," Enoise pouts.

[Bannanachair]

"How many journals do you have, Enoise?" I ask, as we go through the new hole in the wall. "You have one with a map of this manor, you have... Ahh... The other one, with the list of women. You seem to be a repository of secrets."

[Tikobe]

"My, a remarkably great question to ask, Admiral Therinean! I was sure that you'd be too busy looking elsewhere to notice such details," Enoise teases. "Sadly, the answers I can give you are sparse. As you have most definitely observed by now, I am in the business of gathering secrets. This does, however, carry a responsibility to share such secrets wisely. What has been revealed has been revealed because it is immediately relevant to the situation at hand, and continuing to hide it could result in tragic lost of life. Of course, by being privy to these secrets, you are also bound to this responsibility. I trust you understand."

"Huh? But we didn't ask to be let in on anything," Bayod retorts.

"The idea that choice exists in the Empire is a farce, Captain. The only one who has the right to decide anything in the end is no less than the Emperor. Trust me, I'm a Vorlault, from the same city as him. I understand this better than anyone," Enoise replies. "You can, of course, try to resist, but it would be a short lived one. You, at least, should have an inkling of this."

"..."

"If that doesn't teach you, then this might," she says, walking into the tunnel and motioning down to the flooring.

The secret passage was in better condition than the rest of the building, containing notably thick walls. Only the thick roots of trees from above had penetrated through. However, that wasn't the shocking thing.

It was a skeleton of a human being.

"What in the hell!?" Bayod exclaims. Even Mule gives a look of concern.

"Among the secret passages, this one is one with a unique purpose: It's meant to be found, and to be a death trap. There's nothing hostile here, otherwise the Duke Larchonts of the past four generation would have to risk revealing it's reality in their efforts to maintain it. The killing mechanism is the lack of a way to open the door from the inside. Once we go down the hall, we'll activate the mechanism to close the door, and be locked in. After that, all that needs to happen is for the poor victim to pass away, whether from thirst, hunger or the like."

"Such a terrible way to go. Wouldn't someone hear them?"

"The noise is muffled quite well. Although, I suppose anyone who could notice such things would believe in a ghost more than someone about to die. As for those who are truly smart enough to recognize the reality, they would be smart enough to remain silent. The reason these passages exist in the first place is as a warning sign to spies: Don't go where you shouldn't be going. It's definitely quite terrifying. These existed in the Vorlault manor in Centerpiece as well. I remember being trapped in one at the age of 7 after playing around with things I shouldn't have. My father left me in there the whole of a day to make sure the lesson stayed. As for this man," Enoise turns to you, "let's make him a test. I can recite his story to you cleanly, but you have to properly shoulder the responsibility that knowing his story holds. No going back once you're in. If you're willing to uphold your end, Admiral Therinean, than I'll be willing to uphold mine, and consider making you privy to more than I ought. Your answer?"

[Bannanachair]

"And what, exactly, is this responsibility?" I ask.

[Tikobe]

"That no matter what, you can't share the story, nor can you act on it. You may only know it. To do anything other than that, Admiral, would be a violation of that responsibility, and a betrayal of my trust. I know I may like to tease, but I hope that doesn't make you underestimate what it means to be on my bad side," Enoise replies.

[Bannanachair]

"I'll agree, though I won't force Bayod nor Mule to," I say.

[Tikobe]

Enoise's gaze drifts away, and although you aren't sure, you think you hear an utterance similar to "So, you failed the test..."

Bayod, who couldn't hear what she said, asks, "Huh?"

"Nothing. Just remarking how he made the same choice I did when in the same situation that I was in. Regardless," Enoise turns to face Mule, "I assume that you're the one that the Admiral called Mule?"

"Well, don't see any other candidates for the name."

"Good to see a sharp tongue. Now, if you don't mind, may I ask you and Bayod to go down the passage? The mechanism that'll close the door is further down, and I don't think that the four of us want to be standing out here in the open for much longer than we already have. If you two would close it behind us, then the Admiral and I can have a pleasant, and private, chat."

Mule nods and leads Bayod down. Enoise guides you a few steps into the passage until the fake wall suddenly closes. With Mule having the candle, there was little light, just the small slivers of moonlight the sneaked out from the damaged ceiling.

"The corpse in front of us, is that of Renaud Larchont. Renaud wasn't a member of the Larchont ducal family, but a member of a baron family that branched off from the duchy. In short, he was the Duke Larchont's distant relative. And he was the current Duke's greatest enemy, at the time."

Enoise leans back against the wall.

"When it became clear that the previous Duke was soon to be retired, there came a question within the both the ducal Larchonts and their various branches: Is his heir, Thibaud Larchont, who is now the current Duke, competent enough to maintain the family? After all, the current Duke Larchont is impotent," Enoise smiles. "Perhaps that's the cause of his fascination for children? Well, I suppose that was a joke in poor taste. After all, his father, the previous Duke, had the same tastes. Regardless, it was clear that in order for the family to continue after Thibaud anyways he would need to adopt a child from one of the branches. But with that being the case, was there any need to wait? Thibaud wasn't the brightest kid, not the kindest and most certainly not the most fit, both in body and mind. And yet, among the branches, there was one who excelled in every aspect that Thibaud faltered in. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that he was Renaud, the very same who died in here. In short, there was to be a succession war in the Larchonts. But there was one crowning virtue in the mire of bad taste called Thibaud: He had the ambition, and the will to act on that ambition. Renaud was a kind boy, I met him when I was a young girl and marriage candidates were being scouted out for me. I always wondered how a baron's child managed to get an audience with a daughter of a marquisate. Only found out a few years after his death that they were trying to increase Renaud's influence to overtake Thibaud. Rather, more than just me, they presented Renaud to the daughters of the Berours and the now late Arateme families. Thibaud clearly didn't appreciate that, and Renaud was about to learn the most important lesson far too late: Good people don't have a home in the Empire. Thibaud commissioned Duck to present a golden opportunity to Renaud, a chance to unveil the wrongdoings of Thibaud and secure Renaud's succession to the ducal Larchonts. Renaud wasn't the biggest fan of amarzi, and Duck needed to stay in the good graces of the Larchonts in order to maintain his position. So Duck did it, and, as instructed, lured Renaud to this passage, where the trap was sprung, and the baron's child 'mysteriously' disappeared. And as such Thibaud became the Duke Larchont, and also as such does this story bring us the corpse we see now."

Enoise stands up properly and looks at you.

"So, Admiral, knowing of the fate of Renaud, what do you intend to do?"

[Bannanachair]

"The same thing I intended to do before you told me this story - get on the airship, get the Amarzi to safety and maybe kill Thibaud Larchont if I get the opportunity. Oh, and I won't make my ambitions against him public knowledge, if I decide to harbour any."

[Tikobe]

Enoise smiles.

"I see, same path, different outcome. Well, to each their own," Enoise replies. "Thankfully, you didn't make an announcement like trying to turn Renaud's fate as a way to take the Duke Larchont down. That was being saved in the extreme event that blackmailing the Larchont family was necessary, but in light of certain events it have been rendered frankly useless. There's no way to prove that a corpse found here in a ruined manor was belonging to a long missing member of the nobility, and that's assuming that someone would actually want to come over to a ruined town in order to investigate that claim. More than that, however, every family in the higher nobility has a secret like this. It's just been implicitly agreed to never speak of it unless the majority agrees that it's time to knock a family down a peg. By breaking that code of etiquette, you wouldn't just gain enemies, you'd most definitely lose allies."

Enoise takes a deep breath, before speaking again.

"Now, to answer your earlier question, the one about the journals, is a dramatically more complicated matter. In general, lower nobility like yourself generally doesn't get to know about it outside of a need to know basis. I'm not sure if even your father, as the head of your family, is aware. Consider it protection on your end; It's just overwhelmingly better not to know of it. To start with, let me clarify that though it is true that I'm an engineer on the crew of the Guimar Garnier Origin, as well as a member of the military, I am also, on a strictly official standing, not your subordinate nor am I member of the navy. I'm also not a member of the army like Bayod is. Outside of common knowledge lies a third militant group under the employment of the Emperor. It doesn't have a name, simply cause it's harder to notice it when there's nothing to call it by. It's goal is, in the simplest terms possible, internal espionage of the Empire of Everwrath. An organization whose sole task is the collection of secrets, all to be presented to the Emperor of Everwrath, and if the need be, we are also the ones to spill the blood of imperial citizens who dare oppose him. We are, in essence, His eyes, His ears and His wrath."

Enoise gives you a serious look as she explains, "As a member of this organization, I tasked with the monitoring of the Guimar Garnier fleet, collecting the movements and details of the people aboard as well as important events and individuals in any area that the fleet operates in, and occasionally the removal of problematic individuals within the area of operation. These journals contain all of the information I've gathered, although it is in truth an incomplete database. It's only been helpful thus far since we've been in the area that I operate in, and especially here as the Guimar Garnier fleet is the go to for operations in Old Everwrath. The complete database is far from here. After all, it is an organization with just a mere three ranks: The agents like myself are the small guys, then there's one trusted confidant to manages the organization for a busy Emperor and takes care of storing the information, and finally we have our Emperor at the top, as he always is. Now, I understand that there's a lot to take in, so do you have any questions?"

[Bannanachair]

"I suppose the biggest question is, why are you telling me all this? If you were placed on the Origin to spy on me and my fleet for the Emperor, you would have an easier time of it if I didn't know you were spying at all."

[Tikobe]

"The exact terms of our promise was making you privy to more than I ought, remember? I'm merely upholding my end," Enoise shrugs. "Well, it goes a little deeper than that, frankly speaking. Did you really think that the heir to a marquisate could spend the better half of a decade on an airship instead of in the courts? More than that, as a Vorlault I was raised alongside the Emperor himself. Our relationship is not unlike that of an uncle and his niece. I have several different reasons, but there's only one that could properly convince him to allow it, although I loathe to say something so embarrassing."

Enoise looks to the side, not even wanting to face you as she begins.

"Bridal training for my engagement. As you know, the current heir to the Empire is a man, and the value of his marriage partner is important. As such, every century and a half there's a little cycle where four generations of the imperial family will marry a member of one of the marquisates, preferably the one with the highest value. We just so happen to be in such a cycle, and with the previous Empress marrying a Rennende, our current Emperor marrying a Berrours and the Arateme family being charged with treason and executed en mass, that just leaves my family of Vorlault. In summary, I've become the prime candidate for the marriage partner of our crown prince through a stroke of misfortune. Nothing has been officially decided, both parties have to agree to the engagement, and I have yet to make an official statement on the matter. However, to say anything other than yes would be to go against the Emperor, and would put myself in opposition against him as well as against the crown prince. I tried to hold it off by saying nothing but that only works for so long, and the longer I wait to say yes the worse the Emperor's mood gets. With that being said, the main gripe that the Emperor has with his wife is that she's by no means talented, and by tradition the one who manages this internal espionage group is his bride. As such, I was able to, with some help, convince him to give me a grace period of work in this group, to understand it before I'm tasked with running it. That period is coming to it's end, and I'll soon be called back to Centerpiece to give my approval for the engagement. Whether or not I revealed to you that I was a spy wouldn't matter; I was being replaced anyways."

[Bannanachair]

"I wish you a happy marriage, then," I say. There's no reason she would just tell me all these secrets and expect nothing in return except for my silence - she has to be getting something out of it. That said, pushing her on it directly hasn't seemed to work. "Bayod, Mule, how much further down is the door?" I ask-shout down the hallway.

[Tikobe]

The hallway is filled with Bayod's booming voice.

"Ain't seen nothing like a door, but I believe we were looking to break down the ceiling anyways. On that front, we found the spot, I think."

"Well, looks like we should be going then, Therinean," Enoise says as she advances down the hall. "Of course, I don't think it needs to be said that if you should ever need to talk about this more, don't. By no means do we wish to risk someone overhearing that kind of conversation. With that being said, I assume no further questions?"

[Bannanachair]

"Will I be invited to the wedding?" I ask with a grin, as I head towards where Bayod and Mule are.

[Tikobe]

Enoise turns away from you. Clearly, she didn't find that one very funny.

As you two make it to Bayod, you see him and Mule standing in front of a large tree root.

"From what Mule can figure the pillars further down are part of the supports of the mansion, namely along the outer wall. With that being the case, this might be part of the overgrowth from the entrance hall," Bayod says, nodding to the root. "I think with the combine body weight of Mule, Therinean and myself we can use this to destroy the ceiling and make a hole to crawl out of. We in agreement?"

"Well, it's what we came here to do," Enoise shrugs.

"It wouldn't be the most dangerous thing I've done," Mule adds on.

The three look to your for your thoughts.

[Bannanachair]

"What's our alternative?" I ask. "Wait around here for the wisps and Emperor-knows-what-else to find us? Head back, to the spear-traps and the wolf-things and right into the hands of the wisps? We'll make the hole."

[Tikobe]

Enoise backs away as the three of you grab onto the root and pull. Eventually, after a small struggle, a hole opens up. By good fortune, it doesn't seem as if anyone's been harmed by the rubble, but as for above ground...

"What the hell was that!?"

You could hear Ox screaming and panicking, likely due to the large hole that suddenly opened up thanks to you.

[Bannanachair]

"It's just us, Ox," I say. "We found Enoise, and she knows a way out that's safe."

[Tikobe]

"Well, relative safety, but yeah, at least I know a good way to go. Just need to get out of here first. Ah, Bayod, help me up please," Enoise says.

"No shame in asking huh?" Bayod gives a hesitant glance towards Enoise, although he still lifts her up high enough for her to grab the ledge and make it out.

"Well, not like there's much use for someone like me to lift a man of your size," Enoise teases, as she grabs Mule suddenly and begins to pull him up. "Ah, please get Therinean, if you don't mind."

"Just what is even going on?" Ox mumbles, probably so confused by all of what's happening.

[Bannanachair]

"It's a reasonably long story," I say. When I get up, I speak to Ox again. "I... I do have some bad news for you, though. Of the Amarzi that went with Bayod and I, only Mule is still alive. The wisps had set up this spear-trap mechanism that got most of us. I'm sorry."

[Tikobe]

Ox growls, and then looks at Mule.

"Is what this bastard said true!?" Ox roars. Mule just turns to face him.

"...Yep," he replies, hiding that you also gave up on convincing them.

Ox puts his face right up against Mule's.

"And can you swear that he did everything he could?"

"Beyond a shadow of a doubt, he did. I'll swear it on my lover," Mule replies.

"Fool! You don't have a lover!"

"And you let Moth die under your orders, after failing to properly secure her safety. Aren't you worse off than Therinean right now?" Mule retorts, clearly agitated with what Ox said.

Ox gaves a glare so menacing it could kill, but around your group you begin to hear, "Inwas? They found Inwas! They're all together now!"

[Bannanachair]

"We don't have time for an argument like this," I say. "Enoise, what's the fastest, safest way to get out of this place?"

[Tikobe]

"Well, we're in an entrance hall, aren't we? I'd assume the quickest way is out the front door," Enoise teases, her expression quickly dropping as she hears a light thumping from the distance.

"Where are we meeting with Duck?" She asks. Ox, who calmed down after hearing the same sounds, is the one to reply.

"At the new entrance, near the carrot fields, along the north edge of them."

"A swift answer, thanks," Enoise says, pulling out her notebook with the Larchont mansion map in it. "I've got a path. Now, I hope you two know to run with me this time, right Therinean and Bayod?"

[Bannanachair]

"If we lose you in another mansion, we're not doing this again," I say, as I prepare myself to get ready to run.