Chapter 01: The Hollow Men
28th Day, Month of Wind, 1847
"The Abbey of the Everyman is the seat of religious power and inspiration for all Overseers across the Empire. The order arose over the years to protect the common people from the ravages of the Outsider, until the need for a central bastion of authority was deemed necessary. This imposing structure is a destination for pilgrims seeking refuge or guidance.
Many mistakenly attribute the Abbey's construction to High Overseer Benjamin Holger, when it was in actuality Holger's successor John Clavering who laid the foundation. Shortly after the Abbey was completed, every Overseer in the land gathered there and began a trek to White Cliff.
There, a great siege commenced, as the Overseers purged the region. The battle raged against heretics, witches and thralls of the Outsider. Though Holger was killed in the struggle, White Cliff was cleansed and the ceremonial rites that followed lasted for a month, giving birth to many invocations and speeches which were inscribed in tomes and carried back to the Abbey, where they are still revered today. "
-Excerpt from a larger work of history of the Overseers
Was that the moment where your innocence died?
When you learned that your whispers meant nothing when compared to roar of a gun?
Or was it in Morley?
When you killed that boy who betrayed you for a loaf of bread?
Do you even remember?
Does it matter, you ask?
It's been ten long years since you peaked my curiosity, Marian. You've managed to keep entertaining me with every single one of your actions. You haven't just survived like I thought you would, you've prospered. Every friend and enemy you've manipulated… each choice you've made has fascinated me…
With each secret collected and tale weaved you've come closer to reaching your goal.
Yet, you have a long road ahead of you…
To answer your question, yes, those moments d matter.
Now answer mine.
Will you allow an Empire to crumble for your family's death?
Will you spill a river of blood in the memory of a ghost?
These are the questions I asked your father's killer.
These are the questions that changed him.
Leave.
And know that I am watching.
o0o0o0o0o
Marian awoke in a cold sweat, her body shaking from the exposure to brutal emptiness that was the Void. It had always been like, this from her first encounter with the Outsider to whenever she came across one of his many hidden shrines, the cold would creep into her bones and lingered for an hour before leaving her.
Marian sighed, she should count herself lucky that he hadn't come while she was in Wynnedown Hold. The sheer amount of Overseers present in the old grey stone castle made it difficult enough for those untouched by the Outsider. Not that it really mattered, she could have easily claimed any irregularity to be caused by exposure to white leaf tobacco coming from one of the many artistic neighbors that deemed it necessary to smoke the plant at all hours.
She laid in the windowless room she'd boarded up when she'd first purchased the her two story house. Her eyes were half-lidded and her arms felt heavy, but who was she to complain? She had the opportunity to join the Guard, hours were supposed to be regular, which would have made life much easier, but she'd attracted the attention of Queen Alexandra and King Wyman the fourth.
Marian imagined what her life would have been had her father been a less proud man, as she pulled away the thick comforter that covered her while she slept. She imagined that she would have been unliked by the other nobles because of her reputation and not for the color of her skin. She would probably be married to a richer noble, to elevate her family's status, there would be no love between them but her children would want for nothing.
It had been both an impossible dream and an all too real nightmare when she was a child. It was the reason that Marian Shaw never returned Dunwall. As a Foster she had lived and learned more than she'd been allowed to as a Shaw. It would be a relief to just forget that part of her life but Billie had taught her the responsibility of carrying the memories of the departed, so they wouldn't be lost to the Void.
It was the memory of her father that fed her anger. Every time she looked in a mirror, she saw his eyes looking back to her own and she would be filled with a rage cold rage.
Marian knew that her love had become toxic and in moment s of weakness she caught herself wishing that he'd never existed at all.
It took her a moment but she eventually untangled herself from the thick alabaster sheets. Marian rose from the bed nude as the she'd been born and was instantly bombarded by the chill that floated through the room. She usually slept in the nude when she was alone,
It was freeing, but it put her at a disadvantage when trapped in the cold Void.
But that was a very different kind of cold. Cold from the Void was emptiness, cruel emptiness that only the Outsider could survive in.
In complete darkness she grabbed a sterling silver ring with a diamond shaped indent from the nightstand next to her bed and walked to the far wall with practiced steps. Once there, she rose her right hand to the level of her chest until it rested on a round mechanism with a round hole. With her left hand she inserted the ring into the mechanism, there was a series of thunks and clicks coming from behind the wall, and then the ring was gently ejected from the slot.
Marian caught the ring as it fell and placed it on her right index finger. Marian then pushed the wall. The stone wall shifted under her weight and it collapsed into the floor.
Billie, or Meagan as she went by now, had helped her purchase the house as a retreat whenever she took a break from the Dreadful Whale and her adventures with Sokolov. They'd bought it from one of the Inventor's friends one Piero Joplin who needed the coin for a house in Dunwall.
Light flooded into the room forcing Marian to shield her eyes with their eyes. Once her eyes adjusted she noted the large portrait of Billie and herself on the deck of the Dreadful Whale, her face had a false smile next too a smirking Billie.
She remembered that day… it had been her second year of traveling with the former assassin, the sun had been shining they were heading for Tyvia with the old man, They stood together for hours until the he was finished.
'Its been a while since they'd visited.' She thought absent mindedly as she approached the painting. She had to admire the attention to detail that Sokolov put into a non-commissioned work. The waves felt like they could just jump out of the page and drench her in the freezing water. Marian then let her attention fall to the simple wood dresser.
She pulled out her black servant uniform and one of the three collapsible blades she'd found around the house. She laid them both on a nearby char and placed it on them on a nearby stool. She then proceeded to walk to the door where four letters were scattered on the floor. She quickly gathered them into her hands and walked back to her clothes.
She dressed quickly, hiding the blade in her right boot, and sat on the stool.
Placed three of the letters and opened the first one.
Dear Marian,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. Should you not be, please send a letter to me detailing you're the characteristics of the disease to Alfred in the docks. The man might be a fool but he has the purest form of my elixir outside of Dunwall. I know it has been nearly a year since we came to visit you in Morley but I feel that we might be closer to understanding the Void more than ever. The Pandyssians have been of great help and your sister gained the local shamans trust. I hope that you will join me in our next expedition.
In your sisters letter, there is a gift from me.
I hope you find it useful.
Sincerely,
Anton Solokov.
Marian couldn't help but smile as she read Sokolov's letter. He worried far too much for a man who exposed himself to so much danger. There was a part of her that feared that he felt responsible for her and another that was glad that he cared.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Marian opened the second letter and cringed.
Lizzy Stride had been a storm that had almost wrecked Marian's operation when she took control of the Dock and they quickly developed a very bipolar relationship.
I found something you might be interested in. Meet me on the second night of the next month at the usual place.
I'll be waiting my little sweet bird.
-Lizzy
Marian cursed under her breath. It would be exceedingly difficult to sneak out of the castle with the High Overseer coming to visit. But it wasn't often that Lizzy went out of her way to contact her… and usually that meant she had discovered something worthwhile.
After a short but fierce internal debate, she decided that she would go, with any luck Lizzy might have lead on the missing children.
The third letter had a distinguished envelope, made from fine paper. She didn't even have to open the letter to know it was a summon from either Prince Wyman or Princess Alba. They had never been, the letter being evidence of that fact as se was set to arrive in the late evening.
Not too gently, Marian tossed the letter to the floor an proceeded to open the slightly bulged letter from her 'sister'. She knew it was bad manners to pull the gift before reading the letter, but it was rare for Sokolov to send her gifts. From the envelope she pulled a small cylindrical whalebone charm and attached to it was 'Meagan's' letter.
Marian,
There are rumors about children going missing in Morley and I know by the time this letter reaches you it will be far too late to dissuade you from investigating them, so I'll keep this simple.
Stick to the shadows, don't be seen, and if you are…
I'll find you
P.S: Read the note before grabbing charm, greedy brat.
Marian couldn't help but smile. "Cheeky bitch." Putting down the letter she wrapped her hand around the small totem of the Void and let its energy flow through her.
The charm gave off an energy that oozed of deception, indicating that it augmented her stealth abilities in some way or another. Maybe it made her harder to detect when hidden in the darkness, or maybe it would let her maintain her shadow form for longer spans of time… or maybe it simply made her look less of a threat.
Bone Charms were funny trinkets that came in all shapes and seizes, and hid all types of hidden abilities trapped within containers of death. Every time she came across one of them she knew that a piece of her was taken away and was replaced with the Void.
Marian placed the charm in her empty boot and readied herself for a long walk to the castle. She walked to the door grabbed a grey duster coat, her worn, black tricorn hat that, and heavy winter gloves to place over her delicate work gloves. From the coat she pulled a reddish bandana and wrapped it around the lower half of her face.
Once she felt ready, she walked out the front door and into the raging beast that was winter in Morley.
o0o0o0o0o
Wynnendown was a beautiful city, at least it was in Marian's opinion.
The city was always decorated for some festivity or another, in this case they were celebrating the victory of the Overseer's over the heretics of White Cliff. There were effigies of the Outsider hanging from the light posts, a few men dressed in classical red Overseer garbs without the snarling masks, and some women dressed like witches by decorating their clothes with flowers and other plant life.
There weren't any children on the street, which made the festive city seem as lifeless as Tyvia…
No one noticed a few children disappearing off the street, many assumed that they were taken in by the Overseers, but that was before they started being taken from their homes and their numbers reached two dozen.
Most still blamed the Overseers, others thought it was the Outsider, but she suspected men as the culprits of the crimes. Men like the Pendletons and Ludd would be her prime suspects but it would be far too easy, and frankly they weren't stupid enough to enrage a kingdom that staved off the Empire.
Marian walked in hurried pace as she reached the castle.
The Stone Tower, as the locals called it, was a relic from times long since forgotten. The Dunwall Tower was a larger replica of the castle, but unlike it's the Dunwall Tower that was made of white marble The Stone Tower was built from hard Morley stone and had never been breached by an enemy force.
She walked through the Castle gates with ease, the guards knew her face and were used to her coming and goings. It was an oversight she planned to exploit should the need ever arise. There were only a handful of Guards she actually remembered by name Captain Janika of the Royal Guard was chief among them. She came from Serkonos and was rumored to be a very fine duelist, but she knew little else about the aging woman.
Marian had heard it said that she was once a pirate who had lost her son and her crew to the sea and found safe harbor in Wynnendown under the benevolence of the King… but when asked the he was evasive and swore to never mention it again. So she decided that she could not disregard those rumors completely.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of her head Marian continued up to the entrance of the Tower and to her surprise found aforementioned Captain of the Guard standing at the entrance in her black dress uniform looking as imposing as ever. She stood half a head taller than Marian, her long raven hair tied in a simple Wolf-tail, and her cold brown eyes stared into nothingness.
"Captain Janika." Marian greeted courtly and with a slight bow.
"Miss Foster." She returned the greeting plainly, keeping her eyes to the distance. "You're not scheduled to arrive till after the second shift." The captain was not being accusatory in at all, in fact she almost sounded curious.
" Princess Alba summoned me, Captain." She said without looking away.
"You've been gone a week, Miss Foster." Janika eyes softened for an instant. "Of course the child misses her companion," Her eyes returned to their usual hardness. "Be on your way."
"By your leave, Captain."
"Keep her in the castle grounds." The captain said with finality. "The city is far from safe in these troubling times."
"Of course, Captain." With that Marian was allowed to enter the stone fortress.
Inside the Tower was lavishly decorated with the banners of Morley in red and silver and the flag of the Empire in blue and gold. She barely had time to take it all in before she was nearly tackled by a small girl in a fine dress.
Princess Alba was a pretty girl that Marian was sure would gain her a fair share of suitors maybe an Emperor if the Empress ever had a son. She long healthy black hair and bright green eyes. She was nearly ten years old and was rather tall for her age and looked almost exactly like her mother except for he father's nose and she also inherited her father's kind disposition.
The ten year old wrapped her arms around Marian and pressed herself flush against the older woman.
"I missed you, Marian" The Princess whispered into Marian's chest.
Marian smiled a true smile and placed her arms around her. "I missed you too, sweat girl." She pushed the girl back and smirked when she noticed the time. "Shouldn't you be with studying with Alfred?"
The princess pouted but refused to let her go. "He's so boring, Marian." She whined.
"Hush now, Sweet girl. It's unbecoming of royalty to whine so publicly."
"Mother does it all the time!" She tried to defend.
Marian had to fight the sudden laugh that threatened to burst from her body. "Let me greet your father and the we'll go meet Alfred." She saw that Alba was about to protest but was able to cut her off. "No objections." She said sternly.
So silently the duo made their way to the Royal Library, it was where the King spent his mornings before meeting with the staff.
The Library was a grand place with bookshelves that reached the ceiling and had a single large stained glass window depicting the sun and moon. She walked in without announcing herself and found the king reading a book Hungry Cosmos written by Anton Solokov while leaning on his desk.
The King had once been an attractive man but the years and war had robbed him of his youth and left his face scarred.
"Your majesty, I have arrived with our wayward princess." She greeted jokingly. "What should I do with her?"
King Wyman looked up from the book and graced his daughter with a mischievous smile. "Is that so?"
"Yes, my King, she ambushed me while she was supposed to be in class."
"Hmmmm." He hummed. "Tell Alfred to teach her about stone work for the rest of the day." The young princess blanched and made to protest.
"But Father, we were learning about the Great Burning!"
"And look how much that entertained you." He scolded, with a wave of his hand he dismissed them both. With a pout but unwilling to fight with her father Alba stomped her foot and left the room. Marian made to follow her at the King's dismissal
"Miss Foster," He called out before she could follow Alba. Marian turned to meet the aging kings gaze, in his hand was a small parcel no larger than the tome he'd been reading when she had entered the library. "I need you to give this Alexandra, you can find in the garden after you make sure that Alba is safely left in Alfred's care."
"As you wish, your majesty." She said taking the package.
"And Miss Foster."
"Yes, your Majesty?"
"Please take that coat your wearing to your quarters and please something more appropriate for the governess of my children."
"Of course, your Majesty."
"On your way then." He dismissed.
o0o0o0o0o
Marian eventually tracked young Alba back to her study room where Alfred was lecturing Prince Wyman on the trade agreement between Morley and Tyvia, young girl was seated in a chair facing the far wall.
Reassured that the Princess was securely in Alfred's care, Marian made her way towards the gardens.
The gardens were the newest addition to the castle in since the aviary installed nearly fifty years prior to Wyman the fourth's ascension to the throne. The gardens were constructed for the express enjoyment of the Queen, it had been the King's gift for the exiled Tyvian princess designed and built by Sergei Goling. In the summer months the garden was an explosion of color in the otherwise grey and cold tower; in winter it was a spectacular sight of icicles reflecting the few rays of the sun that managed to pierce the thick cloud floating above the Isle.
Marian walked deep into the artificial ice maze, her hands firmly placed on the right side of the wall an old trick the Queen had taught her for whenever she accompanied Alba to the small gazebo located at its heart. For an unmarked human it would take ten full minutes to traverse the maze, but to Marian, who was Marked, could make it in three.
Marian found the Queen sitting in the gazebo in a heavy coat made from Tyvian grey wolf skin. The queen was a vision to all that had the privilege lay eyes on her . She had skin as white as snow, hair as dark as the Void, eyes as grey as ice, and lips as red as blood. The queen was still quite young, being only ten years older than Marian. That made her twenty years younger than the King.
Alexandra looked up from her book and smiled at the young governess.
"Sweet Marian." She greeted with her almost hypnotic voice. "How was your vacation my dear?"
"It was quite fine, my lady." Marian responded, returning the Queen's smile with one of her own. "Anton sends his greetings and hopes that you will pose for him for his next portrait."
The Queen laughed heartedly. "Tell him that I would graciously pose for him should he ever decide to grace us with again."
"I will, my lady." Marian slowly walked over to the gazebo holding. "The King has sent me with a package."
"Did my dear husband finally find it?" Alexandra whispered, and quickly snatched the parcel from Marian. Her warm smile and mannerism were gone and I their place was a wall of ice like the ones that surrounded them.
Curious, Marian stood waiting to be dismissed watching as the queen ripped open the bindings of the package. The young woman was only able to get a glimpse of the cover the tittle Oculus stamped in silver ink, before a shadow moved at the edge of her vision. Instinct overrode her finely tailored persona and she ducked an arrow bolt that would have lodged itself in her skull. Marian rolled towards Alexandra placing her behind her as she searched for the would be assassin.
Marian spotted three figures moving towards them. They wore white Overseer robes and had shining black masks, they had their blades drawn and wee quickly gaining ground. For an instant Marian feared that her mark had been discovered, that she had been careless in one of her outings and that she'd draw the Overseers to her and her operation.
She did not wait for them to surround them, she sprang into action, planning every movement as she was taught to in her childhood. She moved quicker than their attackers had anticipated. She came in low pulling the sword from her boot and quickly impaled the first one with it. She drove it in with enough force to crack a rib and cleanly piercing his heart. She quickly withdrew the blade and parried the second assassin's sword. She danced around him, grabbing his pistol and shoot the third in the face.
The gunshot echoed throughout the maze, and hopefully alerted a nearby guard of the attack.
The third assassin staggered back giving her time to properly engage the second prepared assassin. His motions were more fluid than the standard Overseer, faster than any trained man she'd engaged before, and reacted much faster than any human had the right to be. She jumped back just in time to avoid the third one reentered the fight.
Marian was certain that she could have ended the fight had the queen not been there to witness those unnatural abilities… but if the Overseers were hunting her it wouldn't really matter but there was something off that made stopped her from activating her Outsider given abilities.
She weaved and dodge until she was on the steps of the gazebo, she was certain she would lose until the fools gave her the upper ground. The opening appeared and she took it with glee.
She sliced the second ones wrist deep enough to sever the tendon but still the grip rip on his sword held strong and no blood came out, but she did removed the thirds neck with the second swing.
It was a shock when no warm blood erupted from his headless body, enough that the man cut the right side of her abdomen, through the clothes. She winced for half a second and that the opening he took kicking her in the stomach sending her tumbling towards Alexandra's feet.
"The book." The man commanded in a thick Serkonan accent.
The Queen clutched the book to her chest and eyed the black masked man's blade. He took one small step towards them wen a resounding blast echoed from the castle and a second later the man collapsed.
Marian reached out and clutched the assassin's hand, calling for the power of the Outsider to give her his whispers but she heard only silence.
That's when she saw it, the mask was blank and without the Abby's sigil burned into its forehead.
o0o0o0o0o
From the top of the Tower, Janika stood leaning over the railing peering through a long cylindrical scope. In her hands was a Joplin long rifle, its barrel smoking and the smell of burning whale oil filled the air, and her ears rung from the roar of the gun.
She frowned as she shifted her sight to the castle governess. The Queen was fussing over the wounded woman as if she hadn't just seen her cut through two men. She had always had her suspicions about that woman and the new information just deepened them.
o0o0o0o0o
A/N: So here's chapter two hoped you enjoyed.
Please review or PM me with any questions