Yuri did not like Remedios. She considered her to be stupid, arrogant, and not altogether sane. What Yuri did like was violence, and what Yuri was, was smarter than Remedios, so despite the antipathy there, Remedios tended to listen. Even not being the sharpest sword in the armory, Remedios knew that Yuri could do for her what Gustav had done her, and what Calca had done before Gustav, specifically, do her thinking for her.
Moving South proved surprisingly easy, the men bearing supplies had been more than happy to lead her South again, and when they arrived at the checkpoint, their papers sufficed to get everyone through without further inspection. This made Yuri somewhat suspicious about their backing, and when they made camp that evening, Yuri entered Remedios's tent.
"I find this all very curious." Yuri said to Remedios as the senior Paladin sat in her chair and stared blankly at a sword propped up against her pack.
Remedios didn't move, didn't acknowledge Yuri, she just stood there staring at the sword.
"I find this all very curious." Yuri said again, louder this time. She saw tears welling up in Remedios's eyes, and for a moment she thought she'd imagined it, but when Remedios recognized that she wasn't alone, the wiping motion on her face gave it away, something had upset her. Yuri filed that away for later contemplation.
"What was that, squire?" Remedios asked.
"All this. Look, we crossed the checkpoint without an inspection, the people bringing us supplies are dressed like peasants, but they move like fighting men, they walk through forests without armed escort, and they were on top of our watch before we even knew they were there. Do we know anything about who is backing us up?" Yuri asked forcefully.
Remedios shrugged, "I don't care. If they're helping me put down these heteromorphic heretics, they can be Jaldabaoth's children for all I care, if they get in the way later, if they betray our cause, then I can burn them for it later." She said fiercly.
Yuri was used to violence, she'd seen violence, she'd done violence, she loved violence as one loved a new lover, with each new act and each new victim being like a fresh tumble with an enthusiastic mate...but when Remedios looked at her, Yuri could swear she saw literal flames in her eyes. It was...exciting in a whole new way.
"Be that as it may," Yuri said, "its a bad idea to act without knowing who is moving us and for what purpose." Yuri said.
"So find out. Are you saying you haven't investigated anything enough? Are you taking responsibility for your failure to learn about your contacts?" Remedios asked sharply.
This was what Yuri really hated. Remedios was quick to blame and insist people take responsibility, even faster to take credit without attributing things to those who really came up with ideas, and slow to admit fault for anything. There was nothing to be done about that though, Yuri just grimaced and nodded. "True, but I'm bringing this to you now, I will see what I can find out, but for now I think we should double the watch, it may take longer to clear some trees out to use as a practice ground, but its better that it take longer than we be caught off guard."
"So do it then." Remedios said, and waved her hand dismissively. Yuri walked out, but as she did so, she glanced back, Remedios had gone back to staring at the sword.
When the flap closed, Remedios saw Calca's face in the steel again. "You were right you know."
"What about, my queen?" Remedios asked Calca.
"About burning, a cleansing fire wipes away sin, its not enough to stab someone through the heart, that may take their life, but it does not stop their unlife, they serve the undead, he will give them new life, an unlife." She said.
Remedios pushed off of the chair with such force that it flew backwards and broke when it hit the ground, she moved inches from the sword, kneeling in front of it, and grabbing the cross guard.
"No...NO!" She said softly.
"Yes." Calca said.
"To save them from the unlife, you must deprive them of bodies, they must be burned. Its the only way, and doing so, you will save the living as well." Calca said to her.
"How does that save the living?" Remedios asked, her eyes going wide as dinner plates, so lost in the conversation that she overlooked the shouting of welcome as new recruits were brought into the camp.
"They will fear you more than they fear the undead, they will fear the gods over monsters, they will fear heresy rather than embrace it. Not only will you suppress the heretics already gone over to the side of evil, but you will also encourage the true faithful to report them, avoid them, and reject them." Calca said.
"Yes. I see." Remedios said. As the image of Calca faded from the sword, Remedios looked up from her kneeling position, her eyes still wide and staring at the vision of the world she wanted to see, the world Queen Calca wanted, where humans could be happy. "Don't worry," she whispered, "I will burn them all."
...North of the border, moving South from the center of the Northern Holy Kingdom...
Gustav's everything hurt. A thousand paladin and squires were a pain to take care of. That they bellyached as hard as they fought, was a testament to their ability to complain as much as it was about their ability in battle. Sometimes he even wanted to laugh, soldiers bitched about anything, even nothing, when boredom set in. Two demihuman bands had been exterminated, and they were coming to the first actual town he'd seen in a week. But when the scouts rode up to the front of the column at breakneck speed, he was sure something was wrong.
Their horses reared back on their hind legs as the men tried to stop them abruptly, and they stomped the ground anxiously. "Report!" Gustav snapped.
"Sir, its the undead!" The scout cried out.
"Is the town overrun?!" He shouted, "To arms!" And horses began to fan out from the column to the flanks.
"No sir! They're...FARMING!" The scout shouted, his mouth open wide and his eyes only slightly less so.
"What do you mean 'they're farming'?" Gustav asked incredulously.
Another scout spoke up, more calmly, but no less incredulous than Gustav himself, "Sir, there are numbers of skeletons in the fields using hoes and carrying baskets, there are humans there, a handful seem to be instructing and controlling the undead, but there is no violence, the skeletons are doing the work of the living."
Gustav could barely believe his ears, rumor had reached him since leaving the capitol that Black Justice had begun using skeleton labor in the capitol, but it wasn't really believable. "Defensive posture, scouts fan out, I'm going to meet the town, if I do not return, come after me." He shouted, and several senior paladins took to following his instructions.
"You two, come with me." He said to the two scouts, and he began to trot his horse down the road to the town, the others taking up positions on opposite sides of him.
Reaching the town didn't take very long, and when they came around a large wide hill, they saw down below where the town lay. At first glance, it was picturesque, a river ran through the forest and cut by the town and divided the field in two, the peasants who worked the land had taken advantage of this feature to divert some of the water to irrigate their crops, and the golden stalks of wheat were in stark but beautiful contrast to the green of the grass around it, the town's walls were not high, but better than what you'd find at a village, and along the walls there moved lightly armed militia patrols. It was a place on guard, but it was also obviously a place much beloved by those who lived there. The only shocking element was...in the field Gustav saw what the scouts reported. There were undead walking through the stalks of wheat, there were undead carrying baskets and buckets, the peasants who were outside the walls were simply giving directions. It was bizarre enough to give the world weary and experienced Gustav considerable pause.
"We're going down." He said softly. As he drew closer, a wind picked up, and from the center of the town where a pole stood, he saw the flags begin to wave. If he was fair, the national flag hung highest, but immediately below that was a flag he recognized very well. It was the flag of Black Justice, Neia Baraja had been here.
As he drew closer to the gate, he announced himself, "I am Commander Gustav Montagne of the Paladin Order. I seek entry to your town for myself and my men. Please send out a representative."
The man atop the wall gave a squack of surprise, but then asked him to wait a moment while he fetched the appropriate persons. Gustav was not kept waiting, the gate opened mere minutes later and out stepped three figures. In the center was a wrinkled old figure with a deep tan which spoke of long hours outdoors, probably a village elder. To his left was a younger man wearing the emblem of Black Justice, a black robe similar to that of a priest, though bearing light armor underneath it, that much was clear, and more unusual still, he was armed with a single sword...and...a prisoner's manacle on one hand, with a series of links of chain hanging from it. To the right, an armored figure wearing a black uniform replete with red, she wore plate armor with the Black Justice insignia painted on the breastplate.
Gustav froze with confusion at the unusual sight before him, but recovered after an awkward moment and bowed his head in greeting. "Hello, I'm..." He began.
The old man gave a toothy grin and raised his hand to interrupt. "No need to introduce yourself, or bow to me young fella. They told me who you are, that's why we're all here. Let me introduce myself. I'm Iskand, village chief, least until I die next week." He said with a laugh. Gustav looked surprised, "You're dying?" The priest looking fellow on the left interrupted with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.
"Pay no mind to that Commander, Iskand has been making that joke every week for the entire time I've known him, he's making fun of his own mortality. Admirable in a way, but the joke wears thin." Gustav had the courtesy the chuckle, and then the old man continued.
"We saw your scouts coming round and take off like lighting from cloud to ground, didja not expect us to be hear or something?" He asked with a chuckle.
"You?" Gustav said. "Yes. Those...no definitely not." He finished, pointing to the fields where an undead skeleton carried a heavy load.
The village chief seemed fond of laughter, because he laughed again at Gustav's answer. "First time seeing that?" He asked.
"Sort of. I mean I heard about it being done in the Capitol shortly before I left, but never up close, the furor and chaos of...well I assume you heard about it, left me with little free time to so much as leave my office, I never imagined that I'd see it anywhere else." Gustav said with a hint of awe in his voice.
"Aye we've rented them from the temple, I'll let Urgund explain." He said, and took a step back, and the priest fellow approached. "Urgund, priest of Black Justice." He said. "You want to know what's going on, and...I suppose I don't blame you for that. Simply put, this is the new way. Our temples in the service of the god of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown, are prohibited to charge a fee for healing the people, both by law and by edict of the divine. However the temples must sustain themselves, so instead of charging to heal the living, the Sorcerer King allows us to act as brokers for him, he provides us with the undead or the means to create them, and we then rent them out to farmers, miners, merchants, and so on, and then we provide income to him, and keep a small fee by acting as the outlet for acquisition of laborers or security."
"Security?" Gustav asked.
"Aye, since your former commander has started killing us..." He began with a note of sadness.
"What?!" Gustav said, his face going pale.
"You didn't know?" The armored man interrupted. "Its true, Remedios Custodio and her renegade paladins have burned or destroyed I don't know how many villages, but many lives were lost as she moved South. I and a few like me, work for the temples and provide security."
"What do you mean, 'like you'?" Gustav asked.
"I'm Hurthis, a Red Paladin. One of the penitent ones, I was part of the paladin order in Prart, and after Neia Baraja overthrew the government there and installed a council..."
"She did what?!" Gustav said in further shock.
"Wow you've been in the field for awhile haven't you?" He asked.
Gustav swallowed. "Yes. I'm hunting Remedios Custodio."
"Not having much luck I see." Hurthis said sardonically.
"No..." Gustav said slowly, "...but I think my luck will change." He said.
Hurthis shrugged, "Anyway, after the city government of Prart was overthrown, she instituted a council, gathered the ones like me in the Paladin Order, and like Urgund among the priests, those of us who were guilty of willful blindness rather than outright corruption, and she founded two new orders. The Chained Ones wear links of chain," Urgund held up his wrist, letting the links of chain dangle freely, "where each link represents a penitent year of service; and also she founded the Red Paladins, we're also a penitent order bound to protect pilgrims and villages and others who require it. We've taken to calling it the 'Penitent's Walk'."
"So you're not stationed here then?" Gustav asked.
"No, just staying here temporarily before moving on, Urgund is waiting for his replacement in the form of a permanent priest, and I'm helping to oversee militia training, in a few weeks we'll both be gone." Hurthis said.
"Are there...a lot of you?" Gustav asked.
They both shrugged uncertainly.
"So, what is it we can do for you Commander Gustav?" Iskand asked politely.
"I've been hunting for Remedios Custodio...and exterminating the occasional band of rogue demihumans that didn't leave when they were defeated." He said simply.
"Seems like you've had more luck with the last one." Iskand said sardonically.
"My failure shames me." Gustav said with his head lowered, deep sincerity in his voice. In his own mind he could not help but think... 'Starting with my greatest failure, setting her free. How could I not see this coming, how could I have made such a mistake...I have to find her, I have to stop this...'
His morose reaction surprised the three men, and they were quick to offer apologies, "I'm sure you're doing the best you can, she's no easy one to find." Hurthis said confidently, "You'll be successful, just chase her down until she has nowhere left to run."
Gustav nodded sadly and cracked a semblance of a smile. "Thank you, I will be trying, I assure you."
"Well that's a mighty fine mission and all that," Iskand said, "but what are you needin here?"
"I just want to encamp outside the village, maybe purchase supplies, draw water to replace what we've used." Gustav said.
Iskand thought it over, "So...you're hunting Remedios so I want to say yes, but understand we're not going to change anything just because you're here, you'll be on land that serves Black Justice, we won't take down our alter, we won't be putting up anything to the old gods, and we're not going to put our undead away, if you want to encamp, leave our laborers alone, and if there's any violence by your men to either our laborers or our people, it'll be reported to the temple, and that means it'll be reported to the Sorcerer King."
Gustav was a man known for his valor, but that drew from him a quiet nod. "Your terms are acceptable, if any of my men behave in a manner that is even remotely unethical, let me know immediately, we'll arrive soon." He said.
The trio nodded politely and returned through the gate, while Gustav and his men turned back around and returned to the formation. It wasn't a long ride in terms of time, but Gustav barely noticed, and barely even heard his own voice when he gave the order to form up and move out, the march to the town took more time with such a large body of people behind him, but again he barely noticed, so consumed with his own thoughts was he. "How could it come to this..." He asked himself, Remedios Custodio, the most virtuous of paladins, the one most dedicated to vision of Queen Calca, how could she have possibly done what they say she has?" The question ran through his mind over and over. If it was true, then he shared responsibility for what she'd done. Riding at the head of the column meant nobody could see his frown, he remembered his part in getting her free, he wondered how many people had died for his loyalty.
He turned that over in his mind too, and he still had no answer when he briefed his men on the rules of their stay and made camp for the night, and he still had no answer when he closed his eyes and fell into a blessed dreamless sleep.
AN: You've probably figured that Remedios is either...under someone's control, cursed, or otherwise ensnared by magic...or she's gone completely off her nut...or she's just like a coin turned on its opposing side, her fanatacism having taken from good, to evil through her despair and loss and rage. And...well...no I'm not going to say who is right, you'll find out by the end of this short branch story, or maybe you'll find out as 'God Rising' moves along, I won't say about that either, its enough to know that...you will find out. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter, please feel free to review, however if you're going to ask me to stop this and focus on another one you like more, tough patooties, once begun, it must be done. :) Just take my word for it that it doesn't delay your favorites in any meaningful way.
