Mystery and Intrigue
Andrew and Sparrow arrived back from Knothole before going their separate ways. Sparrow had gone to Old Town to visit some old friends before going to Rookridge. The town was nice and well maintained, and the sheriff had known Sparrow as a kid. After waving his friend and his friend's furry companion goodbye, he went to the Cow and Corset to meet with Jessica. Not to his surprise, Warren was there drinking. "What are you doing here?"
"While Theresa is the guide for Sparrow's journey, I am the guide for yours."
"Great, he gets the blind seer who can be anywhere at once, and I get the drunk who is only at one place."
Warren stood slowly and the whole room went quiet. He looked at Andrew and the whole room faded away into darkness. Only Warren remained and his eyes glowed more gold than usual, when he spoke his voice boomed the tavern and echoed in his head. "Do you wish to see the full extent of my power? I could show you a thousand things only found in your deepest nightmares, I could trap you in this realm and enact tortures so foul that there is no name for them, I could cast you into the depths of madness and even that would not save you from me."
He gripped his head and his ears were ringing, even through his shut eyelids he could see the golden eyes watching him. Then he felt a warm bright light surround him and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, "It is ok, you have nothing to fear."
He opened his eyes and there was Jessica with her hand on his shoulder, her veins glowing blue with Will energy. Warren stood there glowering, his hood finally off and that's when he was truly afraid. Before him stood a much older Sparrow, "Who…who are you?"
Warren sat down and sighed, "I am Warren Mest, the Watcher and Scribe. I have lived centuries only observing and documenting. I was there when Oakvale burned, I was there when Oakfield was formed, and I was the man who put the Fairfax family in Bowerstone Castle."
Jessica and Andrew stood there shocked, "W-Warren Mest?" Jessica started, "The Warren Mest who helped my ancestor Thomas stop a great evil from entering our world?"
"The very same…"
"Then why do you look like Sparrow?" Andrew accused.
"Because he is my descendant, he is descended from my grandson Warren Anders. While you," he said pointing at Andrew, "are descended from my granddaughter Mary Anders."
"I'm…I'm descended from YOU!?"
"Vaguely...VERY vaguely; young Warren spent his days as a wandering Hero, and his descendants did the same. Mary's family has had roots in the Bowerstone and Bower Lake area. But both families settled at Bower Lake around the time the Hero of Southcliff was born. After their father's death, I brought the orphans here. They grew up strong and healthy, I'm sure you've heard about Rose though from Sparrow."
"I did…why didn't you save her?"
"I arrived too late…I was only able to save Sparrow…I have lived with that guilt for ten long years…and I'm sure the scar it left on Sparrow will stay with him forever. However, he must not know about me until the time is right. I am an observer; I am not allowed to intervene. You and Sparrow must grow strong to stop Lucien; if I help you it will rob you of the opportunity."
"Then why don't you just kill Lucien and get it over with?"
"Because the Spire is a place of great power, and only one weapon can stop him; Sparrow must forge that weapon through his trials."
"I see." Jessica said, "So what do we do?"
Warren smiled, "The greatest Heroes are those who work in the shadows to ensure the future stays bright. Before you are five tasks, and five Heroes; Jessica's task is to defeat the supporters of Lucien and to bring the houses of Albion under one banner."
"What is my task?" Andrew inquired.
"When the time comes, you will know." Warren said as he stood and walked away.
Jessica led him to Cluck manor, which was a mansion on the outskirts of the market district near Castle Fairfax, it was a large estate home to her family, her uncle's family, and her older brother's family. Her father was Sir Reginald Cluck, a knight under the former king; her uncle was the master of the house, Lord Archibald Cluck and he oversaw the grounds.
Her brother, Zane Cluck, was known in town as a local hero and entrepreneur, his trade business was extremely successful. She explained how her family was the largest dealer in textiles and jewelry in Albion. They're pooled resources amounted to over 4 million gold. Of the six high noble houses they were the second richest. The Woodsworth family was the chief in lumber and shipbuilding, and they backed Lucien.
The Scotts were second on all mining operations and metallurgy only to the Clucks; the Yorke's were the premiere banking family in all of Albion, practically running the economies of Oakfield and Bowerstone.
The last two families were the heads of new industry, the Highwind's and the Godwin's. The Godwin's were working with a small family of inventors called the Faraday's to change the way alchemy was practiced and it's influences on society. The Highwind's were the forbearing experts on weapon design and craft, each piece was noted perfection, Jessica added as she showed off her saber she had beneath her coat.
The hilt was a mixture of gold and silver and the blade was like anything he'd ever seen before. She said it was made from an alloy of silver, iron, and an unknown metal that only the Highwind family had. It had a set of strange crystal runes running down the blade. She said it was an augment the Highwind family had made so she could channel her will through her blade. Her rifle was carved from mahogany wood, and the metal components were the same alloy as her blade, but without the augment. "They're the finest weapons one could ever hope to afford, and your pistol is one of their pieces."
He checked the butt of his pistol and sure enough there was the mark of the winged knife that was the Highwind family crest. "So the Highwind family is your only friend in court?"
"Yes, their daughter Maria is a good friend of mine, and I feel she is the third Hero for our group."
"Really, what can she do?"
A bullet whizzed by his head and knocked an apple off a tree. A young woman jogged towards them from the house with a pistol in hand. "Hello Jessica, who's your friend?"
Andrew stood there with his mouth agape. "She's a crack shot. And Maria, this is my friend Andrew; he's going to help us settle our problem with the other houses."
"Excellent! What do you know about espionage?"
A few hours later he was completely filled in. They could not openly invoke all-out war, although the other families had been hassling the Highwind and Cluck trade operations. "Each family is helping Lucien for different reasons. The Yorke's are in it for the greed, the Godwin's are there because Lucien's always turned a blind eye to their less than savory actions, the Scott's we believe are siding with him out of fear, and the Woodsworth's are being granted a contract on Mistpeak. If we can convince the Scott's to join us and sabotage the Woodsworth's operations the Yorke's will cut their losses and side with us. The Godwin's will be more stubborn, so we must have them completely dissolved. We must make them lose all their assets and be forced out of Albion."
"Alright then, where do we start?"
"We start with a meeting with the Scott's, but before we do that, I have a gift for you." Jessica walked over to a box on the mantle and opened it before Andrew. Within were a pair of gauntlets that were regular leather with gold design.
"What are these for?"
"I noticed you don't use Will, so these are to activate your natural abilities."
He fit the gauntlets on his hands, and his energy was awakened. His Will lines appeared and glowed brighter than Jessica's. She sat there awestruck, "So this is the power of Archon's bloodline…"
He felt a power unlike any other coursing through his veins before his Will lines subsided, but his veins now glowed with a light blue hue. "Let's go meet the Scott's then."
The Scott mansion was probably the least glamorous of the six houses. It was a simple mansion that housed Liam Scott's family. Upon their arrival the butler led them to Liam's study. "Ah young Jessica and Maria…again…look; I have told you I won't change my mind. Lucien has eyes and ears everywhere and I don't want to cross him."
"I understand Lord Scott, but we need to stand united! If we stay divided like this Albion is defenseless!"
"From what, more fables of Heroes and the darkness? The Old Kingdom died, and Heroes have no evil to fight…monsters are a myth of the past."
Andrew decided it was his cue, he stepped forward and Lord Scott looked at him with an un-amused glance. Andrew summoned his Will, and flames engulfed his hands. Liam shot up straight in his chair and his eyes grew wide with horror. Andrew Will lines grew bright, and his presence seemed to dwarf everyone in the room. "Ignorant fool, do you truly think that the darkness sits by and waits patiently for you to adjust your trousers? Monsters are real, and they wait for imbeciles like yourself to go wandering down a road in the dark so they can jump out and ravage you with nightmares! Lucien is tampering with forces he does not comprehend, and so are the Godwins! Now are you going to sit by and wait for balverines to rip your throat or your children's throats or are you going to make a stand!"
"B-but I'm not a Hero…" he stammered nervously.
"Heroes are not monuments of legend, they are people who decide to stand up for what is right. I am a Hero because my friend and I slew Thag, because his oppression of people was wrong. We stood up for what was right, because no one else would…what will you do?" And with that Andrew turned and left the office. As he and his friends were making their way down the path Liam came sprinting after them. He had never seen a forty year old stick of a man with a comb over and wire-frame glasses run so fast. By the time he reached them he was wheezing so they gave him a while to catch his breath. "I'll…I'll do it…I'll help…if you want to stop Lucien then you should go to Mistpeak and meet with a man named Erin…he can help you."
It was a long journey to Mistpeak, and after many weeks they arrived. They saw the lumber mill in action, and worked their way up the mountain, fighting Bandit and wolves along the way. They reached a cliff overseeing the mill, and were disgusted by its presence. In the next second though, that feeling was gone. The mill exploded in a fiery death ball and they heard cackling behind them. A small man, roughly ten years older than them was holding his sides. A mountain of a man stood beside him who looked much older, "Ah did you see that Crusher? That glorious explosion, the smell of smoke and ash as it fills the air? Nothing is a more glorious sight, where are my manners," he said, "I am Erin of the Mistpeak Dwellers. Welcome to my mountain!"
Oh yes, I brought in that crazy sod's father! Since Sabine was either 60-70 he would've been born right about the time Sparrow got free of the Spire. So I decided I'd need to keep it interesting. I hope you like it, review and keep reading if you do!