Chapter 6: Questions and Answers

The three of us head into the colony proper, where there are actually signs of life that isn't rogue creations of one sort or another. While it would be a stretch to call the town "bustling", it's certainly a lot more active than the miles of abandoned ruins would have indicated.

As we enter the town, a warrior approaches us, perhaps the captain of the guard, judging by his attire. He frowns deeply at us, looking us over. "Greetings. I am Captain Takena. I apologize that your welcome to Drypeak was not more timely, but circumstances have been difficult around here of late, and we have not had many friendly visitors."

"At least there was an apology in there," Shanti mutters. "But what is this? You've received a visitor straight from the Shaper Council themselves, and they could only be bothered to send a mere guard out to greet us? This is insulting!"

Gellert snorts softly behind me, but holds his tongue for the moment.

"I- I'm afraid I can't allow you to proceed until you've identified yourself and stated the reason for your visit, and your business here," Captain Takena says.

"What!?" Shanti exclaims. "My business is with Zakary and Barzahl! Take me to them at once!"

"I'm sorry, Shaper. My orders are clear. I can't allow anyone into the colony unless they have some evidence to give that they have business here. I apologize that you've traveled so far only to be turned away, but I hope you understand how it is here, under the circumstances."

Shanti glowers at him quietly for a few moments, toying with her necklace, fuming and clearly trying to get her rage under control.

"What circumstances?" I put in, taking a chance to speak up. "The Shaper Council sent us to check up on the state of this colony. That is exactly what we need to know. And we need to speak with Zakary and Barzahl about it. And what do you think the Shaper Council might think if we went back to them and told them we were turned away at the gate?"

Both Shanti and Takena look at me in surprise. The guard captain had clearly almost forgotten that Gellert and I were even there, dismissed us as scenery, merely backup for the real Shaper. Takena staggers for a moment, paling under my veiled threat. A mere apprentice might not be able to do much to him, but even he can see that I have a point.

"Very well," Takena says. "I will take you to Zakary now. But I must warn you that any attempt at treachery or deception will be met harshly and without tolerance."

Shanti glares at him for a moment longer and gives a terse nod. He leads us off toward the Shaper warrens in the eastern part of the colony.

As we go, Shanti says to me quietly, "You'd be wise not to invoke the Shaper Council so freely, but in this case, your point was well-made."

"Of course, Agent Shanti," I murmur.

We head through the colony, and I get my first good look at the place. There are homes and shops that are actually active and occupied, serviles working at what meager crops can grow in this environment, and in the distance, I think I can see the entrance to a mine.

The trees, however, are growing all over the place, some of them very nearly ripping up the roads and buildings. They're pathetic things, these trees, all wood and with little in the way of leaves. Why are there so many of them? A Shaper-made plant growing out of control, perhaps?

Captain Takena leads us into the Shaper warrens, and we head inside after him. This is something of a breath of fresh air, so to speak. The place is surprisingly clean and well-maintained, with smoothly polished floors, bright crystals lighting the corridors, and thorn turrets guarding the entrance. The wall hangings seem clean and new, and the water in the reflecting basins is clear and cold.

Takena brings us before an old man in Shaper robes, and bows before him. "Shaper Zakary, an envoy from the Shaper Council has arrived."

Zakary is a tired, aged man, looking like he has done this job for so long that the only expression he can remember any longer is a demoralized one. He hunches over in his throne-like chair as if the weight of the world has been bearing down upon his shoulders for decades. He waves his hand to dismiss Takena, and turns his attention to Shanti, barely sparing a glance at me and Gellert.

"Zakary," Shanti says, pulling out a scroll from her pack and handing it over to him. "I'm here to check in on the progress and future of this colony. And I am not pleased at what I have seen so far."

"I fear I have little in the way of good news to offer you," Zakary says, taking the scroll and not even bothering to look at it. "Barzahl is dead. The colony is going poorly, but with work, it might still succeed. You can return to the Shaper Council and tell them that."

"I'm sorry to hear about Barzahl, but I'm afraid that isn't good enough. I'm going to need more information than that. I'll need to look around and see how things are going here for myself."

"Of course," Zakary says. "But since the area is dangerous and we have been having some problems with rogues of late, I will have my guards escort you. For your own safety and protection, of course. I would not want anything unfortunate to happen to an envoy from the Shaper Council, after all."

Shanti doesn't look very pleased about that, either, but doesn't say anything, merely fingering her necklace and frowning at him.

"I'll also accommodate you with some quarters, near the road out," Zakary says. "You are most welcome to stay there as long as you wish. Captain Takena can show you to an unoccupied dwelling." He gestures vaguely at the guard captain. "I'm certain that you will appreciate the opportunity to rest after your long journey."

"Thank you," Shanti says insincerely. "I will go and settle in. I appreciate the assistance." She gives a slight bow toward Zakary and goes to follow Takena out.

Takena leaves us in a rather dusty, small building as close to the customs gate as he can manage. It's as far as he can put us away and still have us actually be in the colony proper.

Shanti glances around the place and just rolls her eyes dismissively, and then flops down heavily in a chair, without even bothering to brush the dust off of it first. "Well, that was useless."

"Could it possibly be anymore obvious that they're hiding something?" Gellert says with a snort.

"It's that obvious," Shanti says, smirking and fingering her necklace. "This could be a problem. And my orders tell me to find Barzahl."

"You don't think he's dead?" I say.

"I think we are being lied to," Shanti says. "And it's entirely too convenient that Barzahl would be dead, and we'd be shuffled off and made to go away to avoid giving any further scrutiny into this colony."

"What are we going to do now?" I say. "Zakary sounded like he wanted to keep a close eye on us."

"No, he wanted to keep a close eye on me," Shanti points out. "You two? You're an apprentice and an outsider mage. He won't likely be able or willing to spare the guards to watch your every move. You'll be underestimated, and may be able to get people to talk where I can't."

"Now I can be useful?" Gellert says with a broad smirk.

"Now you can be useful," Shanti says, smirking right back at him. "I'll see if I can manage to slip out and get away from my guards, but I want the two of you to go out, talk to people, ask questions, gather information. See if there's anywhere that they particularly don't want you to go, and find out what they're hiding. Report back to me if you should find anything. Anything at all."

"Understood," I say. "We'll do our best."

"Yeah, we're good at getting into places we're not supposed to be and finding out things people don't want us to know."

"Gellert!" I say, glaring at him.

"You know, Gellert," Shanti says in amusement. "Tell you what. You do a good enough job at this and prove yourself to me, and I might just see about convincing them to let you be an Agent after all. Maybe. If you do really, really well."

"Hmm," Gellert says, and a broad grin slowly spreads across his face. "I'll see what I can do."

"See that you do," Shanti says. "And be careful, both of you. It would be very easy for Zakary to arrange for an accident if you start to get too close to something that he doesn't want you to find out."

"Could he really get away with that?" I ask.

"If he managed to make it look sufficiently like an accident, he could even likely get away with doing away with me," Shanti says, shaking her head a little. "It would be months before the Shaper Council realized that we weren't coming back, and sent someone else. Plenty of time to hide any evidence of foul play. And the next person might not be so determined to get to the bottom of things, and just take Zakary's words at face value."

"We'll be careful," I say. And by being careful, I mean that I'll make sure to have Gellert stun me regularly so that I don't have to repeat several hours if something unfortunate happens. In fact, before heading out, we head into the back room, ostensibly to put down some of the supplies we've been carrying around, and I get him to do just that.

Gellert and I head out to take a look around the town. It seems like everyone is short on supplies, and having problems with rogues. The mines have been closed down, the farmland overrun, many serviles killed, and no one knows where they're coming from, even though they've been infesting the area for several months now. The most we could learn about Barzahl is that he and Zakary used to go out to the northwest to perform experiments, and that one day, Zakary simply came back alone and said that Barzahl had died.

"Rogues suddenly appearing where there hadn't been any before," I murmur aside to Gellert. "And keeping coming back no matter how many have been killed? This is starting to sound familiar."

"Sucia Island?" Gellert says, raising an eyebrow.

"We need more information. And don't speak that name too loudly. They just might recognize it."

"Wouldn't the quickest way to find that out be to go and ask Zakary about it directly, and then go back and erase the conversation if need be?"

"I'm not going to bother Tom and Cassie with repeated deaths if it's not necessary," I hiss. "And besides, this is all just conjecture at this point."

"Fine, fine. If you insist, then we'll do this the hard way."

Our next stop is a return to the Shaping warren. If there's something being hidden here, there are plenty of places to hide things in a warren like that, and the people most likely to know about it are probably there. I suspect, however, that what's really being hidden is somewhere to the northwest, where these experiments had been being performed. Still, there might be something to be found in here.

I head up to Zakary, intending to ask him a few discreet questions, but before I can say anything, Gellert pipes up with, "Hey, Zakary! What do you know about Sucia Island?"

"Gellert!" I snap.

Zakary's face hardens for a moment, then carefully goes flat and neutral. "I don't know what you are talking about."

I grab Gellert by the sleeve and say, "We're terribly sorry for disturbing you, Shaper. We have-errands to run. Good day."

Zakary glares at us as we go.

Once we're a ways away and alone in a corridor, I hiss at Gellert, "What in the Abyss was that for?"

"He knows something!" Gellert says. "Did you see his expression?"

"And we're no closer to getting real answers than we were before," I say. "And now he'll be on guard against us."

"Whatever," Gellert says offhandedly.

I glare at him. "You are not taking this seriously at all."

"I'm just more willing than you are to use any means that are necessary to accomplish our goals."

I just shake my head. I'm not going to argue with him anymore about it here. Without another word, I continue down the corridor.

Further on, the rooms and tunnels in the back of the warren are rougher and more irregular, perhaps having been built out of natural caves. A sign on the wall indicates that this is the Experiment Hall, where research is carried out. Or at least, where it's supposed to be carried out, when there aren't Shapers doing secret experiments that nobody else seems to know much about.

Beside a pair of essence pools, we find a Shaper with torn robes marked by numerous small burns. He seems nervous, constantly jumping at every noise or movement, including the two of us walking into his lab.

"Ah. Visitors. Welcome to the Drypeak research labs. I am Tyallea."

"Lexen, and Gellert," I introduce us. "What are you working on here?"

"Research," Tyallea replies vaguely. "Very little, of late, however."

"Why is that?" I ask.

"Things have been going poorly, and the rogue attacks have not helped matters any. But efforts have resulted in little enough success even before then, and even before Zakary arrived."

"I don't suppose you could teach us anything, could you?" Gellert asks.

I cast a glare at Gellert again, but to my surprise, Tyallea answers, "Yes, I can. Zakary has given me permission to teach you in some simple spells, for a price. Of course, that price will be higher for the outsider mage, and restricted to spells only and no Shaping arts."

Gellert was already digging around in his bag of holding before Tyallea even finished. He dumps a bag full of coins and a handful of gemstones in front of Tyallea. "Teach me everything you're permitted to, then."

Tyallea seems torn between scolding him for his abrupt and disrespectful tone, and not really caring and just taking the money. The money winds up winning out, however. "Certainly."

He proceeds to give Gellert quick lessons in a number of minor, but useful, spells. Although he's teaching both of us, he's mostly ignoring me, and I'm just watching. Probably because I'm a Guardian - he most likely assumes that I'm not going to be interested or as capable with these sorts of spells. However, when he asks us to demonstrate that we've got it down, I'm quite perfectly able to cast them.

"I'm surprised. Most Guardians I've seen don't have much aptitude for magic beyond simple blessing magic."

"I would be loath to neglect any area of my studies," I say.

Gellert and I move on, poking around the back of the research area. There are Shaping platforms and equipment, and several creations of various sorts standing around in alcoves waiting for orders. In one back room, Gellert spots a book on a pedestal and immediately practically launches himself toward it.

"Ooh! An actual Shaping book!"

I smirk. "Always that each to get your hands on things you aren't supposed to?"

"Well, hey, Shanti did tell us to investigate..."

"I doubt that was quite what she meant, but I'm certainly not going to turn you in. The Shapers here are probably expecting me to be keeping an eye on you or something."

I go over to take a look at the book myself. It appears to be a basic book on fire creations, particularly fyoras. As we're reading, however, there's a slithering sound behind us. The artilas that we'd ignored are moving and hissing at us in a hostile manner.

"Those damned acid worms did not just go rogue, damn it," Gellert mutters.

The artilas attack us, and I take a glob of acid to the face, and another to the chest. Crying out in pain, I collapse even as I try to get off a healing spell, and failing to concentrate enough to manage it.

I wake in the back room of our house in Drypeak with a groan, rubbing my face compulsively. "Have I ever mentioned that I hate acid?"

"That was no accident," Gellert says, scowling.

"Either he was annoyed at you for reading the book, or he'd put the artilas there to protect it... or Zakary wanted us out of the way."

"Well, no harm done," Gellert says brightly. "And hey, now we don't have to pay Tyallea for the lesson, either!"

I smirk. "I suppose there's that. But don't get into the habit of doing that to get out of paying anyone for lessons."

"Why not?" Gellert says. "It's a brilliant idea! It's a pity I hadn't thought of it sooner."

I roll my eyes and let the matter drop. It would certainly be convenient, but I'm still not particularly keen on intentionally resetting a day just for something like that.

Thinking about the deaths of serviles due to rogues that I'd heard about before, I head over to the building where the serviles and kept, and approach the woman there looking after them.

"Are you the servile keeper here?" I ask.

"Yes, Shaper. I am Keeper Thossila. How can I help you?"

"Have you been having many problems with the serviles lately?" I say. "I've heard that some of them have been killed by rogues."

"Oh, there have been no end of problems," Thossila says. "This environment is terrible for them, the poor things. They don't like it here, and I often have to discipline them to get them to work. But for the most part, a missed meal here and there or some time in isolation or restraints is sufficient to get them to fall in line."

I clench my fist involuntarily in rage. I've normally been better at controlling my reactions, especially considering how mild this is for the usual treatment of serviles. But the mention of Sucia Island and the presence of rogues has been bringing back old memories and thoughts long buried. Still, I calm myself quickly. I must not say anything. Not yet.

"Of course," I say in a careful, level tone.

"Three of the serviles got lost in the mines in the last attack," Thossila says. "I don't know if they're even still alive. The poor dears must be trapped in there, scared and hungry, penned in by rogues and unable to get out."

"If I'm ever in the mines, I'll see if I can get them out of there, or let you know if I run across their bodies," I say.

"Thank you, Shaper. It would be good to know, one way or another."

"Have you had any other problems?" I ask.

"Sometimes I think they're looking at me strangely... Like they're smarter than they ought to be, or something. It's really quite unnerving, actually. Could you, perhaps, talk to the serviles, and see if there's one there that's... too smart? Perhaps being a bad influence to the other serviles?"

I frown thoughtfully. "I'll check it out."

Smart serviles, huh? This could prove interesting. Curious, I go to talk to each of the serviles one by one, carefully poking at each one verbally to see if any of them might be "rogue". One of them, I notice, replies more articulately than the others.

"I am well, Shaper. I am happy to serve."

Something about her tone sounds a little odd. And more than a little familiar. "Well, in that case, I've got some work for you to do. We were given quarters at the edge of town, but they're all dirty inside. Come and clean this up for me."

"Of course, Shaper. I will get to work immediately."

I point her off in the direction of the house we're staying in. Before returning there, I stop and tell Thossila, "The serviles all seem normal to me. You're probably just imagining things."

"That's a relief," Thossila says. "Thank you for taking the time to look into it."

As we head back toward the house, Gellert says to me quietly, "You think there was something strange about that servile, or did you really just want the house cleaned?"

"We'll see," I say.

When we get back, the servile has already gotten started working. Shanti glances up at us as we come in, and says, "Ah, you're back. Have you learned anything?" She's completely ignoring the servile's presence, as if no more worthy of notice than the chair. Nobody ever sees serviles. I have to wonder what all the serviles see.

"They've been having rogue problems for months," I say. "We'll look into it more in the morning." I glance at the servile and say, "Servile, can you get the back room first? It's even worse back there."

"As you wish, Shaper." She goes over into the back room. Gellert and I head into the other room behind her and shut the door.

"Muffliato," I mutter. She might just be an ordinary servile. But if she's what I suspect she is, I don't want Shanti to find out. Not right now. "Servile. What is your name?"

"I am called Sencia, Shaper," she replies while wiping the floor.

"Sencia?" I say, my eyes widening, immediately perking up in interest and going over to grab her shoulder. "Sencia of Vakkiri? Sencia of the Awakened?"

Gellert snickers in amusement. "So much for subtlety."

Sencia stares at me in surprise. "Y-Yes, Shaper, that is me. How did you know?"

"Sencia!" I say in glee, hugging her impulsively.

Gellert laughs aloud. The poor servile seems very, very confused. I release her, and she just stands there blinking at me for several moments.

"Do you know me, Shaper?"

"I know you, but you don't know me," I say. "It's complicated. Anyway, by way of introduction, I'm Lexen, and this is Gellert. Don't call me 'Shaper', please. Alright? I'm just another person."

"Just another person, he says," Gellert says with a soft snort. "So who is this servile, anyway? I take it you recognize her? Was she from Sucia Island?"

"I didn't think there was anyone outside of Drypeak who knew about that," Sencia says.

I chuckle softly and lean back against the wall, grinning like a fool. I'd been suspecting more and more that something was up here, and now I have proof before my eyes. "This changes everything."

"So, does this mean we can kill Shanti now?" Gellert asks.

"Gellert!" I snap, rolling my eyes. "Anyway. Sencia. Maybe you could tell us what happened? How did you get here? What's going on here?"

"I- I suppose I can tell you what I know, Lexen," Sencia says hesitantly. "Although I'm still not sure how you know about me."

"I'll explain later," I say. "I promise."

Sencia gives a nod. "Very well. Five years ago, Zakary and Barzahl came to Sucia Island. They were apparently sent by the Shapers to clean things up there, but instead, they stole secrets, they snuck out serviles and drayks, and quietly brought us here. It was a long and hard journey, and many of us died along the way."

"I'm sorry for your losses," I say. "I have to ask... did Rispy make it?"

"Rispy?" Sencia says, nodding. "Yes, he's here. He's probably in Medab. That's our town, our free land, beyond this valley, in the mountains to the northeast."

"Rispy's alive," I say, beaming. "That's great. You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that news."

"You are... clearly not a Shaper who is loyal to their cause, are you," Sencia says.

"No, I'm not. I'm not afraid to say so. Not to you, and not now. I've another question for you. Do you know what happened to Trajkov?"

"Trajkov?" Sencia says.

"The leader of the Sholai who had landed on Sucia Island by mistake," I explain. "Was he killed by the Shapers?"

"I don't believe that any of the outsider humans were able to leave the island alive," Sencia says.

"Ah," I say, my smile fading a bit. "That's a pity. I had hoped otherwise, but I can't say that I'm surprised."

"How do you know about all this, Lexen?" Sencia asks. "What is your connection to this all?"

I let out a heavy sigh, but I can't help but feel my smile return. Although I'd hoped to see Trajkov, this is still glad news indeed. It means an end to masks is in sight. It means I can join up with the Rebellion once again, and the walls will come down.

"I'll try to explain this," I say. "I went to Sucia Island once. But it was in another lifetime, and the events of that lifetime didn't play out the same way in this one."

"I don't understand," Sencia says, frowning.

"Imagine, if you would," I go on. "What if you could go back to a moment in your life - a pivotal moment - and make a different choice? Choose a different path? I have... a unique power. I can go back in time, into the past, and make different choices."

"Are you saying that you chose not to come to Sucia Island?"

"I would have come, and gladly, don't get me wrong. But there were things I wanted to learn that only the Shapers could teach me. I didn't know how things on Sucia Island would go without my presence there, but I hoped that the serviles there would make it."

"And now?" Sencia says.

"And now... I'm overjoyed to learn that they did, that they're here, that you're here. And now that I've learned what I set out to learn, I can join with them once again, and fight for the sake of freedom for all beings."

Sencia looks at me thoughtfully for a long moment. "Your story is a strange one, and I'm not certain what to think. But it gladdens me to hear you say that you are on our side." She looks around nervously. "I should... finish my cleaning and go. Before the other Shaper suspects something."

I give a nod. "Very well. Be well, Sencia."