Bloodletter

(6:00 PM)

"Speak to me, what do we have?" asked Charell as she sprinted up the stairs in pursuit, jumping two steps at a time.

The paladin glanced back at her over his shoulder. "Two of our acolytes heard a commotion of some sort coming from the vault further up the stairs. I found a black-clad stranger lying on the steps when I went up to investigate."

They moved up around another bend in the spiral stairwell and came across an unconscious middle-aged man sprawled upside-down on the stairs. Pushing the paladin aside, Charell squeezed past and bent down beside the body to examine the stranger. A heavy series of bruises were visible on the man's face, including a particularly large, dark blemish at the back of his head. By the way his body was laid out, Charell guessed that he incurred most of the injuries while falling down the stairs.

"He's still breathing. Take him down below and see to it he's secured in an empty prison cell before summoning a healer. Whoever he is, he clearly doesn't belong here." The cleric tilted her head to the left. The man's face looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't connect a name to him. Perhaps this was the tower intruder that the priestess mentioned. "Inform the Prelate as well, this man might have some connection to the Bloodletter."

Charell left the paladin to take care of the intruder, and she raced up the remaining steps on her own. The vault door had been left unlocked, and opened easily into the darkened chamber. Squinting in the shadows, the cleric couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary, so she crossed the room and gave a tug on the window shutters. A dim, orange light spilled into the room, but only offered slight illumination, as the sun was almost completely below the sea on the western horizon.

Charell turned around and yelped when she saw the two bodies lying on the floor on either side of the marble archway. They sported heavy black-scored wounds; one man was decapitated, the other cleaved through the torso, and both were clearly dead beyond recovery.

The cleric took a step back and rested a hand against the windowsill for support. The priestess already said that she was on her way to this room… so what happened to her?

(6:04)

She couldn't see or move. Despite the menacing feeling of gravity attempting to yank her down to her death, she couldn't muster up the willpower to pull herself up. Selena's hands felt paralyzed, gripping the stone window ledge as if her flesh was already in a death pose.

The elf didn't dare to open her eyes, either. Right now, with the wind blowing past her dangling form, it took every bit of concentration just to keep her breathing under control. Her stomach felt as if it was slowly being twisted, a painfully familiar feeling that brought her back to the day of the Verskul incident.

She never had a fear of heights until that day. Several times, she had been thrown over the side of some of the tallest buildings in the city. It was only through random chance that she managed to survive, but the experiences must have left an impression in the elf's mind, which was now keeping frozen and barely responsive to anything around her.

A voice yelled something from directly overhead, but to Selena, it sounded as if the person was miles away. More frantic shouting followed, but it was all drowned out under the pounding of her own heartbeat and the sound of her rapid breathing.

Moments later, she felt several hands grab her by the wrists and slowly, carefully, hoist her up and pull her forward across the windowsill, back into the vault room.

"Priestess, what happened here?"

"Are you alright?"

"Who are these dead men, and how did they enter the vault?"

The questions assaulted her burning ears the moment she touched the floor, but the elf was still far too nauseous to offer any sort of reply. With an abrupt motion at the silvery blur in front of her, she groaned and waved the paladins away, then moved to a spot by the wall a good distance from the window. Leaning against the stone, holding her forehead with one hand, Selena continued to breathe slowly until her heartbeat returned to normal.

Glancing around, she saw that Charell was currently directing a few paladins as they lifted the bodies onto stretchers. At this point, the unpleasant feeling of Selena's phobia was slowly fading away, gradually being replaced by the unpleasant memory of the betrayal. Three men, all murdered by the celestial.

Had he played them from the start? What was his connection to the Sigils? Why did he go through this whole charade? And most importantly… how did the Bloodletter play into all this?

"Priestess?" asked Charell, coming back to Selena's side, "Are you calmed now?"

"I'm responsible for all this…" said the elf, "I trusted him, I brought him inside the tower, and now these people have perished as a result."

The expression on the cleric's face clearly showed that she didn't fully understand what Selena was talking about, but Charell didn't press too hard on the matter. "If you want some more time to centre yourself…"

"No. No, we need to organize some search parties immediately. An… outsider known as 'Cyrael' has absconded with the Sigils of the Fallen. This is a serious matter, and if–"

"There may be a problem there, priestess," Charell said, shaking her head. "We're already shorthanded due to the recent attacks and recovery effort. The only spare hands would be the Prelate's Royal Horsemen, they should be returning soon from their sortie to the city's east side."

Selena ran a shaky finger over her forehead. "Fine, I'll have to convince the High Prelate to lend support to our needs, then."

Charell nodded and cast her eyes around the room. "We found another heavily injured man on the stairs. I had him put in the cells, but if he was with you, then–"

"No. He belongs there. Whatever you do, don't let that man leave. I'll deal with him myself later, when time permits." Selena paused a moment, and noticed the green vial lying on the ground near her feet, probably having rolled about during the celestial's mayhem. She carefully took the container and placed it away in a pocket on her robe.

"Priestess, what in the world is going on in this city today? It's as if the very element of chaos has been awakened and unleashed upon Baldur's Gate."

Selena could only shake her head in reply as the last vestiges of sunlight disappeared, leaving the room in darkness. "I don't know, but I will certainly let go of the matter. Come with me, we have a long night ahead of us."

(6:16)

In a place far to the north of Baldur's Gate, a man stood in the centre of a dimly lit cavern, deep underground. He tugged on the side of the red scale armour over his body, cursing at the unpleasant itching that accompanied this form.

Standing before the armoured man were three full-length, oval mirror stands, each holding a portal tall enough that even Pryus himself could easily step through in his current form. The mirror portal on his right was currently inactive, showing a normal reflection of the red lord's cavern.

In the other mirror panes stood two humanoid figures with whom Pryus was familiar.

"Have the Sigils been recovered yet?" demanded the figure in the centre mirror.

"They have," growled Pryus, "Just be certain that your respective tasks are as successful as mine."

"Successful?" shouted a male voice from the left, "We just learned that your underling, the crime lord, was planning to double-cross you. The Sigils might have been lost, had HE not intervened against Cordas. You are a fool to rely on your underlings. Human underlings, especially."

"And you are fools for choosing to personally involve yourselves in your own tasks. Not only do you place yourselves at risk, you put us all in danger of being discovered by prying eyes." Pryus snorted loud enough to create an echo. "Bah, how far along are you in your parts of our quest?"

"The shipment will arrive soon enough," said the man on the left.

"And I am currently pursuing the Behemoth's Heart," added the centre figure. "It is a simple matter, now that we know where it is being developed. Apprehending the wielder of the heart may be more difficult for me, especially with night fallen in Baldur's Gate."

"No matter," Pryus muttered, "We will be done soon enough." He glanced between the pair. "We four have had to endure much over the years... particularly with the setbacks that Verskul incurred. But once we achieve our mutual goal, everything will change."

He waved his arm across horizontally, and the portals faded, quickly replaced by ordinary reflective panes. Pryus scratched at his neck, and resumed pacing his cavern. His part in the plan was already finished. Now all that remained was a measure of patience.

(6:21)

"And you say the Prelate absolutely believed he was seeing the Bloodletter?" Selena asked as she rummaged through her closet.

"Yes, priestess," said Charell, "I fear that he may be growing over-excited with everything that has happened today. He is becoming rather... uh, 'imaginative'."

In other words, the Prelate may be delusional, thought Selena. Perfect. An irrational elderly man running things at the temple would certainly make her task of pursuing the false celestial all the more difficult. Then again, the Prelate seemed stable earlier in the day. Perhaps she could convince him to hear her out, at the least.

The elf removed a simple wooden jewellery box from the bottom of the closet and brought it over to her desk.

Charell watched as Selena pushed the ewer aside. "Priestess, I should mention that Saudere still believes that you're responsible for the golden insects that came from those dreadful flowers. He also found some sort of correspondence with Caden the Bloodletter." She pointed to the empty envelope that still lay upon the table. "I know that you must have received those flowers from someone... unaffiliated with our Order, but I want to hear your side of things first."

Selena was about to open the wooden box, but stopped when she heard Charell's words. The priestess stared at the broken seal on the envelope and shook her head. "It's not from the Bloodletter. I don't even know much about the Battle of Caden's Hill beyond the bare material they have us teach the acolytes."

Shaking her head, the elf lightly touched her brow. "You've heard about that local chapter of the Shadow Thieves operating in the market district. Well, all of this," she waved a hand around the chamber, even though the flowers were already removed, "It was done by their branch leader, a rogue I met a few years ago. He passes me useful information on criminal activity in the city every now and then... Oh, don't give me that look, Charell. Even I understand the importance of good intelligence."

"So... not the Bloodletter, then?"

"Certainly not. He may be a little eccentric at times, but I respected him. I thought he was as non-violent as a criminal could possibly be."

Charell leaned in, over the table. "I hear past tense there."

Sighing softly, the elf felt her lips turn into a frown. Cerdan betrayed her trust, just as Cyrael did. She was staring to wonder if her life was better before the Verskul incident, when she only had to depend on her fellow faithful. It was certainly easier.

"I believed I might have been able to trust him. Maybe even..." The priestess shook her head suddenly. "It isn't important. For now, we need to focus on this matter with Cyrael and the Bloodletter."

The young cleric cleared her throat. "I always did find it strange, priestess, that we've all been told that Caden's Hill was such an important example of our divine cause. But from what I gather, no one wants to say exactly who we were actually fighting, beyond the fact that they were 'heretics, preying on innocent townsfolk'."

"Yes, but we know the outcome well enough; Caden the Bloodletter oversaw the slaughter of thousands, including men, women, and children on both sides of the conflict. He is a vile war criminal, the absolute worst that the Realms have to offer, and that's all I need to know."

The elf flipped open the wooden lid and began to remove several small pieces of plain-looking jewellery. She laid a few featureless copper rings on the table, as well as a simple silver bracelet.

"These were gifts from someone I once knew." She made a quick gesture in the air with her hands and whispered a few syllables under her breath. A magical symbol appeared very briefly in the air, then vanished. Looking back down at the baubles, the priestess could now see a faint, coloured aura around each object.

Selena picked out one of the rings and passed it to Charell. "Wear this for now. Its magic will let me form a telepathic conversation with you, but it will only work for a single use."

The cleric nodded and slipped it on. "You expect to be away from the tower again?"

"Right after I've spoken with the High Prelate," she said, pocketing the other two rings and slipping the bracelet on her wrist. I just hope I can persuade him to listen to reason.

With Cyrael and the Bloodletter still at large in the city, there was little need for her to remain at the temple. The only problem now was finding a lead.

(6:28)

Saudere rapped his knuckles against the table as he waited for the cleric to complete the divination on a handful of the golden beads taken from the priestess' chamber. These particular beads hadn't fully hatched, keeping the tiny insects imprisoned in their husks. So far, they only knew that someone was spying on the movements of Tyr's faithful... but whoever created these things clearly hadn't realized that the magical essence could be divined and followed back to its source.

The door to the chapel creaked open, and Saudere turned to see one of his Royal Horsemen approach.

"Sir," began the knight, removing his helm and bowing to the Prelate. "Our people are reporting back from the sweep of the eastern districts. We made several arrests, but they appear to be mostly minor offenders; cutpurses, vagabonds, the like."

"Hmm. Unfortunate. What about Sir Rennemar? I understand he stayed a bit longer for some reason."

"That's what a few of the town guards have said." The paladin rubbed his neck. "No word from Rennemar since then, however."

Saudere frowned and rubbed his chin. Perhaps the lead knight found something worth a more detailed investigation. "Very well, we'll await further news. Dismissed."

The knight hesitated before leaving. "There is something else, sir. I was downstairs in the basement, checking the prison cells in case Rennemar decided to bring someone in. I ran into one of the temple guards who was locking away an intruder; someone who was found on the upper floors of the tower."

Taking a slow breath, the Royal Horseman met the Prelate's gaze. "I... think you should come down and take a look at him yourself, sir." The knight glanced over at the diviner, then lowered his voice to the Prelate. "The intruder is demanding to speak to no one other than Priestess Shademoor; he claims that he came to the tower with her in the past hour."

Saudere let go of his chin and gave the knight his full attention. "You mean the priestess has already returned! Find her and have her brought to me immediately!"

"At once, sir. But what of the prisoner? I truly think you should go see him first."

Sighing aloud, Saudere crossed his arms. "Ugh, very well. Lead on, but this prisoner had best be worth my time. At this rate, the only thing that could possibly interest me is if the prisoner was the Bloodletter himself."

(6:34)

Flipping a single gold coin between his fingers, Lord Pryus couldn't help but sneer in disgust at the sheer scrawniness of these appendages. He tossed the coin across the room and watched as it landed, disappearing in the sea of identical coins that covered most of the cavern floor.

In the corner of his eye, Pryus noticed movement coming from one of the three mirrors by the wall of the cave. "Do you have something constructive to say, or are you simply here to waste both our time?" He moved closer and faced the mirror. "You have yet to conclude your portion of the quest."

The man that appeared in the right-most mirror scoffed, "There is little to worry about, the cargo will make landfall soon enough. By my estimates, it will reach the pier by midnight at the latest."

"See that it does. Yours is the most volatile of the artifacts; if some foolhardy mage decides to cast even the most simple of spells in its vicinity..."

"You don't need to repeat what was already said. The Source is being transported under the most secure conditions, I assure you." The man paused to tug on the sleeve of his garments. "Let us move onto other matters. He has informed me that we can expect to be ready to begin at sometime during the night. Does it not make you itch with anticipation?" The fool gave a wide grin.

Pryus scratched at his neck and chin, grumbling at the mockery. "Be silent." He waved an arm, dismissing the man's image from the mirror.

Letting the frown linger on his face, Pryus resumed his waiting and glanced down at the two black amulets that were hanging around his neck. While the Sigils appeared to be made of black wood, he knew that they contained enough magical energy to rival even the most empowered wizards in the western realms.

And to think that this magic was nearly destroyed three years ago. That idiot Verskul had the gall to overstep his bounds, but ended up falling to some meagre human.

"Overexposure," Pryus muttered aloud. The red lord was wise enough to keep from making the same mistake. He kept himself well away from the risk zones, and executed his portion of the plan only through indirect contacts.

The final hour was approaching fast, and Pryus knew that it would only be a short wait until all the pieces were in play.

(6:38)

"I should remind you, he is utterly convinced that you're in league with the Bloodletter," said the cleric as they walked toward Saudere's chamber.

Selena sighed. "Thank you, Charell, but I'm sure this misunderstanding can be rectified. His enmity toward me likely stems from the matter with the late Sir Treysen, the younger."

"Ah, yes. That would explain it. Difficult to believe that a knight from such a prestigious lineage could fall to corruption so easily."

And as usual, Selena thought, it all traces back to Caden's Hill. One Adar Treysen was the commander of the Order of Tyr's army during throughout the war, but Selena had difficulty recalling more than that.

"The more I think about it, the more I wonder why we've never learned much about Caden the Bloodletter beyond the bare details of his evil."

Charell shrugged. "I imagine you'd know more about it than I, seeing as how the war happened long before I was born. But it's like you said, all that matters is that Caden the Bloodletter was a truly evil murderer. Anyone who would engage in such wholesale slaughter can be nothing but a blackheart."

"Of course," Selena murmured as they continued down the hallway. The basic facts were common knowledge; fifty years ago, at the height of the war against the army of heretics, the vile warlord unveiled some sort of magical weapon. It devastated the forces on both sides, but the surviving knights of Tyr were able to subdue the villain and emerge victorious.

Less than a year after the horrible event, several nations throughout the Realms were spurned to agree to the Treaty of Caden's Hill, which forbade the use of similar magical weapons based on such wide-scale destructive energy.

But that was mostly the extent of what she knew. For some reason, very few people were ever made aware of much further concerning Battle of Caden's Hill or even the war in general. Perhaps Saudere might be willing to illuminate the matter, if she could get him to see reason.

They reached the Prelate's door, and the elf knocked sharply three times. They waited for several moments, but received no answer.

"Wait, the Prelate's escort isn't here," Charell said, looking about. "Maybe he is still seeing our diviner about the golden insects."

A voice called out from the corridor behind them. "Priestess Shademoor!"

They turned to see one of the Prelate's Royal Horsemen advancing from the stairs. He approached the pair and seized the red-haired elf by the arm. "Prelate Saudere demands your presence, and only your presence, just outside the prison cells in the tower basement."

Charell glanced at the priestess with a furrowed brow, but Selena gave a short nod and dismissed the cleric. "Very well, sir," said the elf, pulling her arm away from his grasp. "Perhaps it is time I received some answers."

(6:43)

"Who were you speaking to just a few minutes ago?"

The question caught the man in his tracks. He quickly turned and shut the door to his study, locking it behind him.

"I heard you saying something in your study. This has been going on for weeks! What are you hiding in there?" asked the woman.

"Nothing. I'm meeting with members of the Flaming Fist tomorrow, and I was just reciting a speech before the mirror," he replied. The man turned and rested a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Really, Fara, you ask too many questions."

She made a loud 'tsk' noise and smacked his hand away. "Great gods, you've been locking yourself in there ever since you got that ugly mirror! I swear, you weren't like this when we were first married. Pah, you weren't even like this more than a few months ago. I don't know why I put up with you."

He folded his arms and fixed her with a glare. "You 'put up' with me because you enjoy all the amenities that accompany my position in this city. Don't ever forget that it can all go away if you keep this up."

"Ugh, you're so insolent!" Fara cried, tossing her hands up in the air as she stalked out of the room. "Far be it from anyone to question the mighty Duke Ryloch, least of all his own wife!" She added, sarcasm dripping off every syllable.

Ryloch waited as she disappeared from view, then glanced back at his study door. Did she overhear his entire conversation with Lord Pryus? What's more, had she been listening in ever since they started their plans for the Sword Coast?

The Duke rubbed the beard on his chin. No, she probably couldn't make out anything clearly, or she would have gone straight to the authorities. Still, she was aware that something odd was transpiring, and that seed of suspicion might sprout into further discord in the long run. Straightening out his fine robe, he made a mental note that they would soon have to do something about the woman.

(6:49)

"How long have you been in correspondence with Caden the Bloodletter!" Saudere fired the question instantly, as soon as Selena came within sight from the stairwell.

The elf kept her expression as stoic as possible. Even though Saudere was wrong, he still outranked her, and proper duty and protocol still presided over all. "Respectfully, High Prelate, you are mistaken. I tell you truthfully that I am not, nor have I ever been, in contact with that war criminal."

"Oh? Let me illustrate things: you received a letter earlier today telling you to deliver money - temple funds, no less - to the Bloodletter."

"That wasn't the Bloodletter, it was my contact in the local Shadow Thieves."

"You smuggled a swarm of magical insects into the tower to spy on us."

"I didn't know what they were at the time."

Saudere lowered his head, glowering at the elf as he delivered the killing blow. "And you are directly responsible for the death of Sir Treysen, one of the finest men I ever trained."

At this, Selena hesitated. The Prelate spoke as if she had made light choice, when in fact it anything but. Closing her eyes, the priestess lowered her head slightly. Treysen was a villain; in her mind there was absolutely no doubt of that. And she had been acting in self-defense when Treysen plummeted from Greyhelm Tower, back on that fateful day.

But none of that made it any easier to swallow the fact that she was responsible for the man's death. For most of her life, she considered killing to be the cardinal sin. It made her feel... corrupted, despite what others believed. The Prelate, however, was no doubt firm in his belief that she was the false one.

As she considered this, Saudere didn't relent and went on, "And now you have defiled these holy grounds by leading the Bloodletter himself into our fold to carry out whatever nefarious ends he seeks to inflict upon us!"

"I... what?"

Saudere pointed down the corridor to the cell at the very end of the temple's prison. "One of your knights encountered Caden the Bloodletter upstairs, in the upper areas of the tower. The fiend has admitted that he gained entry to the tower through you."

Oh no… Dace, thought the priestess, I should have placed him under arrest as soon as we set foot inside. She looked away as the thought overtook her.

"Moreover," continued the Prelate, "he is refusing to speak further to anyone other than you. You have much to answer for, priestess."

Selena held her eyes forward and took a deep breath. "Sir, I accept full responsibility for allowing him into the tower, but I did not clearly know that he was the Bloodletter, and I will say again that I am not a traitor to our cause. The Church is everything to me, sir; I live and breathe under the sign of justice, and I would die before forsaking what is right."

"Fine words, but they are devoid of merit." The Prelate tilted his head, staring at her out of the corner of his eye as he moved past. "Very well, I will accept for now that your actions were of incompetence rather than malice, but you can be assured that my soldiers and I will be observing you closely. There remains an air of falsehood about you, and I'll not abide any more errant acts."

"You have nothing to worry about, sir."

"Highly doubtful." He pointed toward the end of the cellblock and extended his other hand, dangling a key from his fingers. "If you wish to prove your good faith, then heed me; speak with the Bloodletter and elicit a confession from the fiend. I will consider relenting my current opinion of you."

"Certainly." The elf took the key and moved briskly down the corridor toward the cell. If Dace truly was the Bloodletter, then she'd have no qualms about seeing him rightly sent to prison. After all, the priestess had done it once before, she could do it again. Gods knew the blackheart must deserve it.

She stopped at the heavy steel door and unlocked it. Taking a moment to gather her poise and state of mind, the elf opened the cell and stepped inside to face a familiar man shackled at the back of the dark chamber.

The priestess froze in her steps when she saw the man. At that moment, it all clicked into place. "Oh no, Charell was right... Saudere is becoming delusional," she whispered to herself. The man before her clearly was not the Bloodletter.

"Well, you certainly took your time getting down here!" Cerdan said, shaking the chained manacles attached to his wrists. "I can't even scratch my nose without making a racket."

If Saudere mistook Cerdan's face for the Bloodletter's, then perhaps the Prelate's mind isn't as stable as it should be for a man in his position, the priestess thought. They must have caught Cerdan while he was making his own way to the vault earlier.

Selena didn't look forward to informing Saudere of this error. It definitely wasn't going to go over well for his opinion of her.

"You shouldn't be here," said the priestess, "why haven't you said anything in your defense?"

"I first wanted to learn what happened. Did we save the Sigils?"

"Norris and Cordas are dead," she replied through her teeth. Selena held the bridge of her nose, shaking her head as she went over the details. "Cyrael turned on us and made off with the twin amulets. Right now I'm planning to organize a search of the city, but first I need to deal with this matter between you and the High Prelate of Tyr. He's shortly down the hall outside, and he wants you charged for an atrocity you didn't even commit."

"I thought you wanted me charged over our little spat back at Cordas' place."

Selena sent a glare at him. "That will come in due time. You have a more immediate concern right now, and an erroneous one at that. I'll do what I can to convince them you're not who they think you are, but you have to tell them the truth about who you are."

Arching an eyebrow, Cerdan gave a sharp laugh and lowered his head, looking at the ground as a weak smile crossed his face. "And what truth would that be? That I'm a guildmaster of the largest Shadow Thief branch in the city? Or that I'm sweet on one of their priestesses? Selena–"

"Stop it, this is no time for your stupid flippancy!" Selena snapped, thrusting a finger at him. "Don't you understand what's happening here? He thinks you're Caden the Bloodletter!"

Cerdan sighed and slowly looked up to meet her eyes. For once, all mirth had left the rogue's expression. "Selena... that's because I am Caden the Bloodletter."

(7:00 PM)