Steel, Fire, Honor and Ruin
Chapter 4
cool under pressure
/ooooooo\
Location: Somewhere in the Empire…
Day 8
It had only been a day since Maria Shepard had managed to escape Blood Keep and the Vampire Count in charge. A hasty retreat from the Grey Mountains with Maria literally sleeping with one eye open the following night. But now confident she wasn't being followed, Maria and her horse were once again setting a leisurely pace through a sparsely filled woodland.
Or they would have been, if it wasn't for the morbid scene laid out on the road before them.
Maria hopped off the horse and gave his neck a reassuring pat as she carefully walked a few feet ahead. Her hand gripping the hilt of her pistol as she did, more out of habit than actual fear, since there wasn't anything here that could cause her harm… or anything alive at all sadly.
The dirt road was littered with the bodies of soldiers, civilians, and even a few horses still hitched to the destroyed remains of the wagons they had been tasked with pulling. Maria guessed there had to be around fifty people here and every one of them had been brutally killed by their attackers.
And it had been brutal. Maria wasn't a stranger to conflict, but the scenes here made her stomach lurch every few feet. Even a few of the horses had been torn apart. Whatever had done something like that had to be ridiculously strong. The giant rat that had attacked her back in Bretonnia came to mind.
However, only a few more feet down the road, Maria finally found the culprits behind the attack.
She walked slowly to the figure, removing her pistol from her belt as she did, and gave the thing a kick with her boot. When it didn't react, she hooked her boot under its shoulder and flipped it onto its back.
"So… you're the infamous beastmen I've heard so much about," she said kneeling down to examine the dead thing. A deep gash across its chest was the apparent cause of death.
'Men' was a gracious title. The only thing human about the creature was its torso. It had the chest and arms of a human but that was it. Below the waist it had furred legs bent backwards at the knee just like a Turian and Quarian would, and just like her horse both its feet were replaced with hooves.
And its head… it had the head of a goat, but a goat born from a nightmare. It had bulging, bloodshot eyes, with horns sprouting from its forehead and curled back into jagged points. Not to mention the teeth. Maria wasn't an expert, but she had yet to hear of any species of goat throughout the galaxy that had huge overgrown incisors and rows of sharpened teeth.
With a second look she could see fabric stuck between the beastman's front teeth. Standing back up Maria noticed the nearest soldier to the dead creature. His entire neck had literally been torn out by one of the creatures.
"Ouch." But then Maria remembered the mutilated horses she passed. "But either you're a lot stronger than you look or I'm afraid I haven't seen the worst you have to offer."
Holstering her pistol, Maria walked back to Steven grabbing his reins and continued down the road through the carnage. Along the way she spotted only two more of the beastmen laying on the side of the road. The fact only three of their dead remained proved that while they may be as primitive and dim as Vincent had described, they had still managed to wipe out this entire caravan and loss only three of their kind in trade. The attack must have happened fast, and it had obviously been violently effective.
The very last body on the road, who had been leading the caravan apparently, stood out from the rest of the soldiers she had passed by a wide margin thanks in part to the clothes he wore.
A deep black trench coat covered a freshly shined, but now bloody, chest plate, and both of the mans' gloved hands held a discharged flint-lock pistol. There was also a wide brimmed black hat with a trio of long feathers laying on the ground next to him.
Maria looked down at herself, then looked back at the man on the ground. Twice now her collector armor had gotten her into more trouble then she would have liked, but there was no way in hell she was just going to ditch it to fit in on this crazy, messed up world of lightning wielding rats and sword swinging-happy Vampires.
Maria looked up and down the road. "Sorry pal, but I'm going to need to borrow a few things."
/ooooooo\
Tightening the belt around her waist closed the trench coat enough so no one could see the armor underneath. The man had been so tall that only the tops of her boots were now visible, and she doubted that small amount would give her away. Pulling on the thick riding gloves next had been a tight fit over her armor but at least her hands were covered as well.
She then picked up the wide hat and after a quick dusting put it over her head. For the final piece of her disguise, she popped up the collar on the jacket, which nearly touched the brim of her hat keeping her hair effectively covered.
Maria smiled at the get up and spun around facing her horse with her arms spread wide.
"Well, Steven, what do you think?"
The horse actually leaned forward to smell the new coat but after a few sniffs shook his head with a huff and looked away, seemingly unimpressed.
Maria looked down at the coat and frowned at the mud and blood stains that were still uncomfortably fresh. You could barely see the blood thanks to the coats dark coloring, but the horse could clearly smell them.
"Yeah, I know, but it's the best I can do right now," she agreed with a sigh. She tried to slap some of the dirt off but when her hands hit something hard over her chest she stopped mid-slap.
Feeling up the jacket Maria loosened the belt around her waist and reached into a breast pocket she hadn't known was there. What she pulled out left her staring.
It was clearly a badge to be worn but Maria only knew that because of the pin welded onto its back. But instead of a flat plate of imprinted metal this was much more intricate and… creepy.
She held in her hand a silver, four-inch skeletal grim reaper who was holding a large double-sided hammer in front of itself. Behind the reaper on its shoulder was a crow with outstretched wings framing the skeleton's hooded head. The entire thing was finely detailed with designs on the hammer's head and individual feathers for the crow. Which was way more detailed than she would have expected and proving it's worth to whoever made and whoever owned such a badge.
"This obviously marks you as somebody," Maria said as she glanced back down to the dead man. And for whatever odd reason she couldn't quite describe, Maria took the badge and pinned it to the left side of the coat.
"Alright, Steven, we're done here. Let's get to Nuln."
/ooooooo\
Location: Nuln, city-state of The Empire
Day: 9
"Ho…ly…shit."
Maria stood with Steven on a hill at least half a mile away from the city that had been her destination for the past week.
Earlier that morning she had nearly suffered a heart attack when she woke up to thick black clouds streaking across the sky above. With thoughts of Nuln having been burned to the ground, or attacked like Parravon, or whatever, something bad; Maria had jumped onto her horse and rode as quick as she dared, leaving the road and making a straight line through the woods for the horizon and the source of the black smoke.
Reaching the top of a hill and leaving the woods for clear plains of grassland, Maria pull back on the reins and brought Steven to a halt. Hopping off the saddle she stood open mouthed at the sight before her.
The very much still standing, very much still inhabited, and very large, city of Nuln.
Comparing Parravon, a principle city of Bretonnia and capital of the province, to Nuln was like comparing an Alliance Everest-class dreadnought to the Asari's Destiny Ascension. In short, there was no comparison.
The city was centered around the junction between three massive rivers. From her current height, Maria could see just how wide the bodies of water were and how Nuln had grown to completely encompass the land around. Connecting the three parts of the city were a series of bridges linked to a pair of smaller islands in the rivers. Impressively though, there was another bridge that dwarfed the rest stretching across the widest part of the main river and connecting the two biggest parts of Nuln. Ships of all shapes and sizes could be seen coming down the rivers and making port along the shores of the city.
The smoke that had alarmed her earlier was coming from no less than a dozen towering stacks rising above the buildings below. Factories by the looks of them and Maria had no idea what they were making but she made a mental note to find out. Depending on the products being made these could help her discover just how advanced the people of the Empire really were when compared to Bretonnia.
"Okay… okay…" Maria took off her hat and ran a hand through her hair, "so we made it here. Now we need to get into the city and find a place to lay low for a few days. Then find some other place to find out what the hell happened that sent me here, and reverse it…"
Suddenly Maria felt extremely anxious and her throat tightened. It had been nine days since she had arrived on this world, she still hadn't found a recognizable star in the sky, the people in the Empire clearly didn't have space travel, and she somehow doubted they'd have a means of sending signals outside of this planet's solar system.
"Get a grip, Maria," she scolded herself and taking a deep breath. "You survived the Krogan and Tuchanka, so I think you can survive a city full of primitives." She walked back over to Steven and pulled herself into the saddle. Before she could get moving a thought occurred that made her pause and look around.
"I wonder if this planet has any thresher maws?"
Shivering at the thought, she ran a hand once more through her hair and winced when she found a knot.
"Damnit!" she swore, angrily yanking her hand free and putting the hat back on her head. "And I swear these people better sell hair brushes or they'll wish they had a thresher maw to deal with!"
/ooooooo\
She would have liked to have ridden her horse all the way into and through the sprawling city, but when sitting in the saddle the trench coat she wore opened past the waist and her legs became visible. Legs covered in brown collector armor. So after reaching one of the main roads leading to Nuln, Maria was forced to hop off the horse and lead him along by the reins.
Much like Parravon, Nuln was surrounded by a few smaller towns located just outside its walls. As Maria walked through one it was clear to see that the people living outside the walls were mainly farmers tasked with growing enough food to feed the city. No one here even gave her a second look, and after a short while Maria noticed that no one even wanted to give her a second look.
Literally everyone was avoiding her. Now that she was actually paying attention, Maria even noticed people further up the road going about their daily business but making a clear effort to give her all the space she needed as Maria led her horse along.
Even stranger the first real military presence she encountered, a patrol of six men wearing chest plates, helmets, all of them wearing uniforms of yellow and black, and each armed with a sword and a shield slung across their backs; these six men walking in loose formation toward her moved to the opposite side of the road as they approached and even tightened up their ranks to a practical parade march.
Watching them pass by from below the rim of her hat, Maria recognized their behavior instantly.
"Ooookay," she said under her breath, "apparently whoever I stole these cloths from was somebody who outranked the common foot soldier. This could work out to my advantage or I'm going to be stopped by another officer and immediately found out… crap… and just I was beginning to like the coat and hat."
A few minutes later the road became more crowed and less people were able to give her the space they so obviously still wanted to give her based on the looks they kept sending her way when they thought Maria wasn't looking. She had finally reached the actual city, and it left her gaping like a tourist as she stopped in the center of the road.
Once again the differences between Parravon and Nuln were obvious. The Bretonnian city had a twenty-foot stone wall for defense with a few bowman and a couple of catapults above the gate. Nuln, a city-state of the Empire, had a fifty-foot high stone wall with a sloped base around forty-five degrees reaching the first twenty-feet up. The gate ahead of her was at least three times as wide as Parravon's and still seemed to small for the traffic coming and going. On both sides of the gate were towers, each wide enough to hold six cannons lined up on the outside edge. Maria looked left and right to see more towers evenly spaced along the entire wall, each probably as protected as the last. Armored soldiers manned the two towers and she could see more patrolling the wall itself.
Maria whistled softly. Vincent wasn't kidding when he said that the Empire was the most powerful nation around. Based solely on the amount of firepower she could see on the walls alone Nuln could have blown Parravon apart. The massive number of gunpowder weapons was a good sign to prove that they really were more advanced than the knights she had seen before…
… at least as impressive as a gunpowder based military could be, she thought with a sigh. As strong as the cannons were, it was still a fact that her locust submachine gun had more kinetic energy in a single five-round burst.
Maria forced her brain to stop analyzing these obvious drawbacks and she focused on the gate ahead. Many of the people leaving the city were free to go but she could now see a fairly significant garrison of soldiers taking the time to stop most of those trying to enter Nuln. Inspections most likely, no one appeared to be required to pay their way, so the city seemed to want to have some semblance of control over the goods and people allowed inside. Reasonable enough, but it still posed a problem.
"Let's see just how good this outfit really is," Maria said taking a deep breath. She pulled up the collar of her coat a little more and lowered the brim of her hat as much as she could.
One more breath to steady her nerves and she started forward. Making her stride as purposeful as she could, Maria also kept her eyes on the soldiers. She was looking for a group already preoccupied so she could slip on past without incident. Falling in step behind a wagon being pulled by a pair of horses, she left enough room ahead so when the driver was stopped by four guards, Maria veered to the side and increased her pace right past them.
Easiest trick to avoiding the local authorities was to give them something else to look at while you hid in plain sight. Worked for the gangs back on Earth and it still held true here. With a victorious smirk Maria entered the gateway and was only feet away from passing underneath the gatehouse and entering Nuln.
When suddenly a yellow and black uniform stepped directly in her path with one hand raised and the other on a sword hilt. Maria raised her head just enough to see from underneath her hat and saw a man probably in his early twenties standing in front of her.
Maria grit her teeth and cursed her luck. Come on kid, didn't you see the outfit?
He was looking back at her with a frown and did his best to peer under her hat as Maria did her best not to let him.
Giving up trying to see her face the young man made a 'humph'.
"You mind explain' what you think y're doing?" he asked her, and a lot more forcefully than she assumed the kid would since the previous soldiers on the road had avoided her entirely. Her translator was picking up another accent, but she couldn't narrow it down just then.
Not good, not good, not good! Maria tried to keep her heartbeat in check as she racked her brain for a way out. Avoiding the authorities was the real trick, but when they did catch you, you were screwed, unless you had a quick way out or your gang was ready to provide back up in the way of another distraction.
Right now, Maria had neither and she didn't want to risk speaking a foreign language in front of a soldier of the city she was trying desperately to enter.
"I asked you a question," the kid said even more firmly. He shifted his stance only a fraction, but she recognized he was making more room for his sword arm in case he had to draw his weapon. As bad as the situation was Maria couldn't help but be impressed. She had met plenty of police with less backbone than this kid was showing to a complete stranger.
Okay here's the plan, she quickly thought out moving her head just enough to see around over her collar. Stun him with an overload from your omni-tool and move fast enough to catch him before he falls. Then do your best to keep moving without dropping the kid in the middle of the road until you find an alley to dump him before he wakes up.
First interaction with the Empire and I'm being forced to stun one of their soldiers who's just doing their job, she mulled over in frustration as she readied herself. I can't believe I'm really this bad at first contact situations…
But just then before Maria made her move or the kid drew his sword a gruff voice stopped them both from acting.
"What do you think y're doin'!"
The kid immediately looked to his left to see another soldier angrily making his way to them both. Maria risked a glance herself and she could see this man was far older with a trimmed beard and mustache. He was also far more armored than the rest of the soldiers guarding the gate, with both hands in gauntlets and armored boots, and his chest pate was covered in ribbons of varying colors, but most remained the now common yellow and black that seemed to be the city's colors.
The kid quickly straightened up. "Sergeant, I was just –"
"I'll tell you what you were just doin', ya' overzealous fool!" the older, and now clearly higher-ranking soldier growled back as he reached Maria and the kid. "You are over steppin' your bounds as the city-guard, that's what y're doin'!" He reached up and slapped the back of the kid's helmet as he finished and nearly knocked it off.
He looked over at Maria and she lowered her hat just in time to avoid him seeing the surprise on her face.
"Sorry for the hold up, witch hunter, y're of course free to go on y're way," he said addressing her, not caring that she was avoiding his gaze. He also put a hand on the kid's shoulder and physically pulled him to the side giving Maria the room to continue forward.
Not wasting the stroke of luck sent her way, Maria immediately walked on pulling Steven along with her. From behind she could hear the kid's voice.
"Sergeant, that witch hunter you just let on through was a woman!"
"Eh? A woman?"
Maria instantly tensed at the sergeant's reaction but a second later she heard another metal clap followed by a grunt and a clang. Still walking, Maria risked a quick glance back to see the guard's helmet on the ground and the sergeant lowering his hand. It seemed he had smacked the back of the kid's head again.
"I don't care if she was a cross-dressin' dwarf skipping along the road and singing an elvish hymn!" the sergeant scolded angrily as the kid bent down to retrieve his helmet. "You see someone wearing the sigil of the Order of the Silver Hammer and you give them the respect they deserve! I see you pull another stunt like that and…"
Their voices faded away as Maria kept her pace and continued down the main road through the city of Nuln.
That was way too close… but what did he say about that sigil? She looked down at herself and the unmarked coat she wore before her gaze fell on the badge still pinned to her chest.
So, this is obviously the sigil of the order of the silver hammer… and that order is apparently filled with people referred to as witch hunters… and these witch hunters, or at least the people in the order, are so well regarded that the sergeant back there was willing to let a, um, a cross-dressing dwarf skipping down the road while singing an elvish hymn into the city without question…?
Maria looked back up and began taking in all the city of Nuln had to offer. "Hello to this planet's version of Spectre level authority," she said with a small smile. "I am absolutely, positively keeping the coat and hat."
/ooooooo\
It wasn't until she was walking the busy stone streets of Nuln that Maria realized just how stressed out she'd been over the last nine days. Now inside a city of this weird planet, she felt herself beginning to relax thanks to the urban atmosphere. As an orphan back on Earth she lived on the streets of the sprawling mega-cities. It obviously wasn't what she was used to when compared to Earth or the Citadel, but at its most basic, a city was a city.
This was familiar to her; and as she walked down the streets Maria began falling immediately back into old, well-learned habits.
She couldn't speak the language, and she couldn't read the language, but landmarks and unique buildings would always be there for her to see and remember. Plus, it wasn't hard to guess what most of the building were as she walked past them. A bakery was a bakery, homes were homes, shops were shops, and a bar was a bar.
And wholly crap was there a lot of buildings. If Parravon and Bretonnia represented the middle ages of Earth, then the Empire was certainly past that and now in the renaissance. With a vast understanding and use of gunpowder weaponry based on the number of muzzle loaded pistols and rifles being carried by civilians and soldiers alike.
She had arrived at Nuln in the morning but now the sun was directly above her head, and Maria had spent all the morning hours simply walking the city. It had taken her about half that time to walk the side of the city she had entered through, before then making the, actually pretty cool, trip over the giant metal drawbridge that stretched over the widest part of the river. The opposite bank was clearly far more important, and wealthy, based on the quality and size of the buildings now surrounding her.
And that wasn't even taking into account that this side of the city had the factories blowing the thick black smoke she had first seen, a very large walled off area reserved strictly for the army, Maria realized seeing the sheer number of troops garrisoned inside the city, and the impressive palace located on the top of the tallest hill within the city.
But what really mattered to Maria, more than any other building, was the gigantic, cathedral-like structure she now stood in front of. It mattered because she recognized the type of people walking around, the thigs they were carrying, and the number of smaller building directly surrounding the larger building that these people continually entered and exited.
This was the city's center for learning and knowledge. A primitive representation of the universities back on Earth. And as Maria had learned as a child, these types of building always had a library; and that was just what she needed.
Unfortunately, as much as Maria wanted to get in there and learn what this planet was and how the hell Vampires and humanoid rats could even exist in the first place, she wasn't exactly prepared to just spend the rest of the day with her nose buried in books she couldn't even read yet.
She needed a safe base of operations. And by base of operations, she meant book a room at one of the many inns she had passed throughout the city. Not too mention find a safe place to drop off her horse. But she didn't want to draw to much attention to herself, so as Maria walked back through the city looking for the perfect place, she took off the badge pinned to her coat and stuffed it back into the inside breast pocket. These witch hunters were too easily recognized for her to wear it all day long.
On her side of the river near the shoreline and the uncountable number of docks covering every square inch, Maria found a place she liked. And it had absolutely, positively nothing to do with the fact that there was a big furry bear sitting on its rear with a smile across its face on the inn's sign hanging above the doorway.
Out of habit she didn't just walk over and enter the building. She stood across the street holding Steven's head in her hands as she gently stroked his nose, watching everyone that walked down the street and those who entered the inn. This allowed her to get a feel for the type of people she would be dealing with over the coming days.
Any concerns she originally had were quickly washed away as most of the inn's guests seemed to be sailors coming off the docks, as well as, figuratively speaking, well-dressed travelers leaving the ferries that had transported them to Nuln. More importantly, directly behind the three-story building was a small stable where a number of horses were being cared for by those who clearly worked for, or with, the same people running the inn. This was only confirmed when two soldiers wearing uniforms of red and white left the inn and immediately went back to the stables where they each retrieved a horse with aid of one of the stable hands.
Maria had to smirk as she watched them ride off down the street. "Wow, they have valets for horses. Guess that makes sense, all thing considered."
She then reached back into one of the saddle bags and pulled out the small leather purse of coins Vincent had thoughtfully packed away for her journey. Inside the purse she had twelve gold coins and eighteen silver coins. Not knowing in the slightest how much wealth this actually is was a big problem, but one she wasn't going to worry over as of yet. Maria was confident she'd learn quickly and by the time that happened she was also confident that 'finding' some more coins wouldn't be too hard in the big city.
Yet another useful skill she'd picked up in her youth.
"Come on, Steven. Let's meet the locals." She put the purse of coins in one of the coats deep pockets and pulled the horse across the street.
There were two younger men working in the stables and as soon as Maria and Steven got close the nearest stopped what he was doing and jogged up to her, reacting on impulse to the sound of hooves on the stone street.
Funnily enough though as soon as the man looked up to see the approaching customer, Maria watched him nearly stumble, stop dead in his tracks with a look of horror on his face, and then resume his jog with one of the poorest forced smiles Maria had ever seen.
It took nearly everything she had not to laugh at the young man's reaction to seeing her. He wasn't happy but damn if he wasn't going to do his job.
"Er, um, hello… witch hunter?" The young man smiled with a missing front tooth under a head of shaggy brown hair. His inflection on the words 'witch hunter' made it clear he was skeptical at her appearance. "Wha' can I do you for?"
Maria frowned and looked around the stable, before looking back at the man with a cocked eyebrow. What the hell do you think I'm doing standing at a stable with a horse's reins in my hand?
The man got the message and seemed to cringe under Maria's gaze.
"Right, well, yes… of course, of course. Well its, um, four pennies a day to keep a horse here," he began explaining quickly. "Feed and care, we'll keep 'um happy while you go about your busy day… whatever your day may include. Not that I'm pryin' into your day tho'."
Four pennies? Maria reached into her pocket and pulled out her coin purse. I don't know what a penny is but I'm betting it's less than a silver coin… I hope…
She pulled out two of her silver coins and held them out to the young man. He took them but held them up in the air with a frown. But after the moment of inspection he looked back at her with a shrug.
"You've bought y'reself six days witch hunter," the young man replied. He stepped forward and took the horse's reins from her hand.
Just as he turned away Maria reached out and firmly grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. At her urging he turned back around with slight apprehension on his face.
Maria let go of his shoulder and held up two more silver coins. She looked him right in the eye as she pointed a finger at his chest and then moved the finger to her horse. Then she took the coins and directly deposited it into the young man's shit pocket, holding his eyes all the while with her own.
The young man's own eyes glanced over to the horse and jumped right back to Maria. He slowly nodded in understanding, and seemed to straighten up a little more.
"We'll take good care of him," he said seriously.
Maria gave him a nod in return but kept her stare. You better…
She took Steven's head in her hands and gave his nose a gentle scratch, then stepped back and allowed the young man to lead him into the stables.
Paying him off was a gamble, but after his reaction at seeing her, Maria guessed it was better to keep the people she met happily ignorant rather than curious. But that thought only made her cringe as she entered the inn, because the last thing Maria could afford at this point was making everybody she met wealthy. Things were bad enough when she had been chasing down Saren and the Geth and forced to buy her own equipment.
And the Council wondered why so many shops across the Citadel carried an endorsement from her.
The interior of the inn was clean enough. Wooden floors with area rugs, a chandelier covered with lit candles, the main entry way had a reception desk with a middle-aged woman with dark brown curly hair just past her shoulders and wearing modest dress, smiling as she helped a trio of sailors either check in or out. On one side of the hall was a doorway leading to a small lounge while the other side appeared to feature a bar and dining room. A pair of staircases at the far end led to the second story.
All in all it was basically a primitive version of what Maria was already used to back in Alliance space. Nothing to brag about but nice enough Maria wasn't to worried about staying the night.
The trio of sailors stepped away from reception as they laughed and bade their farewells to the lady at the desk. They completely ignored Maria as she passed them but the woman's smile faded quickly at seeing her approach. Just like the man at the stables though, she quickly collected herself.
"Welcome to the Laughing Bear Inn," the woman began, all smiles, "my name is Raine Valantina. How may I help you, uh… I'm sorry, would you prefer 'my lady' or are you truly affiliated with the Iron Tower? I'm afraid I've never heard of a woman joining their order."
Crap not this again… I really didn't think this through…
Maria made sure she kept a warm smile on her own face as she just shrugged in response to the woman's question, and then quickly pointed to the staircases leading to the second story and the rooms located there.
Raine leaned over her desk to follow Maria's finger. She gave a quizzical look. "Um… are you? Would you be interested in booking a room with us?"
Maria's smile widened, and she nodded in reply.
Raine looked back at her and seemed a little conflicted but nonetheless kept her smile. "Well… alright then. Never let it be said the Laughing Bear Inn would turn away the templars of Sigmar's justice."
She looked down at a ledger on the desk and grabbed a feathered quill. "Its two shillings a night for a room," she began explaining. "All our guests are treated to a free breakfast, but any further meals will cost extra. How long will you plan on staying with us?"
Maria reached into her pocket and pulled out her coin purse, and placed two gold coins onto the desk in front of the woman.
Now Raine finally lost her smile as she stared at the two coins. "Twenty nights?" she asked looking back at Maria. "Is your business in Nuln really going to take that long?"
Once again all Maria could do was shrug in return and try to placate the woman with another smile. I honestly have no idea lady…
Raine picked up the two gold coins and her brow creased as she flipped them over in her hand.
"Are you a Bretonnian?" she asked.
Maria shook her head.
"Do you speak Bretonnian?" she asked next.
Again, Maria shook her head.
There was a pause as Raine just stared at Maria with just a twinge of sympathy showing.
"Can you speak at all?"
Now Maria finally delivered a nod.
"Is this, then, some sort of vow of silence thing?" Raine asked, curious.
Oh, come on, this is just getting to be ridiculous. Maria did her best not to show it but her frustration over the amount of questions must have shown through, and before she had a chance to respond Raine gave a light, uncomfortable laugh.
"I am so sorry. I shouldn't be prying into a witch hunters' business, your business, of course. If what you want is a room, then you'll have a room." She took the two gold coins Maria gave her and placed them in a wooden box on her desk.
"Can you at least tell me your name?" she asked hesitantly.
Maria smiled and let out a breath of relief. Finally, she was getting somewhere.
"Maria Shepard."
Raine took her quill and wrote Maria's name down in her ledger. "Maria Shepard… that's a pretty name." She glanced up from her book and had an inquisitive smile. "Sounds almost Estalian, wouldn't you say?"
Or maybe not… Maria didn't slam her forehead onto the desk despite the strong urge to do so, and instead ignored the question entirely. Luckily for her, Raine didn't take things any farther than that last quip. She instead finished taking down Maria's name and then retrieved a key from beneath the desk.
"You'll have room eighteen," she said walking around reception to join Maria. "Its up on the second story and has a nice view of the docks. If you would please follow me."
Maria's room also happened to be the last one down the hall away from the stairs, which she took as a blessing, since the noise from the number of shoes traveling up and down the wooden steps was a little loud for her liking. And when Raine unlocked the door to the room it also meant she occupied the corner of the building and had two windows, one on each wall.
"Here you are then," Raine said, stepping back from the door to allow Maria entrance.
Her room had a bed that could have comfortably fit two people on it, a nightstand with a candle next to it. Across from the bed was a tall wardrobe, fit in the corner between the two windows. A small desk and chair was placed directly next to the door on one side, and on the other, was a dresser with a second candle.
Maria had a large smile on her face as she went directly for the bed and gave it a gentle pat with her gloved hand. The basics were here for her and it was a marked improvement to sleeping in the woods. All of this would suit her needs perfectly.
"Privies are located on the first floor," Raine explained as she watched Maria. "Meals are served in the dining hall until midnight and reopens again just before dawn for breakfast, but our lounge has a bar that is open at all hours and serves light snacks if you wish something with your drink.
"Here's your key," she said placing it down on the desk. "Please leave it with us at the front desk should you venture out into the city. We don't want anyone losing them after all. Someone will always be there at all hours so don't worry about coming back late.
"And that's about it," she finished clasping her hands in front of herself. "If you need anything else just – well… I was about to say 'just ask', but all things considered…" she gave Maria a shrug with a smile. "We'll work something out, I'm sure."
With that she left the room, closing the door behind herself.
Maria sat down on the bed and took off her hat, quickly running a hand through her hair, before making a few test bounces on the bed. It didn't squeak, and it didn't groan with the threat of breaking at any moment.
"Well… its not the Normandys captain's quarters, but it'll do," she said happily. Getting off the bed she went to the windows and checked to ensure they could be locked, which they could be, and then she grabbed the key off the desk and left her newly acquired room, locking the door behind herself.
With her lodgings secured she hopped down the stairs to deposit her key with the innkeeper only to find, not just Raine at the desk, but the stable hand Maria had left her horse with, alongside another man who was checking the inn's ledger.
The stable hand was trying to explain something to the small group while being hurriedly shushed by Raine as Maria approached the desk.
Maria held up her key and placed it on the desk for woman to see but before she could leave the group the man offered her his hand across the desk with a large smile.
"Maria Shepard, is it?" He must have looked up her name from the book. "Welcome to the Laughing Bear Inn. I'm the owner, Antonio Valentina. You've met my wife Raine, it seems."
Maria smiled back and returned the handshake, noting the man's firm grip as well as the way his eyes darted quickly over her, seemingly taking in every detail of her person.
"Room to your liking I hope?" he asked her as they parted hands.
Maria nodded and Antonio chuckled in response. "Raine wasn't lying about you. Woman of few words, you are. No matter. I hope your stay is a relaxing and uneventful one, my lady."
Maria gave him another smile as she left the inn, but it vanished as soon as her feet hit the open street. Antonio Valentina's smile was just a little too good and the way he gave her a looking over, he was searching for something.
In short, he was smarter than he looked and was obviously trying to find out if she was a threat to whatever he was hiding. And since she was pretending to be someone of legal authority it was obvious who he must be. He was a criminal. And Maria knew this because she had met plenty of his type running with the gangs back on Earth.
Because why not, she sighed, cursing her luck. All she had wanted was a nice place to spend the night and instead she dresses herself up as some sort of officer and takes a room at this cities' version of mafia HQ. Hopefully this wouldn't go any further than it already had, and Maria had no intention of poking her nose into the man's business anytime soon.
/ooooooo\
As Maria entered the dominating cathedral in the center of the district she had discovered as Nuln's center of learning, the first thing she noticed was the smell. It wasn't a bad smell, quite the opposite in fact, it was just a smell she hadn't encountered in years and at this very moment Maria never realized how much she had missed it.
Books. Actual, physical, books, composed of glued and knit spines with pieces of paper covered in ink locked securely inside.
Thanks in no small part to the passage of time and the increase in technology, back on Earth there were very few libraries that could claim to be filled entirely with paper books. This was of course obviously justifiable; paper rots, and the knowledge a paper book contained became gradually threatened over the decades and centuries. Almost everything was digital nowadays, across the whole of Citadel space and across every species, with books becoming relics of a distant age.
But on this world of steel just barely into the gunpowder age, they were everywhere.
Many of Maria's only fond childhood memories were spent inside of libraries like this one, and every time she was able, she would read from a paper book rather than their digital counterparts. And here in this renaissance style university, she was surrounded by hundreds of them.
And at that moment the other shoe dropped, and Maria's face of excitement transformed into an epic pout of dismay and panic.
She couldn't read the language.
"Well then…" Maria reached inside her coat and pulled out the silver badge she had hidden earlier. Now wasn't a time for subtlety, she needed help and it was time to see how much authority she wielded.
She pinned the badge to the front of her coat. "Let's get to it."
Making her way through the library's main hall, which was proving easy once again thanks to the combined effect of her hat, coat and badge, with the random patrons and students all actively staying out of her way; Maria kept her eyes open for someone who appeared to work for the university.
Luckily, she didn't have to go far since Maria spotted a desk lining the far wall occupied by men who were all wearing purple sashes over their shoulders along with ribbons of varying colors looped around their necks and tied off at the left shoulder. These men were either nose deep in books with quills in hand or digging through carts behind them filled with discarded books and scrolls.
They had to be working for the university, so Maria headed toward them. On her way she picked out the man seated on the far left from the rest of the group as her target. He had a wide array of colorful ribbons across his chest, which Maria took as a good sign, and with a head of grey hair tied off into a ponytail in the back, she hoped he was old enough to both offer her advice, and patient enough to work through the language gap.
Just as Maria reached the desk and stood across from him, the man let out a heavy, exasperated sigh without looking up from the scroll he was working on, and in an extremely bored voice said, "Yes? Yes? What can I do for you today?"
Maria took a deep breath and went all in.
"Hello. My name is Maria Shepard. Do you understand a single word I'm saying, or am I going to be forced to mime everything I do from her on out?"
The man immediately put down his quill and looked up at her with a frown on his face.
"What did you just say?" he asked, his eyes quickly darting to the silver badge on her chest.
"My name is Maria Shepard, and do you understand me?" she repeated.
After a single tense second the man hopped to his feet with a smile on his face. He quickly walked around the desk to join Maria's side.
"How delightfully unexpected!" he began cheerfully offering Maria his hand and shaking it vigorously when she accepted. "A foreigner, and a witch hunter to boot! This is going to brighten up my day wonderfully." He stepped back and offered a slight bow before her. "Nikolaus Ebner, at your service, my lady."
He stood back up and gave her a curious look. "No offense intended, but you are a lady, aren't you? Maria sounds a little feminine but you can never tell with foreign lands these days."
Completely taken aback by his cheery attitude, but still a little insulted, all Maria could do was nod slowly.
"Oh, wonderful! Well then let's get down to business." He clasped his hands behind his back, stood straight and took on a professional demeanor. "Welcome to the University of Nuln, the greatest center of learning and knowledge in the old world, equaled only in size and scope by the schools in Altdorf. How may I assist a member of the silver hammer this day?"
Maria had to blink a few times as her brain caught up to what had happened. "Wait, so… you understood everything I said to you earlier?"
"Of course," Nikolaus responded, taking on a thoughtful expression. "I recognize the traces of a northern accent, but not directly of Kislev or Praag. There are elements of the dialect used by the inhabitants of Albion, before the curse befell that land, of course…
"Its not a language I have heard spoken outside of the classroom but luckily for you, my lady, I am well versed in the art. Now what can I do for you?"
Maria couldn't stop the wide smile on her face or the cheer in her voice. "This is fantastic! Okay, well… alright, I need help finding out where I am on this planet, so first thing I'll need is a map. A big one, biggest you've got, and not only that but I'll also need a more detailed map of the Empire itself. I'm going to need to get better acquainted with the country I'm going to be living in for the foreseeable future.
"Preferably I could also use anything you've got on the location of this world in relation to the stars in the sky. How many planets are in this solar system, how many moons does it have, and why is one of the moons green for that matter? Any star maps you have, I'll take. It's a long shot but maybe I'll discover where I am inside the milky way.
"Then I'm going to need some books on the history of this world. However far back when people first started to record events on paper. And now that I think it, screw that and give me the first cave drawings, I don't care what it really is, just as long as it records something that happened in the past. I need to know how the hell all the things around here actually got started and maybe try to make sense of the weird crap I've experienced so far.
"And speaking of weird stuff, I'll need some information on every race that lives on this planet. If it walks and talks, I want to know about it and what it fights for. I want to know where it lives, and I want to know how it came to be. I also want to know about any other creatures on this world. I know that's asking a lot but I don't know what I'm dealing with and what I'm hearing, along with what I've seen, has shaken me up more than when I encountered my first thresher maw. And if you knew what that was, you'd understand, that's saying something."
Maria stopped and took a few breaths, having just talked a mile a minute. She thought on what she had listed, and it seemed a good start. Eventually though having someone around to translate all this knowledge for her was going to get problematic. Bottom line, Maria couldn't rely on the good will of others forever. She wouldn't.
But again, that was a problem for another day.
She then noticed Nikolaus still standing in front of her, looking down at the ground with a cringe on his face.
He glanced back up at her and tried to smile. "Well this is embarrassing. I'm afraid that my language skills aren't all up to par as I had earlier lauded."
Maria's stomach sunk as Nikolaus shrugged in apology.
"Do you mind repeating that, please?"
/ooooooo\
In a room off from the main library, Maria stood alone above a large circular table at least ten feet in diameter. But not an inch of wood of visible beneath the number of maps, charts, scrolls and books piled together. Not to mention her hat.
Several hours had passed, and the sun was partially obscured by the tops of the tallest buildings of Nuln. After a few repeated attempts Nikolaus was proving quite capable at getting her everything she asked for. He mentioned several times it was his honor to aid the order of the silver hammer and Maria was almost beginning to feel guilty for pretending to be a dead man. Almost… except for the fact it was getting her anything she wanted.
She had learned a lot since first arriving on this world.
The Empire was one nation out of many on this planet, but it was the most powerful belonging to the humans by a wide margin. Good news there, she supposed.
It was composed of ten provinces, originally twelve but two had been destroyed by war and merged with their neighbors, and these provinces were Reikland, Wissenland, Talabecland, Middenland, Averland, Hochland, Nordland, Ostland, Ostermark, and Stirland. Each of these provinces was ruled over by a single individual who held the political and military rank of Elector Count. They were responsible for the governance and security of their appointed realm.
Ultimate power in the Empire, however, resided with the elected Emperor. This Emperor was voted into office by the Elector Counts and was always one of their number. Though this election process could prove difficult from time to time, and had even dissolved to the point of civil war between the provinces, most of the time once an Emperor was elected, everyone obeyed regardless what province the one voted in came from.
Each province had its own military of professional soldiers and each would donate its armies to a Grand Imperial Army should the Emperor declare an opponent to dangerous for any one province to fight alone.
There were four exceptional places of note though within the Empire's territory that bared unique significance. Four large cities, city-states to be accurate, that were so important and so powerful that they had their own economies and military entirely separate from their province; even though each of these four city-states served as their own provinces' capital.
These places were Altdorf, capital of Reikland, the current Imperial capital and home of the reigning Emperor. Also considered to be the most important and powerful of all the city-states.
Nuln, capital of Wissenland, the place Maria currently found herself. It had once been considered the most important and powerful but after losing the seat of the Empire's capital to Altdorf, its political and economic importance had declined somewhat.
Middenheim, capital of Middenland, a city built on top of a massive mountain plateau. Curiously while Altdorf and Nuln jockeyed for the claim of the most powerful and important city-state within the Empire, Middenheim's claim to be the second most powerful has never been in dispute regardless of the outcome between the others.
And finally, Talabheim, capital of Talabecland, a city located in the center of large forested area known simply as the Great Forest. Built inside a huge shallow crater, the city is considered a safe haven from the dangers that hunt those passing through the forest. Small consolation for those inside, since the city is widely known for its high corruption and black-market economy.
The general area of land claimed by the Empire was known collectively as the Old World. This did in some small part include the nation to the south, known as Bretonnia and the human nation directly to the north of the Empire, known as Kislev. The Grey Mountains to the south separated the two nations of Bretonnia and the Empire, while the mind boggling long and massive mountain range to the east, known as the Worlds Edge Mountains, formed a natural barrier of its own.
This geographical advantage is what led the Empire to its current status as an economic and military power house.
That, along with the fact that the Empire had a college in Altdorf entirely devoted to the practice and mastering of magical powers which could contain as much destructive force as a tactical nuclear warhead.
Magic. The singular word made Maria's head swim. And she would have dismissed it as crazy talk if it weren't for the fact she had witnessed it twice already in action since her arrival on the planet. Biotic powers on their own were weird enough for most species in the galaxy to accept, but they were proven through science. The magic here was other-worldly in its scope and possibilities. And she meant the phrase other-worldly. The inhabitants of this planet claimed that the 'winds of magic' as it were, was a force outside of their own realm.
Maria was putting that whole subject on hold until she could get a grip on the next thing that made her head hurt.
Humans weren't the only species on this planet. There were other creatures living here and some of them were beyond dangerous and imagination.
Firstly, if she was going by the history of the Empire, were the Dwarfs. A human that was a little too short, a lot to wide, and way stronger than any human could hope to be. Maria had pictures of them in front of her. Some were literally as wide at the shoulder as they were tall and packed with muscle. According to the history of the Empire, they were also the closest military, political and economic allies of the humans, more so than any other race on the planet. A dwarf's honor and courage were without question, period, while their stubbornness was the stuff of legend. A dwarf could live longer than several human lifetimes and had the stamina of several more, capable of working or fighting longer than most other creatures on the planet.
They lived in the mountains, mining out the centers of the largest ones deep into the ground. These mountain holds were bigger than even the largest city of men, and nearly unconquerable.
A long time ago when humans still lived in hide huts and hunted with spears the dwarfs were the most powerful race on the planet, with their own realm known as the Karaz Ankor, stretching across the surface of several continents. But many centuries ago a great and terrible event of tectonic proportions caused earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on a massive scale. Whole mountains crumbled to the ground taking the dwarfs and their cities with them in the devastation.
What survives of the dwarfs now is only a fraction of what they had but they protect their surviving holds with the stubbornness they are known for. They are still considered one of the primary powerhouses of the planet and consistently work with the Empire to protect order in a land of growing chaos.
The second race worth note were the Asur, or High Elves, as the humans called them. They were also humanoid, in that they looked exactly like humans but were on average taller, a little thinner, had more angular faces, and most obvious of all, pointed ears. They were also considered to be an ally of the Empire as well as a valuable trade partner, just not on the same scale as the dwarfs.
Mainly because their home wasn't even on the same landmass. The high elves lived on a ring-shaped island in the center of the ocean hundreds of miles off the Empire's west coast. But this island was so large that it was considered to be its own continent.
An elf was a being invariably tied to magic itself. What this truly meant, Maria had no idea, maybe it had the same effect Asari experienced since every member of that species could become a biotic, but it seemed that it gave the high elves distinct advantages. For one they lived even longer than the dwarfs, by several centuries in fact. And despite being somewhat sinewy in appearance an elf was blessed with unrivaled dexterity and agility that was honed over the centuries, making their career soldiers some of the deadliest on the planet. This natural skill has also led the elves to be… well, arrogant is the only word. They look down on others for not possessing the vast wisdom and foresight of their own kind, and this has led to some tense relations with other species.
It was the elves that gave mankind the magic they wield today. A long time ago there was a terrible war fought between the Empire and savage invaders from the far north that pushed the humans to the breaking point. An elf, who was still alive today in fact, claimed to see potential in the humans as firm allies against rising attacks by chaos ravaged invaders. So he travelled to the Empire and personally oversaw the training of the first human wizards and the construction of the magical colleges in Altdorf.
Unfortunately, just like the dwarfs, most of the high elves golden years were behind them. Their race was embroiled in a terrible civil war that has been fought for the last six thousand years to this very day. And even as that war had raged on, the high elves once made colonies on the shores of the old world, back during the same period of time the dwarfs were first making contact with the humans. With near opposites of personality and culture, the elves and dwarfs were instantly wary of one another but eventually managed to form bonds of friendship and alliance.
These bonds were almost immediately destroyed by elves too arrogant to admit their mistakes and dwarfs too stubborn to back down from a personal insult. A war was fought back when both these peoples were at their zenith and the toll inflicted on each was tremendous, eventually leading to a total withdrawal from their established colonies in the old world by the elves. From what Maria had been able to understand, neither side trusted the other to this very day; with only the Empire ever able to bring the two peoples together as a trusted go-between.
Three species in total. The humans, dwarfs and high elves. This was what amounted to this planet's version of the Citadel races. Three species working together, dedicated to law and order.
And that was the extent of the good news…
Maria took a seat at the table and ran both her hands through her hair before looking to a portion of the table she had piled a specific number of books together.
This was her, 'what the crap?!', 'how the hell?!', and 'avoid at all costs!' pile. A stack of the most wretched and evil things this this world had to offer. And the stack dominated the area, casting a large shadow over the rest of the table.
Skaven, a race of intelligent rats, who she had first met when she was dumped on this world. Their vile schemes and subversions had seen the Empire and the dwarfs suffer greatly over the ages.
Orcs and Goblins. Savage and primitive but occasionally cunning beyond the norm, they were green skinned humanoids; with the goblins as the more human sized of the two, while the larger orcs had the height and strength to batter any human to death with their bare hands in a one on one fight. Mostly residing in the mountains, they were a constant thorn in the side of the dwarfs since the dawn of time, but their armies had ravaged nearly every other race on the planet. Including the high elves, when an orc or goblin warboss got ambitious enough.
Then there were the Beastmen. Maria had seen only three of their kind, but thanks to what she had read… They were ravaging monsters, pure and simple. Dedicated to the destruction and ruin of everything. Worse still, whole armies of their kind could disappear into the forests of the Empire, waiting until the perfect moment to strike again.
Across the ocean and beyond the island of the high elves, lived their darker, eviler cousins, the Druchii, or Dark Elves as the rest of the world called them. Their origins went back six thousand years when a dispute for the next ruler of the high elves led to the outbreak of civil war. Eventually the high elves achieved a victory of sorts and banished all the rebels from their island for the rest of time. The survivors of this forced exile made their new homes on another continent and ever since have fought the high elves. The Dark Elves are beyond cruel. Practiced in the art of torture, deception, slavery, assassination, and having all the time in the world their long lives grant them to perfect their merciless crafts. Their leader is the very same elf who first started the war by claiming himself the next king of the high elves. It was undisputed by all, that he was considered one of the most deadly and dangerous beings in the whole world.
Vampires. Hailing from a portion of the province of Stirland, known as Sylvania, these masters of the night had waged open war against the Empire three times in the past. And all three times had nearly brought humanity to its knees. Nowadays Vampires remained in hiding, with most witch hunters and others knowledgeable in the subject, becoming more concerned by the day with the increased undead activity residing in Sylvania.
If Maria hadn't seen the skeletons for herself, she would have dismissed the claims of the dead coming back to life as ludicrous. It took Cerberus two years, billions of credits, and the best minds in the galaxy to bring her back with all the advanced technology the galaxy had to offer. Yet all a Vampire had to do was wave its hand and the dead walked again under their thrall.
Maria raised her hand and stared. Somehow that Vampire back at Blood Keep and made both their hands disappear behind a cloud of darkness before saying she was favored by something, or whatever, named Ulgu.
Magic… With a sigh Maria let her hand drop. Once again, this other-worldly power was a concept that led up to the last and most dangerous of all the threats the Empire faced.
Far to the north, near the pole of the world, was a barren, desolate landscape. Yet somehow people lived up there, with their whole culture devoted to war. Self-proclaimed Warriors of Chaos, these nomadic peoples would at seemingly random times come down from their northern realm and wage devastating wars against everyone and anyone in their path.
You wouldn't expect a loose gathering of rampaging hordes hailing from a brutal landscape to be much of a threat, until you factored in their benefactors.
Their gods, if the stories were to be believed; and the numberless daemon armies under their command.
What she had read was impossible for Maria to accept. Daemons. True monsters from the depths of hell. If she didn't have the pictures, if she didn't have the first-hand accounts of the hundreds of thousands that had fought and died against these horrors, Maria would have dismissed all of this as nonsense; yet here the evidence was. But it was still an incredibly hard pill to swallow.
A long time ago on Earth everybody knew the world was flat. Everybody knew that the sun and the rest of the planets in the solar system orbited the Earth. And not so long ago everybody knew that the Prothean Empire built the mass relays and there was no such thing as a Reaper.
Maria Shepard was the poster girl for proving the impossible, but truth be told, she didn't want these things to be real. There had to be a realistic explanation for the things that were happening on this world. And she was going to find the cause of it all, because if the phrase 'other-worldly' described anything, it described her.
A knock on the door pulled Maria out of her thoughts and she turned to see Nikolaus enter with a degree of difficulty since he had a pair of leather satchels looped over each shoulder and a stack of books in his arms.
He dumped everything onto the table, with a loud huff from the exertion.
"Oh my," he said breathing heavily, "I haven't had to carry this much knowledge in a single go for quite some time." Pulling the two bags of his shoulders he dropped them to the ground and began pulling out another group of scrolls and books stuffed within.
"These are the star charts we have for your review," he explained holding up several scrolls for Maria to see. "Although to be perfectly fair, nothing we have on hand will rival the degree of accuracy and detail by those maps controlled by the Celestial College in Altdorf.
"I can make a request to the college on your behalf," Nikolaus stated as he tried his best to organize the books and scrolls he had added to the mess already on the table, "but it will take time for the message to be sent, reviewed and granted by the Patriarchs of the college. I'm sure they will speed things along if you make said request as a member of the order of the silver hammer."
Maria shook her head. "Let's hold off until I see what you folks have for me first."
Nikolaus shrugged. "Very well." He stood beside the table in silence with Maria and looked over the entire pile.
"If you don't mind me asking," he began slowly and with care, "why are you here witch hunter?"
Well wasn't that the million-credit question. Ignoring the broader aspect, Maria answered him directly.
"I needed information," she replied simply. "A library seemed like the best place to start. It's worked for me in the past at least."
Nikolaus cleared his throat with a cough. "Forgive me. I meant to ask, why are you here in the university when your brothers-in-arms and fellow members of the silver hammer are working together in the Iron Tower."
Maria tensed as she realized what he was getting at. The Iron Tower was a prison and military headquarters located on one of the two islands in the center of the river running through Nuln. The order of the silver hammer had claimed the place as their own and ran it with absolute authority. Basically, it was witch hunter HQ for the entire province and filled with people dressed exactly like her, with many them real members of the order, not imposters.
Since learning of the place she had planned to make every effort to avoid it.
"I'm sure there's someone on hand who could handle translating these texts just as easily for you," Nikolaus continued. "Not to mention the vast store of knowledge the order keeps hoarded away for themselves. Whatever your looking for, I'm certain you'd find answers with them quicker than working on your own here."
Maria stood from her chair and slowly stretched out her stiff back and neck muscles. Trying to stay relaxed and in control. Nikolaus had helped her get everything she needed and had done a perfect job of translating the texts. But if she couldn't placate his curiosity, their time together would be cut short.
"Obviously, I'm not from her, Nikolaus," Maria began, hands on her hips. "The last thing I want is to broadcast the fact I'm an outsider who can't even speak the native language… yet. Coming here was simply making the best choice of those available to me."
"So why are you here?" Nikolaus asked directly. "What does a witch hunter hope do gain with all of this?" He spread out his hands at the table with the books and scrolls piled together. His eyes met hers and his were filled with suspicion. "A vast amount of what you've asked for and had me help you understand is common knowledge to even the peasants of Bretonnia. I'm surprised the order of the silver hammer has someone within their ranks so… ill equipped to face the greater world."
Looked like he wasn't willing to let her off the hook so easily. Honestly, Maria should have seen this coming. You can't pretend to be a police officer and order people about without someone finally asking for reliable identification. She had hoped the badge on her chest would have continued to keep the questions at bay, but all things considered, it would be someone as well educated as those working in a university, to begin asking the things others would simply let go.
"All very good points," Maria replied. Picking up her hat and taking all the time she wanted to put it on her head, Maria then began gathering up the scrolls that had the star maps Nikolaus had just delivered.
"I'm… actually not sure myself as to why I'm here," she said slowly, her mind racing for an explanation. "One second you're just trying to live your life and then, bam, everything you thought you knew is turned upside down and inside out.
"Can I borrow this?" she asked picking up one of the leather bags. Nikolaus nodded, so Maria carefully began filling it up with the star maps.
"I'm here because no one else can be trusted with the job," Maria began with a bit more confidence. "You're absolutely, positively right. I know almost nothing about this world and I've only been a witch hunter for a very, very short period of time."
Having finished filling up the sack, Maria secured the satchel's buckles and lifted it over her head, nearly knocking her hat off in the process, so it hung at her hip.
Adjusting her hat once again, Maria continued, "This is the first stage of Operation Fire… Cobra… Claw. Yes, so… uh, so I need to learn everything I can, as fast as I can about the Empire from an unbiased source, such as yourself, and once I'm familiar with the area at large, I'll move onto the second part of the operation.
"Which I'm afraid is classified," Maria added quickly. "Got to keep things close to the chest for now. Witch Hunter business and all that. Can't be too careful. Not with vampires, orcs and skaven wandering about."
She stopped talking and looked down at the table, her mess of books on top of it, before glancing back up to Nikolaus.
"Thank you for all your help, it truly means a lot," she said honestly. "For now I'm going to study these star maps, but after I'm done I'll stop back here and ask for your help translating a few more things for me. At least until I can get the basics down of, um… what did you call the language again?"
"The language of the Empire is called 'Reikspiel'," Nikolaus replied.
"Yes, reikspiel, thank you." Maria stood silent for a moment. "Actually sounds fairly German to me, but I guess if French was already taken, why not German for the Empire, right?
"Well I'm off then. Thanks again for your help," she said while turning around and heading for the door, but she stopped and spun around as soon as her hand touched the handle.
"Oh, and don't tell anyone about my mission, or why you're helping me," Maria ordered quickly, trying to level a stern but not to stern glare at Nikolaus. "My operation could become compromised if any other witch hunter finds out about me. This is my first mission for the order of the silver hammer and I don't want to screw it up."
Nikolaus's face was unreadable but her gave her a slight bow. "Understood, my lady."
Maria smiled. "Great, okay then. Thanks again." With that she left the room and closed the door behind herself.
And then promptly bent down, put her face in her hands, and did her best to stifle a loud moan. After a five count she stood back up, making a brisk pace through the library, and back onto the streets of Nuln.
"Operation Fire, Cobra, Claw?" Maria groaned as she walked back to the Laughing Bear Inn. "Way to keep your cool, Shepard."