Chapter 19 - The Network.
After the orcs had sacked Stormwind thirty years ago, the Horde occupied the ruined city for several years. They kept human slaves for labor, and used the city as a base of operations as they crushed the remaining resistance before the war moved north to Kaz Modan. When the city was finally liberated, only a handful of buildings remained. The new city was designed outward from these structures. These buildings still stood today, and were called Old Town by Stormwind's modern inhabitants. It was little more than a slum, where the city's poor congregated and the guards rarely traveled.
"But I'm telling you, Mathias Shaw is expecting me."
"And I'm telling you that you're not coming in through this door."
Edwynn ground his teeth in frustration. He had been able to find the house of Mathias Shaw easily enough. It was one of the few structures in Old Town that had glass in the windows. Located next to the city garrison, the building's proximity to the only concentration of guards in the neighborhood probably had something to do with how well kept the structure was. That and the privately paid sentries standing near the door.
"This is important! I have to give him a report!"
"Sure you do, kid." Only one of the guards was doing all the talking. He was young and muscular, but not bulky. Exactly the type of person you did not want to fight. His partner was the first and only gnome Edwynn had ever seen. She sat on a nearby box, silently watching the exchange and occasionally scanning up and down the street to insure Edwynn wasn't acting as a diversion for someone else. Both guards were armed with short swords. Stairs rose up behind the two to a wooden door that looked as though it hadn't been opened in months. A third guard stood in the shadows near that door. His or her features were completely obscured behind a black mask. Only a powerful looking crossbow identified him as a sentry. That weapon had never stopped pointing at Edwynn for a second.
"You're not even giving me a chance." Edwynn ran his hand through his hair. "Jorik sent me to see the network!"
"What network?" There was a gleam of amusement in the guard's eye.
"THE network! You know... the one that Shaw runs. The one that operates out of this building."
"Uh huh." The sentry looked Edwynn up and down. "Let me guess. You want to join up?"
"Actually, I'm already doing work for them. For you, that is. Important work, that Shaw needs to know about."
"Sure you are. What's the password?"
Edwynn blinked several times. Jorik didn't say anything about a password. He hadn't said anything about sentries either. "Uh... password. Sure... Er... can you give me a hint?"
"You want a hint kid?" the gnome spoke up for the first time. "Look around you. See these buildings? This neighborhood? These people? They're starving. They're desperate and dangerous. Some of them would kill for a meal. So if people saw there was work to be found here, they'd be lined up around the corner."
Edwynn opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. The gnome's words rattled around in his head. He was being stupid. What was he doing? He was trying to get in to see the leader of a secret organization of spies and thieves. And how was he doing it? By trying to walk in the front door. Of course they weren't going to just let him in.
"There is no password." Edwynn said at last.
"Right-o" The sentry smiled. "Do you know the secret handshake?"
"There is no secret handshake."
"Right again. And do you know why there is no password and no secret handshake?"
Edwynn chewed on his lower lip for a moment. "Because... there is no network?"
"Bullseye! Now if there was a network, and it did operate out of this building, I'm sure they wouldn't want just any old cutpurse walking in off the street, would they? We're not the thieves guild you know. We've got standards. We demand agility, perception, and subtlety. And my orders are very specific. No one gets in through this door. Period."
Edwynn looked up at the house. Three stories tall, with lots of windows and a gently sloping roof. At least two derelict buildings were crammed against its sides, each one two stories tall. Edwynn felt like an idiot.
"You're right. Sorry to trouble you. I'll just be going on my way now..."
"Just a moment." The figure with the crossbow spoke for the first time. It was a woman, but with a very deep voice. She stepped forward from the shadows and slowly descended the stairs. She moved with a superhuman grace. Her cloths hid the lines of her figure but Edwynn got the impression of a powerful physique. The rogue noticed that the other two sentries were backing away from her with worried looks on their faces. She stopped about five feet away. Edwynn got a closer look at her eyes. They were orange-red, and seemed to be glowing slightly. The olive-green skin across the bridge of her nose was barely visible.
"By the Light!" Edwynn blurted out. "You're an orc!"
"Half-orc, actually." She lowered the crossbow very slightly. "Who did you say sent you?"
"My mentor, Jorik,"
"Jorik Kerridan? Son of Jacob Kerridan?"
"Uh... I don't know his father's name."
"Your mentor you say... Interesting." the half-orc glanced at the the two sentries. The human and the gnome seemed extremely uncomfortable. The woman lowered the crossbow, but Edwynn felt certain that she could kill him with it at a moment's notice.
"Tell me, Jorik Kerridan's disciple. What is your name?"
"Edwynn DeTemms."
"That's enough, assassin!" The human sentry stepped forward. "Leave him be. The boy is here on Network business, not Syndicate."
"You mean... she's not part of the Network?" Edwynn asked.
"No." The half-orc responded. "I work freelance. You should too, if you know what's good for you. The money's better, and you get to choose your assignments."
The gnome muttered under her breath. "Not that anyone would ever hire her again after what happened last time she was here."
The half-orc shot a dark look at the gnome. Her grip tightened on the crossbow. The gnome's hand dropped to her short sword.
"You should get going, Edwynn DeTemms." The green-skinned woman said calmly. "As you can see, tensions are high since my employer arrived. I'd hate for you to get caught up in a...misunderstanding."
Edwynn began stepping away slowly. The stand off showed no sign of letting up.
About thirty paces away he spotted a narrow side alley. He stepped into it and out of sight of the sentries. He then crept through the shadows around to the back of the building.
The back of Shaw's mansion was against the thick outer wall of Stormwind, but the alley did bring him to the rear of the building next to it. That building appeared to have been empty for years. Edwynn crept into an abandoned apartment that reeked of vomit and human filth. Inside he found stairs up to the second level. A couple minutes searching rewarded him with a bedroom that had a narrow balcony. The rogue climbed outside, up a drain, and onto the roof.
Shaw's house had three windows facing his position. Two had glass panes, with curtains drawn and some light peeking out from inside. The third, on the right, was dark and actually had the glass window open. Edwynn stared at it in awe.
'No way does a spymaster leave his windows open. It has to be a trap.'
Edwynn waited a moment while he pondered the two remaining windows. After some time, the light seeping out of the center one was broken by someone moving around.
'One open and empty looking. One guarded. And the third...' Edwynn crept forward to the leftmost window. A gap in the curtains showed him what appeared to be a posh bedroom. Immediately opposite the window was a dresser with a jewelry box lying open. A string of pearls was spilling over the side.
'What do they thick I'm a complete idiot?' Edwynn backed away to consider his options. It was obvious now that all three windows were traps. It was just a matter of choosing which trap to confront. The young rogue chewed his lip for a moment.
'Time to make my own luck.' Edwynn ran towards the windows. At the last second he jumped and scrambled up the wall and onto the roof of Shaw's building.
The top of the building offered Edwynn a spectacular view of the city. To the south was the trade district, where Mallet, Myrista, and Brogan were probably wondering where he was. Beyond that a thick white wizard's tower rose over the mage district. To the west soot and coal dust hung over the dwarven district, casting the light of the recently set sun in a deep purple hue. Just south of the dwarven district was the beautiful Cathedral of Light. White stone and glass spires rose to tower over the city. But even these paled in comparison to Stormwind Keep to the North. Words failed to describe the beauty and majesty of the castle. Battlements and towers dominated the sky. Occasionally griffons could be seen flying in and out of certain balconies, carrying rich or important passengers to various points in the alliance.
Shaw's house had an observatory. The single-room tower with a cone-shaped ceiling had broad glass windows facing each direction. Edwynn approached it and found it unguarded. Having just avoided three obvious traps, he felt safe in his decision to enter from this direction.
Sliding one of the narrow throwing knives along the window's edge, the rogue managed to catch the latch and pull the glass pane open. As quietly as possible, he slipped inside and closed the window behind him. The observatory was empty, and only a single spiral staircase functioned as an exit. Having no real alternative, Edwynn descended.
Oil lanterns dotted the walls every eight feet or so. The staircase was narrow, and would be difficult to fight in. This worried Edwynn no small amount. Luckily no one seemed interested in getting a view of the city at this hour. The stairs ended at a hallway with several doors on each side. Three doors on his right were each placed about as far apart as the windows had been. He assumed that each one lead to one of the trapped rooms he had avoided. Three lanterns, one next to each door, provided the light. Two doors on his left were closed, and could contain anything.
'It's a gauntlet.' He realized suddenly. 'Designed to test would-be members. The sentries below would know if someone was going to come in here. That must mean I'm being watched right now. But where would my observer be?'
Edwynn crouched low and listened. At first he heard nothing except his own racing heart. But after a couple minutes he thought he heard a rough scrape or cough. It came from nearby. The rogue looked and saw that the bricks of the wall nearest the staircase lined up oddly.
'A secret door? Most likely to a hidden hallway. It probably runs parallel to this one so whoever is in it can observe what I'm doing. So how would they see me?'
Edwynn looked carefully along the wall. At irregular intervals, about at waste height, small holes could be seen. They were cleverly designed to look like water damage, or warping in the wood's coloring.
'Okay, so they hide in the hallway and watch. And when they want to ambush me, they come in through the secret door. So what I need to do is...'
As fast as possible Edwynn darted to the closest lantern. He flung it open and blew it out with a sharp breath. He then sprang to the second and repeated the process. On his way to the last lamp he was satisfied to hear a scrambling within the wall. He blew out the last lamp just in time to see a faint light, probably from a candle, coming through the eyeholes. It lasted maybe two seconds before someone extinguished it.
'Now we're both in the dark. But whoever is watching doesn't know that I know where the secret door is.' Edwynn moved back to the spiral staircase. Whoever was in the wall had probably been caught unawares and was now moving towards the door.
Edwynn felt his foot bump into the first stair just as he heard the faint creek of a door opening. A gentle draft could be felt that wasn't there before. His opponent probably thought he was still near the third lamp, and not at the stairs. Hopefully the enemy would enter with his back to him. He drew his pearl-handled dagger.
Edwynn held his breath and waited for any tell-tale sign of his observer. A creak, a noise, anything. Whoever was there had either not moved at all, or was so silent that he couldn't hear them. He continued to wait. Still nothing. Seconds passed, then a full minute. It was agonizing. Somehow his enemy could move in perfect silence. That was the only explanation. He had lost his advantage, he was sure.
Just as he gave up he heard a frustrated exhalation. It was barely two feet away. There was a shuffling and the sound of metal scraping. A spark silhouetted a figure, followed by a second spark, and then dim candlelight. His opponent was right in front of him, facing away.
Edwynn rushed forward. He grabbed the figure's hair and placed his blade to the back of his neck.
"Gotcha!" Edwynn whispered. "Don't move or my blade might slip."
"Funny." Came a strange voice from behind Edwynn as cold steel met his own neck. "I was about to say the same thing."
"Not too bad. Not too bad at all."
Mathias Shaw was shorter than Edwynn expected, with dark hair and hard grey eyes. Edwynn wasn't really certain what he expected a man who ran a network of intelligence gathering and spies to look like. He was dressed in comfortable black cloths that were loose fitting without restraining movement. He carried no visible weapon and seemed perfectly at ease, probably because of the presence of his bodyguard.
Renzik "The Shiv" was an evil looking goblin. Edwynn didn't know much about goblins, except that they were crafty traders who took business matters very very seriously. The creature had huge ears and a massive hooked nose. Its hair and cloths were surprisingly well groomed. It was this monster that had captured Edwynn. The tiny green figure was surprisingly strong, and carried an aura of lethality.
After ambushing him in the hallway, the goblin had taken Edwynn's weapon and brought him via the secret hallway into the main hall of the Network's headquarters. From there they were shown into a large office. Shaw's office. Edwynn had imaged a room full of swords, knives, or other instruments of death. He was quite surprised to find was appeared to be a small library. Books, maps, and scrolls lined the walls. Here the spymaster had been waiting for them.
"So Edwynn, what do you think of S.I.7?"
"S.I.7?" The young rogue asked.
"That's what we call our headquarters. You did pretty good getting in here. To be frank, anyone who tries the windows is usually killed and their bodies disposed of. If you're not smart enough to try the roof, we don't want you. Not too many think to assault out agents though. Most figure out they're being watched, and just try to impress us."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your man."
"Osborne? Oh, he's fine. But very few recruits ever get the drop on him. There will be repercussions, of course. I'm putting Osborne in charge of your training, along with the Doctor. I expect you will progress quickly under their tutelage."
"Training? So you're letting me join?"
"Letting you?" Mathias chuckled somewhat. "Edwynn, consider yourself drafted. We need good operatives desperately. Your friend Brogan is going to need all the help he can get."
"Brogan? So you already know about the book, and Balba'yorn."
"Not all of it. We're going to need you to fill in some of the blanks." Shaw tapped a small bell on his desk. Seconds later the door opened and a very attractive, if somewhat bookwormish, young lady entered.
"Mrs. Sloan McCoy, I would like you to meet Edwynn DeTemms. Agent DeTemms, as of this moment. We'll need a transcription of the events he witnessed yesterday and today. Immediately after that we'll start his training."
"How do you do?" Edwynn extended his hand in friendship. The girl just looked at him, and he blushed and dropped it. Then he jolted and turned back to Shaw. "Wait a sec... immediately?"
"Yes. As soon as we're done here actually."
"But my friends are waiting for me back at the inn. I should let them know where..."
Shaw cut him off. "Events are moving quickly, and there's little time for etiquette. Your friend Brogan was in town less than an hour before he killed a man and set fire to part of the bazaar. The local warlock coven has him now."
"By the Light!" Edwynn couldn't believe it. "What happened? Is he alright?"
"We think so, for the moment. The leader of the Coven calls himself Necrodamus. He is a difficult man to predict. I doubt he'll harm your friend, but make no mistake; he's in very real danger. That's why we need to get you up to speed quickly before..."
There was a loud bang from beyond the door. Instantly Shaw was on his feet, a sword in his hand from seemingly nowhere. Sloan had her back to the wall and a vial of some ugly yellow liquid in her hand. "The Shiv" tossed Edwynn's pearl handled dagger to him so quickly that the rogue only caught it by reflex. A second later the goblin was gone. Vanished completely into thin air.
The bang came a second time and the office door flew open. A human stood there. A nobleman by his attire. He bore a cruel and contemptuous expression. Behind him stood the half-orc from outside. She was still bundled tightly and carried her crossbow. The nobleman entered with a swagger.
"Mathias, you lied to me!" The noble glanced first at Sloan, and then at Edwynn. He stared at the young rogue and seemed to be absorbing every detail of his appearance. "This is the boy, is it not? You were hiding him from me."
Shaw relaxed visibly and sheathed his sword. "As I'm sure you're aware Aliden, Mr. DeTemms has only just arrived. I was not hiding him from you."
The nobleman growled. "You will address me as King Perenolde."
"King?" Shaw's eyebrows rose. "Getting a little ahead of ourselves aren't we? I think the Crushridge Ogres would have something to say about who rules your kingdom."
"Don't test me Shaw." Perenolde responded. "Lady Prestor has promised me troops to reclaim my birthright. It's only a matter of time before I take back what is rightfully mine. Then there will be a reckoning against my enemies."
"If the Syndicate spent more time reclaiming Altrec and less time trying to steal Stromgrade from Lord Trollbane, you wouldn't need our troops."
Aliden Perenolde's face grew darkened. Behind him the half-orc seemed amused by her employer's discomfort. "Enough of this!" Perenolde turned to Edwynn. "Where's Jorik?"
Edwynn blinked in shock. Who was this man? What did he want with the stablemaster? Edwynn glanced at Shaw. They spymaster's face was blank. He probably wanted to see how Edwynn would react. Sloan looked tense, and the goblin was nowhere to be seen.
"I... I'm not really sure." Edwynn stated.
"You're lying!" Perenolde sneered.
"No, it's the truth. I saw him this morning in Goldshire, but he said he was leaving. He didn't tell me where he was going. What do you want with him anyway?"
"What do I..?" Perenolde stammered. The noble leaned in close. "Don't you know who I am boy?"
'Someone in need of a shower?' came to his mind, but Edwynn held his tongue.
"I'm Aliden Perenolde. Son of Aiden Perenolde and heir to the kingdom of Altrec. Jacob Kerridan lied to the alliance and falsified evidence that my father had sided with the orcs."
Edwynn glanced at the green-skinned bodyguard. "I can't imagine where he got that idea."
If Perenolde heard the slight, he ignored it. "Jorik's father is responsible for the fall of my kingdom and my father's death. I will have my revenge."
"All you have is a small band of thieves and brigands." Shaw interrupted. "The only reason you're able to step foot in Stormwind is because you're more trouble to the Horde than you are to us."
The prince sneered at the spymaster. "Lady Prestor sees our value."
"Lady Prestor does not rule Stormwind. Both Jorik and Edwynn serve the interests of the crown. They are under my protection."
"I'll bet they are." Perenolde turned to leave. As he reached the door, he paused. "Who is in charge of the boy's training?"
Shaw seemed confused by the question. "Osborne, the Night Man."
"Not good enough." Perenolde muttered. "You should give him to Romano."
Now Shaw looked very perplexed. "I reserve Lord Tony Romano for our very best students, not that it's any concern of yours."
"Oh, but it is a concern of mine. For you see, I want young Mr. DeTemms to receive the very best your kingdom has to offer. He needs to become Stormwind's finest agent. He needs to make he mentor proud."
Aliden Perenolde looked back over his shoulder and grinned wickedly at Edwynn. "And when the young man reaches the peak of his abilities, I will send Garona here after him. She'll kill him, and deliver his severed head to Jorik. Kerridan has no children of his own, you see. I want the old man to suffer before I execute him personally!"