A Magus Murdered

1209, Winter

As he approached his bed, near Terrus' sanctum at the bottom of the tunnels rather than with the other servants near the kitchen, he stopped short and raised his Torch of Sweet Air high. Something seemed wrong.

The behemoth held the torch forward and sniffed the air. Instinctively his hand drifted toward the mace at his side and began to look around.

He realized that the utter silence was unusual. The noise of Terrus breathing, or snoring or puttering around was absent. He moved closer to the sanctum to get a better look. Peering in, he saw his master slumped over a table. Blood was pooling beneath him and the hilt of a dagger protruded from his back.

Shock and anger welled up in the big man, but no sound escaped from his mute lips. With a mighty swing he sent the mace crashing into the tunnel wall hoping to alert someone of the emergency as he entered the sanctum to see if the intruder was still present.

With the crash of the mace echoing, he caught a hint of motion behind him. Spinning around, he saw a nearly naked man running for the tunnel back up and out.

Xavier bared his teeth and took off in pursuit of the naked man with his mace at the ready.

His long legs ate up the distance and in moments the man realized it. Spinning around he drew a shortsword and prepared to fight. Xavier's mace slapped the man's sword aside and a huge fist smacked into the man's head, rocking it sideways. He was too close to fight effectively with the sword and Xavier caught his wrist as he tried a cut. Dropping his mace, Xavier rocked his foe's head the other way with a mighty right. Lurching forward, the man tried to hook Xavier's leg with his own and topple the big man but Xavier planted his feet and would not be moved. Xavier yanked on the right hand arm which he still held and when the man was off-balance, grabbed hold off his shoulder and slammed him into the tunnel wall. The man's head snapped back and bounced off the wall and his eyes rolled back. When Xavier released him, he collasped to the ground senseless.

Realizing that there was no time for celebrating his victory, Xavier retrieved his mace and placed affixed it back to his waist. The giant took hold of his dispatched foe and nonchalantly tossed him over his broad shoulder like a sack of potatoes and rumbled down the tunnel to find help for Terrus.

Xavier burst back into the kitchen, torch waving in one hand, unconscious interloper over his shoulder, much to the amazement of the few remaining servants.

Xavier let the unconscious form drop to the floor as he animatedly pointed to the man and made a stabbing motion, pointing at one of the knives that hung on the wall, followed by a pantomime of Terrus. Xavier reached for one of the servants and pulled him toward the door as he pointed at the man and indicated to watch him to the others. One servant he waved at and pointed off down the tunnel flapping his arms like a bird, hoping to tell the man to get Osprey.

Being familiar with Xavier's ways, the servants quickly realized something was up. "I'll fetch Osprey!" cried one. "I'll find Frederic," added Rico, tottering off in that direction. "The Twins!" said a third moving down another tunnel.

Nodding approval at their deductions Xavier pointed for others to tie up the assailant and pulled one with him to return to Terrus' sanctum half-carrying, half-dragging.

Umberto started to tie the prisoner while Francesca went with Xavier back to Terrus' sanctum.

Their worst fears were realized. Terrus was dead. The knife had severed his spine neatly. The knife was odd, a crosshilt of strange woven irons bars that looked difficult to construct. Where had he seen such things before? Then he remembered, just such a blade had been used to kill Frederic's mistress, and Etienne had one as well.

The hulking man choked back tears and stalked off to where Frederic slept, hoping that the similar blade was there and he was not somehow mixed up in this tragedy.

Frederic came to the scene as quickly as possible. He was curious who stabbed h is master in the back, for the same had happened to his mistress. 'Too much of a coincidence', he thought.

"Be careful of this dagger," Frederic warned the troupe. "Do not place it with anything... hermetic. The result would be quite volitile."

Frederic took the dagger from Terrus' back and wrapped it in cloth, like before.

Under the watchful eye of Xavier, Osprey and several coven folk, Frederic began to examine the lab. Nothing seemed out of place to him.

"This ever persisting evil, my shadow, haunts me more," Frederic muttered to himself. He turned and addressed the others, "First the baby, now Terrus, the strongest wizard amongst us. This will only get worst, my friends. I could leave and move on. And this curse would follow, leaving you a brighter future. If you ask this of me, I would only ask in return that Rico be allowed to stay here. And that Tonio is looked on from time to time."

"We cannot decide alone. We must wait on any such action until Leporideas and Lilia return," said Osprey. "I'm sure the Twins would agree. Although I will not stop you if you choose to leave.

"But what should we do until then," he mused.

While the others waited with Terru's body, Frederic sought out Etienne and Alain. Informing them briefly of what had happened, he asked them to come. They gathered their things and returned through the Herme's Portal.

Soon they joined the others by the body.

"How-how did this happen?" asked Etienne looking to the magi and guards.

"I believe it to be the same circumstance as that of my former paren, Katerina," Frederic responded. "All I know, partly from what you had imparted to me earli er, is that the victims maybe of those who get in the way of this mysterious mag us/maga. We do have, this time, have the assassin in our custody. I was hoping perhaps you could interrogate him," Frederic suggested as he looked at the rest , hoping for mutual approval.

Etienne sighed and shivered ever so slightly. True, he had interrogated others in the past although 'interrogated' was a nice way of saying it, a clean way. Truer still, he had tortured and there was no way to pretty up that nasty term and for what -- the location of a few coins? the route of a carriage? He shook his head to clear it and responded, "I could, but perhaps there are ways of peering into his mind that might prove more beneficial and less harmful."

Frederic nodded thoughtfully, having not considered torture being a less than savory practice.

"This assassin came into our midst, nude and armed only with one weapon. I suspect he has nothing to lose. To that end, most techniques of interrogation will gain you nothing. I even wonder if he expected to escape at all, hidden to our sight or not," Alain said. "I fear this is once again a situation beyond my experience or understanding. I do know one thing that might not have entered anyone else's mind. Since he has nothing to lose and we have, he should not see the light of the sun ever again. The idea leaves me shaken, but he represents our downfall should he fall into the hands of a certain bishop or nosy knight."

Etienne cleared his throat, "He has served his purpose, would we to release him he would not see another sunrise. The men who hired him has already made plans to remove him."

"So you suggest perhaps a mercy killing then," Frederic asked Etienne. "Clearly we cant keep him prisoner for ever and letting him go as you say would be death for him. But are you sure there is nothing we could extract?"

"He may have some information to share, something observed that even he does not think important." Etienne wiped some beads of sweat from his brow, "it is necessary, to try." First Etienne looked to the magi, "If physical means are required, I will do it." The fisherman looked to Alain, "Care to assist me?"

"If physical means are required..." Alain did not speak for a moment. Behind his eyes were images he could not and would not put to words. "If required... I will assist you."

Fredericus gestured wildly and shouted out his spell over the fallen killer. There was something strange about him, but he couldn't tell what. Intelligo Corpus would not reveal the presence of magic on or about him, though. That would be Intelligo Vim. The thought obviously occured to Osprey who stepped forward to cast an Intelligo Vim spell. "There is ... something a hint, something protective," he said. "More I cannot say."

Etienne noted signs of something greasy still on the man's flesh, an ointment of some kind, perhaps.

Etienne looked on knowingly, kneeling beside the man. Could the balm also be the means by which the wizard had tracked him? To provide the substance as protection for the deed was a great help, but what if it did more? "The ointment, can you determine its nature? could it somehow lead us to the man behind this deed?" he said looking at the magi.

"Yes," Frederic responded. "It could possibly be used as an arcane connection t o... something, perhaps. But that would take good knowledge of aquam."

One of the Twin's spoke, "The nature of the substance ..." The other continued, " ... we could determine ... perhaps ..." "... its origins and more ... but ..." "... to find the owner would require ..." "... Corpus ... we have some skill in ..." "... that art. We shall undertake ..." "... to learn what we may ..." "... Gather the substance, carefully."

Osprey went to search outside and returned shortly. "I found the point of entry for the killer. He left his clothes on the bank of the lake and crossed it somehow to the spire. Herman who was guarding the spire is gone, I presume he is dead and in the lake. I've sent one of the servants to fetch the clothes."

"Perhaps that salve helped him swim, or at least insulated him," Frederic stated . "Perhaps we could just ask him?" "Could this have helped him swim, Etienne," Frederic asked. "Do you remember its various uses? Or do you only remember the one?"

"I was only told that it would protect me from detection," he confessed.

"I see." Frederic put his hand on Etienne's shoulder. "We shall catch this menacing sorceror and feed on revenge together, my friend," Frederic smiled assuredly. "He has killed both my filia and filius, and your," Frederic motioned to everyone, "long time friend Terrus."

"We need a place," commented Etienne cooly, "some rope, a chair, and water." The fisherman looked to Alain with a deadness in his eyes, knowing the man-of-war understood the task that lay ahead of them. It was a sadness like no other, when humanity dies within the human soul, Etienne knew that the two men had to lock away the humanity that beat beneath their breasts and become cold and unflinching.

Alain nodded. To the assembled guards, "What we are about to do is not for public viewing. I want the area cleared and to stay that way. I cannot tell any of you magi what to do or where to go, but I would think you wouldn't want a part of this work."

The Twins nodded and departed. After a moment, Lemain followed.

Osprey looked around. "I shall wait nearby, call me if you need me." He moved off. The remaining grogs and servants ran off to fetch the needed accoutrements.

Etienne reached for a small table, and while doing so said a quick prayer. Reaching inside his belt pouch he removed several objects. Looking up, he responded to Alain's puzzled glance "Fishhooks."

"Always preferred the unbraided strand of rope wetted," he said coldly. The ember of caring that was normally behind Alain's eyes was fading. "And when the time comes... I will finish this. As captain of the guard, it is my responsibility."

"Understood."

Within a fairly short time, the requested implements had been brought and the servants had again departed, leaving Etienne, Alain and Frederic alone with their prisoner. Osprey was a hundred feet or so up the corridor blocking passage to any others and waiting should he be needed.

Etienne, with his brutish look, assumed the role of tormentor and hefted the prisoner up and forcibly threw him into the chair. Several loops of rope held the man fast to the chair and water was tossed into his face.

The man spluttered and shook his head, then raised his head. Across his face ran a series of emotions as he realized he was caught and bound and his likely fate occurred to him.

Etienne headbutted the man, leaving his face within an inch looking into his eyes. "Do you understand what I am saying?" spittle spraying the man.

"Go to hell," said the man in perfectly clear Languedoc.

"That qualifies as understanding," Alain said showing neither anger or amusement. "Did you come here expecting to escape or were you promised a quick death?"

"Le Reynard Gris does not fear death," said the man.

Etienne had heard of the Reynard Gris. He was an outlaw, working mostly on the Italian side of the alps. He was rumoured to be bloodthirsty even by outlaw standards, and rarely lead more than a few men. Those few men left even fewer survivors. He was called the Fox because he had on two occasions slipped away from forces trying to capture him - in both cases his band had not been so lucky and those that survived the initial attack had been hung. After the second time, he had found it more difficult to find followers.

"It is not death you should be fearing right now," Alain said as he dunked the thick strands of hemp into the water. "Etienne, we will need salt soon I think. I'm going to start on his legs first while you continue to question him."

"True. It is not death you fear," said Etienne," but what about the journey there?" The fisherman took a step back and looked icily into Reynard Gris' eyes. "Have you ever wondered what happened to those who were unable to evade capture? the courage it took to face their punishment? the cowardice of the runner?"

Alain had not waited for a reply. He fired off three quick lashes to the man's unprotected thigh. The man stiffened in pain.

"I have heard of him," commented Etienne to Alain. "He is known as a common thief, and proven to be none-to-smart when it comes to being hired for a simpleton's task."

The man made no comment to this jibe.

Etienne turned to leave and walk down the tunnel. "I will see if the sorcerors need more blood for the demons below."

Alain showed a moment of fear at this comment. "That is not a thing I would wish on anyone. If you do not fear death then let me send you there quickly and with little pain. Tell me what you know of your most recent master and I shall save you hours of torment. Or, you can be brave and resist until the end. Then the mages will scry with your entrails, find your secrets, feed your soul to their pets, and we will tell the world you told us everything out of cowardice."

Lies do not come easily to the lips of men like Alain, and he was unsure if the villian believed him or not. For the moment, though, the man held his tongue.

Frederic had been standing back somewhat, his face hidden in shadow. Etienne walked by him and reached out a hand, grabbing Frederic by his robe, and pulling him close and further down the hall. "It is not wise for you to be here....yet. Alain and I will say whatever it takes and we do not wish to offend any of you," he whispered. The calculated risk of preying upon the prisoner's fears of the magi with outlandish tales was one they had to take. He was not as familiar with the magi of Lakehome and hopefully the thought of them using him for diabolic experiments would bring a much deeper fear of death to a man who had seen much that the mundane could muster. This tactic, however, could prove offensive to the magi were they to hear them attribute such heinous acts to them.

Frederic nodded to this, signifying his understanding.

Etienne returned to the area carrying a small pouch. Tossing it onto the table, "You have your salt." Confidently he strode up to the man and grabbed him by the chin pushing up. "Your death sentence has been commuted."

Calling out over his shoulder to Alain, Etienne continued. "Our man here will not taste death, but eternal life and torment. The sorceror's have begun their bargain with the demon below. It has requested this one's soul. Do you hear that? You will be sold to a demon and live forever as its pet, your screams will be like music for eternity!"

With a forceful push Etienne shoved the man's head away. "We must keep him alive, they will be done in a few hours. Then his breathing body will be given into dark servitude."

Etienne had made a career of deception and lies did come easily and believably to his lips. He could see the outlaw absorb the threat and the belief start to settle in his black heart. At the same time, a small voice seemed to whisper in Etienne's ear, "He must not die unshriven and you must not kill him for the stain would be on your soul!"

"Confession, it is said, is good for the soul. In your case it could save you from damnation," he spoke to the man with a gentle spirit. "Tell us what we wish to know, and we can save you from your fate. They are not like us, they deal with vile spirits. It is through the truth that we can help you." Etienne took a step back and looked to Alain, crestfallen at what lay ahead for the man.

"A priest," said Le Reynard, "a priest and a clean death and I will tell all I know."

"Bless you," whispered Etienne. "Watch him and I will return quickly with Brother Antoine. Stall the sorcerors if they come before my return. We are all that protects this man's fate." With that, Etienne trotted down the tunnel to fetch Antoine.

Alain put his improvised flail down and leaned against the wall. "A man can face his death bravely if he knows his soul will be taken into God's Grace. You have chosen wisely."

It seemed an eternity before Antoine could be brought, the fat and arthritic priest moved slowly these days. Huffing and puffing, he sat down by the outlaw and waved the two warriors away. "Now my son, confess fully and we shall pray," he said.

The confession took nearly an hour and at times, Etienne and Alain could see that Antoine was shaken by the tales of the atrocities being unfolded. Finally, though they concluded. Antoine came over to join them. "He deserves death a hundred times over," said the priest. "But God will have mercy on his soul. I will say masses for his soul and for those of his victims, including Terrus."

Having completed his confession, Le Reynard Gris - the Grey Fox - awaited his interrogators. Alain and Etienne approached and prepared to coax the story out of him. It proved unneccessary, for he began to speak almost as soon as they neared him.

"I am a bad man," he said. "I make no excuses for what I have done, I was driven to them by circumstance and came to love them for their own sake. I have killed, raped, stolen and betrayed my friends and companions to preserve my own life. God has forgiven me, though and at last, long last, I know peace.

"I will not tell you the story of all my sins, there are now between God and myself. My penance is to share the shame of two crimes with you. Two, yes I say, two. Four springs ago, a man came to me. He wore robes, at first I took him for a priest, but his robes were black, as black as the pit of Hell. There was about him something uncanny, my horse whinnied with fright at his appearance. I never saw his face, for he was hooded the whole time. His voice was rich ... as was his purse. I was alone, my most recent band of companions were hanging from gibbets many miles to the north so when this man - this fiend! - offered me much money to kill a woman alone at a villa, I accepted. He told me she was a witch, but that he would provide me with two things to make my task easier. The first was a salve which would hide me from her magical arts and the second was a dagger which would pierce her magical defenses. He told me that if she saw me before I struck her power was such that I would be slain or worse upon the instant. And if I fled with his money, he swore that he would hunt me down and my last moments would be filled with pain and regret. There was something in his voice which convinced me that he spoke the truth with that final threat. His last words to me were instructions to leave the dagger in the body and flee as soon as the deed was done, not looking back or returning at peril of life.

"What choice did I have? I took the money, the pot of salve and the dagger. I rode south to the villa. A prosperous manse it was, with farmers and servants working the fields and a woman, my victim ruling from the villa itself. I struck in the afternoon. The farmers had left to the fields to see to their plowing, only a few servants remained and to avoid them was easy for one such as Le Reynard Gris. I slipped into the villa, with the salve all over my body, and found the witch sitting at a table. Silently I approached and thrust. My aim was true, she felt no pain, I think. She simply leaned forward and sighed out her last breath. I fled the villa and the lands and rode north.

"I thought I had was well done with a foul task. Then a few months ago, he came again. The story was the same, but this time it was a sorceror he wanted killed, one who lived at the bottom of cave. The salve he provided would do what it had done before but also protect me from the cold of the lake, for I would have to swim to the entrance of the cave. Then down, down, always down, he said. He warned me that this would be more difficult. There might be guards. He offered more money than before, and again I needed money badly. The years had not been kind. What could I do? I took his money, I took his salve, greasy this time, and I took his dagger.

"I came to this place, miserable and cold as it is. I stripped by the lakeside, I could not swim that distance with the weight of my clothes dragging me down! Where I dabbed the salve onto my body, the chill vanished, and so I coated myself and went into the lake. I found the stairs and saw the sentry. A poor sentry he was, too. I slit his throat but lost my grip and saw him fall into the lake. A pity, I wanted his cloak. There was a torch on the wall, I took it and went down, down, down. I came here. I saw him," he pointed back to the sanctum. "At first I feared he had seen the light from my torch, but he had not. Then it was like the other. He bent over his work, I slipped in behind him and struck.

"Then the wrath of God, in the form of the giant warrior, struck me down for my sins."

The two men withdrew and joined Frederic and Osprey in the tunnel. Together they returned to the kitchen and called for the Twins and Lemain to join them. Etienne and Alain reported the confession to those assembled while three of the grogs kept watch over the prisoner. Afterwards, Alain spoke plainly. "Each day this man is alive is one more day of uncertainty. He might escape, or cause mischief, or draw the attention of this mage. While he is here, that is one less guard available to keep everyone else safe from other incursions. God forbid he should be found by mortal authorities after we have held him here. He is danger and disaster rolled into one: the Damacles' Sword, hanging over our heads. He needs to be executed for his crimes. I believe he has come to terms with this judging by his time with the good friar. Is it your wishes this be carried out?"

Osprey spoke first, "He's confessed to the murder of one of my oldest friends. I see no reason why he should not pay the penalty for his crime."

"And to my parens," Frederic continued, careful not to interrupt anyone. "I second."

Etienne, recognizing the awkwardness of the situation due to his own past, slowly stepped back into the shadows.

"Anyone with an objection should really make it now. I think he's too dangerous to us to leave alive even through the night," Alain said. What he didn't say was that he didn't think his nerve to handle the execution would last through the night. He did regard each person individually. "Unless there is some other method prescriped by your order, I only know how to deal with this as a secular crime. And I seem to be the closest thing to a secular authority here."

Osprey and the Twins nodded and looked at each other, then Osprey spoke, "We accept your judgement in this matter."

Alain steeled himself for his next statement. "I... I will handle this myself. Could someone please send for a block or large stump. I will also need the largest axe from the village. The man should be hanged, but beheading will be quicker and draw no attention. I think we will need Brother Antoine as well, to do the rites."

Osprey nodded again, "Etienne, will you handle this. Where will you do this," he asked Alain. "And should we witness it?"

"He should never see the light of day again, so a side cavern where no one wonders will be best. If you do not wish death within your sanctum, we can take him up to the island. And someone should witness this aside from our priest. I believe it would be traditional for the wronged parties to be present. And while this is going on, it might be a good idea if Etienne were watching the portal. Just in case someone were to try and sneak in while we are all distracted."

Alain quickly made a short list of items beyond the tools of execution. He asked for water and a scrub brush, soap, and fabric to serve as a shroud for the prisoner. He nodded toward Etienne as reassuringly as possible.

Etienne tilted his head slightly and turned away to gather the requested items. With a crooked finger he beckoned Xavier to follow him and the two men set off to retrieve the tols of justice.

The magi had found an appropriate tunnel near the sanctum and when Etienne returned, they had arrayed themselves around the criminal.

Alain set the block and the axe to one side and had the prisoner brought forth. "Le Reynard Gris, you have confessed to the separate murders of Katerina and Terrus as well as conspiring with another in these matters. While you have given reason for your participation in the conspiracy, you still killed two people in cold blood in exchange for monetary compensation. You have also committed various crimes of robbery and buglary as well as committing unprovoked acts of violence against your fellow man. Have you confessed your sins in the eyes of the Church? Are you prepared to face secular punishment for your crimes?"

"I have confessed, I am prepared," said the man. "Let it never be said that Armand Lerat, called the Grey Fox, met death badly. I have confessed and God has forgiven me."

"The punishment for murder and brigandry is death by hanging. Given the extreme circumstances of this case, the sentence instead shall be death through beheading to be carried out at this time and location. In the name of King Phillip of France, Justice shall be done. Take your position at the block."

The old bandit smiled and laid his neck on the block.

Alain crossed himself after saying a short prayer that God might guide his hands for a sure stroke. He hefted the axe, lifted it high as if splitting a troublesome log, and drove it down with all his might.

The head flopped loose and rolled clear and a gout of blood jetted from the stump. Antoine began to pray. The Twins averted their eyes, while Osprey gazed grimly on, refusing to look away.

Frederic looked on - this was not the first time he had seen blood. He left and returned to his sanctum.

"Justice has been served," Alain said, hoping his voice was stronger than his knees. "Please see that a grave is dug for him, Father Antoine. And let me know of anything you might need to see to his burial."

He placed the axe by the stump before washing his hands. Afterward, he removed his tabard and set about the long task of wrapping the body and cleaning up the mess the execution had made. His hands were shaking. Of all that had happened, he was just glad Lilia had not been present. He was not sure he could have carried out the task had she been in attendance.

Regarding the body, once the observers had gone their own ways, Alain spoke to Le Reynard Gris. "I guess you could not help who you were. And I guess there is no escape for me from the man I am. Perhaps it is time I returned home for my own punishment."