Citadel Altaerin

Afternoon

We reunited Warbal with the Bumblebrashers and then got to work.

Put a few holes in the side of a building and let it sit for a few years, and all kinds of creatures will wander inside to make a home. Do that with a stone building large enough to qualify as a fortress, just to pick a random example, and the place can practically support an entire ecosystem. 

That’s exactly what we found inside Citadel Altaerein.

Maybe it’s because I was raised in Druma, but I find it criminal that the Order of the Nail spent significant time and money building this Citadel, only to walk away and leave a crumbling ruin in its place. I suppose the Bumblebrashers, goblin dogs, the worg and its puppies, giant rats, spider swarms, the bugbear, and whatever in the Nine Hells that giant turtle monster was would all disagree (and most of them did in fact disagree, some of them violently so), but there had to be a better option than leaving it to rot just because they turned their attention elsewhere.

Since we were more concerned about what was inside the citadel than outside, I tugged at the bond, calling Iskaryn in after us. This decision was something of a mixed bag.

We were in a skirmish with the rats. Iskaryn chose this moment to point out that rats are known to carry disease. That would have been fine, except she launched a Magdh-be-damned dissertation on the subject.

“Although, the problem with being bitten by dire rats is that by the time the symptoms of disease manifest, you may have been a carrier for days and spread the disease to others…”

In the meantime, my arrow went wide. “Shut up, Iskaryn! You’re distracting me!”

“Excuse me!” she said indignantly. “I was just trying to help.”

“Lecture us after the battle!”

When “after” finally comes, she flits over to Trip, who was nursing a nasty bite. Somehow, with Iskaryn’s help, we determined that Trip had, in fact, been infected. How does she know these things? How can she even tell? I have no idea. All I do know is that it makes her insufferable.

Then, later, we’re dealing with the worg, and I felt like the others had the upper hand. So I chose to save my limited performance magic and shot at it with my bow instead.

My arrow went wide. Again.

“Next time, stick with your inspirational performance,” Iskaryn said. Which was all I needed.

All along, we’d been collecting odds and ends from the citadel, everything from actual coins to items in good enough condition to be sold. And it occurred to us that Alak was tagging along, and maybe he should get a cut of it because he’s been doing some of the heavy lifting. So we asked him about it, and we got more of his story. He’s not really interested in the money: he’s here, in part, because his family was stationed here long ago, and he was looking for things that may have belonged to them.

Liberte searched the room where we encountered the worg, and turned up exactly that: a book on the gripping topic of Order of the Nail protocols as they relate to both Chelish and Isgeri laws, and inside it is a hand-written dedication signed by the Hellknight “T. Stagram”. We asked Alak about it, and he got this funny look and said it was written by his father.

So we gave it to him. Or rather, no one objected to him taking it. He seemed genuinely touched. “I don’t have many things to remember him by. This will be something I’ll treasure. Thank you.”

And I get it, I guess? I don’t have anything to remember my father, and if I’m being honest with myself—and Iskaryn tends to push on that one—I have no small amount of guilt around that. My father was a good person; he just wasn’t a very wise one. That’s in contrast to my mother, who is a wise person, but not a very good one. If I found a book signed by my mother? I’d probably have it burned.

And I must have said that out loud because several heads turned to look at me. Then Trip said if she found a book signed by her mother, she’d do the same.

Though I imagine she has different reasons.

The most disturbing thing we found was distinctly not part of the burgeoning ecosystem. In what was obviously a cell room, there were a number of skeletal remains I can only assume were former prisoners. They rose up and attacked (at one time, that would have been disturbing to me, but I have seen far worse). They were too much for us, and we were forced to retreat and bar the door.

I just assumed that the Hellknights had left them to rot after abandoning the citadel, but now I’m thinking that was an unfair accusation. I’ve seen no reason to believe they would do such a thing, especially given their obsession with law and order no matter the cost. This place has been abandoned long enough that anyone could have moved in—see the Bumblebrashers as proof of that—and used it as a crude but functional jail. But that doesn’t make the thought of some hapless prisoners starving to death, long after their captors had left or died, any less pleasant.

What we didn’t find were any Cinderclaws. That was consistent with the Bumblebrashers’ story that the Cinderclaws had been trapped below when the stairs collapsed. The goblins knew a way down, and we did not, so we came to an agreement: they’d show us this hidden entrance, and we’d deal with the trespassers so the Bumlebrashers could have their home back.

Can we actually pull that off? Considering how we fared against the skeletons, I’m not so sure. But we managed to take on one of the grauladons, and if those are what they brought for protection, then maybe it isn’t so far-fetched.

I looked over at Alak. This wasn’t really his fight, and there was no money in it—not yet, anyway—but that book had whetted his appetite. Searching for more heirlooms meant going down below, and that meant coming with us. He was willing, and so our informal alliance continued.

As for the money, that problem solved itself not long after. One of the town guard found us as we were making preparations, and delivered a note from the Breachill town council. They were just as nervous about having some unknown group occupying the citadel, especially one as violent as they appear to be, and were offering us an additional bounty to solve it. Permanently. It would give me a solid six months.

But Alak teased us with something far more valuable. “There is a story that when The Order left this place, they hid the deed to the Citadel somewhere inside, and anyone brave enough and strong enough to find it would be rewarded with legal ownership of the place.”

I was stunned. It would mean having a home. Something I have not had for nearly a year. I hung back to talk to Iskaryn before we dropped down into the passageway.

“Alak thinks the deed to the citadel might be down there somewhere. Left for whoever finds it.” I hesitated because I wasn’t sure how to put my thoughts into words. “If that’s true…it could mean having a place. Not something I made up, or slipped into for a while. Something that stays.”

She fluttered around before settling on my shoulder. She sat there in silence for a moment before speaking.

“I wasn’t with you then, but I know how you felt when Davio recognized you. When he realized who you really were. You were a mess for days, you know. In case you need reminding.

“So where are you now? Are you done running?” She held out a wing in a very human gesture. “Is this far enough away from whatever you’re running from?”

It was a good point. And for the first time, I thought I had an answer. “I was running from myself that whole time. I think it’s time I started being me. No matter how uncomfortable that is.”

“But how much are you committing to a new start here? Are you making a new official home for Aemi ‘Salinus’ here on Hellknight Hill, or…under an older name?”

“It’s just a name, Iskaryn. Sura is gone. I don’t want it anymore. Mom poisoned it for me.”

She didn’t look convinced, but for once, she let it drop.

“As a castle,” she said, changing the subject, “it’s not bad, or could be good with some work. Keep in mind, though, that having a Magdh-be-damned castle dropped in your lap isn’t exactly a dream come true. Especially if you intend to spend your life hiding from the world. 

“But if, perhaps, you’re over that phase, at least a little…Well. You’re bound to start attracting attention. Perhaps acquire some fame. People talk, you know. What will you do when word of where you are gets out, farther and farther abroad? Are you ready to grow up? And face that?”

“No one is looking for me, Iskaryn. That’s the problem. I’ve been hiding from ghosts. But, if someone from that time does find me? I’ll deal with it.”

“You need to tell your new friends.”

“I know.”

She flew up to a branch of the tree above and said, “The woods are full of tasty treats. I could get used to it here.”