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30thDay of Nova

128 I.E.

At the edge of the Dwarven Quarter, nestled near the Rogarian gate and between two squat little homes was a shop called The Mage's Retreat. Dane had heard that the shop keeper regarded it as a home away from home for the dwarven sorcerers that populated Sanctuary, and offered many goods imported from the homeland. The only sign telling anyone what the store was, was a finely etched design on a wooden board of a large book with a wand crossing over top of it. It looked silly to Dane, but the rather stereotypical image of wizards being wand-wielding book worms was fairly iconic.

A bell above the door jingled as Dane stepped into the shop, ducking beneath the squat frame to avoid hitting his head. He continued to lean forward, slowly ambling his way through the all too small store. It was kept immaculately clean, and though the only worker he saw present was the dwarven woman behind the counter, he could see the magically enchanted brooms sweeping the floor clean. Any time he picked up an object and put it slightly out of its original position, it righted itself.

I don't think I ever saw anything like this in Rogust, Dane thought to himself. Just to test to see how far things would go, he switched the position of two different colored potions on the shelf. After a moment, they rattled and floated up off the shelve and rotated back into their original place.

He smiled to himself, but it faltered when he heard the dwarven shopkeeper clear her throat.

"I'm sorry, I was mildly curious to see how your shelves worked," Dane replied, his face feeling hot. "I never saw anything like it at the Academy."

"It be dwarven magic. Stronger than ye humans can handle," she replied bluntly. "So what can I get fer ye?"

Dane ambled over to the counter and kneeled down. He saw a flash from behind the counter and suddenly he couldn't see over the lip of it without standing up straight. He looked at his surroundings and realized that everything had gotten bigger. No, he corrected, he'd just gotten smaller.

Stretching, he listened to the crack and pop of his back as he could finally stand up straight. "Thank you."

"It's rare t' see a human in here, I often ferget how uncomfortable it can be in here fer someone as tall as ye," she replied, finally looking Dane eye to eye without having to crane her neck up. "It'll wear off as soon as ye step outta the door."

Dane nodded his head, then said, "As for your earlier question, I'm looking for some books on conjuration and evocation magic, specifically anything written in common."

The dwarf turned around and hummed to herself as she ran her fingers against the neatly flush spines of several tomes. She muttered dwarven words under her breath as she read the titles from a script that Dane could hardly recognize. Eventually she ended up pulling out a red book, and after another second of searching, set an equally large black-covered book on top of it.

She handed the tomes to Dane and said. "Don't get many folks lookin' fer this kind o' stuff, especially not fer anythin' written in Common."

On the front of the first tome were gilded letters on a red cover that read Conjuring Up the Basics. The other, black covered book was The School of Evocation, and it was easily twice as thick as the first. They weighed heavily in his hands, and when he flipped them open to glance through their contents, he found the hand writing so small that it was almost illegible. It would take some time for him to get through them, but that was fine by him. He'd always preferred spending his leisure time studying anyways.

"I can't read Dwarvish, unfortunately," Dane admitted, "I just needed something basic to brush up on my knowledge and do a bit of research."

"Well those be the easiest books we got. Child's play, really," she said. "Most o' our young'ens read that by age ten."

Dane chuckled nervously and said, "My knowledge isn't as polished as it could be."

"I hope it helps ye wit' yer work, sir. Things look gruesome out there fer ye soldier boys."

Dane nodded, recalling the countless riots that he'd already had to deal with and file reports on in the weeks since he had arrived in Sanctuary. There were still no leads on the caravan raids, and the rumors of war were spreading too far and too wide for them to handle. The citizenry was upset, and rightfully so, but their behaviour wasn't making things any easier for the soldiers stationed in Sanctuary.

"What do I owe you?" he asked, unlatching the clasp of his belt pouch and reaching into his belt pouch for his money.

The dwarf swung over to the side as she turned to face an abacus she had set up, resetting the beads. She began to quickly count them off. "Rogarian currency ain't worth nearly as much as Olaraa's, so factor that in, an' money I need fer taxes... let's put it at three gold crowns an' seven silver pieces."

It was more than Dane was expecting to have to spend, but he had plenty of money to spare. He threw down four gold crowns and told the shopkeeper to keep the change. The bell dinged as Dane left the shop and suddenly everything rapidly shrunk down to their normal sizes. He nearly tripped over himself as he scrambled to avoid hitting his head on the door as his form expanded rapidly.

With a sigh of relief, he headed back towards the Rogarian Quarter. He felt like a giant as he moved through the crowded streets, towering over everyone except for the occasional elf or human he passed on his way back. He would nod or say a greeting to them as he passed by, and most of them would say something back. It was an odd sort of camaraderie between strangers whom stood out amongst the crowds of dwarves.

There were people of all kinds milling about, many of them off to the side and sharing gossip with one another. Dane wasn't paying much attention to what was being said until he heard a few key words that caught his attention.

"Xenaria was attacked, did ye hear?" one dwarf said to another.

"Jus' rumors. No one would attack the ursar. They're pacifists."

"Ah, but it be true! Me cousin lives in Mithril Port down south an' he said there be lots o' refugees headed to Olaraa."

"That's a load o' horse manure!"

Dane kept walking and kept his knowledge to himself. The reports from the former Rogarian commander heading Sanctuary's defense had mentioned the rumors about the invasion in the south, and it was not proper for a military officer to indulge in gossip. There was definitely some trouble brewing near Olaraa's borders.

It's not surprising that the Olaraans might be in for another war, Dane thought, This would be the third one in ten years. The south is full of trouble.

As he crossed over a stream and went through the gates that separated the two parts of the city, he saw Corporal Taille running towards him. He glared at the man as he approached.

"I've been looking for you, Lieutenant," Roweon said as he snapped to attention and saluted, huffing from the run.

"What do you want?" Dane asked.

"There's been another attack on a caravan, and this time it was Rogarian!"

"Not another one," Dane sighed as he resumed his trek back to base. "They've been harrying the other nations for weeks now. They're finally targeting Rogust huh?"

Most of the incidents had involved merchants traveling towards Kitair or Olaraa or Valar. Digran had insisted that if any Rogarian merchants were attacked, it was Dane's job to deal with the situation.

"Any reports from our border patrols?" Dane asked. There had been no leads on who was orchestrating the attacks, and reports that had been shared with him from the other representative nations had said all they found was burnt wrecked and mangled bodies.

"No sir. They said they found corpses incinerated next to a still burning wagon that was headed for Oldshire."

"Figures," Dane grumbled.

They rushed back towards the barracks courtyard, but stopped just before reaching the gates. A crowd of citizens were gathered around the entrance and there was a lot of shouting going on.

Great, just what we needed right now.

"Corporal, hold these for me. I need to take care of some crowd control," Dane ordered, already calling upon his magics as he strode towards the riotous mob.

At the head of the group of shopkeepers and citizens was a man shouting at and defaming the Rogarian military. He didn't look like anyone special, but he was the most vocal out of the entire group.

"The military can't protect us, why should we trust them to get this job done? They're worthless!" the man shouted, receiving a unanimous cry of agreements from the others. "We all know Rogust is corrupt. I bet they're the one's raiding our wagons, killing our people, and taking the loot for themselves. They're profiting off the people's suffering!"

Before the man could say anymore, a deafening thunderclap sounded over head, causing the crowd to rush to cover their ears. Dane flashed into existence as he stepped out of a portal, taking a spot right next to the man.

"Is there a problem here?" Dane asked once everyone could hear again.

"Look! It's one of the crooks themselves!" the man proclaimed, pointing a finger at Dane.

"Bold claims to be making, sir," Dane replied. He was keeping his power in check as best as he possibly could, but he had a reserve of mana ready to go in case he needed it. "I assume you have proof of these accusations?"

"You're a witch!" the man declared, "You're the one who burned down all the caravans! It only makes sense!"

There was a roar of approval from the crowd, and Dane began to feel adrenaline surging through his veins. If he didn't get the situation under control, there could be problems.

"Again, I ask for proof of these claims."

"The only proof needed is the way you showed up!" the man turned to the crowd and asked, "Am I right, brothers and sisters?"

The crowd tried to push forward, but Dane only had to raise a glowing, green hand up into the air and slam it down onto the ground to create a wall of earth that split him and the mob's leader off from everyone else. It wasn't so high that people couldn't see over it, but it was too high for them to be able to climb over it without significant effort and time.

"I'm placing you under arrest," Dane said, clapping his hands together and pulling them apart again to create a magical rope with the mana he had gathered. He advanced on the man to restrain his hands, but he backed away.

"On what grounds!?"

"Disturbing the peace and inciting a riot is against imperial law, and regardless of the circumstances your behaviour must be dealt with accordingly," Dane informed him. "Now, come quietly and this doesn't have to get ugly."

However, the man didn't cooperate. He turned to the mob and shouted, "Do you see the heavy-handed ways of these crooks! They're trying to silence anyone who disagrees with them!"

Dane tried to remind him that he was only enforcing the empires laws to the letter, but the crowd drowned his voice out. The man took a swipe at him, and he ducked to avoid the fist.

I can't strike back in this situation, it'll only incite the crowd and prove him right. Dane continued to duck and weave, and took a solid fist in the jaw that left him a bit stunned. The act only spurred the crowd on as they cheered for their leader.

On the next swing though, Dane managed to grab a hold of the man's wrist and swung around, pulling it behind his back and quickly tying the man's hands together.

"Looks like I'll be adding striking an imperial officer to your list of offenses," Dane whispered in the man's ear.

Both the man and Dane vanished into a portal, denying him a chance to make a rebuttal in front of the mob. With no one to direct their anger at, and no one to lead them, the crowd slowly began to disperse.

Dane none too lightly tossed the man into a cell when he appeared inside the dungeon below the military barracks. "You can stay here for the time being. I'll send our inquisitor to question you later."

"You can't do this to me!" the man shouted, rushing to the gate and gripping the bars so hard his knuckles turned white.

"On the contrary, I've only upheld both the Empire's and Sanctuary's law," Dane corrected. "Even though doing so may have played right into your hands, I have my duties. Just as you have to those bandits you call your allies."

"Now who's making baseless accusations!" the man sneered at him.

"Oh, they're far from baseless," Dane corrected him. He leaned back against the wall across from the cell and crossed his arms. "Nobody stands to gain from inciting a riot against Sanctuary for the bandit raids. It only serves to impede our progress in catching the culprits and returning things to an orderly state. Further, you were very quick to divert your blame from the Rogarian military itself to me when I showed up, and you changed your script every time one of your arguments came into question."

With a smile, Dane added, "For all intents and purposes, you're just a trouble maker, and who better to cause trouble than one of the very people attacking the caravans? You disrupt our work and make things easier for your fellows to continue operating."

"You can't prove that!"

"No, but on the grounds I've already detained you on, it's enough to question you for more. So get cozy, you're going to be here for a while."

Dane headed down the hall and ignored the man's shouts and curses, heading up the spiral staircase and out of the northern tower that housed one of the entrances to the dungeon. He stepped out of the cold, stone structure and into the beaming sunlight. Casting a quick glance over towards the gateway, he noticed that the crowd had left. With a wave of his hands, he dispelled the earth wall he'd created.

He was about to head inside when Roweon rejoined him, and handed him the spell tomes he'd bought. "That was well handled sir," Roweon complimented him.

Dane waved it off, not wishing to be commended by him. "No, it wasn't. I played right into his hands."

"How do you mean?"

"He wanted to show the people that the Rogust military is a bunch of heavy-handed thugs, and I did nothing to prove him otherwise. I still had to take him by force." He sighed and shrugged. Turning back to the topic they'd been discussing before coming across the crowd, Dane said, "At any rate, were there any survivors of the last caravan raid?"

"Yes, there was three that apparently fled as soon as their wagon was stopped. They each claim to have been attacked by only a single man," Roweon said, "But that's inconsistent with more than half of the reports we've been given."

"That sounds like the bandit's method of operating though," Dane replied.

The few people who had managed to survive and return to Sanctuary had been unreliable when recounting their experiences. Their stories had been full of inconsistencies, and no two incidents were alike. Some claimed the attacks had been carried out by a small group, others reported numbers in the tens and twenties of armed bandits. Others still claimed that they had been attacked by a lone individual, a person who was quickly gaining a reputation among the citizenry known as the Wolf of Kelial.

Dane wasn't one for tall-tales and superstition though. Even still, he'd heard rumors how the Wolf would circle a wagon and hunt them like a pack of wounded animals, and lay waste to everything he came across. Even taking untrained civilians by surprise though, he couldn't imagine someone attacking and coming away unharmed from an engagement with an armed escort, unless he was a mage.

If he was a sorcerer though, the elves and certainly the dwarves would've picked up on it and tracked these bandits down. No sorcerer would be able to hide their use of magic for this long.

"What do you think, Lieutenant?" Roweon asked as

He glowered at Roweon, wanting to call him stupid for not being able to think for himself. However, he reigned himself in. The man hadn't done anything to deserve his ire. "I've considered that perhaps the witnesses were too terrified to remember accurately what happened, but I think there's an alternative reason all our reports are inconsistent. Perhaps the attackers are intentionally altering their method of operation to throw us into confusion. Or perhaps the survivors weren't survivors at all, but rather bandits in disguise."

"Can you prove that?"

"It's just a hunch, really. But after seeing what that man at the gate was capable of inciting with a few choice words, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case." Dane cradled the books in his arms. "My old tactics instructor used to tell me something about situations like this. The addition of misinformation only serves to cause more chaos. Anything that throws an enemy off your trail is advantageous for you. All these riots are doing is impeding our progress, because we're too busy dealing with the problems in the city instead of dealing with the bandits."

In all likelihood, Dane thought as he dismissed Roweon and headed back to his room, that's exactly what's going on here. From a tactical standpoint, it's sound. If I were in their position, that's how I'd carry out these attacks.

Dane opened his room and set his books down on his desk. It was covered in papers, all of them incident reports of either attacks against merchant caravans or of riots within the city. There were a few scattered reports from several dates detailing the events going on near Olaraa, but they were far off in the back of Dane's mind. Those were troubles for someone else to deal with.

Still, the timing of these events is convenient. Is it possible that these bandits are merely capitalizing on the state of affairs affecting Olaraa? If the dwarves are distracted with events in the south, then they would be more vulnerable here in Sanctuary.

Dane strolled over to the window and looked out across the city. There was a large plume of smoke rising from somewhere far into the Dwarven Quarter, and he wondered if that had been caused by an angry mob or a very active forge.

Then again, that wouldn't explain why they'd raid the other nations as well. Could the caravan raids and the rumors about war headed for Olaraa be connected by more than mere coincidence? Dane thought as he tried to piece together what was happening. No, they couldn't be. A rag-tag group of bandits working together with a larger military force nearly half a continent away? There's no reason to think they would be connected. It's got to be a coincidence.

There was a knock at the door that brought him out of his thoughts. "You may enter," he said. It was Elizabeth, clothed in a tunic and leggings rather than her usual leather armor. She didn't even have her sword strapped to her belt.

"I wasn't expecting to see you today, Sergeant," Dane said."We're not scheduled for duty until tomorrow morning."

"I had an idea on how to deal with the bandit problem sir. Would you care to hear it?" she asked.

"You've been thinking about it too, huh?" he asked, and she nodded. "You need to learn to relax once in a while. Isn't today your day off?" He scratched his head. "I'm anxious to hear what you have in mind. I'm stumped on how to deal with this myself."

"I did some looking into what merchants went out, and which ones were attacked. The guards at the gates tend to keep rather detailed logs of who and what is moving in and out of the city. Did you know the bandits never attack any caravan that has a military escort?" she asked

"No, this is entirely new information to me. Where did you hear about this?"

"When the first couple of incidents occurred, I began to keep track of what goods were moving out of Sanctuary, at what times, and what days. The bandits attacked with no real pattern, except they always avoided anything with a military escort. They had no qualms about attacking Blackguard mercenaries though. I think they're trying to avoid sustaining any heavy losses so that they can continue to disrupt our supply lines, and with us stuck in the city, we don't have enough soldiers to escort every single supply caravan."

"That doesn't make much sense. A mercenary could still eliminate them just as easily as the military, if not more so."

"That's what I thought too, at first, but then I got to thinking about what would happen if they were to kill soldiers out on duty," Elizabeth explained. "It would draw more attention to them, and the military would begin to pay attention if they realized their soldiers were being killed off. We would've called in reinforcements ages ago if they were attacking our troops instead of unarmed convoys." She frowned, remembering something. "It's not unlike what happened to you in Mullead. The bandits know how Rogust works a little too well."

Dane nodded his head. "It makes sense, not unlike what I saw in Mullead. So, what did you have in mind?"

She moved over to his desk and grabbed at a piece of parchment. "Here, can I borrow this map? I was thinking we could dress some of our men in civilian clothes and lead a caravan out of the Farmer's Market Gate, towards Oldshire near where their last ambush was." Her finger traced a route along a line that marked a paved road that connected Sanctuary and the human settlement north-west of the lake, Oldshire.

"You intend to bait the bandits out of hiding and to confront them?"

"Exactly. We can't let them run around doing as they please." Elizabeth seemed satisfied with her plan, and Dane had to admit that it was a good one. Better than anything he had cooked up thus far.

"There's a few issues with your idea. One, you're going to be in lighter clothing, and you won't be able to wear your armor. That goes doubly so for anyone playing the role of a merchant; they simply won't be able to have any protection with them."

"I'm well awar-"

"Let me finish," Dane said, cutting her off. "Two, we're short handed already in the city, and we need all the help we can get containing the riots that keep cropping up every other day."

"Yes sir, I'm well aware of both those things."

"Three, what happens should you fail? We'll have no information and we'll have even more trouble containing the situation here."

Elizabeth nodded grimly, acknowledging his protests. "That is why I do not intend to fail. I need only a small handful of men. Three to play merchant, though one of them will need to know how to control the horses pulling the wagon, and about five or six of us posing as hired guards."

"So at least eight of you. That's a big request Sergeant," Dane leaned forward with his arms on his desk. "Have you run this by Digran yet?"

"He turned me away, told me to have you deal with it."

"That's just like him to pass the job off to someone else. Stupid fat mongoloid," Dane grumbled, "I suppose you have every intention of trying to pull this off, huh?"

"Yes sir, I do." She fell silent. "My family lives in Oldshire. I need to succeed so that I can protect them."

"Alright, I'll consent to your plan. I'll help you pick out the men for the job."

After a short time discussing it amongst themselves, it had been decided that Willard would be playing the role of the wagon driver, as he had a bit of experience with handling horses. Surrel would be riding in the seat beside him, with one of Corporal Taille's men in the back of the wagon as the third merchant. Sergeant-Major Vedray and a few of the 81st's men, including Private Jericho, Private Danni Jolsten, Sergeant Robert Welshy, Sergeant First-Class Sergei Romanov and Corporal Taille would be acting as body guards for the caravan.

"Is there anything else you need? You'll probably have some trouble obtaining a wagon considering things inside the city, but we can at least provide you with the horses," Dane said.

They had come this far in planning things out that they hadn't even thought about where they would get a wagon. The entire plan hinged on having one and looking like a real caravan. Without it, it was not likely to work. The bandits had not attacked any groups who were just walking on the path, only those who were transporting goods out of Sanctuary.

"Leave it to me, sir," Elizabeth reassured him, "I can handle it. My family used to trade a lot here, so there might still be some friends I can talk to about getting one. It's not likely they'll have any use for a wagon until we've put a stop to the attacks."

"Then I wish you luck, Sergeant!" Dane said, and saluted her.