Carthus quietly followed Sidriel down the hallway of the Stone Citadel, glad to finally be out of the tower. He had been isolated for almost a week as he recovered from the wound and the lasting effects of the poison, and it was the elderly elf woman who looked after him. She changed his bandaging when needed and made sure that he took the required potions to counteract the black hemlock. He only spoke to her a few times while locked away, but she never revealed too much, all he learned of her was that she was from a city called Kelas in the Elven Kingdom of Alatar. Although she was reserved, Sidriel lit up when talking of home.
To Carthus, it was fascinating. The Elven Kingdom of Alatar was far to the north, and Kelas was the northernmost city, making it quite cold compared to Morside. She described to Carthus the elegant gardens, where the scents of the flora drifted into the air, and the magic imbued stonework of the cities that allowed the greenery to flourish and keep the environment pure. By her words, it was the most glorious city in the world, but she never spoke of why she was here and not there, although when Carthus asked, he noticed a hint of sadness and longing in her tone as she worked her words away from the question.
Sidriel was quiet all morning after she told Carthus that he would be released from her care. She seemed distracted by something, but his mind was elsewhere too, and thus, they quietly made their way down the citadel tower. They passed several training halls on the ground floor, where Carthus caught sight of sorcerers practicing their magic. As much as he was intrigued by the magic all around, he longed to be out. There was much to be done, and he had missed too much time already.
His thoughts raced from the Ordethi hunt to the men that tried to kill him in the night. He no longer believed it was the Coren Swords, but did not think it was the Ordethi either; the assassins never seemed to hide that they were Ordethi. He had no clue who could've been behind it all, and who would want to fuel his fight against what remained of the Coren Swords even after they were disbanded and disgraced.
"This is it. Your people are here for you, Carthus of Redriver" Sidriel said sternly. She always carried herself with pride and good strong posture. Carthus stopped within the atrium of the citadel and thanked her before she left back the way they came. He turned and crossed what remained of the long entry hall to meet Ythara, Oro, Desen, and five other spears.
"There he is!" Ythara grinned wide as he hugged his friend.
"Good to see you are in one piece Carthus" Oro grinned too. Ythara was the only one who had been there to see Carthus all week, so this was a happy reunion.
"Aye, I'm glad you're well too" Desen spoke up from the back.
"Thank you all for coming," Carthus said.
"Of course...none of ours travel the city alone, not since the attack," Ythara stated.
"Least of all you," Oro added with another grin, "Master Carthus!"
"Ah, don't call me master" Carthus replied and they laughed.
"But we were told to give you this" Oro raised a hand from behind his back. He held a rolled up parchment out for Carthus to take.
"That is your copy of the official record, stating you as Master of the Spears of Redriver Mercenary Company," Ythara chirped.
"Great, now I need to learn how to read your Morside scribble" Carthus joked.
"Ahh!" Ythara chuckled, nudging Carthus, "do not worry, I can teach you...for a price!" They all laughed it off and turned together to leave.
"Tell me what I've missed," Carthus said once they were in the streets well away from the citadel. The sky was bright from the morning sun, now well overhead. The heat, Carthus realized, was one thing he did not miss. The Stone Citadel always seemed to be just the right temperature on the inside, and it was unnatural.
"Well, Desen found a secret lair in the catacombs under the city, where the Ordethi sometimes plan their attacks. It was right near the attack on the Rytari officers when Atora was injured" Oro stated, and Carthus gave a nod of approval to the dwarf rogue.
"How is Atora, do you know?" Carthus asked, turning to the bregir.
"Indeed, I checked on her as you asked. She is healing well enough, but she is healing slowly since the Rytari have no sorcerers to work their magics" Ythara answered.
"Thank you," Carthus said, "what else, Oro?"
"The lair was empty, but there were signs that it was recently used." the large Maad replied.
"And we recovered several scrolls that look like maps, I know someone who is working to decode their meaning...to us it was nonsense" Desen added.
"Can we trust the one decoding the maps?" Carthus asked.
"Aye, I trust him with my life" Desen reassured the Maad.
"Good, this is all good news, let's keep at it, and the Ordethi will soon be found!" Carthus said. They turned out of the broad street into a small market plaza and passed through the gate between the Stone Quarter of the city to the Gray quarter, where the nameless tavern sat quietly down a dark street.
"What of the Coren Swords?" Ythara asked.
"Well, what do we know of them since Isidore was killed?" Carthus asked.
"They fell apart, mostly...there is a small remnant of their group that has been stealing in the markets and robbing people. Nothing more than a gang," the bregir said quietly, "but it seems they are afraid of us, they ran from me when they saw me in the markets. And from what I know, those that remained with them are not great swordsmen."
"I don't think it was them, but let's put a few men on their trail...just to watch them," Carthus ordered, "and I want someone to look into black hemlock, how it is made and where to get ingredients."
"Yes, that will help, I will put people on it as soon as we get back to headquarters," Ythara said.
"Headquarters?" Carthus asked, looking from Ythara's grin to Oro's.
They turned a corner to the lonely tavern, but to Carthus' surprise, a large sign hung above the entrance. The sigil of a shield marked with a red line and a spear in front of it sat below the sign.
"What does it say?" Carthus asked.
"Spears of Redriver Mercenary Company Headquarters," Ythara patted Carthus on the shoulder, "we bought it, and now Huerein the Innkeeper works for us."
"I don't know what to say" Carthus examined the outside of the building. Where the paint had been chipping before, it was now fresh, and what was falling apart and rotting away had been fixed. It looked like a new building.
"Hold that thought," Oro said. He stepped up through the small gate in the outer fence of the tavern and shouted, "come on out!"
Suddenly, the quiet tavern exploded in a clamor as a group of warriors clad in red cloaks, and new leather breastplates made their way outside and filled the yard. Each carried a shield, painted with that red line just like the sigil above the door, and a spear. Their leather armor also had the sigil of the Spears of Redriver on the left breast.
Two warriors approached Carthus and strapped on a new breastplate over his shirt. He looked down at the sigil on his chest as they clasped a red cloak, on the back of which was a larger sigil, over his shoulders. A third warrior handed him his bronze shortsword, a shield, painted the same way as the others, and his spear. With that, as he settled into his new gear, the warriors erupted even louder in a cheer, "Spears of Redriver! Spears of Redriver! Spears of Redriver!"