74th Day of Ash, 122nd Year of the Age of Steel
“Look all I’m saying is that the goblins could spare a few more dragon shards for us…” Sabrione said, gesturing with her finger. “They’ve got a city full of people somewhere down there, we’re thirty ghouls in a crypt.” She shrugged as if that explained it.
“I don’t see how a crypt of a few dozen undead justifies giving up a dragon shard that is one of the only ways to combat these shadows when compared to a city full of people.” Masagh said slowly, dropping his chin into his hand.
“So you don’t think we need more stones?” Sabrione asked incredulously, glancing down at the one sitting on the table between them. “What, just because you’ve got one?”
“No, I’m saying from the goblin’s perspective, why would they. They know at least half our number are powerful mages, they probably figure they have more lives to protect so its not worth losing the stones. Besides, these are some sort of new material… weird how they first found it as this stuff started happening, huh?” Masagh said, picking up the shard of moonstone. “I wonder what else it can do.”
She frowned at it. “Kind of makes you think it’s some grand prank from one of the gods, eh?” She leaned back and crossed her arms. Cleon grunted a laugh from beside her. “Like they were bored and needed entertainment, so they decided to murder half the world and give the other half this stone.”
“Sounds like the type of mental stuff I’d give the gods credit for…” Masagh muttered.
There was a commotion in the the tunnel hallway outside the library where the three of them lounged. Nearby a pair of ghouls looked up from their reading and frowned at the door. Heavy footsteps were heading towards them, rushing.
“What now?” Sabrione sighed, running her claw-like fingers through the patchy hair exposed on her head. “I don’t want to hear it unless it’s someone come to bring us a crate of these things…”
“It’s not.” Cleon’s deep voice muttered, turning to look to the door. Two of the ghoul who worked the warehouse and Sewer River came into the library out of breath. They weren’t sworn but they were dependable members of House Creth and hard workers.
“What is it?” Masagh asked, getting their attention.
One stepped over, his garb was wet and he reeked of the sewer river. “Gods you smell foul, why bring that in here?” Sabrione growled, covering her nose.
“Pardon, Sirs, Weaponmaster.” The man said, worry creasing his undead and decaying features. “Something’s happening at the river way… We thought we should get someone.”
Masagh’s mind went immediately to shadow beasts, but Sabrione spoke before he could.
“What? Not those monsters?” She was already pushing herself to her feet.
“No, Weaponmaster… bodies, and debris. Clogging the grating.” The worker said. He stepped out of the way as Sabrione stormed out of the library with Masagh and Cleon on her heels.
Cyran and Emerande were just walking out of the laboratory as they left. “What has happened?” Emerande called to them as they followed the workers back to the dock.
“Some sort of blockage in the river.” Cleon called over his shoulder as they hurried along.
When they reached the docks, Edgar was there trying to push a bloody corpse off the grate covering the river tunnel with a long pole. It was not going well. He stood in their rowboat, but the act of pushing against it off-balanced him and he had to steady himself. He stopped in his attempt when they all rushed in.
The small crowd lined the dock and stared. A pair of bodies pressed against the grating, clearly dead. They were covered in dust and blood on their backs, the only part of them not submerged. They seemed like average living citizens. What was more, there was what looked to be the wood and brass remnants of a vehicle carriage attached to it as well. Between these there were smaller bits. A chair, a shattered tabletop, and a window curtain wrapped around a broken street lantern.
“What the hell?” Cleon muttered.
“How long has this debris been here?” Emerande said, stepping up to the edge of their small sewer dock.
Edgar spread his hands out in the boat, attempting to balance. “Been about ten minutes, Lady Creth.” He said. “First was just one body, then the bit of the vehicle, then the rest. They’re definitely dead.” He added the last after a somewhat sad glance behind himself.
“Somebody dump a bunch of crap in the sewer?” Cleon asked, stepped up beside the Matriarch. His arms were crossed and he looked perplexedly from Emerande to Sabrione.
“No, something’s happened somewhere out there.” Sabrione said. “Some sort of earthquake or something.”
“It was no earthquake.” Emerande frowned at the bodies. “We’d have felt it here.”
“What then?” Cleon asked.
“That looks like a street light…” Masagh said.
“Masagh.” Emerande said, the name brought a tone of command that silenced the others. She had reigned in her people with a single inflection. “Please shift and try to help Edgar there clear the debris from our gate. Sabrione, take Cleon and prepare for a patrol. Once the gate is clear I’d like you to take your knights through and investigate.”
Masagh was the first to move, fumbling at his belt pouch for the largest of his amber encased totems. The crocodile tooth. He evoked the Rune of animus and felt his body distort. As Masagh shifted and grew, the other knights hurried off to gather Riah up. When he was fully transformed only minutes later, Emerande nodded approvingly.
“Disperse it as best you can but bring the bodies to the dock. We can use them.” The Matriarch said as the undead crocodile slid into the water.
The sewer water was murky and shallow, only about five feet deep in the center of the cylindrical passage. Masagh used his long scaled tail to propel himself, deftly dipping under the rowboat that Edgar still stood in. He came up at the grate gate.
