Arthurian Cultivation

Book 2 Chapter 36 - Dead heads and con men



The Golden Keep was an anomaly of an institution. It had grown rich off tax and its connections while never expanding, never increasing its reach. And yet, as they held to their neutrality, that didn't mean they were blind to the excesses that took place in the long shadow it cast. That led to the foundation of the Grand Bounty Board. Here, anyone could, for a not-so-modest fee, share a bounty.

In theory, it could've been the perfect way to issue assassins, but in practice, it formed the main way that the rich and powerful of the region recruited cultivators to their cause. Moving through the city, I found it at the edge of the walled territory, below the silver-topped walls which marked the beginning of the sect proper.

The crowd was different here than in the rest of the city. Everyone had some cultivation. Many Knights wore tired and battered armour. Others formed small groups wearing a shared emblem – small gatherings of Knights Errant who hunted bounties.

The bounties were a mix. The name conjured a wall of faces, prices printed below with a statement like 'dead or alive' worked in. In this case, most were actually more mundane tasks.

The Merchant Family Crimson Scale wanted a shipment of dye escorted. A consortium were seeking those who could connect them with the distant city of Djelibeybi, beyond even the Thousand City Sea. And there was even a request for cultivators who could help out on a farm, which baffled Taliesin. What kind of cultivator would want to get into farming?

Of course, there were more traditional bounties, though a quick glance made me realise that many of them were on faded paper.

"First time?" A Bronze-ranked man approached. He wore a sharp tabard with the crest of the Golden Keep, picked out in silver. It indicated his rank – only Knights were permitted to wear the crest in gold.

"Indeed, was I that obvious?" My outfit was shifted to what I considered my dressed-down disguise. A black and red gambeson, and sensible trousers. I would call it my Knightly disguise if I didn't still have my lute on my back.

"You were looking at the dead heads. None who've been here before tend to pay them much mind."

"Dead heads?"

"Most of them have been up there for a few years or more. Most anyone who stays up for more than a year is most likely dead or long gone. Hunting them is always just a long trail of dead ends, but we keep them up at our lauded clients' behest." The slight shift in tone echoed what I'd heard from others. The mountain kings were not the most respected group.

"Your lauded clients are varied. I was noticing that most of the dead heads seem to have the backing of a king or court?"

"We do not permit any but the courts to put out kill or capture bounties. Even if the likelihood of them being completed is small, it remains a good way to let our neighbours know that we respect them, and for them to show other miscreants what they have to fear."

"You're being very helpful. I don't believe I got your name."

"I am Squire Otley, and you must be Taliesin." He smiled as I creased my brow. "There aren't that many cultivating bards. We were informed of your Order's arrival, though I must admit I was expecting the Knights to be visiting."

"They may be along later. I'm here for other reasons than collecting bounties for our journey." I prepared my mind for the coming dance. I couldn't lie, but there was so much room to mislead with the truth.

"What need does a bard have of a bounty board?"

"Inspiration!" The Squire looked at me, confused, as I began to explain one of my motivations for coming to see the boards. I might be looking for possible leads on an ancient evil relic lost to the ages, but I was also a bard looking for stories. My tongue required I tell the truth, but not the whole of it.

Otley was confused but seemed to chalk it down to bard nonsense, or didn't want to bring it up to someone who was senior to him in cultivation. He led me into the building next to the board, and we got to chatting.

The services here included abilities to copy information. There was an entire team of Squires who rotated in and out to help handle the cultivators, who could sometimes get competitive about bounties. And then a group of mortals whose life was this board. It was one of them that I found myself sitting with in a quiet room with a pot of tea between us.

The man looked older than any mortal I could remember meeting. It was like his bones had shrunk, his eyes sunken into sockets underneath bushy eyebrows that had stolen all the hair from his bald, liver-spotted head. That said, he moved with a certain smoothness and ease that implied his old age was being eased by some natural treasures. He might not be a cultivator, but the Order wasn't letting a knowledgeable resource such as him suffer.

"So you're looking for notable bounties to help fuel your songs?" Raisal said as he sorted through stacks of loosely bound books. I nodded, embracing my role in helping the Order. One of my tasks was to explore topics that others couldn't. As a bard, I could ask quite a lot of questions and wave it off as my natural curiosity.

"Indeed. The battles of cultivators are sung far and wide. I believe that mortal concerns, the betrayals and crimes that lead to bounties being posted, have the potential to be equally as captivating, and yet remain little known." I smiled. None of what I said was a lie. Mortals were just as duplicitous and crafty as any cultivator.

"An interesting approach. Is there anywhere you'd like to start?"

"How about you share a few favourites with me?" I smiled as the man's eyes lit up. It was a simple trick to earn the favour of any scholar – they rarely got the chance to talk about what intrigued them most.

We spent hours, long enough that food and drink had to be sent for, discussing different bounties. It was a genuine pleasure, and Raisal was a font of information about the many petty kings of the passes. The old scholar also confided in me that most of the highest bounties had the least interesting tales. It was nearly always some backstabbing nonsense, power struggles with only one outcome.

See, if a bounty was significant enough, then a Knight, or in some cases multiple powerful Bronzes, would get involved. And then, assuming the bounty was a mortal or at most a Wood or Bronze, their fate was sealed.

"Is that why I heard the names at the top being called the dead heads?"

"Indeed. They are too valuable to be ignored, but given no one's claimed them, the chances of anyone finding them are low. That said, there is a fee to keep those heads up, so the kingdoms who post them are still invested in seeing the bounties collected." I smiled. I would be taking down a list of these 'dead heads'. I could see little better way to ingratiate ourselves with the different courts across the lands than by finding one of them, no matter how unlikely it was.

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As our conversation wandered, I gently led Raisal past the same two points again and again – unresolved bounties to find missing souls, and fulfilled or retracted bounties for 'healing miracles', which were among the many less murderous tasks posted.

It was a testament to the way the man relaxed and had enjoyed our discussion that on one of these little sojourns he finally offered up something I suspect he shouldn't have.

"Well, to be honest, we're actively trying to discourage any 'healing miracles' bounties."

"How so?" I cursed inwardly. One of my plans was to use a list of Kings who'd been seeking out healing as a way to reduce the overall list of possible Grail locations. Why post a bounty if you had your own solution?

"There's no faster way to get a gathering of snake oil salesmen, half-baked alchemists, and 'Covenless Witches'."

"Confidence tricksters, you mean?"

"Indeed. And while that's not uncommon for other bounties – people faking they collected the right herbs, or trying to pass someone's head off as another – we get the chance to check it. With the cures..."

"They go to the sickly patient, do whatever quack nonsense is required to make it look like there's a recovery, and demand payment." I nodded. The few years I'd spent free in Portsmode's back alley alchemy community, the market was lousy with them.

"Indeed. In fact, a fair few of the biggest kill bounties we've ever posted are those same 'healers'. Kings don't like to be tricked. We heavily discourage any such posting, and send their heralds back with a long list of warnings if they do push on. Thankfully, most seem to have learned from the mistakes of others."

"I saw a sizeable one from a King in the centre of the board." I replied, thinking back to a hefty reward of gold for 'Medicines and healing most complex and thorough'.

"Oh, that one." Raisal looked like he'd tasted something awful. "Ahem. While I should present bounties as equal, part of our role is explaining the challenges and details of a bounty. So unless you have a way to remove impurities, it's a complete waste of your time. I'd also recommend staying away from King Phicher. He's dying slowly and is famed for his terrible attitude. He's even wanted to shame the healers who've failed to heal him on the board."

"Good to know. Any other Kings we should be worried about?"

"Best off asking some of the Order members. My knowledge of them mostly comes from knowing which ones are tight-fisted when it comes to handing out the rewards." Raisal chuckled. "That, and which ones are having spats and trying to sneak in assassination contracts on their neighbours."

"How do you manage that?" I asked, out of interest.

"We tend to send a young Knight and a cohort of Squires out to remind them of the Order of the Golden Keep's reputation and dedication to upholding it. Kill bounties are for criminals, not political rivals. And if a King can't at least go through the trouble of inventing a good crime to make it look legitimate, then that shows a lack of respect. A visit from our Knights normally sets them straight. And if it doesn't, well, the young Knights do like an excuse to ride out. It's fun signing off those orders." Raisal's smile was that of a bureaucrat who has the power to topple kings, and was truly something to behold.

"Are there any of these young Knights who have been sent out regularly? They might be good to talk to."

"No. Not paying, or trying to trick us, is irregular enough as it is. If there is a Knight you should speak with who knows the lay of the land best, I would recommend Lady Kovax. She grew up in the mountains. She's technically a Princess, but has long since abandoned any claim to the throne."

"Thank you. I shall seek her out. Now, back to the stories." I grinned as Raisal perked up.

I eventually ended up getting us some lunch and left with a good number of leads, and an entire stack of current bounties, as well as a stack of archived bounties, which were the true treasure. The completed or lapsed bounties wouldn't appear on the boards, but they provided a hoard of information.

So it was that I found myself heading back to the Order with a spring in my step and a head full of knowledge. Thanks to Raisal, I even had a list of a few places to play music that night. Playing for the cultivators was nice, but I wouldn't have the benefit of the gathering this evening, and that fire in my hearth danced brightest when I played for a crowd.

Returning to the compound, I found the Knights were busy recovering from the morning's training. I could tell by the scuffed armour and faint, strong smell of sweat that they must've been pushed hard, but the mood was convivial, so it must've gone well.

I shared a quick update with Tristan, Tiff and Percy. Tiff was going to be our coordinator for much of our 'campaign', so she took the stack of viable bounties and headed off to grab Lucan and start setting up an itinerary for us, while Tristan and Percy decided to dissect the archived list to look for any historical information.

The afternoon was getting late, and after spending much of my day cooped up in a stuffy room, I wasn't keen to head out to the Order proper hunting the former Princess that Raisal had mentioned. I decided to wander about our accommodation. The building was a splendid structure and clearly aimed to enforce the image of the Golden Keep's indomitable reputation.

The walls were thick, and the design of the building – with narrow windows that would be difficult to assault while allowing good sightlines across the streets – spoke to a martial practicality. The stones were solid and beautifully cut, with clear artistry, yet it couldn't mask the thickness of the doors, or fully hide the rune arrays that waited over every archway, ready to sound the alarm if someone tried to force entry.

It was like a soldier trying to disguise his profession by painting his scabbard.

I found myself out in the small training yard and spotted a few friendly faces, and one that was only familiar.

Bors, Lance, Maeve and Gring were talking in the stone-walled yard with the only Knight from the Golden Keep I'd seen inside our accommodations – the woman who'd been on Bors's lap yesterday evening. She was splitting her attention between the pegasus and outrageously flirting with him.

I almost chuckled to myself when I noticed Maeve watching them, a face that I'd come to recognise over the last few awkward weeks of feigned closeness as her taking notes look. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. This was my fault.

I had made the mistake of mentioning that she should work on knowing how to flirt a while ago, and she'd clearly taken the critique to heart.

"What's going on here?"

"Taliesin! Good to see you. Was just introducing Yolanda here to Gring."

"He is a majestic beast!" Her voice boomed off the stone walls of the courtyard. "He lives up to the songs you have sung of his resplendent nature."

Well, she'd made a friend for life with Gring, who whinnied in approval.

We talked for a brief while. I shared what I'd been up to, helping to reinforce my cover story – something Yolanda seemed to approve of heartily. Though I was getting the sense that the woman didn't do anything by half measures. I heard more about the training session, where apparently a few of the uppity Knights who'd been claiming that our new Order didn't have the skill to handle our chosen quest had been thoroughly put in their place.

"Then your 'titan' here cracked open the earth beneath him, and he fell in up to his neck. It was most amusing seeing Bordaine have to surrender with his lips a bare inch above the ground!"

"He was irritating. He knew he wasn't going to win and instead chose to drag it out. It wasn't honourable." Bors muttered, his face briefly losing its smile.

"He's not used to losing. It will do him good." She patted him companionably upon the arm, and Bors relaxed again. My big friend might not show it as much as Arthur or Gawain, but he cared deeply about honour in his own way.

I decided it was a good time to change the subject and air a question I'd been holding in for a while. I'd long learned that the last thing you should do to a woman you just met is to ask about her female acquaintances. It invariably led to a souring of their opinion of you, poor information, or both. But we now had sufficient social padding that the question shouldn't cause too much issue.

"Yolanda, I was hoping to pick some people's brains about the many warring Kings of the mountains. Raisal mentioned a colleague of yours, a Knight Kovax. Would you be willing to introduce me? I wish to ask her for stories."

"Oh, Koko? Yeah, sure." Her face broke out into a wide grin. "Actually, that's a perfect idea. She's most likely out at a tavern that has this amazing beer and has musicians most nights. You'll fit right in!"

Gring whinnied, and Bors and Lance sighed.

"Sure, we'll see if they let you in as well."


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