Deus Ex Machinarium

Before they even stepped out of the boat in Katzburg river port, Brandt decided to dwell in Katzburg briefly. A day, maybe two, and then continue on their way. One reason was sheer efficiency. The other, much more pertinent, was the impending Vhirzung.

Once their carriage arrived at Katzburg gates, this plan was quickly modified to spend as little time as possible in the town. Forces they briefly met in Isdelburg were sizable but were not out of the realm of a regular Maargardian incursion into the wildlands. Each year someone organized a ‘Vhirzung’. It was a way by which Paladinate was slowly displacing the native wildmen population and growing south and west. Most of these, if not all, were merely a raid into the wildmen's territory. Either to loot what was lootable, which mostly wasn’t much or to hunt for slaves for the wealthy and wives for veterans.

When they finally approached the town and Brandt saw what was around it, he ceased hoping the current one was just the regular deal. There were too many tents, soldiers, and fires with a roast over it. Multiple banners were flying in the wind and everything was too orderly. Most important of all. There were far too many clergy and church-affiliated people around. Praying, proselytizing, and keeping an eye on everyone.

There were too few whores around as well.

What he was witnessing around Katzburg was the once-in-a-century major Vhirzung. One worthy of this name. Erstpaladin, for whatever reason, wanted to grab loads of territory and expand Maargard’s borders. Thus in the name of Vhirs, noble houses were to provide troops to aid the throne in this goal.

In the middle of all of this was he and his companion. Both were on a quest of questionable, if not downright heretical, nature. It was obvious that their stay in Katzburg needed to be brief.

After they arrived, Brandt headed towards the local offices of ‘Maarische Bank’ to obtain actual money. Zerstnotes and promissory notes were a potent way to exchange ryals without using actual coins, but not every business could be conducted with them. One such was getting some sort of transport for the trip to replace the horses he hastily sold off back in Isdelburg.

It took more time than he hoped it would. Seemingly, all the beasts of burden in Katzburg were either sold to or appropriated by the army. Which, of course, wasn’t a surprise. Thus he spent over an hour searching for something. In the end, he managed to swindle off a two-wheeled cart and an old horse from a requisition officer in one of the camps. Although ‘swindle’ was not the correct word, it was more of him getting swindled. It was one very expensive cart.

This search had an upside. As he was negotiating the cart, he also managed to buy some good-quality maps from the same man. Although ‘buying’ meant that the officer made an involuntary bundle of a cart, horse, and military documents. Brandt simply stole the maps when the soldier was distracted.

Provision of some camping equipment, which they both would undoubtedly need when poking about the wilderness in a town which was surrounded by a literal city of tents proved to be a problem Brandt didn’t foresee. He spent a candle wandering around town and finding nothing that would be even in the simplest form of “ready” to use. Finally, he managed to cobble up a bale of thick linen, a sizable pot, a coil of rope, and, after a long haggling session with a local merchant, a few blankets. Without being able to buy any poles for the makeshift tent he was hoping to make, Brandt settled for a woodcutter’s hatchet and a sharpening stone. They would need to improvise their tent, should they need one. It wasn’t the quality of equipment he hoped to get, or was accustomed to use, but it had to do for the time being. Thankfully, of all the things he thought would be necessary, there was no shortage of shovels. He bought three. Just in case.

It was after dark when he returned to “The Wild Man”. At this hour he was tired after the long journey and having spent the last few candles running errands. Hunger was also a problem that required addressing. Lastly, there was the issue of Anh and him being very roughly connected to the reality around them. Did the tanai rent a room? In all circumstances, Brandt would not be worried, but it was Anh Trawins…

Despite trying hard to like his companion, the hoomin had to face the admission that this partnership was trying on his resolve. Nord expected to enter the inn and find the tanai confused or uninvolved in the corner. Of course, none of the things he asked for would be done.

Albeit, there was a thought at the back of his head, one caused by hunger and tiredness no doubt, that he was underselling his tanai companion. Brandt was used to working with employees of Zerstbank. Loyal, motivated, and with a clear sense of hierarchical order of things. His not seeing the tanai as such might have been a failure on his side.

Having all but worse expectations, Brandt pushed the doors to the Inn and went through. The interior was… mundane, as it always was in these places. At this time there were very few people inside. A corpulent barkeep with an impressive mustache sat behind his bar. A pair of soldiers wearing grey and blue uniforms in a corner were snoozing propped against a wall. On the opposite end, a middle-aged, well-dressed woman was finishing her meal. Remains of a pig were roasted over a fire, with most meat already cut off. The place smelled… comfortable.

Anh, however, was nowhere to be found. Brandt entered the main room and headed towards the barkeep.

-” Greetings. My partner was supposed to rent a room here. A tanai, paid with a Maarische Bank note”.

-” Room Zeven, Mr?” - replied the barkeep, then yawned -”Upztairs”

-” Thank you, good man” - Brandt threw in response, not even caring to introduce himself when he was already on his way towards the stairs.

A few drips later he found himself in a long hallway with wooden doors on both sides, spaced about five mers each. Brandt counted twelve rooms, six on each side. The corridor was dimly lit with a trio of quite faded light crystals. Coupled with the silence around him, it created quite an eerie atmosphere.

With a few steps, he reached the door decorated with a ‘seven’ painted on them. He pushed the handle. The doors were locked.

-” Mr Trawins! Please open.”

-” I’m coming!” - came the muffled response from the other side. A moment later the doors creaked open. Anh was floating before him, wearing an expensive nightgown with a nightcap topped with a sizable pompom. An attire Brandt would more expect from a lady, and an older one at that. Seeing this he froze and it was only after ages of practiced self-control that he didn’t burst into laughter.

-” Since we are already in an inn, I dressed the part. Besides…” - the tanai floated inside - “ the beds here are comfortable and puffy, and I fried… umm, killed the bedbugs. We will be out of civilization for some time, it’s best to rest when the opportunity is there.”

Brandt entered the room. The inside was simple. Two beds, one table, a stool with a bowl of water on top, a sizable clay pitcher on a shelf below it, and a covered brass potty on the floor below. A wrought iron crystalabre was hanging from the ceiling, with four brightly lit crystals stuck on it, giving the room a bright yellowish haze. Anh arranged their luggage at the bases of their beds.

-” I ordered you the food, but I didn’t account for you being away for such a long while, so iit is cold.” - said worried Anh -” I can heat it for you.”

-” Please do”- said Brandt, surprised by the accommodation -” I’m starving”.

Brandt sat heavily on, judging by it being orderly, his bed. He took off his boots and wiggled his toes for relief. At the same time Anh floated above his bed with his legs crossed. His face showed concentration on the task of heating the food for the nord. Surely enough, a minute or so later a scent of liver in onion with buckwheat in thick sauce filled the room.

Brandt had to admit. It smelled tasty. He stood and went towards the bowl with water.

-” I obtained some maps. Presumably of the area.” - he said while washing his hands - “they are in the tube laying on the bed.”

-” You found a bookshop?”

-” I obtained them.” - Brandt shot a peek at Anh, checking whether he got the implied message.

-” I’ll skim through, see if they are any good” - said the tanai reluctantly, and floated, without even changing his cross-legged pose, towards the package hoomin had just described.

Brandt sat on his bed and took the lids off the bowls of his food. Immediately the smell of roasted liver with onions intensified tenfold. This wasn’t the dish Nord was most keen on. In his opinion, it was too greasy and heavy on the stomach. He was never keen on Maargardian cuisine and preferred a lighter, Sorresian palette. Where they were, cooks loved their heavy gravies, groats, potatoes, and pork, washed down with ale or beer. While in the Empire, the tables were conquered by fish, leafy vegetables, and wine.

But he was also too hungry to be bothered.

As he was eating his meal he was observing his companion. Anh was shuffling the sheet parchments around, taking out some accidental documents and focusing his attention solely on the maps. To each of those, he gave a few moments of attention. He studied the details and gave a muffled ‘mhm’ each time he saw something worth such an appraisal.

-” These are good” - he finally said -” these are very good. Drawn by someone good at what they were making”

-” Will those get us to the destination quicker?” - said Brandt between two bites of his food.

-” Very much so!”- replied Anh, excitedly, then started to shuffle the maps before him and after a few moments, found one, which he immediately showed to Brandt - “See this? This is the area of the neighborhood. Drawn by someone who knows how to work their curve and compass. I’m impressed.”

-” Good” - hoomin swallowed another bite, hardly hiding his disinterest

-” I think” - Anh spread the map over the table, then hurried towards his bags. The unsecured map rolled back with a silent ‘thwop’, then rolled over the table and fell to the ground. Brandt followed it with a tired gaze. In the meantime, the tanai was rummaging over his belongings, finally drawing a ruler, an inkwell, and a feather.

-” Where is the map” - he uttered, seeing as the sheet was not on the table - “oh! There it is” - the lost item floated into the air from underneath the table, and spread over it seemingly of its own will. In the meantime, the tanai arrived at the table, once again assuming his cross-legged position. Then he put the inkwell on one end of the map to keep it from rolling. Having no other item with him, he traced the table for something, finally settling on a bowl cover. Before he placed it on the map, he checked if the cover was dry, but in the end, it was used to secure the map from the other end.

-” Where was I? Oh yes.” - the tanai placed an end of the ruler over the precariously drawn silhouette of houses in the center of the sheet, with a Katzburg calligraphed below it - “ This is our location. The site of the first Vhirzung is”- tanai rotated the ruler so ist edge was over a sigil of a fouring of Vhirs somewhat close to the lower left corner of the map -” here. The scale of the map is about one to forty thou. Not bad. We also have about a fifty kimer radius around Katzburg mapped, without promises of dragons in sight. Cute. The interesting part is this tract drawn with red ink. It is described as “forbidden, old sanctuary” and having a sigil of the Skola Pro Cvirsi drawn over it.”

Anh was staring at the sheet before him for a few moments, tilting his head left and right, tracing something over the map

-” Yes, I know, but why would they do so?” - he said absentmindedly, hearing this, Brandt raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word. The tanai, silent again, started to bump his fingers on his lips.

-” Yes, yes, I know, not for public consumption.” - he uttered once again. Then froze for a few moments, only to suddenly turn to the other maps rolled on the bed beside him.

-” Where was it?” - the tanai started to shuffle the documents, unrolling them, checking their content, then throwing them away -” yes, this is very tentative, intermediate level”- he once again uttered, seemingly to himself. In the meantime, Brandt finished his meal. Anh, however, was in his world and didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he started to murmur to himself and shuffle maps back and forth, putting some on the table, then taking them away, and replacing them with others.

The Nord covered all the bowls with their covers, then wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin, which he threw on the dishes before him. He then stood and went to his bag. In which he was searching for something for a few short moments. He took out a tiny jar with a cork, and what seemed to be a stick wrapped in a linen cloth, but in the end turned out to be a little brush. During this Anh was deep within his world, shuffling and analyzing maps, sometimes commenting to himself in a hushed tone.

Once armed with those utensils, Brandt went toward the stool with a bowl in the corner of the room. He poured water from a pitcher into a cup, dunked the brush into the jar, and started brushing his teeth. This must have been so out of the ordinary, that it shook Anh out of his stream of consciousness. The tanai began observing what the hoomin was doing for the entirety of the deed.

Brandt finally, spit into the bowl before him and rinsed his mouth.

-” Are you brushing your teeth? No, that was redundant.”- uttered Anh with a hit of self-disappointment - ”Does brushing teeth yield what proponents claim it does?”

-” What do you mean?”- said Brandt while wiping his face off the remains of the brushing compound and foam

-” I heard of this practice. Certain tanai advocate for it. Zealously.” - quickly said Anh -” I have a pamphlet on my reading list about this. But I never met anyone doing this. Let alone a hoomin. No offense”

-” None taken. Let me say it this way.”- Brandt took a moment to collect his thoughts -” I like my teeth, and am certain that brushing has kept them in good shape since I started to do it. I’ve been doing it for a long time.”

-” How long?”

-” A… few years. Minimum.”- replied Brandt with a barely noticeable hint of hesitation.

-” That is very interesting. I need to read that pamphlet once we are back to Sheridawn. On another note. I studied the maps.”

-” Yes. I noticed.”

-” From the few glances, my hypothesis seems to have merit. The one about the location of the na-no-forge. Or at least a precursor site.”

-” Yes. I remember, continue.”

-” The maps demarcate where the First Vhirzung Monument is built, and where something in the interest of the Ordos is or was. The maps you have provided show an area off limits to whomever those maps were made for.”

-” So that’s where we are going to go.”- calmly said the Nord -” have you found any hints of what we might find?”

-” No, unfortunately, no. I can still only hypothesize.” - Anh hung his voice for a moment -” Is poking our heads into there…safe?” - he said worriedly.

-” It’s not”- Brandt’s voice had no traces of any negative emotion, he merely announced what seemed like an obvious consequence of their actions - “Then again, all the commotion around us might work to be our cover. For now, we need to rest.”