Levy, Duty, Justice; A Captain's Desk (Obsidian)

[Alexiali N'mora]

TIMESTAMP: Early In The Month of Cryxatum in the Season of Summer, of Era II of the Celestine Mandate (Current Pattern) Era XI Post Fractum in the Age of the Darkening, the Mageocracy of Julos the Mad.
Paradigm: Schism in the Church of the Faith.



Elshaniel…. Elshaniel and that damned number. 072629….Elshaniel 072629. Alexi’s eye’s closed as he sat at the desk; having not even looked at the file, yet. One of the Prince’s man, Prince Ebany’s royal guard perhaps? The truth was still a mysterious stalemate.

Captain Shary'lian ap'Peitin

That was what he’d been last Tylinterial had seen him, involved in the Phoenix Regiment failure in the mines; a failure laid at Alexi’s hands now. Was Elshaniel dead or alive? Questionable again, hints had been laid strongly that no body had ever been found; more to follow up on if Lieutenant Niayn’s attentions didn’t occupy him for the foreseeable future; just one more problem on top of another.

Tylinterial blamed him.

Elshaniel: Dead? Alive? Why the longknife in the door with the name tag?

Niayn? Misguided hero worship, probably the easiest to pin down but not to deal with, she’d be dogging him when he didn’t need a follower, didn’t deserve one at that. But then again maybe he was being too hard on himself? Certainly he’d allegedly done much at the levy and afterwards…but had he been right to leave? In the long run he’d achieve nothing through lack of loyalty to his family….did he deserve what had been done?

Fine fingers brushed across the longknife on the desk as Alexi lent back and put the tags down on the woodwork again next to the parchment file on his history; he’d look at that in a moment but for now he simply closed his eyes, glad of the closed door.

“ Law: That of the Gods.
Order: That of a stable world.
Justice: My own.”

He whispered quietly into the silence under his breath, fist clenching around the longknife and a grim smile forming. That was one problem solved at least, he’d made his mind up about where he was going for now even if overall goals had yet to be defined; Ariva would go down; the House would go down, as for Ethgan’tor as a whole? He’d see but he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice; he wouldn’t… wouldn’t let others suffer again, wouldn’t let them get close enough.

Avantine had been a daughter not a wife; he’d never wanted a wife, but Laura had evolved into what she was, the grief over her constant loss binding her to him more impossibly than he could ever really manage… the fact that Baragot’s men had been behind the attack driving the grief deeper still. That had been the mistake, the sin against all he’d stood for. He had let ego and a desire for control; the want for his world to be devoid of interference blind him to the simple fact that Nikolas had wanted exactly the same thing; it could have been cured with naught but a meeting, instead Alexiali had chosen bloodshed in the false belief his men would crush the human’s without a second thought.

Instead they’d all paid for his whims. The faces he did remember, that part of his memory intact, perhaps even by design…

Laura most of all; after his…indulgence with the Elven princeling he’d allowed her to coddle him for a while…to coddle him into a trap, he owed the man; that was the most wretched of all; he owed the man for what he’d done in return for her.

With that grief fresh again his eyes opened and he finally pulled the folder open, pausing before opening it to check if anyone had disturbed him, it was time to see what he had been here; where he had to go next.

[Obsidian]

Alexiali N’mora….First heir of house N’mora, well, that was before he betrayed his house and city to become an intelligence officer in Arium, how much that spits on the name of their house, thought house N’mora. The rest of the city, couldn’t care less, at least it had seemed this way since he had gotten back to the city and assumed his old role. It had been a long time since he had been in the city and some people were glad to see him after one hundred patterns, however, others were not as greatful.

The personal files, being captain he legally had access to them, although it was seemed rather unethical for people to look up their own file or tell people the contents of their own private file. But then again, that file could contain some very useful information, information that then again, these files could reveal a lot about the city, his house, corruption, lies and other such info, then to anyone of morale standards, not looking into it would be unethical, thus, Alexiali was placed in a ethical dilemma, but it looks like he already made his choice.

The file was curiously thick, for an elf whose fame had been short lived, it seemed somewhat strange. Slowly opening the file, Alexiali could see many notes and different sheets of paper each with different handwritings and the like. Glancing over there was a seal he hadn’t seen a very long time, which he would have remembered if he had spent some time looking at the ancient seal, he could see a few words, such as his name prop up a few times, but nothing without having a good look at it.

Well, he would have had a better glance if he wasn’t cut off from his thoughts by a very startling noses coming from the door, the definite sound of a fist knocking against his door, well, being startled so much from his absolute silence, It felt a bit more like drums being thumped about a centimetre from his ears. It seemed to be quite important, whatever it was that whoever was knocking wanted, which Alexiali was able to deduce from the rapidity of the knocks, one after the other, for a least seven long seconds. Alexiali still had his file open on the desk, not knowing if the elf would await his answer or just barge in.

[Alexiali N'mora]

Ethics were for other people…given Alexi’s past he had no right to speak of ethics when he’d been both spymaster and puller of puppet strings in Arium, equally his family was no shining beacon – although that was hardly and excuse and one he’d never use himself.

Leafing through piles of paper, aware that either he’d done a lot right or a lot wrong – and probably the former judging by the words of both the other Captain who held him in high regard and the Elf on the front desk – Alexi was none the less surprised and nagged by petty details, the seals, the styles of handwriting. He ought to know them all and yet he didn’t.

Distracted by furious tapping on the door though Alexiali acted without thought; another testimony to a life far behind when ability would have backed up action – now stuck with merely innate reflex backed up by cursory knowledge. The hand on the folder eased it shut as he eyes lifted to the door; lithe fingers curling around the longknife hilt and dropping the weapon down to his side; held lazily by his thumb and two fingers; apparently ready to be used…albeit without Alexi having any great knowledge of ‘how’ beyond ‘stab sharp end in this direction’.

Thankfully that was better than some though as the N’mora outcast’s smooth Esh’lahier voice quietly broke through the tirade of knocking; loud but not a shout, merely a call to come in above the noise of fists-on-wood.

“Come in, unless you want to knock the door down instead.”

He requested, lifting an idle piece of parchment from the desk to cover the file with; it wasn’t perfect but it would do as two fingers pushed it off to one side with its parchment covering, longknife still at his side, fingers tense; violet eyes watchful and sharp; who was at the door?

[Obsidian]

The almost hostile preparation response to anyone coming in when you were looking at something you perhaps shouldn’t be was an appropriate response to the stimulus. Sure, there were people knocking at the door every once in a while, but this seemed different, one way or another. After all, not every day that you get that sort of intensity of a knock.

The elf came in, he was impressively tall for an elf, almost 6’4 feet. His hair was quite short, only coming past his ears and was incredibly thin and seemed to hug his face. His nose was quite small, if ever so slightly hooked at the top. His eyes were large and his lips were short, his figure was proportionate, except for a bit of a potbelly that no amount of exercise would seem to get rid of. His robe was typical of the Ethgan’tor levy uniform, a mostly brown trimmed grey robe, with an elegant light green cloak bearing the symbol of the citizen levy.

The man was young, and he came in and bowed quickly, as which was customary with honouring ranks. There was urgency in his voice, and a sort of sorrow. “Sir, Liarel has been killed! We need you to come investigate immediately, we wondered why she wasn’t at role-call, we searched her bed to find that she had died, we have not pinpointed a reason for death, but we need you to come investigate, we can not risk a traitor in our midst.”

Luckily, his mind was too focused on the situation at hand to even bother looking at the room, or the poorly hidden file that contained so much confidential information about him. Or anything else in that matter, his voice bore quite a taint of shock as well, deaths were uncommon in this fashion, in fact a death like this was unheard of for a very long time, in second fact, if Alexiali could remember as far back, the last time this happened was actually when he was last posted in Ethgan’tor some many patterns ago.

The answers it seemed, would have to wait.

[Alexiali N'mora]

Names… Liarel meant nothing to Alexi, equally he didn’t know who the speaker was…he did however remember a few things; the most important being that people respected calmness and that senior officers were supposed to be calm; also he knew he needed to get rid of the file. So the finger’s of Alexi’s right hand; longknife still present, went to work pulling open a drawer quietly as he spoke.

“Calm down and take a seat Lieutenant.”

Captaian N’mora offered with a surprisingly quiet tone, suppressing his own surprise at the news as he worked quickly; putting the longknife into the drawer and lifting his hand to take, in one swift movement, folder and parchment down and out of prying eyes, his own violet orbs catching the Lieutenant’s and innoculously holding them as he put the folder away…yes, Alexi was a very good liar; else how had he got to be so good at spying on people?

“Now, if I leave right this moment your going to have to tell me what happened when I get there anyway and you might forget something. So take a few deep breaths and explain – report – what happened to me; precisely.”

The last word was a carefully toned hiss as the lock on the drawer clicked shut and the Captain put the key in his pocket, moving the key from the drawer above on instinct. He placed it on the drawer the folder was in and turned it so that it was just off centre…therefore when he got back he’d know if it had been tampered with or moved unless anyone who searched his office was an expert.

It was not, of course, that the former N’mora heir was paranoid of course….not at all, merely remembering fragments of old habits.

“Tell me who Liarel is, what rank she is, when she was last seen and who; to your knowledge, discovered the body; then we’ll go see the scene and I can find out the answers you don’t know, how does that sound?”

Alexiali asked smoothly, the tone soothing, fatherly, understanding. He might have lost his tradecraft knowledge and reflexive memory of pretty much everything but it didn’t mean the raw material was any different.

[Obsidian]

The cool and almost apathetic stance that Alexiali handed the situation would have most likely been the same stance that the luitenant should have taken, but Alexiali could sense that the lieutenant had been somehow traumatised in a way that he perhaps, shouldn’t be. The lieutenant whose name Alexiali did not know, took a few breaths, as if he was almost trying very hard to calm down, he took a few deep breaths, it was unusual for a lieutenant to be making this much of a fuss over something like this, of course if the Imperium was invading, then it would be a time to panic, but not something as petty as this.

The lieutenant ignored Alexiali’s order to take a seat, well, probably not intentionally as there was a lot going through his mind at the time, but, he just stood up as he started explaining to the captain exactly what he had been asked of.

“Sir, like I said, as you know, at role-call, we didn’t hear her name, everyone is required to be present at role-call, everyday, unless noted otherwise, Lariel didn’t show up, so what we usually do if people are absent, we make sure they haven’t slept in. We found her sleeping, well; at least we thought it was sleeping. All our attempts at waking her failed, so we checked if she was breathing, and she wasn’t! The realisation struck us as hard as our arrows strike outsiders, we haven’t had a proper look, but we found no blood, I doubt she’s got anything that would have killed her, she was as healthy as can be, best to bring her file along, don’t you say? Oh also, Lariel was a private, she’s only been here for three years, she was quite the popular one as well, she was very likable, but serious when she had to be, she was one of best archers as well, if a bit flimsy with a glaive. I just don’t know what to think, it’s all too sudden and like, I don’t think it could have been an insider, it just seems to be unreasonable, equally, it would be unreasonable for an outsider to do the same, and after all, no outsiders have gotten in for patterns.”

By this time, the elf was leaning on the chair with his hands and his fingers were almost rhythmically strumming the chair as if to relieve some anxiety or stress, he was still breathing a little heavily and his posture seemed a bit calmer as well, but inside, his muscles were still stiff and his mind still racing.

[Alexiali N'mora]

Alexiali could have asked ‘was she close to you’ or ‘did you have a relationship with her’ but that would have been…untactful and impolite so he spared the man; it wouldn’t exactly be hard to find out regardless. Judging by what he’d been told…someone most likely had, although crimes of passion were hardly common; unlike crimes of politics.

Raising a hand to turn the collar of his shirt slightly; straightening it, the N’mora exile rose from his chair wordlessly after having cleared up his…evidence and walked over to where his glaive lent against the wall, taking it in hand he moved past the Lieutenant to his office door and held it open.

“Lead the way Lieutenant, you can go and fetch her personal file while I’m examining the scene.”

He ordered in that same tone, quiet, calm, collected. He didn’t know what he’d find but clearly she’d probably either been poisoned or…quite simply died of something everyone else had missed, he’d have to wait and see with regard to that; but for now he simply had to see what was going on…it was certainly strange but no, not worth all this bother over it; the Lieutenant was, as Alexiali had decided earlier, either simply very prone to being unbalanced, or attached to the dead Private in a way that wasn’t really proper considering he was the one reporting the death.

[Obsidian]

Whether the shock of the fact came from a repercussion from being a lover, friend, family member or it came from lapses in neurotransmitters playing up due to chemical imbalances or negative cognitions was still to be determined, which was a weird thing to ponder at, because the Captain did not even know the name of the lieutenant, something which he perhaps should have, he had simply never seen the elf before, or at least, that what Alexiali’s memories would have suggested at this point. Which might have been weird for Alexiali, it might not have been. It depended on the amount of faces he could put a name to, but for some reason or another, he could not put a name on this face, perhaps he was new to the title, perhaps he might have never met the Lieutenant. All possibilities.

The lieutenant nodded, the formal gesture of compliance mimicked in other parts of the empire as salutes. Which is probably more what Alexiali was used to as an agent in Arium. The elf walked over to the filing cabinet, opened it up and peered inside, an almost childlike curiosity peered over him as a file with his name marked on it. He quickly shut the cabinet, with the correct file, it was of small size. After all, privates tended to be relatively new; it was incredibly small in comparison to Alexiali’s file. He affiremed with “Got it.” The whole event of getting the file seemed a bit suspicious, but there was no reason for Alexiali to feel that way, except for the slight shock complexion and the hint of his pupils expanding rapidly, all from the reaction.

“Shall we head off? They’re waiting for us in the dormitory.”

[Alexiali N'mora]

Extending a hand to take the file and gesturing to the door after he’d got it Alexiali merely nodded, opening it and cradling the parchment in one hand as he headed out after the Lieutenant; absently…but not without thought, locking the door behind him, he might not have noticed the man’s shock at seeing his own file but Alexi had been surprised the file had been in his office, therefore protecting it seemed all the more important…

“I didn’t catch your name Lieutenant?”

He asked, half paying attention to walking, half to the file and the conversation as he read the first couple of pages on personal details and initial reports, plus any remarks that might be useful for telling him why someone had killed the girl.

Why in the office though? the Esh’lahier wondered, why had her file been in his office. The two seemed connected; since his office hadn’t been used in patterns and patterns, therefore either someone had put it there or his office had been used as a dumping ground for various files; the question lay in what kind of files?

Thus the Captain followed the Lieutenant, reading the file and waiting for a response from the man so he could check up on his information at a later date.

[Adder]

The file did not contain any details that were revealing of the character behind the mystery. Her file contained merely the routine details of a steady yet not spectacular career. Assessments, physical and skill were filed in order and showed results that were acceptable if not spectacular and yet not failures either.

It seemed that the dead woman had been one of those faces that never stood out in the squad, always present, reliable but never a cause for concern and so never needing attention.

The lieutenant seemed to be taking his time to answer and it remained to be seen how well he had coped with the command of the unit, reduced in size as it had been. Deprived of the sergeant who had been promoted out, and of whom the Commander must have been impressed despite that Captains doubts, the unit had lost the man who kept the until together.

Officers were all very well and units lived or died by the quality of their commanders, but it was the sergeants that actually carried out those orders for good or bad. A good sergeant could easily overcome the obstacles caused by negligent command.

This unit had been left leaderless and this lieutenant didn't seem to have what it took to step in and take charge. For sure the unit appeared alright on the surface, but Alexi was sure to find a nasty mess under the surface.

Areth'ya, sir, he replied eventually. Lt Areth'ya

[Alexiali N'mora]

So apparently his group’s personal files were still being kept in the same office; odd enough, shrugging at the inconsistency as he read through the file Alexi came to the conclusion that things were not exactly orderly below him…not that he was surprised with that given the state his fellow Captain was in; effectively problems were piling up around him and none of them were even remotely related to his former household.

This was politics though, this was relationships and the subtle; it was a business he’d been in for the better part of his life even though his memory was fragmented and shattered; he knew it and he felt confident he could deal with it…it just took caution and steady movement through the facts.

“Very well Lieutenant Areth’ya, you are now going to show me to the location of the death and the body and we’re going to start this all again, your also going to tell me why on Telath you came to get me.”

The Captain chanced to stop the man with a hand on his shoulder, spinning the younger Esh’lahier to face him.

“Your job Lieutenant is supervision, not errand running, now why did you not send one of your subordinates to fetch me whilst you ensured the body was undisturbed? Regardless of how you’re performing as a Lieutenant - something I have very little information on yet and am still making judgment on - ”

That implied Alexi wasn’t impressed thus far; as he wanted it to.

“You should know that anyone could be tampering with evidence now that you might have stopped if you’d been watching.”

Still with his hand on the man’s shoulder Alexi turned him back down the corridor and pushed gently to get him moving, finishing his calm yet firm tirade.

“Now lets not keep them waiting.”

It was quite clear he expected any response to be as they moved to the room, they’d dallied enough with Alexi trying to figure things out.

[Adder]

The Lieutenant looked somewhat sullenly at Alexi as he was turned around and interrogated on his actions by this stranger, someone who hadn't been present when his unit needed him and now walked back in expecting that everyone would welcome him back with open arms.

In addition, it hadn't occured to the young elf to send someone and the pointing out of his carelessness added to the resentment he was starting to build towards this officer. His voice carried an edge of the repressed anger that the tongue lashing had caused, and he spoke as they walked down the corridor.

Well... Sir, there was a noticable delay before the elf acknowledged Alexi's seniority, since your return was only a rumour, what order was I supposed to give?

He seemed to realise that the statement might have gone a little too far. Also I don't like the men rummaging through the personnel files. The unit office got commandeered when we lost everyone and the files, the few that were still active were moved into your old office. If you hadn't returned then I wanted the file to give to whoever I could find to take charge of the investigation, them not knowing her at all.

He eyed his superior, the resentment flashing once more in his eyes and clearly he intended the implication that Alexi didn't know his men to be clear even if unstated.

And I know my people, sir, they won't be tampering with the evidence, why would they? Whoever did this wasn't one of us.

The Lieutenant shut his mouth, though his eyes still smouldered at the implication that this stranger had made. Normally the officers formed their own clique, presenting a united front to the troops and to the world at large, but so far there was little but cold formality between the two elves with none of the usual formal respect that should have existed.

He led the way off the floor where Alexi had his office and down to the barracks, leading them into a quieter section that Alexi might remember, but he would have remembered it bustling with life, not with doors shut, covered in fine coatings of dust that clearly demonstrated their lack of use and that they hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

Low voices, clearly arguing became apparent as they approached, the last echo; I don't care, I told you this was going to happen... fading off into silence as the footsteps of the two officers echoed down the corridor and into the room.

The room when they entered was quiet, half a dozen elves huddled into a tight group, half turned towards the door, their faces as sullen as the Lieutenants had been while beyond them could be seen the still figure of a woman lying on her side in her bed, the coverings in a slight disarray. The elves glared at the intruders, only reacting slowly to the presence of Alexi, pulling themselves upright and being ignored by the Lieutenant who stepped aside and guestured into the room. Well here it is sir. The voice was colder now, dropping responsibility publically onto Alexi's shoulders.

[Alexiali N'mora]

“You are meant to ask someone to go and see a senior officer, Lieutenant.”

Alexi grumbled.

“They would have then asked about the file which you would then have been able to go and find once they’d come to the scene of the incident Lieutenant, do you follow?”

Far be it of course for the former spy master to dare say he’d only been here a few brightenings and thus had not been given the chance to find out about his command, far be it for him to explain the simple matter that he’d spent the last few brightenings finding out what the Aeternia he was doing and hadn’t even known until now that he had a command, oh no.

Again he stopped the Lieutenant and looked at him hard before they got to the barracks.

“You might know your people Lieutenant but I’ve been here all of two brightenings, I arrived in one, spoke to a fellow Captain and then slept, I’ve now been looking over paperwork for the best part or another without even knowing you existed. Now you may think that makes me stupid and that’s your prerogative, I don’t have to explain this to you after all but I’m trying to be polite, point taken?”

That said…they continued. And apparently the Lieutenant didn’t know his men as well as he thought since one at least had been whispering about the past. Again, much for later as Alexi stepped through the door into the barracks and nodded to his people.

“I’d rather this first meeting was under better circumstances but the Lieutenant found me before I’d finished all the initial paperwork. I’d wanted to be able to offer you a bit more than just a cursory meeting…and now we have this, very well.”

Alexi stepped forward and gestured for people to move back.

“Lets have a look at what we’ve got, who saw her last and was there any hint that she had obvious enemies?”

He asked initially; he’d have to take them all and interview them individually at some point but that wold have to wait as he examined the corpse.

[Adder]

The Lieutenant listened to the comments with reply. He was resentful of the sudden appearance of his new commander, though he hadn't realised it yet. At first the news had been a surprise and he had been happy that the weight of command was lifted from his shoulders, but then he had heard nothing. No news or sight of the man who it seemed was content to sit in his office and review the paperwork, no interest in the troops themselves who had remained loyal to his command even though his absence indicated that the loyalty was not returned.

The hope and the relief had quickly turned to distrust and suspision, old rumours reviving in his memory. The Captain had managed to be absent when his command was slaughtered, a deliberate avoidance of danger or a negligent carelessness that had left the command in less capable hands? Now he was back, and the Lieutenant reserved judgement, but still the cricitsms wormed into his mind and fuelled the resentment. If he had come down to meet the troops, perhaps Liarel would still be alive! The thought, unreasonable though it might be persisted in his mind.

He stood back in the room, allowing the captain to dominate with his presence, but his stiff expression, was noted by his men. They knew their Lieutenant well, better than he realised, for he had come close with them, trying to motivate them after it seemed that they had been abandoned.

They moved backwards in response to the command, yet the silence was only broken by the shuffling of feet. Eyes flickered, from the Captain to the others, an exchange that duelled where the glances met, though most often they avoided eachother. Eventually the glances converged on a slightly shorter and thicker set elf. His eyes narrowed and a faint grimace crossed his expression as he became aware of the concentration of attention and he shifted position uncomfortably.

He glanced up at the Lieutenant, who returned the look steadily and then nodded, a tilt of his head that was almost unnoticable. The elf breathed in and then looked at the commander, his eyes defocusing as he brought the memories back to the fore. His voice was a little hoarse and he cleared his throat before beginning. I saw her last night. I'd spent the end of the evening at the club, having a few with some old friends. They were off on patrol today, so they wanted an early night and not too sore heads for the early start, so we drank fast but light. I passed Liarel near here as I was heading back to the barracks, we didn't say anything, just nodded like usual. She seemed normal enough, though I wasn't really paying attention.

As for enemies, none that I know of. He looked around the room and was met only by shrugs from the others. She kept herself to herself most of the time. If she had enemies then I don't know about them. I'd say that she was too quiet to have enemies though I dare say that there were some who tried to take advantage of her. He shut his mouth and his attention focussed back on the Captain.