Ruin & Reliance

by Jeremy Dwyer

“So, how many shipping containers were audited? Did you personally supervise them? And what rates were set for the gems? Can you give me an estimate?” Saskia asked.

  “I don’t remember any of that,” Mayor Langford said.

  “Like I said, he’s not a real mayor,” Fernao said.

  “The so-called Mayor Langford is just a party boy. He thinks the diamond bracelet was just a flashy part of his wardrobe to catch the ladies’ attention. Meliora gave it to him. That’s what blocked the telepathy, until we took it off,” Saskia said.

  “Let’s get to that party at the governor’s mansion. It’s probably loaded with thieves like him and worse. Saskia, dig deeper in his head and see if mayor moron knows anything else. I’ll shine a light on the riverboats and help Rafael follow them to the governor’s mansion,” Fernao said.

  ~~~

  Fernao walked across the deck of the Blazing Payback and entered the wheelhouse to help his navigator.

  “Rafael, follow them,” Fernao said as he created a guide beam in the direction the riverboats were traveling.

  Rafael pulled levers to pivot the masts and the sails to the sides of the Blazing Payback and elevated the ship to one hundred twenty (120) feet of altitude. He steered the vessel according to the guiding light until reaching the area just outside the governor’s mansion. Rafael then pulled levers to lower the vessel to the ground and extend the boarding ramp.

  ~~~

  Fernao then went back out on deck and said: “Saskia, Tiago, Aletta, Zeferino! Let’s have the fake mayor escort us to the party. We’ll get acquainted with the host and a few favorite guests and make our appearance when we need to. Expect anything.”

  Aletta drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from her vial to be energized with the power to connect to the spirit world.

  Saskia drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from her vial to be energized with the powers of telepathy and empathy.

  Zeferino drank anew of the waters of the Nabavodel Ocean from his vial to be energized with the powers of strength and speed.

  Fernao drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from his vial to be energized with the powers of light and far sight.

  Tiago drank anew of the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean from his vial to be energized with the powers of darkness. He exercised the power to cloak himself, Saskia, Zeferino, Aletta and Fernao.

  From under the cover of darkness, Fernao said: “Lead the way, mayor.”

  Zeferino maintained a firm grip on Mayor Langford’s neck.

  ~~~

  The mansion of Governor Marijus was located fifteen (15) miles south of the Port of Hithagredil. The granite structure stood eighty-one (81) feet tall and spanned nine hundred seventy-five (975) feet from east to west and six hundred thirty-eight (638) feet from north to south. A topiary garden formed a one hundred seventy-two (172) foot wide border around the residence. Four (4) paths wound through it, all leading to the large front door. Each of the routes passed by numerous stone statues, with some as tall as thirty-eight (38) feet.

  ~~~

  After stepping off the riverboat, Captain Pradrock, Fritz, Massimo and Jolene followed the crowd as they navigated the maze of bushes leading to the mansion’s entrance.

  “This place is rich beyond rich,” Massimo said.

  “This governor is probably important beyond important,” Jolene said.

  “He must hold a high position in the central bank. The wealth on display is unusual,” Captain Pradrock said.

  “This is more like a small city,” Fritz said.

  The front door to the mansion was opened and two hundred sixty-seven (267) other guests entered. Captain Pradrock and his crew followed them inside.

  ~~~

  Mayor Langford walked along a path leading through the topiary garden. He felt the same unseen strong hand on his neck as before. He arrived at the front door of the mansion along with one hundred seventy-four (174) other guests and entered behind them.

  ~~~

  The front door of the governor’s mansion led to a marbled foyer, measuring ninety-five (95) feet wide, sixty-seven (67) feet long and forty-two (42) feet in height, spanning four (4) floors. Four (4) spiral staircases with brass railings connected the levels. A crowd of seven hundred nineteen (719) people moved about, drinking wines, eating cheeses and chattering.

  Governor Marijus wandered through foyer and greeted his guests with nothing more than a smile. The sixty-eight (68) year old man was dressed in black, white and silver robes. Diamonds studded his tunic and he wore a bracelet with thirty-six (36) diamonds on his left wrist. He was accompanied by a pair of women.

  ~~~

  “There’s the governor. I know because the people around him recognize him,” Jolene said. She stayed close enough to Captain Pradrock, Fritz and Massimo to whisper and still be heard. She saved her telepathic energy for the work ahead.

  “Learn what you can,” Captain Pradrock said.

  Jolene exercised her powers but was unable to probe the thoughts of the old man. “I can’t read him. Something’s blocking me,” she said.

  “Another telepath?” Pradrock asked.

  “I can’t tell,” Jolene said.

  “Let’s get closer,” Fritz said.

  “We’re already kind of close, but I’ll try,” Jolene said. She moved slowly toward the governor, hoping that the difficulty could be accounted for, but doubting that distance was the cause of her inability to read the governor’s thoughts.

  ~~~

  Mayor Langford approached the governor, who was accompanied by Zenaida and Meliora.

  “Governor Marijus, thank you for having me here,” Mayor Langford said.

  “Certainly, Mayor. Always good to see you,” Governor Marijus said.

  “I’m glad you could make it, Mayor Langford,” Zenaida said.

  “Stick around for a while, Mayor. This party’s just getting started,” Meliora said.

  “What was that?” Governor Marijus asked.

  “What was what?” Zenaida asked.

  “Are you alright, sweetie?” Meliora asked.

  “Yes. I felt something bump into me. My wrist hurts, but I’m alright,” Governor Marijus said.

  Meliora looked toward the governor’s left wrist and saw that the diamond bracelet was gone. “Governor, can we talk? In private? Now?” she asked.

  “What is it, Meliora?” Governor Marijus asked.

  “This is important, Governor. Please!” Meliora said.

  ~~~

  “I’ve got a read on the governor. This is big. This is way big,” Jolene said. She probed the governor’s thoughts as best she could and learned some of his intentions.

  ~~~

  Governor Marijus felt a pin prick on his hand and he fell to the ground, dead.

  Meliora and Zenaida both screamed as the governor’s corpse lay between them.

  Mayor Langford thought he knew what happened, but his focus was interrupted when he felt himself being pushed away by the unseen, strong hand. Meliora and Zenaida were pushed along with him. They were all led across the foyer into a small study room located along its northern wall and the door was closed and locked.

  ~~~

  Dozens of people in the crowd gasped and hurried over to the body of the governor. “He’s dead!” one person yelled. “The governor was poisoned!” another screamed. The governor’s body turned pale green from the powerful toxins flowing through it.

  ~~~

  “What did you learn?” Captain Pradrock asked.

  “Let’s get back to the ship and talk about it,” Jolene said.

  Captain Pradrock, Jolene, Fritz and Massimo hurried across the crowded foyer and out of the mansion.

  A man followed them and said: “I am Alonso, Chronicler of four thousand three hundred eighty (4380) years. Under the authority of the Oath, I will be coming with you.”

  ~~~

  Fernao, Tiago, Zeferino, Saskia and Aletta remained under the cover of darkness when they entered the small study
room in the dead governor’s mansion.

  “Why did you kill the governor? I was still probing him?” Saskia asked.

  “I didn’t kill him,” Zeferino said.

  “I don’t know who did. I didn’t sense anyone else,” Saskia said.

  “Did you learn much before he died?” Fernao asked.

  “Yes. But I need to find out more. Zeferino, if you would be so kind as to relieve these ladies of their excess jewelry,” Saskia said.

  Fernao put his hands on Langford’s neck so that Zeferino could bind both Meliora and Zenaida, holding their hands behind their backs. Zeferino slammed both women to the ground and rummaged through their coat pockets. He removed the diamonds that Meliora kept concealed.

  “Now I’ve got a read on them. Meliora, you killed the governor to hide the secret. But I know it,” Saskia said.

  “What secret?” Fernao asked.

  “They’re manipulating the cargo audits and the price of precious gems to conceal their counterfeiting business. They’re trying to bankrupt the Jenaldej Empire by forcing supply overages and devaluation a few percent each year. Langford was put in the mayor’s office by the governor to sign off on the paperwork to make everything look legitimate, in case anybody started asking questions. They wouldn’t find out until too late,” Saskia said.

  “What’s this all about?” Fernao asked.

  “The central bank wants to take ownership of Revod, because it gives access to more key oceans – including the Kazofen Ocean – than any other continent. The Jenaldej Empire has their own banking system, and it’s not dependent on the central bank, even though they do business together and co-own a lot of land,” Saskia said.

  “Then we should go to Revod and tell somebody,” Fernao said.

  “Maybe. But there’s more to the story. A large shipment of cheap gems is coming in to the Port of Hithagredil soon. They’re going to be passed along to some island in the Ursegan Ocean and turned into those fake gems – the ones that suddenly expand into more. The gems are being transported on a giant frigate-galleon, that’s twenty three hundred (2300) feet long,” Saskia said.

  “Where’s this island where the cheap gems get converted into the expanders?” Fernao asked.

  “It’s hidden. And it moves. We can’t find it unless the Premier Governors want us to find it,” Saskia said.

  “Who are the Premier Governors?” Fernao asked.

  “They’re the people who really run the central bank. They appoint the governors and give them their orders,” Saskia said.

  “Part of me wants to hitch a ride on that big ship and meet the crooks at the top. Part of me thinks we have better things to do,” Fernao said.

  “All of me wants to take these dirt bags to Emeth and force them to confess,” Saskia said.

  “That’s at least a half-decent idea. We could let the telepaths learn what you did and tell the whole world not to trust the central bank. Let’s get back to the ship and figure out what to do next,” Fernao said.

  Zeferino pushed Meliora and Zenaida, holding their hands behind their backs with his. Fernao pushed Langford along. Saskia followed.

  Aletta opened the door leading out of the study and found that the guests had already left. She was still under the cover of darkness, provided by Tiago.

  ~~~

  Alonso followed Captain Pradrock, Fritz, Massimo and Jolene as they ran through the topiary garden outside the dead governor’s mansion. Once they escaped the maze of hedges, they paid for transport on another riverboat – although Alonso received free passage – heading north back to the Port of Hithagredil. From there, they returned to the docks and boarded the Resolute Traverser. They entered the wheelhouse where Akylas, Akantha and Torin were waiting.

  “Wait until you hear this,” Fritz said.

  “Is it nasty?” Akantha asked.

  “Very,” Fritz said.

  “Story of our lives. Glad I didn’t see it,” Torin said.

  “Something tells me we’re still going to have to deal with it,” Akylas said.

  Alonso opened his book and recorded everything he saw and heard, including a description of the ship.

  “Jolene, what did you learn from Governor Marijus?” Captain Pradrock asked.

  “And who killed the governor?” Fritz asked.

  “I couldn’t tell who killed him,” Jolene said.

  “I could. It was the woman on his left. I watched her poke him with a piece of metal. It probably had a poison tip,” Massimo said.

  “That counts as really nasty,” Akantha said.

  “What kind of poison? Was it the wrong water?” Akylas asked.

  “I’m not sure. But I do know this much. The governor appointed Mayor Langford to the Port of Hithagredil. The mayor had sexual relationships with both of those women accompanying the governor – Meliora and Zenaida – in exchange for signing off on their paperwork. The signed documents were false audits of shipping containers moving through the port and price fixing on precious gems. These were meant to conceal the counterfeiting operation with those expanding gems. The whole purpose is to gradually increase supplies and devalue the holdings of the Jenaldej Empire and bankrupt them. Then, the central bank can take ownership of Revod,” Jolene said.

  “Pure greed is the motive. The murder was to eliminate informants, and the governor was the most powerful and likely the most knowledgeable of them. With him removed, the central bank is probably hoping to shift blame away from its own agents when their conspiracy is at risk of being uncovered,” Captain Pradrock said.

  “I’m still not sure why I couldn’t read the governor’s thoughts right away,” Jolene said.

  “That may be an important question to answer later, but we can’t let it distract us now. Did you learn anything else in the process? I know the governor died moments after we saw him, but the more you can tell us, the more we can help this situation,” Captain Pradrock said.

  “No, I’m sorry. That’s all I got out of it,” Jolene said.

  Alonso recorded all of this into his book. Although he could not verify that the telepathic reading was true, it was true that Jolene said these things.

  “We could sail back to Emeth so Alonso can report this now. As a Chronicler, he has a right to insist on going there at any time,” Captain Pradrock said.

  “At the moment, there is no urgency, so I do not insist on it,” Alonso said.

  “Reporting a scheme to bankrupt and take over a nation doesn’t count as urgent? I swear I will never understand Chroniclers,” Akantha said.

  “Part of the Chronicler’s Oath is not to interfere. My duty is to remain at a scene for as long as I must and follow the story as it unfolds,” Alonso said.

  ~~~

  The spirit of Governor Marijus descended into a place of darkness, fear and confusion. “What is this place? Why am I here?” he asked.

  “This is the Maelstrom of Vengeance. You are here because of your boundless greed,” a deep and terrifying voice said.

  “Who are you?” the spirit of Governor Marijus asked.

  “I am Gadamalto, the Master of Spirits in this realm. You desired the wealth of others and conspired to steal it. Your schemes tempted weak-minded men and women into sins of lust and greed. You ruined them for your own gain. You relied on your dishonest servants to help you amass riches until they ultimately betrayed you in the face of danger,” the deep and terrifying voice said.

  “They betrayed me! I am the victim! Those who murdered me are the guilty ones. Why bring me here to this awful place?” the spirit of Governor Marijus asked.

  “You are no more a victim than those you manipulated. You brought your own undoing by corrupting them. In life, you had an abundance of riches, which lasted only temporarily. Here, your pain will be overflowing, and it will be eternal,” Gadamalto said. He tormented the spirit of Governor Marijus without end.

  CHAPTER 43: Ship of Fortunes and Hopes

  In the Zovvin Ocean, along the northeastern coast of the Way of Raza’D
eptorum land bridge, a massive freighter was docked. The ship – whose markings identified it as the Silver Jackal – was two thousand three hundred (2300) feet in length and had eighteen (18) pairs of double-masted, pivoting sails. The one hundred thirty-two (132) diamonds embedded into the cloth of each sail sparkled as they charged under the light of the many suns. Six (6) brigades of five thousand (5000) soldiers each were stationed on deck. Forty-six (46) cannons were stationed along each side of the vessel. Eight (8) loading ramps extended down to the shore.

  Ransu drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from his vial to be energized with the power to manipulate crystals and stones. He oversaw the dock workers as they loaded barrels of gems onto the vessel and lowered them into the cargo hold. The thirty-eight (38) year old man inspected the low-level structures of the various gems – citrines, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, aquamarines, garnets and diamonds – within the containers, seemingly at random. “These are too fine. The quality is too high. Send them back,” he said of seven (7) different containers from among the eighty-nine (89) he sampled out of the eighty-four thousand seven hundred thirty-four (84734) barrels that were brought up the ramps. The dock workers returned these barrels to the shore, where they were taken back to the mines in the mountains. After the ship’s cargo hold was full, Ransu walked across the deck and entered the wheelhouse.

  Inside, a man was standing at the wheel and another man was sitting on a bench, reading a book.

  “Counselor Ransu, I take it that the cargo is inspected and loaded,” the sitting man said. He looked up only momentarily when Ransu entered and then returned his gaze to his book.

  “Yes, Captain Kyosti, and the gem quality is none too good,” Ransu said.

  “That is good to hear, Ransu. How many did you send back?” the sitting man – Captain Kyosti – asked.

  “Seven (7) out of eighty-nine (89) sampled,” Ransu said.

  “And how many barrels are in the hold?” Captain Kyosti asked.

  “A total of eighty-four thousand seven hundred twenty-seven (84727) barrels were stored in the cargo hold, Captain,” Ransu said.

  “Have you inspected the cloaking crystals, Counselor Ransu?” Captain Kyosti asked.