Juniper's Journals: Secret Rendezvous

Entry 14

We found ourselves on a trek to Bazaar in the hopes of discovering a safe path to get north of Mortuary. Mana, Chigger, Cinder, and I needed to get there in two days time on the full moon. Mek had advised us to use any and all means necessary to insure a safe journey. That's exactly what we planned to do and Daryck, the Captain's second and Lieutenant of a Watch patrol, was our ticket. He had told us in the past that the secret underground meeting place was where we could locate him, so that was our first priority.

On our way to the Emporium that housed the tunnel entrance I recognized a familiar face among the hundreds that crowded the streets. I pointed this out to the others and we followed our query to an open front tavern. It was Darius, the traitor bastard that took us to the Clinic under the guise of a Fallen Joanite. He had two Magdalite whores with him and they disappeared through a door in the back.

Our hearts were racing and a sense of vengeance fell over us. This was a prime opportunity to get a hold of him and get some satisfaction at the same time. We safely scouted out the back of the tavern and found a rear entrance that was poorly being watched by a couple of guys that likely worked in the kitchen. Inside was a hallway that had three doors. All were set into the left-hand wall. The first one had muffled sounds of someone speaking. We passed it on to the second door that was more inset than the other two. A woman's voice and some laughter filtered through. The third door was locked and smelled of ale.

So the second door it was. It wasn't locked or jammed up, so we nicely opened it up to be greeted by the sight of two naked magdalite whores pleasuring the bastard Darius. The two nubile young women attempted to back away from us upon our intrusion, but Darius grabbed one of them, his arm wrapped around her throat.

" Nice meeting you again, traitor!" said Cinder.

The rest of us were quiet, but Chigger tossed a chair at him, accidentally striking the woman. She didn't look impressed.

" What are you going to do? I didn't mean for that to happen to you. I was just following orders." Darius pleaded

" Who's orders?" Chigger asked.

" Monika . . . my Captain. She works with Euramali at the Clinic." He said. " We just follow her orders. Listen. I'm sorry. What are you going to do?"

He looked pathetic. I noticed the whore who he had hostage was reaching slowly down her bare thigh.

Cinder yelled, " Look out!". I don't know why she tried to warn him, because a second later Darius hit the floor, holding his soft spots and groaning like a wimp. The whore stepped out of the way.

" We didn't see anything. Let us two go and we'll forget about it." she said.

Sounded fair enough for me, so Chigger and I told them we would guide them away from the tavern. Before we left, I noticed Mana had a very scary and serious look on her face. Cinder asked her what she wanted to do. Mana just removed one of her daggers and stepped towards Darius as we left the room.

I'm not sure what happened and Cinder won't exactly say. I can imagine, though. Cinder's ashen and pale face tells it all. Must have been really bad.

We got out of the neighbourhood as fast as we could and found ourselves walking down the long, wide hallway toward the secret underground meeting place. After some time we found the big red door that Cinder had described from their last visit, but it was closed. After waiting for a while, Cinder and I decided to see if there was a back way in and went to explore the side-passages.

Now, we weren't splitting up as we had foolishly done in the past. If the door opened, Mana and Chigger were to go in without us and we would meet up with them later. So off we went.

The tunnels were huge and Cinder told me a few things along the way. She didn't divulge any details about what Mana did to Darius, but she did say she doesn't know if it was healthy for Mana. I defended Mana, saying that those bastards mutilated her and she could do whatever she damn well pleased to get revenge. We weren't arguing or anything. I just often feel that Cinder's a bit too lenient when it comes to looking on the Tribes. They cast us out and we no longer belong under their rules or laws. It's something they'll figure out soon enough.

After a bit of exploring and being careful not to get lost, we found a wide passage with a sunken area that had metal rails running along its surface. It was mostly submerged in water and seemed to go off in both directions. We couldn't for the life of us figure out what the ancestors could have used these tunnels for, but came up with all sorts of stupid ideas. Even travel. Yea right. Vimary had clear skies before the Z'Bri, why would they hide from it and travel underground? Besides, the streets of Bazaar are huge. Plenty of room there. They probably had lots of place to walk about and ride in their ‘Teknology' carriages!

Just before we headed back, we were greeted by a kid that said he was from Playground. He had on a funny hat and seemed quite smart. He told us that we were near or on the Anger line, whatever that meant. We never did get his name but he continued on his way in his little raft that hummed. Funny, I thought we were a long way from Playground.

We got back to the red door and it was closed with no sign of Mana or Chigger. We waited and a short while later it opened up and we snuck inside. Mana and Chigger told us that an old man went to get Daryck for us, but that it could take awhile. Oh well, I guess we could get comfortable then. Chigger said it was weird because, the old geezer seemed annoyed that we had used Daryck's name and that we should call him the ‘key holder' instead! Hmm, whatever.

Several hours passed and the door opened every hour for about two minutes then closed again. A few people came and went, never bothering us or drawing attention to themselves. Finally, just as we were getting ready to leave, Daryck ( or ‘key holder') showed up. He was with another Joanite Watchman named Salor. Daryck seemed to trust him so we spoke openly. We asked Daryck about what was going on north of Mortuary on the full moon and he didn't know. He said it was very dangerous for the likes of us to go there and that it was also out of the Watch's territory. He didn't have much influence up there. We also asked him about why there were so many Joanites in town. He hinted that they weren't Watch, but from the Seven Finger Towers in the north. He didn't know why they were in Bazaar, but that it was causing a lot of tension between the Watch and the Blades. Great, more Joanites than we could imagine. We also asked him what this place was and he said that it was used by an underground society that is faithful to the Fatimas but seeks to undermine the Elder Council. Seems they feel the Elder Council is corrupt or something. Some surprise that is!

Daryck seemed very helpful and went along with helping us get to Mortuary. He said he couldn't take us all the way but would do what he could. He also asked us if we were responsible for the gory death of Darius in Bazaar. We told him the truth, not wanting to create lies at such an early stage. He said he could hole us up in a dingy place caused Medusa's in the Abyss. Salor would take us there for tonight and the next day, and Daryck would pick us up on the day of the full moon early in the morning, before sunup. So off we went, unknowingly into a trouble spot like no other . . . Medusa's!