Back: Liannas Tale | Lianna | With Aranis

Later at Ketil's Yard, Lianna passes under the entry arch into the front courtyard. Coming in this way would be dangerous to most, as the daimone that inhabits the arch is said to smite those who are not completely righteous, or under the protection of a paladin. A bell sits beside the arch to summon those inside for use by the public who are generally never sure of their quality of their own righteousness.

After querying with the Major Domo who serves to, amongst other things, rout people to others in the complex place that is Ketil's Yard, Lianna finds Matsos, Paladin of Zanar in the practice yard. He wields his strangely large silvery blade - a design unlike that used by any other Paladin. Someone had once mentioned that it was a special symbol of his order. It looked magical, despite the fact that Soul Vision showed it to posess none of the magic of the gods. Lianna had learned that despite all Paladin's swords being "blessed" to some extent or another, not all were actually possessed of miraculous powers.

One thing is sure about this man, observable from his practice. Few men would be able to survive being on the other end of that blade.

Lianna watches, absorbed despite herself. Matsos' blade is unique, true, but many of the techniques used in wielding any large sword are the same. She had learnt, unwillingly, to use Inufil in this way. Given the choice, she still felt violence was the last refuge of the incompetent, and that if done at all, should be done with elegance and subtlety - but she had not been given the choice. She had been given a sword as long as she was, capable of dispensing withering criticism of her attempts at swinging it at the slightest excuse. So she tried not to give it any excuse… And in fact she had found the art of the great-sword more to her taste than she had expected. You didn't swing a sword that size with muscles or body-weight - no-one could. You used its own momentum to steer it, guiding, not forcing, always thinking three moves ahead of where it was at the moment. When you worked with the weight, not against it, a great-sword was as fast as a rapier, and far more effective when it landed. But it wasn't easy. And she still had so much to learn.

Matsos finishes a drill and sees Lianna there. He shoulders his blade, and strides over, still puffing from the exertion. "You're a new one, right, Lianna, is it?"

He smiles at her. "We share a commonality, if I understand correctly. That is, you and I are both the only paladins to serve our respective deities."

"Make the shy newcomer feel at ease, lesson 1," Lianna thinks to herself. And then "yes, but you did need it. And it worked."

A dark look momentarily flashes across Matsos' face contemplating something. Closer up, Matsos has the sort of chiseled looks that remind one of a statue. In fact his entire body seems carved from stone, or forged from bronze. Obviously the result of his regimen. His neatly trimmed beard and polished greaves also speak of a well-regimented life.

"And I should think he's gorgeous, but that's somehow off-putting." She gives herself a mental shake. "Get your mind back on the job, girl."

He recovers from his thoughts after only a moment, and smiles again. "We should team up, and share some of our responsibilities, as the other paladins do," he says in that way that says that he's kidding, but not really. "In any case, I'm not yet done today working with the sword. How about we spar?"

There is an unmistakeable note of challenge in his voice.

Sword-play is not an area Lianna has any confidence in as yet, much less against an opponent of this quality. But a challenge is a challenge... at least she can show him she isn't a complete novice. Can't she?

"I could certainly use the practice," she says frankly. "And I'd far rather be beaten by a friend than by an enemy. Much more instructive. If you're sure you don't mind humouring a beginner..?"

She wonders about mentioning the matter she really came here for - but that will wait. Managing conversation at the same time as a sword fight is well beyond her for now.

"Not at all," he replies. "Certainly better than not sparring at all."

Matsos and Lianna spar for the better part of an hour, threatening to exhaust each other with the work out. Lianna's technique, such as it is, comes through well.

"You're not the beginner that I'd been lead to believe, Lianna," he says, as he steps away from the engagement. "You have quite a bit of potential. That's not flattery, either, that's fact. I'm not only good with a blade myself, but I'm known to be a good judge of ability as well."

"I'm not a bad teacher either, if I do say so. How about you become my student?" he offers. "I'm sure that I'd be proud of the ability we could produce in you."

"Me?" She looks startled, hides it quickly. "But I'm.... Ah. Potential, right? Not the real thing, not yet. Just potential."

He's got to be telling the truth, as he sees it. He's a paladin. He's one of... us? This whole concept of "us" is one she's finding it hard to get used to.

But it must be the truth, and the idea of herself as even a potentially skilled warrior is even harder to accept. Still, like it or not, a warrior is what she's being forced to become. And hard as it is to accept that she might become skilled in such matters, the idea of being an unskilled warrior, or an unskilled anything else, is anathema to her. If she has to have this sword, then she will control it, not it her.

"Yes.... "she says slowly, thoughtfully. "Yes, I'd like that. A good teacher might make all the difference. I actually enjoyed that. Thank you."

And she had, she realises. Without the pressure of knowing that swords killed people, maimed them, did irrepairable damage for which she would be responsible, the pure skill of the contest had drawn her. Like gambling for fun instead of for money - something else she can afford to do, now.

Still, she can't let him dominate this relationship too much, easy though it would be. And tempting... She pushes that thought away, fast.

Keep them on their toes. No threat, but... She flashes him a quick grin. "So, what can I teach you in return? How does Zanar feel about playing cards, for instance?"

"Ah, well, the book of Zanar says that playing cards for money is a second-stage sin. But playing for fun is only a third-stage sin. And my account with our father above is clean right now. I think he'd want me to check it out. After all we can't go around not knowing how the vices the sinful work and expect to be able to understand and catch them, right?" he smiles at his own rationalization. His attitude is almost shocking in a way - other paladins might call him on it. Apparently he feels comfortable enough around Lianna to go on so.

She's a little shocked herself - the Lady of course certainly doesn't see playing cards as a sin, but the idea of trying out something that *was* a sin, just so as to find out about it - well, she'd never thought of going that far. Still, his choice. And the rationalisation might be worth bearing in mind.

"I have an idea. Why don't we go to a tavern tonight and you can show me how to play there - I've been cooped up here too long. I need to get out," he says.

A quick, sparkling grin. "I'd be happy to oblige." She'd been intending to meet Giuseppe, but he wouldn't mind. Might even join them... why did she feel uneasy at the thought of the two men meeting?

Then something occurs to him, and his face turns somewhat quizical. "By the way, were you looking for me when you came here? Or did you just happen by? Do you have some business or news for me that our sparring may have made you forget?"

"Not so much forget as postpone, but yes. I did come here to ask your advice, actually. And on a matter probably best discussed somewhere less public than a tavern."

A quick glance around, cautious even here, but there's no-one else in earshot.

"I wanted to ask you about Zanar - or rather, about a Zanarian. A priest called Tzanrol. He seems to be linked to the Marquis of Greensward, somehow. And I've heard it suggested that he's linked to people mysteriously vanishing." She looks almost apologetic. "From the little I know of Zanar, that sounds unlikely to me, but I'm all too aware that there's a difference between what a religion teaches, and what its followers do in the name of that religion." She shrugs. "I just don't know enough to know what to think about Tzanrol. And since my source of information needs to be kept safe from the Marquis, I can't even admit to having heard of the connection, publically. Any ideas?"

"Ah, Tzanrol," says Matsos, his eyes looking up as if seeking help from his deity. He seems very deep in thought for a bit, and sits down to relax and to make a careful statement. He starts with a gesture pointing aimlessly.

"Tzanrol is a member of an alchemical order of wizards that serves Zanar. Their methods are...unusual. And Tzanrol himself is no exception - he's eccentric to say the least," says Matsos. "But to claim that he's involved in foul play?"

Matsos considers for a moment. "Your evidence is some rumor from a source you cannot reveal? I hope you understand that I have to be skeptical about this. There are, of course, many who, being unrighteous, would do damage to our religion in Kaitaine. I am bound to protect the name of the religion and our lord Zanar."

"But in protecting it, I also, of course, have to take such a charge seriously," he says, his posture changing slightly to an even more pensive one. "Would you object should I ask to be involved in your investigation? To either clear the name of my religion, or to cleanse it, should it come to that?"

He grasps the handle of his Yarkbalka firmly as it rests point on the ground, showing some determination. "The matter needs to be addressed quickly."

"I can quite see that," Lianna says seriously. "Even if his actions were nothing to do with his religion - and presumably they aren't - rumour would associate the two. I need to keep my source safe from the Marquis, but I assume if I tell you who it was, you won't be running round there murdering her, nor revealing her identity to all and sundry. Aranis. The Marquis' former mistress, now in prison thanks to him. All she said was "when Tzanrol is around, people disappear". That doesn't necessarily mean he's responsible for the disappearances. She did say that he and the Marquis are working on a new process to dye cloth, which makes sense if he's an alchemist. The trouble is, if either of us start openly investigating Tzanrol just after I've been seen talking to her, it'll be obvious to the Marquis that she's talked, and then she'll be in danger. At the very least, I'd like to get her out of prison and to safety before then. She may be mistaken, she may be lying, but she doesn't deserve what the Marquis would probably do to her."

"And yes," she adds, "I'd be absolutely delighted for you to be involved in this. I can find out most things in that social sphere, and probably the criminal areas that I expect are involved, but the religious ones will be beyond me."

Matsos is not hiding a concern. "This Aranis you speak of - it's obvious that you think she speaks the truth. But I wonder if there isn't some misunderstanding, perhaps? In any case, you shall be my conscience in keeping me from simply assuming the best about Tzanrol, and I shall be yours in keeping you from assuming that he's guilty. Between the two of us the truth will come out. Alright?"

"That said, you may have the wrong man for religious affairs. Yes, I'm more experienced than you are, but being in a minority religion means that I'm far from fully accepted by many of the other paladins - to say nothing of priests or anyone," he admits. "But I know a few things about navigating that political landscape."

"I have an idea. There is a little shrine that we've built in Brocken, where I have some friends who are monks. They could hide your Aranis for now. Then we could go and snoop about the Marquis estate without worry," he proposes. "What do you say?"

Brocken is a lowly bit of Kaitaine, once site of some major guildhalls that produced masses of goods near the southern docks. These particular guilds had been long forgotten, however, and the buildings have been crowded housing ever since. Some of Kaitaine's poorest are from Brocken.

"It isn't so much that I think Aranis is telling the truth, more that I think she thinks she's telling the truth," Lianna says ruefully. "She may well be mistaken, but she did seem to believe what she was saying. And I'm still quite sure I've got the right man for these religious purposes. It's your religion I need to know about - who else should I be asking?"

"Brocken... Not the sort of place where the Marquis will be looking!" She smiles dreamily. "I can just see Aranis in a little shrine full of monks. I bet no-one else can, though. And it isn't the sort of place anyone would associate with me, either. Perfect, I'd say. What do you think - if I bring her back here, and you take over from there? How much warning will your monk friends need to receive a visitor?"

He smiles and nods at all that Lianna says, "Oh, they love to see me."