An Unannounced (and Unwanted) Visitor

Irek Himrall strode purposefully up the steps to the apartment; the more you looked like you belonged in a place, the more people assumed you did. Producing his skeleton key, the spy made his way inside.

He'd seen the place before, but now Irek had more time to appreciate Lord Laekseid's home. Small, but well-appointed. Irek liked the place; it spoke of a man willing to sacrifice for what he wanted, what he believed in.

It shouldn't be too long a wait until the apartment's owner returned; just past midnight and cueran heri Falrin was entertaining this evening. With their up-mountain base of operations unavailable, Lord Callais and his sorcerer paramour were likely already making their way down to Undertow.

In truth, Irek would have preferred meeting with Callais alone, but this had been the most expedient way to arrange a discussion. Besides, Irek had to admit he enjoyed the annoyance his repeated intrusions caused the half-elf. Lighting one of Lord Callais's lanterns, the noble settled in to wait.

There were a few advantages to coming home to his own home after an evening of socializing. He'd tired to make a habit of not getting drunk at these things anyway, so usually by the time they made it down the hill, his head was clear, and he usually slept better. The quiet time alone with Aleyn in the carriage was nice too, though Aleyn had dozed off about halfway down the hill tonight, snuggled up against him.

As they pulled down the little alley towards his house though, Vedran frowned and shook him awake.

"Hey - we're home. Also, I think we have a visitor..."

Aleyn stirred groggily, rubbing his eyes. "Huh?" was all the response he could muster for a moment before his head cleared enough for him to realize what Vedran had just said. "Visitor? Isn't it kind of late for that?"

Vedran nodded, giving a resigned sigh as the carriage pulled to a stop. "Yes well - I'm guessing - kind of hoping really - that it is our mysterious friend from House Himrall. At least, I really don't need more people showing up in my house in the middle of the night."

Aleyn nodded wearily. "So, do you want me to do anything particular? Stay, leave, keep quiet, whatever?"

"Well, I don't imagine he'll have anything to say that I'm not just going to tell you anyway, so it's up to you. If you'd like to just ignore him and go to bed, feel free. I'm half tempted to do the same."

Smirking, Aleyn leaned over to give Vedran a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll only go to bed if you're joining me - although I imagine that would make him cross, which might be kind of fun. If you have to stay up and deal with him, I'll keep you company."

Vedran smirked back. "You do make it tempting... But I actually do want to know what he has to say. Come on then." He stepped down out of the carriage, drawing his wand while he held the door for Aleyn to climb out as well. It was most probably master/lord Himrall, but it would be best to be careful anyway.

Aleyn followed Vedran's lead, drawing his dagger as they climbed the stairs and approached the door, just to be on the safe side. This was not really how he had planned to end the evening...

Irek looked amused as Lord Callais and Mister Harrowden entered, implements drawn.

"Certainly I'm not that threatening, gentlemen. I just wanted to talk," he said with a smile. "I think an exchange of information is in order."

Vedran nodded, putting away his wand. "Sorry, but being careful when strangers show up unannounced inside my house isn't a habit I'm keen on breaking. What did you want to talk about?"

Irek gave a short laugh.

"Fair enough, its a good habit to cultivate."

He stood rather suddenly.

"I'd like to discuss your current endeavor," he said, then paused. Turning to Vedran and Aleyn, he pointed back and forth between them. "Not this endeavor, obviously, the Nachtur plan."

Walking over to Vedran's larder, he started to take out glasses.

"Drink?"

Aleyn slid his dagger back into its sheath, perhaps a little reluctantly, but remained wary, frowning as the man started rooting around in Vedran's cupboards like he owned the place.

Vedran took a deep breath, releasing it slowly in something that wasn't quite a sigh. At least tonight he wasn't feeling quite as overwhelmed as he had on Himrall's previous visits. "Brandy would be lovely, since your offering." It wouldn't be worth it to get annoyed - or disconcerted, for that matter - about how much the man seemed to know. Information was bound to get out some how, and it was better if they had some idea what was getting around, and to who. "And what about Nachtur?"

"The paths you've been on are intersecting, as I'm sure Mistress Cziernos will be reporting to you soon," Irek offered, pouring drinks. He let the statement hang for a few moments as he walked over to hand out the glasses.

"The Geyr Hextor are in Nachtur."

Vedran shook his head - combined with the reports they'd had from Hiskaru then... it all pointed to one conclusion. he looked to Aleyn. "Then, they know... They have to. But how?"

"I'm still working on that, actually. Knowing about the stones isn't difficult; its a matter of historical record. But they weren't in play until recently. I don't know how they found out about where the stones are now."

He took a slow drink.

"Their plans aren't too difficult to decipher, really. With the stones, they could rip they rift at Nachtur wider, bring something big through. I'm given to understand there are already forces massing on the elemental side."

"How do you know they're there?" Aleyn asked. "You have eyes there too?"

Irek gave Aleyn a smirk.

"I have some few informants, yes."

He sighed.

"I hope you understand the amount of faith I'm putting in you here. You're gambling with Nerath, with the world to some extent. I need to make sure that's a solid bet."

Vedran took a sip of his brandy, thinking. By luck or by design, Himrall had gone right for the good stuff.

"If you want to back us up on this, that's great. We're going to do all we can, of course, but the more you can tell us, the better."

"Oh, I already am backing you on this, even if you haven't known about it yet. For one thing, I've kept the rest of Himrall off your back. They don't even know Makarta is back in Nerath yet, and I intend to keep it that way."

"Right now, my biggest concern is that I'm positive the Geyr Hextor isn't working alone. I don't mean the other cults; we knew about that. I think they're taking orders from somewhere, or at least have sources of information I haven't been able to track yet. We made some headway after your trip south with Selgrumel Hane and her people, but they reacted too quickly. There's some organizing force at work here, and we don't know anything about it."

"What do you mean, you made some headway? And the Pak reacted too quickly, or the cult?"

"Palatine hit their stronghold near Thantopolis, as well as rounding up a few cultists in the city itself. Those captives were questioned, and, by the time we could act on that intel, nothing came of it. Safe houses, strongholds, all abandoned. Somehow, word got to other cells of the cult, even with them in our custody."

"Ohh, that trip, yes. We knew about that. During the riots, some of the allied cults broke some of the Geyr Hextor leadership out of prison using ritual magic. We're not sure what happened to them, but when the Thunderbolts tried to interfere, they wound up in the Elemental Chaos. if their allies knew they'd been captured by that point, it's not surprising they were all long gone by the time you got there."

"Yes, but that breakout occurred after they'd been in custody for days. Palatine contacted the other Sentinel Houses as soon as they started getting information. We were at some of those sites before you even arrived in Thantopolis. But your point stands, it could have been a preemptive reaction."

He sighed.

"Combined with the change in operational procedure, though, I'm more inclined to assume an outside influence. None of these groups cooperated earlier than about eighteen months ago. It's more likely some external factor prompted the shift."