Protect Life

[Bjorn]

Dusting off his hands, Bjorn makes to stop one of the Interers, and inquires quietly as to where Dorian's body is being held.

[Brian]

The Interer actually tries to avoid Bjorn -- it takes almost a full minute for the man (boy, really) to realize that someone's paying attention to him, and then he just blinks in shock somewhat dully.  "In ... the hall ... of heroes," he finally says nervously, despite the fact that the gangly youth is a good five centimeters taller than Bjorn.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn nods at that.  "Thank you," he offers gravely, and then makes his way to the hall of heroes.

[Brian]

It takes a moment to remember the way -- Bjorn has only been there once before, and that was to see Breke's tomb.

Once Bjorn enters the realm of the Interers, ghostly cloaks tug at the corners of his vision, Interers seeming to melt seamlessly into the shadows all about.  Their charges are never seen, however.

In short order, negotiating a dizzying flurry of corner-of-the-eyes movement, Bjorn finds himself before two guards -- who he has not seen before -- in black armor, standing before the arch leading into the hall of heroes.  The guards eye Bjorn, but make no move to stop him.

[Bjorn]

Nodding at them politely, Bjorn steps through the arch into the hall.

[Brian]

The hallway is about fifty meters long.  There's a creak as one of the guards leans around the edge of the arch to eye you a bit more (and continue saying nothing), and then back into his normal position.

Every ten meters of the hallway, which is a good twenty meters long, and at least twelve high, has an archway, about half of which are empty.  There's a large slab of raised stone in each of the empty ones, which are all unlit.  Candles illuminate the chambers of Breke and Dorian.  Three Four of the archways to the left are sealed with stone and mortal, plaques proclaiming the deeds of the fallen.  The first two are too faded and worn to be read.

The opposite end of the hallway appears to go even deeper underground ... but is unlit.  Dorian's chamber is the second to the right, and Breke's is the first.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn frowns.  Wasn't Dorian's body supposed to be guarded?

Moving cautiously now, he approaches and enters Dorian's chamber.

[Brian]

A quartet of black-armored guards step from the shadows as Bjorn approaches, studying Bjorn, and then melting back seamlessly into the shadows again a moment later.

Dorian's body has been well tended -- he looks whole, if pale (even for an elf).  There's no sign of the wound that had severed a jugular and torn open his throat.  His clothes have been cleaned, and he's in a state of repose, his hands crossed on his chest.

[Bjorn]

Methodically, and without any outward sign of any distaste at what he's doing, Bjorn begins searching the body methodically.  Unlikely to find anything, he thinks grimly, searching through Dorian's clothes, carefully feeling every inch of fabric searching for hidden pockets, especially if he's already been cleaned.  Better safe than sorry.

If he finds nothing in the clothes, he repeats the same careful search of the body itself, particularly looking for any tattoos or markings.

[Brian]

There's nothing on Dorian but clothing in the way of stuff.  He does have a tattoo about his right wrist, though.  You don't know the significance, but it's a verdant green, two winding vines twisted into eachother.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn stares at the tattoo for a long second, and then, without thinking, glances at his own wrist.  The pattern reminds me...

With that in mind, he concentrates hard on the memory of his bracelet, trying to summon it.

[Brian]

Concentrating causes the bracelet to appear.  It flashes on your left wrist, which is where you keep it.  The pattern of the bracelet is pretty different from the tattoo, though.

One of the guards in the room (invisible to your eyes, but not your other senses), shifts his feet slightly.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn does not look up, but simply asks aloud, in a calm, polite voice, "Who was it who prepared the body?"

[Brian]

"Justin," one of the guards says after a moment.  "I will fetch him."

The black-armored guard -- you're nearly certain that these are in no way normal keep guards -- that spoke emerges from a shadow, and paces out of the room silently, towards the entrance.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn straightens, studying the chamber carefully around him with a serenely, vaguely interested expression as he waits for Justin to arrive.