An Idea Is Scary

[Balthazar Black]

1 Vhalar 723

In the middle of the first night of the new season portal lined with blue fire burned its way into existence with a loud searing sound in the center of the Black Cat Headquarters. The funnel of blue fire churned upon itself for a few trills without anything passing through either direction. Two of the Black Cats who were working guard duty that night came near the portal but they weren't afraid. They were familiar with their leader's magic by now.

"Robin!" Balthazar shouted into the gymnasium as he emerged from the portal. He was barefoot and wearing nothing but a thin pair of pants he slept in and a black robe that he kept for occasions such as this where he needed to act quickly. He hadn't even fastened the robe shut, revealing the glowing emerald cracks on his chest and lighting-like patter from Ilaren's mark on his abdomen. He was holding a book up above his head and had a wild look in his eye which seemed to startle the Black Cats who were on guard duty that night. Balthazar composed himself quickly and started giving out orders despite his sudden and disorganized appearance. "Wake Robin, Lyanna, and Croft. We need to meet now."

~ A Short Time Later ~

The Black Cats leadership had been roused from their sleep before the suns had they opportunity to rise. Now they gathered in the large office at the back of the headquarters. Balthazar's office. He'd taken the time to close and tie his robe while he was waiting for the others but every moment other than that was spent transcribing the information from his journal onto other pieces of paper. The Albarech would need a copy as soon as possible and he'd get it to her before the sun was up if he could.

One by one his captains arrived. Lyanna was dressed in a nightgown and a small coat but he was sure she still had several weapons on her. She didn't look pleased to be woken up so early. Robin was dressed for the trial but it was clear he'd gotten dressed quickly. Little things like his right boot not being laced correctly betrayed away that information. Croft seemed like he hadn't gone to bed the night before which was strange for the old cat.

"What happened?" Lyanna asked first with no effort to mask her lack of enthusiasm. Balthazar slid his open journal over to the three of them on the opposite side of his desk and went back to writing from his memory of what he'd read. When the trio looked down at the pages, they only seemed to become more confused. Lyanna was quick to speak up again, "You found a gobbledygook book?"

"What?" Balthazar looked up at them and realized that they were not joking. His eyes shifted down to the book and then back to his companions. "You can't read it?"

"It just doesn't make any sense." Robin said. "Thats... gobbledygook?" Robin looked to Lyanna for approval and she rolled her eyes.

"Wait, be very clear, it doesn't make sense because you can't believe what I'm showing you or it doesn't make sense because you can't read it?"

"We can't read it." Croft cut in sternly to try and get Balthazar to focus. The mage's mind was at war with every effort to keep things together. They needed to act now. It felt like they'd already waited too long- but Balthazar took a breath. Then he took another.

"Well I love that and hate it at the same time." He decided quietly. If he was the only one who could read the Liberator's Journal, he was the only one who could transcribe the information. It meant his credibility might come into play. What if no one believed him? No. He would be going after evidence as quickly as possible. This couldn't wait. He wasn't happy he couldn't rely on Robin to help copy the information but he did enjoy that no one could take the journal and obtain the information inside. Even he felt like he knew too much now. He took another breath and looked to his captains.

"Alright, from the beginning." He said, "Last season I attempted to gather information about Almund using that enchanted journal. I thought it didn't work but tonight I knocked it off the counter on accident and it opened. It was full of things I couldn't believe-"

"What kind of things?" Croft asked for clarity- it was still early and there was a sense of urgent confusion persisting.

"Resources, tactical information- I wanted to know what we were working with and get an idea of how the pirates might attack but it's too late- it's..." He took a mental step back and told himself to calm down (but his words to himself were far less kind in the delivery of the message). He needed a focused mind to direct his people effectively. "If one group is in control of what the journal claims is beneath this city, then Almund doesn't stand any chance of stopping them. We are going to act. Starting with a message to the Albarech. She needs to know. Robin, I had hoped you could help me transcribe the information but the journal won't allow it. Instead, you and Lyanna go get ready for a trip underground. Dark colors, masks, short blades. We don't want to be noticed. Croft, once I'm done writing I want you to take this letter to the Albarech. Deliver it to her hands only. Do not let it pass through anyone else. If she cannot receive it personally, wait until she can but get it to her quickly."

Lyanna was gone from the office before Balthazar had finished talking to Croft but Balthazar didn't pay it much thought. Croft nodded after receiving his instructions and stepped aside to wait for the letter. Robin nodded to both men and then departed the office to do as he'd been instructed. He wasn't normally one for cloak and dagger trips but Balthazar and Lyanna would be more than enough help to keep him from being noticed.

Balthazar didn't put everything that the journal side into his report for the Albarech. He simply didn't have the amount of paper/parchment he would need to do that. The journal was an entire book. He didn't reveal anything he was worried would be intercepted, despite his specific instructions about delivery to Croft. Balthazar was not 'scared' but he certainly didn't like the possibility that the message would be intercepted despite his best efforts. Given the potential enemy's ability to stockpile weapons beneath the city, intercepting mail didn't seem all that far a stretch. Balthazar gave the letter to Croft and the old cat went to deliver it.

Balthazar would wait only a few breaks for the message to be delivered and after that if he was not contacted or instructed he would act on his own to try and discover more about what the journal had showed him. In the meantime he changed into a set of normal clothes that he kept at the office for such occasions. No shoes but he had pants, a shirt, and some vest options.

He kept clothes in the office because you never knew what would cause you to teleport to work in the middle of the night without changing.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura was only briefly passing through her office in Almund. Her and her family, and wasn't that just weird to think about, would be moving into their new house in Sweetwine in two days. She was going to have to the teleportation ring to meet Katie and the children in time, so she wasn't in the best mood when the secretary came in and told her that there was someone there with information he would only give to her. When the middle aged man was shown in, he immediately handed her a note. Kura took it and read it over quickly, one eyebrow arching up. "Well, then. That's important enough for me to take the time." she said, sticking the note into her coat pocket. "Lead me to him." she told the man.

Fortunately, he had no objections about the order and led Kura to where Balthazar was, which turned out to be the Black Cats Headquarters. Which, really, made sense given that she was at least somewhat certain he was now running that particular mercenary company. She was honestly glad that he'd been able to land more properly on his feet after his troubles with the government and the Elements several arcs ago. In fact, he generally seemed to be doing much better these days, though Kura was fairly certain that Haven's all but total decimation had hit him reasonably hard. Still, she was glad he had been able to return to his work, something she was doing herself, after having been rather out of it herself during the prior season.

When she was shown into Balthazar's office, she would look fairly normal to most people, dressed in her usual outfit of a shirt, vest, trousers, boots, overcoat, and gloves and looking as composed as usual. Her eyes were even their usual icy blue rather than the gold that indicated that the Albarech was in a foul mood about something. But Balthazar would almost certainly notice that Kura looked worn and more harried about something, as though something was eating at her that she hadn't dealt with yet. Not that she seemed inclined to let whatever it was that was bothering her impede her duties, as she was as business like as always. "What did you find?" she asked, her voice intent.

[Balthazar Black]

1 Vhalar 723

The time between sending Croft and Kura's arrival was used carefully to go over the details the journal was able to provide. He wanted everything in his head by the time the Albarech arrived so that she would have all the information he had. Lyanna and Robin returned to Balthazar's office in dark attire before the message reached the Albarech and she arrived but he had them go rouse the few members of the company who lived in the headquarters. He wanted everyone on hand ready for anything, but he was being careful not to let any details pass his walls.

It was probably anxiety. That was a word he had read recently and was becoming too familiar with. He felt like he was a very anxious person and the journal hadn't helped.

He knew the Albarech had entered the building before she made it to his office and a rush of adrenaline compelled him from his chair. Balthazar stood and rushed over to his door only to stop and compose himself. He took a breath and tried to separate his feelings from his mind before moving back over to his desk and picking up the journal containing all of Almund's dirty secrets. He hadn't seen Kura since Saoire's gathering. Since the trial Haven's fate was sealed and Elisabeth's disappearance dreadfully confirmed. It was strange that neither lingered heavily on his thoughts but he knew Elisabeth would have wanted him to focus and he knew that the people of Haven were in Scalvoris living their lives.

Protecting Scalvoris would protect them.

Balthazar opened his door for Kura as she reached it and gestured to invite her inside the office without a word. In truth, his thoughts were scattered still and his mind was coping with all the information it unintentionally collected. He sized her up without intending it. He examined every detail about her appearance in trills as if trying to ensure it really was Kura and not some imposter. Seeing the Albarech for the first time in a while was shocking in an strange way. She looked... tired. Not exhausted or worn out. Not that by miles. Just tired. A little bit run down by the world and the responsibilities of her position. He couldn't know for sure and he knew better than to ask. He wouldn't have wanted anyone to ask him. Except Elisabeth. He hadn't asked Kura here to make a friend or to catch up about recent losses and heartbreaks. He asked her to his office because it was the only location the journal didn't mention that he was in control of. Sanctuary would be necessary.

"Thank you for coming quickly. I apologize for not going to your office. The risk was too great." Balthazar said as he moved back over to his desk and picked up a few pieces of paper that he'd managed to write down some important details. He couldn't convey everything but he didn't have to. That was why they were meeting. First he held up the journal, "This book carries an enchantment which, more or less, informs me of all resources within a city I visit. It might show the leader of the city more but I can't give it to you. Apparently the enchantment makes it so I'm the only one who can read it." Balthazar stopped and shook his head slightly. The context didn't matter. In fact, he began to regret telling Kura where his information had come from. He knew it would probably be important to establish trust but the book was a powerful object. He'd prefer no one knew where he got his information. He'd have to be more careful in the future.

"Last season I tried to use it to evaluate Almund. My plan was to go across Scalvoris and gather information about our most important regions. If Rand's condition didn't improve, I intended to pass along the information to you so you could make the best choices but it didn't seem to work until breaks ago." He was doing it again. He was talking too much. Tell her what you think you found. "Almund is rigged to blow- all of it." Well that wasn't an entirely accurate description without investigation so Balthazar clarified what he had read, "There are tunnels underneath Almund that might stretch across all of Scalvoris but the journal stops at Almund's borders. According to it, those tunnels run underneath all the important buildings and businesses in the city. The Scalvoris Council and Element Halls, the bazaar, the Merchant's Guild, everywhere. The journal claims that there are more weapons stored beneath the city than even I could imagine and I was born outside Yaralon. It doesn't describe them though. Nothing logistical to be trusted without us searching."

"Moreover, it makes several claims that the city's defenses have been weakened across the board." Balthazar continued, moving into a topic that only Kura would have the time to investigate if Balthazar focused on the tunnels. "A third party you trust should investigate the Element's defenses. Everything in the journal is... hard to explain. If I'd prepared better I'd have just stored the memory to give to you but- I admit, I'm afraid to forget this. Something is wrong with Almund's defenses but it needs to be investigated. The journal only points out that they are a weakness to be exploited. Anything built after the attack might be safe. Even my own headquarters seems secure because it was built recently. That's why I insisted you come here." Balthazar's tone was unusual and it would be clear to Kura. She'd been his judge and jury. He might have been a prick during his trial but now he was just afraid.

"I know it's asking a lot to trust a book that you can't read and, as far as you know, didn't exist until I said it did but I have no reason to lie. No gain, revenge, or benefit here. If one group controls everything that my journal claims they have access too, all that so many people have left could be taken from them on a whim." Balthazar was staring at the journal now. "I can investigate the tunnels without drawing attention. The journal tells me how to get in and I have the practice to pull it off. It's one of the reasons I'm no longer with the Elements. I'll figure out exactly what they have under Almund and work out a way to sabotage it without them knowing." Balthazar had several ideas but he couldn't do anything until he saw what was actually beneath the city. He could list off the things that the journal claimed were there but he needed to put eyes on the materials to figure out how to make them break.

"Or I could go to places you want and collect more information. Only I can read the journal and if I found this in Almund on a whim, imagine what else is out there?" He was entirely intent on investigating the tunnels either way, but if Kura wanted him to use the journal more he would make a few fast trips. Otherwise he felt it was important to deal with what they found each time.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura listened silently as Balthazar went over what he had learned and how, her eyes almost immediately turned gold when Balthazar described the bombs under Almund. Kura took a deep breath when he was finished and regained her focus before she made her decision. "I see. You were right to be so cautious in how you brought this to my attention." she said, her tone even but laced with the kind of anger that always showed whenever anyone dared to threaten, even by implication, the people under her protection. Since that extended to the entirety of Scalvoris these days, her temper was much easier to set off, at least on that front. However, in this case, she also had the solution to every matter just presented to her readily in hand. Hell, some of it was things she'd already been planning on pushing forward.

"Investigate the tunnels. Start with the ones here in Almund, but we can assume they're also in place in at least Scalvoris Town, if not every village in Scalvoris. If it can be safely done, disarm and seize any explosives and weapons, and collapse the tunnels when they lead outside of Almund. We'll look at filling them in properly afterwards, unless you can do that with your available magic. Once you're done here in Almund, check the rest of the villages, starting with Scalvoris Town. The order of investigations after that is up to you. We'll recompense you and the Black Cats for the tunnel excursions as well as the investigations. You can keep any weapons or explosives, provided you have a safe place to store the latter, or you can sell them to us. Whichever you choose." she said, her tone direct and to the point.

"As to the defenses, I'd already planned an overhaul of the defenses, but I'll have them double checked now and I'll have the overhaul watched for sabotage. Fortunately, our enemy doesn't seem to be aware of the Spirit Elements, so they're still largely in full force." she said, her tone thoughtful as she thought through her options. "When you're in the tunnels, see if there's any way you can determine how old they are and how they were made. That cult attack a few arcs ago used tunnels under Almund. Those idiots could be behind these tunnels, which means we may not be dealing with a new threat or even an active one." she said, before shaking her head. "Though of course, don't assume they're empty of any occupants." she said, her tone calm. "Is there anything else?" she asked, her tone intent.