Thaddeus (Chapter 5)

Template:Thaddeus nav "Why was I brought from the womb

To live only to be carried to the grave?"

Then Zophar answered his friend,

"Should this mocking babble silence us?

Who knows not his span is short, but sweetness

And the breath of life must be our joy.

Better to plunge yourself into a pit,

Than to move beyond what is your gift.

It brings no happiness to you or I."

-- The Book of Haisin, c. 10, v. 21-22, and c. 11, v. 1-7

Slowly, with excruciating detail, Cain described the fall of Tristram, noting particulars about more inconsequential incidents than Thaddeus had any interest in. The old man's memory was absolutely superb, but sifting through the vast stores of information he had in his head could take days. Cain was a collector of information, not a user of it; prioritizing was not a skill he seemed to possess. The thousand irrelevant tangents he eagerly launched into would vex a saint. Among the dross, Thaddeus found, after gentle coaxing and firm discipline on Cain's wagging tongue, the answers to a few of his questions.

Tristram was larger when the cathedral was built, back in the days when it was a king's seat and not a farming town. No, Cain did not know how the Protectors of the Word were kept from hearing of Tristram's plight. Other heroes came, including Rabina and other Rogues. Some never came back out of the ground. Many returned from the dungeons, but then left; their nerve failed them. There were rumors of evil bandits who kept a short distance from Tristram, waylaying all who tried to leave. The heroes were able to enter, and presumably go again, unmolested; the Rogues who returned didn't mention bandits. After Diablo finally was defeated, they celebrated for days... before he left, going to the east. Tristram was destroyed immediately afterwards, like it was no longer needed.

As for the magical artifacts... Cain assumed they had been stored in the cathedral, or buried in the catacombs, or perhaps the demons brought them with them. There were many items, all the heroes were able to collect more than one, including things out of legend... Arkane's Valor, Baranar's Star, Civerb's Cudgel, the Umbral Disk, the Lightsabre.

From where he had been nodding off, Thaddeus suddenly looked up. "The Umbral Disk?"

"Why, yes! I remember the warrior who found it thought it a splendid help to him. The Umbral Disk is a disk or pure, radiant light made solid, kept contained within a shield of black iron. A 40-carat blue crystal, cut in a roundel pattern, set in the center allows..."

"Did that shield resemble this one I bear?"

Blinking, Cain looked at Thaddeus' shield. "Why, yes. How did you come by it?"

"The Umbral Disk has been kept safe in the reliquary of Linkirk Cathedral for the past two centuries. When attack threatened, I brought it here, hoping to find a safe place among the Rogues. Before I brought it there on my quest to find you, it had not been within a hundred miles of Tristram for over 200 years."

The camp was silent, as Cain sat staring at the small shield in confusion. "Well, that must mean... but Boris the warrior said... he was quite specific about its properties and usefulness in the catacombs... But... hmmm. May I see that shield of yours?"

After examining the shield, Cain muttered, "This has been in Linkirk for 200 years, you say? The resemblance is close. There could not be two."

"No, the Umbral Disk is unique, as are all those other great relics. How did they all come to be in one place, under one town, when they are known to be scattered to the far corners of the earth, or even lost in the sea?"

After thinking for a while, Cain slowly nodded. "It does seem a spectacular coincidence... at the time, with so much happening, I did not give it much thought."

"It cannot be accident," Thaddeus said. "I have an idea. But I am not sure. Excuse me, I shall return soon."

Though it was well after midnight, Thaddeus returned to the wilderness. Demons would come creeping down from the monastery, replacing their losses; Thaddeus was hunting for Rogues. After smashing two packs of Fallen Ones and a few skeletons, he found a marsh. There, he found a pack of five corrupted Rogues who were not too twisted; they had kept their hair, and had no horns or tails yet. Three remained alive when Thaddeus subdued them; it was pleasing to note his fighting techniques had improved. As they lay on the ground, twitching and snarling, he relaxed his mind and looked them over. Their spirits were twisted, but each also had a small patch of blackness, an emptiness, in some item on their possession.

The Rogues were not pleased to see him dragging more of their corrupted sisters back to camp. They were even less pleased when he began stripping them even more naked than before. With two of the Rogues, he had sensed something about rings on their hands, almost invisible in the filth. With the third, her helm caught his attention. Nonetheless, the signs were subtle and he had been wrong before; it would be best to get rid of anything that might possibly have come from Tristram.

Kashya crossed her arms and looked on with disapproval. "I thought Paladins weren't supposed to go for that sort of stuff."

"This is not something I enjoy," Thaddeus said, yanking off a boot.

"Oh? Would you rather be stripping boys, then?"

"There are no boys in your order. Why would I do such a thing?" After looking them over closely, Thaddeus nodded, satisfied. "Let us see if this time we are more successful."

Kashya smirked. "What's on your mind, big guy?"

"You are behaving very strangely tonight," Thaddeus remarked. "Cain, do you recognize these items? You must have examined hundreds, but..."

"Yes, they are all things from Tristram," Cain nodded. "This is a ring of light I identified for this young lady, who is named Tahye. A charming girl, her present condition is a great surprise to me. Why, when we first met, she said I reminded her of her great uncle --"

"Yes, thank you. If Lady Akara could..."

It seemed Akara had guessed his mind, and was already at work on the exorcisms. While she exhorted the demonic spirits possessing her daughter Rogues, Thaddeus sat down with the rings and helm. Quietly, he meditated upon them, opening his inner eye to the lines of the spirit world, which flow for good or ill through all things. These three artifacts had many threads to them, wrapped like nests around a hollow space; perhaps a spirit could rest there, and travel with the item. While with someone, the spirit might examine them, learning by observation their weaknesses and flaws. When the time came, on some signal, the spirits might take advantage of those chinks in that person's spiritual armor, possessing them. And when exorcised... the spirit could flee to the artifact, and hide there, for a while, to return when the body was safe again.

As Thaddeus concentrated on the rings and helm, he became aware that one was now filled, with a small, malevolent spirit. It snapped and thrashed and spat a thousand obscenities, for its former habitation was no longer available to it. The other two filled in short order, and Thaddeus was amused to watch the three demons writhe in their prisons. These things were not artifacts of this world. Somehow, they had been made under Tristram, beautiful little traps to snare the unwary. Is evil ever more seductive than when it seems useful? No one thought to wonder why they were all there, just waiting for someone to come along and pick them up. Even if someone guessed, the temptation to use the darkness' own weapons against it would be very strong.

Returning his mind to the camp, Thaddeus looked around. The three Rogues seemed to be peacefully asleep. Though filthy and bloody, to look at their faces now, no one would think there was ever anything wrong with them. Kashya gave an order that they were to be put to bed, and watched until they awoke. Akara was exhausted but triumphant, as dawn broke the horizon behind her. Realizing how late it was, Thaddeus realized he was very tired; it had been a very long day and night. Besides, Akara could not perform any more exorcisms until she had rested. Sleeping now would give Thaddeus a chance to talk to the Rogues when they woke up, and bring many more home from the wilderness.

Later in the day, when just about everyone was asleep, Gheed woke up. Yawning and scratching himself, he looked around the oddly empty camp, wondering if they'd been invaded and no one bothered to tell him. No, not enough blood on the ground, and nothing on fire that shouldn't be. Charsi was up and about, putting a polish on a shield.

"Hello, my best girl! How's business?"

"Oh, everything's wonderful! Have you heard? The Paladin brought back some more of our sisters, and this time, the exorcism worked!"

Gheed shuddered. "I wish he wouldn't do that. Most of those gals were scary enough before they got demons inside them."

"Hey, that's not a nice thing to say! Don't worry, the demons are out now! Akara thinks they were hiding inside trick magic items. Now that's scary. Who would have thought a ring or something could betray you?"

Gheed chuckled, noting Charsi had been working on the Umbral Disk. "Say that around him, and you'll probably get a sermon on the temptations of power."

"Oh, yeah. You think that was it? I mean, why they fell?"

"As if I care," Gheed muttered, then smiled. "We can't know why, so don't worry about it! Me, I've got enough on my plate without anyone else's problems being served up."

"Um..." Charsi thought a minute. "I guess. I'm just worried about the monastery."

Gheed sighed, casting his gaze heavenwards. "My dear girl... religion is all very well, but you have to remember business is business! Money made the monastery work, all the fees you collected from the pass. What am I going to do with you? I like you. Everyone likes you! When everyone likes you, with a little business savvy, you can make money hand over fist! Akara needs money a lot more than sermons, if you want to do her some good."

"The Paladin seems to do fine without much money."

"He doesn't buy anything, he loots it. Oh, excuse me: liberates it from the infernal hordes, to put to a holy purpose. And he brought better stuff with him than anything you or I have. Real churchly relics; they always keep the best for themselves." Then Gheed thought of something. "Say, why don't you call him by his name? He has one, doesn't he?"

"Oh, yeah, Thaddeus. It's kind of weird to just call him that. He's kind of... I mean, he comes back in, I know he's been fighting, but there isn't a speck of dirt on him!"

Gheed smirked. "Not very accessible?"

"It's weird to just call him a name, you know?"

"You know what I think of him? Boring. B. O. R. I. N. G. Doesn't buy anything, hardly sells anything, gives it all away. Worse businessman than you. Also, he doesn't laugh at any of my jokes. The other day, I told him a great one, and he just stared at me."

"What joke was it?"

"Oh, just a little something between men," Gheed chuckled. "I know you're in a monastery, but mark my words, don't get religious, or you'll have no sense of humor at all and no one will like you. Look at me! Everyone loves ol' Gheed, because I make them laugh!"

Charsi laughed. "Yeah, I guess. Still wish you'd tell me the joke."

Gheed backed away, waving his hands. "Oh, no! Can't let Kashya catch me telling you things like that! I'll be banned from camp or worse."

Back in the marshes, Thaddeus found a few more corrupted Rogues, and took the survivors back to camp. There was also a huge old tower, broken and fallen into decay. This section of the pass didn't have an inn, even though it was fenced off like all the rest. Perhaps the innkeepers didn't want to stay in a marsh (the mosquitoes were annoying) or the land was owned by whoever stayed in the tower. Probably the latter; the remains of foundations told Thaddeus it was once part of a much larger building. Inside, one wall of an empty basement had collapsed, and a strange smell came up from below.

Even without the charnel smell, the feeling of evil was palpable in the cellar. Something was here, stronger than your typical demon, and should be dealt with. Beneath the tower cellar were 5 levels of sub-basements, networks of winding tunnels leading into the earth. Human bones were scattered everywhere, heaped up against the walls, in loops of corridor, even walking around of their own volition. All the bones were tiny, like those of children or youths. In addition to Skeletons, Wraiths and Blood Clan Goatmen abounded; something terrible and painful had happened here, to make so many ghosts. The Blood Clan was a bad sign as well; they often follow after Vampires and other blood-drinkers.

At the deepest level, Thaddeus found a symmetrical set of chambers, laid out like a temple of one of the old religions. A concourse, set with pillars, made the body. Four side branches represented the limbs. The entrance was central, between the legs -- make of that what you will. As he went deeper, Thaddeus was sure the "arm" chambers would be holding the "head" chamber between them, disconnected from the "body." Temples dedicated to blood-letting, the ceremonial severing of the neck, were laid out this way. Sure enough, the "body" ended in a blank wall and a cauldron of boiling blood. The temple was active.

Thaddeus inspected the "legs" first. The Blood Clan was strong here, and there were women archers as well. At first, he thought they were corrupted Rogues, but with a closer look he saw they were much older than that. Though they looked younger than any of the Rogues, their bodies were pale and withered. Their clothing (more than any of the Rogues had) had an antique look to it, and revealed their immature bodies where it was rotten. As archers, they were clearly inferior, but their flesh was much tougher. These, Thaddeus did not bother to save. Their eyes looked empty; clearly, no soul was in residence.

Scattered on the floor of the "legs" was a great deal of treasure; coinage, jewelry, and other small, portable forms of wealth. Weapon racks and several locked chests also yielded up valuables. Deeper into the temple, the "arms" only had a few barrels and a scattering of gold coin. The evil was strong, centered in the head of the temple; Thaddeus approached it cautiously. Sure enough, a group of axe-wielding girls came out as he got near; the axes were a bit of a surprise, he'd heard blood rituals usually involved daggers. After killing them, Thaddeus went into the "head."

A few members of the Blood Clan were there, along with the only grown woman in the place. She was pale and tall, but lacked the "starved" look of the younger girls. And she looked very pleased to see Thaddeus. This one, Thaddeus could tell, was beyond any salvation he could offer, save a swift death. The Goatmen stayed in the back, only coming forward after she was dead. Were they using her for blood, or had she been using them? It really didn't matter, all met the same end, but knowing the tricks demons employ could not hurt. The final chamber of the temple held a vast amount of wealth. Thaddeus had little use for it, but the sisters would be pleased, he was sure.