Pezzle

The Five Senses

Chres

---

Chres nodded at Jen's words.

”With any luck, the soldiers we sent in with Týfurkh still have his equipment. However beelining it to the basement doesn't feel smart. Who knows how long it will take to kill the Seed. We'll need to secure our footing in the building first, and then hopefully that will buy us enough time to take on the Seed.”

Karina's blade impaled one of the cultists straight through. Chres hurried to catch up. Quickly he shaped a spear in his hand and dispatched another cultist that tried to take Karina in the back.

Chres let the spear construct dissipate, and turned his focus towards another cultist, blocking his attack with his hatchet.

”Go on ahead.” He said to Jen and Octavio. ”We'll met you in there soon. See if our friend needs help and make sure our soldiers get to work securing the building.”

The Five Senses

Plot Point

---

Chres smiled. ”Well how about that. Come on. while they storm the front, We can hit them from the back.”

---

"Right." Sightless Talne said in a flat tone.

Swallowing, The soldier took the crystal Jade candle from Týfurkh. Slowly he turned towards the Sightless.

"Sightless Talne!" A cult guard interrupted. There was a touch of worry in his voice.

The Sightless frowned. "What is it?"

"The townsfolk! Their heading for the church! There are people in the street riling them up!"

---

While most of the mob went straight for the front of the Church, there were a few who thought to tackle the back entrance. Four Cultist Stood in front trying to fend them off.

”Come On!” Chres Shouted, as he took out his hatchet. ”we need to take them out before they reinforce the entrance!”

---

"What?!" The Sightless said, turning his back from the pactmaker and the soldier.

The head soldier took this moment to make a move.

"Now!" He shouted.

The Sightless' eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. He turned as the soldier threw the crystal jade candle on the ground and slammed his foot down on the candle with all his might.

The crystal, rather than shattering, cracked. The cracks lit up as if the light inside was trying to escape.

Sightless Talne's expression darkened. "You! You were in on this farce too?!"

The Sightless' fingers elongated into tendrils. "Intruders!" The Sightless shouted. "Kill them all!"

The Five Senses

Inside the Church of Insight

---

Sightless Talne frowned. The Pactmaker was lying. While Sightless Talne had never met this man before, his description match that of the pactmaker Sightless Nieffar fought in the Clocktower. A giant man covered in armor with a giant crossbow. This had to be the same man.

"I see." Sightless Talne said acting as if he believed the man's response. He took a moment to use the Insight scout his body for hidden weapons. "Of course that's why you only now came to us, rather than before."

The Sightless's brow creased. Talne could see the bottom contents of the pouch, a pile of salt. Though at the top of the pouch, that was a different matter. Atop the pile of salt, there was blank spot his Insight could not penatrate. A crystal jade candle... The blind spot couldn't be anything else.

"Well then. I suppose it would be good to get you out to safety, wouldn't it? ... but first-" The Sightless looked to the wall guard leading the pact maker. "-would you kindly relinquish this man of the pouch at his side and the crystal jade candle within it."

---

The lead soldier stiffened.

"C-candle?". He stuttered.

The man turned to Týfurkh, eyeing him nervously.

"Yes." The Sightless said. "The one in the pouch of salt."

"Of- of course your Sightlessness." The soldiers said with a bow, "Please forgive our negligence." The Sightless nodded at the man's words

The Sightless nodded as the soldier approached Týfurkh and began to slowly undo the pouch at Týfurkh's side. It seemed as if the Sightless might have seen through Týfurkh, however he still didn't seem to realize that he was speaking to soldiers in disguise.

"What now?" The soldier whispered to Týfurkh. "We can't give him the crystal, can we? Do we break it? Should we attack?"

The Five Senses

Plot Point

---

Together, the pact makers devised a plan. A plan to distract, outwit and dismantle the Church of Insight's defense. Alone Týfurkh went towards the back entrance. His hands tied in front of him. Surrounding him were a handful of soldiers dressed in the wall guard uniform.

The Sightless, sitting by a second story window, stood up and turned his Sightless gaze towards the entourage. The soldiers approached the cultists guarding the entrance.

"We got one." The lead soldier said.

The cultist raised an eyebrow before sparing a glance towards Týfurkh. "Got what?"

"A pact maker." The soldier said.

The cultist seemed skeptical as he took in the size of Týfurkh. "You all capture this giant man?"

"He came to us willingly." the soldier said, thinking quickly. "Agreed to give himself willingly in exchange for escape."

"Escape?" The cultist said, eyebrow still raised.

"This one is no friend of the Nation of Touch. A defector of the army who would be executed on sight if they recognized him."

The cultist frowned, and spared Týfurkh a second glance. This time the cultist took in the full suit of armor, his skepticism wavering.

"He surrendered his weapons to us." The soldier continued seeing an opening. He nodded behind him. Two of the other soldiers lifted his giant crossbow and other weapons to show that they had unarmed the pactmaker. "He his no threat to us."

The cultist hesitated before nodding. "Come in." He said.

---

”Looks like they took the Sightless left the window.” Chres said looking out the window of the abandoned shop from which they exited.

They had sent a lone soldier out as a look out. His job was to signal the group. If he wiped his brow, it meant the Sightless had taken noticed and left its position. If the adjusted his boots, then it meant that the cultists had taken the bait.

A that moment, the soldier took a moment to adjust his boots. ”And they took the bait. Octavio, your up.”

---

A Pactmaker? Now of all times? The Sightless Talne frowned, as he waited for the pactmaker to enter in the center of the church where his fellow cultists had placed statue depicting the Shadowy Eye atop a pillar made of vines. Well perhaps this will be enough to budge Nieffar out of his stuper.

The Sightless shook its head taking a moment to use the Insight in order to see if Nieffar had yet to budged. Nieffar remained rooted at the place Sight Talne had last seen him. Beside The Seed. Sightless Talne tsked. What was Nieffar doing? The town had fallen! It was time to leave with the rest of the Sightless!

As the giant man entered the room. Sightless Talne looked to one of his attendents at his side. "Tell Sightless Nieffar that we have a pactmaker. Tell him it is time to go." Sightless Talne's attendent nodded and went off towards the stairs leading to the building's cellar.

Sightless Talne turned to face the Pactmaker. A useless just with Insight at his fingertips, but he found that 'looking' at people of which he was about to address helped to settle the unease that most people felt around his fellow Sightless.

"So I understand you defected from the army of touch." The Sightless spoke to the giant. He frowned at the words. "You should have come to us sooner. Why surrender yourself now of all times?"

The Five Senses

Chres

---

Chres pondered at Octavio’s words, hand to his chin. The way he hesitated at the part about his sister seemed ominous.

It was around then that Jen spoke up. Like Octavio, Jen seemed guarded about his personal life.

He looked to Jen, curious. ”They took someone from you?” He reiterated. ”Wh-”

“There be.” Interrupted one of the women leading the way.

“Exit there be.” Said the other.

Chres snapped his attention back ahead to a dead end with a ladder.

“I’ll go first said one of the soldiers behind them. Make sure the coast is clear.”

Chres nodded. The soldier had come prepared to look less conspicuous. Having taken uniforms from the wall guard.

Slowly the man climbed the ladder out of sight. Pausing for a moment to push away at a loose panel of stone blocking the top of the ladder. With some effort the panel gave way. The man disappeared for a moment that seemed to last forever, before finally calling back to report everything was clear.

---

It took some time for everyone to exit the tunnels. During that time Chres had taken a moment to assess his surroundings. The tunnel had exited them into the middle of a storeroom of what appeared to have at one time been a shop. The shop itself being conveniently being located a few blocks away from the inn of which the Cult had set up shop. And a few blocks beyond that, though significantly further, lay the O’Kal estate.

Outside, there seemed to be a mad rush of cultist going to and from their makeshift church. People running back and forth carrying supplies. Others rushing to the frontlines of battle, while yet others seemed in a mad rush to head for the western gate.

Most importantly there was no Sightless to be seen. The scene was ripe. A perfect mix of chaos to allow them slip into the Cult’s church.

Before leaving the shop, they had some of the soldier do some test walks around the perimeter of the Cult’s church before heading back to the shop. Few people barely paid the soldiers a glance. Yet another good sign.

The soldier reported back to the group with the findings. The Cult’s “church” did not seem to be heavily guarded, at least from the outside. They group could likely fight their way in though the front they worried about the commotion that would cause.

There was a back entrance, however. Similarly guarded but facing away from the main road. The downside was that a Sightless had been spotted through a window on the second floor at the backside of the inn. If they were to fight their way in from the back, then they would surely attract immediate notice from the Sightless.

Chres and the rest gathered around, having listened to the report. For a moment he stood there thinking. ”Is fighting our way in the only option?”

The soldier hesitated for a moment, before saying, “Perhaps not…”

Apparently, the scouting had shown that at least twice members of the Wall Guard had been seen entering the Church without barely a question from the ones guarding the building. While the group could use the stolen guard uniforms as some sort of ploy, they did not have enough for everyone. Only the soldiers had come wearing the wall guard’s uniforms.

Chres nodded at this. That meant that they could either try to steal more uniforms, or come up with another ploy, perhaps a ploy to use one of them as a prisoner. Hoping to divert the Sightless’s attention while the others sneak in. The Sightless were after all looking for ‘Pact Makers’.

Chres turn to the rest of the group. ”Well?” He asked. ”What do you think?”

The Five Senses

Chres

---

Dossiers? Wanted posters? Chres smiled. You know, you had me going for a while. I thought you some sort nobleman for quite some time.

He looked to Octavio. This woman... what did she want?

The Five Senses

Chres

---

Sil giggled. She fluttered off of Chres's shoulder and landing atop Akai's head. Chres himself couldn't help but release a small chuckle.

"So instead of obeying orders and quieting down, you instead quietly disregarded them and stubbornly came here on your own volition?" Chres smirked and gave her a sidelong glance. The conflict now was making a whole lot more sense. "It doesn't get any more Karina than that I suppose." He said teasingly, while pocketing the crystal jade candle.

Chres turned a glance in Týfurkh's and Jen's direction.

"What about you two?" He asked. "You never did tell me what brought the two of you to this town."

The Five Senses

Chres

---

Chres stirred uncomfortably. Karina's words had shone a spotlight on his inner emotion that he would have preferred being left in the dark. So turned his gaze in Octavio's direction. The man had been quiet during this whole time. Perhaps he, like Chres had also been hoping to escape from this town.

It was hard to tell with Octavio. Despite his ostentatious words and actions, Chres noticed that the man often tended to sit in the background and keep to himself.

Perhaps it would be good to redirect the spotlight on another. "You've been awfully quiet, Octavio. Is something wrong?"

The Five Senses

Chres

---

Chres rubbing his chin in thought wondering how this new development changed things. "Two crystals, several pouches of salt, and a handful of soldiers... how can we use them to our benefit..." He pondered out loud.

He looked to the two guides. "How close will these tunnels get us to the the Cult's base of operations?" Chres asked the guides.

"Be near." said the first.

"Very be near." said the second.

"And where will it take us?"

"Building." said the first.

"Be building's under." said the second.

Chres scratched his chin at their strange phrasing of words. So beneath a building? Was it a raised building or just some sort of cellar?

"Take it, Chres." Karina said. "This jade candle is one of the few we have remaining and now, you will be responsible for it. If you need a reason to live, do it for your companions. Remember, you are not alone. Stay strong, Chres."

Shocked by Karina's caring words, Chres raised his gaze to the hand on his shoulder. During his time with the woman, he had not seen much of her compassionate side. He hadn't been looking for kindness or sympathy, and yet the gesture stirred a strange mix of emotions.

On the one hand, he was touched to have someone be there for him. He had been alone with Sil, the reminder of his past deeds, for so long now that he couldn't even remember what it was like to have a companion who he could count on. On the other hand, his guilty conscious stirred at her words. Within him, he felt the bubble of frustration rise further along with his self-loathing. That part of him whispered to him. He didn't deserve to have companions who cared for him. He didn't deserve to be happy. That side of Chres wanted to wallow in the pain and misery. It wanted to shrug off Karina's hand and throw a fit.

With difficulty Chres shoved away the negative thoughts and emotions. Those thoughts... those emotions... He didn't yet know whether they were valid. His wife told had said he didn't understand. He had to find out... He had to know... Just what didn't he understand? Only then could he validate those feelings.

Reluctantly, Chres took the Crystal Jade Candle from Karina. He stared at its greenish glow with empty eyes. Before feeling a tiny nudge on his neck from Sil's tiny elbow

"Well go on." Sil said.

Chres looked to her confused.

Sil just rolled her eyes at him.

"You silly little puddle. Aren't you going to thank Ms. Ice-a-rina already?"

Chres blinked. Twice now the familiar seem uncharacteristically aware of what was going on. Pursing his lips, he met Karina's gaze.

"Thanks Karina."

"That's Ms. Ice-a-rina." Sil corrected.

"Ka-ri-na." Chres reiterated, empathizing each syllable. Sil sighed and waved him off. "Thank you." He said again. It was a more meaningful 'thank you'. One that spoke to more than just the crystal jade given to him.

"Seems rough." He said after a moment of walking in silence. "To have boss who is also your father... What did he mean that 'the best soldiers do not undermine their superiors'? You came here on behalf of the army and completed your mission, did you not?"

The Five Senses

Chres

---

"I'm..." Chres started before hesitating. How was he holding up?

Physically he was fine if not tired. The army of Touch's touch healers had seen to that. Magically? He was running on empty. During this whole downtime he had been doing his best to refill his heat reserves. But mentally? That... that was a more complicated question.

Time seemed to freeze on itself, everybody but Chres stopping in place. Chres head jolted up. The sensation feeling all too familiar.

"You could have run." Said the Being. There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

Just like that the sensation was over. Time suddenly rushed back in on itself. Once again, the world sprung to life as if nothing had just happened.

Chres shook his head and continued walking. He was tired, so perhaps it was his imagination. After all this time, why would the Being choose now to show up only to make a jab at him?

"I'm fine." Chres lied.

In truth, he had a knot of frustration stuck in his throat. He had hoped that opening the gate would put an end to this. That he would be able to leave this town and starting looking into exactly what he didn't 'understand' about the deeds of his wife. Instead the army had refused to let anyone, except a few, leave until they rooted the cultists out of this town.

Could he have run? Perhaps. If he had abandoned Týfurkh and Octavio after opening the Portcullis. Or maybe he could have snuck out using his remaining heat reserves to Weave a heat construct that would get him up and over the wall. Regardless, getting caught meant complications. Complications he would rather not bother with.

Right now there was only one way Chres knew for sure that would get him a way out. To help Karina and the rest kill the seed. Otherwise, the morning following there another day of madness, and who knew if he would be able to find a way out of this town during that.

"I just hope two crystals are enough." Chres continued.

"The jade candles have their use, but they not the thing I'm referring to. Turns out the sightless react as poorly to salt as the heart does. It interrupts their healing ability, and you'll see it working by how the little vines wilt and the afflicted area wilt. It also seems to hurt extra, but who cares about that." Jen said straightforwardly.

"Problem is now they know that we know about this weakness. So, I expect them to fight extra hard as well targeting our supplies of it. But again, they could get overwhelmed with some good hits and coordination. It really depends on who's able to be the better fighter."

Chres' head whirled. "Salt?!"

He gripped the pouch of salt at his side. The Kharu-Natjer had give each one of them a pouch this morning. All this time wonder how they would fight the Sightless, and it turned out that a little thing such as salt could be wielded as a weapon against them.

"Are you sure?"