The War Without End – Episode 1.3
The group head to the Mortuary and obtain a Certificate of Interment for Jysson from “the Dustmen”. Then, armed with proof of Jysson’s death and the deeds to the shop, they go to the Hall of Records where they speak to a clerk named Arturo. Arturo assists them as they register the shop in Ebon’s name and then buys it off them for 2,500gp. The companions suspect that they have been fleeced but are happy to have off-loaded the property along with any associated tax paying commitments.
Their business concluded, they leave the Hall of Records and find Massingleigh outside waiting to meet them. He has some disturbing news. Someone has come to Sigil asking questions about Ebon, a man called Marann. Ebon recognises the name from his years in the Theocracy. Marann is the Chief of Enforcers for the militant faction. Ebon does not know why Marann would be looking for him but he suspects that it cannot be good.
In the next half-hour, as Massingleigh guides them back toward the Fortress of the Second, Ebon becomes increasingly troubled as he continues to glimpse a hooded figure in the crowd that resembles his sister Blanca, but whenever he looks at where she was, the figure has gone. He can only wonder what Blanca might be doing there and why she does not come straight to him? Noticing Ebon’s unease, Shilaze offers her support in dealing with any adversity and the others, Massingleigh, Kai and Korbin, say they will stand by him also.
Only a short while later, Ebon sees Blanca once again. She is only there for a moment, a cloaked figure beckoning to him from the mouth of an alleyway, but this time he is sure that it is she. Despite the somewhat suspicious way in which she has appeared, Ebon knows that he must follow. It is his sister after all. She may need him. He tells the others of his intentions and is moved when every one of them says they will accompany him in case there is trouble.
Together they follow the alleyway to a warehouse. They leave Massingleigh on guard outside to secure their retreat and then go in.
Within the shadowy torch lit interior, Blanca is waiting for them. Ebon goes to her while Shilaze, Kai and Korbin hold back to give the two some privacy. As Ebon gets closer he sees the strain on Blanca’s face and knows that something is wrong. She looks pale and drawn and her eyes reflect a deep uncertainty within.
“We’ve come to take you back with us Ebon”, she says. It is difficult to tell whether she intends the words as a statement or a warning.
At that instant the doors to the warehouse slam shut behind them and figures emerge from amongst the crates and boxes where, until now, they have been hidden. Ebon, Blanca, Shilaze, Kai and Korbin are surrounded by a company of soldiers and Enforcer Knights of Pholtus. At their head is the Chief of Enforcers, Marann. The protagonists eye each other warily.
Ebon is taken aback. “What is going on? Why are you here Blanca?” he asks.
Blanca’s response is faltering. There is a sense that she is fighting an inner struggle, but against what it is not clear. She says that the Church has charged Ebon with apostasy and that she and Marann have been sent to arrest him and take him back to the Pale for judgement. His crimes include heresy, blasphemy, demon worship and absconding with a holy relic, among other things.
Ebon cannot believe the allegations that the Church has made against him. Though it is true that he has renounced the One True Path, the charges are a mockery. Apparently they have been conceived as a pretext to send the Enforcers after him. He is reluctant to recognise the authority of an organisation that abuses its power in this manner, though he has no wish for bloodshed. The situation is delicately poised.
“I… don’t know what to do Ebon”, Blanca pleads.
She seems fragile and confused. Something Ebon has never seen in her before. She is not herself.
While Marann and the Enforcers allow it, Ebon continues to talk with his sister, looking for some hidden meaning in her words and trying to understand what is wrong with her, but all she seems capable of is pleading for him to return. Yet he cannot. He keeps telling her that he does not believe in the One True Path any more and that he has found something else, a new destiny here. Eventually she breaks down and sobs “But you left me behind… You left me when you said you never would!”
Ebon is dumbstruck. He never realised that was how she felt. She had seemed so strong and secure in her own faith. She had never said anything to him before. He is about to reach out to her when Marann roars “ENOUGH! Take her out of my sight and arrest the apostate immediately”. And then he adds as an after-thought, “If the others interfere, kill them.”
The soldiers instantly close in on Ebon and Blanca. Some grab Ebon while others begin dragging Blanca away.
“Please Ebon don’t let them take me back” Blanca cries “Please”
Ebon struggles free and the soldiers bar his way “LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!” He raises his glaive threateningly.
Shilaze, Kai and Korbin move to support him and in reply, weapons are drawn all around the warehouse. The battle begins.
Initially the young Med-Jai make some headway and, aided by a mysterious archer who shoots from the rafters at anyone threatening Blanca, they manage to free her from her captors. But they are outnumbered four or five to one and are soon hard pressed by the forces of the Theocracy. Each time one of Marann’s men gets injured they are able to fall back and drink a potion of healing while another fills the gap. Meanwhile the four friends fight on valiantly but get no respite and are gradually worn down. Eventually all have suffered wounds and it does not look like they can hold out much longer.
Kai falls first and then a growing number of Marann’s men close in around Shilaze until she can hold them off no longer. Elsewhere, as Ebon stands alone against three of the Enforcers he too is overwhelmed, deflecting one blow he fails to prevent Marann’s strike slipping past his guard. A stream of blood from the wound begins to stain his armour and drips steadily to the ground. Defiantly he raises the glaive, perhaps for the last time.
At that moment Blanca cries out and throws herself into the fray in a desperate attempt to reach Ebon with a Wand of Healing. She succeeds, but as she does so one of the Enforcers strikes her down. She collapses to the floor, blood pooling beneath her broken form. Enraged, Ebon unleashes a ferocious assault on the Enforcers. The one who struck Blanca is the first to die.
While this is going on, Massingleigh finally breaks through the doors and comes to their aid. And not long after, Kai and Shilaze struggle back to their feet as the tide of the battle turns in their favour. The restorative potions that were sustaining the Enforcer’s men have been exhausted and now when they are hit they fall hard.
Marann surveys the scene and then calls for a truce. “Your sister has been gravely injured and I wish to recover my wounded. Do you accept?”
To be continued…
Notes:
First appearances of Ebon’s sister Blanca Mordain (Monica Bellucci), and Chief of Enforcers Marann (Nick Nolte)
