The Empress's Eye

Alfher would be brought into the Empress’s Eye, either walking of his own volition or being carried, depending on how he had reacted to his escort. Pushing the large pair of wooden doors that lead to the Empress’s Eye open, the group entered the main office. The Inquisitor spoke briefly to one of the secretaries at the desk before leading Alfher and the four soldiers up a set of stairs and into a rather spartan looking office.

There were a few bookshelves, a desk with chairs, and a single picture adorning one of the walls. Other than that, the room was mostly empty. Alfher would be brought to the chair in front of the desk, the Inquisitor taking a seat in the one across from him. The chair Alfher was directed to was made of a very thick wood and appeared to be bolted to the floor, a number of straps also adorning the seat. If Alfher took a seat without a fight, none of the restraints would be used.

“I have a few questions for you, prisoner. I suggest you answer them truthfully and without the need for my constant prompting. Do you think you can manage that for me?”

The Inquisitor wore a slight smile as he spoke, his tone neutral but slightly weary sounding.

“First off, let’s start with something simple then. What is your name and what was your rank and duties within the Goraian Army?”

The Inquisitor had brought out a sizable log book along with a jar of ink and a quill. It seemed he would be recording the answers Alfher gave to him.

The Inquisitor nodded, scribbling something down on the sheet of paper before him.

“What exactly was your relationship with the Goraian regime before you were brought in as a general? As in, what have you done previously in your life that warranted the Goraian leadership thinking that you would be a suitable general for their army?”

The robed man looked a bit less bored and more genuinely curious as he asked this question. After all, people fit to be generals didn’t just pop out of the ground. Perhaps Alfher had been a known member of the Medan army before it fell?

[Okay, that works for me]

Apparently satisfied with Alfher 's answer, the Inquisitor murmured something to himself as he continued his scribbling. So far the man was being cooperative, hopefully, that would continue, he really didn’t want for things to get messy.

“According to reports I have here, you were one of the primary reasons, perhaps the only reason, that the battle at New Brimiarde was extended. Where it appears most of the other commanders and soldiers fled the battlefield, you rallied a number of troops on the wall. Surely you could have seen defeat was inevitable, I am curious as to why you felt the need to rally what was essentially a hopeless defense.”

The Inquisitor let out a rather exasperated sigh, shaking his head at Alfher’s answer. In his mind, the decision made no sense, and he also couldn’t understand the reasoning Alfher had given. The Inquisitors were trained to be cold and logical and the warriors reasoning for continuing the defense was anything but that.

“I suspect there isn’t much more to be said if that’s your reasoning for your rallying of the Goraian troops. You shall be sent back to your cell for now, but don’t get too comfortable there, you’ll be receiving a judgment soon.”

Rising, the Inquisitor dismisses Alfher, the guards in the room escorting the warrior back to The Dungeons.

Grandma shuffled through several stacks of papers before her, currently in her office that was situated deep within the Empress’ Eye. She had sent out an invitation to Venus and was expecting her to be arriving soon. Although she hadn’t mentioned any details within the invitation, the demon was surely cunning enough to have a general idea as to what the meeting would be about. The guards at the entrance had already been given instructions to guide Venus to Grandma’s office when she arrived as well as treat her with a healthy dose of respect. Although considering her personality, the latter order was likely a redundant one.

Venus was dressed to impress as Grandma had a feeling she would be, it was part of her nature after all. Grandma, on the other hand, wore her usual attire, a crimson dress that went all the way up to her neck, trimmed with a bit of gold. It was made out of very high-quality materials, but quite plain compared to what Lady Venus wore. The flashiest accessories Grandma wore were the numerous rings that adorned her gloved fingers, each gem glowing faintly.

“Ah, it’s a pleasure to meet you again, Lady Venus. Let me have some refreshments over before I begin with the reason I’ve brought you here.”

At the snap of her fingers, a pair of maids emerged from the shadowed corners of the room, moving toward the pair with an unnatural precision in each step. One of them carried a tray with various drinks on it ranging from tea and coffee to a variety of liquors. The other maid carried a tray that featured several types of cookies as well as bite-sized pieces of peanut brittle. Placing the trays on Grandma’s desk, one of the maids immediately brought over a plush chair, placing it so its occupant would be facing Grandma.

“Please, take a seat and make yourself comfortable. As you probably can guess, I’ve called you here regarding your duties as an Imperial Inquisitor. It took me a bit of time to find a task that warranted your abilities. Giving you a task I could entrust to just any Inquisitor would be an insult to your abilities after all… Tell me, do you know anything about The Church of Varafel?”

“My knowledge of the church is also only surface level as I had no reason to look into them until their recent arrival in the city, but I can give you a brief rundown. From what I’ve gathered, the Church worships the goddess of birth and death and generally emphasizes the ‘natural’ way of things as being what they consider good. One notable thing is the number of healers they possess in their organization, offering such services to those who could normally never afford them or even have access to them. They also despise the undead or other such similar creatures from what I hear, a sentiment that is easy to find in most places. Generally, they sound like a rather standard church that acts as a boon to the common folk and helps keep them safe. However, I think it would be unwise to dismiss them as completely harmless without further inspection.”

Pausing a moment to take a cup of coffee off the tray, Grandma takes a long sip before finally continuing her comments.

“There is the possibility most members of the church are benign but some of its leaders are not. I’ve seen many organizations like it in the past where even upon close inspection everything looked in order until the very moment the secrets of its leaders were brought into the light. A church or cult is the perfect place for such individuals to run wild.”

The old woman’s lips quirked upwards slightly at her last statement, a slight glint entering her eyes.

“It almost goes without saying that there might be nothing sinister at all about this organization, which is truly the ideal outcome for Isra in this scenario.”

“It is who they named their Church after, Varafel. Whether this Varafel is a real entity or purely fictional is beyond my current knowledge, but such a thing would be rather important to find out before any impersonations.”

Grandma let out a slight chuckle, amused by the notion of impersonating the religions very own deity.

“What I want is for you to discover more information out about the Church, but in a way that they are unlikely to notice. If the choice comes down to gaining more knowledge about them but at the cost of revealing our investigation… I’d rather simply make do with less knowledge at this stage but have them remain oblivious to us. For now that is. Once we’ve gleaned some information about them, a proper plan can be set in motion.”