“Blessed colleagues,

  I write to inform the conclave that recently, a band of travellers alongside some members of the Argent Curia and Blackguards have requisitioned a fair squadron of my parish’s own contingent of the Argent Curia. Should those of you in the northern regions encounter them, given that they seemed to be heading that way, kindly remind them that my parish still has need of its armed contingent given our proximity to the Mistveil. May we all tread with the Goddess’s guidance.

  Many thanks. ”

  - Bishop Adam Craftt, Rosewachten Parish, “Letter To Honored Colleagues In Melton”

  The rendezvous with the Red Hawk knights was about as curt and brief as it needed to be. The two groups acknowledged each other before the knights fell back to monitor Sophie once more. Their advance into the rest of the city could begin once more.

  Despite the unsettling end of the adventures guild in Eichafen, there was nothing that they could do. To carry the bones out and bury them would have taken too much time. They needed to reach the pathfinders guild as well. After all, those were the ones who had sponsored and led that disastrous expedition in the first place. And where the Direktor was before he turned on Annalise and the others.

  Of the guild secretary Nyria there had been no sign within the guildhall. Though Sophie hadn’t really expected to find any sign of her in the first place, it was still somewhat of a disappointment. If she really was connected to undermining the city’s defenses, then finding anything related to her would be more than enough to get the proof that the Carradorians wanted from her. She felt almost silly for expecting a traitor to have remained at her post until the end. If anything, it was more likely that she had fled alongside wherever the Direktor and his lizard-like assistant had disappeared to.

  Alongside whatever Arantos might have planned through their efforts, Sophie growled at the mere thought.

  Crossing Saint Rosendorf square, they managed to catch a glimpse of the saints guards. A few of the templars assigned to Eva’s team did much the same as the Red Hawk knights with Sophie, guarding the outer perimeter. Sophie raised a sword to demonstrate familiarity and inform them that the guildhall had been checked out. One of the templars raised an arm in response. Eva and the others were still inside.

  She wondered what the cathedral was like. If the guild had made a final stand, then it was more than likely an equal if not even larger contingent of people would’ve flocked to the church in a vain hope for sanctuary. It made sense, after all, the church in Eichafen was built just as sturdily as the rest of the fortress city, if not even more so. A logical choice for refuge and that was before taking into account the potential for divine magic to preserve them against the tides of the accursed undead hordes.

  If she needed to make a judgement on who succeeded however, the silence of the city was the answer. With the cathedral’s bell tower lying in a collapsed heap of rubble on the far end of the square and the majority of its roof pockmarked with holes from projectiles. It didn’t take much to think that the sacred barriers eventually succumbed to the undead much like the rest of the fortifications of the city.

  Tearing her thoughts away from it. She turned her attention towards where the pathfinders guildhall lay. Standing in contrast to the almost grand nature of the adventurers guild, this hall was almost too flat. A two story building that seemed to stretch across most of its assigned block. Sophie could already feel the anxiety building within her at the thought of having to comb through such a largely spaced area. Too many angles, too many broken line of sight corridors and hallways. She could already imagine the hassle it might prove to get properly organized depending on how many halls the building had. At least it’s more organized than a cave.

  With a single gesture, she motioned for the others to move forward. Once more, she took up the position at the head of the group. First in, like always.

  As the knights slowly drifted into formation behind them, Sophie cut through the guild’s courtyard to reach the main door.

  Unlike the adventurer’s guildhall. The door here had already been ripped off its hinges, laying in a splintered pile off to the side. It didn’t take much for them to simply walk through without trouble.

  For the people that had been here though, the devastation wrought upon them was far more complete than what occurred elsewhere thus far. Any signs of barricades or defenses have long been trampled into dust and splinters. Where the adventurers guild seemed to have put up some sort of defence before collapsing, here, it would appear that they had simply been overrun. In a way, she attributed it to the sheer size of the pathfinders compound. Too many angles of approach, too many openings and weak points. It also didn’t help that where the guild likely prioritized a very functional approach to most things, the pathfinders were not just expeditioners and scouts, but scientists and academics too. It meant that it was likely a lot of the space was also poorly optimized to become makeshift battlegrounds.

  She could imagine how much more comforting this space could’ve been compared to the guild. Instead of cantankerous drunks and boisterous adventurers, a place filled with more polite conversation and academic discussions more akin to a salon or afternoon tea time than a guild lodge. Ary would love it, heh.

  The cold bloodstained walls were once a more warm and brighter shade of orange brown that invoked the feelings of a fireplace. Large debris clustered coach-like booths for quiet and private conversations all within sight lines of a trashed open air kitchen. Ash piles of burned books also dotted the corners of the place, making Sophie imagine the lobby to be an area more akin to the library back in Arteria than any guild hall. A pleasant place, at one point.

  In another bit of contrast with the adventurers guild, the layout seemed to mostly consist of rather large rooms and functionary spaces instead of the more compact and hallway based nature of the guild. For things, it would be a nice little bit of space for people to make sure that they aren’t too crowded or claustrophobic like the guild dormitories in Eichafen. On the other hand, based on the chaos that they could see, it just meant a larger slaughtering ground when the undead cut through this place.

  This time however, they would leave the lower floor for later. There was no need for them to bear witness to more of the city’s suffering. In her eyes, they had already seen and understood more than enough. They had an objective, and the sooner it was done the better.

  On the bright side she supposed, the wider halls and rooms here also lended themselves well to having better sight lines. An ever slighter chance of being ambushed, though at this rate, it seemed unlikely that the dead would even be around anymore. Not in this part of the city anyway, she scoffed.

  She held up a hand to bring the party to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. No doors waited from them at the entryway, though there was still a sharp turn before they would be on the main hall of the second floor. On the far side of the room was another stairway upwards, but Sophie simply opted for simplicity of the closest one. She then gestured for Mila to take a sharp left while motioning to herself for a sharp right before the other three were to follow. The inquisitor replied with a soft grunt of affirmation nearly hidden by her scowl.

  Sophie led the way up once more. Just like they were in the guild, she opted for speed over stealth in this regard. Rather to be caught in a fight on the second level than to be pressured by an opponent with higher ground. The rapid pitter patter of their boots on the stone steps seemed to echo throughout the entire hall, Sophie wincing the closer she got to the top of the stairs at how loud it almost sounded.

  Reaching the landing, the group quickly formed a defensive semi circle as they took in yet another scene of devastation. Half cracked walls, aged bloodstains, and moss covered furniture greeted them once more. Once again, they could find no bodies nor even skeletons. A small mercy, she supposed.

  The building itself surrounded a small courtyard in the middle. A few of the windows overlooking were still intact even now. A brief remnant of normalcy, though hard to appreciate given the circumstances.

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  Electing to ignore the other half of the structure for now, Sophie directed the group towards the few administrative offices they did see. While she didn’t really see any signs of a director’s room, she hoped that whatever was left might prove useful. To that end, she shot Mila a look.

  With a half hearted nod, Mila bade for Raylani and Elaria to follow her. Splitting off from Sophie and Sophia to search the right side of the offices while they went to the left. Though to Sophie’s chagrin, Sophia was giving the sort of smirk that one might have when watching a child do something silly.

  What? She growled, or hoped to convey her displeasure through her thoughts.

  Nothing. Sophia continued to smirk.

  Ugh. Whatever. Just keep your eyes peeled.

  Will do. Sophia feigned a smile.

  The two of them carefully shuffled their way past a few overturned desks, taking great care to avoid what debris or stationary that had been left scattered across the floor. The offices themselves were nothing too different from the classrooms and examination halls back in Arteria. Rows of desks and chairs and the occasional fallen cabinet or two with a plethora of documents spread across the floors, now damaged with moisture and rot.

  Poking through what they could, Sophie found herself intrigued by the dozens upon dozen reports with mention of the Mistveil here or there. Though most were too damaged to be anything useful. A few of the still upright desks did have some still legible documents. Perhaps the most worrying one was a half humidity ruined set of notes found inside a shelf at the rearmost desk. The words alone gave her enough pause that even Sophia started to peak over her shoulders.

  The two of them scanned the legible words that stuck out to them. Dark presence, enigma, Direktor Wallen - strange behaviour, inform Faustein? All things that made Sophie’s expression grow ever more ashen the more they read. Dismissed, incident report, occult, were also words that were circled. As if whoever was jotting this down had sensed some form of connection but hadn’t quite the mind or time to connect all the dots properly. Her mood had been brought low by this document alone. It meant someone had at some point had already noticed oddities. But that it likely didn’t get reported or acknowledged by the time that fateful expedition had originally set out. Worse of all, it meant that if the Direktor had any connection to Arantos and was already in the city, his agents had in fact, likely been the ones who helped compromise the defences. A slight that Sophie added to her list of grudges she held against this alleged God of Death.

  Well… that’s concerning. Sophia offered an unhelpful addition.

  Quite. Sophie growled, though more at the thought of Arantos than her sister’s snark.

  Think it’s worth holding onto? Sophia queried.

  More useful than anything else so far. Sophie replied.

  The two gave each other silent affirmations as they picked through what was left of the desk. Nothing that would give them that much more information on the truth of things, though whoever this was, did have quite a few reports on nearby areas. A dispatcher or a secretary, maybe.

  Finding little else of value, the two made their way back to the other three. The trio displaying a similar lack of enthusiasm about their own progress so far.

  “Clear on this end.” Mila announced.

  “We didn’t get much here. A few reports and notes. Better than nothing though.” Sophie gestured to Sophia’s pack.

  “Oh?” The inquisitor let out an uncharasteristically intrigued scowl.

  “Like I said. Nothing too useful. Old topographical reports and wildlife reports. But, someone did suspect something. I doubt they got a chance to raise suspicions though.” Sophie continued.

  “On this ‘Direktor Wallen’ fellow too.” Sophia added.

  Almost immediately they saw Mila’s face light up a little. It was a small find. But a link was a link, even if it was only suspicion.

  Elaria just smirked. The bard’s interest was more so piqued by Mila’s reaction rather than the actual information that Sophie might’ve gathered. Though she supposed that for someone like Ela, there was little connection between her and the Mistveils or the monsters beyond. Raylani remained about as impassive as always, her red eyes ever alert and still scanning their surroundings at all times.

  Admittedly it was a little unsettling whenever Sophie would unexpectedly meet her gaze. Though she was also immensely grateful that someone like Raylani would so freely accompany them anyways.

  Sophie found her lips pursing ever so slightly. Just what exactly landed her with us anyways? She mentioned some sort of ritual that Ela also got caught up in. She was also a gladiator, assassin and entertainer. But deep enough underground that even the dwarfs tend to avoid it. Still, what exactly does she see in Ela that continues to keep her here?

  Shape up, we still got a city to explore. Sophia chided her, interrupting her thoughts.

  Sophie shot a glare at her for intruding but didn’t argue. With a grunt after making sure the others were still around, she started gesturing towards the other half of the guild hall.

  “Same deal. You three down the left hall and rooms. We’ll take the right.” Sophie instructed.

  The trio nodded their assent and the group split up once more. Though the others moved with a noticeably renewed sense of vigor. Likely Mila’s lead after finding her second wind with the notion of helping solve the mystery of Eichafen and the Direktor now freshly in her mind.

  While what appeared to be dormitories of the pathfinder variety lined the hallways between the two sides of the building. The far end seemed to be mostly dominated by larger office spaces and side rooms. Of which included what appeared to be a library and staff kitchen for the pathfinders. Books, pots and pans, all thrown into chaos by the siege.

  Though both were mostly ruined. They did spend a few moments just combing over them on the off chance there was anything useful. Without proper maintenance ever since the city’s fall however, most tomes had already deteriorated due to moisture damage. Only a scant few actual topographical reports or maps remained undamaged enough that they could be salvaged. Nothing particularly fruitful, but maybe to the authorities beyond them, they might have more value.

  Reaching the offices of the branch leaders and directors of the pathfinders guild. Sophie found her head filling up with a plethora of emotions, chief among them being the anger that always simmered just below the surface in all matters regarding Arantos and his potential acolytes. In a way, it reminded her of Arlessa Rutley back in Melisgrad. That unwavering sense of fury that lingered so potently that the noblewoman had become a creature of nightmares, the lemurach. All for the sake of vengeance against those that betrayed her. And though Arantos had left her mostly alone since her time in Eichafen and Melton, that pit in her stomach that couldn’t just let it go was solely reserved for this usurper god and its followers. No time to mope, have to focus.

  While the trio looked through most of the other offices, Sophie and Sophia ran their eyes across the doors until they found the nameplate that they were looking for. Field Exploration Direktor Andreas Wallen, Third Division, Eichafen Branch.

  Sophia made a dramatic gesture of bowing and extending her arms, as if she was an usher of sorts. Sophie rolled her eyes and rapped her sister atop the head before cautiously opening the door. The guild building seemed clear, but better safe than sorry.

  Disappointment was the first thing that ran across her own face. For there, ahead of her, was an office like the others. Somewhat destroyed by the violence and passage of time that had overtaken the place, but empty nonetheless, no culprit to be found. To her added dismay, the windows had also been shattered. Even here, the dampness of the Mistveil had taken hold.

  Annoyed, she let out a soft sigh before taking to the task of rummaging through what desk drawers and cabinets there were. Combined with Sophia’s efforts, the two managed to sort through the room relatively quickly. Unfortunately however, as she feared for most places like offices and obvious locations, there was to be no evidence that could tie the Direktor to the events that happened here via Arantos and his cult. It made sense in that he wouldn’t keep any compromising documents so close by. But it was disappointing nonetheless.

  Sensing her declining mood, Sophia turned to her with a small smirk. Sophie immediately growling at her sister’s teasing at such an inopportune time.

  “Search ain’t over yet.” Sophia produced what appeared to be a soggy moisture ridden moldy business card of sorts.

  Scanning it, Sophie found nothing particularly useful until Sophia turned it around. Her eyes ran over the letters presented before her and her growl slowly dropped.

  “An address…” She whispered out loud.

  “It’s a lead. If there’s any place to ransack for information, this would be it.”

  Sophie stared at her for a moment or two, her gaze narrowing. Then, she nodded. Having an actual target feels a little better than just scrounging through the dark. Still, we have reports and an address, that’s a start.