Unforgotten
21st of July 2006 A.D.
Leaning forward a bit you catch the old man's gaze for a moment before he averts it, fearing a soulgaze, or maybe just not wanting to look you in the eye.
I can work with that. "Oaths are funny things. We hold to them so strongly, but often that which we bind the tightest is the first that we lose. Look no further than the fair folk to see how very important the will behind the words is in any promise.So tell us, what exactly did you promise, and by what terms."You smile and it is not a gentle thing, nor filled with any mirth, but hungry. Usum hums proudly at the back of your mind, this he is far more familiar with than even the song of battle.
Lost 1 Essence
For a moment Matthews freezes up and you can read Harry's annoyance flash across his face, but only for a moment. The old mage rallies with the swiftness of one who has gotten out of their fair of tight spots in their life. "You are free indeed with the risks that others must take fair lady, but know that is dancing perilous close to the edge of a cliff into which more than the likes of me would fall."
You wonder if he means more of his confederates, how many dodgy sorcerers are there in deep rural Illinois of all places, but then your eyes fall on the pictures upon the mantelpiece and you recall what the man had said about him, no mention of a son or daughter, just granddaughters. If he dies what would become of them
Lost 1 Essence
"When the edge is already crumbling under your feet it is best to try to jump to safety on your terms than hope that fate alone will deliver you a narrow narrow path to walk on. Help us help you and none of this will be able to follow you home again." Given what his choice of wall decorations looks like this fellow is either a magical arms seller or he is an arms holder and you are betting on the latter.
"Are you willing to make a vow to that?" he asks, looking between you and Harry.
Before you can reply Harry cuts in. "You called me a Warden, you know what that means, that's a duty I already took on."
"Not all who wear a Wardens' cloak cut by the Wardens' Laws," the old man replies with a knowing look. Seeing Harry's face darken he raises a hand for peace. "Even if you do, there's only so much law to in there: keep the peace, keep the secret, punish the lawbreaker. Where in there does it say you have to give a damn about me or Cindy or Alice?"
"Right between basic human decency and not wanting to be known as the sort of person who ignores it. There's plenty of things out there that will use a man and throw him away, but it always comes back to bite them in the end," Harry replies.
"Always." the old man gives a short dry laugh. "An optimist I see, you'll learn... or you won't."
He goes quiet again after that. "I promised not to betray the master's secrets nor lead ruin to the door of his other servants by speech or by silence, in life or in death. I swore also to keep faith with him and aid him in all his works to the best of my meager abilities. I was freed of the last bit back in '61 when the Council finally made death stick to him who thought himself its master."
Kemmler, he means Kemmler you realize, that big time necromancer Harry talked about and from the look on Harry's own face he was not expecting that confession. His right hand shifts a little closer to his blasting rod.
"Not getting out of this without a soulgaze am I?" the old sorcerer asks with a wintry smile. "Let's get this over with."
From the outside a soulgaze does not look like anything special, just two people locking gazes for a moment, before they break off, both looking shaken.
"While the master had no respect for the Laws when it came to himself and those he counted enlightened, he recognized that some were not ready to embrace the truth of their power, of the divinity that lies hidden in ever-rotting mortal flesh and veiled in the stink of their fear." That last part sounded like a quote, and one he did not like repeating, though it came easily to his lips. "I was fortunate enough to be
unenlightened and away on an errand when his death found him. I haven't gone looking for his 'enlightenment' for forty five years now, longer than you've been alive Warden Dresden. All I want is to be left alone to finish raising my granddaughters and then I will face whatever's on the other side for the likes of me."
"There is forgiveness for sins if you repent," you answer softly. "God is love."
Matthews looks at you funny, but doesn't say anything while Harry gathers his thoughts. "You could argue that Kemmler doesn't have any secrets now that he's dead," he argues.
"
You could, you never met him," Matthews shakes his head. "He was obsessed with immortality, the actual magical sort yes, but also legacy should the first fail, that's why he penned the Word and arranged for it to be copied and sent off far and wide, it is why he took apprentices. I heard him say once that only in being forgotten can oblivion be found."
"You did tell us some secrets, just now and no ill came of them." You take care not to seem like you are pushing too hard now, he seems almost relieved to be talking about this now or maybe by what he had seen in Harry's soul.
"I can tell you my own secrets, who I am, who I was who I used to know, but it is not... ah what's that called? It's not actionable intelligence to help unravel his legacy."
"Even if it's his legacy what they do after Kemmler's death can't be his secrets can they?" Harry asks suddenly. "You weren't that surprised when I asked about Gorfel, had the not-lie at the tip of your tongue. You've met him recently haven't you?"
"Two weeks ago on the seventh..." he stops as the spirit bindings on the wall start to sway though the air is still, takes a deep breath before continuing. You suddenly realize he must be terrified, enough so that his magic is spilling out and affecting the bindings, but you can see no sign of it on his face. Guess being able to hide fear is an important skill in working for an insane necromancer and much like riding a bike not one you forget. "Gorfel came much as you did, asking for information about Chicago, about you. He was particularly interested in last Halloween. A good thing I had not partaken of that soulgaze beforehand. Not many Wardens in good standing can claim to have... ah... done what you did."
"Yeah well I didn't do it for a joyride," Harry replies, a little defensively. You wonder what that's about.
Matthews nods, though you can tell it is more for politeness' sake before moving on.
"I shared rumor and tall tales, the kind of thing he could have gotten almost anywhere. Him I did not allow past the threshold and when he offered me a place among the Society again I told him to never darken my doorway again. He laughed and said I would crawl back begging for scraps eventually. Scraps or a whole cut it's all poisoned meat."
That is when Harry really gets into the questioning: "What was he wearing? How did he get here, did he come by car or by the ways? Was anyone with him?" On and on pocking at every single detail of the late night visit, with all the skill of a professional detective and all the precision of a wizard at his art.
Thus you find out all sorts of interesting things. For one Gorfel had been alone and not with his goon squad, nor had he been driving, in fact oddly enough for the middle of summer on a clear evening his boots had been wet. Harry quickly latched on to that and asked if the man had any weapons visible and what he had been wearing. As it turns out not a single scrap of steel, nor a glimmer of iron, which would mean he took the ways and the water might once have been ice which would mean he took the ways through Winter.
Is this hand of the queen or some lesser power, perhaps even a traitor? Usum wonders in your mind, but Harry just moves on: Had any of the locals noticed him. The answer as it turns out is no, Gorfel has ways to walk past the eyes of men veiled in shadow, but also yes. They had noticed his passage, particularly all fuse boxes shorting out at the old county jail house, a fact that Matthews had not previously connected with the visit of his old colleague.
The obvious question is 'Had that been where he had exited the Ways?' and that is where you find another bit of local history. The old jailhouse dates back more than a hundred years and one of the more ghoulish local stories is that of a sadistic local sheriff who would abuse the prisoners... including letting one of them freeze to death in the winter of 1901.
"We've got him, there's bound to be some kind of spirit that noticed his coming and going," you say excitedly.
"Better to ask once than walk into the lion's mouth once, I'll ask some contacts I know about it." It doesn't take a genius to realize Harry would not want to take you back into Winter's domain, even around the edges, but on the other hand you are really good where it's cold and you don't much like the notion of Harry having to barter with the fey for information.
"And you have had no other contacts with the Society between Kemler's death and the seventh of this year?" you ask not-quite idly.
"No, I did not seek it nor wish it," he replies instantly. "The wards are meant to hold against more than fey."
What do you do ?
[] Argue that you should follow the trail and see what you can find on the other side, the fey who had seen Gorfel with their own eyes are likely to be lesser in stature and thus easier to deal with than those who can command their fellows to speak up
[] Return to Chicago to do more research with this new information
[] Ask more questions
-[] Write in
OOC: Harry and Molly make a surprisingly good good cop bad cop here, though part of that is consistently good rolls on Harry's part. Soft social rolls are not his forte, but you pushed him into the role when you went for the super-powered intimidation. 
