I must say the opening of the local branch of the Archivists Guild might be the luckiest thing I have experienced in this life so far. Between the planned research of this archipelago and the available knowledge from the continent I will be able to read so much about this world. How funny. If someone told me I was going to become a book nerd, I would have looked at him like a crazy person. I wouldn't say I hated books before, but I wouldn't go out of my way to read as many books as I can. Now I actually want to spend my free time in the library reading. My sister approves of it since it means I won't do as many stupid decisions as before and that's something I have to agree on too. So now I officially joined the guild as an apprentice scribe. Wonder what will this bring in the future.
Oh, right. There has been something that has been nagging me. Apparently the guild was renamed recently due to a string of attacks on the continent and in the Empire. People say that the old name, Order of the Curators, brought up aggression in people for some reason. What's strange is that name sounds familiar for some reason. Like I knew it at one point but forgot about it. Unfortunately I can't place it anywhere I can remember so it's been bugging me. I thought about asking the guild master about the name, but I found out he got this promotion due to proving how valuable this area is in terms of history research. He is quite young so it's unlikely he knows too much about it.
For once I get to talk about the company. I wrote earlier that Cass and Linne wanted to create a printing company so that they could help me with the books. Well, I was surprised to find out that they will support the guild much more than I expected. Cass became one of the biggest benefactors for the guild. Linne on the other hand won the bid and the new printing company became the official publisher for guild's books. I never expected they would be this helpful in my search. What did I do to deserve such a good family? Or Cass for that matter?
Speaking of which, she had issues with her extended family recently. I haven't mention this earlier, but there was someone pretending to belong to the company and getting debt and contracts on the behalf of the company. As it turns out, this person was actually a member of the Korvin family from the continent and, due to clerk error, we ended up with the most bills. His name is Aragonder Korvin, I am not bothering with his full name, and he is Cass's cousin. From what I heard from Linne their first meeting went fine. They probably discussed about family and business and such. I guess they haven't gone into too much detail considering what happened yesterday.
I was with Cass in her office reading the report of the casualties from the recent expedition when Aragonder waltzed in and asked if he could talk to Cass. I knew it must have been something important so I left the room. Of course I was too curious so I was outside listening their talk. He was really angry about Cass taking his deals for herself and unwilling to share them. He even went so far as to accuse every merchant in the city for being greedy and corrupt. I honestly never saw Cass get so angry.
I guess she knew I was eavesdropping since she called me back into her office for some reason. He joked that I returned back so that I can throw him out of the window, so I opened it to scare him. He thought I was a wind mage and I could actually do it so he calmed down. Thankfully I didn't have to use the sword that is hanging in Cass's office for some reason to force them apart as they stopped before it got too heated. After he left, I managed to distract Cass by asking her about the sword. I noticed that it wasn't the one that usually hanged in her office. I must have surprised her because after confirming I was correct she left the office to check on something.
After that drama I was too curious not to find out what was going on, especially after I found out the news that evening. Apparently Aragonder had ended up being arrested for some reason. I thought he and Cass had another big argument and that something happened then. I tried to find her. I was surprised that she went to prison to pay the fines for her cousin. I wanted to ask her why, but she was already talking to him by the time I reached her.
Since his cell was in the noble section of the prison and she seemed to have arranged to be left alone for a conversation, we weren't disturbed so I thought why not leave them alone to talk between themselves and I will simply keep watch. Of course the real reason was to eavesdrop, who wouldn't? And let me tell you, I was rewarded for the patience with several major reveals.
The first one was that Aragonder wasn't arrested because of Cass, but because the main branch of the Korvin family supported the rebels in the revolution in Sathen. Ironically it's because he approached the Merchant's Guild was he found and arrested. At least it doesn't look like he will receive major punishment for it. He wasn't the heir of the family at the time so his influence was limited. Besides if any heir should be imprisoned for their actions, it should be Cass.
I was surprised to hear that one of the reasons on why she was there was to find out the location the two known bandit leaders so that she can protect them. Seriously what was up with that? White Ravens were well known group of bandits, especially after they embarrassed the merchants with the Bluebottle heist. Even after hearing it the true reason behind this I am still worried. Then again she also took major risk by taking us into her wing after our crime in Metzaca so I shouldn't complain. The real reason on why she wants to protect them is because she wants to reform them.
You see their real identity are heirs of a fallen noble family from Sathen. After the revolution they were forced into banditry and created the White Ravens. They were infamous around the colony for their raids but they were also famous for refusing to kill anyone. Seeing this Cass thinks she could help them like she helped us. I didn't know just how much we meant for her until she revealed about her attempts to contact her grandfather and failing to even get acknowledgement. Considering Aragonder didn't even know Cass existed when he first visited this archipelago can clearly show how much her grandfather doesn't care about her. This was enough to convince him to reveal their location.
As they ended the conversation on good terms, Cass finally noticed that I was there. I asked her if she was sure about this. She said yes and retorted about how I have been paranoid recently. I told her it was a feeling of someone else listening on our conversation and ended this talk immediately.
The truth is I have been getting strange feelings about this, especially in that palace that is under the construction and will become the government's main office. But that's not the real reason. No, I have been feeling paranoid because of a disturbing pattern that I have finally noticed. When I attacked the White Unicorn, I thought it was because of slavery. When I explored that city, I thought it was because of my interest to explore the past to find clues about me. When I read the report about the current expedition, all I can think is how did they pull such a massive necromantic ritual. Here is a report about the highest casualties so far in the fight against three undead dragons and countless ghosts and all I am focusing on is that ritual.
Apparently they forced every soldier that fell in that battle to rise again and again until it was over. I am scared of the truth that I am really interested in this. In fact when I left the office yesterday I told Cass I was going to research the report. Bear in mind that the army hasn't even returned yet and all I have right now is the battle report. How horrifying is that? The fact I might possibly understand the spell by simply reading the reports and possibly even cast it myself makes me worried. Thankfully that drama happened so I had something to distract me from this. Today, while Cass is going to see the twins to see if she can convince them, I will bury myself into books with history on necromancy to see if I can find something more interesting to sink my teeth into. With the rain outside it is a perfect time to read.