Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: andsol@arcadien.owlnet.rice.edu (Andrew J. Solberg) Subject: The Watch: [Glorshanned Keep]: Evil Under the Sun IV Message-ID: <1992May30.225752.22357@rice.edu> Keywords: Kron, locket, murder, frame Date: Sat, 30 May 1992 22:57:52 GMT Commander Brynne 'Red' Mac Liam sits behind his desk in the Halls of Valor deep in the heart of Glorshanned Keep. Or rather, he tries to. Brynne is entirely too gigantic a man to fit behind much of anything. If he stood up to his full height, he would overtop the average Draga. However, Brynne rarely stands up anymore. Two decades ago, while commanding the legions of Generica in their stalemate war against the Lizard Men of the marshes, a stray booby-trap caught Brynne in the hip with no cleric nearby to assist. Now the Commander moves slowly and hunched over, with the assistance of a stout cane. Still, he is an imposing picture. Brynne has had an exemplary career in leadership over his sixty years of existence. A veteran of the Velvet Coast Campaigns, the enormous warrior rose quickly through the ranks of the military. His superiors appreciated his fighting ability and command presence, but also recognized in him a keen mind and sense of tactics and coordination. By the age of thirty, he was one of the chief Field Tactical Commanders in the Generica Armed Forces. He served in the army until his little mishap. After realising he was crippled, probably for life, Brynne accepted his discharge and took a post as an officer of the City Watch. He successfully applied many of the techniques and methods used in the Generican Legions, and soon transformed the Watch into a force actually capable of dealing with the plethora of problems besieging the sprawling city. Today, many years later, he is still the driving force behind the most successful police force in the Known Lands. Part of his success came from his ability to recruit other ex-army personnel into his department. One of these, Panarchus, his aide-de- camp, enters his office. He salutes briskly -- a holdover from his military days -- and stands at attention. Brynne dithers with some papers for a few moments and then looks up. "Yes? What is it?" Panarchus gets straight to the point: "Creft. He's dead, sir." Brynne doesn't believe his ears. "WHAT?!!!" he shouts. "How? What happened?" "Murder, sir. Found his body in the Gaps, sir." Brynne gets up and begins to hobble about the room; it's uncomfortable but helps him think. "Okay..... contact our informants inside the Low City. Send out all feelers available. If there's another gang war in the offing, I want to be the first to know. Next, set a close watch on..... do you have something to say, Panarchus? Hmmmm?" Panarchus had been on the verge of saying something; now he clams up. "WELL?!!!" demands the huge commander. Panarchus mutely extends a hand. In the hand is a locket on a broken silver chain. Brynne takes it and holds it up to the light. Etched on the back are tiny letters -- 'T E KRON'. Brynne can't believe his eyes, and stares emptily at the locket. He does not even hear what Panarchus is saying: "Found it in Creft's hand, sir. Must have torn it off in the struggle. Had it verified by a diviner, sir -- it's his all right. No whiff of a frame." Brynne finally turns to listen. "We got two independant witnesses, say they saw Kron questioning him behind an alley this afternoon. We know he doesn't like these people, sir." "OF COURSE HE DOESN'T LIKE THESE PEOPLE!!! WHO *DOES*, YOU MORON!" Frustrated, Brynne sits down. He thinks a moment. Kron, too, was recruited from the ranks of the Legions. In a battle overseen by Brynne, Corporal Kron took over command of his unit when his sergeant went haywire under fire; a few years later, Brynne remembered his name and brought him inside. He has never regretted it, until now. "Gods.....not another. Last month, Quarkin taking payoffs.... but Kron? Murder?" "Sir, sometimes people....just go over, that's all." "Shut up, shut up, let me think........" He heaves an enormous sigh. "Well, you're right." Pause. "Okay, bring him in. No big parades, though, no fanfares. We don't want him to catch wind and blow town. Get out of here." Panarachus turns to leave; Brynne stops him. "And another thing. YOU head up the squad that picks him up. Take a Special Detail Squad. And no mistakes, hear? I will have no bad cops screwing this city around." Panarchus exits, leaving Brynne to ponder the incriminating locket..... ***************************************************************************** In the Dragon's Inn, Kron wearily sits at the bar, waiting for Teondir to be ministered to. Suddenly he gropes at his neck, as if he hast lost something. "WHERE IS IT?! I'VE LOST IT!" he shouts, leaping around the tavern and inspecting under tables. He half-lifts Norm out of his chair, and urgently says, "Have you seen a little locket? About so big?" "Nope. Not me. You, Cliffie?" "Ah, that'd be no, Norm." Irritated, Kron snoops some more, then slumps at the bar. "Guess it went down with the ship. Hell. Now I've got nothing left of hers......" -- Andrew Solberg |"Moving faster than a speeding bullet isn't andsol@owlnet.rice.edu | much use if you and it are headed straight Phone:713-529-8627 | for each other." John Brunner bridge-sleep-eat-sex-bridge-sleep-eat-sex-bridge-sleep-I'M STUCK!!!!