Page 85 of Steel & Thunder
“And two kilometers is...” Am I going to have to relearn math while I’m here too?
“One and a quarter miles.” He rolls his eyes. “The river is the main way shipments and deliveries are brought in and out of Tah’lj.”
“Isn’t that dangerous with the whole secret city thing?” What’s to stop anyone from just floating down and waltzing in?
“We have a number of guard posts set up along the river.” He points a finger both down and upstream. “Should someone manage to slip past them, there are a series of silent alarm spells set along the path. If one of them is tripped, or if a guard alerts us and we activate them, illusion spells designed to disguise the riverbanks are triggered.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.” Hiding a city in the forest seems exhausting.
“It is a very rare occurrence.” Moving down the river bank, he points at a set of docks and small buildings coming up on our side of the river. “That is the shipyard.”
It is indeed a shipyard, though much smaller than one you’d see on the coast. A series of docks extend into the river, a few with small boats tied to them. Small unassuming buildings stand in front, and I can see where the city wall and forest begin again just beyond them. Khazak leads the way inside the closest building.
“Drepa lat.” The person behind the counter greets us as we enter, doing a double take when he sees Khazak’s uniform.
“Good morning,” Khazak responds in Common for my benefit. “Captain Ironstorm with the rangers. We are here about the missing militia shipment.”
“Oh yes! Let me just—”
“Captain Ironstorm.” The voice catches all three of us by surprise, and we turn to see an older, very well-dressed orc emerging from a back room.
“Councilman Murbank.” Khazak gives a little bow, and I wonder if I should copy him.
“I just learned what happened this morning.” The man’s voice is filled with concern. “The men and women who serve on the militia are nothing short of heroes, and the idea that someone would steal from them is unconscionable. I insisted on coming down personally to assist in any way I could.”
“Thank you very much, sir. I agree about the militia.” Khazak nods his head. “We were just about to begin the investigation, but I will personally make sure you are updated as we learn more.”
“Excellent.” He clasps Khazak on the shoulder, smiling. “Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.” He then turns to his employee before he returns to his backroom. “Help them with whatever they need.”
“Yes, sir.” The employee nods.
“Who was that?” Besides a politician?
“One of the members of the tribal council.” I gathered that from the title. “He owns this shipyard.”
“Wow. So he’s rich?” Owning the city’s shipyard must be very lucrative.
“Do you remember the story I told you about the orcs who invented our plumbing system?” I nod. “One of them was his father.”
“Oh, so he’s rich-rich.” Should have figured when I realized he was a politician.
“Quite.” He turns back to the man who has been waiting patiently behind the counter. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, sir.” He repeats. “I was just gathering the records on that delivery for you.” He hands over a stack of papers. “The shipment from the city of Kiz’Urngor arrived yesterday evening. If you will follow me, I can take you to the storage unit it was held in.”
Ironstorm starts to flip through the pages while the man walks us out of the building and across the street. He opens the gate to a series of small warehouses all lined up in rows, which feels a little familiar and not in a great way. We wind through them until we come to a stop in front of a specific unit as the orc leading us pulls out a key.
“Two members of the militia came this morning to pick up and transport the delivery to their headquarters, but when they were brought to retrieve the items...” The worker opens the large doors on the unit, revealing an empty interior. “Nothing was here.”
“I can see that.” Khazak steps inside and looks around. “What about the wards usually placed on the storage units?”
“All dispelled,” the man says with a sigh. “Not a single alarm spell was triggered, and there is no sign of anyone having been in or out overnight.”
“An officer will be down later to run a magical analysis and verify that.” Khazak runs his fingers along the unit’s inner wall. “This sheet says Thog Grimrock accepted the delivery. Is he here?”
“No sir, he is not working today.” The employee shakes his head.
“Do you know him well?” I can see Sir switching into interrogation mode.
