The Ireem Chronicles

***This carefully penned article is left with no name attached, though the script is tidy and done in the hand of someone obviously well educated. The parchment was plain, the ink ordinary, and the scroll case a plain leather sleeve that could have been one of a hundred in the city.***





I am not normally a person to give pity; indeed for I bear enough pity myself I know others must loathe it as much as I. Yet I cannot help but feel pity for Con, the poor creature. There is little doubt he is a menacing fighter, nor can we doubt his quality of critical thinking and the depth of his emotions. Yet how sad it was to watch the undead find himself in the midst of a battle in the port, surrounded by Bedouin, Slavers and Magi. It was hard to tell if anyone was on his side, but the fact he was out matched at least five to one, and all his opponents were bearing the signs of severe hurt, left no doubt in my mind he is a ferocious beast indeed when roused.

Against such odds of course Con fell under Abal’s blade, and yet instead of the mercy of death, Magi Anneliese intervened, and instead took him to that dreaded tower. How many have gone in and never come out again? How many have gone blindly or unwillingly into that monolith of the arcane, to never be themselves again even when they do leave? I felt pity for the brave creature who’d stood alone, and fought alone, and had not begged or pleaded, had not shown fear for what would come, though if I had been in his place I surely would have.

Unsurprisingly, later in the desert, in the dunes below the slave auction, I was not unsurprised to see Anneliese and Tobi facing off… yet I was surprised to see Con standing idly by. During the discourse of the fight between the Magi and the Undead, Anne proclaimed how much she cared for Con, how she understood him, how he would remain as her protector, now a living creature once again. Tobi seemed to try to appeal to Con, reasoning that it was his family in the catacombs who supported him and that he should return to them. Anne’s response of course that it was SHE who stood for Con and saved him from the knights over the incident of a stolen tiara…

Leaves one to beg the question, why would the magi want to help a criminal escape punishment? It’s quite obvious to this observer, so she could poach the poor hapless creature from its brethren and transform him into her own personal protective pet. I speak belittlingly of Con in this context not for lack of respect of his skills, but out of contempt for his fate as a sniveling pet to a manipulative Magi. I have no evidence but Con’s behavior to suggest he is completely enthralled to the Magi now, and while she claims ‘the greater good’ as excuse for her actions, it’s clear ‘the greater good’ is more accurately ‘the greater good of the Magi’.

Fate conspires to keep Magi Anneliese free of consequence it seems however, for even when Tobi defeated her in the dunes, when she was brought to auction, a barmaid out of nowhere paid her release without question. Another hidden ally of the Magi, or a puppet manipulated into giving up good coin so the Magi could yet again escape the natural law and order? Seems the Magi is starting to make a law of her own here in Ireem. Abducting the fiercest of fighters for her personal entourage? Plucking people from the justice of fair law and punishment when it suits her purpose? Sounds like someone’s already making a bid to run the city as she sees fit… Maybe our fair Anneliese had a great deal to gain by the Sultana’s death after all.

If one looks back into history, we find that Anneliese owned the Sultana a death-debt, for sparing her life. If Anneliese was indeed seeking to rise in power over Ireem, that debt would indeed prevent her from rising above the Sultana. How timely for the magi, that our fair sultana is now dead.

These are merely observations colored by personal opinion, in no way should they be taken as undisputed fact, but these heavy questions still remain unanswered.