The Price of M.E.A.T

[Sparrow]

Tannas walked into the Consortium hall and threw his day pack onto a large chest next to his favored chair. The fire in the hearth left the air warm around him. The smell of burnt wood was a comfortable scent against the frigid cold outside. A large messenger bird sat perched on a stand enjoying the heat of the room. A scroll case the width of a hand was fashioned to a harness across it’s breast, a message still intact.

Tannas shook off the cloak he wore, a mix of wet and cold fell to the floor. He released the scroll case from the bird and added seed to a tray attached to the stand. Passively he ran a hand through his short hair as to collect his thoughts before sitting. He than sat and shifted himself into a position of comfort as he opened the scroll case, and read.

Dear Tannas,

I write to you to tell you honestly who I am. I have kept secrets for far too long; and I feel like it is time that I admit, to someone at least, my full story. So let me put ink to paper and tell you who I am. I am a fool. That is a truth I have learned which has become increasingly clear as time has gone on. I fear I have put you and all of the Consortium and our allies in grave danger that even I barely understand, but I will do my best to explain to you the story and circumstance that led to me becoming an international incident.. So much has happened in the last few years that it’s hard to even know where to start. I suppose the beginning is as good a place as ever. My name is Marcus Everan Ariquis Tamaril, Son of John Tamaril and Lorelei Tamaril. I never knew my mother. I was told by my father that she died during childbirth, but I question whether I should have ever trusted anything that came out of that man’s mouth. For the last twelve years I have worked to pay a debt that my father owed to house Jernigan. I have been harassed, beaten, and bribed into submission by them to keep me in line.

My father was a wealthy merchant who made bad business deals and turned to gambling. This led to him owing a large amount of gold and a debt that he had no intention of paying himself. Therefore, when I was a child, I was forced into working odd jobs until I eventually settled into being a sell sword. I have been stabbed more times than I can count while doing this job, and honestly at this point I don’t know if I could live with any other line of work. I have grown to crave danger; the excitement of being in battle. It has sometimes led to me making poor decisions in the heat of the moment. I realize that others value their safety more than I value my own. It is something I am trying to get better at. Even now that I am no longer paying my father’s debt, I still find myself in this very dangerous line of work. Perhaps because it pays well and I finally can keep the coin I make for myself.

I have scrounged for every copper I could get my hands on for as long as I have remembered. This has led to many remarks about me being “Greedy,” I understand where this sentiment comes from. I have not done much to dissuade this viewpoint of me, and to a point, I would say it is true. However, I gave away most of my money to either pay a debt or to compensate those I felt needed it. I have never intended to keep more than my fair share. But it is a jarring change to go from living off of scraps to having several gold in my coin purse, so I ask for patience if my mindset is more materialistic than moral at times. I do not believe I am a bad man. But I can be a shortsighted one. So it is a good thing that I have friends that are willing to point out whenever I overstep.

It is an odd thing to admit I have friends and allies. I never expected to join up with an organization even if it were a band such as the Consortium. And, even still, I am surprised that you have kept me after all this time. I am self aware enough to admit I have caused more than one problem for, not only the Consortium, but for our ragtag group as a whole. I will be honest, when I first joined, I didn’t particularly care for what the Consortium stood for, just that I got paid at the end of the day. But I grew fond of the strange people that make up our organization. Camaraderie is something that I have not experienced much in my life, but it is something I do not believe I could do without now. You all saved me from the Jernigans and that is a debt I don’t believe I will ever be able to pay off. So I thank you for constantly helping me get out of the trouble that I make for myself. I also greatly appreciate the time you’ve taken to train me in my martial skill. It has helped keep me alive.

I suppose I should go into details about how I got captured in the first place. Alyssaria and I had concocted a plan to spy on my father to potentially try and rescue him and release me from my debt. We met in the city of Touralles, the place where I was born and raised, and went to go look at my father’s estate. This quickly went poorly as a Jernigan guard recognized me and in no time, we were surrounded. I tried to fight my way out but one of the guards wounded Alyssaria and threatened to kill her if I did not surrender. I could not let my friend die for me so I had no choice but to turn myself in. At the time, I had no idea what happened to her, I had no way of knowing if she escaped or the Jernigans had let her go. All I had was the guilt that I may have gotten my friend killed because I got her involved with my debt.

That guilt is why I turned down your help when you came to break me out of my cell. I could not let you or the Consortium get killed for me. But clearly what I desired at the time had little to do with what the group decided to do. Alyssaria was able to recruit you all to rescue me from the guards. But I must admit those corpses will come to bite us. The Jernigans knew where I was, Tannas. They will come looking for me. This situation is not over. I fear we may have started something that we will have no way of stopping. They will come looking to investigate what happened and I hope you were able to hide things well enough to keep them off my tracks for a while. But that brings me to another point.

I need more information. About myself, about the Jernigans. Simon asked why four armed guards would parade me through Royce territory like a trophy and I have no idea what would drive them to do that. There’s something here that I’m not understanding. Some piece of the puzzle that needs to be found. The Jernigans have kept tabs on me for twelve years. Would they really do something like that for a gambling debt that wasn’t even mine? I have no idea. But I need to find out. And I intend to. I know you don’t want the details and I won’t provide them but if a few members of the consortium are gone for a few days don’t inquire where they have gone. I trust you and I hope this has helped you instill some trust in me. I have made many mistakes in my life but I am trying my best to do right by you and all my friends. When I have answers I will let you know but before then I must ask your trust that I will find answers without causing a civil war. I would advise you to burn this letter after you receive it. It would be bad if the wrong eyes saw these words. I shall stay in touch.

Your friend,
Meat

Tannas paused to consider what may lay ahead, his stare seemed to focus through the wall, a million miles away. Preparation is everything when you know something big may happen. Then he read the letter again to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He exhaled deeply as to release some kind of finality in decision, then stood and walked over to the fire. Tannas crumpled the letter and tossed it into the coal filled center. When it caught on fire, the swift, bright light danced in his eyes before dying back down to a medium glow.

Tannas milled back to his chair, sat and kicked off his boots. He may not make it back to the cabin this evening. Precautions must be taken and he was already tired. One thing at a time.

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