Sigma Triad (first draft) Entry #6 (8/13/10)

Pyrik, Umbris, and Terios split up after entering the city. Umbris went ahead to The Roaring Griffin – the inn where they customarily stayed – to rent a room for the night and to gather some news, Terios went to the time square to see if the city was hiring mercenaries, while Pyrik went to the market district in order to buy a few supplies. He bought some potatoes from one vendor, and wheat flour from another.  He entered a spice shop he had grown partial to on previous visits and bought some salt and some smoked chili peppers while exchanging small talk with the shopkeeper. After these stops, he bought a small knife to use for cooking, since Terios and Umbris were so strongly opposed to the use of their own blades. With this new stock, he was sure he would be able to find any other foodstuffs that he needed in the wild, so he started heading for The Roaring Griffin himself. He was just leaving the market district when he heard someone call his name. He turned toward the source of the voice and was not too thrilled to see Osmedius Kepka trotting toward him.


Osmedius was a lead member of the Resistance, just the person that the Triad wanted to avoid during their stay in B’Talah. A rather unsavory character, Osmedius was a tall, bald-headed man. His voluminous gray robes swayed as he walked toward Pyrik. He never wore armor or carried weapons, as the telekinetic Power of the Kepka Family could turn any item into either weapon or shield. The Triad knew Osmedius well, as they fought alongside him many times in the last couple of years, and he was usually their contact with the New Resistance. He was skilled in combat, command, and diplomacy. And the Pyrik never liked the man. He always seems so aloof, and he tends to be merciless in battle, never taking effort to avoid civilian casualties, or casualties among his own men, and he often slays enemies who have already surrendered. On top of that, he seems to simply delight in other’s pain, making certain remarks in conversation that he knows just stabs the individual, giving a quick, cruel smile for one brief moment just before he apologizes if his comment was ‘offensive.’

“Hello there, young Pyrik!” he called out. “I thought I might find you here. The guard at the gate told me you three were here, looking for work.”

“Oh, yeah?” he replied, “I’ll have to thank him later.”

“Anyway, shall I walk with you to join up with Terios and Umbris? This proposition should be given to your leader in person, of course. But then, you really should be the leader, Pyrik. You have so much talent, so much skill, and so much potential. Of course, ‘Maxentius Triad’ doesn’t quite sing the way ‘Sigma Triad’ does, now does it?”

Pyrik just nodded. He didn’t want to walk any distance with this man, but he really had no choice in the matter. When Osmedius caught up with Pyrik, the latter noticed that someone had been trailing right behind him the entire time. The realization that this person was with Osmedius surprised Pyrik, as Osmedius usually travels alone. The latter’s companion was young, around Pyrik’s age if not younger. He wore the same style robe as Osmedius, only a deep forest green. His short, black hair was well groomed, and his eyes were almost as black as his hair. “Who’s your friend?” Pyrik asked.

“Oh, this would be my protégé, Thorch’n. You could say that he’s. . . . . part of the proposition. But more about that later, how have you been? I noticed you’ve still had no luck searching for the Chamber. I have even heard of your latest. . . . . meeting with your brother. Or was it an illusion, I cannot seem to remember?”

Pyrik visibly winced. This was one of those ‘sharp’ comments he had been anticipating. He also wondered how Osmedius knew about the incident in the Arbyrin Forest so soon. “Legate Mekus is no longer any brother of mine. My brother Mekus died long ago.”

Osmedius put on a sympathetic smile as he responded, “Yes of course, my apologies, I have no idea what I was thinking! Anyway, I think we should pick up our pace, I don’t know about you but I’m a mite famished. I will buy you all dinner at The Roaring Griffin. That is where you’re staying, is it not?”

Pyrik merely grunted and kept on walking. He did not want to resume conversation until they met up with Terios and Umbris.