Shadow at the temple – Chapter 8

The cushy stay at that extravagant inn had to come to a close eventually. Eyren had assented to settle for the night on a second bed inside the quarters Malkiz had rented for herself in her claimed role, but once it was up, Eyren headed out to make strides in the operation she’s signed with the spy, which would imply keeping her eyes open. Razz had appeared to be fairly unbothered where she had to loiter amid Eyren’s slumber in the inn, having not been touched by any of the guards who had been stationed outside. Sadly, when she presented her questions to them, they were neither willing nor able to alert her where Eyren’s guard insider might be.

With the raptor at her back, Eyren does in the long term track down Minhai standing by one of the pikes which runs near the market district, and as she approaches on this cloudy day, the North River sentry is on duty. She stands clad in her sky-blue robes, wide-brimmed straw hat and light shoes, the first of these obscuring the leather armor which looms below. When she sideways elevates the hat, an amused sparkle is noted in her eyes.
“You’re still here, jáwimder?”, she half-jokes in Junvishti.

Snorting faintly, Eyren gestures with her hand.
“There is still some decent business to be had in this little hovel town, so why not?”

Not that Eyren has any distaste for Dezasha, but light jibes should be met equally. Minhai shrugs.
“Heh, yeah, ‘specially if ya barely got to do anything for it, right?”

“Hey…I fulfilled my obligation to you. Don’t pretend I did not.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

“Anyway, could we talk somewhere? I have a thing which…might intrigue you.”

Bending an eyebrow at that, Minhai expels a puff of air and then gestures for Eyren to tail after her. Bringing her aside to an alley in between the stone and wooden houses in this district, they’re momentarily out of view, with nothing but the breeze as their companion.
“Alright, what’s up?”

“Well, to be on the level with you, I…have not been able to stop considering the job you sent me on with the Herdbrand. If possible, I would like to clear it up.”

“Huh. You care that heavily, do ya? Got any tracks we can dive into, then?”

“Not right this second, but I have been doing some digging.”

“Really? About what?”

“The warehouse you targeted, and its owner. I have…come upon certain rumors in this endeavor”, Eyren goes, pulling a white lie.

“What rumors?”

“They pertain to Herbrand, and how one of those monsters may have come out of an area near or even within the local Temple of the Shades you have here in Dezasha. Not everyone supports this, but especially dock workers have made this claim. If possible, I would like to inspect that place a bit, but you know how it is goes. It’s unlikely they’d just let me stroll around there looking for trouble…”

In a swift U-turn of her former skepticism, Minhai now peers edgewise in a reflective capacity and crosses her arms below her robes.
“Hmm. That’s…quite a coincidence.”

“What is?”

“Erm, one of the preachers who’re in charge of it, we’ve had him under our watch for a slight period.”

“Oh? For what reason?”

“Well, the guy’s name is Ozdemir. Got his roots from someplace in Tsabchuur, our reports tell us. He hasn’t been among us for more than a year, apparently, but he’s really been stirring up a plague of fuss and serious grief.”

“What manner of issues would that be?”

“Mm, you might’ve seen or, at any rate, heard of his speeches, I reckon?”

“Hmm. I noticed a man not far from the market district when I arrived at the harbor. He was raving on about your company, I believe…”

Minhai rolls her eyes and pitches her head side to side.
“Yeah, that’s him, the obnoxious lil’ bastard…
Anyway, he organizes that stock of activity kinda regularly. And let’s not forget that they commonly garner a pretty major crowd.”

“That does come off as…troublesome. For your company, if nothing else.”

“You said it. Telling you something for free, though: our business wouldn’t have given a single lil’ damn about him if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s calling out North River.”

Eyren can’t fully mask the regalement she feels here, even if she does attempt to subdue a smirk.
“You wouldn’t?”

“‘course not! He can lecture or ramble on ’bout whatever godly things he wills. We don’t bother in any way whatsoever with this! So long as it doesn’t hurt our bottom line, none of it is a huge deal to us. But that meager po gasi…“, she hisses, utilizing a fairly strong Junvishti insult. “He’s accusing us of ‘going against the will of the Shades’ and other stupid shemfwa”, the last word being a form of slang for ‘nonsense’, Eyren believes.

“I see. This does strike me as…suspicious enough.”

“Yeah, and given that a pile of people are actually listening to the guy, the higher-ups are absolutely getting worried, including the Director.”

“Sadek? He’s concerned?”

“Damn right he is. The well-being and prosperity of the company matters above all else, y’know.”

“Can you not simply toss this Ozdemir out of Dezasha, then?”

Minhai shakes her head bitterly.
“It’s not that easy. We could arrest him if it gets urgent to a point, but not for nothing. The challenge we’re dealing with here is that the Temple is an extremely powerful and influential entity, and in the event we oppose this guy, it’s liable to not merely anger our own people, since we’ve got tons of faithful just like any city, but also our neighbors.”

“Because he’s a Tenkeeper? Or I guess even higher…”

“No no, he’s not the Shadeswarder, but he is someone with quite a bit of weight in the Temple, who must’ve been sent from Tsabchuur or whatever. He’s a helluva firebrand, nonetheless, and that’s the worst part. Plus, us attacking the Temple in general, especially someone as loud as this po gasi will not be taken well by other temples and leaders in towns. It’s not impossible they view this as an opening to attack or even take over. We’ve got enough brawls to deal with in the shadows, to be honest…”

Eyren fingers her own chin in consideration.
“Do you believe it’s viable that he…was sent here purposefully?”

Minhai bobs her head assuredly.
“It is and this is our subject of investigation. The bosses are anxious that members of the Temple may be firing people up for some reason, and what that could signify. If we’ve even remotely made enemies in another site that the Temple is dominant in, deliberately if its conduit is Vaarnetii or our major provincial rivals, that’d be frighteningly bad for business. You likely can tell already, but North River is a private business, not a collective of nobles. We don’t act on arrests and similar things should it impact our earnings.”

“…right.”

“Another dilemma we’re having to field regarding Ozdemir is that, when we dug into his affairs, we got many cues that the local temple building isn’t his actual base of operations. It’s believable he wouldn’t like to get on the Shadewarder’s nerves or whatever, so he’s been directing his projects elsewhere, we figure.”

“And what would those be?”

“Special rituals, dispatching propaganda, and reasonably, selling illegal substances. We just haven’t been able to track down from where.”

“Okay. I have to confess that I have no appetite for getting bogged down in the latter part, with the stuff skirting rivalry between you cityfolks and your armies…and yet, I can’t dispute that I would be inclined to know more of these apparently roaming Herdbrand inside Dezasha and help out in how to counteract them.”

Minhai snorts at this statement and layers a hand over one hip.
“Help us out, is it? So, you’re not simply clueing me in on that you’re seeking another job, then?”

Eyren seesaws for a moment at that, fidgeting with her sleeves and clearing her throat.
“Well…if you would not mind…”

The shorter woman shoots an exhale.
“You bounty hunter and being after cash…it’s just so damn on brand.”

“How else are we supposed to make a living? We don’t receive a steady income like you guards.”

“You would if you took employment in a damn city, jungei.”

“I guess…”

Minhai elects to bob her shoulders once more.
“To be fair, I’d be fine with hiring you yet again for this, but you have to be in on that I can’t offer you more than the regular fee. And since you’ll be snooping around, I can’t pay the whole sum ASAP.”

“Yes, that is fine with me. On account of that I will be working here for numerous days, and assuming you can hand me a permit to access various regions of the city, I would be more than glad to act on this and go where you people can’t.”

“Alright then. It’s a deal. Let’s hope you deliver this time around.”