Role

Chapter 16

It was an idle thought, at first. The candle was interesting, and Tamazin
still wasn't sure if it was going to blow up in his face or something at a
really inopportune time - not that there was exactly an opportune time for
that generally speaking, but nevertheless.

There were few things in this world which inspired men of dubious moral
fortitude to action more swiftly than the promise of untold riches or power.
There were the typical ones, of course. If you've got to bribe a man and
you go in with your fingers covered in golden rings and nonsense, he's
going to have high expectations. Go in dressed normal then pull out the big
offer and its going to hit harder. That was the problem, wasn't it? The
Spire could... well, no. The Spire couldn't really offer riches or power,
that was sort of in the small print. The Empire though? That was kind of
the Empire step one, so it was just expected. Normal.

But Tamazin could really use a bit of distraction, right now. His
demolition work was being hampered by all these interruptions, so a strong
Empire really would be to the good.

So... back to the candle.

What if a suggestion of riches beyond the norm started circulating? What if
in taverns and bars, in palaces and guilds, people started to wonder?

Could the Inferno once more be plundered? Could past glories be brought to
the present, and artefacts lost to legend be in the hands of men and women
once more?

No. Probably not. But once the ball got rolling, would the truth really
matter? The eternal maybe had a way of eating at a person.

A few whispers, at first. Offhand comments. When subtlety was apparently
more lost on the individuals in question than an eyeless dwarf in the sands
of sorrow, a little more overt. Implication, always. Never a lie. Truthes
wrapped up in interpretation and context. After all, if they took to mean
that Joihe's plundering of the Inferno actually meant she'd let Tamazin do
it, that was on them.

Finally, the hook. He only knew what circle the candle was from thanks to
Joihe's comment on passing it over, so he'd asked Conra if he knew from
tales amongst his people how to pass between that circle and the next. He'd
not expected him to actually know, but Conra had.


That was... not ideal. The truth was, Tamazin knew basically nothing about
the Inferno other than "devils, death, nine circles". Fortunately, his
tried and true tactic developed for operating with the Provost had held
him in good stead: nod, make appropriate exclamation, pretend he knew parts
that had already been told to him, thank.

Conra had already made a note that Tamazin would need an army. Just as
planned.
Now it was just time to weight, and let whispers spread. A nudge here and
there, comments to keep it fresh in the mind.

A pretty good start, all things considered. He now actually knew a bit
about the Inferno too, thanks to Conra's eagerness to be helpful.