IN THE OFFICE OF BISHOP KLIAMBALA

COLRED

You wish to see me, Bishop Kliambala?

KLIAMBALA

Yes, Colred. Are you involved in the teleportation research project?

COLRED

No. That would be Januae.

KLIAMBALA

(impatiently)

I am aware Januae is the one working on the project. I was wondering if you were at all involved with it.

COLRED

I am not, Your Excellency.

KLIAMBALA

I’m looking for a report on any progress being made on its research. I have called for Januae several times in the past few weeks but he has yet to grant me an audience.

COLRED

Word has it that he has not been seen in that long.

KLIAMBALA

Any idea as to where he might be?

COLRED

None, Your Excellency.

KLIAMBALA

Well, I need to have answers for Archbishop Nadret Lann. He is eager to see teleportation technology be produced on a large scale. Last I spoke with Januae he said he was nearing a breakthrough and was confident he would have a working prototype to demonstrate. The Archbishop needs to be able to demonstrate this to the Council of Spheres as they are threatening to stop funding the research for this technology.

COLRED

And that sort of technology would allow us to reach the Spiritlands.

KLIAMBALA

Precisely. Of great interest to Pope Durranet VI for his plans of a crusade, as you well know. Consequently, I need to hear from Januae, but the man is nowhere to be seen. I need you to find out where he is.

COLRED

Of course, Your Excellency.

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

COLRED

Bishop Kliambala… I have some information regarding Januae.

KLIAMBALA

I take it you have not found him.

COLRED

No, but I spoke to someone I believe to be the last person to see him. A wright named De-auana had constructed an item for him. She says he had reverse engineered a short distance teleportation cypher and had commissioned her to build one with a longer range. She delivered it to him over a month ago. No one else I have spoken to has seen him since.

KLIAMBALA

So he may very well have a working prototype.

(thinks for a few moments)

Colred, what do you know of Januae?

COLRED

Your Excellency?

KLIAMBALA

How well do you know the man?

COLRED

I hardly know him. The times I have interacted with him I found him rather standoffish. In fact, when I was gathering information on his whereabouts I found that hardly anyone knows him all that well. He’s from the City of Bridges. Keeps to himself mostly, an avid swimmer, single, no children. But get this: He has been known to cross the Market Bridge to visit a couple of Selace Merchants who deal in numenera items.

KLIAMBALA

Selace Merchants? Are you telling me Januae was providing sex in exchange for cyphers and such?

COLRED

Yes. Januae is a daupsam, one who enters into a standing arrangement with an individual to trade sex for numenera devices. He was actually in an arrangement with two Selace Merchants, a man named Aruss and a woman named Wella. Apparently they specialize in devices with teleportation properties.

KLIAMBALA

His resourcefulness is to be admired, I suppose. Perhaps even his level of ambition.

COLRED

Indeed.

KLIAMBALA

Did the two merchants offer any information as to where he might have gone?

COLRED

They offered no more information than what I just gave you. Their relationship was nothing more than a business affair. They hardly knew the man beyond their exchanges.

KLIAMBALA

(after a moment)

Here’s what concerns me: This device that was built for him by the wright may have worked all too well. Januae may have decided that the device would be more useful to him personally than to the Order.

COLRED

I entertained that thought myself, Your Excellency.

KLIAMBALA

That would be rather foolish. That device is property of the Order of Truth, no matter the means he employed to acquire the material needed to construct it. He may be so arrogant as to believe the device will keep him beyond the length of our reach, but he is mistaken.

(beat)

I want you to reach out to the Knights of Durranet, find out if any of their members stationed throughout the kingdoms have heard about anyone matching Januae’s description. Encourage them to employ the Chimes of Truth to expedite any information of his whereabouts back to us. This device could enable him to easily elude us, so time is of the essence once he is located. If the opportunity arises he is to be detained before he can slip away.

COLRED

Yes, Your Excellency.

KLIAMBALA

That will be all. Keep me updated the moment you receive any information

COLRED

Of course.

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER

COLRED

Archbishop Kliambala.

KLIAMBALA

Colred, please tell me you have information on Januae. It’s been over a month since we last spoke.

COLRED

I do, Your Excellency. Januae was last seen in the kingdom of Ancuan. A bounty hunter had encountered him while pursuing a target in the town of Rarrow.

KLIAMBALA

Was this bounty hunter able to apprehend him?

COLRED

Unfortunately not. She was notified of the bounty on Januae after submitting payment for the target she had… acquired. By the time she had returned to Rarrow to pursue him he had since joined an expedition exploring ruins on Scorpion’s Reach. She tracked their path for several days but the trail went cold. The party never returned to Rarrow.

KLIAMBALA

Did she say if Januae suspected he was being hunted?

COLRED

She wasn’t sure. She said at one point he had witnessed her “at work”, as she put it, but she was not aware of the bounty on him at the time. She suspected he might have been an Aeon Priest, perhaps on sabbatical or estranged from the Order, but she felt no need to confirm that at the time. Without a bounty she had no incentive to pursue the matter.

KLIAMBALA

Yes, well, I’m sure the presence of a bounty hunter would have scared him off. He undoubtedly teleported out of there at the first opportunity. At this rate he’ll be difficult to track but not impossible. There has got to be a reason for why he chooses the places he teleports to. If we can figure out what that pattern is, we might be able to anticipate where he is inclined to go in the future.

COLRED

Yes, possibly, Your Excellency, but this is the only report we have for a known location. It makes it difficult to establish a pattern with only one-

KLIAMBALA

Then we will have to uncover all the places he has been. Find out how long he was in Rarrow. Gather as much information as you can regarding how teleportation devices can be controlled, what their ranges are. We figure out their limits, we figure out his range of movement. With that information we can establish a pattern to predict his future movements. He cannot be allowed to steal the Order’s technology for his own selfish means. This technology is the key to reaching the Gaians, to enable the Amber Pope to put his initiative into action. Put all your other duties on hold and make this your primary function. Is that understood?

COLRED

Yes, Bishop Kliambala.

KLIAMBALA

Good. I expect a report each fortnight. If you are not up to this task, perhaps there is a station more suited for you somewhere in the Beyond.

COLRED

Understood. That won’t be necessary, Your Excellency.

KLIAMBALA

Very well. That is all.