Sunset City’s jail was filled beyond capacity with members of the Red Hand, forcing Julius and Archibald the Archivist to place their captives in the jail’s breakroom and two broom closets. Normally losing their breakroom would be the cause of great angry among hardworking guardsmen, but Julius had found a way around the problem.

“How much does that rental house for the guards cost you?” Brody asked Julius.

“Five guilders a week rent and another three guilders for snacks. I also borrowed two dart boards and reading material that isn’t fifteen years out of date.”

Ibwibble held up a magazine older than he was and asked, “Does that mean starlet Jenny Starbrew and drummer Thorn Lax aren’t a couple anymore?”

“That marriage ended with lawsuits, arson and treason,” Julius told him.

“Don’t all relationships end that way?” Habbly asked.

Julius shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Wait, where’s the other goblin, Yips?”

“He asked to be locked up with Anton to keep him company,” Brody answered.

Archibald cleared his throat. “If we may begin?”

The two men and three goblins were not the only ones in the sparsely decorated breakroom. There were four tables, twelve chairs, stacks of reading material no one had bothered reading in decades and one member of the Truth Seekers. The young man didn’t match that impressive title, being eighteen years old, tall and thin with messy black hair and bad acne. He was seated at one of the tables next to a large stack of Truth Seeker papers, his black uniform replaced with a prison uniform dyed bright pink.

“Can we do something about my clothes?” their prisoner asked.

Julius sat down across the table from the youth. “That’s what prisoners wear in Oceanview Kingdom. Your associates chose not to cooperate. You did, which gives you a reduced sentence, but you have to earn it. Name.”

“Yours or mine?”

“Kid, you don’t have the arms for breaking rocks,” Habbly said. “Keep playing dumb and that’s what you’ll be doing for the next twenty years.”

The youth gulped. “Sorry. Thought a little humor might lighten the mood. Craig Defoe.”

“You’re not a former Archivist,” Archibald said.
“How did you become associated with these renegades?”

“I used to be a scribe,” Craig said. “I met Anton when he was still with the Archivists. I’d get hired to do small copying projects for them and we got to talking.”

“Traitor!” Anton screamed from a broom closet.

“It’s over, Anton,” Craig replied. “We almost died! It’s time to either go down with the ship
or make the best deal we can.”

“You have been wronged!” Yips called out from the same broom closet. “I swear a blood oath to avenge you! I don’t have any blood handy, but I’ve got a handkerchief with mucus on it. That’ll do.”

“Don’t wipe that on me!” Anton yelled. “Oh come on, it’s all over my leg!”

“Can’t we move him somewhere else?” Brody asked.

“Oceanview’s king wants Anton and his friends in jail,” Julius replied. “We might be able to move them later, especially ones who cooperate, but for now it’s here or nowhere.
Craig, why did you join Anton?”

Craig cast his eyes down. “After work Anton and I would talk for hours. It started friendly, but the more time went by the angrier he got. He said the Archivists were hoarding information. They research ancient places for hidden secrets and treasures. Anton said when they found them, most of the time they hid them in guarded vaults. Everything they learned might as well have stayed buried because no one ever benefits from it.”

“A partial truth,” Archibald replied.

“That’s rich coming from a group called the Truth Seekers,” Habbly said.

“I told him it wasn’t just Archivists doing it,” Craig continued. “Anytime important people couldn’t finish copying paperwork in time they’d hired independent scribes like me to do it. You wouldn’t believe the things I saw! Merchants, noblemen, trade guilds, they all had secrets they kept buried, sometimes real embarrassing stuff. I told Anton I had to wonder if that’s what they’d pay me to copy, what did they have in-house scribes recording?”

Craig looked between Julius and Archibald. “Anton asked me to show him these papers. I did and he got furious. He said everyone was keeping secrets, stuff people would protest and even riot over if they knew the truth. He ran off, and the next night he showed up with a bunch of his friends from work. They wanted to find the secret papers I’d mentioned. I knew where to find personal records of the ironworkers’ guild because I’d done work for them. I thought it would be impossible to get in, but Anton knew some magic that helped. We found loads of paperwork filled with ugly stuff.”

“Define ugly,” Julius said.

“Their guild master paid bribes to politicians. He fired dwarf guild members because he hated dwarfs. He was cheating on his wife. The guild was turning out substandard work for export. It goes on.”

“Why didn’t you tell the authorities?” Julius asked.

“You mean why didn’t we show them stolen papers?” Craig asked. “Didn’t see that ending well.”

“There are still trustworthy people you could have gone to,” Julius said.

“If one guild master had done so many terrible things, we figured all our leaders were doing it, too. I mean, the Archivists have a great reputation, but nobody ever gets to see the stuff they dig up. The more we looked the more lies and crimes we found, written down where nobody but the guilty could see them.”

“So Anton decided to share this with the world,” Julius said.

Craig nodded. “We copied incriminating information onto sheets and pasted them on walls across the city. We thought there’d be a riot when the citizens found out, but most of the papers were torn down by guardsmen and the rest were ignored. I told Anton most people can’t read and we’d have to tell them in person, but he said that we’d get arrested. He said we’d just have to make more copies and spread them out many kingdoms.”

Brody rubbed his forehead. “Hold on, all the stuff you wrote about came from somebody else’s writing?”

“All of it,” Craig said. “We tried finding informants, but the people we approached either wouldn’t talk to us or wanted money.
The one time we bought information it turned out the guy was telling us what he thought we wanted to hear. In the end Anton said we had to get everything from written sources and verify it. Two sources minimum and someone had to go in person to make sure the information was true.”

“Some of this isn’t true,” Archibald said. He went through the pile of Truth Seeker papers until he selected one and set it down in front of Craig. “This headline claims the dwarf corporation Geo Speculations hired human criminals to guard their properties. Geo Speculations doesn’t trust other races and only hires dwarf guards.”

Habbly called to the broom closet, “Nothing to say about that one, Anton?”

“It was verified!”

“I’ll verify it again!” Yips shouted.

“Who verified it?” Julius asked.

Craig shrugged. “I don’t know. Anton divided our group into cells. Each cell is responsible for a single kingdom or city where they discover secrets. Cells only meet in emergencies and send runners to communicate in person. Every cell has a wizard who knows magic to mask our locations. Runners bring information to Anton, and he approves it and sends it back to be copied and spread. Cells have their own hideouts, suppliers and storehouses that only they know about.”

Julius glanced at Archibald. “That’s remarkably complex. Is that part of your training for junior Archivists?”

“Certainly not.”

“That’s Gron’s work,” Craig said.

“Who’s Gron?” Brody asked.

“You already met him. The older guy in our group? He’s the one who got away. Doesn’t surprise me. Gron’s a tough old bird. He told us how to divide into cells, how to get around defenses in manor houses and guild halls, even where to get supplies we need so nobody would suspect us.”

“And he was an Archivist?” Brody asked.

Ibwibble looked at Archibald and said, “Hey, you guys aren’t so bad! Can you help me hunt tax collectors?”

Exasperated, Archibald said, “This Gron person was never with us.”

“He found us,” Criag said casually. “We found recruits wherever we could, usually guys who were disgusted with their employers. Whole lotta them. Gron used to be with the Coral Ring merchants. He spotted our papers and asked around about joining us. The man was a godsend. He even got us money.”

“From where?” Julius asked.

“He stole it from the Coral Ring. It was never enough to do everything we wanted to do, but it got us through some hard times. When we ran out, he helped us get more from the Coral Ring by stealing pay chests.”

“Liberating pay chests!” Anton yelled.

“It’s too late for that kind of talk!” Craig yelled back.

“I swear to liberate your socks!” Yips added.

“Stop eating those!” Anton screamed.
“Somebody get him out of here!”

“Hold everything!” Habbly yelled. “A merchant knew how to set up a secret organization? How?”

“He said he spent time in the army before joining the Coral Ring,” Craig explained.

“That’s not standard training for a soldier, either,” Julius said. “Not unless you were an intelligence agent.” He saw the puzzled expressions on every face except Archibald’s and said, “A spy.”

“You said you guys talked by runners,” Ibwibble said. “Did Gron manage that?”

“Yeah,” Craig admitted. “Look, guys, you don’t get it. Gron saved our lives more times than I can count. He’s golden. The guy swore an oath to us like I’d never heard. You don’t break oaths like that.”

“What was this oath,” Archibald asked.

Craig looked serious when he said, ““I solemnly swear that I shall serve you loyally with all my strength until I die, and may I be torn limb from limb if I tell a lie.”

“At least it rhymes,” Ibwibble said.

“I never heard an oath like that,” Brody admitted.

Julius’ expression hardened. “I have. It’s common in the Land of the Nine Dukes. Most of the dukes rob merchants rather than buy from them, so Gron didn’t learn that oath by doing business there. It must be where he was born.”

“Does that matter?” Brody asked.

“Yes!” Ibwibble seized the stack of Truth Seeker papers and started arranging them in piles. “Nolod, Cronsword, Forthosia, Oceanview, Long Land and Ket! Those are all close enough you could walk there without wearing out your shoes. The Land of the Nine Dukes is smack dab between Forrthosia, Oceanview and Long Land, and not one paper blabbed their secrets.”

Craig rolled his eyes. “The Guild of Heroes’ top man is taking advice from goblins. Wow. We didn’t learn secrets from the Land of the Nine Dukes because we never set up a cell there. It was too dangerous after the ruckus from the Fallen King ravaging the land.”

“Exactly who decided it was too dangerous?” Habbly asked.

“Gron did,” Anton said from inside the broom closet. His earlier defiance was gone, replaced by a thoughtful tone. Craig looked surprised.
Julius got up and walked over to the closet’s door. “You personally approved the secrets you revealed, but Gron dealt with your runners. Could he have approving things you chose not to reveal without you knowing?”

“Open the door,” Anton said softly. Julius opened it and let Anton out. The young man was dressed in the same prison clothes as Craig, but he also wore iron gloves locked over his hands to keep him from casting spells. Anton walked over to the table and looked at the stacks of papers. Yips followed him, still chewing on the young wizard’s socks. Anton went through the papers briefly before pointing at one. “This is a lie. So is the next one. That one wasn’t verified.”

Page by page Anton went through the papers, identifying lie after lie. When he was done there were dozens of stories either false or questionable. He slumped down into a chair, his face pale and a haunted look in his eyes.
“The earliest posts were all accurate. Later ones had flaws. The most recent papers are half lies and guesswork. Ones I personally wrote and posted are true. Gron wouldn’t dare alter them when I’d see them.”

“Did you two ever argue about which secrets to reveal?” Julius asked Anton.

“He said we had to be bolder, to take more risks. He said if we kept information to ourselves then we were no different than the Archivists, burying the truth where no one could see it.”

“None of these papers talk about Gron’s homeland,” Julius said. “This looks like an intelligence operation to create confusion and conflict in neighboring countries.”

“But why?” Brody asked. “If this gets out everybody in a thousand miles is going to hate the Land of the Nine Dukes. They barely survived getting attacked by the Fallen King and his army of thugs. If actual kingdoms come after them when they’re still weak, they’re toast.”

“That’s why they did it,” Archibald said. “The Land of the Nine Dukes needs years if not decades to fully recover. They are incredibly vulnerable to attack by neighboring kingdoms, but if those kingdoms are wracked by internal struggle, they can’t take advantage of this weakness. As for hating the Land of the Nine Dukes, every nearby city state and nation already does. There was every reason to make this cowardly attack from the shadows and no downside. Making matters worse, if that is possible, their last post makes the invasion of Oceanview a very real possibility.”

Archibald selected a single paper and held it up to Craig and Anton. “The Dawn Lantern is in Sunset City. Dare I ask if this is one of your ‘verified’ truths?”

“I learned you were sending Archivists to find it,” Anton said weakly. “I didn’t say anything about it because the Archivists have been looking for it for years. I never thought it was in Sunset City.”

Brody raised his hand. “Somebody want to fill the rest of us in on this?”

“The Dawn Lantern is one of the fifty most powerful magic items on Other Place,” Archibald said. “It has passed from one owner to another for three hundred years, never staying in one place or with one person for long. Of all the so called ‘big fifty’, it is one of three currently unclaimed. The Truth Seekers say it is in this city. Anyone who wants it will come to seize it.”

“This is a big city with lots of people,” Brody said. “Who’d even think to attack?”

“The sort of people powerful enough to attack an entire city and win,” Julius said. “We already met Magnus Quake of the Inspired. The Inspired want to take control of the world. Having the Dawn Lanter would make that possible.”

“It’s that powerful?” Brody asked.

“We don’t know how strong it is,” Archibald admitted. “Records concerning the Dawn Lantern are few and contradictory. Magic that could discover those secrets has always failed. What little we do know is cryptic and hard to interpret, including the claim the lantern can allow vampires to walk in the light of day.”

“So vampires might attack,” Habbly said. “Because we really needed that.”

“Vampires powerful enough to think they can attack a city,” Julius added. “Neighboring kingdoms might attack, as could pirates, thieves, mercenaries, secret societies and more. We’re in incredible danger until we either find it or prove it’s not here.”

Ibwibble shrugged. “I don’t see why everyone’s so upset. He’s a good guy who keeps to himself.”

“Who?” Brody asked.

“The lantern. I met him. He’s cool.”

“You know where it is?” Archibald demanded.

“Him and me went separate ways months ago.”

“You had one of the most powerful magic items on the planet and lost it?” Anton screamed.

“Yeah, so what?” Ibwibble asked.

Anton covered his face with his hands. “Unbelievable.”

The meeting was interrupted when a door opened and Officer Dalton and Kadid Lan staggered into the breakroom. The guardsman and apprentice wizard were dirty and exhausted as they approached Julius.

“Nothing to report, sir,” Officer Dalton said. “The king has every guardsman and anyone else he trusts scouring the city. We haven’t found the Dawn Lantern or clues where it is.”

“Which sadly proves nothing,” Archibald replied. “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The Dawn Lantern might be here so well concealed we haven’t found it, or simply be in a place we haven’t looked yet.”

“The longer we go without finding it, the better the chance it was never here,” Kadid said.

“If the authorities did find it, they might lie about it,” Julius countered. “The people who want it have to assume it’s either currently here or was here recently enough that this is where they should start searching.”

Anton’s eyes were fixed on the papers covering the table. “He lied to me. He used me.”

“Used us,” Craig corrected him.

“There were real verified crimes I was going to expose, and he replaced them with lies,” Anton continued. “He corrupted everything I tried to accomplish.”

“News flash, chuckles, your plan as intended nearly got people killed,” Ibwibble said. “You told everybody these secrets, including really bad people. Some stuff gets buried for a reason. You ruined more lives than alcohol before you became this jerk’s personal sock puppet.”

“Now what?” Brody asked.

Julius headed for the door. “We keep looking for the Dawn Lantern. If we find it, we use it to keep enemies at bay. We send messages to other victims of the Truth Seekers so they know what’s going on. We try to break up the remaining cells so they can’t spread any more lies. Stopping Gron is a high priority, because he’s actively trying to cause an invasion. And we call for help from anyone who will come.”

Julius glanced at Archibald. “The Archivists aren’t focused on combat magic, but you have to have people who can fight, if only to protect your vaults of information and artifacts.”

“We are being pressed hard on every side by those who seek to plunder those vaults,” Archibald replied. “Those who can help are needed where they are. What of the Guild of Heroes?”

“Every guildmember who can still stand is on assignment.” Julius clenched his fists and said, “An attack on Sunset City could come in weeks or even days. Is there anyone else we can trust who could come in time?”

“Could we print our own papers saying the Trith Seekers are tools and the Dawn Lantern isn’t here?” Brody asked.

“An exemplary plan, save for the fact our enemies will assume it’s an attempt to divert them from their prize,” Archibald replied. “Gron will also keep telling lies, and the ambitious will believe the version that fits decisions they’ve already made.”

There was the sound of voices outside the breakroom. Officer Dalton went to the door, only for it to open so suddenly it hit him on the forehead. He staggered back, and a mob of goblins poured in, led by a gray skinned goblin with white hair and outrageously long eyebrows.

“Little Old Dude,” Julius said. Ibwibble stood at attention and the other goblins sucked in their guts. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I wasn’t planning on coming,” Little Old Dude replied. He waved for his goblins to drop a hogtied man dressed in black at Julius’ feet. “I heard you were collecting these losers. We caught one after he nearly got me and two of my students killed.”

Little Old Dude climbed on top of his whimpering prisoner. “I’m too old to put up with this nonsense. What do we have to do to make it stop?”