4: Guards and doors

I woke up this morning from a fitful sleep. Throughout the night I was caught up in thoughts of the door. Yesterday I was certain that Varvur Sarethi would be found behind the right hand door of Venim manor's entry hall. I am still certain, but there was no way to be certain enough. I couldn't just walk into the private home of the Archmaster of the house and start blasting his guards.

I spent the morning at the guild hall, catching up on reports. Plans came and went. None seemed workable. I went to Sarethi manor for lunch, burdened with doubts.

"If you are right the council will be torn apart," Sarethi said.

"I'm as certain as I can be without getting through that door. The Archmaster must have some way to explain himself though. There would be no way to explain to you, obviously, but he would have to have something he could tell the other council members. Some accusation he could make. He would have to be able to say your son was arrested, not abducted."

"And you would be taking a great risk. Helping a prisoner escape is much different than rescuing a councilman's son."

"Yes," I agreed. "A great risk with a great reward, possibly." His eyes narrowed. I realized too late that that sounded very...mercenary. "What I meant Lord Sarethi, is that house Redoran would be much more comfortable for a Breton like myself if someone other than Bolvyn Venim were the Archmaster of the house. If he has abducted your son, and if that can be proven to the rest of the council, it would be a boon to me."

"Someone other than Bolvyn Venim. Delicately put Arvil Bren. I must admit that the fall of Bolvyn Venim is attractive to consider. But mostly I want my son back. Get him out of there."

My concerns mounted as I returned to the guild hall. Am I being set up? Sarethi's pawn for bringing down Venim? I decided that my plan would include some assistance from Sarethi. If he is going to benefit he would have to take some of the risk. If he refused, that would tell me something. He didn't.

Sarethi had no trouble coming up with a reason to visit the Archmaster. He stumbled at the door quite naturally. A humbling experience no doubt. I slipped through the open door while he gathered his balance. One of the great difficulties of invisibility is that people get very interested in doors that open by themselves.

By the time the spell wore off I was well hidden in the planter. That gave me nothing more than a good view of the door on the right side of the entry hall. The door to the left leads to the guard quarters. That was pretty obvious when the guards changed shifts. The short hallway opposite the entrance leads to the inner quarters of the Venim family. Unfortunately the guards flanking that hallway had no lapse in their attention. Even when the room was briefly left completely empty they stood stiffly at attention; no conversation, no sitting on the uncomfortable benches...no opportunity to open the right hand door unobserved.

Disguises. I teleported out of the planter. I chose a moment when the entry hall was filled with chattering servants. The slight popping sound should have gone undetected. I considered using an intervention spell that would have dropped me at the temple in Ald-ruhn, but gave myself an excuse to come home instead. I am still haunted by the short time I will be able to spend with Ahnassi, and the long life that stretches beyond that for me.

It was a good excuse. I appeared at my target mark in the hallway of the house. The hallway is my storage area. I turned slowly in a circle, assessing all the armor I have collected. The standard issue bonemold of a Redoran guard; I could piece that together. The closed face helmet would hide me well enough. Unfortunately Venim's personal guards seemed to be uniformly arrayed in heavy armor of Dwemer metal. I could be anonymous in the guard's mail, but wouldn't blend in.

Dwemer metal plate. I have a full set of that as well. No help there either really. Going to an armorer and asking for a set of 'Dwemer plate armor' is a misunderstanding. My Dwemer metal plate is serviceable, but not an effective disguise. Every set is different. The Dwemer seldom made armor. The Dwemer were sorcerers, not warriors. Armorers, particularly good armorers, cobble together sets of armor from scrap pieces that are gathered from fallen centurions. I've done it myself, though my skills don't measure up to Wyan in Balmora. Venim's guards can probably recognize each other just as well from their distinctive armor as from each others faces.

I have to get through that door. I can't just walk in there and start killing guards. Magic. Magic is the answer.