"Cruelty, Compassion, and Naivete"

Ablan City, Day 151

	Torrent mentally retraced his steps, so that he'd know how to get back 
to Vent.  The rest of his team would be in Vent on day 153, and since he had 
decided not to go to Ralla after seeing a vision of a riot, he had some extra time before 
he was scheduled to meet up with them.  
	Because of this, Torrent had decided to explore.  There was no real 
reason to spend all that time in Vent since there was no evidence that the 
resistance had any presence there at all.  He decided to find a nearby town and 
investigate it for any signs of the resistance.  
	He had been traveling Northwest for most of the day, and had finally 
come upon a small town.  The town was obviously old and run down.  The whole 
town seemed to be surrounded by dense forest with no roads going in, and all the 
buildings looked as if they were going to collapse at any moment.  He couldn't 
see much from where he was.  It just looked like a couple of farmhouses among 
the trees.  He started walking the perimeter of the town, but it was hard to 
tell where the forest ended and where the town began.
	After walking for a while, he finally saw this town's statue, and if it 
wasn't for the emotional control all Spyre agents are taught to have, he would 
have been outraged by what he saw.  The statue was overgrown with ivy and other 
plants, and one of the arms was missing.  Then again he almost lost his emotional 
control when he saw several people walking by the statue, and not bothering to 
pay homage to Hyru.
	Torrent couldn't believe any town could show this level of disrespect 
for Monic's rightful ruler.  The Spyre agent had always considered failing to 
show respect to the greatest man in Monic the worst crime a person could commit.
	He grabbed his dagger and emerged from the bushes.  He took a few steps 
forward and said, "I am Torrent of Spyre.  I demand that all of you immediately 
clean the foilage from the statue of our great leader and that from this time on 
you do not fail to pay homage to our leader whenever you pass his statue.  
Anyone who fails to do so will be punished."
	Everyone stopped and looked at Torrent, then a group of men started to 
walk toward him.  Their clothing was as ragged as everyone else's, but they were 
all wearing red belts.  Most of the other townspeople backed away.  The man in 
the front of the group spoke, "What did you say?  Are you trying to order us 
around?"
	Torrent stared coldly at the man, "As a member of Spyre I have a right 
to do so under Hyru's law."
	The man kind of laughed.  He turned to one of the other men in his 
group, "Did you hear what he said?  Under Hyru's law."
	The other man laughed too, "I heard it, Gan."
	Gan turned back toward Torrent, "Hyru's law doesn't mean much around 
here, so I guess you'd better get ready to 'punish' me."
	Torrent didn't say anything, then lunged forward with his knife.  When 
he did, another man who had gotten behind Torrent without him noticing kicked 
him in the back.  Torrent stumbled forward and Gan punched him in the face.  The 
men all started kicking Torrent.  The last thing the Spyre agent saw before 
blacking out was Gan's boot hitting his face.

         ***********************************************************

Ablan City, Day 152

	Torrent woke up in a bed inside a small cottage.  He immediately tried 
to sit up, but his whole body was in pain.  He laid back and just tried to look 
around.  The cottage was as old and run down as every other building in this 
town.  He managed to see a woman sitting at a table on the other side of the 
room and said, "Where am I?"
	The woman looked up and saw that he was awake.  She walked over to his 
bed, "You're in Ablan City.  My name's Brinna Lodd.  You were beaten up by the 
Boulders."
	"Boulders?"
	Brinna said, "They call themselves that.  They say it's because they're 
as strong as boulders."
	Torrent looked at her, "Who's the Spyre agent in charge of this town?"
	Brinna shook her head, "You're the first Spyre agent who's been to this 
town in years.  Why are you here, anyway?  I thought Spyre didn't even care 
about this town anymore."
	Torrent glared at the woman for asking him that, "It's not your place to 
question the movements of a Spyre agent."
	Brinna turned around, "Fine.  I thought you'd be grateful that someone 
helped you out.  I could have just left you lying out there."
	"You did just as a good citizen should have.  I have to report back to 
Spyre about the Boulders."
	Brinna spun back around, "So that a team of Spyre agents can be sent in 
here?  There's no need for that at all.  Spyre gave up on this town years ago.  
We may have problems with gangs like the Boulders, but we're still a lot better 
off without Spyre tax collectors and enforcement agents all over the place."
	Torrent frowned.  Why would Spyre decide not to uphold Hyru's law in any 
town?  None of this made sense to him.  He said, "Either way, I have to leave 
here as soon as possible."
	Brinna just laughed, "You got beat up pretty bad.  Even a Spyre agent 
takes time to recover from the kinds of wounds you've got.  Now I can throw you 
out into the street and let the Boulders have their way with you, or I can let 
you stay here.  But I'm only willing to let you stay under one condition, once 
you leave we don't see any more Spyre agents.  Agreed?"
	Torrent lied, "Agreed."
	Brinna walked toward the stove saying, "I've got some soup cooking if 
you want some."
	Torrent nodded, "Yes, I would."  He looked around the cottage.  He was 
certain that once he got out and Spyre heard of this, this cottage would soon be 
reduced to rubble by the Rampage Corps.