Dragon magazine 327/The Silverfish

The Silverfish is a short story written by Richard Lee Byers and published in Dragon magazine 320. It narrates a short mystery starring Pavel Shemov while still an initiate at the Temple of the Dawn in Heliogabalus.

Summary
Pavel Shemov, an initiate of Lathander, attempts to prove the innocence of Kosef Demsk in the death of jeweler Mivar Greyman; unfortunately, the magistrate Glar Chelenov has multiple witness, and the murder weapon, a sword known to belong to Kosef, with which he never parted, but which he left behind after the murder. Pavel, prodded on by Tana Farag, a friend of his friend, Kosef, interviews his other associates, with great reluctance. The associates, Quendar Horn and Dor Stavask, bear symbols of Abbathor, and Bane and Gargauth respectively; Kosef is a smuggler and gangster.

He suggests that Kosef's sword may have been swapped with a magical construct casst by either of them; all he succeeds in is enraging one of them until he has to leave. Impersonating an ordained priest, he interviews Kosef in his cell; the man, while impressed by his mettle, asks him not to get himself hurt. He also explains that the sword was with him, but disappeared the very moment the guard broke into his room; Pavel realizes that means someone in the guard gave the signal for the spell to end.

He and Tana tail Iref Marsk, a city guard who participated in the seizing of Kosef; he appears to be spending lavishly, and Pavel reasons that means he must've been paid to speak the word that unmade the construct, to better frame Kosef. Before he can be made to confess, they are attacked by a barghest; though they survive, the guard is killed. Rather than count their leads out, Pavel counts the barghest as a sign that Dor Stavask is the one who swapped the weapon for a duplicate, given the affinities betrayed by his religious symbols; sneaking into his dwelling, they find proof, but as he appears and a fight breaks out, they accidentally set the place on fire while fighting him, destroying all the evidence.

While convalescing, Pavel is visited anew by Glar Chelenov, who offers him exile if he agrees to stop making trouble. Rather than accept, Pavel reasons the only possible explanation for himself not being yet on death row is that Glar Chelenov is involved in the conspiracy too and needs him to go quiet as soon as possible, and offers his silence in exchange for Kosef being released. While Glar is reluctant, Pavel warns him that the superior priests at the Temple of the Dawn have lie-detecting spells, and the trial of one of their own initiates would most definitely warrant their attention.

Noticing Pavel is serious, Glar flinches.

Index

 * Characters


 * Creatures


 * Locations


 * Worship


 * Spells


 * Other