“Building on what Mel said; Halak’s a powerful druid and was willing to work with humankind. What’s more, he’s respected by those under his command, and is charismatic enough of a leader that he’s swayed no small number of orcs to his cause. I want to raise him and his faction up as a power in the barbaric lands, and undermine their orcish enemies. Both to take the orcs as a weapon away from the Council, and because I view uniting the disparate orcish hordes under a man who has fought alongside and voiced respect of humans as an end to itself.”
The bishop nods thoughtfully "Indeed, that makes sense of what has happened on our end. It seems that the elves have re-evaluated their probability of success given their failure at Kazad Gravr. Now if only King Stephen were seeking less expansion... Perhaps we can build a bridge of diplomacy with the orcs... We'll need a way to supply things they need while they still have an outlet for their cultural violence..."
Giant scorpions, which are native to orcish lands, have very valuable venom that can be used in low doses to treat many ailments by the apothecaries of the Bishopric. Unsurprisingly, it is in short supply in the Bishopric, though the scorpions are a common hazard in orcish lands.
Kazador listener in silence, feeling somewhat uneasy. It sounded to him like the Bishop was thinking of using the orcs as a mercenary force. Which, while better than elven trickery, still didn’t sit well with him. Mainly because he wanted nothing to do with them.
But regardless, this was a discussion of geopolitics, which was well and truly outside his area of expertise. In a situation like that, he felt it best to keep his mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
"Bishop, have you every heard of a Duke Alton in Lustia? My father who was from Lustia told me that he used to work for him. He also said that Alton was powerful and would dislike Lustian aggression."
"It would help if the orcs had some kind of useful export. Something they could sell. But there's not a whole lot down there in the Barrens, really -- dinosaurs, dragons, and giant insects. So many giant insects! Like that centipede we fought. I'm kind of surprised we didn't run into giant scorpions, they're all over the place down there."
Fyrtor glances up. "Giant scorpions? You know, their poison can be used as medicine. In low doses, it's good for a variety of ailments. It can ease seizures, and lower the chances of heart attack, and so on. Any malady that involves clenching muscles, really. But it's rather hard to get."
"Ah ha!" Mel says. "Well, there's no shortage of scorpions down there. Fighting them to harvest their venom would provide the orcs an outlet for the violent tendencies, and also give them a valuable commodity they could trade."
Claudius nods to Mel and Fyrtor thoughtfully. "That might work... A benefit for everyone..." The elderly man chuckles gently. "Except perhaps those poor scorpions..."
He then turns to Fyrtor to consider his question. "I do not know who you mean." He shrugs slightly. "My apologies."
When Fyrtor clarifies, the Bishop nods. "Ah yes. Count Aral. He was a very prominent regent for a very long time. He was a strong hand helping build the nation while developing peaceful ties for decades. Put as King Stephen grew a little older, he began favoring younger advisors over Count Aral, who no longer has the same degree of influence he used to."
”What? But that makes no sense. As he grows longer in beard he obviously would grow greater in wisdom. How could anyone take the advice of youth over that of an elder?” Kazador asked, unable to keep his silence.
"Because the youth is eager for change. The elders prefer the status quo, tradition, what has worked for them all their lives. The young ones desire to shape the world, are full of ambition and dreams. Sometimes dangerous ones. King Stephen desires change - in the form of expansion - and as such, favors those advisors who reinforce his own course.", Túrion interjects to answer Kazadors question - on general terms, but one's fitting to that nation's recent political course.
”Ah.” Kazador said, understanding dawning on him. ”I see. Sorry, go on.”
"Could we reach out to this Count Aral? He likely has great insight into the situation and would be an ally in efforts to change Lustia's course."
The Bishop nods slowly. "Indeed. I would appreciate discreet contact with the Count but I cannot send anyone officially in my employ without offending King Stephen. Such an offense could justify an invasion of Helm more easily than the pretext he attempted to create by sponsoring Van Beem's piracy."
“I’ve no official government ties, and a damn good excuse to be plying my trade in any corner of the world,” Muse points out. In truth, he’s planning on shipping out to Iustia regardless - both to honor Kazad Gravr’s last request, because with his insider knowledge he’s worried he might not get another chance to load up on Iustian trade goods in the near future, and because he has a number of Iustian friends he’d like to give some manner of advance warning. Already combing errands, he might as well mix in another one. “And I can be discreet. Of course, not having official ties I don’t draw a regular salary from the bishopric’s coffers, nor do my crew. And while it was unforeseeable, else we’d have never taken the job, we ran into rather a few unanticipated expenses the last time we did a job for you. Namely replacing damn near half the boat after it was hit with some apocalyptic alchemic weapon. So you’ll understand if in return for the convenience of not having to bring in and catch up some other intrepid captain, who at any rate wouldn’t have my own record of success, I inform you that I’ve raised my fees.”
Muse thinks for a moment before going on.
“I’ll need an advance payment of five thousand gold pieces up front, because the boat has got to be outfitted and we turned a pretty puny profit from the capture of van Beem. And a writ from the bishopric saying that they’ll foot the bill for any unexpected expenses, which we’ll put in a box at the counting house. With an eventual payday of twenty thousand gold pieces upon our successful return.”
Mel coughs delicately. "Your Grace, where would we look for Count Aral?"
Claudius smiles gently to Brolin. "I believe my payment for your capture of Gertrude van Beem covers the repairs of your ship. As for any payment for communication with Count Aral, any sort of official writ is explicitly out of the question. I will provide your group with one thousand gold pieces to undertake this mission to communicate with Count Aral but whether or not you outfit an entire merchant vessel for the task is up to you."
He turns to Melira. "You may find Count Aral in his residence in the capital, Bannerhold, but he is also often in his country estate, a day's travel on horse south of the capital."
"With all due respect, one thousand gold pieces seem a low rate. Because I am reasonably certain there is more to it than just making contact with Count Aral. In fact, I know there is magic, which I assume is well within your capability of performing, that would let you contact him without sending an agent to do so. Yet you decide to involve an additional factor into the equation by sending us. I conclude there must be a reason for that - and most reasons I could think of have the potential of complicating things, making the expected payout of your proposal seem...inadequate. We are all highly skilled individuals, in our areas of expertise. You could already have sent someone trustworthy yet much less capable if this was merely about delivering a message. No, you waited for us, because you need us. I understand some of us may be extras you did not expect, but I assure you I am only looking to make this a fair deal and raise our chance of success by making you disclose any additional information that may be relevant."
"So ... in brief, the objective is to reduce Iustian aggression. The exact approaches we might take probably won't become clear until we can learn more about the current state of Iustian politics. Count Aral is still an influential person in his own right, though not in favor with the King at the moment. He can tell us more about the politics, and likely provide contacts and resources in pursuit of our goal."
She pauses thoughtfully. "That is, provided he has a reason to trust us. Or even to meet with us. I can appreciate the reasons for not wanting to provide us any kind of official writ; but we will need some way to gain an introduction to Count Aral."
"As for payment ... I am not in this for money. A war between Iustia and the Concordat would be devastating. I will count my coin in lives saved."
"Or lost, should we fail," she adds bleakly.
"Oh, don't misunderstand - while I do ask for fair compensation, I am not asking for Coin. While such a war would be beneficial for Avinoax in the short term, whoever wins will inevitably cause additional trouble for us in decades or centuries to follow. Maintaining the status quo seems desirable.", Túrion defends his earlier statement, then adds: "What I am asking is means to help us accomplish our goals. We may not be on an official mission, but most certainly, there is support that can be provided prior. Information has value, safety has value, tools have value - I am certain Sir Claudius had more time to think about this quest than we had. I am only asking that he reconsider his offer, which, to be honest, I think was more of a test."
Fyrtor seems reticent but speaks. He gains momentum as he goes. "I'm not sure if Count Aral would recognize my father's name, but he did work for him.
As far as extra help may be concerned, your Honor, if there's more you can tell us please do. Help us help you. We are putting ourselves in very real danger, not for riches, but to prevent a war none of us want to begin. I know you have many demands you need to balance, but if we fail here, the price will be far greater than a few thousand gold."
Claudius' eyes twinkle at Turion's response as he nods gravely to Melira and Fyrtor. "Indeed I wish more than a messenger's errand from you and can provide somewhat more than I have described. If Count Aral is half the man I think he is, he is striving quietly to bring Iustia's head around from its dangerous course. If you can convince him to trust you, then I expect he could find some quiet use for people of your power and discretion." Then he tilts his head slightly. "As for your incentive, I'm afraid I cannot offer much more in the way of funds without raising too many questions. I have very little in the way of discretionary funds that I can distribute without accountability. But perhaps I could do a favor for one or more of you."
That lack of discretionary funds is due to reforms implemented by Claudius II himself when he came to power. Across the board and starting from his own position, he greatly reduced discretionary spending, increasing transparency and accountability in the use of government funds.
"Do you have any sort of notion what sort of things we should be prepared for?" Mel asks.
Claudius nods thoughtfully "Indeed. I expect that you will need to be ready to move quietly, perhaps in disguise, and speak persuasively whether you tell the truth or conceal it. Further, you may need to be ready to pick locks and make or decipher forgeries. It's also possible you will need to be able to incapacitate someone quickly or quietly..."
After thinking for a moment Fyrtor knows what to ask of the Bishop for his favor. "You Honor, it would be a great personal favor to me if someone could be sent to check on my home of Woodsdale. The druids of the Servants Isles said they would go to help, but they wouldn't promise to be there long. If I am to join in this mission, it would give me peace of mind to know that my home is being looked after. I feel in a way that I am abandoning them, though I know that it must be done."
Claudius smiles and nods. "That is an excellent request and one that I will gladly meet. I'm sure that a contingent of guards can be sent to Woodsdale to deter goblin raids."
Kazador smiled at this, glad to see Fyrtor taking initiative to look after his people and Claudius‘ ready agreement. Further proof that he was on the right side of this conflict.
Fyrtor smiles broadly. "Thank you your Honor, that means a great deal to me."
Claudius nods to Fyrtor and turns to the rest of you. "And what of you? May I aid the rest of you in some similarly discreet manner?"
"I'm curious as to the fate of some of our earlier ... acquaintances," Mel says. "Perhaps you can enlighten me."
"What of Eldrin Weh? Will he see justice for his part in the assault on Brookside?"
"How about the man Harold Donaldsson, whom we found in the old Reaper hideout? Did you decide to pardon him? Does he have hope of seeing his wife and daughter again?"
"And what of Van Beem? Did you learn anything useful from her? What will become of her now?"
"Other than that, all I want is to send a message to my parents and mentor -- Túrion saw them in Avinoax, so I know they made it out safely. I want to reassure them that I'm still fine, and maybe send them some coin to help with settling in their new place."
"If you'd let me, I will arrange for the later, Mel...I hail from Avinoax, after all...I daresay it will be an easier task for me to contact the right people to make sure your message arrives safely.", Túrion nods to Mel and the Bishop respectfully.
"As for the way you could aid me...I would have access to any written knowledge kept hidden and safe. Ancient Tomes, forbidden tomes, secret tomes. I assure you that anything I learn will be used only to further goals in our mutual interest. But there are many questions open about what took place and will happen, and understanding the underlaying principles may be key to altering the course of events in our best interest, even if such knowledge turns out to be dangerous."
That, and I will find a way to breach the veil...
I'm looking forward to that...
Kazador shook his head. ”Except for these folks here, everyone I care for is gone. They’ve done right by me so I’ll do right by them. I ask for nothing.”
The bishop nods to Mel "Of course I would be happy to answer your questions. Elrin was sentenced to imprisonment for espionage and conspiracy to murder. Normally, his sentence would be death but since he is a citizen of the Concordat, that expedient was deemed unwise. He has nearly escaped several times but Colonel Smythe has barely managed to contain him. As for Mr. Donaldsson, he is serving probation as an apprentice forester under an old acquaintance of mine just north of the city. I believe he has found the work conducive to his rehabilitation. As for his connection with his wife and daughter, I cannot say whether or not he has sought them out."
He grows quiet for a moment and rubs his forehead as if to relieve some stress. "As for Ms. Van Beem, I'm afraid she confirmed my worries that the Kingdom of Iustia would like nothing more than to swallow up the Bishopric on its way to war with the Concordat. After questioning, she revealed that she was hired in utmost secrecy by one Tyron Alabaster, a young, influential figure in King Stephen's court. Her directive was to increase attacks on Bishopric shipping in cooperation with the Reapers, who supplied her with shipping schedules. When the Iustian navy intervened, she was to decrease her attacks on Bishopric shipping and find other waters, likely of the Concordat, to ply. For her crimes, Gertrude Van Beem was hung. For her cooperation, she was allowed to will some personal holdings to an individual I will not name."
When Turion offers to contact Mel's loved ones for her, the bishop nods respectfully to the elf. "That seems an excellent arrangement. As for your request Mr. Alagostor, I believe I can arrange access to one of the proprietary libraries at the University, if that will serve."
At Kazador's brief speech, the bishop nods slowly, a slight twinkle in his eye.
The Bishop seems to have some favor in mind for Kazador.
Then Claudius turns to Brolin. "Captain Muse, though I am sorry I cannot grant a large monetary request, I would like to grant you some quieter, less traceable favor, if I may."
Fyrtor who already had great respect for the Bishop purely from his national allegiance, grows more and more to like him as a man. It seemed only fair that Kazador receive a favor from the Bishop and Fyrtor suspected he'd get one like it or not
Mel is too busy pondering the Bishop's answers to her questions to pay much notice to the interaction with Kazador.
"Your Grace, I don't like to speak ill of people, but I have grave doubts regarding Colonel Smythe's competence for the job he holds. In my interactions with him, I've found him to be so confident in his judgment and abilities that he does not take the time to consider alternative views, or to examine his own reasoning for flaws. In short, he's arrogant, vainglorious, and sloppy. I worry that the guard may over time come to reflect his habits of thought, which would likely degrade their effectiveness."
"Worse, his deep fascination with elven culture makes him easily manipulated by anyone with a set of pointy ears. In fact, I have on a couple of occasions relied on my, err, elven charms to do just that. In those cases I was steering him gently into doing his own job better -- but I worry that a Concordat agent with less benevolent intentions might do serious damage by suborning him, or simply by tricking him into revealing sensitive information. He is a security risk."
"I suspect there may be ... political considerations connected with his appointment to head the guards. I'm sure that's just one of many thorny issues that bedevil you. But perhaps you might consider finding him some other, less sensitive post. Something where he can do little real damage. If it is presented as a promotion for meritorious service, perhaps you can even do so without bruising his rather fragile ego."
"Or, if not, consider assigning him an able second-in-command who can quietly ensure that the guards stay in a fit state or readiness while blunting Smythe's worse influences. Perhaps not a very appealing task ... " -- she makes a face at the thought of dealing with Smythe day in and day out -- "But certainly an important one."
The bishop chuckles slightly at Mel's advice. "Indeed you have the right of it on all counts. Rubius is not particularly well-suited to his post but I have certain... Constraints... regarding whom I appoint as captain of the watch. As to your suggestion for a competent second-in-command" his eyes twinkle "don't you agree it would be ideal if such a second drew little attention to him or herself?"
Túrion looks at Kelian, wondering if the young man would speak up.
Leaning forward in his chair and steepling his fingers, to the bishop Muse responds, "I'm aware and appreciative of all you've done to increase transparency and root out corruption in Helm. But with due respect, sir, you can't have it both ways. You're asking us to deal with you under the table. You're asking us, under the table, to, in your own words, tell convincing lies, disguise ourselves and sneak about, break and enter, fake documents, and incapacitate someone or someones quickly and quietly, which just so we're all on the same page here, means kill a bad person or an unlucky person because we think more people would die if we didn't."
The captain leans back abruptly, adjusts his hat, crosses his legs and folds his arms, raises his chin, and smiles. "I can do that for you. It sounds to me like you need someone who can do anything, and that means you need me. I've got third circle arcane spells, third circle divine, and a host of other tricks I've picked up. I can turn myself invisible, or inaudible, disguise myself with magic, detect lies or alignments. I speak eleven different languages, I'm versed in the minutia of every banal piece of paperwork on the continent. Sir, I can spot a forgery. I can fight. Hand to hand, I've taken on any number of orcs or pirates alone or in groups. I'm not a superb liar, but I am persuasive. I like to imagine it comes from being right."
Raising his hands, Muse gives a helpless shrug. "But for all my remarkable talents, there's one thing that I lack. My problem is that I am a reckless fool when I think that others are relying on me. See, some time recently I did something that was ultimately pretty stupid, and I sailed towards where I knew some pirates were. Which wasn't my greatest play. I thought I had a good reason for it. It was important, on a national scale, there was no one else as capable, and we were getting paid. If everything went right, we were getting paid rather a lot, mostly just for sailing out to the Serpent Isles and then sailing back home. But things didn't go right, and that's where my mistake was made clear. I hadn't given myself, and my ship, and my crew, nearly enough of a margin of safety. And so a friend of mine died, and the Sonder didn't make a gold piece on van Beem's capture. Every copper went into repairing damages to the ship, and she didn't turn profit enough to outfit for another voyage. I'll have to either pay thousands of gold piece out of pocket, which is hard on a private individual - especially one like myself who's in the habit of risking their skin for the greater good - I'd like to buy some healing potions before the next time I stare down seemingly certain death for my country! or borrow money against the ship, which is intolerably risky, or sell her, which is intolerable."
"I'm not going to make the same mistake again. One thousand gold pieces would get us to Count Aral and back again if everything goes right, but nothing ever does. Suppose he's at his estate, and we have to rent horses, which are subsequently killed, because we are going into potential danger, and we have to pay a hundred gold pieces each. Already our budget's down to four hundred gold . . . I need a larger safety margin. Sir, to be frank, the only reason I am solvent at all after the van Beem misadventure is because some very rich people tried to kill me and I went through their things. I am not willing to push that luck."
Adjusting his hat confidently, the captain concludes his request. "I appreciate the difficulty of paying me under the table for services rendered. I also appreciate the difficulty of telling convincing lies, disguising ourselves and traipsing uninvited about the seat of Iustia, breaking and entering, faking documents, and committing armed assault or murder. You're asking us to break the law for you. I'm asking you to break the law for me. Certainly a salaried agent or official would be adequately compensated for something so difficult and so dangerous, certainly a salaried agent or official of Helm would have a wide enough safety margin that even if he died in the attempt, he'd have something to leave the people relying on him."
"You know, Captain," Mel points out, "Bringing the Sonder along is not actually required. The repairs are paid for, and there are plenty of merchants who don't own ships -- yet need things transported. Just find someone who wants a load of stuff hauled some place, and get them to pay for it at a rate that will let you outfit the ship and turn a decent profit yourself."
"Besides, not to put too fine a point on it, at the rates you're asking it would be substantially cheaper to hire an arcanist to transport us there magically. Faster, too. Even with the best wind you ever saw filling her sails, the Sonder can't outpace getting magically punted through the Astral Plane."
"You say you're a reckless fool when others are relying on you? Well, reckless fools are not what we need on this trip! Leave them behind, Brolin. Let Tiyeri spread her wings, and come help us try and head off this war."
Claudius listens to Brolin's argument with a slight crinkle around his eyes. "Indeed, Captain Muse, I paid you a substantial bounty for the capture of Van Beem and you were also entitled to the salvage of her ship. You need not take your ship to Iustia if it is a difficulty for you to take your ship. Surely the Sonder can find other employment."
He continues "As for breaking the law, I did not ask you to break the laws of Iustia and certainly not those of my Bishopric. There could be a vast multitude of situations in which you provide legal but severe aid to Count Aral against criminal elements, for example. And I, sir, am not about to break my own laws." He strokes his chin thoughtfully. "Now I believe I could find a legitimate job for the Sonder along Helm's coast and I'm sure your crew would be quite qualified to complete the task."
At Turion's prompting, Kelian speaks up "Can you tell me if Brookside is ok? How is my father? That will be enough for me."
Claudius nods with a smile and draws out an ornate mirror from his robes and whispers a few words while holding it. He gazes into the mirror for a few moments then replies "Your father and some dwarven friends of his are currently constructing a new barn. Things seem to be going well in Brookside."
Kelian sighs in relief. "Hirda and Noln, probably."
"Works."
Claudius folds his hands on the table and looks around at all you. "I believe our business has been concluded. I look forward to hearing from you in the future."
Kazador put his fist over his heart, bowed his head, and turned to leave.
Fyrtor bows his head in acknowledgement of the Bishop's words.
"Your grace, although you cannot give us any kind of letter of introduction, is there something we could tell Count Aral to establish our bona fides? He has no reason to trust us."
The bishop nods thoughtfully to Mel, smiling. "That will be difficult. I cannot provide such a letter without great risk and I am not sure what it would mean to Count Aral. It will be difficult but you will need to find a way to convince him of your abilities and intentions..." He strokes his chin. "Showing him your receipt of bounty for the capture of Van Beem may make an impression..."