Post by The Smith on Apr 16, 2008 1:28:19 GMT -5
SECRET SCENARIO
Marei Swiftwaters had not believed the note at first. It had been delivered to her by clandestine means, and detailed a time and place for a meeting, which was not remarkable. What was remarkable was that it was written in a cipher only one other person knew, and he was dead.
Horas Blackwood took his own life in the fire that had consumed the Regent's Tower of the Red Keep. Marei knew because she had pleaded for him not to. Everyone had abandoned Horas -- first the Stormlands, then the Mander and the West and his whore of a wife. Her spies had even heard word that Blackwood's own kin would soon surrender. But Marei had not. She did not have the funding to manage Horas' network by herself, so she had sold her skills to Piers Bettley. But the entire time, she alone had stayed faithful. And she alone would avenge him.
So when she saw Horas' cipher, she suspected a trap. But it did not matter. Any chance that her Lord was still alive was a chance she would have to take.
///////////////////////
Marei could not be sure whether Bettley had men watching her, so she had been particularly careful on her way to the arranged location. She slipped away at dusk and lost herself in the crowds of the city, weaving this way and that seemingly at random. Eventually she slipped into one of the city's darker back alleys. She pressed herself against an alcove and waited for ten minutes, then twenty. When she was satisfied that no one else was around, she slipped into the dark, ramshackle building that was the designated meeting place.
Horas Blackwood was already there. He looked different. His disguise was good, but there was no doubt. She had spent far too much time with Horas to be fooled by his new beard and dark hair. Marei felt a sudden rush of emotion. "My lord..."
"Sit, Marei," As always, her lord was all business. "There is much we need to discuss." And they did.
///////////////////////////
Marei left later that evening, her heart fluttering with what she had learned. Horas Blackwood lives. She would wait, hidden in the viper's nest, stealing pieces of information for her true master where she could. And when the proper time came, she would strike, and disembowel the beast from the inside.
Results:
Marei Swiftwaters gains Expert Espionage
Marei Swiftwaters gains Expert Stealth
Horas Blackwood gains Novice Disguise
Marei Swiftwaters had not believed the note at first. It had been delivered to her by clandestine means, and detailed a time and place for a meeting, which was not remarkable. What was remarkable was that it was written in a cipher only one other person knew, and he was dead.
Horas Blackwood took his own life in the fire that had consumed the Regent's Tower of the Red Keep. Marei knew because she had pleaded for him not to. Everyone had abandoned Horas -- first the Stormlands, then the Mander and the West and his whore of a wife. Her spies had even heard word that Blackwood's own kin would soon surrender. But Marei had not. She did not have the funding to manage Horas' network by herself, so she had sold her skills to Piers Bettley. But the entire time, she alone had stayed faithful. And she alone would avenge him.
So when she saw Horas' cipher, she suspected a trap. But it did not matter. Any chance that her Lord was still alive was a chance she would have to take.
///////////////////////
Marei could not be sure whether Bettley had men watching her, so she had been particularly careful on her way to the arranged location. She slipped away at dusk and lost herself in the crowds of the city, weaving this way and that seemingly at random. Eventually she slipped into one of the city's darker back alleys. She pressed herself against an alcove and waited for ten minutes, then twenty. When she was satisfied that no one else was around, she slipped into the dark, ramshackle building that was the designated meeting place.
Horas Blackwood was already there. He looked different. His disguise was good, but there was no doubt. She had spent far too much time with Horas to be fooled by his new beard and dark hair. Marei felt a sudden rush of emotion. "My lord..."
"Sit, Marei," As always, her lord was all business. "There is much we need to discuss." And they did.
///////////////////////////
Marei left later that evening, her heart fluttering with what she had learned. Horas Blackwood lives. She would wait, hidden in the viper's nest, stealing pieces of information for her true master where she could. And when the proper time came, she would strike, and disembowel the beast from the inside.
Results:
Marei Swiftwaters gains Expert Espionage
Marei Swiftwaters gains Expert Stealth
Horas Blackwood gains Novice Disguise