Contested Allegiances - Character Creation, Part 4
Alright, looks like a clear winner for Plan Traditional Spy.
Faith: Taal
Shinies Gained:
-{X} Perpetual Apprentice
Shinies Spent:
-{X} Tall
-{X} Polyglot
-{X} Eidetic Memory
-{X} Connections: Military
-{X} Connections: Nobility
And your first assignment is:
{X} Dame Mathile Weber - In addition to her certification as a Magister of the Grey Order, Mathilde Weber was granted knighthood by the former Elector Count of Stirland, for her services as his spymaster. She has a reputation for being unusually... emphatic, in her actions, for a Grey Wizard - rather than discreet spying, she's more well known for razing Castle Drakenhof to the ground, or for having helped the reclaimed Karak-Eight-Peaks repel a massive Waaagh. Through her knighthood, she's come into possession of a fairly large portion of ownership over a large trading group, the Eastern Imperial Company, and has requested aid from the Grey College to help turn it into an intelligence gathering operation. Of course, you'll also be in a prime position to make certain she's not bending the Vow of Poverty too far...
You hum in appreciation as you learn the news - your transfer has been approved, and you'll officially become a subordinate of Dame Weber before the week is through. You've done your fair share of research on your new employer, of course - having read every single one of her publications that's accessible to your clearance level. Her Magisterial thesis is a framework for implanting spells into living beings, with triggers for later activation - relatively useful, but also very dry. More interesting is her biography of Asarnil the Dragonlord, which is fully unclassified and available for public purchase. She apparently met the mercenary while on campaign in Sylvania, and he allowed her to write his memoirs. She's also published a score of other works, but many of them have been classified - some to the point that even the titles are redacted.
But while you've gotten a feel for her interests (many, varied, and eclectic) and her approach (utterly lacking the concept of 'restraint'), just reading her work is no substitute for gathering proper gossip. Going around the College, you learn that she's one of the favorites for the student betting pool on the next promotion to Lord Magister - something that may bode poorly for her actual chances, since apparently the pool hasn't ever correctly chosen the candidate, all the way back to the founding of the College. Perhaps it's not surprising - while she's done a great many impressive things, the fact that those things are known about demonstrates a lack of subtlety.
Still, given just how impressive those things are, it would be unwise to underestimate her, and so you're relatively nervous as to how she's going to approach this situation, as you lay your eyes on the reclaimed jewel of the Dwarves for the first time. Karak Eight Peaks is bustling - there's a significant human population, largely based off the mercenary forces that were initially hired by King Belegar to help reclaim his ancestral hold, and you notice that the EIC has established a significant presence here, as you climb the steps of Karag Nar - well aware that at the peak of this mountain is the Loremaster's lair - her living quarters, her laboratories, her personal library... and her tower, a superweapon capable of turning hundreds of thousands of orcs into ash in a split second.
You have some time to do some final preparations, while you're getting settled in at Karak-Eight-Peaks. Choose one:
{ } Politics: You have a rough idea of what the political situation is here, but the daemon is always in the details - what's the exact role that the Viceroy of the human settlement plays among the dwarven council? How do the human roadwardens, the Undumgi, fit into the larger Dwarven military schema? What does the council think of having a human Loremaster appointed to it? Spend some time tracking down all these points of minutia, and asking around for all of the little details that aren't written on paper but crop up in practice, and you'll have a much better idea of how to approach this thorny issue. This will make you seem more professional.
{ } Introductions: Mathilde Weber and you are not the only representatives of the Colleges here - she's done extensive collaborations with members of the other colleges. Maximilian de Gaynesford and Johann of the Gold Order are under her direct employ as Loremaster, and have cooperated with her the most when it comes to publishing - however, more interesting to you are the wizards that aren't her direct subordinates. Adela Burgstaller, of the Bright Order; Hubert Denzel, of the Celestial Order; Gretel Maurer, of the Amethest Order; Panoramia of the Jade Order - these are the key pieces that you have to work with, and they also have personal experience with Magister Weber. This will make you seem more friendly.
Having just settled into the wizard guest rooms in Karak Nar, which you note have had proper magical insulation placed within, you're ambushed in the morning by Magister Weber knocking at your door, asking you to gather what materials you need for a multi-month assignment. After waiting for a few minutes for you to finish your ablutions, you make your way up to her penthouse - and note the recessed security features as you go, out of sight enough to not spoil the aesthetic of a perfectly pleasant foyer, but more than enough to make subtle infiltration of her living space little more than elaborate suicide. She detours for a moment once you enter, leaving you to stare at the metal pillar passing through her room, softly un-glowing un-light as it feeds into the tower above.
Shortly, she returns, passing you a key that has a minor enchantment on it. "If you ever need to use my library, that'll get you into the section with the more classified texts." You quietly pocket it, while making a note to check what books she's gathering when you have the time. The silence stretches for a moment, but soon a buzzing noise cuts through it, growing louder and louder, until finally a gyrotransport lifts into view, carefully hovering in place above the balcony that you can now see was designed exactly for this situation. Magister Weber deftly hops aboard, with a smoothness that implies both experience doing this before and an utter lack of fear of falling off the mountain and dying. You climb aboard more slowly.
The noise of the gyrocopter makes normal conversation difficult, as does the stomach-turning view of the countryside whizzing by at great speed, but your employer is undeterred, merely raising her voice. "I've heard from Roswita - the Lahmian holdouts in Sylvania are being financed by selling peat!" You nod, once, and the sensation is unpleasant enough that you resolve not to do it again. "You've got full access to the EIC ledgers - figure out who's buying it, and the Witch Hunters can bring the hammer down on them!" She pauses for a moment. "We'll drop you off in Nuln, you'll be able to make more subtle approaches afterwards!"
Normally, you'd ask to be dropped off in the countryside outside direct view, to make tracking your movements more difficult - but for some reason, you're not in the best shape, so the best you can do is thank Magister Weber for letting you out of this infernal machine.
Once you've recovered from your bout of air-sickness, how will you approach this task? Choose one:
{ } Coordination - Your employer mentioned that you'll be cooperating with Roswita Van Hal (the Elector Countess of Stirland), and the Order of Witch Hunters. You're not in Stirland, but you can link up with the nearest representatives of the Sigmarite Order and coordinate your efforts that way, as well as stop by a few of the more respectable noble families and see if they have information to share.
{ } Auditing - You've been given full clearance by Magister Weber to go through the EIC's records. While this won't immediately give you what you're looking for, you can use this information to map out what regions have historically bought the most peat - and which ones are buying suspiciously little from the EIC, as if they found a better price elsewhere. This will also allow you to start looking for... other inconsistencies, in the EIC's accounting.
{ } Hunting - You're a skilled tracker, and have Taal's blessing besides. Examining the paper trail is all well and good, but there's little substitute for good old fashioned fieldwork. You don't have any direct leads yet, but that's fine. A little ingratiation, a little intimidation, and it's astonishing what you can find. Besides, when it comes to the predations of vampires, it's very often the common folk and the night guard who know the most, not the burghers or nobles.
Oh, and one last thing:
{ } What's your name? [Write-in]
{ } What do you look like? [Write-in description or link image]
