The Best Laid Plans Of Mice and Griffons
You are the Lord Ravenburg spymaster of the Kingdom of Griffonia. You have been charged by your liege to prepare for the war that seems destined to come. You are saddened by this as you know the King is as well. While the new King Is no master of intrigue he is intelligent and has funded the expansion of Griffonia's espionage services. With these new assets and a decree from the King it is up to you to acquire the battle plans of King Cyril Brochard of Aquileia.
You have known this war was coming. During the establishment of the new spy schools you kept your eye on several of the most promising students. These were the natural smooth talker, the ones that slipped into the background without notice, the forgettable. You needed the best ready for what was obviously going to be your first and most dangerous assignment. Despite this you were worried it would not be enough.
So you took personal control of training these assets. They did not receive the general training of the rest of the students. No these ones would be sent into Aquileia itself so that is what you focused on. They were taught everything there was to know about Aquileia culture and society. The students were drilled in the language and accents by the diplomatic core relentlessly to help hide their Griffonia origins. The military drilled into the minds of the spies every little detail about Aquileia's own military doctrine and structure. The merchant guilds was brought in to aid in the creation of numerous covers needed to get around the enemy kingdom unmolested.
By the time the training was over this class was nearly indistinguishable from native born Griffons of Aquileia. When the time came to deploy them each was given several missions. Many of the missions were duplicates because even with all the training and preparation not all would survive. There needed to be enough sent that some would live to return with the bounty. The spies were informed that this was vital to the security and prosperous future of Griffonia. While this was true and they understood they did not realize just what it would fully entail. Each operative was give a fast acting poison that was to be taken in the chance that capture was inevitable.
The operatives took the poison and their assignments and left the capital in every direction. They would travel through distance areas and enter Aquileia from every side. They would scout out every camp of mercenaries, every large supply point, the mustering points for the army and navy, and the movement of the King. If Griffonia was to weather the storm to come it would need every advantage it could acquire, and like they say "Knowledge is Power, Guard it Well".
You are the Lord Ravenburg spymaster of the Kingdom of Griffonia. You have trained the greatest crop of spies and operatives of a generation. You have created the foundation for a powerful espionage order for your King and Country. And, you have sent most of them all to die. You hope it is worth it for this will weigh heavily on your soul for evermore.
@Questor Here is my omake for the spies. Please add any bonus to the Espionage actions against Aquileia.
