(1876-03-26) Ill Met By Moonlight: Prequel
Ill Met By Moonlight: Prequel
Summary: Anrique and Thomas meet to discuss the approaching campaign.
Date: 2020-03-28
Related: Services Required, Ill Met By Moonlight: Part One, Ill Met By Moonlight: Part Two
NPCs: NPCs (If there are any NPCs that don't have icons (they are not special/reoccurring enough to warrant such attention), list them here. Otherwise, you can say 'None'.)
Players:
Anrique  Thomas  

Griffon Point
You know. It always looks the same.
1876-03-26

It is Thursday, 26 Mars 1876 outside of Griffon Point. Hundreds of soldiers gather in the main fort outside the city walls, filling up barracks for some kind of campaign, and though there is general knowledge that it has something to do with the bandits to the north, few know any details. This is deliberate. A small reception centre has been set in a building outside the fort itself, where the Knight Marshal of Galenthia's standard has been prominently put. He has called for the Lord of the Aviary to attend to him at speed.

-

Anrique makes a brief (mostly futile) effort to remove some of the dust of travel from his things as he waits for the news of his arrival to be relayed up the line and someone to come lead him to where he's supposed to be. His eyes sweeping the area with apparant indifference. His entrance is just polite enough and he even gives a brief bow before asking "What is so urgent it needed such haste Knight Marshal?"

-

Anrique is shown into the reception building, a stout two story construction that may actually be an inn, given its layout, furnishings and the spread on the long tables. The sign that would normally be out front, though, is missing. Fires roar in the fireplaces, making it almost uncomfortably warm inside. Indeed, the Knight Marshal Thomas Chandus is stripped down to a grey silk doublet and trousers, with naught but his roundel dagger on his belt. He acknowledges Anrique's bow with a nod of his head, and then smiles. "My lord, though I have not met you, I have heard of you. A man of your talents is urgently needed at this time for a particular enterprise."

-

Anrique responds to the compliment with a smile "I must be doing something right if word has spread all the way down to Repton March." He takes a few more steps into the room, asking a curious. "Do you need someone protecting or finding?"

-

Thomas arches an eyebrow curiously. "I hope you do not think that I am so parochial as to know only my own fief, my lord." He is, none the less, quite amused by this. Ever the curteous host, Thomas pours wine for Anrique in a silver chalice, before half filling his own. He then waters the rest, which is still a very common practice in the lands that maintain some of their Vir Sidus cultural traits. "Quite almost along those lines. There is a town upriver that unfortunately believes itself to not require proper behaviour. By that, I mean that it has been taken by an unsavoury crowd, with the collusion of the local elite, and now requires an object lesson. I have planned a bit of an enterprise in terms of looking into it in more depth. I would like for agents to be placed within the town to assist and report on information. This town is a mercantile hub, and people come and go regularly, but it is obviously a sensitive assignment."

He fixed Anrique with his watery blue eyes, looking as if he might say something but remaining silent for a moment or two. "Can this be done?"

-

"Of course not Knight Marshal." Anrique replies with a similarly easy tone. "I have no doubt that you have an excellent grasp on who is who but expecting you to know the second son of each Arkanin Greater Lord is a little much. Wouldn't you agree?"

He murmurs a thank you at the presented goblet but doesn't drink until after Thomas has explained exactly what he wants. "Anything can be done with enough time and money. Do you have anyone on the inside already?"

-

"Not when that second son is the Arkanin's spy master, and that at your age. Our times test people's mettle when they are still young, and the wheat is separated from the chaff." Knowing Thomas, that is praise indeed. "We have someone who moved in earlier this week as a merchant. They may have recruited others. We have money. What we do not have is time, I'm afraid. Time is of the essence."

-

"Arkanin doesn't have a spymaster." Anrique doesn't bother to put much effort behind the lie. "Some rumors just wont go away no matter what you do." He gives a little shrug that suggests that some things just cant be helped and then gives an easy smile. Clearly not upset by the fact Thomas knows. "I was lucky enough to have an excellent mentor." he says with honesty now. "And a seasoned staff."

He makes a low hmm and then nods "And what do you expect? Are we talking Military numbers, patrols, and that sort of thing or do you want sabotage and open gates? "

-

"Of course. Then perhaps, my lord, you would come to other employ, if you are so under utilised in your home lands? There is more to life than being in harness on campaign, of course, but a life of leisure is a life wasted, and the One himself instructed us to serve our realm." Thomas waves this thought away with a quick motion of his hand. "Both, if possible. At worst, this will be a reconnaissance venture, preparing for the army you see here to march on the town. At best, it will mean an open gate, and even, should the One wish it, the town moving on their new masters. The peasant and low citizens, I mean of course. The merchants and guild leaders are mostly complicit, or so my information leads me to believe." He purses his lips and takes a sip of wine. "But. With regards to the action I would like to be undertaken - guiding a small party into town and passing information to them, or, if possible, aiding them into entering the town."

-

The corner of Anrique's eyes crinkle at Thomas' suggestion he is underemployed. "I will keep that in mine Knight Marshal but I'm content with my responsibilities as they are. Keeping the Moongazers from leading a coup and demanding better hours and better pay has proven to be quite a challenge." He barely lets those words settle before he asks. "When can I meet this merchant? With time being so short I should get started." He takes a moment to drink his wine. "Just understand that I can't make any promises just yet. I need to see the situation first."

-

"I am prepared to furnish you with a dirigible to drop you ten miles south of Biaret. Two men will accompany you, who can blend as a merchant's guards. Are you capable of concealing your birth and voice? If so, then I say you ought to meet the merchant directly. And, further, if you are, would you be willing to handle the situation yourself?" Asks Thomas, folding his hands in front of him on the table.

-

"I'm not typically a field agent" is Anrique's reply. "but acting as a merchant and paying attention should be well within my abilities. There is just a lot that relies upon luck when it comes to getting the right contacts quickly." He raises his eyebrow questioningly. "You said there was not much time. Is that because this is the sort of situation where everything could spiral out of control quickly or just because it has to fall into a military timetable?"

-

"Both." Thomas answers quickly. "In theory, you will control the agent already in town, with her own sub-sources. And ideally, you can do that from outside of town. Our scouts left today to recce routes and set up observation posts outside of town, but we do not even know how far these brigands project their men from the town. So. Can this be done?"

-

Anrique nods. "Yes, I can do it. Just be aware that some elements of what you want will require luck as well as skill."

-

"You will be well compensated. If any element becomes too risky, you are of course to use your discretion. The agent on the inside is more disposable, I'm afraid to say." Thomas shrugs. "Please see Sir Lawrence outside for your money and clothing. He's got both ready. And thank you, my lord." He rises from his seat. "But time is of the essence."

-

Anrique just nods and sets the goblet down on the nearest appropriate surface. "Don't worry. I understand the risks." He gives another bow "A pleasure to meet you your Excellence." and then steps out.

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