Papers Please (Alliance, DI)

[Azuloth]

The Great Hall

Chaos had erupted in the great hall immediately. Palejaw had thought he was going to have a nice lunch with the governor of Sorath, and some other city officials. Instead, some servant girl comes bursting through the servants entrance into the great hall.a he'd had been expecting some appetizer to be in her hands and clattering about the floor in ruin. There was nothing. She shouted something about a fire and that the cook was dead. He stood up from the table and started to walk towards her.

Then an footman walked into the room through the main doors.

"My lord," the footman said, "Duke Mardok is here to see you. He demands an audience."

"Show 'im in. You, girl! Go up to my office and fetch quills, wells, and paper. Our meeting is done Governor."

"It just starte-"

"And it just ended. I 'Ave more pressing matters than the occupation of my forces in your city. Which belongs to the king, ultimately."

"Fine. I shall be in my chambers."

The governor of Sorath would walk towards the stairs that were in the back part of the room. He eyed up the girl (Fyrra) and decided to let her through ahead of him. Duke Mardok would be shown to the great hall immediately and offered a chair across from Palejaw. The Force Commander was not unarmed or unarmored. In a city this close and open to hostile territory he wasn't sure of his safety.

[Fyrra Na'Limndra]

Fyrra was surprised and terrified to see that Palejaw was in the very room she had burst into dramatically. But her little play had worked, she had gained some moderate attention to be drawn towards the body and fire in the kitchen. Then she was surprised again to see a soldier come in after her through yet another door and announce that Duke Mardok was there demanding an audience.

Did he know? Did he know about the mission? Had he come to help?

She knew he had been a friend to Allyria before the political situation turned to war. She did not know where his loyalties lay. He was a subject of the king. A direct subject. Fyrra decided that trusting him would be too much. Remy had been trustworthy because he had worked for the countess and continued to operate in her interests, he had also acted in Fyrra's best interest when she last saw him.

Instead of lingering she started up the stairs to find Palejaw's office. If the documents she was looking for were anywhere, they would be there.

[Tyr]

Seated opposite Palejaw, Tyr was outfitted almost counterpoint to the Force Commander. The Duke wore clothes that were almost entirely for show, and the only true weapons he retained were the claws at his sides. It wasn't so much that he was sure of his own safety as it was he felt he could handle most threats that would happen upon him in the immediate area. Well, outside of fighting all of the kingdom's forces should they turn on him, that could be a bit of an issue. But thatw as why he was here, was it not? To convince Palejaw of his innocence.

"Force Commander Palejaw, I received your summons and am here to defend myself." His attitude had shifted completely from how he handled the footmen at the door. Where he had been intimidating and forceful he was now careful and collected. There was no hint of submission, simply the respect afforded to an equal. "I apologize for the slight delay in my travels, there were some rabble that had to be dealt with." Word of his territorial conquests would probably have reached the kingdom by now in some form. From the letters, laws, and various rumors surrounding Palejaw, Tyr got the impression of a soldier and pragmatist. Matters of war would be something the man understood. There wasn't much else to say at the moment, Tyr imagined the man would want those writing materials before the actual questioning began. Records, and evidence, and all that.

[Azuloth]

"Palejaw's office is through those double doors miss. Be sure to be prompt. He does not like to wait."

The governor stated before entering one of the guest rooms. Fyrra would find Palejaw's office empty. There was a table and chairs, a bed with down bedding and pillows, and a desk. There were no candles lit, the room was dark.

Downstairs in the great hall, Palejaw met with Tyr. He hadn't moved from his spot at the table, he began to speak in that otherworldly voice of his.

"Good day, Duke Mardok. Glad ta 'ear and see you made it in one piece to Sorath. I 'eard about the various conflicts you've been involved with out your ways. Ya know what yer accused of doing, I suppose. Otherwise ye'd be busy fighting more rebels. Glad ya took some time out of that busy schedule of yours of killin' and conquering. What do ya 'ave to say for yerself? Yer a member of the realm. You've a right to a defense."

[Fyrra Na'Limndra]

Luckily Fyrra could see perfectly well in the dark. She went over to the desk and began searching for any papers that had words on them. She, of course, couldn't read High Cruic, so anything written in that language was unintelligible to her. Taking those papers would be a poor move on her part. It would be suspicious if they were found missing. If she found blank papers, quills, and an inkwell on the desk she'd gather those on a serving tray.

But first she would search for any documents that may pertain to her mission. Once she had gathered those she would work a little magic, copying the text of each onto her skin with a glamour. She may not be able to read any of it, but someone in the alliance probably could.

-granted below is if she finds anything-

Her first attempt failed. The words barely appeared on her skin, she chalked the failure up to nerves. The second attempt would be a success.

---

Roll incoming
Thau III, Glamours I, K 20, P 20: 60
hoz_uV5g
·

[Tyr]

What was his defense? Well that was...complicated. To be fair, he had none. He was friends with the accused, and had worked with her on a few occasions. Should it come to it, he was willing to shelter her and her family against those might harm them. He was completely guilty of the charges. However, there was a possible story to sell. All he had to do was that which politicians had done for all time. Use part of the truth as the whole truth to cover up the inconvenient portions. The charge was being an associate, why not use the one time they met and he avoided actually being a business associate as the basis for his cover?

"I was invited to a social event by someone who was, at the time, considered nobility...." His story would touch on most of the truth. He was invited, brought his family to be polite, and sat with them. He skipped over Jorkahn's presence entirely, but did bring up his conversation with Remy. How he had 'declined' to go into business with them. To be fair, Remy had approached him in a panic and mentioned business. By never bringing it back up he had declined to pursue such a venture. Nothing he had said was a lie, but the incomplete picture did not present the exact truth.

---

Tyr is convincing Palejaw of his innocence by way of telling the incomplete truth.
Cha (40) + Noble Garments (30) + FoP (10) + Lying 0 (0) = DC 80
SeGtlw8W·

[Azuloth]

Fyrra found plenty of papers on the desk, including the supplies she had been ordered to gather. Unfortunately there was nothing there that she could read. The text was in various Cruic formats, but nothing that she was familiar with, granted that she couldn't read High Cruic in the first place.

Palejaw listened to Tyr's story in earnest, truthfully he was curious as to what the Duke's defense was. He was also somewhat surprised the Duke showed up at all. Many of them considered themselves kings of their own domains. They hardly showed up to court, or answered summons. This Duke Mardok was.. at least outwardly a loyal man. And, outwardly, attempting to appear loyal.

---

XW51oQcI

---

"Your story is compelling, Duke Mardok, and it makes sense. But it obviously isn't the whole truth. I respect your rank in the peerage. You uphold a noble tradition. Tell me where the Countess Allenmorde and her confederates are hiding and I will make sure the king forgives your transgression. You can go back to your old life."

[Fyrra Na'Limndra]

Fyrra had succeeded in her mission. All she had to do was escape the palace with her life. She gathered up the writing materials that Palejaw had asked for, and started to head towards the stairs. She exited his office, and returned to the stairwell. There she took her time going down, so that she might not alarm anyone to her presence. Once she was in the great hall again, she spotted Duke Mardok near Palejaw. She swallowed hard. Hopefully the duke would not out her to the leader of her enemies. Hopefully he was still on their side. Hopefully she was going to make it out of this alive.

She strode over to the space behind Palejaw and there she began to lay out the materials that he had asked for. The quills, the paper, the inkwell. Once that was done she took three steps back and waited for further orders. She did not speak, as she did not want her accent to give anything away. If she wasn't addressed within a few moments, she'd head out of the room and would attempt to leave the building.

[Tyr]

Palejaw saw through his half-truth with ease. This put him at a slight dilemma, whether to defend his people or his friend. Though to be fair she likely needed very little in the way of defense, her magical prowess was quite considerable. With the public proclamations against her kind, and against her specifically, Allyria was probably prepared for people to come hunting for her. It left him rather unbothered by giving away what should be known whereabouts. Buildings had to be registered with the local government after all, and Palejaw was one of the highest authorities of said government right now.

"That business opening was the last time I saw her or her associates." He'd only met them the one time, and had no contact with them since. "Outside of that tavern in Sorath, there was one meeting at a warehouse in Morith weeks before. It..." He had to stop and think a while, trying to piece the location back together. That adventure into the woods had been some time ago now, and quite a bit had transpired since then. Not to mention he was nursing a significant wound around then and had been paying very little attention to where he was going so much as he was just trying to get there.

"I honestly don't remember where it was in the city. I had to be dragged in off a cart, I'd been attacked by a large...crow thing in the woods there. The local registry should be able to tell you though." The serving girl that came in to drop supplies looked...remarkably familiar. He couldn't quite place where from, but Tyr was positive he knew her. No time to worry about that now though, right now he had to protect those he cared for. "Outside of that I have no further information I can provide. " Here there were no lies. Hopefully it would be enough for Palejaw to leave him be a while.

[Azuloth]

"Ah, thank you. You may go. Check on lunch."

Palejaw said to the girl as he was given the papers and the other materials. He began to write down what Tyr had said about the warehouse in Morith. He didn't know where it was, but he had been inside. The location wouldn't matter. He would have his men search every building and use the local government's registry to find it in specific.

"Tell me, Duke Mardok, what was inside the warehouse? What is the Countess like? Do you know who her associates are? Have you been to her county in Delta?"

These were more questions it seemed. Duke Mardok wouldn't be let go that easily. Sure, he had given up that there was a warehouse and that the Countess had some property in Morith. But he wanted to know all he could about his enemy, and the Duke had contact with her. Extracting that information was his goal now.

[Fyrra Na'Limndra]

Fyrra nodded her head at her new orders. Check on lunch huh? Lunch was pooling on the kitchen floor under an old crone she had murdered in semi-cold blood, and happened to accidentally set on fire. Considering what was likely happening in the kitchen it would be dangerous to go in that direction, yet to maintain her cover she would have to do so. She left the great hall through the door she originally came in through, and would attempt to go into the kitchen if possible from there. If the path was blocked by enemy soldier's she'd do her best to remain nonchalant and head towards the nearest exit.

Hopefully she'd be able to get out of the palace alive, and with her treachery undiscovered. Hopefully she wouldn't have to lie further to get out of this.

She really didn't want to leave anything else up to luck.

[Tyr]

Of course it wouldn't be that easy, because when was it ever with the Kingdom? Now the games would continue, Tyr trying to conceal as much information as possible while still appearing reasonably compliant with the requests. He took a moment to think, as much for effect as for actually trying to recall specific answers to the questions.

"The warehouse held mostly raw materials, iron and the like. And a forge." Had there been anything else noteworthy about the place? Maybe, but not that he remembered. "She is...impressive. Powerful." It was a vague question, and that was all he could answer it with. It was an apt description though, her gifts with magic were enough to challenge all but the mightiest.

"Her associates....there was a woman at the counter...a man as guard...and of course the steward I mentioned talking with earlier." He was actually somewhat hard pressed to remember details about them. As good as his memory was for new encounters, those had been short and he'd had other things pressing his attention at the time. Namely his family and the whole event going on. "There may have been more, but those are the ones I remember interacting with. As to her land, no, I've never been."

[Azuloth]

Fyrra would find that there were half a dozen footmen in the kitchen working on putting hte fire out, moving the body, calming the women, and making sure things were proceeding smoothly in that room. If she deviated from the kitchen due to this she would find that the hallways of the palace were more or less empty. There were statues of soldiers here and there, but they were more art and decor than anything else. As soon as she'd pass through a door she'd find that there were four more infantry there, guarding it. They were not concerned with her presence however. Why bother someone leaving the palace, they were there to bother people trying to come into the palace. Check IDs, demand exorbitant tolls, and otherwise abuse servants and the like because they could. It was amazing what some people would do with a modicum of power. And at times, terrifying.

Back in the great hall Tyr would find Palejaw to be slightly miffed at the general lack of information Tyr could provide him. He was hoping that the nobleman would be both more forthcoming and have more information. It would unnecessarily anger the council of dukes if he were to imprison the man on any charges, however. The Council of Dukes was the last vestiges of old Cruinthe that remained intact and without any foreign influence. It was important to him to maintain a healthy respect for the council, despite how individual members may or may not align themselves. It was regrettable, to Palejaw, that Tyr had done nothing illegal.

He had nothing to hold him on. His interactions were before the law went into effect, and he had cooperated.

"Duke Mardok, I appreciate your cooperation. I'll have to have you return to your duchy and remain there so long as it is feasible until this matter concerning the Countess Allenmorde is resolved. If you remember anyhting at all I expect you'll do the right thing and let me know. It won't be long before those rebel dogs are destroyed, and the foreigners are expelled. We'll have a pure cruinthe again. Once all of the Imperial and Foreign influence is purged things will get better. You may go and you have my thanks and my word."

[Azuloth]

Mission complete.

Tyr and Fyrra receive:
-5000 Gold
-10 Stat Points
-Bonus 1: 2500 gold (Completed)
-Bonus 2: 5 Stat Points (Completed)