[RPG] [BT][NG] Letters to the Editor

[Alex]

/Sepp entered the chamber of the Duke and bowed./

"Milord, I have something to report."

"Go ahead captain," Widfara said, barely sparing a glance from the mess 
of maps and reports sprawled across his desk.

"We have apprehended a scribe of some description attempting to leave 
the island. While we have spared him any excessive... persuasion 
regarding his attempted departure, perhaps you would like to find the 
purpose of his mission yourself."

/Widfara sighed and indicated a particularly scribbled on map./

"Captain, does it not occur to you that I have more important issues on 
my mind than the escapades of some peasant? Surely you can execute him 
if he worries you."

"Er, my lord, there is a complication. He bears some symbols of the King."

"Ah... now this would be worth knowing. Confiscate his letter, make me a 
copy, and bring him in."

/Sepp bowed wordlessly and exited. Shortly the messenger was ushered in, 
but notably with less guards than was usual. Widfara looked enquiringly 
at Sepp, who coughed discreetly and avoided his gaze./

"So," Widfara addressed the scribe. "What is your business attempting to 
leave the continent?"

/The messenger looked sullenly at the Duke and refused to answer. 
Widfara smiled with mild amusement./

"Sepp, clearly this man has no sense of his betters. Are you sure he is 
in the employ of the King?"

"Your Grace, with respect, I have not said he was definitely a servant 
of his majesty. He could be a common thief, in which case I do apologise 
for wasting your time and we will cut his hands off shortly."

/The scribe paled at the mention of the Duke's title, and lowered his 
eyes from Widfara./

"Ah, I think you may have intimidated our guest, Sepp. So, you," Widfara 
addressed the messenger once more, "as you are apparently ill acquainted 
with the city you were trying to escape, I shall explain things to you. 
I am the Duke of Vozzessdor, this is the Captain of the Guard and my 
personal confidant Sepp, and you have a jolly good case against you for 
being a thief of royal property and attempting to flee the island with 
these stolen relics, along with a message of some description. Unless 
you would like your near future to be painful, I suggest you answer me: 
what were you doing?"

"Milord, I beg your pardon," the scribe pleaded. "I was merely 
delivering a message on behalf of the King, and the subject is on 
Atamara, hence my journey."

"Hm." Widfara did not look impressed. "And why then do you bear only 
some of the marks of the royal household?"

/The scribe muttered something inaudible. Sepp coughed./

"What I meant to say, milord, is that the travel is expensive. No sailor 
will willingly come to this island, but there are those of dubious 
nature whom I can pay... but no doubt the captain himself has retired to 
some pub and is now gorging himself with the price of my passage which I 
had paid before I was arrested."

"I see. I am going to make you an offer, and I suggest you take it. I 
would like you to provide me with a copy of the King's message, and in 
return my men will escort you to the captain of the ship and persuade 
him to take you to Atamara. When you are there, I need you to look for 
information on the whereabouts of a certain noble. If you choose to 
refuse... well, accidents happen, especially to thieves. Do you understand?"

/The messenger nodded his assent./

"Excellent. The noble you are looking for is Ancelin, and my scribe will 
take your message and provide you with a newly sealed copy. Please wait 
in the hall, I must have a few short words with my captain."

/Widfara waited until the scribe had exited and allowed a few seconds 
for him to be out of hearing range before addressing Sepp."

"So Captain, where are the rest of the men? This motley crew you have 
drawn together for tonight's proceedings is hardly indicative of your 
usual strength. I would even say that one of the men I saw on the way in 
was mildly inebriated."

"Your Grace, with respect, you had given permission for the men to take 
the night off after training. The gentlemen with me had been on a pub 
crawl of the docks when they picked up the man and brought him to me. 
Raising a reasonable contingent of men was difficult."

"Then that of course raises the question - why were you not with them 
getting rascally drunk, Sepp?"

"Other matters... demanded my attention, milord."

/ Widfara sighed.

"Perhaps. I appreciate your service, Sepp, but do not forget that there 
are important things in life. I would suggest those matters are not your 
speciality."

"I will reflect on what you have said sire. May I be excused?"

/Widfara nodded his assent and Sepp left.
--
//After a short wait Sepp re-entered the hall of the ducal palace. After 
a few short words to the Duke's chief scribe he received a copy of the 
message with a passable imitation of the Royal seal on it and headed 
over to the messenger./

"Come with me. We will head down to the docks." When it came to 
peasants, Sepp didn't do fancy. He nodded to his men who followed him, 
grumbling under their breath.

/After a short journey the party entered the Docks district. The 
conversation had been distinctly cold, the men preferring not to address 
the peasant as if he was there, but now Sepp turned to him./

"We need you to find the boat you were sailing on. get us the captain 
and we will convince him to take you on your journey."

/The messenger indicated a pub near the quayside. The men entered to 
find a noisy scene. A fairly old man was in the corner boasting to two 
Special forces of his exploits, and the messenger indicated this was the 
target./

"So there I was, and this beasty comes out of the waters, and I smacked 
him one!" The captain collapsed giggling and Sepp sat down opposite him, 
nodding to his colleagues who were doing their best to stop grinning and 
look professional.

"Nice story," said Sepp. "I have a more relevant question. Do you know 
this man?"

/Sepp indicated the messenger, and the captain squinted at him for a 
moment before laughing./

"Sure I do, I fleeced him out of 7 gold. Hey pal, bugger off! Finders 
keepers losers weepers."

/The captain collapsed giggling again and the messenger looked slightly 
worried at the commotion. Sepp's expression become that of one who 
suffers fools gladly and indicated to the soldier necxt to him to punch 
him in the stomach, which the man did./

"OW! What was that for?" the captain demanded angrily.

"Listen. I am here on behalf of the Duke. You are to take this man to 
Atamara, and back. If you do not, you will be hanged as a rebel. 
Understand? Good. Now where's your ship?"

/The captain staggered to his feet. Sepp smiled, and addressed his men./

"Thank you for your help boys. Have a good night, I'm taking the runt 
and the wineskin to finish off our business. I will need you at the 
palace tomorrow morning, make sure the others know."

/Sepp left with the messenger and captain in tow to finish the nights 
business./
--
/Meanwhile, in the palace, Widfara's scribe had made a copy of the 
messengers various letters and Widfara was reading it with a troubled 
expression./

"And this lady is supposed to be our Queen?" Widfara muttered to 
himself. "Passed out in an alleyway indeed, no wonder they say it's a 
long way to the top."

/Widfara finished reading Stephen's reply./

"Cute though."

/Widfara wandered out onto his balcony overlooking the lake. He savoured 
the fresh night air and allowed his mind to wander. Some of the words 
echoed through his mind... tournaments and their memories, a laughing 
girl in a boarded inn, darkness and earth melting together in one mess 
of horror for a moment. he closed his eyes and went back inside, 
discarding the message on his desk carelessly and sitting down with his 
head in his hands./

-- 
"Abashed the devil stood, and felt how awful goodness is."
-Milton