Flashback Part 4: Speak Softly

[Karsynwa]

2nd of Fall, 490 AV Continued

“I’ve got more coin if that is what you want.” Karsynwa said, speaking a little louder as he was getting eased into the role. This was fun, even if it was frustrating to interpret sometimes exactly what he was supposed to be doing. Especially since he had a hard time viewing Arrel as anything but his mentor. Still, for the sake of learning, he made an effort to imagine him that way.

“Speak softer foolish boy. What do you want with a Cerulean anyhow? He steal your favorite toy?” Arrel’s voice came back in a biting whisper that surprised Karsynwa. He was really good at getting into this whole acting thing, which he supposed he should have expected from his mentor. Still it was hard to adjust to this new side of him when he had spent the previous tendays with him just sparring with the rest of the militia recruits. Strange and interesting times these.

Karsynwa leaned forward so he didn’t feel the need to speak so loud. “How much coin you want?”

Arrel held up a hand and looked over his shoulder to roll his eyes at Karsynwa. “You really need to work on how you persuade people, that is not an effective way to approach someone for information on another, no matter how much gold you are often. You’ll get the guards called on your talking like that.”

“Then how should I approach them?” Karsynwa asked expectantly.

“Well you should make the need personal, and be clear about the fact that you don’t want to cause any trouble. They certainly would not like the kind of attention that brings to the tavern. Right now you are coming off like you are asking because you want to start something with this Cerulean. They don’t want your death on their conscience so best case is they are going to take your money and blow you off with some misdirection. Worst case they get you hauled home by the guards. Now, how can you make this personal and believable to the barkeeps that you don’t want to start any trouble with this Cerulean?”

Karsynwa rested his chin in his palm as he thought about that for a few moments thinking about why a young man would want to track someone else down. Why he might be willing to pay for the information while trying to remain discreet. “I could say he was family. My brother or something. I don’t imagine they’d want to drag the whole life story out of me from such a sensitive subject, and it would be an easy enough lie to sell.”

Arrel chuckled, and shook his head slightly. “Granted it is a good approach, but I don’t think you have the talent to sell that just yet. It would be effective though, posing as the brother looking to keep tabs on his Cerulean brother. They might even refuse your money if you sold it right. How could they accept money from a brother just trying to do his duty as a citizen of Riverfall. Yes, I think you have grasped that portion of our lesson today.”

WC: 521

[Karsynwa]

“Now that you are starting to understand that it is not just what you see, but what you hear as well, what kind of places do you think make for the best gossip around the city?”

“Taverns and brothels” Karsynwa said, remembering their discussion the previous night.

“Where else?” Arrel asked, fixing him with a serious expression.

Karsynwa took much longer to think this through. He thought about where a lot of people might congregate, and his mind went back towards there trip last night. He remembered how busy that tavern near the port had been which lead him to his next guess.

“The businesses around the port and land gate. I imagine they see quite a few on a day to day basis, and they might have important information about what is going on outside the city. I would start there before working my way out to other popular locations.”

“Not bad for your first picks, both might be potentially good for information coming into the city. But what about stuff that is already here. For that you’ll want to infiltrate some of the most established institutions in this city. Of course certain organizations like to gossip more than most and you will want to identify those first. Like that musical troupe we spoke of earlier. Entertainers tend to be huge gossips, an they play all around the city so they have probably overheard many conversations. If you were in a city with a prevalence of beggars, they also might be a good source though they tend to be a tight knit group on the whole. A little more susceptible to a sweet word and a well placed coin though if the information is about someone outside of their group.”

“Another city?” Karsynwa asked confused. He wasn’t sure what kind of operation would require him to go to another city, but then again he was just starting to learn about what exactly this branch of the militia did for Riverfall. Apparently its scope was much larger than he realized he considered as he leaned over his desk to jot some of this down.

“Yes, rarely our operations might take you abroad. Usually when we have uncovered some information in the city that leads to outside influences that we then have to investigate to assess their threat. We will get into more detail about just how you should go about investigating shortly as it goes hand in hand with what we are about to discuss. In short, investigating is about uncovering the details they are trying to keep you from observing. That might range from them being deliberately obtuse during questioning or concealing evidence of a crime that had been committed.”

Karsynwa considered that for a moment as he looked at the portrait again. “So that would be like if I figured out that the Cerulean was wearing makeup to hid his marks?”

“Yes, good example. An you would have a number of options for investigating that matter. Searching his residence for example, dropping by any shops that offer that to see if they’ve had anyone buy up a lot of that kind of stock. What else could you do?”

WC: 530

[Karsynwa]

“Well I could follow him around to see what else he is purchasing. Then combined with the places he frequents, we could use that information to decide what exactly he might be up to, or to see how we might better approach those that are closest to him for more information.” Karsynwa said, though he wasn’t entirely satisfied with that answer. “I suppose to further confirm his identity, I could see if he’s left anything behind that might point to him wearing makeup, maybe he brushed up against something and left it behind.”

Arrel leaned on the other end of the table, nodding. “Thats a start. You could also look for clue on his clothes, and try to uncover why he might take off the makeup to visit this particular tavern. That information could be the key to your figuring out his purpose in the area. Like say, what would you think if I were to tell you upon visiting his residence, you found both red and white makeup along with the dark blue you had personally seen him purchase.”

Karsynwa chewed his lip, puzzled by the added complication as he tried to think it through. Why would he need both? There was some information he was lacking, and this time he wasn’t afraid to ask for it. “Is make up hard to take off?”

“It can be.” Arrel said with an indifferent expression.

Thinking on that a little further he tried to think of a reason why someone would want to be seen as a Cerulean in an area where break ins where happening. An why they were carrying both sets of make up. Maybe because they didn’t want to be seen like that around their home? It was certainly a puzzle.

“I think I would need to watch their home for a while and maybe question some of their neighbors to determine the reasoning for it.” Karsynwa said somewhat hesitantly.

“Alright, you watch the place for a few days and often catch him greeting his neighbors warmly with no tattoos in sight. What do you think?” Arrel asked.

“I think he’s pretending to be a Cerulean so the guards start looking at the wrong guy for the break ins. He probably loses them when he changes the make up, and probably would have lost me as well if I had not followed up with the shops. I don’t think his neighbors would act so friendly with him if they knew he was Cerulean, and that would be a hard secret for him to keep from them for long.”

“That, and the fact that they have their own quarters outside of the city, well away from where they can do any harm though they do come in for work where they can be strictly supervised. Good job for your first attempt though, though if this was a real senario you would have to work considerably more on how you approach people for information. Sometimes the direct approach works, but more often, it pays to be subtle.”

WC: 507

[Karsynwa]

“For example, the Sapphire Star is a business that caters solely to the women of Riverfall. How then would you plan on observing the inhabitants within?” Arrel asked, sitting back with a confident smirk.

“Well, I assume I can’t go in.” Karsynwa started slowly while he thought.

“Correct”

“I suppose I would start by watching the place to see who came and went from the location.” Karsynwa stated as he puzzled over just how he could get into the space. If he couldn’t bluff a musician he certainly wasn’t going to be able to bluff his way past whoever the women had watching the door. An if that was the case what else could he do besides try to extract any useful information he could from those who came to the establishment. Remembering something particularly poignant from yesterday, Karsynwa added. “Are any of them wearing silver bracelets by chance?”

Arrel smiled. “Actually most of them are. It is a popular place for Nakivaks and if you followed them back you could trace some of them to Godiva’s Refuge, a popular residence for people in their position as well as women in general. Any woman can stay there for ten days rent free while they decide on just what they want to do with their lives.”

Karsynwa nodded, and then asked. “And where is that on the map in comparison to this place?”

Arrel stood up and went back to his table, returning shortly with a map of Riverfall that he laid on Karsynwa’s desk. He then laid a sketch of the establishment beside it. Karsynwa on impulse started to copy a rough floor plan of the building before outlining the path between the two establishments on what seemed like the most direct route to him. As he did so he considered other options as well. Perhaps they wouldn’t take a direct route if there was a shop they wanted to visit along the way or a place they wanted to avoid. Though Karsynwa didn’t know enough of the women yet to determine just that so he outlined other potential places that he thought women might like to visit. Weapon shops, tanners, ect, places his mom had taken him to. Unfortunately he had never known her to avoid any place and how would he know if she did. She was avoiding it after all. Before he could think more on that however, Arrel picked his sketch up off the table.

“Why these routes here?” Arrel asked, a hint of a smile on his features.

Karsynwa studied the man’s face carefully for a moment before he responded. There was something about that look that clued him in that the man knew more than he was letting on. He’d seen it the previous day to much the same result. It was too sly by half.

“Because, those are shops the women might want to stop at on their way home.” Karsynwa said flatly.

“And this is from your extensive experience observing women yes?” Arrel asked, his tone leading.

“My mother.”

WC: 507

[Karsynwa]

Arrel’s smile became full and Karsynwa realized that was the response he had been expecting. He didn’t like to think that he was so easy to read, no matter how able his mentor was. Karsynwa dry swallowed.

“Walked right into that one, eh?” Karsynwa said after a moment, then continued. “Why is that wrong by the way? Do they not like those kind of shops?”

“Some do, but that depends on what culture they come from. A drykas woman, or a Myrian like your mother. Certainly, they were breed with a weapon in hand. However some of these women are slaves scooped off the edge of the Sea of Grass. They know next to nothing about combat, and are prone to go to places they are told about to expressly visit. Which in their case happens to be places of leisure or beauty to help the recover from the ordeal they have been to. Those kind of women would also be keen to avoid places with a lot of men because they probably suffered at the hands of men while they were a slave. Hence the reason for establishments like the Sapphire Star.” Arrel said, drumming his fingers on the edge of the desk. “So how would you know which one to approach?”

Karsynwa chewed on the end of his quill as he mulled over that one. He supposed he couldn’t know what their reaction to him might be unless he saw how they responded to men, and even then he could misunderstand the reaction if he wasn’t careful. Maybe it would make sense for him to enlist the aid of another women to help him determine what exactly to do in this situation since doing it as a male with his set of skills didn’t seem very feasible for this operation.

“Tell me what you are thinking.” Arrel said after he had been quiet for more than a couple of chimes.

“Well at first I was thinking I could watch how they reacted to men that they crossed paths with casually, but I wasn’t sure how much I would learn in that situation. Then I was wondering if we might use a female militia member to go in to see what she observes and have her repeat it back to us to see what we can find out. The latter honestly seems like the most feasible solution to me as I’m not sure how I’d get in otherwise.” Karsynwa said with a sigh, a little frustrated with himself for not thinking of anything better.

“Those are both sound options, your are finally starting to think like a spy, though there were a couple of other ways you could have tried. We will get to those when we start your field training but let us just say there were quite a few ways you could have possibly sneaked inside, or bluffed someone to come outside depending on the operation. That will come with more experience however, for now, lets conclude the class and resume later this week. We’ve still got a lot more to learn and I want you to practice on how you can convince others to give you the information you need.”

Karsynwa nodded before he gathered up the notes and sketches he had made. Then standing, he offered a slight nod towards his mentor. “Thank you for everything so far. I shall do as you say.”

WC: 569

[Reed]

Grades Awarded!

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Karsynwa

Skills

• Intelligence: 5
• Investigation: 1
• Observation:1
• Persuasion: 1
• Rhetoric: 1
• Tactics/Strategy: 2
• Socialization: 5

Lores

• Persuasion: Offering mizas for information
• Rhetoric: How personal anecdotes can be effective
• Intelligence: Entertainers are exposed to a lot of gossip
• Investigation: Why you should chase down all leads
• Investigation: Starting the search with known locations
• Tactics/Strategy: Criminal posing as a Cerulean to mislead a investigation
• Location: Sapphire Star
• Riverfall: Street plan
• Intelligence: Using a street plan to determine all probable routes between two points
• Tactics/Strategy: Using a woman to infiltrate an only women establishment

Awards & Retribution


Notes