The Vill, Cryptonia, Ground Plane
Calian had shooed her out of the castle after her incident with the new lord. So, Sue wandered through The Vill. She slipped through the citizens and merchants as they went about their day. Sue had taken on the form of a young woman she had met on a farm many years before she came to the Tower. Sheila had found her scrounging for food. Sue had not seen or heard Sheila in her hunger and had neglected to disguise herself. She had given Sue food several times, without fear or expecting anything in return and had not told anyone about her. Sue remembered the woman’s kindness, and it made her feel something like friendship with the woman, even all those years later. The fact that mimicking Sheila allowed her to move unhindered among most populations was an added bonus.
Sue visited the market to take in the smells of the wide variety of people and keep her ear open for any information that might be useful or important. She was one of the Tower’s primary sources for intelligence. Mistress Wynifred’s scrying abilities and the map room allowed them to keep an eye on things at a broad scale, but the wizard had been on safari for some time, and nothing quite substituted for eyes and ears on the ground. Sue let herself become immersed in the crowd, and her supernaturally heightened senses sifted through her surroundings. The scent of street food wafted into her nose, vendors cried their latest wares, and shoppers brushed past one another to reach whatever caught their eye. The main market was spread out in two square blocks, with stone and wood buildings as well as stalls outside in the open air. The smiths’ corner rang with hammers and roaring forge fires. Horses were lined up on a tie-post outside the farrier’s shop.
The murmur of the mass of people was like a living thing that carried Sue along as it ebbed and flowed around her. She caught snatches of conversation, lone individuals reciting lists of ingredients or items they needed, and the ever-present bartering of buyer and seller. It was a colorful mingling of races, peoples, and languages from across the Plane. Elves and men from north and south greeted each other in almost every tongue known, though not as many from foreign lands as there used to be. Dwarves spoke to one another in their deep humming dialect and accompanied by the graceful hand sign of the forest folk.
There were orcs as well, though these were the civil cousins of the southern barbarians, the kin of Armsmaster Benn. They stood head and shoulders above most, but for the few stone elves and the largest humans about. They spoke politely and mixed with the others as neighbors. But Sue could sense an underlying tension in the population. To her, it did not seem to be a wariness of present danger, but a concern for what the future would bring. Word had quickly spread of the new Lord in the Tower. She listened in on passing conversation when she heard mention of her home.
“A young man, they say!” piped one of the fishermen in excitement. “Friend ‘o mine said he’s paying back debts and granting pardons, pretty as you please!”
“I heard he’s a warrior, too,” said a mother, holding her children to keep them from wandering off. “Cut down old bastard Lerontis in a hand of strokes, he did!”
“Ah, but what’s he know of our ways?” grumbled a local merchant. Sue grinned to herself, having witnessed Jasper in the castle on several occasions, disguised as a servant.
“Oh, he’s smart, this one!” said Sue. “My cousin works at the Tower, said he understood the Land and how things are done. Said she heard him say he’d studied a lot of things before coming here.” She gave a knowing wink to the ladies in the little circle of gossips. “And he’s handsome.” The young women of the group giggled and whispered among themselves as Sue moved on. She encountered many such cliques or pairs deep in conversation about the situation now that Jasper had appeared. Many of the vendors were interested to see if the young lord would open trade again as it had been years before.
Sue let them wonder. She was all for planting rumors and gossip to cast her home in a positive light, but dealing with merchants was a touchy business. Sue wove around the stuffy businessmen and continued around the square. When she came to the tailors and fabric shops, a tingle began to itch at the back of her mind. She recognized the sense of someone intent on keeping themselves unnoticed. A predator in the presence of prey.
“A minor predator,” Sue mentally snorted. Naturally, she moved closer to investigate. This was not the flitting worry or nervousness of a young pickpocket—this was someone with a valuable secret, and she wanted to learn it.
Sue slipped between the bustling street until she neared the source of the itch. It led her to a woman wearing a fine green dress. She seemed pleasant enough to her customers as they browsed the bolts of cloth arrayed on nearby tables. The woman smiled and spoke politely with the people who addressed her, but Sue could see a tightness to her lips that belied her words. The shapeshifter ducked into an alley and waited until she was unobserved to change. She donned the guise of a man eerily similar to the image of a human she had skimmed in the woman’s surface thoughts. He was good looking. His dark hair was styled simply, and his mustache not too long. Her target seemed afraid of this man, but also in awe of him. Sue grinned to herself. She could use that. In her new male form, Sue adjusted her robes and swept back out onto the square, walking with an easy purpose towards the woman. Sue saw her eyes widen, and she had to keep a straight face.
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“Poor thing. She’s so new to the game it’s hardly any fun.”
“G-good morning, ser,” said her prey, trying for a smile.
“Good morning,” Sue bobbed her head. She pitched her voice low as she imagined the woman would expect but kept her tone light. “I recently discovered a doublet of mine has a hole in it. I intend to repair the damage but cannot seem to find a suitable fabric. Might you assist me?” The woman nodded emphatically.
“I can, Lord. I have a fine selection of leftover cuttings that would do fine for repairs or replacement.” She beckoned him over to one table that displayed a number of beautifully stitched strips and squares. “What color is your doublet, Lord?” Sue went on to embellish her story, gaging the woman’s wit and the ease with which she might be manipulated. Sue could do a great many things, but forcing information from one unwilling to give it was difficult. Fortunately for her, Marcella—as she learned the woman called herself—was an easy mark.
Sue let a bit of her supernatural influence seep into Marcella when their hands brushed. The human woman’s eyes brightened and shone subtly, and Sue had to keep from grinning. It was much easier when they could be so easily led. Upon making her purchase, Sue leaned forward to whisper in Marcella’s ear as she dropped coins into her hand.
“I need your report. Behind The Well, half-past high sun.”
“Y-yes ser,” Marcella nodded eagerly, a dreamy look on her face. Sue’s handsome borrowed features smiled, and she scooped up the scraps of fabric to be on her way.
- ??
Sue stood in a dark corner behind The Well—a popular tavern among locals and travelers alike. She leaned against a wall and waited for Marcella to appear. There was a shift in the wind and she caught the mortal’s scent. She grinned broadly before settling her features into the dark and broody countenance Marcella expected. When the woman rounded the final corner, Sue was wrapped in a black cloak that hid nearly her entire body in the darkness.
“Master?” Marcella inquired, her voice quavering slightly.
Sue made a noncommittal noise and stepped forward with exaggerated slowness. Marcella looked very nervous and was giving off the sticky-sweet scent of fear in amounts that would normally cling to someone running for their life. When Marcella approached, she gave several minute hand gestures and near-imperceptible whispers.
‘Thieves’ cant. How quaint.’ Sue suppressed another grin. Her prey was young, but well-schooled in the rite of Guild interaction and contact in public. Sue—the man Marcella thought Sue was, at any rate—was crossing many lines by reaching out to the young woman, and she knew it. At length, Marcella sighed with relief when Sue provided the appropriate countersign, and counter-countersign.
“This is most irregular. The other Guild Masters will not be pleased at you breaking protocol.”
“And yet, you have information for me.” Sue’s voice was even, but Marcella’s eyes cut back and forth as if looking for hidden watchers. “The shadows cannot harm you, child. Speak.”
“Um, yes ser,” she nodded. “Our man proceeds with his work in the West. There is much unclear about what plans the warlock has there. The goblins will be easy to control to a point, but our contact worries what may happen should they be pressed too far.”
Sue’s brilliant mind whirled with excitement and information. She was clearly dealing with more Thieves’ Guild assets—she had run into them before. They could be capable, but none could match her natural prowess. The West? Which West? Marcella said “goblins”, so it must be either west of the Tower, or in the Badlands, West of H?llthar. Someone in the Guild was putting pressure on the goblins? Why? They were so chaotic and difficult to work with, it would be easier to control the river with your bare hands. She contemplated Marcella’s fearful expression and wringing hands. This was more than just extortion or blackmail. The woman was absolutely terrified. But why? The Guild was infamous for its strictness with its own laws, but Marcella looked like she was scared the darkness would eat her.
“What else?” Sue asked. Her voice was laden with power, and she pushed gently on Marcella’s mind with the same pheromones that had nearly made Jasper yield to her desire. Even being in such a heightened state, the human before her caved to Sue’s subtle assault and spilled secrets like a cut sack of flour. Marcella dropped her face in her hands and shook her head.
“I do not have enough information to speak confidently, master,” Marcella sighed, her shoulders sagging. “There is much unrest in our ranks. I worry for the state of the Guild.”
“You speak openly for one so young and new to our world,” Sue observed icily. She knew no Master would be content to listen to the whining of a junior thief, so she played the part of a scolding superior. But the information she obtained from the girl’s loose lips was liquid gold.
‘I need to learn more about this “unrest” she speaks of. Perhaps a trip south of the mountains is in order…’ It was like the gods had dropped this mortal directly into her lap. She continued grilling the novice, who readily succumbed to her pheromonal push and the assumption that Sue was who she appeared to be.