One of Eyes has been caught, luckily their captures do not know their affiliation to the organization yet but time is of the essence. You are tasked with infiltrating the location by any means and extracting or, if needs be, neutralizing the spy. This can be made more difficult by dice rolls but will be left up to the players involved.
Rewards:
Receive a bonus (2,000 Gold) and an advantage socially within Tevinter
A second invitation had been tucked in with the first, much different in character. Tiberius was to come by Pavus’s apartment on a particular afternoon – alone. There was scarcely a spare word written on the page.
It was, frankly, loaded with history. So much so that Tiberius was actually nervous when the day arrived, fussing and preening over minute details of his appearance. Eventually, he settled on a morning suit of dove gray and a linen shirt the color of verdigris – leaving off the eye makeup and nail lacquer as more appropriate for an evening visit. Then it was straight into the carriage, to be ferried across the quarter by Petras once again.
It was still rather strange to him how Enzo preferred to live apart from the rest of his House. Tiberius had maintained a similar set of rooms in Orlais and had not liked it much. Too quiet, too empty. Perhaps it helped in controlling the gossip – at this point in his life, Tiberius hardly cared.
He’d probably feel differently if Grandfather was still alive, though. But as far as he knew, Enzo loved his parents. Huh, maybe distance helped with that after all?
The carriage rolled to a stop and Petras’ muffled voice came through, loaded with honorifics and the obvious. Tiberius let himself out.
“I’ll find another way home, thank you.” He gazed up at the building – dark stone with a bronze dragon statue at the front. They were all over the place in Minrathous, but this one was his favorite. The lower left fang was still shiny where he always touched it. He did so now, wrapping his fingers around it. Lovely.
The carriage rolled away behind him and Tiberius headed up the stairs, raising his hand to knock on Enzo’s door.
Compared to his family's estate, the apartment was cramped. Enzo's pacing took only a few steps to cross the small study, window to door. But it afforded him the privacy to do the work that was slowly -maddeningly slowly- pulling his family back out of the rut his cousin had left them in. His staff here was small, just his valet Otho, a housekeeper, and a cook. All the better to keep his goings on quiet. His investment in the Blind Eye, while legitimate, would be distasteful to his father. Hadrian was a patron of the arts and the only business he bothered with was trade. That had suffered quite a lot when the barrier was up, but now, his focus was on restoring contracts and shipping lines when he wasn't in the senate. Vote or not, Hadrian would not see the Pavus seat empty.
But it was his other enterprise that Enzo wished to keep secret form his father the most. The Eyes were necessary, but not something his family approved of in the least. Being an informant for them had helped Enzo keep his family from complete ruin. The cost was to lie to his parents. That had pained him, for some time, but the sting had dulled of late. If it weren't for Mal, Enzo might not have bothered at all. But his friend's position within the Eyes was something of a reassurance.
Until today. Enzo had been happy to pass on the gossip he heard. Envy relished in the idea that those who publicly snubbed him would get a nighttime visit regarding their less than patriotic musings. They deserved what they got. But today, Enzo was to do more than passively observe. He was to act. He'd never been assigned such a job before. It wasn't that this was outside of his skill set, necessarily, just that he hadn't done anything of the like since his military days.
At the window, Enzo saw Tiberius' carriage pull up. Tiberius was dressed finely, as always. Enzo glanced down at his own clothing. Simple black trousers, dark green vest with yellow vines winding all about it. Shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows. His hair was likely a mess. Sighing, he watched his friend step from the carriage and touch the dragon at the steps. Enzo smiled, then quickly clenched his jaw. He shouldn't have asked Tiberius to come. He was putting his friend in danger. But Tiberius had knocked and Otho had let him in. In a moment, the study door had opened.
"Thank you Otho." Enzo said quickly, moving to close the door behind Tiberius.
"Tea, my Lord?" Otho asked, the surprise at being so quickly dismissed just evident on his face.
"No. But have Sua and Rei saddled and ready please." Closing the door, Enzo put a hand on Tiberius' shoulder, guiding him toward a chair by his desk.
"Thank you for coming. I do wish it were on better circumstances, but.. Well, I would have preferred to tell you sooner but that was impossible. I honestly shouldn't be telling you now, I just..." he growled in frustration for a moment then sighed and rubbed his jaw as he leaned against his desk.
"You have trusted me, Tiberius, and now I ask for that trust again. I work for the Eyes, on occasion. Mostly as an informant. I didn't tell you because everyone coming home after the barrier came down has been considered suspect. I had heard about the... visit... they paid you." Enzo paused, head lowered toward the ground. He felt wretched that he couldn't help Tiberius then, but he honestly hadn't know it was going to happen, let alone in the way it did. "I promise you that I have not informed on you, nor will I ever. I mean that. But..." Enzo lowered himself down into the chair beside Tiberius, reaching for his hand. "I need your help."
That was all so ominous, with Enzo’s hand immediately guiding him by the shoulder. Tiberius let himself be steered to the desk, though he’d have rather taken his time. His first time here in six years, he wanted a look around. This familiar locus of Enzo’s life was bound to be different now, in any number of ways.
I honestly shouldn’t be telling you now …
“Then don’t.” Tiberius unbuttoned his coat and sat down, frowning slightly. On the whole, he was not the sort of person to easily abide ignorance – but if it kept them both safe? Then it would be worth the annoyance. Unfortunately, Enzo kept talking. He listened, head canted slightly to the side. Gripping the arm of the chair to keep his hands still.
It made a murky sort of sense. Why Pavus appeared to be content doing little more than keeping a full social calendar, when that life had never seemed to entirely suit before. Dorian’s actions against the Imperium’s status quo had harmed the House’s position – but they had always been friends with Malachai.
And Mal, it had seemed, was not above helping his friends. Or else that midnight raid would have left Tiberius himself much worse off indeed. It was not so strange to think he might have given Pavus a break.
And yet. Mal’s strength over the Eyes was not entirely absolute. Not if a rogue agent could harass a family as old as Umbra without his foreknowledge. On the other hand, maybe Valentius had been lying through his teeth that night.
“Is that safe for you? Telling them nothing, I mean.” He turned his hand palm up, letting Enzo take it. What could the Eyes possibly want to know that they could not have already gathered themselves?
“Whatever they want, you should give it to them.” Surely withholding information or outright lying to the Secret Police would be counted right along with the worst of their imagined sins. Treason. Sedition. Deadly crimes that were always bandied around so often when the Archon needed to flex his strength.
Enzo smiled, lips twitching at first, as the comfort he felt from his friend's hand and words fought its way through his nerves. Leave it to Tiberius to make smooth and simple what Enzo had twisted into a knotted mess. He had indeed fretted over how he could keep himself from outright lying to the Eyes about Tiberius, should the need arise. But, in the end, they seemed to shift their focus away rather quickly after their initial inquiries.
"I think it's safe enough." he said, and that was true as far as he could see. "It seems you're something of a darling in society now. There's whispers the Archon favors you lately." Enzo's smile widened to one side for a moment, then softened again as his thoughts returned to the matter at hand. "No, they're not asking for anything about you. People just tend to be wary of the Eyes. I didn't want to you think I've been false." Enzo squeezed Tiberius' hand, rubbing his thumb along the other man's knuckles.
"What they need from me is service. One of them has been captured. Apparently whoever has them doesn't know they're an Eye... but who knows how long that will last. Since I'm not officially part of the organization, I've been tapped to retrieve them. If all goes well, no one ever learns this person was an Eye at all."
Releasing Tiberius' hand, Enzo leaned back in the chair, running a hand through the mess of his hair and sighed. "I know you've been working hard to settle back in. To raise your house. Hells... to grow your family. But I don't think I can do this alone and you're the only person I could possibly trust with this. Will you help me?"
Darling? He didn’t know if he’d go that far. Still, it was a useful impression to make upon the other Houses, so long as it was handled carefully. Mal’s warning from the night of the break in remained in his mind. Welcome concern from a friend, of course, but …
This brush with politics, the Archon’s favor, the halls of the Senate – that was the life Tiberius had been trained for. He’d been attending Grandfather and acting as his proxy during all those years when Enzo and Malachai had been building up their military careers. It wasn’t as if he’d been doing nothing. Perhaps one day they’d need his protection, too.
“Never.” He hadn’t known exactly how Enzo would receive him when he returned from Orlais, but those doubts were quite put to rest by now. Even at his lowest, he would not have imagined betrayal. Rather, a slow death to their close friendship – that Lyric might demand to be his only love, or that Pavus might love elsewhere in his time away.
Tiberius listened to Enzo’s short tale of the missing Eye, curious about all the bits left unsaid. Perhaps his agreement was required beforehand?
“Of course I’ll help. I owe you that much for the journals. Will we be going very far afield?” He’d need to send word back to his seneschal if this business called for travel.
Enzo smiled again, the tension in his shoulders visibly melting a bit. It was one thing to trust that you had a friend's support. And he had always trusted. But to see that support in action was always touching. Leaning forward again, Enzo reached back out for his hand. Taking it in both of his own, he leaned down slightly and kissed one knuckle. Lingering for a moment as his eyes focused on the fine hairs on the man's hand, he breathed out audibly. "Thank you."
Nerves reassured, Enzo's confidence reemerged as he stood, gesturing to a map he'd rolled open on his desk. "Not far." he said, pointing to an area outside of Minrathous. "The Eye was investigating a possible smuggling operation set up somewhere in this area. There's little clusters of homes and farms all along the coast here, hardly dense enough to call villages. Some fishing docks are large enough for some enterprising criminals though, it seems.
"Their last contact placed the spy somewhere down here, near where the Felinus lands meet the coast. That part of his estate is kept natural. Some forest, some grassland, good small game hunting. He even has a cabin maintained there for the purpose. He owes me... well, several favors. I think we could use it as a base to strike out from. If we can do this covertly, all the better. But if we are discovered, then we can simply be two unlucky noblemen. Wrong place, wrong time, all that. But honor would not allow us to let such an operation continue. What do you think?"
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Enzo had been prepared to make this trip alone. His own supplies had been packed and ready before Tiberius had arrived. It was a quick enough thing to stop by the Umbra estate to gather what Tiberius would need and allow him to give what orders needed ordering in his absence. It also allowed for a letter to be sent ahead to old Lucillius to let him know that Enzo would indeed be accepting his offer to use the hunting cabin. No need to fuss over him and his guest, however. Their aim was to need as little attending to as possible. They would, of course, call upon the estate proper should they require anything.
"Tie. Crrrk. Crrrk. Tie."
Enzo chuckled, looking over at Rei. The Blue River Bane had been immensely curious about Tiberius when she and Sua had been brought around as they left the estate. She sniffed and nudged Tiberius several times until Enzo came over and settled her. Now, having heard his name a few times during their journey, she was trying it out.
"Well done, Ria. Tiberius." he said, slowing his pronunciation. "Though I do wonder if Tibby would be easier for her to say." he mused, smiling wryly sidelong at Tiberius.
They were on Felinus lands now, moving at a leisurely pace down a shaded lane. They'd been met by a rider as they arrived at the edge of Lucillius' land bearing a message that the old lush was honored to host Lord Pavus' excursion. They'd be disturbed only initially as servants stocked and tidied the cabin for them. Secret mission aside, Enzo was privately thrilled to have this time with Tiberius. Recent developments in their lives as nobles kept them busy, never allowing for a proper reunion. He'd deeply missed his friend. If things could just settle, maybe outings like this could be regular parts of their calendars. Maybe...
Well, one thing at a time. They came around a bend in the road and the cabin was revealed. Nestled into a small clearing, the little building was perfectly rustic with a little garden in the front and a stable and well to one side. The windows and door were open, airing out the interior. As they dismounted, two servants came scuttling out, bowing and begging forgiveness as they were just finishing up. Enzo waved them off, assuring them they could finish what they needed. Sua grumbled in their direction, but Enzo led her to the stable, turning her head from the offensive sight of strangers.
"Something to eat first, while we make our plans?" He asked Tiberius as he pulled his bags and the saddle from Sua's back.
“That’s so creepy. Please don’t encourage her.” What was charming in certain birds, he found much less so in the form of a horse-sized lizard. Tiberius would have liked to have brought Bel instead. Unfortunately, satisfying her dietary preferences on the road for an unknown number of days … Well, the thought quickly became logistically untenable.
Then there was the question of anonymity, however unlikely it was to maintain. Many gentlemen kept dracolisks in Minrathous. No one else anywhere kept a half ton feline, at least to his knowledge. Still, this creature – Ria, he supposed – was preferable over the other horse-lizards. He had a feeling the one Enzo was riding would bite him if given the chance.
Otherwise, this was nice enough. It reminded him of other trips they had taken, long ago. There had been another cottage by the sea, the hedges fragrant with clusters of sweet smelling flowers. He would have liked to not be working, now.
Oh, well. Smugglers did not generally feature heavily in Tiberius’s thoughts. They filled a void in the market, and Tevene nobles were always after the rare and exotic – if only to show eachother up. It seemed a waste of the Eyes’ time to do more than a token investigation, where your typical minor criminal was concerned.
So. This missing agent was very clumsy – or these smugglers were unusually dangerous. What was the cargo, he wondered?
“As you like.” The cabin looked as though it would be close and warm inside, far from the comfort of home. Intriguing, though. How long had it been since they’d truly been alone together, without family or servants as close as the next room away? He dismounted and led Ria into the stable, looking to Enzo and then copying the steps he took to unburden and take care of his mount.
“How does this work, then? Do we just … Follow the coast, look for likely spots to land? See if anyone shines a signal light out on the sea?”
"Honestly, that seems the simplest way to start." Enzo gave Sua a final pat on the neck, then stepped over to Rei. "Tiberius." he said to the creature in a stage whisper, unable to hide his grin. She chirped, but only managed "T-t-t." that time.
With the dracolisks tended to, Enzo hefted his bags and led the way into the cabin. The servants were just finishing, lighting the fire in the hearth before bowing and exiting quickly. When they closed the door behind them, the two men were left in the silence of the cabin. Enzo studied the main room. A sturdy wood table with four chairs sat in the middle of the room beside the large fireplace. To the left there was a kitchen area just big enough for preparing simple meals, and to the right a couch sat against the wall between two doors. Those doors led to bedrooms.
Enzo set his bags down on one of the chairs by the table. On the table, baskets of fruit and bread wrapped in cloth waited. Enzo plucked a few grapes from one of the baskets and ate them slowly as he paced toward the bedrooms, glancing through the open doors to see beds and furniture that, while simple, appeared comfortable enough.
"We'd cover more ground with the dracolisks," he said, turning back toward Tiberius, "But I can't be sure Ria will keep quiet." he chuckled. Though, perhaps our first order of business should be to get the lay of the land, pick out likely points of interest, then return after dark? Wherever they're holding the Eye, it'd have to be indoors and away from common folk, surely."
Moving back to the table, Enzo unwrapped one of the loaves of bread. He took it over to the countertop where knives sat in a block. He sliced off a few pieces, located a crock that contained butter, and brought to lot back to the table. He buttered the slices of bread and handed one to Tiberius. "Do you have a preference on rooms? We could arm wrestle to see who gets to pick." he smiled, taking a bite of his slice of bread.
