Ymiden 2, 718, Early Morning
Inali eyed the letter laying on the small desk that the inn provided her. The message had been delivered to her residence early in the morning by a particularly insistent urchin that pounded on her door until she answered. The eidisi had reluctantly thrown the boy a few silver nels from her coin purse but waited to open the letter until after taking her morning bath. This was standard procedure – any merchant who had the gall to interrupt her sleep would likely pay well but demand at least a few trials of her time. The request seemed simple enough, but Inali couldn’t help noting the abundance of wax sealing the letter. A rose shaped seal swam within the sea of wax, indicating that the sender had a well-known brand associated with their craft. Merchants that had less clout tended to use plain seals – initials or ornate filigree were most common. The eidisi took her dagger to the wax, gently chipping away at the congealed substance until the sharp folds of the paper unfurled to reveal a short letter written in a flowing script.
“Inali,
My husband heard of your work from a family member in Ne’haer who purchased your services a few arcs ago. I write to you because Edain feels that all his communications are being monitored. We do not worship the Immortals in this house, but plenty of other merchants have paid handsome bribes to make it seem like we do. His correspondence is monitored, and we know that copies of letters and manifests are being made regularly. While you don’t know us, we beg you for aid. Those who have offered help so far cannot be trusted. If you help us, we will see to it that you are paid handsomely in return. Please meet me as soon as you can at our secondary residence. I will be awaiting your arrival.
-Jenza Ilumirre “
Inali breathed in deeply, taking a few precious moments to consider the nature of the request. Traditional ciphers and cryptographic techniques would be meaningless. The enemies of the Illumirre family could easily make copies and pay for the ciphers to be cracked. Her invisible ink pen was equally useless, and she imagine that the family had tried many of the classic solutions. Inali pivoted slightly and turned to face her Memory Globe. A brief touch illuminated the globe, spreading light to the walls of the inn as her last memory of an old cryptography book played within the sphere. The eidisi startled slightly at the image of the old library in Viden. She ached to simply focus on the book itself, but Thetros’ artifact would not allow her to alter memories for her own comfort. Inali watched the memory play and hoped that there would be a clue as to what experienced cryptographers did when the traditional options weren’t an option.
A single word stood out and Inali froze the memory in place as she re-read the single mention of stenography. How had she forgotten? While stenography was rarely considered by master cryptographers, it was a tool that had been used to great effect by creative individuals without the resources to send cipher keys with their encoded messages.
Inali grabbed a small pack that held her blank journals, ink pens, a few pieces of dried fruit, and a handful of nels. The residence that was written beneath the message was a twenty bit walk away, though she found the time went by quickly as she considered the various ways a beleaguered merchant could use cryptography to hide messages from his enemies.
Inali eyed the letter laying on the small desk that the inn provided her. The message had been delivered to her residence early in the morning by a particularly insistent urchin that pounded on her door until she answered. The eidisi had reluctantly thrown the boy a few silver nels from her coin purse but waited to open the letter until after taking her morning bath. This was standard procedure – any merchant who had the gall to interrupt her sleep would likely pay well but demand at least a few trials of her time. The request seemed simple enough, but Inali couldn’t help noting the abundance of wax sealing the letter. A rose shaped seal swam within the sea of wax, indicating that the sender had a well-known brand associated with their craft. Merchants that had less clout tended to use plain seals – initials or ornate filigree were most common. The eidisi took her dagger to the wax, gently chipping away at the congealed substance until the sharp folds of the paper unfurled to reveal a short letter written in a flowing script.
“Inali,
My husband heard of your work from a family member in Ne’haer who purchased your services a few arcs ago. I write to you because Edain feels that all his communications are being monitored. We do not worship the Immortals in this house, but plenty of other merchants have paid handsome bribes to make it seem like we do. His correspondence is monitored, and we know that copies of letters and manifests are being made regularly. While you don’t know us, we beg you for aid. Those who have offered help so far cannot be trusted. If you help us, we will see to it that you are paid handsomely in return. Please meet me as soon as you can at our secondary residence. I will be awaiting your arrival.
-Jenza Ilumirre “
Inali breathed in deeply, taking a few precious moments to consider the nature of the request. Traditional ciphers and cryptographic techniques would be meaningless. The enemies of the Illumirre family could easily make copies and pay for the ciphers to be cracked. Her invisible ink pen was equally useless, and she imagine that the family had tried many of the classic solutions. Inali pivoted slightly and turned to face her Memory Globe. A brief touch illuminated the globe, spreading light to the walls of the inn as her last memory of an old cryptography book played within the sphere. The eidisi startled slightly at the image of the old library in Viden. She ached to simply focus on the book itself, but Thetros’ artifact would not allow her to alter memories for her own comfort. Inali watched the memory play and hoped that there would be a clue as to what experienced cryptographers did when the traditional options weren’t an option.
A single word stood out and Inali froze the memory in place as she re-read the single mention of stenography. How had she forgotten? While stenography was rarely considered by master cryptographers, it was a tool that had been used to great effect by creative individuals without the resources to send cipher keys with their encoded messages.
Inali grabbed a small pack that held her blank journals, ink pens, a few pieces of dried fruit, and a handful of nels. The residence that was written beneath the message was a twenty bit walk away, though she found the time went by quickly as she considered the various ways a beleaguered merchant could use cryptography to hide messages from his enemies.
