Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Val rose, dragging herself up and out of bed. The previous night had gone on far longer than she was ready for, and the bed was warm and inviting.

Groaning, she forced herself back away from the bed and pulled on the Etzori courier clothing from Sam. The intercepted letter was resealed and added to her already full satchel.

Val slipped out of her room, making sure no one caught sight of her leaving, and jogged to the Military Intelligence office, keeping her eyes up and shoulders down. Breathing lightly, she approached the guards and waved her hand.

"Hi there! Got a bunch of messages."

The nearest guard frowned and stared at her with weathered eyes. "Ain't seen you before. Password?"

"My first delivery here. And Ravenfall," Val said.

He slowly moved to the side, nodding at his companion. "Oscar here will accompany you, and direct you for each letter. He'll then bring you to the mailroom where you'll pick up the letters scheduled to be shipped out."

Val nodded along, her eyes wide and focused on him, playing the young, naive courier. She followed along behind Oscar, a hulking brute of a man, through the gardens and up the large, ornate steps. She bounded up them two at a time, her head on a swivel as she examined everything in sight. The three-story house had a covered walkway on the roof and multiple balconies that provided cover against anyone attempting a frontal assault. The hedges in the garden were neatly trimmed and offered little to no cover if one were to attempt to sneak in at night. Large poles stuck up throughout the garden, and hooks showed where lanterns could be hung to provide more illumination. No gardens touched the house, and the only windows near the ground were barred. The walls were mortared smooth, and offered no grip to a climber, even if one were to get close enough to attempt it.

All in all, it was unassailable as far as Val could see.

She entered the open front door and opened her satchel, reading out the first name.



The building was as orderly and clean as Val had expected. Anyone infiltrating would have a hard time finding anywhere to hide in the barren hallways, and all the doors had thick looking locks. Most of the halls ran the full length of the building, and would've made it hard to dodge the frequent patrols. Thankfully, Oscar gave grunts to the guards as they did their rounds, and they were not questioned. Halfway through her stack, Val pulled out the letter. It was heavy in her hand as she read out the name to Oscar, who frowned at her. "Eh?"

"Ms. Sapphire Trueman?"

Oscar shook his head. "No one here by that name." Val's heart began to sink, but clicking footsteps interrupted her thoughts.

"Excuse me?" A light female voice broke into their conversation. Val turned and caught sight of a tall, elegant woman with sharp eyes. "I couldn't help but overhear. Are you looking for Ms. Trueman? I can take that to her."

Oscar frowned at her. "You know it's not regulation to all-"

"I said, I'll take it to her," the woman replied with a hint of steel in her voice. Oscar's eyes dropped and he nodded at her.

"As you will, ma'am."

The tall woman snatched the letter from Val's hands and strode off purposely, but as she rounded the corner, Val saw her fingers begin to pick the wax seal off. Gotcha, Val thought, a surge of relief washing through her. It had been a gamble if the woman would use her name, and Val had gambled wrong, as it turns out. But a stroke of good fortune and she'd managed to keep her plan on track.

"Who was that?" Val asked Oscar in a hushed tone as if in awe of the authority the woman wielded.

"Hm," he said. "Drivia Hornstone." He was a man of many words.



Val finished her route and dutifully picked up the mail required for Etzos. Val hoped that nothing in the pile of letters was urgent as she piled them into her backpack. She'd pick through them later to see if there was any other helpful information. She made a few stops on her return journey at half a dozen different alchemy, apothecary, and doctors offices to pick up a handful of useful plants, and a sack full of relatively useless ones designed to throw off anyone following her.

She carried the backpack, her fake uniform, and all the drugs she'd purchase over to the rented warehouse, dropping them in the small office. As she'd hoped, there was a small chair, a desk, a fireplace, and a bed inside the office, though the rest of the warehouse was barren. Val spent the remainder of the trial preparing. Plants were crushed, stirred, boiled, strained, powdered, and pureed. Small glass vials were filled and taste-tested, then stoppered, labeled, and added to the growing pile on her desk. As the first sun fell, she was ready.

She made the trip back across town again, switching forms and cloak colors another half dozen times before she was satisfied she hadn't been followed. She told herself it wasn't paranoia if there actually was a secret organization backed by an Immortal out to get you, but she wasn't sure. She was confident that they didn't know where she had gone after Etzos, and wanted to keep it that way. She took Amber out for a quick walk around the perimeter of the walls, then shut her back in the room with a quick apology.

"Sorry Amber, I promise I'll be back soon and we can run together again," Val said as Amber whined. Amber's ears perked up at that, and she settled herself back on the bed. Val didn't have the energy or heart to kick Amber off, and quietly shut the door.



Val leaned back into the shadows, pulling her mottled black cloak around her. The main square in front of the Military Intelligence office was well lit and patrolled, but there were dozens of side streets leading off in all directions. Val was huddled in one of those, one story above ground on a stub of a beam protruding across the alleyway. As she had hoped, it provided a perfect view into the square, and all those entering or leaving the office. She had huddled there, the sun casting dark shadows that obscured her form until well after midnight.

At long last, Drivia's form exited the front gate and strode, by some stroke of luck, directly for Val's alley. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to Aelig, and dropped down behind Drivia, following along at a safe distance. But Drivia was no slouch when it came to losing a tail. The woman backtracked, circled, and stopped randomly to look for anyone out of the ordinary. Perhaps this was what she always did, but Val thought it more likely that some sense was prickling at Drivia's back, telling her that she was being followed.

But she couldn't have expected Val. Her cloak changed colour half a dozen times and she shifted quickly and seamlessly between her forms, though she was careful not to use Nightshade's form, as she'd promised so long ago. After half a break of tension, Drivia seemed to relax and strode down the street with loose shoulders and a half-smile on her lips. Two turns and she entered a small alley and slipped up a narrow set of stairs to a second-floor apartment with an open balcony. Perfect.

Val paused at the bottom of the stairs, and glanced up and down the alley. There was no one there, and Drivia's window was the only one she could see. She leapt into the air and flapped her wings, propelling her up and onto the balcony. She landed silently and peered inside, the sound of clothing rustling in the background. Val wasted no time and crept forward, stepping lightly over the couches and chairs set up around a low table. An ornate rug sat on the floor, and a small vase of pretty yellow flowers rested on the table. The woman's house was modest, but decorated tastefully and showed no signs of ostentation Val had expected, given her attitude at the office earlier.

Something brushed up against her leg, nearly making Val yelp with fright, but it was just Drivia's cat. An orange tabby, well-fed and groomed, by the look of him. Val reached down and gently ran a hand down his back, and the animal purred loudly. Val extracted herself from the beast and pushed the vase of flowers off the table, retreating to an alcove near the door. She didn't have to wait long. Drivia came bustling in, and scooped up the flowers and vase, cursing under her breath at the water that pooled and soaked into the carpet. Val moved in with her weapon raised, and Drivia put a hand to her neck, giving a small cry as Val's dagger released its powerful drug.

The woman teetered for a moment and appeared as though she was going to cry out, before crumpling to the ground, unconscious. The cat meowed softly, nudging at Drivia's hand before losing interest and walking away.

Val let out a soft sigh of relief and felt at the woman's neck for a pulse. It was there, slow and steady, and she was breathing regularly. Val closed and locked the lower door, closing the balcony at the same time. There were no other exits from the building. She quickly searched the woman's house for any sign of Sintra. It took her a full break, but beneath the ornate carpet in her living room lay a trap door with a ladder into a small basement room. Thick adobe walls surrounded the 10x10 windowless room. A small portrait of Sintra hung on the wall, a writing desk and chair taking up most of the wall beneath it. A wardrobe on the far wall held several large, dark robes that were several inches too long for Val. Half a dozen hand-written communiques were placed in a neat pile on her desk, and a thicker stack of recieved letters lay beside them. Val grabbed the opened letters and climbed the staircase, reading through them one by one. Most were heavily encoded or had hidden messages- Val doubted Drivia would keep a letter from a soldier home to his mother otherwise. But one was extremely useful. It was dated 3 trials prior to the first ether storm, and in clear terms it outlined Sintra's role in encouraging Lisirra's impending attack, and the actions of several operatives, along with a command for Drivia to fight Lisirra's forces, and detailed intel of their layout and attack pattern that could only have come from inside Lisirra's organization. She was playing both sides.

This, along with the rest of the letters, would probably be enough to turn Etzos against Sintra. But she wasnt confident- the Etzori were prone to mob mentality, and fear was a strong motivator. Sintra was offering safety and reassurance, and all she had to offer was uncertainty and instability, but indepence too. She needed indisputable proof from Sintra herself.

The last letter mentioned a meeting, in one trial. When there, Val would undoubtedly be able to confirm all the information gathered here, as well as learn the identity of new operatives, and depending on the location of the meeting, potentially steal additional evidence of Sintra's plot to take over Etzos.

But that meant she'd need to be disguised as Drivia, and keep the woman out of the way until then. It looked like she'd need the warehouse after all.