GLRP:EMs:Royal Spies:2010-2011:Blood Feud3
Blood Feud
Untitled Part III
Mission 89, December 28, 2010 - Training #14: Observation
With Minister Grey taken away for violating the Britannian Peace Act, Lord Kendal appointed Philip Stafford (Queen Dawn's Private Secretary) as the temporary head of the Ministery of Security. A training exercise comprised his first official interaction with the Spies.
During the training, Sarah Paumera directed the Spies to check on Minister Grey at his home in eastern Britain. All they found, however, was a message in his log book.
Log, by Magnus Grey
Mission 90, January 4, 2011 - Pip's Day Out
Before the Spies first mission under their new leader, those gathered in the underground base snooped through a suspicious backpack belonging to Philip. In the pack was an opened letter addressed to Dasha of the Meer from Queen Dawn, a blank check signed by Lord Kendal, a Royal Signet Ring, and a torn scroll with “B Chosen attacks Cove nd Moon.”
Letter, by Queen Dawn
Sarah Paumera soon arrived and suggested the Spies look in a bookcase in the base library. Hidden within, a kryss engraved with “Swap in crates of fresh vegetables” – a message from Lord Grey. Without knowing why, the Spies scrambled to gather crates of fresh foods while Sarah delayed Philip at Castle British.
When Stafford arrived, he said that they would be delivering a shipment of supplies to aid the Meer at Queen Dawn’s request. The Spies, accompanied by Philip, would gather the supplies from the Deuce's Vinculum Inn and then transport them by foot along a rather dangerous road instead of using the moongates.
Once the crates were gathered, the Spies headed south along the road through the jungle. Not long into the journey, a ratman gang attacked the caravan…causing Philip to hide.
Continuing down the road, the Spies neared Mistas. Just before the bridge, Philip ordered the Spies to continue on ahead while he hid under a large plant. Just south of the city, a contingent of Juka welcomed them to the area with an ambush.
A book of orders on the Jukan leader said that they believed Britannia was about to declare war. The Juka had apparently slain someone they thought was a Britannian Royal Guard who had information regarding an attack. Strangely, Philip didn’t want to be bothered with this information, and ordered the Spies onward.
Orders, by Warlord Kabur
Fortunately, several Spies ignored his orders and snuck away to find the ‘guard’s’ body. At small camp, an order shield and a book of orders lay near a corpse. Not far away, a partially buried dragon helm indicated the Bane Chosen’s involvement.
Orders, by ...
Philip had continued on with the Spies towards Lakeshire but was attacked near the bank of Pormir Priin by daemons and Bane Chosen. The battle stretched into the healer’s grove to the south before the Spies emerged victorious.
Arriving in Lakeshire, the Spies met with an eternal named Satharn. Philip ordered the crates to be delivered, not knowing that the Spies were giving the Meer crates full of fresh food, not his questionable crates.
Philip then asked to meet with Dasha to personally deliver the Queen’s letter, but was rebuffed by Satharn who would not reveal the Meer’s sanctum. Eventually, Philip begrudgingly agreed to give the letter to the Eternal before abruptly leaving.
The Spies returned to Britain and shared their misgivings about Philip with Sarah.
Mission 91, January 11, 2011 - Framed
Philip started the evening’s meeting by saying that both Lord Kendal and he believed there was a traitor working against Britannia. He said that his own investigation uncovered rumors that a daemon had been causing problems.
He said that his suspicions had been confirmed the night before when the wingless servant of Ankausvidlem was murdered. Allegedly, the evidence pointed to Bertrand , the Spies’ advisor, as the suspect. Philip then confronted Bertrand, who believed this must be a jest. In the end, the helpful daemon was arrested and hauled off to the Yew Prison to await trial. Philip then dismissed the Spies, saying he had other business.
With Stafford gone, Sarah Paumera appeared and led the Spies through a secret passage into the Britain sewers. A magical lever then teleported each Spy to a small house in Paws, the hideout of Magnus Grey. Lord Grey said that he wanted to speak to the Spies about what had transpired, but first he had a surprise.
Magnus had managed to rescue a crate of honors which Philip had ‘misplaced.’ He and Sarah proudly handed each Spy a cloak embroidered with their current rank. Two Spies, Galen and Neptune, had earned the highest rank (King Listener) twice, and were promoted to Assistant Royal Spymasters.
Next, the Minister discussed the situation with Bertrand and the murder of Ankausvidlem’s servant. Since the accusation against the daemon didn’t make sense, Magnus tasked the Spies with investigating the crime. He gave the coordinates of the scene of the crime, a small house in Britain. First, however, the Spies were to sneak into the Yew Prison and rescue Bertrand before any Bane or Conclave assassins could get to him.
The Spies arrived just in time to thwart a group of the Conclave’s destroyers from breaking into Bertrand’s specially warded cell. The daemons put up a fight, but ultimately failed in their mission. Bertrand was then taken to the dilapidated house center of the Hedgemaze to hide until he could be publicly exonerated.
With their main mission completed, the four Assistant Royal Spymasters headed to the coordinated of the gargoyle’s house in Britain. The scene of the crime.
Within the house, they found a broken knife in a pool of dried blood, but no further evidence. Fortunately, however, the trees outside the house concealed far more damning evidence: a Bane Helm and a Royal Signet ring… The same ring found after Mirendel’s abduction. The same ring both Lord Kendal and Philip Stafford wear…
Mission 92, January 18, 2011 - A Fool's Errand
Orders, by Magnus Grey
The evening started with Philip informing the Spies of Betrand’s escape, and the need to protect the advisers who remained in Britain: Adelais the Platinum Dragon and Harriet the Scribe. He wanted them both escorted to a safehouse in mainland Skara Brae.
Mission, by Philip Stafford
The Spies went to Castle British and found Adelais in his natural form looking down from the roof. Philip attempted to talk the dragon into leaving the castle, but found the idea met with little more than mute indignance. Adelais would not be leaving.
Getting to Harriet would be tricky, as Moonglow was currently under attack by the Bane Chosen. Philip left the Spies to take care of her escort by themselves while he finished paperwork.
Sarah Paumera brought the Spies back to the base to confer with Magnus Grey, who had used the sewer entrance to sneak into the city. He agreed that Pip was attempting to kill or scare off the Spies’ advisers, but also thought that Harriet should be taken to safety. He suggested the Spies escort the scribe to the Tea House in Tokuno where she would be taken into the care of Tess Midnight.
The Spies found Harriet in the courtyard of the Lycaeum fighting off the invading Bane Chosen. Talking her into leaving the massive library entailed agreeing to transport her most valuable books. She led the spies to a storeroom full of extremely heavy crates and asked them to lug them with her.
Demonic Religions, Vol. I, by Sigmel of Umbra
Corruption Magic, by Kahler
When the Spies arrived at the Tea House they found the area besieged by yama-uba. After defeating the child-eating ghouls, Tess Midnight agreed to take Harriet to safety.
The next stop was to investigate Philip’s safehouse in Skara Brae. The Spies quickly found that the house had been booby trapped by the Bane Chosen… Philip’s true allegiance was no longer in question…
Orders, by Kerom
When the Spies returned to the base, Lord Grey said that he would bring the evidence of Philip’s crimes to Queen Dawn that night.
Mission 93, January 25, 2011 - VirtueBane
Minister Grey once again commanded the Royal Spies, since Philip Stafford had been dismissed by Queen Dawn due to evidence of High Treason. Unfortunately, the traitor fled arrest and managed to escape Britain with Britannias’s plans for the ware with the Bane.
The Spies were sent to investigate Philip’s quarters at the castle in the hopes of finding clues to his whereabouts. In the tiny room was found several documents, including manipulated reports that Philip had given to Lord Kendal and a copy of the Principia Daemonis.
Letter, by Lord Kendal
Reports, by Philip Stafford
Reports, by Magnus Grey
A passing castle maid mentioned that Stafford had been spending a lot of time around the kitchen. The Spies located a switch near the kitchen door that opened a trapdoor to the sewer. In the sewer, a trail of scrolls and unusual monsters led towards the tunnel to the Lost Lands. Near the tunnel, a strange rune appeared to summon a nasty pet left behind by Philip.
Within the tunnel itself, a Bane drop box was found. It contained orders from Miegen, concrete proof that Philip was part of the Bane Chosen.
Orders, by Miegen
Acting on the information from the drop box, the Spies descended on the Isle of Magincia. At a partially constructed temple, they found not only the traitorous Philip, but the deserter Cole and VirtueBane himself!
The jade-hued arch-daemon towered over the Spies, dismissive of their combined might. He called them "Gnats, full of fury and self-importance." One spy, Galen, managed to goad VirtueBane into recklessness. He got VirtueBane to agree that the stolen war plans could be won back if the Spies could defeat the 'weakest of Virtuebane's Honor Guard.'
Several minutes later, the honor guard lay dead and the plans were recovered. His pride wounded, VirtueBane haughtily boasted "Your blood will have a special place in the foundation of my temple!" before vanishing.
Philip and Cole managed to slip away while the Spies’ focused on VirtueBane. Their time will come…
Mission 94, February 1, 2011 - Relic Hunters
Lord Grey ordered the Spies to head to Ilshenar and recover the Heart of Earth and the Cauldron of Rebirth, two artifacts he didn’t want falling into the hands of Virtuebane. He feared that Pip may have given information as to their whereabouts to his master.
The Spies went to the Shrine of Compassion in Ilshenar where they found a Bane agent had already taken the Heart of Earth. Fortunately, they were able to find the agent and dispatch it handily. Unfortunately, order found on the corpse indicated that it was now a race against time.
Orders, by VirtueBane
The Spies ran to the teleporter located in the Pass of Karnaugh, only to find that the Cauldron was missing. The single guard stationed there had been replaced by one sent by Lord Kendal, or rather, by Philip Stafford. This guard turned out to be another Bane agent and he attacked the Spies. Fragments of the Cauldron were found on his corpse.
Reassignment Letter, by Lord Kendal
Returning to Britain, the Spies handed over relics to Lord Grey. He took them into the base vault for safekeeping, even going so far as to reassemble the Cauldron.
Magnus then sent the Spies to Nujel’m, as a recently acquired asset had reported seeing odd shaped skulking about the city.
Letter, by Lord Marstan
The Spies found Lord Marstan’s home in northeastern Nujel’m, a Bane Rune had been placed just before the walkway. Marstan believed that this rune would lead to his death should he exit his home to investigate the daemon sightings further. He reported several disappearances in the city’s slums, and that he spoke to a man fitting Cole’s description several weeks prior.
Following his tip, the Spies headed for the slums where they knew the daemons had been hiding before - dank tunnels under the city. There, they found a horde of daemons to slay. When they died, a new set of orders from Virtuebane was discovered which explained their presence.
Orders, by VirtueBane
Returning to Marstan, the Spies informed him that the daemons were dead and that the rune outside his house had changed colors. Asking about the teleporter for which Virtuebane was looking received an odd response. Marstan suggested a map he had recently purchased which would lead to arcane buried treasures. Using the spellwords “Vas Ex Wis Por” caused the map to begin relaying instructions like a treasure map.
Treasure!, by Marstan
Following the map’s instructions eventually led the Spies from the Nujel’m guillotine to a small pool in the northern garden of the Sultan’s Palace. Petting a dolphin statue whisked one to a small pit below the pool where the teleporter had been hidden.
The Spies returned to Magnus with the teleporter and learned that the Royal Archaeologist had determined that there were more rooms of Xenve An-Amo-Lem which might now become accessible. The tile was placed in the vault for safekeeping until Ankuasvidlem could be contacted for assistance.
Mission 94, February 8, 2011 - Twist of the blade...
Magnus sends the Spies to Despise after hearing a rumor that the Bane are after something there. At the entrance to the dungeon, a Bane camp is discovered and eradicated. Orders found in the camp indicate that Cole wants a poison brewed by a lizardman alchemist who lives in the dungeon.
Orders, by Cole of the Chosen
The Spies follow a path sparsely marked with human skulls to the swamp in the second level. There, they meet Sspitess, the alchemist, who is being guarded by a Bane creature. When the creature was finally slain, the lizardman begrudgingly admitted to brewing a deadly poison from local fungus for Cole. In fact, a shipment had recently been picked up. Fortunately for the Spies, Sspitess found a book the Spies found useful.
Advari's Crypt, by Sigmel of Umbra
Following Cole’s notes, the Spies went to Deceit where they found one of Maggie the Red’s crew, Sweet Maid Sally. She was there to acquire something from a chamber deep within the dungeon. The Spies followed Sally to a hidden burial chamber deep within the dungeon, Advari’s Crypt.
Their entrance woke the undead assassin, who lashed out at them savagely. As the Spies fought him, Sally managed to steal the blasé which the Bane were after and flee the crypt. In her haste, she dropped the orders given to her by Maggie.
Sailing, by Captain Maggie
The Spies followed Sally to Skull Island off the Coast of Buccaneer’s Den where they were minutes too late to prevent the pirate from handing over the blade to Cole. The two evildoers gloated about their victory before both escaping Britannian justice.
Mission 95, February 15, 2011 - Out for blood
Lord Grey started the evening’s meeting with a somber walk to Castle Britannia so the Spies could get a closer look at what failure looked like. Queen Dawn’s sarcophagus rested before the dais in the throne room, her death at her husband’s hands with the blade the Spies failed to acquire the week before. The price of failure was simple: death.
However, Magnus didn’t blame his Spies for the actions of Virtuebane’s minions. He blamed the traitors that had moved amongst the honest citizens of Britannia, those who were the real culprits behind the Queen’s death. He wanted the Spies to go after them, or rather one that evening, Cole.
Information obtained from the interrogation of a Bane soldier led the Spies to a small camp in south central Ilshenar, a slave camp east of Exodus’s Lair. Apparently, the Bane were abducting citizens from the cities they had unsuccessfully attempted to seize in Britannia and were using them as slave labor.
At the camp, the Spies fought several blackrock golems before finally securing the area. Within a small stone cell, they found someone who had been abducted from Cove during the last attack on the city. When he was freed from imprisonment, he mentioned a box that had been hidden in his cell. The box contained a book with Cole’s possible location.
Orders, by Cole of the Chosen
Following instructions in the book, the Spies found a small keep which had been built around a pass leading into Montor, Cole’s new fiefdom. The keep was guarded by a few blackrock golems and daemon destroyers, but they proved no match for the Spies’ determination. For on the keep’s wall stood Cole, smirking down at them.
The Spies breached the keep walls and confronted the traitor. They gave him several opportunities to surrender peacefully and submit to Britannian law, but the man refused. He attacked the Spies with poisons and trickery, wounding many. Fortunately, however, superior numbers and training proved his downfall.
Journal, by Cole of the Chosen
The silver spear Cole had been awarded for a decade of service to the Ministry of Security became the pike in which his head was placed. A warning to all future traitors.
Mission 96, February 22, 2011 - Manhunt
Letter, by Vicfier of the Chosen
Orders, by Philip Stafford
Orders, by Vicfier of the Chosen
Mission 97, March 1, 2011 -
Mission 98, March 8, 2011 -
Mission 99, March 15, 2011 -
Mission 100, March 22, 2011 -
Mission 101, March 29, 2011 -
Back to The Royal Spies main page
