GLRP:EMs:Royal Spies:2009:Pauper's Plan:Notes4
Title: Notes
Author: Lord Casca
I write the following words to document the great task before me. A game of chess requires aggression, subterfuge, and precision. Aggression will be handled by others, the Servant of Astaroth on one side and the citizens of Britannia on the other. There are two sides, and I pretend to be the king for the side I play against. Subterfuge is the nature of my role. To insure precision, I take these notes. . . . I put aside all the duties of a proper king, handing these tasks to the hands of those I know to be incompetent and foolish. I have no desire to govern properly what will be laid to waste. Going through the notes, I will weaken the system by replacing competence with mediocrity. I see a scribe who will make a most amusing choice as a general. I see a spy who was left to rot. I see a saboteur as a trade minister. . . . A mouse stands against me? Amusing. I suggested to my idiot aid that I saw a few rats in town, and he was quick to find someone to place traps. . . . Unfortunately, public opinion sits with the rat. I have removed the traps in hopes of appearing benevolent. . . . I am allowing the Spymaster to train a new group of spies in hopes of finding recruits for my true master. I also believe if will keep him distracted while I work on some other plans. I have created a secondary persona, the Pauper, to work on the criminal underworld and gather more allies to my master’s cause. . . . It is very helpful having access to the personal files of every criminal incarcerated in Britannia’s prison, every spy who can be turned. Joseph Wainwright has his price. He will keep silent about what will happen shortly in Trinsic. Melissa will do her job without interruption, so any failure will be on her part. . . . I had to kill Joseph because apparently Magnus Grey actually has some competent people working for him. I must keep greater track of these new spies. I have asked James to give me a complete list of these new spies and summaries of their activities. He seemed confused by this request, but a few comments about “making sure I, at least, know these heroes’ names” helped persuade him. . . . Blackrock hurt my Masters in the shadow of Moonglow. The material is powerful and must be looked into. Beyond a few works to “steal” the material from my own Royal stockpiles, I have people spying on blackrock researchers and mining more of the stuff south of Britain. . . . I have no real problem with the meer, but I wanted to see this new blackrock poison in action. Adding an impediment to Magnus Grey’s work and mentoring a promising new necromancer were added benefits. . . . The orcs were failures. They lost their blackrock toys and a few chieftains. I despise incompetence. I heard the crop problem has spread to their foods. I hope they all starve for failing me. . . . I tried to deal with a few loose ends related to Michael of Moonglow, a promising blackrock researcher I have borrowed from. Unfortunatly, the Royal Spies are starting to become a problem. . . . I gave Andrew the list as soon as I heard of Magnus Grey’s desperate plan to infiltrate my group and learn the identity of “the Pauper.” . . . Andrew only managed to kill a few spies with his inattention. Pathetic. Oh well, his roll is secondary with the invasions “pushed back.” . . . One of the plans I’ve been working on lately is gathering a few large groups of malcontents and miscreants and turning them into Pauper’s army. While I can misuse the Royal Guard and the Shadowlords have much greater armies, I want to insure an exit strategy should my true motives be discovered. . . . My armies are gone, killed in secret by some powerful group. Since Magnus Grey’s reports are getting shorter and shorter, maybe the Royal Spies? . . . The Royal Guard commander was so incompetent he either broke the law in a pointless way or got himself framed. Either way, I can start moving other people into place. . . . I love the variety of tools I can misuse as king. Diplomacy is one incredible one. I have a Cyclops tribe bothering Tokuno now. Since my master’s eyes will turn to these islands soon, best to be ready. . . . I have started changing laws and hiring new people to enforce my “vision” for the Virtues. I am curious who will be too timid to move against me, and who will show they need to be removed. Morton and Xavier show a certain level of brutality I can respect. . . . Blackrock is so useful. Irate monsters rampage across Tokuno thanks to its magic. Wonderful. Now to start the search. . . . I have had Magnus Grey arrested. His spies are remarkably competent and hopefully soon dead. . . . My efforts at the volcano have been foiled. . . . I have sent Morton to clean up a few “loose ends” in Tokuno. He does a remarkable job. It is a pity he failed to capture James though or wipe out the High Council. . . . My masters want the Bell of Courage found and destroyed. I think a fake bell will bring the true one out. . . . The artifact protecting my castle has been destroyed. It is time to move to another place anyway. Andrew had some trouble with the remaining spies again. . . . Magnus Grey has escaped, and Morton has been killed. I underestimated my enemy again. Not a mistake I will repeat. . . . Lady Dawn was not killed by that fool pyromancer or the necrosculpter. Now she is talking with platinum dragons and fighting for Luna. My masters want me to look into her destiny. I have had several wisps captured. I hope to torture their knowledge of the future out of them. . . . Blackrock bombs against my enemies and their greatest weapons? A simple plan that I’m surprised Melissa did not consider. . . . I have lost the means to produce more bombs, but it doesn’t matter. I have gotten the answers I need from the wisps and will join my masters. The end of this war is near.
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