MZA Orienteering Operatives
Orienteering Operatives
Tuesday evening, Royal Spymaster Magnus Grey conducted the second training for his nascent group of secret agents. Once again, the group gathered at the Counselor's Hall in Northern Britain and waited for his arrival. He appeared as if from thin air on a stool, greeted the crown, then strode to the back of the Hall where he climbed up onto a table and proceeded to quiet the crowd so he could speak.
He posed the scenario of being lost at sea amongst the isles of Tokuno, unable to see neither land nor beast, without a map or the navigational expertise of the average tillerman. How would one find their way back to land? The first to shout out the correct answer of 'sextant' was Dragons are Cute of -Y-.
The simple sextant would be the basis of the lesson that night, a tool that few outside of the Mariner's Guild use - let alone fully understand. The Spymaster wished his pupils to learn to correctly interpret the coordinates obtained from the device and use them to navigate across the facets.
To that end, he asked everyone to pair up to receive a satchel from him containing an instruction manual on sextants, and a book for recording information. Thirty checkpoints had been scattered across Trammel, Malas, and Ilshenar - each team needed to travel from point to point in sequential order and write down an item contained in a small box. A lantern at each point would give the coordinates and facet for the next location. A form of this exercise is considered a sport called orienteering on the world of Earth.
Starting in Trammel, the agents in training were led from Britain into the wilderness of the main continent. The safe sights of Malas were next, with the more dangerous locales of Ilshenar to come after... There the trainees faced brigands, balrons, and ancient wyrms just to open the box and obtain the next set of coordinates.
Wrapping up on Trammel, the last location was the cauldron in the sleepy hamlet of Paws south of Britain. There, Lord Grey waited to congratulate the trainees who successfully completed the course. As before, there were several people declared the 'winners' of the session and they received promotions. In the interests of national and operative security, I have been asked to withhold their names.
If you wish to have an adventure, the course starts at the Counselor's Hall in northern Britain. There is a sepia-hued lantern atop the display case along the eastern wall that will start you on your way. Don't forget a sextant!
Keep an eye open for the sepia-hued lanterns, or speak to Tybalt the ghostly Town Crier in front of the Counselor's Hall for upcoming events and announcements!
Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria
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