RP: Dinner with Egg

As the party had decided to institute a regime of strict information control, after your successful strike against the purification poisoners, everyone decides to quickly but stealthily head back to Germain's apartment to debrief, regroup, and discuss their next move. Now the ad hoc headquarters of the nascent Azure Geese, much changed since Edrell suffered his drunken nadir here. The room is immaculately clean and meticulously organized. During your time in the swamp, Egg has clearly been hard at work and the only similarities to the apartment Germain (and Edrell) left behind are one very sturdy desk, a bed, and the door you just walked through.

Now, every free wall has a floor to ceiling bookshelves, crammed overfull with codices and folios - including those walls that once contained windows, making the once mildly uncomfortable room now dark and stiffing, made more so by the injection of six bodies where normally there is only one. On the table you notice Egg's satchel, goggles, and a smooth obsidian(?) sphere, which some of you might recognize as the Nondetection Stone used by Edrell in the past. As soon as you walk in, prisoners in tow, Egg puts his finger to his mouth and makes a shushing noise. He walks over to the stone and activates it in the same manner as Edrell earlier. In this very same room, appropriately enough. In addition to the bookshelves, you notice the addition of a sizable steel chest with a high quality lock.

  Egg: "I borrowed this from Edrell. Well, actually, Germain did. I just carried the letter of request."

 Germain chuckles: "I do seem to think of everything."

  Egg (smiles, but continues in a very businesslike manner; indicating the cleric prisoners from the sewer): "Shove those guys in the corner and I'll deafen them, or Kimika can silence the corner, so we can talk without them overhearing. I'd hate to have taken all these precautions against our friends eavesdropping just for these guys to hear everything. You can go ahead and assume that up until this point, none of you have any secrets. You can go ahead and assume that anything any of you have said or done - alone or in a group - has been observed by, at the very least, Naprid, the Theives' Guild, and Edrell himself. Depending on how high your profile has become among the enemy, possibly the Besiegers, as well."

 LE seems more interested in taking a look at the stone again, so she approaches it with a curious expression.

The sphere is a wondrous item, with substantial weight and heft due to its size. The obsidian has been worked into a perfectly smooth and blemish free sphere about a foot in diameter. It has been set up on a cheap wooden tripod. Concentrating on it for a time with Detect Magic, it radiates strongly (between 12th-20th caster level) of Abjuration magic. You also detect a similar aura of abjuration invisibility permeating the room.

 Mose: Surely Edrell and Naprid have no need to spy on us, half the time we're off doing things they cooked-up. If they are spying on us then we might as well throw away those ridiculous fire-side chat toys, because what's the point? Egg, are you saying we can't trust them?

 Germain : It's not so much about not trusting specific people, Mose... it's more about not knowing who we can trust. This mole might be someone close to us like Eddy or Naprid, and some secrets are probably the only way to root them out. I don't think they'll hold it against us, frankly. They know how the game is played and I think both of them would appreciate that we did our due diligence. In any case, *someone* can't be trusted, and that means compartmentalizing information is pretty important.

  Egg (smiles) : "<Old Ubreki: The air has eyes and ears>," as the old saying goes. But, yeah, I didn't mean to insinuate nobody was trustworthy. I suppose I should be more careful of my words. "spying," "surveying," "observing," "monitoring," or even simply "investment protection." Surely you've seen that fine Mithril cane Naprid carries. You think that's just for show? Hardly. Also the Thieves' Guild, at the very least, has been keeping more or less a constant watch on you since you've exploded into their awareness.

I do know this - you all have been growing a profile now for over a year, and have become central to the siege efforts. I know that if I were Naprid, or Edrell, or the Mole, or Fenn, that I would want to keep close tabs on your activities. When you didn't care that people watched you, it didn't matter. Now that you do care, it does matter. And, so, I've taken efforts in the direction. <He gestures to the sphere> Until Edrell takes his toy back, you can pretty safely count on the fact that anything you say or do in here will be free from observation. Does that mean that outside of here you are always being watched? No. But when you can't tell one way or the other, it's best to assume the worst, wouldn't you agree?

 Mose gets a little lost trying to follow Egg's quick explanation, but his gut says that Egg's advice is wise.

 Mose nods and says: Do you think this stone's magic is enough to keep their snouts out of our business? The mole would have to be a slippery weasel indeed to avoid detection this far.

  Egg (slightly surprised): That's actually an excellent question. When active, it will make active scrying of the area difficult, but not impossible. A seer of sufficient level could brute force their way through the effect and we'd have no way to know, but from my own examinations of the device that seer would need to be powerful, indeed. (The effect generates is as if cast by a Level 18 caster.) Knowing something of Naprid's abilities, for example, I don't think he or his stick could penetrate it easily. The thought is worth considering, but at the moment it's the best we have. The Silverwalkers have the best idea the situation on the ground: if you think it's likely this is insufficient protection, there are at spells that can detect the presence of scrying magicks in an area. We don't have this capability at present, but we could acquire it with some time and money.

As to the Mole, I agree and disagree. From what I've heard, it doesn't sound like too much effort has actually gone into rooting the mole out. I mean, it was known that there were agents operating in the city: the arsonist proved that much, and the precision of the first headhunter attack both required a lot of inside work. But, the first assassination that suggested any sort All Access Agent was the mayor, whose location was known only to the War Room. (Germain has not told Egg about the Silverwalker's part in that. -gm) How things proceeded from that point, I have no idea - you all were in the swamp, and I was still trying to set up the organization here. Confirmation of just how deeply compromised everything was came only with the turncoat. In the War Room, Naprid claims to have a search ongoing, but one coming up against formidable magical barriers. Edrell reports the same from Dandrell.

 Quinalin What do we know so far about the Mole? Based on the Dwarf's intel, the mole is from Odessa or at least working for them, right? Do we have a breakdown of when each of the people in the war room first came to Wydmoor? Maybe we could sort each person in order of likelihood of being an agent. Further, we could try to come up with motives for each one and see if anything floats to the surface. I'm sorry if this is all basic stuff for you, Egg. You can feel free to tell me to go off and swing my sword at stuff. (Quinn grins briefly) I wonder if there is any spying we can do of our own on the enemy leadership... find out what intel they might be getting out of the war room. Another plan that I considered was whether we might be able to come up with a series of interesting false leads we could share with different portions of the war room. Things like, "Quin said that he had to go into the burned out district at midnight to meet with X". Eventually, if Egg is right about the interest in our doings, one of these false leads should prompt an ambush. Rather than foiling it out-right, if we could manage to barely escape it, then we could come away with knowledge of who was likely to leak the information (we have to control for magical eavesdropping when we plant the false lead though) and they won't be the wiser which will give us plenty of opportunity for reverse espionage.

  Egg (chuckles) Mose goes to show, there's no such thing as bad input. Besides, I'm relatively new here and still don't really know my way around so there's almost never something that's "too basic." You guys have been working around here for, what, two years? Letters of credit will get me in a lot of doors, but I don't know the social dynamic of this place and I don't really know any of the people, my noncontributing and passive allowance into the War Room not withstanding. <Gnomish: A thousand ways missing one right answer.> Anyway!

From what I've picked up in there, and from talking to Germain, we know surprisingly little. I mean, everyone has known for awhile that there were some kind of hostile agents working in the city. The assassinations, for example. Coincidental, but after the arson an impossible conclusion not to draw. I'm still fuzzy on the details, and one of you could probably fill me in better - either before or after the Silverwalkers discovered the Odessans had occupied the Forge. I think it was before... But, anyway. No reason to believe it was anything other than an observant and well entrenched, though not necessarily well placed, saboteur and spy.

  Egg : After the mayor was assassinated, though, it was pretty clear the War Room itself was infiltrated, or is now in retrospect. No one really looked into things, probably because of other pressing issues or not wanting to look because everyone was secretly glad to be rid of the old man. Who knows, you guys were out starting your assignment in the swamp by that period so who knows what down in the War Room after news broke. The runecrafter only confirms to everyone what should have been obvious a month ago, but better late than never. I expect Naprid is looking into things, and has hinted as much, but is not sharing the results with the War Room. Probably telling Ralth, but not us. Too much answer for a little question, sorry. So, clearly, whoever the Mole is has been in the city long enough to be well established and influential. Or has been paid off directly or in promises under a new regime, maybe. Or perhaps both, since there's no guarantee there's only one enemy in our midst. Wydmoor is as easy to enter as Hell, so establishing a hundred sleepers would only take time and money. Or perhaps there were infiltrators and only recently has someone secretly turned to the Odessans. False leads are a pretty good idea, especially if this is the first you've mentioned of them, but I doubt they'd fall for a ruse so bare as the one you suggest. Honestly, I don't know that the Silverwalkers need fear a direct attack or ambush under any circumstances within the city walls. So long as the teleport ward stays up, no strike force should be able to get in and move so freely as that, and your reputations are all enough that no local toughs will bother you. But, the larger idea is a good one.

Long story short [ LE smirks], there's a bit we know, but a lot we don't. As to the enemy leadership, the turncoat has actually been able to reveal quite a bit about the command structure of the Odessans but not much direct intelligence about plans or operations. For reasons that should now be obvious. (grins) From what I've picked up, the command structure is quite unusual for an Odessan operation: there are a couple of different, independently commanded operations. He was attached to one of the smaller groups, mostly rangers and scholars, and its goals were apparently non-military in scope and unattached to the seige. I think the woman you described from the Hobgoblin camp was also part of that group.

The larger siege force is under the command of Rogert Theadrik, Earl of Wetherfeld, a long time confidant and ally of the Royals and well blooded in reprisal campaigns against the Celstians of the Eastern Hills. The troops themselves seem to be largely conscript in origin, but surprisingly experienced; Many have been rotated in from the Alexian occupation to the north. In fact, one of the Geese is a deserter from those same forces I'm proud to say. I'm less thrilled to say that, despite the early setbacks the Silverwalkers inflicted on the advance force, the Odessans have managed to establish fairly robust supply lines across the mountains, and might even have resumed operation of the Iros Mines. So, while your efforts have definitely saved the city from a quick fall, the Odessan forces are well established despite the poor morale among the common troop.

 Germain : Well, I think Quinn's suggestion is a good one. A little bit of disinformation here and there might do well to root out anyone who might be reporting to the Odessans. In my mind, the obvious in this cases are probably the most likely. As far as the assassinations and arson go, the guild would have been able to provide the necessary information, and they are sure to benefit quite a bit from this conflict. Those wererats in the sewers raise my hackels a bit on this point--we know from the swamp temple that at least some of them work for the guild. If the ones we killed do, they'd be sure to have noticed the changes in the sewers and reported it, and the fact that the guild didn't stop it would suggest that they are at least implicitly supporting the Odessans.

Game Master: (dice clatter) (Knowledge: Wydmoor): Germain believes he recognized the corpse of the wererat, after it changed back, as a not terribly reputable resident of the city.

 Germain : Unfortunately, one of the other most suspicious actors in the city is Edrell himself. He's an Odessan, come to the city only recently, is a capable wizard, and has certainly caused a lot of instability. With our help, I might add. Given how much he's helped us, he would have to be playing a pretty complicated game and slowing down his own plans to keep them a secret. I'm not sure it would make any sense, and my gut tells me he's not a mole. To those outside this room, he looks a hell of a lot more suspicious.

All that said, it may just not be worth worrying too much about a deep mole. The mayor's location was never even discussed in the War Room, so its not like that attack is really an indicator that it's been compromised. I just don't know that we should look to much into his assassination (feel free to roll a bluff check here if you like ;). Even if Fenn is working with the Odessans, no one trusts him so its not like he's privy to all that much information. I'm inclined to believe that the mole is little more than an expert on the city--not so much an agent that has penetrated into the heart of our command structure.

Game Master (dice clatter)

  Egg : (miffed at the suggestion he is wrong) Well, I don't know, Germain. The location may never have been spoken, but the only way someone could have gotten it was the War Room. I mean, a few hours before the attack on the Mayor happened, his big flunky was safe as houses inside the Castle, but his corpse was found with the mayor and his daughter. So, alright, I'll concede that does not mean the War Room itself is compromised, but the Mole is clearly operating from within the Wydmoor Castle and that plus "high access" or whatever the Dwarf said points to Mole. But, I agree that the assassination itself isn't the key to locating the mole, but I still do think it suggests that the War Room itself is infiltrated.

 Mose has been getting worked-up all along with the repeated mention of the Mayor situation as if it was some underhanded act.

 Mose says (doing his poor best to avoid being transparent): It wasn't an assassination, but a liberation-- freeing the city of the Mayor's twisting of the real law to steal from and harm thousands of people... Poor souls who will never have their homes and lives back now. Taking him down was the right thing to do, and any right-hearted fellow with a desire for justice and truth would agree.

 Al (I'm out of town visiting family, so haven't followed this much until now) <suddenly realizing that he has things he wouldn't want found out about himself by just anyone> Uh, so I don't really know who all these people are or why they might care so much about us, but, you know, I've got some good ways to hide myself and keep an eye on people who we might want to, uh, know more about.

 Germain grimaces : Not to put to fine a point on it, but let's take the Mayor's assassination off the table. I'm privvy to some information regarding it that shouldn't be disclosed, not for lack of trust, but because it's the sort of thing that anyone who doesn't know would be better off not knowing. Of course, Egg, your reasoning is right, but let's just say that this piece of information unequivocally indicates that this was not the act of, or tied to, the alleged Mole. Regardless of whether any of you have deduced the nature of this secret, let's not go stating it for our respective mental records. *looks apologetically at Egg*

Now, with that in mind, how pervasive do we believe this mole can be? Do we need to worry about our own immediate relations--Naprid, Edrell, and Ralth--and is there any reason to believe that this mole has dug into the heart of Wydmoor's defensive planning? I have to admit, I was indulging in some paranoid fantasies that we might be comprimised through to the core, but now that I think about it... well... that may just have been an overactive imagination.

  Egg: *cocked eyebrow* Fair enough, but it's worth noting I'm probably not the only one who is going to be thinking down the same path and drawing these same connections once the crisis passes and people have time to stop and think. As to the scope, length, and extent of the infiltration - I'm afraid that's on you guys. I'm too new on the scene to really have the information to venture a guess.

So, where does that leave us? What's next?

 Mose: I guess we have a fireside chat with those prisoners and then take them to Naprid? He seemed keen on the barbarian magic items we found, perhaps we show him those nasty magic daggers the ratters dropped, too?

 Kimika finally speaks, having been uncharacteristically quiet the entire conversation. "Magius Hemsley and the Hadriarch. Perhaps Magius Hemsley is colluding with the Odessans given his intimate knowledge of the water supply. In addition, the presence of clerics leads me to believe perhaps that our very own Hadriarch may be the mole. He certainly has no problem with switching loyalties when it suits him and has a history of underhanded dealings in order to get his way." She falls silent again and looks intently at her hands.

  Egg : Now, I don't know the man, but it's hard to imagine that Hemsley wouldn't have a bigger asset to the Odessans as the sitting Magius. Although, I don't think anyone has heard anything out of him since he absconded, so who knows? Same situation with the Hadriarch, really. Did either one of them suffer an assassination attempt? Anyway, just idle musings, sorry. Back on topic - the point is, its to say that it couldn't be them, but Germain's has a point - it almost literally could be anyone. Any of you included, really... at least from everyone else's point of view. They - the mole - is obviously well hidden, probably by some pretty significant abjuration if Edrell's pet diviner couldn't sniff them out after the arson. And, probably Naprid and whoever else is looking, for that matter. If someone had information, I'm sure we'd have heard by now. I mean, unless it was.. uh.. taken care of internally, like some sort of Thieves' Guild infighting or whatever. Or, you know, whoever. Idle musings, again.

But, I think Germain is probably right on the larger point, too, in a way about the value of perusing the spy. I'm not convinced it's not a fruitful avenue or something we couldn't crack, but I do think it's not something that could be done as a side project or kicked out over tea and cakes. It would take time, effort, and expense. Probably in significant quantities, and a lot of your direct attention. And, I don't have to remind you, the application of those things in once place is going to leave the city no less in jeopardy in other ways. The Bog Wraiths seem a lot more resource-thin than I would have expected, and from what I've seen, the Silverwalkers seem to be all the offense Wydmoor is able to cobble together at present for whatever reason.

 Germain : Churchmen of the Hadriarch position are politicians, and any good politician would throw off suspicion by doing something like running away. So would any coward. And Egg's right that there isn't one of us who can't draw a little well-founded suspicion, and I'm particularly suspicious. There are just too many possibilities and not enough information right now. For now, I think the best we can do is get real and fake information out about our activities and see if we can draw out the mole. I'll see what sort of plans I can put together around this.

Which leads to another excellent question: what are our plans? We could talk to either Naprid or Edrell--preferably the later, I should think--and see if there are any way to strike another blow to the Odessans. Also, there is the matter of the refugees. They are suffering right now, and it's been a while since we gave them our attention. There is no doubt that a decisive victory will help them the most, but can we afford to wait? Do we know of any way we can bring more of them into the city? Many of the Geese were refugees, and I'm sure they are antsy to get their friends and family back into the city. Are we able to use the Sojourner's Cap twice yet? If so, we could go to a major city, purchase a massive amount of food, and bring it back to the refugees. It's a plan with a lot of risks, but there is no doubt they need something. What do we want to do now? Attack or rescue?

These are all good questions! Game Master

Interviewing the Prisoners

• Smooth them over with diplomacy--let them know we will be fair to them and take care of them if they let us

Game Master : Dice Clatter

• Ask direct questions--since we have no detect thoughts (until Kimi rests), it's all about yes/no questions that I can sense motive on

They seem cooperative enough, and will answer some questions.

• Intimidate if necessary--good cop/bad cop if we can, but something to route them if they are digging in

Not necessary. Didn't you read that interrogation guide I sent you?

• •  Al Good cop/bad cop/big scary bears breathing down your neck while questions are being asked.

Game Master As you'll see when we start the game, the room is WAAAAAaaaaay too small for you to hulk out. I mean, you could probably do it by destroying a few of Egg's shelves, but that sort of behavior is frowned upon.

• •  Al Or big dangerous snake, etc. Only if needed, though. Seems to be going well without such shenanigans.
• Aren't these guys priests? Don't they have an oath not to do this shit?

Not a quote, but the gist - The excommunication rules are complicated, and purifying water isn't exactly illegal. You shouldn't be using evil servitors for septic treatment, anyway.

•  Mose will Detect Evil very thoroughly, too.

They are not evil.

•  LE makes herself available for creative persuasion, but doesn't seem to actually be following the line of questioning.

Question Chain

• What is your relationship with the invading force?

They are a specialist detachment of the main church force, stationed in Yalmrinth, which is responsible for providing food, medical care, and other non-combat support roles well away from the siege zone.

• Were you present at the siege of Iros Forge?

No. The church detachment was brought in after the occupation of Yalmrinth.

• Did you know you were working with servitors/hobgobbos?

Aren't you? It's not uncommon to use servitors as scouts and outriders, since they know the lay of the land and that sort of thing has a high casualty rate. Also because they're surprisingly reliable, as they usually have such a terrible relationship with their Goodly neighbors they will only abandon and never defect.

• How did you get into the waterways?

We used runestones provided for us by a Dwarven mercenary.

• Were you getting asstaince from anyone in the city?

Us specifically? Only the wererats who were apparently living down there when we showed up.

• Do you know who?

Is this a broken knock-knock joke?

• Did you know the people from the city that were down there?

The wererats? No, but they weren't actively hostile when we showed up.

• Do you know who they are?

The wererats?

• Do you know who they work for?

Themselves, I assume.

• Are you privvy to any of the other siege plans?

Nope. We clerics tend to stay far away from that sort of discussion for conflict of interest reasons.

• What other plans do you know about?

One of those clerics was going to ask his girlfriend to marry him when he got home, but you killed him and he probably got eaten by an Otyugh. Those sort of plans?

Game Master: Do you want us to RP this on the wiki, RP this in game saturday, or just roll it out and give bullets?