b4k4-san

Liam couldn’t believe how many people bought into it. No one ever questioned why removing one specific counselor with little to no military influence or experience would make the kingdom more vulnerable to foreign threats. No one ever questioned why so many of the Old Guard’s new policies only seemed to affect things domestically rather than serve literally any purpose in terms of defense. No one ever even questioned which of their neighboring countries it was who enacted the plot. No of course not, everyone simply fell into line. Never breaking curfew or any of the other new restrictions. Never speaking up when others were brought in for questioning over their ‘sympathetic’ attitude towards the still-unnamed enemy. It was all so heavy-handed, yet somehow it was working. But maybe he was biased. From his perspective, the pieces had all fallen into place just before the big reveal. Not everyone had that advantage, maybe they needed a small push. That’s why he was here, after all. In an

Thank you all for coming. It is with a heavy heart and the deepest grief that I must inform you of the death of Councilor Wilhelm Metz. He was a man beloved by the people and respected by his colleagues, and his loss leaves an echoing cavern in our great land. But unfortunately that is not the only bad news which I have to share with you today. Wilhelm was found dead in his villa several days ago but unknown forces attempted to conceal the incident from the public. My comrades and I have determined that this endeavor was the first step in a plot meant to destabilize the kingdom and leave it vulnerable to foreign incursion. Therefore we have chosen to step forward to ensure the safety and security of our home. The Duke and the Council have always acted with the best interests of the citizenry at heart. With that in mind the Council has chosen to temporarily dissolve, handing its power to a tribunal composed of ranking military officers. The Duke has agreed to step back to a ceremonial

Valerie had had her doubts when Claudia outlined her proposal that there was some splinter group among the Collective that was orchestrating all this. But then she’d gone into some kind of fit while the four of them were walking down the street, stumbling into Liam and almost knocking him over before standing bolt upright and declaring that Wilhelm’s ghost had just come to her and told her who was responsible for killing him and binding his spirit to impede any investigation. It made that first idea seem a bit more reasonable by comparison. “You have to admit, it’s not any more preposterous than the alternatives.” Liam was aware of her skepticism and had been trying to whittle away at it all day. “Wilhelm gave us a name and from there we’ve actually managed to sniff out a few faint traces of information. Which doesn’t sound like much, but it’s more than we had.” Val didn’t disagree; they’d just come from a very interesting conversation with a Ninth House informant. While they hadn’t

There was no color in this place. Everything was dull, muted, with a kind of fog or haze overtop all of it. Wilhelm hated it here. But he couldn’t leave. There was something keeping him tied to this place. There’d been a… call at some point. When he’d tried to follow, it had felt like a cord tied around his throat had harshly yanked him back to where he’d started. The calling had stopped, but Wilhelm still remembered where it was coming from, so he set out. Slow but steady. He had to deliver an important message. “The Old Guard”

“You’d think it’d be easier to track down a shadowy secret society given the fact that we’re part of one ourselves.” To say Liam was surprised at the assignment that had fallen to himself and Valerie after giving their report would be an understatement. The Collective’s elders, in his experience, were generally more skeptical when presented with ideas that A)Ran counter to current ongoing plans and B)Lacked anything in the way of hard evidence. But it seemed the old timers were having their own misgivings, and hearing that the Ninth House was apparently as concerned by Wilhelm’s death as they were themselves lent the duo’s words a bit more weight. It was just a small bit though; given that they only knew of a theoretical third party’s existence and not relevant who, why, or where, the majority of Collective operations were continuing on unaffected while Liam and Val were tasked with seeking out literally any actionable information about this unknown entity and its apparent plans. It

When Val shook Liam awake, he was tempted to believe he’d blacked out and had a weird dream due to everything that had happened. Unfortunately the lack of a hangover and angry red welts on his wrists put that notion down. Not to mention the concerned look on Val’s face. The look faded once he got himself moving. When he turned to try and catch the bartender’s eye she yanked his arm, pulling him towards the exit instead. “You can’t tell me you don’t need a drink after what just happened.” His companion scoffed, still tugging him along. “I’ll need one more after we tell them what we just learned. Now come on, assuming they don’t have an assignment for us after we report in, I’ll buy the first round.” “Tell them what? That Ninth House witch asked us two questions and sent us on our merry way. What exactly is it that we learned?” He finally reclaimed his arm once they neared their destination. “Care to clue me in?” Val turned and stared at him like he’d failed some exam he didn’t

In keeping with the Ninth House’s origins as a school of magic, standing in front of the gathered leadership after giving her report was not unlike standing in front of a group of teachers waiting to pass judgment on an important practical project. Claudia generally had a dcently firm hand on her emotions, but in this situation she was finding it difficult not to fidget. At least the hard part was over; she’d presented what little she’d learned from the two former prisoners and what she’d extrapolated for it, now it was just a matter of clarifying any points the others in the chamber were unclear on. She didn’t even have to worry about being punished or reprimanded if the conclusions they drew differed from her own, yet she just couldn’t shake off the tension she was feeling ever since she left the interrogation. “It seems like a stretch,” “Does it? We know they tend not to compartmentalize. And despite Claudia’s lack of experience with the Collective specifically we know she

When Claudia woke the day after the ritual, there were two more bodies waiting for her. The fact that these were still alive was a nice change of pace. They were brought in late last night from a bar in the Eastern Ward, and before that they had been in a certain mercenary headquarters. Which meant they might provide some of the answers she’d been denied the day before. She stepped into a room just big enough for the three of them and a small table. The pitcher of water and accompanying glasses were left untouched, likely due to the fact that her guests’ hands remained bound. No need to take unnecessary risks, after all. “I don’t suppose you’d like to share why your organization murdered Councilor Wilhelm yesterday?” She began, slipping into the seat across from the pair. The surprise on their faces was immediate, followed quickly by confusion, but they remained silent. She gave it a beat before trying again. “Did you bind his shade to keep us from learning you were behind it, or do

Having delivered his report and, after a longer questioning than he would have preferred, Liam found himself having a quiet drink with Val. “What a night.” All he wanted to do was go back home and sleep for a whole day, but after the meeting they’d just come from the thoughts buzzing through his head just wouldn’t shut up. He glanced to the side where Val clutched her own cup in both hands. “What do you think?” “I think it’s the first of many.” The woman replied, taking a long sip of the amber liquid. “So if you plan on getting any of that rest you were complaining about back there, now’s the time to do it.” She didn’t seem to intend to take her own advice, however, looking for all the world like she planned to sit right where she was until someone found her with her next task. She was doing a good job of hiding the shell shocked expression that painted Liam’s own face, but then she’d had a few more hours to get accustomed to the situation. War between the Collective and the Ninth

“What’s our status?” “Everything according to plan.” “No one suspects?” “They were already primed to think the worst of one another. We’ve given them what they expected to see and now they’re both too focused on stopping each other to look beyond the obvious.” “And what of the shade? Things will be difficult if we cannot maintain our hold until the time is right.” “It is a struggle to keep a spirit bound against its will for so long; this type of binding is meant to be used in short bursts, not long-term.” “And if we lose control?” “We can easily banish him back through the veil before he breaks free. Our Wilhelm knows his place, and it’s no longer with the living.” “Good. Then we will proceed as planned.” “As ordered, Sir.”