Fallen Angel

[Leo Fenrir]

Near fidgeted uncomfortably as he approached the gates of the Khan's manor. The intelligence network that he had been preparing for the Baron was still in its infancy. There wasn't much information on the Khan as of yet. It was proving difficult to place spies in an organization dominated by men wielding large mallets, dangerous too.

The man at the door beckoned him in and he sound found himself in an ominous room obviously crafted to make those waiting to speak with the Baron uneasy. A good tactic for gaining the upper hand in a political discussion. Another man, carrying an even lager cudgel then the last, entered. "The Khan is currently preoccupied may I enquire as to the objective of this visit?"

Near responded, carful not to reveal too much. "A certain person who is quite close to Lord Dine seems to have found her way into your custody. We kinda want her back." The man nodded his head ever so slightly, he required no more displays of respect for a mere subordinate, and promised to relay the message. The door closed behind him and Near suddenly seemed to notice the large tapestry depicting traitors being 'dealt with'.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

A new person now stepped into the antechamber where Near was being kept. This one was of a light-copper skin tone, neat short black beard, a slender build, wearing a formal black Sherwani and a red turban, onto which was set his gold badge of office. He was further quite noticeable for the absence of a cudgel, this setting him quite apart from those persons who Near had encountered since arriving at the Khan's Manor; which was in fact the Ilkhan Barracks, which had been taken over by the Khan's retinue for the duration whilst the Palace of One Thousand and One Columns, ruined during the 2nd Hyperborean Interruption, was rebuilt.

"Greetings Sahib Near effendi, I am Farzin Koosha Mottashed - Vizier to the Khan's Divan here in Ardashirshahr." The Vizier bowed quite respectfully this time. "Let me say first of all that we are quite in admiration of your attempts to place a reporting person - a" the Vizier was searching for the appropriate word in the Common tongue as opposed to his native and more familiar Babki, "he who is there by subterfuge, a spy." Near was all set with a hasty denial but Ignatius continued regardless. "It was quite imaginative to try and infiltrate the household by starting as a humble cook in the kitchens, no doubt to pick up gossip and advance himself by currying favour if you pardon dreadful pun sahib. It shame he have accident by impaling himself on own roasting split. Very sad, we would like to have seen who he reported to. Still by Zurvan, maybe we find out next time you try!"

The vizier sounded worryingly cheerful about the prospect. Near coughed awkwardly but decided against contesting the point.

"Erm, I came to umm, err, collect..."

"The winged being who answers to the slightly implausible name of Cora?"

Near nodded.

"Oh indeed. But I am afraid the creature is not kept here. You will need to visit the County Security Division's Office. I have a map here with the directions. Ask for Sulder Mc´Ully of `Office C, Counter Intelligence´. He heads the Anomalous Phenomena Working Group. You can ask him to release her but I think that will require a permission chit from the Khan. Still you can always try asking anyway. Let me know if you have any difficulties or if Sulder tries to detain you for observation, seeing as you're from Nordland and bound therefore to be contaminated by anomalous phenomena in some way or another. You know its curious, I'm sure Dravot said you were a talking sheep..."

[Leo Fenrir]

After three hours of being directed, redirected, being threatened, getting strange looks, and even once getting accused of being a talking sheep, Near found himself before the County Security Division's Office. He weighed his options. Lord Dine had told him to do everything necessary to retrieve Cora. The way things were going right now it didn't seem like the Khan, or his staff to be more precise, were not going to make this easy to do diplomatically. That only left infiltration as an option should the first fail.

The were several issues to ponder though. Should he make the preemptive move, the Khan may take the action as an offense. However if negotiations didn't go well then chances were she would be moved to an even safer location. Fido popped into existence beside Near sharing his thoughts. Found bird woman! She's sleepy. I'm sleepy! Why no sheep? They good for sleeping. He shut his mind to the rest of the Wraith's ramblings, a skill it could take years to master. That explains why she hasn't been able to simply phase her way out. They must be keeping her under anesthetics.

With the Wraith a search and retrieve mission would be more then simple. Yet he hesitated. Leo always advised to pick diplomacy over all else. Only when diplomacy had failed should one turn to force. There was some insight in that, he had yet to see it of course, but that is why he was the head of the intelligence network and Leo was Baron. His resolve renewed he entered the building.

"Ah Near. Farzin informed me of your arrival." He looked up and down almost as if trying to fix him in his mind. Near had begun to notice that people looked at him odd whenever he said he was from Nordland. It was almost as if people expected him to turn into a demon and yell 'Boo!'. The man seemed disappointed for a moment and then motioned for Near to follow. He was led down a series of orridors following a maze like path, a simple tactic to baffle those who visited, to the room bearing a gold plaque inscribed Sulder Mc´Ully. He didn't let on of course that he knew perfectly well that the entrance was around the next corner on the left.

He was let into the room where Sulder Mc´Ully rose from his chair to greet him. Near reached into his coat pocket and pressed a button that activated a miniature EMP that would render any electronic devices in the room useless. He didn't think he need to take precautions against magical devices from the information regarding the Khan's position on magical things.

Sulder's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. He must have been wearing an ear piece that would have gone dead. It was unfortunate that he had noticed so fast but that couldn't be helped. After the necessary introductions were made Near make his request.

"The Baron Leo Dine wishes the return of his subordinate who goes by the [aside - improbable?] name of Cora."

[Aurangzeb Khan]

"Och, now you see I would gladly, Near - we've made a thorough examination of her physiology and taken all the samples we need - but there is one small problem. You see she has been enrolled into the Häxatrupperna, that's a unit in the Kopfjäger, the internal security arm of the Elwynnbrigaden. The name means 'witches troop' and it has to do primarily with defences against the sorts of paranormal anomalous phenomena we see coming out of Nordland and Kildare and the likes. Now the war against the Ohl'tar has not started well, there is all sorts of carnage going on up in Agnesia, and who knows where it can spread to."

Near grimaced. "Why do I sense you're about to make a proposal..."

"Could be yet another indication of your natural astuteness which is why you are the head of a rogue Nordlander espionage network we naturally know nothing about... of course if you want to unburden your conscience feel free to tell us everything you know... in any event, I am sure that I can prevail upon the Khan to sign the release forms for Cora if she first undertakes certain mission in the north that changes the course of the war."

"In the north?" Near mulled this over. "What's to stop her defecting back to Echo City the moment she takes flight from this building?"

"Aside from an explosive charge secured to her neck in such a way so as to ensure that it detonates if tampered with in any y whatsoever, be it magical or no? Not that much really."

[Leo Fenrir]

"Very kind of you to offer to take the heavy burden of my knowledge, I am unfortunately disinclined to acquiesce your request seeing as the condition of being redundant may prove to be detrimental to my health. Now I do not seem to have much choice in the matter. Cora must be released. If the completion of this mission is what it takes to do so then I am sure that the Baron will agree with me that its is the best option.

Now I do not intend to insult your honor but how can I be sure that you will release Cora from this device once this ordeal is over? She represents a significant asset to Lord Dine and it would be a shame for there to be an accident as you would probably put it.

Lastly I find it hard to believe that a man such as yourself lets slip the fact that this mission might, as you put it, 'change the course of the war'. What exactly is this mission? My informants tell me that because the rebel Ohl'Tar are so scattered across Northern Agnesia that it will be impossible to find a quick solution to this conflict. If you believe otherwise I would love to hear your plan."

[Aurangzeb Khan]

"She is on the books of the Häxatrupperna, accordingly any accident, as you so heavily imply, would represent a significant loss not only to the Baron but to the Defence of the Ducal Realm also. So you see it is in both our interests that she succeeds and indeed thrives over the long term."

Near nodded, somewhat sceptically.

"As for the mission" Mc'Ully continued "what your informants may have missed is that the rebel Ohl'tar have established what would appear to be a primary spawning ground at the entrance to this tunnel here." He passed some aerial reconnaissance photographs across the table to Near. "A fortuitous fluke really. The site was overflown by a Mazdak transport aircraft returning from Wolfraven when the co-pilot spotted the nesting activity. They circled and did an overflight, the navigator took these photos, which we've had enlarged in the laboratory - see the scrape marks leading into the tunnels. Our contention is that while the rebels have a breeding female they will continue to be able to generate reinforcements, however by striking this spot with one elite operative we can disrupt the spawning pattern of the enemy and leaving them fragmented and marginalised."

"I don't know if you noticed this at all during your observations but angels have wings, doesn't lend itself to underground warfare." Near wasn't terribly impressed.

"It would not be necessary. The Ohl'tar at the spawning site are sustained by waters drawn off from a nearby reservoir of taiga melt-water. All Cora need do is deposit a vial of contraceptive solution, currently being synthesised by our boffins, into the waters, as discretely as possible - so therefore at night, and then leave. Prevents them from spawning without necessarily killing them directly, see we can take your silly ethical concerns into consideration when needs be, and without reinfocements the rebels can be hunted down an eradicated by conventional counter-insurgency tactics."

[Leo Fenrir]

Near related the request to Fido who immediately popped out existence to find Leo. In the silence that followed he addressed Mc'Ully in an attempt to pass the time.

"Ah you must understand Sulder I agree with you completely." The man looked curious for a moment.

"And what pray tell do you agree with?"

"Lord Dine's ethical concerns. They are ridiculous. I mean the man couldn't cause intentional pain even if the Khan himself was holding him at gun point, excuse the example. It makes it very hard to run an intelligence network if you ask me. I mean his orders were basically 'I want you to extort information for me. But don't hurt anyone ok?'."

"An interesting predicament Near. Have you tried a sound cudgeling? An effective method of making people see things your way. No? No your right he seems a tad fragile." Near was not liking the way this was going, while it was apparent that Sulder was enjoying himself. "Maybe you should hire some men to attack him once they tussled him up a bit maybe he might not be so opposed to the use of good old muscle?"

"My god man! Leo is my Baron. Would you even dare try that on the Khan?" Sulder seemed to turn a few shades of gray as he contemplated the thought. "No never mind I will just continue with my job as it is." At that moment Fido mercifully reappeared. Near nodded as he received his instructions. His eyes widening a few seconds later. His eyes refocused on the patiently waiting man.

"Lord Dine has instructed me to accept the deal regarding Cora seeing as there seems to be no alternative. The next part is slightly more important tough. Eliria is revolting and the Khan seems to have conveniently vanished in a crucial time of the Ohl'Tar war. Lord Dine said that you were to send the Khan a message that is as follows:

With Nathan's lack of action against the riots occurring outside his window and your absence I will be taking control of the Elwynn Brigade and all its regiments. The regiment stationed in Alalehzamin is to return with Near to Eliria to aid in the quelling of the riots. The Panopticon has reached its destination in Agnesia and final preparations are being made before we send the orders to attack at full force. I hope you are enjoying your hunting trip.

By the authority of,
Leo Dine
Steward of Elwynn