• Solo • A Test of Trust

[Devin]

Ashan 25, Arc 722

Being a Baron, Devin decided, as he stood on the balcony that belonged to his private quarters and looked at the garden below, bundled up in a warm cloak with three rainbow-colored poodles on it, was absolutely and indubitably great. He had a nice house and good food, he was rich and famous and powerful, and what more, the residents of the Barony adored him. Mrs. Adams, the head cook, seemed to treat him like a second son of sorts and was quite happy when he worked in the kitchen. Marvin, the chief engineer, shared a love of food with him. And what more, his wonderful employees made sure that his training dummy that he had decided to call “Florence” always wore nice clothes.

He was pretty sure that none of them would ever betray him or take advantage of him, but as he looked in the direction of the vineyard where delicious grapes would hopefully start to grow later that arc, he came to the decision that a little test of loyalty would be in order anyway.

He tried to always see the best in people because being a pessimist probably wouldn’t feel very good, and he always wanted to feel good, but he didn’t have any interest in being naïve either. He needed to be absolutely sure that he would always be able to trust the people that surrounded him, and he already had an idea as to how he was going to test them!

He rubbed his hands together, both because he was quite excited about his little game and because it was cold on the balcony, this early in Ashan, before he abruptly spun around and walked inside again, in order to root through his treasure chest and the boxes with jewelry that stood on the shelf next to his very nice and luxurious vanity table.

He had collected a lot of treasures and a lot of shiny things over the course of the arcs.

There was a map of the Sweetwine Woods that was immune to water for example. There was a vial that was filled with undead goo. There was his amazing Fever Stone. He had a comb that hummed softly when you used it. There was a compass that always pointed towards Viden which made it kind of useless in his opinion. A compass that always pointed towards the same city no matter where in the world you were was probably still magical though, so he had decided to keep it.

Finally, there was his Pig-skin Blanket that contained a bit of pretty powerful shapeshifting magic as far as he was concerned – it turned you into a pig when you used it. He briefly considered using it for his little test because it was likely worth a fortune; it didn’t look like much though.

He needed something that would really tempt people!

He turned to his jewelry and looked through rings of gold and silver, chains, and countless hair accessories. Finally, he decided on a masterfully made ring of Grave Gold, a heavy golden collar and a silver body chain. People often went for the obvious because you couldn’t see magic, at least not without any special abilities. They liked shiny things. With that thought in mind, he put the jewelry into a pocket of his jacket, and then he …

… took his shoes off.

A few moments later, he carefully snuck down the hallway in front of his private quarters, on his tiptoes and in his socks that were rainbow-colored just like the poodles on his cloak (Because you made fewer sounds when you were just wearing socks!), and looked for a place where he would be able to secretly “lose” his first piece of jewelry.

He wanted to see if any of the employees decided to steal it, if it would just stay where he had "lost" it, or if people would pick it up and decide to return it to him!

[Devin]

At first, Devin considered just dropping his ring on the ground. Something that was lying on the ground was easy to overlook though. He doubted that a lot of people stared at their feet when they walked. At least he didn’t do so. He always walked with his head held high, at least. Next, he considered placing his ring on one of the pedestals where various vases and sculptures stood, but that didn’t seem ideal to him either. He also considered dropping it on a chair, but he wasn’t sure if people ever took a closer look at the chairs before they sat down.

Finally, his gaze fell on a windowsill. The sunlight was shining through it and leaving lighter spots on the dark grey stone.

The ring would shimmer very prettily in the light – and hopefully attract a sufficient amount of attention!

He had just placed it in the center of the windowsill when he heard the sound of footsteps, coming down the hallway. Nobody had noticed him sneaking around so far – in no small part due to the fact that his part of the manor had been relatively empty for the past couple of bits – but he would definitely be seen now. He was pretty sure that the person that he had just heard was walking in his direction!

He quickly darted behind one of the long curtains that hung left and right of the windows, stood completely still and even held his breath because that might betray him as well.

To no avail.

But a few trills passed before he heard his mother’s voice.

“Devin, I can see your socks”, Emma Thorn pointed out in a tone of voice that was in equal parts amused and confused. “May I ask you why you are hiding behind a curtain?”

At first, Devin considered pretending that he just wasn’t there – or that he was in fact someone else. He was very good at deceiving people. This here was his mother though. He didn’t really want to deceive her, even though he didn’t know why. Besides, it didn’t sound as if anybody else was nearby – at least, he couldn’t hear anybody else approach. So, he pushed the curtain aside and revealed himself, an absolutely radiant smile on his face.

A moment later, he gestured for his mother to follow him which she did so, after a bit of hesitation. As they walked, he quietly explained to her, “I’m conducting a little experiment. I’ve decided to ‘lose’ some of my jewelry in different parts of the manor in order to see if it gets stolen. I don’t really think that any of the employees would be that mean, but it’s better to be sure, isn’t it?” he asked and raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow slightly before he continued.

“Do you have any idea where I should lose my other two pieces of jewelry? And”, he added as something had suddenly occurred to him. “Did you just happen to be on the way to my room? Is there anything that I can do for you? Is there anything that I can help you with?”

Emma Thorn looked at her son in his shiny outfit for a moment and furrowed her brow as she wondered if she should like his idea or not before she told him, “I was going to ask you if there is anything in particular that you want for your birth trial that is coming up in a few trials. As for where you could lose the other two pieces of jewelry”, she continued and furrowed her brow some more. “How about somewhere outside? It would be good to have a little variety”, she decided and proceeded to grin. Devin’s mother had always been the more adventurous of his parents.

She’d come to the decision that this would be a fine and very useful game!

Devin for his part wasn’t sure about his birth trial. He didn’t like growing older a lot, to be honest, even though he hadn’t even turned thirty yet and even though wasn’t sure if he’d ever get wrinkles and white hair and such, being a Mortalborn. He didn’t say that to his mother though. Instead, he leaned a little closer to her, smiled all over his face and remarked, “On Scalvoris, adult children give their parents gifts. So, in a few trials father and you will get something amazing! As for outside – that sounds great!”

“You know”, he added and looked around in order to make sure that nobody was spying on them. “You could help me pick a place. I’d like to hear your ideas”, he told her and offered his arm, and before long, Devin put on his shoes, and he and his mother made their way downstairs and to the front door, past the occasional servant that the young Mortalborn greeted and offered a radiant smile to before he explained that they were going for a walk.

That wasn’t even a real lie. "Losing" jewelry in the garden would involve a lot of walking!

[Devin]

Devin and his mother went to the chicken coop first. Devin considered dropping his chain in the hay so that one of the servants that collected the glowing eggs (because he had glowing chickens rather than normal ones) could find it. He didn't think that the chickens would lay any more eggs that trial though, and he didn't want to wait until the next morning!

“How about the apple tree?” Emma asked once they left the chicken coop, and she had admired the chickens a bit (After all the things her husband and she had been through in Rynmere, she couldn’t get enough of this wondrous place and all the strange creatures!). “That seems like a good place to lose a piece of jewelry to me”, she remarked and pointed an apple tree that didn’t look like much that early in the cycle. It didn’t have any leaves, or blossoms, and it definitely didn’t have any apples either!

“I’m not sure why anybody would want to check out the apple tree. It doesn’t bear fruit yet”, Devin murmured and made a face before he looked in the direction of a flowerbed appraisingly. He remembered that Miranda, the maid who was also a gardener had said that the first couple of seeds could be sown soon. Maybe, someone could find his chain while they were gardening. He didn’t want to possibly wait a couple of trials though!

Frowning deeply, he plopped down on a wooden bench that stood close to the path that led from the gate to the entrance door. His mother who had noticed her son’s increased frustration, followed suit and pulled the warm cloak that she had put on tighter around her body. She was just about to suggest that the apple tree might not be so bad, after all, when Devin looked at her, his violet eyes practically shimmering with excitement.

“I’ll simply drop my chain on the path!” he told her. “A lot of people walk there all the time. It wouldn’t be weird to lose something there. Actually”, he said a moment later, abruptly stood and looked at her in a mischievous way before he bowed deeply and ask, “Would you do me the favour?” Having said that, he handed her the chain, and she held it for a moment before she dropped it, and they walked back to the door.

“How about we head to the kitchen now?” he asked her. “I’m cold and in the mood for a cup of hot chocolate. Besides, the hallway in front of the kitchen would be an excellent place to lose my collar. A lot of people come and go there all the time. We can get some hot chocolate for father as well. Where is he, by the way?” he asked as something had just occurred to him. Why had his mother visited him alone?

“Your father is visiting Marvin”, his mother explained and smiled at him. Devin’s father had worked in construction before his retirement and taken a liking to Smooglenuff Manor’s resident Cadouri engineer. She was quite happy about the fact that her husband had found a friend. “Hot chocolate sounds like an excellent idea”, she added and grinned before they headed to the kitchen where Devin dropped his collar right in front of the door, hoping that it would be found soon.

[Devin]

After his mother and he had enjoyed some hot chocolate in the kitchen, Devin brought two cups to Marvin and his father because it didn’t seem right to keep all that delicious stuff to themselves. His mother went with him and decided to simply sit with the two men and listen to their slightly nerdy talk. She seemed relaxed, Devin observed, which made him happier than he had ever thought possible. It was so good to see her smile again!

After he had said goodbye to his parents, Devin checked what his roommate Aidan was up to – he turned out to be in the library, reading a book about his linguistics, as he often did – before he made his way to his room. The ring was still lying on the windowsill, he noticed. Apparently, nobody had seen it yet, or maybe, nobody had dared to take it.

He looked at it for a moment, wondering if he should do anything, before he quickly darted inside in case someone was nearby, kicked off his shoes and plopped down on his bed.

He did not plop down on his bed in order to be lazy and/or relax though. Instead, he grabbed a stack of papers that was lying on his nightstand. Being a Baron was not only about making people love you, hosting parties, looking good and eating delicious food, it also involved a whole lot of paperwork.

Devin had decided not to procrastinate while he waited for the results of his little experiment; he had decided to be productive instead – and come to the conclusion that he might as well be comfortable while doing so.

He had just taken care of the most urgent paperwork when he heard a knock on the door. Assuming that his parents, or maybe one of his fellow Barons, Alyssia or Aidan wanted something from him, he called out to enter only for one of the manservants, a human male with curly black hair to enter and bow deeply before he informed him in a polite tone of voice, “I found this here in the garden. I assume that it belongs to you?”

Having said that, he produced Devin’s chain and handed it to him.

The Mortalborn was so happy to see his chain that he jumped up, rushed to the man who was a bit flabbergasted and thanked him profusely before he grabbed a bowl with cookies that stood on his desk (Mrs. Adams, the cook, had baked them just that morning.) and told him, “I’m so glad that you found my chain! Here, take as many of them as you want! Actually, take the whole bowl!” he decided and handed said bowl to him.

The poor manservant just stood there for a few moments and blinked in confusion before he accepted the bowl that was filled with delicious cookies and that had initially been meant for the Baron and bowed.

“Thank you, Your Grace”, he said.

When he had left, Devin put the chain back into the appropriate jewelry box. For a little while after that, he paced back and forth in his room because he was a little excited, but eventually returned to his paperwork, because it needed to be done regardless of his little test of trust.

Later that trial, one of the kitchen aides brought Devin his collar. There was really only one person in the manor who wore such expensive jewelry, so it was easy to tell who it belonged to - His Grace himself!

Nobody ever returned his ring though.

When he quickly checked the windowsill, right before dinner, he noticed that it wasn’t there anymore though which frustrated him a bit, to be honest. He had already come to the conclusion that all of the wonderful people that worked at Smooglenuff Manor were completely and utterly trustworthy!

Grumbling slightly, Devin decided to hold a speech right after dinner and inform people that someone had stolen his ring and that the thief should please consider stepping forward. The consequences would be less severe if they revealed themselves voluntarily.

Since his good mood had all but disappeared now, but he didn’t enjoy being angry and frustrated very much, he decided to head to the salon where his flunny Bunny had its cage. Playing with his pets always made him feel better and calmed him down, and right now, he was in the mood for a rabbit with wings. So, he opened the cage door. He was just about to carefully remove Bunny from his cage when he noticed something in the hay.

It was his ring!

Apparently, there was at least one resident of Smooglenuff Manor that wasn’t trustworthy, but against his expectations, it was one of the four-legged ones. He considered shaking his fist at Bunny, but then he just laughed because it was quite amusing, grabbed his ring and pocketed it.

Bunny had probably stolen it when Aidan who helped him take care of his many animals had let him out of the cage so that he could stretch his wings a bit. He would need to have a word with his roommate and tell him that he should watch the thieving flunny more closely soon.

It wouldn’t do if attempted to steal other people’s stuff – or made an escape attempt.

For the time being, he enjoyed the company of his four-legged friend and the positive conclusion of his little test of trust though. The employees of Smooglenuff Manor were absolutely great, and so was Bunny!

[Pig Boy]

Player Name: Devin

Points awarded: 10
Magic xp: none

Knowledge:

Detection: Hearing that someone is walking in your direction
Leadership: Knowing if you can rely on the people around you is important
Logistics: Setting up a game to test people’s trustworthiness
Stealth: It’s easier to sneak in socks
Stealth: Holding your breath can help you remain hidden
Stealth: When hiding behind a curtain, make sure that your feet aren’t visible!

Renown: 0
Loot: none
Injuries/Overstepping: none
Wealth Points: none

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Notes: This was an interesting premise for a thread, and very in character for Devin. He wants his servants to be the best and most loyal, and that means sometimes testing their loyalty and honesty. I wonder what would've happened had he not discovered the flunny had stolen his ring. Would he have guilted the person who might be responsible? What if one of his servants had taken the ring, would he humiliate them publicly or ask them to explain themselves?

I guess we'll not know, unless he tries to test their loyalty again, and find that their greed gets the better of them in another instance.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!