"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Common sign"
extra line here
Faith's voice wavered when she said she was sorry, and Hart shook his head.
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault. I don't mean to offend, but," he said, and when he spoke he did so carefully,
"Neither do I think this war should have been asked of you."
Hart looked at Frask when the man put his hand on Faith. But she smiled at him and so Hart smiled too. He smiled in the exact same manner that Faith did.
To the both of them, Hart said,
"I'll need time to prepare." He paused, still smiling at Frask.
"Please."
Then he nodded to Faith, nodded to the two other Champions of Zuuda, and left to gather his supplies.
Hart didn't have much with him. He had his bag, and the simple equipment he usually carried. He brought the midnight sword, belting it to his waist on the right-hand side, along with the other rapier which he belted on the left. He considered armor and briefly thought about leaving it. But he packed it in the bag, the cheap leather armor he could afford, along with the clothes he had borrowed from Tristan so long ago, much nicer than the clothing he normally wore.
There was the echo scroll Faith had given him, and Hart rolled it up and put it in his empty waterskin, along with a short piece of sharpened charcoal. He knew about covering his mouth and nose to prevent catching ill, and so he tied a piece of cloth around his face to act as a mask against the plague.
Then he went out from the Augustin residence and, taking a moment, he concentrated on Rharne, marking it in his mind as if on a map. Studying the city a moment longer, he knew that he would be able to dreamwalk back to Rharne if need be.
Finally, he took a while to devise a plan and write down in bullets what he was going to do while in Rynmere.
With that, he returned to Zuudaria.
"I didn't think of it earlier," he said as he crossed through the last of the graveyard and into the mausoleum,
"But there's a merchant family in Oakleigh that goes by Thorn. I've met one of the members of the family; I believe her grandfather is the patriarch. They run the pharmaceuticals in the Settlements, and manufacture most of those that go through Rynmere, if I'm not wrong. They also own the only major hospital in the colonies. They will have been made rich off of this plague, I'm sure." He looked at Frask.
"If you want information on this illness, I would wager that they'll know best."
Handing Faith what he had written, he then went over it with more depth.
"I'm not sure where Frask is located within the kingdom," Hart started.
"If he takes me through to Rynmere, I'm going to have to travel to the colonies.
"The intelligence we received said that the kingdom's been blockaded by naval lines. That will likely make traveling to the Eastern Settlement more difficult. But there are other ways to travel in the kingdom, including through the air. There will have been people traveling between the Settlements and Rynmere without the military's approval. Alternatively, there will have been people traveling between them on the military's behalf. The navy must be letting through supply ships. If there is no other option, I might be able to sign on to one of those to get across."
"Once in the Settlements, I'll go as Tristan to his Estate. There will have been someone acting as duke while Tristan's been gone, likely a lower Venora. I'll oust them if necessary.
"When I was duke, I found that a large portion of the job was paperwork; correspondence, collecting and poring over information related to current events, and managing Oakleigh's budget. As Tristan, I'll rearrange what monies and supplies I can to be sent here as aid. They will probably have to be secreted out of the kingdom, because of the blockade. If there is no other other option, I might be able to arrange for them to go through the Order of Adunih." He glanced at Faith as if to ask permission.
Then he paused.
"Altogether, there are two ways I could go about completing this task. I could act as Tristan throughout my time in Rynmere, and try not to get caught. There are benefits to pretending to be Tristan throughout, including protecting his reputation as a duke. The main disadvantage is that the colonies don't like the Rynmeran nobility, Oakleigh has never fully accepted the kingdom's rule, and as a result of the king putting Tristan in as the duke of Oakleigh, the Settlements have been uncooperative at best and at worst, hostile.
"The other option is to act as Tristan only when necessary, and to otherwise act as myself. Once I'm in the colonies, if I use my own identity, I may be able to more readily confer with the leaders of the other settlements, along with their merchant houses. They may be more likely to cooperate if they know I'm not true nobility; from there, I can attempt to convince them that I'm trying to act to our mutual benefit.
"Either way, I'll likely have to arrange political bargains to get them to work with us. I know, for instance, that the settlements would like to be sovereign from Rynmere, save perhaps for Welles. I could therefore arrange to advocate for Oakleigh to have more political power within the kingdom on Tristan's behalf.
"I'll try to muster as much support as I can. I'll correspond with every major merchant house, every colonial leader, as well as other factions in the Settlements. Including," he said seriously, judging Faith's reaction,
"The Qe'Dreki, any underground mage organizations, and the like. I may also be able to contact the Alliance, if they still exist, and Faction VII. I wouldn't be surprised if the colonies have been working with the rebels and bandits of Rynmere since the kingdom's conception.
"Whether or not I'm able to get the underground communities to cooperate will depend largely on what they want and if we want to work with them."
That would be Faith's decision.
"As for the echo scroll, I'll report in at least once per trial," he said.
"More often than that, if I think it necessary." Which it probably would be, considering the speed at which this all had to happen.
"Should I run into trouble, I'll leave an X on the echo scroll. I'll only mark the scroll with an X if I'm in immediate danger and cannot give a full report. When and if I'm next able to give a report, I'll use the word "permit" to verify my identity.
"I've Branded Rharne, so depending on Emea's condition I'll be able to dreamwalk back. I also have my mortalborn abilities, one of which allows me to walk through walls and, temporarily, to avoid phyiscal damage. If you don't hear from me at all, assume I've been compromised." He smiled mirthlessly.
If Faith or the others had any disagreements with what he'd said, Hart was willing to make adjustments as need be. If not, he would nod to Faith again, nod to Saul, and then, smiling at Frask just as he had before, take his hand to be escorted out.
notes
Hart, Eastern Settlement
- arrive in the kingdom via Frask and Zuudaria
- if in Rynmere proper, travel to the Settlements
- act as Tristan to get to his Estate
- rearrange monies and supplies to be delivered from Oakleigh to the war efforts
- contact the leaders and merchant families of the Eastern Settlement
- contact, if possible, underground factions in the Eastern Settlement / Rynmere
- arrange political deals with the colonies and factions as needed [preferably without Rynmere's oversight]
- arrange to send any troops / additional supplies via secretive means
- return if possible by the 10th
echo scroll
- X means immediate danger and cannot report
- "permit" verifies identity
equipment
Just so there's a list to refer to, here's everything Hart's got:
- his bag
- the contents of his bag which include
space- 1 set of toiletries (a brush, razor, bar of soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, and added small space--(hand) mirror and 2 hand towels)
space- 1 tinderbox
space- 1 cooking lantern
space- 1 week's worth of dried food rations
space- 1 plate
space- 1 eating knife
space- 1 compass
space- 1 spyglass
space- 1 map of Andaris' shoreline
space- 50 ft of hemp rope
space- 1 sketchbook and black charcoals
- 1 empty waterskin
- 1 echo scroll to Faith
- a piece of cloth used as a mask
- a small waterproofed tarp
- his usual clothing
- Tristan's clothing from when Hart was duke
- basic quality leather armor
- an average+ quality rapier and sheath
- a masterwork+ quality rapier that cannot take a life (the defender sword from the Point Bank) and sheath
Hart also Branded Rharne.
