An Exchange of Services

[Praetorum]

Timestamp: 6th of Ashan, Arc 722



Prae ran his claws over the paper in his hands, thinking deeply as he paced about the room. 



He did not often get nervous at client meetings anymore. He'd had dozens over the last arc, and he'd gotten used to the rhythm of them. But this trial, though, Prae was nervous. Not exceptionally so, but still. Admittedly, that put Prae in good company. Quite a few others around the keep were nervous about this meeting, from Theodric, who'd delivered the letter, to Bendric, who'd first read it and passed it on to Prae, to Aelyn, who Prae had sent to wait by the front gate to direct Faith towards him. 



Admittedly, Prae wasn't nervous for the same reason everyone else was. The others were a little starstruck, having Faith Augustin coming to hire them, but after meeting dragons and immortals, well, Prae seemed to have gotten all the awe at meeting people out of his system. What made Prae nervous wasn't who he was meeting with, or what she planned to discuss with him—rather it was what he was hoping he could ask her, afterwards. 



The Empress's words, the task she'd set him, sat with him every trial of every season. It is to them that your greatest amends are owed, and it is their forgiveness you must have above all else. He'd been so busy recently, he'd had no chance to pursue that task—but now the opportunity to at least begin had fallen into his lap, and he could put it off no more. There were people he had to speak to again.



The thought sat cold in his belly, filling him with a seeping dread.



Prae shook his head firmly. Well, he told himself, there was no use thinking about it before even talking to Faith. He would talk with her about the job she had for his company first, and maybe afterwards, if it seemed appropriate, he'd ask for his own favor. He closed his eyes, focusing on centering himself. Work first, he told himself. A few deep breaths had him calm, and he finished his pacing. 



With his nerves settled, Prae pulled up a human sized chair, and sat in his own to wait.

[Faith Augustin]

6th Ashan, 722

She had with her the documents that she had gathered so far. They weren't much, but they were enough.

Faith had an idea and it was nibbling at her. But, of course, because she had the idea, she had begun it. Things were moving apace, but she was very sure that she would take the time she needed in order to make sure that everything was right. Because what she had proposed to Saoire, and had commissioned from Mister Pendleton was quite something else.

It was important to Faith that it was done well, but there were no nerves or doubts in her mind. Nothing was impossible, she knew that, and this was no different. Small steps, tiny drops, and all that.

Faith made her way to the meeting and she smiled and greeted the people on the way. She would never get used to the idea of being famous or of people thinking that meeting her was a big deal, but Faith was used to it and she was very used to simply making people feel at their ease and getting on with it. So, that was what she did, greeting each person in a friendly and individual way, making sure that they each felt listened to and so on.

Eventually, she was shown into Praetorum's office and Faith smiled as she saw the Ithecal. He had been there in Storm's Edge, she knew, although she had been in a coma at that point, and she had drunk the vial when she attended Saoire's Feast; thus she knew of him and his actions there. Being who she was, Faith had done some preliminary gathering of intelligence regarding him and, most importantly, this company he ran. She had heard whispers from long dead friends about Praetorum, and his company, and so she had decided that yes, this was correct.

So, she entered when shown in and she smiled and offered her hand. "Hello, Praetorum," she said. Faith was a very small woman, five foot four in height. Her skin was pale, her black hair emphasising that paleness and her silver eyes were stark. Of course, there were the signs of her allegiances in her nails, her wrists and at her throat, and the glowing tree of Moseke at her chest shone through the pale white blouse she wore.

Faith knew that the whole situation in the Tournament was well known and, after all, Praetorum had been there. So she gave a slight grin. "As you may note, I'm no longer a tree. So, I was hoping that I could interest you in being involved in something I'm going to be doing." She handed him the paperwork she had. At the moment, that consisted of the minutes of the meeting with Mr Pendleton and a copy of the letter she had sent to Saoire .

Sitting, she waited patiently while he got to grips with what she was suggesting. "I'm here to talk to you about providing a permanent security detail in various places across Idalos, potentially. I have not yet secured all the agreement I need and so it may not come to anything, but the hospitals will be built and I hope that the portals will be utilised." She smiled and sat back, waiting to see what he would think and, of course, whether he was interested in this job.

If so - it would be time to start negotiations.

[Praetorum]

Faith was a small woman, even for a human, and Prae found he was glad he was sitting so he didn't have to look too far down at her. Shaking her hand, he smiled lightly. "Faith," he said. "I have noticed, yes. I'm glad you could turn back—it was, well. A bit startling to watch you turn into one in the first place. Well done, though."


Taking the papers Faith handed to him, Prae began to peruse them, brow raising slightly as the shape of what she was proposing started to take shape in his mind. A hospital, for difficult patients all around the world who normal members of the order might not have the skill to help. Who would require extended or specialized care. It was inspired. And ridiculously ambitious. If anyone else had come to him with a plan like this, Prae would probably be questioning their ability to deliver. 



As it was, Prae was merely questioning his own. 



A gateway between every Order building and this hospital. And Faith wanted him to provide security to, presumably, all of them. Prae had personally seen around a half dozen Order outposts in his life—he was certain the total number of them was going to be quite a bit larger. He was going to need to hire a lot more mercenaries to take this job. On the other hand... he glanced up at when these papers were dated. She'd only started talking about building the infrastructure for this hospital five trials ago, so he would have quite some time to hire and train these new guards for her while the buildings were being constructed. 



He'd need to know the details about the gateways to figure out how many mercs to hire and assign there, but more and more, this was starting to seem, well, feasible to Prae. There really was no reason to turn down a job like this. It was a good reason to expand their operations, would improve their public standing, was likely to be relatively safe most trials—certainly more than hunting bandits—and more than that, Prae had to admit, he wanted this plan of Faith's to succeed. Bringing all the sickest people in the world to the best hospital on Idalos to be treated—there was a lot of good that could do. 



"Well," he said, returning the papers to her, "this is quite the undertaking. I'm impressed, and I would be more than happy to help. There are a few things I do need to know, though. I know that you might not have definite answers right now, that's fine, but I will need to know sooner rather than later how many gateway you plan to open, how many people can pass through these gateways at once, if these gateways can be closed and opened on command—anything that will help me get a rough estimate on how many guards my company will be posting at this hospital. I have a feeling I'm going to need to do some more recruitment and a lot of training to have enough hands to guard a place this big, so I'll also need to know how long it'll be before you need the first batch of guards."


Recruitment—that was another idea. Something to bring up later in the conversation, maybe. For now, Prae just sat back to listen.

[Faith Augustin]

6th Ashan, 722

Faith was, all in all, a pretty good judge of people, and she watched Praetorum as he considered the documents. His mind was ticking over, she thought, with a very real sense of thinking about it and for that she was pleased. She was more than happy to wait, let him consider, and then give his answer. Which was, of course, exactly what he did. He looked, he analysed, he considered, and then he answered.

All in all, she decided, that was good.

It was quite the undertaking? Faith smiled slightly. "I suppose it is," she said softly. She didn't go into any explanation of why but, for Faith, nothing was impossible. Nothing. There was always a way, if she could but find it. Such was the case with this. He had questions for her, of course, and some of them were ones she expected from him, others showed that he was an excellent tactician. She liked that.

"Like so many of these projects," she said with a smile. "It's all about setting things up at this point. I've commissioned the buildings, and he'll begin that next Cycle. I want everything in place before we start to build. In terms of the gateways, I've written to Saoire and asked her. As soon as she replies," there was no doubt in Faith's mind that she would reply, "then I'll be able to approach the governments. I'm going to start with Viden, Rharne, Desnind, Scalvoris and the Eternal Empire," she said. "I have excellent links in Scalvoris, Viden and Desnind. The Eternal Empire, far less so, but I want to include one unknown in the first trawl, and they have links with Scalvoris, at the very least." She shrugged slightly. "Things like this build momentum, though, so once those are on board, then I'll go to places like Etzos, Quacia, Uthaldria. That's the plan."

Having considered that he might ask it, she handed him an up to date list of all the Order outposts on Idalos. "That's the current maximum, though I will be offering Viden that we put some out in the tundra, in the centres of population there. The one in Egilrun is the newest. They vary in size, as you can see." It gave him a good break down, she thought. She had marked the cities and territories she was going to ask first, so that he could get an idea of basic startup numbers.

The second part of his question was something which she had only just started to consider. "I was thinking that I would have an Echo Scroll with each place," she said. "Then, I'd ask Saoire if we could have it that the gateways are opened only if both sides agree. I can make sure that there is no violence at all in the hospital grounds, I have an ability to do that, but I'll know if anyone enters the radius of it with violent intent." Looking at him with a slightly querulous expression, she spoke the truth as she saw it. "I would be very happy to take security advice. If there's one thing I know its that good advice is as valuable as onyx. So, anything you can suggest, I can try and do."

As for how long till the first batch of guards, Faith considered it. "There is a part of me that would like to have the building site guarded. Just so that we can be totally safe in the knowledge that nothing strange occurred there. I suspect it will take the whole of next Cycle, or most of it, to build the hospitals." So that would mean an increasing number of guards as the buildings increased in size and complexity she supposed. "In terms of recruitment, I have contacts all over the place if you need them, but I suspect you don't. And I suspect many of them, you share." Sitting back she steepled her hands together, pressing the pads of her fingers so hard that they turned white.

"How does that all sound?"

[Praetorum]

Nodding slowly at Faith’s answers, Praetorum began sorting all the information into the many thoughts he’d had so far, wanting to keep everything organized as he worked through the things he needed to know for this project.

It was good to know that the opening of these gateways across Idalos would be staggered—Prae wasn’t sure anyone, even Faith Augustin, could manage opening up this hospital to every single order outpost on the list Faith had handed him, and Prae certainly wouldn’t be able to supply guards for all of them.

But the number of outposts she was starting with was manageable for him—he’d need to start a recruitment drive, but he was confident that with his reputation he could muster up enough mercenaries and recruits to secure this many locations.

As for the matter of security… “I think we should work out a strict definition of ‘both sides agree’. I don’t know fully how your ability works, if you detect any violent intent within its radius, or only violent intent directed towards the people within the radius. If it’s the latter, a possible worse case scenario is that someone infiltrates your hospital staff, allows the gateway to be opened from this side, and transports whoever they like from any gateway to any other gateway. Troops. Spies. Messages.”

“I’m assuming that Lady Saoire won’t be able to monitor all the comings and goings of every portal, so we’ll need to think of this place as a transportation hub that will, eventually, reach almost everywhere on Idalos. That’s a tempting target. Especially for people who don’t know that Saoire can shut it off when she needs to.”

“For a frontal assault on one of the outposts, my priority would be to make sure that I can send in reinforcements. Even if we decide that our protocol is to defend the gateway from the Eureka side, evacuation could take time, so we should plan for a fight on the outpost side while everyone gets out.”

He tapped his muzzle thoughtfully. “I think keeping the portals all near to the barracks for my men would be best. Shortens response time, in a scenario where every tick counts. The number of people that can pass through at once… If that is negotiable, the ideal number will depend on what we decide to do in case of an attack—guard the entire outpost, or evacuate and guard the portal, or something else.”

Prae was more thinking out loud now, but continued, figuring that getting Faith’s perspective on these things would help.“Again, thinking of the worst case scenario, multiple attacks at once will strain my forces if they have to guard entire outposts. But we shouldn’t let them be taken unless we have to either. The exact details, I think we can work out once we have a clearer big picture.”

“For those who mean to make ill use of the gateways more covertly… that’s not my specialty, but I’ll think more on potential security risks and get back to you before the hospital is finished.“

“There are also going to be people without any malicious intent trying to use these gateways irresponsibly. We should talk about protocol for dealing with those people as well. Also protocol for… extreme circumstances. If war comes to Etzos, or Scalvoris threatens to sink into the sea again. Can these gateways be used for evacuation? Should they? What counts as extreme enough?”

“Guarding the building site should be no problem. I can start recruitment this season, and have enough trained guards to cover this hospital until it’s built, by which time I should have hired and trained enough to cover all the order outposts.”

“As for recruitment—” Prae decided not to wonder how she’d known he was thinking about that. In many respects, he knew he was something of an open book “—I may need to lean on your contacts once you start opening up the next batch of portals, especially on the western continent, but for the current group, the recruitment pool in Rharne and Scalvoris will do fine—maybe Yaralon if we need to—and I do indeed have contacts in those cities.”

Then, there was just one more thing, last, but certainly not least.

“I remember the outpost in Korlasir. Treated my brother whenever he got sick.” For a moment, Prae smiled a little at the memory, before turning serious. “If you’re to open gateways in the Empire, then there’s something I should tell you.” Prae didn’t grimace, but he couldn’t stop a shadow from flashing across his face. For just an instant, his heart ached with sorrow, grief, regret, and homesickness, before he composed himself. This was not the time to wallow in his shame.

“I am currently a wanted criminal in the Eternal Empire. Rightfully so,” he clarified, in case there was any uncertainty. “I mention this because I don’t wish for you to be blindsided if it does come up. However, I do not believe that this, or my association with your project, will cause any major issues in dealing with the Empire—I have spoken to the Empress, and I believe she understands my character and the circumstances under which I… well.” Prae shook his head, not wanting to get into the details right now.

“Even so, I have not yet completed the tasks she has set before she will lift my exile, and so I won’t be able to personally supervise the setup in those outposts. There is also a chance that the Empire will insist on taking over security in their territory. I could not blame them for not trusting me, given the circumstances. That being said, I can assure you that if they elect to set garrisons around the Order outposts, the legion will be more than adequate to protect them.”

[Faith Augustin]

6th Ashan, 722

He considered it and thought through what she was proposing. Faith was glad to see that, and she listened to his thoughts on deciding what 'both sides agree' meant, and nodded. "I suspect," she said quietly, "that we might have to accept that we have a baseline, and then things might well be different in different places." After all, Faith thought, they were dealing with nuances of political systems and that was tricky to navigate. But it was more than that, too. They were also talking about places with vastly different access to resources, infrastructure, and so on. Both of those things would impact this significantly. "I'd like there to be a single defined definition of 'both sides agree', but that seems unlikely to me to be achievable," She gave a slight shrug. "But a bottom line of what that is, yes. Absolutely."

As for her ability, she smiled slightly and lifted up her hand, showing him her wedding ring. It was a pretty gold ring in the shape of entwining leaves. "It's an item," she said quietly. "it will cover the area of the hospitals, and it does two things. If anyone enters the area, be it on foot, in the sky, or via the portal, with violent intention or intention to harm, then I'll know about it. I'll know how many and in which direction. " She considered it and then added. "And the other thing that it does is that, should anyone seek to enact an act of violence in the area, including by use of marks or magic, then they will become the center of a very unpleasant ice storm. The storm is bad enough that it would kill within moments." She considered it carefully. "I would hope that Lady Saoire might be able to give us the ability to switch off the gateway," she said, thoughtfully. "And I wonder whether having it only be one-way at any given time might be useful."

In terms of what else they could do, Faith shrugged slightly. "I can stop all magic in an area. Items, mages, all of it." She thought it best to tell him that. "But in the case of a frontal assault, I feel that we will have to negotiate that with each place, as part of the process. I can see that some places might want us to stick to defending one side of the portal only, another might want a joint defence. It's theoretically possible that more remote areas, especially those where there are outposts with minimal access to military backup might want us to handle it completely." She was thinking there of some of the more remote areas of Viden, for example. But, of course, the truth was that they just didn't know.

"It will be a negotiation we have to have, but can't until more of the pieces are in place," she said, quietly. "But I will certainly ask about the extreme circumstances. It will be important to be clear." She fully believed it would be and it was a good point.

Then, he spoke of a situation in the Eternal Empire and Faith listened. She didn't speak as he did, simply listened. When he had finished, she nodded. "Thank you for telling me, I appreciate that," It was true, she would have strongly disliked being surprised by it. But it made no difference to her. "I will be clear with the Empress, should she reply, and will keep no secrets. Once that conversation is had, if it is, then I'll let you know what was said." That she would raise it was the only fair thing to do, Faith thought - and keeping the lines of communication open, too, was vital.

"I think, honestly, until we have more information, that's all we can do. If you and your team would like to visit Eureka, you are of course more than welcome. We can walk around where the place will be, things like that." She smiled and looked at him with an appraising gaze. "Is there anything else that you wanted to discuss?" Faith knew people and felt that maybe there was. But if there was, it was up to Praetorum to raise it or not. She wouldn't push, it wasn't her way.

[Praetorum]

Praetorum tipped his head as he listened to Faith talk, considering her words. He had approached this problem from a purely tactical perspective, but it was clear now that that was insufficient. He hadn't even considered the political angle, but now that Faith had pointed it out, Prae was reworking his thoughts, realizing that he was going to have to work around whatever limitations and restrictions the nation on the other side of the portal might set. 



"That's certainly useful," Prae said when she showed him her ring, impressed. It would certainly make protecting this place easier. Although he would have to warn his mercenaries about this particular feature of the place. Just to be safe.


"I think making the gateways one way could be an advantage or a detriment, depending," He noted. "Mostly on how fast its direction could be switched. Say there is a surprise frontal assault, where getting reinforcements through one way and evacuating people out the other way are both priority. Even a short delay could be problematic. If they could be changed quickly, though, I think they could be a solid tactical advantage."


He nodded as she told him what she would do in the Empire. Complete transparency was, he agreed, was the best policy in this situation. Then, she asked if there was anything else he had to say, and he nodded. 



"Two things. First of all, I have plans for the next cycle, and likely the one after, that will take me away from Rharne. However, I have quick access to a gateway of my own, and an echo scroll in Skydas Keep—I can return on relatively short notice if something comes up, and I will be here if I know beforehand when I'm needed. I hope this won't cause any problems." 



"Secondly... I'm sure you hear this frequently. But there are people now dead that I would like to speak to. I have... amends to make, to those I've wronged—killed, and one I failed. Five in total, if the number matters—I'm not very familiar with Famula's mark and gifts. I realize that your time is limited, especially with this project, but would you be able to introduce me to someone who could help me with this?"

[Faith Augustin]

6th Ashan, 722

He was going to be out of touch for a while - or more precisely, away, but not out of touch. "That shouldn't be an issue," Faith said quietly. It shouldn't, as far as she could see it. "Realistically, we won't be opening doors on this until at least the cycle after next - possibly even the one after. So, I'm happy to work remotely. However, there is something I can possibly offer which may help." She considered before she spoke, but this made sense to her. "I can put a mark on you - it is an ability granted to me by Famula. It means that we are connected due to our shared commitment to a specific task. What it means is that I am always aware of you, and your general state of health - as you are of me. It means that I am aware of your emotional state, in a general sense. It makes you impervious to mental attacks which seek to control your behaviour and, most importantly, it means that you can call me and I can choose to come if you need it - or I can literally pull you to me in a heartbeat." Faith shrugged slightly. "The offer is there, if you wish it."

Either way, she was sure, they would make it work.

"I have an echo scroll you can have. It will be more immediate." That was easily done, she had quite a few of the things laying around. "Also, if you wish it - you can take one of these," she offered him a bracelet. "I have a matching one. It will alert me if you are in life-threatening danger - and vice versa." Those were easy things, simple things. "I suggest that we also put a scroll from here to Skydas Keep - to whomever you are leaving in charge there?" Again, to Faith's mind, it made sense.

Then, he had a separate issue and Faith looked at him. For a moment, she was silent and then she spoke. "It is my privilege to be Famula's servant. To care for, to serve, all souls is my duty and delight. It does not matter to me whether those souls are alive or dead." She smiled at him slightly. "There are ghosts all around us. If the people in question did not pass over, then we can summon them. If they did, and you have an item of importance to them, or should we travel to their graves, then I can entreat them to come. Should none of those things be the case, there are other ways I can help, but the first step is to know more of them. If they are ghosts attached to you, speaking and thinking of them will call them, often."

Her voice was calm, soft and gentle. "Tell me about them?"


oocThe bracelet is a Kindred Bracelet and if you're interested in learning about the mark - it's Greater Servant's Mark from Zuuda

[Pig Boy]

RPG Rewards:

Praetorum

• Renown: 10
• XP: 15

Faith Augustin

• Renown: 10
• Knowledges:
  • Logistics T2: When undertaking a massive project, it is better to be cautious
  • Tactics: Politics and geography play a part in planning defences

Link to Review Request on the Forum: viewtopic.php?p=194348#p194348

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

Notes: It's a real shame that this thread was finished early, I would've enjoyed a sequence where Faith helps Praetorum contact his lost squad members and people he knew who he felt responsible for the deaths of. But alas.

What we have anyway is a fascinating negotiation between the two, and a lot of technical, strategic details. It's clear that both of them are fully at the top of their game in terms of their careers. Praetorum as a great tactician and mercenary, and Faith as a medical and charitable mastermind. It's really interesting how they come together for common cause, as different as their views might be toward the world and political situations.

I do hope to read more about these two in the future, I think they make a good team, and play off each other beautifully.

Well done, and thanks for the read!

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