The night was March 7th, 2018: Assassin Benton's ship docked on at the harbor of the magical administrations facility. I guess docked is not the appropriate word his ship was rather anchored several miles off the shore, just off the bluff of the coast where the water dove several hundred feet.
This was a great spot to fish or dive, and it was not uncommon to see several ships dawn the horizon. This late in the evening however most small schooners (boats) were headed back towards the docks of Melbas Bay some thirty miles south of Scorched Earth. It was the closest large land mass, yet it was still nearly thirty miles away itself. It was nearly a two-hour journey by small schooner.
The assassin put on his scuba type suit and glanced around, part of his cautions nature perhaps but he wanted to make sure that none were watching him. He knew he would have several miles to swim but also knew the prize at the end of this long endeavor would be well worth the effort.
He swam the great distance without difficulty. He entered the facility beneath the docking station. Of course, there was a docking station on the facility but that was too closely monitored. It was decided an underwater approach through the bubble tunnel was the assassins best bet.
There was also a water disturbance spell cast near and around the facility, but Assassin Benton knew that, as luck would have it, the facility was currently experiencing seismic tremors and so this spell was having a difficult time and was getting some very erratic readings.
Truth be told it had nothing to do with luck but rather was the work of Assassin Benton's paid accomplice for this mission. He smiled to himself as he exited the bubble tunnel. He stored his gear in a supply closet in the basement of the facility and made his way to the spell device requiem. This was where most of the old spell tomes and illegal spell devices were now housed.
The assassin with his security crystal entered through the back entrance that was strangely left unguarded, again the work of his accomplice in this endeavor. From here the assassin knew how to navigate the station to avoid the scrying gems and other security measures that were taken by the Desmonian council.
Assassin Benton again used his security crystal to access the lab's main records facility. He made his way over to the mainframe and placed his security crystal in the illumination box. This opened the door to the antiquities room. He entered the room and found the book of ancient text. He grabbed the book and exited the room he moved to grab the security crystal from the illumination box but then thought the better of it.
The assassin paused; he heard footsteps coming down the far hallway. Had he been discovered? He hurried and made his way back from whence he came. He was not about to wait around to find out, he thought to himself.
He found the supply closet that he had stashed his suit in and began to put it on. Pulling a large plastic sack from his backpack he quickly sealed the book up within it and placed the bag and the book within his backpack.
In less than five minutes he was swimming his way out of the perimeter of the magical administrations facility.
He left the device as he had thought the council leader had said that Syrus was the mage in charge of investigating any issues within the facility. This made sense he thought to himself as Syrus home was located on Scorched Earth. With an enactment of his flying spell the mage could be her in a few short hours.
The assassin smiled as he knew the old mage with his dedication to the council and their interest would in no time discover whose crystal it was residing in the illumination box. This heist however went off without a hitch. It would be a few months before the Mage would find out what is going on and he would need some help in doing so. It's a good thing his entry crystal was left in the necessary place to offer said help.
* * * *
The date was June 8, 2018: The assassin's ship docked on the Chardonacic port that was set aside for visiting dignitaries. His normal escort greeted him.
"Do you have the Ancient Text", the chancellor's assistant, Parcavik asked in an eager tone.
The assassin nodded that he did.
Parcavik smiled as he handed the assassin his Dylonian skin suit.
The assassin took the suit and headed into a side room. He had several bags this time but since he was not going to see the Emperor these were not too stringently searched.
Moments later the assassin exited the small changing room. "Have the preparations for my death been handled," he asked.
The chancellor's assistant nodded. "The chancellor and I oversaw the entire operation personally. I took control of the selection and placement of the ships and the bodies. It was all done in accordance with the specifications listed in this," he said as he held up the small memory gem the assassin had given him on his last visit.
"Excellent," Assassin Benton responded.
"Your corpse was charred from several lightning spells per your request. We then escorted it out of our port and sailed it to the edge or fishing waters just on the outer marker of the Gargantuan Abyss," Parcavik said as he entered the carriage that would take them to the working facility for the Gnolls.
"The other ships were fired upon extensively using a variety of spells that were at the Gnolls disposal. They were no longer operable, so the three ships had to be towed along with yours. The emperor was not a very tolerant being the last two months and many of the prisoners taken were given a choice, die quickly for your species or die a slow and painful death in disgrace to your family. In the end many criminals were quickly put to death. The bodies were then burned and staged in the appropriate parts of the ship," Parcavik said as he sat down in his seat on the carriage
"And the escorting ships," the assassin questioned.
"They stayed on the edge of the horizon. When your people come to investigate these ships will leave the area hanging around only long enough to be spotted. This will as you suggested give them time to find out who committed the acts upon your ships leaving little doubt as to what happened," Parcavik said with a grotesque sort of smile.
"Your men were instructed not to pursue any vessels that come to investigate the scene, yes" the assassin questioned.
"Aye, but if we are at war with the council why should we not go after any ships that find the wreckage," the assistant asked.
"Because there will more than likely only be two ships at the encounter but if I guess right there are going to be several other ships in the vicinity meaning they could be at the encounter in mere minutes. Your ships are going to need all the time they can get to tow those ships back into your space where they can be protected. If the council gets their hands on those ships, I can guarantee the close scrutiny that will be paid to them will cause many questions and concerns within the council. A general alert will be raised and that will not help our situation. We need the council and all of the Minlavian races to be oblivious to what we are doing. The fact that Gnolls and Dylonian bodies were found on the same ships should lend some credence to the tales that have already been circulating but will not give the council enough information to take any actions," Shyler said somewhat irritated by the nitwitted nature of his associate.
The assassin hated not being able to oversee each and every crucial part of this mission but with much to do and very little time to do it he simply could not handle all of the preparations on his own. The emperor had assured him that the chancellor and his assistant were more than capable of handling the cover-up of his death.
He had to be appeased with giving them as many details as he could in the form of the memory crystal. In the end the performing of the plan was up to the chancellor and his assistant. This was an act that he hoped he did live to regret in the upcoming months.
The trip to the old mining facility (where the Gnolls would work on training the Dylonian spell casters) would take nearly six hours. It was in a very cold and very out of the way part of Chardonacic. The mine had been long abandoned as the minerals that were mined in this facility long since depleted.
The facility had for nearly fifty years stood vacant but when Assassin Benton suggested the Gnolls be provided a facility in an out of the way region of the lizard man's realm this facility due to location and accommodations already present, seemed a prime candidate.
In the months after Shyler had left the Dylonian's, the emperor had several crews working round the clock to update the facility with all of the amenities the Gnolls had requested in their previous agreement.
Assassin Benton was instructed that the Gnolls had arrived over a week ago and were handling some additional updates to the facility. An extremely talented Arch Magi by the name of Tildagar had requested all non-casters of the Dylonian's be removed from the facility.
Of course, the assassin smiled at hearing this piece of news as that did sound like the good mage.
At the end of the trip Assassin Benton was satisfied at the news he had heard. He was satisfied that his death was handled appropriately. He was thrilled that the bodies were recently dead and would show to have died only about a week after his leaving Desmonia on his most recent visit. This would indicate his body was dead prior to the theft of the Ancient Text thereby lending credence to the fact that his killer would have taken the text. The only thing left to do now was to set off his crystal alert so that Syrus would go and investigate the facility and find the text was stolen.
The charred remains were soon placed in the ships and the staged wreck was all handled within hours of the victims deaths. He hated the human and Gnolls sacrifice that were to be made and he did not want to know the details, but he was sure the cause was just.
He entered the old mining facility to find, as suspected, that Arch Magi Tildagar had things well under control. He handed the book to the mage in plain view of the assistant. He gave the mage a sly wink. The mage in turn rushed off in a mock attempt at being excited to finally get down to work.
Assassin Benton and Parcavik took a tour of the facility which lasted nearly an hour. At the end the Chancellor's assistant was very satisfied and if truth be told quite impressed at the efficiency of the Gnolls. His report to the Chancellor would be good indeed. Who knew, if everything went as it should there could be a significant amount of glory in this for him as he was responsible for helping to set this entire thing up. He smiled at the thought.
"I will take my leave," Parcavik said as he and the assassin made their way over to a group of Gnolls huddled around a table. On the table was the Ancient text along with what appeared to be battle plans that were secured for this particular part of this mission.
"Any ideas on how long it will take to interpret the text and train the spell casters of my brethren," The assistant asked of Mage Tildagar.
"These documents are different from the pages that we had secured from Theolus Aponchia some one hundred years ago," the good mage said to a now confused Parcavik.
"We had some older text documents that were interpreted by Theolus some one hundred years ago, but the interpretations are off by my eyes. Whether this was done intentionally or if he had interpreted the pages after he had lost his sanity is not truly known. He was long dead when we managed to secure copies of the pages, he long ago attempted to interpret. As it turns out much of our previous work may have been in vain. The assassin knew the lie for what it was, he was sure it was convincing enough for the Chancellor's assistant.
The final text is changed and is somewhat more difficult to decipher, however I am still convinced that we can have your entire spellcasting army trained in the ways of the ancient destructive magics within two years' time.
Parcavik nodded his approval. "I will relay this and all of the other information that I have learned today," the assistant said with a smile.
"Nicely done," Assassin Benton said softly to the mage as the assistants detail disembarked from the old mining facility.
The mage was about to talk when the assassin held his hand up to his lips. Assassin Benton bent down in his sack and pulled out a detuning gem.
He ran the device slowly around the table and the many other devices and gadgets in the area. The device was not triggered but just in case the assassin took out another device and placed it on one of the corners of the table. Turning it on the device now hummed ever so lightly.
Mage Tildagar turned to Assassin Benton with a look as if to say can I speak now.
The assassin nodded the affirmative as he fully anticipated the look.
"What was that about," he asked.
"One can never be too careful. Although I doubt the Dylonian's would have taken the time and effort to use scrying bugs in the facility one never knows. I would suggest caution be taken with the conversation that occurs within the facility.
I would also suggest limiting the conversation to this area and the private quarters. I will go and check them for bugs this afternoon," the assassin said to the mage, who nodded his understanding.
"I will relay the information on to my associates, however many of the workers do not understand what is going on but are merely along for the paycheck so there will be no need to inform them," Tildagar said with a smile.
The assassin nodded his approval and understanding. As he turned to finish his investigation of the private quarters he turned to the mage, "again let me just say well done," the assassin commented with a smile.
"Thanks," Mage Tildagar responded and then bent back down to glance at the plans for this operation.
* * * *
It was the morning of June 9, 2018. The knock on the door was loud and abrasive which left little doubt as to who could have been knocking upon it.
"Yes, who is it," the council leader said in her high pitched sedative type of voice.
"It's Councilman Choe and we really need to talk. It is most urgent," the councilman added this as an afterthought.
The council leader smiled. They must have found the body and the wreckage she reasoned.
"Enter," she replied still in a calm demeanor.
The councilman entered the chamber turning sideways so that his massive frame could more easily fit through the portal. He had a chain mail vest covering his massive torso, but his shoulders and arms were void of any garments. You could see his muscular grayish colored arms and the appearance of his skin that seemed to be made of rock itself.
He towered over the Council Leader with his near seven-foot frame, but he no longer had any delusions about who was in charge and who was the more formidable opponent of the two of them. It pained him to say but the council leader had earned his respect in so many more ways than just how she ran the council.
"You have news then," the council leader asked. Her voice pulled Choe from his thoughts.
"Well, yes mam," he replied somewhat hesitantly.
"The Delta-Orion (a Minlavian patrolling ship) caught something on their horizons the other day, it was just past the Gargantuan Abyss barely into the waters of the Dylonian's but given the current status of things they felt it worth the risk to investigate matters. When they arrived, they found four ships? One of them was ours and three were Dylonian," the councilman paused for a response.
When none was forthcoming, he continued. "Our ship was heavily damaged most probably from significant destructive spellpower. The three Dylonian ships were also severely damaged again by destructive spells. A brief search of the area found four or five other ships most probably Dylonian from the shape and the vicinity, were seen leaving the area. There were many humans found in the bow of our ship, probably some friends of our primary agent, Shyler Benton."
"Why do you believe the mages on our ship were friends of Agent Benton's," the council leader interrupted.
"First off the ship was the one believed to have been utilized by Agent Benton in addition it is believed one of the bodies on the ship was that of assassin Shyler Benton," the councilman said finishing his relay of the recent discovery.
The council leader played her part well with a brief albeit audible gasp.
"That is very unfortunate," she replied almost without hesitation.
"Are you having the ships brought here for further examination," she asked. Although she already knew the answer, had she not she could have guessed it from the outward readings of Councilman Choe's body language.
"Well not exactly," Chocc said to her somewhat hesitantly.
"What do you mean not exactly, you do understand that is our protocol in this situation," the council leader said with hints of anger etched into her tones.
"Well as luck would have it when the ships were found the Delta-Orion sent a scrying gem message to the nearest port and requested assistance. The ships were dispatched immediately, but with the majority of help several hours out, the Delta-Orion had now noticed twelve Dylonian warships enter her view on the horizon. Our ships are typically more than a match for any Dylonian vessel but twelve to one odds are not ones I would make anyone endure so I approved the withdrawal from the area until reinforcements could arrive," the councilman paused a second too put the next pieces of his conversation together but that was too long for the council leader.
"So, when they regrouped and went back," Leader Czelak let the question hang.
Chocc sighed and then continued, "when they went back all four ships were gone. There was some debris in the area which they are collecting as we speak. I was going to order them to pursue but then I thought it might be a better idea to consult you before I did this."
The council leader put one of her three long blue fingers to her lips and paused as if she were contemplating what needed to be done. After several long minutes of silence and shuffling on behalf of Choc, she spoke. "Do not order a pursuit of the vessels as I do not want to start a Minlavian war, and yes I know we are to have one anyway," she said interrupting the councilman's next thoughts.
"If we are destined for war though we cannot leave the rest of the realms thinking for one moment that we had any part in initiating this war and heading into Dylonian waters in pursuit of what is rightfully ours may be anticipated as an act of war or in the very least it is a violation of our Minlavian laws," she paused again as she stood and paced the floor.
"No, No, I think it best that I contact the emperor and apologize for the situation. Having a ship that close to their space is not going to look good but I will explain that the assassin was way off course from his current mission and that once they return the ship to us, we can conduct an investigation into the matter and see what we can find," the council leader said to Choc.
"And you think they will go for that," was the reply from the councilman.
"Of course, they will as they are not eager to have the council, or any realms contained therein know of their plight of war against us. To indicate those intentions now and to put us on the alert is not something the Dylonian Emperor will want," Leader Czelak said with a half-smile.
"And you think they will just give us our ship back," Chocc said with quite a bit of skepticism.
"Yes, they will give us our ship back eventually," she said teasingly.
When all she got was a strange look, she appeared somewhat disgusted that the councilman did not figure this out on his own. "They will return our ship after they conduct their own investigation on the matter. Of course, this will take months or even years and by that time we may be at war but I can guarantee you that they will at least at first offer the return of our vessel once they hold an investigation of their own," the council leader said with all certainty.
The councilman nodded as he was not about to disagree with the council leader on any point of this investigation.
"And what about continuing to spy on the Dylonian's," he asked half fearing the answer.
"I think with the Dylonian's could possibly have went into high alert, I think it is best if we discontinue our efforts. Your best spy was caught and is dead according to the information you relayed to me this very day. I am of the belief that we leave well enough alone and prepare for the impending war," she said with a tone of remorse.
You could definitely tell the councilman was not pleased with the answer as he was from a race of people that thrived on revenge. You could also tell that he could not deny the logic that the council leader presented so in the end he bowed saying nothing and turned to exit the chambers.
"One thing if you don't mind," the council leader said to Chocc, who paused and turned back toward her.
"In the brief time that they had with the ship were they able to ascertain time of death," she asked in a curious tone.
"Yes, they had nearly four hours to observe the wreckage and enact spells of decay. From their estimation the wreckage had been there close to two weeks," he responded.
"According to your last report you received a communication from Assassin Benton on May 25th. That is precisely fifteen days prior to the discovery. Did he leave you any indication in this report as to where he would be heading," she asked even though she again knew the answer.
"Yes, unfortunately the coordinates he left me for the location of his next assignment are in the same general vicinity as where the Delta-Orion found his ship," he responded to the council leader.
"Then it would appear the two pieces of information collaborate each other," the council leader said leading Choc down the path she wanted his mind to dwell upon.
After a moment's pause the council leader thanked Choc, dismissing him to go about his business. "Mention this to no one, we cannot have anyone uttering that the war is already upon us when it is not," she said to the councilman before had exited.
The councilman indicated he would mention the conversation to no one.
The council leader brought her attention back to her more immediate concern as she had a call to make to a certain emperor, this should be interesting she thought to herself.