R
Razilin
Guest
Original poster
OCTOBER 15, 2016
PARIS, FRANCE
The last eight days had been an exercise in patience and mental acrobatics, or so it seemed to Sam. While Raven and Jeanne made preparations to relocate to London and arranged a false paper trail for Natalia's identity as Raven's cousin, "Sarah Tallwood," he had been making rounds throughout the city trying to piece together the name of whomever set the Order of Autolycus on them.
Something was off about the whole attack. It was precise, planned, and yet the Hound had divulged critical information relatively easily. Sam didn't like it. The Order survived because of its professionalism and skills. Resisting interrogation would have been a matter of course for them. With that nagging feeling at the back of his mind, he approached his investigations with caution. If he were a betting man, he would his good right hand that the Hound was feeding them bait.
But bait for what? he found himself wondering. What's the angle?
The first day of his investigations had revealed that a janitor had stolen the cellphone off the body of Elias Arborman and - after tracking the janitor to his apartment and subjecting him to a little sample of his interrogation methods - learned that the cellphone had been traded out to a black market dealer. Said dealer apparently had gotten a request from a regular client. Getting information from the dealer had been a little more challenging, as Sam was forced to break into the man's hideout and fight his way through a few hired thugs and bodyguards. Eventually, the dealer had, under threat of bodily pain, divulged his client's identity.
Thomas Aegil. The current Archmage of the Ivory Tower.
Sam met the man twice in the past. Once, when he was twenty-four, he had accepted a mission to assassinate a renegade mage at Aegil's behest. A year later, one of Aegil's political rivals hired him to kill Aegil's colleague as a warning. Both times, the old mage had proven inscrutable. He seemed like a man constantly thinking about something, constantly planning ahead of everyone else around him. A dangerous man.
So Sam spent the remainder of the week preparing. He went through his usual information contacts as well as doing his own legwork, digging up every scrap of information he could on Aegil. Natalia, Raven, and Jeanne would need it in the coming days.
And so it was that, over breakfast at the flat, he passed an iPad across the table to his two lovers. "That's the best I got in the time I had," he explained. He briefed them on the gist of what he had discovered.
"Thomas Aegil, age sixty-five. Trained by Oliver Lord from 1959 to 1969. In 1972, he was one of the youngest to graduate as a full mage. In 1975, he released his first independent research paper on Biblical thaumaturgical practices. He followed up in 1979 with an article concerning the theory of resurrection. He had a dozen other major works throughout the 80s and into the mid-90s until he retired from active research in 1998, where he was elected to the office of Archmage. At the age of forty-nine, he was the youngest ever raised to that position.
"He is considered by his peers and students alike as a capable, calculating, and disciplined researcher, instructor, and pioneer in mystical fields. It was during his tenure as Archmage that his other skillset became evident, as he proved to be an extremely savvy politician and leader in the magical community. In 2001, he diffused a potential schism among mages concerning their involvement in the War on Terror. In 2005, he spearheaded a secret relief mission for those hit by Hurricane Katrina. More recently, he has been involved in organizing magical research into the Ebola outbreaks in Africa."
Jeanne returned the iPad to him. "He sounds quite accomplished. What's the catch?"
"That's just it," Sam replied, "I haven't been able to find one. He seems to be on the up and up."
"Makes sense with what I heard about him," Raven agreed. "He's kind of like the stern father you don't want to disappoint. I've never met him, unlike you, but I certainly heard all about him during my training. I'm actually surprised to hear about all the stuff he's done. I only knew maybe half of that."
Sam shrugged. His ability to compile information was what kept him alive in a very dangerous business.
"Be careful while you're at the Tower," he said quietly. "And be doubly so around Aegil. After all, the brighter the picture, the darker the negative."
PARIS, FRANCE
The last eight days had been an exercise in patience and mental acrobatics, or so it seemed to Sam. While Raven and Jeanne made preparations to relocate to London and arranged a false paper trail for Natalia's identity as Raven's cousin, "Sarah Tallwood," he had been making rounds throughout the city trying to piece together the name of whomever set the Order of Autolycus on them.
Something was off about the whole attack. It was precise, planned, and yet the Hound had divulged critical information relatively easily. Sam didn't like it. The Order survived because of its professionalism and skills. Resisting interrogation would have been a matter of course for them. With that nagging feeling at the back of his mind, he approached his investigations with caution. If he were a betting man, he would his good right hand that the Hound was feeding them bait.
But bait for what? he found himself wondering. What's the angle?
The first day of his investigations had revealed that a janitor had stolen the cellphone off the body of Elias Arborman and - after tracking the janitor to his apartment and subjecting him to a little sample of his interrogation methods - learned that the cellphone had been traded out to a black market dealer. Said dealer apparently had gotten a request from a regular client. Getting information from the dealer had been a little more challenging, as Sam was forced to break into the man's hideout and fight his way through a few hired thugs and bodyguards. Eventually, the dealer had, under threat of bodily pain, divulged his client's identity.
Thomas Aegil. The current Archmage of the Ivory Tower.
Sam met the man twice in the past. Once, when he was twenty-four, he had accepted a mission to assassinate a renegade mage at Aegil's behest. A year later, one of Aegil's political rivals hired him to kill Aegil's colleague as a warning. Both times, the old mage had proven inscrutable. He seemed like a man constantly thinking about something, constantly planning ahead of everyone else around him. A dangerous man.
So Sam spent the remainder of the week preparing. He went through his usual information contacts as well as doing his own legwork, digging up every scrap of information he could on Aegil. Natalia, Raven, and Jeanne would need it in the coming days.
And so it was that, over breakfast at the flat, he passed an iPad across the table to his two lovers. "That's the best I got in the time I had," he explained. He briefed them on the gist of what he had discovered.
"Thomas Aegil, age sixty-five. Trained by Oliver Lord from 1959 to 1969. In 1972, he was one of the youngest to graduate as a full mage. In 1975, he released his first independent research paper on Biblical thaumaturgical practices. He followed up in 1979 with an article concerning the theory of resurrection. He had a dozen other major works throughout the 80s and into the mid-90s until he retired from active research in 1998, where he was elected to the office of Archmage. At the age of forty-nine, he was the youngest ever raised to that position.
"He is considered by his peers and students alike as a capable, calculating, and disciplined researcher, instructor, and pioneer in mystical fields. It was during his tenure as Archmage that his other skillset became evident, as he proved to be an extremely savvy politician and leader in the magical community. In 2001, he diffused a potential schism among mages concerning their involvement in the War on Terror. In 2005, he spearheaded a secret relief mission for those hit by Hurricane Katrina. More recently, he has been involved in organizing magical research into the Ebola outbreaks in Africa."
Jeanne returned the iPad to him. "He sounds quite accomplished. What's the catch?"
"That's just it," Sam replied, "I haven't been able to find one. He seems to be on the up and up."
"Makes sense with what I heard about him," Raven agreed. "He's kind of like the stern father you don't want to disappoint. I've never met him, unlike you, but I certainly heard all about him during my training. I'm actually surprised to hear about all the stuff he's done. I only knew maybe half of that."
Sam shrugged. His ability to compile information was what kept him alive in a very dangerous business.
"Be careful while you're at the Tower," he said quietly. "And be doubly so around Aegil. After all, the brighter the picture, the darker the negative."