Blood Ties, Part 6
You watch as your tiefling target continues to talk companionably with the birthday girl, whose face is still a little flushed. She's trying to present herself to the sorceress in a way that makes it clear that she's worldly enough to be more than ready for whatever Ceriss whispered in her ear... but instead just makes her look adorably eager.
Janessa follows your gaze. "Planning to go pay your respects?" she asks wryly. Probably with a guess of her own as to what's going through your head. In fairness, to not look at all would probably have been more suspicious; Ceriss' entrance turned the heads of practically every male present, and quite a few of the females as well.
But you shake your head. "She seems to be occupied at the moment," you say, nodding to the birthday girl's earnest conversation with Ceriss. "I can give my regards later, when I'm not interrupting. For right now, I want to make sure to talk with Lord Kovar before he leaves. I think his work with supplying the war effort will offer the best opportunities."
That causes Janessa to raise her eyebrows, surprised—and impressed—at your dedication to duty. "Well let's go meet him, then," she says, leading the way to where the small, rotund man stands, still packing away his bounty from the buffet table.
He glances up as the two of you approach, his balding face breaking into a jovial smile. "Ah, Lady Janessa, Lady Janessa!" he says. "So good to see you again, my dear. And who is this fine young fellow?"
"My name is Niko Calwen, sir," you say respectfully. "I'm visiting from Aspar, on behalf of my father. I'm told you're the man to talk to if he was interested in contributing supplies to the war effort."
You can see Lord Kovar stand a little taller at the praise... though the end result still isn't very tall. "I do what I can, my boy," he says. "I do what I can. In times of destiny like this, we must all pitch in as we're able. As you can see—" He gestures toward himself. "—I'm hardly fit for the front lines. But even an old lump like me can still do some good, if he finds a way to apply himself."
"I feel the same way!" you say. "The safety of our nation depends on Vekmar and Nelin holding strong, so we want to help as we're able. Please, tell me. If we were to send caravans southward, where ought they go? And how would they be distributed from there? If my father can make the case for the effect they'll have, he might be able to swing the other lords into a united effort."
Lord Kovar's face lights up in surprised delight, and the two of you immediately get to talking. It quickly becomes clear just how deeply invested the noble is in this work, the sense of purpose it gives him to be able to contribute in what he sees as a worthy cause, despite his lack of capacity in more directly martial matters. That makes it easy to get him talking, and you expertly bait him into describing more and more of his work.
The only part that's anything close to tricky is making sure Janessa doesn't realize that you're actually angling him to reveal such details.
The more you bait him into expounding at length about his work, the more it becomes apparent that Lord Kovar really does have a knack for this kind of administration. What he doesn't have a knack for, however... is security. The genial man doesn't quite seem to possess the requisite deviousness to scour his plans for the kind of weaknesses of which a malicious actor might take advantage.
Case in point, you manage to suss out of him the location of one of his larger warehouses, providing food and supplies to the more advanced positions. From what you can gather, combined with what you can remember from the intelligence reports you went over with Spymaster Iskro's, you doubt they're sufficiently guarded. You could send your corrupted orcs and drow to raid the place, fucking what guards there are into submission with little to no bloodshed. It would provide a large quantity of food to Kovora's supplies, as well as deal a blow to the war effort.
That would only work once, though, since Lord Kovar would almost certainly be replaced with someone more security-minded if that happened. Alternatively, you could have Rysanial subvert the man himself, turning his administrative skills toward siphoning off food without notice. A slower, less dramatic effect, but perhaps more sustainable long-term.
After all... if the gambit Rysanial is currently enacting does succeed in removing Warchief Varthurg, the Witch Queen will have a lot more leverage to crack down on the village raids. But if that pillaging is curtailed, the food situation might start to become even more... tight. It's always nice to have options.
All that is in the future, however—more possibilities for missions you could send your allies on, depending on your need. For now, your primary goal is to act in accordance with your cover, and to show that you're making good use of the opportunity that Janessa has obtained for you at cost to herself. You expertly guide the conversation, and by the end Lord Kovar is quite excited by the prospect you (supposedly) offer.
He wants to hear more once he's had time to look back over his own records, and you arrange a time to meet again. You ask as many questions as you can, bringing up as many details as you can think of for him to look into in preparation for the next meeting. In short, you try to push the date out as far as possible without it being obvious. After all, this isn't why you're here, and the more time you can buy for yourself before you have to deal with your cover again, the better.
You end up setting the date four days from now, at which point Lord Kovar promises to have all the answers you seek. You thank him profusely, then make polite small talk for a bit before bowing and returning to the general mingle of the soiree. Then you turn toward, sunny smile beaming, acting the very soul of an exuberant, idealistic youth. "It... it worked! I think this is going to work! Thank you, Janessa. I couldn't have done this without you."
Janessa chuckles fondly. "Don't mention it, kid," she says. "It's like Kovar said. This is something bigger than any of us, and we've all got to do what we can. I'm just glad I could give you a hand. The world needs more people like you, Niko."
She ruffles your hair... and if her hand lingers a little longer than expected there, its only to be expected. Still, you can read the hesitation in her expression, the guilty expectation that she'd be forcing something on you, taking advantage of her (seemingly) much younger guest. The expectation that someone like you wouldn't look at an older woman in that way.
Finally, she does move to withdraw her hand... only for you to clasp it in both of yours, giving it a quick squeeze, tracing your thumb just slightly down one of her fingers while giving her another tiny nudge of your aphrodisiac. She flushes, glancing away from your grateful expression in embarrassment... but she doesn't actually pull her hand away until you release it.
"Well, we should... probably enjoy the rest of the party..." says Janessa, rubbing the back of her neck while still not quite meeting your "innocent" gaze. "We've put off paying our respects for long enough; you should greet the birthday girl. Heh, maybe even strike something up with her. Heh." It's pretty obvious that she says that entirely out of guilt, though, forcing herself to nudge you in the direction she feels is more "appropriate". An act of deliberate resistance against what she truly desires.
It's almost physically painful for you to watch. Yet another human denying herself for no Damned reason.
Janessa leads you over to the hostess and her daughter, who you greet and offer well-wishes on the daughter's coming of age. This also brings you, at last, into proximity to Ceriss Zylnerios, who regards you with interest. "Oh! A new face..." the tiefling says with a gracious incline of her horned head. Her voice is rich and warm, her words spoken in a comforting manner, intended to put you at ease. "So nice to make your acquaintance. And Captain Janessa! It's been far too long."
You glance back and forth between the two women. "You know each other?"
"Specialist Zylnerios and I met briefly during the last war," says Janessa, her voice deadpan. "Her talents were prodigious, even at that age. Even prodigious enough to make up for the... discipline issues she caused."
Ceriss laughs, a delightful sound of fond remembrance. "Ah, yes... Please, forgive me the follies of my youth, Captain. The importance of proper restraint is something I hadn't fully learned back in my teenage years."
She certainly doesn't sound all that terribly ashamed, though, and Janessa regards her with a flat look. Still, when she speaks, it's grudgingly respectful nonetheless. "No need to apologize," she tells the heroine. "Most of the worst of it wasn't your fault anyway. Not directly. And as I said, your service more than made up for any... headaches you caused us."
"Still... I do apologize," says Ceriss, more sincerely this time, placing a hand on Janessa's arm. Then she turns back to you, looking you up and down. "And who is this fine young man you have with you? The rumor mill said something about a noble from Aspar?"
She's not actually showing all that much interest in you at the moment... but Janessa still can't resist an instinctual bristling. "He's here on important business," she says emphatically. "Trying to arrange a way to help support the war effort."
Ceriss' eyebrows go up a little, and she looks at you with new respect. "How admirable!" she says. "Tell me, young man. Have you—"
But before you can decide how to respond to her, before she can even finish the thought, the party is disturbed by the sudden appearance of an armored guard. He cuts a path straight through the swirling, elaborately coiffed pageantry of manners, a rough, steel-clad sliver of reality intruding into the carefully cultivated genteel atmosphere, heedless of the shocked murmurs. He heads straight for Ceriss, cupping his hand and whispering into her ear. Your inhuman hearing, however, is able to pick it out nonetheless. "There's been another one, ma'am. In the alley by Fourth Street, by the inn there. I know you'd asked to be informed."
Immediately, you see the gaiety drain from Ceriss' expression. Her face becomes hard as flint, her expression perfectly controlled. Except for her eyes. Her eyes flash with a controlled anger that takes you aback. "Thank you," she tells the guard. Then she turns back to the hostess and her daughter. "I'm terribly sorry, but something urgent has come up that demands my attention. I pray you'll excuse me. And Annabeth... we can continue our conversation some other time."
The mother looks irate at the slight of the early departure, but Ceriss is able to disengage with enough aplomb that she has no real opportunity to voice her pique, and you get the distinct impression that Ceriss does not give the slightest Damn what the mother thinks of her in respect to the current situation. The daughter is crestfallen, but accepts what her older friend says with a nod.
Your mind is racing as well. You haven't even gotten the chance to truly introduce yourself to your quarry yet, and already she's been called away. Still, you know where she's going, and it sounds as though what's come up is of some crucial importance to her. But how will you react?
Since you already prioritized talking to Lord Kovar—with your next meeting already scheduled—you could leave the party now, without spurning everything Janessa sacrificed to set up this meeting with one of the lords. You could either follow Ceriss and take the opportunity to ingratiate yourself with her further, attempting to assist in whatever problem she's facing as Niko.
Alternatively, you could slip away, return to your demon form, and use your flight to investigate whatever has happened before she can arrive. Either way, whatever this is seems very important to her... and could end up being crucial in your campaign to truly win her over.
That said, you could also remain here and continue to make inroads with the other guests. It would mean you're less informed as to this mysterious new development that your quarry is involved in... but you could gain other useful advantages from the interactions as well. There are still the other two nobles that you haven't pumped for their war information, as well as the girl—Annabeth—to whom Ceriss was making overtures.
