Post by Shoki on Sept 11, 2016 16:29:01 GMT -8
Shri went back to her rooms, pie in hand. Her trio was clinging to her as she closed the door behind her and went to her desk. With a click of her tongue, the three firelizards scurried off of her and her sash and glided to the desk. The woman herself sat down, gathering a knife she kept on the desk. She carefully sliced it, giving small slivers to some plates handy. The plates were given to Dea, then Analis and finally Selt. She sliced herself a larger piece and produced a fork for herself. She took small bites and watched the firelizards start on their slices. The three were so very different. Dea was impatient in all things, eating quickly and viciously. Analis ate carefully, savoring the weekly treat. Selt was defensive, turning his back to the others and eating hurriedly before Dea could get ideas. Shri had to admit, she ate more like Analis then anyone else, but turns of time together had earned the similarities they shared.
She also had to admit, Cr’wean made a good pie. Maybe he should advertise the fact and he would find a sweetheart.
However, payment meant business and the firelizards were getting paid off as much as her. Which meant that this was not just an afternoon of enjoying sweets, it was a compilation of surveillance. She pulled out parchment and quill, marked the date and then waited. Not for long, as she had observed, Selt was a quick eater.
“Selt, report.” The Flame looked up at Shri and flashes of images played through her mind. It was very difficult, in her estimation, to train a single firelizard to spy correctly. As she had three it was much easier. Selt was perhaps the closest to being a full spy in and of himself, but had his drawbacks. He didn’t always understand what to look for, but his strength was patterns. If there was a pattern to find, he was good at seeing it, and thus, knowing when it was broken. Shri watched the daily lives of her subjects with a slight frown, waiting for the thorough creature to be done. Having too much information could be a disadvantage too, she took notes to keep up, but the danger of getting flooded with unimportant thing was real. She finished being bombarded by Selt, and her hand quickly noted the essence of things. She gave him a pat before taking in a breath.
“Dea, report.” The Copper looked at her, fire in her eyes and the images came, fierce and clear. Selt removed any emotion from his images, both advantage and disadvantage. If he had feeling with them, it would be mostly curiosity or confusion. Things he wanted to know, things he didn’t know. He could be as unpredictable as Dea, but in this job he was restrained. Dea had no such desire. Her images brought her anger, her distrust, and her impatience. Selt showed patterns, Dea showed people, primarily. Anyone she saw could be an enemy, in her mind. Conspirator or tool of the same. Strangers were distrusted, repeat visitors were clear trouble. The targets themselves only showed up as distant nothings, in the background while the real interest was what these others were doing. It was shorter than Selt’s report, but more emotionally draining. Shri kept herself focused, noting the overall pattern she had been observing over time. She finally was done and gave the Copper a stroke. She looked smug and returned to her slice of pie.
“Analis, report.” Analis’s images were almost all interactions. They were layered with emotions, as much as the Gold could see, that matched the scene. None of the Firelizards matched words to their scenes that played. Though they could remember words as sounds she had been keeping them as far back as they could manage, meaning no sounds at all, barring yelling. However, Analis always was the best at reading mood so shared that. Her report was spaced out, playing one scene, waiting for Shri to note, and then playing another. She was thorough in her own way, and detected that playing so many scenes with emotions wasn’t good in Shri’s book. So she was careful. As before, she finished and Shri scratched under the Queen’s chin.
The woman put another forkful of pie in her mouth and let the sweetness play on her tongue while she thought about what she had been watching around K’tar and Chantrea. Was there something going on? Yes. Was it something that she had any hard evidence on? No. However, the more she watched, the more she suspected that if she wanted to go deeper, she would have to be willing to get her hands dirty. Well, spying wasn’t exactly clean, but dirtier at any rate. She leaned back, looking idly at the pie that remained. Shardit, she would have to go all the way, wouldn’t she?
She would have to tell Cr’wean she quit, so that she could work for him better.
Too bad, the pies were good.
Whoever these people were, they moved off of fear. So they were up to no good. That meant if she went deep, anyone she was connected to would be a target. She had neither lover nor sibling, which meant her parents were the only theoretical targets. The problem was they were very deeply Aerie folk, and two healers were never missed. Plus her mother hadn’t linked a hawk for nothing. She would take that risk. Plus she was a merchant of sorts. Those were believed to be greedy sort, if there was a vice. She could play this well, and she would have to. If she had to be, she would be bad. Being bad to do good, it was the sort of thing she was. It was part of the reason she saw Lifewings, and Deathwings, as limited. The only sticking point, was if they were playing with riders, they could be or have riders. It was probably the only time she wished she had a bonded larger than Analis.
Still, best not underestimate a flitter tamer. It was about time to get in trouble.
She also had to admit, Cr’wean made a good pie. Maybe he should advertise the fact and he would find a sweetheart.
However, payment meant business and the firelizards were getting paid off as much as her. Which meant that this was not just an afternoon of enjoying sweets, it was a compilation of surveillance. She pulled out parchment and quill, marked the date and then waited. Not for long, as she had observed, Selt was a quick eater.
“Selt, report.” The Flame looked up at Shri and flashes of images played through her mind. It was very difficult, in her estimation, to train a single firelizard to spy correctly. As she had three it was much easier. Selt was perhaps the closest to being a full spy in and of himself, but had his drawbacks. He didn’t always understand what to look for, but his strength was patterns. If there was a pattern to find, he was good at seeing it, and thus, knowing when it was broken. Shri watched the daily lives of her subjects with a slight frown, waiting for the thorough creature to be done. Having too much information could be a disadvantage too, she took notes to keep up, but the danger of getting flooded with unimportant thing was real. She finished being bombarded by Selt, and her hand quickly noted the essence of things. She gave him a pat before taking in a breath.
“Dea, report.” The Copper looked at her, fire in her eyes and the images came, fierce and clear. Selt removed any emotion from his images, both advantage and disadvantage. If he had feeling with them, it would be mostly curiosity or confusion. Things he wanted to know, things he didn’t know. He could be as unpredictable as Dea, but in this job he was restrained. Dea had no such desire. Her images brought her anger, her distrust, and her impatience. Selt showed patterns, Dea showed people, primarily. Anyone she saw could be an enemy, in her mind. Conspirator or tool of the same. Strangers were distrusted, repeat visitors were clear trouble. The targets themselves only showed up as distant nothings, in the background while the real interest was what these others were doing. It was shorter than Selt’s report, but more emotionally draining. Shri kept herself focused, noting the overall pattern she had been observing over time. She finally was done and gave the Copper a stroke. She looked smug and returned to her slice of pie.
“Analis, report.” Analis’s images were almost all interactions. They were layered with emotions, as much as the Gold could see, that matched the scene. None of the Firelizards matched words to their scenes that played. Though they could remember words as sounds she had been keeping them as far back as they could manage, meaning no sounds at all, barring yelling. However, Analis always was the best at reading mood so shared that. Her report was spaced out, playing one scene, waiting for Shri to note, and then playing another. She was thorough in her own way, and detected that playing so many scenes with emotions wasn’t good in Shri’s book. So she was careful. As before, she finished and Shri scratched under the Queen’s chin.
The woman put another forkful of pie in her mouth and let the sweetness play on her tongue while she thought about what she had been watching around K’tar and Chantrea. Was there something going on? Yes. Was it something that she had any hard evidence on? No. However, the more she watched, the more she suspected that if she wanted to go deeper, she would have to be willing to get her hands dirty. Well, spying wasn’t exactly clean, but dirtier at any rate. She leaned back, looking idly at the pie that remained. Shardit, she would have to go all the way, wouldn’t she?
She would have to tell Cr’wean she quit, so that she could work for him better.
Too bad, the pies were good.
Whoever these people were, they moved off of fear. So they were up to no good. That meant if she went deep, anyone she was connected to would be a target. She had neither lover nor sibling, which meant her parents were the only theoretical targets. The problem was they were very deeply Aerie folk, and two healers were never missed. Plus her mother hadn’t linked a hawk for nothing. She would take that risk. Plus she was a merchant of sorts. Those were believed to be greedy sort, if there was a vice. She could play this well, and she would have to. If she had to be, she would be bad. Being bad to do good, it was the sort of thing she was. It was part of the reason she saw Lifewings, and Deathwings, as limited. The only sticking point, was if they were playing with riders, they could be or have riders. It was probably the only time she wished she had a bonded larger than Analis.
Still, best not underestimate a flitter tamer. It was about time to get in trouble.
