An Unexpected Rabbit Hole[NoM]

Job Name: Safeguarding a nation
Job Rank: C-tier
Job Location: Reim
Job Reward: 7,000 Huang | 100 XP | Plot reward
Job Prerequisites: Must be Completed three times for plot reward
Job Overview: Reim’s Senators have proven to be corrupt, as slavers and merchants alike line their pockets they grip the nation. However, they are not the only disease plaguing the nation, murders have been happening to them, to those connected to the council as well. Investigate one of the rumors and start a line of investigation to protect the nation.
Special Job Requirements: Choose one of the following plot lines to pursue, the job may be done three times by any one player. Each job done will give the player info on the subject from staff. 1. Find out the source of corruption with Reim, find out who is trying to undermine the nation during its reformation. 2. Track the dissenters of the nation, figure out or deal with anti-republic sentiments within Reim. 3. With the council being new as a governing body it is still vulnerable, there are those targeting it to cripple or control the nation, investigate the cause or source of this.

"Sorry, sir. I wont get any more of those magic tools in for at least another month." A merchant said with spread open hands as he shook his head. "I see...Then can you put me in touch with your supplier?" Zion asked with a solemn gaze. He had disguised himself with his Trickster Foxspirit technique once again, opting to take the appearance of a red haired, muscular, middle aged man this time. The magician intended to pass off as a Fanalis in the hopes that some might assume him to be a member of the Fanalis Corps. Perhaps such a misunderstanding could grant him a bit more trust from the locals.

The shopkeeper frowned and stroked his curled mustache as he began to become suspicious of Zion's questions. "My supplier? What makes you think you will find any more of those tools from him? If I wont have any more for a month, neither will he." Zion frowned back and slapped his hand hard onto the counter of the stall. "Don't make things difficult for me. I have my own reasons for speaking to them. Whether they have any tools to sell or not is unimportant." The slam of the palm made the shopkeeper jump with fright. He recoiled from the counter by a half step and began to sweat a bit. "Now, now, no need to get violent. Hehehe..."

"Your supplier. A name."

The merchant pulled out a handkerchief and mopped up his perspiring face. "Y-Yes. Ah, let me see...Aggripica Silus. He is my contact with the Remano Aurelius League." The man leaned in and whispered his response which made Zion raise a brow in surprise. "But please sir, do not tell them that I've sent you. Aggripica is very bust and hates to be bothered. I fear if he finds out it was me who told you where to find him, he will cut off business with my humble stall." Zion nodded and removed his hand from the stall counter. "Rest assured, my investigation is to be a discreet as possible. Such are my orders." Zion then pulled up the hood of his cloak and walked away, a sour expression on his face.

The Remano Aurelius League? Zion had never heard of the group before. He couldn't exactly go asking the shop keeper. The name had been dropped with the expectation that any local should already know it. So Zion walked away from the market and turned away from the crowds down a shaded alley between buildings where he allowed his disguise to end, face and body shifting back to his natural more slender body and silver locks. "If I am going to ask something only a foreigner wouldn't know, I may as well not hide the fact that I am one..." The magician muttered to himself as he walked down the alley and emerged out into the sunlight on the other side.

It did not take long when asking around for him to learn not only where he could find the headquarters of the Remano Aurelius League, but also what they were. Apparently it was a rather well known company of merchants who dealt with exports and imports between Reim and other nations. But one interesting quirk that set it aside from the other merchant groups around as that several council member's of the Reim government were invested into the League and used it to control the markets. They did not have a monopoly, but they did have a large impact on what sort of goods flowed in and out of Reim. If the Aurelius League decided not to do business with you then it was unlikely your goods would find their way into the capitol city if they came from overseas. By acting as a sort of middle man between foreign and local merchants, the League managed to make a rather sizeable income, most of which went to lining the council member's pockets.

"If the Reim government is involved, I could be stepping into quite the mess...Rumors of corruption and unrest have been floating about since I arrived in Remano. I hope this doesn't blow up in my face..."

The young magician sighed as he headed towards his inn where he changed out of the Reiman garb he'd been in and back into his preferred Kou robes. From there, he headed to the League's headquarters. Zion entered the large marble building and looked around. A receptionist soon approached him with a bright smile. "Welcome to the Remano Aurelius League, may I ask which broker you have an appointment with, sir?" Zion had disguised himself once more, this time with the black hair and facial features of a Kou native. "I don't have an appointment. I'm here to see Aggripica. If he isn't available now, I'd like to make one. I have magic tools I am interested in selling." Zion said as he produced a pair of magic boots he'd acquired.

An awkward smile appeared on the receptionist's face as she glanced that the schedule written on the scroll in her hands. "I'm sorry sir, but Sir Silus does not take visitors without an appointment. The soonest you could set one is...three months from now. Shall I assign you a date?" Her apologetic tone made it clear that she wasn't giving him a hard time on purpose. It simply really was that difficult to meet with the man. Zion smiled and shook his head. "No. No need. I'll just take my business elsewhere." Zion placed the boots back into a burlap sack and began to make his leave. "Pardon me for saying sir, but if you have more than just a handful of these magic tools you will want to make an appointment. You will find it difficult to sell them in bulk unless you represent an approved company from Magnostadt."

The advice gave Zion pause. "Why would being from Magnostadt make things any different?" The receptionist kept her customer service smile up and explined, "The League has entered into an exclusive contract with select companies around the world. Those companies each have exclusive rights to sell through the League's various associated businesses. Magic Tools are currently handled by three primary companies based out of Magnostadt." Zion narrowed his gaze and thought to himself silently for a moment. "Um...S-Sir?" Zion then smiled and finished packing up his bag. "I see. Thank you for informing me. I'll return at a later date." Zion then took the bag and left.

"I don't have time to wait for three months. I didn't want to do things this way, but it seems I'll have to risk it."

The young magician returned his bag to the inn and then opened the window to his room on the second floor. He pulled out his wand and cast a Sight Bend Coat upon himself, scaling it to last long enough to complete his task. Now invisible to prying eyes, the storm kitsunes stepped onto the wind and flew from his window out into the afternoon sun. A strong breeze followed his path through Remano which carried him to the Aurelius League headquarters. There, Zion switched his method of flight from that of stormborne winds to gravity magic. The wild gusts that carried his died down and his flight become silent as Zion slowly descended into a courtyard at the center of the building from above. Once inside, Zion floated above the ground and tried to keep close to the ceiling as he searched for any sign of which office belonged to Aggripica.

It did not take long for him to locate a door which had the name embossed on a bronze plate hung next to it which read 'Aggripica Silius'. Zion laid flat against the ceiling and waited for someone to come by. Eventually an elderly man carrying an armful of documents approached and knocked on the door respectfully. "Sir Silius, I have the manifests for this weeks shipments you requested." Said the old man. A dour nasaly voice sounded from within. "Enter. But be quick." The old man obeyed and did his best to open the door and enter quickly, but he had so many scrolls in hand it was impossible for him to do so in a flash. Zion took an opportunity to fly inside past him swiftly and caused a draft which made the many scrolls in the man's arms to tumble onto the floor. "I-I am terribly sorry, sir!" The elderly man apologized as he scrambled to quickly pick up all the scrolls.

Zion felt bad for the old man, but did not have the luxury of pitying him for long. He floated over to a corner of the room and observed the middle aged man behind the desk. Aggripica was red haired and ruddy faced, but too slim and supple to be of Fanalis blood. His skin was bronzed from many days in the sun, but it seemed like those days of hard labor were behind him. His was dressed in fine robes of nobility and had no small amount of golden jewelry on him. A large necklace hung from his head and seven rings were spread across his fingers. One could tell with a glance that this man had accumulated vast wealth. He had a long face and a sharp nose which he was not looking down as he glared at the old man silently fuming. The elder finally finished gathering the documents and brought them to a tray on the desk.

"Time is money, Mr. Kraocus. Your clumsiness has cost me most precious time with a client."

The nasal voice was annoying to hear, but it struck only fear into the old man who's hands began to quiver and tremble as he pulled them away from the pile of scrolls. "M-My deepest apologies, sir. I shall be more careful in the future." He spoke with his head lowered, not daring to meet the other man's gaze. "See that you do. Leave me." Aggripica said flatly. "Yes, sir. Thank you sir. Thank you." The old man retreated whilst bowing repeatedly but froze when his hand reached for the door as Aggrpica spoke in a sinister manner, "Oh, Mr. Kraocus. Do be careful going home. Even senator's are being murdered these days. If the streets are not safe for even this country's most important figures, just think how dangerous they are for lowly plebeians." The old man gulped and presented Aggripica a deep bow before leaving in a hurry.

Aggripica waited until the door was closed and sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I am sorry my lord, that should be the end of distractions for today." He said as he pulled the cloth away from a sphere that was seated on a small pedestal on his desk in front of him. A cloudy crystal ball was revealed and the swirling mists inside took the vague shape of a human face. "Worry not, young Aggripica. You forget that I am not so obsessed with time as you are." The voice of an old man sounded from the orb. The voice seemed slightly distorted, but the friendly an amicable tone could still be picked up from the orb. "There was only one last thing for us to discuss today anyways." Aggripica nodded and opened a drawer to his left, "Yes, I suspected you would want to confirm that they have arrived."

A case was produced from the drawer and set down in front of the crystal ball. Aggripica opened it to reveal a set of three rings set in velvet. Each one was made of a metal Zion could not place and had different colored gemstones set within. A ruby, a sapphire, and quartz. The designs matched the style of one of Aggripica's own rings which had an emerald set into it. "Good, very good. I am rather please, Aggrpica. Are you confident the council member's will accept our little gifts?" The disembodied voice would ask with some skepticism. "Worry not, my lord. The last three council members were very happy to accept. I see no reason for the others to decline as they have already expressed great interest in investing in the League. It did not take long for the first of them to see benefits and profit come flowing in after all. I have been invited to a party tomorrow evening held by a council member already brought under our fold. The others should all be invited as will and I plan to present these gifts to them there."

"Excellent. You Goi always have been obsessed with material wealth after all. As long as there are benefits, some among you would even sell out your own children, let along your own nation."

Disdain was apparent in the old man's voice, but Aggripica seemed unable to even conceive of being offended. He smiled like a masochistic servant happy to receive a lashing. "Quite right, my lord. We Goi are the scum of the earth. It is just as you say." Aggripica bowed his head as he spoke and when he raised it, Zion could see a strange light in his eyes. Rukh were fluttering around his ring in a spiral that led up to his head. Some sort of magic was at work here bending the man's will. "I will contact you again tomorrow at the same time. I expect to hear good news." The mists in the sphere then collapsed and faded leaving it clear and empty.

Aggripica bowed low once more until the mists fully vanished before placing the cloth over the ball once more. "It is only a matter of time before master achieves his goal at this rate. I should be rewarded greatly for my contributions." Aggripica said to himself as the magic influencing his mind faded away. He then reached for the documents Kraucus brought in earlier and started to look through them. Meanwhile, Zion sat in mid air still invisible. The magician was unsure of what to think about what he'd just witnessed. A Reiman merchant broker was tied to the council, he had confirmed this before he even arrived. But now it seemed like there was much more going on here. Who was the old man on the other side of that communication magic tool? What was the deal with the magic ring? It seemed to only activate when the old man had been insulting non-magicians. Aggripica had acted oddly subservient for the duration of its activation. More of such rings had already fallen into the hands of the council and yet more still were being delivered to them.

"Whatever is going on here, it goes much deeper than controlling the market for magic tools...I should wait for Aggrpica to leave and look around for clues.

Zion did just that and waited for several incense sticks worth of time before Aggripica finally got up and left. Unfortunately, he took the box of rings and the communication sphere with him. The man left behind only a dark tidy room with stacks of documents. Zion slowly lowered to the ground ending his flight spell and looked around. He thumbed through a great many documents for the next two hours. When he was done, he'd scanned most of what was available to him here and held a grim expression on his still invisible face. "I never imagined I would be getting involved in Reim's local politics. It wasn't my intention, but if Magnostadt is involved...I should go back and think on what I've found..." With that, Zion opened the door and stepped out into the courtyard where a sudden gust carried him up into the sky which had now turned dark with the orange and red hues of dusk.

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WC: 2676/1000
Magoi: 250/340

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