[center][b]Henas, Verendes[/b][/center]

A telltale creak rang out through the bar and the piano stuttered and ceased.  The room, now much more quiet than it had been a mere a moment ago allowed the clacking of new shoes to be heard by all.  From the entrance a man in an extravagant red suit made his way in, the piano quickly resuming in his path regardless of the hushed whispers that followed him.  

Inconspicuous was hardly the word a foreigner would have used, but in Verendes the coming and going of eccentric nobles in search of new servants or merely novel forms of entertainment was hardly new.  For their part the patrons of the bar either resumed their old conversation after a curious word or eyed the black haired nobleman appraisingly, judging to see if he was the sort that might be looking for workers.  A few even tried to approach, but for their efforts a sneer and disdainful wave was all that could be gained.  

Before he was even halfway through the room the few that had approached him had been dispersed by his attitude and the bar seemed to become totally unaware of his presence.  For the commoners gathered if nothing could be gained from the rich, then it was best to forget they existed entirely.  Beyond that, while the nobleman here was draped in rich color and fine clothes, nothing about him screamed power or authority.  To the lower classes he was only a step or two above them and looking to show off, nothing worth the effort to remember.

Wordlessly the man slipped into a seat across from Harken, looked over to him nodding and questioned, “How was your trip to the Ventue festival?”

Harken tipped his hat up to reveal his face, though he kept his shades on to conceal his true origins. Was this nobleman his contact? He said the code phrase, but let’s see if he understood the confirmation phrase. “Quite fine. Was a lovely event for the most part, though a bit too extravagant for my tastes. How goes that little gentlemen’s club of yours? I hear that you haven’t received many customers as of late.” he replied casually. 

With a tightly held smile the nobleman leaned back and checked a small pocket watch in his coat before relying warmly, “Ah yes, but you know how it is these days; it becomes harder every year to find folks with an appreciation of the finer things.  Why, if you’re that interested you could always drop by and see for yourself how the business is doing.”

Harken sighed, slightly relieved that this was, in fact, his contact. Though he remained on guard, just incase this was some sort of set up. “Well, I am fairly weary of my travels, perhaps that club of yours might relax me a bit more, if anything, provide me with a bit of a distraction as I pass through.” Harken stood and gestured with his arm. “Lead the way sir.” 

With an affable grin  the man in red wordlessly stood and gestured for Harken to join him.  Straightening and dusting his spotless suit he led the newcomer to Verendes behind the counter of the bar, an act  none of the patrons nor the staff commented as they went about their business.  The smooth music of the piano faded and the lights dimmed as the pair made their way into the ancient and dusty storeroom of the pub.  Either to Harkens anxiety, or to his relief, the noblemans meaning in bringing him here was soon revealed when he opened a back door the gloom had rendered near indistinguishable from the walls flanking it.  Outside and reflecting the sparse light of the new moon a genuinely modest black car waited for them.

Extracting a handkerchief from his his pocket and wiping his hands of whatever imagined filth had been on the alley entrances handle the nobleman took a short bow and introduced himself, “Apologies for the necessity of meeting you in such a place my friend, my name is Tese Vunde and it seems I’m to be your host for the time being.”

With that the car’s driver stepped out and held open the rear door for the two, Tese politely gesturing for Harken to enter before him, “We have much to discuss, but I fear those at the club are expecting our presence.”

Well, it was all or nothing for Harken. He knew what awaited him beyond that car ride will either mean success or failure. “Of course, I look forward to meeting the patrons.” he replied as he stepped into the back of the car. In contrast to the nobleman’s attire, this was a very discrete vehicle, hopefully one that will be inconspicuous enough.  

Tese followed Harken into the vehicle and with a soft set of thumps the driver closed their door and his after entering, his own.  Tese gave the driver a simple nod and as soon as the engine revved to life they were on their way.

Leaning back in his seat the smile vanished from Tese’s face,  replaced by a pensive expression.  Looking idly through the doors window as they entered the sparsely populated main street he began, speaking as much to himself as Harken, “How peculiar…  I seem to remember it was just last month that the streets were crowded here, even at this hour.  Hardly ideal for those trying to blend in, but I suppose it can’t be avoided can it?  The town folk must be too busy spending what little time they can with their families before the draft finds them.”

Unconsciously drumming his finger against the window Tese glanced at Harken, “Though I wager it’s a sight that can help you understand the state of affairs these days, had it not been for this I can’t imagine you’d ever be here.”

Taking the time to reguard his guest more closely Tese brought his hand back to his side and reached into his coat, extracting a small folder and handing it to Harken, “Hmmmm…  I can’t say you look terribly Avalian, but you answered everything correctly, and I suppose I’ve no reason to mistrust you.  You’ll find a summary of the situation there, I suggest you read it before we arrive.”

Harken took the folder and began to read over it. As he did, he responded, “Well, that is why I was chosen by my country's government. My father is actually from Verendes, though I assure you…” Harken took off his tinted glasses, revealing his bright, orange eyes. “I have Valkyerian blood running through me.” he put his glasses back on and went back to reading. 

The folder briefed him on the current political situation of both the noble house and the very jeopardy of the monarchy. “Well now… Your voices of reason has most definitely fallen on deaf ears sir. From what this folder tells me, the planned expansion in the Kingdom’s military will put it at serious odds with Avalia at best. This will confirm the suspicions of my superiors of a rapid build up happening in this country.” Harken turned to Tese. “We started noticing that the border forts of the Kingdom were starting to expand. As they did, patrols, convoys, exercises, everything has started becoming more frequent. However, we were still on the fence as to whether Verendes would hide behind its large ally or try to reinstate its presence.” Harken explained. He leaned back in his seat and sighed. “And with the current state of said neighbor, things aren’t looking good.” 

Tese gave a short snort, “Not looking good is it?  You Avalians seem to have a talent for understatement.  The situation has been left to develop for too long and now it seems to me that utterly desperate is an optimistic projection.”  

As the car pulled into another alleyway he looked up and with a nod from the driver motioned for Harken to follow him out of the car.  A scant second after the doors closed behind them the vehicle was off once more, to any onlookers a taxi merely taking a shortcut. 

Approaching a seemingly unremarkable wall of naked brick Tese knocked on the surface, and moments later it pulled back to reveal a small corridor ending in a thick iron gate, a tired guard posted beside it eyeing pair suspiciously.  Flashing the guard some thing within his coat and glancing over his shoulder Tese spoke, “Come on now, I’d rather we not loiter in the open too long.  The others have schedules of their own you know.”

Once the guard hefted the heavy iron gate to the side Tese led the way down the candle lit spiral stairs, only stopping for a moment when the vibrations of the gate slamming shut reverberated through the ancient stone walls.  As Harken followed his peculiar host into the belly of the earth Tese offered some insight on the seemingly unending staircase, “It’ll be a few minutes yet my friend, after all when they built this place the superstition of the dead rising was taken quite seriously.  I imagine they felt safer interning corpses a few hundred feet under.”

On the descent a good deal more disturbing anecdotes were offered, often with conflicting details between them.  Still, the history of the crypt below became clearer as the pair neared it, inconsistencies giving way to greater truths.  Built in the days of the old Verenden Empire the labyrinth below housed the noble dead, war heros, kings, those whose legacies were feared and admired.  Since then it had been lost and discovered a half dozen times, with each unearthing turning the underground fortress to new purpose.  Slave pens, torture chambers, pleasure pits, the varied history spoke of a place few would ever want to enter; that suited its current occupants perfectly though.

As the two neared the proper main chamber the air started to smell cleaner, a paradox considering one would have imagined even ancient decaying bodies weren’t like to give a pleasant aroma.  It was an enigma quickly dispatched though, as the moment Tese reached the final stone door and pushed it inward the sound of rushing water filled the air.

Before them was a vast circular chamber, easily the size of most ball rooms.  Above a number of crudely installed electric chandeliers lit the space as best as such piddling lights could, revealing the underground river that ran a ring around the rooms borders.  The torrent was held back by stout marble barriers long blackened from smoke, though from their rounded edges it was clear the bulwarks had failed at times in the distant past.

The room proper had blackened floors that revealed ancient tiled artwork where use had worn away the coating, all around could be seen desks and people working on any number of tasks.  Yet for all the grandeur of the place Tese skipped not a beat in leading Harken away from the main chamber and towards one of many small bridges on the edge of the great room, each jumping the imprisoned river and leading into the long tunnels whose walls were lined with plaques commemorating the dead within.

Once more they ventured into areas lit only by the scant light of candles Tese navigating the branching maze with practiced ease, eventually bringing the pair to a simple rotted wooden door.  A simple kock from test was answered by the muffled voice of a woman, “Come in then, we’ve been waiting.”

Tese pushed the door open to the sound of grinding hinges and gestured for Harken to enter.  Within sat a woman and two men at a long table, each in equally flamboyant and unwaveringly immaculate suits that set them apart from the many others Harken had seen on the way in.  The woman took the lead as she stood and gestured for the pair to sit, “It’s good to see all went well Tese,”  with a pause she regarded Harken and with insincere smile continued, “And better yet to see our… Guest has arrived as expected.  My name is Kaela Feste, a pleasure to meet you.”

“Same to you Miss Feste.” Harken replied he entered the room. The long journey down the labyrinth of stairs and passages had finally assured Harken of what he had originally feared. This so called liberal party had been driven to a point of utter secrecy. This, on top of the current situation, made Harken feel uneasy to say the least. His ultimate objective was to bring Verendes into the fold, to make it an ally to the Republic and the PRK against their autocratic enemies, but now it seemed he would be working tirelessly just to keep the nation from going to war with its neighbors. He stood before this band of political elite, and sighed, taking off his glasses and placing them in his coat pocket. “Well, I never was really one for grand introductions, so I’ll keep this short and to the point. I am agent Harken of the Avalian Intelligence Agency. Not too long ago, one of your members made contact with us via airdropped message into our borders. I’ve been sent here by my government to evaluate the situation at hand and provide you with the necessary resources and counseling to historically change your government for the better, allowing peace between our nations. Which, I would like to add, means peace with our close ally, the PRK.”

Harken finally took his seat, taking off his hat and placing it on the table. 

Kaela sat herself and maintained her facade of amicability even as her displeasure seemed to bleed through, “Change indeed Agent Harken, you are here after all, but before we go any further I must make it clear…  We will not bind ourselves to the will of the PRK.  Your nation is one thing, but we have no intention of allowing the communists to install a puppet government in Verendes.  Not that you would allow such, of course.”

Looking at Tese she continued, “As for the situation I do hope my cousin provided you the basics, but to recap at current our Liberal party exists in parliament, but only so long as Belvon Harns permits it to.  Most of our members of parliament are tracked to ensure we stay docile, though as you can see the hubris of old men has allowed some of our younger members the ability to organize what you’ve seen so far, and more.”

On Kaela’s left one of the other nobles, a thin and pale man, took over, “As you can imagine any real change has been difficult to enact legally as a result of this.  The most recent laws our party can be held responsible for came under the rule of the last king, since his death Harns has undermined us to the point of irrelevance.  We suspect the only reason our party, as well as the noble parliament, continues to exist is to fool the public into thinking they have some level of representation.”

Picking it back up Kaela went on, “A strategy that has made harnessing public discontent difficult.  If we act outside of legal means and go to the people directly we’re the enemy and Harns has legal authority to deal with us, if we act within those means we are powerless.  This has been the case for several years now, but it seems the situation has changed.  Recently arms shipments have gone missing, the military is being bolstered, relations with Moravia are solidifying.  We predict the government is on the verge of a coup, and that it will come within the next several months.”

She sighed and finished without any of the faux kindness she had displayed before, “Which brings us to today, reaching out to foreigners and inviting their interests into our nation because we’ve failed to master the situation on our own.”

Shaking his head, Harken pulled from his coat a couple of items. First was a deck of cards, which he began to lay each card out in a certain pattern. After he was satisfied, he pulled out a handkerchief from his front pocket and set it on the table next to the cards. “Well Miss Feste, it seems your nation seems to be screaming towards its own destruction. You’ll likely be either absorbed by Morvaria, destroyed by the PRK, or perhaps even worse, have the people of the ocean take a healthy bite out of your territory. Things are bleak, and you turn to Avalia at what could not possibly be anything but the last minute to try to turn things around. Hmph, well, let us both hope you’ve made the right choice.” He gestured to the items before him. “We will help you and your liberal party in whatever way we can. Avalia will also protect any foreign incursion on your sovereignty as a nation, including the PRK, and promise to ally themselves with Verendes if the government successfully adopts a more representative stance. But that is for later. As they say, you don’t give a man a peanut and expect a farm the next day.” 

He began to carefully peel away the surface of each card. “Excuse me, but could you get me a list of these chemicals? Fairly common household things, nothing hard to find.” he said, placing a small piece of paper with the list. While the items were being acquired, he finished his work on the cards. Placed back together, it revealed a map of the border shared between Verendes and Avalia marked with locations of natural and artificial tunnels, hidden border trails, and other various concealed crossing points. “Of the past four or five months, my nation has begun to mark smuggling routes used by both Verendes and Avalian merchants to smuggle goods from my nation to yours and vice versa. Originally, it was to stop such activities, but the AIA saw a great opportunity. So far, these various routes work fairly well. Even I took this one right here near Firebase Echo.” Harken said, gesturing to one particular point on the map. 

A small bowl and his requested list of chemicals were soon presented to him. “Ah, thank you. Now, this handkerchief has a list of various weapons, goods, and whatever else you need that can be transported on these routes. To sum it up…” Harken mixed the chemicals then began to soak the handkerchief in the solution. “.. it will be mostly small, easily transportable goods with a few heavy items available depending on the season and time of the month.” As he talked, his plane white handkerchief began to turn brown, revealing it to be covered in text. Gradually, it became legible writing. 

“Well then. Shall we begin?”

After looking it over Kaela felt the faintest edges of a genuine smile form, “I suppose we shall Agent Harken, I suppose we shall.”