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[Ardas]

"Very well, this sounds more than good enough for me. I approve of this plan. Also, you are authorized to use blades on this mission if you think you will need them. They should obey you in this regard just the same as they obey me."

[Azthor]

He bows swiftly "Your will be done, Your Majesty" before calling a score of clerks over.

Immediatly enact the tax reforms.

He motions towards Mr. Robert "Meet with the Guilds you represent, present them our proposal and return with their answer, and the estimated costs for the road project. Should they tarry in their decision, you are free to remind them of which Royal favor is always in high demand, and they are not the only ones who would seek it. They particularly have to benefit from tax exemption with the now approved provisory raise in urban taxes" he seems to hesitate for a moment If it will not take too long, I will personally accompany you. I can be rather persuasive".

On the way, he stops briefly to speak with Marshal Raeric "Commander, as you heard from His Majesty, expenditure totaling your former requirements for equipment and training has been authorized. Haste is imperative if his realm is to to be prepared to repel the Hillfolk, though you already know that. You may wish to consider superior equipment, as the funding may well be availiable"

[Alexandria]

Sighing for a moment the blade then motioned over a sister and sent her out with new orders, 5 minutes later a group of blades left the castle and crossed the borders into neighbouring lands to search for estates of rich people that are away from towns and forts.
They are to stick to the shadows and not engage anybody for any reason but self defence.
Several more smaller groups set out to follow heralds moving to announce the tax increases.

5 blades to scout neighbouring territory for villas and estate that are isolated, additionally 2 blades are to follow each herald as they go to announce tax increases, if the gathered crowds become angry they are to explain the threat of hillfolk raids and spin a story of the horrors of those raids to explain the need for higher taxes to improve the army and better guard the people. These smaller groups are to wear old dresses in the current custom so as to blend in.

Looking at the chancellor for a moment after hearing the kings word the blade then nodded slightly.

If you have need of my blades then inform me of your intentions and I will arrange for the appropriate sisters to accomplish the task.

Your guard is already waiting mage and I see no reason to reduce the number of that guard, they will deliver you to the town then they have other matters to attend to.
As she spoke she motioned for another blade to attend her and then sent her running to the group with additional orders to abandon or kill the mage if he should attempt anything dangerous or attempt to use magic, priority 1 is reaching the town and locating Alexis to provide support but so long as the mage does nothing to place them at risk on his own then they remain with him and protect him from attack, they are to remain close at all times to avoid a repeat of the storm incident.

A little past midnight Alexis slipped silently past the guards in the castle tracing the kings steps to his room, slipping silently inside with a blade behind her she cleared her throat before speaking.

My lord please forgive the intrusion but I wished to speak with you away from prying eyes, it seems to me that you are not a fan of purely political marriage and as you know my sisters and I are adept at finding things, if you could tell me what you would seek in a woman I would be more then happy to dispatch a sister or two to search for a fitting woman who is also of sufficient station to be eligible, your chancellor will look only for a political match after all as is his duty, I on the other hand am not constrained by that duty.

[Ardas]

Sighing for a moment the blade then motioned over a sister and sent her out with new orders, 5 minutes later a group of blades left the castle and crossed the borders into neighbouring lands to search for estates of rich people that are away from towns and forts.
They are to stick to the shadows and not engage anybody for any reason but self defence.
Several more smaller groups set out to follow heralds moving to announce the tax increases.

5 blades to scout neighbouring territory for villas and estate that are isolated, additionally 2 blades are to follow each herald as they go to announce tax increases, if the gathered crowds become angry they are to explain the threat of hillfolk raids and spin a story of the horrors of those raids to explain the need for higher taxes to improve the army and better guard the people. These smaller groups are to wear old dresses in the current custom so as to blend in.

Looking at the chancellor for a moment after hearing the kings word the blade then nodded slightly.

If you have need of my blades then inform me of your intentions and I will arrange for the appropriate sisters to accomplish the task.

Your guard is already waiting mage and I see no reason to reduce the number of that guard, they will deliver you to the town then they have other matters to attend to.
As she spoke she motioned for another blade to attend her and then sent her running to the group with additional orders to abandon the mage if he should attempt anything dangerous or attempt to use magic, priority 1 is reaching the town and locating Alexis to provide support but so long as the mage does nothing to place them at risk on his own then they remain with him and protect him from attack.

A little past midnight Alexis slipped silently past the guards in the castle tracing the kings steps to his room, slipping silently inside with a blade behind her she cleared her throat before speaking.

My lord please forgive the intrusion but I wished to speak with you away from prying eyes, it seems to me that you are not a fan of purely political marriage and as you know my sisters and I are adept at finding things, if you could tell me what you would seek in a woman I would be more then happy to dispatch a sister or two to search for a fitting woman who is also of sufficient station to be eligible, your chancellor will look only for a political match after all as is his duty, I on the other hand am not constrained by that duty.

[2] Alas, villas, estates and the like on Meridian side of the border are similarly guarded and well-hidden, discouraging any attacks or plundering. If there is one thing about poor land, is that everyone will guard their wealth with extra measures. [5] The speech however works wonderfully and the people believe in the (by now more and more real) threat of the hill folk. They will comply with tax masters and king's sergeants when the time comes.

[2] The spy tries to slip in to the royal quarters, unfortunately the task proves impossible with her few errors and surprisingly vigilant bodyguards that do not fall asleep on the duty at royal doors. She manages to get away, but come morning the king will be aware of an attempt to get to his quarters. He will not know who did it, but expect him to grow suspicious of his surroundings.

[Alexandria]

Sitting and discussing what they've discovered the blades decided to simply vote on what to do next, all 5 of them agreed that failure was not an option and that they would continue until they had accomplished the task.

The blades are to continue searching for a less well guarded estate and take note of supply caravans on the roads, numbers of guards and times of the caravans until they have something positive they are to continue the assignment.

[Shootandrun]

On the morning after a spy attempted to assassinate the king, a curious sight could be seen by the door. Where there had once been two Wardens, there were now eight, placed around the corridor leading to the king's chamber. As soon as the monarch awoke, Raeric appeared out of seemingly nowhere (he had been waiting by the door, not wanting to wake his liege) and went to one knee before him.

"Your Highness, I must inform you that something regrettable happened tonight. Somebody tried to slip inside your chamber. The infiltrator was armed, which indicates that there was perhaps an attempt on your life. My men stopped him, but they could not arrest nor identify the bastard before he escaped. One of them claims it was a woman, and since nobody was caught in the palace grounds recently he or she may have been a courtier - but whatever the case, I doubt we'll find out much as long as the spymaster's out of the city.

I have quadrupled the amount of Wardens assigned to guard your chambers, and I would like to install bars on your balcony, to prevent anybody from entering that way. If bars are too much, we could install a balcony and permanently post guards there - they won't be invading your privacy if we put a door, and that way if somebody kills all those in the hallway, you'll have one or two Wardens left to surprise the attackers."

He stopped talking, catching his breath. He'd been going a bit fast.

"Do you wish for me to start palace-wide searches? I doubt we'll find anybody if the chief of the blades isn't there, what with my Wardens not being experienced in spywork, but we might get lucky."

[Ardas]

The king's face betrayed surprise and concern as soon as he heard his commander speak.

"I doubt you will find that person now, but I will be safer with extra guards, yes. I do wish to have my privacy respected however, so please refrain from putting men awkward places where possible."

[Shootandrun]

The Commander nodded, looking mildly disappointed.

"Very well, Your Highness. I will still put up a description of the spy, if I can get a reasonable one out of the two who were present when he tried to get in."

Interrogate the chamber's guards in detail to get a description of the spy, then see if anybody matches that description at court

[Alexandria]

Several minutes later Alexis 2.0 approached with the remaining 4 blades of her sword behind her.

My sisters informed me that somebody made an attempt to reach the king, what have you discovered marshall?

[Shootandrun]

Raeric looked at the Blades with surprise, but he did not miss a beat in replying.

"Nothing so far. My men stopped an infiltrator from getting in the chamber, but couldn't apprehend him. I'll get a description out of them, then pass it on to you. I doubt we'll find anybody now, but it may not be too late."

[Ardas]

Sitting and discussing what they've discovered the blades decided to simply vote on what to do next, all 5 of them agreed that failure was not an option and that they would continue until they had accomplished the task.

The blades are to continue searching for a less well guarded estate and take note of supply caravans on the roads, numbers of guards and times of the caravans until they have something positive they are to continue the assignment.

[2] Your agents have little luck, again. The country as a whole is careful about this sort of thing. further searches don't seem to be of much use.

The Commander nodded, looking mildly disappointed.

"Very well, Your Highness. I will still put up a description of the spy, if I can get a reasonable one out of the two who were present when he tried to get in."

Interrogate the chamber's guards in detail to get a description of the spy, then see if anybody matches that description at court

[4] The description they give could match few people at court, but they point towards Blades as the most likely target, having appreciated and compared their "attributes" with the description the chamber guards gave you.

"Of course, I shall inform him at once and begin making plans."
Kyle heads off to do what he said he would.

[1] The plans are set in motion and the philosopher is informed. However, most of the country is still in the iron grip of censorship (it takes time to lift the old law and restore trust in free thinking) and chancellor is yet to allocate you with funds.Lets not forget about lack of books and men of letter in the country which further causes problems for your plans. No amount of good will can make the changes instant and it may take some time before even the most broad of plans can be drawn up.

[Alexandria]

Nodding her head at the marshals words Alexis motioned for her blade to take normal security positions around the king then moved to his side as normal.

[Shootandrun]

A few minutes later...

Literally all of the Wardens arrived at the same time around the king (and the Blades guarding him). They were twenty-five, all in full battle attire. They ostensibly surrounded the sisters - no weapons were drawn and no way was barred, but it was clear that they could take control of the room in a matter of seconds if the order was given. Those who had already been with the king surrounded him closely, putting themselves between him and the women. Raeric entered last. He nodded politely to the sisters, and bowed before the king.

"Your Highness, I assure you I will explain this as soon as this is over. Miladies, may I have a word with your leader?"

[kahn1234]

Meanwhile, a woman and her three daughters arrive and request an audience with the King. She says something about offering her services to the crown, and that her services may further the goals of the kingdom.

She waits patiently outside the throne-room, waiting for the kings summons.

[Alexandria]

Smiling for a moment then Alexis 2.0 removed her mask and bowed to the marshal.

Well done, your men's reputations are clearly well deserved even if they did fail to capture me.

Turning to the king she then bowed again.

My apologies my lord, as part of my role under your father I was responsible for his security against assassins, with the arrival of the marshal and his wardens my blades were forced out of the traditional positions they had occupied and with nothing but vague rumours of the wardens to judge them by I was uneasy and so I felt it my duty as acting head of the blades until my mistress returns to test your security.

Obviously informing either yourself or the marshal would ruin the integrity of the test and so I had to conduct my test in secret from you, now obviously the marshals men proved themselves more then adequate for the task, though they failed to capture me they were able to prevent my reaching you which obviously was the priority.

I will of course surrender myself to the marshal for punishment if you command it.

Turning back to the marshal she handed her weapons to another blade and then held her hands out before her to be bound.

My apologies marshal but I could not risk the kings life on the chance that the reputations of yourself and your men were exaggerated.
Well done wardens, you have earned the respect of myself and my fellow blades.

I am willing to surrender to you now with the knowledge that the king will be safe with your men standing guard.

As she finished her and the 4 blades saluted the gathered wardens.