In Too Deep

[Rezantis]

"They were, weren't they?  I'm somewhat worried about the effect his imprisonment might have on keep morale, actually . . ."

[Bjorn]

"And on his safety when he's released," Bjorn agrees, mulling it over.  

"I have an idea," he says finally, shaking his head, "but it puts Paul at risk, I think, and I've already gotten him knifed once."

[Rezantis]

"What, get him released, under guard?"

[Bjorn]

"No."  Bjorn shakes his head.  "We'd never be able to sell Kevin on that, and I can't blame him, from what I've heard about Verrik.  Hell, I don't know that I'd blame him for simply executing Durant out of hand, just to be safe.

"No," Bjorn repeats, "what I was thinking of was starting a rumour.  That Paul was in prison, but not because he was a traitor, but because he knew things about the enemy, and we were protecting him."  Bjorn shrugs.  "It would save his reputation, certainly, and it might even help morale, to know that we had our hands on information so vital we had to protect him.  But it would also make him Verrik's next target, likely."

[Dracos]

"Problem with that.  If Verrick is at all in on the plans with Dorian, he would then know that Dorian left a plant behind just in case to keep it covered up.  Of course, why go through that type of planning?  Expecting to be killed is a bit odd.  Same is revealing that there is an assassin king around here at all.  We wouldn't know this prior to it.  We wouldn't be expecting it.  It's hardly going to distract us from believing there is still likely more traitors around.  It doesn't add up correctly.  How'd Dorian get an assassin king up here and who was the target?  Solariat already sent out assassins for radagast, so it isn't likely it's a backup there."

Dracos

[Bjorn]

Bjorn frowns.  "Well.  Dorian claimed to have been able to control Verrik because he had Verrik's knife -- semi-legendary sort of thing in its own right.  I don't know that he expected to die.  Paul should have died.  If that had happened, then we'd all think Verrik was dead, and our guard would be let down, letting the real Verrik have free play.  I'm betting that Dorian's periapt gave him the lore of Gates -- that's the only way to reconcile the stuff in Paul's journal with the fact that Dorian was in the Keep for the past ten years.  I'm guessing he planned to skip out after last night's siege, going down south.  It's worth pointing out that Dorian's 'confession' talked about his ties with the Dreadmarch, but not, as far as we know, his ties with Solariat.

"As for his target?"  Bjorn shrugs.  "Why limit yourself to one?  I'm guessing Verrik is here to kill anyone and everyone that starts proving themselves too useful.  Which is why he went after Breke's blades when he had the chance."

[Dracos]

Dracos pondered.  "Legendary knife?  Hum.  Bear with me for a moment.  First off, shouldn't we be able to tell with the pariapt?  Can't one of our mages examine it or, bar that, I can help radagst privately with my sight?  Better than guessing.  Second off, that explanation doesn't make sense.  Why, if paul was suppose to die, would we even see the journal explanation to begin with?  The only way we'd even know that Verrik was ever here would be Dorian saying it.  And planting those papers on a dead Paul wouldn't have been worth anything except causing suspicion on Dorian and what's the point there?  Even leaving the papers behind doesn't work.  An assassin we don't even know is here is far and above more effective than an assassin we know is here.  And really, unless holding the knife magically interests Verrik in going above and beyond the call of duty, why would he really look into killing more than he needed to?"

Dracos hummed.

"So...aside from those questions....who has that knife now?  And in having it, do we have control of Verrik if he's out there?  And moreso, can we not set a trap with it?"

Dracos

[Bjorn]

"The papers -- not Paul's journal, which is a different thing entirely, and lost -- were on Dorian's room," Bjorn says patiently, "not on Paul or on Dorian himself.  They were also written in Elvish, which makes it just hard enough for most people to read to assume Dorian thought it safe.  Remember, we know there's an assassin, one who's been running free in the South before the siege and in the Keep now.  Killing Paul and then setting him up as Verrik would make us think that we'd found the assassin, and that we didn't have anything to worry about, all in one stroke.  It would get us to relax the guard, and make it easier for the real assassin to go about his business.

"And I don't see why the knife has to 'magically compel' Verrik to do anything.  There's lots of people working for the Dreadmarch of their own volition -- why not him?  He's got a grudge against Liena as is, apparently, which is more than enough motivation."  He shrugs.  "If you assume that everything Dorian wrote was a lie -- and why wouldn't you? -- then why believe the knife would grant any control over Verrik, one way or the other?  The legends don't suggest any sort of link that way, they just say that the knife is both powerful, and precious to him."

[Rezantis]

"So what we're basically concluding is that there is a nasty-powerful assassin out there and we all need to watch our backs - and you want to use Paul as bait.  I don't think the prison is really the best place for that, because the guards can't see into his cell."

[Bjorn]

"I don't want to use him as bait," Bjorn says, slightly sharply.  "The best way I thought of to keep morale up and save his reputation would make him bait.  And as I said, I'm not keen on that.

"We have to keep in mind, though, that no matter what we do, Paul's a prime target, if Verrik or any other assassin really is here."

[Rezantis]

"Alright, you are suggesting using him as bait - I didn't mean 'want', but . . . gah. You know what I mean.  But the fact that he might be a loose end . . . ehh, I don't know what to do."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn shrugs, leaning back in his seat.  "We're back where we started," he says, "catch Verrik.  Unless someone has a better explanation for all the evidence at hand," he says, cocking an eyebrow at Philip.

[Dracos]

"Guys...  A second...  Who HAS the knife at the moment?  If I was a mighty assassin who found a knife precious and it just happened to fall into the hands of someone I was already planning on killing...how likely do you think I'd be not to go right for that kill and retrieve my favorite knife?  My point was more, the knife makes potential bait as well.  Anyhow, the story STILL doesn't play right.  Our guard wouldn't be relaxed from finding out that we caught Verrik and executed him.  Far from it, with multiple instances of assassination attempts, we'd just get more paranoid from having another example of how far the enemy is willing to go and what quality of assassin they are buying.  It almost a silly expectation to think we'd get less paranoid at it.  Additionally, I don't care how it's dressed up, an assassin you don't even have a clue exists is a great deal more effective then an assassin you know is there.  Sure, there would exist a delightful irony in having us kill someone useful to use, but aside from that...hum....   Paul was supposed to have died.  Something seems off.  What did paul say about the whole encounter?"

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"That he got stabbed by Dorian and he wasn't expecting it, then Lindsey healed him and they chased Dorian out to the wall where he started shooting at Lorekeepers," Rez says bluntly, "No, this doesn't add up.  There's no reason for Verrik to imply that he was here, if indeed he is.  As to the knife making potential bait, that makes little sense given that by saying that you have to say he knew where it was in the first place, and so I don't think that wherever the knife is is in any particular danger.  If we know anything about a target, Paul would be it, because whoever's been working against him has already apparently taken steps - and since it doesn't seem to have entirely worked, they may well take more.  Wheover it was had a perfect opportunity to retrieve the knife without us ever knowing it was there, and didn't."

Nathan draws in a breath.

"I don't see any explanation that entirely fits right now.  We found the knife of a legendary assassin. We know that Dorian shot at the Lorekeepers, and thusly was a traitor - probably working for Solariat, because we found a periapt.  We suspect that someone planted some of the letters on Dorian's desk, but we aren't sure.  We know that someone removed Paul's journal."

"Those are what we know.  So from there we can theorise that the reason someone removed Paul's journal was to remove the evidence that he wasn't Verrik.  That means someone wants him to stay in prison.  Why?  Honestly, we don't have information that Verrik is here at all - just that someone is apparently dancing around in the shadows.  And that, really, is all we know.  But if they did plant that information in Dorian's room then they could also have removed the knife, and they didn't.  I'm tempted to call it a red herring."

He shrugs helplessly.

"Am I making sense, or?"

[Bjorn]

"I don't think the papers were planted," Bjorn disagrees, "or at least, not in the sense that it wasn't Dorian who left them there.  Both Kevin and Liandral, at the least, should know Dorian's handwriting.  I think Dorian had to be involved with them.

"And there's a simple reason to mention Verrik's name.  We know there's an assassin walking around, and that's common knowledge.  But we might also have known that the assassin was Verrik."  He looks around at the others.  "Our security's gotten better," he points out.  "There hasn't been any sign that the Dreadmarch has been listening in on our strategy sessions any more.  If they were trying to convince us that the assassin they'd put in here was gone, they wouldn't take a risk by dropping the name of a false assassin.  It would tip their hand."