Evening Shadow

[Brian]

The lengthening evening shadows are dispelled by the lamps that the cafe owner has lit.  Aliele is currently waiting for a contact to meet her, and lead her to another of the Night's Shadow.

The cafe is in the middle of the main road of a very small village.  There's probably only fifty buildings in the entire city, and twice that number of families.

The Imperial Guard are nowhere in sight, which is always a good sign.  In the fading light of the sun, Aliele can just see a traveler walking down the road into town.  He'll reach the cafe in a few minutes.

[Celisasu]

Aliele watched the traveler out of the corner of her eye.  Most would be going home at this time so he'd probably be her contact.  On the other hand she had a healthy dose of paranoia after recent events so she wouldn't take anything for granted.  Still years of training tought her the fine art of concealing her true feelings so she continued to pretend to be the pampered low ranking noblewoman that she was dressed like.  


Leaning back in her chair Aliele asked cafe owner for another cup of tea and continued to wait patiently.

[Brian]

The cafe owner, a twitchy, compulsive man with the mannerisms and social graces of a ferret, pours Aliele a fresh cup of tea, and then backs away from her table, bowing slightly, and dry-washing his hands nervously.  This behavior is distracting, but doesn't keep Aliele from observing the dagger tucked into the waistband of her supposed contact when a breeze tugs at his jacket.

This particular dagger is interesting, because while the Night's Shadow tends to avoid easily identifying insignia, this dagger bears the imperial crest.  Of course ... some among the Night's Shadow might carry a trophy of their enemy, so it could still be to soon to judge.

Stepping into the cafe, the man pauses, adjusting his eyes to the interior dimness before taking a seat.  He's dressed in the loose gray pants and shirt of an artisan, not the more tight-fighting and durable clothes of a workman.  Above that, he wears a dark brown leather jacket, though not one so heavy it can resist the wind tugging at it.

After entering, he chooses a table a few seats from Aliele and loudly calls out the code words to identify himself as a contact: "Tea, with mint and jasmine, brew it hot, and serve it to me cold."

The owner spasms slightly at this new customer (as he has for the last dozen, since Aliele came in), and nods, running into the back room to fetch the requested tea.

[Celisasu]

Aliele nodded to the man.  Even if he was an imperial spy or assassin perhaps she could get some useful information out of him.  She wasn't really afraid of one individual.  The fact that the cafe owner was as twitchy as he seemed to be was a bad sign, but in a way almost a good sign as it indicated even if he knew something he was probably in it against his will meaning he would be more likely to run than assist.  Cowards were nothing if not predictable.   Aliele had no doubt about her ability to be gone before he got help.  


Eyeing the contact speculatively she gave him a coy smile.  "Would you care to join me good sir?  It's been a long evening and my husband to be seems to be late in picking me up.  Perhaps we could share a few stories while we drink."

[Brian]

The man blinks, then turns to regard Aliele speculatively.  His eyes stop at the fine embroidery of Aliele's sleeves, and whatever he was going to say is cut off as he remembers to close his mouth.  Swallowing, he rises from his own seat, and sits across the table from Aliele.

"I could easily be persuaded, madame," he says, winking, and resting both hands on the table.  Both hands are palm down, showing no scars, no tattoos, and no jewelry.  The pinky finger on his right hand slides towards him, folding to make a peak before he pulls both hands from the table and lets them fall into his lap.  "What stories would you like to hear?"

Aliele recognizes the sign as false, however.  While this man may be capable, he's not truly a part of Night's Shadow.  She might be able to brush him off by not giving the recognition phrase, which is to ask for a tale of the empire.

[Celisasu]

"I've always been fond of travel even if I don't get to do so myself very often.  Perhaps you know stories of the Monks of Zenia?  I saw one once when I was but a young child.  It always fascinated me how different they were than most others."  Aliele thought to herself how tempting it'd be to kill this dog, but sometimes subtlety was necessary.  If she could let him live without him realizing what she was, then she could tell the rest of the Shadow and they could feed him the information the Shadow wanted him to know.

[Brian]

The man frowns, slightly taken aback.  "I'm ... not sure I know any stories about monks," he says slowly.  "But I know stories of wars, of adventure, and the empire."

[Celisasu]

"Alas, everyone seems to love stories of war.  In these troubled times I believe we need stories to take our minds off of the wars." Aliele smiled sadly.  "Don't you agree?"

[Brian]

The man nods at Aliele, but his eyes are already elsewhere, looking (evidently) for someone else.  "I know a story," he says after a moment.  "The tale of three sisters."

The cafe owner emerges from the kitchen with the man's lookwarm tea, and explains that it will be properly cold if he just lets it sit for about five minutes.  The man nods, and once the inkeeper is gone, he launches into a story of the three sisters who founded the Emnpire.

[Celisasu]

Aliele nods politely as she listens to the story.  When he finishes she smiles.  "Well told.  You seem to be looking for someone.  Might I inquire as to who?  I might've seen him or her as I've been here for awhile."

[Brian]

The man shrugs, and smiles awkwardly.  "Well," he says slowly, "I was looking for someone I had exchanged letters with for some time....  We were to meet here."  He laughs nervously.  "I was ... to tell her stories of the empire, which she so loved."

He had his escape bid outlined neatly.  A member of the Night's Shadow who used that fall-back story would be able to tell any Imperial guards it was the truth, and probably had a stack of letters, possibly from another member of the Night's Shadow to corroberate the story.

It appears from this man that the Empire is trying to keep its hunting of the Night's Shadow on the subtle side of things....

[Celisasu]

"Ah.  Her?"  Alliele smiled as if imagining an illicite union between a man and woman.  "I'm afraid I haven't seen women for over an hour now.  Perhaps she got lost?  Or something happened to keep her busy?  In these times one can't be too careful."

[Brian]

"Probably," the man says, nodding slowly.  "I should go looking for her now."  He rises, and bows to Alliele.  "May you enjoy your tea in peace.  I am sorry to have disturbed you."  With that, he drops an Imperial silver on the table behind him, and starts walking towards the exit.

[Celisasu]

Aliele considered whether or not to follow the spy but decided it'd be best to talk to her contacts and find where he was staying.  After all if he had anyone watching him they'd be suspicious about her leaving right after he did.  Instead she'd go to his place later tonight or perhaps tomorrow night and see what she could learn then when she was dressed more appropriately for sneaking around.

[Brian]

Aliele spends enough time at the cafe to make it look like she's just a lady stopping for a drink, and not a meeting.  This does prompt a few (somewhat polite) requests for some time with Aliele from one or two other patrons before she leaves, however.