{"id":2237,"date":"2015-04-28T00:01:08","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T04:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tellest.com\/?p=2237"},"modified":"2015-05-14T06:56:30","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T10:56:30","slug":"a-most-unusual-patriot-part-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/a-most-unusual-patriot-part-four\/","title":{"rendered":"A Most Unusual Patriot – Part Four"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone. \u00a0Today, we mark the end of Jadie Rivers’ first big adventure. \u00a0Atalatha is a big place with a lot of potential for conflict and mystery, and Aaron Canton did a wonderful job of it with A Most Unusual Patriot<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Last week<\/a>, we saw Jadie topple the gnoll gladiator, Hwarl. \u00a0This final chapter of the short sets a lot of things into place. \u00a0We get a decent look at why Hwarl was in Atalatha, and we see Jadie showing why Westwick’s thieves guild trusted her so much.<\/p>\n

Without any further delay from me, here is the finale of A Most Unusual Patriot<\/em>!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Most Unusual Patriot
\n-Part Four-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hwarl\u2019s room was a lot sparser than Jadie would have expected.<\/p>\n

She had returned to his chambers after the duel, stopping only to change out of her costume, and had then waited for a few minutes until Hwarl\u2019s bodyguards came back to tell their companions that their employer was dead and they wouldn\u2019t be getting paid.\u00a0 After a great deal of cursing, all the thugs left, and Jadie was able to break into his room without trouble.\u00a0 Once inside, she saw it had only a few pieces of furniture and barely looked lived in.\u00a0 However, there was one large, ornate chest with a fancy lock near the weapons rack against the back wall, and that was what she wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see,\u201d she chirped as she set her pack down.\u00a0 It slammed to the ground hard despite her best efforts; all the gold she\u2019d won at the Coliseum was weighing it down.\u00a0 She allowed herself one moment to picture herself back in the Sapphire Square or maybe the famed Stately Lady in Viscosa itself, living in the lap of luxury as she watched the visiting nobles for her next big score.\u00a0 But then the moment passed, and she told herself she had to get back to work.\u00a0 She could celebrate after<\/em> she found the proof she needed.<\/p>\n

The lock was good, but Jadie was better, and it yielded after only a minute or two of work with one of her lockpicks.\u00a0 She snapped it open, then raised the trunk lid.<\/p>\n

Something big and thorny swept up at her.<\/p>\n

Jadie jumped back, but not fast enough, and the thorny vine was able to snap around one of her arms.\u00a0 Her eyes widened as the thorns poked at her sleeve.\u00a0 Don\u2019t hurt me!\u00a0 <\/em>she sent to it.\u00a0 I\u2019m a friend!<\/em><\/p>\n

But the vine kept tightening.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t like bush branches, which liked to grow and could usually be persuaded to stretch a little and catch an unwary arm, or like flowers, which liked to spread their pollen and would generally do it if she just gave them a little push.\u00a0 Whatever this was, it wanted to rip and tear with its thorns, and Jadie couldn\u2019t coerce it to stop.\u00a0 Her sleeve began to shred as thorns cut through it.<\/p>\n

STOP!\u00a0 <\/em>She pushed at the thorns with everything she had.\u00a0 Get off my arm!\u00a0 Now!\u00a0 <\/em>But it kept tightening.<\/p>\n

The weapon rack was in reach.\u00a0 She reached as far as she could and grabbed one of the halberds with her other hand, then dragged it to her and pressed the shaft against this vine.\u00a0 You want to kill something?\u00a0 Kill this,<\/em> she urged.\u00a0 See?\u00a0 Arm about as thick as mine.\u00a0 Come on, please, you\u2019d much rather kill this one than me…<\/em><\/p>\n

After one more awful moment, she felt the thorns yielding to her magic.\u00a0 It unwound from her arm and wrapped around the halberd\u2019s shaft.\u00a0 After a few minutes, she was free, and the halberd was almost covered in a small forest of thorns.<\/p>\n

Jadie took a few deep breaths to calm herself, then let out a whoop as joy overtook her.\u00a0 Made it!\u00a0 Even Hwarl\u2019s best trap couldn\u2019t stop me!\u00a0 <\/em>She grinned and dashed back to the chest.\u00a0 If the weapons were there, that was evidence she could arrange for the guards to obtain.<\/p>\n

But the weapons weren\u2019t there.\u00a0 The chest was empty.<\/p>\n

Jadie felt like something in her was deflating, but she shook her head.\u00a0 No way.\u00a0 I\u2019m not leaving without some loot, not after all that.\u00a0 Besides, Hwarl wouldn\u2019t have his room guarded unless something was here.\u00a0 I just need to find it.<\/em><\/p>\n

She searched every inch of the room, just as the Thieves Guild had taught her.\u00a0 She checked for loose floorboards, pulled apart the bedding and furniture, and tapped every brick in the walls to search for hollow spaces.\u00a0 And, after almost an hour of searching, she found one.\u00a0 A single brick reverberated oddly when she hit it, a fast-sounding echo that indicated an empty space behind it.\u00a0 Jadie took her dagger and pried the brick out, then set it aside while she looked through the hole.\u00a0 Inside were several papers.<\/p>\n

Jadie took the first one and began to read.\u00a0 \u201cHwarl.\u00a0 Inform us of the arms and armaments of the Raleigh soldiers and their approximate troop strength in Atalatha.\u00a0 Also, describe any mages of note in Atalatha or Raleigh.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next one read, \u201cHwarl.\u00a0 Describe the other Coliseum warriors.\u00a0 Determine if they could be bribed or threatened into working with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then, \u201cHwarl.\u00a0 Tell us the key political figures in the city.\u00a0 Which of them are the most critical?\u201d<\/p>\n

So Hwarl wasn\u2019t a smuggler.\u00a0 He was a spy.\u00a0 Jadie could understand that; as a gladiator, the gnoll would meet the people his bosses seemed to want to know about\u2014warriors who trained with him, merchants who bet on him, nobles who watched the games.\u00a0 But then why, Jadie wondered, had he tried to sell weapons?\u00a0 Was he branching out?<\/p>\n

When she reached the last letter, things became clearer.\u00a0 \u201cHwarl.\u00a0 Take this dagger and sell it at the Sapphire Square in three days; there are men there who wish to attack the Duke and will pay well for it.\u00a0 Tell them you have a hundred more just like it to sell at the same price.\u00a0 Once they collect the money, we\u2019ll send you the weapons and you\u2019ll make the exchange.\u201d \u00a0A list of passwords followed to help Hwarl identify the people he was supposed to sell to.<\/p>\n

It made no sense for the deal to take place as written, of course.\u00a0 There were more private places where a gladiator could meet with some people to sell weapons if he chose.\u00a0 The only reason for doing it at the Sapphire Square was\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted him to be caught,\u201d murmured Jadie.<\/p>\n

Hwarl\u2019s superiors had tricked him into revealing himself in a public place so he could be overheard.\u00a0 And someone had also tipped off the Thieves Guild with the false rumor that Lady Trefaer would be at the same location with a famous jewel they wanted.\u00a0 Assuming the thief were at all competent, she\u2019d overhear the deal\u2026and would feel obligated to stop it as part of the guild\u2019s deal with Raleigh.\u00a0 The only way to do that would be to kill Hwarl.\u00a0 Then just set a trap for the thief to tie up the last loose end, and that would be it.\u00a0 Hwarl would be dead, and nobody would be able to trace it back to the instigators.<\/p>\n

That only left one question: Why kill Hwarl?\u00a0 He seemed to be a good spy; the letters, at least, never complained that he was sending insufficient or inaccurate information.\u00a0 Did they just not need him anymore?<\/p>\n

Wait,<\/em> Jadie thought.\u00a0 The treaty.\u00a0 Ambassadors and merchants are going to Warus to cement the alliance with one of the largest gnoll tribes.\u00a0 What if the conspiracy includes some of the people on those teams?\u00a0 That would probably be preferable, having a spy that isn\u2019t at risk of dying in the Coliseum every day.\u00a0 And they could write back and forth using sealed diplomatic correspondences, protected by Raleigh\u2019s own soldiers.\u00a0 Not to mention, they might even be able to use the death of a gnoll as a bargaining chip to get a better political position.\u00a0 One of theirs just got killed in Atalatha; maybe they say they\u2019ll abandon the talks unless they\u2019re paid off…<\/em><\/p>\n

Jadie blushed.\u00a0 She\u2019d been used, manipulated into getting rid of a gnoll for the conspirators.\u00a0 In fact, the Thieves Guild as a whole had been used.\u00a0 It was embarrassing and certainly not how one would want their very first mission to go.<\/p>\n

But, after a moment, she let herself smile.\u00a0 She\u2019d still dealt with Hwarl, who was an enemy and needed to be taken out.\u00a0 She had proof of the conspiracy she could show her superiors back in Westwick.\u00a0 She\u2019d successfully robbed several wealthy nobles and merchants, justifying her position as a member of the Thieves Guild.\u00a0 And, thanks to her wagering in the Coliseum, she\u2019d made a lot<\/em> of money, enough that she couldn\u2019t help but beam when she thought of all those gold coins clinking in her pack.\u00a0 On the balance, things had worked out quite well.<\/p>\n

Plus, if she played her cards right, her superiors might assign her the task of rooting out the rest of the conspiracy.\u00a0 After all, she\u2019d already cleaned up one end of it and had a pretty good idea of where to look for the other traitors.\u00a0 Taking them down would help fulfill Westwick\u2019s deal with Victor Raleigh\u2014and it would be fun.\u00a0 One brilliant thief against the evil forces that would topple her nation if they could.\u00a0 Now that<\/em> was an adventure.<\/p>\n

Jadie stuffed the letters into her pack and left Hwarl\u2019s apartment, unable to stop herself from whistling.\u00a0 It had been a successful mission, and she was hopeful that she\u2019d have many more.\u00a0 After all, she was Jadie \u201cThorn\u201d Rivers, who would be known one day as one of the greatest thieves ever.\u00a0 Whatever obstacles came her way, she knew she could handle them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone. \u00a0Today, we mark the end of Jadie Rivers’ first big adventure. \u00a0Atalatha is a big place with a lot of potential for conflict and mystery, and Aaron Canton did a wonderful job of it with A Most Unusual Patriot. Last week, we saw Jadie topple the gnoll gladiator, Hwarl. \u00a0This final chapter of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[349,145,146],"tags":[836,273,837,149,61],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Tellest_WebHeader-x2-e1427024822542.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-A5","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2238,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions\/2238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}