embarrassment. "Battle mages are weaker in magic, so I wasn't certain that skill carried over to him."
Drayden looked ready to tease the girl once again, but Sebastian answered with a kind smile and said, "He understands what you meant. I know Drayden well enough to know that much at least.
"I can feel the emperor when he wants to be felt," the young man added as he closed his eyes. He faced towards the castle near the center of the cavern and continued to speak, "He is old and talented enough to know how to mask his power also. I have been here and felt incredible power radiating from the castle, but it doesn't seem to just be one powerful being either. His power is likely the strongest though."
The older man nodded and said, "We've all heard of the emperor's power, but he does have several warlocks of great power we know of as well. Plus there is word that the emperor has a sister now."
Waving off the comment as common knowledge, Sebastian replied, "Garosh was considered a brother, or a son maybe more accurately. He's said that the emperor was dying, or at least that was the excuse for some experiment his warlocks whipped up. He told us that the emperor has a new, younger body and split his power between a sister and lesser brother."
Lifting his hands up over his head, Drayden acted like he was giving up and explained why sounding annoyed, "If this Garosh knows so much, why am I trying to crack this castle? He probably knows all about it from being his brother!"
Sebastian could appreciate the man's complaint, but gave him a sympathetic smile as he explained, "We can probably get you some sort of floor plan to use, but Garosh was exiled from here roughly a year ago. He escaped south of North Wall and spent much of his time there even before his break from the emperor. That is a lot of time for things to change and a good reason for it too probably.
"Unfortunately you still need to do your best to figure it out. We need real time, current information; if we ever hope to put together a plan to bring him down."
The older man replied sarcastically, "Thanks for explaining how to do my job, Bas. I've only been doing it since you were in diapers."
He finished with a barked laugh and moved on. "So you'll need a few reports to bring back to Southwall like usual, I suppose. I don't know how much they expect."
Sebastian shrugged. "I'm just the middle man. If I had the time and talent, I would have done it myself and kept everyone safe in Southwall until something was figured out."
"No need to be that modest, owl mage. If not for you, we'd still be stuck trying to send in spies the old fashioned way, which has only yielded a lot of dead spies. They have a knack for keeping anyone out that they don't trust and seem able to sniff out a spy from Southwall in particular."
"Did you know anyone that tried?" the younger man asked as Drayden moved around picking up a few loose papers. Jana stepped back to sit on a stool. Though the basement was sparsely furnished it was more than one might expect for an unoccupied building. The spies had likely scrounged up most of what was here, though Sebastian was unsure how they had done so.
Glancing at the mage, the spy master replied, "Not for certain. I don't make it a habit to spy on my own people, but I have had associates disappear amid rumors of testing the walls of Ensolus. It is a game for spies and secrets are part of that, Bas.
"You're too much soldier for this line of work, I bet. Stick to uncovering magical secrets or whatever. I don't think either of us believes that this life is for you."
Sebastian chuckled lightly, though he found the comment less funny than some of the humor of this man he had known for awhile. "Well, that is probably true. I deal with enough castle intrigues and secrets just being a battle mage on the outskirts of such things."
A folder that was bound and sealed was handed to the younger man.
Glancing to the other men and women inside the basement, who were
Drayden looked ready to tease the girl once again, but Sebastian answered with a kind smile and said, "He understands what you meant. I know Drayden well enough to know that much at least.
"I can feel the emperor when he wants to be felt," the young man added as he closed his eyes. He faced towards the castle near the center of the cavern and continued to speak, "He is old and talented enough to know how to mask his power also. I have been here and felt incredible power radiating from the castle, but it doesn't seem to just be one powerful being either. His power is likely the strongest though."
The older man nodded and said, "We've all heard of the emperor's power, but he does have several warlocks of great power we know of as well. Plus there is word that the emperor has a sister now."
Waving off the comment as common knowledge, Sebastian replied, "Garosh was considered a brother, or a son maybe more accurately. He's said that the emperor was dying, or at least that was the excuse for some experiment his warlocks whipped up. He told us that the emperor has a new, younger body and split his power between a sister and lesser brother."
Lifting his hands up over his head, Drayden acted like he was giving up and explained why sounding annoyed, "If this Garosh knows so much, why am I trying to crack this castle? He probably knows all about it from being his brother!"
Sebastian could appreciate the man's complaint, but gave him a sympathetic smile as he explained, "We can probably get you some sort of floor plan to use, but Garosh was exiled from here roughly a year ago. He escaped south of North Wall and spent much of his time there even before his break from the emperor. That is a lot of time for things to change and a good reason for it too probably.
"Unfortunately you still need to do your best to figure it out. We need real time, current information; if we ever hope to put together a plan to bring him down."
The older man replied sarcastically, "Thanks for explaining how to do my job, Bas. I've only been doing it since you were in diapers."
He finished with a barked laugh and moved on. "So you'll need a few reports to bring back to Southwall like usual, I suppose. I don't know how much they expect."
Sebastian shrugged. "I'm just the middle man. If I had the time and talent, I would have done it myself and kept everyone safe in Southwall until something was figured out."
"No need to be that modest, owl mage. If not for you, we'd still be stuck trying to send in spies the old fashioned way, which has only yielded a lot of dead spies. They have a knack for keeping anyone out that they don't trust and seem able to sniff out a spy from Southwall in particular."
"Did you know anyone that tried?" the younger man asked as Drayden moved around picking up a few loose papers. Jana stepped back to sit on a stool. Though the basement was sparsely furnished it was more than one might expect for an unoccupied building. The spies had likely scrounged up most of what was here, though Sebastian was unsure how they had done so.
Glancing at the mage, the spy master replied, "Not for certain. I don't make it a habit to spy on my own people, but I have had associates disappear amid rumors of testing the walls of Ensolus. It is a game for spies and secrets are part of that, Bas.
"You're too much soldier for this line of work, I bet. Stick to uncovering magical secrets or whatever. I don't think either of us believes that this life is for you."
Sebastian chuckled lightly, though he found the comment less funny than some of the humor of this man he had known for awhile. "Well, that is probably true. I deal with enough castle intrigues and secrets just being a battle mage on the outskirts of such things."
A folder that was bound and sealed was handed to the younger man.
Glancing to the other men and women inside the basement, who were
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