May we see the mission to the lands where ones such as this young human escaped from? And what became of the lands, and the cruel slave owners?
@internutter/challenge-03947-j295-a-whisp-of-hope -- Lessons
Vaphambryl. Picturesque Archduchy renowned for its fine arts and gloriously beautiful farms. Even those who visit rarely wonder where all the workshops are. There might be a few little hobbyists here and there, but they aren't producing the quality of detail evident in their exports.
Those are things made with love.
The things made for profit don't see the sunshine until after they're unpacked in the emporiums they're exported to. That's because the fine arts are made underground. No inspection before this one has found Vaphambryl's dirty little secrets. No inspectors looked hard enough at the barrows or boarded-off mineshafts. They'd have seen the hinges or found the mechanisms if they did.
A king would arrive with a parade. Nobles and flunkies and half a city's worth of servants. A prince may do likewise. But the thing with the Whitekeeps is... they don't do what is expected. They have a trained knack for finding other ways.
Every single one of them is a master of disguise. Kosh, Master of the Way of Shadows, taught it to his children. All fifteen of them[1].
Also, most people expect a prince or princess in disguise to be escaping an evil realm. Not strolling into one with far more effective vagabond clothing than most. After all, it's a Whitekeep rite of passage to spend a year at least as a common adventurer. Learning what life is like on other side of the parapets.
They're very good at it.
Prince Compassion Visor Battleborne Whitekeep was operating under the name Vis for the duration. Not everyone is blessed with an easy ekename[2] to adventure with. He took five goes to get arrested for strolling while Hellkin, and all it took from there was giving lip to the Watchmen.
Clapped in irons. Taken down from the cells. There to 'disappear' into Vaphambryl's literal underground operation.
Making fine and fancy things for the fine and fancy people willing to buy them for a thousand times what they cost to make.
Vis had made Adept, of course, but wasn't yet up to using the Stance of the Facilitating Shadow. Therefore, he had to use other tricks to bring Vapambryl down. In this case, a combination of playing the fool, and using everyone-knows ignorance.
Everyone knows, for example, that Hellkin tails aren't useful for much beyond emotional display. Everyone knows that they can't possibly do dextrous work like picking pockets... or locks.
Something like -say- training as a Martialist since childhood would have to be necessary to lift a warden's keychain and then open a door while shackled to the wall. Or unlocking a cellmate's irons so they, in turn, could unlock his.
The revolution happened in the dead of night, with thousands of slaves erupting from the underground like a natural disaster. A flood of evidence striking out in bloody vengeance against those who had kept them.
And a very angry King Kormwind X of Whitekeep placing the Archduke of Vaphambryl on public trial for his misdeeds. Including holding one of his baby brothers in chains without a trial. Or in chains at all.
[1] They kept having twins.
[2] His other choices were 'Bothery', 'Bonnie', and 'Shun'. None fit his personality for Adventuring.
[Photo by Pascal Garten on Unsplash]
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