The Forgotten Zodiac

"I have a... friend who is a caretaker for a variety of magical animals." From Dagan's glove it was entirely obvious that he was this friend he was talking about. He'd made no attempt to hide it; but, if Morgan decided to betray him to the Vatican, the man needed to be able to honestly deny admitting involvement to them. "With the Catholic restrictions closing in, he is concerned for the safety of him animals. He's willing to offer any and all products that come from the animals in return for funding and protection. I'm here to find out if your lord would be interested."

"Hm...and what kind of products are we speaking of, here?" Morgan frowned thoughtfully. "It's an interesting offer, certainly not one that comes along every day. But if you want both protection and funding, I need to know what kind of gain I'll be recieving from you. It's simple business; you don't walk into an investment blind. Unless you're really stupid, which is often extremely amusing. But...you don't take me for a fool, do you?" Morgan took another sip from his teacup in a shabby attempt to hide his smirk. He wasn't really attempting to be hostile, but this was already a risky conversation.

Dagan was barely taken aback by Morgan's apparent hostility. Morgan hadn't been the first person he'd approached, and some of them had been less polite than Morgan was currently being. "He has a phoenix that's about to go into its regeneration cycle. Any moltings that come during that cycle are extremely valuable for healing, magical or non. He also has one unicorn, which is admittedly skittish; but shavings from a unicorn horn have purifying powers and grow back. Discarded wyvern scales make both excellent armor and excellent fire starters." He was overselling it somewhat; the unicorn was highly skittish, and he had one, crippled, wyvern. However, it was quite the opportunity, if one was willing to risk the wrath of the Vatican.

Morgan thought for a moment, a slight frown on his face. "Hm. That's nice and all, but those are all for healing and purification. I'm looking for more...preventative measures, mainly. Does your friend have any Nighthawks, by any chance?" Nighthawks were extremely rare to find, much less trained. But they were so worth it; they could easily be trained to stay awake all night, circling any perimeter. Their night vision and rumored heat vision made their gaze literally unescapable. But they weren't a loud, blaring alarm system. They would return to their masters and wake them to alert them to the enemy presence.

Such a thing would be a godsend. Morgan hadn't had a solid night's sleep since he was enrolled in the Vatican.

"Nighthawks?" A mask slipped over Lowell's face, for they were a dangerous thing to own, especially if they failed to meet their sponsor's every demand. "As I understand it, he may have recently found a single mother and her chicks. Since they're quite young, they won't be patrolling until, say, three to four months from now. The mother will start patrolling again in two, if the area is small enough." Dagan's tone became slightly more enthusiastic as he realized he might have something that met Morgan's interests. "He does have several wood sprites. If there were woods nearby, they can easily be trained which people not to target." Wood sprites were famous for the pain they inflicted on those they saw as intruders. What was less well known was that they would be incredibly loyal to those who rescued them. Dagan had found a nest stuck in the river and rescued them, for if their wings were fully submerged or stayed wet too long, they lost flight capability.

"Wood Sprites? Remarkable. I can settle for waiting on the Nighthawks. It would be an investment with delayed returns, certainly, but well worth it. Well, Dagan Lowell, you should have your friend swing by this inn," He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. As Morgan set it on the table, the name of the inn he and Alexander were staying in was burned into the white. "But of course, our discussion isn't quite over yet. You said you had a question...about me. You'll excuse my hesitance to answer any questions you may have; my personal business is very much private."

"My question. Oh, yes." Dagan jumped slightly, surprised that the conversation had gone so well. Most people cut him off when he said he required defense from the Vatican and funding when he only had wood sprites to offer. The Nighthawks were a fairly new find. "It's not a personal one at all. He just needs me to clarify that you would leave the animals welfare to his disgression and not require him to do anything he thought could be harmful to them. Some sponsors are found of severing unicorns' horns, for example, which is quite painful to the beast."

"I would never dream of it. A unicorn's horn might grow back, but what would I need all of the shavings at once for? Unless I wanted to use the horn as a grotesque shiv, but I assure you, I have no need for such crude weapons, nor will I ever." Morgan chuckled, surprised at the question. He had thought it would pertain to his business with Alexander, but this was a much better inquiry. "The Nighthawks and Woodsprites will be the majority of what I need, and I'll leave their training and care to your friend, and him alone. That's not an issue. If that's all, you're free to stand now." He smiled.

Lowell smiled back and pocketed the paper Morgan had burned for him, careful not to tear or wrinkle it. "Then my friend will see you tonight." He nodded at Morgan, then hurried down the street toward the lower districts of the town. The Nighthawks were probably in need of food, finding Morgan had taken him longer than he thought it would.

Morgan watched him run off, smiling slightly. He downed the last of his tea and stood, ready for an afternoon of relaxation and quiet.

Later in the evening found himself meeting Alexander at the doors to the meeting house. "Hello there. How was the meeting? Everything in order?" He questioned cheerily, an easily noticed spring in his step.

Alexander rolled his eyes, sneering visibly. "If you listened to half the things they said in that meeting, the world is in complete anarchy. Anything happen in particular to make you so cheerful?" Morgan's delight was visible to anyone walking by, which only served to annoy Alexander more. It seemed completely unfair that he, the wealthy and privileged lord, should be forced to suffer while Morgan, the commoner with nothing but his magic to his name, should have such a delightful time.

"Oh yes. The Vatican happily accepted my resignition, and I believe I found someone to help out with the nightly guard duties. A couple months' time and I'll be freed up to replace that brash Moria as your houseservant. I'll take on your scheduling and arrange meetings myself; I feel you'll agree that it's much safer to have no third party involved when it comes to your security, my liege." Morgan smiled happily. "His name is Dagan Lowell. He'll be stopping by the inn this evening to have a little chat about his friend's business. But, eh..." Morgan remembered his meeting with the Vatican. "Do we have somewhere private to talk? Something's come up, see..."

"And you're comfortable leaving Moria in place for a month?" Alexander inquired, asking a neutral question until they could reach his rooms back at the inn. If walking on the street wasn't private enough and it couldn't wait until the return home, the rooms would have to do. "Dagan Lowell. You'll have to tell me more about him."

"Eh...I can live with it. I'll keep a close eye on her, that's for sure. Dagan Lowell's friend is quite the interesting case; he has a number of things that can be of use to us, but he seeks protection from a well known party." Morgan tutted. It was very vague, naturally. Anyone listening offhand would likely assume that he was seeking refuge from the Blood Hawks; they were a well known group of mercenaries that didn't care who or what they were going after, so long as the coin was good enough. It wasn't uncommon to seek protection from such a group if one had made enemies in the wrong class.

Morgan cleared his throat and continued. "I believe the positive factors here severely outweigh the negatives in this particular case, so I directed him towards an interview at the inn. Once you get a chance to speak to him yourself, you can decide on whether or not to hire him, but I strongly suggest it."

" With your recommendation, he's as good as in. Does he want anything other than that protection?" Alexander knew immediately which party Morgan was talking about. He was more interested in what these items were and what payment would be required for them. "And about his merchandise. Does he sell livestock or solid goods?"

((The Syren should be his friend. That would not be what Morgan was expecting.)) 

"He also wants funding for his pursuits. He doesn't sell his livestock, but the merchandise he gets from said livestock is more than worth it." Morgan nodded. "I'm not sure about his prices, but...I'm sure he'll ask for a fair price. It's well worth it, as I said, and he continues to have my reccomendation regardless."

((Alexander's friend? Where would they have met?))

((Dagan's. Not Alexander's. That would not make sense.))

"Interesting." They had now reached their rooms at the inn, so Alexander turned to Morgan and raised a eyebrow, glancing around. "Private enough? Or must it wait till we return to Lanstul?" It had seemed more urgent than that, so Alexander assumed Morgan would talk there. He could always use a sound protection spell.

((Oh, okay. Yes, it would not make sense.

Sure, the Siren can be Dagan's friend. Works for me. I don't think she would willingly travel with him otherwise.))

Morgan shook his head, then did what Alexander assumed he might. He pulled out a pen and piece of paper, scrawling a spell circle of some kind on it. "Portable soundproofing. I don't like to use it because It can easily be hacked if someone has the know-how, but...I think we're safe enough. Put your hand down on one side," He set the paper on a table, placing his hand on the paper. Naturally, he didn't stop talking until Alexander placed his hand on it, as well.

"The Vatican knows what's up. They want me to feed them the fake information and the real stuff. I figured you'd want to know. They know by now that I'm hardly on their side, but..." Morgan sighed, shaking his head. "And Dagan Lowell...I trust him enough, but he's got creatures of the Myth with him. The Nighthawks were my main interest, but he's got a skittish unicorn and a pheonix, and he mentioned a wyvern. It's certainly quite the catch..."

((That way, Dagan wasn't lying earlier. He really did have a friend with all of those animals. So he was not his own friend, earlier, when he was talking to Morgan.))

Alexander placed his hand on the paper immediately, leaning forward on the table. To anyone who walked in on them, it would just look like the two men were having a normal conversation while both leaning on the table. "You're comfortable feeding them doubly-false information? My motivations remain the same, but I have no aversion to coming up with two false stories or true, but completely useless, stories." His eyes widened barely noticeably when Morgan informed him about Dagan Lowell, and the Lord nodded strongly. "Even if he is a spy, those animals are worth it. A unicorn, phoenix, and wyvern? I wonder how he's drawing them. No matter what, you're right. It's worth any risk he brings."

((Ah, okies.))

"I'm comfortable with telling what you wanna tell, kid. It doesn't matter to me. I just need to keep the Vatican off my back, and you're helping me do that." Morgan shrugged. "I wonder sometimes why I stick with you, but I'm glad I have this far. You're pretty sharp for someone so young, and a noble to boot..." He shook his head again, a frequent act for him. "Back on topic. Dagan Lowell seems like the kind of man who knows what he's doing. He approached me directly, so he not only knows me already, but he also knows you. If he were a spy, I doubt he'd make his knowledge well known. But he seemed perfectly comfortable around me in spite of my first impression coming off as demanding and very harsh. Which means he knew what he was getting into, knew who he was talking to...and who he was talking about. Either way, when he comes here, we should remain just as careful as ever. You won't be going off into a room with him alone, that's for certain."

((Is the Siren going to come with Dagan to the meeting?))