Entry 2
Following my procurement of employment at Castle Valondrac through the attempted manipulations of the Espionage General Kiyoshi Hachibi (who is officially listed in the published book “Faces of the Empire: How to know your Rulers”, so that was helpful) my day came to a close after the purchasing of several books from Cityport’s local bookshops.
And by that I mean I spent the entire night reading every book I had purchased until the sun rose. I did want to know what Hachibi’s note read, so I put my work into learning the common language of the Dark Lands, otherwise known as Common Doklan.
Note: Not to be confused with High Doklan, Low Doklan, or Gothic Doklan.
Learning a language in one night is difficult though, so for the sake of expediency, one of my purchases was a bilingual dictionary, the use of which shouldn’t have to be elaborated on. With its very handy use, I discovered the meaning of the note, which is as follows:
Hey cutie patootie! Head to the ferry building at 8, there’ll be a boat heading southbound down the Flinthead River. Don’t get off at the first stop, you’ll want to keep at it as it goes up the Coalsink up to the capital, it’s a straight shot all the way there, but it’s gonna be a long trip so pack snacks!
Once you get to Hollowfont Station, you want to head up through (I didn’t figure out this part yet, but I have time on the boat ride to fully piece it together.) ask for Mord, not Mort or Morq. He’ll put you in touch with Dapper the Dapperest of Butlery Butlers (Note: Check if this translated properly.)
Hugs and kisses, your new bestest boss,
Count Jon Terry.
Note: If ever I do encounter Admiral Bleaksky, I should bring up General Hachibi’s antics. It may be a possible avenue to foment dissension in the ranks.
Upon deciphering the note, I knew exactly what I had to do, and set about heading to the ferry building for my ride to the capital. Then I actually arrived at the building, realized I had lost track of time while working on my translations (and a bit of light fiction reading), and it was 9:47 instead of 8.
This was a problem.
However, it was not an insurmountable one! For I am an angel of sufficient intelligence, which affords me several modes of travel restricted for the less capable and/or competent.
Such as simply flying after the ferry (very stealthily) and entering through one of the walls into an unoccupied room, then exiting to find a seat. Being able to go intangible and detect living beings through what elder Jophiel termed our “sin sense” made doing so quite easy, and from there I simply settled in and relaxed for the journey.
The crew was somewhat alarmed to discover my presence, though the matter was resolved with some judicious application of justice’s most stalwart ally: bribery.
Note: I joke, but only in the sense that justice and bribery would be anything but the most bitter of rivals. Indeed, I recall Uriel having a particularly adversarial relationship with some Greed demons around two thousand years ago. I think Michael also had a rivalry there? Maybe? Something to ask about.
Further Note: To clarify, I did bribe the sailors. I had the forethought to bring lots of gold.
Passage from Cityport to Capitalia took the rest of the day, a relatively short amount of time compared to most non-flying forms of travel. Water travel tends to be faster than overland travel, generally speaking, and I was content to wait in my seat and read my books for the duration of the trip.
I did take some food in order to maintain my cover as a mortal who needed to eat, but for the most part, I was an unobtrusive passenger who did not disturb the sailors nor the other ferry goers, even if I did take some time to look around.
(Note: Ferries along the rivers of Inrapaba tend to vary in size, but the main method of propulsion for them takes the form of an individual mage sitting towards the back of the ship essentially diverting the river currents around the ship through the rhythmic beating of a “river drum”, similar to the drums used on rowing ships to keep time for the oar-wielding rowers.)
By the time I arrived at the capital, it was deep in the evening. The sun had fully set, yet the streets were still full of traffic as I disembarked. This, as I would soon learn, is actually quite typical for darklander cities, particularly anywhere nocturnal folk congregate. Vampires and ghouls are probably the most common of that type (at least in the Dark Lands), though even orcs and goblins can easily adapt to nocturnal life due to their cathemeral nature and ability to see in low light.
The remaining parts of the note I translated referred to various streets leading up to the palace. I followed the directions described within and encountered the individual known as Mord, who was a gray orc stationed at a checkpoint outside the Castle Valondrac. More accurately, the checkpoint was outside a bridge that led to one of the castle’s gates. Still outside the castle, but at something of a distance.
Either way, I presented the note to Mord and explained my situation, whereupon he muttered something about it being weird since Admiral Bleaksky was nowhere near Cityport. I considered bringing up General Hachibi’s tomfoolery, but it didn’t seem to matter much to Mord, who allowed me through regardless with little more than a shrug and a mention that “Carver will know how ta handle it”.
Soon after this, I encountered my new employer: Mister Dapper Carver, the Head Butler of Castle Valondrac. Technically, I am employed by Empress Valondrac herself, but Mister Carver (a violet-skinned individual of elvish descent, apparently locally known as a “swampfolk”, who either wears a wooden mask at all times for cultural reasons, or because it’s literally attached to his face; I have not determined which just yet) is my direct superior, in terms of my infiltration. He’s not actually superior to me in a general sense, but for the sake of the deception, I will refer to him as such.
My talk with him was a relatively simple one in which I explained my circumstances and desire for employment. He accepted my reasoning and allowed me to stay the night in the servants’ quarters, wherein individual servants were apparently commonly assigned rooms with roommates. For my first night, I was allowed to sleep on my own as I was not an official employee and there was a spare room available.
The next morning involved another interview, this time with Mr. Carver. For brevity’s sake, I won’t note down the exact content of said interview, but suffice to say I did very well in it. It was mostly asking background questions, similar to the previous one with Mr. Saksi, except with far less hostility and much more provided snacks.
By this point, the interview was largely a formality, as Mr. Carver explained, and with “Count Bleaksky’s” (General Hachibi’s) recommendation and instruction, I was formally inducted into the servants of Castle Valondrac.
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While the supposed nephilim known as Rayfa Viswan was officially hired into the ranks of Castle Valondrac’s domestic workers, business proceeded as usual for the majority of the palace’s staff. Halls and floors had to be scrubbed of dirt and grime, food had to be brought to officials, laundry always needed doing, and corners needed to be checked for any possible infestations of pests like slimes or uzias.
Of course, once tasks were finished and matters were handled, there was still a decent amount of free time for the castle staff, who were also allowed breaks. The main point being that it wasn’t unusual for certain members of the castle staff to spend time with other members of castle staff, particularly when one happened to be a cute young woman who enjoyed “spending time” with the typically rugged and buff members of the castle guard.
Cotrina Red-Tongue, half-succubus extraordinaire, let out a little grunt as she stretched her arms over her head, before yawning, letting her jaw stretch as she did. Then she kept up with the stretching, twisting and turning as she worked out some kinks, getting that good bone-popping sound going as her long, ivory hair cascaded over her lightly tanned skin.
It was important to have at least something of a tan, lest she be mistaken for a vampire, again. No offense to their type, but she preferred her partners warmer. Though warming them up could be fun...
After a few more seconds of contemplation and limbering, she got up from the bed and moved to more thorough stretching, showing off some impressive flexibility that would probably draw eyes if the only other person in the room wasn’t snoring steadily. She idly glanced back towards him as she bent her foot over her shoulder, taking a second to admire Vakig’s orcish physique. Big guys were always fun, and the seven foot slab of green beef was a frequent, if casual, buddy for enjoying such fun.
Though he did seem tuckered by this point, fully limp as he rested. Ah well, no need to waste a morning, so Trina got to her typical morning ritual of attempting to figure out where her clothing had absconded to. Sometimes such a thing was easy, and other times, such as that particular day, she had to settle for borrowing. Though in Varkig’s case, his shirts were big enough to easily use as a makeshift dress as she tied her hair up into a more proper bun, so she was actually more covered than typical.
“Fwoo.” She breathed out, before heading to the nearest communal bathroom and checking in the mirror to make sure she smoothed out any eyebags and ensured everything else looked right. Her pink eyes studied her own reflection, a hum slipping from her mouth, before she grinned. “Looking good~”
“You know it~” the mirror flirted back, earning a giggle from Trina before she turned and left the room, idly perking one of her pointed ears to casually listen to any conversations that may be going on in the early morning. Eavesdropping? She couldn’t say she’d ever heard of any such thing, especially it being impolite. Sounded fake to her.
Still, her listening did mean she wasn’t doing as much looking as she probably should have been, which was probably why she ran into someone she didn’t recognize. And despite said person not being that big, they were surprisingly solid as Trina soon learned when she was completely knocked over
"Bweh!" Trina yelped as she fell on her ass. Opening her eyes as she stopped focusing on her ears, Trina could see both her boss Dapper and someone unknown to her looking down at her. Well, until they noticed what she was wearing and how it’d ridden up. Then they both looked away, which was cute.
"Miss Red-Tongue, I understand today is your day off, but please refrain from walking around the castle in such attire."
"Aw, but I'm covering everything up aren't I~?" Helping herself up as neither of the two would, which was rude, Trina took a look at the new person. A dark-skinned individual with green hair, who appeared to be at least somewhat elven, though that wasn't what she focused on. Despite the glasses and the baggy clothing they wore, it was clear from the collision earlier that the newcomer was very solidly built. Made her curious.
"Even so, certain standards must be upheld, and that includes at least wearing shorts." Letting out a sigh, Dapper glanced at the green-haired maybe-elf. "My apologies, Miss Viswan. This may seem like a bad first impression, but I can assure you, Miss Red-Tongue is a hard working maid."
And that was her cue. "Speaking of, does this cutie need a maid to attend to her~? I might not be working today, but I'm certain I can make an exception~"
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"Do maids attend to other servants here?" the cutie in question asked, looking at Dapper.
Trina’s smile got wider. "Ooo, you're gonna be working here? In that case, why don't I help show you around~?"
"Mister Dapper is already doing so," she immediately replied, seemingly not flustered by Trina’s coy tones and typically flustering attributes.
She mock-pouted to the cutie’s unphased response. "Aw. Well in that case, I guess I'll just stick around~!"
"Isn't today your day off? I'm sure you'd prefer doing something else."
Trina smirked, deciding to play a little card she just realized she drew as her sixth sense twigged on something fun. "Well it's not everyday a nephilim decides to work for the demon lord~"
That earned a very cute frown. "...Is it that noticeable?"
“Oh super noticeable, at least if you’re my type of lady~” She gave a playful flick towards her own head, forming the curled horns common to luxurian devils. “Demons and angels mix in such fun ways, don’t you think~?”
The raised eyebrow was also pretty fun. “...mix?”
“Sure, if you want to~ I wouldn’t mind some mixing and mingling~”
Dapper sighed. “Miss Red-Tongue–”
“Yes boss?”
“Please don’t scare off our newest hire.”
“Heh, okily dokily, no scaring the newbie~” She grinned, giving a thumb’s up, while Viswan–Vissy? Might be a decent nickname, if it was her only name–raised an eyebrow. But at Dapper, not at Trina. How curious~.
“Couldn’t you just order her to leave?”
“Hm?” Dapper stared back, definitely confused. He had no poker face, even with the wooden mask. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand the question.”
“Ah...well, I mean, why don’t you just make her leave?”
“Well, she’s not really bothering me, she’s just like this usually. Is she bothering you?”
Viswan gave Trina a glance, and Trina gave her a nice smile back, before shaking her head. “That’s not my point. You can order her to leave, can’t you?”
“Yes? And?”
“...so why don’t you?”
Dapper tilted his head. “B’cause it’d be rude?” Trina’s grin got a bit wider as she noticed her confused boss’s accent getting more pronounced.
“...But you’re her superior.”
“And it’s her day off.”
“Yes, but...that…”
“Look, if she’s really buggin’ y–bothering you, I can ask her to head off.” He glanced at Trina. “You wouldn’t mind, yeah?”
“Mmm, I suppose, if Vissy really wants me to go. I vastly prefer being desired company, after all~” Smirking, Trina turned to leave, while letting her tail form and perk up to lift her shirt, giving the two a rather interesting sight as she left.
Well up until Viswan yanked the hem of her shirt back down.
"You should be more careful. The shirt you're wearing doesn't seem to be made with tails in mind." Blinking in surprise at the newbie's complete lack of flustering, Trina couldn’t help but grin as a thought came to mind.
"Oh, thanks so much! I didn’t even notice~! Though, before you leave, I just wanna remind you, Mister Carver, that I still don't have a roommate. In case you're wondering where to put Viswan here later~"
Dapper blinked. “You actually sleep in that room?”
“Sometimes~ And hey, isn’t that a plus? Our new friend will get plenty of alone time, if she wants it~”
“I’ll consider the offer,” Viswan replied. Still no reaction there, which was honestly fun in its own way.
“Thank you for keeping me in mind~ Ta tah~!” Trina waved to the two, before heading off to grab breakfast. Food breakfast, not sexy breakfast. And she didn’t repeat her earlier teasing with her tail, even if she did sorta want to see how Vissy would react, but she did put a fair amount of sway to her hips as she walked away.
Something told her she was going to have a lot of fun with the new girl~
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My first official day at Castle Valondrac wasn’t fully official, nor was I technically working there yet as matters of rooming and uniform still needed to be decided. Fortunately, I did encounter one fellow worker who offered to share her room with me relatively early into my day: one “Cotrina Red-Tongue”, a luxurian cambion (half lust-demon).
Though Red-Tongue’s demeanor and choice in casual attire leaves much to be desired (or perhaps the issue is far too much desire in both), the notion that she would be frequently absent from our shared room offered opportunities I felt excused the potential flirtation.
As such, I was soon given my own key to our shared room and, after giving my measurements for my uniform, I went to see just what I would have to expect for the duration of my stay. Upon entering, it became quite clear to me that Red-Tongue had been living by herself in said room quite quickly by how all her belongings were spread around the room, in piles both large and small.
Red-Tongue also seemed to wear even less within her room. Something which would need to change if I were to be living in said room with her.
Despite being surprised that I had indeed taken her up on her offer so fast, Red-Tongue was seemingly excited upon my arrival, and even attempted to clean up the room. Though she really only moved her belongings to her side.
In what was possibly an attempt at friendship, Red-Tongue further offered me one of her uniforms for my first day. Regardless of her intentions, it was quite clear the uniform was meant for her and not me. Without even putting it on, despite her eager attempts to get me to wear it, I pointed out that the measurements wouldn't suit my form.
While her disappointment was evident, she seemed to recover quickly and asked if I wished to take a bath with her. Rebuking her once again, my curiosity got the better of me, and I asked her why she was so interested in me.
Despite my previous readings on Luxurians being deceptive in nature, it seemed Red-Tongue was quite forthright (perhaps her being a cambion had something to do with this) as she immediately stated she wished to have fun with me, as it wasn't everyday a “cute nephilim with some solid beef shows up in front of me”.
Note: I am unsure what she meant by “beef”. Do more research upon luxurians and if they consume mortals.
Further note: Would angels constitute “beef”? We are a winged race, so my first assumption would be poultry.
Further further note: What would devils count as? Most have batlike wings, yet I do not recall if there is a specific classification for bat meat. More research may be needed.
Acquiescing to her request, it appeared our interests did not align as when I pulled out some books to read, she appeared rather disappointed. Though her interest did pique again when she noticed one of my books was “The Wild Feel”.
The reason for her newfound interest became apparent to me as I read the book in question at her request. I have elected to give said book to Cotrina as a sign of friendship, and never look at it again.
Maybe. There does at least appear to be some presumably accurate depictions of lycanthropic courtship rituals, so
That idea is bad and I will not continue to write about it.
At least I appear to have made a good impression on my roommate. Hopefully my other coworkers shall be similarly amicable.
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A knock on the door was the politest way to announce his presence and Dapper Carver, head butler of Castle Valondrac, further raised his voice to carry through the wood. “General Kiyoshi?”
“Come in, come in!” came her reply, and a flick of his free hand let the door swing open as he carried his tray into the general’s office. “You’re just in time! I need an audience!”
Oh no.
“An audience, General Kiyoshi?” Dapper asked as he carried the tray to a nearby table and set it down. He raised the lid to show the tea set it carried, along with the slices of strawberry and lemon cake–separate cakes placed together, not a strawberry-lemon fusion–the general had requested for additional snacking. He raised his gaze to the general, then felt that sinking feeling he had returned quite rapidly as he saw she brought out the black board, again covered in the...likely perfectly sensible writing that only looked like the deranged scribblings of a madwoman, mixed with pinned up maps and the odd picture.
“Exactly! It’s way easier to talk out a line of thought with a buddy, don’t you think?”
Dapper made a non-committal noise as he started to pour her tea.
“And I know you don’t have any immediate tasks to deal with right now, so you’re free to hear me rant.”
Drat. “As you say, General Kiyoshi.”
“Great! Knew you’d see it my way!” That did tend to happen with the kitsune general. “Now to start us off, what do you think of our cute new hire?”
“Miss Viswan? She’s acclimated quickly. Miss Red-Tongue took a liking to her very quickly too.”
“A liking, or perhaps an interest? Is there a romantic passion there already? Or just a physical lust for the new and exotic?”
“...” Dapper knew where this foxhole led, and he had no intention of getting on General Kiyoshi’s wild ride. “So you have the blackboard set up. Does that have to do with Miss Viswan?”
“I’m glad you asked, Daps!” He tried not to grimace at the nickname. “For you see, the dear Miss Viswan, our newest maid and the first lightlander on our staff not counting our Empress’s paramour is none other than a spy! None other? Nothing other…?”
“...Okay? Your point bein’?”
“Aw, what? No big reaction?”
He let her see his eyes roll in reply. “General Kiyoshi, two things. It would probably be easier to say ‘nothing less than’ or ‘nothing but’ or even just ‘is a spy’, and also if she were an actual problem, you and I would be talkin’ about the spy you caught, not how you let her into the castle staff. Speakin’ of, why’d you even do that?”
“Okay, see, there was the question I wanted asked. And for good reason!” She slapped the blackboard for some sort of emphasis, and one of the pictures fell off. “For you see, this is our first lightlander spy! We’ve had espionage come our way before, but this is the first time since we’ve made peace that any of the Light Land nations was foolish enough to send a genuine spy into our midst!” She beamed. “Isn’t that cool?”
“…yes? General Kiyoshi, did you disguise as Admiral–“
“Yeah yeah, I pretended to be Count Jonny to be less obvious and get to act pompous, that part doesn’t matter! What matters, and is the whole point I called you in here to rant at you–“ So she does know she’s doing that… “–is all about the ‘who’, not the ‘what’! Specifically not the ‘what’s going on’ because we know she’s a nephilim so that ‘what’ is taken care of and we also know ‘how’ from her travel records so that leaves ‘where’ and ‘why’ and ‘who’ solves ‘where’ so it all comes back to ‘who’!”
“…who?”
“Precisely!”
Dapper was gonna be here all day at this rate… “Right, General, what’s it you wanna rant at me about?”
“Simple, my dear Dapper!” Kiyoshi gave the board another pat. “I want to rant about the most obvious question on my mind! Which is: who sent Miss Viswan? Behold!” She moved aside, showing the full board and the several maps posted across it, some of which looked pretty old. “The nations of the Light Lands! Seven in total, and any one of them could have sent our new friend into this den of depravity!”
“I don’t think any of us’re that depraved–”
“So who do you think it was, hm? Of our potential suspects, Lady Viswan has provided us with some interesting potentials! For you see! According to her interviews, she claims to be from Tramontava, yet of Nalorivan descent! So the most obvious option is that she’s an agent of the Tramontan royalty, aiming to pilfer our secrets! Because of their connections to wind angels, this is the most likely option, since those angels are known to be flighty...” Dapper politely clapped to the bad joke, mostly so Kiyoshi would just get on with it. “And it’s very likely that any nephilim of Light Land origin would come from them! But her apparent Nalori heritage provides another interesting option, which is that she’s actually from secret wood elves rebels who dislike how our treaty with Ebkai puts them under the heel of the Dragon Lord Galinori! Dragon Lord? Dragon Lady?”
“Dragon Lord is both a title and a species indicator, referring to Greater Dragons,” Dapper offered.
“Yeah that. But of course! That does also raise the option that she’s actually a spy from Gali, even though that would technically make her a border spy instead of a lightlander spy and that’s a tad lamer so we’re gonna disregard that option!” Well it wasn’t the worst reason General Kiyoshi had thrown out a hypothesis. “Now these seem to be the facts as they are, unless they’re a bluff! Because do you know what other nations have populations of wood elves within their borders?”
“Probably most Light Land nations, assuming wood elves are common.”
“Sh, but yes! But also! Rosiava has a significant wood elf population, for they are in fact partial descendants of the Nalori wood elves! I think. I don’t know the specifics, but they definitely broke off from each other at least centuries ago. My point is, the possibility is there, but it’s also in Luceneva to, because while it doesn’t have as significant of a wood elf population, it’s a very multicultural nation and it’s perfectly possible for them to bring in a wood elf agent to hide the truth that she’s Lucenevan! Which could also be the case for Gorokiva, for while that nation is the furthest from Tramontava, it also have a significant wood elf population, and the route we traced on the ship she took first landed in Zemava, so it’s perfectly possible for her to have come from Gorokiva, or even from Zemava itself as some sort of triple bluff!”
“...So she could be from every Light Land nation then.”
“Nope! Ebkai’s on the border, remember? All that’s left is Sollamava, and they’re mostly minotaurs and satyrs, so it’s not especially likely. Unless…” She turned back to the board, humming under her breath as she studied it– “Gasp! A quadruple bluff…?”
“General, do you know what a bluff is?”
“What? Dapper, I can’t be talking about poker right now, I have work to be doing–Where the fuck did my Sollamava map go, what?”
Dapper sighed, wondering if it would be better to point out the map on the floor or just sneak out while the general was searching.
Well, spy or no, hopefully Miss Viswan wouldn’t cause too much trouble while she worked there. She couldn’t be nearly as bad as some of the people he’d seen around the castle...hopefully.
Hopefully...