Ean burst into the Royal Guard garrison commander's office, gasping. "The Argonian Bookshelf's owner has been taken by the Man in the Purple Hat. I'm certain of it."
The commander asked, "Why would he kidnap a bookseller?"
Ean hesitated before crafting an answer. "Samuel is a close family friend of the king. Perhaps he wants to exchange Samuel for his freedom or to simply inflict pain on the king."
"Did he leave a ransom letter with demands?"
"I'm not sure yet. The message is strongly encrypted and could take me a few hours. In the meantime, can you alert all checkpoints to be on the lookout?"
"Right away, Spymaster Fleming."
Ean sprinted to his office, taking the stairs two at a time. He crashed through the door, panting. "Stop what you're doing. Samuel's been kidnapped!" He braced himself on the desk, trying to catch his breath while observing the reactions of Aria and Ingar. Both appeared genuinely shocked. If they were double agents, the kidnapping didn't involve them. With every minute counting, he had to risk trusting them.
Ean set the ransom letter on his desk. "This is the only clue. As you can see, it uses multiple ciphers. Help me decipher it."
Aria weighed down the edges with paperweights. Ean assigned the first two lines to Aria and Ingar and tackled the last two lines himself.
QFK: Use what you have learned about ciphers to decrypt the ransom note.
Hint: The message starts with easy ciphers and get more complex with each line.
EMOC OT EHT ECALP EREHW SKOOB NIGEB
HVVP HZMXGFZIB DSVIV DLOEVH SLDO
9 6 7 1 20 8 5 18 5 4 19 15 21 12 19 3 15 21 14 20 6 15 21 18
image [https://assets.zyrosite.com/mk3DgWba85TD9V6y/chapter-31-pigpen-cipher-message-YbN9DNQvJphZWPqy.png]
Ingar stared at their assembled lines of plaintext. "They're riddles, but I can't think of any answers."
Aria reread the message. "Me neither. Ean?"
Come to the place where books begin
Seek sanctuary where wolves howl
If gathered souls count four
The bookseller will be no more
SKILL UPGRADED: Reverse The Word +1 (3/3)
SKILL UPGRADED: Atbash Cipher +1 (3/3)
SKILL UPGRADED: Numbers For Letters II +1 (1/3)
SKILL UPGRADED: Pigpen Cipher II +1 (1/3)
= = = SKILL LEVEL UP: Reverse The Word II = = =
= = = SKILL LEVEL UP: Atbash Cipher II = = =
Ean was conflicted. They had helped him decrypt the message, but he still didn't know which of them was the double agent. The more he involved them, the greater the risk of interference or delay. He needed to sideline them. To do that, he must choose duty over his heart.
"The first two lines are clues to his location known only to me. If he's trying to lure me away from here, he wants to separate us. He probably has more agents than the ones the guards captured, meaning we're all at risk."
Aria gripped his arm. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Then don't go. If we're going to be attacked by assassins, I don't want to go through that again without you."
Ingar placed a hand on Ean's shoulder. "I owe you my life and will ride into the face of danger if you ask."
"I appreciate the offer. However, the last two lines are a warning to come alone. The kidnapper, Samuel, and me make three souls. One more and he kills Samuel."
"Then I'll stay here and protect Aria if needed. You should listen to her and let the Royal Guard handle rescuing Samuel."
"Thank you, Ingar. Believe me, if I could send the Royal Guard, I would. They can, however, play a part in keeping you safe."
Ean led Aria and Ingar to the Royal Guard garrison and asked for Guard Blackwood.
"Aaron, I need another favor from you. For their safety, please lock Aria and Ingar in separate cells."
Ingar and Aria stared at him, dumbfounded.
"A jail cell inside the Royal Guard garrison is the safest place in the entire kingdom," he explained. "If there are assassins in the city, it's the last place they'd look and certain death to try."
Guard Blackwood and Ingar carried Aria into a cell. She struggled and pleaded, "Don't go. He'll kill you too."
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Ingar tried once more to convince Ean he should accompany him.
Before leaving to save Samuel, Ean pulled Aaron aside and whispered, "Don't let them out or allow them to communicate with anyone under any circumstances. One, or both, of them is a double agent."
* * *
Ean raced the fastest horse in the royal stables to Argonia West, the answer to the first two riddles. The Untamed Forest is where books begin - as the source of their paper. The sanctuary 'where wolves howl' could only be the park at the forest edge. Its maze of hedges was an ideal location to make pursuit difficult if the kidnapper decided to flee.
The demand he come alone was certain to be a trap. Ean formulated a plan to turn the advantages of the park against the kidnapper. He stopped at the trading post to gather what he needed. "Garland, I need your help," he said as he tossed his coin purse at the startled man.
"Warden Fleming, what's going on?"
"The man I've been chasing for the last few weeks. The one trying to start a war, is holding a hostage in the park. I need men capable of silently surrounding the park to ensure he can't escape."
Garland Everstone grabbed an axe, cinched his belt tight, and moved like a man on a mission. "Consider it done."
Ean purchased a stout walking stick and made his way to the park. He crept through the hedge maze, ready to strike anything that moved.
At the center of the maze, Ean saw a middle-aged man in a purple-colored leather courier hat. "Stay back!" the man shouted. He then flipped a coin and looked at the result before squeezing Samuel's mouth and forcing a liquid down his throat.
===================
= BOSS BATTLE =
===================
Ean charged and swung the stick, but the man parried his blow with lightning-fast reflexes. The man crouched into a fighting stance. Ean slid his left leg back to improve his balance while raising the cane overhead.
"You must be the apprentice who stumbled his way around Brindle like a drunken elephant." The man turned to Samuel. "You've lowered your standards in your old age."
Ean growled. "What did you do to him?"
"I'm giving him a traitor's death. A slow-acting poison. You could try to fight me, and lose, or we can have a candid conversation about your mentor. Prove yourself worthy and at least one of you will walk out of here."
Poised to strike again, Ean said, "Why would I do that? I've fought off wolves armed with nothing but a stick. I'm not going to watch him die."
"Regardless of which option you choose, you will watch him die. He's an old relic of the past. You need to think of your future. Once my network of agents sabotage Argonia's defenses, we're going to deliver you to the Emperor of Brindle. I'm sure he will reward us for delivering the man who assassinated his spymaster, killed a guard while escaping with a spy, and has stirred up rebellion in his empire. Or you could become my apprentice."
"I'm a loyal Argonian and will never join you. Taking me to the Emperor would be your second biggest mistake. I have plenty of evidence to prove you did all those things."
"Bold talk young man. What's my first 'biggest' mistake?"
"Underestimating me as a Spymaster. I intercepted your packages. Samuel taught me the ASCII code you used and I changed your instructions. All your agents were captured last night and are being interrogated as we speak." Ean then recited a list of names and addresses for the agents.
"A handful of pawns in a larger game whose scope you can't imagine," the man boasted. Despite his bold words, his confidence was shaken as worry crept over his face. He looked at Samuel.
Despite his pain, Samuel managed a smile. "You mistake lack of experience for lower standards. Spymaster Fleming started as an apprentice a month ago and is already outsmarting you."
"I'm normally not one to brag, but he is right," Ean said. "For the longest time, I doubted your existence, yet managed to outsmart you at every turn. Your militia group lackeys in Brindle, I handed them over to Brindle soldiers two days ago. Your network of agents in Argonia I had captured. Knowing you'll run like a coward, I have a group of hunters and woodsmen surrounding this park."
The man scoffed. "You're bluffing. You have a single spy in the region, and she wouldn't think of leaving the inn during the daytime."
Ean was surprised to learn the spy's identity. He had assumed the spy was a hunter or lumberjack - someone you'd expect to fight off wolves. He made a mental note to always tip the innkeeper well. For now, he had more pressing matters. He shouted, "This is Game Warden Fleming. Please show this criminal I'm not bluffing."
An arrow whistled past his head and deftly removed the purple hat from the kidnapper's head. Two more arrows soon followed to pin it to the ground.
The man cowered, looking for the source of the arrows, terror in his eyes.
"Now let's talk about your future," Ean said, squaring his shoulders and meeting the man's gaze with unwavering determination. "Surrender to me now, and you'll walk out of here. I know my king will reward me well for capturing you."
The man reached into his inventory and pulled out a vial with green liquid and a small white pill. He flipped his medallion in the air and caught it one-handed. A smile crossed his face as he looked at it. "I told you you'd watch him die," he sneered as he smashed the vial to the ground.
"And I'll see you hanged for murder!" Ean shouted as he swung the walking stick at the man's face.
Without flinching, the Man In The Purple Hat grabbed the staff and effortlessly disarmed Ean. Then he flipped the medallion high into the air and swallowed the pill. "I'll die before I let a lowly apprentice take me."
Defiance burned in his eyes as white foam bubbled from his mouth. He fell to the ground dead at the same time the medallion landed, left-facing head up.
Ean rushed to Samuel, pulled the poison antidote Aria had made him from his inventory, and helped Samuel drink it down.
Garland and his men rushed to Samuel's aid.
"Thank you, all of you," Samuel slurred as he clasped Ean's arm.
Ean looked each man in the eye. "You've done the kingdom a great service today."
"I don't know everything that went on here," said Garland. "But I do know, he didn't mistake you for a game warden." He handed Ean's coin purse back. "We're loyal Argonian's too," he said, hands on his hips. "We don't need payment for defending our kingdom." He gathered up his men and returned to the trading post.
While Samuel recovered, Ean searched the Man In The Purple Hat's body. He seized the man's purple hat and shoved it into his inventory. In addition to a large sum of gold coins, the man carried a plaintext letter addressed to the castle, and a letter-sized copper sheet with square holes randomly cut into it.
"Bring that here," croaked Samuel.
Ean laid the letter and the copper sheet in front of his mentor.
"The letter looks innocuous and boring, correct? Watch what happens when I place the Cardan Grille." He placed the copper sheet over the letter. A handful of words were exposed through the square holes. They made no sense.
"The grille makes it easy for untrained people like diplomats to read and write secret messages. The key is to find the right orientation." Samuel flipped the copper sheet over and a message leaped from the page.
The message hidden in plain sight confirmed the recipient would receive a large fortune and the position of Governor when Argonia was defeated.
======================
= BOSS DEFEATED =
======================
Purple Hat added to Inventory
Cardan Grille added to Inventory
LOG ENTRY CREATED: Spycraft - Cardan Grille
CLASS RANK INCREASED: Spymaster +1 (15/24)
QUEST COMPLETED: Q-028 Rescue Samuel from the Man In The Purple Hat
REWARD: +2 XP (22/24)
With the danger passed, Ean realized he had witnessed a man's death while barely escaping with his life and the life of his mentor. He vomited up what remained of his breakfast.
More work remained, so he cleaned himself up before returning his attention to Samuel. "I have a horse at the trading post. You feel well enough to travel?"
Samuel stood, grabbed Ean's walking stick off the ground and together they made their unsteady way to the trading post.
QFK: The Activity Pages available at https://www.neuralsplyce.com/free-stuff contains a printable Cardan Grille and secret message you can uncover.