An application to travel. Kage had always thought these things were a pain, but he could see the value in keeping track of where everyone was. The spy part of his brain always felt uneasy about anyone knowing more about him and his intentions no matter how necessary it was. He was old enough to assume that if he was going to die it was probably going to be from someone betraying him.
His thoughts drifted towards death as he filled out the application in the Okulærium. Travelling abroad always used to hold that risk and travelling to other planes only increased that likelihood. His phylactery now gave him some extra peace of mind, but if an aelf really wanted him dead, it wouldn’t be impossible to achieve… especially when he was away from home.
Paranoia had led him to filling his home with many of his treants that were usually used for construction and scouting. His familiar, Hana, was also there to keep a close eye on his phylactery. Was this what his life was going to be like now? Constantly obsessing over that little thing?
He sighed and turned his attention to the ‘purpose’ section of the form.
“To hunt Sidhe. I aim to kill or detain 3-5 of them for use in implants and imprisonment. I will be bringing a rifle, spells to mute sounds, several hundred bird fetches, and an elysian green knight treant to transport victims. I have a handful of defensive talismans in my possession, as well as a visor that can see through any illusion. I have given my familiar control over my tethers in case of my demise.”
He then got up from the chair he’d been sitting on and handed it to the appropriate employee.
Infighting was not uncommon among the Æld’Norai, but proper betrayal resulting in the death of any party involved was quite rare. Kage’s paranoia, while understandable for somebody in his position, was incredibly unlikely to ever actually come to pass. Realistically, his superiors knowing his location when leaving the country was a boon, as it meant that if he did not return within his estimated timeframe, then he would be looked for– his kin nigh never abandoned their own.
The attendant to which Kage handed his paperwork to was a petite, androgynous– likely male– Æld’Norai who took the paper from him with an amiable, if bored, expression. That is, until he read the purpose; international travel was a rare request, much less interplanar travel marked ‘personal’ in purpose.
“Ælphyne, huh?” the attendant asked in a lilting tenor. “Ambitious! You plan to leave your Maltrician with extra wings to grow for others? Seems like a lot of ‘em to collect if you’re only looking to cover yourself.”
Normally, attendants knew not to ask questions about official excursions, but this one was one of the rare occasions where somebody’s travel forms were both personal in purpose and actually interesting in destination. Nevertheless, the man would stamp the bottom of the form and then place it under what looked like a scanner of sorts. The device would activate and shortly thereafter, the parchment would vanish in a bluish glow.
“Have you a path to Ælphyne in mind or will you be needing assistance in finding a causeway?”
Kage gave a grim smile, bordering on nervous, “I’ll take as many as I can get my hands on – I’m sure I’ll find some use for them. I would love to give my new maltrician an extra set for his troubles . Ideally I’ll be able to capture a sidhe alive, then their wings could be harvested over and over again. Tis a lofty goal, but the least I can do is try.”
The way he saw it, the more wings he came back with, the less aelves would be exposed to the danger of dying. Even if they had methods of resurrection, the pain and experience of death was surely not something he wanted any aelf to experience unnecessarily. There was also a part of him that really hated the Sidhe and made him think that eliminating them was a net positive for the world. He would hopefully be killing several birds with one stone this trip.
“I don’t have a way into AElphyne. I was hoping there was one you could point me to. Or if there isn’t a suitable one around I’d request to be notified when one comes to your attention.”
He wasn’t the type to keep track of those sorts of things. He almost always had assistants help him with travel plans. They were used to getting him around Antarok, however, not to and from other planes.
