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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3707771" data-attributes="member: 3448">While Dame Brionna made arrangements with the Archbishop, Kit ordered her people to investigate the sales of krif.  She knew the basics:  taking krif produces hallucinations, delusions, and a sense of hyper-activity.  It is also extraordinarily addictive, with regular users becoming increasingly emaciated as their metabolism accelerates.  Kit’s secretary quickly agreed to pull together the relevant reports.  She then informed him that she wanted to see her lower city people in person.At that, her secretary produced a magical silver mask.  “You will find that this will change your form to any you may desire, to keep your true identity secure.  Most Mouths select a small number of preferred forms, so that the form they use can serve as a recognition signal.  Dame Esmerelda favored a husky middle aged man with one leg or a small pig.  I really can’t imagine why, but there you have it.”Kit thought about it for a while and then chose to be a hawk.  She wanted to take on a bird form, both for aesthetics and because the ability to fly might be useful, but at the same time, she wanted a bird that gets taken seriously.Kit quickly located her head agent in the lower city and sent a message requesting his appearance at a safe house.  He was a man of middle-age, totally beaten down by a hard life.  At least that’s what he looked like at first, but his eyes were sharp, alert, and probing, giving lie to the despair that covered the rest of his face.  The hawk flew into the room where he slumped and landed on a rafter.  He bowed deeply to the hawk, without asking questions.  “I have come as you asked.”Kit replied, “Thank you.  I am trying to find out if anyone in the City is on krif.”“Krif?  Let me think.  I know the symptoms, but there are not many people with them.  I’ll have to do some active investigation, then.  Should I use the standard contact protocols when I learn more?”“Yes,” answered Kit, without a clue as to what the standard contact protocols were. “We know that enemies of the realm smuggled a sizeable amount into the City.  We are most worried that it might be the beginning of a group spreading it here directly.”“I understand.  It would be essential to cut it off quickly.  I can’t say that it seems likely, but I won’t discount the possibility.”“We don’t think they would dare do that here, either, but we need to keep an eye on it.  If Canberry is just being used as a waystation, we want to know that as well.”He nodded.  “Either way, we’ll find out and let you know.  If that is all?”The hawk nodded, and he slipped out, staggering as he went.  Kit returned to the palace and met with her secretary again, back in her natural form.  “What are the ‘standard contact protocols’?”“Ah.  No use of force, information gathering only, with a reporting chain back to you.  They would not contact you directly, of course, for security reasons.  I am glad that you are not escalating the instructions-- there was concern in some quarters that you were too inexperienced, or that you would be overzealous and pursue bloodier tactics.”“No!  I want the least bloody tactics possible.”  Kit paused and then amended that a little.  “Or the least bloody tactics that will accomplish our goals--I know that we can’t always avoid bloodshed altogether.”Her secretary smiled.  “Good, good.  It can be a delicate balance, but too many people have a first instinct to err too far in one direction or the other.  I knew from your earlier efforts that you could act firmly when necessary, but it’s good to see that you have a sense of that as well.”</blockquote>

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