Vignesian Spy

To make ends meet in the business of intelligence, one needs to know who they are dealing with, unless they wish to end up at the bottom of a river. For most, the life of a spy is a lonely one. There are few people out there that can be trusted to have your back and not sell you out over a few hundred crowns or the prospects of a better life.

In Vigne, things work a little differently. Vignesian spies are well trained and the network between them is as sturdy as the walls of Tiraven. They are so unique and revered by the people that working as a Vignesian spy is one of the highest paid jobs in all of Ma’rune. These spies are so good that they are frequently outsourced by the rich and powerful who make their homes outside of Vigne’s borders, though the hiring cost for anyone not Vignesian is extremely high.

Type

Intelligence Gathering

How Vignesian Spies Changed the Game

Before 478 AL being a spy was a rare occupation. The only people who ever had need to employ such an individual were kings and queens at war with their rival kingdoms. A king or queen may have had a handful of spymasters, if that, and they would only ever have sent them into enemy territory if they knew the odds of survival were in the spymaster’s favour; losing a spymaster back then would have weakened the king or queen’s position in the world.

After that time, spymasters in Vigne began to share information between each other, building up the foundations of a relationship of trust - something unheard of between spymasters. Afterall, what was the point of fighting and killing a spymaster you were currently at odds with, risking your own life in the process, when you could come out the other side with a potential ally?

At the beginning, their relationships with each other were fragile. It would be impossible for spymasters to completely trust one another so quickly. But soon enough, every spymaster in Vigne knew of each other - their strengths and weaknesses laid bare before those who shared in their trade. It made them far more powerful than foreign spymasters because the Vignesian spymasters had allies they could rely upon, whilst foreign spymasters were forced to work alone.

Bramwell eyed the man in front of him. Little stood out about his features - to the world he appeared as a plain and uninteresting man. But Bramwell knew better, recognised the intent to be invisible all to well.

“Foolish of you to come to this kingdom alone, spymaster,” Bramwell called out. For a moment, he wonders if the other man heard, but after a moment the figure tilts his head.

“Who told you I was alone, Bramwell Cosse of Irewood?” The figure flashes a smile as he speaks, canines bared.

Smile does not quite describe the ferocity though, does it? Bramwell thinks idly as he pulls a dagger from the sheath, hidden beneath a light cloth cloak.

“Now, now, Bramwell,” another voice says. Soft, soothing, barely a whisper in the night and right by his ear. Bramwell goes to turn but something glints in the moonlight and he pauses. The blade at his throat cuts a stinging gash across his neck; not enough to kill him, but enough to serve as a warning. “We’re just here for a chat.”

As time went on, foreign spymasters were too slow to build a network between themselves as the Vignesian spymasters had done. They ended up being outright killed, though there have been claims throughout the years that some were recruited into the Vignesian spy network.

There are still foreign spymasters to this day that are used in situations where an outside source could not be trusted (as if said outside source would not already have or be capable of retrieving sensitive information). As of 1468 AL, foreign spymasters are actually more accepted by the people than Vignesian spies are.

In 1468 AL Vigne saw a significant change in leadership. Eight out of ten of Vigne’s council members were removed from their positions and replaced with ‘shadow’ members who were more than willing to agree with every decision made by the remaining two council members - Gaspard Auvray and Perrine Charroux of the Bonnes District. The Vignesian spy network, outwitted and betrayed by a handful of their own, was unable to stop the change of power within the council. Gaspard and Perrine’s first act once the change of leadership was complete was to enforce a ruling that the gathering or sharing of kingdom secrets was an illegal act punishable by death.

At first, many Vignesian spies believed that Gaspard and Perrine would not go through with such a hefty punishment. Such thoughts would be their downfall. Gaspard and Perrine were bitter and wanted nothing more than to be the most powerful people in Vigne. But information was power and the Vignesian spies were seen to greedily horde such power. In the first three years after the implementation of the law forbidding spying, over a hundred Vignesian spies were killed.