The Calais Connection

Denille and Simon discover the treachery of the Golden Empire

Olivoix had a talent neither he nor I could possibly understand. Especially when he was starting out. I knew that much. If he had been free to go off on his own there's no telling what shit he could have caused. This way, if he blowed himself to pieces (or burned himself alive, or turned himself into a dog) he'd do it for our flag and maybe, just maybe, something worthwhile could come of it...

Above all he must never be allowed to join the enemy. I wanted to test him in Calais, pit him against the enemy and see what he would do. And if he dared to double-cross us - I don't mind being perfectly honest about this - I told Julian to put a knife in his back. No question. And he'd have done it too. That's really all there is to say about that.

— Edinburgh Memoirs, Prince Tepin Rathmore

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Between June and November 997 the Britannian Special Service was tasked with a surveillance operation overseeing Capetian naval production at the dockyards of Calais. The mission had been simply to monitor what the Capetians were building and maintain an accurate reckoning of their aggregate naval strength. Early reports indicated that the Capetians were initiating a massive fleet buildup, a project far too costly for even a wealthy kingdom like Capetia. The Service was retasked to uncover the source of the funds being used to finance the new fleet.

After the capture and termination of several agents, Prince Tepin Rathmore decided to deploy the services of his court magus, Denille Olivoix. Where his conventional spies and cutthroats had failed, perhaps a wizard could succeed.

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Plot points/Scenes

Scene 1:

Denille and Simon book passage on a passenger charter from Dover to Calais under assumed names ("Elias" and "Daniel Josias") and negotiate their way through the customs controllers at the Calais dockyards.

Location: Dover dockyards

Scene 2:

Denille and Simon meet Julian on the pier. He hands them keys to an apartment, work orders for the naval dockyard, and a parchment dossier containing mission info.

Location: Port of Calais

Scene 3:

Denille and Simon report for work at pier 3 with foreman Didier. Denille is sent to the Admiralty to fetch a box of iron spikes. Denille meets the queen as her carriage passes into the citadel. Back at the shipyards Denille and Simon snoop around. Julian sees the queen's chat with Denille and tells Denille to charm her if he gets the chance.

Location: Hauchette Shipyards / Admiralty Offices

Scene 4:

The Queen gives a speech at the pier declaring the admiration of a grateful nation to the shipyard workers. She announces that she wants to invite one of the workers to the Citadel for refreshments. The queen picks "Elias" / Denille as her guest.

Location: Hauchette Shipyards / Calais Gardens

Scene 5:

Denille is brought to the Citadel to meet the queen. While Denille is in the queen's apartments, Julian sneaks in and Denille must keep her distracted so Julian can investigate.

Location: Hauchette Shipyards / Calais Gardens / Calais Keep

Scene 6:

Julian introduces Denille and Simon to a Britannian agent named "Face" who helps them talk their way into the Admiralty and convince the secretary that they must inspect the common rooms. After stealing keys from a drunk officer they snoop around and get access to the Constable's office. They recover some important documents while Julian uses smoke and flashbangs to create a distraction in the adjoining streets.

Location: Hauchette Shipyards / Admiralty

Scene 7:

After barely evading detection at the Admiralty, Denille and Simon rendezvous with Julian at Boris's Cafe (Boucherie de Boris, Boris's butcher shop), which serves as a front for a Special Services safe house operated by a Russian ex-pat named Boris Borovich. Face doesn't show up and is presumed killed or captured.

Location: Calais Outskirts

Scene 8:

Denille and Simon resume work at the shipyards and investigate the intelligence discovered at the Admiralty. They confirm the receipt of undisclosed freight from Piedmont but cannot ascertain the content of those shipments. The cargo appears to have been taken to a secured location: warehouse 7.

Location: Hauchette Shipyards

Scene 9:

Denille and Simon report to the safe house and encounter Face again. He is badly wounded after escaping capture. He confirms that warehouse 7 is a restricted location.

Location: Boucherie de Boris

Scene 10:

Denille and Simon infiltrate the restricted warehouse and discover the involvement of a southern lord, Count Polto of Piedmont, who appears to be arranging huge loans through the Bank of Lucerne to Constable Corbinian.

Location: Hauchette Shipyards

Scene 11:

Denille and Simon are discovered by Phoenix Arcani Mind Blades and pursued. They defeat their pursuers and capture one of them.

Location: Streets of Calais

Scene 12a:

Denille and Simon sneak into and search the Constable's residence. They discover correspondence with Viceroy Regent Villeneuve indicating that Count Polto has received payment from the Latian Prefect of Narbonne for his services.

Location: Constable Corbinian's Townhouse

Scene 12b:

Back at Boris's safehouse Julian interrogates the prisoner, who reveals a plot to kidnap the queen during her upcoming review of the shipyards.

Location: Boucherie de Boris

Scene 13:

In spite of resistance from the Capetian authorities who refuse to heed his fair warnings, Denille takes action and kidnaps Queen Anna II to protect her from the Phoenix Arcani.

Location: Calais Citadel

Scene 14:

Denille takes Queen Anna II to Boris's cafe safe house, but is ambushed by the traitorous Face and his Arcani allies. Denille, Simon, and Julian defeat Face's trap and foil the kidnapping plot.

Location: Boucherie de Boris

Scene 15:

The party regroup at the emergency rendezvous and Denille returns the queen to the city.

Location: Nil'Rem's Hideout / Calais Citadel

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Themes

This adventure cast Denille as a fish out of water. Still developing his magical talents but lacking experience in spycraft or subterfuge, he was forced to cooperate with seasoned Special Agents and find a way to succeed under unusual circumstances. The adventure tested the common wisdom that magic allows a Wizard to usurp the role of any character class. When Denille and Simon become caught searching the naval yard offices, it seemed a proper Thief may have been better suited to the task after all.

This adventure arc revealed the fanatical devotion of Phoenix Order acolytes as well as the dedication of the Phoenix Order itself, which operated with brutal pragmatism to achieve its goals. This arc raised the stakes for the campaign and revealed the extent of the emerging foreign threat.

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Structure

Exposition

Frustrated by Capetian Viceroy Mazarin Villeneuve's failure to assassinate Duke Guy of Normandy, Phoenix Archon Stroh Gendall began accelerating Capetian military build up by funneling massive amounts of Latian gold into Calais naval production. Believing that this armaments strategy would provoke Britannian response, Gendall recruited the Count of Piedmont, Polto Narbonensis, to transfer imperial denarii into the Capetian shipyards to fund fleet construction.

The Britannian spymaster, Prince Tepin Rathmore, recognized the sudden expansion of Capetian naval production and entrusted Britannian Special Service Agent Julian Beech with the task of uncovering the source of the unprecedented Capetian war chest. Along with his partners, Boris Borovich and Gwyndaf "Face" Gryffyth, Julian and the Special Services team faced determined resistance from enemy agents who seemed possessed of supernatural abilities: heightened physical attributes, psychokinetic abilities, and even telepathic awareness. Confronted with such an unprecedented counter-espionage operation, Julian's resources were strained, and, after suffering the loss of many trusted agents, he requested support from the BSS commandery.

Prince Tepin had kept a weapon in reserve to counter metaphysical threats, a young man possessing true knowledge of arcane magic, Denille Olivoix the Ley-man of the mystic arts. Now that the enemy had revealed their supernatural capabilities, Tepin decided to deploy his secret court magus to neutralize the Calais defences. Tepin hoped that Julian would be able to bring Denille and Simon up to speed and make up for their lack of experience in spycraft.

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Conflict

This adventure arc continued the story of the build up to war between Britannia and Capetia. The involvement of the Golden Empire in the developing diplomatic situation had been concealed up until this point. Denille and Simon's investigations would reveal the involvement of Phoenix Order agents working on behalf of the Empire, a development that would allow Britannia to face its true enemy for the first time.

Underlying the broader intrigues of the plot, Julian's friend and partner Gwyndaf Gryffyth, a master of disguise known as "Face," was operating as a double agent. Realizing that he was one of the psychically Awakened, Face accepted an offer from the Phoenix Order to switch allegiances in exchange for access to knowledge and training about psycho-metabolic transmutation. To prove his loyalty to Archon Stroh Gendall, Face conducted his own plot to kidnap and murder the Capetian Queen, Anna II. He intended to commit this crime in public under the open auspices of the Britannian Special Service. Such an act would surely inflame Capetian animus against the Britannian state and draw the two nations into war at long last.

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Rising Action

Denille and Simon travelled to Calais via commercial transport. Using assumed names, the pair practiced their French during the channel crossing. Simon, being a native French speaker, did his best to teach Denille to conceal his Scottish accent.

After a dodgy interview with the Calais port customs control office, Denille and Simon managed to obtain secure conduct into the city of Calais. They were then approached by a tall, blonde-haired man who greeted them by their aliases. He introduced himself as Julian Beech and handed them keys to an apartment, work orders for the naval dockyard, and a parchment dossier containing mission info.

Denille and Simon report for work at pier 3 with foreman Didier. Sergeant Didier's cruelty towards his men upset the party but maintaining cover required a passive attitude. After Didier whipped and injured a messenger boy named Jean Claude Cambernon with a rod, Denille asked to take the boy's place and fetch supplies from the Admiralty.

Outside the Citadel gate, Denille saw a black carriage with lacquered wood panels bearing the white and gold banner of the Capetian royal house. The carriage slowed in front of him and Denille was instantly surrounded by guards. After a moment of panic, Denille realized that the passenger in the carriage had merely stopped to chat. It was Queen Anna Capeta II. She asked him questions about the city and about work at the shipyard and said she hoped to see him again during her visits to the docks.

Returning to the shipyards, Denille told Simon about his chance meeting with the queen and was not believed. Simon laughed at his cousin's obviously fabricated encounter and ridiculed him for concocting it. The pair spent the rest of the day snooping the yard to no avail. That evening Julian stopped Denille in the street and told him he witnessed his impromptu audience with the queen. Julian instructed Denille to work his charm should he have the chance to meet the queen again. Simon remained unimpressed.

Midway through the next workday, the Queen turned up at the shipyards with a cadre of royal guards and gave an uninspired and meandering speech about the urgent military need for a strong Capetian navy. It was easy to tell that she knew nothing about what she said and that the words written for her didn't make much sense anyway. While thanking shipyard workers for their efforts on behalf of a grateful nation, she announced that she wanted to invite one of the workers to the Citadel for refreshments. The queen looked out searchingly into the crowd and picked "Elias" / Denille as her guest. Simon was dumbfounded.

Denille was brought to the Citadel to meet the queen that evening. After strolling the private gardens of the Calais Citadel, he was then ushered into the Citadel palace apartments of the queen. During this private interlude, Julian appeared at a window casement and signaled for Denille to distract Queen Anna so he could make entry. While Denille kept Anna's attention, Julian sneaked into the apartment and began searching the residences, including the quarters used by Regent Villeneuve during his recent stay in the city. Julian recovered a fragment of paper with a cryptic series of letters on it. Denille later surmised that the note was some kind of substitution cipher.

The next day, Julian introduced Denille and Simon to a Britannian agent named "Face," a master of disguise and impersonation. With Face's assistance, Denille and Simon managed to talk their way into the Admiralty and convince the secretary that they must inspect the common rooms. After stealing keys from a drunken officer they snooped around and gained access to the office of Constable Corbinian, supreme commander of the Capetian royal banners. Using the cipher note discovered the previous evening, Denille used Regent Villeneuve's encrypted combination code to unlock to the Constable's safe and recover some key documents, including a letter from someone named "Polto of Piedmont." The letter made reference to important shipments sent to Calais but didn't specify the cargo. Meanwhile, Julian used smoke and incendiary charges to distract the garrison's attention and allow the party to secure egress from the locked-down Admiralty.

After barely evading detection during their escape, Denille and Simon rendezvoused with Julian nearby at Boris's Cafe (Boucherie de Boris, Boris's butcher shop), which served as a front for a Special Services safe house operated by a Russian ex-pat named Boris Borovich. Face didn't show up at the rendezvous, leading the party to presume he had been killed or taken capture.

Denille and Simon resumed work at the shipyards and investigated the intelligence discovered at the Admiralty. After speaking with some other workers, they confirmed the shipyard's receipt of undisclosed freight from Piedmont but still could not ascertain the content of those shipments. Based on popular cant among the work crews, Denille and Simon concluded that the cargo of the Piedmont shipments appeared to have been taken to a secured shipyard location: warehouse 7.

Reporting back to Julian at the Britannian Special Service HQ, Denille and Simon presented their findings. Julian then briefed them on the developing situation in Normandy. The Capetian Constable, Louis Corbinian, had led his banner forces to the Normandy border near a place called Crysler, and it looked like war was drawing near. At this point Face entered the shop nursing a fresh wound obtained in a street battle against unknown assailants. He explained that he had been captured but managed to escape. In any case, his cover at the shipyard had now been compromised. Hearing Denille and Simon's findings, Face concurred with the view that shed seven was being unusually well guarded and believed that certain overland shipments were being received and held there.

Using arcane subterfuge the following day, Denille and Simon gained access to the restricted shed seven warehouse. Raiding the administrative offices, they discovered wooden cases containing solid gold bars and delivery manifests reiterating the involvement of a southern lord, "Count" Polto of Piedmont, who appeared to be arranging huge loans through the Bank of Lucerne to the Constable of Capetia. This money, issued in the form of silver and gold bullion, had been brokered through Count Polto at the Capetian/Latian border and then delivered North direct to Calais. None of the money appeared to enter the Capetian treasury or be otherwise accounted for and Constable Corbinian by all appearances seemed to be running the Capetian royal banner forces as a personal venture entirely funded by foreign interests.

While trying to leave the scene, Denille and Simon were discovered by Phoenix Order Mind Blades and pursued through the streets of Calais. The assassins were dressed in black tactical gear and shrouded in grey hoods but bore no identifying insignia. Denille observed the superhuman talents of the assailants first hand but detected no magical auras that would explain their enhanced abilities. Forced into an alleyway confrontation, Denille unleashed his magicks and Simon brandished the Seven Sword in support. Their uncommon prowess caught the psychic assassins off-guard allowing the heroes to rout their pursuers and capture one of them.

Back at Boris's safehouse, Julian and Boris began interrogating the prisoner while Denille and Simon seized the initiative and set out to search the townhouse of Constable Corbinian. After entering through an upper level window, they discovered letters from Piedmont that indicated the loans brokered by Count Polto were being secured and repaid by the Latian Prefect of Narbonne, a Capetian border territory governed by the Golden Empire.

Denille's searching eventually aroused the interest of the Constable's household guard. Luckily for Denille and Simon, Constable Corbinian was campaigning in Normandy and had left only a small force to guard the residence. The heroes fought their way through the mansion guards and traps until they made it to the front portico and blended into the crowded, gas-lit city streets.

Meanwhile, Julian interrogated their prisoner, who revealed himself to be an agent of the Arcani Brotherhood, a division within the Golden Empire's Phoenix Order devoted to the arts of stealth and deception. Moreover, the prisoner revealed a plot to kidnap the queen during her upcoming review of the shipyards scheduled for the following day.

Against Julian's advice, Denille tried to inform the Capetian authorities about the kidnapping plot. Without details of the enemy plan, however, it was impossible to properly warn the Queen's Guard. Running out of time, the party decided to thwart the Arcani plan by carrying out their own kidnapping operation thereby removing the target and preventing the queen from being taken by the Phoenix Order. The young queen Anna, a vivacious woman ill-suited to the decorum of her court and state duties, became an all-too-willing captive when Denille and Julian commandeered her coach. She seemed to relish the unfolding chaos as though some great game was afoot.

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Crisis

After switching coaches the heroes delivered the queen to Boris's safehouse. They hoped to convince her of the danger she was in and find a way to secure her long-term safety. Inside the butcher's shop they found Boris lying bleeding on the ground and the prisoner unconscious in his manacled chair. When Julian went forward to check Boris for signs of life the prisoner, unbound and merely feigning repose, leaped to his feet and stabbed Julian near the heart. He then removed a strange transparent shell from his face and revealed the leering visage of Face. As Julian slipped down to the floor apparently dying, Face explained his double-cross. He had planned the assassination in order to demonstrate his loyalty to the Phoenix Order. With the arrival of Denille and Simon, Face realized he had an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: he would execute the queen and wipe out Julian and the rest of the Calais Special Service cell in the process. As he called out for more Phoenix Arcani agents to rush in and overwhelm the party, he offered everyone the choice to submit and offer obedience to the Golden Phoenix and its God-Emperor. Face believed the party could be persuaded by promises of wealth and power as he had been.

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Climax

Denille and Simon held firm and vowed to fight to the death. Julian, spitting blood and curses but only feigning debilitating weakness, dealt Face a return blow that sent the turncoat rogue running for his life. This allowed Denille and his sworn brother to gain the upper hand and fight through the ambush by spell and sword. Putting the Arcani to flight, they took the queen and Boris back to the carriage and made haste for the emergency rendezvous point, an abandoned church outside of town known as "Nil'Rem's Lair."

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Falling Action

Queen Anna helped Denille and Simon stabilize and revive Boris. While waiting for Julian, Denille explained the Calais naval arms race being financed by Latian funds and the secret military plans being drawn up by Constable Corbinian. The queen was alarmed but also overwhelmed by this information. She clearly was not privy to even the most basic decisions in the life of the Capetian Kingdom.

After an uncomfortable wait, Julian arrived at the rendezvous with a beautiful dark-haired woman named Lisette Cambernon and her young child Jean Claude, the messenger boy Denille had aided at the shipyard. Julian explained that this family was under his protection and that the compromise of the Calais espionage cell had put their lives at risk. Face had escaped and his defection had undermined the entire Capetian network of the Britannian Special Service. The cell would have to relocate and lay low before trying to reestablish a new station.

Denille escorted Queen Anna back into the city and spent an evening entertaining her royal highness (no doubt with rousing tales of the Scottish Highlands and amusing feats of prestidigitation).

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Resolution

The conclusion of The Calais Connection witnessed the temporary decline of the Special Service in northern Capetia. Nonetheless, Denille's mission had succeeded in producing intelligence on the back channel collaboration between the Golden Empire and the governing regency of Capetia. Combined with vital information on Capetian fleet deployments, this intelligence allowed the Britannian Royal Navy to gain the upper hand in the naval engagements to come.

Based upon the evidence provided by Denille and Julian, Queen Anna planned to call Constable Corbinian before an assembly of the Estates-General to answer charges of treason for collaborating with agents of the Golden Empire. She ordered her seneschal, Viceroy Regent Villeneuve, to issue a summons to the Constable, still conducting military operations on the Normandy marches. Unfortunately, before the summons even reached him, Constable Corbinian contracted a severe illness and died of fever in Amiens. Regent Villeneuve, the real traitor behind the the whole operation, was never implicated in the plot and, without a proper hearing to investigate Corbinian's treachery, Villeneuve continued to secretly undermine the queen's power and advance Latian interests.

Julian and Boris ventured south to Piedmont in order to begin disrupting the cash flow between Count Polto and the Calais naval operations. On the way through county Provence they would take Lisette and her son to Timberley Castle where mother and child would be safe from Julian's enemies. Hearing Julian speak of Timberley, a hidden fortress of magic and mystery, piqued Denille's curiosity and he decided to travel south and explore Timberley forest for himself

Relations

Protagonists

Denille Olivoix
Simon Lebeau

Allies

Julian Beech
Boris Borovich
Queen Anna Capeta (II)

Neutrals/Bystanders

Jean Claude, young city page boy
Bridgitte, Constable Corbinian's secretary
Ronald Gavreax, dock worker
Lisette Cambernon, seamstress and tobacconist
Nil'Rem of Goure

Competitors

Captain Vaiconde of the Calais city guard
Sergeant Patrick Didier, foreman of pier 3

Adversaries

Gwyndaf "Face" Gryffyth
Regent Mazarin Villeneuve
Constable Louis Corbinian
Arcani Brotherhood

Date: August 7^th-13^th 997 PCE

Location
Calais, Kingdom of Capetia (France)

Plot type

Adventure Arc

Parent Plot

The Capetian Campaign

Calais City Map, 997 PCE

Denille Olivoix, lev. 3

Queen Anna Capeta

Calais Connection Portraits