## Metadata Name: A Holding: [[Chaendaer]] Office: [[Spy]] ## Background You were born on an asteroid smaller than some buildings, delivered in secret to keep your name from ever entering a public record. Agents of Chaendaer, your parents never spent a minute on the world which held their allegiance. They traveled the Sector negotiating, blackmailing, assassinating, and sometimes just visiting, every person who might have a hand in Chaendaer's long-term political position. You were raised in this lifestyle, taught to embrace poison and conversation both as tools of your trade. For nearly two centuries, you've served your Holding as a hidden knife, a secret weapon, the solution to insoluble problems. The death of the Plaguesmith is just such an insoluble problem. You have been asked to find out who was responsible for the killing, which is an impossible task. You suppose it's possible that the murderer might be present, but there's no chance at all of you discovering evidence. Whatever it was that was powerful enough to kill the Plaguesmith, it seems unlikely that such a thing would be foolish enough to leave behind a fingerprint or some other obvious clue. No, you'll need to question everyone as to what they know about the Plaguesmith's death, and what motivation they might have had to be involved. Of course, no one will admit anything, but the ones with the shadiest responses will be a good place to start digging. ## Mechanics ### **Asset: [[Observe and Report|Observe and Report]]** Spies exist for exactly two reasons: to hear things, and to pass things on. You have spent long hours honing your perceptive and communicative powers, homing in on points of interest while allowing floods of extraneous data to pass you by, then distilling your findings in a few terse, encrypted sentences. Any time you observe another character in conversation for a few minutes (the time doesn't have to be exact, you just need to observe a meaningful conversation) you may ask that character's player for the name of one of their Liens. The player must disclose their Lien honestly, but they get to choose which to share if they have more than one. ### **Lien: [[Lying for a Living|Lying for a Living]]** The tricky thing about being a professional fabulist is that it's not the kind of skillset most folks would consider "respectable." As a spy, particularly a titled Spy, you're constantly working to convince others that deceit and discernment are core competencies. Any time you make an assertion of fact without proof, you must demonstrate through roleplay the untrustworthy nature of your word. You might simply say "as a professional liar, my word may not be taken seriously, but..." or you may actively attempt to seem as suspicious and deceitful as possible. Whatever the case, if a character believes you without proof, you regard this as a terrible failure on their part and try to teach them better. ## Themes These themes are offered to help inform roleplay, but do not carry a mechanical effect. - Web of Lies - Living Without a Face - I Hate Fieldwork