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Edwin Odesseiron - International Man Of Mystery 1


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#1 Laufey

Posted 12 December 2005 - 12:25 PM

Edwin Odesseiron – International Man Of Mystery

You Only Live Twice or so it seems,
One life for yourself and one for your dreams.
You drift through the years and life seems tame,
Till one dream appears and love is its name.

You Only Live Twice, Nancy Sinatra


The dashing secret agent plummeted head first from the soaring helicopter, an expression of cool concentration on his supremely handsome and manly face. Accompanied by the sound of the howling wind, the jagged and snowy mountaintops of Rasheman were rushing up to meet him, intent on squashing him into a puddle of crimson pulp. Agent Odesseiron, the Hope of Thay, yawned idly and pulled a bottle of sparkling Sembian wine from his immaculate tuxedo, along with a crystal glass. He shook the bottle briskly, angled it a little and took careful aim, then levered a thin knife in between the cork and the rim of the bottle.

POW!

The cork exploded out of the bottle, neatly hitting and obliterating the eye of the bald and tattooed man waiting below, making a very large automatic gun fall from the man’s suddenly nerveless fingers.

A tiny smirk was the only visible reaction on the Agent’s face, as he poured himself a glass of wine and toasted the corpse. “Cheers, you miserable simian,” he commented as he finally activated his parachute, gliding smoothly down towards the snowy slopes even as jetpowered skis emerged from the soles of his flawlessly polished shoes.

Ah, yes, Edwin Odesseiron strikes again. Now, onwards towards the soon-to-be-dispatched enemy agents, and then the eagerly gasping concubines will congratulate me on my perfect drop off and…

“Dropped off again, did you, boy?”

Edwin startled violently awake, blinking as the snowy mountain dissolved and was replaced by an austere briefing room. He tried his best to maintain the illusion that he’d been awake all along, a feat which was made somewhat more difficult by the fact that a thin line of drool had escaped the corner of his mouth as he slept. He coughed, cleared his throat, and gave his superior a supremely guilty look.

Agent Dekaras was giving him one of those looks, a piercing look that started out boosted by his sardonically raised eyebrow, glided along his rather long and hawk-like nose, and bored its way into Edwin’s soul to make the younger man write with embarrassment.

“I…er…” Edwin said.

“Oh, I am quite certain you have far more important concerns than a mere briefing regarding the mission you finally managed to nag M into giving you,” Dekaras said, his voice perfectly even. “After all, it is only your first ever field mission, so there couldn’t possibly be anything I could tell you that you don’t already know, could there?”

“Um…I was only…”

“You were only out until 3 am last night, hanging about the seedier parts of the slums, where you were unsuccessfully trying to impress a barmaid by the name of Gracie.”

“How did you…”

“I was sent to make certain you were still to be counted among the living,” the older agent coolly said. “Although seeing the state you are in this morning, I wonder if perhaps I failed after all. I’ve seen livelier looks on week-old corpses.”

“I was fine, really!”

“Did you by any chance notice the large fellow with the broken bottle who was getting rather irate about your attentions towards Miss Gracie?”

Edwin blinked. “Oh yes, there was some sort of noisy brute about,” he said. “I’d forgotten about him.”

“Evidently so. You may count yourself very fortunate that I did not. He was waiting for you outside the bar, meaning to kill you as you staggered outside.”

“But he never tried…”

“No, because by the time you finally did leave, he was already long gone.” There was a chilling finality to that statement that made Edwin sit up straight and try to take mental notes. I could sound like that, I’m sure I could.

“I mean to keep you alive,” Dekaras said, leaning forward across the conference table until he was practically nose to nose with Edwin. “I mean to do that whether you cooperate or not, although it would be far more pleasant for both of us if you did. I would also appreciate it if you made some small effort towards staying awake as I explain what you are supposed to do.”

Edwin hung his head morosely at this chastisement from his mentor. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, as I was saying, the mission involves the long since deceased international criminal genius known only by the code name ‘Bhaal’. Bhaal was perhaps the finest mind in the world when it came to genetic engineering, and he was also known to take a very strong pleasure in murder. When he died, it was hoped that his legacy had died with him. This last year however, Thayvian Intelligence has been picking up some disturbing rumors on the international grapevine. It appears that Bhaal was working on some sort of secret new project before he died, something that believed would grant him not just power but immortality. Now, somebody is going after it.”

The tall agent pressed a button on the remote he was holding, and on the wall across the room an image appeared. It was a very large man with a shaved head, tan skin and startling golden eyes. He was wearing a very expensive suit, that didn’t quite manage to mask just how muscular he was, and he was smiling, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Sarevok Anchev,” Dekaras commented. “Son of Reiltar Anchev, wealthy and very shady businessman of the Iron Throne consortium. You know them, they deal in everything from drugs to endangered species to weapons of mass destruction. Anything but iron, really. Now Sarevok is taking a very active interest in the Bhaal project. He started out by contacting as many of Bhaal’s old associates as possible, some of whom suddenly became very wealthy, others of whom suddenly became very dead. And then, the other killings started.”

Morgue pictures started flickering past on the wall, gruesomely disfigured bodies paraded so quickly that they came together in a blur. Humans, elves, half-elves, half-orcs, gnomes, and other more exotic people. All dead, very violently dead.

“In every case, the victim died after somebody had accessed their birth records,” Dekaras commented. “They came from all over the world, the authorities have no idea about the connection, but we do, and we want to know what it is.”

Another image, this one of an old man with a neat white beard, lying dead in a dark city street, eyes staring sightlessly at the sky. Half his torso was missing.

“This one is a bit different,” Dekaras said, his black eyes thoughtful. “Gorion Greenmantle, a respected professor of medicine, beloved of patients and students alike. He held a research position at the University of Candlekeep. Unlike the others, I believe he was not the intended victim. Instead, it was his daughter who was meant to die that night.”

Yet another picture. This one was of a young, half-elven woman. She was partially turned away from the camera, so Edwin could only see part of her face, but it seemed attractive enough. A bit skinny, but not bad, not bad at all. A redhead too, I like that. Pity that hair was obscuring even more of her face though.

“This is the only picture we have been able to obtain of her,” Dekaras said. “Gorion was very protective of her, and very careful to keep her out of the public eye. And now, she has disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Edwin sat up straight. This was getting quite interesting.

“Yes. She disappeared on the night her father was killed, and we have had only scarce sightings since then, none of them completely verified. Sarevok isn’t having any better luck, despite having sent several assassins after her already. Indeed, he has focused most of his resources on this one girl, neglecting many of his other ventures, which hints at her extreme importance to him.” There was a small sneer. “You should see the reports of what those bumbling idiots tried…but never mind that now, they have all been filed for you. You can read them on your way.”

This was it. The mission, the one he had so eagerly awaited for what felt like most of his life. Finally, finally a chance to really prove himself, to show that he could follow in his teacher’s footsteps and make it as an international spy.

“The mission M has decided to trust you with is simple enough,” Dekaras said. “We have had a tip on where she is heading at the moment, and so you will travel to the Nashkel Planet of Pleasure casino to intercept her. You will make contact, find out how much she knows, and report back. Do you think you can handle that?”

“Oh yes,” Edwin said, nodding eagerly. His eyes were still fixed on the picture on the wall. How maddening it was not to be able to fully see that face…he kept wanting to reach up and brush the tangled red hair away. “I will make contact, instantly charm and seduce her into revealing all her secrets, and then…”

“Absolutely not!” Dekaras was rubbing his temple, as if he had a headache. “I know you have a somewhat romanticized opinion of what exactly it is that we do here, but honestly, boy. Being a secret agent is not a profession you choose in order to pick up girls. Focus on what you are supposed to do, and leave the hormones out of it, please. You have no idea who she is, do you? How do you know she won’t ram a poisoned needle into your neck the moment you climb into bed with her?”

“But…”

“Focus, please. You only live once. Unless you want me to ask J to outfit you with a chastity belt along with the rest of the equipment you’ll need, you will be very careful around that girl. In fact, I think we should go see him right now. It will take some time to get everything you need.”

Edwin regretfully trailed out of the room behind his mentor, but he kept looking across his shoulder at the picture on the wall. I can be subtle, can’t I? He thought. Oh yes, of course I can. I am after all Edwin Odesseiron, International Man of Mystery and excellent character. I’ll make certain she’s no danger – not that I couldn’t handle it if she was – and then… He started smiling. Diamonds. Diamonds are bound to impress her. Diamonds are forever, after all.

He winked at the picture, and now he managed to see something he hadn’t before. The eyes beneath the red hair, there was no mistaking them. Golden eyes, like those of Sarevok Anchev.

Oh yes. Nothing wrong with being a secret agent and courting girls, nothing wrong at all.
Rogues do it from behind.




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