Mad Men and Preperations

With his newest mission from Zane, Tarmen found himself immersed in the nitty gritty details of the outpost he would oversee. If he had any love for these people he might have enjoyed it. All of the charts, the maps, the talk of potential raids from tribes and creature attacks. A time or two he had even cracked a joke, though usually to mixed reception.
Even if he wasn’t outright trusted, he was allowed more freedom in the Keep. Not just from Zane’s influence, but the Creed’s as well. One of the guards, a well built man with eyes of green, had some limited push and it had served useful for his hidden task. It seemed discontent had found its way among the Duke’s own, a thought that humored Tarmen greatly.
As for the Duke himself, he had yet to see any sign of his target and it had begun to make him nervous.
“Soon enough, he is a busy man”, Zane had told him. He had only asked a few times to not seem desperate and when it could come into the conversation naturally. Part of the frustration was business, but another was a legitimate distaste in the man's distance. He always had a physical presence in his old crew's plans, even if it was a quick drop in. The system of messengers and closed doors was maddening to him.
The Creed was a different maddening altogether. He was sure a few were quite mad actually, including the Preacher. He had seen little of him as well, usually contacted by Stran or the guard. The secrecy made the string of informants more understandable, especially with the recent crackdown.
The nightmares had ebbed with his supply of Felfar, though he had tested taking less of it to avoid any more of the ‘visions’. Last thing he needed was a dead god whispering in his ears and making him another fanatic. Speaking of, he still had to contend with this sacrifice ritual.
One day until the ‘grand event’ and it was doing little to help his plans. Despite Zane’s assurances he had been writing to the Duke, requesting he be allowed an audience. He wasn’t sure what worked with the man, but instead made himself look like a dreamy eyed boy finally seeing the ‘glory of the Empire’ and wanting a bigger piece of it for himself. No idea if it would work, though it had a few times in the past, but with the man’s aloofness it was his best shot.
He had received word just the other day however that his letter had been received and would be looked over. If he was denied, Tarmen didn’t know how the nutcases would handle another delay.