Operation: Gilded Cage
Clearance Level: Emberglass
Year: 974 AR
Location: Blest Trade Enclave
Objective: Recover draconic relic seized by private collector under diplomatic immunity.
Summary:
The relic (a scale rumoured to have been shed by an elder dragon) was displayed publicly in a vault protected by twelve wards and one extremely bored sphinx.
F–17 secured a private dinner invitation to the collector three weeks prior, posing as a visiting professor researching “ethics in magical acquisition.” During this time, he:
- Rewrote three of the vault’s secondary lock signatures.
- Introduced a false redundancy in the security lattice.
- Planted a rumour that the relic was counterfeit.
Meanwhile, A–03 docked his vessel offshore under guise of routine trade inspection, loudly antagonising port officials to draw attention.
At precisely midnight, while the collector argued with the sphinx about authenticity, the vault locked itself—from the inside.
When it reopened, the relic had been replaced with a fake.
The collector later sold it to a rival at a loss.
Note: F–17 and A–03 were observed arguing heatedly on the balcony afterward. Audio inconclusive. Witnesses describe tension as “romantic but alarming.”