Spies

Spies

To hire a spy you must first find someone who will hire them to you. You can hire a number of spies, but are limited by how good they are and what level you are. Spies are hired by the hour (mud time).

For example you may be able to control five urchins at once but only a single assassin.

The master highwayman and assassin will help if you want to kill someone, and the assassin will even hunt them down alone.

Easily bored, the spies will not stand around and batter monsters to death for you. Instead they prefer hiding in town, surreptitiously monitoring conversations, running errands (passing on messages or gifts) and for the more skilled spies, stealing items.

Upon hiring a spy you will give it a codename - this is what you use to communicate with your spy.

tell <spy-type>_<codename> <spy-type> <command>

For example if I had hired a highwayman under the codename 'blade' then I would type

tell highwayman_blade highwayman <command>

Where <command> is one of the commands listed below.

Note that both the highwayman and the master highwayman are referred to as 'highwayman'.

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Commands
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Target:
For your spy to perform any task it needs a target, someone to perform them on. A spy can only have one target at any time.

You set this with:

target <name>
Where <name> is the name of a player. (Note that the spy will not do anything to a non-player target - so don't bother trying "target Soulcrusher")

By itself this means your spy will notify you if that player wanders into the room.

Movement:
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The following commands affect your spies movement.

follow me
Your spy will follow you around (as long as she is in the same room as you to begin with).
This will clear any target you may have set.

stalk
Your spy will follow his target if the target wanders into the same room as him. He will notify you if his target gives him the slip.

stay
Your spy will stay where she is, stop following if she was already and stop wandering or guarding if she was previously ordered to do so.

guard
This is very similar to 'stay' above except if your spy moves away from where he's guarding (e.g. by being bumped or if he is injured and runs away) he will eventually return to its guardpost.

wander If given this order then your spy will wander around randomly. If it has a target and is ordered to follow then it will stop wandering when it finds the target.

Actions:
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The following are commands for your spy to do something to it's target. They all need your spy to have a target to work.

message <message>
The simplest task for your spy to do. Your spy will simply pass along the message <message> to its target.

For example: If my spy has Stab as his target and I give him the order message Hello from Valjean. then he will whisper 'Hello from Valjean.' to Stab if he finds him.

give <item> | all
Another simple task, if you give your spy an object called <item> and then give it this order, he will give it to his target when he finds her. You may also request your spy to 'give all'. If the spy is carrying any spares, only they will be given away, otherwise your spy will unwield their equipment and give it all to the chosen target.

describe
Again a rather easy task, your spy will relay to you what the target looks like and what they are wearing.

spy for <word>
Yet another simple task. Your spy will stand around and report anything his target says with either the word <word> in it or your name.

spy
A slightly more complex task, this requires at least a beggar to perform. The spy will report anything her target says, whether it mentions you or not.

spy on <name>
spy on <name> for <word>
Like the two versions of spy above except this allows your spy to listen for words spoken by people other than his target. If your spy has no target then this will set his target. Note that spies can only look out for a number of people at a time. The more powerful the spy the more people they can keep track of. If you want the spy to stop keeping track just ask him to 'clear'.

steal
This is the most basic form of stealing and requires a spy of type beggar or better to use. The spy will steal continuously off of her target whenever the target is in the same room. (if used in conjunction with follow then obviously the spy will follow the target around and steal) Your spy will inform you if she steals anything.

steal <item>
This is a more specific order, and requires at least a highwayman to perform. The spy will steal an 'item' from his target and nothing else - very handy if you want just one particular thing your victim is carrying. He will inform you if he steals the item.

slip <item>
A version of 'give item' for the more stealthy spies. If you give an item called 'item' to your spy then give this order she will attempt to slip the item to her target. Again, your spy will inform you if she is successful.

assassinate
Only assassins will obey this order. If you issue this command then your assassin will attack her target the moment she finds him.

[Unless you have revenge on the target and your assassin kills him it will count as you committing the murder in the eyes of Law! Read the rules in the library on murders carefully before you order your assassin to do this.]

Other commands:
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lookout
This will make your spy stay in the room he is currently in and tell you if anyone at all passes by. She will forget about any targets or any other orders you have already given her and concentrate on being a lookout.

bodyguard
Only master highwaymen, assassins and other powerful spies will obey this order. If you issue this command then your spy will join in an fights you get into with other players, whether you started them or not. If you initiated the attack (and are not getting revenge/defending yourself) then if your spy kills the victim it will count as you committing the murder.

hide
If you tell your spy to hide she will attempt to hide in the shadows whenever she can. You do not normally have to issue this command as spies who can rhide will rhide by default.

show yourself
If you do not wish your spy to be quite so stealthy, this command will make him keep out of the shadows, standing in plain view. This is rather handy for giving equipment to especially stealthy spies.

filch
This simple instruction will make your spy filch any valuables she finds on the ground. If your spy is not stealthy enough to filch them, she will simply pick them up.

clear
Will remove any orders the spy currently has, making him stop in the room he is in.

go home
Will send the spy home. (He will drop any equipment he's carrying in Venril's store)

status
The spy will report on what she is doing and what she is ordered to do.

describe surroundings
Sometimes the brief description of where they are given by 'status' is not enough to find your spy. This will ask your spy to describe her surroundings more completely.

wear all
The spy will wear everything he can.

drop <item> | all
If your spy has an object called <item> and you give him this order, he will drop the <item> to the floor, unwielding or unwearing it if necessary. You may also request your spy to 'drop all'. If the spy is carrying any spares, only they will be dropped, otherwise your spy will unwield their equipment and drop it to the floor.

Example:

In the example above, I want my highwayman (codename 'blade') to follow Stab about and steal from him after passing on a message and giving him a gift of a poisoned lobster.

I give the lobster to my highwayman.

I then
tell highwayman_blade highwayman follow me
And show him to a reasonably public place (somewhere I expect Stab may venture through in the near future).
Then
tell highwayman_blade highwayman target stab
to make him look out for Stab.
tell highwayman_blade highwayman guard to make him stay where he is.
tell highwayman_blade highwayman stalk
to make him follow Stab once he finds him.
tell highwayman_blade highwayman steal
to make him steal.
tell highwayman_blade highwayman message A present from the rogues.
so my highwayman will pass on the message "A present from the rogues." tell highwayman_blade highwayman give item lobster
so he will give the lobster to Stab. (after telling him my message)

I then wander off to do other things and after a while I see:
Highwayman tells you: I have found Stab.
Highwayman tells you: I have passed on your message to Stab.
Highwayman tells you: I have given the Lobster to Stab.

Mission successful.

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Responsibility for your spy's actions
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When a rogue hires a spy they are responsible to an extent for their actions, as they serve as an extension of the rogue's will.

If you have told a spy to target a victim and that victim then goes on to attack and die to the spy then unless you had revenge, or the person is bountied, the death will be recorded on your bio as murder. If the victim is bountied or you have revenge upon them, then it will be recorded as a PK.

If your spy has no target and is not bodyguarding you, should someone attack it

and die nothing will be recorded on your bio.

If your spy has no target, but is bodguarding you, then a murder will be recorded if the victim has revenge on you, i.e. you started it, otherwise if you have revenge upon them, i.e. they started it, or if they are bountied it will be recorded as a PK.

Obviously the details of your bio are private and in no way help the investigation of the crime, but if your soul was to be scrutinised for evil deeds at some point then a high number murders may well count against you ...

Of course something dark and vile may well reward you ...

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Miscellaneous Info
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If you want your spy to hang about longer than you originally paid for you can 'pay <amount> <currency> to <spy>'.

If you leave the realms for an extended period of time you will find your spy may well get bored and will wander off. Also if you leave your spy hidden away in some quiet out of the way place for an extended period of time, the spy is quite likely to depart, taking any items they may be carrying.

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