The Chained Watcher

Backstory: With the Spite of a Soggy Cat

Hiya, been a hot second since I posted. Ran into a brainfart trying to come up with a good riddle for the next Secret Seeker meeting, which has held that up, and had too many cool ideas that wouldn't fit with the plot. So many half-finished things, but I've got this one at least.

~~~

Keeping his eyes down, he listened to the description of the schematic he's supposed to help build. The large siege weapon is overcomplicated, overengineered, and overly expensive, even disregarding all the redundancies.

If this project was his idea, he would have suggested some ways to cut down on the expenses or increase the efficiency, but very few of the skilled enchanters who will work on this are here by choice. They all know better than to scorn a higher Tier's command, so despite how it ruffles their feathers, they came.

Despite how out of the way his retreat is, and how little he interacts with other Watchers, he still got the message informing him that his presence is expected. Not requested. Expected. As one of the few relatively nearby Watchers skilled at enchanting and crafting, his services are highly sought after, so to be ordered like this grates on his nerves.

When he's shown to the room he's expected to stay in while not working, his eye twitches, and he carefully pushes down the urge to snarl at the lower Tier in charge of guiding him. This room is barely tall enough for him, with no amenities to be seen apart from a single table, a lonely chair, and an empty wardrobe.

Higher Tiers may show very little respect towards those lower than them, but even they will usually provide marginally better rooms than this, especially once providing for someone above Tier 3. For a 'guest' here to assist in a project, treatment like this is an easy way to find no help when it's actually needed.

Waving his hand dismissively, he lets the lower Tier Watcher leave, which it gladly does, having likely sensed his growing irritation. Taking it out on them, while it may be an outlet, would be beneath him. No, he'll just have to think of some petty way to get his revenge.

Taking a minute to properly examine his room, he grimaces when he finds a literal hole in the wall, hidden behind the table. Did they think he wouldn't notice? Maybe they're hoping that, by giving him such a worthless room, he'll spend more time on the siege weapon instead of hanging out here.

Examining the hole more closely, he notes its resemblance to a mouse hole, though it's much bigger than a normal mouse would need. How bad was the original reinforcement anyway, that some kind of rodent was able to dig through the walls like this? Utterly garbage, clearly.

Well, he may have no interest in spending more time in here than is necessary, but he fully intends to keep whatever free time he gets for himself, regardless of how useless this room is. Consider it his own brand of spite, to inconvenience himself in order to express his irritation towards another.

~~~

It's been a couple days now, and he's getting quite curious about that hole. Whatever made it seems to still be around, if the faint noises he occasionally hears are any indication.

To see if he could bait whatever it is out, he left a single large tree nut on his table, and waited outside the room until he could ever so faintly hear the noise. Pushing the door open, he catches a brief glimpse of a tail retreating into the hole, and the nut is missing. His senses reach out, but he doesn't find the animalistic mind he's expecting. Instead, there's a faint, slippery mind of what he believes might be a mortal.

Has a mortal really managed to get into the walls of this facility? Honestly, he's almost impressed, except the hole's in his room. The strength of the structure of Watcher buildings is no joke, even if botched, and to manage to dig a hole is quite an achievement.