The Old Tome

A deep sigh escaped him, a habit he had picked up as late. Cassius reflected on the irony of inheriting the body of a boy whom he shares most of his own name with, only to have the misfortune of having inherited a shitty family with shitty politics which were muddled enough to assassinate a small child. 

"The Stenfall family is it?" He muttered standing straight in thought "So much for my peaceful retirement." Complaining seemed to be his only way to cope with his newfound 'employment' as a middle child of a mighty Margraves family.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be many gaps in this youngster's memories as they began to surface. His father, Margrave James Laurence Stenfall, had just begun his official education, and even more unfortunately, the original owner of this body had preferred to skip his lessons to hide and eat in the kitchen.

"Probably another reason people would want this boy dead" 

Many stood to gain from his death after all, especially with his family being the regional powerhouse closest to the border with their not-so-friendly neighbors.

Still, as he paced the room, he considered his options. If he was truly reborn as a noble's son in this strange new world, he would have to adapt. Despite how insane the whole notion seemed to him, this was his new life that his Orion System had somehow miraculously dragged him into.

He absolutely was not going to give it the satisfaction of putting him through the process of letting it find him another one. That was a one-time experience he wouldn't wish upon anyone. 

"First things first, then." Realizing how deeply involved in the thick of his newfound situation, Cassius knew that the evidence he had gathered would be crucial in uncovering the plot against his body's original owner.

Collecting the chalice likely containing poison and the fine parchment, he moved them to the only available hiding spot he realistically had available at the moment: Between the mattress of his bed and the wall against which his bed was resting, there was a large enough space that he could conceal the parchment and the chalice without too much suspicion.

"Whoever planned this is in for a massive surprise tomorrow," Cassius said with a smile of anticipation... he absolutely could not wait to see the face of whoever executed this assassination attempt.

"Now then..." Approaching the covered double windows, Cassius wanted to see where he was for his own eyes. His memories indicated he was in Strom, one of the larger towns just shy of being considered a city by this country's standards. Strom was located in the southwestern portion of the Kingdom, occupying a strategically valuable position north of the border and separated by just a half-day's ride. The town was surrounded by a thick pine forest with large fields connected by a network of small dirt paths spread throughout. 

Moving the curtains out of his way, his view was obscured by the darkness that greeted him. "Right." He thought to himself, he's located inside of a castle, and it's night. Sparse light sources decorated the castle walls with numerous guards shifting around on patrol. Directly below his vantage point appeared to be some large courtyard where two guards walked down the center path, torch illuminating the night. He could see some family crest on an Amber-red tabard, but he was too far away to see what it looked clearly in this lighting. Being in what is acquainted to a Fortress Town on the border to a hostile nation, he supposed having this many guards was par for the course.

Cassius realized that he would have to study up hard if he wanted an ice cube's chance in hell of making sense of his new surroundings, a sense of worry crept up inside him; he needed more answers.

Cassius decided to investigate his walk-in closet. Upon opening it, he found nothing but racks of children's clothing and another large dark oak dresser. After closer examination, he noticed a single leather-bound book hidden behind the leg of the dresser. Reaching underneath the dresser to retrieve it, he noted that this book was one of the books he had "lost" To get out of studying. 

When he inspected the book's cover, Cassius's heart skipped several beats.

"A Short History of Astria" "Astria" Was the name of the first vessel he and his unit were stationed on early in his career. An assault carrier whose sole purpose was to come into the atmospheres of planets depositing its payload of munitions and troops and become a regional control center for all ground-based operations. At just over five hundred meters long, it was the United World's most frequently deployed asset and the backbone of any planetary invasion. Each had the ferry capacity to bring a brigade's worth of troops onto a planet at a moment's notice. It was essentially a miniature space-faring city. Last Cassius heard the UWS Astria was lost when it and her escorts tried to escape an ambush by attempting a short-range Faster Than Light Jump uncomfortably close to the gravity well of a freshly collapsed star—a black hole. From what he learned in the news, all hands were suspected lost, and that was the end of it. 

He never really did believe in coincidences, however. Opening the old book he ran his hands across the old paper. This book was old, even by his standards as a former collector of Ancient Earth scripture. The scent of old parchment filled him with a sense of fresh nostalgia, a mix of mustiness, earthiness, and hints of leather, reflecting its organic origin and long history. "This must have cost a fortune to procure, and most of this book takes the form of a series of notes in several different languages..." As he studied the book, he was grateful not to find any plain United Worlds Common language, or "English" as it was more commonly referred to.

Cassius situated himself by the small coffee table, collapsed back onto the comfortable furr lined couch, and for the umpteenth time, proceeded to study whatever he could gleam from this Ancient book.