Hi-ho, love your game! Inspired by your comments on the post about Blade tailing Chase to see who his barber is lol, which of the romance options would notice that they're being tailed (say by a high-level assassin a la Gladius's whole deal) and who would be oblivious?
Ooh, interesting question!
Blade: 99% of the time, he clocks it instantly. Years of the same high-level training and counter-espionage techniques have been drilled into him, plus arma affords Khehi a pretty good sense for those things. Extremely unlikely he wouldn't notice, lol.
Trouble: I'll give it like a 65-35? 65% of the time, he notices something's up, even if he's not entirely sure what. What he lacks in formal training, he makes up for in sheer raw instinct and a kind of tingling spidey-sense, plus having to grow up constantly vigilant for trouble on the streets has made it so that his hindbrain picks up something wrong even before his conscious thoughts do. He'd just get a gut instinct or a burning at the back of his neck and would probably casually start taking steps to see if he was actually being tailed or not, then surprise and confront the tail (not always the wisest course of action, but he always charges in headfirst...). But again, that's like 65-70% of the time? A high enough level assassin could feasibly slip past him, even if he felt uneasy for reasons he couldn't name!
Tallys: 90% of the time, she'll notice; it's extremely hard to get one past Tallys. 200+ years of experience, of hunting and tracking and camouflaging and hiding, of engaging in the fluid dynamics of predator and prey, of being constantly vigilant and aware of one's surroundings, especially in that Elvish way of being plugged into one's environment, means it's difficult for me to believe she wouldn't notice at least the latent sense of danger hanging around. It'd be a smell in the air, a prickle at the back of her neck--maybe even an animal around her notices first and Tallys notices their reaction. Very hard to pull one over our Tallys!
Shery: sorry boo, it's maybe a 5%? While Shery is naturally quite vigilant for danger and is a nervous, alert person when she's out and about, she lacks the skills or formal training to notice a trained agent who was deliberately concealing their presence from her. Maybe she'd feel more uneasy than usual, but she'd dismiss it as just her typical nervous disposition and just hurry home. She's too pure to notice high-level assassins! She would also never suspect that they were targeting her specifically; she think she's too unimportant to be of any notice by outside bad actors!
Riel: this one's an interesting question, because while I like to believe that Riel is ingenious and infallible, it's difficult for me to believe he'd clock this right away: he's lived a fairly sheltered life isolated from having to worry about things like assassins and spies, and I'm not sure if he has combat or danger instincts the same way the others do. Put it this way: Riel's so perceptive that if you were to put him face-to-face with the tail, he'd know right away what their intentions are and possibly even their background details. If he's just out and about, going about his own business, walking to the market or (more realistically) taking a ride in his carriage? He's lost in his own thoughts and not necessarily looking back over his shoulder for a potential assassin (unless he already had cause to believe that one might be after him). He does tend to space out during those transitional moments where he's heading from point A to point B and isn't necessarily doing anything in that moment: he's using that time to think furiously about all the things he has on his agenda or whether some business associate is going to agree to some contract or the state of the water levels in the Gudrun Plateau or something like that. So I highly doubt he'd notice a high-level assassin tailing him unless that assassin was bad at their job, lol. Like a 20-25%?
Chase: 99% - again, I don't want to prop Chase up as infallible, but in keeping with the spirit of his novel origins, in which he was literally a living weapon forged by the Equalists, the man just has an uncanny sixth sense and is all live wire instinct. He's so in the flow of things and is so naturally attuned to his surroundings as well as that wordless danger instinct he has that he'd pretty quickly clock that something was up, and he'd figure it out right after that. The only trouble is that I think he'd deliberately proceed to fuck with whoever was wailing him, so any danger he averted by noticing the tail would immediately be undone by him proceeding to provoke the tail, lol.
Red: less than Riel's chances probably LOLLL like a 10%?? That man is always walking around with his head in the clouds... or his nose in a book. Despite being a Shepherd and in the combat division, he doesn't really live in a world where assassins or spies or tails are always on the forefront of his mind, so he's just existing ❤️ thriving ❤️ catch him in an alleyway dead with a book still in his hand because he would notice something was up way too late for him to do anything about it!! the man's just out for a leisurely stroll, he's not looking around like
--however, if the assassin is magical in nature or Endarkened, he has a higher chance of noticing!
Ayla: I'll give her similar odds as Trouble, around 70-75%! She's been living rough and on her own for pretty much all her life, with no one to watch her back but herself, so her instincts for danger are pretty finely honed; plus, she sort of has trauma from being tailed in the past, so I'd like to think she'd be able to pick up on this, even if it only started as "something's wrong here." She always trusts her gut, so she'd take steps to act accordingly once she noticed something was off!
Halek: I'll give it 70%-80%, depending on his mood: the Hunters have crazy spidey-senses too, especially around people who are lying or wish them harm, and he is sol of the Reach, much as he tries to deny it, so he's got pretty refined battle skills and natural vigilance, too, though it's typically against Endarkened threats. His chances are lower than, say, Tallys's, however, because 1) he never grew up fearing political assassins and 2) he grew up surrounded by the Black Shield, bodyguards, and Naolin, so he's not as alert about his personal wellbeing and safety as he probably ought to be and 3) if he's sleepy that day he's more on the 70% side of things than the 80% LOL. The other thing is that even if he noticed the tail, he might just be like, "...well we'll see where that goes" and then just not bother to do anything about it for a while lol
Briony: 5-10% LMAO, she's oblivious!!! she's just going about her day, with a merry hop-skip to her step and a guileless goodwill towards the world. Her?? The target of a high-level assassin?? The thought would literally never cross her mind! she's sort of living in this world of "me? 🥺👉👈 but i'm baby..." Also, I think she lives in this sort of false bubble of superstrength that makes her careless, like if she can one-hit KO anyone who bothers her (in her mind) she's not going to have the same vigilance or nervousness that might allow her to be more alert of her surroundings? It's kind of an unthinking hubris that her powers grant her, and also her amnesia means she has a lack of "real-world" experience that would color her perspective like a Blade, Tallys, Trouble, or Ayla--so she's more naive and lacks that inherent paranoia or vigilance that someone her age would probably have in Blest by this time. Aside from getting picked up by the slavers on the beach, which in her mind is different from having to be wary as she goes about her day at the market (and was kind of more about opportunism and sheer bad luck), she doesn't have a lot of reason to suspect she's being followed or targeted. She's also just not important enough for anyone to want to tail, surveil, or assassinate her for any reason, in her mind. So the thought that some random person meant ill will towards her would not even cross her mind. Even if she somehow happened to notice the tail, I picture her waving cheerfully at them like :D
'omg! i keep seeing that person around... what a funny coincidence! maybe they live in this neighborhood? they seem shy... anyway, back to shopping!' and then goes about her day LMAO
Lavinet: 50-50, she has better combat instincts than Red or Riel, but she may not immediately be able to pinpoint the tail, she'd just feel a sense of uneasiness or alarm and not be sure what to do about it! She'd act casual and might eventually notice the tail, but she'd be sort of unsure of what to do about it; it's doubtful she'd immediately jump to confronting them herself! She'd probably find a way to signal for reinforcements, whether it was discreetly paying someone to go off with a message or going into a public shop or friend's house where it was unlikely that she was going to get attacked right away!
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