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Jeff: And after a very long wait, which I do take full blame for...
Shana: Thank you.
Jeff: We've had a bit of stuff happen, sorry for not being contiguous here. Shana?
Shana: First off, the investigation. Agni's personal storage room turned up a very unfortunately grave clue to what was worth killing Thunderstone for. There were numerous boxes filled with several hundred Astral Diamonds worth of Elven arts and crafts, made by the region immediately across the Warmwea.
Jeff: It took a while and many faces to confirm the exact make, model, and retail value, but we were looking at a seriously large amount of stuff being almost assuredly smuggled in. Black market deals.
Shana: All of the art was to be under the influence of the tariff that Oakheart wanted to keep, while Thunderstone wanted to remove. The suspected chain of events was this: Duncan, bandit leader of the south, was responsible for smuggling in Elven valuables to be held by Agni until they could be traded off in a black market setting, free of the tariff. Were Thunderstone's efforts to meet success and trade become more open, Oakheart's near monopoly on Elven craft trade would be abolished. Needless to say, he could not let it happen. Hence, Agni assassinated Thunderstone.
Jeff: It was a brilliant plan up until the murder was committed. We're the A-team, after all.
Shana: I suppose so? Many of our names do have an 'a' in them...
Jeff: Sigh.
Shana: Oh. A joke. Sorry!
Jeff: Just... please continue. I need to stop the references to non-medieval jokes.
Shana: Sorry... It would help, though. As for our investigation, it went well outside the hands of the town guard. In the end, it had to go to the top of the top, to the Council, that such smuggling was taking place. The investigation was essentially a success, but with our involvement no longer being... allowed, more or less. It was well out of our hands.
Jeff: Thanks to our hands that it got to that point, though. I call that a win.
Shana: As do I. Agni at least is going to be dealt with. Hopefully Oakheart as well. As a follow-up, we took an offer to go to Staneax and check on its ruler, the son of the servant responsible for giving the key to be duplicated, who was under threat of death. We saw he was not in any immediate danger, just in a rush to see his father. Thankfully, nothing happened during the night, and I even got a chance to check on the conditions of the waterways. Nothing visibly damaged save for the immediate area we dissolved the filthy beast.
Jeff:Nerckuvlee or something very close.
Shana: Please don't remind me. With the waters intact and Hrothwyn moving north, the group came across a fairly poor ambush. A soldier in the road was shot by an arrow, with two archers on the rocks at the sides of the path. They were easily enough disposed, one swiftly and one led to suicide. They held a medallion with a mark that effectively pointed to one of Duncan's bases of operation, not much new there.
Jeff: Until we all go pay it a visit.
Shana: Sounds... fun.
Jeff: Sounds sarcastic.
Shana: It is. I dislike fighting...
Jeff: Hard to survive without it, sadly. So, Hrothwyn?
Shana: Made it to see his father, who was being freed shortly after. Our success was reported to the Duke once again, who had new orders for us. Help an outpost near the border to eliminate some bandit camps. The orders came directly from the Council, so The Ward was probably to be a distant memory in due time.
Jeff: Who knows? You may see the Warden or the Duke over time. Official figures tend to get around.
Shana: Perhaps. Our new Luitenant, Garrick, didn't seem of the bad sort. However, we were being rushed into a pretty late night fight, told to burn crops of a bandit camp so they would have no food left and be flushed out to their other locations. The crops burned almost too easily, however, from being dead. The reason made itself pretty clearly known to us. A couple giant insects, mates of a name I can't remember, had chosen to burrow under the farms. Their tunnelling ruined any chance the crops had, and our movement disturbed their rest... and gave them a thought of eating.
Jeff: Kind of hard to eat a Cleric that chases one of them away, a Rogue that can out-stab them any day, and a Warden that can resist being tugged anywhere!
Shana: Especially when one is stupid enough to damage its only potential ally, a cute little Pseudodragon that got caught on the wrong end of an acid spray. Poor thing! It was already mad enough to turn on the big bug, so it was easy enough to help it out and convince it I wouldn't harm it.
Jeff: ... You have a pet dragon.
Shana: Well... pet Pseudodragon! Sort of. It likes me, but it's still new to the whole idea of adventures, companions, and fights. That will take time. But thus far, yes, I do seem to have a pet. I hope we can get away with this.
Jeff: You probably will. It's hard to deny the potential of a tiny, sneaky ally with a poison stinger at your disposal. As long as you can get it to understand your intentions and stick with them.
Shana: Hopefully! With these conditions, it's probably going to be something of a struggle, but I'd like to think it will be worth it. Pseudodragons are cute!
Jeff: Well, good luck. Enjoy the trials and tribulations.
Shana: Thanks!
__________________   Goten is dead!
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