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[I_Like_Pi]

"They died as they lived: sloppily." Evra commented on the mess, disgust in her voice.

"However, it looks like they had a relatively smooth operation. If that stone was where we were, a former village, then we can likely assume the rest are villages as well. Or, in a worst-case scenario, villages that need to be wiped off the map; which, taking into account an apparent deal with some earl, would be free pickings for the bandits. That other fort may be that earl's residence, potentially where our former war hero has gone next. What say you, sir Calo?"

[Sirus]

Keyleth thought for a moment before answering.

: "...his previous owner was a Govitian nobleman. I killed the nobleman and took Skar for myself. He'd been raised by humans, so he was used to them, but he hadn't been imprinted onto anyone at the time."

[Lucus Casius]

:  "Huh.  Really?  How long ago was that?"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Theodore briefly pauses, an indecipherable flash of something going through his eyes in that instant. He doesn't seem to be judging Keyleth, as far as Keyleth can tell, but what he IS doing beyond that is hard to figure out.
"I see. Well. At the very least, you've done well in handling him, so perhaps he was best in your hands."

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Calo didn't even dignify the disgusting sight in the courtyard with a verbal acknowledgement. They really had been nothing but fucking animals, hadn't they? Even went so far as to literally piss and shit wherever they pleased with no attempt to maintain hygiene or presentability of the latrines. He gripped his bow tighter as they moved to the next room, almost outright wishing for someone they'd missed to pop out. Oh how his fingers itched ever more to land a shot on one of them.
"I say we're gonna have to set to pay their friends a little visit in the morning," he answers Evra. From the map he figures, if his reckoning of the scale is correct, the march would cover a fairly significant distance, taking about a week assuming they took the most direct path. "Looks like a few of the other marked locations would be close to the most direct path, could stop by them along the way. See if there's anything left or if they've all suffered the same fate."


He takes out a bit of charcoal and a well-worn leather journal. Upon further inspection, from the cracks running along its cover and the yellowing of it's pages, the thing is likely older than Calo himself. There's a large scar on it's face, as if something was once epoxied but torn from it, and given her previous service history Evra can likely identify it as being the same shape as the emblem of Ersht's armed forces. With deft skill and a few glances at the table, he goes to work recording the map with all the level of detail befitting a scout.
"What's this about dealings with an Earl though? Did one of those pigs actually squeal before you took their bacon?"

[Sirus]

Keyleth frowned, thoughtfully.

: "I guess it'd be about three years ago, now."

[I_Like_Pi]

Evra had noticed Calo's smouldering fury as they moved along. While she shared the feeling, she knew that deep down they wouldn't be able to act on it. Thus it was discarded and tossed to the side like all things useless.

"We certainly shall; however, we must remember that we have one goal, and only one goal, sir Calo. As much as we may want to do something, the earl is likely beyond our reach."

"Their leader cried out just before we disposed of him. They thought that they were safe here, free from anyone who could challenge them. Fools, the lot of them. They got complacent and paid the price."

As Calo began to copy the map Evra's eyes perked up as she got a closer look at his journal.

"Was that a gift from your father, a sort of torch to pass on? A shame you had to damage it to preserve our anonymity if that is the case."

[Sutoratosu Akira]

"..." he is silent as he continues sketching the map. He knows there is truth in her words, of course; in fact they are likely the same his father would tell him, were he eavesdropping on this conversation. As much as it made the bile rise in his throat, the Piggies' master would yet have to elude justice... "The swine is lucky; Joi Hart has saved his sorry hide, for now at least. Let's hope he's thanked her for it," He slams the book shut with an obviously frustrated gusto, tucking the charcoal peice back into his cap. He wills himself to push the topic from his mind as Evra changes the subject
"Aye," He nods, "The same field journal he carried during the war; this thing has seen more action than I have. He handed it off to me the day I enlisted. Told me to make records in it that would dwarf his own someday. As for the defacing... it was either remove any and all potential identifiers, or not bring it at all. The emblem is a dime a dozen, Pages can be rebound, and epoxy is easy to acquire for a bowyer. It'll be restored to its former glory soon enough, once Hart has paid for her treason. Either that or I'll ensure it's destroyed with me."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Three years? Well then.

.....changing the subject slightly, what did you make of those bandits? Something about their presence here wasn't right."

[Ochita]

Elanee huffed, using some cloth lying around to patch the holes in her robes, frowning as while she was lucky to find some cloth that _looked_ similar to the stuff her robes were made from, it still looked patchy, and it was so _itchy._ Looking around once the job was done, she realized that pretty much everyone else in the group was busy either talking or transporting bodies, and she knew she wouldn't be too much help with dragging those around. Finding, and then making her way over to Jack, she waved him down.
  "So, uh. Jack. What now, what should I do? I think most of the bodies are sorted already, and.. What now.. I mean, with the village.." Elanee stops, taking a moment to compose herself.
  "With the village and our help gone, now what do we do?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

An ugly growl crawled out of Jack's throat. Not hostile, but closer to frustration, or despair. "We continue the mission. We find somewhere to unload the cash we've managed to gather, re-equip, and try to make contact with our spy network. Failing that, we conduct our own reconnaissance to determine the target's location, recover the tomes, and put her down. If the tomes are no longer in her possession, we find out where they've gone. Any trace of research on them we find, we destroy." Jack's hands clenched at his sides. "Our position right now... It's no good. We need Intel, and we don't have time to gather it. We need to connect with someone. Operating blind will get us killed."

[Ochita]

Elanee had hoped for better. Upon hearing Jack's response her face hardened, turned grimmer.
  "I... See. Understood. Maybe the bandits here knew something. It's a shot in the dark but.. They must've been close enough to realize that something had happened. And.. Augh, I don't know." She sighed, looking away and wringing her hands. She was at a complete loss. "Well, the next village inland must have a lead, right? We know we can't give up. And theres no way they'd use the other tome."

[Blade Master Model 42]

"I assumed the same thing about the first tome. But you're right. We'll need to make contact with another village, and hope there's a contact there we can get our information from. Even if there isn't, we could be able to use these bandits. Deal or no deal, I can't imagine they were popular with anyone nearby."

[Sirus]

It wasn't part of Keyleth's nature to answer every random question that came her way, but at least this one no longer involved her past.

: "What do you mean? It wouldn't be the first time bandits occupy an abandoned building, and I'm sure that sometime after we leave another group will move in. What was different about these ones?"

[Ochita]

  "They just can't use the second tome though, there's no way they'd use it until they could make more.." Elanee sighed, and nodded at Jack's words. "Thinking of making us look like mercenaries who were hired to kill the bandits in this region? Could give us some goodwill for the other nearby villages."