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[AzyWng]

The Barons back off after some time from a combination of the awful stench and fear of... whatever Ehto is - though a few stay, just to keep an eye on the group.

Ehto examines the Flead Queen's remains closely. The chunk she bit out doesn't seem to reveal anything, but looking near the queen's head, Ehto spots... something sticking out between two plates of chitin, almost imperceptible for anyone that wasn't right next to it. Some kind of parasite, clearly. Without a host to sustain it, it seems just as lifeless as the queen itself.

Nessa extracts 6 Adam total from all the corpses (4 from the Flead Queen, and 2 from the Fleads that were killed earlier).

Rory manages to gather up 6 Flead Carapaces, two Flead Stingers, and a Flead Queen Spined Carapace from the remains of the battle.

Tsubasa manages to get back to the Baron's HQ without incident. As soon as she arrives, Arint is there to greet her, covered in mild burns and ash. "You're back. I heard from the others that the Flead Queen is dead. Good to hear. We don't have any more pressing issues at the moment. There's room enough at The Last Stand. We'll meet here in the morning. Sound good?"

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Ehto

"Hmm..." Leaning down, the sorceress plucked the lifeless parasite as carefully as she could and dropped it into a jar pulled from... somewhere within the darkness of her cloak. She had a hunch, but she'd need to show it to the bogger trio to be sure...

With that done, she turned and headed back towards town. As she passed the barons she considered stopping to explain things but... past experiences told her that could just make it far worse. She owed them no explanation anyway; they were temporary comrades who barely understood the horrors that lurked in their own swamp. She was just another one come to eat the problematic species, and lucky for them she had every intention of leaving after, unlike most invasive species.

[Chevaleresse]

Tsubasa

The Demon Slayer shrugged, then nodded. "The others will be back shortly." They wouldn't be hard to find if they didn't show back up tomorrow, and Tsubasa was hungry; so, with that, she turned to head back out, searching for somewhere she could scrounge up something edible.

[kj1225]

Rory is about to turn to go but... After a moment he lifts his scarf again, deciding to investigate the hive itself for any usable loot, using his stake launcher as a pile driver to mark his path with unloaded and inert stakes.

[AzyWng]

Rory

Rory doesn't find too much amidst the burned nest. However, he is able to salvage:

8 Flead Carapaces
5 Flead Stingers
2 Flead Eggs

Tsubasa

The only real eatery looks to be The Last Stand - run by a surly-looking Shroke. "Looking for a room for the night?" He asks.

[Chevaleresse]

Tsubasa

"Something to eat, first. What've you got?" Knowing this place, it would be utterly foreign and visually unappealing, but she wasn't so reliant on her vision as to think that was a true indicator of taste.

[kj1225]

Rory
With his scrap collection complete, and thoughts about how edible the eggs will be in his mind, Rory started to head back to the HQ.

[AzyWng]

Tsubasa, Rory, Ehto, Utzi, and Friedhold and Nessa

The rest of the evening zips by. Glances if fear and suspicion from the Barons. A debrief from a battered-looking Arint. A meeting with a surly barkeep named Hebbel. Hitting pillows and sleeping bags like bricks.

The next morning, there's more still to do.

• There's been suspicious activity at some of the warehouses where goods are stored. These could be dangerous in the wrong hands - but the Spark Barons are stretched too thin to defend them.
• It's grown increasingly clear that the Spree are mounting a campaign to harass and rob Baron forces. Barons no longer feel safe traveling alone or even in pairs. Escorting some - or rooting out the source - would help greatly.
• Some Baron technology is being sold for a quick cash injection. Someone making sure the deal goes smoothly is important. Plenty of people are interested in taking Baron tech without paying for it.
• As if it weren't hard enough to get in and out of Grout Bog safely, the Admiralty have set up a checkpoint, and are apparently charging 'relocation fees' to anyone trying to leave or enter. Besides the obvious problem of undermining Baron authority, civilians who are attempting to evacuate are being delayed. All it would take would be a surge of wildlife or a terrorist attack and dozens would die. The checkpoint needs to be removed.
• Despite all the chaos, there is work that still needs to be done. And that means a worksite needs to be defended from wildlife.

[Chevaleresse]

Tsubasa will head over to take care of the checkpoint, given her experience in similar matters.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Ehto

Before doing anything else, Ehto will try to get a chance to speak with the bogger prisoners and show them the parasite she extracted from the Flead Queen yesterday.

[kj1225]

Rory

Rory would eventually head to investigate the warehouses, but the first thing on his agenda was looking for a workshop to put the materials from the fight the previous night to use.

[StormLord]

Friedhold decides it best to accompany Rory to the Warehouses.

[AzyWng]

Tsubasa

The trip to the checkpoint is uneventful - at least until Tsubasa actually arrives. There's a line of at least a dozen or so workers, all waiting for a trio of Admiralty guards and a few... beak-dog-things... to process their paperwork. Each time someone is processed, they have to hand over a few shills. One person gives an entire sack of shills, which the Admiralty accepts - only to then make them fill out the rest of the paperwork anyway.

One of the guards, a Shroke man wielding a halberd-like weapon, notices Tsubasa and steps closer. Printed on his uniform is the name "Pelnor". "Hey, you. If you're looking to leave Grout Bog, get in line and make sure you've got your coinpurse ready. If you're looking to see if you've got any work, buzz off."

Ehto

The prisoners have been badly beaten - black eyes and bloodied noses all around. One of them nurses a crushed hand. When Ehto tries to show them the parasite she extracted, they just sadly shake their heads. It seems they weren't involved with the actual adding of parasites into the beasts themselves.

Rory and Friedhold and Nessa

The trip to the warehouses passes without incident, and they arrive at the warehouses to find... no-one outside. Not even a Baron guard or lookout.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Ehto

She barely suppresses her anger at the scene in front of her long enough to ask her questions. Once she has her answers she returns the jar and the parasite in it to the darkness. At the very least she knows to expect more beasts going on rampages. That concern can wait though.

"Who did this to you?" She asked, practically snarling. "And who ordered it?"

[AzyWng]

Ehto

"W-we don't know who ordered it... a group of Barons just... opened the cell in the night and started beating us... Calling us... savages... murderers..." Krikith's crestfallen expression makes it clear that he doesn't disagree.