"That would be tricky. He probably omitted a few things in his story, but the parts he shared, he are most likely actual memories." Zelpuz thinks about the situation for a while.
"OK, let's recap the evening so we are all on the same page." Zelpuz goes through the events of the day again. He concludes with: "I guess I'll avoid going to the Order for now, but that'll make the investigations harder." He drifts off into thoughts.

After a while he sighs. "I guess Lasrane must be kept somewhere. But I am not sure if I am ready to risk rescuing a guy I was sent here to capture and risk major consequences from the Order, all based on a single guy's story, in particular Lasrane." Zelpuz seems to struggle with himself. "Do we have other leads to follow to see what's going on? And maybe get more hints about involvement of the Order? Something from the military follow-up?"

"What's our goal here?" Vanyra questions while looking out the window.  Turning a bit she adds, "First we were coming back for his parents, but now - I don't know. I'm not sure I want to get in the middle of a civil war."

"Good question, I don't like it either, but I would like to find out what the Order is doing here. But that can also be investigated by others if I report back, or hopefully Myrria did already. But Yuu can't just leave. What are your thoughts?" He looks at Yuu wondering when he wakes up from his meditative state.

Yuu seems to have deflated somewhat from his usual upstart bubble that only those of youthful ignorance and optimism carry themselves within. He takes a minute to unscramble an answer.

"I don't know. I came here to find a way to help my family. That job is bigger than I am, but I wanted to come here to try. The forces that have my parents house arrested are beyond the reach of my immediate network. The challenge is to reach beyond my network, until I find one with a thread linked to the perpetrators of this crisis. It's not an impossibility that the issues of my situation and Zelpuz' aren't linked someway."

He sits up.

"There are three directions I can pursue." He taps the armrest with a finger. "I want to visit our libraries, and do a little targeted research. I want to know who, by name, are supporting the various political factions. With names, comes leads. Second, I may try to contact my father one more time. Maybe he can provide a name or two. That is dangerous, but it may expedite a direction to pursue. Finally, I have distant cousins in the palace. It would be very difficult to contact them being as I'm on a Wanted list and all, but may be worth a shot."

"And yeah, a civil war would be bad. I wouldn't want to be caught in the middle of one, either. This is my country, and.... I think the path to saving my parents, is the same as the path to preventing that worst case scenario."

"I might be able to help with the communication from a distance." Zelpuz offers. He turns to Vanyra. "What about you, do you think your previous vision of the city may be coming any time later? Do you think we can prevent that from happening?"

"I really don't know..  I could try to force it, but I don't know if that will work."

"OK, so let's just try to stay low and keep looking around, at least until we decide it's getting too hot here."
Zelpuz scratches his chin.
"I wonder if I can go back to the Order without being taken in. Maybe I won't risk it until it becomes necessary. So let's follow Yuu's leads for now."

"Ok, I'll start hitting up the library. I'm going to give a week or so before attempting to contact my father again. Let a bit of heat off. Any ideas how to find out if the Order has Lasrane?"

"I'd suggest we start with the hospital where we dropped him off. They must have some records of what happened, assuming they were not too busy or erased."

Over the course of the next few days Yuu manages to visit a number of libraries, gathering bits and pieces of scholarly and journalistic information concerning the political factions in Ossylia. The three major factions, the Novians, Reforgers and Traditionalists, have existed in some form or another for at least the last three centuries. Occasionally new offshoot factions form, but none have them have lasted more than a generation.

The tenants of each faction are nebulous and have drifted about their central philosophical pillar, which in turn have shifted over the years but always remain roughly the same relative to each other. The Novians have focused on trade and expanded international affairs, the Reforgers are hawkish and seek military security above all else, while the Traditionalists walk between the two and seek to maintain the 'stability' of the old ways.

Support for each of these factions cannot be traced to any one noble house, sometimes a house has claimed allegiance to two factions at the same time, depending on who you're speaking of. Across generations there has also been shifts, as the power and interests of houses and guilds change. House Jin has usually sided with the Reforgers or the Traditionalists, but on a few occasions they've even supported the Novians. Currently they are within the Traditionalist camp by all accounts.

Using recent records Yuu identifies a number of the senators from each faction and investigates where their support comes from, if not immediately obvious. Through this he finds that the Shen Zue have in fact supported half a dozen Novian members in the senate of late, though they also have a couple Reforgers and a Traditionalist ally as well. There is not a whole lot of public information available on the senators themselves, but he does make note of their names.

The Reforgers count many former military officers among their ranks as well as members of some of the newer noble houses and domestic guilds, such as the Rancher's Guild and Shipbuilders. Compared to the Novians the Reforgers have a power structure that is much more stable and identifiable, with the core of the party run by 7 retired generals or admirals, which Yuu similarly makes note of.

While recent articles are scarce Yuu is able to ascertain that 8 members of the Novian faction have apparently been arrested or have gone missing in the last few weeks. Charges pertain to low treason (unwitting cooperation with enemies of the state) to misappropriation of funds. None of them appear to be major players in the faction, but it is hard to tell given the less structured and egalitarian nature of the Novians. The loss of the members does certainly tip the scales in favor of the Reforgers in any votes; currently 40% of the senate is controlled by the Traditionalist (64 seats), 30% for the Reforgers (48 seats) and only 25% (40 seats) for the Novians.

Also during the week Saya meets up with the group once more and relays the results of her inquiries into the customs records. Despite the loss of such large amount of chlornetherium there has been no increase in logged shipments from the civilian side. There had been the lock down on the port which created a bit of an increase once the harbor was reopened, but not enough to compensate for the amount lost.

The military has their own procurement channels, and most of their chlornetherium is produced locally. They have not reported any missing shipments or hiccups in their supply chain, but in light of that explosion and the martial law in the city there have been increased orders of late.

Whoever owned that chlornetherium is either not concerned with its loss or is not wanting to be identified as the owner.

Meanwhile Zelpuz and Vanyra visit the Sisters of Caleb. As a member of the Order of Ashes it was actually quite easy to request some 'clarifying' information about the unknown Mespah patient they found a couple weeks back. Upon finding the man in a severe, but stable condition on their steps they took him in and administered the requisite care, and then sent notice to the local Order Chapter House and the town guard as a matter of policy. Crimes against Mespah tend to involve more discretion and care due to their historical persecution.

After they ensured the proper medical care the man awoke. They informed him the Order of Ashes were concerned about his safety and were coming to speak with him. At this he just got up and left, only stopped to grab his trousers, despite his somewhat groggy condition. The Sisters figured that he must some sorted of criminal wanted by the Order, but they were surprised to learn that he was actually an agent as well from the two that came to the clinic. They remarked that he had been on a special assignment for sometime, and likely in a state of considerable duress that resulted in his unusual behavior. The Sisters handed over the man's abandoned possessions. After that the agents thanked the Sisters and left.

When asked about the letter one of the Sisters ashamedly admits to having read it, thinking it was some information concerning the man's condition. She never mentioned it to the man before he left, and no one knows if he ever saw or read the letter. The letter was given to the Order agents though.

For the remainder of the week Vanyra and Zelpuz set about city visiting the locales Lasrane had frequented before and backtracking some of their original steps from weeks past. The destroyed warehouse is being cleaned up now, with construction crews working to clean out the rubble and make way for a new structure. The sewer hideout is still there though the greasy film over everything suggest that it has been abandoned for a while. The taverns along the docs where the Blood Runners were suspected of conducting business are all still there and operating, but on the half-dozen visits over the week neither Vanyra nor Zelpuz find anyone they recognize, nor do any of the staff seem to recall seeing a man like Lasrane.

At the docks themselves the Blood Runner's ship is still moored where they saw it last, but instead of Shen Zue guards there is a small group of Ossylian soldiers standing watch on the boat. This changing of the guard is unexpected given how things had transpired, since it is obvious the Ossylian government has somehow gotten involved. Aside from the ship there is no trace of the Blood Runners or the man named Lasrane.

One evening, on the 9th day of a tenday*, as Yuu is making his way back from the local journalist archive he spies Saya approaching him in uniform. He would classify her expression upon seeing him as a somewhat confusing mixture of relief and exasperation.

*Note: tenday is like a week on Khalyun, with many people having the 9th or 9th and 10th day off from work.

The young mage smiles widely and waves, "Saya! Oh my god, you're a sight for sore eyes. Literally, I think my eyes are plotting a strike from all the reading I've been doing this week."

"I've been looking for you for the last while, quite a few libraries around... and I didn't think you were going to be acquainting yourself with the local papers," she responds and scans their surroundings before continuing. "Something has happened; I received orders today that we're to cease our operations at the docks in two days time and report to the local garrison HQ for re-assignment. Talking with a few folks and there's rumors that a new agency or something is being formed to control the docks and imports/exports in general."

The youth's smile slips into concern. "New agency? Made up of who?"

"No idea," she replies with a shrug. "It's all rumours and speculation at this point, but I think it'll be under military jurisdiction... or at least partly. I'm thinking they want more control of what comes in and out after that chlornetherium explosion and the resulting mess."

"Aren't you military though? Why swap military.... with other military?"

"Ahhh... yeah," Saya smirks gesturing to her uniform. "The military doesn't, or at least hadn't had jurisdiction over any trade though. I'm not sure how or what exactly this new agency will be. These plans are being formed at the highest levels."

"So... in two days time, they plan to create a completely new organisation meant to police the imports, exports and entire dock system? With all the logistical, administrative and personnel tied in to boot? Out of thin air? What a nightmare!" Yuu wears his expression of confusion pretty plainly.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:19, Sat 01 Sept 2018.

"I suspect this plan has been in the works for a little while, we only just heard about it now. They could simply absorb the current customs agency into the military umbrella and add personnel to it. It does seem an odd move though, I'm all for defending the Kingdom but I don't know any soldiers that signed up to process import documents on merchant shipments." Saya acquiesces. "Could be why some people, like  your parents, have been on lock down; change the balance in the senate. Would be interesting to see how that vote went down."

"Who do you think is giving the orders to your superiors now?"

"The same people as before." Saya shrugs. "There's been no change in the military command. The military ultimately takes it's orders from the government and the Royal Family. The shift in focus could be simply due to a shift in government policy."