No Spill Blood

[Brian]

"Well, Serril says you got two yesterday," she says.  Then frowns darkly.  "And Radagast ... he's far too convenient.  Serril says that Radagast claims to have been created by someone ... but wouldn't say anything more about it than that."

[Bjorn]

"He hasn't been all that much more forecoming than that," Bjorn lies baldly, "as far as I can tell.  His purpose seems to be to oppose the Dreadmarch."  He purses his lips.  "As you say, he's tremendously convenient.  To date, I haven't seen any reason to actively distrust him, but....

"As for the other traitors," Bjorn continues, "from what I gathered, the two who were executed were unlikely to have direct connection to the Dreadmarch.  They were puppets, and relatively ignorant ones at that.  The third... the third might know something.  But I suspect we've got several factions at work here, mostly ignorant of each other."

[Brian]

"Jesus, we need more than one group of traitors working against us?" Lindsey asks, rubbing at her temples.

[Bjorn]

"Maybe not," Bjorn says, shrugging, "but if I had ten years to set things up, that's what I would have done.  Each with their own goals, each unaware of the others.  Classical cell structure, right?

"The lorekeepers are so cloistered that you're almost forced to take that approach, anyways.  Nobody who isn't a lorekeeper can make headway into their ranks; and a lorekeeper who wanders around, poking his nose into other people's business gets noticed."  He scratches his chin.  "Last night, we caught some of the traitors in the lorekeepers -- but there's still at least two more, from what we know.  And we still don't know who was sending messages to the Dreadmarch, or punching arrows through the shield, or who tried to steal Breke's swords."

[Brian]

"Sending messages to the dreadmarch?" she asks, frowning.  "Well.  Hmm.  If you give me an idea of where to look for things, I'm obviously good at following people around."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn frowns in return, rubbing at his forearm absently.  "I'm not sure where to start looking," he confesses.  "Other than... Hm.  There's an alcove in a side hall," he says, and quickly rattles off a description of its exact location.  "It's apparently a place to coordinate meetings between various Dreadmarch agents.  Durant is going to try to set a meeting up.  If you could keep an eye on that place, and find out who else is checking it out..."

[Brian]

She nods.  "Consider it done," she says.  "Anything else?  Unless I miss my guess, there's a strategy meeting coming up soon -- guards will hunt you down to drag you to Lord Kevin for your strategic advice, if neccessary."  She winks.  "As long as you keep us in the loop, it's actually more convenient not to be included; I can keep an eye on other people, like Durant and whoever he's meeting with."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn shakes his head.  "I can't think of anything else at the moment," he says, and then eyes Lindsey.  "Be careful with your own cover," he says, seriously.  "And pass that message on to Liandral, too.  Dorian Shivershaft, at least, has become very suspicious of him.  With everyone's minds already on traitors, acting oddly won't help any of us."

[Brian]

"Interesting," Lindsey says, frowning. "Well, that's something to keep an eye out for."

[Bjorn]

"I think that's about it, then," Bjorn says, relaxing back into his chair.  "Did you have an interesting discussion with Nathan and Philip yesterday?"

[Brian]

"They didn't tell you?" she asks.  "We didn't discuss much ... mostly just the plan to scout out the enemy camp, which I'm not entirely certain was worth it."

[Bjorn]

"They did," he says, off-handedly, "but that wasn't really the point of my question.  I'm just making conversation while the guards look for me."

[Brian]

She snorts, and then a pair of guards poke their heads into the room, look around, and make a beeline for you.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn straightens himself, and rises, nodding.  "Thank you, Mistress Lindsey," he says, his voice resuming its respectful vassal tenor.  

Turning to the guards, he walks forward to meet them.  Keeping his voice low, he asks, "Yes?"

[Brian]

The guards scurry forward and look around like they're expecting the Dreadmarch to burst out from between the books at any moment, and one of them stutters, "Lord Kevin wishes you to attend a meeting."