>>5713337“Indeed,” the Thief notes with a hint of warning, ‘for word of our… Arrival… has reached the common folk. The scum has heard of a man—or a dragon, or a man riding a dragon, depending on the teller—who has come to stay with the baron. The religious leadership has expressed concern.”
When you have learned all that you need to of the Blackpine population—or at least those who have ‘urbanized’ to any degree—you turn the Thief towards the neighbouring baronies. First he gathers insight from nearby, for many baronies have extended families which cross the borders of Redwell and Sunset Lake.
“Blackpine’s lumber and furs are most valuable to Redwell,” he notes, “but Sunset Lake is more prosperous, and thus pays better and buys more. They then sell some of it to Redwell. To take Sunset lake would be to seize the area, but Redwell’s army would surely move to stop you… if they could feed and clothe their troops.”
You note this information with a silent nod, still considering options.
“They have heard of you as well,” the Thief notes. “Which means the information has flowed to Hawksong. Though there is a information lag due to travel times, and apparently especially in the winter, they exchange information and goods with some regularity between Sunset Lake and the capital.”
You hiss a little and lash your tail. So Paladin King Archos may well have heard of your presence here, and your true nature? Troubling…
“That may not be such a serious problem, Superior One.”
You look questioningly to your spymaster, and the Thief tells you something of the news which has filtered back from Hawksong to here—or, at least, to Sunset Lake.
“Does everyone know of this?” you ask sharply.
He shakes his head, and tells you that the news of such matters is reserved for those highly-placed.
“I was impersonating a member of the baronial guard at the time,” the Thief notes. “I was attempting to glean what little the ape-men know of our activities in Bloodrise. Apparently the officials have acknowledged—or been forced to acknowledge—that tehre is something more than a kobold presence in the mountains, and more than a dwarven rebellion… But no formal action has been taken, nor orders issued, from Hawksong. Not yet.”
“Well,” you note, “they must have bigger issues to deal with, just now.”
