crystal.

[exequy]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: idk your bff Kostos
RECIPIENT: Everyone, unfortunately
NOTES: :)

[ It would be wiser to limit this complaint to those it's relevant to—the handful of mages who might have been informed of this bargaining after the fact, specifically.

But Kostos isn't in Scouting anymore. Or Diplomacy. Or even Research. And so he's released from any expectation or obligation to be subtle and exercise discretion when he's spitting mad. Right? That's how that works?

Anyway. ]

The fucking pirates took our fucking shit.

[ Important specification: ]

Not Riftwatch's.

[ Also, ]

Shit.

Comments

private to native mages + petrana and strange

[overharrowed]

[Unlike Kostos, he knows how to use his sending crystal to not put this on blast to the entire organization:]

In all fairness, we should have seen that coming, under the circumstances.

eternally

[wythersake]

We did say they could keep it if we died. I rather expected us to be dead by now —

[overharrowed]

I expect this isn't the first indication to most of us of Flint's evaluation of our chances.

[Oh, excuse him, Commander Flint is certainly coming back one day. He forgot.]

[wythersake]

They aren't free of the stakes. I tutored Silver the better part of two years.

[ certain ragged little apostates had their chance at solidarity. isaac can't blame him for tossing it out, it's never been worth very much. ]

[ipseite]

Did you.

( sounds like someone connecting different dots than "silver's a mage?" )

[wythersake]

I trust we're both aware that John preferred to separate his affairs.

[ of course she'd know, they were chummy as two chickadees, he's just never been given cause to stop and consider it — and wasn't that always another of the man's little gifts? to let you think yourself at advantage?

(always a fuck of a thing to realize you've been outmaneuvered) ]

[ipseite]

He did that.

( someone was already sore about coming back to an empty office— )

[exequy]

In all fairness—

[ He stops there, more because he's so angry he's getting tongue tied about it than because he's above telling Julius to go fuck himself. ]

[overharrowed]

It was a gamble in the first place. I'm not saying I'm pleased, I'm saying they're pirates and it seems like they lost faith we could hold up our end of the bargain.

[ipseite]

( very few of them have ever heard her audibly angry, )

A definitive answer to the question of Captain Flint's intentions vis a vis returning to Riftwatch at the culmination of his present work.

( it's incredible how every single word sounds somehow like a cuss. a couple of them maybe slurs. )

[overharrowed]

Certainly that.

[Not in any way trying to calm her down, though she may be the only one who can tell the difference offhand.]

[wythersake]

We can make that more final.

[ is revenge the cleverest course of action? no. flint is, ostensibly, still fighting corypheus. or lazing on a boat in a puddle of tedious philosophy and his own deepening wrinkles. whichever, he remains moored to riftwatch's reputation, and finagling a way to frame him in some new infamy would only do them ill.

but like. it'd feel good. ]

[exequy]

We could [ a slightly different verb for a slightly more mostly-talk man ] sink every one of their ships on a fly-by.

[ipseite]

Another conclave still looms. We need a path forward that is not, however appealing, petty fantasy.

( a brief pause. )

Though it would serve him justly.

[exequy]

[ Petrana, fortunately, is one of maybe two people who can tell him he's being petty and not have him get pettier out of spite.

The second part helps, too.

He takes a breath. ]

They didn't take all of it.

[ Maybe he should have led with that. ]

[ipseite]

And I'm certain he considers himself most gracious for that.

( it really does sound like she's calling flint a slur. what kind of magic power is that. )

What is our situation, Kostos?

[exequy]

The money is gone. The books aren't. The art and the equipment and the relics—some of it is gone. I can't tell what. We will have to take inventory when it's. I am having it brought back to the mainland.

[ In case they run out of funds for their ventures and come back for more. ]

My family can store it for a short time, but I don't want them... We will have to move it soon.

[ipseite]

( this is concrete. they can work with this. )

Then we must surveil our options. Not all of them are thusly tainted, even if that limits us— this is salvageable. We will salvage it.

( she's still pissed, but now she's pissed and purposeful. )

[exequy]

[ His nod is not audible, but he's too distracted to notice and verbalize it.

There's a distant thud, a creak. His raider cousin is not one he trusted so much as to send them off to check on the island without him present. ]

Some of it is dangerous. [ Half the impetus for storing it on an island to begin with. Harder for (relatively) innocent looters to stumble on. In theory. ] Some of it is—I don't know if one of you should warn the Provost that I am bringing a few crates back to the Gallows.

[ Or ask her permission. Whatever. ]

[ipseite]

We had better, though we may wish to discuss exactly how we wish to present that.

( the storage of dangerous items not actually being handed over to riftwatch's purview,

obviously, they don't solve this by just handing them over to riftwatch's purview. which complicates matters. )

[wythersake]

The Lucrosians are going to scream bloody murder. A bit late now to pretend the Circles simply vomited their contents into the sea — but perhaps we can, I don't know, attempt to skew the narrative. Protective transport gone awry.

[ipseite]

He will have a purpose to its use. We must be mindful not to be backfooted by that use contradicting however we might finesse this.

[wythersake]

It would be like the man to hold identifying pieces in reserve,

[ blackmail to seed with the venatori, hostages against their retaliation, proof of their cooperation. take your pick. ]

But we can't guess in a void. Likely ports of call are, [ a breath out ] Still too fucking hard to surveil on our means, not without bringing in outsiders.

[ipseite]

Then our first step need be establishing what connections we have at our disposal untouched by certain hands.

( it won't be many, but it won't be none. )

[wythersake]

That burns most of Nevarra and Rivain.

[ he doesn't know where derrica went, it isn't hard to guess: a cause, a boat, what will pass for friendship. ]

I'll see what I can turn up.