Off Limits

JP with Winteroak and Omni

Voah followed Markus into his office. She had an idea of how to conduct her inquiries discreetly here but it would take some time and willing participants. But it would be more fruitful than going public. She was acutely aware, especially after the mess on the farm, that nobody liked to speak publicly.

Once inside the small makeshift office, Markus pulled a ledger from his desk. "Not sure how much this will help. I doubt most even use their real names." He started. "There are around 25 of us from Ostiarium. The bulk of the miners and workers are clansman. Around 40. 20 soldiers arrived yesterday and with them Master Wim." He said passing you the ledger. "I have already petitioned the Duke for more men from the city to avoid and depend too much on the mountain folk, which could lead to the suspension of most of our operations here as it came to pass a few days ago." He sighed.

Voah opened the ledger to the latest records, scanning for familiar names as Markus spoke.

“Your work has been suspended?” asked Voah, somewhat absently as her mind was mostly on the list.

"Yes. We hit a huge void a few days ago. Leads to some sort of underground network. The mountain folks have refused going into the mine every since." He rolled his eyes. "We’re not sure if the men stuck here just want to go join the warbands or if these chambers lead to somewhere they say it's off limits." He scratched at his head. "Curse or diseased they say..."

She couldn't speak her mind on the matter of war. She didn't want it. It seemed no one but the Empire wanted it. She would rather the Duke engage peacefully with the natives all the way, but she supposed war would happen sooner or later since the plains people said they had enemies everywhere. And Ostiarium would need protection, it was too late to leave. As far as she knew, the Duke never fulfilled the deal with them for weapons. She now felt guilty for being a part of that.

Not seeing a match between any of the names, Voah closed the ledger and looked to Markus.

"Cursed?" The mention of it got her thinking back to her own matter at hand. Maybe some cultists took shelter in the depths of the mines and were scaring off the workers.

"Without Balt to translate it's hard to communicate further than 'dig', 'carry' or 'melt'. The translation seems to suggest that it means cursed or diseased." Markus explained. "Again they could be faking it but they don't seem to be the kind that scares easy..."

Off limits. Cursed or diseased. That didn’t sound pleasant. She’d had enough of her own cursed disease or whatever damned affliction she picked up on Sentinel Island. She did more praying to Panolis in the last few months than she ever had before.