Decisions and Maps

JP with Jaxx, Redsword, Lasersexpanther, Lucian, and Cindy

Vor arrived carrying a small collection. Upon seeing the multitude of maps already laid out he felt over-burdened, but having his notebook meant he could make adjustments to his own later. The neatly cluttered book was swiftly brought out as he immediately began pouring over the detailed maps.

"And where exactly is the village we are helping?"

Elizabeth pulled out some small metal paperweights. She laid out the two larger maps of the country and of northern Norway. And put one paperweight in each corner, to hold down the maps. Then put her own corresponding map next to each larger one and also held them down with paperweights. "The village is here." Marking it on each of her maps but pointing to it on the larger maps.

The village was in the upper eastern section of the country. Almost as far north as one could go, not to the sea but in a hilly area, not too far from the mountains.

Dr. Jackal began comparing the maps he remembered from the archives and the ones he was looking at to see if there was a difference. As a man of science he took some pride in his ability to remember many things in a short period of time. After comparing the two maps in his head then looked at the map before him and said, "Lady Elizabeth we need to confirm when the Captain’s map was made compared to the one owned by your’s." Lily asked, "Why is that important?" Dr. Jackal then pointed at a large river and said, "This river path is different on Lady Elizabeth's map. I am guessing a natural disaster, or deforestation happened or the people diverted the river. This could be a problem if it affected the roads, paths and wild life in the area. If we know which map is older I can get a better idea on how the land was affected. Does this area have a logging industry?"

"Yes, it does have a logging industry. The maps I have have were made last year, as they came from The Order. The ones from Maseo seem to be slightly newer but not by much." Elizabeth responded. "Jiro would be the one to ask. He's either at dinner or back on the flight deck."

Vor busily wrote the given information down, as well as some side notes for the discrepancies. He would not have thought to look for such a thing, instead focusing on the landscape surrounding the village. The logging in the area was an important note as well.

"From the account given, the attack doesn't seem like a wanton group of activists. Far more controlled and even... bloodthirsty dare I say? Do we know of any illegal activities in the area?"

"We do not know of illegal activities, I am hoping to find out more information about that in Oslo." Elizabeth responded. "I do plan on sending some of the team out to try to find out more information, when we are in the city." She thought for a moment. "The logging industry mostly employs Orcs, but humans tend to run those companies." It was just extra information because there was no telling what might come in handy.

The door slid open and Sasha stepped in, having heard the tale end of the conversation. "Mining?" she questioned. "If any precious gems or minerals were found in the area recently some other group might be attempting to strong arm or scare the loggers off. Not willing compitition means they don't have to pay top dollar for the land. Logging company sells it cheap and let's the 'idiots' who bought the land deal with the new threat."

"Yes, there is also mining in the area. Also, run mostly by humans. Dwarfs and Murlocks are the ones who are most of the workers for that industry." Elizabeth responded. "I'm not sure about precious gems, there are precious metals which are mined in that area, and there is a large amount of Lux Lapis there."

Dr. Jackal then looked at the maps to compare them. Then he said, "Perhaps the river was moved on purpose to help the loggers or miners?" Lily asked, "Why would they need to move the river?" Dr. Jackal replied, "Well there are a few reasons like the need for fresh water to drink in a closer area. Also they can use the river to send the logs downstream to save on transportation. However there is a downside to this if its used for mining since the toxic waste from the mining is thrown into the river and it contaminates the water for the plants and animals downstream."

Mention of water pollutants bristled Vor’s gills.

“Are there any Araundan populaces downstream? Anything messing with the river would affect them, even logging operations could rile up a more zealous village."

"Yes, there are few Arundan villages downstream, though most are on the coast." Elizabeth responded. It was clear she done research in the little time they had, had.

Lily then asked, "If they do have questionable mining going on there, what can we do about it?" Dr. Jackal replied, "Well we do have some options depending on if the miners are working legally or not. We can work with the officials and show them a safer way to mine if its all legal. If its illegal we can help the owners or simply you or Lady Elizabeth can buy out the mine and then organize a proper crew with guards to protect them."

"Well, so far all the mining and logging, that I am aware of is legal. We also need to remember we are there by order of the King and Queen of Norway. Anything illegal, we need to report back to them. I do not know their protocol for dealing with such things." Elizabeth paused, then said. "While we have been asked to come and investigate, we all need to remember Norway is not an Order country. There is no Order of the Moon there, except a small outpost in Oslo. We do not have the same, almost blanket immunity, we do in England, France or Russia. It could be that we are not allowed to buy property during this mission, and there could be a few reasons for that. We need to find out where the line is of what we are allowed to do and what we aren't."

Hearing a group could be killing Araundan people down river her body language changed. "If they are performing illegal mining and harming people, I could convince the King and Queen to hire me as a hunter and not a member of the Order." Sasha suggested.

"We might not know until we get to the village, so, you might not be able to ask them." Elizabeth thought Sasha's idea was good but it might not be something that would happen. "I will be speaking to them tomorrow, so, I will see what they say then about all of this. We can certainly decide things at that point." Elizabeth paused. "First, this all speculation that anything illegal is happening in that area at all or that they are poisoning the river. If that is the case that is certainly something to follow up on. Secondly, we are there to figure out what happened to the Dwarf Village. If we help others by doing that, that's great but we were hired to do that. We need to be cautious in how this is worded to their highnesses, so, they don't think we are going off something random and not possibly related to the Dwarven village. After all, they have others that can also check out such things. So, while it should certainly be looked into, if we find anything along those lines - we just need to be cautious about it. Now, the villages in the area are mostly Dwarven or Orcs. Dwarves are practically immune to poison. Orcs aren't immune but it takes a lot more of it to affect them. So, the Arundans would be the most affected, but there is a small human village that could also be affected."

Vor remained silent as the others gave their input. He was running through any scenario where an Arundan raid would match the villages disappearance, but even being the one to mention the possibility it happened so rarely. Whether by laws or negotiations, many villages would rather settle things diplomatically than use barbarity. He mouthed a prayer to Mitera that such a thing was still a relative impossibility. Also given that the operations were, on paper, legal meant that there was even less chance, assuming the Arundan had been part of such deals. Given they were close did bring another thought to him.

"Are there any other communities tied with the village? Anyone still in the area that would have known the inhabitants or will that be something to find when we are there?"

"The villages are spread out, but I do believe some have had business with the village that went missing. Their closest neighbor is an Orc village. I don't know how the villages interacted excately, but, it's well established that Dwarfs and Orcs get along, quite well. The next closest village is Dwarven, and that's a good hour even by cart. It's important to remember that those villages aren't technology advanced. Most don't have motorized vehicles and still use horses and oxen to do work, transport is done, also, by horses, mules or walking."

Dr. Jackal saw that Vor was looking a bit tense and understood the reason for it. Then he said to Vor, "Mr. Vor this is all theoretical since we have not even landed yet. We don't know if the Arundan are in any danger as of yet. The whole point of this discussion is to help us prepare for any situations we may encounter since we will have less time to solve them when we are in the middle of things. By knowing what to look for, we can figure out which solution to go with with less collateral damage." Lily looked at the good doctor who was using science to analyze the situation. She then asked, "If the water has been tampered with, how can we fix that?" Dr. Jackal smirked at Lily and answered, "We simply reroute it to bypass the danger zones. Since it is flowing it will be restored over a short time. Then we can address the contaminated land."

"Well, let us hope, if it is contaminated it does not affect the lake, as well." Elizabeth paused, "Still, this doesn't address how any of that would possibly be connected to the missing Dwarven village." Elizabeth was trying to steer the conversation what should actually be their focus. "We need to really focus on the problem that we know exists. I do understand, Doctor Jackal, your thought process but speculation on other issues that we don't know exist, might not help us, in the long run." Elizabeth looked at the map. "So we know a river was moved in a relatively short time period. Are there any other changes that can be seen on the maps?"

Sasha leaned in studying both maps for a moment, "I see a different but I do not know how or if it could be connected." she began. "It was likely because of some unrelated issue but..." she leaned in closer and pointed to a spot on the older map then the newer map. "This village moved." she said. "But villages and towns move all the time if disasters strike, like fires or floods, or earthquakes." she noted. "It could be nothing and its not along the way so it would be a pointless detour but if we could find out why it moved else where it might hold a clue."

Elizabeth pulled out a small notebook, and went through a few pages in it as if looking for something. "I believe that might be a Dwarven village." They couldn't know for certain until they got there, but that was the information she had on it.

Vor nodded to Jackal, though felt he was being misheard. He couldn't deny he had been quite shaken by hypotheticals however and remembered he was still quite fresh to such things, especially compared to the others.

"My deepest thanks for your sympathies, though my focus is truly on the village. Being tied to the water as it is, I want to prepare for the possibility that my own people could be behind this, contaminants or no, but you are right. I am letting my mind swim too deep."

Hearing Sasha's comment pulled his ear, finding it just as odd as she did. He looked over the maps again where she had pointed, feeling the ebb and flow in his gut telling him it was wrong.

"Ms. Lagrave might have something of interest. If I know my homeland as well as I should, a village moving is quite out of place, especially Dwarven. A common saying from my elders is that a dwarf would rather let their boot burn then move it from the fire once comfortable. Their ties to the land are far too strong to move on a whim."

Elizabeth nodded, "That might be tied to their religion, at least, in part. I know most Dwarves are Druids, so, the land - nature really is sacred to them. As such they would take great care in chosen a spot for a village." She looked at the map again, "Actually, looking at where the village used to be it was also the closest to the same mountain entrance, which is here. If they were a mining village and moved, that means they are either traveling quite a distance to work or they changed to working in a different location." The more she thought in it, the odder it seemed.

"Do we split up then? A group along the water and another to the village after our initial investigation?"

Vor wondered himself why dwarves would distance themselves from their mountain work, though didn't want to linger too long on what could have made them do that. That made two possible leads though and he could thank Metira for having somewhere to start.

"Our priority needs to be on the village that disappeared, but I believe those are good leads for the investigation. Let us get to the village first and then decide what to do, and yes after we investigate that village first. We should be able to follow up on any leads we get." Elizabeth paused and then said. "This next part affects Mr. Sung, Miss Lagrave, Lily, Dr. Jackal and myself more than the rest of the team. Most of the younger dwarves are fine with humans and Eldren, and certainly anyone living in Oslo will be as well but it's fairly well established that the older generation, in rural areas, still hold a mistrust of us due to the history between the races. So, I do not think we would be best for those of us who fall into those categories to investigate the village that moved." Thinking for a moment. "On second thought Sung is not European, that Mr. Sung, would make you more welcomed. Miss Lagrave, Dwarves for reasons I'm sure you're aware of, do not mind Monster Hunters so you would be fine to speak with them. Our best spokespeople with the Dwarfs will be Miss Ipsum and, you, Mr. Aster. Also, they get along with Orcs quite well, so, maybe Cronk."

Dr. Jackal nodded as he replied, "Sounds reasonable. So will I be testing the land for toxins or did you need me to do something else?"

"Land and water. You might to investigate the plants, not for toxins necessarily but see if any maybe have hypnotic qualities. Just keep in mind Dwarves are immune to many things. I am hoping to get a list, of things they are more susceptible to in Oslo, as the information I have does not have much information on that." Elizabeth explained. "Maybe take some soil and water samples along the way to compare, but, of course the process is up to you. As for anything else, not as of right now, but it's likely more things will come up as we move forward with the investigation."

Dr. Jackal nodded as he knew how to do a land survey from his college years. It was part of his education to do a land survey since it was critical to know if the land was contaminated. Contaminated land was unusable for farming, building restaurants or storing food and drinks since the toxins could leech into pipes and the air. He then asked Lady Elizabeth, "Would I be allowed to have Ms. Lavigne assist me in my work away from the dwarves?" This was his way of keeping Lily away from the dwarves since he knew of her being a werewolf and knew that Lady Elizabeth and Mr. Sung knew as well. However he was not sure if the others knew of her secret so he planned to not reveal it without permission.

"Yes, but," Elizabeth addressed Miss Lavigne directly. "Miss Lavigne, while in Oslo I'll need your help organizing things and getting paperwork ready. In the abandoned village, you will learning how to investigate things as that is a core duty of most members of the Order and it's safer to learn that way than with something like our last investigation. But, of course, when we get to a point where you can, you are more than welcome to help Dr. Jackal as well."

Lily nodded as she was glad to be of service. She smiled at Lady Elizabeth and replied, "Yes Lady Elizabeth." Dr. Jackal nodded as Lady Elizabeth gave her orders.

Sung had finished his notes of the map and looked to see what others were doing. He had not had to plan an operation in a long time. This time though he was not moving an army and fighting a war. something Sung was happy about.

"I will look into the Hunter's Guild when we arrive." Sasha said. "Plenty act as bodyguards and might have heard rumblings of what happened."

"Elizabeth nodded, it seemed like most were set with tasks for Oslo, for now.