"If I recall correctly it was - forty-something. The mid-forties."

He checks.

"Forty six. You'll need to know it. Best of luck, but I have a lot more cases to review."

"Forty-six. Thank you for your help." Prison office at the gate.

"No weapons in the prison," door guard insists.

"Do I have your solemn word that it will be returned to me when I depart?"

"What? We're not going to hold it for you, no. Does it look like we don't have enough to keep track of already?"

"...I don't have a safe place to put it. I could give you my solemn word that I won't draw it? I could put it in my bag so it would not be visible to other people grabbing for weapons?"

"That doesn't sound like my problem. What are you here for anyway?"

"I was separated from my group yesterday and they were arrested."

"So visiting? Not something I can call someone outside for. Yeah, still no weapons allowed. Look, see that automaton?"

He points at one standing nearby as a guard. A bit of steam pipes out of it. 

"It'll only move if someone is violent. Drop it there and bury it in snow, come get it later. If I see someone fucking with it that's theft and I can arrest 'em. Or make it worthwhile to me, personally, to hold onto your brutish hunk of metal until you get back."

...okay, he'll consider that good enough for a short period of time when no one is aware that the mace is magic. No bringing weapons into the prison is a fair enough rule, after all. He goes and buries it in the snow.

Then he can go into the prison office! They're not much less grumpy in here. They say they'll inform the selected prisoners he's here to visit, and bring him to a meeting room if they accept. There will have to be an officer escorting the prisoner. They don't have proper visiting cubbies set up as the whole prison is temporary.

That's fine, he will wait in the meeting room.

They bring Leon out to him!

"Blai! Everyone is okay. Joseph left, to go home to New London he said. Nuts took a bad fall but the bone's set. I'm not worried about it, uh, long term."

"I hear you've all been charged with attempted murder, I gave the officials what I knew in case that helps. They are apparently in the mood to do summary acquittals today."

"I don't really know how New London law works. We told them we weren't there to riot and were just defending ourselves. Took some talking to get June to stand down."

He frowns and looks at the escorting officer, who is standing in a corner reading a book with half an eye on the two.

"Would it be worth trying to find Joseph and asking for his help, do you think?"

"Possibly? He's probably already in the city, though. I'm not sure what else we would do, admittedly."

Pointed glance at the guard.

"I heard that New London is looking for oil. If knocking down a town and putting everyone in prison is what they do on their own doorstep, I wouldn't want to be living on top of it when they find it."

"Are they feeding you, do you need my help with that?"

"They're feeding us, and the place is warm."

"That's good. Is there anything you need from me today? Tomorrow?"

"I can't think of anything." That it's wise to say in front of a guard. "If they let us go," or they manage to escape, "We'll probably head to the camp where you told June about that Pharasma person, or maybe all the way back home. I'll try to leave some sort of message though."

"Would you want me to go farther than that without you after some amount of time?"

"I'm not sure that's my decision to make. I'm sure everyone would appreciate getting news, but who knows what'll happen?"

"Understood."