She's idly curious enough to listen in a moment before she interrupts.

He's insisting that he or one of the other Eyes should have been told all of this earlier.

Verse frowns, because she feels like that doesn't make sense. Eh, not her job to think this kind of thing through.

Ophelia catches Verse's frown.  "...Something on your mind?"

"...Nobody bugs the Sniggler. He gets it done and nobody asks how, they just get fed and buy gear or extra leather for repairs and shit. The last time I remember anyone hassling him was someone found he had two tents full of flour, and he said something about trading licenses being about to shift to some idiot so he was stocking up. And that was just because someone wanted the space, the minute he started talking about why even the Crimson Spears tuned out and went 'go ahead, Dagos'."

"...Probably Nerat's just annoyed that you found it interesting before they did. Probably."

She nods.  She carefully locks away the urge to feel smug about this.

"Sniggler Dagos, do allow me to borrow Fifth Eye for a moment; I've something worth his time, I think."

"Oh, do you?," says Fifth Eye, turning away from Dagos (who looks relieved), "What did you learn from the Oathbreaker?"

"Where to get a written order that describes where the camp might be, assuming, of course, that they didn't move it a week ago when this lot vanished.  I'm not planning to go charging in there before the parley, but if you want to risk it with your troops, I suppose it's your prerogative.  Though, speaking of troops, I found it necessary to incentivize the woman with better protection than you offered."

"Oh did you, and on what grounds, hmm? That is our prisoner, law dog, not yours."

"On the grounds that the favor you originally asked of me was to find and remove the camp you could not, rather than lure this woman into your service, and your failure to seize the opportunity you had to swear her to Kyros's Peace beneath the Chorus is not something I was in any way obliged to work around - neither by my own ethics nor Kyros's Law - when considering what incentives I had available to acquire her cooperation in so doing."

He grimaces as he realizes that this isn't a dispute he can win, or even force her to lose. "My fault for trusting the fairness of the Court. Well, give us the location, then, if we're not going to get anything else out of it."

"I am being as fair to all parties as I can, given the circumstances.  You're getting what you want - the knowledge of the camp's location, and indeed my future assistance in attempting to render it no longer your problem - and she is getting what she wants - protection from retaliation for so disclosing this information."

She can indeed give him a copy of the orders.

(It may be written in an unusually crabby and hard to read hand, but that's just what happens sometimes, writing as much as she often does.)

"How... eloquent. Well, we will do what we judge best for the effectiveness of the war effort; we suggest you consider doing the same."

"My duties are many, but I pursue an end to this war with the same fervor as yourself.  It isn't like my own life is not as much on the line as yours, here."

A subtle distinction to draw, perhaps - 'an end to the war' is only not necessarily best accomplished by a better war effort - but it is an important one, she thinks.

"Yes, yes, as everyone professes. Well, be off with you and your vassals, there's nothing else we want you meddling in."

She'll be over by the hole in the wall looking for the smuggler Shivershank recommended, then.

Then she will find an Ugly Fish. There aren't too many Blood Chanters here; guessing the one with the fewest burns is the new guy will get her the right person on the first try.

"Heard you're the sort of person who might know how to get things from point A to point B without people noticing.  Also heard the rebels are doing quite a lot of that, lately - and with our stuff.  I figure the best way to put a stop to it, and get what's ours back, is fighting fire with fire.  You feel like you got any useful advice to give?"

"I know the backroads in Haven pretty well, I guess, Fatebinder. Less so here in Apex - sorry, Vendrien's Well. Getting stole on the streams, I'd wager? You need a shallow draft and the flow's fairly quick, so close guard on most shipments is hard, especially if it's metal like if it's coming from the Crossing. Can't be on the skiff or you sink it, can't keep up on the bank unless it's a cleared path."

"...Well."  She hisses in a breath.  "That'd do it, alright."

Maybe she should not have sent the letter to Calio just yet, because this sounds like useful information for her, too, but it was burning a hole in her pocket.

"We need a new Exarch of Stone posthaste; the amount of problems that could be solved with that Sigil if it permitted constructive use..."

"Ah, excuse me, that's not really relevant to anything.  Anyway.  So if we're looking for where it vanished, we'll want to find where the lowest-draft areas are, along the fastest rivers?  Wonder where they'd be keeping it.  You'd want a dry place - iron in water gets ruined - but it can't be too far from the rivers because you can't just march through uncut woods with a crate of metal...and it'd have to be easy access to the rebels.  Hm."

"Well, I never went to the other team, so to speak, but despite the petty lords, the bandits never got wiped out. I'd bet they're using the same paths, selling a little and passing the rest to the Oathbreakers. Probably all the way into the valley. The usual ambush spots were at bends and narrow spots where they could jump on, grab cargo, and bail. They rarely took everything; I don't think they could move enough cargo to take it all. Sometimes it would disappear at night and we knew what happened."

"...if you want to stop it, I remember where the lords garrisoned. Actually the bandits might be using those now, if it's gotten worse."

"That would be quite a help, I think."

"If you have a map, sure. I hear we can't visit in person? Well, I don't think I could leave my training actually, so that doesn't much matter."

She can acquire one, if she does not already have a copy.

Then it can get marked up with the major places patrol garrisons were kept, and the worst theft locations he can remember while he's at it.

"If you want to trace who's working with the bandits, well, the Lace Fringe and Hand-Over-Quill were always happy to cut deals with bandits. The Moguls I don't think did that, but they sure liked shipping through checkpoints at night to evade tolls, and I think that ended up employing bandits. Former bandits. Mostly; I think plenty of them went back to theft if they lost the job."

"This is very useful information to know.  ...Really, someone should probably thank the Moguls; every bandit off the roads is the work of two - or three - hands for the price of one, in saving the effort that would otherwise be spent on hunting them down and stopping them."

She hands him a fist of bronze rings.  "For your time and wisdom.  If there's anything else you remember or think I should know, pass it on through Bitter Quip, if I'm not here, or talk to me directly, if I am.  I do not expect I shall be returning here in the immediate future, however; there is an upcoming parley because of the Edict declared yesterday that I must attend to."