"What you wrote will be sufficient. Go. I have a war to fight."

Then go she shall.

Mark,

I bet you know already, but Nerat flipped out, his hand slipped on the reins of his internal maelstrom, and with that done, I have cause.  He's persona non grata.  I don't suppose you might be interested in pulling the shadows over his Eyes outside the Well, while I see what can be done to pull some lost souls out of the fucker on the inside?

--Vaudelle

Archon Tunon,

Much of the facts of what happened today are in the attached documentation, but I wish to provide additional context for my judgement.  To wit, that I believe that had Brennix not seized the chance he had to push himself to the surface of the maelstrom, the interaction I was having with Nerat at the time would have escalated rapidly from disdain, disrespect for the Law in both letter and spirit, and active efforts to frustrate the restoration of Kyros's Peace by any means short of violence, to attempting to lay hands upon my person with violent or even deadly intent - during a parley, under a blue flag.

It is with that in mind that I have decreed judgement against him, for I believe that even with the dictum against dead letters it would be an even more grievous miscarriage of justice to refuse it, and the Well remains sealed such that you cannot present judgement yourself.  I regret that I have not received any response to my prior letter as I write this; realistically, I should have sent such that request sooner.  I regret the error.

I do not believe most of the Scarlet Chorus to have had any say in Nerat's actions.  I am thusly applying the principles I laid out in in re: Beastfolk Conscripts to give them a chance to surrender.

Efforts to bring justice to the Vendrien Guard continue; I expect that this will be done before the end of next span, should diplomacy continue to bear such unexpectedly fast fruits, and the Edict resolved either at that time or as soon as it is no longer necessary to contain Nerat to Vendrien's Well.

I regret that I failed to correctly anticipate my needs, and submit myself to your judgement should I have erred.

As ever, your loyal servant,

--Fatebinder Ophelia Vaudelle

She's a bit nervy about sending it, really.  She's in a grey area atop a grey area, and she just did something that should have been Tunon's duty.  But...she ought to keep her boss informed.

She also has duplicates of today's decrees sent to the Fatebinders of Balance (Calio) and War (Nunoval); both of them ought to know what the heck is happening...

Oh.  She should probably also inform Welby directly to keep her eyes open.

Forge-Captain Welby,

Today I sought parley with the Vendrien Guard.  During that parley, indisputable evidence that Nerat has been breaking Kyros's Law came to light; I am hereby requesting that you - well, the Guard in general, really - keep an eye on Choristers who accept the surrender I'm promulgating (and obviously that you not give them iron otherwise!).  My apologies; you're one of the few people I can trust to administer things in my absence.  The Disfavored should be working with you on this, and if they aren't, let me know.  I can talk to Ashe.

Also attached are the relevant decrees.

Keep your eyes open; I expect Nerat to try shit.

--Fatebinder Ophelia Vaudelle

[P.S. Sirin doesn't like Nerat either, if she shows up (or is already there; I've attached a letter for her to this bird because someone who came from where I last heard she was (what used to be the School of Ink and Quill) said she'd headed back your way) that's probably good news.]

...Ah, bloody hell, Sirin.  Speaking of people she met in Lethian's Crossing.

Archon Sirin,

Your boss decided he didn't like me and then lost control of himself (though unfortunately not for long); he is therefore no longer your boss.  I don't know what that means for your particular situation, but the Chorus in general is being offered terms of surrender (by/to me) or disarmament.

Honestly by the time I leave Vendrien's Well next I expect enough spooky bullshit to have happened that I have a proper seat at the big table, not just Tunon's, but right now I advise taking some time off, unless you want to find your way into the death zone of an Edict and help me pry Nerat open.

Best of luck out there.

--Fatebinder Ophelia Vaudelle

Right, now to add a postscript to Welby's letter and send them all.

She's getting worried they'll run out of birds, at this rate.  Maybe Lantry has something for that problem, too.

"Well, ideally people do send the birds back, even if they don't have much to say. Usually if I'm running low in the field I'll pay a courier to the nearest town and the next cart coming my way will have cages with a half-dozen birds, but all the decent towns near here are along the Matani and contested territory. I'll ask the Disfavored commissary if he has any for Lethian's Crossing and the Bastard City, those are safe bets."

"Probably safe-ish enough to go under blue, really, I've not exactly done any fighting, but yeah.  Wouldn't want to risk it.  Should definitely be one for Lethian's; Welby sent a letter in.  I'm hoping there's one that can reach Sirin, who was at Ink and Quill last I heard and definitely isn't here; the less time Nerat theoretically has access to her, the better."

"I think I heard she'd settled into Lethian's Crossing after the three Edicts were read, there not being a major recruiting population Nerat wanted her for. So we may get another from there. We should also have a fairly quick line of communication with Captain Pelox as long as neither of us needs to send two messages before we get a reply; Sister Nested Clause's bird will be able to find me and return to her pretty quickly."

"Alright.  Say, what was that bag she handed over, anyway?  The bird in question, I presume?"

"No, but good guess. We just call them bird-bags; they have some scents and tastes the birds can recognize, even on the wind, and they're easy to train to go looking for them. So her birds will come find me, by which we mostly mean you, and not wander the entire Well looking for you. And then I can send them back to Mom."

"Very useful."

"Indeed. And they're not particularly noticeable to humans, or most predators, so it's not too risky to carry."

"Good to know."

Alright, it's time to send the letters, and if anything's come in - though it's not past midday yet - to collect those, and check with the Marshal whether she would be better off being on hand slash in camp or if those missing Earthshakers would be important enough to go looking for more actively.

If it's not that important, she has a date with some shipping records.

It has become more important but no more urgent, and she would strongly advise Ophelia sit tight until they have early reports on where the Chorus is moving. The Disfavored could take their chances that someone else can count as the representative of Kyros but they'd really rather not.

Then she's going to see what can be figured out about the missing iron situation and possibly devise a proper code for a Laws-compliant Scarlet Chorus, instead of just telling them to stop knifing people who aren't their bosses.

The detailed log of iron shipments leaving the Crossing, when compared to amounts received by the Iron Marshal and camp smith, shows some substantial gaps. This probably wasn't the first time a shipment vanished entirely, though it was likely only the second, or perhaps third. Other things that pop out:

• The first shipments to come in light left the Crossing in 2nd Fist of Forgefire and arrived in 4th of Forgefire. The detailed Disfavored records of incoming shipments start in 4th of Storms, just under seven fists ago.
• Jade Marmots bringing the only full-weight shipment probably wasn't chance; since Tempering, they have only taken smaller shipments, but in the couple fists where the only shipments are theirs, the loss rate is low, a tenth or less. That doesn't start until about three fists after the first shipments came in light; they have one large shipment on 1st Farmer's of Tempering which came in down by a quarter.
• The last two shipments before the Disfavored tracking started were indeed the Yellow Moguls and the Linked Rings, and both of them were short by three parts in twenty. The other shipment that fist was the Hand-Over-Quill and it was light by nearly a third.
• Quill and Rings have about three-fifths of the weight between them, or about half tracking by shipment (the Marmots aren't the only ones who have been taking lighter shipments in recent span). It looks like the Quill have noticeably higher loss rate, maybe a sixth versus an eighth for the Rings. That includes one week with two large Hand-Over-Quill shipments and one Moguls shipment that was loaded about a third lighter, where the overall total received that week was only one and a third normal shipments, about half missing; that's one of the times a whole shipment was probably lost.

Hiss.  The thieves are after her preciouses.

Kudos to the Jade Marmots for catching this - though it would have been nice if they told someone.  So either they're Up To Something (which she doesn't really suspect, because then that One Shipment 'shouldn't' have been perfect, but -) or they deserve a commendation, and she thinks that a commendation would really put into stark relief anything suspicious that might be happening and give an opportunity to poke around a bit.  Something to give to Welby; she owes that poor woman something really good after all this.

The Hand-over-Quill should probably be fired.  Maybe even investigated.  That's just bloody awful.

If the shipments start up again, it's probably worth figuring out whatever the Jade Marmots did and shipping the new shipments like that.

(The analysis is earmarked to go to the Iron Marshal and Welby (at the dovecote's convenience, this time).)

Another question arises, though: Why the expletive was this only a Disfavored problem even while Chorus shipments were going over the same lines?  Or does the data not bear that out?  She doesn't have quite as detailed records from Sniggler Dagos, but if she gets the trade records from the Disfavored and compares them to Lethian's outbound...?

Well, it probably wasn't exclusively  a Disfavored problem, but they cared a lot more about it. Much less Chorus-bound iron is marked as being shipped on the river. A little went east on the road... Ah, here's a cryptic annotation: "H. Bronze trad. iron <-> rings, Ch. auth S. Dagos, per span". One of the bigger traders in the Crossing was named Harchiand Bronze.

Oh, those shipments were to Chorus rather than Disfavored. That makes the loss rate a little less dismal. 

...None of the Chorus shipments used Hand-Over-Quill. Maybe Mr. Harchiand has a good eye for (in)competence.

...Maybe.

She's going to put his name down as someone to ask questions of, though.  Just on general principle.  Do the Disfavored know anything about this guy?

Not really. They're aware he works for the Chorus and doesn't have much time for freelance shipping of goods.

Is Bitter Quip still around?

No, he ran off. Probably he'd be entitled to blue flag protection but he wasn't going to test that.

...Damn.  Did he leave any birds?

Two cages. One of them has birds who all look... off. Like something's missing below the surface.

Rrriiiiight she is going to recommend that they not use those for anything important and indeed keep them away from important things or the possibility of seeing important things.  (And mention to Ashe that she thinks that she knows part of how Nerat's getting information faster than he ought to; apparently his Eyes aren't limited to humans.  ...Better tell that to the shadows, too.)

The other birds, she is going to invigorate one of (so that it - hopefully - looks like it was sent before the fiasco) and send a message for Sniggler Dagos, addressed (not written, she's not made of time) in a hand that isn't hers.

Sniggler Dagos,

First off, if you show up under blue, you've my word the Disfavored will play nice; Ashe's working with me and I'm certain the Iron Marshal would appreciate your immense personal knowledge of logistics being on her side.  Nerat fucked up; that's no reason to take it out on the Chorus.  And you're not even Chorus, technically.

Second off, in the matter of the mysteriously disappearing supplies, I'm curious about this Harchiand Bronze fellow that showed up as a supplier of yours.  Seems he knew something about who was good or bad for shrinkage, and I'm wondering how.

Good luck and safe travels,

--Fatebinder Ophelia Vaudelle

Fatebinder Ophelia,

Your last missive shows you treading the path of justice, but following it onto dangerous ground. The offense, if proven, is sufficient cause; to kill - or forcibly conscript and interrogate with no possibility of return, as it might also be interpreted - a direct and highly valued vassal of another Archon, merits death if no settlement between them can be reached.

Graven Ashe has previously expressed to me that he believes this crime was committed, and from those missives I know no settlement shall be considered adequate. And as always in the personal offenses of Archons, unless Kyros personally intervenes, which she has not, the sentence is death.

However, due to the gravity of the charge and sentence, no shadow of a doubt can be permitted. This has allowed the Voices of Nerat to evade many past charges, a matter of some frustration to this Court, and several appeals to Kyros to explicitly order a trial be conducted (which would remove this need for absolute certainty) have been lodged. None has yet been granted.

Additionally, if you wish to enforce this sanction, you must have an Archon with the power to bring the sanction aligned with you in the judgment. Given the Archon of War's previous complaints to the Court, this is unlikely to prove difficult. Still, it must be done. Our Headsman is not available for this purpose for the duration of the Edict of Execution, by direct act of the Overlord; the region of Vendrien's Well has been severed to travel, as sure as the severing of lives which will fall if the command of conquest is not carried out.

If you are unable to prove wrongdoing, and the Archons or their armies come to blows, it would behoove you to choose how you align yourself such that it is most likely justice will be done. But this charge is not the only charge, and bringing premature sentence is not as pure a delivery of justice as the accumulation of proof that can be delivered to the Court for a final verdict. Aligning yourself with one you believe an unproven criminal may even be the correct action, if it secures opportunities to collect damning evidence.

You have always been one of the most dedicated students of jurisprudence of the Court's children, and I have every confidence your reasoning will be sound in this matter.

Do the Court proud,
Tunon the Adjudicator

...She thinks she has been given the highest compliment that the Adjudicator knows how to bestow.  ...Someone who is looking at her at the right time may even catch her drying her eyes with a handkerchief - though before a tear dares fall.

Archon Tunon,

I have received your letter.

As I already mentioned in messages that are yet on the wing, Nerat's crimes have most certainly been brought to an undeniable light, before even our nominal enemies such that they shall turn upon him.  (...It was a bit terrifying to push him that far, in retrospect, but...it was worth the risk.  Even - especially - those closest to him think he is a monster in need of slaying.)

It is not necessary that I write again to declare such.

Instead I wish to say thus:

Thank you.

Your trust in my judgement is the highest compliment I can receive, and I will ever endeavour to be worthy of it.

May I bring justice, though the heavens fall.

--Fatebinder Ophelia Vaudelle

 

Post-script: ...In the event that it is possible to resolve the Edict of Execution before Nerat's sentence is carried out, is it known to you whether the severing of travel will fall with no further prompting?  I would rightly prefer to deny Nerat land through which he can set a more even chase, if bound to Vendrien's Well he is; it is my understanding that he and his have been quite busy in the lands stricken with the Edict of Fire, for example.

(Then again, he teleported away.  It seems he has far too many Secrets indeed!  I am uncertain of his location at the moment, and regret that I failed to prepare material conditions sufficient to render unto him my judgement as it was declared in the aftermath.  ...Perhaps the third time I must strike an Archon I will arrange to deal a sufficient blow.  Regardless, this aside has gone quite far enough; I shall lay down my quill, and hope to deliver my next report in person.  Until then, I remain your loyal servant.)

Probably second-highest; confidence in her reasoning is slightly lesser than confidence in her actions. But yes, Tunon approves.

Nothing else is likely to crop up before morning.