[The Magistrate's Office] Political Gain (Estrellir Konrath)

by **Mythic** on March 16th, 2014, 2:11 am

64th of Spring, 514 AV

Early Morning

It was a crisp and bright morning that greeted Kenash on the 64th of Spring. Syna had barely peeked over the horizon before Dariq Thadeus Askara, cousin to the current Magistrate of Kenash, calmly strode up the stone steps of the Magistrate's office, throwing open the doors and marching toward a small office to his left. Dressed almost entirely in fashionable black leather, complete with a black leather cape to top off his ensemble, Dariq cut an imposing figure as he sat down at the far end of a small wooden desk, retrieving one of the papers from his left and studying it.

The leather squeaked in protest as he shifted uncomfortably in his hard wooden chair. Dariq sighed as he jotted down a few notes on some of the applicants he was reviewing. The Watchers had been Banjemin's idea, yet Dariq had been made responsible for actually filling its ranks with people. Thus far, there hadn't been very many promising applications. Oh sure, there was the usual pick of meat-headed Dynasty brats, the ones often found brawling in Kenash's taverns and garden parties who thought the Watchers was a fun time and whose parents probably thought could be 'eyes and ears' in the organization.

But Dariq had little use for foolish children with no concept of subtlety. If it was bashing heads he needed, he was well-equipped to do so himself, not to mention Mizas served equally well in acquiring muscle when needed. With a disappointed grunt, he set aside two more such applications, both from the Rajor family. His cousin had impressed upon him the importance of being as impartial as possible during his selection but... the Rajor had always creeped him out. Those slithery snake-people did not seem trustworthy.

But the next application caused Dariq to pause contemplatively, one hand balled under his chin as he studied the application set before him. It was certainly an interesting proposal, this Estrellir Konrath. He had nothing against the Konraths - they were as effective fighters as they were farmers, something Dariq had no problem admitting to himself. But this Estrellir did not appear to be a fighter at all. She was an investigator, apparently. And while he could certainly see how she might be valuable to the Watchers, he was surprised that she was the first Konrath to approach him.

"Estrellir, huh?" he murmured to himself. Certainly an interesting applicant, and the first one he'd seen that day that held any interest. The sound of someone approaching drew Dariq's attention. He tossed down the application form and looked up, folding his hands before him carefully, schooling his face into a careful mask of neutrality.

"Come in," he called out, making sure to keep his tone even and friendly. There was only one way to find out.

by **Estrellir Konrath** on March 16th, 2014, 11:16 am

That day Estrellir didn’t stop by her bureau first thing in the morning. Instead she left the carriage at a different point and continued by foot towards the city proper. At that time of day, passersby were mostly slaves and freeborn tending to their businesses. Most walked in groups of three or more, casting anxious glances around.

The Konti sighed and used the few chimes until the Magistrate’s Office to review the events. Slaves kept disappearing, but unlike in winter, they didn’t come back. Those who did were few enough and entirely closed to interrogation. They told nothing. Maybe it was because they knew nothing, but Estrellir secretly doubted that. Instinct told her something was going on. Natural conclusion? She’d be there, discover whatever secret they were hiding in the swamp and watch things escalate. Perhaps they wouldn’t, but she’d still prepare for worst case.

Anyway, it meant she had to get accepted into the Watchers first of all. Before knocking on the door of the office designated to that new organization, she brushed a few loose strands back behind her ears and took a deep breath. Of course, she’d done her homework, based on independent research and the tidbits Lorenzo had fed her during discussions leading up to her application. The investigator was prepared.

Upon the invitation, she entered the room and came to stand in front of the desk. She was wearing her usual black coat, grey blouse and dark pants. The leather boots seemed to have been cleaned and polished that morning. The Konti’s white locks were collected in a neat braid tumbling all the way down to her hips. Her expression was pleasant and attentive as she tilted her head in greeting, although her violet eyes held a subtle gleam.

“Good morning, Dariq, and congratulations to the new position. I’d hate to distract you from work, so I’ll get to the point immediately… You’ve already received my application to the Watchers, no? So you understand I’m here to recommend myself and express my trust that you choose the right applicants.” Like almost every word coming out of a Dynasty mouth, it sounded like an empty phrase, but both could read more between the lines. Flattery was just as much a part of politics as pressure and threats. Estrellir also expected her personal presence to leave a stronger, if not better impression than a written application.

If Dariq Askara held a different opinion, he could be talked out of it too.

by **Mythic** on March 26th, 2014, 3:06 am

Dariq Askara was used to being asked things. As master of the guard of the Askara Dynasty, he was quite familiar with the soft platitudes that people often used to try to get what they wanted. All too often, such tricks had been used on him in an attempt to gain entry to the household, and Dariq had not risen to the master of the guard for nothing. Nonetheless, his face held a placid and carefully neutral expression, showing only the faint smile he'd become known for.

"Good morning to you as well," he replied carefully, selecting his words as meticulously as Estrellir did. "Your application came as quite a surprise." Dariq's face made no indication of whether or not said surprise was pleasant or not, though he carefully observed Estrellir to see if she reacted at all to his statement.

"Tell me something," he continued, rising quietly from his seat and walking around his desk, standing over the smaller Konti in a non-threatening yet still somewhat intimidating manner. "Do you know why the Watchers were formed? Why this organization exists?" Dariq was only partially asking that particular question, of course. What he really wanted to know was, what did she think its purpose was?

Despite the warmth of spring washing over them, Dariq gave no indication of being burdened by it, the black leather of his clothes only occasionally hissing as the material rubbed against itself. Whether or not it was Dariq's intention to actually intimidate Estrellir was impossible to tell. Nonetheless, he shrugged slightly and leaned against his desk, reaching over to pick up her application that he'd just been reading.

"Tell me, Estrellir... may I call you Estrellir?" he asked. After all, just because they were both Dynasty did not mean the precepts of common courtesy should be dismissed. "Let me lay out a scenario for you," he proposed, glancing down at the paper in his hand. Scanning a few of the written lines, he glanced back up.

"A member of the Paille family wakes up one morning and, as is his usual custom, goes down to the pier to check on the fishing craft. The slaves were already there, untying the moorings and preparing for another day of fishing." Dariq paused, eyes staring straight into the smaller Konrath's as he waited for her to ask her questions. According to her application, Estrellir was an investigator. Dariq wanted to know just how good she was.

"Nothing seemed amiss, until the Paille noticed that one of the slaves, a young boy of only twelve, was missing. He was usually down at the docks with his elder brother but that morning, he'd simply... vanished. The Paille went down to the slave quarters to investigate, thinking perhaps the boy had perhaps run off." Another pause, though it was clear the boy had not just run off.

"The bed had been recently slept in, and the brother claimed the boy had been with him when they went to sleep that night. A fairly extensive search is made, but the boy did not turn up. Yet the tale does not end there." Which naturally it would not. Ordinarily, the loss of property was an unfortunate reality the Dynasties had to deal with, and this potential runaway boy would normally be handled internally by the Paille family.

"A day later, the skiff the young slave was known to fish in was found... near Godstouch." Dariq's expression did not change, though he carefully watched to see what effect the mention of the Zulaca estate might have on the Konrath woman. "Now, I'm sure the presence of the boy's skiff in that location was pure coincidence," Dariq commented mildly. Or was it? was his unspoken question. Dariq threw Estrellir a questioning look.

"As this is an ongoing investigation, I cannot disclose much more information than that," he concluded. In truth, most of what he'd told her was readily available through town gossip and the Kenash Gazette, and thus a matter of public knowledge. "Do you have any questions or comments for me?" he asked.

Dariq's green eyes held steady against Estrellir's violet ones. So far, most of the applicants had been disappointments. Obvious attempts to enter the organization for no other reason than to have a little fun in the town while loafing about, showing off a fancy new title to other Dynasty brats. Dariq could party with the best of them, but when it came to his duties, he was deathly serious. He did not need idiots, he did not need fools. He needed someone with a head on his or her shoulders, who could think quickly and decisively, and who could improvise if necessary to accommodate changing circumstances.

He needed someone who could ask the right questions, at the right times, and who had the ability to use the information thus gained in an appropriate manner.

Was Estrellir such a person? There was only one way to find out.

by **Estrellir Konrath** on March 30th, 2014, 6:02 pm

As soon as Dariq spoke up, she knew for certain he chose his words and placed his moves just as carefully as she did. Suddenly she saw clearly why he’d been promoted and how he’d deal with his task. For that reason, she listened carefully and with sparkling eyes.

He stood and approached her – trying not to look threatening, but failing, or perhaps trying to – before asking her a question. It was rather direct, but of course, within Dynasty politics nothing happened without meaning hidden between the lines. “Slaves have been abducted, damaged and killed. As no Dynasty could handle the problem on their own last season, the Watchers were formed as an organization outside the Dynasties that represented all of them. Of course, I wouldn’t claim to know what the Magistrate had in mind beyond that.”

Since they’d only just started on the interview, Estrellir tried to observe without revealing too much about herself yet. Only when she’d read her opponent sufficiently, she’d be able to guess what he wanted to hear from her. Anyway, she’d be careful.

“Please do,” she replied as he called her by her first name, spreading her arms a little and smiling. Then she crossed them in front of her chest and her expression sobered. At first she only listened, drinking in every bit of information before asking questions. “Did the guard or house slaves notice anything unusual that night or in the morning? What kind of boy was he and what background did he have as a slave? And what did the Zulaca say about the skiff being found on their ground?”

Estrellir fell silent for a while. The scenario he’d laid out she was already familiar with through the grapevine and the Gazette. Due to that, she’d used the time it took him to recount for thinking and making connections. Eventually she laid out her conclusions. “It seems like the boy had help from outside the Paille, whether he accepted it willingly or was abducted. I’d suspect his skiff was left near Godstouch deliberately to increase tensions between neighbors… since it’s unlikely the boy really moved into the city proper which is the only way one goes when crossing Zulaca ground. The outside force doesn’t want to attract attention, yet they have considerate knowledge of Dynasty politics.”

Lastly, she ran a hand through white locks and sighed a little. “It’s hard to come to solid conclusions with little information though.” Despite the nonchalant attitude she displayed, Estrellir understood the weight he’d undoubtedly put on her answers. Her violet eyes observed Dariq carefully, waiting for a reaction. She didn’t seem fazed by his presence right in front of her.

by **Mythic** on April 6th, 2014, 2:11 am

At least the Konrath girl knew how to handle a question. As was befitting a member of a Dynasty, though Dariq made no indication whether or not he was impressed by her ability to maintain her cool. He nodded quietly in response to her answer about why the Watchers had been formed.

"It's true that slaves had been abducted, damaged, and killed," he noted gravely. "And yet as unfortunate as those events were, you must admit that such incidents had occurred before in the past." It was a simple statement, and yet Dariq left much unsaid. The fact that something was special about the most recent events regarding the slaves that finally prompted the formation of the Watchers.

Dariq had his own theories, as he was certain Estrellir had hers. As was typical in a conversation between Dynasties, neither wanted to lay all of their cards upon the table. Still, the sparkling in her eyes told Dariq that the Konti woman's mind was not being idle, despite the seemingly straightforward answer she'd given, she was obviously thinking. That was good. Thinking was good.

The missing boy was only one of several missing slaves that season. Each Dynasty had reported some, and yet the political games that was ever-present in Kenash all but ensured that no one knew the true extent to which these disappearances were taking place. That, in Dariq's opinion, was the real reason the Watchers were formed. While every Dynasty wanted their slaves found, they were rarely willing to truly work together to do it. They weren't even willing to share information, to say nothing of putting differences aside to track down missing slaves.

"Many thanks, Estrellir," he replied smoothly, moving on to answering her questions. "We questioned the guards and house slaves rather extensively that evening. The guards noticed nothing, though they were mostly trained to search for enemies of the Paille sneaking in, not slaves of the Paille sneaking out." An oversight in their training if Dariq had anything to say about it, but he kept his mouth shut. After all, the Askara guards were not nearly as poorly trained - as head of the guard himself, he made sure of it.

"In any event, the house slaves did mention that they noted the boy returning home later than usual the preceding evening. Not necessarily an unusual occurrence, but not a common one either. It bore further investigation, but we were not able to determine where the boy had gone for the bell or two he was out." Dariq had his own suspicions, of course. The word "Rujaro" got bandied about too easily in Kenash - any time anything happened on any Plantation, they were blamed. And while Dariq was not naive enough to believe that the Rujaro were nothing more than a fairy tale, he had always suspected there was a larger hand at play. But there was never any proof, at least so far.

"The boy was not particularly special or noteworthy. He was the son of field slaves, a hard worker by all accounts with a head for numbers apparently. For the most part he had kept his head down and did not make much of an impression of himself." Dariq paused thoughtfully. "The Zulaca have not made any official statement about the skiff, other than to claim, of course, that they'd never seen it before and did not know the boy particularly well."

Dariq paused and waited for Estrellir to come to her conclusions, and then nodded. "Given that the Dynasties have trouble working together as it is, increasing tensions between neighbors all but ensures that they will not share information. If the Watchers had not existed it is entirely possible that this incident would not have gone beyond the walls of Stormgrace. As for the outside force..."

Dariq had always suspected there was something... more. The Rujaro had always been the boogeymen of the Dynasties. Whenever something happened to a slave, or a field fire was set, the word was bandied about like a cheap slur. But ultimately, the Rujaro could not be responsible for everything. And while Dariq had never been so naive as to believe that the Rujaro were just a myth, he also knew that even if they were real, they couldn't have the size or influence to do what was often attributed to them.

"There has never been any hard evidence of their existence," he admitted. He waited to see if Estrellir would say anything on that. If she had been paying attention, she'd realize his statement did not preclude the existence of such an outside force. He himself believed they existed, but without proof... Estrellir might well be a valuable member of the Watcher in that case. An investigator such as herself would be an asset to finding such evidence.

"You are of course, correct that little can really be deduced from what information I've given you," Dariq concluded. "But a pattern seems to be emerging."

As he spoke, he walked over to the desk and grabbed a few of the papers that had been sitting on it, right next to the stack of applications. With an even stare, he quietly handed them over to her. The papers - if Estrellir looked at them - contained notes, written in Dariq's own careful handwriting, concerning all the missing slaves that had crossed his desk since the formation of the Watchers.

Two Kelvic women, each barely two years old, destined to become breeders for the Radacke, went missing from Whiplash only a day or so ago. Similar situation to the boy from the Paille. No traces found, and she'd been home late the night before. A human male, a field slave for the Draer, disappeared one foggy morning when he went out to the field and never returned. The young man was noted only for being weaker than his compatriots and not a particularly good field slave - the Draer was thinking of making him a house slave before he vanished.

Four children, three girls and a boy, from the Morealis had also gone missing. Their parents had disappeared a season ago, during the Rujaro scare of winter. The Morealis had insisted that the swamp slaves must have come back to finish the job, but Dariq was not so certain. The Rujaro, assuming they did exist, had a pattern. They had no reason to take young children - they'd never survive out in the swamps. Yet the children were gone. Who could have taken them?

And finally there were two children, both boys, who disappeared from Estrellir's own home. Unlike the others, it was probable Estrellir herself would know more than Dariq did, as the Konrath were not necessarily any more communicative than the other Dynasties when it came to information about the missing. The boys were house slaves, barely in their teens, and both had gone missing one day when they were tasked with bringing food out to the field slaves one evening. The field slaves claimed the food never arrived.

Disappearances from a broad spectrum of plantations were on the papers; each one seemingly unrelated to the next. All told, ten slaves had gone missing, including the boy, whose information was on the second-to-last paper. Dariq waited in silence to hear what Estrellir had to say about the papers she had been handed.

"This is what we are dealing with," he mentioned quietly. "If there is some outside force behind this, we will need to step carefully." Dariq had no reason to doubt Estrellir's abilities by this point. She'd shown she had a head on her shoulders and honestly, that put her miles above some of the other applicants he'd seen so far.

"I cannot be everywhere," Dariq concluded. "But one thing is for certain. Something is going on. Right now, the Dynasties are not cooperating. Some even insist they can 'handle their own problems', and won't even exchange information with us, even though the Watchers protect everyone's property. It is why we exist. Those ten are only the missing that we know of. There could be more."

Dariq looked up, staring hard into Estrellir's eyes. "I must warn you that even if you succeed in joining this organization, not everyone will cooperate with your investigation, for any number of reasons. This will not be quick, and it will not be easy. Are you sure you want to do this?"

If Estrellir agreed, Dariq would nod and indicate the papers. "Very well then. By the authority invested in me by the Magistrate of Kenash, I hereby accept your application to the Watchers. Your first task is simple. Investigate those ten disappearances, and find out if there are any more we do not know of. I'd begin with the ones from your own home. I'm sure Lorenzo would be willing to speak to his own daughter." Dariq allowed himself a small smile. But then it fell.

There was something more to these disappearances than first met the eye. Dariq was sure of it, and if Estrellir was as sharp as he thought she was, she must be sensing it too. Proof. They needed proof.

Hopefully the Konti girl could find it.

oocWhew! Sorry this took me so long. So, basically Dariq bows out mostly, though Estrellir can always go back to report to him if needed. I will RP any NPCs you want to question in regards to the missing but basically, he's giving her free reign to try to figure out what connection (if any) these disappearances have with one another. I won't promise that ALL 10 of the disappearances are necessarily connected, nor will I say who is responsible. I think it's more fun if Estrellir finds out on her own through RP. Or doesn't, as the case may be

. Happy hunting!

by **Estrellir Konrath** on April 8th, 2014, 7:52 pm

Estrellir shook her head lightly, caught up in the mystery and her own observations. “The point is that there’s a pattern this time. There is no proof, but just from analyzing each case it’s clear they’ve been performed by the same person or, more likely, organization.” Then she fell silent once again, waiting for Dariq to judge her according to her performance at the interview.

As he answered her questions one by one, she nodded. The answers didn’t change or add to her conclusions in any particular way. She’d said everything she thought could be read at first glance out of the case he’d described. Of course, there were details and theories, but Estrellir didn’t believe in bothering her superiors with unfounded theories and wild accusations. Unless they wished to.

Hard evidence? “No, there isn’t,” she admitted, “but every investigation has to start somewhere. First you gather material, then you theorize, then you gather more in order to back up or destroy your theory. Rinse and repeat.” Tilting her head, she looked up to him with a bit of a smile. She probably sounded like a textbook, but if that was needed to convince Dariq of her worth, so be it. Anyway, there was nothing else for her to comment.

When he handed her the notes, Estrellir was confused at first. Naturally, she accepted with a small nod of gratitude and started leafing through them. That kind of comprehensive knowledge probably stayed within the Watchers. The fact that he showed it to her had to mean he’d deemed her good enough to work with it. Triumph in the back of her head, Estrellir was fascinated by the cases lined up in front of her. “There certainly is a pattern, although not in all of them… May I ask if and how cases were selected for this?” It seemed like someone had just thrown all occurrences of missing slaves together. Yet details like the children stood out.

After discussing the notes, she listened to Dariq’s conclusion and took it seriously. The Konti was searching for something greater than Kenash politics and society provided. During that particular moment, she caught a glimpse of that goal in his words. “It isn’t different to what I’ve been doing for seasons. It’ll be a pleasure to work with this.” A webbed hand lifted the notes.

Upon her acceptance into the Watchers, the feeling of triumph intensified in her chest. “Thank you.” After that, nothing more could be said. Estrellir excused herself with a few words. While walking down the street, she decided to act upon his suggestion and start with her own family. In the carriage back to the plantation, she took the time to read through the handwritten notes more carefully.

Of course, she’d noticed the disappearance of the boys from Boldvine first hand. While she’d made note of peculiarities, the details still escaped her mind. Anyway, she’d enter her family estate, inquire about her father’s whereabouts and approach him with the request to talk in private.

by **Mythic** on April 18th, 2014, 12:58 am

The truth was, Dariq Askara was no politician. Oh sure, he knew the game that the Dynasties played. Of course he did. Every Dynasty brat had to, or they'd get eaten alive by the rumor mill and the whispers that went on behind closed doors. But there was a reason his cousin was the magistrate and he was the captain of the guard. At the end of the day, Dariq was a do-er, someone who prized action over words. Intelligence over flattery. And that did not always go over too well at the garden parties.

The Watchers was Banjemin's idea, and Dariq did not dispute the need for it. Still, the fact that he received basically no real, actual political capital to spend getting the answers he needed frustrated him to no end. And unlike his cousin, he did not have the contacts or the associations needed to make in-roads with other Dynasties. He barely had enough in his own Dynasty to get them to grudgingly cooperate. Estrellir, it seemed, was far better suited to that game.

"There certainly does appear to be a pattern," Dariq replied. Despite his desire to be straightforward, his words still came out couched, and careful. Still not putting everything on the table, as he'd been taught since a young age. It was a difficult habit to break, and he had no reason to break it.

Estrellir remained mostly silent during Dariq's explanations, for which he was grateful. Some of the candidates had made multiple interruptions throughout their interview. Which might not have been so bad, if the questions they asked were not so asinine. "Why were the children taken?" If he'd known that, he wouldn't be bothering with investigating it. So when he handed the papers to the Konti girl, she determined a pattern as he himself had. Her question, however, caused Dariq to sigh slightly.

"Unfortunately, the 'cases' were brought to my attention piecemeal," Dariq admitted, though he did have the self-control to avoid a grimace of annoyance. "As I've mentioned a few times earlier, none of the Dynasties are really cooperating, so it was rather like pulling teeth getting the cases we do have. I've mostly collected these from personal investigation, though two or three of them were actually brought to my attention by the Dynasty itself." Undoubtedly an effort to garner favor with the new head of the Watchers, though Dariq did not say so out loud. It was, after all, impolitic to do so.

Dariq nodded when Estrellir accepted her new task, thinking grimly to himself that it would likely only take a few days before the Konrath girl would be regretting her decision. Though he had no doubts as to her enthusiasm or skill, he also knew that the Dynasties - especially the ones that had no love for the Konrath - would likely stonewall her investigation for purely political reasons. He hoped the political weight of the Watchers, for whatever it was worth, might grant her some cachet, but only time would tell.

As Estrellir enters the impressive bamboo forest that denoted the start of Boldvine, there would be the usual flurry of activity that denoted the start of the day. The slaves working the bamboo forest were the busiest, already chopping down those shoots that were deemed suitable for harvest, while the tobacco and cotton fields were already a-flutter with slaves. Boldvine estate itself stood proudly in the middle, visible once past the large fields and forest that surrounded it. The wide path, bordered by beautiful streams that wound their way down colorful rocks, reminded the viewer of Riverfall's gardens as the homestead came into view. As soon as Estrellir was within range of the building, a young house slave came up immediately.

"Forgive me, mistress Estrellir," he ventured, making sure to give the appropriate amount of respect due a member of the Konrath Dynasty. Though young, the boy was raised with a healthy respect for his masters, and he paused just long enough for his mistress to pay attention before continuing.

"Master Lorenzo would like to see you in his study," the boy managed, before bowing low and offering to lead her into the house. Regardless of whether Estrellir chose to follow or go to her father's office alone, she would find Lorenzo standing quietly before a window in his study on the East wing of the estate, face impassive has he watched the goings-on below him. The head of the Konrath family remained as a statue at that window, arms behind his back as he observed with keen interest. Despite being a man of few words, he still liked to keep tabs on what went on in his plantation, and that day was no different. When Estrellir entered, however, he turned and nodded at her.

"Welcome back, daughter," he greeted her, with gravity but nonetheless a surprising degree of warmth. "I trust your visit to Dariq went well?" Even though Lorenzo was well-aware of the political ramifications of having his daughter in the newly-formed Watchers, he was still concerned about Estrellir's role in the organization. The very last thing he needed was for her to be more concerned with Watcher priorities than Konrath priorities. As far as he was concerned, family came first, and he hoped his daughter's new role did not diminish that for her.

by **Estrellir Konrath** on April 21st, 2014, 3:28 pm

“That’s precisely where I planned to go,” she said to the boy and allowed him to escort her to her father’s study. Before entering, she shrugged off her cloak and handed it to the servant to be cleaned and brought into her suite. With a little tug here and there, she adjusted her blouse, brushed the dust off her pants and eventually ran a hand through her white locks.

Obviously, Lorenzo had been waiting for her. “Hello father. Indeed, I’m pleased to report that Dariq has accepted me into the Watchers. He’s allowed me to use his personal notes on all known cases of missing slaves and tasked me with investigating them further.” There she paused for a moment in case her father had any questions or comments about her new position. As a good daughter, she’d listen to him first and foremost. After all, the purpose of her application had been to gather information to be used to the advantage of her family.

Still, Dariq being her superior meant she had a certain duty to him. For the sake of keeping up appearances, remaining in a position of power as well as for the sheer joy of solving puzzles, Estrellir planned to fulfill the tasks given to the best of her ability. “Those cases also included the boys who disappeared from our own plantation. While I remember the incident, I’d like it if you could review any and all details with me. Who was involved in our investigation again?”

Her grip on the handwritten sheets tightened as she presented the significant pages. She knew Lorenzo hadn’t dealt with the disappearances himself or at least not alone. After all, the fact that they were becoming more common had only been realized much later in the season, after initial investigations within each Dynasty’s plantation. As she worked her way through the labyrinth, Estrellir experienced the reason behind the Watchers first-hand.

by **Vice** on June 9th, 2014, 10:50 pm

Estrellir Konrath :

If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please send me a PM, and we'll discuss my reasoning behind why the grade given was received. Please make sure to edit any posts in the grading queue to 'graded' and update your CS as soon as possible. Enjoy! ^.^

Quest [The Magistrate's Office] Political Gain (Estrellir Konrath)