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@Rillewen @Isolde Alarion


They had taken some considerable time to set up plans and preparations, but once both Cali and Unalmis had headed out to their duties for the day, Iole had been left with a lot of doubts on whether any of it would be enough. It had taken less than half an hour before she decided that she could not face sitting and waiting in for the entire day alone, unless she planned to sleep inside the closet .. and that was full and she was far too exhausted from staying up all night, again, to even consider emptying it. Besides, loading up all the boxes from the closet into the middle of the room would only indicate to anyone who should come in and see them, perhaps that she had taken their place. And then she would be betrayed despite having taken sanctuary behind a(nother) closed door. She could load the boxes up against the bedroom door of course, but that would also give clue to where she'd cloistered herself away. And .. what if there was a fire ?

After the previous day of recounting and responding to the Guards’ questions, let alone the outcry when Unalmis had found out that Aderic was expecting to sit in on all their interviews .. they had taken hours to recover and she still was not sure yet that they would ever come back to how they had been before. She had believed it over, and never expected the rogue to return to the scene of the crime ! Worst of it all was that his appearance had startled Trevadir away as well ! It wasn’t until it was too late, the night before, for them to hunt up any real food, that they had come to a half-conversation about when the last time was that they had eaten. Sleep had come in fits and starts after that, and never stayed for long. Iole had the least demanding job of all the three of them, to return to, but she also was the one with an extra day to herself. Isys had left a note on the shop door that it would reopen the day AFTER next. They’d seen it on their way home from the Guard HQ.


Home, it was so strange to think of the house as their home, for their taking up rest there had been so very recent. But she and Cali had been talking about maybe looking at someplace they could share together .. all the while that Unalmis had run off to warn Cadil. It had been enough of a purpose for the Undertaker’s daughter then to seek out on a little excursion of her own this day, something proactive. Something which would not necessarily be free of her nagging concerns, but at the very least going some way to address them.

Nal had written down The Widow Amaure’s new address for them that first evening, and Iole had made a game of memorising it. Mostly to try and will herself into a slumber in the early hours. But she took the piece of paper with her today anyway, determined to visit and thank their oblivious saviour, their prospective new landlady .. and put to rest any concerns she might think of about them being turfed out by the City Guard for squatting. After the way they had left things with Aderic the day before, she would not put it past him and he rarely required too much reason to trouble them. Never had. The lady who might legalise their lair though turned out to be just as agreeable as Unalmis had promised, and quite taken with the prospect of having two young female tenants. Much talk was spent for the remainder of the day with the Widow and her own female friend, that words blurred fast with intervals only served of cake and tea. But the purpose of Iole's visit was managed nonetheless. The house was theirs, it was official. The money which the young woman's father had put aside in her name for a wedding .. which had never happened .. would cover them for a retainer and their combined wages should see them going forward if they were sensible about it.


It was not until she had started seeing folks on their way home from work, beyond the Widow's fine net curtains, that Iole realised the entire day had passed by, and she had the only key to the house which her friends would be returning to at some point soon. So she made her excuses, and after a very fond farewell which took almost an entire half hour longer still, the young shopworker found herself amidst the throng of folks heading to their homes.

A hand upon her shoulder saw a scream escape the young woman, which she regretted, as soon as she realised .. it was only Sorrel. Sorrel who had been in interviews all day with Aderic, curse him, and also ’Lowendir’ himself, curse him too. Not that Iole could really curse either of the foul men, in front of the City Guard who worked with one of them. That was .. awkward, for both she and Sorrela. And apparently Ilisys had sat outside in the reception of the Guards HQ and waited, after escorting their attacker there … Iole was not sure how she felt yet about either of her associates having an association with the two worst men within the city walls, but she would worry about that tomorrow. This evening she had more pressing concerns, news from the more assisting Guard, and Iole would have to put that to Cali and Nal as soon as ever she could ! They had both promised to be home promptly for dinner that eve.


It was not until she had allowed for her newer friend to walk her safely back to the new house, that Iole realised, she was not supposed to tell anybody where they were staying yet. Still, … with what she had just heard .. evidence had been found ! And all other thoughts had fled from her mind. She even forgot to knock at first, and then forgot what the secret knock had been , for that matter, anyway. Her head was entirely filled with so much at once that she could not make use out of any of it. She had a very tall friend stood just behind her, which helped. As well as the news that one of their antagonists was, thanks to evidence, at least temporarily behind bars. They could maybe even actually sleep tonight ! She would have to struggle to stay awake now until her friends got there. Of course, when she turned the key in the front door of their new house .. their house ! – Iole was not expecting for either Cali or Nal to be inside yet. Let alone to find anybody else there ...

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Arnyn laughed, but any verbal response was delayed by Unalmis taking his turn to prove his mettle. He took a longer time, but she did not begrudge him for it. Besides, she could use a moment to get over the way she'd downed the drink. A quick flick of her eyes toward the dining room, where Trevadir had hurried off to mere moments before, was the only indication that she might suspect Unalmis was drawing out the finishing of his cup in order to give his friend more time to prepare the room... in whatever way it still needed to be prepared. Arnyn wondered why they had not done so sooner. Had they thought that the report would take place in the living room, with Cali there? Or had they assumed that Cali would have been the one to move locations, despite her injury? Or had they, quite simply, not really given it much thought? Who knew? She could not be sure. And she refused to make any assumptions.

Unalmis threw back the glass of water that had been waiting on the coffee table as well. Arnyn raised an eyebrow, but she smiled - amused - when he verbally recognized the water had supposed to have been for her. She leaned back again momentarily, when Unalmis claimed she was 'made of stronger stuff' than he was, or even than most were. 'If the rumours are true.' The Lieutenant could not help but be surprised and also wonder what stories had reached the ranger's ears... With a light sigh, she supposed it should surprise her no longer. She had a long track record in Minas Tirith. And more than enough veterans that had served with her in years past, served even now. Stories... were bound to circulate. Many of them, true. Some, surely exaggerated. Arnyn thoughtfully ran a finger over her chin.

The hand Unalmis held out in invitation for her to switch rooms, had her rising from her seat. She turned to Cali once Unalmis had spoken to... the cat. "Excuse us, Cali." Then her attention returned to the young ranger. "I choose to trust you, yes," she said solemly. Whether this statement pertained only to a new set of beverages, or more, was entirely ambiguous. The situation would have Unalmis assume her words only concerned the drinks, yes. But the seriousness in her tone did not fit with such a conclusion, did it? "Oh, and... believe me, there is plenty I cannot do." The words came easily, as she did not even see it as an admission. Just a plain fact. "But I suppose one might enjoy testing to see what the many things are that fall into that category. If this person also accepts the possible risks that go along with such experiments, of course," she added casually.

She moved to the other room then, while Unalmis all but ran past her toward the kitchen. Arnyn smiled to herself, amused, as she claimed one of the chairs around the dining table and looked at Trevadir. "Not as nervous this time, I hope?" she asked quietly.

Upon Unalmis' return, she could not help a curious glance in the direction of the kitchen. Alas, she could see nothing of the space beyond the door, which was quickly and expertly closed. Arnyn narrowed her eyes momentarily, holding back a smile.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
It was a bit of a surprise to witness the lieutenant drink down the whole remainder of her coffee, but Cali watched, quietly impressed that she managed it without a single choke or gag. She was less impressed, however, when Unalmos posed what seemed like an absolutely ridiculous question to her. She blinked at him with some amount of wonder that he would even need to ask something like that, and slowly shook her head. Let him wonder whether that was her answer, or if she was merely shaking her head in wonder at his lack of domesticating. "That is a doily," She informed him with an eyeroll. "Coasters are the things that go under the glasses..?" She attempted to refresh his memory.

Not that he was paying attention to her anymore, anyway. Seeing it was pointless, Cali turned her attention back to their guest as a small smile tugged at Cali's lips upon hearing the woman's challenge then presented to Unalmis, to do the same, with his own coffee. She wondered how well Arnyn knew him, for it was not a surprise in the least when he took up the dare unflinchingly.

Soon they were both preparing to set off into the next room, which was expected. Cali had been informed of the purpose of this, so she knew it wasn't merely a social call. What she did not expect, however, was for Nal to suddenly address her as 'your majesty'. Only, he claimed it was directed at the cat. She gave him a rather unimpressed look. "Don't make me throw something at you," She threatened in a lowered, teasing tone, in response to his raised eyebrow look. "I'm fine. Go," She made a shooing motion. "Trev," She reminded him, sure she needn't say more.

Watching his abrupt "dash" into the kitchen, Cali wondered if he had misinterpreted her hint after all. Did he think Trev was fleeing, and he had to catch him? She shook her head once more and glanced at Arnyn as she was following him. "Someday, we hope to get him house-broken." She informed her in an amused, mock-despairing sort of way, just before Arnyn had gone into the other room. Deciding to try not to think about what sort of mess her friend was leaving in his wake, she readjusted the pillow behind her back, and picked up a book to read once everyone but the cat had left the room.

---

After Arnyn's comment about the handkerchief, Trev had been a bit unsure how to reply, and so had merely smiled slightly. Yet, he was still thinking about it as he went into the other room. The first thing he saw was a stray metal cup that had rolled in through the door at some point, so he lightly kicked it back into the kitchen before making sure that the door was closed. Next, a swift check around the dining room assured him that Hurricane Nal had not managed to sweep through this room. Yet.

Lastly, he went to the window and took a moment to tie back the curtains to reveal the garden outside the large window. He had spent some time pulling weeds and trimming dead stuff, during the time he had been here, so the girls wouldn't have to do it. And now, they could enjoy the flowers and things that could grow better now that there were no weeds choking them out.

He was searching in the cabinet for something that resembled a coaster when Unalmis breezed through on his way to the kitchen. "Hey, do you know where those coasters are she was going on about?" He asked, but it seemed that Unalmis was on a mission of his own, so Trev wouldn't be that surprised if he didn't hear the question at all. He was soon followed by Arnyn, who hopefully had not glimpsed the adjoining room in that brief moment the door had opened. Her question made him smile slightly. "Well.. not really nervous of you, this time." He answered. "Just... this. The report. I..don't really know what you want to ask about, or what might come of it all..." He explained with a little shrug.

Upon Unalmis' return, Trev held up a few potholders/ hotpads that he had managed to locate, with a questioning look and a small shrug at his friend. Having had no luck in finding whatever coasters Cali was referring to, he hoped that these would suffice, as he figured her primary concern was the cool drinks leaving a ring of wetness on the table. With that thought in mind, he set one underneath his lemonade glass, and tossed another in Nal's direction after his friend had freed his hands of his tray. A third, he slid, more carefully, in Arnyn's direction. "So... um, I don't know how to start." He admitted, while slowly taking another of the chairs for himself, slightly awkward about how to get this thing going. "But I've got at least.." He quickly counted up in his head, "four different topics I want to make sure we go over." He mentioned, hoping to make sure nothing got forgotten by the time it was all done. That was just the things he could think of. He figured Arnyn surely had her own topics to bring up and ask about.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

She slanted her head when Trevadir said he was unsure what she wanted to ask about. She did not think she had made that a secret? At least the first topic should be perfectly clear. Devedir and his crew. And then as a second point of conversation, these 'others' Trevadir had said he should report about. The third topic had also been litterally mentioned, hadn't it? Trevadir speaking to her about this guard Lieutenant he did not trust?

Even as she realized she'd left her hand and a half sword in the living room, Arnyn wondered about the fourth topic Trevadir then claimed he had in mind. Assuming that his first three were the same ones she had in mind. Arnyn realized she also, possibly, had a fourth matter she would like to ask some more about. But she wasn't sure whether that would take up much time at all. Quite possibly, Unalmis already knew. And also, she was not entirely sure yet whether it would be fitting of her to bring it up in front of Unalmis in the first place.

Meanwhile, she was amused at what Trevadir pulled out to serve as 'coasters'. With a lopsided smile, she accepted the potholder Trevadir slid her way. She could use it for her water, she supposed. Or the coffee, if she spilled any over the edge. Already, she was not excluding any possibility in the presence of these two.

"Well," she started, her tone still friendly but perhaps a bit more serious than before while she pulled her light pack from the floor and taking out papers and a travel ink and quill set, "I suppose we begin at the first and foremost reason of why I am here. The ass and his crew." Her tone had not changed at the last few words of clarification, which honestly made her reference of Unalmis' name for Devedir back at the inn more humorous than it would have been if she had been laughing or emphasizing it. She also immediately followed up with a question... or two. Arnyn was quick to fall into an analytical frame of mind.

"They are pirates. I know a few things about their exploits from our records, but obviously so far they have not been helpful enough - in the way they have not made it possible for anyone to apprehend them. What can you tell me of the waters they tend to sail? Where do they tend to dock? Where do they tend to look for ships to target?"

@Arnyn @Ercassie
A little grin broke through on Trev's face as Arnyn referred to Dev as she did. And, despite his friend's attempt at hiding a grin, he could tell that the name had tremendously amused Nal as well. "Right. That's the first," He agreed, slightly shifting in his chair as he listened to the questions put to him by the lieutenant. He took a moment to consider. "Well, he doesn't spend a lot of time in any one place, really." He answered slowly, in a thoughtful sort of way. Reaching into an inner pocket of his shirt, Trevadir pulled out a folded paper which he spread on the table to reveal a map. He pointed out the areas as he spoke. "He travels up and down the coast of the Sundering Seas here, so it's hard to predict where he'll be at any given time. But he always ends up coming back to this area by Umbar and the Bay of Belfalas quite frequently. I've noticed though, he likes to sail far up the coast to the Bay of Forochel, then work his way back down to Umbar." He pointed up to the top of the map, near the Blue Mountains. "He doesn't often go down this far," He pointed down on the lowest points of his map, near the Jewel Coast. "But sometimes, he does." He hesitated, not sure he wanted to elaborate on that just yet. Maybe later.

"As for where they dock?" He shrugged. "Just about anywhere they like. He sails in a Swan ship of Gondor, so he just blends in everywhere he goes in Gondor. And when he goes to places like Umbar, he's got a certain flag that he flies, so they know who he is, so they won't attack him." He sighed, taking a sip of lemonade as he thought of what else he could tell her. "Oh," He remembered another thing. "He uses a fake name on his ship, too. I don't remember what the ship's real name is, but he..well, basically stole a ship, then stole name that was already in use by someone else." He rolled his eyes, glanced briefly at Nal, then back at Arnyn. "The Wingôlost. Means mermaid dream, or dreamy foam-maiden or something like that. But someone else has a ship with that name in Belfalas, and it creates enough confusion that he can sneak under their noses and they don't realize it's him. And then, there's other times when he covers that name up and displays something else, to throw them off further." He held back a sigh, somewhat frustrated that he couldn't offer more help in that regard.

"As for victims.." He frowned, eyes narrowing slightly in thought. "Sometimes they just happen upon a ship that looks like a good target, other times they do some raiding along small coastal towns and such... in Gondor, and up in these northern areas, wherever there's a small village he can hit easily." He paused, letting out a little sigh. He had spent some time beforehand, jotting down all the names of Dev's informants and connections, people that he dealt with, along with where each of them were located. He pulled that paper from the same pocket, unfolded it, and offered it to her. "I made a list. It's.. sort of long-ish, but that's everyone I know about, that I could remember. Informants, people he's got working with him, stuff like that."

He scooted a little closer so he could point to various names on the paper as it lay on the table. "These are informants, here, and that column shows their location." He informed her. "They pass him info, like if there's a ship carrying goods or something that he might be interested in, they let him know all they can about it. And then he gives them a cut of the profits. Course, he cheats them, but they don't know that." He rolled his eyes, then pointed to another grouping of names on the list, "These are.. um, suppliers?" He frowned, unsure what to call them, exactly. "For instance, these guys, the Copperheads, are a group of bandits. They operate in the northern region around here," He explained, indicating the general vicinity of Arnor. "Dev's got a deal struck with them. Like... they do what they normally do, only instead of killing their victims, they take prisoners now and.. and then they take them to a designated meeting place, right around.. here," He pointed to a spot on the map near Lond Daer. "He meets them there semi-regular, to pick up..." He trailed off, dropping his gaze, as he found it difficult to know how to phrase it exactly. Cargo? He didn't like that. But it was more uncomfortable to say 'people' or 'captives'. And then he decided to just not finish that sentence, figuring it wasn't really necessary.

Clearing his throat softly, he pushed on. "He um, takes them to Umbar, and.." He took a slow breath, not daring to risk a look at Nal at this point. He had already spoken of this stuff to him in private, so his friend would be prepared for what might come up, but it was still quite unpleasant to discuss. "He's got a few places that he takes them, and...well, none of them are pleasant. Some, worse than others." He grimaced at that thought, but this was why he was telling her this. To try and put a stop to this sort of thing. Sitting back, he frowned, trying to think of some more helpful information to offer. "He goes to Umbar about four times a year to..make his deliveries. Usually around the beginning of each season, sometimes later if he's had any.. delays." He hesitated. "I tended to..cause a lot of delays when I was with him." He admitted, with slightly sheepish smile. "Let's see... what else.." he tried to remember if there was anything else he had forgotten to mention.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

A map, she thought, impressed. He had prepared for what he had been going to tell her, then. She should have brought a map, she chided herself mentally. Instead, she quickly wrote down what Trevadir told and showed her on the piece of cartography. Her expression remained neutral, thoughtful, while Trevadir detailed Devedir's extensive sailing. When her eyes flicked up at Trevadir momentarily, they would not give away her surprise. Yet that is what was present, beneath the surface. If she had been a woman prone to swearing, she would have done so. At least mentally. Just how far did these pirates sail? Even with a proclivity to the Bay of Belfalas and the area around Umbar... Devedir and his crew went much further North than she would have imagined. Much further South, as well, if they sailed as far as the Jewel Coast from time to time.

When Trevadir said Devedir and the crew sailed a Swan Ship, her composure almost cracked. What?!!?! her mind screamed, outraged. "Mmhm," she said, thoughtful. She looked up at him once more as he divulged the tactics behind the name of the ship and the flag he flies to avoid Umbarian attacks. Now, that was interesting. Very interesting. Trevadir was not holding back. Arnyn's eyes flicked at Unalmis, but only for a moment, before she took additional notes. The Wingôlost. She should find out who in Belfalas has their ship named as such.

Trevadir also answered a question she had not yet specifically asked, and Arnyn leaned back a little as she appreciated the detail of his answer. Now, if only all of the Rangers would be so forthcoming and specific with the information they had... The list he then pulled out and showed to her, made her stare at the piece of paper. So many. Informers. Suppliers. Her lips pressed together slightly at that. When the Copperheads were mentioned, she tsk-ed audibly. From her time spent in Arnor, she knew very well who they were. Their leader was ruthless. A frown overtook her expression. Selling their victims now, instead of killing them, then. Her free hand, which had been resting on the table, unwillingly balled into a fist. As Trevadir continued about how Devedir and his crew took the people the Copperheads would deliver to him, to Umbar, to who knew what fates...

A cold anger took hold of her. In response, she slowly reached for the coffee. Heat to dispell the ice.

The movement and the pause allowed her to inwardly regain the composure which she had not lost outwardly. Meanwhile, her mind had not stopped analyzing the information.

"Does the ass take everything he thinks can be of value to him?" she nevertheless asked, an edge to her voice that had however faded by the time she began her next sentence. "Or has the slave trade become so lucrative that little else compares, and he has mostly switched to dealing in human lives?"

The Lieutenant narrowed her eyes at the map, thinking. With an intense kind of focus, she looked back at her own informer.

"He goes to the North on a semi-regular basis," she slightly rephrased his words. "What else can you tell me about that? Does he wait for a message from them? Or are there set times for his meetings with the Copperheads?"

"Also. Do you perhaps know who in Belfalas owns the actual Wingôlost?" she ventured. Probably not, but if one never asked... "If we could find them, speak to them - perhaps we could convince them to change the name of their ship, if only for a limited time. If we manage to time it right, and the Belfalasion owner changes the name when Devedir is in the North..." her voice trailed off, figuring neither of the men around the table with her would have any trouble filling in this could allow them to more easily identify Devedir's ship upon his return South. At least until he would find out the name no longer caused the confusion he desired. It was worth the shot, wasn't it?

"Also. Is there a village along the shore of Anfalas he has a preference toward? Or ideally, always hits on his way back down from the North? Or, even better..." Arnyn was thinking out loud, her eyes widening a bit at the idea. "Do you know what kind of ship he would not be able to resist to make a target? What the signs are that he looks for with his spyglass or otherwise, when he encounters one?" They could, perhaps, draw him into a trap, this way.

The wheels in her mind kept turning. "That flag he flies. What does it look like?" After a pause, she took it a step further. "Could we recreate it?"
She was now running ahead of things, probably, she knew. But what if it would allow them to sail to Umbar in disguise? She needed to know if the flag was even an option. If so, she could tuck that information away. For a later time.

Even though it was still daylight outside Mourgan thought it felt later then it was due to the darkness of the house what with the windows blocked and not a lot of light coming through them. He thought about taking Cali up on her offer of food but then thought against it remembering the set traps around the house. He didn’t want to find another one of those in the dark.

His fingers drummed on the wooden arm rest as he listened and watched for anything. The house was silent. He could hear the occasional person speaking as they passed by but other than that there was nothing out of the ordinary. He yawned lightly, he hadn’t exactly slept that much himself since the events of the Midsummer event. It all kinda got crazy there for awhile what with catching Shamara and taking her to headquarters. From there he had guard duty for a few hours then after a bit of sleep but then he couldn’t sleep well worrying about Cali.

He looked over at her, still sleeping. He shouldn’t complain, she’d had it far worse than him and the worry of someone following you took its toll. Just then he thought he heard footsteps on the porch. He looked back to the door as he lightly shook Calis shoulder. “Wake up, I think someone is here.” He motioned to the door before he heard a key working the lock.

“Must be your friend.” He spoke standing up from the chair. He didn’t want to meet trouble sitting down if it wasn’t.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
The lieutenant seemed surprisingly calm and composed as Trevadir revealed the things that he knew. He wasn't entirely sure what to think of that, being quite unused to the woman. He glanced briefly toward Nal, exchanged a tiny nod with his friend, and turned his attention back to the lieutenant as she was writing down notes about what he was telling her, feeling sightly reassured from that wordless exchange. He had been quite nervous in the week and a half since he had last spoken to Arnyn, half-fearing someone was going to show up to prevent him from being able to. So, he was glad that it was finally time to tell her what he knew. Not only because then, she would know and be able to do stuff to stop Dev, but because then, it would be too late for any of Dev's crewmen to stop Trev from telling what he knew.

At one point, he couldn't help noticing her hand tightening into a fist. So, perhaps she wasn't quite as calm as she appeared. Taking a slow breath, Trev decided he could think of nothing else to tell her, for now. Might as well take a moment ot pause and give her a chance to ask more questions, or process what she'd learned, whatever. And, sure enough, the questions came. The first one was not entirely one he had expected, and fought a tiny smile at her continued use of that particular name. "Pretty much," he answered quietly, in regard to Dev taking anything of value. "Anything he can find a use for, really. Food and supplies are especially prized, since there's plenty of times when they might be running low. And he'd rather take them from another ship, than have to buy them, you know." He shrugged. "If possible, anyway."

"But there's like.." he paused, and pointed to one of the informants, located in Harlond, "this guy, for instance. He'll tell Dev whenever there's something of particular interest either coming into port, or being sent off somewhere. Like... silk, or spices, or.. I dunno, expensive stuff, you know? Stuff he can take over and either take over and divide among the crew, or sell it all and get money." He paused. "And.. usually he'll take the other crew captive as well." He added more quietly. He frowned, hesitating, then added, "Which also reminds me of another thing I should mention... so, I guess actually there's five things. But, I can come back to that."

Arnyn obviously had further questions, so he didn't want to get too far distracted from the line of inquiries she was asking about. Her question about the Copperheads made him think a little more carefully. "They've got set times when they plan to meet," he answered. "Usually around the middle of these months," He pointed out a few months he had jotted down off to the side of the paper he'd handed her. "But they also have to watch out for any ranger patrols in that area. So, they have a sort of understanding going between them. If there's rangers or other threats near, they won't be there, so there's no signal, and Dev knows to stay away as well, and just try again on his way back through. But if it's all clear, then the Copperheads will have brought their haul to someplace in that general area.. but it's never the exact same location. Someone will be waiting near the shore to watch for Dev, and signal with a mirror when they see Dev's ship, where it flashes the sunlight so the lookout can see it. Then a small group that Dev picks, will go ashore with him, to.. do business with whoever is in charge."

He took a drink of his lemonade, as all the talking was making him thirsty. As he swallowed, Trev's brow furrowed slightly as he considered the question about the Wingôlost. "I really don't know, actually." He admitted. "Sorry, I wish I could help more. Dev claims he doesn't know, and doesn't care. I believe that he doesn't care, but I think he does know. I heard that he tried to buy it once, back before.." He hesitated. "When he and my mother were newlyweds. He wasn't into piracy, back then, from what I heard. But, they wouldn't sell it. Or, he didn't have enough money, maybe both." He shrugged apologetically. "But, he wouldn't ever tell me, so I don't know."

The idea of asking the owner to change the name of his ship left him a bit skeptical. "I.. doubt they'd would be willing to, but I suppose you could ask. I may not know who it is, but I've learned a few things about sailors and ship people in the last few years. And one thing I've learned is that a lot of them are rather superstitious." Trev explained. "It's supposed to be really bad luck to change the name of a ship. Legend says that when every ship is christened, its name goes into a "Ledger of the Deep" maintained by Ulmo himself. Renaming a ship or boat means you're trying to slip something past the gods and you will be punished for your deviousness. Which, obviously, Dev is doing just that. And he ignores and even scoffs at that superstition. But... most folks aren't so.. audacious? Contemptuous?" He paused, trying to find the right word. "I don't know. He says all that Valar stuff is idiotic." Trev shifted a little uncomfortably, recalling how much he had been ridiculed for maintaining the beliefs that his grandmother had taught him. "I disagree, but... anyway."

He cleared his throat and focused next one the lieutenant's question about villages in Anfalas. As he was considering the answer to it, her next idea, about the ship target, brought a grin to his face. "Yes... I was thinking of something similar, actually." He answered. "Or, rather, we were," He added with a motion toward the other young man at the table, as he altered his statement to include some credit for Unalmis. The ranger was more knowledgeable about traps than him, but Trevadir knew more about ships and Dev's habits. Together, they had thought up a few possible suggestions. Yet, it seemed the lieutenant had already beat them to it.

"Most of the time, he knows in advance there's supposed to be a ship traveling a certain route, carrying something he's interested in. Other times, as I said before, they might just come across a ship and see if they can get anything good from it." He paused, thinking. "He's most likely to do that if they're already low on their supplies, and are hoping the other ship has something to offer. A more surefire way to bait him into a trap, is to let his informant hear that there's some sort of cargo that he won't be able to resist.." He sat back with a smile. "Then, well, depending on that ship's intended route, there's a few methods he uses for getting aboard, as I mentioned the other day..."

He was caught off guard by her last question and blinked as he had to consider it for a moment. "The flag," he was surprised she would ask. "Um. It's.. not any sort of flag I think you'd ever want to display anywhere," he answered quietly. "It's the same one they fly at the temple," he explained, a little awkwardly, and avoided looking in Nal's direction, instead dropping his gaze down at the table. He hadn't even thought of mentioning that bit about the flag to Unalmis before now. Although Nal definitely knew by now that Dev was associated with the Halsads, Trev wasn't sure how his friend might react to this new bit of news. "Halsad's temple, that is." He clarified, in case the lieutenant didn't understand what temple he was referring to. His voice sank even lower in volume, as he resisted the urge to sink lower in his seat.

---

@Isolde Alarion @Ercassie
It felt like she'd only just closed her eyes when someone was shaking her, saying to wake up. Immediately, despite her eyes wanting to stay closed, Cali jolted awake and blinked up at Mourgan in slight confusion, taking a moment to comprehend his words in her still-groggy state. How long had she slept? She suddenly wondered what time it was, but had no way of telling that. But, sitting up swiftly, she rubbed her eyes as Mourgan stood to await whoever would come through the door, suggesting that it might be Iole. Cali frowned, fighting through the fog of just-waking-up. "Did you hear the knock?" Cali asked, slightly alarmed at the thought of someone else coming in here, without thinking of the fact that Iole would not expect Cali to be here, so would not expect to need to do the knock.

In fact, even as she thought of that possibility, she had the recollection of Nal telling them that the house was up for rent, and the landlady was trying to find prospective renters and show it to them. It slipped her memory, however, that he had given Iole the key to the place. Then again, perhaps that wasn't even a key being used in the lock. Suppose someone was picking the lock? She'd heard of such things happening. Standing to her feet, Cali glanced around for the knife she'd had earlier, found it on the coffee table, and swiftly reclaimed it. Just in case, despite Mourgan being assigned to guard her. Holding her breath, standing slightly behind and to one side of Mourgan, Cali waited to see who would come through the door.

@Rillewen @Arnyn

Having served the drinks tray to the middle of their table, Unalmis had taken up a chair at an equal point between his friend and his Lieutenant, quite aware of the unusual situation which he had been invited to attend. All he had to do though, as far as he had been informed, was literally be there. There were degrees of uncertainty as to why exactly, although he was glad to be able to help his friend through it. Well, ‘glad’ might have been too strong a word. He was willing anyway, determined definitely. And he was long past second guessing Arnyn and her ideas by this point. His friend would not be sitting here at all if not for her intervention so, trust her ? Yes.

As the Ranger lieutenant and the escaped pirate’s apprentice settled down to start their conversation, Nal leaned forward in his seat and copied what the odd pair were doing with what he assumed were the coasters that Cali had insisted upon, and which Trev seemed to have found. He did glance up once, when Arnyn so casually made use of their nickname for Trev’s father, but he swallowed his smile by blowing over his fresh coffee soon after. Trev saw it though. He knew, and he knew just the same that their thought on it was the same. Did she just say … that ? A subtle element of the earlier mischief which had been managed in the other room had clearly not quite dissipated. Or was she .. declaring herself almost as one with Trev, by adopting the nickname that they used ?


Unalmis felt his eyes widen all the more slightly as Trevadir presented all of his prepared paperwork and prompts. He had seen his friend scribbling away of late, but had assumed it was more songwriting. The hobby seemed to calm his friend and he could understand how that would be required as the time for this encounter had drawn near. But no, that was .. very efficient ! He could not help being proud of his friend, and had a feeling from what he’d heard about Arnyn that she would be appreciating the musician’s forward thinking.

It was difficult to glean what she was actually thinking, just by watching, listening .. but the undeniable enthusiasm with which the Lieutenant fell upon the hoard of information, with her own rapid lines of enquiry in response, spoke almost of a hunger to be satisfied. He had not seen this side of the officer when she spoke with him, Duinion and Isys in a similar scenario. But of course, on that occasion, Arnyn had been the one providing most of the intel, not receiving it. He did not know Arnyn well enough to judge if this was standard behaviour for her, and really it made little difference, as long as the end result here was what had been promised. That all this, his friend having been exposed to this experience a-sea, would somehow be worth it, in the long run. If Trev could turn it to a positive and end it, for himself and others too.


Trev seemed to frown or falter where it came to certain aspects of the subject, and of course that was understandable. But in particular his friend seemed to do so, when referencing ‘Umbar’ .. and Unalmis made sure to nod, though it was briefly, toward his friend for encouragement. The informant did not need permission but it could not hurt to have the support. He then hovered a hand carefully close to either side of his heated cup.

As soon as Arnyn asked though about ‘recreating’ the flag which gave Devedir safe passage into the Bay of Umbar .. Nal felt the change in his friend’s performance. He knew the meaning. Trev had talked about the tabard he had been forced to wear, for similar purpose. It was clear that he might be hindering his friend, by merely sitting in, if he could not prove that Pharak .. the temple .. was not a problem for him. He really did not want to sabotage this conversation by even being there, as 'Rip' had sabotaged the Guard interviews.

"You're right Trev," he smiled then, forcing a show of encouragement. "That's exactly right. It is the same flag as the temple, the same one which the Halsad ships fly. In fact, if Lord Abrazimir didn't immediately put Keket's 'Sea Scythe' to the fire once we were back .. well, he wouldn't have sailed into Lond Col with that standard high of course, but if it was taken down and stowed somewhere, it would be an exact match for the one which the Ass uses." He concluded, with a meaningful glance to hope at raising his friend's spirits, toward finding a potential silver lining.

"Sorry," he dipped his head, to Arnyn then. "I'll just .." Taking a none too small gulp of his hot coffee, Unalmis effectively shushed himself back to behaving. Or at the least swallowed the means to keep from interrupting again any time soon. His eyes found the table top at least, and busied himself inspecting it with all the intensity as if he'd never seen such a thing before.

---

@Rillewen @Isolde Alarion

The door yawned open even as she struggled to remove the key of it’s lock. And for a moment, the gloom of the dark curtained room made Iole step back a pace where she stood. It was silly of course, and so a deep breath was allowed the ten seconds which she’d take to find the courage.

“Are you going to show me around then ?” Sorrela decided, to offer her company in a ruse of looking over the place and reassuring her friend that it was safe. Hopefully it actually was safe of course.

Iole suffered a pang of doubt as she smiled and prepared to lead her friend inside, only to pause at the sight of two dark and somewhat sinister looking silhouettes in the room awaiting them. She screamed for the second time that day and it was enough for Sorrel to step around her hostess and face ..


“It’s Cali” the City Guard recognised the other woman, and then narrowed her eyes at the knife in the Smith’s hand.

“Cali !” Iole marvelled, and blinked to better discern the scene. “And .. your friend from the dancing ..” she realised, without recalling Mourgan’s name or if in fact she had actually been told it. The shopworker’s free hand found her chest as she breathed deep. And recalled that Nal had said the tall man was a Ranger. Still, she scrunched her fingers hard around the key until that other hand began to hurt.


“Did we interrupt .. your .. knife fight ?” Sorrel struggled to make sense of the situation. She had not been present for the explanation about Mourgan, after Midsummer. Moreover, the raised weapons, the unexpected attendees, .. it was her job to be wary.

“I forgot the knock ..” Iole admitted, with a grimace. “Sorry, but I did not think that you would be home yet. Did something ..” she glanced from her friend to her friend’s friend, and back again, briefly. “Something has happened” she admitted, for her own sake then.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Anything that could be useful. Valuable goods like silks. Food and supplies, too. "Hmm. That should allow us to create an enticing enough target. Especially if we manage to march it right by one of his informants." Dark brown eyes gauged Trevadir's reaction to those statements, as well as what she wanted to say next. "Listen, Trevadir - Unalmis... I do not intend to take this information lightly," she said, realizing they had not really discussed that before. "While missions or specific action taken by the Rangers are not up to me as a Lieutenant - I can make recommendations to the Captain and the King. If I present a good case... It's possible we could get the necessary permission and resources we need to deal with Devedir and his crew." She took another sip of her coffee, now with milk added in rather than lemon. Much better. Under her breath, she mumbled something else, but it was difficult to hear.

After putting the coffee down, she tapped a finger on the list of connections. "Can I keep this?" she inquired. After a nod from Trevadir, she underlined the informant he'd mentioned, the one in Harlond. "Thanks." She also added 'mid-month' under the months Trevadir had written down, so she would remember that. "Maybe we don't need the owner of the actual Wingôlost to change anything at all." Her voice was quiet, pensive as she continued to think out loud while staring at Trevadir's notes. "The actual ship would not attack the bait. It could still be reassuring to know the real Wingôlost would not be around the waters where we would set the trap, though."

Arnyn let out a sigh. "I would have hoped the northern rangers might have found a way to handle the Copperheads by now. But it is difficult for them. Spread out as they are over such a large area. And the band was always good at hiding their tracks..." her voice trailed off. She shook her head. "They used to kill ruthlessly. I am not sure whether them selling their victims is an improvement for anyone involved. Depends on where exactly they end up, perhaps," she added hesitantly, looking at Unalmis and Trevadir in turn. "But more on that, later."

That Trevadir and Unalmis had been thinking about a trap to ensnare Devedir and his crew, was not a surprise to Arnyn. She smiled faintly. "Good to hear. If you two have any additional input, I am all ears. I am just hearing about this now, after all. You two have had more time to think." Her gaze was curious as it lingered just a bit longer on Unalmis. "And you have presented interesting ideas to me before. Despite the Captain choosing her own way to move forward, that does not lessen their value." Letting those words sit for a moment before looking to Trevadir, Arnyn nodded. "And your inside information about the ship..."
Her eyes gleamed with something as she leaned forward. The endeavour would always be a challenge. But with the right plan, with the right information - it would be a good gamble. And while Arnyn had never been into betting or gambling for money or favors, she'd always found it very difficult to resist a good gamble when it came to possibly making a difference, if the outcome was good. Case and point: the gamble with pushing Pele so her friend could take steps forward in her healing process, the gamble with disclosing Trevadir's wanted status to Macardil in case it could turn Trevadir's life around, her gamble of rushing the wolf...

The same flag as the temple. Halsad's temple. The reference brought her back to what Unalmis had shared during that meeting Arnyn had had with him, Isys and Duinion. The Lieutenant frowned slightly when Unalmis seemed to apologize for speaking. "Don't apologize," she said, somewhat surprised. "I asked you here for several reasons. First of all, you are in a unique position. You have ties of friendship to our informer here -" at this, she smiled at Trevadir, "- but since you are a ranger yourself, you are in that way also tied to me. Some might call it a double bias. Others might say both things cancel each another out. Others still might claim friendship trumps duty and it was not a good idea of mine. Regardless of that discussion; the fact remains that you can offer both support to your friend and be my second pair of ears, all at the same time. If there is something you can add, I hope you will speak." That was more than permission, wasn't it? would be more relevant when they went on to discuss the Halsads, probably. "I want to revisit the Halsad's later, as well," she said more slowly. "Later. As for now... are you saying there is a chance that Abrazimir has such a flag in his very possession?" If so, she would need to correspond with him.

Then she reached back into her pack. Retrieving... the ledger. "This," she began, "is where I verified whether or not there was an arrest out for you." Her phrasing was deliberate, after Unalmis had pointed out that 'not being wanted' could be construed the wrong way. A soft smile flickered over her face as she recalled that moment. "I want you to check the entry for Devedir. See whether it is correct. What can be added - other than what you have already told me. And do the same for a few more entries, which have notes saying they belong to his crew." Information was power. She leaned back, gauging Trevadir once more. "You know. I'm impressed with your preparations. And grateful for them."

@Arnyn @Ercassie
"Rumors are probably a good way of getting the informant's attention, too." Trev mentioned, trying to think of various ways they might get Mundor to pass the information along to the pirate ship. Nodding in reply to the Lieutenant's question, he then offered a small suggestion of his own, while she was jotting down something. "Maybe you could also have people carrying some crates onto a ship, that are marked as saying it contains something good, but it's actually like... rocks or straw or something." He shrugged. "Just in case. And, there's plenty of waters such a trap could be set up, where the real Wing' probably wouldn't go."

As the lieutenant took a moment to assure them both that she was taking this seriously, Trev nodded solemnly, feeling grateful for the reassurance. "I understand." He answered quietly. "I'm trying to make sure that I tell you as much that I can to be helpful in apprehending him." He took a slow sip of lemonade in order to take a small moment to calm his nervousness. As Nal spoke up with his own addition, Trev smiled toward his friend, glad, and relieved, by his reaction. He had feared that Nal might be uncomfortable as the topic of Halsad was brought up, but it seemed that if that were the case, he was doing an excellent job of keeping it inside. Feeling somewhat encouraged by this, Trevadir tried to follow his example.

Growing thoughtful after hearing what she said about the Copperheads, Trev was inwardly a little surprised anyone had heard about the bandit group this far South, but decided to be a little bold in making another suggestion. "Perhaps, knowing this about the light flash signal thing, you could use that to set a trap for them too?" He wondered how far the rangers of Minas Tirith had jurisdiction in such things, but he thought they might be able to work alongside the rangers in the northern areas, perhaps.

As the lieutenant welcomed any additional input, Trev felt further encouraged to offer anything he could think of that might be helpful. "I'm sorry I don't know a whole lot about those bandits, or I'd tell you more. I do know that their leader is a woman.." He paused, frowning in thought as he tried to recall the name. "Taelyn, that was it." He nodded and reached for his glass again, wrapping his hands around it. "I remember Dev saying some names of the people he'd deal with. There's Taelyn, and Ruby," He paused, focusing on his glass. "That's her daughter. I remember that in particular, because he'd often say stuff to me after he got back on board.. sort of scathing-like.. about how nice it must be for Taelyn to have her daughter so eager to learn 'the business' as she does." He took a long drink then, trying to quench the feelings of inadequacy that such words tended to stir inside. He mentally reminded himself that Dev's opinion of him didn't matter; it was what his friend and family thought of him that really mattered. "Ruby is one of the most ruthless ones in their group. I heard said that she was quite upset when they switched to selling instead of killing." He added, recalling things the other crewmen had mentioned after returning from talking with those people.

The lieutenant's next words were solely for Unalmis, so Trev took his time with a few more smaller sips, listening to all that she said about Nal being in a very unique position here, being both a ranger and his friend. He made a small nod as she declared she would revisit the Halsads later. Good, as much as he disliked speaking of them and their evil deeds, that was one of the items on his own list. He was curious about whether Abrazimir would have kept such a flag, or burned it immediately in disgust. If it had been Trevadir, he knew which he would have done, but he didn't know the younger Lord Dimaethor hardly at all, aside from the fact he clearly despised pirates. "If he does still have that flag," He spoke up, slowly with thoughtfulness, "it's possible you might be able to use it to lure at least one other pirate crew into a trap as well." He mentioned, thinking of the alliance between Dev and Uhta Halsad.

The next moment, to his surprise, Arnyn then pulled out a large book of some sort, and explained what it was. Wanted posters! Trev blinked, a little awed that she would even allow him to take a look at this book. Setting his drink on the makeshift coaster so as to free his hands to take it, he started to let go only to hastily snatch it back up when the glass began to tip over. Using his sleeve to try and mop up the few drops that had spilled, he was more careful to make sure the drink was fully on the "coaster" this time. Thankfully, none of it got on Arnyn's book, and he glanced at her apologetically as he reached out to accept it. "I'll see what I can do," he promised, though felt slightly uncertain what he could add to it.

Quickly scanning over the information that was already listed, Trev frowned thoughtfully as he considered it, trying to avoid looking at the image sketched on it. The posted seemed as if it had not really been updated in some time, to his surprise. "May I?" He asked, indicating the quill and ink she had brought. Once handed the writing devices, he focused his attention on accomplishing the task the lieutenant had requested, determined to provide whatever information might help. He paused in the middle of correcting something, glancing up as she mentioned being impressed and grateful. "Well, I had a week and a half to prepare..." he pointed out with a small shrug, not quite sure why it seemed like such a big deal. A week and a half to go over every name, making sure he hadn't left anyone out, or that he hadn't forgotten any detail that might lead to stopping the pirates. A week and a half of trying to anticipate anything and everything that might come up in this report thing, jotting down notes as he thought of things of importance, trying to keep from stressing about this thing. A week and a half to worry that maybe one or more of the crew would come find him, with orders to prevent him from passing along this information. Writing it down, stowing it where it would be safe, where only his friends were likely to find it, had been his best way to make a backup plan. "I don't think anyone wants him stopped more than me," He added quietly, with all seriousness.

He looked back down at the poster, his gaze landing on the sketch, and found himself glaring at the likeness of the pirate captain. "This sketch needs a little updating." He mentioned, frowning. After making himself look away, he finished what he was writing, and while he waited for the ink to dry, Trev spoke again, still quietly. "His crimes are horrible enough on their own... so many people have suffered because of him... myself included." He took a deep breath. "The people he works with are beyond evil... But as if that's not bad enough..." He glanced at the lieutenant, a hint of worry evident on his face. "I just feel like.. me and my friends," He made a vague motion toward Nal and nodded toward the other room where Cali was, "and especially my brother, are in danger as long as he's running around freely. I want.. need.. to do whatever I can to keep them safe." He explained, with determination. "And.. well, myself, too, of course." He admitted softly, with a glimmer of fear appearing in his eyes as he remembered that he was actually Dev's primary target. He looked down again, hoping to hide anything of the sort from being observed in his expression. "So, um, what else can I answer for you, about him?"

@Ercassie @Rillewen

The Lieutenant gave Trevadir a half-serious, half-amused look. Did he realize the military had been disbanded? Deciding to think it over a moment's longer before asking him a rhetorical question, Arnyn then nodded slowly as he continued to provide information on the northern bandits. When he was done and she had finished her note-taking, she rubbed her sleeved left forearm before replying. "It is true that we are the King's rangers, and the King rules the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. Yet I fear we do not have the numbers to both maintain a secure presence here in case of unexpected trouble, and focus on several areas at the same time."

Sailing... was not their expertise. Nor even a requirement, actually. Simple boating, yes. Sailing or water battle? No. She cleared her throat. "Umbar..." A shake of her head, followed by a sigh. "I spent some time in the North, Trevadir, not all that long ago. That is how I know of the Copperheads. I also know it is difficult for the Northern Rangers to put a stop to them. They could use our help. And however much I would love to help them, now or at least sooner rather than later... there is only so much that our unit can do. We cannot be everywhere at once. And multitasking on missions like these would be an illusion, doomed to end up in failure." She turned her coffee cup around on the potholder, looking at the drink rather than the two young men. "I would prefer focusing on these pirates and Umbar first, and I am not yet sure in what order. I do not know when or if we would ever have the time as wel as the permission to help our brothers and sisters of the North." Her words were genuine, as she had no desire to hide anything about her own motives or the reality of their unit.

While Trevadir was looking at the applicable entries in the ledger, adding to them as he went, Arnyn realized she shouldn't have rubbed her forearm earlier. She'd only made it more itchy. Her expression giving nothing away, she forced herself not to touch her own arm again. It was more difficult now, since she did not have the quill to hold. Instead, she wrapped her hands around her cup, giving them something to do. "Others with a week and a half of time, might not have used it to prepare as you have," she offered as a counterpoint to what clearly seemed so logical to Trevadir. "I would have done the same as you," she said with a half-smile. "But by now I know very well that not all people share such an inclination. So I appreciate that you did."

His further explanations did offer more insight into his motives. Honestly, they were hardly a surprise. "You are doing the right thing," she told him gently, reaching out a hand to briefly touch his forearm in reassurance. When Trevadir asked what else she wanted to know about Devedir, the Lieutenant took a thoughtful, deep breath. She now knew where he sailed, what targets he liked, what they stole. The ledger was being updated, as well. "What skills does he have that I should know about? And the crew? Say we are granted permission to trap him and arrest him as well as the crew. What are their strengths when it comes to opposition? Fights? What do we need to know about them? What kind of weapons do they use? Are they mostly close-ranged fighters? Do they have ranged weapons and do they know how to use them? What kind of deceptions do they like to employ?"

@Rillewen @Arnyn

The more familiar taste of lemon-less coffee was a comfort, despite that it was yet a little more hot than the young man would have normally chosen to sup from. Patience was not, in this case, a virtue, and the want to further rid his tastebuds of the recent invasion was calling for him to down another glass of water swiftly. But the Lieutenant’s outline of why she had elected to involve him at all in this little meeting prompted relief of a different shape. Her words, to both the young men, were reassuring. That any person in authority of course was counting this testimony not only as grave as the situation called for, but also then refusing to simply hush the young people away as though they ought leave it in the hands of others ? Nal exchanged a glance with Trevadir. It seemed this might be the exact audience which the matter called for.

As the talk today progressed however, the young man felt more grateful than ever to his friend for having prepared him, beforehand, to hear some of it. When he had initially agreed to sit in on this, he’d had no idea how far reaching the foulness of the Ass would extend. He certainly had not expected to hear that Halsad was still kicking about, after the war. So the promise that the Lieutenant was going to consider that aspect of the Ass’s enterprise was both alarming and yet expected in equal measure. With luck that subject could be marched back into insignificance from his daily life which, of late, it had been much the opposite. He was looking forward to that at least.


“It is only a chance,” he admitted to Arnyn, while Trevadir took time over the wanted posters he’d been handed. “That Lord Abrazimir even still has the flag I mean. It was several years ago now. And he only took the ship at all because his own had been wrecked off the hostile coast. But .. honestly ? I’d say the man himself could be an asset in your considering of the subject.”

Unalmis placed his hands flat on the table and then retrieved them. “He’s the only one of us who has gone into Umbar on more than one occasion, willingly, and brought people back home with him on both counts. He’s an experienced sailor, and he was one of the King’s pick for Rangers, before he elected to focus on his home ground. His name and vessel could prove either a bait or otherwise, a deterrent to the pirates, his position at sea helping you to ensure that the Ass takes a route we want him to, into a trap. At the very least,” Nal shrugged away any real commitment to the supposing and yet concluded, “if you are thinking of sailing under false colours, then you don’t want to fool the wrong people. Having him aware of who is friend and who is foe when all are out at sea, it could make a difference.”


The thought was not at all random in coming to him, for all that it might appear so. For the Ranger knew that Trevadir was still somewhat nervous of being recognised as an associate of the Ass, by the pirate’s enemies. Expanding the circle of people who recognised his friend as a world apart from Devedir was an ongoing enterprise.

As the musician updated the Lieutenant’s posters, and reiterated his reasoning for complying with this ‘chat’, Unalmis felt for his friend, in a way that it was difficult to express in front of company. Trevadir had not simply been getting organised; he had been almost putting his affairs in order. Just in case something got to him before he could share all that he knew. This dedication, in the very face of all threats to his life, inspired a small nod from his friend.


“We’ve made words to a few very trusted people in the city, to keep an eye for Toby and .. anyone else that we already know the Ass might move against, just in case,” Nal reminded his friend, and allowed the Lieutenant this small update. “Extra pairs of eyes, is all. It isn’t much but it doesn’t hurt. But if there are people that you know,” he looked to his friend thoughtfully then, after Arnyn began questions of the crew itself. “Crewfolk who the Ass might send inland and whose likeness is not already on a wanted poster, maybe we can have an art session and get up some resemblance down in ink, from your memory ?” He raised an eyebrow, almost inviting the thought of how fun drawing up caricatures or the like might be.

“They have to put to some port to get supplies and, since your lists tell who we can’t trust, we could put their likenesses out to those we can. At Pelargir. At Belfalas. The harbour master might be fooled by the ship’s name. But the men themselves might be recognised, particularly with their guard down and a want to let loose in the inns after months at sea. They can’t sail indefinitely. And they’re not all as subtle as the Ass is. And since they’re going to anticipate some sort of repercussion from your homecoming, it might not be a bad thing to have them assume that something so minor as more wanted posters is only as much as could be managed from Trev's telling on them. Then they will not be suspecting anything more elaborate.”


This time he did not apologise, but ducked his head once briefly to Arnyn, that well, she’d asked for it. Stupid ideas Central were his forte. The concept might amuse Trevadir some at the very least, even if it was not really viable.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
He was slightly unsure what the lieutenant's look was about, until she mentioned that about their numbers being too few. Still, he wasn't quite sure why there wouldn't be enough folks between the rangers, the army, the navy, and whatever else there was, to catch all of them in time. But then, he thought perhaps she'd misunderstood. "I didn't mean you, specifically, or even the rangers in particular," he mentioned. "Just, well I figured you would know better how to contact whoever is best equipped to do that sort of thing, you know. Like the navy, for example, or," he nodded as Nal spoke his piece about Abrazimir Dimaethor, "yes, exactly. I figured if I can give you this information, you could maybe share it with folks like him, in Belfalas, who are already trying to fight the pirates. So they can make the best use of it... Whatever works. I just.. I'm not terribly eager to chat with them, myself.." He explained, a little awkwardly. "And I don't know how to contact.. rangers? Or whoever there is to enforce the King's law out North, about the bandits and all that. But maybe some of the navy folks could handle it. I definitely didn't mean that you and the rangers should try to handle all of it, personally." He tried to clarify.

"Or, that it should all be done all at once." He added. "I mean, like, if Dev is caught, for instance, and it's kept quiet enough, then maybe after that, we could use his ship to lure Uhta into a trap, and catch him too, because if he hasn't heard that Dev's been caught... well, it's an idea anyway." He shrugged. She had said they'd revisit the Halsad subject, so he didn't try to go into that too much right now. "And from there, maybe someone could pose as him, traveling down the coast to where he usually meets with the bandits, and.. I don't know. I'm just sort of hoping that I can help put a stop to all of them, that's all."

A weak smile was aimed at Nal, upon the reminder that there were a few folks keeping an eye on Toby. It was appreciated, but he still worried. And maybe he was worrying for nothing, but he couldn't forget the threats Dev had made toward him and his brother.. that if Trev wouldn't do as he said, he'd get his other son to replace him. With Trev having gotten away at last, he wasn't sure whether Dev might try to make good on that threat, and therefore, he couldn't even bring himself to face Toby or his grandmother yet. Partly because he feared he would be putting him in danger by doing so. Because, as far as he knew, Dev did not know what his little brother looked like, although he might be able to find him by asking around, it would be easier for them to find him, if they saw Trev with him. Of course, that was if any of the pirate crew could even manage to get into the city to accomplish such deeds. But even if they didn't, he also worried Toby was upset with him for leaving. And he might be even more upset with Trev if he learned that he'd put him in danger on top of everything else.

Holding back a sigh, Trev took a last drink of his lemonade, before setting the empty glass on the table. Then, remembering Cali's worry for the surface of the wood, he swiftly moved it onto the 'coaster', and ran his sleeve over the damp spot he'd left on the table. Thoughtful, he considered the pirate/Umbar comment the Lieutenant had made, and how she was unsure which order to tackle them. "Hmm. Well, I'm not any sort of authority," He answered slowly, slightly hesitant, "but if you asked me, I'd suggest taking out the pirates first. They're the ones supplying Umbar, you know? Then once you have that situation stopped, where there's no longer a constant supply being brought over there... then a rescue missions can be made for all the ones who have been taken there in the past. And that Halsad temple.. well, it oughta be burned to the ground." He declared vehemently. "With him in it. Only this time, someone should make sure he doesn't crawl out somehow." He glanced slightly toward Nal, wondering if Arnyn knew about the man's burn scars from having previously been lit on fire, or how he came to have them.

He had little to say in reply to her words about his preparations, and that he was doing the right thing. But he smiled slightly in gratitude for the last bit, while thoughtfully considering Nal's suggestion about the sketches. Then several questions came back in reply to his one, and he paused as he considered how to answer them all. He took a deep breath and sat back to think on all that the lieutenant had asked. He decided to answer the one about their tactics, before their skills. "Sometimes, they'll follow a prospective ship, staying just out of sight until they're far enough away from land, and then wait until it's dark, close the gap with small boats and climb aboard in stealth. From there.. they'll generally sabotage the other ship so they can't flee, or take the crew by surprise while they're sleeping, stuff like that. Or, if they find a target out alone somewhere far from land, they might run up a distress flag to lure them in to help. Not many folks who aren't pirates would ignore a plea for help. He might also fly Gondorian colors so that when he's approaching merchants from Gondor, they wouldn't feel threatened. That way he can get close enough without raising alarm, until it's too late. Dev's more into stealth tactics, being sneaky and deceptive. That's his way."

"As for his personal skills," he frowned. "Well, aside from deception and lies.." He hesitated. "He's a fairly good navigator. He's got a gyrfalcon he keeps, almost like a pet, but also a little more. She spies for him a lot. He can communicate with her.. the bird.. and she'll help him a lot. She can spot things from further off than the lookout can, and she's much more reliable." He explained. "She's extremely loyal to Dev.. she'll even defend him in a fight. Apparently, he rescued her when she had a broken wing or something, when she was a young bird. He doesn't care much about people, but birds like that.." He shrugged. "My grandfather taught him the falconry business, so that's one thing that's stuck with him, I guess." Trying to leave his glass alone, he took his hands off the table and instead found his flute, taking it from its place at his belt so that he could hold it. "He likes to fish," he added quietly, recalling one of the few things that they used to do together when he was little. Though, he wasn't sure really how useful that information might be, it seemed worthwhile to mention whatever he could think of.

"For fighting, Dev uses a sword primarily, dagger as backup." He tried to think of other skills that she might be interested in knowing about. "Ummm, he's good at convincing people whatever he wants them to believe," He mentioned with a frown. "Or, like, he'll know exactly the sort of thing someone wants to hear, and use that to say just the right thing to manipulate them to doing what he wants." He shrugged, not sure how to explain exactly what he meant. "Like, he knew how much I wanted to have my father back," he said softly, looking down. "So, he made a point of calling me 'son', or saying something like that when he wanted to win back my loyalty, or he'd say something to invoke guilt for not being a good son... Like, the last time I saw him, he tried all saying all this stuff to convince me to come back, about how he wanted his son back.. said he missed me, and all that.." He rolled his eyes. "Just a bunch of lies, but if I didn't know better..." He sighed, shaking his head. "Five years ago, the dumb kid that I was would have been delighted to hear him say stuff like that. He knows it, so he that's why he said it. I'm convinced of that." he explained quietly, feeling a mix of wistfulness, resentment, and embarrassment to admit such things.

"As for the crew.." He hesitated. "Well, most of them are criminals, like.. this guy. He used to be a thief." Coincidentally, he had just flipped to a page featuring Jay, wanted for multiple burglaries and robberies, from years ago. Turning the book so that Arnyn could take a look, he pointed to that entry. "Jay. From what I hear, he and Dev worked together on some jobs they pulled on a cruise ship a long time ago, robbing rich people of their jewelry and stuff, and then later, when Dev was looking for crew, he came across Jay who happened to be needing to get away from the area for a while. So Dev invited him to join him again. There's nothing mentioned here about him joining Dev's crew, so, I guess they've been wondering whatever happened to him," He shrugged. "He's.." Trev tried to think how to explain the man. "His best skills are stealth. Lockpicking, pickpocketing, keeping hidden, stuff like that. I mentioned earlier that Dev will sometimes have a small party board a target ship in stealth and clear the way for the rest to come aboard? When they do that, it's Jay who leads them. He's good at stealth, but he's also pretty good at crippling ships." He smiled faintly. "He actually taught me how to do that.." He admitted, a little sheepishly, remembering how annoyed Jay had been when Trev put that knowledge to work on their own ship. "There's a few others who are good at stealth, but he's the best. He's not so skilled in fighting though." He shifted slightly. "He.. also led a small group into the inn to attack me, that night in Harlond. Only, he found Macardil instead," He smiled faintly as he imagined the look on the thief's face when Macardil emerged from his hiding place.

"The other two who were with him that night.. Rurik and Borim.. they're more of the 'brawn' types, you know, thugs, more skilled at fighting than stealth-ing, but they got arrested, so they shouldn't be an issue anymore," He took a moment to consider who else to mention. "Grisly probably still has a broken hand," He cleared his throat, slightly hoping not to have to elaborate on that. "But that was his left, so the right's still useable I guess. Not sure if Scar's up for fighting, either. There'd still be plenty others though, who can definitely fight. Typically blades. Nothing too big or long, or you'd risk slicing through rigging or other important ropes and things, you know. They sort of grab whatever they can get. I mean, anytime they raid a ship, if there's a weapon so and so likes better than what he's been using, he takes it as part of the spoils. So, their weapons tend to change over time, and it's hard to say exactly who has what weapon, but I know Jay sticks to daggers, and Dev sticks to swords, and so on. There's a couple of archers on board, but they mostly use crossbows, and they have to be sparing with bolts. So, that's mostly saved for special circumstances when they need long range stuff. Some of the guys use throwing knives." He checked in his glass to see if there might be another drop or two left, while he was thinking if there were any other skills he should mention. He couldn't think of anything to add as far as that went, but there was something else he wanted to make sure and mention. "That being said... there are a couple of guys on board who are there against their will. Or, were, last time I was there."

Trev looked at Arnyn with a serious, and saddened, expression. "That was one of the things I wanted to mention." He sighed. "I wasn't the only one he held captive. Sometimes, if the ship is low on crew for some reason, depending on the circumstances.. he's been known to trick some drunken sailor from a tavern into coming aboard, or he takes sailors from another ship and presses them to join his crew... stuff like that. He did that with a healer from another ship one time.. he's still with him last I heard. Dev gave him the choice of joining him and getting paid like the rest of the crew, or being sold in Umbar with his original crew. And there's a carpenter, and.. they're just stuck as part of his crew. Usually, folks like that, they end up losing their will to hold out against all the atrocities going on around them, and.. over time, they give up and before long they're just like the others. It's quicker for the sailors, since they're more.. in the middle of it, if that makes sense. Either they start giving in and folding to the pressure, or they get killed."

Trev swallowed and looked down. "There's never too many of those at a time, so they don't outnumber the rest, but there's a few of them that I know of. If they haven't already given up, that is. Dev's pretty good at.. taking away a person's hope. Trying to break a person's spirit.. that sort of thing." He turned his flute over, fingering the instrument thoughtfully as he remembered how many times he had come close to losing hope, himself. If not for the small item in his hands, he might not be sitting here now. "I.. I'm hoping maybe some of them might not be too far gone, and maybe they could be rescued. Maybe even pardoned for anything they've been pushed into doing, you know?"

He watched the door as Cali tried to wake up. “ I heard no knock.” He answered in a lowered tone. She then came to stand behind yet beside him after taking up her knife. They both watched the door slowly open. Mourgan instinctively tightened the grip on his sword where his hand had been resting.

It slightly relaxed at hearing someone asking to be shone around but then a figure stood in the doorway and screamed seemly in surprise as another came around her and identified Cali. His hand relaxed as he watched what had to be Cali’s friend enter the house.

He relaxed his stance as the first woman to enter called Cali by her name and then called him her friend from the dancing. His brown eyes then moved to the other woman as she asked if they’d interrupted their knife fight. A moment of confusion flicked up a dark brow but with a glance around the place it quickly went down. Ya, it did look a bit like a fight had happened in here.
“I’m Mourgan, Alarion.” He offered to the inquisitive woman (Sorrel) as the others spoke to one another.

@Isolde Alarion @Ercassie
Mourgan's reply, that he'd heard no knock, left Cali tense, holding her breath as the door eased open. Someone was asking to look around. Was that the homeowner, coming to show a prospective tenant around the place? That would be terrible timing, especially as she recalled the damage that had been done to the back door. Not good. She'd hoped to have a chance to get that fixed before the home owner saw it...

She was swiftly trying to prepare some sort of defense, or cover up story, to get them out of this predicament, when a familiar scream startled her. Cali blinked, realizing, moments before the first voice declared 'it's Cali', that it was Iole come home at last. She breathed out a sigh of relief as she relaxed. The lantern had burned low while she slept, and so there was little light to aid in identifying each other. But, after a moment, Cali recalled the guard who had conducted their report interviews the day before. She recognized her as the other woman, although she didn't know her all that well, personally. "Iole! Thank goodness you're here, finally." Cali returned her weapon to the table and moved past Mourgan to wrap Iole in a hug, relieved to see her alright.

"Knife fi.. What?" She frowned slightly in confusion as she stepped back, after the embrace, trying to make sense of what both Iole and Sorrela had said. "No," She answered slowly, shaking her head. "We were preparing to defend ourselves, in case..." She hesitated, unsure how much Guard Korsey knew of their situation. "No," She decided to answer Iole instead. "Nothing's happened," She reassured her friend. Only seconds after saying so, she recalled the stolen weapons, and realized that yes, that could be considered 'something happening' but then again, maybe it was best if Iole didn't know about that.

Cali glanced outside the door briefly to check if anyone was lurking around before she pushed the door closed behind the other two ladies. "We were.. well, I was.. afraid someone was breaking in," She admitted. "Mourgan," She paused as he introduced himself to the others. "I mean, Ranger Alarion has been assigned to guard me. Us?" She glanced at him uncertainly, wondering what exactly the lieutenant's instructions had been. "Until Nal comes back, wasn't it?" She checked with him. "Which should be soon, if it's as late as it looks like it is," She added thoughtfully, surprised that so much time seemed to have passed. She turned back to Iole to explain a little further,

"I spoke with Lieutenant Dealedwen earlier, about.. certain things. And she said that I should go home and get some rest. And she sent Mourgan along as a guard, just in case. Because.. of.. you know." She needn't tell Iole why. "Only, when I got here, you weren't here, and I was.. I didn't know what to do, and I've been so worried about you," She confessed to Iole. At least she had not been alone, she thought, consoled by the fact that the female guard had apparently been with her. She managed a faint smile of gratitude toward Sorrela. "Thank you, for ensuring she got home safely." She added quietly. Glancing back at Iole, she mentioned quietly, "I brought your things. They're in your room."

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Unalmis' suggestion that Abrazimir could be of help was more than justified. "I agree," she told the younger Ranger, nodding without hesitation. "If circumstances allow him, he could prove invaluable in preparations as well as execution. It would be ideal to--" she hesitated then, realizing that this particular shade of her humour - word puns- might be considered all too lame by these young men before her. They had made her feel too welcome. Her guard was down. However, she'd started the sentence already, and it would be bad form not to finish. ".. to bring him on board." She cleared her throat and quickly drank from the water they had provided for her.

Her face became thoughtful as she regarded Unalmis. "Would the crew so readily assume that the posters would be the only result?" she questioned, unsure of whether that would be the case. "Maybe... we do not want to tip them off at all. Would it make them more alert out at sea? Or would it make them more inclined to take the bait? This I would leave to Trevadir's judgment, for he knows them best." The Lieutenant looked for Trevadir's response while she continued. "If you believe Unalmis' idea would work to distract them from our real goals, the City Guard would have connections to a few artists who are used to that kind of portrait-drawing," she said quietly. "But you may be unwilling to resort to them?" she checked, keeping in mind what she knew about their distrust of one of the Lieutenants in that organization. "Or do you mean to say you have the skills to draw these likenesses yourselves?" The Lieutenant leaned forward slightly at that, curious to hear their reply. Did they also draw ? Truth be told, she could try her hand at such drawings herself, if it were not that she wasn't so disinclined to share that creative side with anyone else.

Arnyn had to work hard to keep her expression neutral when Trevadir proved he did not really know the state of Gondor's armed forces right now. The army had been decimated to begin with, by the end of the war. And now... But this was not something for civilians to worry over. Fact was they would have to use whoever they could find and trust to tackle all of this. Problem was, the Lieutenant was not sure how easy such an enterprise would be. "Right," she said, her tone calm. "We can worry about that later, I suppose. One thing at a time." Whether those words were meant more for Unalmis and Trevadir or for herself, was difficult to say.

"Does that mean you think Devedir and Uhta are the only ones bringing in people?" she asked, warily, when Trevadir said they should stop the supply first by going after the pirates. That seemed unlikely. Arnyn's eyes grew sad when Trevadir went on about rescue missions for all those who had been taken there in the past. Trevadir had seen much, she knew by now. But he spoke in a way that betrayed his young age, from time to time. She sighed. "I would be inclined to agree on the pirates first and Umbar second." She ended up giving her own opinion on that, rather than expanding on her thoughts about rescue. Those were too depressing. Of course she wanted to rescue everyone they possibly could. The depressing parts were that many would be too far gone to benefit from a rescue. Having died - either in body or in spirit. And the spirit could be very difficult to revive. The thought of families gaining back not a loved one, but the broken shell of one... Arnyn steeled herself. Broken shells could heal.

"And that Halsad temple.. well, it oughta be burned to the ground. With him in it. Only this time, someone should make sure he doesn't crawl out somehow."

Arnyn regarded Unalmis as one set of brown eyes sought out another. She remembered the absolute craziness Unalmis had referenced as if he had been talking about going out for a walk in the fields. "Pharak..?" she half-stated, half-asked - just to be sure they were all on the same page. What she remembered about that temple from earlier conversation, was terrible. A temple to Sauron. Sailors cut in half. Hardly a topic she wanted to revisit. But perhaps one they might need to revisit. If Arnyn wanted to do her job right.

Trevadir answered her earlier questions then, and the Lieutenant busied herself with copious note-taking. From time to time she nodded or hummed for Trevadir to continue, to spur him on. The information that some of the crew were on board against their will, made her hand still as she looked up. What?
Arnyn fought the urge to squeeze the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. What was wrong with the world? How could people be like this? She shook her head, as if resolutely shaking off those thoughts. Focus. "Pardons are far beyond me, honestly, as you probably already figured. But if there are people on board against their will, then they may be of help to us? If they are not too afraid and have not yet given in to Devedir."

"If that concludes what is to be told about the ass and his crew-" she paused, looking at Trevadir for confirmation, "then we should probably move closer to the topic of Umbar. It seems to be encroaching on us anyway," Arnyn said, meaning the different references that had already been made throughout the interview. "If we want to seriously tackle the slave trade - and I do - I need information." Desperately so, not that her tone was giving that away. "Tell me about the part this Captain Uhta and his crew play. Tell me what you know about Devedir's Umbarian contacts ashore. Tell me... why you want to burn someone alive in a temple?"

@Arnyn @Ercassie
While Trevadir wasn't particularly fond of the word 'execution', he understood it was meant in a different way than his ears instinctively heard it. Trying to ignore that, and his discomfort at the word being used at all, he was a bit appreciative of something amusing to take his mind off of that, and smiled at the lieutenant's pun.

Hearing her question about the posters, Trev took a moment to think about it. It wasn't entirely about what the crew would believe, he realized, but what Dev would believe. With a small frown, he pondered what might be best. Dev already knew he was on wanted posters, and he'd convinced all those less than willing sailors that they were, also, Trev figured. That's what he'd told Trev, after all. He'd done his best to ensure Trev was too afraid to go home, or talk to any guards, and he was sure to have done the same with all the others who were reluctant crew members. "I think," he spoke slowly, a bit uncertain. "Dev might think at this point, that I'm still too afraid to talk to any officials. Like you." he glanced at Arnyn. "So, if posters appear about different crew that are sailing with him.. I think it might warn him that I have been talking to someone." He said quietly, and looked down. "Personally, I'd rather let him think I wouldn't dare..."

He considered the matter, as well as he could, from the perspective of trying to catch him. "It might be better for the sake of catching him, if he believes that, too." he decided. "I suspect, right now, he's probably nervous. Watching for something like the posters, to see if I'm going to talk." He took a deep breath, trying to clear away the nervousness that had suddenly bunched up in his stomach. "If a little time goes by, and nothing comes of my being here.. I think he'd relax a bit. I hope." He forced a tiny smile at that last bit, because honestly, he couldn't really say for certain, he could only give his best guess based on his past experiences with the man.

"But," He added, glancing at his friend with a little smile. "That doesn't mean we couldn't still get some sketches done. So at least like.. the rangers and whoever else, can know to watch for them? Maybe not post these posters publicly, if you can make that work out.." he hesitated, unsure what sort of pull the lieutenant had with other branches of the law enforcement. "Anyway, doing sketches of them would probably be helpful, just.. don't put them where Dev or the crew can spot them, you know?" He shrugged, and cleared his throat at the latter part of the question. Would he go to the guards for this? "I.. would really rather not," He admitted. "I don't draw that well," He glanced at Nal, unsure what his skill level might be, but he recalled he had always enjoyed sketching and doodling. "Iole has a friend in the guards, and she seems nice, but I just find it hard to trust any of them." He explained, and shrugged slightly. The guard in question had even been trained by Rip, of all people, so why should he trust her? It was one thing for her to have lunch with Iole and stuff, but he had no idea what she might do if she learned about Trev's situation.

"Does that mean you think Devedir and Uhta are the only ones bringing in people?"

Trev blinked as he heard this question. "Oh.. no," He shook his head. "Of course not. Just.. those are the only two I know much about," He explained. "Although..." he tilted his head, thoughtful as he gave it more thought. "Actually, most of the other corsair ships were sort of put out of action after that ghost army wiped them out and the king took over the ships. Those two, Dev and Uhta, were like.. the only two ships I know of who weren't there when that happened." He explained. "So, actually, that really cut down on the competition for them," He realized, thoughtful. "Uhta is sort of.. friends? with Dev. Like, they're allies, and sort of 'hang out' at times, in whatever ways their sort do." he wasn't quite sure how to explain it, since Dev didn't really have 'friends' like Trev thought of friends. "So, I think a person could use Dev's ship to trick him into some sort of trap. Because he'd be expecting his buddy, not a ship full of soldiers waiting to capture him," he explained, then gave a small nod in affirmative, when Arnyn asked if he meant Pharak. Deciding he might be getting a bit too close to delicate matters, as far as Nal was concerned, Trev was glad to focus on a slightly different topic for the moment. The sailors and others, kept in the crew against their will.

Would they help? He debated on that question for a moment. "It would depend a lot on whether you.. or whoever it is in charge.. could convince them to switch sides..." He answered, hesitant. "I mean," Trev fidgeted, focusing his gaze down at his flute. "They're probably convinced that they have to fight or die. That they're wanted for all sorts of crimes, whether they're guilty or not. And that they'll be killed, executed, or worse." Just like he had been falsely convinced, until Macardil had broken through the lies. "If anyone could break through those lies, maybe.." He shrugged, sighing. Slightly awkward, he cleared his throat, and added quietly, "Many of these guys have very... fearful ideas about the king, and, well... it might be a little difficult to make them believe otherwise." Slightly embarrassed to admit he was one of them, still, he thought it might be good to let the lieutenant know that it was a potential challenge they might face, in trying to win these people over to their side again.

He could think of little else then to add about that subject. He'd covered two of his Important Topics already, and yet... the rest, he dreaded even more. And, sure enough, the lieutenant moved on to asking about the subjects he found most troubling. Umbar, and Pharak. Then, as she inquired about Uhta, he suddenly felt a bit nervous that she might ask about that sword matter, and half-wished he had never mentioned that to her. Before he could think of how to answer the questions about Uhta, and Dev's contacts, he was a little startled by her final question. He blinked, hearing how it sounded, and his eyes widened slightly.

"Oh..." he felt his face getting a little warmer. "No... I... well. That wasn't really meant to.. I mean, I wasn't meaning that I wanted to.. just.. well, when you put it like that, it sounds like a horrible thing to say," He admitted, looking down at his flute and hands. "That wasn't what I meant, really. I just," He sighed. "That place is absolutely horrible, and they do horrible things to people, and they need to be stopped. The whole place ought to be destroyed, I did mean that part. But," He tried to explain. "It was... just a poor joke, I guess. 'Cause someone tried to burn him alive once before, only he survived somehow." he explained, and rolled his eyes. "The guy's totally crazy. He thinks that he survived it because.." he paused, realizing he was straying from what she had asked about.

"Sorry, you asked about Uhta." He acknowledged, and tried to think of what all he knew about the corsair. "He is.. a very big guy," He began. "Wears a lot of rings, likes food a bit too much. And treasure. Um, he uses slaves on his ship. And... he likes taking female slaves.. for himself," He fidgeted awkwardly and cleared his throat. "He was the one who was holding Ms. Estennin hostage, a few years ago. She was rescued, but.. she's definitely not the first, nor the last." He said, sadly, forgetting that he had mentioned his part in that rescue to Arnyn, before. He took a deep breath, trying to think of things that might be useful to the lieutenant to know about him. "Uhta.. he looks and acts tough, but honestly, he's kind of.." He tilted his head, thinking. "In a way, like an overgrown toddler who's totally spoiled, and does or takes whatever he wants, just because he can." He shrugged, slightly amused by the description of a spoiled toddler, but thought it rather apt. "His crew is like.. sort of mixed?" He frowned, not sure how to explain that. "Like, they're all from Harad, but not all from the same areas, you know? Some can barely communicate with each other." He frowned. "Of all of Pharak's sons, though, I'd say he's the least horrible.. not that that's saying much." He shrugged, unsure what else he could say about him.

@Rillewen @Arnyn


The emergence of the flute into Trevadir’s hands and focus, was an indication of more than simply he’d finished his drink. Unalmis could not help but be drawn to the sight of it, reminded that this abhorrent account of piracy and slavery was coming to them from, besides a friend, .. from a musician. From a person who would never have chosen such a life as he had been forced into for the last five years. Hearing his friend speak now about the ‘others’ on Devedir’s ship who might be there primarily against their will, maybe even held only by fear, until they devolved into having committed such atrocities there was no going back for them .. it was so awfully brought to home what might have been the musician’s eventual fate.

The prospect of the wanted posters met some criticism which Nal had, admittedly, not considered, and served another point of why, as he was always being told, he ought not always act without thinking first. His naive idea might have actually gone so far to prove the Ass’s lies to his less convinced crew, that they really were perceived by Gondor as criminal as Devedir had told them ! He sat back in his seat, thankful that there were greater minds to sieve through such possibilities. Else who knew how many might have been even more likely to actually succumb to the only life they believed was left to them. The worst sort of life.

They were so entirely lucky they had gotten Trev back from the brink, and yet the danger was clearly still prevalent. If he was completely honest, Nal would have to concede that he was looking for ways to turn the Ass away from being a further threat to his friend, as soon as absolutely possible. Grand schemes would take time and the number of people whom the Ass was in league with was staggering. Trev had made as little as he could about being terrified, and yet his actions spoke for themselves. There was only one way to ensure that the musician did not have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, but the possibility of facing his father, even in a courtroom, or maybe living with the fact of having been the one responsible for the death perhaps of his own blood .. that was not the sort of goal that anyone should press for, for their friend. Still the suspicion that Trev would tell on Dev was the most convincing argument that Nal understood for the pirate’s efforts to reclaim his son. He certainly did not believe that Dev would simply stop suspecting that it would happen at some point. For certainly the man had shown no other, more paternal, motive in having and keeping Trev back with him.


“Maybe instead of wanted posters, some sort of ‘leniency’ likenesses could be drawn up then, for the ones you believe haven’t quite sold their souls into it all yet ?” he shrugged. “That would be the opposite of what the Ass has threatened them with, and could be used only after they were taken into custody. If they do ever end up facing questions over their part in things.”

The concept of not all those working ‘for’ Umbarian advantage being not entirely ‘evil’ themselves was a phenomenon which the young Ranger had been forced to put more thought to since his friend’s return. He did not speak up for who might create these hypothetical drawings. His own illustrations had been mostly in the form of caricatures, mostly of the teacher back in school, and mostly found being passed around the class on dull afternoons. They had been resemblant enough that it had gotten him into trouble, more than once. But they had made his friends laugh. And maybe there was an element of hope toward that goal here, at the root of the thought. The notion of scribbling the Ass or his worst associates into a joke in this way would belittle the demon in his son’s eyes, maybe just a little. And a little target practice was always a fun way to spend an afternoon. There was probably more than one illustrated ‘likeness’ of Lieutenant Brian, freckled with tears from a blade’s point, and currently screwed up in the Barracks Master’s bin, given the number of room inspections that they’d suffered this year.

Unalmis decided though, that was not exactly the sort of recreation which the Lieutenant had come to contemplate, and so turned his attention toward his coffee, which was further cooled now and far more enjoyable still. As Trevadir mentioned in more detail, the fear which some of the Ass’s crew harboured for the King, the young man grew thoughtful, but broke out his revery in a startlement when his friend proposed they burn down the temple, with Pharak inside. A swift glance of support for that mere thought took his eyes to find his friend’s, and so he missed the look which Arnyn sent his way. He was less supportive though of the quick revision that his friend fell to, when questioned. Why was Trev seeming belatedly embarrassed of having suggested such a thing. In his friend’s eyes, there was no cause to know shame for such a yearning, especially given all that had happened. And so Nal took his own eyes to his lap and forced his tongue into one cheek to keep from speaking out on that matter. That was not why he was here. He wouldn’t maybe have ever even spoken of Pharak or the temple to the Lieutenant last time, but that Trev had already given him the heads up that it would come to light with his superior, sooner or later. And so it had, but on his terms.

As they turned their attention onto Uhta, Nal slowly worked his seat out from under the table, so that he could rise. It was .. revealing, was that the right word ? To hear his friend speak about the massive, youngest Halsad, from almost an associate’s point of view .. as someone who had sailed with him ... Whereas all that Unalmis had heard about Uhta before had really come from Gael, which was rather a different point of view. Though she had also conceded that the man was not as bad as his brothers, despite all he had done to her personally. As Trev concluded his insight on that subject, the young Ranger found his feet, and reached for his friend’s empty drinking glass.


“You look like you need a refill. Lieutenant can I get you anything as well ?” He downed the rest of his coffee to make good the cause, “I need a refill,” and set off to accomplish that much help at least. When he returned, it was with a fresh tray. There was a jug of the lemonade which he indicated to his friend, and smiled. And a jug of fresh water as well. The tray/another chopping board served in place of a coaster to save them from Cali’s wrath later, and the young Man sat back down, without a word.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

With a slow nod when Trevadir confirmed her suspicions about sketches probably making Devedir and his crew more cautious, she was still considering the idea. At least they would have a better idea of some of the key players. Who was who. Even if it was just in preparation for the trap, it could be useful. And Arnyn did like preparation.

As for the actual drawing... if Trevadir was not an artist and he did not wish to go to the guards... well. That left Unalmis, if he had any skill in that area, or... She resisted clearing her throat, instead sipping her coffee in wait of Unalmis' reply. The absence of any response as to whether he would be able to draw anything suitable, was a reply in and by itself. If Arnyn could have fidgeted mentally, she would have. Instead, her hands remained perfectly still around her coffee cup. "The drawings could be useful in preparation of the trap, as well. In case one of them would like to spin a story, for example." She looked at Trevadir. "You could tell us who you found was rotten at the core, who was partway there and who - as far as you know - was purely being coerced at the time." She paused. "Information is power," she said quietly. "If we are to do this, the more information we have, the better." Then she briefly fixed her eyes on Unalmis. "Leniency posters to be used after they are taken into custody could send a powerful message," she agreed. "Especially for those among them who are more visually oriented. I like that idea. Though I do want to reiterate that I would have to check whether leniency is even an option; and whether it could be decided based on a civilian report."

The Lieutenant intently studied the piece of paper with her own notes. "It would all begin with actually creating the sketches, though. And much in the way that you would prefer not to involve the Guard, I would prefer not to involve civilians in the drawings. Perhaps we can find out whether any of our own have any hidden talents," she said, referencing the Rangers - and not (yet) at all implying herself.

Glad for the shift in topic with the guards, Arnyn latched onto it. It seemed natural, given the way the conversation happened to flow. Thank Manwë. "I want to revisit the topic of guards and both of your lack of trust with at least one guard in particular, after we have spoken more about the topic of Umbar," she spoke plainly. It was time to delve into everything they would allow her to, she thought. It was rare to be able to get this much information with just one conversation. This was a veritable gold mine. Even if the topics were mostly depressing... it was infinitely better than knowing all of these criminal activities were ubiquitous throughout the Reunited Kingdom - even under their very noses - and only being able to grasp at straws. Right?

As Trevadir delved into what he could tell her about this Captain Uhta, Arnyn continued with her notes. "They are associates of a sort," she rephrased Trevadir's words, trying to show she understood what he meant. "And they get along with each other well enough." The Lieutenant hardly needed any further explanation about why Uhta liked taking female slaves. With another nod, she confirmed her memory of the story, and tried to detach herself from any sympathy - for if she fell prey to that now, she might not be able to focus as she should. She paused her quill for a moment, processing the image of Uhta which Trevadir had painted with his words. "So. The ass and the butt," she remarked drily. "A fitting pair."
A very detached, analytical part of her suddenly whispered in the back of her mind that if this Uhta liked to take women as slaves, they could place one of their own on his ship to help with springing the trap. They did have someone skilled at deception... someone who would fit the bill and would be up to the task. But Arnyn knew they also had another someone among their numbers who would probably be firmly against sending in his wife. Arnyn wouldn't blame him, honestly. It would be a risky undertaking. And perhaps an unnecessary one, if they could use Devedir's ship as bait... Right?
"Would you say that... placing one of our own on Uhta's ship could make a difference? Do they guard and watch the people they take as slaves very closely? Or do they rely more on their fearfulness to keep them in check?" she ventured nonetheless, carefully. Sometimes, being who she was, meant asking dangerous questions.

The way Trevadir retracted his statement about burning Pharak alive, made Arnyn look up again, and sit back in her seat. Her gaze travelled between the two friends in front of her. Trevadir looked downright embarrassed for having suggested it, now that she had called attention to it. Unalmis, on the other hand... It sort of reminded her of the way she and Kaylin had not seen eye to eye about Relic and Shamara's fate. Well. It was probably wise not to expand on that comment any further.

Unalmis promptly rose to his feet. Refills. Arnyn glanced at her water, which was half empty. Her coffee was in a similar state. "Maybe a top-off for the water," she allowed, adding to the young man's cause in taking a beat. While Unalmis made his way to the kitchen, Arnyn was so distracted by the information that was being thrown at her, she did not even try to get a look past Unalmis to gauge the state of the kitchen.
"Uhta is Pharak's son," she repeated levelly. Clearly, if she had been able to put that together somehow, she hadn't. And if she had known, she had forgotten. She wasn't sure. It was, in a way, miraculous she remembered what she did. "And Pharak is a priest in a Sauron-worshipping temple where they commit... absolute atrocities." Unfortunately, she'd never be able to forget that story about the fate of a certain group of sailors. Falling silent for a moment, the Lieutenant shook her head, banishing those thoughts. "Alright. So if the fat spoiled pirate toddler is his least horrible offspring," she began right as Unalmis came back into the room with his tray, the set of her eyes as well as her tone betraying she wasn't asking for this because she wanted to, but because she had to... "Then what on Middle Earth are the others like?"

@Arnyn @Ercassie
Listening as both Nal, and then Arnyn, spoke about the leniency idea, a small smile appeared on Trev's face. "Yes, that might be a good idea." He agreed, feeling rather relieved for the others who had not been so lucky as to break away, as he had finally done. He bit his lip, refraining from mentioning how very hard it could be to resist those people, with all the pressure to do this or that, being mocked and ridiculed for not doing things the others did, and so forth. He went quiet, thoughtful as Arnyn said that 'information is power'. He nodded slowly. "Yes, it really is." He agreed, thinking about how much easier it had been for him, once the lies had begun to dissipate, replaced with true information. He nodded again when she reminded them that she would have to check into whether it was even an option. "I hope so." He said quietly.

Glancing toward his friend, he considered whether to mention his skill at silly sketching, but figured that he ought to let Nal decide if he wanted to offer his abilities to the cause. Aside from Nal, Cali was perhaps the next option, but he wasn't sure if her skills included the drawing of people.. she was more used to sketching designs of weapons and armor and stuff of that sort, not living things. But then, she was a civilian, he thought then, as Arnyn said she would prefer not to involve civilians. She was, right? He took a moment to think about that, but decided it best not to volunteer her for anything of the sort, either way. "I'm sure there's someone," He hesitated, debating mentioning that he might be willing to relent a little on the guard thing if there was no other option, but before he had decided whether to say as much, the lieutenant said that about wanting to return to the guard topic. "Yes.. that is definitely on my list, too." He agreed with another glance exchanged with his friend.

Nodding in confirmation of the Lieutenant's rewording, concerning Uhta, Trev then let out a little laugh of surprised amusement when she gave the umbarian his own nickname, and a rather apt one, he thought with a little grin. "Yeah. Quite a pair," He agreed. "Somewhat opposite of one another, yet.. a good match to each other, somehow. I don't know." he shrugged, unsure how exactly to explain.

Then he blinked as Arnyn asked another question that caught him by surprise, and took a moment to think about that. Putting one of their own.. on Uhta's ship? He frowned, remembering that awful week he'd been forced to spend aboard that ship, and swallowed dryly. "I.. don't know what you mean exactly.." He frowned. "As a crew member? Or.. surely not as a fake slave?" he shook his head slightly. "Either way, I honestly don't think that would be a good idea." He decided.

"As for the slaves," He addressed the other half of the question, "they keep them locked up in fetters, in the.." he paused to seek in his mind for the correct word in this language, but he'd only ever heard the name in the Umbarian's language, so drew a blank. "The oar area. They use slaves to row the ship. They usually have at least.." He paused, taking a moment to close his eyes so better to draw on his memory of the place. "Two guards," he opened his eyes again and nodded with certainty. "Two watching the slaves, below. And usually there's two sentries posted on the main deck, when they're in harbor, or during the night. It's called the Spectre, by the way," he added, in case that was helpful in any way. "There's a Jackal figurehead on the front, and they like to use the "invoking fear into their enemies" method, rather than using stealth and cunning, like Dev."

As Nal rose, Trev couldn't help glancing toward his friend, almost inquisitively, perhaps even a little guilty. For the two had agreed beforehand on a few things, certain cues and such, for just in case things got overwhelming, or certain things needed to be said without the other present. Considering what he had been talking about... he wondered if this was code for 'I need to step out for a moment' or if Nal was really just thinking of the drinks. With a small nod of gratitude for the thought in refreshing his glass, Trev said nothing to call attention to the possibility that it might be the former, but kept it in mind. That they were delving into slightly more sensitive subjects, now.

"Don't get me wrong," he spoke tentatively, as Nal was heading toward the kitchen. So that Nal would hopefully hear this part as well. "Uhta is definitely horrible in his own way, and I don't like him one bit. Just, he's not quite as bad as the other two." He explained, sighing softly. He sat back, trying to think of what more he might be able to say, to help Arnyn get a better picture of the type of guy he is. "He even.. I guess? tried to be nice-ish to me. In his own way. Sometimes." He cleared his throat, awkwardly remembering some of the 'nice gestures' the guy had made, which had honestly made Trev despise him even more. "Not that his idea of 'nice' is actually all that nice." He muttered, eyes downcast at those unpleasant memories.

The way the lieutenant then said, 'Uhta is Pharak's son', sounded as if she were not merely stating it rhetorically, but more as if she didn't already know. Even though it wasn't actually phrased like a question, Trev realized that he hadn't really mentioned that fact until now. "Oh. Right, yes," he nodded. "Uhta is the youngest of three triplets." He informed her, then nodded again, agreeing wholeheartedly with the next statement about Pharak's deeds. Atrocious indeed. "That's right. He runs the House of Horrors up on the hill, in the center of the city. Along with his apprentice-slash-disciple." He paused as Nal returned with the tray, glancing toward him with a tentative smile. As if to ask, 'you good?' However, out loud, he only said, "Thanks, Nal," as he reached to take the jug of lemonade, then changed his mind and grabbed the water one instead.

He considered how to answer the lieutenant's question while he reached over to top off her glass for her. "You sure you don't need a moment to process all this?" He asked with a slight smile toward the woman who was trying to keep track of so much information. It occurred to him it must seem like quite a lot, actually, to hear it all at once. He'd learned this stuff over the course of four or five years, and he wasn't sure how she was coping so well with some of this information. He set the water jug down and picked up the lemonade one next, refilling his own glass. "I'd understand if you do. I know it's a lot... And there's still a lot more."

@Rillewen @Arnyn

When Arnyn had declared that she intended to speak about ‘one guard in particular’, after some talk about Umbar, Unalmis had managed to hold his tongue but could not keep from glancing toward Trevadir. His friend knew as well as he also did (since Trev had updated him anyway), that the one Guard and the subject of Umbar were more entwined than the Lieutenant realised. Yet. She would find out soon enough. His eyes warmed some from dark thoughts to amusement, and welcomely, when she named Uhta the ‘Butt’. As far as belittling and deflating the ‘awe’ of these foes went, perhaps demeaning scribbles would not be the only means. Trev had laughed. Unalmis smiled to see it and had nodded approvingly at the officer’s name-calling.


He was glad to take his expression elsewhere though soon after. and In the kitchen he had taken his time about readying a second cup of coffee for himself, as well as the two jugs to replenish the others. He returned just as Trev was confirming Arnyn’s understanding, of the Horror on the Hill. And the Apprentice-slash disciple. There were a few other ways the young men tended to refer to that individual. He certainly already had a nickname.

Unalmis nodded slightly back to Trev, not failing to notice his friend checking in. As if Trev didn't have enough to be fretting about in all this. "Good ?" he checked back quickly, but indicated the water his friend had selected, for his apparent meaning. As he sat back down, Nal's top teeth sank into his lower lip as though to stifle the taste of more lemon, when he realised; he’d left his coffee in the kitchen. Idiot.

As Trev allowed that all of this was ‘a lot’, Nal gave in and rose. “I forgot my coffee,” he confessed, before either of them could wonder what he meant by standing up for the second time in as many minutes. And silently cussing himself out for not having his head screwed on, the young Ranger went to fetch it, as Trev gave Arnyn her opportunity to take pause. “Sorry” he almost whispered, sitting back down, with the readied drink this time, a moment later. Both hands hovered, each just off side, of his cup.

@Rillewen @Isolde Alarion

Iole had no time to debate the matter of ‘finally’ ..before her friend had encased her in a welcome embrace. And she clung to Cali a little longer than was necessary, willing up the nerve to query, even in a whisper, whether the Smith was alright. But blue eyes noted that her friend stepped back, toward her ‘guest’ and away from both the front door and the City Guard there. So; clearly she felt safe with even being alone in a house with him. Strange times called for atypical behaviour, but it was a relief. It was still though .. strange, to hear the word ‘we’ applied, so frequently, to include somebody outside of their small group. Though it seemed that today they each had involved an ‘outsider’.

When Cali explained that her friend had been ‘assigned’ to look after her though, Iole almost asked .. ‘assigned by who exactly ?’ Glancing to the City Guard besides her, Sorrel was giving no impression of being aware of this ‘assigned protection’. Recalling that Mourgan had been dancing with Cali before all this started up again, perhaps he had assigned himself. If it hadn’t been for her own recent bad experiences with men, Iole might have felt this was quite a romantic gesture. Of course if this hadn’t been the first time that she’s seen Cali voluntarily alone with a man, since their same bad experiences .. she would not have been half as intrigued. But sharing secrets would have to wait. And the reference to both Nal and Lieutenant Dealedwen swelled the story into a more sensible shape. Ranger protection then, of course. Cali was their Smith.

“The Rangers are most diligent in protecting their own,” she smiled, and unwrapped the shawl she had borrowed to go out in. As desguises went it had covered her head on the way out, and been all but forgotten about since she’d met up with her own armed escort. Now though she draped it over the back of the closest chair and fanned out her hair behind her with both hands.
“Sorrela, Korsey” Sorrel meanwhile gave up her own credentials in return to the young man’s. There was little need to give up rank and role, for she was wearing her uniform still of the City Guard.

“You should have stayed home today,” Iole sighed, albeit with any real frustration indicated to her friend. “It is now, you know. Home,” she admitted, quietly as she came close to Cali. The want to remove the cloppy Ranger boots which Unalmis had brought for her was undeniable, but they had company. “I went to see the landlady and made it official,” stowing her own ‘weapon’ of keys in a pocket, she drew a second set out of the other pocket, to indicate that there were duplicate now. With a small shake of that hand, she indicated for Cali to receive her very own. “There’s one for the front door there, and one for the back,” she mentioned. It would be nice to be able to unlock the back door and leave that way as well. So far, they had only been able to secure it from the inside. “Thank you for fetching my things,” she nodded, gratefully to them both.

“Any time,” Sorrel put in, as she was thanked for walking the shopworker there safely. “Something has happened though,” she made plain, “and I can’t really count on Nal developing a timely attendance, in order to tell you all together. There is paperwork for me to manage, back at HQ.”

“He’s been arrested,” Iole put in. There was no need to name the ‘he’, at least partly because he’d given them false names. They'd know she did not mean Unalmis at least.

“Your attacker is being held,” the Guard corrected, with the proper terminology. “Technically there was enough suspicion today when we questioned him, about all you gave us yesterday. And then some evidence came to light. The ‘weapon’ he used. If you can come in and identify it tomorrow, that will secure the arrest and keep him in custody behind bars until the court serves a verdict.” She was relaying this to Cali,. “You should relax tonight,” she diagnosed.”You seem to be in good hands here.”

She nodded toward the Ranger, and then added, even as she turned to leave. “As an aside, and from a legal perspective, I should really advise you that defending even your home, with a knife, might look like premeditation. Something more mundane that still would see you safe might be a better option. A skillet or the like ..”

Iole smiled under her breath, but offered nothing but a shaking hand to dismiss Sorrel’s confused look at the reaction.

“We can’t exactly condone killings by civilians after all,” the Guard covered herself, and betrayed her recent teachings since enlisting. “You might hurt the wrong person by mistake. Especially if you are tired.”


“I’ll see you out,” Iole rose, grimaced slightly, and then mentioned as she glanced over her shoulder toward Cali and Mourgan; “And I might take a lie down in my room if you don’t mind ?” The prospect of sitting awkwardly between her friend and a young gentleman who had looked to dance with that same friend, was not her idea of a good night. And she dearly did want to get those boots off. It would be nice to get a little shut eye too. “Wake me when Nal gets here, if his noise does not,” she yawned behind a swiftly raised hand. And accompanied her friend to the door.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Considering Trevadir's information on the location of the slaves and how they were guarded in Uhta's ship... "Given what you just told me, I'm inclined to agree that is one idea not to explore any further."

Arnyn drew a few lines when it became clear Pharak had three children. "So, Pharak. Utha is one, the youngest - although with triplets the difference hardly matters." She looked up at Trevadir, waiting for the other names. At the mention of an apprentice-disciple, the Lieutenant drew a squiggly line away and down from Pharak, as well. That name might also be useful, if Trevadir could provide it.

However, he thanked Unalmis first, and Arnyn blinked, drawn slightly out of the depths of her thoughts and focus. "Yes, of course." As if she was slightly embarrassed she had only now remembered her manners. "Thank you, Unalmis." Trevadir topping off her glass with water before reaching for the lemonade to refill his own, had her uttering the same words of gratitude once more, now for Trevadir's benefit. But the latter's next question caught her a bit off guard. Her first instinct was to offer a quick and honest no as her reply - for she did not need a moment. In fact, she was someone who liked to sink her teeth into something - especially when her mind was already wrapped up in the topic anyway. Moreover, the question he'd posed was an entirely new experience in this setting. In a decade of service, she'd never had a source be that considerate of her... well, her mindspace, she supposed.

It was at that point, however, that Unalmis rose to say he'd forgotten his own drink. Arnyn watched the ranger for a second or two as he rose and hurried off, then she frowned curiously at Trevadir as she slanted her head, as if checking whether she had heard him correctly. It occurred to her, then, that Trevadir might not only be thinking of her. There was more, wasn't there?

"So..." she drawled. "You are the one who is sharing sensitive information that cannot be easy for you to speak of... and you are worried about a Ranger Lieutenant you hardly know, whose job description includes taking reports like these?"

She let the question sit for a moment and quite purposefully did not glance over at Unalmis as he rejoined the table. She remembered the snippets of information from that conversation with Duinion, Isys and Unalmis all too well. Unalmis had spoken freely, but the events his words had touched had been traumatic to say the least, and she'd noted a few of Duinion's concerned looks in the young ranger's direction.

"No wonder you hated your time on that pirate ship." Her voice was quiet, but the lack of sound in the room made it all too audible.

The Lieutenant carefully put down her quill, taking up the newly refilled water glass. "Then what would you suggest to fill that moment with?" she asked, one corner of her mouth curling up now she'd decided on exploring the path of a brief pause. "I admit I am mighty curious about the state of the kitchen. A look in there could prove an excellent interlude and distraction." She shrugged - almost innocently. "No?"

@Arnyn @Ercassie
"Yeah, fine." Trev answered Nal's inquiry with a brief nod, and left it at that. They were both good. That was good. So long as they stayed that way, everything would be fine. As tough as it had been to talk about some things with Nal, before, he was glad he had done so. It would have been far worse, he thought, to surprise his friend with some of this stuff, today. Obviously, there were a few things that had slipped his mind that were coming out now, but the surprises wouldn't be too much, by this point. Hopefully. And Nal could always step out for a moment if he needed to, as per their prior agreement.

He watched with slight amusement when his friend suddenly realized he'd forgotten his own drink, but then that could happen to anyone. Trev turned back to the lieutenant while Nal was retrieving his coffee. "You're welcome," He replied to her thanks. To be honest, he couldn't say for certain whether that had come from his grandmother's upbringing, or from being made to serve the pirates, during his time on the ship. But he said nothing about that. A slightly confused look crossed his face next, however, when she made the comment about 'no wonder he hated it on the pirate ship'. "What do you mean?" He wondered. "Anyone with even a shred of morality would've hated it there. Even without the way they treated me," He shrugged, not quite sure why it would be such a surprise that he hated it there so much.

He blinked in slight confusion when she asked what he would suggest, for filling the moment. "Umm," He wasn't sure how to reply to that, but before he had a chance to offer up any sort of suggestions, the lieutenant expressed her curiosity about the state of the kitchen. His eyes widened slightly as Trev glanced toward Nal, slightly alarmed by that proposal. "Uh," He cleared his throat, a bit caught off guard. What to say to that? What could they say? He had seen the state of the kitchen, and he had a strong suspicion that Cali would not like to have it seen by their guest. And Iole, the one more into having things all pretty, would probably like it even less. "I'm not sure that's a good idea," He answered hesitantly. "I mean, it's a bit...dangerous."

All those broken dishes, stray cups rolling around, and who knows what else might prove a trip hazard... "In fact, I think someone very nearly got killed trying to come through that way, right?" He added, with vague amusement toward Nal, thinking of the tale he'd heard about Mourgan escorting Cali home, shortly after the disaster at Midsummer. He looked back at Arnyn. "Nal is..um, pretty good at setting traps." He added in explanation, in hopes of making it sound as if the kitchen was rigged with traps, to make it seem as if that was the reason why they didn't want anyone else going in there. "Way too dangerous, right Nal?"

@Rillewen @Arnyn

His gaze found the floor when the Lieutenant suggested a tour of the kitchen. Unalmis had been less surprised of course when his friend had proposed a reprieve, and far more surprised than he should have been that Arnyn had managed to refuse the opportunity, without actually refusing. By agreeing, on condition of a thing she must know they’d protest ? She was clever alright.

Trevadir’s panicked glance would have been a cue for Nal to lend aid to his friend, although the subject matter was far from what he had supposed would cause concern today. In fact, the fact that his friend looked almost more alarmed at the thought of disappointing Cali and Iole, than he had about a lot of things he'd managed to work through thus far, was hopefully a good sign. And all that Unalmis needed, to know that Trev did not need to put this off any longer. To put off getting the closure, and delay taking every effort to see an end to his fear ,.. that would be as stupid as believing he could simply just go on and pretend it never happened. Trevadir was not stupid. And from what Nal had learnt of her thus far, it seemed unlikely that Arnyn had come here today with at least a fair understanding of what she might hear. If they did not require an interval, then certainly neither should he campaign for one.


“Oh, very, very-very dangerous,” he put in, leaning back quite deliberately in his seat as though to plant himself there. “He’s right. The girls are that keen for no one to see the mess I’ve made in there, that yes, traps. They insisted. To keep out any trespassers. In fact half of the mess is the umm .. remains of the last people who came through there. I had to step over their remains to make the coffee.”

He raised an eyebrow meant for his friend and then grinned widely as he turned full toward the officer. “And when ‘he’ says it’s dangerous ..” the young Ranger nodded his head none too subtly to indicate Trevadir, “well, you’ve heard the sorts of things that he’s faced ..” Unalmis shook his head slowly. “I really don’t think that we should risk it.”


He risked his hands drawing in around the newly-brewed hot coffee, and retracted them swiftly. “Besides, you did not come to see the state of the kitchen,” he knew. “And the quicker we get through this, the sooner it is over. For Trevadir.” Brown eyes sought his friend, as he laid his scarred palm flat on the table. Only that one. He nodded with meaning back to his friend. The sooner they got through this, the better. For all sakes.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

She smiled faintly at Trevadir's response to her comment about him not thriving on a pirate ship. He was missing the point, but that was perhaps unsurprising.

Arnyn was unable to deny her amusement at the way Trevadir's eyes widened at her suggestion of taking a peek at the state of the kitchen. She held back a smirk, the only thing that might give away any proclivity to it being the set of her eyes - yet the two young men were probably too wrapped up in their own concerns and thoughts to notice such a small detail, especially since neither of them knew her well, or - debatably - even at all.

And so, the dodging began. The Lieutenant watched it unfold calmly, listening to Trevadir's excuses first, followed by him handing over to proverbial baton to Unalmis, who took it up with admirable commitment.

"Well, in that case," she said seriously, "better not to risk it. Would not want to succumb to a kitchen after surviving in my line of work this long." She sipped from her cup. "Anti-climactic."

After putting down the cup, she once again took the quill to hand. And, without missing a beat... "Pharak, then. And his sons."

@Arnyn @Ercassie
It was difficult not to snicker as Nal claimed that the mess was actually the remains of the last people to dare entry into that room. But Trevadir managed, somehow, to return an utterly serious nod back to his friend and turned back to the lieutenant. "Yeah, you really don't want to go in there." He insisted. Of course, what he figured Nal actually meant, was the remains of what Nal had left behind in his wake. Taking up his glass, he hid his face in that while taking a drink, so not to let Arnyn see the smile fighting to come over his face.

Only after getting his face smoothed back into a more serious expression, while taking a long drink, did he lower the glass. Arnyn had relented, and turned the subject back to that which they were here for. "Alright," He nodded, accepting that it might be best not to 'take a minute' after all. He sent a grateful look toward Nal, for the support and the gesture. After having enjoyed a bit of amusement, it was sobering then to focus his thoughts back toward such unpleasant people as the Halsads. He took a deep breath and set his glass down.

"Matsu is the oldest," He began. "I don't know him all that well, but I know he's very.. unpleasant." He frowned. "He keeps a jackal around him, like a guard dog or something. Threatens to have it eat people that annoy him, or order it to bite them, stuff like that." He fidgeted at the memory of such things. "While Uhta is.. well, whatever he is.. at least he does consider Dev a friend, and in his own way, tries to be friendly-ish. But Matsu? Not at all. He hates Gondorians, and he lets you know it. He tolerates doing business with Dev, but they're not chummy, you know?"

Pausing long enough to take a slow breath, he went on. "That's not the worst of it, though." He frowned. "There's this.. island," he leaned toward the map and searched for a second before pointing to a small cluster of islands labeled as Wethrin isles. "right about here." He couldn't point out which island, specifically, but he knew it was in that area. "There used to be this.. astronomy place, I think the elves built it, maybe?" He leaned back, looking troubled. "Only.. Matsu took it over and turned it into this.. horrible temple place, like a copy of his father's temple." He cleared his throat. "He's got this crazy notion that.. well, like how his father does human sacrifices to..you know." He was quite reluctant to speak the name of the Enemy, despite his downfall. "Well, Matsu thinks, if he sacrifices elves, it'll give him that much greater favor with.. Him." He scowled, and looked down at where he had his flute clenched in both hands.

Trev let out a slow breath as he forced himself to relax his grip. "No one's sure if he's even still alive though," He added quietly. "No one's seen or heard from him or his girlfriend since before the war. So, many folks believe he was killed in the war, which would be.. very good news. Either his ship was sunk, or maybe the rangers took it captive? I didn't see it at Pelargir, that day, but there were a lot of ships there so I might have missed it, if it was there." He shrugged, then added, "His ship was called the Scourge, by the way. He liked to attack the elves around Lindon, but I think he had little luck in that, thankfully." He smiled faintly. "I heard he once tried to sail a Mumak to his island too, but that.. didn't work out so well." he grinned slightly, as he always rather enjoyed picturing the disaster that must have resulted in. "Anyway, so... Matsu is a horrible guy who thinks killing elves is going to get him some sort of super blessing from the dark lord." he summed up. "And he might be dead, but then again, he might just be laying low."

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Matsu, she wrote down in her controlled, neat cursive, at the end of the first line going down from Pharak. Meanwhile, she listened to what Trevadir knew of the man. 'Unpleasant' did not really tell her much. But the clarification that followed expanded enough to give her a general idea. She added 'jackal - mean', and 'hateful' to her information about Matsu, and also 'Gondor' stricken out so she would remember his beef with the nation she would die for.

The Lieutenant raised her eyes from the paper to Trevadir when he warned her he would then speak of worse things. Her gaze was steady as she listened. The least she could offer both Trevadir and Unalmis, from her position of command within the Rangers, was... calm. There was strength in calm. Whatever atrocities would be spoken of here, she would keep her alarm and concern to herself as much as she could. Arnyn would be as the Hyandaner division had named her in the past: a steely stream, that could be moved if necessary but remained unrelenting in its determination to find a way forward.

Part of her felt that continued sacrifice to Sauron was pointless. Then again, another part of her refused to underestimate an enemy. Especially a spirit of the Maia. Arnyn nodded slowly, thoughts churning. The father sacrified humans. The son sacrificed Elves. She noticed Trevadir's tight grip on the flute he was holding, but she did not comment.

Matsu might have been killed in the war. Arnyn let out a slow breath. "Unfortunately, I have learned to prepare for the worst rather than hope for the best, when it comes to that kind of people. If we cannot be sure, it is better to assume he is still alive." She slanted her head. "He also has one ship, like Uhta? They do not hold several - or at least not to your knowledge?"

After taking more notes, including the name of The Scourge - as well as Uhta's The Spectre, which Trevadir had named earlier - the Lieutenant paused her quill at the end of the second line below Pharak. "And the middle son. Would that be..." her dark eyes flicked to Unalmis before returning to Trevadir. "Keh-something?"

@Arnyn @Ercassie
"Keket," Trev quietly finished the name for her, and swallowed. He was slightly surprised she would have heard of him, but then, glancing briefly toward Nal, he had a suspicion of where the lieutenant might have heard that name before. After taking a drink of his lemonade, Trev then turned back to her. "Yeah, it's possible Matsu is around somewhere. I hope not, but.. I don't blame you not wanting to just write him off." He shrugged. "And yes, as far as I know, they each only have one ship." He answered with a nod. "Uhta's is called the Spectre, Matsu's is the Scourge, and Keket.. his is called the Sea Scythe. But he doesn't sail." He added. "I think he hates water, or something. Or at least, I've heard some sort of rumor along those lines. Not sure how true it is, but I have never known of him to leave land, so..." He shrugged. "Despite that," Trev went on, sighing. "he's the worst of the three. He doesn't just hate Gondorians. He hates everyone." He explained. "Or, at least that's the impression I got." he added with a slight shrug.

He looked down, taking a moment to gather his thoughts together enough to continue. "Keket is.. he likes to torture." He explained softly, with a slight fidget in his seat. "Likes to think of himself as some sort of surgeon. But, really.. he's just.. torturing people." He took a slow inhale, and let the breath out slowly again. "Operates out of this.. horrible place in the city dungeon that they call.. the Chamber of Song," He added with bitterness entering his tone at the last bit. "A mockery of the word," he muttered, and looked down as he struggled internally for a moment, to calm his emotions, and pull his thoughts out of the awful memory of the first time Dev took him there. A cruel joke from the pirate captain, asking the young musician if he'd like to go and see the Chamber of Song.

"I found out," he went on after a moment, still speaking quietly, "when Dev stops in Umbar with.. cargo.." He swallowed, uncomfortable with the topic, but knew it must be told. "He gives Pharak first pick of.. of them. He'll only use those that aren't damaged. No injuries, deformities, that sort of thing. And he'll only take a couple at a time. The ones he doesn't want or need.. Keket claims. Only a few at a time, though. The rest.. Dev takes to the auctions for profit." He frowned, but tried to keep the focus on Keket for now. "I've heard Keket can drag on a person's suffering for at least a month before.." He trailed off, unwilling to continue that sentence. But what he didn't say was surely obvious to all in the room.

Clearing his throat, he focused his gaze down at the flute in his lap. "He's got this..." he hesitated, trying to find the right word. Servant didn't exactly fit. "Lackey?" That seemed a better word for it. "..who works for him." He mentioned, with a side glance toward Nal. They both knew a bit about him. "He does stuff for Keket that he can't do without leaving home. Which seems to verify his reluctance to leave shore, but then again, it might just be that he can't be bothered to stop his cruel practices long enough to go places." Trev absently rolled his flute between his palms, trying to use the motion to distract himself slightly from the horribleness of the topic.

"Keket.. likes to cut off pieces of his victims, or take out.. their insides.. while they watch." Trevadir closed his eyes tight as he tried to summon a better mental image, but instead, now that he'd brought it up, the memory of that place stuck in his mind from the few times he'd gone with Dev. His face paled slightly. "He's got.. like, organs and stuff, in boxes. And there's rats.. and he gives them the..." He set his flute down on the table at that point, with a hand still resting over it. Resting his forehead in the other hand with that elbow propped on the table, he took a few slow, deep breaths to try and fight off a wave of nausea that threatened to come over him.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

One ship each. At least that was something. Even if they banded together, and if Matsu decided to show up if Gondor made a move against the slave trade, the brothers would have three ships. No more. Unless, of course, they had found other allies.

Keket did not sail? That was new. Arnyn slanted her head as she made a note of that. "Then why does he have a ship?" she mused out loud. "A gift? A certain status symbol or something of the like, perhaps?" Truly, she did not know much about Umbarians. She should probably look into Umbarian culture in general as well. Understanding your adversaries was usually the first step to predicting their moves. And by predicting their moves, victory was possible.

When Trevadir said Keket hated everyone, Arnyn frowned heavily. "If that is true, he also hates himself," she mumbled, but the sentiment was eclipsed by the explanation that followed. The Lieutenant shook her head and reached out to touch Trevadir's elbow.

"You need not continue on the topic of torture, Trevadir," she said. Her voice was firm, but strangely gentle. "I get the idea: Keket is vile and sadistic." Details of the practices of a torturer were... or should be... unnecessary. "Is there anything else about Keket that we should know about?" she asked, hoping to distract him from what appeared to be memories that were still able to rock him off center. Then someting else occurred to her. "And this lackey. What is their name? And their role in all of this?"

@Arnyn @Ercassie
Trev nodded faintly, relieved to hear her say that he needn't continue to delve further into that particular topic. "Sorry," he muttered, trying to pull himself together again. The apology was in part for having detailed, perhaps more than she wished to hear, but also for himself succumbing to such weakness, having to stop and take a moment to recover. After a moment he took a small sip of his lemonade, paused to make sure he wasn't still feeling queasy, and then sat back in his chair slowly, considering the other questions she had asked.

"Their ships were built from lumber given to them by the brother's grandfather, on their mother's side, according to Uhta's bragging, anyway. I remember he said something about how it was such a big deal because his grandfather is chief of the Jackal tribe in Harad. That's why they all three have a jackal for a figurehead, and why Matsu keeps a pet one around." he explained, frowning slightly at the memory of the vicious beast. "This chief guy.. I don't remember his name, or how to pronounce it," he inserted apologetically, "he allowed lumber from his territory in the jungle, and Pharak arranged for it to be used in building those three ships so that his three sons would each have a ship. Matsu and Uhta happily took to the seas and start doing horrible stuff. Keket.. stayed behind and did more horrible stuff, but um, I guess he gave his ship to his lackey to use." He wasn't sure if it was given, or loaned, but it hardly made a difference anymore.

"Abrazimir Dimaethor has the Scythe, now, I think. That's the one Nal referred to, I believe, a little bit ago." He glanced toward his friend to check, and after seeing a nod from Nal to confirm it, he turned back to the lieutenant, considering whether he wanted to get into the subject of that lackey, yet. But she had asked, so he might as well answer. "He uses many names, but the one they call him in Umbar is Arkadhur." He answered solemnly. "He is... another topic of his own." While he'd started out with four basic topics, Trev somehow felt as if it had multiplied into more and more, and was losing track of how many there were, total. "I have lots to say about him," He added, his expression darkening slightly with a hint of anger.

When asked whether there was anything else important he had to say about Keket, Trev paused for a moment, thinking. He knew there was something that he had felt was important enough to mention, but for the moment he was drawing a blank. "Yes," he answered slowly, as a brief stall, while giving his flute a little spin so that he could watch it while taking another small sip of lemonade, thinking. Then it suddenly returned to his mind, what he had been meaning to mention. "Right.. So, a couple years ago, Keket paired up with this really, really, horrible slaver woman, the scariest in the business. It had something to do with this slave of great significance, but I didn't hear much else about that, and I didn't hear any names. It seems like it was a big deal though, and... I'm not sure about this, but it might also be connected with that attempted rescue that I told you about before, the one Warder, Cadil, and Abrazimir attempted. It was around the same time, anyway."

He looked at Arnyn with curiosity. "I would say that she is the sort of person you'd never, ever want to have to meet... but, according to some very reliable sources, apparently you not only met her, but defeated her?" He mentioned, in slight wonder. "You.. and Cali, that is.. I mean, is that for real? It's no joke, right? I mean, not that I don't believe Cali, but..." He shook his head, amazed. "It just seems unreal. I had no idea that woman was around here, and to be honest, I.. I'm not sure I'd have agreed to come back here, if I'd known she was anywhere around," he admitted. "She is.. was.. terrifying. I'm not sure which one's worse, actually.. her, or Keket." Apparently, Keket, now, he realized. Since the other was dead. Still, he couldn't help hoping the lieutenant would confirm that it was, indeed, true.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

She shook her head at his apology, but did not speak. She watched the young man in front of her trying to rebuild his composure. Her question about the ships offered a different tack to focus on and seemed to help. It offered unexpected information about these Halsads. The Jackal tribe... so the animal acted as their sigil. Arnyn added to her notes as Trevadir continued, wondering if the city guard did this sort of thing all the time. Taking reports. From people who wanted to talk.

'He uses many names -'

Arnyn almost groaned. Not this again...

'- but the one they call him in Umbar is Arkadhur.'

Her right hand, holding the quill, froze. Ëonwë's wrath. Despite her tight grip on her own responses, Arnyn sighed and fought the urge to toss her quill away. Arkadhur. "That man again," she mumbled, her discontent obvious. What she had heard about him so far, combined with all the remaining question marks, as well as what was or was not going on between him and Isys... She shook her head, trying to dispell the headache before it could find steady footing. A topic of his own, Trevadir said. Yeah, no kidding. Arnyn put two fingers against her left temple while resting her elbow on the table.

And what Trevadir had to say next, brought her from some degree of exasperation to blatant concern. Keket worked with... with someone who sounded an awful lot like Relic. And if it was Relic, and if that rescue attempt with Warder, Cadil and Abrazimir was involved - then Keket had not only been involved in harming Unalmis. Then he had also been involved in harming Pele...? A vile and sadistic torturer, trying to break their own...

Arnyn froze further, trying to figure out how to deal with this information. Maybe Trevadir was wrong, she thought. Hoped. Against her better instincts and knowledge. Sure enough, all too soon that sliver of naiveté and hope was utterly and mercilessly eradicated.

When she realized that Trevadir was waiting for her to answer his question, Arnyn mentally shouted at herself to get her act together. Come on, Arnyn. You can do this. Compartmentalize. Keket and Pele are not the order of business. Trevadir is asking about Relic. She clung to that name, for no matter how dangerous a woman Relic had been - she was no longer of this world. That particular danger was gone. Whatever harm she had done in the past, she could no longer add to it. At least.

The Lieutenant tilted her chin up, finally breaking her physical stillness. "Yes... Relic is dead." She had no interest in retelling that particular tale, and the awkwardness she felt about that at least helped her shove down the whirlwind of concern and alarm that had taken over a moment before. She could also feel Trevadir's need for reassurance in the very air between them. "The light left those unnatural eyes of hers, Trevadir - with my blade in her chest. There is no doubt of it. She is gone."
The certainty of those statements centered her, as well, as she spoke them aloud. It had seemed near to impossible for a long time. For too long a time. But they had succeeded, somehow.

Reluctantly, she returned to the topic of Keket and his lackey. Arkadhur. "Keket and Arkadhur..." Arnyn looked over at Unalmis. "They worked together, years ago. As I understand it, no longer. Is that something either of you can confirm?"

@Rillewen @Arnyn @Lantaelen

There was listening to awful and disturbing accounts, and then there was listening to awful and disturbing accounts about what had happened to people you knew and cared about. This conversation clearly fell under the latter and if Unalmis had hoped he would get somehow desensitised to that fact, the more times that it happened, he had been fooling himself. So to stay himself where he was sat, Nal’s hands curled determinedly around his hot drink as the talk progressed, and silently he’d peeled fingers away when the heat got too much. And then back they went to endure it again. What he was hearing was far more painful. He couldn’t even condemn Arnyn for putting Trev through this, as his friend had agreed to it from the outset, knowing full well what he’d likely have to tell. And the Lieutenant was leading him as gently as seemed possible through it.

The notable absence of Matsu Halsad ever since the war, had been the only positive news that Nal’ had learnt today. His face probably gave away with immediacy that he was very keen to assume that corsair, at least, was no longer an issue. If even the man’s allies and family had no confirmation of his surviving the King’s assault, it had to mean he was really gone. Right ? If someone was alive, they let their people know it. Of course, the probable death of his eldest son and heir would then not been received very well by Pharak. Perhaps that was why the Blood Priest had not crumbled but apparently clung to vengeance. If the fall of his God and idol, as well as his own blood, and every thing he’d stood and lived for, had not been enough. For now the Ass was seemingly keeping the remnants of Umbarian resistance alive, by supplying and supporting their resources even after they had been soundly beaten by the West ? The majority of their ships were gone, again, and he was gifting them the means to stay afloat nonetheless. Devedir definitely needed dismantling. Before that traitorous sea-rat helped to prop up some kind of disgruntled rebellion from the South to test the newly reunited kingdom !

The entering of Relic into the equation was equally unforeseen and .. blindsiding ! She was the slaver then who the Ass had threatened Trev with ? Unalmis crushed his hands together at that point. Was there any foul soul alive that Trev’s father had not been linked to at some point ? Or was it only the very worst of them ? The infamous sorceress had been vanquished in the end of course. Largely in part due to the Lieutenant who was sitting at the table not a foot away. Unalmis had not long sat upon both his hands, when the Officer included him in her latest question. If nothing else then, but to give Trevadir a bit of a breather and time to recover himself without scrutiny, Nal leaned back, retrieved his hands from seat, and ran one thumb over the palm of the other hand, determinedly.


“I .. want .. to confirm it,” he admitted, before he could bring his brown eyes to face Arnyn’s. “But I can’t forget that Arkadhur was definitely doing Keket’s bidding in Umbar, five, no, six years ago now.” he swallowed. “He did just what Keket said to do, no argument, no hesitation,” Nal clarified, with a shrug, and then expanded on why he felt it was relevant. “When we got away from Umbar, it was on Keket’s own ship. And well, Arkadhur came along. I mean, he left Umbar. With us. And that was only maybe a week or, a bit more than a week, after he’d been so .. obedient. So if he did betray the Halsad’s then he was still concerned with appearing ‘authentic’ almost right up until the moment he left. Or, well, I don’t know what would have seen him have such a change of heart in such a short time. Maybe Isys and Abrazimir managed him so that he didn’t have a choice ? I have no idea.”

“What happened though, with the SeaScythe,” Unalmis set his gaze then toward the table, thoughtful, and resolved to not be stirred by any reaction, before he’d managed to share what little he could contribute, “that didn’t really seem as though Arkadhur was working for Keket any more. So I do get why Isys seems to want to believe it. I mean, the loss of a Halsad ship, to Abrazimir of all people. Keket hates everyone,” he glanced toward and agreed with Trevadir before assuring Arnyn “but he really hates Abrazimir. A lot. So Keket would already be absolutely raging against anyone who was responsible for that kick in his teeth, even if it hadn’t led to the rest of it. That is, the liberating of the oarslaves, and well, any of us getting away out of Umbar in the first place. And the idea to kill the surviving Umbarian crew aboard the ship, after it was already taken ? Arkadhur was actually the one who began the call for the other Umbarians’ deaths to happen, when Isys said they should just chain them in place of the oarslaves. It was down to Abrazimir to decide in the end. But still, that was .. ” Nal gave up on trying to find a word that explained his feeling over Arkadhur’s coldblooded want for the murder of his own countrymen. Men he must have worked with personally, no less. In the end the young man simply blew air in some frustration out of one side of his mouth.


“Then of course, opinion shifts back the other way, because well,” the Ranger shifted in his seat and took a deep breath, “my cousin’s wife, that’s Gael; she told us things, after she was rescued and home safe. Things that Keket had said to her after Uhta had put out back to sea for more shenanigans with the Ass and just, well … left her there in Umbar.” It was impossible for Unalmis to conceal his upset at Uhta’s treatment of Gael. He was still amazed that he’d managed not to put in words when Trevadir had been extolling about the youngest Halsad.

“Keket was there of course, at the house,” he explained, “and he’d crowed to her you see, about how he had an agent in Dol Amroth. Had done for years, apparently. And Keket .. ” the young Ranger took a breath before he could make himself say the words, “he had one of Gael’s fingers delivered to her father, via this agent, and told her that he was going to send her back home in pieces, one at a time, and that this .. whoever he is .. ‘had her father in his pocket’. I know Nardy was trying to prove that the agent is or was Arkadhur. But then Gael’s father was found dead before she got home and then the war happened .. and everyone suddenly had much more important and pressing problems. Until out of the blue Arkadhur showed up here last year, having taken Cali and Iole from the Pelennor.” A brief glance over his shoulder allowed for Nal to check in the direction of where Cali was meant to be resting, before he dared draw his supposings to conclusion, albeit more quietly than he had been speaking moments before. Just in case.


“By the time Cadil and I got there, he had already handed them over to the Ass, in Harlond. So we figured,” Nal gestured with one hand between his friend and himself, for Arnyn’s sake, “that any agent of Keket who had been living in Dol Amroth amongst Gondorians for years, would be well versed in lying about whose side he was actually on,” he admitted to Arnyn. “He’s worked with us and against us so far. So I can confirm he’s a liar. Honestly ? It just seems to me that Arkadhur will act as though he’s on the side of whoever he is with at that particular moment.”

Pausing there, Unalmis realised his coffee was quite cooler now though, and took full advantage of the fact. He'd said a lot, and far more than he had intended to. But the Lieutenant’s reputation had preceded her, and Nal was keen to have it all out at once, rather than filter through many questions and prolong it. So all the insight he felt he could offer, he had, before he passed the matter back to Trevadir again. After all, his friend could offer far more than just biased guesswork and hearsay of a kinsman’s suspicions.

@Pele Alarion

Turning a boot over in his hand, Unalmis considered it as though somehow it might provide the answer to all questions. There were of course, a lot of questions. A lot more of those than there were answers, or perhaps it was just that the answers were not particularly unwelcome. But Cadil also confirmed that there was plantain in the garden, and offered his friends a place to hide, not to mention the surprise of a snack. That last saw a grin find the Ranger’s face, in spite of the situation.

“Well, now I know that it’s serious,” he shook his head and glanced over at his host. Dropping the boot and any further contemplation that he might put it back on … yes, taking that off at all had been a little premature, he realised belatedly. He should have simply bourne the pain and discomfort a little longer. Now, forcing the leather back over the torn skin was going to be unpleasant.


“Apparently the City Guard thought ‘Lowendir’ was dead already,” he admitted to Cadil what he’d found out. “There was another criminal with the same name who was actually found dead at around the same time. He’d broken out of the city dungeons or something like the day before. So then the Guard got caught up in investigating the death of that suspect and ended up closing the case as a suicide. And nobody thought at all about looking any more for the actual other guy they didn’t know was still out there. Well, not until our idiot strolled right back into the original crime scene today.” Nal rolled his eyes at the complete and utter shambles. “Even then, it was only Cali causing an uproar about it earlier which made anyone do anything. So now they’re having to go find Cali’s original report to make sure of the details, before they do anything. I expect they’re working out how to cover their mess up before they face her.”

That nonsense about it being too busy on Midsummer day to start proceedings immediately was, Unalmis suspected, a lot of nonsense and time wasting. There was no need to clarify which City Guard the Ranger believed was liable to have had a hand in the whole mess. Aderic. He had done it before. His father had done it before him. And he would continue to do it, unless they could somehow prove he was involved. Therein lay the difficulty.


“We have only our word against .. well, his. And if we don't survive to tell them what he did, then the guy could go on and do it to somebody else. Some other unsuspecting innocent. Which is where you come in, to make sure that doesn't happen.” Unalmis cast a thoughtful glance in his friend’s direction and was not entirely sure whether he should even say what he was about to. If Cadil had withdrawn from any ambition whatsoever thanks to getting dragged into that mess with Abrazimir and Warder before the war, would dragging him back into this mess be in his favour ? There was no way either of they two could explain how or why they'd found ourselves in any position to locate the girls in Harlond, without telling of .. what happened at the South Gate first, he knew, and leaned back against the kitchen wall to contemplate the odds. They had agreed it would not be at all 'brilliant' to have to recount, for Cadil any more than it was going to be for him. But he couldn't help but recall how het up Cadil had gotten, when it came to it, last autumn. And that was gathering confidence in his friend to manage that again, if things went ill for the rest of them. Maybe if the rest of them were all horribly murdered, Cadil would find that fury for justice inside him again ..

“I do not even know and can not think why the rogue thought it was wise to return here,” Nal confided, quietly. “If he did come to finish off the witnesses, then he is only presenting the opportunity to provide new evidence of the crimes he intends to commit this time. Maybe he thinks he got away clean last time so he might again. But we have to be smarter than him. I mean, he already knows where we live, Cadil, who our families are. Iole told him all about everything and everyone she knew, before she realised what he was. He does not know how to find you though.” Unalmis was wearing his serious face. Most of the time people did not have to wait long for it to break into the truth of his punchline to a joke. But this night it did not fall from his face. “Which means you are safe, unless I have lead him here tonight. And I took .. as many precautions as I could. I could not have you to just not know of the danger, you Know ? In case he chances to see you since you would not have known to be careful. So. Here's the thing. If he does find us, and if he does .. what the girls are convinced he has come to do here, then .. you will be the only one left, Cadil. You are the only other one who knows what he looks like, what he did, what happened. You,” the young Ranger beheld his friend sidelong, “are the secret weapon. You are the reinforcements. You are our last hope to make sure he never does this to anyone else.”


A consideration that he might be laying this on too thick began to register and Unalmis coughed, to dispel at least his own doubts. He'd probably more than made his point by this point.

“All you need to do is .. stay safe. Be careful. Keep an eye out. Utilise all those sorts of skills which you are already trained in, the things which are ingrained in you from years before the war. And all without getting into any trouble. You’d be actively avoiding trouble. Hows that for a deal ?” The smile was feint but believable. After all, the speech and idea, inflated though it’s speaker might have made it, was all based in truth.

“And I’m loath to say it, but the girls will kill me themselves if I don’t get back to them as soon as ever I am able to,” the young Ranger apologised. “We can’t unload ourselves all over your home. And it’s important that you are not seen with us, that neither the Umbarian or that darned Guard find you either. As far as I can figure they might not even be looking for you. But I wouldn’t mind us looking for some of that plaintain before I leave, if you don’t mind ? Oh, and if you don’t see or hear from me by say, a month’s time, then you must, this is important. You absolutely must go to the HQ and speak to Captain Alarion.” Unalmis smothered his greatest hopes down as deep as he could bury them, counting on the dark to mask what his friend might suspect regardless. “She’ll know what to do.”

A hand dropped manfully onto Cadil’s shoulder, as Unalmis sought him squarely in the eye for a reaction. “Deal ?”

@Arnyn @Ercassie
The relief he felt, when hearing it confirmed by the lieutenant that Relic was definitely dead, was tremendous. He sat back, nodding slightly. "I'm glad to hear it," he muttered, letting out a slow exhale as his shoulders relaxed slightly. He hadn't even noticed them tensing. "To hear that someone like that is capable of dying, well.." He shrugged. "It gives hope that other horrible people are capable of being defeated, as well." He looked down for a moment, his gaze fixed on the flute that had slowly spun to a stop on the table.

"Keket and Arkadhur..."

Hearing the lieutenant return to that topic, Trev looked up, and saw that she was directing her next question to Nal. He blinked though, hearing her ask if they could confirm the idea that Arkadhur was no longer working with Keket. He had to bite his lip to keep from interrupting with his own answer. As his friend gathered up the words to give her what answer he could, Trevadir took a slow gulp of his own drink, listening to what Unalmis had to offer on the matter. He winced involuntarily when Nal mentioned the part about Gael's finger being delivered to her father. He swallowed back any interjections, determined to let Nal speak his piece until he was done.

"He is definitely still working for Keket," Trev finally burst out, as soon as it seemed Nal was pausing. He leaned forward again, putting his glass down on the hot pad/coaster. "He was acting as an agent in Belfalas. He'd blackmail people in Belfalas, like Gael's father, into doing whatever he asked, paying whatever he said... all the while threatening them with the idea of what might happen to their loved one, if they refused." He scowled. "I think it was my first week on board Dev's ship, when Arkadhur came along asking to talk with Dev privately. That was when I first met him." He paused, motioning to Nal. "But I'd heard of him before then, so it was a bit startling to find out that Dev knew him. Before I had a chance to tell Dev what I knew about him from Nal, he sent me off on some made up errand below deck, so he could talk with Arkadhur alone. And then it wasn't long after that, we were going to meet with Lord Estennin on the isle of Tol Falas." He explained.

"Dev let me come along for that meeting. I sat off to the side, and heard everything they said. Only, at the time, I.. I thought... I didn't know what was going on, really." He admitted, dropping his gaze down. "He gave Dev a chest-full of gold, and there was some vague talk about the guy's daughter and how he'd do anything to see her safely home, and all that. And I figured he must be paying Dev to go find her and rescue her, you know.. bring her home." He smiled wryly at his own childish naivety. "I got sorta excited, you know, thinking we were going to go have this exciting rescue adventure, and be heroes and everything. But after Lord Estennin had left, I said something about it and Dev acted like I was an idiot for thinking such a thing," He sighed. "Said he had no intention of rescuing her, or anyone else. He told me that the gold was payment for giving the guy passage on the ship." he frowned, and started the flute spinning again, watching it.

"Arkadhur set up that meeting." He confirmed quietly. "I found out more about the whole thing, later. Lord Estennin was being blackmailed into doing stuff for Arkadhur. I heard something about how he was supposed to steal the Red Arrow from here in Minas Tirith, and then Dev was going to bring him someplace to meet with Arkadhur, so he could then take it to Keket." he added. "It was all Keket's idea, only Lord Estennin never showed up to the agreed meeting spot. Dev was pretty annoyed about that. He waited for a pretty long while before he finally gave up, figuring the guy had ditched on us. He thought he might have changed his mind and was trying to set a trap for him. We never really found out why Lord Estennin didn't meet us. But Keket was.. not pleased, to say the least." He cleared his throat.

"Anyway, I heard that Arkadhur used to do that blackmail thing all the time, before I was on the ship. He'd use Dev as a sort of middleman like that all the time. Blackmailing the family members of people that Uhta had captured, making them pay ransom, or coercing them into doing things, that sort of stuff. All in the hope that they might get their family member back, only they never did. All that was before I was on the ship, but I heard about it from the other crew members, and apparently, it was a common thing for Keket to send.. severed fingers and such.. back to the families. To convince them he's serious, you know." He swallowed dryly, and reached for his glass.

He took a moment to sip his drink. "Anyway... after Lord Estennin, he sort of just dropped out of sight. No one really heard from Arkadhur for almost four years that I know of, but I heard a lot of mixed rumors from different people. Some people assumed he'd run off somewhere to hide from Keket's wrath. Other people thought he was on some assignment from Keket, just pretending to have switched sides, so the Gondorians would trust him, worming his way into their confidence... that sort of thing. And others figured he was working as a secret spy in Belfalas, using a false identity, passing information, keeping in contact with Keket somehow. I don't know for sure. I just know he didn't contact Dev again until last autumn."

His expression darkened at that. "When he said he wanted to send a 'gift' to Keket." Trev's hands clenched into fists while he slowly inhaled, then exhaled. "That would be the girls," he added for clarification. "He's still working for Keket alright, I'm sure of it. I don't think he ever stopped, but I can't really prove it. There's a few years' gap there that I can't fill, but from what Nal just said, I really believe he must have been working for Keket all along, even when he pretended to be betraying him. I can't think of another logical explanation." He shrugged. "And he clearly has no qualms about doing horrible things.. considering what he did to Cali and Iole." He scowled in anger at the memory of his friends having been terrorized and injured, as well as traumatized.

Feeling a sudden need to get up and move around, he snatched his flute up in mid-spin, rose to his feet, and strode over to stand by the window, taking a moment to calm his anger. Deep breaths, he told himself. After a moment of watching some flowers swaying lightly in a breeze outside the window, he let out a slow exhale. Absently twirling his flute as if it were a baton, he went on. "After.. all that stuff in Harlond, back in the Autumn," he cleared his throat lightly, reluctant to bring up any reminders of that terrible argument between himself and Nal, that day. "After.. I'd parted ways from the others," He clarified, with a silent sigh. "It took me a little while, but I found a job at the Siren's Embrace." He made a face at that name, but he was turned toward the window so that the other two wouldn't see that. "About the last place I wanted to hang around, but the only place I could find where they'd hire me for my musical skills," He shrugged, but pushed on, "Anyway. After I'd started working there, I found out that Arkadhur was staying there, too." He had forgotten to mention that to Nal before now, and hoped he wouldn't be too surprised to hear it.

He stopped twirling the flute, held it still as he crossed his arms, and faced the others while leaning his back against the windowsill. "He and I.. um, butted heads, you might say. As in, I confronted him about what he'd done." He cleared his throat. "Probably not the smartest thing, but I was angry. Really angry. I made some threats.. which I had no intention or means of following through with." He sighed. "And he made some threats back at me. But I've no doubt he meant what he said he'd do if I caused him any trouble." He glanced at Nal, a little guiltily, before turning back to Arnyn. "So, because of that, when Cali asked me to do a report about him, after she saw him at the Midsummer thing... I figured that would be about the worst thing I could do to help her. So, I.. didn't, then. But I'll tell whatever I can tell about him now." He was looking at Arnyn as he said that, and suddenly felt a little anxious after all that he'd told her so far. "You do believe me... right?"

Cadil
with Unalmis, at Cadil's home, On the Eve of Erulaitalë
@Ercassie

The more Cadil listened to Unalmis' explanation, the more his heart sank and a frown formed on his forehead and deepened almost with every sentence uttered. These were no longer the consequences of harmless fun, mere youthful silliness they were dealing with. No matter how immature the young man was, when it came to dealing with a threat to life, even that of his friends, he took things very seriously.

"Tell me your current hideout has not been found out yet," he requested as soon as Nal had finished his explanations. "Else I will head straight for the Headquarters this very moment."

While the way he had spoken appeared brave, and he had meant it, yet Cadil felt that the lifestyle he had carefully been building since leaving his military career was about to be shattered. Of course, his parents considered his efforts as a total waste of time and kept nagging him for being so idle as to only take up space in their home instead of finding a respectable job, establishing a family and a home. In their opinion, his loitering at home and spending all the rest of his time mostly in pubs did not count. And now... here was Nal suggesting that he basically leave it all - since avoiding trouble would mean he would have to stop his pub crawls - and even go up to the Six Circle, where he had not stepped foot for a very long time.

"And yes, a deal," he agreed meeting Nal's gaze, though now his voice sounded more like a dissatisfied grumble. "But only for your sake, and that of our friends, mind you."

Turning to go out into the garden, he looked back and said, "Plantain. And you can get my socks if it helps any and you don't want to go barefoot from here."

Cadil knew exactly where plantain grew in the garden for he had been in a habit of using it for any and all small cuts and scrapes. He walked half the way across their garden space to where the plantain leaves were the largest and crouched down to pick several. "Could wrap you foot in these as if it were a steak in lettuce leaves offered in one of them fancy taverns," he said, having regained some joviality and straightening up to stick his tongue out at his friend in teasing.

@Pele Alarion
Though Cadil’s expression was grave in response to what Unalmis shared, the reaction was not surprising, nor unwarranted, given the subject. When the young host queried the safety of their friends, Nal shook his head, and laid it back against the wall. “We have more than one place we can hide,” he admitted. “The first and most comfortable was still sheltering them when I left.” Cadil’s readiness to run .. well technically he had not ‘said’ run. But still. It was reassuring to hear the lengths the other was prepared to go to.

“I have not long come from HQ myself,” he confessed, twirling the boot at the end of it’s long laces. One hand batted the polished footwear into a twirl. “Up and back all the way to the Sixth, through each gate there, and down again as far as here .. so far ..” he grinned, and caught the boot to a stop, as he sighed. “The Guards are used to me going back and forth and forgetting things. But perhaps they will be surprised or suspicious of any one else who was doing it so devoutly and so soon in my wake ..” he supposed. “If he was even following me at all. I don’t know. I didn’t see anyone, but I felt .. I don’t know.”


The sense of being watched, and even followed, had predated the return of the Umbarian. Unalmis had caught the suggestion of footfalls and the sheer sense of what might have been a glimpse .. for weeks now. Had the man been back in Minas Tirith all that time ? If yes, which was unnerving, he had done nothing, despite the fact that he could have caught them unawares. So perhaps it was all just imagination. “Probably Cali has just gotten inside my head !” He laughed though without falling to a smile at the end.


Cadil’s solemn oath was taken at it’s word. Unalmis may not have known the other well, but he knew him well enough .. He believed him. “Thank you for that,” he nodded, genuinely. “I am going to make it up to you too,” he promised, thoughtfully. “Lead the way,” the young Ranger extended his free hand toward the door which his friend had already passed through. With one last curious glance over his shoulder, Nal pushed himself off the wall, and followed, barefoot, into the garden. There was no way he was going to put the boots back on now, and he did not have too far to go from here, not that he deliberately said so. If it were just for his sake, he would have, likely. But the girls .. they’d been through enough. He wasn’t taking any risks over their hideaway. The socks he’d give to Iole. He’d already run down from the Sixth in unspent leather .. but that didn’t mean she’d have to walk to the Guard HQ the next day with feet feeling the way his already did.

“You’ve done this before,” Nal remarked, as he watched Cadil head straight for and then swiftly harvest the plantain. “I don’t want to bleed all over your socks,” he said. “But it will be a relief that they will make sure the skin isn’t worn right back off the bone after applying this.” He was exaggerating slightly, and laughed as Cadil poked fun. It was as though the garden were a year away from the whispered huddle of the kitchen. The fresh air cooling his neck, the soft grass underfoot .. it all helped. Shouldering his pack back onto both shoulders, Unalmis accepted the offering of herbs.


“Is that the medical term for the herbal application ?” he half laughed at the mention of steaks and lettuce, though the fact of doing so still hushed, did not allow either of them to forget .. why any of this was necessary in the first place. “You’ll have to show me these fancy taverns of yours, when this is all over,” he suggested. “We can take the girls and celebrate,” he supposed.

“Until the other side then ?” a hand was offered to shake Cadil’s and confirm their dealings. It was slightly muddy, having come over a wall or two on the way here. He eyed the wall of Cadil’s garden and took a breath before preparing to go back the way he’d come in.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Unalmis wanted to confirm it? That seemed significant, although he did not explain why he wanted to, instead divulging into what he could not forget - and quite possibly could not forgive. "You want to confirm Arkadhur does not work for Keket anymore. Why do you want to?" Arnyn asked quietly. "Because he helped your group with the ship, to leave Umbar? Because you are hoping it means Keket has at least one less individual in his corner? Or because you think, as you said, that Isys seems to want to believe it, and you want to support her in that?" Or was there more to it, still?

The information that Keket hated Abrazimir with a vengeance might come in handy, she decided. And so she made a note. Perhaps she should ask Abrazimir about that, too. What had happened there to make Keket hate the Swan Knight even more than the average Gondorian? Had he pestered the Halsads too many times? Regardless of the reason, they might be able to use that. An enemy blinded by rage was generally preferable to one that was making carefully deliberated moves. As a rule, angry people made more mistakes.

Arkadhur had wanted to kill the Umbarian crew left on the SeaScythe? Arnyn frowned. Did Arkadhur have so little care for life, if it was not his own? The Lieutenant slanted her head. "Do you know what Abrazimir decided, in the end? For the fates of the Umbarian crew?" she inquired, somewhat curious to see if the knight's choices would be in alignment with her own views.

The rest of Unalmis' information - Gael, her finger - Warder trying to prove the Umbarian agent in Dol Amroth was Arkadhur - Arkadhur abducting Cali and Iole to hand her to Devedir Thormaetha - it was a lot. But the Lieutenant suffered through it with no more than a thoughtful gaze, not even her quill hand moving to add to her notes. Stillness. While she processed. It was clear that Arkadhur had worked with them and against them. Mostly with them when Abrazimir and Isys had been involved, it seemed.

Unalmis' account would be, of course, coloured to some extent. Warder was his kin, and he was now married to Gael - the lady who had suffered at the hand of these Umbarians. But it added more shading to this drawing of "Isys' contact". However, to his great credit, Unalmis had tried to give a very balanced account. Arnyn offered the ranger a thankful nod.

Trevadir's outburst made her turn her head toward him. Definitely still working for Keket?
And yet... what Trevadir had to say about Arkadhur was hardly recent. Was acting as an agent in Belfalas, in the past. Gael's father had died before the end of the War. Trevadir's first week on board of Devedir's ship had been five years ago.

And then... last autumn. Arnyn's frown deepened. Three seasons ago. Arkhadur had been pivotal in Shamara's escape the day before the autumn festival, that much was clear. And during the festival he had made his move on Cali and Iole. At the HQ meeting in Narië, Isys had said her contact claimed to have been following Shamara for six months. So since about midwinter. Had something happened between the harvest festival and midwinter, that Arkadhur would turn his cloak? (Again?) Did he want out from under the thumb of the Halsads?

For all Arnyn had heard of the man by now, she wondered if indeed this Arkhadur was not a Halsad, himself! Surely he had earned the name, and seemed to fit in well with the lot of them. It might explain why Arkhadur, as Keket's 'lackey', had felt comfortable enough to tell Keket to 'break Unalmis'. For that is what Unalmis had told her, a few weeks ago, was it not? That Arkhadur had told Keket to break him?

Ah, there was the start of that headache. Subtle, as of yet. But very clearly there.

"I believe you," she assured Trevadir. "Your words sound genuine to me. And I think your heart is true." A brief, genuine smile was offered to both men at the table - for that matter. "What do you mean when you say the two of you 'butted heads'?" She slanted her head. "Another brawl?" She'd heard the brief summary of the fight at the Siren from Macardil, when he and Trevadir had faced four men looking to deliver both Macardil and Trevadir to places they did want want to go.

"Unalmis..." She hesitated momentarily, for what she was about to ask might be so obvious to Unalmis - or for that matter, Trevadir - while it was not so to her. That is, if it were in fact so. If it were not so, and either of the men knew it was not so, her question would surely look like a stretch. Then again, why not use the fact these two were so eager to give up whatever intelligence they possessed between them? "In that meeting, a while back, with Duinion and Isys.. You mentioned Uhta, Pharak, Keket, and Arkhadur - some other names as well perhaps - and you said 'most of them are Halsads'. Is.. Arkhadur also a Halsad?" She ventured. "The way you spoke of how he conversed with Keket - the worst of them all, as it turns out... it seems too familiar. Too at ease to use with a maniacal boss. A family relation might explain that away. Not that it may matter much, in the end," she ackknowledged, lifting a shoulder.

@Rillewen @Arnyn

“Those would all be fair enough reasons really,” Unalmis conceded to Arnyn’s guesswork. “But mostly I figure that if Arkadhur really doesn’t work for Keket any more, then perhaps the two of them might be at odds enough to see an end to one another, and then we would not have to be troubled any further by either or both of them.” He shrugged, maybe overly nonchalant. “It’s probably naïve, but .. it does not hurt to hope, right ?” He offered a somewhat optimistic glance toward Trevadir and took a new sup at his coffee. After noting down some thought, Arnyn returned to the matter ... of another question.


“I’m sorry, I don’t know what the outcome was on the fate of the Scythe’s original crew,” he admitted, honestly, lowering his cup a little unsteadily with one hand until the second hand rushed in to support it. “Honestly they kept us out of it all, as much as they possibly could. My father stayed with me,” he clarified somewhat, “and we were neither of us really in a state to go exploring about the ship or help much at all, so .. we sort of took care of each other as best we could, stayed out of the way, and just hunkered down until they set us to port at Pelargir. There, Isys organised for a carriage to take us straight to the House of Healing at Minas Tirith.”

It was surprising how easily the memory returned to him, that even amidst all the mayhem how impressed he’d been. That the Belfalasian’s name and word carried enough weight behind it for a random carriage driver in Pelargir to not fuss over a mere promise of payment. He’d be rewarded, she had assured him. And merely that much say so, from an Azrubel, had convinced the man to be their driver. It was a shame that the need for speed had not been quite so conducive to comfort but then it would not likely have been comfortable anyway. Else there would have been no need to seek out medical assistance.


At that point he broke off though, not at all wishing to think about that period of time. He’d still been in the Houses of Healing when they told him that Ryndir had been killed. Cali had already begun fading away from herself, Iole overly pensive with the philosophy of it all, and Trev .. well, Trev had retreated into the treehouse and refused to come out for anybody or anything. Nal had been back for nearly a month before his best friend ever showed his face. Trevadir’s urgent explosion of news then saw Unalmis turn to him, barely willing to imagine that moment when all his friend’s vainest hopes and dreams had begun to fall apart. That moment Trev must have realised, that his estranged father was not the illustrious hero that had been hoped, not by a long shot.

Glancing toward Arnyn now as the musician picked up with his testimony, Unalmis was impressed to note that she did not seem to be either bored or blown away by any of what was being described. There was a professionalism in her demeanour akin to how the Lieutenant had relayed her own almost unbelievable account .. with the Relic-wolf. She seemed able to take this all in her stride. No doubt a telling quality of why she held her rank. Taking up another drink from the now very enjoyable coffee, Nal almost broke the cup when Trev pushed himself up and literally away from the table in a rush of emotion. Ignoring the urgently discarded crockery, Nal rose automatically from his seat less than a second later, but did not move to halt nor accompany his friend. Some things just needed letting out, he’d learnt. So while Trev raged through his angst and fear with the window sill to keep him, his friend held his own position, stood at his seat, until mention was made of what the Musician had done, after last autumn had happened.


Slowly, as though withdrawing from any prospect of discussing their argument and unhappy breaking of ways .. Unalmis sank back to sitting down without a word. He prised a grip with all his fingers about the very edge of the table, and watched them turn white. It was only a week or so ago that the young Ranger had learnt Trev hadn’t taken sullenly back to sea with the Ass the year before. The Ranger was therefore curious as he was nervous over his friend’s answer when it was invited, about just what that had been like. In Harlond. Brown eyes focused intently about the tabletop until he was roused again by his name.

“Pharak was always on about his three sons,” he frowned, unsure if he was really able to answer the Officer’s final ask of him. “And well, Trev says they three each got a ship and all. But Arkadhur didn’t, right ?” He paused, for his friend’s confirmation. “I know that Pharak had a wife, Jenahda. That’s the other one I know of. Gael only got to come to the temple when this wife visited him there. And ..” memory resurrected a final possibility. “Isys said that Pharak’s brother died years and years ago after he attacked Lond Col. She said she was only a child then so .. that must have been ages ago. I don’t know where Arkadhur fits in exactly, with any of that, in the family. He .. could be one of them ?” Nal met Arnyn’s gaze, almost apologetically. “I just never heard anyone refer to him as actually one of them. What would you say Trev ?” he called over to his friend, and raised one brow, inviting the musician to expand upon the theory.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
"I believe you,"

The reassurance was a great relief to hear. Trev slowly, and silently, exhaled in relief. With a small nod, he gave a small smile in appreciation of the words that followed. Having noticed Nal rising, as if he thought Trev were about to take off and flee from all the unpleasant questions, he offered a tiny smile his way, hoping to reassure him. He wasn't going to run off, and yet, he couldn't blame his friend for fearing he might. When the lieutenant asked for some clarification about 'butting heads' with Arkadhur, he cleared his throat, taking that brief moment to think how to explain that properly.

"No, not a brawl." He shook his head with a little laugh. "No, he's not a.. brawl-y sort of guy, at least not that I've ever seen of him." Trev's brow furrowed slightly as he tried to imagine that, but it just didn't really come. "Arkadhur tends to use his words to fight for him, rather than his fists or weapons." He paused. "Although, he did use a dagger to threaten the girls... But... well. That's beside the point. He's a liar, and he's good at disguises, and making threats... manipulating things to work his favor... he somehow has ways of learning things that he can use, and getting people to do what he says, either through blackmail or threats, that sort of thing." He sighed and frowned down at the floor. "It was stupid of me to confront him, I realize. I just... I didn't expect to run into him there, and.. I don't know. I was upset, you know? He'd harmed and terrified my friends, and intended to send them off to horrible deaths, and.." He shifted a little. "I'm not exactly the best at keeping my temper." He admitted, with a shrug. "And, well, I guess it alarmed me too, to see him there, so soon after trying to send my friends off to Umbar." Alarmed was putting it mildly, of course, but he preferred not to admit to being afraid, any more than he had to.

Taking a deep breath, he looked up at her. "So, I threatened him, in a moment of panic, I guess. I'd only been working there a couple days, and I'd just woken up, come out of my room, and there he was, coming down the hall on his way to his room, just down the hall. As if he were just this regular guy.. as if he hadn't done horrible things. I just sort of.. went off on him." He ducked his head down, a little embarrassed. He had not spoken of this to anyone, not even Nal, much less the girls. "Stupid of me, of course, but.. no blows were thrown. I just sort of yelled at him a bit. I think I demanded to know what he was up to this time... told him to get out of here or I'd report him to the guards or something, and I said something about how he'd better not ever come back or harm anyone else, or I'd start telling everything I knew about him, and.. I don't know. I forgot exactly what I said, honestly. Something about leaving my friends alone, stuff like that, you know." He shrugged. "Anyway, he might as well have laughed in my face. I guess he knew more about me than I realized," He sighed. "Somehow he knew stuff, like about me being afraid of the guards arresting me... and also that I was hiding out from Dev. Cause.. um, Dev, and especially his crew, were definitely not happy with me after.. all of that..." He cleared his throat again. "Anyway. So, then Arkadhur turned all my threats around on me, and said he'd report me to the guards, and make up all these charges about stuff that he'd say I'd done. He said he'd make sure the guards would believe him, and that they wouldn't listen to a word I said, and stuff like that. And I really believe he could do it." He sighed in frustration, and moved to stand behind his empty chair, taking hold of the back of it.

"He also threatened to take me back to Dev and see to it I didn't run away again." He added quietly. "Then.. when I mentioned he would have a long wait because Dev had already left the harbor, he said something about how he'd make sure I disappeared in some manner." He swallowed and took a pause, unwilling to admit how frightened he'd been after hearing such threats. "In the end, I decided it was best if I stayed out of his way, so I tried to just avoid him." He let out a little nervous laugh. "I tried to find another job, too, but.." He shrugged, as a means of saying how useless that effort had been. "Anyway, he left after a month or so. About the beginning of winter, I suppose." He didn't go into all the thoughts and fears that had crowded into Trev's mind during all that time, when he'd been dreading whatever terrible deeds the despicable man had in mind, wondering why he was lingering there in Harlond, and feeling guilty that he couldn't warn anyone about what sort of person the guy was. He never did hear of anything else that Arkadhur might have done while he was in Harlond, and when he heard that he'd checked out at last, it had been with a mingled sense of relief and apprehension, wondering what the man had up his sleeve now.

Venturing back toward the window again while Nal spoke up to give his answer to the lieutenant's inquiries, Trev took his lemonade with him this time, and sipped on it while he watched a bumble bee gathering nectar from the flower that he'd been watching earlier. Glancing back toward the table, and at Arnyn, he blinked at the last thing she asked. Was Arkadhur related to the Halsads? That was definitely an unexpected question. He frowned thoughtfully as he considered it, listening to what Nal was saying. A brief shake of his head confirmed when Nal glanced over, that no, Arkadhur did not get a ship. At least not one of his own. "He used Keket's, but it wasn't his." he answered.

He sipped his drink slowly, then set it on the window sill afterward, thinking back in his memory for anything at all that he might have heard, either from Dev, Uhta, either of their crews... or even perhaps from Pharak. But he couldn't think of anything that would confirm or deny that fact. "Sorry," he answered, shaking his head apologetically. "I have no idea. If he is one of them, then they've kept it a secret as far as I'm aware. And he doesn't look anything like the Halsad brothers..." He frowned thoughtfully. "Then again, they don't look much alike each other, for triplets." He shrugged. "And I couldn't really say about their father. He.. well, he's a bit disfigured from all the scarring," He explained. "If there's any resemblance between him and Arkadhur, I wouldn't be able to tell."

@Ercassie @Rillewen

"You think Arkadhur could take on this Keket, then?" They had both made Keket seem so terrible. Did that mean Isys' contact was equally terrible? Perhaps not. Perhaps it only meant they judged Arkadhur's skill level highly.

With a nod of understand when Unalmis explained why they were not aware of the fate of the Umbarian crew on the SeaScythe, Arnyn stored the question away. For another time. For another person. Maybe.

Trevadir's input, then, was interesting to her. A bit more about the man's personality. Not a fighter, most likely. If he could avoid it. It is true that none of the stories Arnyn had heard had featured Arkadhur in a fight. A talker. A manipulator. It fit with her instinct telling her he had not been personally present to break Shamara out of the dungeons, as well. Words and acting. Manipulation and blackmail.
The account Trevadir provided about his altercation with Arkadhur at Harlond strengthened the claims. The Umbarian had used words against Trevadir, as well. He used information he had to threaten and manipulate.

Lingering at Harlond... Was it possible Arkadhur had lingered there, after breaking out Shamara, to see if she might try and board a ship to Umbar there, away from those who would see her incarcerated once more? And when he had found Shamara, and it had perchance become clear to him that she had no visible intentions of returning... had he figured it would be more opportune to turn her in to a known Gondorian contact such as Isys, than to return her to Relic or Keket? There Arnyn went again, wondering at the minds of those who thought all too differently.

"His three sons each got a ship. But Keket never sails his. Arkadhur does," Arnyn repeated, slanting her head. Did that have any significance? "He has command of the ship when it sails, since Keket does not take to the water...?" the question trailed off as her eyes fell down to her notes. "Anyway, it does not really matter what the man's last name is, I suppose. It was just a thought. And I can get... curious," she admitted to the two men, one by the window, the other returned to his seat by now.

"So when it comes to the Halsads and their... allies," she said slowly, "This means we have Pharak, Keket, Uhta - possibly but not likely: Matsu. And Pharak's wife Jenahda. And Arkadhur. Any other major players there? For example, you knew Keket had ties to Relic," Arnyn continued, looking at Trevadir. "Any other big players in the slave trade you know about?" If they were going to try and obliterate the slave trade, they had better know how many heads or arms to cut off, she figured. It almost made the Lieutenant cringe to think Kaylin would have loved to hear that particular thought.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
The idea of Arkadhur taking on Keket in a fight... it was a bit amusing. Trev shook his head slightly. Unsure whether she was directing that question only at Nal, or at them both, he spoke up to give his own input on it, "I very much doubt Arkadhur would dare rise up against Keket, or any of the brothers. I don't think he'd stand a chance when it comes to physically fighting, and Keket could probably get Uhta to help him out. Uhta's a big guy, very intimidating." He explained.

"I think," He added, slowly with thoughtfulness, "if Arkadhur had really betrayed Keket and turned sides, for real, then not only would he have begged for protection, but he also would've.. well, done what I'm doing. Talk, help the authorities in whatever way he can to get the Halsads put away, so they couldn't harm him. Seems like it'd be beneficial to him, also, since he'd end up gaining favor with the Gondorians for aiding in the arrests." he shrugged. "But even if he didn't want to change sides and join Gondor... but he still wanted to see an end to Keket? Then I think he would devise some way to make it happen without having to be the one to actually do it. You know?" He frowned, thoughtful. "I mean, it would be so his style to start some sort of trouble between them all, wouldn't you say?" He asked with a glance at Nal. "Turn the brothers against each other, for instance, or maybe get their father angry at them. And.. I don't know. The guy's crafty, and he's got devious ways of thinking, and lots of resources. He could do something like that, but he hasn't. Which makes me convinced that he is still working with Keket, and never had any intention of turning against him."

"His three sons each got a ship. But Keket never sails his. Arkadhur does,"

"Did," Trev corrected the lieutenant. "The SeaScythe is now in the Dimaethor's possession." he reminded her. He knew he'd mentioned it before, but then again, he'd said a lot of stuff so he could understand if she missed something or got confused about what ship was what, and so on. He shrugged. "But yes, I think that was the case, before Abrazimir took it over." He added, verifying that the information had been correct before the ship was claimed by the swan knight. He could only go by hearsay on that, however, since it had happened before he left home.

He then listened as Arnyn summed up the list of those she had so far who were either Halsads, or closely affiliated with them. "Don't forget Pharak's new favorite," He mentioned with a hint of disgust edging his tone. "His.. disciple, or whatever the creep's role is." He cleared his throat and risked a quick glance toward Nal. "That's another topic of its own..." Though he wasn't sure he was ready to get into that, yet. He felt as if they needed to make sure all of this Arkadhur and Keket stuff was ironed out to all three's satisfaction, first.

"As for the slave traders..." Trev felt of his pockets, frowning slightly. "I had a list ready, where'd I put that..?" He paused to think for a moment. "Ah.. right. Be right back," He headed for the kitchen after remembering he'd stashed it in there.

@Rillewen @Arnyn

Unalmis had been engaged in mopping up some of his spilt coffee with his sleeve, when Arnyn considered aloud whether Arkadhur were capable of taking on Keket. "I never got the impression that Keket was much of a fighter either," he put in, to support his friend's opinion. "He clearly likes his opponents already incapable of escaping him before he takes out his tools," the Ranger shivered. "He apparently has a real penchant for playing with knives though. He's more of a scavenger, taking apart the trophies that other people have already .." A hand lifted and dropped his cup, a little more carefully this time, as the young man hit a thought and decided he did not wish to voice, or even accept that possibility ..

"Arkadhur rather more manages 'accidents' .." the young man committed to the subtle change in subject. "Like, Lord Estennin's death was ruled as a suicide in Dol Amroth. If my cousin hadn't seen Lord Menilzir's coach leaving the Estennin estate, just before he found Gael's father, apparently fallen from the balcony .. he may never have suspected the fake lord's involvement in the other's death." Nal leaned back in his seat. "I just .. wouldn't turn my back on either one of them," he advised.


To hear, after all, how Trev had voluntarily had altercations with Arkadhur in Harlond, it took Unalmis to a thoughtful place. He understood, of course he did, now, why his friend had been too intimidated by the resulting threats to do anything further about the Umbarian literally holed up in the same hideout as him. Could have written a letter of course ... he swallowed the thought as quickly as it had appeared. After how the friends had left things ?? He sighed without sharing that shame with the room.


The thought of his friend having been there, so close still to their enemy, yet so close to the friends he had never sought out .. all those months ! Both had been literally under their noses ! And what had Unalmis ever done about it ? Go back to ask ? To check ? To investigate ? No, he'd tried to forget all about it, that's what. Helped the girls to put it behind them. To put thoughts of all that had happened .. 'almost took my friends to Umbar' .. Trev's words broke through all barriers .. It had been too much of a close call. And to find Trev, to have seen his friend again for the first time in literally years ! Under those circumstances ? Nal was not proud of how he'd handled .. any of that at the time. And then, .. well then he'd just merrily taken a trip with his father and friends to Rohan the following Spring ? When all that time ... all. That. Time ..

He wondered though, perhaps somewhat less than his friend, what had taken Arkadhur away from Harlond after that. He was rather more concerned over what had brought the man back into apparent play again .. him and Trevadir both, at Midsummer. It was a coincidence ? Them both showing up like that out of the blue. Had the Umbarian been following Trev and followed him back into the Pelennor ? Perhaps he had never really left Harlond at all .. but simply removed himself from Trev actually being aware of him ..

His friend's new line of supposing though pulled him from that thought to another, perhaps connected one. "Seems likely" he agreed with Trev when he was called to weigh in on developing theories. "He has already blamed away all the charges that the City Guards had on him here, on someone else .." Nal frowned, recalling something else, just as unfortunate. "I believed it when Isys told me, because of.. well, because of who it was he said was responsible. Because .. that person .. " he met Trev's gaze, "would absolutely do any and all of that. But now you've said he threatened to make things up about you, so the Guard would arrest you .. and that would have all been lies. "

The young Ranger sighed. Maybe the Umbarian had simply lied, it wouldn't be the first time. He shouldn't even be surprised at this point. "He is such a .. " words failed him. Until Trev considered further. "Maybe he has already 'begged for protection' as you out it," Nal ventured then, uncertainly. "Not from the authorities exactly. But, I mean, he went off with Isys at Midsummer easily enough, even when he must have known he'd face arrest over the Harlond thing. And he literally asked for Abrazimir to come see him, afterwards, didnt he ?"

There were far more 'if's by now than Unalmis was comfortable with. And the prospect of discussing Pharak's 'disciple', as Trev called him, was something further uncomfortable that was looming ever more now on the horizon. Another topic all of its own, the musician had deemed it. He wasn't wrong. He was just ... gone ? As Trevadir disappeared in search of another list, Nal quietly considered the chances of that list having not been with all of the other lists his organised friend had prepared and then presented earlier. He did not nonetheless give chase of that friend out of the room. Maybe this was one of those 'moments' the two had each agreed beforehand. That they might want to take, a pause. There was no way Trev could flee the kitchen without alerting the Rangers anyway. There were far too many obstacles out there.

Nal wasn't worried really about his friend fleeing from this report. He would more than understand that, and could never blame his friend, ever more so the longer this went on. But he didn't want his friend to flee .. full stop. He didn't want to lose Trev again. Not now. Not after everything and how far they'd come. None of this was particularly easy to talk about of course. He and his father had reported Pharak, all those years ago, and that had been bad enough. But at least it wasn't like that man's description wouldn't find attention if he tried coming to Gondor again. Nal had muttered a collaborative "Not half," when Trev had mentioned the Burned Man's 'disfigurement' to the Lieutenant.

Still, he'd never expected the reality of any of this to return into his life. Particularly since the war had changed the entire world. Until Arkadhur had shown up again last Autumn... and Trev .. It clearly was all far more complicated and far reaching than he'd ever imagined, not to mention a very current and present threat to his friend being home and being safe and happy. So. Needs must. As long as this did in fact all make things better rather than worse.

Trying not to look too worried, Unalmis took an overly calm sip at what was left of his drink. "Leaves something of an after taste, doesn't it ?" He remarked, lightly. And perhaps about the earlier flavoured coffee. It seemed like Trevadir had found a way to ensure they all had chance to take a moment. Which was both a relief and also a concern, over what yet might require to be heard, that they would need to so prepare themselves for.

"He's doing alright, right ?" he could not help but ask, albeit as quietly as he could, of the unreadable Lieutenant. What she was thinking by this point Nal could not begin to guess. But she didn't seem as eager now to hear the truth, as she had earlier. Of course he couldn't blame her at all for that.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

"I didn't mean an actual physical fight," Arnyn mused. "I should have made that clearer. I meant... do you think Arkadhur would be intelligent and resourceful enough to find some way to take on - or take down - Keket. With his usual weapons. So not those of bone or steel." But she waved her own clarification away, since Trevadir and Unalmis had actually answered her intended question in the meantime. It seemed to her that they thought that, yes, if Arkadhur wanted to, he could plot against Keket in such a way that it would mean the man's end. Was that was Isys was hoping for, after the way her father had met his end? And after everything else that had happened? Was she hoping for this Arkadhur to turn on the Umbarians he'd been working with... and end the threat of abductions and the foul practice of slavery - so close to home, at least? The Lieutenant cast her eyes down at her notes again. If so, she definitely could not fault Ilisys for such a wish.

That Keket was not much of a fighter, either, could be useful information. Especially if the rangers were to go find these Halsads... at some point. Another note was made. She was gathering quite the collection. And might possibly need to copy it over more neatly, once this meeting was over. She was being forced to add things in between other existing text - and someone else might not even be able to make sense of it all anymore. Then again, maybe that would be a good thing.

"Did, yes," she nodded, returning to her notes where she had marked it so. At the comment of "Pharak's new favorite", she raised her eyebrows. And before she knew it, Trevadir had ensconced to the kitchen... at least momentarily.

She might have laughed at Unalmis' comment, if her mind had not been so utterly enveloped in thought. "It does," she agreed grimly. "And I suspect it will not fade soon." At the question from the other ranger, Arnyn briefly clawed her way out of the depths of her mind - holding all this new information. Was Trevadir doing alright?

Her expression softened. "He is," she agreed once more, her tone of voice now lightened with approval and even gratitude. "I hope he is not still concerned about his... status... in the city?" she inquired. "He believes, meanwhile, that he is not wanted by the law, but is wanted by his friends? "

@Arnyn @Ercassie
The possibility which Nal had presented, that maybe Arkadhur was lying about what he claimed Rip was responsible for, was not really one Trev enjoyed. As he slipped into the kitchen, he took a moment to inhale deeply. When Nal had told him that he'd learned it had been Rip who killed their beloved friend, he hadn't even blinked. The only thing surprising about that, was the fact that no one even thought of him being the killer, until now. And after all those times he'd stood there in that awful temple, saying how much he'd like to give Trevadir a slow, torturous death, even going so far, on occasion, as to make comments about Ryn being dead.. it hardly seemed possible it could be anyone else. Honestly, Trev marveled that it never occurred to him before, that Rip was guilty of that murder.

Yet, now there was called some question about it, and he didn't like it. He blew out a long breath, then lightly kicked at that cup he'd sent in there earlier. Only to then cringe at the noise it made as he sent it spinning across the floor and into a heap of broken dishes that had been left to clean up until later. Nal was right, that guy was really such a... fill in the blank there with whatever awful adjective fit best.

And when his friend suggested the idea that Arkadhur had sought protection from the swan knight, Trev had to just bite his lip to keep from bursting out his own opinion. He figured it'd be better to speak calmly, and he wasn't exactly that, right now. After standing quietly in the kitchen for a moment, taking slow breaths, he nodded to himself. Yeah, that was better. He stepped over a soggy lump of towels and things that his friend had used to mop up a spill, and opened one of the drawers. Lifting up the tray that held silverware, when said silverware wasn't strewn about the kitchen, he retrieved a paper he'd hidden there a few days ago. Hopefully, he hadn't forgotten to grab anything else that might be needed.

He opened the folded paper to double check that it was the right one, and nodded to himself. Then, passing the table, he spotted a tray of sweets under a glass dome, miraculously unscathed from Hurricane Unalmis that had hit the kitchen earlier. "Oh, right," he muttered, remembering that Cali had gotten some stuff so they could offer something along with the drinks. Tucking his flute back into his belt to free both hands, he moved the dome aside and brought the tray along as he returned to the dining room, the list in hand. "We forgot this earlier," He informed Nal as he set the tray down on the table, where they could all reach it. "Cali insisted it was only polite to offer something to nibble on while we talk." He explained.

"Anyway, about Arkadhur," he said as he returned to his seat. "I wouldn't be surprised if he only asked for Abrazimir so he could manipulate things like he usually does. And obviously, he somehow managed to arrange for his escape." He huffed in frustration. "And as for going off with Isys, he probably figured he'd have a better chance of talking his way out of everything Cali accused him of if he could get Isys away from his accuser." He shrugged. "I'm glad he didn't manage to discredit her, at least, but..." He sighed and sat back, upset that the guy had managed to get his way about going to Dol Amroth. And now... well, he couldn't deny feeling a little worried about that.

Deciding that it wasn't worth getting all upset again, by revisiting what he assumed they all knew of, he handed over the paper to the lieutenant. "Anyway. Here, a list of everyone I know of that regularly deals with Dev in the slavery stuff." He said quietly. He pointed to one of the names near the top, Haarith Gimlân. "This guy is super rich, and he's actually sponsored some of Dev's voyages. With the purpose of gathering new slaves, I mean." He explained with a frown as he went to his seat. "Sometimes he'll even hire Dev to hit some certain merchant ship that's carrying some type of merchandise. From what I've seen and heard, he seems to have a share in all sorts of businesses, and he likes to get rid of any competitors. More profit for him, that way."

@Rillewen @Arnyn

“I think he’s just worried none of this can last,” the young Ranger met Arnyn’s own query and glanced warily after his friend’s abrupt interval. Privately he suspected that was why Trev had not even sought out his grandmother or brother yet. Until he could be sure he was returning, properly, forever. He hoped though that Trev knew he was very gladly received by those who were aware of his return. “But I can tell he trusts you. He would not even be here else,” he made clear. “And we’re definitely not about to give him up,” Nal vowed. The problem of course was that his friends were not the only ones who wanted Trev back. Devedir was the root of all fears for his friend. But he did not have to tell Arnyn that.

Honestly, just hearing somebody else say that they felt this absolute nightmare of a process was going well, was some reassurance. It was hard to tell, because it was so hard to sit through. A small crash from the kitchen saw the hopeful smile on the young man’s face flicker, but not properly fade. It did not spell concern. Yes. A break then. Trev had needed one, and something in the kitchen had just managed it. The kitchen could take it. The kitchen had seen worse, of late.

“Now that’s my fault,” he offered to Arnyn, apologetically, about the noise and clearly louder now, as though to cover it somewhat. “Can’t so much as move or turn around in there now without knocking something over. Gives them all something to really be worried about,” he almost laughed at the admission, but that would have been asking too much. It was hard enough to not glance expectantly, again, for the Musician’s return. Trevadir just needed a moment, understandable. Because he did not want fuss. Because he did not want to be embarrassed, nor to be seen to be emotional, not in front of somebody like a Lieutenant. And moments later, Trev returned, with further offerings, far less bitter offerings. Though the difference in his mood had perhaps not been entirely abandoned in the kitchen. It could not be that easy.


The fact that Trev then spoke anew of Arkadhur, when he had supposedly gone to gather the facts about a new subject was rather telling. Unalmis poked his coffee cup from either side without disturbing it. He didn’t think at all that the Belfalasians could have known of any further escape attempt by the Umbarian, if that was even what had happened. Besides that Abrazimir and Isys had saved Nal’s life and he had absolute faith in them, he’d seen Isys’s face, even before she’d heard what the debriefing meet had been all about. Trevadir of course, given his last five years experience of liars, had far more cause to be suspicious. Nal knew better than to poke at his friend’s simmering temper. Instead he threw a sweet with purpose to land on the table in front of the musician. “Cali’s orders,” he reminded, nodding toward the distraction. The delicacy.

The tale moved almost abruptly back on track, to the matter of slavery, as per Arnyn’s direction. Though as Trev mentioned how Dev could be turned toward purposely striking to seize up almost any merchandise he wanted on the high seas, Unalmis busied himself with a sweet of his own. The bitter taste which was loitering required some remedy and no mistake.

“Do you know if any of those slavers also deal, or dealt, I should say, with Relic ?” he idled with asking. “Some of their 'businesses' ..” the word felt worse than any lemon on his tongue, “might already be affected by her recent downfall.”

@Ercassie @Rillewen

"He needs Devedir gone," Arnyn spoke with a nod, as if wanting to say she understood what Unalmis meant, right before Trevadir broke something in the kitchen. "Rubbing off on your friend, Ranger Unamis?" Arnyn questioned quietly, with just a glimmer of humor to her eyes.

"Unalmis," Arnyn repeated slowly, "you do know that Arkadhur helped in the recapture of the Umbarian called Shamara, right? At midsummer?" She would assume Isys had told him. But.. assumptions when it came to Ilisys could be... tricky. Had it come up in that talk with duinion, Isys and Unalmis? Arnyn could not remember at present. Was it a question Arnyn should have raised at all? Would it be a sensitive issue? Or would it be entirely obselete given the relation between Unalmis and Isys? Well, there was no taking it back now. The only way forward was to continue.
"Her arrest was no secret at midsummer. But it was Arkadhur who alerted Isys to her presence there, or none of us would have been the wiser. And he helped distract her, as it turns out. Thus. He has very recently also tried to sway some favour his way, regardless of his true afiliation. Which I am left guessing at." Oh. Hold on. "Does Abrazimir know your cousin thinks Arkadhur posed as Lord Menilzir, and that he suspects he killed Gael's father - Lord Estennin?" Her dark eyes sped across her notes, checking if she had written the name down earlier as an alias. But it didn't look like she had.

When Trevadir returned, the platter of sweets was a surprise. She waited to take one for the time being, amthough she offered Trevadir a polite smile.

But something he said then, made her expression go blank. Arrange for his escape? Her hand woodenly reached out for the offered paper. Did he mean... Arkhadur was jailed years ago and escaped? But then why would Trevadir use the recent chronology of the Umbarian asking for Abrazimir and then arranging for his escape? She automatically looked at the paper when Trevadir pointed out a name. Haarith Gimlân. Rich. A sponsor of the rounding up of slaves. Right.

No. Not right.

Her chair moved back an inch as she pushed against the table - before she caught herself and stilled her movements. "I apologize," she admitted her failure at composure. "Please. Explain what you meant by 'Arkhadur managed to arrange for his escape'." This was no longer a question. It was a command, although her voice had sounded perhaps somewhat more fragile in that brief moment. For the keen listener.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
As the little pastry was flung through the air toward him, Trev instinctively moved both hands out to catch it, so that it landed in his open palms, rather than on the table. Probably a softer landing, and a good thing, for it was filled with something. A weak smile, attempting to show gratitude, was offered in return. But it was difficult to smile, what with all they had been discussing, and had yet to discuss. Especially when Nal then posed a question that Trev wasn't quite sure how to answer. And there were still tough topics to broach, but he was determined not to leave those things under the rug.

Frowning slightly, he took a thoughtful bite of the danish, then paused to enjoy the lemon cream type stuff in the middle. With a quiet little 'Mmm' of enjoyment, He listened to Arnyn's questions to Nal while he chewed, and took a moment to consider what she'd asked, while she turned the inquiries next toward himself. Something about how she'd worded that stuff, it didn't sound quite right to him, and he was trying to sort out what needed clarification here. He glanced toward Nal, half-questioning, when it was mentioned about Arkadhur helping arrest someone. He didn't recognize the name, and aside from the fact that it was an Umbarian, he wasn't sure what was so significant about this particular Umbarian. Regardless, he felt convinced that if anything, Arkadhur probably had his own reasons for doing it that had little or nothing to do with helping the rangers. Just like Dev always had his own reasons for doing everything he did. That was just how these people worked, and Trev had seen a great deal of it firsthand.

But there was another thing that he noticed in what Arnyn had said, which he thought might need a bit of clearing up. Swallowing what was in his mouth, Trev lowered his danish-wielding arm down close to the table, so not to be so tempted to take another bite just yet. "Just to be clear, 'Lord Hollin Menilzir the second' is just the name that he uses in Belfalas." Trev explained. "Nal told me that was the name that they were calling him back when they were on the ship, heading there," He mentioned, and glanced at his friend for confirmation before continuing, "And also, Uhta's told me plenty of stuff about how Keket had a spy in Belfalas. It's been a thing for years now." he paused, and added, "Uhta.. talks quite freely when he's drunk." He cleared his throat lightly, and paused to see if the lieutenant was following along alright. But the unexpected blank look made him lengthen the pause, unsure whether he'd lost her, or what.

When she scooted back a little, and then asked him to explain, Trev blinked in surprise at what it was she wanted clarified. "Um," He hesitated, and slowly glanced toward Nal, puzzled. Hadn't he said that he saw Isys speaking to the ranger captain? Had they not talked of this? He would have assumed the captain would tell what she knew to the lieutenant, but then he realized he was making assumptions, and shifted in his seat. "No, I'm sorry," he answered. "I just.. I thought you would have heard by now." He tried to think how to explain it. "See... when I first came back to town, Nal told me about how Arkadhur had been arrested, and that they'd moved him to Dol Amroth..." He took a deep breath. "by ship..." He still remembered the unease which had settled in his gut when Nal mentioned Prince Imrahil sending a ship to transport the fickle, lying Umbarian. He dropped his gaze and focused on the pastry in his hand, wanting to take another bite, but he needed to get this bitter information out, first.

"Well, I thought then.. what a bad idea that was.. sending him a ship to travel in? I mean, I thought, 'what if Dev had a notion to intercept that ship and free the prisoners?' I bet he could, and would, do it without hesitation. He'd get a kick out of something like that, especially if it benefits him somehow." He sighed. "Anyway, I had no idea whether he would know about Ark traveling by ship, so I tried to tell myself it'd be fine. But I could definitely think of ways that he might find someone like Arkadhur quite useful." Trev explained with a frown.

"And then, just a few days ago, Nal told me about this latest news." He went on, his frown deepening. "Apparently, that ship hadn't yet arrived in Dol Amroth though it was due days ago, and there's been no sign of it or the crew. No storms to delay it or make them veer off course, either. I looked into that." He drew in a deep breath and looked up at her again. "I know it's just a gut feeling, but.. I have a bad feeling that Arkadhur found some way to contact Dev, then tricked Abrazimir into arranging for him to travel by ship, so that Dev could swoop in and free him at the first opportunity." He scowled then. "Just like he used Cali's mother to lure Abrazimir to come here and talk to him in the first place. He's a manipulator, you know? That's the sort of things he does." Trevadir took a slow breath in, trying to calm his frustration and not show his upset too much.

"Plus..." He hesitated. "Well, I know Dev wants to get me back under his thumb. And Arkadhur surely has connections that Dev wouldn't have, after all that time he spent around Belfalas, pretending to be nobility. I don't know. Maybe it's just a hunch, and I really hope I'm wrong, but it's the only thing that makes any sense to me. I really think he got Dev to help him escape, and that's why that ship hasn't arrived yet. It's probably been sunk or something, and never will arrive." He couldn't help a bit of a gloomy tone seeping into his voice, but tried very hard to keep from letting it show how much this theory frightened him. He also made sure to keep his voice low enough that it wouldn't carry into the other room, so not to alarm Cali. Needing at least something positive to turn his thoughts toward, he took a tiny nibble of his pastry, and sighed unhappily.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

She'd snorted audibly at the full name - Lord Hollin Menilzir the second - it helped her stay sane as she noted down the alias. "Hmm." The Lieutenant had frowned. "That Utha told you Keket had a spy in Belfalas, and that this Arkadhur has a name he uses there and works or worked for Keket," she'd mused aloud, "does not necessarily mean he is that spy. Or that he might be the only one, for that matter." Arnyn had held back a sigh. "Honestly, at this point, it wouldn't surprise me if these Umbarian pests had more than one inside man. Or woman, for that matter."

After the blank expression had mastered her features and as Trevadir started clarifying, she nodded once when he said Arkadhur had been arrested, and a second time when he spoke of moving Arkadhur to Dol Amroth by ship. She couldn't help the mental note to herself that Devedir was indeed always foremost on this young man's mind. But her shock at the moment did not allow her to look at Unalmis to convey that - yes, this was more proof of what Trevadir feared the most. She filtered through it as it being a possibility. It was always possible. But was it probable? Given that the word 'escape' had been uttered, and by now it was clear to her that the mentioned escape would have happened after Arkadhur's most recent arrest... Perhaps it was.

"And then, just a few days ago, Nal told me about this latest news. Apparently, that ship hadn't yet arrived in Dol Amroth though it was due days ago, and there's been no sign of it or the crew. No storms to delay it or make them veer off course, either."

She stared at Trevadir as the wheels in her mind turned. The ship hadn't arrived in Dol Amroth. A few days ago, it had already been days late. So by now, almost a week late... at least. A week. More or less. Her dark eyes flicked from one man to the other. "It could still dock," she said hopefully. Right? Even without any storms? "Maybe a good part of the crew has fallen ill. Or maybe... maybe you are right, Trevadir, and Arkadhur orchestrated his escape and took the ship down in the process." Her eyes returned to her notes, more to avoid direct eye contact in case they saw some of the vulnerability that was welling up as she realized the news had been going around but no one had bothered to tell either Pele or herself for some reason. But then she remembered who she was and what these two needed from her, and snapped herself out of it forcibly.

"Or maybe someone - Devedir, Keket, Pharak, who knows - someone somehow knew he was on that ship and they decided to rescue him and it was all a surprise for Arkadhur. Or perhaps pirates targeted the ship and Arkadhur has now been enslaved himself. The man must have enemies, doing the things he does. Maybe someone found him and isn't planning on letting him go just yet, and don't have anything in mind Arkadhur himself wishes to be involved in. Possibilities galore." She couldn't think of another. But perhaps she had yet missed a few. If so, surely Unalmis and his creative mind could come up with it, though. She glanced briefly at the Ranger, to check whether he was showing any of his thoughts or would want to add anything.

Arnyn then turned back to Trevadir. "Devedir wants you where he can keep an eye on you. Where you are of use to him rather than a possible threat. It makes sense you would think of him as a possible player in this news. And honestly, it is a possibility - you will not hear me deny it. But... we will only know for sure once we actually know. Do not fall prey to Devedir's shadow, Trevadir. The options are high in number. Devedir being involved is far from being the only one on the table." Despite everything, one corner of her mouth curled up slightly. Just slightly. "Besides. An ass' shadow is generally a bad place to be. Best to avoid it." Perhaps the attempt at humor would take away some of her own insecurity at the moment.