At the Artists' Homestead

Constable Pal'dun takes a roundabout route on purpose, heading well west before circling around and approaching the Artists' Square area from the opposite side. He also takes a lot of detours to avoid the main routes. It is late afternoon (well past lunchtime) by the time the van rolls up the narrow street behind Mon'Fargret's home/studio.

"The triasks promised they'd watch the place," says Mey'Luskar. "I'm sure it's okay!"

"Even triasks can be bought," retorts Dabid flatly.

As he says this, a girl can be seen walking along the narrow, empty street with the characteristic swaying gait of a triask not far away. Considering the street is little more than an alley, she looks a bit out of place.

"He does have a point," says Constable Pal'dun.

"Her heart is true," says Bina quietly. "There's no betrayal...and no danger."

"Of course!" says Mey'Luskar pointedly, glaring at Dabid. "Never underestimate Yangae honor!"

Dabid only tosses his head in reply.

"Alright then," says Pal'dun, and he unseals the doors. "I guess I'm leaving all of you here. What you do from here on is up to you, but let us know if anything happens...and please try to stay out of trouble!"

(UPDATE: For the record, now that the graphic is up, the party entered the compound through the gate from the alley at lower right, behind the house.)

Relocating Again

After a little bit more minor quibbling, the group decides to take Constable Pal'dun up on his offer, and they follow him outside the building.

Considering the less than ideal state of the club, the grounds outside the building look quite nice, if a bit gloomy. It is pretty easy to tell that it is up in the Tuli Hills area overlooking Danstul' Park; beyond the sculpted lawns and gardens there is little to be seen but tree-covered hills and the upper stories of a couple of rather old-looking, Yangae-style towers. The building in which the club is housed is of similar style and age, and it is actually rather stately.

There are a number of vehicles parked in a haphazard fashion. Most of them are Peace Force vans, bikes, and cruisers, but there are also a few more ordinary-looking cars and a microbus. The Geishana ambulances are just now starting to get underway. Tellingly, there is a garage/hangar structure nearby, and its one open door shows only an empty space.

Dauk can be seen getting into a Peace Force cruiser that is obviously preparing to leave. Pru, on the other hand, appears to be walking toward the gate to the estate at a slow pace.

As the group makes its way toward one of the vans, Pal'dun gestures to the nearby officers, and they salute and step aside. Before anyone can board, however, Pal'dun comes to a halt and holds up his hand.

The sound of running, booted feet can be heard. It's Constable Betham. Drawing near to the group, he heaves a heavy sigh and does a little dance of irritation before he says, "You're leaving, are you? Alright then. Just be careful and stay out of trouble, would you? And stay in touch! This isn't over yet."

"You mean we haven't beaten it yet?" says Lirassa sarcastically.

Psy-gifted or not, Betham shows no sign of getting the joke. Glaring, he leans in closer and adds more quietly, "Maybe this is a temporary victory. We still have two very big problems here. One, Mas'Vallaf is still missing, and it looks like he has his top thugs with him. Two, Br'am was right about one point; Par'ai said it was all happening at the Scarlet Revival. This is the Scarlet Revival, and it's not the place we're looking for. As far as evidence is concerned, we've got til'uan droppings. You know we're gonna need a lot more than that to even make a case."

"If I may," says Pal'dun, "there's still the Second Chancer videos. They're coming out in a few days! We can try to delay them, but..."

"But we'd end up knee-deep in political kĕl'wàk," spits Betham. "We've got no case. Curse it, we don't even know who's distributing the damned things! Bottom line, we need anything we can get. Any tidbit of info. You find something, you let me know! And don't try to take any action on your own! We barely got out of this one, right? Best path!" With that, he bows stiffly, turns on his heel, and stomps off.

"Right," says Pal'dun. He gestures toward the van. "Shall we go?"