The Rogues Gallery of Myrken Wood

[Glenn]

"So, then, let's start with Catch." Catch had been so instrumental in them reaching this point. He had been a central figure in Myrken for the last year... longer. He was going to be key to their future, whether they wanted it or not. Glenn took Rhaena Olwak's hand, the new one, the dark one, as if it was the most tender, delicate thing in the world, and gave it a little pleasant squeeze. The usual smile was on his face, but it was nuanced for her, different now. Everything was different now. "I truly think that what I want with Catch will dovetail with what we need with Catch, but that is only if we have to worry about him and him alone. Every time he's become a danger, someone else was involved; there was some stimuli that we couldn't control. The last time it was Dhrin, but also Lamai and the overwhelming fervor of the ball. If all else was equal, then the humanity we drench him in, the humanity we armor him in," armor or metal chains? It hardly mattered in the end. It was the same thing when Glenn Burnie was the one who forced it upon you. "apparently it only holds up when he is not under assault. What do you want for him, Rhaena?" And this would be the first of many such questions. It had been so long since he had someone he could ask that question to about anything. Giuseppe was a good bodyguard, a good confidant... because he was paid to be, but he didn't want what Burnie did for Myrken.

Here, with Glenn Burnie, she had no need of veils. "Catch, yes." She had been smiling, her new hand curled in Glenn's, but that expression was soon replaced by a thoughtful frown. "His control is... lacking. Even when he does what is intended," as he had with Rhaena, "there is still... more. More than he thinks, more than he knows. More than he intends." Her words were vague, but that would not matter between these two, for she could show Glenn what had happened, what she'd seen and felt and guessed. "I don't even know if it could be controlled from the outside. I don't quite understand what happened with Lamai... perhaps if I spoke with her I might be able to come up with something. Until then, though, it seems best to see that he has no reason to try anything. He was much less coherent after the healing, and that is to be avoided, I think."

She frowned but he did not. When she showed him what she saw, he smiled just a little bit more. The closeness, the treasured connection that had been lost to them for so long, was joy. It was pure joy and intimacy. It was right. One more thing was right in the world and he all without any of the weakness or dependence from before. There was no magic ring to power it and curse them. It was simply right and good. "There is animal in him." It was a direct statement, one that they both knew to be true. "Perhaps it was even his starting point, a beast. I've not treated him as such. I've not used fear of physical punishment to control him. At every point I've tried to raise him up to walk beside us, with a full human morality," the very morality that Glenn may no longer possess. "I had hoped that he could be one of us, but Rhaena, was that just my vanity? Do we need to chain and collar him? Do we need to make a pack animal out of him? Something to serve us instead of working for the common good?" These were hard words. For over a year, Glenn had been unable to feel doubt, let alone express it, but with her, that door was finally unlocked. Where it led today, however, was not where it might have led before his time in Underdark. He was not questioning his wants and aims but instead, merely his methods.

"Could we, even if we wanted to? I'm not sure of that. Lamai would know more." She was quiet for a few moments, thinking. Then she continued. "No, I think not. As a last resort, perhaps, but there's more we can try. I think you are on the right track, and I have some other ideas that might help, but again I would prefer to speak to Lamai rather than risking it blind. For now, if he is kept safe and happy, I think that may suffice. How is Lamai, by the way? Have you heard anything from Thessilane?"

"Lamai." Lamai, Lamia, Lamai, Lamai. Mentioned three or four times just now by his beloved. He would not withhold anything at all from Rhaena, but there was certainly some hesitation when it came to the 'healer.' "Lamai has changed much, and I have learned things about her, things that we can discuss at length in time. A bit here, a bit there." That's how confusing some of it was, some of the images, some of the blurred secrets, the miracles and horrors. "She has married Kerrak's son, Cristoph. She's taken his title, though he has not taken hers. No," just a moment's hesitation with just a hint of distaste "she is forever tied politically to Thessaline now, more so than ever before. There is something else, though, Rhaena." His voice became serious now and finally, the smile waned. "She would undo our work. Her priorities are skewed, deeply. She would put her own ego, her own diagnosis of what she thinks is wrong with me over my wishes, over my desires, over what was best for Myrken. She would destroy all of our work if she is allowed. Lamai cannot be counted upon except for how we can maneuver and manage her. She cannot be trusted, and in time, she might have to be dealt with, depending upon how dangerous and overzealous she becomes." But here he pauses and looks at his scaled woman all the more hesitantly. "And then there are the rumors of Kerrak."

[Jirai]

"I know she would. It's not for help I'd talk to her, but information. She has touched him before, more than I have, and I think what she knows could be useful. Although, if she is as you say," and of course she was, for Glenn wouldn't, couldn't lie to her, "It would have to be approached delicately. I think I might manage it, but..." Here Rhaena cuts off abruptly. From anyone else, word of rumors about Kerrak would perhaps have been laughed at, but this is Glenn Burnie. "...What sort of rumors? The last thing we need here is channelers."

The smile returns. Rhaena's presence bolsters him. A wall had gone down. He could question his decisions once again, not the rightness of them but their efficiency, and only to her. It made him a thousand times more dangerous, yes, but it also made him more secure. She reassured him just with her Presence. "She would share little with me and ... she is a stubborn creature. She's also a slave to her own self-righteousness. She would have helped Catch, or did what she considers helping him, no matter what I did, and would give me no information after the fact no matter what I offered her." He did not like people he could not leverage. That had been the problem with Kacela. "But nothing in the world can move her like Kerrak." Which of course brought him back to that matter. "Amongst a litany of ghosts and spirits to apparently haunt Myrken and especially the Dagger as of late, the most alarming is... yes, Kerrak. People have claimed to see him, more solidified than the others, sometimes coherent, sometimes not. I've tried to summon him, to call him forth but in truth I haven't seen ANY of the spirits. It's vexing. i cannot easily understand what i cannot experience, what I cannot replicate. Have you..felt anything since your rewawakening?" It was an odd term for the return of her powers but somehow it felt correct.

"She might give some information to me. Professional courtesy. Or perhaps not." No way to know except to ask, right? "No, I've felt nothing." Rhaena said with a shake of her head. "We need to find out more about Kerrak, I think. And whether or not this ghost has the man's powers. Or his insanity."

"Did you ever meet Kerrak?" The topic had never come up much. Burnie arrived to Myrken shortly after the man's death. All he knew was what records survived the destruction of the old Meetinghouse and what Ariane had told him, which was scattered, to say the least. "If people are really seeing him, we'll need to act somehow. He's too dangerous and erratic. He either needs to be bound or destroyed." Catch was dangerous and erratic too but he was theirs. Kerrak belonged to a more dangerous Myrken, a symbol of a time that they were now moving past.

"Yes, but I hardly knew him. Agnieszka did. I remember sometimes they would spar... but that was before." Before a lot of things, for both Kerrak and Agnieszka. Before both of them died. Or didn't die. "If I can find Agnie, she might know more."

[Glenn]

"Agnieszka." He let the word play on his lips for a moment, drawing it out, trying to derive meaning from it, before continuing on. "Now that Kerrak is more of a priority, there are others I can try to ask as well. Few and far between though. It is a new Myrken," not yet the Myrken he was creating but it was getting there slowly and surely. "You'll have to be careful with Agony." Despite all of his personal changes, the pet name still remained. "She's a creature of Rasazan now, and a creature of magic as well. Why I'm not even sure she still possesses a soul." The irony of that statement was completely lost upon him.

"I can handle Agnie," she said firmly, though with a smile for the man, ignoring his jibe about souls. "She's not as bad as a lot of the others. Like Dulcie." Then again, Agnieszka had always thought Glenn Burnie was an ass. "Dulcie doesn't trust you. She's too nice to understand what we're trying to do."

You can handle Agnie?" And then there was a smile back to her, a little different than his usual one. He repeated the statement again. "You can handle Agnie. Okay." Just like that. It was nice, the idea that he didn't have to handle everything alone anymore. This conversation almost stopped immediately as he was overcome with a need to show her just how nice it felt. Thankfully, they could express such feelings mentally again. They would continue on only a moment or two later. "Dulcie is nice, but she's also stubborn. She's the former wife of a vampire, the former assistant of a necromancer. She loved a Mul. She has the strangest fetish for the strangest things and she won't see reason when anything out of the ordinary is involved. A criminal that she'd see us hang in a heartbeat, she'd instead save, so long as he was some strange non-human creature."

She can handle Agnie. And more than just Agnie. They could do this together. "She is nice. But I just don't understand her." Rhaena said with a bit of a shrug. "She does good work with the tavern though, the rest of it aside."

"She's too stubbon to ever really be useful." He admitted with a bit of unhappiness. Dulcie was a friend and it was a shame that she couldn't get on board with all of this, all of what they were building. "It couldn't hurt for you to take a little look, Rhaena, see just why she's so drawn to the monsters. Maybe she thinks she's one on the inside. She might just need help." And if help wouldn't solve things, there was always Help.

"If it becomes necessary I will, but I don't think there's a need yet. And she may be stubborn, but that doesn't make her useless. We just need to be careful about where we use her. We know her limitations, we can work around those." She was confident. "And really, everyone has limitations. It's our job to know what those are, right? Take Treadwell, for example, or the rest of what remains of the council. Ser Guillaume and Ser Vanidor, correct?"

[Jirai]

Glenn was hesitant to put Dulcie into the line of fire. For one thing, she did not have much outright value, not like certain others. Her position as Dagger manager meant she saw and heard a lot but she was terribly reluctant to give any of it up. That was not her SOLE use, but it was close to it. There was some sentiment as well. "Ah, the Council. I met with Vanidor recently. He'll support me if I wanted to be Governor. I didn't even bring it up. He asked me when it would happen."

Dulcie's caring instincts could be used though, and even directed to certain worthwhile places. Rhaena was thinking along those lines until Glenn's next words startled her out of her thoughts. "Really!" She considered that for a moment. "Well you could, certainly, if that was what you wanted. It might be a bit limiting, though, don't you think?"

"Exactly. It's not that I haven't considered it. The truth of the matter is that Cinnabar's name is useful. He's a useful symbol even if he's hidden off away from public life due to that ... lovely child of his." Burnie paused and looked to her. Her temporary enthusiasm at the idea had been heartening, but then what wasn't now? "There are benefits and drawbacks. My power would be more direct but I'd have less freedom to move. Right now I technically answer to the Council, but Treadwell is easily dealt with, Vanidor is fine so long as I leave him his trees, and dear Giscard is pleased so long as he continues to make money and no one impedes upon his inherent snobbiness. I have free rein to do whatever I want, to shuffle funds as I desire, to make what staffing decisions I need to. The lack of leadership in the Constabulary allowed me to shift some dissenters out and put my own Myrken-born men in and I have a decent enough hold there too." Then he paused, laughing an almost manic laugh. "Unless you wish to be Myrken's first lady, not that you're not already that."

And the child was interesting, was it not? Of course, the matter was largely academic for now, so Rhaena put that aside. "Quite true." She agreed with Glenn's points. "Though I do think you should keep it in mind, should the situation change." Her laugh was not in any way maniacal. Really, it was quite normal. "Myrken's first lady? I don't care about that. Just you, and Myrken."

"I want you to care about yourself too, Rhaena." His composure was regained and it was said with more heartfelt a tone than most of the things that came out of his mouth these days. "That's important to me. You deserve it, for a thousand reasons." And she could look into his mind if she wanted to see any few that he believed in without even a shadow of a doubt. Then it was back to business once more. "Treadwell's kidnapping was an annoyance. We're very likely going to have to give him guards, which will be a frustrating proposition all around. We'll also have to decide what to do with the criminal."

"I do, Glenn. But I don't need a title for that." She smiled for what he showed her. She had missed this, missed it more than she let herself realize. And, after Kals, needed it more than ever. "Isn't he... doesn't he think he's some sort of priest or something? Surely it would be more... appropriate to let some of his... religious adherents be his guard." Because then they wouldn't have to deal with it. "Who did it, after all? I wasn't paying much attention at the time."

She really didn't need a title. He knew what she was to Myrken and to him. He had missed it as well, far more than he had let himself realize. "Treadwell has ... like seems to attract like. He has a group of harmless associates. They spend a great deal of money and do no one any harm. Honestly, they're all a bit below my notice. I don't think they'd be that capable. Let me put it this way." He raised a hand. Her point had merit after all. "Perhaps we should increase the guard upon the tax money."

His pleasant smile remained. "It was Genny's brother. Do you know her? Pie-Maker and now Treadwell's assistant? Even if you don't know her, you know the type. She denies it but she fits it quite well. They all deny it anyway. Thessalinian. Merchant class or lower nobility. Came to Myrken to escape her family's watchful eye and make a life for herself, strike out in the big, bad world. She's better educated than many here, however, though she manages to squander it most of the time. I'm thinking of poaching her to be my own assistant. She'll just stagnate under Treadwell." Or be crushed, of course. "And she did just sell out her own brother for Myrken. If she's a spy, she's an earnest and particularly flustered one. Still, I'd like to ensure her loyalty further." As it was, he knew that once she started down the path of going along with his plans, she'd soon become an accomplice or worse. The more she went along with, the harder it'd be to go back to where she began. "The fate of her brother is still up in the air. Now, can you think of any use we'd have for a thief?"

[Glenn]

"A thief could be quite useful." She answered with a quick grin and a spark in her eye. This could be fun. "Of course, you need to have a method to control him... I don't suppose the sister would work for that? If not, I'm sure we could think of something. And Genny... I've seen her around, spoken with her maybe, but I wouldn't say I know her. I think she'd do well as your assistant. Now... why did she turn her brother in? To protect herself? Because she thought it was the right thing? Some family feud?" She throws the ideas out lightly, but both the grin and the look in her eye are gone.

He responded to her sudden enthusiasm with a quick nod. To be honest, Tennant's entire fate had hinged upon Rhaena's reaction and it came off very well for the thief. "Genny just turned him in. He's a bit of an arrogant lout. I don't think we can control him through her. His life and his freedom, maybe, but if you have a better suggestion..." He left that out there, just let it hang as they moved on to the thief's sister. "Shame for her brother's actions. Affection for Treadwell. Because it was the right thing. All of that. I know she seems an unlikely choice, with some of those reasons in mind, but she can obviously do what she has to when she has to. I'm curious just what we can make out of her, what she can be molded into."

"Money is usually a good motivator for such people. Though I'd prefer not to rely on it entirely. Still, I'm sure we can come up with something. Some combination, most likely." Fear would help, too. As for Genny... "She seems rather naive. And if she'd turn in her brother because it was the right thing to do, I'd say she could be very useful to us. Like Dulcie, perhaps, but without Dulcie's... limitations."

"We'll have to see if he's in it for the money or the challenge or just to strike out against the world. Once we figure out what motivates him, we'll be able to figure out how best to utilize him." And if it was fear or.. some less mundane method.. well, whatever was necessary. That was what running Myrken was all about. Burnie understood that so well now. "I think at first, it'll be best to keep her busy, have her assist you and me separately. That way, she can get a feel for how things link together, but more than that we'll both be able to make sure she's progressing accordingly. I think you'd be a wonderful influence upon her."

"That seems to be a good way to handle both of them" She agreed. "And if we can find a good means of controlling the brother, and if he's clever enough, we might be able to use him against Roschen."

"Or as a spy. Thessaline does worry me, somewhat. He already has connections there. We'd have to take drastic means to ensure his loyalty then, though." He did not have Helstone's paranoia about Thessaline but the imperialist blowhards had been more and more involved in Myrken's affairs as of late. He would be a fool not to take some action. "We'll need more than him for Suede anyway. It's partly my fault, you know. Were it not for my rise, he would not have risen up to counter me. Nothing interested the tailor much before. I've sent a mercenary or two after him." Glenn shut his eyes, just for a moment. There were other means at his disposal, more drastic means. "He'll keep trying to destabilize Myrken. I might have to reenter his dreams, but I'm fairly certain he's set a trap there for me."

[Jirai]

"I'm not sure we could ever be certain of him, did we use him in Thessilane. There are other places, though, even if Thessilane is the most... present. I still haven't figured out what Razasan wants here, for instance." Even though she appreciated Agnieszka's presence. Glenn says something that surprises her though. "Suede, you mean? I didn't think he had any abilities along those lines." Destabilizing Myrken, sure. Poison, sure. Traps, sure. Dream-traps? That was surprising. "Though he does seem to have a wide range of resources..."

"He's an adaptable little weasel." Burnie's voice was still pleasant, the smile still calm. "That's what Catch calls him and it fits. Again, it would not be a skill I would think him capable of were it not my own learning in that area. I broke Jirai using such a tactic and Suede's mind was heavily wounded in the process. He would have some protection to prevent a reoccurance. We'll have to use more conventional means." It was telling that Glenn hadn't just gone through and assaulted everyone's dream in Myrken if he had such means. Then he paused and smiled. "I can teach you the techniques, if you wanted. Just as I was taught them a few years ago."

"It would probably be good for me to learn." Really, though, she didn't much like discussing the two... Jirai was a drow, which made Rhaena uncomfortable to start, and Suede... weasel was a good name for the man, she supposed. But there was something she couldn't quite remember... with a shrug, she pushed the thought away.

"If you want to learn, I'd love to teach you." He had no idea how it could interface with her own power, really. Once she learned the basic trick of it, she could be practically godlike in the dreams of others. Maybe. "Suede and Jirai are as dangerous as any threat to Myrken right now. I'm not going to underestimate them. Faeryl's been sighted too." And here his own expression changed just a little. They were on the subject of drow, after all. "Sighted and.. there was a diplomatic visit." Suddenly there was a slight disconnect between their minds, static almost, a disruption. "She seeks a member of her house who ran off with Sarayn." It only made sense that this sort of talk, involving Faeryl, Jirai, AND Sarayn might upset him somehow. He continued to smile though, even as his mind all but pulsed. "I don't fully believe her, but I do believe that her ultimate aim is not to conquer Myrken."

It upset Rhaena, that was certain. Though not in the same way it did Glenn. That little disruption bothered the young woman as well and she looked more closely at her companion, eyes narrowing slightly. "Talking with drow is not a good idea." She said firmly. No good ever came of it.

[Glenn]

"I'd love to just set fire to the tunnels." The disruption increased, but his smile remained. He was virtually unchanging on the outside even though static of some sort was flowing through their link with all this talk of Drow. "But we'll keep Myrken safer through diplomacy than violence in this instance." He suddenly shifted gears and his mind calmed. "If the current solutions fail with Suede, I'm going to send a letter to Bloodmoon. He emerged from Jirai's dream changed, without certain scruples, and I don't think he's had a chance to have Catch heal him yet, not like Suede did. He would be an excellent weapon against the Tailor and Jirai." Their connection was firm once again. "It's a shame Niall didn't finish him."

"I don't think just setting them on fire would be enough. We'd need something more, to be sure." He turned the idea aside with diplomacy, and she shook her head rebelliously. "How long have they been playing cat-and-mouse with Myrken? And we just let it go, every time! And then they come back, wanting more. It's not right." Just like their link was not right, not at the moment. It was information she filed away for later - no need to be hasty. He shifted subjects and the connection got better, and Rhaena relaxed slightly, waving acceptance of his words. "If you can find Bloodmoon. And why didn't the girl finish him, anyway? From what you've said of her, I'd think she'd've done the job right!"

"Rhaena," His smile remained, but now he was showing her teeth as well. "Do not take me wrong. There is nothing I hate more in Myrken than the tendency, in the past, to let things go. To let something assault or prey upon us and just try to rebuild and pretend it never happened. They always come back. The danger of a frontal assault on the Drow is that they will strike back in full force. Not since the occupation years ago have they sent an army up here. If we strike at them it has to be with cunning, not a show of force, because, to put it as simply as possible, they have a more dangerous army. We'll fight back against them, but we have to do it the right way." And he didn't know what that was yet. He just knew what it wasn't.

Now,though they were moving on. "The girl didn't find him in time. She had calmed down too by the time she did. Part of the problem was cultural as well. We gave her obvious signs and she read them poorly." Their mind was connected once more, and she saw it, the inability to get proper leverage on the dangerous war-born mage girl, the way the chocolate had made her more helpful and pleasant, how it could have all been exposed, and Glenn's guiltless decision to pin it all on Suede. How would she react to all of this, restored as she was?

He had points and she accepted them... even if she didn't like it. So she left the talk about drow there and listened about the mage girl. "If the only way to control her is with drugs... well, that seems a bit risky. Especially now that the drugs are gone. She seems like a wild card." Rhaena didn't like wild cards. "It is a pity she didn't kill Roschen." She considered for another moment. "Do you think she's a threat?"

Only practical concerns. The connection solidified once more, this time deeper than before. He hadn't been actively hiding anything from her, but his subconscious might have had doubts. Now, they were all gone. "There's a squire boy she associates with. Most likely, she'd take a threat against him poorly. We could aim her that way, but not control her. She's absolutely a danger. A promise to Kyra keeps her restrained, but we hardly want Kyra coming back and nosing in our business either. We need to create some artificial leverage over the girl. The boy's close to Catch as well, apparently." Suddenly a burst of inspiration hit him. "He's stubborn, like her, and I've had little luck with him, but he's at that age. Do you think you could try to take the boy under your wing a bit, see if he can be made to be useful in influencing Niall?"

"Hm." She considered this information carefully. "I could try..." She said, more hesitantly. About Agnieszka she was confident. Even with Lamai, she knew what to do. But a squire boy? She hadn't the faintest idea. "As I recall... the Knighthood is... not what it once was. Does the boy actually have a knight, still?"

[Jirai]

"Hm. I don't have my files in front of me." It was said just a little apologetically, but he continued nonetheless. "I do not think he does. He spends some time working in the Dagger stables, but most of his time just running about having misadventures with her. From claims he's made, I think he was somehow affected by proximity to the girl while she was medicated. He might have been affected by the chocolate as well, but the Dagger barmaids have said he couldn't afford that much." Of course Burnie had looked into things. Niall was a wild card and he hated those too.

"If he doesn't, we may be better off finding one for him. Someone better able to influence him than I would be without... tinkering. Do we have anyone of that sort around?"

"There's the Paladin. Benedict. He's less of a bore than Malaroth, and quite willing to work with the authorities. I had to use him recently to clear up some demon problems that are still ongoing. We'll get back to that." Everything was connected to everything else in Myrken, but then Burnie was connected to everyone so that's fine. "The problem is there aren't many people that would bring him up with the right mindset. We don't need more heroes. We need people who can do what's BEST for Myrken."

"A pity Agnie's loyalty is to Razasan, now." She murmered. "Boys who want to be knights look to heroes, though. Heroes who can fight with a sword and all that. Perhaps a constable..." She shrugged a bit. "We do seem to be lacking in that area, don't we? There's not even a Councilor for Defense, is there?"

"I wish we could count on Agnie. She belongs here, with us, protecting Myrken." Then she mentioned a Counselor and at that Burnie laughed, not at her, but in general, at the situation. There could never be any sort of miscommunication between them. She knew. She just knew. "Oh Rhaena, if you can find me someone who is both competent and will do EXACTLY what we want him to with the army, we'll have a Counselor of Defense. Until then, we're better off without."

"My point, exactly. There is no one. Not yet. And I suppose it doesn't matter much, unless Thessilane gets ideas." She shrugged. "What was that about demons, anyway?"

Burnie was looking at her dotingly now. Her point, exactly. She was taking to this, even throughout this conversation. "Demons. There's been a demoness lurking about, a Pantha, snatching up bodies,being a terrible influence for Catch. Due to that last bit, I had Giuseppe stab her with a bit of Catch's blood. He barely survived the encounter, but apparently his attack set forth some chain reaction, bringing her son forth, causing his death, bringing his master back. It's all a bit of a mess. The Paladin seemed eager to deal with her. Giuseppe was visited by her in the remedium and once again, he barely survived it. He did say she was forced to go off to some sort of demon war and that her master is too lazy to try to prey upon Myrken. Regardless, it's not a door I want kept open." There were people Glenn would negotiate with. There were magical beings. Demons were not on that list.

[Glenn]

"A mess indeed." She hadn't been paying attention during the events themselves and so this was the first she'd heard of it. "Well. It seems convenient that a paladin showed up. That whole thing seems much more something for him to take care of than us. Giuseppe is fairing well, though? I think I'll hope that the demon gets killed in whatever demon war thing, though. So long as the demons aren't warring here in Myrken."

"They've been informed of just what happened to the Ashfiend in the end. Hopefully, with that in mind, they'll have the sense to stay away from here. Worst case, maybe we can set them on Thessaline and the channelers will destroy them. I just need to make sure the Paladin doesn't start snooping around too much." Burnie was glad that she cared for Giuseppe's well being. The southerner had proven his usefulness time and again. Expendable, but useful and thoroughly bought. "The last thing we need is a wildcard. Past Niall, there's the dragon, the werewolf, and Zilliah, and that's just off the top of my head."

"Hopefully they stay away, indeed. We don't have the resources we had back with the Ashfiend." Though they may have enough to redirect them to Thessaline, that was true. "I've talked to the..." she hesitates and rephrases. "Sera Sgarsiath. She's a bit prickly, and I have no idea as to her motivations, really." As for the werewolf and Zilliah, Rhaena didn't know enough to do more than shrug.

"They have been given the impression we have more resources than we actually do." Or at least, they were given that impression after the fact. His first meeting with Pantha, before he knew what the demon was, had involved a flaunted of their lack of resources in a rare fit of frustration. Now, if he encountered it again, he could spin that to be a ruse with some ease. "Oddly enough, I feel like Drache's easier to deal with than some we've mentioned. I feel like material goods interest her, even if it's just supplies she needs or the right to stay here. I'm not relying upon her for anything important however, and we should develop means to kill her if it comes to that. Kacela. Have you met her? Wild woman?" And here he'd push forward what he had done to her once more. "I had to know what she was and try to get leverage over her. To civilize her. To tame her. She's more an animal than Catch." He had.. softened that blow before when speaking to Rhaena, for her own good, of course. Now she'd see the full truth. She had been fine with what he had done with Niall, but this was even more direct. It was an important enough moment that the topic of Zilliah just fell off of the list, forgotten by the weight of it.

[Jirai]

"Kals knows her." Lips pressed into a thin line, her gaze not quite meeting his. Not that this would affect their link at all. She was reluctant to talk about anything to do with Kals, that was clear. It would be a moment or two before she said anything else. "I have no problems with what you did." And he could see the truth of that.

"I would do ... it and more to anyone who threatened Myrken's safety. To anyone who impeded Myrken's future. Our future." Then there was a bit of a silence. "Not you, though." And the smile broke for a moment. Rhaena was his eternal exception. But that left one thing hanging. "Catch.. I tried to get him to heal you. Something was wrong between us, and if you had wanted something else, that would have been your choice." And he didn't say anything else. He didn't have to. She could make that decision but when she was whole again. Once she could feel his thoughts and he hers, and it hadn't driven her from him but had made them whole again. "It'll be our Myrken, Rhaena. Ours."

"Ours." She echoed, smiling at him. "Catch...I didn't think he could do it. I was humoring him, letting him try. But he did fix it, and more." That hand, fingers extended as she glanced down, colors rippling across the dark surface. "I didn't want it, before. But I can see now that was wrong, to hide away behind guilt. The past isn't what matters, what matters is making a better future."

Glenn took her darkened hand, the unnatural thing, and he brought it to his lips with such care and tenderness, adoration and affection. "Myrken needs to be guided. Its people need to be guided. We don't possess Helstone's distance, his paranoia. We don't possess Bromn's foppish incompetence. We don't possess Calomel's ignorance and blindness. We're going to succeed when they all failed. A perfect Myrken." Crystal and beautiful, elevated and stable, forever, Glenn Burnie's Myrken. And now it was Rhaena Olwak's Myrken too.