The Shisou/Shirai-Rakurai Tsubo d'Argent
Junshin-Masamichi Truthfinder
Zemadin Alpha
Lion Walking 0193840183
19 Wolf's Passage 3941
Honored Shisou:
Greetings in the name of the Reflective. I trust you are enjoying your meditations and that your wa remains undisturbed.
- I have little to report on the Phoenix front today. Haitou Asaken has still not circumvented the Prime's countersurveillance, but the elevated degree of secrecy surrounding the Prime suggests something is wrong. We are attempting to attain more concrete data. The only remarkable note I have for you thus far is that the Prime has expressed an unusual interest in the Tsayadin Speaker Shana Dawn Terayl. The only link we have discovered thus far is that Terayl once belonged to the Phoenix tribe before turning independent. This is not new information, but we continue to probe. As you recall, the Pure Facet was most insistent on appointing Terayl to the post.
- We identified two Harbinger agents in the Phoenix technical support and communications detachment. Per your previous instructions, they have been placed under discreet surveillance. So far they do nothing more than observe and report back to Malderi at Ashkelon III.
- The fraytown and bazaar continue to roil in sporadic outbreaks of lawlessness. Nothing remarkable to report here. A brawl in the Shaganti zone south of the river involved a young off-duty Niwa'aban surodoi and a known interstellar raconteur. Two bystanders were killed, and the raconteur escaped. <INCIDENT REPORT SUBFILE ACCESS> Our surodoi was unharmed. She returns to duty tomorrow. I believe we will profit from her presence on the hunter detail.
- The tension between the Blood Eagle and the Starwolf has stabilized. We placed armored surodoi as an interdiction between the main encampments, and that has proven a sufficient restraint. Blood Eagle Knights from the Order of the Talon proved to be helpful in keeping the peace. This Order currently maintain nominal fealty to the Great Eagle, but my sources say they are taking a neutral position in the civil war that threatens the Blood Eagle.
- Reflective Facet leaders here received an unusual haiku in this week's sending from Falcon's Crossroad:
In the midst of flames
Hides a flower of diamond
Ah, the early frost!
I regret I do not have an answer for this yet, Honored Shisou. We are meditating on it. Laracon believes it is a warning, and that is what my intuition tells me as well. Cryptic instructions regarding Trigon strategies accompanied the haiku, and I have ordered those instructions carried out. Curiously, we have received queries from the Pure Facet regarding any and all communications from the Triad. Perhaps your Juma connections will be able to enlighten us as to this sudden interest from the priesthood.
- You asked me to report any particularly mysterious events that occurred here. I have only one. A minor incident, but remarkable. It seems that on the fringes of the Bazaar, someone murdered three Grievers and disappeared. Literally disappeared, Honored One. The reports we took describe how this man walked out past a half-dozen armed Grievers and simply vanished after entering the crowd. There was no indication of a cloaking field, and the Grievers pursued with motion detectors. Several witnesses confirmed the reports. It is as if they saw a ghost.
- Further, the dead Grievers had no marks on them aside from slight bruising where they each received their deathblow. Autopsies concluded that in each case, death resulted from a single blow to the neck or the temple, and very likely occurred instantly. Expressions on the faces of the victims suggest they had no time to react. Remarkable if only one perpetrator was responsible. It suggests a killer of extreme competence, possibly artificially enhanced. Motive is still unproven, but we believe the Grievers had something this "ghost" wanted to obtain. The Grievers became truculent in response to questions about their merchandise, and a niwa'aban search discovered a surprising amount of contraband, including Imperial black market goods.
That is all, Honored Shisou. We look forward to your return next month.
May the Enlightened Master bring you clarity.[1]
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