[PLOT][Council] Culprits

[Fel]

After a great deal of searching on the part of many Healers, Morticia has inadvertently made a startling discovery: one particular berry from a batch of pies known to have made someone sick is described in a text by a Healer who worked in a particularly remote region of the mountains. This berry grows only at high altitudes, and only at high latitudes. Only one minor hold from the region in which it is endemic sent tithes at all... and they contained berries. In fact, this hold's territory, large due to its isolation, contains all of the identified toxins. Further searching of the supplies they sent yielded at least two other poisonous tubers but most of the supplies have been mixed with the Weyr's other supplies, making a full search difficult.

The matter about how to deal with this has therefore been brought before a closed Council meeting. The Weyr's food stores can no longer be trusted, but also importantly... what to do about the hold in question?

[Dragon]

One hold. It all came down to the tithes from one hold. That was in part a relief, but for the most part, well ... Melosa and her five-turn-old son, Merrin, had both been among those poisoned. Merrin's case had especially terrified Melosa, and she'd sobbed in relief when she had been told he was going to pull through.

"One batch of berries might have been an accident," she offered once the council was assembled, her speech slower than it had been before her poisoning and slightly slurred as well, "but this was a variety of toxins among their tithes. We have to be able to trust what we are given by the holds we protect. Would it be too extreme to suggest that we remove our protections from the offending hold? We must make it clear that we will not allow attacks against us."

[nineofswords]

Maritza of Garnet Arisk

"Frankly, I don't think it's extreme enough," Maritza said, slapping a hand on the table. "Those people tried to kill us. And by extension, the whole of High Reaches' territory. We should be burning their settlements to the ground, branding the adults, and sending the lot of them into exile." She thought that was too much of a kindness as well, but seriously. An attack on a Weyr - a deliberate one at that! - was by far the worst crime she could think of.

"A coordinated attack from the ground and above should be sufficient to wipe that place off the face of the map. The timing would be the tricky part, but we could sort that out with little issue." This could not be allowed to stand. It had to be dealt with. Surely anyone could see that!

---

Diamond of Garnet Hyliath

"While it definitely seems deliberate, I don't feel comfortable attacking civilians," Diamond said, leaning forward, scowling. It wasn't a scowl directed at anyone, more a contemplative one, one born of frustration with the situation itself. "And we can't just stop fighting thread altogether. If it gets into the ground, it'll multiply, become an infestation that will be a nightmare to snuff out, and then the soil will be barren for turns after the fact." She shook her head.

She didn't like this. Violence was how she tended to solve her own problems, but that was on an individual scale. It didn't matter in the grand scheme of things if she got into a fistfight with some sailors to blow off steam. It was something else entirely when she had the full weight of the Weyr behind her decisions. "Honestly, I think we should petition another Weyr to go speak to this hold on our behalf. That way, it doesn't look like we're retaliating or invading. Maybe there's something more going on here, and we should take a second and figure out what that is before we decide how to handle it. And if we rope another Weyr in from the start, maybe they'll have ideas, or at the very last will back us with whatever we decide to do since we've proven we aren't going to lash out."

[FirebrandPhlox]

"Maritza! We are not razing the hold to the ground!" Raev barked at her junior. "We go in there with dragons and flamethrowers blazing, we'll be no better than Golore. This is a diplomacy first situation. We swore to protect all those in our territory, we're not going to just stop fighting thread in that region and let the damn stuff choke us from the north."

Raev rubbed her temple with a hand. Everything continued to get worse at the weyr under her leadership. Was she actually cut out for the position? She was doing her best to protect everyone, and to act on the best interest of the weyr at large, but people were dead. Poisoned and killed in their home, where they should be safest. The deaths hung heavy on Raev's shoulders, and had made her terrible sleep habits even worse.

At Diamond's suggestion that they involve another Weyr, Raev scowled. "I think we can get another Weyr to be an ally to us, but having them speak to the hold on our behalf would only show weakness." She continued to scowl, eyeing the other members of the council. "But having another Weyr clued in and on our side would be beneficial, should we need to resort to violence." She was pretty sure it would be a matter of when, but didn't want to admit that out loud.

"We do not know if the poisoned supplies were given by the hold at large, a rogue agent acting alone, of even if it was an intentional poisoning. We need to send a trusted team to the hold to get answers before we consider violence against them. Once we determine exactly who is responsible, then we can make sure the pay appropriately for their actions."

Raev sighed, shaking her head. "We also need to address the food situation. We can't trust anything in our stores now, and we have an overcrowded weyr to feed. Are there any holds we can ask to increase their tithes without sparking a full-on revolt?"

[Arcane]

Weyrleader Jae of Blue Zappath

"I propose placing an order for extra supplies from Semaca's pirates and reaching out to the other weyrs, to see if they have any supplies to spare. We can also offer to cut a deal with our holds- pay next turn's tithes earlier, in exchange for a reduction in the rate. Make it voluntary and worth the while of holds that have extra and they won't revolt," Jae noted. Supplies, at least, they could handle, without making any more enemies, "The Lominsans aren't running a charity but we've been trading with them for enough turns to know how they work. We can try to negotiate a price that won't break us. I have also prepared a letter requesting Semacan permission for temporary right to hunt and forage in their jungle once winter hits and thread freezes. This isn't the famine come again. There are supplies out there to be acquired and our usual sources will resume with the next harvest. We just need to patch something together for now, even if it's messy or brings back some bad memories."

The source of the poison was harder to solve. How did one fight an enemy meant to be under their own protection?

"I agree with Diamond and Raev. Burrowing thread is not contained by hold borders. If we let it fall, we risk Faranth knows how much of our territory," Jae said, with a nod to the garnetrider, "Not to mention ensuring a new generation of holders sees us as the enemy and indiscriminately risking lives, when we don't yet know the full picture. We should send a discreet team to investigate and gather more information, followed by a diplomatic party. What if instead of another weyr, we asked the harpers? They have a long history of diplomacy and would more readily be seen to holdfolk as a neutral party."

[Dragon]

They probably had a point. As the only person on the council who wasn't bonded to a wher or dragon, Melosa had a lot less working knowledge of Thread than everyone else. Razing a hold didn't sound like much of an option, either - but the use of Harpers did seem smart.

"I agree that the Harpers might be our best chance of diplomacy, and that an optional, temporary pre-payment of tithes could help us to bridge the gap," she said slowly, trying to control the slur in her speech. "I will have to trust you all about the behavior of Thread, but this cannot go unpunished - although I suppose it is not unreasonable to hope that this is not the work of the hold as a whole."

There was more to it, though. She pondered carefully, trying to think what else might be done. Certainly, they had to replace all their current stores, but Jae seemed to have the right ideas on that front. Still, how did they keep this from happening again? "We need to find what led this hold or the faction within it to their actions. Perhaps the Harpers can help in achieving that as well."