The Alessandrina’s Glory arrived in Drakoton and docked beside the Wave Skimmer. After conferring with the Wave Skimmer’s captain Tomcat next went, utilising suitable precautions to avoid being followed, to the small house that served as a rendezvous with the man-rats.

“Hi Steve, nice to see you again. Do you know who Vinculus met first when he got here, don’t take any undue risks but maybe the ‘invisible assassin’ could strike again.”

Steve grinned, “Wouldn’t that raise their paranoia? I kinda like the idea, we should be able to do that.”

Tomcat grinned at Steve, “Oh, and I’ve come to pick up the list of chandlers you compiled, you’ll be the one most affected in the end, just what are your thoughts as to their suitability as our agents.”

Steve handed over the list of chandlers and was happy to discuss the merits of each with Tomcat. They quickly came to an agreement as to the more suitable candidates as Tomcat was willing to defer to Steve as the local expert and as the one who would be most directly impacted by their choice.

Tomcat discarded the first name on the list after entering his shop, the goods were shoddy, he was not going to have anything of that quality on any of his ships. The second was much more promising, the shop itself was small and the range of goods on display somewhat limited but of good quality although a bit pricey. The third name on the list also looked good. Tomcat approached the second option on his list first.

Tomcat entered Serrenica’s Chandlery for the second time that day. He went up to the serving counter and asked to see Serrenica.

“May I ask why and who wants to see her,” asked the young man behind the counter.

“I’m Thomas Felix and I’m here as the representative of the White Dolphin shipping company.”

The young man blinked at him, “Please wait for a moment I’ll go and tell Serrenica you’re here.” He then turned and left the shop through the door in the back and Tomcat clearly heard, “Mom there’s a guy in the shop that says...”

Tomcat was soon in the shop’s cluttered back office talking with Serrenica. Serrenica for her part was delighted with the possibility of becoming the local agent for a fast growing shipping company. One of her other children was sent hurrying to fetch their uncle, a local lawyer, papers and contracts were perused and signed and everyone retired to the local tavern for a celebrationary drink.

When Tomcat explained that a collector he knew wanted a breeding pair of Badgers and was willing to pay three nobles for the privilege of owning the northern beasts Serrenica offered to arrange it and promised to have them ready for delivery within the month. Tomcat accepted.

Then Tomcat gave Serrenica a tour of the two ships that were currently in port, “as you see, they’re optimised for passengers and high value cargo that needs a fast delivery such as perishables for example fruit.”

* * *

Steve for his part was relieved he didn’t have to supply the badgers and he waited until Mary’s ships had been gone for a month before having Baron Alkadees killed in broad daylight just as he was leaving his mansion, the bushes in his artfully overgrown garden providing ample cover for his sniper.

Two days later Baron Ferr Galdon’s chief guard claimed the long standing bounty on the head of Vinculus the Red on behalf of his master.

As Baron Ferr Galdon hadn’t been on his list Steve soon had his spies seeking out everything they could about the good baron and his chief guard.

* * * INTERLUDE 1 * * *

The new settlement had quickly grown into a large village and only it’s restricted water supply was preventing it from further expansion. The herbs and assortment of useful mana infused plants were keeping two alchemists happy and money flowing in. Several of the admittedly modified creatures to be found in the dungeon were quite edible so the newly arrived entrepreneurs were mostly pleased with their situation.

The problem here on the fringes of the great central desert was as always water. The as yet unnamed settlement only water supply flowed from the dungeon and thus was controlled by the dungeon made everyone nervous.

As always someone turned up with big ambitions, in this case it was a wiry desert dweller going by the name of Halsin the Wanderer. Halsin was tired of wandering the desert and his latest stint as a bandit had not ended well, he had only survived by luck and a fast camel. Now over a hundred kilometres from the scene of his latest debacle he felt safe enough to look around for another scheme to grant him the life of ease he felt he deserved.

A young and not particularly strong dungeon, nervous villagers, a threatened water supply and there was no guild presence. Yes, Halsin was sure he could do something with that.

It didn’t take Halsin long to know and befriend all the locals and even some of the regular adventurers that regularly passed through the settlement. He was soon able to convince some of the more self only important local luminaries to form a council which only naturally included him to regulate their new home. Then came a building, admittedly ramshackle to enclose the dungeon entrance to facilitate the rationing of the water supply and incidentally allowing them to levy a small ‘maintenance’ tax on anyone wanting to enter the dungeon.

Sandrinna was getting worried about the developments around her principal entrance. She was unhappy at finding herself located in a town. Well a large village but she just didn’t trust humans. Darkmoon tried to reassure her but she just wasn’t buying it. Then the villagers built a gatehouse completely enclosing her entrance. So once they finished it and left for the night she claimed it.

She consulted with Erekosë and used her nocturnal flyers to figure out who in the village was important and where they lived. Soon she had a small network of crawl ways under the settlement with strategically placed listening holes and several severely bored kobolds.

As a result of her endeavours she was one of the first to learn of Halsin’s master plan. Seize the dungeon, kill all the monsters, enslave the core and force it to grow its treasures for the settlement, increase the supply of water to the town allowing the council to cut out the adventurers and reap all the benefits for themselves.

Sandrinna decided to start preparations for her defence and if necessary departure but only if that grasping slaver managed to convince the villagers to attack her.

* * * INTERLUDE 2 * * *

ANS 31 had sealed his entrance and was now busy forming the sixth floor of his dungeon, his wisp companion Dawnstar had said it was time to expand. ANS 31 carefully followed the plan Dawnstar said would best please Azurea.

Then Chaos! Something broke, his soul, his very existence was draining down a link he had not previously noticed. It hurt! He was just starting to panic when it stopped, then it started again but in reverse. ANS 31 blacked out for a few seconds.

At the same time back on Earth at HawaiiCon Dave Fitzwilliam and his wife were checking out the Young Creators’ Share-a-thon. Dave noticed the two women that entered shortly after he and his wife, the contrast between the two was what drew his eye. He met the tall girl’s eyes and his head seemed to explode. Dave staggered and managed to reach one of the chairs that were lining the walls before collapsing. Maddy clung to him obviously worried.

Dave could feel the human Dave wake at the other end of their shared link, he could feel his confusion so he initiated contact and found his other self all too aware of what had happened to them. They went through their memories together and sorted them out. Dave clutched Maddy’s hand tightly as he came to terms with what had happened to him, the two of him!

Dave recovered slowly then asked Maddy if she minded returning to their room for a bit. Once there he explained everything to the love of his life, finally he offered to bring her into a link with him and his other self. It took them a few hours to work everything out with the occasional clarification from the System. So they decided to see if they could discover who the girl was and to see if they could contact her to see if she had noticed anything.

By the end of the con they had identified the girl, many people were talking about her as she seemed to attract dolphins on the snorkel tours. She was a local, Mary Silvestre by name. Or as they found out later after they had booked into a cheaper hotel for the rest of their stay a local of one of the other islands so they’d have to book an inter island flight if they wanted to talk to her face to face.

* * *

Fish marinating or otherwise prepared, school done for the day, quick visit to the library and then home to prepare for the barbecue.

Mary prepared the grills and hauled out the fish getting ready to start, if anyone wanted drinks or anything to go with the fish they all knew from prior experience that they would have to get it themselves or go without.

Then the house phone rang, so after a quick check she went to answer it...

“Yes.”

“Hello, could we please speak with Mary Silvestre.”

“Speaking.”

“I’m Dave Fitzwilliam and I attended the recent HawaiiCon, could we, that is me and my wife come round to visit you sometime soon.”

Mary paused, suspicious, “Yeah? Guess you know where to come if you got our phone number. So wanna come ‘round ‘fore the Barbie?”

“We can be there in half an hour, our hotel’s not far.”

“’K then, just come ‘round the back.”