Friendos,
So I'm in a lot of trouble. Some of it is good trouble; I've started helping out a group of monks with their work (before you shake your heads and sigh, no I haven't found religion and yes, Saturnday wine tasting is still on and I wouldn't miss it for anything). Some of it is bad trouble; dragons, people are depending on me to do things! Me! I figured it would be another century before anybody would trust me with anything more complicated than fist->face. So, I really need your advice…

What follows is a seemingly-earnest request for advice on small administrative problems, the likes of which one would give to someone incredibly new to being in charge of anything. Members of the Scarlet Sky Conspiracy will see the following…

So! A lot of my affairs of late are setting the Pahua Basin in order before I go North to help out Quelaana. It's important to have it in a place where I can leave without the whole thing being on fire upon my return. Which means that Ryo isn't going to like a whole lot of this. For starters, I made a deal with his wife for refugee labor. She's a good enough negotiator but she's not a Contarini, so nobody's going to be a slave, her workers will be getting housed, fed, and paid, and she's promised that if the refugees show acumen that she'll consider recommending funding small private enterprises. I consider that Pretty Good All Things Considered. Between the Ragara and the Immaculate Order, the refugees should be if not in a great place, then at least in a manageable one.

Speaking of, I've made a number of inroads among the local Immaculate Order, and one of their Dragon monks took the liberty of teaching me how to punch spirits in the face so we could roll disease gods for their lunch money. 'Lunch money' in this case being epidemics among a closely-packed and widely-diversified population the likes of which is crazy vulnerable to plagues SO it's nice now and might come in handy later. Certainly swaying them over to our side on our righteous quest is super important for that whole "Imperial Legitimacy" thing that Aisa is so worried about, even if it's not so good for the whole "We All Walk Free Under Scarlet Skies" thing. I guess she's right to worry, since she's started coming out to third parties. On the same subject, apparently the Central God of War is tooling around on the Isle looking for something, and he might be nearby, so next on the agenda is arranging to have a chat. That could wind up being good news for our cause. Or bad news. We'll see! Mainly I want to pick his brains on what the Sidereals are up to, and if there's any chance I can punch the one (ones?) that's making trouble for me right in the goddamn face.

Oh! I saw Titus. Did you know Titus is super short? I know Aisa and Ryo have seen him but for Akashan and Quelaana's sakes, let me tell you, four foot three in shoes. I know, right? From the way he talks you'd think he was seven feet tall and breathed lightning.

Anyway he was his usual self but he brought a warning about Mnemon's fleet that has wound its way through the wind-carried grape-vine well in advance of this letter and has been pretty thoroughly covered in other letters besides. I suggested he get together with his grandfather and get some Peleps to raid Mnemon's holdings somewhere where she'll need the fleet to relieve them – Little Red is fucking cocky if she thinks she can wipe out the Roseblack that easily, and even cockier if she thinks taking the throne will be as easy as that. I know it's violence that (some of) you don't want, but teaching the Pink Princess that yes, she needs to cover her ass… it should buy us time to prepare a more decisive response, at least.

Daylight's Burning and So Am I,
Carmela Contarini