Malakaus didn't spend a lot of time chatting with the dunmer girl and went back to round up the rest of the supplies and crew members. It wasn't long before he was fairly certain that the rest of the crew was not heading back towards the ship. Among them was Fletcher, the fairly useless bosmer that was stuck on Malakaus's team. He was still nursing his wound when the orc stepped up to him. [b]"Hold it right there, Fletcher. You've been a disappointment since day one. You lie about your skills and you sold off a gift from me. Right now I don't even know why we should bother letting you breath."[/b] Malakaus spoke harshly to the wood elf, but instead of just cowering, the wood elf did have something of use for Malakaus. 

He told him that after he woke up from being knocked out, he heard some moon sugar farmers complaining about stolen crops. They imagine that bandits out in the desert were taking their moon sugar to make into skooma. None of the guards seem to be able to find the time to go after them due to how isolated the their base is and doubts that anyone would even be there, despite the farm's testimony otherwise. Additionally, while Fletcher went back to try to get the amulet back, he heard the store owner yell to his worker about how he lost a shipment of refined Malachite. Fletcher took it upon himself to do more research, and it just so happened that where the shipment was lost was also in the same area where the bandits who steal Moon Sugar should be based at. After asking around the town, he managed to narrow down the location of the bandit camp to a ruined fortress. The sand and time had corroded most of the structure away, but without any guards to man it brigands and other criminals have taken shelter in the remains and use it's isolation and remaining fortifications to launch attacks on isolated caravans.

Malakaus thought about what Fletcher told him. It was mostly just rumors, and could very well be a dead end. Malakaus was hesitant to dedicate himself to pursuing something that could just be more lies on Fletcher's part. But if he was right, this would be quite a haul. [b]'Alright Fletcher, this will be your test. Get back to the ship and get whatever you need, I want you to go find this fortress, make sure it's the right place, and when you're certain that this isn't a dead end come back and report to me. If this turns out that you're right, than you'd be in better standing with me than before. And if it turns out you're wrong, you better not come back, or you head will decorate the bow of the ship."[/b] The wood elf scampered off as Malakaus stomped back towards the ship. He didn't have much hope for Fletcher but if he was right than Fletcher would be delegated to pursuing rumors and making sure that he and the crew had something to do in each city. Whether or not he gets to be part of it was a different question.