[h3]Sir Yanin Glade[/h3]
	The human knight didn't immediately move to parttake in the offerings when food was brought out, but rather continued drawing, listening and observing. Never at rest, eyes looking at doors a second before anyone stepped through, carefully tensioning and untensioning muscles between brief stretches of running his quill across the paper.
	It looked practiced. [i]Had been[/i] practiced. His dear mother had ensured that he had the experience of having pedantically copied thousands of illustrations, but lost any potential for deriving enjoyment from the process of inking an image. It was [i]useful[/i], though. Not really art in the same way the large pictures adorning Lady Bor's walls were, not meant to inspire awe and be admired, but purely functional. His were monochrome, unimaginative replicas of things he had seen he figured might be useful to be shown to others at some point, for whatever reason. Whether it was copying over the shape of a jewerlymaker's sigil or drawing people ultimately made very little difference.
	What the baroness was proposing sounded not all that dissimilar to tasks that might have befallen upon him - and Jordan - during their duties as Fadewatchers or while roaming Wegam Fermos as free agents. So it wasn't an egregious request, at least, despite the implication that it was a mission of a different kind than the rather immediate problems Borstown had been facing.  
	[i]Wasn't one of Lady Bor's late companions killed by a vampire? [/i]Felt like a minor personal vendetta. But did the motivation behind the investment really matter as long as it was aligned with the greater and lesser good of the society? Probably not. 

	 Deo'Irah seemed inclined to accept the proposal, from her apparent discussion with Madara about the potential supplies they'd need to acquire if they were to accompany the fighters and the follow-up question of when they were supposed to start. 
	Jordan, Yanin didn't figure would have any arguments against. The guy's stated motivations were quite simple, and after all those years, the knight had no reasons to doubt them. If it was for a good cause and yielded enough to support his family, he usually didn't have any qualms. More often than not, it was up to Yanin to shut a plan down for its flaws. Besides, he [i]was[/i] his squire. Jordan would be going where he would. 
	The younger human didn't appear to be doing anything, mostly just watching what the knight was (or wasn't) doing, so Yanin motioned him to take some food, which Jordan did, picking up a plate and, after a brief contemplation, opted to just try a moderate amount of everything. Or at least as much as he could without his plate not being impolitely overflowing. 
	The question really was, was hunting down a troublesome vampire a good use for [i]his[/i] time? 
	[i]Time was running out.[/i] Coin was but a means to an end; time was by far the more valuable resource. 
	He already had pre-existing allegiance to the Fadewatchers back in Etlon, and to a number of the members of his family, whose situation was always more precarious than he'd like, along with all the other personal demons lurking about. Was it a good political move, then? An old adventurer from a town threatened with destruction by the Crusaders, should they consider themselves able to get away with it? To, in a roundabout way, forge connections in Nemhim? Lady borr alleged she was in somewhat regular correspondence with the Duchess. [i]What in the Planes was in those stolen documents?[/i]
	Could any of them really afford a delay? Him and Sir Freagon in particular. Other than resupplying, what did he have to do here? Play guard in the absence of others? Wander around in the forest and see if he could uncover a track? Just practice to pass time? Not that he [i]had[/i] had more elaborate plans than trying his luck in Zerul City and maybe Relimon. 
	
	It was Sir Freagon who broke the various ponderings of the people around the table first. [i]Not enough pay.[/i] If it was obvious enough what Jordan's problem with money was, then the old nightwalker was a harder guess. Securing funds for his newly minted squire, perhaps. 
	[color=f7976a]"Can't fathom business here worth several days. Any contamination we might've accrued would fade [i]en route[/i] same as here."[/color] Maybe they'd have a chance to discover something unrelated on the road. [i]Maybe.[/i] Yanin didn't give any indication of whether he was inclined to take or leave the offer. Directed the next question seemingly at Sir Freagon, though. [color=f7976a]"Have a matter of more significance we should rather investigate?"[/color]


[h3]Madara[/h3]
	The half-palanter wasn't in a particular hurry to return, no. Her assistant and temporary backroom tenant were quite adequate. If these people here opted to go on a mission and it wasn't an outright suicide, she'd be entirely willing to keep accompanying them on their endeavors.
	For the time being, though, she was content to sample the meat, spice and assorted nuts and vegetables - the latter more for the added taste nuances than nourishment. Since she had managed to finish taking inventory before arriving to the dinner, it appeared she was one of the few who wasn't preoccupied with various side-activities at the table. 
	[color=1a7b30]"The styptics, paralytics, painkillers, anti-inflammatories, the specific thread I use, and the assorted counters to infections are usually the fastest to deplete,"[/color] Madara idly surmised, carefully portioning the food on her plate,[color=1a7b30] "Along with the tools of the trade themselves."[/color] It came as a surprise to many people, but the scalpels, needles, hooks and other implements very much [i]were[/i] wear items. A tool had to be precisely as sharp as it needed to be.
	[color=1a7b30]"I also do have a couple chemicals the effects of which on deigan I'm not entirely certain of, if you have any insights - I rarely get unusual cases that aren't humans or palanters, and written records concerning the less common substances can be ... spotty."[/color]