Varjeela nods. "Or possibly because they do not want the Lunars finding the ducks: sorry, Avniari. I gather their meetings so far have been less than friendly."
Joss:
> "An' last, if we don't tell t'Lunars an' they find out anyway
then
> they may 'ave it in fer us, knowin' we came this way. They'll
maybe want
> a word wi' us 'bout that.
"Quite. I can see good reasons for delay before we tell the Lunars
what we have found, but none at all for hiding the find altogether."
"The Lunar - we will have to be very careful here. Nijelh is quite right, he may have enemies of whom we know nothing. And we do not want him, or his cult, claiming a reward that is ours by right. Suppose that when we reach Corflu, I were to spend some time enquiring into the representatives of both trading cults? It would seem natural in an Issaries priestess, in any case. I could then find out more about his legal position, who has taken his place, and what is known about how he went missing. If they suspect me of being up to anything, it will only be of trying to advance the Issaries position here at the expense of Etyries - and of course, they will be right!
Meanwhile, perhaps the riverfolk of Corflu might know something of these events, and from a rather different viewpoint?"
Joss:
> "T'only downsides o' this are if t'ducks realise yon ghost 'as
gone an'
> are waitin' fer us t'get back wi' weapons drawn an', o' course,
that
> we'd be 'elpin' the Lunars."
"I doubt if the ducks will realise that the giant has gone. They are hardly likely to check on a regular basis, after all, merely to avoid the area. And if they do realise, would they blame us or thank us?
"Helping the Lunars: we will only be claiming the reward for information that would be theirs without our assistance in any case. We will also, I hope, avoid conflict between them and the Avniari. I would suggest that on our return, we tell them that we have heard rumours of the Lunars sending a large force in this direction, and suggest that they may wish to move further east to avoid trouble. Pre-warned, the Avniari may well be a match for the Lunars. And I do not want the Etryies cult getting their hands on this rather profitable new trade route!"