The boat remains tied up just where Marlith last saw it. It's a small, unprepossessing craft, a one or two man rowing boat, although there's no sign of any oars. It lacks any clear name or identification, although it's in reasonably good condition.

Jorlak has to climb into the boat to get a decent reading; he can detect residual psionic traces on it, nothing like as strong as the ones he'd detected on the Karazthani psionic detection device, but that was machine built for precisely that purpose.

But it's enough to detect the identity of an individual. It's close enough to the kandar he detected on the machine to leave him with little doubt that both traces are the work of the same person.

Jorlak

The priest takes a deep breath before returning his attention to the others. "This does feel like the same kandar."

Hollis

Hollis shared a look of triumph with Kolath, squeezing his arm briefly. About time something went their way in this investigation.

"How about that name now?"

<Marlith>

"Dhermyrdh", he said quietly.

Kolath


He nodded in response to Hollis' gesture, but his eyes widened at Marlith's revelation.

"Dhermyrdh?" He glanced pointedly at his human associate.

Hollis
Hollis

"That's the Academy Acolyte who was trying to talk you out of interrogating that guy I brought back in a coma, right? The one you said nobody trusted."

Hollis snorted. "Looks like they were right.

"So ... is this the head of the snake? Is there some cabal in action here, with the Konaics behind it and these academy flacks in collusion, or is this an altogether separate piece of trouble?"

<Marlith>

"He is one that =acts= as though he is in a position of authority, but I doubt that he is the ... 'head of the snake'. He did not strike me as intelligent enough for that."

Hollis

Hollis nodded thoughtfully. "I like the way you think. So ... how do we get him to lead us to the actual movers and shakers? Can we grab him and pry it out of him with some of your Academy people, or are they going to be unwilling to operate on one of their own?"

Kandar


"He is the one," he said and scowled.

"First we must get our hands on Dhermyrdh. Then we can peel him down to whatever layer contains the information we need."

<Marlith>

He didn't like the idea of violence, but he did like the idea of Dhermyrdh getting what he deserved. "Last I saw him, he was headed there", he said pointing to the barracks building. "But that was a quite a while ago."

"On it, Boss," Hollis said. "Am I going to have any trouble from the rest of your people when I get there? And did you want me to take someone else along?"

Kolath


"If you have trouble with Legionnaires, refer them to me." There was a brief pause and he frowned in thought. "I have confidence in your abilities, Little Nag," he said quietly, perhaps not loudly enough for the other two males to overhear.

"Could you use assistance or would you be better off on your own?"

"I don't know what he can do," Hollis said. "If he is ordinary, I'll just whang him head-first into a solid door, and then haul him back to you.

"But if he has some mental powers, he may be able to resist me, he may know I am coming, he may try to do something with my mind. To tell you the truth, my biggest worry is not knowing what to expect from him. Is there someone from the academy who could brief me on what this character is supposed to be able to do?"

<Marlith>

"He is certainly skilled. You got the reading from the boat because he used his power to propel it."

Propelling a boat is something Hollis can do in her sleep. But she recalls the time when she had to work with Dhermyrdh to retrieve a source from Karazthan dome; he's very strong in the the Way of Vision, and can do pretty strong mind-sending too.

"Unless I can keep him from spotting me, he is probably too strong for me to overpower. If I can get to him before he realizes I'm there, maybe I can knock him out.

"Can you give me something to put in his drink that would put him out fast? And is there any device -- or any *person* -- that blocks mind-senders from reading someone's mind without telling them right where you are? If I had such a device or such a companion, this would be simple."

[Looks at Hollis' character sheet - she does know a bit about poisons herself. There are certainly things to put in someone's gleyr to make them groggy or impair psionic powers. Getting the ingredients together is another issue. As is finding Dhermyrdh]

Kolath


"I could talk to someone I know at the Legion's medical facility, someone who has access to herbs and medicines." He shrugged slightly, looking from one of his associates to another, ending up eying Hollis.

"Would that help?"

Hollis shrugged. "I hate admitting this to a legionnaire, but ... yes. I can whip up a little something to doctor his fleyr. But we have to find him before we can try that trick."

Kolath


He nodded soberly, rubbing his chin with his long, rather aristocratic looking fingers.

"Well, will the reading you got from the boat allow you to discern his current location?"

Jorlak

"Perhaps if he is close enough. But I do not know how close he would need to be."