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'Overall, I think this is a fantastic idea,' said Sentsia. She shared glances with Yovess and Horatio. 'And given the... circumstances of our own House, I believe we may be especially well-suited to these tasks.'

'How do you mean?' said Garovel.

Mevox was quick to answer for her. 'She's referring to the fact that the Blackburns have been holed up in Marshrock for the last thirty years, barely ever setting foot outside Luzo. Y'know. That thing they did which caused pretty much all of our current problems? Everyone remembers that, right?'

'Mevox,' said Iziol.

'What? Was anything I said wrong?'

'It is true,' said Sentsia. 'We are at fault. But that is all the more reason that we, as a House, should work harder than any other to aid all of our kin here now.' She held Mevox's gaze steadily.

'Hmph. Nice words.'

'Thank you.'

Garovel took control of the conversation again. 'Well, in any case, there's no need to rush. I'd like everyone to take the next few days to evaluate potential candidates for both deployment and support. I want to be clear that the point of these missions is not to engage our enemies or to stomp out injustice wherever we find it. The objectives are strictly reconnaissance and, if possible, artifact retrieval. And that being said, those whom you wish to send should be capable of defending themselves if the need arises.'

'Makes sense to me,' said Mevox.

'Agreed,' said Yovess.

The meeting continued for a while longer as they moved on to other subjects, such as housing arrangements. Some of the Sebolts and Blackburns wanted to either swap rooms or move in to some of the recently renovated areas in the Entry Tower--which segued into the larger topic of Warrenhold's restoration.

It was proceeding well, by all accounts, but Hector knew that it wouldn't be able to continue like this indefinitely. Not without reliable funding.

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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 2 of 2))
"In that case," said Evangelina, "perhaps we should also organize separate teams whose functions are purely to provide operational support for the servants we choose to deploy."

"A good idea," said Dimas. "And the reapers seem to be forgetting that we can still provide guidance over long distances with the use of technology."

'Oh, please,' said Axiolis. 'We didn't forget. That method is simply inferior to having reapers onsite.'

'Yes, Dimas, that was quite rude,' said Iziol.

'And uncharacteristically foolish,' added Yovess.

'No, actually, I did kinda forget about that,' said Mevox.

The other reapers just looked at him.

Mevox did not seem fazed by all the attention, though. 'Anyway, how many teams do you think we should deploy?'

'Well, we have several targets in mind,' said Garovel, 'but I would prefer that we begin slowly and then see about creating more if-and-when things begin to go more smoothly. Perhaps four teams to start off? Three or even two would also be fine. It's more important that we only deploy as many servants as we have confidence in. While we do need young, unknown servants for this task, I'm sure there are many whom you all feel are TOO young for this level of responsibility, and I would prefer we exercise caution.'

Hector kept a stone face, but he also couldn't help feeling a little ridiculous as he listened to Garovel talk about servants being too young for these missions. He was just barely eleven months old as a servant himself, yet the people Garovel was talking about were probably twice that or more.

He was having another one of those moments where he felt like he really wasn't supposed to be here, like at any moment, the rug would be pulled out from under him, and everyone would laugh at how moronic he was for ever even humoring the idea that he might actually belong in a place like this.

But that was alright.

He could deal with it. He'd dealt with worse. He just had to keep reminding himself of that fact.

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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
Hector could see Zeff and Axiolis both staring at him.

'Additionally,' said Garovel, 'it is important to us that we continue to keep a low profile on this one. And that means not sending out any of our most famous combatants on these missions. They would only draw attention.'

'I agree in sentiment,' said Yovess, the reaper of Horatio Blackburn. 'But while assigning these missions to young servants who have not yet made names for themselves out in the world would certainly be possible, such servants are also significantly less experienced, which would make things much more perilous for them without anyone around to help guide them.'

Dimas decided to chime in. "And if we truly wish to operate discreetly, then even sending a reaper who is widely known would be a bad idea. And most of our reapers are widely known--at least insofar as being associated with the Rainlords."

'Yes, that does present a problem,' said Garovel. 'I would therefore ask that you think very carefully about who to select for these assignments. Lesser known reapers are harder to come by, so if you have any in your family, then they might make for good candidates. Depending on how many we have available to us, we may wish to form teams without any reapers on them at all.'

'Your point is a valid one, but I dislike that idea greatly,' said Sentsia to Hector's mild surprise.

He had never heard the reaper of Nere Blackburn say anything at all--and not just in this meeting. He wondered briefly if she and Garovel had ever spoken before. Probably, he figured. Garovel seemed to spend the majority of his time lately just talking to all the different reapers around.

Ever since they'd first traveled to Sair, Hector had gotten the impression that Garovel was trying to collect as much knowledge from every other reaper they encountered as he possibly could--without seeming like that was what he was doing, perhaps.

But maybe every reaper was constantly trying to do that. He was beginning to see what Rasalased had meant about all reapers being hungry for power.