By Isairo Palantes, Monteddorian Correspondent

22/2/282- The situation surrounding Monteddor’s problems with Seylene Plamondon’s pirate fleet grows ever direr this week, as a Desantana security detail transporting a cargo ship loaded with Blackwood headed for the Crowndon capital was brought down in the skies off the north coast of Monteddor.

Even more alarming is the proximity of this attack to Libertine’s Roost, a sovereign state that lies in the middle of the great inland sea dividing Monteddor and Crowndon and what many believe to be a pirate haven.

“The loss of such a large shipment of Blackwood cannot go unchecked,” said Cicero Aldero, a Captain of Desantana’s militia. “We are operating under the assumption that Plamondon’s forces might be using the Roost as a staging ground. However, our treaties with the Roost are built in such a way that the Triumvirate would collapse into civil war should any one member attack. Needless to say, the situation requires a delicate touch.”

Officially, Plamondon has no association with the Roost. Stories have it that she was exiled after killing a fellow pirate years ago, breaking one of the Roost’s highest laws. Aldero doesn’t think this is a factor any more, however.

“Given the size of her fleet and what she has to offer the other ‘merchants’ that operate out of the Roost, her transgressions as a young pirate might no longer hold sway. She can pretty much go anywhere she wants at this point, using bribes or threats or force. Even the Crowndon fleets fear her.”

Crowndon has yet to issue a statement on the situation, though they have their own ongoing troubles with the Roost. Last year, the Crowndonian brig Strident Whisper had to put down on the island, and an altercation with the crew left the Whisper’s captain, Armistan Cadbury, at the mercy of the Roost’s denizens. The fate of Captain Cadbury is still unknown.