By Chester Seaton, News

15/7/282– Breaking news in the ongoing saga of the rogue alchemist Rigel Rinkenbach and the Nor Eastern war criminal Pixie Sinclaire, as sources say a joint force of Nor Eastern spies and Pharassian Seekers have tracked the pair to the abandoned fortress of Ma-Droit. Unfortunately, the situation seems to be far from resolved.

The fortress, a holdover from before the founding of the Triumvirate, stands at the North Western Border between Sarnwain and Nor Easter. It once stood as a bastion against the invading hordes from Tarsia, and has a complicated and bloody history. It is also, despite its age, very well positioned and fortified, making the proposition of storming the fortress a tricky one.

“The builder of the fortress, Vasily Tremenkoff, was notorious not only for the horrific ways in which he dispatched his enemies, but for his love of traps,” said historian Alaine Fordeau. “The fortress is riddled with them, all the way from the highest parapets to the valley floor, deep below. No doubt many of these traps should be in a state of disrepair, if not for Nor Easter’s almost obsessive efforts to preserve its history…even the deadly, functional parts of it. Add to that the fact that the current tenants are the world’s premier industrialist and a highly trained Nor Eastern saboteur, and getting into the place is a dicey prospect, to say the least.”

How do we know the pair survived the fortress themselves?

“In the early morning hours of the first day, we observed an owl flying from the upper tower,” wrote Gerard P. Shanahan, the point man for the Nor Eastern interests. “I ordered it shot down. The species was not indigenous to the area, and it had a note tied to its leg. Nothing of great importance, just a verse of bad poetry meant for someone named Herbert. Doubtless the owl and the verse belong to Rinkenbach. We’re looking into it now.”

Further stalling the resolution of this situation is the joint force’s inability to decide what happens to Rinkenbach and Sinclaire once they are caught.

“Nor Easter no doubt wants them alive and in one piece so the two can provide answers for their actions,” an analyst said. “Sarnwain, on the other hand, probably only wants their heads.”