Editing A Crack in the Wall (section)

==Catching Up With Suvatra==
With nothing specific on our agenda (and Managaratha still being sleepy) we wait for the plot to descend.
It descends in the form of a note from Suvatra, who wishes to see Vidan at his convenience (which he interprets as Right Now).

We go to the palace!  It is more open than a Red castle, it’s more of a working government building.  It’s less defensible than Orange areas, even, but there are more guards, so maybe they’re using people rather than walls.

Suvatra gives some files.  Background check on Vestal, there’s not much there.  She did have a merchant shop, although she hadn’t been there in a while.  Vidan thinks about it with Detective– it cuts off abruptly about 4 years ago, which lines up with Mangaratha’s scrying.  There are two mysterious deaths that happened where she was at the time.  They were both politicians, neither of them are specifically tied to the Maharani.  Thinking about it, neither of them are in the Maharani’s House, but they would have been relevant to the new Maharani were the Maharani to fall.  One of them died violently.  No political ramifications are in the file.  

She also has a file on Merindal Laman, the jeweler Stella was working with.  Seems to be basically a jeweler, Merchant Varna her whole life.  She’s moderately ambitious, there are some indications of notable sales, moving up the hierarchy of important people being sold to over the last several years.  Nothing looks awry, but there is definitely an attempt to curry political favor.  Which is plausibly just being a good merchant.  Stella thinks she’s not maximizing for profit, though.  SHe is selling to both Noble and Priest Varna; most of her sales to Priest varna appear to have been to Lore’s servants, rather than Love or Life.  That has changed over the last few years.

[Elizabeth interrupts to ask “Why do you all sit in the same places?”  “Because we are old.”]

Suvatra is still putting together files on the other four Vidan asked about.  (The other three that Stella was working with and Talinda.)  

Managaratha shows up.  It’s not entirely clear how, maybe he teleported?

There’s nothing else Suvatra wants from us today.  Vidan inquires politely whether there is a… retired spy he could talk with to learn something from?  She can probably arrange something, though not today.

Suvatra adds that, given the indications in Vestal’s file and the fact that she came after Suvatra, she is somewhat concerned that the people opposed to her Majesty are trying to cut off Her Majesty’s support before going after Her Majesty, so if we could keep an eye out for that, she would appreciate it.  

It is traditional for the three Houses of the Goddess to have different goals, but to the extent they are opposing each other, that would be newer.  Managaratha thinks it is more common for Churches to fight each other, rather than schism.

Suvatra says we will probably not be meeting with the Maharani in open court, but that will of course be her decision.

Thus ends our meeting with Suvatra.