Stone Soules Summary Xb: Ludo's Take on the Situation
Some additional information and thoughts --
Some people (Ludo at least) suspect that the people at Fort Halfred are
in on the plot to capture the Duke or are aiding Borglin for some reason.
They've acted very suspiciously:
When we arrive, and ask to see the General, we are put off for several hours
until supper-time, then the General falls asleep, at the table, before
answering any of our questions. Ludo had Thurmond spy on him, and he "woke
up" about 15 minutes after we left the room.
I think the whole buisness at the fort was a delaying action. They
managed to delay us for 2 whole days there!
The giant Borglin is supposed to be expecting and prepared for trouble,
and I think the fort is his first warning and line of defense.
Also, on the way to the fort, we spent the night in a creepy swamp.
Thurmond was scared the whole night long, and Ludo didn't get much sleep.
Ludo thinks that swamp might be the haunted place -- the place where
Borglin is supposed to exchange the Duke with his ransomers. It has
several things going for it as the site of the exchange: It's near the
road/trail, and its not a very nice place, so perhaps Borglin would
expect the ransomers wouldn't want to stay there long enough to set up a
trap or ambush for him.
The creature on the giant wasp could be a messanger for Borglin, didn't
similar creatures carry messages for G.O. in the Indacara jungle?
What we need to decide is, how much time do we have before the Duke is due
to be exchanged? Will be be able to make it to Borglin's home and
overpower him before then? If not what are we going to do?
As I remember, Broglin wasn't the one who was going to kill the Duke, the
Duke's ransomers are (but we can't really be sure..). If Borglin is just
trying to get money for his prisoner, we could try to emiminate the
ransomers from the picture (by ambush?), and then deal with getting the
Duke back from Borglin without having to worry about him being killed.
Ludo (Joey)