11/18/2025 Snippet, BANSHEE BEACH.

Finally figured out how to loop characters back in.

I was surprised that Lucas was willing to go with me to City Hall and look up the records about St. Joannes Mission, until we got there and I realized the joke. There weren’t any. There was barely a City Hall.

Oh, sure, there was a building, right next to the police station. It was very pretty, and very, very empty. “Red Beach does things different here,” Lucas told me, as smugly as if he’d known all about it himself for longer than a couple of days. “No baron, no mayor, not even a local warlord. There’s a board of three people who meet once a quarter, agree that everything’s going fine, then have a nice meal on the taxpayer simoleons before going home.”

I looked around the board/dining room. It was all very tasteful, very solid, and blander than a Mormon pudding. “Gotcha. Who’s the rich bastard who actually runs this town?”

“Ha! That’s what I said.” Lucas shook his head, grinning. “That’s the funny bit. There isn’t anybody. At least, not anymore. The rich bastard who was running things died a few weeks ago. You’ll recognize the name, too.”