Dorian leans back in a chair in his suite aboard the Frigate, a small pouch of spice sits on a table in front of him.

"Dorian? You wanted to see me?" Cuyler entered, offering a smile.

"Yes, thank you." Dorian stands to greet Cuyler then gestures towards the pouch on the table as he takes his seat again. "Edwell brought a small present from the Fremen he encountered. He was hopeful you could examine it and tell us what you could about it. It might be a simple payment, or there might be more to it."

"Really?" she sat down and pulled the pouch closer. "Why did they give it to him?"

"He was a little sparse with the details, but apparently he and Bomilcar went out, along with our Fremen guide Ahmina, to investigate outside the Shield Wall for something and ran into a group of them. There was a bit of a standoff, but then the Fremen let them go and gave them some stillsuits and a pack of supplies, which included this pouch."

Dorian chuckles a little, "Oh, and the Fremen took the thopter our people had rode in on. They had to walk until they could get a comm signal back to call for a pickup."

"I heard they steal thopters. Hopefully, that wasn't the one that tried to shoot my carryall down."

She studied the pouch for a moment before opening it. She peered inside then inhaled deeply.

- - -
[Day 4 - EE] Provenance or Providence, Judging Pouch of Spice,, Discipline (8)/Truth (8), Keen Sense of Smell, Sommelier: 2#1d20 20 7

It was very high-quality melange, less refined that the Harkonnen usual. Judging by the sniff, it had no contamination. Momentarily, it filled Cuyler with euphoric zeal to use this for the most gourmet of meals just as... she had drawn some speckles into her nostrils. Har awareness shot out seductively, incurring adab - the demanding memory - pulling Cuyler back into her childhood, when her mother was very young. Actually, she didn't ever remember her to be this young, and the thought pushed her into realisation that she must be observing her from within the crib. A memory no child ever preserved... or did they?

[Complication: Slightly On Spice]

"Oh! This is good!" she said suddenly. "Really good. Like it's straight from the worm. Is that where they got it? It hasn't been processed. No contaminants. No refinements. No sharing. I mean, we can share, but I should make something with it. Do you like waffles?"

Straight from the worm. This thought occurred naturally, but there seemed to be no realised causality between the two. There was spice, and there were worms, the common knowledge of Arrakis dictated. The connection between the two? What an interesting thought!

Dorian watched as Cuyler's mood quickly shifted. He was so busy observing he almost missed what she had said, no refinements, no sharing, waffles? "So, this seems to be from the Fremen's own source, nothing to do with Harkonnens? An interesting development. It doesn't help with our audit, but it may be useful information yet."

He gently takes the pouch away from Cuyler. "As for the waffles, I had other hopes for its use if it didn't prove related to the Harkonnens. Our Lady Wallach had shown some interest in procuring spice yesterday when we went to speak with the miners. Perhaps we can show her some Mutelli hospitality and share what we have found..." Seeing a look of disappointment begin to show on Cuyler's face, Dorian adds, "I'm sure we can reserve a little for your culinary exploits, I do love waffles."

"No, I understand." She still pouted. "It's just exciting, right? Raw, fresh spice. The only time a smelled anything like it was during that worm attack."

"I'm glad you are understanding. We will save some for a feast of spice waffles, and I will make up the rest to you as best I can. For now, let's send for Lady Wallach." Dorian produced a small container in which Cuyler could parse out a small amount of spice for her own needs and sent a message requesting Gene's presence.

"... but what is this about a worm attack?"

"I thought I had mentioned it." she said.
"Yesterday, I went on a ride along on a carryall. It was an emergency trip to recover a harvester that seemed to be in trouble. We did not find the harvester, but saw what seemed to be bodies on the sand, on of whom seemed to have survived whatever happened. However, we were attacked by a thopter. Our escoirt thopter exchanged fire with them fire, giving us a chance to get away."

"Before we left, however. I saw the sands moving towards the lone survivor below. A worm emerged, swallowing them with no effort. It was massive. When I saw it, I also could smell raw, pure spice."

"Well, you certainly had a more exciting time at the Shield Wall than me. I got to look through repair invoices, receipts, and records with Mr. Reins. I did get to have a drink with Lady Wallach and some Dunemen, interesting bunch.

Was the worm really as big as they say, or just more Harkonnen exaggeration? I guess they're big enough to take out a harvester... that's probably why it smelled like spice, if it just snacked on a harvester full of spice."

"They are large enough to, but I think the harvester may have been stolen by whomever the thopter belonged to." she said.

Gene walked in, not really sure what the message was for. Maybe something came up in the investigation? Maybe something else happened. Well regardless, Gene walked into the room and waved a little.

"Everything alright?" She glanced over at Cuyler and Dorian with a curious glance, trying to get a good read on them.

Dorian stands to greet Gene upon her arrival, "Welcome Lady Wallach, everything is fine, we just had a bit of business to discuss with you. But first, Ms. Gray was just sharing an interesting theory about what happened to a harvester she went in search of yesterday. She thinks it was stolen rather than being destroyed by a worm as would usually be assumed."

"I don't think the worm could have swallowed the harvester and leave bodies behind." she said.

Gene looks at him and smiles. "Okay. I suppose that makes sense. I don't really know the ecology and nature of those creatures, so I will leave that to those who do." Looking at Cuyler, she shrugs. "So they don't tend to leave leftovers. That is suspicious, but not enough to start accusing people with."

"I was on the rescue carryall." she said. "We were attacked by an unidentified thopter when we arrived on site."

"Another thought occurs to me. You said there were bodies left behind, which is why you think the harvester was taken rather than destroyed. It does make sense that a worm couldn't have done that.

If the Dunemen were slain without time to radio in about an attack, then either the attack came from someone they were expecting there or possibly even from within... were there enough bodies to account for a full harvester crew?"

"We were attacked before we got close enough to count." she shook her head. "There was at least one alive who tried to wave us off before the thopter turned on us. The pilot suggested that this kind of thing had happened before. He also felt he would be fired and it would all be covered up."

A servant moved in the background, perhaps no one would notice?

"Well then, that is indeed quite suspicious. Too bad it seems you have little to go on with this information. Not that I don't believe you, but you have on it is a story and no one willing to testify. Might as well leave it alone, for now."

Her eyes glanced over at the servant girl as she entered, staring her down and nodding to them. "Though I suppose you haven't any luck finding that one survivor, then."

"They were swallowed by a worm." she explained.