Blood Magic and its Consequences

I am sorry for the long delay between letters - not that it will make too much difference I suppose, since you probably wouldn’t have received one sooner in any case. I will wait to send this anyway, until I have some better news to follow it.
 
The truth is that I have been hesitant to write because I am sorry to report that I have become mixed up in a most unfortunate and unpleasant set of circumstances. My companion Wind, it turns out is a member, or perhaps former member, I am unsure exactly how it works, of an underworld organisation here which is known as the Clasp. This group apparently maintains discipline among its adherents with a barbaric form of blood magic, in which the person’s blood is taken and then held hostage in order to induce them to commit further acts of crime, or to control them in other ways.
 
This disgraceful practice will, of course, need to be eliminated, and every one of its practitioners brought to either justice or repentance. I understand that, but I do not yet have the strength to even begin to tackle the problem. This organisation, from what I have been told, is large and well established. It will take time, perhaps many years, and a formidable force of arms, but I shall see it done. To corrupt another by duress in this way is a terrible sin, and I will not see it go unpunished. If they will not change this practice, then every one of them will be brought to account.
 
For now, the immediate problem at hand is that Wind’s blood is in the possession of this faction, and she fears the consequences of that, should she disobey their orders. What they desire, or so they claim, is evidence that a rival group of criminals are counterfeiting coins via a privately owned (if you can believe such a thing) mint in the city of Westruun. They claim to wish to see this operation cease, as I am sure would the authorities, should they learn about it. Although apparently their attempts to blow the whistle have so far been ignored.
 
We have therefore travelled on to Westruun to investigate the matter further. After all, if such an allegation is substantiated, as it appears in fact to be, then the authorities will need to deal with the matter and the sooner the better. Wind has hopes that if she does as they wish then they will release her blood. It seems unlikely, but I pray that she is correct in this assumption. It will certainly be easier to deal with the larger problem without this ongoing complication in the mix.
 
The situation in Westruun is, to say the least, very confusing and difficult to navigate. The criminal who gave Wind her instructions, a man who calls himself Draygon, insinuated that some individual or individuals within the regional government of Westruun may be in the pay of the rival criminal organisation, or may at least be subject to their power in some form. The Margrave herself, leader of this city, is not in residence at present, and in her absence it is hard to know to what extent her staff members may be trusted with information.
 
We don’t want to alert the rival gang to our involvement if at all possible, because it appears, from the information we have currently, that they have at least two persons held hostage at present - the owner of the mint, one Lord Duncan Pennerton, and his adult son, Thomas. Although whether or not either or both of these persons are in fact working for the gang, under duress or willingly, is also not entirely clear. What is obvious is that these thugs are certainly in a position to take any number of additional hostages amongst the workers at the mint, or indeed the populus at large, should they choose to do so, and so we must tread carefully.
 
I’m sure you can imagine how much I detest all this sneaking around. I have spent as much time as possible in the church here in town, and prayer gives me some peace. I would very much like to extricate Wind from this predicament if we can, but the idea of furthering the aims of this faction of blood witches makes my stomach turn. There is in any case a problem at the mint which needs to be exposed, so that part at least should be straightforward. It is what happens after that which troubles me. It seems that Wind can be compelled by these people as long as they have her blood, and that could well turn out to be an indefinite problem. At least until I have dealt with whoever is ultimately responsible for this black magic, and I do not underestimate the scale of that task.
 
What we cannot do is justify a cost in lives here. At the end of the day, Wind is only one person, and she has entered into this filthy bargain at least semi-willingly, so far as I can tell from what she has said about it. I would do a lot to help her - give my own life, if needs be - but I will not trade the lives of innocent bystanders for her freedom, and she should not ask that of any one of us. Although, I do think that some within the party would perhaps do it, were the choice pressed upon them. One can see how easily the tendrils of corruption creep outwards through these means - the evil that one person may be tempted to do from direct fear of this blood magic, many others may also commit because they care for a friend and would not see her suffer. That suffering is instead visited on the friends and families of those who are caught up in the crossfire. The spreading foulness of this practice is laid bare for all to see.
 
I need to begin to formulate a strategy to deal with this. It will take more than the cleansing power of holy fire I think. Allies will be required, and influence. In time I must learn both how to chivvy weak and ineffective governments, and also how to hunt these villains to their hideouts when action by the proper authorities is not forthcoming. I will take pains to show them the true path, and offer them the chance to walk once again in honour, but those that persist in this wickedness must learn to fear the consequences. This is not at all what I expected to be doing when I left the Holy City, but it seems that it is what needs to be done.
 
I am sorry to bring only such grim tidings. I wish that I had lighter news to report, for Westruun is a pleasant enough town in which to spend some time, and the inn at which we are staying is comfortable and welcoming. Orlando is making some progress on that silencer for Bayou and Enessa delights in telling tales in the taproom. In better times, it could be a merry place.
 
We had a somewhat ill-fated foray into the local woods a few days ago seeking more information (don’t even get me started on that misbegotten charade) but along the way we encountered some rather interesting flying beasts which at some point I would like to learn more about. Enessa named them amphitere, and I have seen nothing like them before. They really were a handful, and for a few minutes it looked rather as though they might get the better of us, but Sabali demonstrated some very quick thinking and repeatedly leaped from the upper branches of trees to bring them down to where the rest of us could strike. I hate to say it, but that fight is probably the most enjoyable thing that has happened for the past couple of weeks. To be honest - it was good to just have an uncomplicated goal for once, even if that was our own survival.
 
I am out of my depth here at the moment, and it shows. Having a good honest fight was a momentary comfort, no doubt, but it seems that I need to learn how to do more than just hit things with my sword, and I need to do it quickly.