The "Palian Sisters' Disappearance" case made rapid progress once trained professionals got involved. The bad news was that this side quest seemed to point directly to a powerful faction lurking in the darkness of Chardo Port.
Given the Mechanical Church's reputation—a name that could scare children into silence—in the eyes of the outer-city residents, it would have been a perfect big bad in any other game. But True Otherworld never played by the usual rules. After gathering a few clues, the Gray Builder's quest to find his wife led him to the current chancellor of Chardo Craftsman University, Lord Minx Steamvalve.
In any other game, players would have gone to pay him a visit and ask for clues. The problem was that Minx wasn't just a chancellor whose students filled the world; he was also the leading figure in engineering on the Old Continent and an official member of the Steam Lords' Council.
In other words, he was a leader of the halfling faction.
Naturally, someone of his stature wasn't available for the players to meet whenever they pleased. With no other choice, the aggrieved Gray Builder reported the matter to Professor Malcolm, Transia's ambassador to Chardo Port. The professor then passed the news on to Murphy, who had just returned from the front to the embassy.
"What? The Palian sisters have gone missing? Why didn't anyone tell me sooner? This is huge!"
Murphy had just been having a tender reunion with Triss, who had teleported over, when he received the terrible news. He was completely thrown.
As lord of the people of Transia, it was his duty to protect every one of his subjects. Besides, the Palian sisters had a special status. As family members of Baroness Palian, one of the "founding retainers," Murphy had every reason to get