"All illnesses do come from somewhere, but I haven't heard anything about the beginning of this one." Perhaps they simply don't know or there was nothing to trace about it. Not everything has a perfect answer, especially with illnesses, but he does wonder now that Thorne apparently had their hands on it.

"I didn't know someone could trap an illness like that and release it with such precision." Biological warfare through spreading plague is possible but it's usually sloppier than this. Istredd assumes the person who released it at the Free Cities died with it, but they don't know for certain. "Magic can hold infected air but ... I don't know. It's confusing."

He assumes this would be happening more frequently in their sphere if it was readily possible.

"My concern was always that throwing a coup would make Thorne weak to a Free Cities attack. Sidwell apparently agreed." Let's not dive too deeply into how Istredd acknowledges the man's pragmatic mind mirrors his in more than one way. It's different in the ways that matter. But Stregobor would probably admire Sidwell a great deal.

"The Singularity won't let us be. Have you heard of any Summoned getting sick of even a minor cold or flu since arriving? It's already been altering us."