Up until this point, the quickly-becoming-infamous "House Tharaskh Hit Squad" has been acting in accordance with their own (as far as anyone can tell) obscure motivations.

However, to the casual observer (such as, perhaps, states bordering on Breland), it must now seem that this resource can also be used to accomplish political goals---for instance, the decapitation of the commander of any force which attacks a Brelish city (irregardless of said commander's potential status as a messianic figure, possession of armaments such as giant mechwarriors, etc).

Regardless of the veracity of this conclusion when evaluated by those in possession of all the facts, it seems that it might cause a certain level of unease in neighboring states, don't you think?

--Sir Dr MMM III

PS- also, what is up with this land? Can I put that to any use?

"Unease" is a mild way to put it. It does seem that House Tharashk might have some political leverage at this point, yes.

You can do whatever you want with the land. It's basically wooded hills right along the border with Droaam. The population is (probably) zero right now, so it's not like you'll be taxing the locals or anything. The three properties are right next to eachother, which may or may not be useful. Basically, it depends on whether anyone wants to build a castle or anything crazy like that. You're already pretty well situated as "bases" go... the Kraken, the door, House Tharashk tower in Sharn, Mathison's lab on top of a dimensional seal, and a flying castle. The land is basically part of bestowing low grade nobility on you guys. Technically, you guys could stick an "ir" in front of your names instead of using the "sir."

The land can probably sit...as you say, we have several more defensible options for bases. Still, it would be nice to find some productive use for it. Sort of out of reach of the law? Maybe Kragesh can "interrogate enemy combatants" there or something (I think we've all had just about enough of being affected by blasphemy and whatnot; and this is, after all, an election year!).

Anyway, does Pliers have craft construct? It seems that Mathison might need to collaborate with someone in order to create an interface to go between the Shavarath orb and the ... battle mech.

Speaking of which, does Mathison see any way that the Shavarath orb could be used to gain influence over (or compel) the Helmsman or his henchman? (Still interested in results of research/legend lore on that asshole, btw)... I know that creatures of his ilk are associated with Shavarath, so it seems like it would be worth looking into. Perhaps we could use the orb to force a more expedient and favorable end to our stalemate.