Red road thief
Red road thief is a chapter in Porteek's "The Movers of our Previous Generation", and probably the most entertaining story in the volume.
It details an investigation into a mysterious disappearance of stones from the road between Estonoh and Ernele back in the 19th CFR.
The investigation is launched after an Uroh from Estonoh is killed when a wheel of his carriage hits a pothole, which is caused by a large stone taken out of the road. More potholes are then discovered and a Mel-Bortoh is assigned to the case. Unsure what to do, she consults an oracle, who predicts that Jeen-Bortoh will be unsuccessful in uncovering the truth, alluding to the supernatural character of the situation. Jeen-Bortoh, worried about her career, decides to give the case to her colleague, a young and inexperienced Mel-Mederoh (junior detective).
Mel-Mederoh decides to conduct surveillance of the road, but of course quickly discovers that it is over 250 kilometers long. He also consults the oracle, who tells him that the truth will be more than he can bear and that it might break him, but that he will prevail if he decides to proceed. Mel-Mederoh then goes to the Jeenor of Estonoh and tries to persuade him to order his troops to take part in the surveillance of the road. When Jeenor learns about the oracle's prediction, he agrees.
Mel-Mederoh uses 50 thousand troops to surveil a 100 km section of the road, from which the stones have been disappearing. During the night soldiers see a beast which appears over the road and then breathes fire onto one of the stones and destroys it.
Porteek then proceeds to discredit the story, detailing his own travels through Maird and how he had discovered an old road, made out of red stone. He then hypothesizes that the secessionists from Gordohse, a settlement established at that same time, needed access to fresh water that they could get from the mountains of Maird. He then demonstrates that they most probably stole most of the stones from the road between Estonoh and Ernele, and that the closest portion of the road would be the middle, exactly the portion reported to be losing stones.
