I concur that infiltrating the brothel with perhaps two individuals, male and female, is the best approach here. Also, the stakeout may be worth exploring, although with Jarop's brothel across the street I would imagine the neighborhood is well-monitored and infested by the Lia Kavair, so I'm not sure how inconspicuous we can hope to be.
As for the use of local talent, I think we would be best served by directing our attention to the details of our recruiting scheme: the biggest factor determining the likelihood of an agent being turned may be the value of the incentives we offer for this. So I'm generally less concerned with the risk of recruiting local talent, save for this proviso: we should probably take care to recruit agents who do not have pre-existing ties to the Lia Kavair, if at all possible, because I think they'll either pass info on to Jarop about our activities, or end up dead in short order (see
Merky ). In a city like Golotha, avoiding LK ties may be easier said than done...
Also, I think we should discuss Dave's issues about what to do with Stavron should we gain access to him. While Sir Ewen would be happy to end his miserable life posthaste, this would likely prove a lost opportunity for gathering info about Sir Peten, and thus potentially displeasing to Lord Graver. Capturing and torturing Stavron, on the other hand, may well bring Sir P down upon our heads, as Dave points out, which we may or may not wish to do, the Deryni factor being of the biggest concern here. (I tend to be of the opinion that Stavron's death or capture
will provoke a response from Sir P; based upon Sir Ewen's sighting of Sir P, Stavron, and Sir Felkar conversing in Coranan in Nuzyael, they are associated, and Stavron's odd use of the surname suggests a close connection of some sort as well.) Per Ardeth's experience, I would strongly suspect that we would suffer much discomfiture in going head-to-head with a Deryni knight who used to hang with Arren of Melderyn. I would envision a relatively safe means of trying to kill Sir Peten being a) identifying who he is, b) taking him by surprise, preferably from the rear, in some isolated place, and c) making use of one of the gaethipa-infused blades we inherited at the Lenesque place. Our plan for killing Stavron should, I believe, set the stage for such a move against Sir Peten.
Finally, one clarification. The message I received from Stavron, in the form of the murder and mutilation of my colleague Pelisa, took place in Coranan. No messages received in Golotha that I recall. My murder of Sir Felkar was certainly intended as a message by Ewen to Stavron, but it is unclear whether it was received or not (although, as Dave observes, it is unclear what the death of the Baron of Quste signifies in this regard). Thus, it is hard to say whether Stavron is aware of Ewen in Golotha, although I admit it strains the imagination to think otherwise.