[She hums noncommittally at that. It's odd not having all the information at hand and also quite... frustrating. With her former traveling companions, they would at least have one expert in just about every field they ran into but....]

Well, nothing can be ruled out either, can it?

But what purpose would it serve for them to cast these afflictions on us? I've been told that they're incompetent but it hasn't come up that they're actively malicious.