Falcon Wanderer
Apprentice
From the Faded Files of Azzirr Encogot
Intro: Cambrian Tavern
Intro: Cambrian Tavern
Call me Az, everybody knows me that way, those that know me anyway. I do detection work mostly. Calls come in from different locales for a detector, and if I'm called I
go. I usually get paid, sometimes I work for free, it's a satisfaction thing.
Today's call was from a local who had found a corpse near the moongate just south of town. The cadaver belonged to one Jourth Fule, and other than that information,
there wasn't much else to learn from it, it was obvious several unknown persons had passed through the area since the killing and none had reported it. With the
moongate so nearby the killer easily could have escaped leaving no clues. I checked the corpse and found clear evidence of a small blade that had obviously been
poisoned due to the stains left on the numerous wounds. The smell off the corpse was strong with decay which proved a bit of time had passed since the act was
committed. I looked through my notes and found a few recent killings by small poisoned blade, passed them along to
the inquiring parties, and went back to the tavern.
There was little else I could accomplish at such a scene they would have to draw conclusions from what they had or just let it go. Letting it go seemed much smarter to
me, these kind of cases often end in more death if they are pursued too diligently. I wasn't feeling like a visit to the healer today myself, I was hoping they didn't either.
Regardless of my intentions though some cases still follow you even when you quit them they won't quit you.
The next day I had a visit from a friend, a supposed member of the same guild, of the deceased inquiring for more information on the killer. The man had the same last
name as the deceased which led me to believe they were more than friends. He grilled me for two hours, and bought all the drinks, and left with the same information I
had passed along to the inquirers of the previous day. I left Cambria after that meeting and went on to Andaria hoping to leave the case behind with the town.
I don't frequent Andaria often, the guard and soldiers know me a bit too well from past investigations and they don't tend to care for my attitude much. They try to
blame every death on the nearby graveyard and become upset if they are told otherwise, by anyone. I also don't care for the tavern there either, too many salty smelling
followers of the waves like to hang out there for my taste. I sat at my table quietly enjoying my drink when someone tapped my shoulder. As I turned to look at them I was
smashed in the face with a drink tray by the waiter. I picked myself up from the floor as I wiped my face off and saw the whole staff of the place behind the waiter. “We
don't care fer your type here gumshoe, move on.” The waiter said. I nodded as I turned for the outside door and spun about and belted the waiter right in the mouth. He
fell backwards and as he rebounded off those behind him I cleared the door and left the place. No chase was given but I knew someone would be by my inn room soon
enough so I went there with all speed.
As certain as death and taxes not an hour later the local guard showed up and made several standard warnings about trouble makers and jail time and such, I ignored
it all and nodded my head stupidly. They knew I didn't take them seriously but they also knew I wouldn't bother staying long either. Almost immediately after the guards
had left my little room above the stables there was yet another knock upon my door. I opened it to find a woman, one Joanth Fule, claiming to be the wife of the dead
man from Cambria, I nearly slammed the door in her face. I let her sit down and heard the woeful tale of a disheartened wife who loved her husband dearly and suspected
him to be a cheat at the same time. Much was intimated about her needing to know who had done this and why they would but no mention of gold was made at all. After
an hour of this I told her I would continue to look into it as time permitted and sent her on her way.
Waiting only long enough to allow her to clear the interior steps and here her talking with the innkeeper I cleared the balcony rail and made fast for the road out of
Andaria for the moongate. I decided to visit Prevalia this time in hopes that such a busy bustling town would allow a bit of peace for a weary detective. I arrived at the inn
north of the main bank a short while later and negotiated a room near the rooftop access for the bar. I spent the next several hours nursing a drink before retiring to bed,
this day had been far too long already.
Morning arrived to find the self same friend of the deceased questioning the innkeeper as I eased down the steps. Though I had changed my attire slipping past the
dayroom unnoticed was not possible. This supposed friend and guild brother of Jourth Fule quickly cornered me and commenced interrogating me about the case. Since I
had little more information I told him little more other than meeting with dead man's wife in Andaria. The man was noticeably surprised at the mention of a wife and this of
course peaked my curiosity but I left it unremarked on. The man left shortly thereafter and I continued on my way though I had decided to return to Cambria already since
I was now becoming interested in further investigating the case in spite of myself.
I returned via moongate and commenced sniffing about my local contacts and the only information I seemed able to garner was that the deceased had apparently had
both guild and marital troubles for a time before his untimely demise. I dug deeper and investigated more but found little else except that he was known to frequent Horse
Shoe Bay quite a lot. I made a few more rounds and ask a few more questions but mostly met with no new information.
I chose to travel to Horse Shoe Bay, or HSB as it is known colloquially. HSB is a roughshod town of mostly roughshod people living roughshod lives. Why this man had
come to frequent the area wasn't as important to me as what he did while there. I went to the inn first and reserved a room and bath.
The water stank of heated brine but you have to take what you can get, I thought to myself that at least I might fit in at the Andarian tavern now, though probably not. I
made a few rounds of the local businesses asking if any knew the deceased, mostly I received blank stares and was asked if I planned to buy anything several times, and
only finally got information from a local fisherman that directed me to the Alchemist shop just west of the bank.
The alchemist there knew the man quite well, but only because he had recently become a regular customer. I had to bribe the man to learn that the deceased frequently
bought a belladonna plant of the nightshade variety in large quantities. Since this is a primary ingredient in poisons throughout Avadon I felt I might have struck closer to
the real reason behind this killing. If this man procured ingredients for whoever had committed the other killings perhaps he had become a liability and ended up dead by
the man he had come to supply.
It seemed like a probable supposition so I went with it. I roamed the rest of the day around the town and began to notice a hooded person following me around. I
decided to see if I could pull a switch on them but every time I hid to await their passage they never showed. I returned to the inn and took my rest, with the door well
barricaded from entry.
The next morning I left out to visit an alchemistly inclined fellow I knew near to Terran to learn if he knew of anyone stockpiling belladonna in the region but I never got
that far.
Just out of town I was stopped by a band of brigands wanting either my gold or my blood. I had little gold on me so I gave it over in hopes of not being killed for
their amusement. It was obvious that they were less than impressed with my small cache of gold but the oncoming arrival of someone on horseback foretold by the
clopping of hooves cleared them out and I was allowed to go on my way. I got to the moongate and was just preparing to travel for Terran when a voice beckoned me
from behind a pillar near the ocean.
To my surprise it was the formerly deceased Jourth Fule. He had a dagger on one hand and was wearing a familiar hooded robe. He approached carefully and asked
why I was dogging his steps so hard. It turned out by chance that each town I had visited he had just arrived in and knowing I was a detective he had fled each time
assuming I was trailing him somehow before I found him.
When I arrived at HSB he had had enough of my meddling and was prepared to kill me to get me off his trail. He had hoped the brigands were a sent by some nefarious
god to save him from having to commit the act himself. I explained that I had originally no intent of tracking him down that I had prepared a statement on his killing and
was trying to avoid any further contact with the case but everywhere I went I ran into someone involved in it. I told him then that I suspected they had actually been trailing
him and that was how I kept running afoul of them each place I went. He then confided in me that he had left his guild and his wife, who was also a guild member, and had
chosen to become a poisoner by trade, something his guild would frown on rather mightily. The reason his corpse had appeared by the moongate was while practicing his
new art he had cut himself various times and died before obtaining a cure for it. He had then left for HSB in spirit form and gotten resurrected there and continued his
practice in a place with an alchemist he could trust to provide him with cures.
We both stood quiet awhile digesting all this news when he said, “Oh by the way just before you arrived I finally became skilled enough to add lethal poison to a
dagger.” and with that he stabbed me in the chest. He fled through the moongate then to who knows where. I myself returned to
HSB and got resurrected. I then sought out my inn room and rested the remainder of the day.
I returned to the Cambrian tavern the next day and went about my normal day. I lost what little I had carried with me and had to acquire new clothing from the tailor but
those are the breaks when you hire your skills out as a detective in this town.
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