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After twenty minutes, the servant shows up in the library to tell Gnosha and Aered that their audience with Duchess Jacobina Maimux will be in about one and a half hour, but Sir Paragon Knight Heskan will come in about ten minutes to guide Gnosha and Aered around the castle.
Suddenly a tall and muscular dragonborn dressed in full armor. He says with a deep strong voice: - “Greetings adventurers. So, you are the resources that Captain Woode had brought in.” Yes, Sir Paragon Knight Heskan Gnosha replied. Sir Heskan continued: - “So, who are you? I like a formal introduction.” I am Gnosha Courisinei, investigator, at your service, Gnosha replied, and Aered said and I am Aered Ealchfrilen, Paladin of the Order of the Viridian Key under the command and guidance of Master Didethor, at your service.
Sir Heskan continued: - “To make things a little easier for you so you don’t get lost within the castle, I will show you around so you will know your ways around. It’s a shame that you two are here and not Captain Woode, you could start to doubt his competence in these matters. If I had been given the command over this, I would have arrested the guilty and had them hanged by dawn, and the matter would be closed. Because within these walls of the castle, I am in charge, Captain Woode should stick to finding petty criminals and keep order in the town.”
Gnosha had to bite his tongue to not say something about that it’s very easy to arrest and hang the wrong person if you do not conduct a proper investigation.
Sir Heskan shows them around, both in the public and the private sections of the castle. Walking both up and down in the different staircases and in the long corridors where servants stood still as soon as they saw Sir Heskan’s intimidating presence, slightly bowing in submission.
The guided tour takes about an hour. They pass through the cellars, where Gnosha notices that they have really a good stock of supplies to survive a siege, not only for the about hundred people within the castle, but the whole town. They passed some dungeons that looked very old and unused. Sir Heskan said: - “These dungeons haven’t been used in twenty or even thirty years. Now these things are handled by the town guards, under the command of Captain Woode. I wish it was like in the old days, when we had knights as the castle guards. Now we get those who cannot perform as knights and fight from horseback. They are good soldiers, but not as good as real knights on a horse. I have about a dozen guards under my command.”
They continue to the audience chamber and they continue a half floor up to the attics where the servant quarters are. The attic is both a living quarter and some rooms are used as storage as well.
They now continue over to the private section of the castle. Sir Heskan tells Gnosha that there was a passage in the basement, but that was closed by a stonewall many years ago. There is only one passage open between the public and private sections at this time. As you can see there are bars over the windows on the private section, to prevent anyone from entering but still allowing archers to shoot if the castle is under siege. Ghosha asks about the attic, and Sir Heskan says that there should not be any way to move from the attic of the public section to the attic of the private section. Gnosha makes a quick note in his case notebook, Check the attic for any evidence of a passage that has been used.
At the audience chamber there is a rear chamber with two doors, one leads to the private section and is always guarded by two guards. Sir Heskan says to the guards: - “These two are with me, you let them in, understood?” Then he turns to Gnosha and says: - “They are Jan and Nicos, if you want to talk to them, I will arrange that.” Gnosha replied that they are on his list.
They enter the private section, and it is built in the same style, but built a bit later than the public section. There are several guest rooms on the first floor, for diplomats and other important guests of the Duchess. On the next floor is the private suit of the Duchess, and across the corridor is another suit for even more important guests. On the top floor, which is an attic with lower ceiling height are the living quarters for the servants in the private section. They all live and sleep here. The personal bodyguards of the Duchess also live here. They walk down again to the basement of the private section, and Gnosha notices that there are several weapons and armours down here. Not the best quality, but will work and better than not having anything in case of a siege or a war. It looks like Sir Heskan knows his work.
Heskan now guides them out to the courtyard and says: - “That is the main gate, it is always closed during nights.” Ghosha sees some gardens, and a few growing houses against the outer wall, but quite spartan by the looks of it. Against the outer wall is a grating, with a gate in it. A small water stream, just a foot deep, runs out through the grate. Gnosha looks at the grating, and Sir Heskan is quick to say: - “I see that you look at the grate. That is used from time to time. There is a grate on the other side, without any door. This is where the servants empty the buckets and the night potties, not a very pleasant location.”
OK, it’s time to get you back to the audience chamber, cannot let the Duchess wait Sir Heskan says. They walk across the courtyard to the public section and up to the audience chamber, where Sir Heskan leaves them. After a few minutes, the door to the backroom opens and a young and beautiful woman appears, flanked by two well armed persons, wearing the colours of Her Majesty's Personal Guards. The woman points with her hand a sofa in the middle of the room and says: - “Welcome, have a seat. As I understand it, you are Aered and Gnosha, I am Duchess Jacobina Maimux, I am glad to finally meet you.” She waves to the servants to leave the room, and her bodyguards stand at each side of the room, distant enough to not be part of the conversation, but close enough to act if anything happens.
Gnosha and Aered sat down in the nice soda and Duchess Maimux sat down right across them. Gnosha is feeling that uneasy feeling of being in the close vicinity of royalty. He starts by saying: - “Your royal highness...”, but is interrupted by Duchess Maimux who says: -”Please, call me Jacobina.”, and Gnosha suddenly felt much more relaxed. Duchess Maimux, or Jacobina, was not at all what he had expected, she was young, just twentyseven winters old, and she was stunningly beautiful, for a human that is, and most of all, she was intelligent and straight forward. Gnosha tried again: - “Jacobina, this is a very interesting mystery that requires deep forensic knowledge.”
Duchess Maimux replies: - “Good, as this is nothing I can do, or have time to take care of anyway.”
Gnosha continued, feeling that this young lady was very straight forward, which was something he liked in people: - “The action plan I have put together to solve this mystery is as follows. First, I need a room in which I can interview the people who were in the castle that night. I have a list of names from Captain Ennet Woode. Second, I really need to conduct a forensic examination of the library in question, I really hope it has been closed so possible evidence has not been compromised. And third, I need to book the persons in Captain Woode's list for a quick interview. And last, do you have any idea what books were stolen, and how many were stolen?”
Duchess Maimux replied: - “I wish I had more time, and I wish Sir Heskan would come up with more ideas than just hang anyone he suspects. You can use a guest room downstairs as your room, a servant will show you which room, and you can visit the library this afternoon. I will see to it that Heskan makes sure that all the persons on your list will come to the guest room for your interview.”
Duchess Maimux asks if that was all, as she has a very tight schedule. Then thanks Gnosha and Aered and she calls for a servant to show Gnosha and Aered to the interview room. Gnosha saw that when Duchess Maimux left, Aered was stunned by her presence, both her mental and her physical presence. Gnosha thought that the line of young nobles that were trying to catch her attention would probably be very long, but decided not to say anything about that to Aered.
Gnosha took a seat behind a small desk in the guestroom they were granted to use as an interview room, and placed a chair on the opposite side, and said to the servant that he would like some simple refreshments in the room. Aered was assigned the task of sending them in to Gnosha on and one, and in the order that Gnosha had already laid out.
The first person to enter the interview room was the Personal Guard of Dutchess Maimux, Adlile Ferrus, a cat folk woman. Gnosha first smalltalk a little and learns that Adlile has been at the castle since she was a child. The last three years she had worked as a Personal Guard of Duchess Maimux. When Gnosha mentions Oxton Fast Fingers and Sidwell the Mad, and asks what relation she has to them, Adlile just replies that those are low life petty criminals and nothing she has anything to do with. When Gnosha asks about Chef Raîne de Blays, Adlile describes her as very helpful. She makes wonderful food, her turnip halves cooked in oil are absolutely delicious. Aered, who was outside the room, but within hearing distance, heard turnip halves cooked in oil, and almost started to drool.
Then Gnosha asks about the events during the night. Adille explains that it was a while ago. She and Rodulf were on duty, and it didn’t happen much that night. Chef Raîne rushed back and forth between the kitchen in the public section and the private section with food, and then some late snacks. The servant, Kanna Okkura was also going in and out several times, night potty emptying. Then in the morning, I've never seen Heskan so angry. Duchess Maimux stayed calm, I know she kept her anger inside. I’ve known her for years and I know how well she can hide her feelings.
Gnosha took notes and then told Adlile that he was done, for the moment, and she could return to her duties. The next person on the list was the Personal Guard of Dutchess Maimux, Rodulf Talbot.
Once again Gnosha small-talked a little at first, before asking about the connections to Smiling Beldon, to which Rodulf replied that had never heard about that person before. Then he asked about Guard Nicos Alekou, and Rodulf replied that he is ok. He was an adventurer before, but got wounded and his back is very stiff. We have occasionally taken an ale down at the tavern, but as I said, he is somewhat stiff.
About the evening, Rodulf explains that he and Adille were on duty that night. Chef Raîne was constantly running back and forth, she even brought a little snack for me and Adille. The servant Kanna Okkura was running in and out several times, but that is what servants do. In the morning, Heskan was so angry he steamed from his mouth, he had problems holding back his dragon breath. It was difficult to keep a straight face, he was so angry.
When Gnosha was satisfied he told Rodulf he was free to return to his duties and the next person to enter for an interview was the servant Kanna Ukkura.
After the initial smalltalk, Gnosha asked about Yvette the Silent, and Kanna replied that he had met her once not knowing who she was, at a tavern, and that she doesn’t talk much. He was told later who she was and that she is known to stab people in the back. He has never heard about Weasel Walton. He described Guard Jan Valt as not the kindest of people, that he could be quite rigid. Hjartur is much nicer, and Nicos is a little stiff, he says he is standing as much as he can as it feels better. He has never met them outside the castle.
In the evening he was quite busy emptying night potties, fetched and distributed food, and collected the dishes. He says that he thought he was going to die when Heskan went so angry, he had never been so afraid in his life as that morning.
The next person to enter the room was Chef Raîne de Blays. Gnosha started as always smalltalk a little, about food and mentioned Aered’s bottomless appetite for anything edible, preferably drenched in fat. Then Gnosha asked her about Bug Eyed Roland, and she replied she had never heard that name before. When asked about Hjartur, she replied that Hjartur is very kind and always very helpful. He sometimes even helps her carry things .
During the night she made sandwiches and snacks, and even gave some to Rodulf and Adille as they looked like they needed something. She passed the door between the private and public sections several times during the night. She helped Hjartur to wash his clothes that night in the big kettle, he had gotten really dirty in some way. I washed the big kettle before I made soup in it.
Gnosha makes a note: Hjartur had dirty clothes that night, I wonder why.
Gnosha thanked Kanna Ukkura for her time, and sent her off, thanking her for the delicious refreshments he had got in the room.
Next up is Nicos, he walks a little stiff. Gnosha asks a little about his wound, and then asks about his connections with Jarred One Eye, and Nicos replies that he thinks he arrested him at least once while he worked as a townguard. He is easy, he has only one eye, easy to remember and easy to spot. That was some winters ago. When asked about Welles the Crook he replies that he was just a little lad when he was townguard, but he hasn’t seen him since he was like seven or eight winters old. And then when asked about Heskan, Nicos says that Heskan is the most intimidating person he has ever met. You obey his orders no matter what, but he has saved the duchy with his iron will.
About the night, he says that there was some running back and forth by the servant and Chef Raîne. I know Hjartur followed the bucket carrier so they could empty it through the grate. We really need what they have in the big cities to the south, they have a system with tunnels for the shit, no more running with buckets.
Nicos left to go back to his duties, and the next on the list was Jan Valt, the dwarf. Gnosha knew from what the previous had said, that Jan could be a difficult person. Gnosha decided to drop the smalltalk and get straight to the points with him. When he asked about Damian Black Eye, Jan shortly replied, in his dark and loud voice, that he never met that person. When asked about Adlile Ferrus, he replied, a hairy, tough, agile, and she fences like a goddess.
When Gosha asked about the night, the replies were equally short. Severant in and out 4 times, Chef in and out 3 times. Hjartur went out to pee alone. At ten p.m. Rodulf and Adlile when out to pee. I have already told Heskan all of this. Why do you want to know it too? Gnosha calmly replied that he wanted to hear it from the source himself. Ghosha felt that there was nothing more to learn from Jan, so he sent him away.
Gnosha takes notes again: The second person to point out that Hjartur went out alone.
So, time to interview Hjartur. Gnosha decided to not ask about any of the information he had got from the previous interviews, but to go in open minded and with no prejustices. Experience told him that you should treat all first interviews of a row of people as the first in row, then analyse the answers. If you don’t, your judgement might be clouded by false information passed during the other interviews, which makes you come to false conclusions.
When asked about Fast Fingers Susan, Hjartur replies that has never heard of her. When Gnosha asks about his relation to Ariel the Dwarf, Hjartur replies, I think he can swim, he is a good swimmer I think. Doesn’t he run a swimming school? When Hjartur is asked about Rodulf Talbot, he replies that he thinks he is ok.
About the night, he replies that he remembers that the personal guards went out early for a pee, and that the chef and the servant ran 4-5 times each. Gnosha is satisfied with his answers and tells Hjartur he can return to his duties.
Now, Ghosha has to brace himself, as the next, and also last person to interview is no one other than Heskan.
When Heskan enters the room, with his deep strong voice he says: - “What do you need help with?” Gnosha repiled: - “I just have a few questions that I need to ask to conclude the first step of my investigation.”
When Gnosha asks about Viper Audry, Heskan shorty replies, Petty criminal. When Gnosha asks about Kanna Ukkura, Heskan once again replies very short, Servant, sloppy. Gnosha decides to ask about the night, and for the third time, Heskan shows why people are afraid of him. He replies, in bed 21:30, up 04:30, 90 minutes physical training in my chamber, exited my chamber at 06:00.
Gnosha notes in his notebook, Heskan is quite some piece of work.. but is interrupted by Heskan who says: - “Why don’t you just drop it. If it was up to me, I would just have arrested some low-life, string him up, and the thing would be forgotten.” Heskan asks if they are done, and marshes out of the room in his typical arrogant style.
The interviews are over, and Gnosha and Aered take a quick walk back to the tower to fetch some forensic equipment. On the way to the tower, Gnosha says to Aered that he might think about changing his clothing a little to better blend in. Aered replies, but I need my armor, what are you suggesting? Gnosha explains that the armour is just fine, it’s the very distinctive shield and tabard that draws unwanted attention to us. Aered looks a little confused, but agrees that they should pass a tailor and an armourer when they have time to look at some less eye-catching clothes and shield.
They return to the castle after about a half hour, to perform the long sought after forensic analysis of the private library. Gnosha decided to do it with a little show and a lot of work. He first checks the lock to the library. It’s a very complex lock, it must have cost a fortune to install. The lock is almost impossible to pick, and if you pick it you will leave marks and scratches inside the lock, but there is no evidence that someone did pick it, which implies that the lock was indeed opened with a key, or it was picked by a real master thief, skilled enough not to leave any marks even on a lock like this.
Next, he checks the library. Aered is standing guard in the door, and the only other person let in is head librarian, an old grey haired and slightly bent man by the title of Master Librarian Henri Roussel.
Gnosha checks the bookshelves with historical chronicles, books have been moved, and it looks like some books are missing. He tries to get some fingerprints from some of the books, but it’s uncertain if the prints are complete or just partial. Gnosha asks Master Roussel what books stood here, and he replies that he is uncertain, but some series of chronicles. He remembers one book was named volume III, but he is uncertain of the names of the others, but it looks like five books are missing.
Gnosha makes a note: “Some chronicles are missing, is someone trying to question Duchess Maimux’s right to the throne?”
Gnosha says thanks Master Roussel for the assistance and then asks a servant who was outside the library with Aered to thank Duchess Maimux for her assistance as well and tell her she can now lock the library again.
On the way back to the tower, Gnosha makes another action plan. Requip Aered, structure the information he has gathered, and keep an eye on the petty criminals, if some of them suddenly goes missing, other than that, time for dinner, Aered looks quite hungry.
Gnosha was also quite pleased that Duchess Maimux had thought it was quite reasonable that Gnosha should be paid for his costs to do the investigation. She had told him that she would arrange that through Captain Woode.
On the way back Gnosha took Aered to a blacksmith to look for a less eye-catching shield, something that looked more like the shield carried by an adventurer. Aered was still not really convinced, so Gnosha explains to Aered that to catch the bad guy, Aered would need to come close to him. If the bad guy or any of his minions spot Aered in a distance, the bad guy will have time to flee. Aered says yes, bad guys do not have any honor, they do not duel, they flee, or stab you in the back and then flee. So I need less distinctive looking clothes to be able to come closer to the bad guy, and catch him before he flees. I think I understand what you are saying now, you are very clever my friend Gnosha.
They walked down to the area around Five Markets to find a decent armourer, and after checking a few stores out, they settled for a round adventurer's shield they found at the Mandelin’s Magnificent Store. They put Aereds tabard and old shield in a large sack and went to The Tasty Raven, a tavern known to be a place frequented by adventurers. Aered now looks like a classic adventurer, and when they enter the large room with several tables, there are no more eyes scrutinizing Aered. The tavern keeper, a dwarven lady, laughs loudly and talks with the guests, and when she sees Aered and Gnosha entering she says welcome adventurer’s, what can I offer you today? Something to eat maybe. The menu was quite interesting, Gnosha settled for a Pickled Pheasant and Whey Cheese, and a tankard of Perry, pear cider, while Aered went for the Boiled Mutton and Blue Cheese and a tankard of Bitter. The food was good, and interesting, and Gerdrga, the tavern keeper, told stories that she had been an adventurer in her days, and she had picked up recipes from far and away on her journeys.
Gnosha decides to listen in to the talk of the tavern, and most people were talking one way or another about the upcoming festival. He also heard one guy talking to a group of fellow patrons, saying I know that the statue down at Beggar's Chase is not a real statue, but a petrified adventurer, I promise, I’ve heard that from a friend.
Ghosha remembers the statue, they had passed it before, and he was sure that this guy was just telin an untrue tale, but he decided not to spoil his evening of fame. There was another group, clearly adventurers but their looks, talking about Ennet Woode and a job. One guy said, We should maybe try to contact that group of adventurers that saved the village of Winterhaven, they might have some job for us.
Gnosha knew that this was a good place to come back to if he needed to recruit someone, or needed someone to do a job for him. But the test was complete, Aered was swinging his tankard and no one could tell he was a paladin, which was the goal.
After a few hours they decide to walk back to the tower for some work. Gnosha looks through his notes and sees that Hjartur seems to be a possible insider, but the good hearted man, if he was the insider, would probably be the subject of blackmailing or some other pressure as he didn’t feel like the type to betray his Duchess of free will. He would investigate him, his background and friends a little closer tomorrow. Another task for tomorrow, which was even more pressing, was to investigate, and possibly rule out, the possibility that the thief entered the private section of the castle through some unknown secret passage somewhere where the sections shared walls.
Aered has found that books could be quite fascinating and interesting, and he had made himself a study on the first floor of the tower, with a small chair, a table and some books. He also has a little shrine, where he could perform his daily rituals he was oathbound to perform as a paladin. The books Aered had borrowed at the public library were Soldiers and Strangers and Honour with Honour, two books where the titles intrigued him. He also had three small books in his pack, from his studies, a book on religion, a book on heraldry and the last book, a book about siege battle tactics.
Later they walked back to their rented room for some well deserved sleep. In the morning, they ate a quick breakfast, Aered still being a little heavy in his forehead from all the bitter he drank yesterday. They headed up to the castle, as Gnosha and Aered first walked over to Heskan to inform him that he will do some more forensic analysis in the castle today, and Heskan was busy writing orders and yelling at people, just replied go on, and went back to his duties.
Gnosha spent several hours looking on both side of the wall, from the basement to the attic, and when he met people he asked some questions about different things but always tied in a question about Hjartur, and found out that he was a very good man, always covered for his friends, and never said anything if someone made a mistake, but kept it to himself.
Aered was bored to the bones being a mobile lamp holder for Gnosha, room after room, wall after wall. When Gnosha was done, he was sure that no one could have passed through any hidden or secret passage, the only way between the two sections of the castle was where the throne room is, and that passage was always guarded. So, the theory of someone entering using a secret doorway was closed, a dead end, written off. Time to focus on what could be possible, Hjartur was still interesting, as he might have seen or heard something he decided not to tell.
I am so invested in this story, I get really excited every time you update. You should write books, if you don't already!
Hi, and thanks for your kind comment!
I write adventures (or at least try to do when I have ideas and time), not books, and this story is what happens during an adventure I play in and didn't write. Things grow and unfold as the game goes on. I update whenever I've played some and there are more things that have happend. There is a lot of cooperative adding to the world it self during play, stores, taverns, people, they just pops up when needed and is added to the story as it goes on.
Well, you're doing a wonderful job chronicling this one, thank you for sharing it with us! And of course, your renders are top-notch, perfect illustrations for what's going on. I feel like I KNOW these characters, lol!
After lunch, Gnosha asks a little more about Hjartur, talking to the other guards and other members of the staff that were not on duty that night so they hadn’t been interviewed yet. Spending most of the afternoon and evening asking around, both in the castle and at taverns and inns in the town, Ghosha built a picture of who Hjartur really was, but what he learned made Hjartur look even less like a suspect. He was a former adventurer that did a year in the town guard before he was promoted to palace guard. He has no known relations, and the stable boy gave him the clue why he is a foot soldier and not a knight on horseback. Hjartur and horses, they just ain't made for each other. Some people just can’t ride, and Hjartur is one of them.
They headed back to the rented room for a night's sleep, and Gnosha kept thinking about who would Hjartur be covering up for? Jan Valt, the short tempered dwarf? Gnosha decides to ask about Jan Valt tomorrow, to get some more information about him too.
In the morning, Aered has to coup with another day asking people, but the part when they ask around on inns and taverns was quite interesting, as Gnosha said that to blend in, you need to behave like you are in the tavern for real, so Aered got several nice tankads to wave while Gnosha small-talked with people, learning about the Dwarf Jan Valt. He learned that Jan Valt was once a Miner, then he was a merchant for a while, then he spent some years as a soldier before he ended up as a palace guard. He is a really tough piece of work, rock hard, and stubborn as only a dwarf can be. Gnosha also learns that Jan Valt from time to time spends time at the Silver Unicorn Inn, a place Gnosha knows is quite expensive. He has been seen several times in the company of a woman, a dwarven woman.
Aered asks when Gnosha is analysing his notes: “Hey, are we getting anywhere? This investigation thing is quite boring, except for the tavern thing.” Gnosha replies: “Yes, we are, we rule out possibilities until there is only one explanation left, then we will know How. We do know When, and I have some ideas on Why, so it’s the How that is the primary focus right now. When we know How, we can much easier figure out the Who. We are also ruling out suspects, turning them into innocents, which is how we narrow down the possible suspects, until there is only one left, then we know the Who.”
Aered looked not just a little confused by Gnoshas explanation, but accepted it. Gnosha decided to walk by the South Gate to ask Sergeant Auber if there was any news about the list of petty criminals. The gate was busy as usual as several merchant caravans had arrived for the upcoming festival. Sergeant Auber, when asked about any incidents, shouted to one of the guards to go and fetch the list of the incident reports for the night, and when the soldier came back, he ordered the soldier to read the list to him. There had been some incidents, but none involved any of the petty criminals on Gnosha’s list. Gnosha was a bit disappointed that his trap had failed, but he thought, give it time, a little more time.
After the visit to the South Gate, Gnosha and Aered once again headed back to the castle, where the guards knew them by now, and just wished them a good day when they arrived.
They went to their interview room, and first Gnosha wanted to talk to Jan Valt. When Jan Valt arrived, being his normal grumpy self, Gnosha asked about his whereabouts at the Silver Unicorn and who the dwarven woman that he met there was. Jan Valt looked even more annoyed than usual and replied: - “That’s my wife, Hadgrimora Greybrow. She’s a merchant and we meet at the Silver Unicorn when she is in town. When I last met her? That was about five weeks ago, but she would arrive for the festival any day. Do you really believe my or my wife is involved in this? I am not the thief, neither is my wife.”
Gnosha replies: - “I don’t think anyone here is the thief. What I think is that someone here, on purpose, or accidently, let the thief in. But thank you for your time, you can go now.”
Next, Gnosha called for Hjartur, this would be interesting. When Hjartur arrives he says, hi, so it’s time again then? And Gnosha said: -”I know you are a nice guy, you help others, and you do not run about to tattle on your friends. So, my question is, what did happen that night that you haven’t told anyone about? I know that something happened.”
Hjartur swallows hard, and replies that nothing special happened, but Gnosha sees that he is sweating, pearls of sweat rolls down his temples, and he reads in his face that he is lying, but he is not really under pressure from someone else, the lies are to protect someone out of kindness, a good hearted lie.
Gnosha continues: - “Think again, why were your clothes dirty, so dirty they needed to be cleaned that night?” Aered leans forwards over Hjartur and adds: - “You better tell us what happened, or Heskan will have his ways with you.”
Hjartur finally tells what really happened that night. He had escorted the servant Kanna Okkura on a potty emptying task to unlock the inner grate, when Mr Okkura tripped and almost fell, and spilled the content of one of the potties all over Hjartur’s uniform pants. Hjartur had rushed to the kitchen to get the pants cleaned as he could not stand guard smelling like diapers.
Gnosha said to Aered, stay here with Hjartur, then Gnosha dashed off to look for Kanna Okkura, who he found folding laundry in the laundry room. Gnosha quickly asked: - “Did something out of the ordinary happen that night that you have forgotten to tell me about?” Mr Okkura replied that nothing happened, but Gnosha reminded him that he had been on potty duty and Hjartur had been the guard unlocking the gate to the potty emptying area, and something did happen.
Mr Okkura said, oh, yes, an accident, but accidents happen all the time. I thought that was nothing important, and Gnosha replied that he was the judge of what was important or not. Then Gnosha thanks Mr Okkura for his time and heads back to the interview room and says to Hjartur: - “OK, it has been confirmed that you now told the truth.” Hjartur says. - “But why would I lie?” and Gnosha replies: - “Someone is telling lies, and it’s my job to find out who, now, you can go back to your duties.”
Gnosha makes some notes in his notebook, he needs to take a deeper look into the history and background of Kanna Okkura. He and Aered spend another half day asking around, talking to people, both at the castle and in the taverns and inns. There is not much information gathered about Kanna Okkura, not much at all. He sometimes spends time at different taverns, but nothing more. They go back to the castle, and when they are in the interview room, Gnosha asks Aered to ask Kanna Okkura for a glass of water for him. It’s very important that Aered carries the glass in a towel the way the servants do, Aered is a bit pissed off, so I am a servant for you now? But Gnosha replies, just do as I tell you, I will explain on our way out.
Aered returns with a glass of water, wrapped with a towel on a silver tray. Gnosha grabbed the glass using the towel and emptied the glass in a flower pot, and carefully then put the glass wrapped in the towel inside his leather bag, and then they set off back to the tower. Aered accuses Gnosha, are you a thief now? Should I arrest you? I should talk to Heskan about this, but Gnosha, calm as always, explains that he now, if everything went well, would have a thumbprint from Kanna Okkura on the glass, and now he will get back to the tower to extract that, and compare it with the partial thumbprint he fetched from one of the dusty books in the private library. If they are at least matching a little, we can be close to catching our thief. Aered looked at Gnosha in pure admiration and said: - “I do learn so much from you my friend, this was very clever indeed, I never thought of that. Will you return the glass and the towel tomorrow then?” Gnosha replied but of course.
Gnosha and Aered walked back to the tower, and dinner time was close, and there were a lot of street food stands, and even some small “hole in the wall” street food places, with benches and tables outside. Aered started to get that hungry look but Gnosha told him they could eat later, they really needed to get back to the tower and get this print analyzed. They could be closing in on the thief, and the person who has probably betrayed Duchess Maimux by trying to make her claim to the throne illegal.
When they came back to the tower, Gnosha unlocked the door and opened it. A foul stench, a sour stench or rot and decay filled Gnosha’s sensitive nose. Gnosha quickly looked around and he saw a slimy trail across the floor. He quickly tried to recall what he had once learned. Oh yes, now he remembers. it must be an ooze, a huge amoeba, common in deserted dungeons. The best way to fight them is with fire, maybe oil, but something even better is an Alchemist’s fire, which he found in the backpack of Brozin back when they were attacked by the swarm of spiders at that old abandoned sentry tower.
Gnosha closed the door and locked it, and told Aered: -”We have a pest infestation in the tower. We need to hurry to the Mad Chimera and buy some Alchemist’s fires, right now. The best way to fight these slimy amoebas is with fire”.
They hurried to the Mad Chimera, and it took them about 15 minutes to get there. Aered was starting to get really hungry now, and Gnosha had to stop him from trying to buy some nice big grilled sausage rolls when they passed a nice looking and very busy corner street food place. Aered said, sounding like a hurt puppy, “But I’m hungry, I’m starving!”. Gnosha replied - “We don’t have time for this now, you can eat later, when we have sorted out the pest infestation, before it has done too much damage. It will take you half the evening in that queue before you get your skewer.”
So glad to see you back! I've missed your stories and renders!
Thanks! Real life events came between and we didn't get any time to continue playing until last week, so now I have more materials
They finally reached the Mad Chimera and stepped once again into that dusty, dark and strange store. Mr Lathlaeril Varalei, looked up when he saw them, smiled and started to rub his hands, and said: -”Welcome back, do you need more? Are you satisfied with your last purchase? Are you interested in taking our customer survey, it only takes ten minutes?”
Ghosha quickly replied: - “We are in a hurry, we have a pest infestation in our laboratory. I need two Alchemist’s fire, here are six pieces of gold, now pack them safely.” Those were the last pieces of gold Gnosha had, he really needed to get the money from Duchess Maimux now. Mr. Varalei asked if Gnosha would not just need his special ant powder, but the serious look on Gnosha’s face made him quickly drop that and go and fetch the Alchemist’s fires. When he came back with them packed safely in a wooden box filled with wood shavings, he said: -”Maybe I should brew some more, just in case.”
They hurried back to the tower, Aered looking at every street food stand they passed but he knew that there was no idea to argue about it. When they came back and Gnosha unlocked the door again, the sour, bitter stench was overwhelming. Gnosha said to Aered to pick up his shield, and then take the bucket he used when mopping the floor and go out to the river and fill it with water in case the fire gets out of control. While Aered was filling the bucket, Gnosha put the one of Alchemist’s Fires on his belt, to be easy to throw at the ooze, and had the other one in his hand. When Aered came back, he lit a torch and held it in his sword hand, and said: - “You said these Moobas were best faught with fire, see, I learn, proactive thinking.” Gnosha also picked up a torch, now they were ready for some serious pest control.
Gnosha tracks the ooze. It has come through that locked and rusty grate at the cellar stairs, and has slid up through the stairs, and across the floor and then up on the staircase to the next level. Gnosha puts down his case where he has the glass from which he hopefully will get a fingerprint. He carefully moves up the staircase to the first floor, where they have set up the Alchemist laboratory. He looks up, to see that the oozy amoeba isn’t laying on a shelf or an edge, just waiting to drop down on its victim, but no sign of it. At the laboratory level, Ghosha tries to look up the staircase to see if is hiding there but he doesn’t see it, but Aered looks into the lab and shouts: -”Look Gnosha, it’s on the table. It seems to devour your notes and your books, and it has smashed your jars with all these expensive things. What do we do now?”
Gnosha thinks for a few seconds, then he replies: - “We need to take a chance here. It looks like it has destroyed much of our work, maybe even the partial fingerprint we have.”
Gnosha shouts: -”Fire in the hall!” and throws one of the Alchemist’s fires at the ooze amoeba on the table, and hits it dead center, a great throw. A fire starts to burn and the amoeba starts to jerk and move. Aered rushes forward screaming “Begone you pile of slime!” and hits it with his lit torch. The amoeba slimes on Aereds feet and Aered tries to tap dance away to avoid the slime but he is too slow. It hurts, hurts and stings, like when he was young and ran barefoot in shorts through a dense population of giant stinging nettles.
Gnosha shouts: - “Aered, back off, I will throw another one”, and when Aered has moved away from the slimy table, and is standing ready with his shield up, Gnosha throws the second Alchemist’s fire on the table. The second throw also hits, and the amoeba catches fire and is destroyed. Aered picks up the bucket with water and waters away the remaining fire and the acid on the floor from the amoeba.
The horrible amoeba is dead and will not bother our heroes again, but the destruction in the lab is horrible. Gnosha finds the leather scroll tube where he was keeping the partial fingerprint, but it has been severely damaged, and the print is just a blurry blob. Gnosha starts to clean up the lab, saving what can be saved. He tells Aered that now is a good time to get some dinner, and he would like some too for himself. Aered disappears as fast as a pouch of gold in the hands of a drunk in a tavern. When the lab is in working order, Gnosha estimates that the cost to replace the ruined components and tools is about five pieces of silver. He really needs to see Duchess Maimux tomorrow and get his payment, he is running dangerously low on funds right now.
When Aered is back, and they both have eaten, Gnosha goes and fetches his bag with the glass, and begins the process to find a fingerprint. He finds a very good and complete fingerprint. He tries to remember how the print looked, and yes, it had very characteristic minutiae features that is not very common at all, and Gnosha was almost certain, at least ninety percent certain, that this fingerprint matched the one found on the book in the private library.
After this success, Gnosha felt it was time to be constructive and innovative, and Aered needed new ways to train. Gosha hung a stone in a piece of cloth in a rope from the ceiling i Aered’s study. He could spin that rock around and then train to parry it with his shield. Aered started to train and after he had trained for two hours, we read a chapter in one of his books. It was called The Power of the Spoken Word, and it was very interesting. Aered learned how to use his voice, even speaking with people not understanding his language, to make people fear him, and yield to him, without the need for any violence, just the threat of violence.
Meanwhile, Ghosha was in his Alchemy laboratory studying a book he had borrowed at the library, Alchimia ad initium innectis rebus, written by Neremyn Krisxina. It translated to “Alchemy for beginners, how to mix compounds”. He had for a long time tried to find a good book on the subject, and this was exactly what he needed.
He had all the components needed to make his own Alchemist’s fire, he just needed to figure it out, and he did. He also decided to make something else, called thunderstones. When he was done, he took his thunderstone and went up to Aered’s floor and threw it on the wall. There was a really loud bang, and Aered, who was in bed reading came out jumping in one leg with his sword in one hand. Gnosha apologised for the inconvenience and told Aered that while Aered had studied, so had Gnosha.
It was now late, and it was time to dig deeper, much deeper, and scrutinize Kanna Okkura from all angels. Find out who he really is, where he is really from, his real friends, what he is hiding. But that would have to be tomorrow. Now it is time to go back to the rented room for some sleep. But Gnosha, as structured as he was, wrote down a list of things to do tomorrow.
Investigate what’s behind the locked lower gate in the tower. We don’t want any more surprises coming from that direction. Maybe ask that daytaler Oliver Baro to close it with some sturdy planks to keep any pests out.
Ask Duchess Maimux for the money she owes him. He will put the two Alchemist’s Fire on the expenses list from The Mad Chimera as well, plus the additional components he now has to repurchase.
Begin a deep investigation of Kanna Okkura. The last one didn’t give anything, neither good nor bad, which seems to indicate he is good at not leaving any traces.
Gnosha had a plan, it is to summon Kanna Okkura to the interrogation room in the castle, and let him wait there, while Gnosha search through Mr Okkura’s room.
In the morning, Gnosha had made his plan. He and Aered headed off to the castle to meet Duchess Maimux. Gnosha decided that they should grab some breakfast on the way to the castle, as the Duchess would probably not grant them an audience this early in the morning anyway.
They went to a small tavern just a few streets down from the tower. The tavern, named The Lonely Duck, is managed by a nice elven lady, Ilyana Reyqen, and her two daughters Siora and Lyra. Gnosha ordered a boiled egg and a bowl of porridge, while Aered decided to take a full Hunter’s Breakfast which included a ham, sausage and egg stew, a bowl of porridge with fresh fruits, and a loaf of bread. While they were eating, Gnosha explained to Aered the plans for today:
- “First we should ask for an audience with Duchess Maimux, mostly to get our expenses cleared, as my purse is running dangerously low on coins. Then, after the audience, you should go to look for Kanna Okkura and request him to come to the investigation room for some follow up questions. I will arrive in a bit as I will discuss some private matters with Duchess Maimux. When Kanna Okkura has arrived, give him the glass and apologize for your absent minded companion that accidentally took the glass with him when he left yesterday.”
Aered said that he got it, and they got a cup of fresh tea to finish the breakfast, then they walked the last stretch of streets that were starting to get busy to the castle.
They arrive at the castle, and as they have passed here a lot lately, the guards just nodded to them, wishing them a pleasant day when they passed the gate. They went to the official section on the second floor again and were met by one the Duchess Maimux assistants and advisors, Maly Dere. She looked at Gnosha and asked what she could help them with this time. Gnosha replied that they wanted an audience with Duchess Maimux, and when Maly Dere asked what business they wanted to discuss with the Duchess, Ghosha replied that he had some bills that he needed to get paid for. Maly replied that she could handle bills, no need to disturb the Duchess, and the Duchess is in an important meeting and has said she would not want to be disturbed.
Suddenly the door to the reception area swung open and a bald dwarf that neither Gnosha, nor Aered had seen in the castle before, walked with a determined stride toward the throne room doors, carrying a letter in his hand. Maly Dere said: -”Wait, you cannot just…” but the dwarf did not stop. Maly Dere shouted: - “Wait!”, but the bald dwarf opened the throne room doors and they could hear the voices of both Sir Heskan and Duchess Maimux. Gnosha quickly asked Maly Dere “Who is that?” while Maly Dere rushed towards the dwarf and shouted: - “Mr Throinain, do not enter!” and tried to stop him, and continued: “Mr Throinain, we can discuss this…” Gnosha says to Aered come, and Maly Dere says: -”No, not you two too!”, but Gnosha wanted to see how Heskan and Duchess Maimux reacted to the arrival of the mysterious bald dwarf.
Mr Throinain, the bald dwarf, hands over the paper to Sir Heskan, saying: - “We, the Bald Wizards Circle, hereby officially leave the protection provided by Erast, as Erast have not been able to perform their part of the deal. We hereby stand on our own and act on our own.”
When Mr Throinain turned around and left the throne room, Sir Heskan was so angry smoke plumes came out of his mouth.
Gnosha understood exactly why Sir Heskan was so very angry, both main reasons. First, Sir Heskan is responsible for the Knights who protect the surrounding lands from bandits and brigands, and the Bald Wizards Circle just said, to his face, in the presence of Duchess Maimux, that Sir Heskan was not doing his job properly. The threat has increased and Sir Heskan has not managed his resources to meet it.
As Gnosha had spent a few nights reading about and understanding the difficult and complex situation in the north, where Erast is the only town in the area, he had a good grip of what this would lead to. The reason he had studied this was to figure out who would benefit from calling out Duchess Maimux’s claim to the throne.
The Bald Wizards Circle has a tower on a small island, five days east of Erast. The land around the lakes, the farms, the villages and the fields are under Erast’s control. There is a bridge over the Willow Creek stream, just outside the village of Willowdale, about three days east along the eastern road. The village and the bridge will now fall under the Bald Wizards Circle’s control, and Gnosha now fears that this was the second reason Sir Heskan was so angry. The Bald Wizards Circle could now collect toll from anyone passing over the bridge, toll money that would make everything more expensive in Erast, and also force Duchess Maimux to lower the toll at the town gate. This is a very hard blow to the Erast economy.
*A point to anyone spotting the little easter egg DM put into the story at this point...
Gnosha and Aered walks back to the assistant, Maly Dere, and Gnosha tries to speed up the payment, thinking better do this now before budget restraints will be enforced, bitter times are coming for sure.
Maly Dere asks Gnosha to write down his claims and Gnosha writes down a long list of entries, and the sum ends at seventeen pieces of gold, twelve pieces of silver and seven pieces of copper. Maly Dere signs the document and tells Gnosha to take it down the hallway to the Treasure Master, for payment. Gnosha follows the instructions and finally his coin bag is not as empty as before.
Now Gnosha tells Aered to summon Kanna Okkura to the investigation room, while he will try to talk in private with Duchess Maimux. While Aered went to look for Kanna Okkura, Gnosha went and sat in a dark corner with a view over the corridor leading to the investigation room. He decided to stay here until Aered had brought Kanna Okkura to the room, before he would sneak up and investigate Kanna Okkura’s room.
Aered strides off to find Mr Okkura, and finds him making one of the rooms in the other private section. When Mr Okkura sees Aered, he sighs and says: - “What now? I have already answered all your questions, more than once. Don’t you have anything better to do?” Aered just replies: - “Please, follow me.”
When Aered and Kanna Okkura arrive at the investigation room, Aered says: -”Just sit down and have a glass of water. And speaking of glasses, here is the glass my absent minded companion accidentally took with him yesterday. I apologize on his behalf and hope it did not cause too much trouble.”
When Aered hands over the glass, Kanna Okkura, says: -”There is it, the missing glass. The kitchen has been turning the whole place inside out looking for it. I just have to run down to the kitchen with it so they can stop searching. They have been so worried. It will just take a minute.” Kanna Okkura doesn’t even really wait for Aered’s permission but hurries to the door, hearing Aered saying: - “Yes, that is fine, just be back as fast as you can.”
When Gnosha comes up to Kanna Okkura’s room, the first thing he sees is that the outdoor shoes Mr Okkura had standing here are gone. He also sees that one of the cupboard doors is nor properly closed, and when he opens it, he sees that the cupboard seems to have been partly emptied. There is also a packed luggage trunk at the foot end of the bed. Gnosha realises that Mr Okkura has been planning to leave, and has left in a hurry and it looks like he is not coming back.
Meanwhile, Aered realised after a few minutes that Mr Okkura was not coming back. He could have walked slowly to the kitchen and been back by now. Aered thought, where was Gnosha going, yes, the Dutchess, and he rushed to the throne room, shouting to Maly Dere: - “I need to speak to Mr Gnosha, now, he is in there.”, but Maly replied: -”No, he isn't. I haven't seen him since you two left.” Aered is not satisfied with the answer, so he opens the throne room door and looks for himself, but no Gnosha. Aered dashed away to look for Gnosha.
Gnosha went down to the investigation room to arrest Mr Okkura, but to his utter surprise, neither Aered nor Mr Okkura was there. Damn it! Gnosha said to himself. He went to the guards at the private section entrance and asked if Aered or Mr Okkura had been here recently, and the guards replied: -”Kanna Okkura went out not long ago, carrying a large backpack. Aered was also here just recently, in fact he was looking for you.”
Gnosha starts to look for Aered, and they meet in a corridor and Aered shouts: -”Gnosha, Mr Okkura is fleeing!” and Gnosha replies: - “Yes, I know, we’re about to track him.”
i'm reading the interesting story. I don't reply earlier because I didn't want to interupt the flow of text and image. Keep up the good work.
Gnosha and Aered rushed down to the castle gate and asked if Kanna Okkura had passed recently, and he had. He had said something about an urgent errand. Gnosha rushed down the castle gate street to the next corner, where some kids were playing and said: -”I need three messenger runners now, this is very important. One for South Gate, one for North Gate and one for West Gate. The message is: Stop and hold Kanna Okkura. Here, 4 pieces of silver each.” Three kids dashed off like they were arrows shot from a bow.
Gnosha and Aered now walk back into the castle to talk to Sir Heskan. When Gnosha finds Sir Heskan, he says: - “Sir, my prime suspect in this investigation, Mr Kanna Okkura, has fled. I have sent messenger boys to the gates to tell them to stop and hold Mr Okkura.” Sir Heskan replies: - “Kanna Okkura? He has always been a faithful servant of the Duchess. I have no idea what can have changed. I will inform the Palace guards, the Knights of Erast and Ennet Woode about the situation.”
Gnosha replies: - “Any person can be a subject of extortion and threats, no one is immune. I hope he is soon caught, as I’m really looking forward to finding the answers that lie deeply hidden in this mystery. We will be at the tower.”
Gnosha and Aered walked back to the tower to start with the next task for today, investigate and secure the lower parts of the tower.
Gnosha is not very good at picking locks at all, but it’s something he intends to learn someday, as it is a very useful skill. So, the rusty padlock on the grate leading to the unknown basement needs to be opened by force. Aered picks up an old wooden table leg to use as an improvised crowbar. He secured one end into the rusty padlock, and used his muscles to try to force the lock to open, but the lock didn’t open at all, instead the whole door fell off as the rusty hinges broke.
Gnosha lights a torch as he didn’t create any glowrods this morning, which is one of the alchemistry tricks he has learned. Aered holds his shield and sword. Gnosha goes first down the stairs behind the opened grate, and Aered follows close behind. Gnosha looks and sniffs the air, and there is a sour stench coming from below, smelling really bad.
Gnosha lights an old torch on the staircase wall to get some more light. When they reach the end of the staircase, there is a square basement room, about forty times forty feet in size, with the staircase coming down along one side. In the far corner, he sees something on the ground, something ooze-like. He picks up his homemade Alchemist’s fire and throws it at the ooze, and hits it perfectly. The light from the burning Alchemist’s fire lights up the basement. He steps aside to leave room for Aered, but suddenly a huge rat, as large as a huge dog, the same size as Gnosha, leaps out from another corner and attacks Gnosha. As Gnosha still stood on the stairs, the huge rat tried to bite his feet, both of them, but Gnosha’s boots just got ugly dents, but no bites went through.
The ooze in the corner slides towards the center of the basement room, and suddenly something horribly smelly erupts from it. Both the huge rat and Gnosha dodge whatever it was, but Aered wasn’t alert enough enough, and got his face covered in something and yelled shit! Gnosha replied, exactly.
The stench was even worse now, it smelled like being in the sewer tunnels or something. Aered was busy wiping his face clean so he could see, then he jumped down beside the rat and attacked it with his sword. He hits it and wounds it critically and the rat dies.
Ghosha attacks the ooze with his torch, but misses, and the ooze attacks Gosha back with a slimy oozy tentacle, and it hits Gnosha up under his armor at the shoulder and it really hurts. Gnosha strikes again with the torch but misses again.
Aered shouts Attack! and attacks the ooze and hits it, and Gnosha attacks again with the torch. This time Gnosha hits it, but not very much. Then he jumps behind the dead rat. This time the ooze sends his slime tentacle against Aered, but Aered parries it perfectly with his shield. Aered strikes back, two times with his sword, and he kills the ooze.
Gnosha now realises that it was a sewer ooze, and he tells Aered to go and wash himself in the river, and take the dead rat with him and toss it in the river, it might be good fish food. While Aered is washing himself and is disposing of the dead rat, Gnosha puts a few torches in the holders for even more light. When he sees better he cleans up the basement. When cleaning it, he sees in the center of the room, a sewer drain where the stone lid is slightly opened. Gnosha thinks that this must be how the pests entered. He calls for daytaler Oliver Baro to help him open the lid and flush all dirt down the hole, then they put two heavy rocks on top of it, as a safety measure. The cost is two pieces of silver, which Gnosha gladly pays.