Mysteries Start Small: New fan-made RP start go initiation

[Tbolt]

The girl smiled at Kahlin. "Right this way, sir!" Soon the pair were following her swishing tail to the Whim's dining room. "We have a buffet available as well as the regular breakfast menu." she said as she showed them to their seats.

Looking over at the grand buffet table, Trajan could already feel the drool forming in his mouth. "The buffet looks outstanding to me!"

[BrockthePaine]

Piper Farthing woke up to a bright light shining in his face. Forgot to pull the blessed curtains again, he thought, stumbling out of bed and closing his eyes against the sun coming in through the eastern windows. He checked his clock and groaned. "Ugh, workdays get earlier and earlier..." Dressing quickly, he headed downstairs to his office, looking without luck for any food that he might have left out the night before. "Argh, no breakfast again... I guess I'll go to the market tonight, then..." Piper flipped his sign from "Closed" to "Open" and took a seat at his desk. No sooner had he sat down than a Rac, clad in the garb of a solicitor, pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Are you Piper Farthing, freelance investigator?"

"That'd be me," Piper responded. "Look, if it's about that incident with the Red Caps, the guards determined it was self-defense..."

The solicitor dropped a bag of rings on the table. "That's your usual fee, correct?"

Piper stared at the heavy bag. "Actually, that's nearly twice... what do you need me to do for it?"

The solicitor took a seat, grimacing as the old chair beneath him creaked conspiratorially. "Last night there was a murder at the Artificer's Guild - you can read the report yourself." The solicitor placed a file on Piper's desk. "My client believes the individual in question was under the influence of... something nefarious, and that he is not guilty. But we need proof of that."

Quickly skimming the report, Piper shook his head. "This is an open-and-shut case. I highly doubt I can find anything which will help... who's your client?"

"My client wishes to remain anonymous," the solicitor replied. "While you're looking at that, kindly turn over to Appendix 1 and read the Artificer's notes on the weapon the murderer used."

Piper did as the solicitor suggested, and skimmed through the summary. "This... this is pretty incredible," Piper admitted. "I was partly trained as an artificer... this could make or break his defense case... if the judge allows it to be heard. I'm not certain a judge would do that, though. It's half speculation and guesswork."

"I agree," the solicitor said. "Which is where you come in. You need to dig out some solid, court-approved evidence which will prove the boy was under the control of the dagger at the time of the murder."

Piper frowned. "Your client... how are they connected to this? People don't come up with ideas like these out of thin air. I'd guess your client has something to gain from-"

"Enough, Mr. Farthing," the solicitor warned. "My client wishes to remain anonymous. Their motivations are not your concern. You do your job, or I'll go somewhere else."

Piper bit his lower lip. "All right. I'll take the job."

"Good." The solicitor handed Piper his card. "Report to me every evening, please. I will be covering your expenses and any further monetary needs you require. In the meantime, I understand that there's a group staying at the Whim which is quite familiar with the murderer... suspect. You might want to talk with them before you get too far. Have a good day, Mister Farthing."

Piper watched the solicitor leave, then read through the file again. Pages had been removed, he noticed. Interesting. Piper had the feeling that there were multiple parties involved in this business. Who were they? Piper's curiousity kicked into overdrive. I'll find out, then.

A sudden grumble from his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten recently. Hmm. There's a group at the Whim. The Whim serves food... Piper thought. He belted on his rapier and placed a sign stating "Out on a Case" near his open sign, then flagged down a levcarriage. "The Whim," he ordered the driver, handing him a few rings in payment.

It was a quick ride, and Piper thanked the driver then headed inside. He spotted an exceptionally tall Rac, and another Piper recognized as a wizard, just sitting down to a table. Piper approached them and said, "Pardon me, gentlemen, but I'm looking for the friends of... um..." he consulted his notes. "The friends of 'Aven'. I don't suppose you could point them out to me, could you?"

[GrayTiger]

Even though he didn't show it outwardly with his relaxed demeanor, Ayshe was inside brooding. Last night had not gone well at all with the blow up with the others. He had decided to work it off as the Guardian and had a successful patrol, stopping a couple of robberies. It was when on a whim he decided before returning home to see Aven that things had turned sour. To his dismay he had seen Aven being taken away by guards via prison wagon. He still had the sickening knot in his stomach as he returned home for a quick nap before beginning his morning exercises. As he cleaned and dressed for breakfast he was very glad Kahlin hadn't taken the invitation to train with him. Things were strained enough now. He dearly wanted to convince himself they wouldn't dare hang Aven for murder, but frankly if they were willing to throw him in prison for it....

Leniency or no, the law was black and white. You murder someone, you hang for it. The one who heard the case would be totally within his rights to send Aven to the gallows. And after what had happened with those humans slaughtering that family searching for Rayne the odds of mercy were quite slim where judges were concerned in cases like this.

He screwed on his best smile as he joined the others who where already awake and eating. It was quite obvious to Kahlin and Trajan that it was a forced effort however.

[Fusion]

Amp pauses for a moment trying to figure out what all Aven just said.

“By 'it', you mean the dagger, right? That little thing is the center of all this, isn't it? And why does it sound like you are talking about a conspiracy when you say 'they'?”

His curiosity was aroused again from the kid's strange monologue.

[BlasTech]

Kahlin looked up from his book as the newcomer entered the room. His first response was to think that he was some sort of reporter, especially after the other pulled out some notes to consult with. But there was something off about that impression, least of all was the person's choice of weaponry, not many soothscribes carried rapiers.

He swallowed the mouthful of toast he'd been eating. "Who are -"

He broke off as Ayshe entered, smiling. Gah, he winced, he makes smiling look painful. I hope it doesnt have anything to do with me.

[GrayTiger]

Ayshe was somewhat surprised at seeing the newcomer. He raised his chin slightly and squinted, as if searching his mental files. Then he smile changed from being forced to the warm inviting one the others knew so well. "Ahhh. Master Farthing. I've heard about you. I'm Ayshe Aushwann, owner of this fine establishment. Please help yourself to breakfast. That is why you are here, is it not?"

[BrockthePaine]

Piper glanced up. "No..." His stomach growled loudly at that instant. "Well... I suppose that did have some bearing on my appearance. I'm here foremost on a matter of business... ooh, pasty!" Sweeping up a pasty with his left paw, he quickly took a bite, and nodded to Ayshe. "This is very good," he said, once he had swallowed. "Sorry, I forgot to eat yesterday, late-night business... anyway, this morning I was hired by... somebody... to investigate a murder committed yesterday at the Artificer's Guild. I was advised to speak with the friends of a Mr. Aven, who I understand are staying here. I was hoping you could point me to them."

Piper instantly noticed a slight shift in the group's posture when he mentioned the name of Aven, and again when he asked for Aven's friends. Most folk would never have noticed, but it was Piper's job to pay attention to such things.

"Oh," he said. "I can see I've already found Aven's friends. Mind if I have a seat? Ooh, more pasties!"

[GrayTiger]

Ayshe sighed. "Indeed, we are his companions. I'm afraid you may be a little late however. I learned this morning Aven was arrested for murder and is presently sitting in prison."

He wandered over and grabbed a pasty, taking a bite of it.

"Things are looking rather bleak for him at the moment, quite frankly."

[BrockthePaine]

Piper took a seat. "Bleak, yes. I have the guardsmen's report right here. It's been editted, but it still has enough evidence to send him to the executioner. At least if he was responsible for committing murder." He flipped the report open to the appendix describing the dagger. "My anonymous client believes that this dagger somehow... controlled his mental state during the incident. They believe this theory strongly enough to pay for a private investigator, which would be yours truly."

Piper glanced at their faces. Listening, for the most part attentively. They were probably trying to determine whether or not he was going to take a side - friend or foe?

"I have two minds, here. From the reports of the guards and the other witnesses, Aven committed murder - doesn't look premeditated, but that won't let him avoid the noose. If he had only stopped once the guards had gotten there... But on the other paw... there's precious little motive, no prior track record of any crimes. And then there's this enigmatic little dagger."

Piper noticed from the other Racconnans' barest reaction to the mention of the dagger that they knew it was important. "So what do you know about this dagger?" he asked.

[Tbolt]

Trajan had just sat down with a fully loaded plate from the buffet. He was contemplating a plan of attack on its contents when Piper walked in, asking about friends of Aven. When he took out the notepad and had to confirm the name, Trajan went on guard, before he spoke, he wanted to know who this individual was and what he wanted.

Soon Ayshe was walking their way. The strained smile told Trajan that there needed to be some more communication, on that front as well. The difficult question was where to start first. He still puzzled over this when Ayshe struck up a conversation with him. “Good!” Trajan thought, that would give him time to think. He was just about ready to attack his plate when Piper snagged a pasty right off it.

Trajan stared dumbfounded as Piper rapidly took a bite of the delicacy. Trajan slowly moved his plate to the other side of the table. Ayshe had walked over and the two started talking about Aven's arrest and accusation of murder. As soon as the plate stopped moving, Ayshe sampled another of the pasties piled on it.

Trajan's eye darted between the two conversationalists and debated whether he should hide the plate in his lap. He moved the plate more towards the center of the table and almost managed to get his first taste of breakfast when Kahlin absent-mindedly reached over and took a third pasty from Trajans plate. The big rac's ears wilted and his face wore the hurt baby fawn expression “Et tu Kahlin?”

[GrayTiger]

Ayshe simply smirked at Trajan's pouting. He pulled aside one of the staff workers who was bringing out clean plates and silverware. "Jon, could you go to the kitchen and bring a whole tray of breakfast pasties for our giant friend here when you restock the buffet?"

"Of course sir. I'll be back shortly."

Trajan's ears shot straight up when he heard the words 'whole tray.' He turned to Ayshe in disbelief.

"First rule of the Whim. No-one leaves hungry." He grinned and finished his pasty with a tasty chomp.

[BrockthePaine]

"And I, for one, have no problem with following that rule!" Piper exclaimed. He spotted a muffin and placed it on his plate.

Kahlin quickly explained everything they knew so far about the dagger, and Piper took detailed notes, comparing the description to the artificer's report. Trajan and Ayshe filled in details on occasion.

"Hmm, well, this is interesting information," Piper said.

[BlasTech]

"Mmm, thanks Trajan" Kahlin said, thinking that by moving the plate towards him Trajan had been offering him a pasty. *Grrrrr* something growled at him and he looked up in suprise, thinking that Trajan had made the noise. While the hurt baby fawn eyes made him freeze in embarassment and mumble a quick apology to Trajan it didn't tell him who it was who was marking the pasty tray as their personal territory. That was, until he heard Ayshe say "full tray" and Kahlin heard the growl a second time.

Whoops, looks like Trajan made the noise after all ... guess he must really be hungry

He'd gone back to reading his book to cover his embarassment at his pasty theft, leaving the newcommer for Ayshe to handle. It had a second benefit as Ayshe obviously had some idea who he was and therefore some idea on how to treat him. He only looked up again upon mention of the dagger. He had some reservations about telling a relative stranger about it, but he dutifully explained what they'd learnt after he was given a cue from Ayshe.

"Interesting is one word that springs to mind, unfortunately incomplete is also another. We're hoping we can soon fill in the gaps and get a clearer picture of what we're dealing with and, more importantly, what we can do about it."

[Doink]

Faris blinked her eyes open and winced at the sunlight shining through the window. "Nnngh... too bright... Greystar, close the -hic- curtains..."

She bolted out of her bevy nest and looked out the window at the sun, realizing for the first time how late it was.

Fewmets! We overslept!

She rushed over to the lavatory and started a cursory grooming session, not paying particular attention to detail. Ayshe is going to bite my head off if I stay here much longer. It only took about ten seconds for her to run a comb through her headfur and slip on her bodice, pants, and jacket.

Okay, so far so good, she thought as she ran out the door, snatching her swords on the way out. Now for Greystar.

Rather than rapping loudly on the door of the room next to hers, she tripped and fell right in front of it due to her hurry. The process was far more embarrassing but the effect was the same. "Faris? That you?" Greystar yelled through the door.

Faris got to her feet and pulled the door open. "Yes! C'mon, Greystar, -hic- we slept in! Let's get a move-" She lost her train of thought when she saw Greystar turning around to face her. He was immaculately groomed, his robe securely fit, with all of its pockets stuffed with various arcane supplies. His hands glowed with lux, and Faris could see about nineteen beads floating behind Greystar, forming a perfect circle.

"Greystar, how long have -hic- you been ready to go, and why in the deeps didn't -hic- you wake me up." Faris intoned dully.

Greystar shrugged and held out his hand in the direction of the beads. "Practice makes perfect, sis!" The beads shot towards him, zooming up his sleeve and disappearing from sight. "Tada!"

Faris forced her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. I can choose my friends, but I can't choose my relatives... I can choose my friends, but I can't choose my relatives...

She exhaled and reached for Greystar's hand. "Come on, Greystar. I assume they -hic- already have breakfast ready."

-----

They arrived in the dining room a few minutes later, Faris leading Greystar by the hand. Greystar broke away from her upon seeing their traveling companions.

"Sorry we're late," Faris apologized. "I guess we just -hic- needed some time to recuper-"

"Ooh, pasty!" Greystar interrupted, unknowingly repeating Piper's words from minutes before. He made a beeline for the buffet table and picked up a pasty, then began chewing it contentedly.

Faris shrugged, then turned her attention to the new face in the room. "Do I -hic- know you?" she asked Piper.

[BrockthePaine]

"Do you know me? It's possible - name's Piper Farthing, freelance investigator and occasional artifactor and small mage." He coughed slightly. "Which sounds a lot more grand than it really is. Essentially, I get paid to do the jobs that are too awkward to trust to the Guards."

He glanced around. "Speaking of jobs, as part of this one I'm going to need to speak with Aven, and perhaps one of these witnesses... what's his name... 'Ampierre'?" He glanced around. "Perhaps you folks would be kind enough to join me - I think it might be best considering your friend's situation if he had some familiar faces coming to visit him rather than Mean Old Mr. Farthing... Ooh, bacon! After we finish breakfast, that is..."

[Tbolt]

Now that he no longer competed for the contents of his own breakfast plate, Trajan began to eat with a vengeance. It even surprised him how much he was able to put away. Once he had emptied the tray he smiled at Ayshe.

“These are outstanding Master Aushwaan. My compliments to the cook. Now,” he turned to Kahlin “Master Kahlin and myself have an appointment to keep with a lovely young lady.”

Kahlin arched an eyebrow at the thought of Lady Vilnas being described as “lovely and young” but that it would still be a bad idea to keep the stern female waiting.

“Master Aushwaan, I think the young Aven might look up to you, would it be possible for you to accompany Faris and Greystar to visit him if Master Farthing can get you in to the prison. If we split like this we can cover more ground that way. We can meet back here at the Whim around noon.”

[RedSquirrel456]

Aven threw his manacled hands into the air, the tears still falling, but he didn't do anything to stop them.

"What? Isn't that how this sort of thing always turns out? I sure don't know what's going on... all I know is I have very little say in it."

He could feel a raging headache coming on from the incredible lux expenditure of last night... when he had done those things that landed him here. The only thing he could remember was just how good it felt.

Yeshua spare his soul for such thoughts. But the sheer brutality of how he had dispatched that... thieving mongrel had given him a sense of control, no, of power! that he hadn't felt ever since he could start feeling things. But the dagger was the only thing that gave him all of that. Had it not been for that dagger he'd still be just a small nobody hanging off of Barret's cloak.

But then, at least he wouldn't be awaiting possible execution. This case was cut and dry. Cut and dry in the sense that Aven was the only one who knew that the dagger was the cause of all this. He drooped again, tail curled around him, ears dropped against his head.

"I don't wanna talk about that dagger... it's how all this started... maybe Barret was just taking pity on me when he let me keep it. The moment I took it and started trying to be something everything went wrong..."

It had taken years, but led to this. A short trial and then a quick jerk of the neck, maybe feeling the choke as darkness took over his vision. He was so confused it felt like his head would split. Who were those people who had wanted the dagger? He'd probably never know, with how he had rushed in. Why had the dagger begun acting up? And why had it only happened after Helaflight, when he had played hero and ran after the thief? The questions had only been piling up ever since he found himself on the Archivists' doorstep. He rather wished Amp wasn't there to see him like this. Not that he could soon help not being seen.

[GrayTiger]

"Oh, I'm sure I can find a way to where Aven is being held. One way or another." His eyes flashed red, unseen to the others.

"I'll be ready to leave shortly. I need to finish my morning routines first. And I believe Kahlin and I have unfinished business."

Kahlin looked up from his reading. "I'll be waiting in my private gym, where my living quarters are in the center section top floor. The attendant will let you pass." He grabbed a pasty off the tray for Trajan as it was carried past him and took a bite as he left the room.

[BlasTech]

He rolled his eyes, what is it he thought with his tendency to breeze in and out like that

He looked over at Piper "I know Amp from school back from where I grew up although I havn't really seen him that often in the last few years. The guards would probably have released him by now so after you get back from seeing Aven ill take you over to where he lives. As I said, I didn't get much of a chance to talk to him when we met the other day"

He sighed

"I really would have liked to visit Aven but, unfortunately, Trajan is right that we do have other duties to attend to. Not that I wouldn't cancel them to check up on Aven, but we're going to meet with his guardian to see what else we can turn up."

He rubbed a hand over his still fatigued eyes. "And speaking of appointments" he added tiredly "I guess I'd better head for the gym"

[Doink]

"A freelancer, eh?" Faris asks. "Small world. Me and -hic- my brother are freelancers, too." Greystar looks up from his pasty and gives Piper a friendly wave.

"We've been assigned the task of visiting Aven, but seeing as how you seem -hic- to have it under control, I believe that I wouldn't be much use accompanying -hic- you," Faris continued, walking towards Ayshe. "I suppose I'd better -hic- have a chat with our 'glorious leader' and see if I can't give you a little -hic- breathing room."

Greystar finishes his pasty and grins at Piper. "I like you," he says earnestly, then picks up a plate and begins loading bacon on it.