---

The Genasi had just started to wind down a bit. She'd taken a seat at the bar, ordered some whiskey and a bowl of manticore stew, and was just about calm again when the little kobold from upstairs jumped up beside her and proceeded to assault the poor waiter. Cinder had side-eyed the creature while sipping her drink, but made no move to intercept. It was none of her business. Sure, he was probably a little crazy and she'd be traveling with him for the gods only knew how long, but as long as he didn't start pestering her then whatever the dragon-wannabe did was up to him.

And then he started pestering her.

“Excuse me, I don’t mean to pry upon your private affairs but I happened to spot you and that Moon elf having quite an amiable conversation together." He'd said. "Are you and that moon elf fiances by any chance? If so, please know that I am available to officiate your wedding as a chosen cleric of Garrakg.”

Just like that, her hair lit up again like a match and the glass shattered in her hand as her skin temperature shot up. She placed a few coin on the counter to pay for the broken glass and a new drink, then turned to the kobold.

"Well," She started, feigning a smile that did little to cover up the murder in her gaze. "for someone who didn't mean to pry, you sure are nosy, aren't you? No, we are not fiancés. I hate moon elves, and most especially that particular one as she's been ruining my career and any plans I had of retiring early. To speak nothing of the fact that I don't fancy women. And were I to ever be married, it would be by someone who shares my own beliefs, thank you very much."

The Genasi had obviously done her best to be as non-hostile as possible. She had also failed miserably, and was aware of this fact, but was too irritated by the implications to apologize at the moment. She'd need to skin the male genasi alive later for ever putting the thought into people's heads. It also occurred to her that at some point they should probably put some effort into learning all of the other party members' names, but they had the rest of the day to do that, and right now she really just wanted to sit in peace and have her stew without someone prying into her personal affairs and making assumptions based on a five minute interaction. The genasi had already been through the needless tradition of being married, and it had turned out about as well as she thought it would. She had absolutely no desire to do it again. All Cinder wanted to do was get through this job, get paid, maybe get some evidence to put away the thorn in her side for good, collect that bounty, and then retire to the middle of nowhere with a few dozen hydra. Maybe somewhat near a town so she could make friends with whatever poor soul was just as bitter as her.

A moment and a half passed as Soot clambered and sat himself upon one of the stools to think, grasping the edge of the stool with one paw as he leaned and rested his weight against it. He didn’t particularly feel like approaching the foremost authority of a town like Forsaken and insinuate accusations that they might know more than they’re letting on about the current situation, he thought. But that was about as far as he got before suddenly becoming inundated with the sudden appearance of first one, then two, three and four of his new partners in crime - so to speak.

The otter scratched his chin at the woman’s question, considering how much he felt like divulging of his suspicions and thoughts. He thought for a moment too long before the male genasi decided to answer the question in his stead, to which Soot nodded tentatively. He didn’t consider it a sufficient answer to the question but remained silent for the time being, in thought, as the odd man sat down by the table - followed by the approach of the giant one.

He watched as the kobold audibly made its way into the common area of the inn, feigning disinterest in its going-ons. It seemed very loud, which was simultaneously amusing and slightly disconcerting to the otter. Soot assumed it would attempt to consume him at some point, undoubtedly. While it made its scene, Soot turned to look up at the warforged and gave him a thumbs up before responding jauntily:
“Hey, that’s a pretty rad name you’ve got there.”
He smiled, as well as a critter could smile, before pushing himself up onto his hind paws.

The otter turned to look at each of his party members present before giving his shpiel:
“Alright, so here’s the thing: truth be told, I haven’t paid much mind to this here whole weirdness situation Forsaken’s got going. Let’s be real, if you know anything about the town, it’s not that weird. It’s Forsaken we’re talking about here, shit happens here with just a bit more flair than anywhere else…”
While he was speaking, there was the sudden noise of glass shattering and Soot stood on his little toes to look over the party’s shoulders at the genasi and kobold. He grimaced at the interaction, sighing internally at everything he had seen so far. The otter shook his head and lowered back down onto his little feet.
“And just like anywhere else, somebody knows something. And somebody knows that somebody who knows something. It’s just a matter of finding somebody important enough. You catch what I’m throwing here?”
He held his arms up to his sides in a inquiring manner, before grinning at the rest and finishing with:
“Anyway, since the big lug here has the right idea in mind”, he gestured at Nemorad with a thumb, “introductions seem to be in order. Anyone that matters calls me Soot.”

The otter did not respond immediately, and after a moment of awkward silence, Faint began to suspect she had led with the wrong foot. She began to utter an apology when one of the others in their group of misfits suddenly approached and thrust a glass into her hands. Faint blinked as the man, who introduced himself as Flick, took a seat and addressed her.

The rest of the group soon followed, spreading out over the bar. Faint winced as, no sooner had Flick suggested the group would need a miracle to get anywhere, the necromancer suggested gathering information from the dead. There had been cases mentioned in the newspaper of mutilated corpses being found, most likely the end results of these abductions. She glanced over her shoulder at the other patrons, expecting the comment to have drawn some unwanted attention, but if others were listening, they disguised it well. Necromancy may not have been outlawed in Forsaken as it had near everywhere else, but that did not mean people liked the idea of strangers disturbing the town’s dead. She herself was reluctant to make use of such methods, but she forced herself to think objectively. As Flick had pointed out, a normal investigation hadn’t produced any results so far.

She took a swig from her drink, hoping to hide her grimace, but the burn of alcohol did little to help in that regard. A little early for this, I think. She put the glass down on the counter, gesturing at the waiter for some water.

Finally, the Soot said his piece, finishing with introductions. Faint wondered at his insinuation. It seemed to her that he was suggesting someone in a position of power was involved in the recent happenings in Forsaken, but couldn’t guess what had given him that idea. Unless there was something he knew that she didn’t, she could only chalk it up to personal experience.

“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m Faint,” she told them. After a small pause, she added, “Of presence, not of heart, or at least that’s how it’s supposed to be.” She let out a self-deprecating chuckle at her quip. The bartender approached then, leaving another glass in front of her. She took it, but rather than drink, she settled for thoughtfully studying into the clear liquid. Rather than making merry with her new associates, her thoughts kept turning back to the job she had just accepted. She needed to know how to proceed, and that partly depended on what the people beside her decided to do.

“It’s not much,” Faint began calmly, thinking back to works of fiction she had read, and to times she had personally witnessed similar investigations, “but Mr. Garrick did leave us with some leads. According to him, his wife, Sarah, a woman likely to be in her fifties, was somehow abducted three weeks ago from the safety of their home. We know nothing of about motives, or method, but supposedly a maid says she heard something around the time Mrs. Garrick was taken. It might be worthwhile to visit so we can question the witness and examine scene of the crime.

“That said, three weeks is a long time. Assuming these disappearances are all connected, it would be better if we knew of a more recent one.” At that, a thought struck her, and she glanced at Nemo, or, more accurately, at his badge of office. “If we could get the authorities to share information with us, that would be ideal. Is that a real badge, Nemo? You might have an easier time approaching the guard than us. Might even be able to ask for permission to look at one of the deceased victims without getting ran out of town.” She gave the necromancer and his skeletal attendant a pointed look at that.

“Last, but not least, there is supposedly a trail leading out to the wilderness out west where some of the victims’ belongings have been found. We might find something out there too, perhaps even something belonging to Mrs. Garrick. We have enough people that we could split up to chase down each lead separately, but at the same time, that’s not the reason Mr. Garrick gave for hiring a large group like this. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were people on the lookout for suspicious groups out west where those clues are.”

Having laid it all out to her satisfaction, Faint nodded to herself. “So, what are your thoughts? As far as I’m concerned, the quicker we manage to put this to rest, the better, but if we do split up, we still need to discuss who will go where, and where to meet up to share what we found after the fact.” At that, she glanced out to the door Abraham had used to make his exit. “I said I would stop by Mr. Garrick’s house later, so I would rather be there when the time comes to look into it.”

With the Warforged’s introduction, Flick beamed up at the metallic being. Something about the big guy just tickled him. But Nemorad didn’t keep Flick’s attention for long, being a Warforged of few words. Soon enough the others at their table were discussing their theories and plans amidst exchanging names. The genasi was more than happy to lean back in his chair and listen to what they all had to say, though it was all things he heard before for the most part. When you got hired to take wannabe detectives into the woods, you heard a lot of theories. Some Flick thought were plausible, some he thought were outright stupid and crazy - but everything brought up by the people immediately around him seemed well informed. He supposed that being brought together in the particular way they were, their benefactor would have made sure there was no one off their rocker. Then again…

He glanced over to the bar area where the hot head and kobold chef were.

...yeah, maybe a few of them were a little unhinged. Maybe just stressed, though.

Flicker committed all of their names to memory. He couldn’t really say it was nice to meet them all, but it was interesting for sure. He even laughed at the human girl - Faint’s - joke.

“Hey, a sense of humor. Gonna need that in this town,” he chuckled. Eventually his gaze settled on the yet unnamed man and his… skeletal friend. Now, this man’s proposal was intriguing. That wasn’t to say that Flick liked the idea of raising a zombie or ghost and asking it a bunch of questions - in fact it made his skin crawl just to think of it - but he was right. Surely some of the deceased had seen something.

“I think Goliath-Guy is on to somethin’,” Flick said hesitantly, “but I don’t particularly wanna be around for that interrogation.”

He turned to Faint. “I don’t suggest splittin’ up if one group is heading out to trail. More than the wildlife, there’re plenty of im-be-ciles runnin’ around tryin’ to claim the reward for solvin’ this mess. Im-be-ciles that don’t play nice.” The genasi shrugged one shoulder, finishing off his drink. “Splittin’ up in town shouldn’t be a problem though.”

"Name's Graves," he said quietly in response to Flick's last comment.
More clearly, he added, "'course I don't expect any of you to be comfortable sit'n down to a chat with the departed... I don't mind doin' that part on my lonesome - but I can't do anythin' if I don't know who to be chat'n with beforehand. So, seems t'me that we oughtta be, as Faint there suggested, lookin' t'see who's been found dead most recently."
"If one o'you can get in t'see a body, I can make it talk."
The Goliath behind him creaked as it shifted its feet.

It seemed to Graves that Mr. Garrick was perhaps much more clever than he appeared. He'd somehow managed to single out all these people for their unique talents - He wasn't sure about some of the others in this group yet, but Faint appeared to be very thoughtful, perhaps insightful - Nemorad had some apparent status, Soot perhaps had some advantage on his side due to his size and outwardly charismatic nature... And perhaps his own abilities would also prove advantageous. Time would tell.
Regardless, there was quite a mix. It seemed everyone here may have something to offer - provided everyone worked together.
He still wasn't convinced on that point.

"Unless anyone has any better ideas..."

Seeing the glass explode in the Genasi’s hands wasn’t the kobold’s usual idea of an answer. The lizardkin appeared to shrink further and further as the venom of the Genasi’s sarcastic retorts sunk in. Lak Lok meekly raised his stubby little hands apologetically in response to the Genasi’s anger. He’d misunderstood the situation entirely. How could he have been so foolish to force his assumptions?

They weren’t fiances.

They were exes.

“ My mistake, madam.” Lak Lok coughed, scooting as best as he could away from the firey demon woman. The temperature around her was beginning to grow sweltering hot, even by the standards of lizardfolk. Returning to sip on his spring water, Lak Lok decided to keep his revelation to himself for the time being, lest he was incinerated by a fireball. Luckily, the rest of the group came to join them, sitting next to each other on the bar stand. He scooted away from the Genasi to join the rest of the company. Listening to the conversation, Lak Lok rubbed his scaly chin, mulling over the proposed plans of the ginger haired human. This web of mysteries was like trying to crack open a boiled cave crab. Clawing for those last pockets of meat, tucked away in the shell whilst contending with the hideous architecture of crustacean physiology.

The first and second plans weren’t his forte. Socialising was not one of Lak Lok’s strengths unless someone counted eviscerating amateur cooks verbally as evidence. But they did provide safety in lieu of the third plan. Venturing out in the wilderness on some gamble had its own risks in the form of getting mauled by a 9 foot tall unicorn bull.

Decisions, decisions. Yet, it was ultimately up to Garrakg. Grasping his book, Lak Lok prayed hard to himself, whispering forgotten canticles and prayers in honour of Garrakg, for an answer, a sign for which path he should follow.
Lord Garrakg, would it be right for me to beseech Mr Garrick’s bethr-

There was a shout to Lak Lok’s right as the steamed eel began writhing on the plate before exploding in a dwarven couple’s face.

Then, perhaps, going to the authorities would be best -

A strangled noise of tangled air erupted behind Lak Lok. As he turned around, he saw a minotaur writhing and gasping on the floor, choking on what appeared to be an owlbear sausage.

Then, it would be venturing out into the wilderness, my lord?

He waited for any response. None. Lak Lok then spoke up.

” I volunteer to go out into the wilderness, madam.” He then coughed. “ I agree with the human’s proposition. Dividing tasks amongst ourselves will be faster - “

A familiar reedy voice then interrupted Lak Lok in the midst of his speech. It was that filthy half-elf waiter again.

“ Y-your m-meal, sir.”

Lak Lok looked at the freshly steaming descaled hydra flank served in front of him. It was garnished with wild beets and a particularly pungent beer butter. The kobold's forked tongue flickered out, tasting the scents that arose from the beat before cutting off a portion of the hydra flank. Chewing it slowly, there was no discernible reaction on the kobold's face. The half-elf waiter then spoke up.

“ Is this meal to your satisfaction, sir?”

Grabbing the half-elf waiter’s ponytail, Lak Lok pulled him down and lowered him to observe the cut flank of hydra.

“ Medium, sir. ” The half-elf said, unsure of himself.

Again, with almost demonic strength, Lak Lok began throttling the half-elf waiter whilst shouting into his ear.

“ IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MEDIUM RARE ,YOU INCOMPETENT DUNG HERDER!”

“ I will forgive you for your insolence one time. Be certain of this. If I come to this establishment again and misinterpretation of my meal occurs again…” From out of the satchel hung around his back, Lak Lok pulled out an oversized rifle, the bore of which almost enveloped the waiter’s head. “ I will make you my next meal.”

The half-elf waiter immediately ran off. Lak Lok stuffed the rifle back into his satchel and continued talking to the group as if nothing had happened.

“ I am sorry. As much as I would like to contribute more to this discussion, I must decline at this moment. However, in order for me to function at the best of my abilities, my patron demands that I must fully enjoy, savor and digest this meal. Excuse me while I pray to Garrakg for our safety throughout our quest.”

Lak Lok then returned to his meal, fully focused on devouring and consuming his lunch in honour of his god, with teeth crunching gusto, not paying much mind to the discussions of the group.

---

Cinder tried to hide her satisfaction at having scared the oversized skink away. She wasn't exactly anti-social, in fact she quite liked being around others, but the kobold had the misfortune of stumbling upon her in a particularly foul mood thanks to their moon elf friend. Speaking of it seemed she had left to start her own little investigation. Cinder wouldn't put it past the moon elf to skip town with her sum of money, or to plant false evidence to throw the rest of them off the trail so she could take the entire reward for herself. Perhaps someone should alert the local authorities to a suspicious moon elf seen casing the estate of a poor elderly widower... No doubt they would already be acquainted with Valanthe.

Alas, that would require more effort than Cinder was willing to dedicate. After all she had a new, well paying job to look after.

After calming down for a few minutes and finishing a good portion of her stew, the genasi decided to move over with the rest of the group as it seemed they were all congregating except for her. She could hear most of their conversation from where she was already seated, but chipping in from that far away would have been a bit awkward. It would be just as well to actually go over there. They all had some interesting theories thus-far, but at the moment there was a devastating lack of evidence to support any of them, and it didn't seem they were going to get anything done just sitting there talking about it. Then again Cinder always had a "jump in head first" approach to things anyway. She was also more accustomed to following leads on her own, so talking things out with a group of people was going to take some getting used to. She went over and sat at the end of the table, listened for a bit, and then chimed in.

"Dividing tasks may speed it up, but there is the question of safety. I can agree to splitting up in the city -ain't no point in having a crowd of nine people parading around from one place to another- but when we go out to the wilderness I think Sparky is right. We should go together. I've been over that way a few times myself, and it ain't a pretty picture. As far as being put in groups go, I don't much care who I go with so long as they stay out of my private affairs and mind their own damn business." She gave a particularly hard stare at the kobold, who was now eating rather loudly and paying no mind, and also to the other genasi. But mostly at the kobold. Then she continued.

"I don't think we're going to find much evidence in town, considering how many other groups have already scanned through, but I suppose it's worth a shot to be thorough."

Soot gave each and every one of the characters assembled around him a look of appraisal, considering who would be most suited for what tasks and who he wouldn’t mind tagging along with to where. For the time being, he wasn’t entirely confident in anyone’s abilities and felt that maybe he could finagle his way into the right places on his own more easily. But there was still the matter of safety in numbers. While the otter had certainly found himself in several more compromising situations than being caught by unsavoury folk before, it was best to avoid it being the first thing that he does within this group.

He waited for the half genie woman to finish her thoughts before wildly articulating with his paws as he spoke:
“I can do thorough better than most people, I just need to find a good place to look and ask around. You folks can worry about your weird little corpse interrogations, I can go with Faint-of-presence here to the good Mr Garrick’s estate and have a nosey around, have a chat with people in the area while she’s busy with our employer.”
Soot smiled as widely as he could, perhaps a bit more smugly than he had intended to do. His impression of the woman was so far mostly neutral and, frankly, impressionless - but figured she would be the least likely to cause a scene which he would then have to flee. He could only hope that no one loud decided to come with.

Faint nodded as the rest continued to discuss their plan of action, with the diminutive kobold joining the conversation to say he would be joining them in searching the wilderness.

Before she had a chance to wonder if the small creature had a way to defend himself out in the wilds, a waiter approached with his meal. Faint started from her seat when Lak Lok pulled out a rifle much too large for his body and held the man at gunpoint. She glanced around to see if anyone would make a move on the furious kobold, but was surprised by the lack of concern from the other patrons. Though, she noted, there is also the choking minotaur and that runaway eel to gawk at… Bewildered as she was by the nonchalance in display, she only noticed that Lak Lok had freed the waiter to focus on his meal when the poor half-elf fleeted past her on the way to the kitchen.

I-is this a common occurrence in this side of the world? she wondered, noting with some embarrassment that she was the only one that had jumped from her seat at the sight of Lak Lok’s iron. At least she had not reflexively reached for a weapon.

Taking her seat again, she noted the conversation had begun to take a specific direction. The group as a whole did not seem to dispute the initial options she had presented, barring Graves’s suggestion to consult the dead victims directly, but neither Flick or Cinder – if she had not misheard the moon elf when she had first appeared – agreed with the notion of a smaller group venturing the wilderness, preferring instead safety in numbers.

In different circumstances, Faint may have argued against bringing everyone out to such a supposedly perilous place, but after Lak Lok’s demonstration, something told her that was likely a needless concern.

Faint shrugged, conceding the point. She had not been in these parts long enough to gauge the safety of the wilds surrounding the town. “I can only defer to the two of you if you think the wilderness around these parts is dangerous enough to warrant staying together. That said, it does mean we have to decide on what we should focus on first. It’s early in the morning, so we should be able to spend a good amount of time looking for that trail if we head out once we’re done here. Mr. Garrick did mention something about hiring a guide, did he not?” She eyed each of the genasi at that, wondering if it would not be one of them, given their apparent knowledge of the area.

“Truth be told, my one concern about heading out so soon is that I’m afraid we may miss something we would have picked up on had we taken the time to learn some more in town.” She sighed, reaching into her vest to produce the previous day’s newspaper. She let it fall flat on the counter. “Beyond what Mr. Garrick told us, I only know as much about the situation as I’ve read in this week’s papers.”

Wow. That lizard really takes his food seriously. Flick hid his face in his glass, taking a long, slow sip of his drink while he watched the kobold over the rim of the cup. He was partly impressed at the display, but also a bit disturbed. At the very least he could appreciate the kobold's dedication to his patron... Flick was busy staring and trying to recall if he'd ever gotten the kobold or the other genasi's name when he realized the latter was speaking. She was agreeing with him, and he huffed appreciatively. He even grinned slightly at the nickname. He'd certainly been called worse.

Flicker shrugged off the woman's glare, and his next words came easily.

"If we're gonna do this, we'd better do it right, hm? I'm sure the officers are tired of a bunch of money hungry do-gooders askin' questions, but like ya said - can't hurt to be thorough."

It seemed the group had decided that investigating the town first would be best, which Flick had no issues with. A wilderness trek wasn't uncommon for him, in fact it was his job, but he'd just gotten back. Plus, as competent as these people were turning out to be, there was still a trust issue. It would be good for all of them to keep getting used to each other before they went blustering out of town. Since they were splitting up, the genasi thought about where he'd rather go. As he mulled it over, he glanced between Faint and the other genasi - Sin... something, right? Probably Cinder, given her heritage. His own name was a product of that too.

"Can't speak for anyone else, but I'm a guide," he told the human. He didn't say it proudly, more as a matter of fact. "Tour guide, wilderness guide, trailblazer, occasional detective considerin' the amount of times I've had to take people out there lookin' for the same thing as us."

The events of his latest stint into the frontier came back to him and he frowned. His jaw hurt. He was starting to feel bad about telling Garrick flat out his wife was dead. Flick made up his mind to avoid the man's estate for now.

"Never found anythin' of course. Then again, I've never went with such a... interestin' group as y'all. When we're done in town, I'll take everyone to where some of the bodies been found out there. Speakin' of town," Flick leaned over and tapped lightly on the warforged's chasis. "I'll go with Nemo here to the sheriff's office. I'm sure they'd love to see me back there askin' around again. I can drop G..."

He trailed off and suddenly looked at the man with the goliath skeleton behind him. The necromancer's name was Graves? Of course it was Graves! He'd missed it before but the absurdity of it had Flick cracking an uneasy smile.

"...drop Graves off at the coroner's nearby. But I'm not gonna be there when he does his thing."

Whatever conversation was occurring around him, Lak Lok couldn’t care less, concerning himself with the conversation his tongue was having with the loathsome meal he was eating. The rocky taste of shroom salt and lichen sugar was palpable on the caramelized crust. The chef who cooked this had to be a goblin. In his experience, all goblins were fungivores by nature. By the time he’d swallowed down the last of the gamey hydra fat, he’d only caught the tail end of the conversation.

Interesting. It was convenient that they had an experienced outdoorsman as part of their party. Images of hacking away at a dead unicorn corpse wandered into his mind before he brushed it away, trying to focus on the task at hand. He had two choices now. Either, he could accompany the corpse-conjurer or go along with everyone else to the sheriff.

If he chose to investigate the sheriff’s office, he would no doubt be at risk of arrest for some of his…past misadventures. The thought of accompanying the black magician was much more appealing. Corpse conjuration was a magic that had many applications. Especially for cooking. The thought of violating the laws of nature to bring back once extinct flavors made Lak Lok’s mouth salivate.

Besides, it would reduce his future restaurant’s expenditure on acquiring rare ingredients. This….corpse interrogation was a learning experience he couldn’t miss out on.

“ Very well. I volunteer to accompany the corpse conjurer” Lak Lok wiped the oil off his scaly lips with the napkin and shuffled closer to the group, nearly tipping off the precariously long-legged stool. “ It will indeed be interesting to see -”

“ Sir?”

Lak Lok grumbled as he slowly turned to his back. It was that same damned waiter, holding a piece of paper in his trembling hands. It appeared he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Perhaps, there was something admirable behind all that incompetence after all.

“ Sir, are you going to…..” The half-elf visibly gulped, lifting up the paper for him to see, a price scribbled on it with coal “....Pay for your meal?”

Did that waiter seriously just -? The kobold stayed eerily silent, just staying still, an unreadable stony look on his face. He then replied in a deathly low murmur.

“ You’ll pay.”

The half-elf opened his mouth to say something but Lak Lok silenced him by slowly pulling out his chef’s knife. With a whimper, the half-elf slowly began to pull one coin and the next out of his pockets. Whenever there was a slight hesitation, Lak Lok gestured towards the pommel of his knife. When the last coin fell, Lak Lok pursed through the pile of coins before shaking his head and tutting in mock disappointment.

“ You’re missing ten sliver.” The bill now in his hand, Lak Lok waved it towards the waiter. “ Pay. Up.”

“Bu- buh, this is for my rent…..”

Lak Lok didn’t care. He just pointedly looked towards the pile of coins on the bartop and then, looked expectantly at the waiter. Half-blubbering, the waiter reluctantly deposited the last of his measly salary on top of the bar-stool.

“ Thank you for your service.”

Oh great, he was now crying. Lak Lok waited politely until the waiter was out of earshot, resuming what he was saying.

“ I’m so sorry for that terrible waiter. As I was saying previously, it will be interesting to see such magic for the first time.” Lak Lok waved his hand towards another waiter for a refill of his spring water before speaking to the entire group as a whole. “ I suppose if that’s all settled, then, I’m ready to begin this task. The food here has already worn my patience thin.”

---

The more time Cinder spent with her apparent team, the more she was reminded why she kept her social life far, far away from the secular one. Where had that dusty old man even found these misfits? Did any of them even have any idea how to conduct an investigation? 'I say we should start in the town.' Well of course they should start in the town! What was their other option? Go gallivanting through the wilderness like a group of buffoons and then backtrack their way back to town when they realize they have next to no leads? Yes, it was a very clever suggestion indeed, mysterious girl who looked and acted like something out of an old lore tome.

About the time she finished these thoughts, the lovely little kobold went off on the waiter. Poor man was just trying to do his job and then was accosted by some insane lizard with delusions of a food god, robbed, and had his life threatened. Mind you, Cinder was not one for sympathy towards the random everyday passerby, but this made even her feel sorry for him as he scampered back to the kitchen. How was he going to explain that to his employers? The genasi made a mental note to give him a little bit of coin before they left, considering he was most likely going to be out of a job before the night was over. She may have been temperamental but she wasn't completely heartless. The other members of their team seemed... relatively not idiotic. There was the matter of the talking otter, but as he seemed among the more reasonable and intelligent of the group Cinder was willing to overlook that oddity. She already had an internal list of the group, those she liked the most at the top, and least down at the bottom.
So far it was as follows:

Warforged guy (because he didn't talk a lot or make stupid suggestions),
Skeleton,
Otter,
Necromancer,
Lore tome girl,
Sparky,
Lizard.

Should she eventually make an effort to learn everyone's name in the group? Probably. Was she going to? No.

"Yes, starting in town sounds like the most intelligent course of action," she replied, doing her best to not sound sarcastic. She would have to work with these people after all, and while a few were most definitely on her bad side she'd rather not make actual enemies. "I think I'll go to the estate as well and try to see what evidence the damned fools at the sheriff's office may have missed. As far as being a guide goes I don't have much expertise. Most of my experience in that wilderness comes from tracking down the lowlifes that flee to it. Also, lizard, the waiter isn't what you should be apologizing for."

Cinder said this last sentence while waving the waiter over again and giving him a few coin. He muttered a small thank you, looking anxiously between her and the kobold before hurriedly scampering away and going to hide in the kitchen.

“O-oh. Glad you see things my way,” Faint belatedly answered Cinder. Perhaps in different circumstances she would have caught the condescending undertone of the woman’s voice, but she was too busy trying to process the sheer temerity of Lak Lok, which had gone past the ravings of an unreasonable costumer into the territory of armed robbery. It seemed the Kobold was intent to uphold certain stereotypes about the species.

She was reminded of former acquaintances. Greedy, brutish, and full of that overconfident swagger born from getting away with too much with far too little resistance. In her experience, sometimes those people would learn humility, but often too late, and often at a cost to those they worked with. Occasionally, the people around them were not willing to live with the risk and took measures themselves.

And he’s being sent out to look into the corpses. The ones we hoped to ask the authorities about. The mere thought of Lak Lok having anything to do with that made her feel queasy. Maybe we could send him out to the wilds on his own, let him and whatever beasts are out there sort each other out. She found herself surprised by her own uncharitable thought and sighed, shaking her head.

“I was hoping to order some breakfast, but I’m not sure I can trust anything sent to this side of the room after that,” she commented wearily, working herself up to addressing the kobold. She was encouraged by the disapproving frowns she saw in the others’ expressions. “There’s a lot I want to say about what just happened, but I’ll stick to the practical. Lak Lok, it will be a problem for the rest of us if your first response to someone annoying you is threatening them at gunpoint… and your second is robbing them at knifepoint,” she added after a moment’s consideration. “A bit of discretion’s all I ask unless you’d rather work on your lonesome.”

Glancing up towards the door to the kitchen, Faint left a handful of coins at the counter and stood up. She had not bought anything for herself, but felt obligated to leave some manner of payment after the earlier display. Regardless of her issues with some of their ‘team,’ it seemed like everyone’s tasks had been sorted out for the moment, which meant there was work to be done. She faced Cinder and Soot, “I need to take care of some things. Does meeting up at Mr. Garrick’s estate an hour from now sound good to the two of you? For now, I suggest we split off before someone at the back decides to kick us out or involve the authorities.”

Anything Flick might have said about the situation between the waitstaff and their eccentric chef was would have been a bit crass following Cinder and Faint's words. Although Flick's own input would have been less shame on you, Lak Lok and more Well that was fun but we'd better get the hell out of here before they kick us out. And even that was covered. The genasi followed suit and stood up, rolling his neck and giving the group at large his best placating smile.

"Agreed, best get a move on." Even with that said, Flick wasn't exactly jumping at the chance to visit the sheriff's office, but it was better than the alternatives in his opinion... and though the coroner's office was nearby, it wasn't like it was the exact same place, so he'd let Graves play kobold babysitter.

"Any of you need to 'take care of somethings?' A break before we get goin'?" Flick asked of his half of the team, "People drift in an' out of this town so often it's hard to tell whose local or not, so if you don't know your way around ya'll should let me know now."

Honestly Flicker would have loved to go back to his little apartment and take a long nap, maybe get changed, but he could do that later. Technically he was already in his rough clothes, and who knew - maybe it would help the officers knew their motley crew meant business once they arrived.

"Ah, well, we can discuss this outside," he decided, and nodded to the inn's doors. As Flick himself made to leave, he stopped by the bar and motioned towards the table he'd come from. "Garrick tab," he smiled, and saw himself out.

“ Annoying? Annoying? The food was a crime against nature! Annoying was understating it! I - “ Lak Lok stopped mid sentence when he noticed every patron in the restaurant was pointedly looking at him with stares of confusion and fear.

Ah.

He might have gotten too ahead of himself here.

“ Though…..., I may have caused a scene. I realise that not everyone appreciates my tastes for cuisine.” Lak Lok’s slitted nostrils flared in resignation before glumly speaking. “ Fine. Very well. I will do my best to reign in my temper. I’m sorry.”

As a gesture of apology, Lak Lok begrudgingly deposited one coin of his own on top of the tab before sliding off the stool. “ Let us be off, then. We have places to be, things to do, delicacies to sample, mysteries to - ”

Lak Lok paused as he was walking out of the tavern, sniffing the air for a few moments. His head then turned almost 360 degrees towards a troll who was slowly cutting into a grilled cavefish. The troll stopped cutting when he took a look at Lak Lok’s mortified expression. Without explanation, the kobold scrambled towards the troll hurriedly and slapped the knife out of his hand, sending it clattering over the floor.

“ The cavefish is still undercooked.” Lak Lok then dipped his claw into the flesh of the fish and showed the ruby red blood still visible underneath. He then shook himself out of his stupor and then, smiled sheepishly. “ Just trying to help you.”

He then leaped off the table and then walked towards the entrance, waving for the members of the group to come over.

---

---

---

---

"Cinder," Val said positively purring at the sight of the fire genasi. "How nice of you to finally join us. I was telling Ulleiss here how pleased I was to see you two again. It is a rare privilege indeed in my profession to be reacquainted with two such wonderful friends."

"Of course, my great joy at our reunion was only magnified by the prospect of being your colleague once more in yet another heroic endeavor that promises to leave us richer than when we began. Let us just hope that this contract doesn't end like that dreadful job in Lulkel. It cost me a fortune to get that dress washed."

"I'm assuming there's a reason you haven't arrested this scoundrel, Cinder," the large dragon commented, turning his head to face the genasi as she approached.

"Unfortunately it seems she will be a necessary evil on this particular quest. And for the gods' sakes, stop with your patronizing politeness," she replied, scrunching her face up in disgust at the moon elf.

"My poor, poor, misguided Cinder," Val began shaking her head sadly from side to side. Her lips pursed in a small frown, but Val seemed more amused than disappointed. "It is only patronizing because you choose to interpret it as such. If you had only paid attention to the many lessons I freely gave you, then you would have learned to speak properly many moons ago."

"Just cause I ain't from some highfalutin family with daddy issues doesn't mean I can't speak correctly. Not to mention it's incredibly pretentious, and who, besides the obvious company, would want to talk like that?" Cinder asked, though it didn't appear she really wanted an answer as she almost immediately started talking again. "Why are you here in the first place?"

Val rolled her eyes at the familiar accusation, Cinder was fond of bringing up parental figures, especially her father, a telling sign that Val noted. However, her parents were a subject Val preferred to avoid. Lest she somehow summon them to the present spot, dusty as it was, by merely mentioning them. The moon elf smiled broadly as soon as the conversation return to her favorite topic, her own self and her mysterious, ever-shifting motives.

"Oh, that is a wonderful story of redemption," Val exclaimed with a happy sigh and soft smile that would have brought tears to the eyes of a troll. "You see, having spent a several nights languishing in the sad jail of this supremely sad town, I had time to reflect on my many minor indiscretions. The old Val is dead Cinder! The still stunning Moon Elf you see before you is the new Val. A kinder, much gentler Val, full of innocence and unburdened by a long history of criminal accusations. My most recent iteration is a lovely creature that is here to do great good. She is driven through the purity of her own heart to restore the balance in this dusty wasteland and certainly holds no aspirations of robbing the party of all their wealth. Indeed, the good sheriff himself detected my positively impeccable innocence and released me with his most humble apologies and a lovely, rustic breakfast."

"..."

Silence greeted Val at the end of her story, and the Cinder exchanged looks with Ulliess. Mind you dragons are not known for their varying array of facial expressions but even he looked... Doubtful, to put it mildly. Cinder on the other hand looked like she was going to start laughing. And then she did.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," she sputtered in between chuckles. "I'm sure that if I went and talked to the sheriff right now he'd corroborate your story, hm? Say what a delight you are? Right. You forget that the only reason I'm on good terms with half the sheriffs in the country is because of our mutual desire to put your behind bars where you belong. 'Kinder and gentler Val' my ass. If you steal anything of mine, I don't care what the law says. I'm shooting you."

"I already have your heart, Cinder, what more of value can I steal from you?" Val replied with a sly smile. She felt magnanimous and therefore did not send a spell in Cinder's direction as repayment for the bounty hunter's most impolite laughter at her expense. It was a constant source of sorrow for the moon elf that Cinder did not blindly believe her. It made tricking her more enjoyable, but it forced her to put some effort into the endeavor. And Val had a natural inclination to abhor effort. She preferred easy marks that fell for her azure eyes and soft smile.

"Bold of you to assume I have a heart," Cinder replied. Unlike with the rest of the party, it took quite a lot for Val to actually ruffle Cinder's feathers. She was sure it was because Val was obviously actively trying to get under her skin while the rest of the party just blindly said absolutely idiotic things. "And oh, I don't know. All of my earthly possessions?"

"I would be a very bad friend if I did not note your carefully guarded heart," Val mused. She took a step forward and pointed towards Cinder's chest. "I feel certain it is somewhere in there, beneath some layers of ice, of course. Despite your attempts at casting yourself like some common ruffian, you're far too generous to be a real rogue."

Laughing to herself, Val tossed a coin into the air, and shifting her hand forward made it reappear behind one of Cinder's pointy ears before the illusionist danced it in front of her eyes. Winking at the dragon, Val whispered, "Fear not, friend, I will relieve you of the mortal possessions that burden you soon enough."

The coin vanished back into the sleeves of her dress and Val booped Cinder playfully on the nose. Bowing slightly, she darted out of range, "Now, Cinder, promise me that you'll behave. I'd be very sad if you ruined this new role for me before I even had a chance to try it out."

Cinder had made an attempt to grab the hand that booped her, having fantasies about breaking some dainty and pathetic fingers, but Val had moved out of range too fast. Alas, neither could deny they knew the other well.

"I'll be waiting for you to screw up, Val, and the moment you do I'm taking you in to collect that bounty. Then I can really retire, and never have to see your ugly mug ever again. Speaking of retiring if you mess up this gig for me, I will get very violent." She said that last bit as flame started to crawl onto her shoulders, courtesy of her hair. Ulliess made a noise that might have been a sound of amusement, though it was unclear exactly which part of this encounter had garnered it.

---

After confirming their meeting location with the dramatic one, Cinder had gone outside to catch Ulliess up on what was going on and what arrangements were to be made. Instead of her dear dragon she was greeted by the sight of none other than Val, who had scampered off at some point during their meetings. To do something shift no doubt.

Having said her closing statement, Cinder withdrew from the conversation and went over to her dragon. "I have some errands to run. Do try not to get arrested while I'm gone."

"You need not worry about me, my dear friend. I have already acquired what passes for valuables here," Val replied with equal snark.

"However, if the lady allows it, perhaps she could tell me where she is going after her errands?" Val said, her very elven pronunciation of the word "errands" implying a great conspiracy.

Cinder sighed. She really didn't want to tell this fae descended devil where they were going, but she supposed it would be better to keep an eye on Val as opposed to just letting her run free. Not to mention she'd find her anyway. Might as well make it convenient. "Garrick Estate in one hour."

She needed to replenish some of her food supplies and it seemed like now would be the only chance to do it. Faint wanted to meet up in an hour at the Garrick Estate, so she had a bit of time to kill and it seemed like as good of an opportunity as any to just.. Go and hide from Val. It would also give the Genasi a bit of time to regain her composure before having to see her new teammates again. She'd never admit it, but she was a little embarrassed by her outburst towards the kobold (no matter how much he deserved it) and wanted to try and make a different impression on the others. She wasn't exactly known for her unending patience but if they were going to have to work together then she should at least try to be somewhat friendly with them. That was going to be very difficult to do with Val around egging her on at every moment, but she'd still try nonetheless.

---

An hour later Cinder walked up to the Garrick Estate. It had towering stucco walls, two entrances, and on the inside there was a variety of gardens and animals that only the rich and powerful could afford to posses. Their patron was well off indeed. Cinder paid more attention to the number of entrances however. Either they sneaked in and out of one of them without the guards noticing (and with the no doubt struggling Mrs. Garrick they would have surely been spotted), or they'd come in a different way. A secret entrance perhaps? Rich people did seem to have a fondness for hidden passage ways to carry out their indiscretions without any peering eyes. It was entirely possible the culprits discovered one of these and took her out that way. Or they could have flown with dragons, but then wouldn't there be tracks where the dragons landed? Perhaps they landed on the roof so as not to leave as much of a trace. But it had taken place in the middle of the day, and surely someone would have seen dragons sitting on top of the Garrick's home.

There were too many theories and not enough evidence. Cinder was eager to begin investigating, but a little voice in her head said that she should be polite and wait for Faint to show up before doing so. If she hadn't given herself the earlier pep-talk about being more cooperative with her teammates then she would have ignored it, but alas, this time she'd listen. Cinder began to look around those in the crowd to see if she could spot the woman in question.

Faint opened the door to her room with a sigh. She took a bite from a piece of bread she had purchased from a stall on her way back, and quickly scanned the inn room’s interior for anything amiss.

The old wooden floor and featureless plaster walls were as she remembered. A single-sized bed rested at the corner of the room, facing a closed door which led to a simple dresser. Nearby was a table, where newspapers since her arrival at the town had been neatly folded, with the exception of one, which was splayed open over the better part of the table and almost entirely covered in wood shavings. With this new task to occupy her, she probably would not have much time to practice.

She carefully took hold of this piece of paper, folding it to prevent the dirt from falling all over the floor, and moved it aside. On the table where it had been, she placed her other new purchases. A set of pencils, and a small stack of bound paper, both small enough to stow in her satchel. For a moment, Faint merely stared at the writing implements. They had come as something of an impulse purchase. When she had asked Cinder and Soot for an hour’s time, her intention had mostly been to take the time to stash away some of the coin Mr. Garrick had given them, and to pick up some items from her room at the inn she was staying at.

But she had seen them as she passed through a marketplace on her way back, and thought to herself that it would be useful to have a place to keep the details of what she learned in her investigation. Maybe.

Faint took the last bite from her bread and gulped it down as though to physically swallow her embarrassment. It made logical sense, but the truth of the matter was that she was playing things by ear. It made her behavior at the bar even more embarrassing in hindsight. In her previous occupation, she had gotten used to working on her own, or under someone. She had been quick to give advice and speak her mind at the bar, hoping for someone to take charge and decide their course of action, but she wondered if by doing that it had not appeared as though she was trying to muscle her way into that role herself.

Me, the criminal. I’m more likely to make someone disappear than to find them. Gods, who am I kidding? Any experience I have with this either comes from fiction or from being on the opposite side of this chase. The others had not said as much, but she wondered if they didn’t resent her for her suggestions. She would have.

She blinked when she realized her face felt hot, and she screwed her eyes shut, taking a stabilizing breath. There were other things she should be doing. She knew that. Worthwhile things at that, for once. A moment later, she sat before the table, taking a pencil in hand.

---

An hour later, Faint arrived at the entrance to the Garrick estate. Unlike before, she had brought her travelling cloak, and her favorite pair of long knives were strapped to her belt, kept out of view by the gray cloth unless she chose to part it.

Even with the familiar weights at her hips giving her confidence, though, she couldn’t keep the surprise from showing on her face as she looked at the tall walls. She had not realized Forsaken held a place like this. When the old gentleman had referenced an estate, Faint had somehow visualized a collection of small buildings some kilometers away from the town proper. Not a fortress walled off from a busy part of town. The parts of the gardens she could spy through the gates only surprised her further. Had they truly been hired by the wealthiest man in this place?

The real estate business must be booming, she thought wryly, finding it hard to believe Garrick’s business of hiding convicts could prove this lucrative.

Faint shook her head with a grimace. Whatever her thoughts on the matter, the view before her was important in terms of the incident.

This would have been a hurdle for their culprit to overcome. A walled off estate in view of anyone crossing the streets, with only two apparent entrances. The crime had seemingly taken place sometime in the middle of the day, where people would be out and about. The location and the walls themselves would limit a kidnapper’s options severely, as anything that scaled or flew past the walls at this time would have most likely drawn someone’s attention. Yet, their patron claimed nothing untoward had been seen that day.

She entertained the thought of pulling out her notebook to write down her observations before something red and yellow at the corner of her vision drew her attention. She glanced to the side to see Cinder intensely glaring at the complex. After a moment, she turned around, glancing about the crowd as though looking for someone.

Faint blinked, almost surprised to see her there. She had half-convinced herself that the Genasi woman and the otter had merely agreed to come to the estate only to humor her. Quickly recovering, Faint moved closer with a small smile on her lips. “Cinder, over here.”

Once closer she glanced about, hoping to find the other member of their party, but Soot wasn’t anywhere to be found. “It seems we’re short an otter, but…” she sighed. Perhaps she hadn’t been entirely wrong earlier, but she put that aside for the moment, glancing back to the building. “What do you think?”

“H- Hello?” A meek voice inquired from the street, followed by the appearance of the gentle looking moon elf who had once more assumed her role as the naive but well-intentioned noble adventurer of the party. “I'm so glad I managed to find this place! And the two of you, of course. There are some rough figures indeed in this town.”

“Yes, I’m sure you were terrified,” came the dry reply of the genasi, who had made her way over to Faint once she spotted her. She glared at the elf but seemed to make a genuine effort to look less than unfriendly towards Faint. “Hello. Yes, he disappeared off to… somewhere. I don’t know. Probably running for the hills, the poor bastard.”

Faint snorted. “Not so poor after this morning, I’d say. Though speaking of…” she looked at the moon elf that had joined them with a slight frown, “Not to be rude, but I had assumed you had taken the money and left when you weren’t downstairs. How did you know to be here now?”

“Miss Cinder told me,” Val replied with a slight sniffle as she drew back cautiously, drawing doe eyes at the Fire Genasi. “It is true some unfortunate business required my departure from the inn, but I know Miss Cinder well and I knew where to find her. Where her dragon Ulliess goes, she is sure to follow, and he is rather hard to miss.”

A forced smile crossed Cinder’s features. “I’ll have to remedy that. Can’t have my enemies readily finding me, can I?”

Faint nodded at first, hearing what she had expected to hear. After all, it had already been made abundantly clear that these two shared some history, even if Cinder did not give the impression of being half as thrilled by it as the noblewoman. Encouraged by the girl’s timid demeanor, it took her a moment while Cinder returned the banter for Faint to realize she had all but admitted to following the Genasi there.

“Huh,” Faint hummed, mostly to herself. She supposed the noblewoman did come off as rather overeager in some ways, at least in matters related to Cinder. The pair certainly had an odd dynamic. “Well,” she said abruptly, almost as if to keep herself from wandering down that rabbit hole, “I suppose when it comes down to it we were all hired by the same person. You can call me Faint,” she added, extending a hand past her cloak.

“Miss Avaliah Valleau, but please, do call me Ava,” Val replied, removing a brilliant blue silken glove, as ancient elven etiquette demanded, before shaking Faint’s hand with an equally brilliant smile.

“Charmed,” Faint answered warmly, trying not to dwell on how soft and dainty the noble lady’s hand felt against hers. Her own must have felt rough and weathered by comparison. She had to force herself not to pull back early at the self-conscious thought, and returned a rather hesitant smile as she drew her hand back a moment later. Introductions taken care of, she glanced between Cinder and Ava, then cast one last look around for the missing otter before finally deciding there was no more point to waiting. “Pleasing as this talk is, standing out in the sun like this is far from comfortable. Why don’t we take the chance to see if the guard won’t let us through the gate?”