[Fenrir and Reinward have been tasked with staging a coup in the city of Westgate to stop the evil vampire lord the Night King from doing the same. Just recently they have been trying to hide all their nefarious schemes from the city authorities.]
DAY 548 (2nd Eleint)(September) cont ...
After Judge Nylo had left, Jasper came to Fenrir to tell him that one of the house guards had been found dead out in the city.
DAY 549 (3rd Eleint)(September)
Fenrir and Reinward were lost. They did not know how to perform a coup attempt and were finding it hard to grasp the full picture. They had been tinkering around here or there and getting some people on-side but had only the vaguest of notions what to do next.
It did not help matters that (to steady their nerves perhaps) they spent a good deal of each evening drinking.
In the morning though, they decide to go and find Mintassan the Magnificent. If they could get him on their side then that would count for a lot within the wizard community of Westgate, or so they hoped.
Just as they were approaching his large house and magical emporium they were startled by loud screams of agony and terror. When they looked to see where they came from, they saw a young fashionably-dressed man on the ground, his pants stained with blood. Another man of lower status was trying to save him, yelling for help, but to no avail.
The young noble stopped moving, and shortly after, a beetle-shaped creature drilled out of his chest in a burst of gore and blood. Fenrir and Reinward watched in astonishment as the beetle then reverted back to being an inanimate beetle-shaped brooch.
They talked to the other man. His name was Liam Roogs. He was a domestic servant working for the Littlehorn family. The young man who had just died was his master, Aaron.
Fenrir, as Commander of the Watch, took charge of the situation and after summoning some watchmen he questioned Roogs further.
They learned that Aaron had found the brooch in the auction room of Nabulee’s Bazaar of the Extraordinary (which shared a building with Mintassan the Magnificent's House). Aaron’s behaviour had been odd. He had noticed the scarab early during the auction, but had waited until everyone had left to pick it up. Aaron was an honest person, but he had seemed intent on stealing the brooch.
A few minutes after they had left the auction house, Aaron started to scream and fell to the ground. He convulsed for a brief moment, and then the scarab burst out of his chest.
To Roogs's knowledge, the Littlehorns didn't have any enemies. He suggested taking to Lord Archibald Littlehorn.
Fenrir would do that, but first he wanted to see Nabulee at his bazaar. It appeared that Mintassan the Magnificent was his business partner and was renting out part of his large house to Nabulee.
Just then, the man himself appeared! Nabulee was an overweight, eccentric-looking man with scruffy fiery hair. He came bursting out of a nearby door and ran toward them with a preoccupied look. He was wearing a blue tunic embroidered with silver and matching pants, and was holding a gold-inlaid sceptre shaped as a dragon. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he gazed at the scarab on the noble’s chest and sighed.
Fenrir and Reinward talked to Nabulee.
His name was Nabulee el Jasafir. He was a merchant from the desert city of Calimport who had packed up his Bazaar of the Extraordinary and taken it to Westgate.
The brooch that killed the Aaron was a scarab of death. He was pretty sure that it belonged to him, but he didn't know how Aaron could have acquired it. This brooch was supposed to be safely stored in an extradimensional vault that only Nabulee could access.
Nabulee was very nervous as he realised the implications of what had happened. 'Please!' he pleaded with the Commander of the Watch. 'Aaron’s father, Archibald, is a ruthless man! Lord Littlehorn will want someone to blame, and he’ll make sure this person loses his head. I don’t want to die for something I didn’t do!'
Fenrir tried to calm the merchant, but he carried on in a panic, 'I'm absolutely certain I didn’t take the scarab of death out of his vault, even accidentally. If I had picked up the cursed brooch without taking special precautions, I would also be dead. Please, I beg you, Commander, I will help any way I can, just make sure Archibald doesn't chop my head off!'
'It's me that chops the heads around here,' said Fenrir drolly. He then waved over some watchmen to have the body taken away. He then assured Nabulee there would be a thorough investigation.
They started at Lord Littlehorn's house. Aaron’s father was overcome by grief when he learned that his son had died.
Archibald Littlehorn was a handsome man in his late fifties with salt and pepper hair. He was tall, slender, impeccably groomed and wearing elegant clothing.
Fenrir vaguely knew of the Littlehorns. They were a modest noble mercantile family known to be rich, but with no interest in politics.
Reinward (an expert in this matter) asked if Aaron could be resurrected but apparently this was impossible because of something that had happened when he was younger.
'I have many envious competitors,' said Littlehorn. 'But I don't believe any of them would kill Aaron because none of them would have anything to gain from my son’s death. It surely is the fault of Nabulee, who was careless and let a dangerous magic item out of his sight!'
After that they returned to the 'Bazaar'. Mintassan was still away on business and his part of the house was locked up. The wing of the house given over to the Bazaar was what they were interested in though. It was of an impressive design. White marble stairs dominated the large lobby, and exquisite paintings by some of the most talented artists in Westgate adorned the walls. Discreet mosaics broke the monotony of the walls, and oriental-style hanging lanterns made of pure silver filled the room with a warm yellow-orange light.
Here they met a lazy old dwarf lady called Jasmin Metalwart.
From the lobby they moved through to the auction room. Everything in this room had been done to impress. The solid marble table behind which the auctioneer stood, the varnished pews for the clients, and the stained glass windows depicting scenes of Calishite battles all added to the impression of luxury and opulence.
Beyond the auction room was an equally impressive stairway, Nebulee met them here and took them down to his vault where all his treasure was stored.
There was an archway filled with swirling orange-brown smoke is a portal that lead to his extradimensional vault.
'I'm the only person that can use the portal,' Nebulee explained. 'My valuables are completely secure in the vault. It’s protected against teleportation, and a magical ward negates charm spells and possessions within.'
There was a large iron golem guarding the portal.
'Mugabu here is ordered to attack anyone who tries to approach the portal. This is a precaution in case someone wants to destroy the gateway out of spite,' went on the merchant. He then went into the vault and returned to let them know the scarab of death was back where it was safe.
'I don't know how it got out!' he cried. 'I've a good memory, I would remember removing it. You need special gloves, you can't just casually pick it up, it would kill you!'
Fenrir asked some questions of Mugabu who answered in a grinding metallic voice.
'I defend the vault. *GRIND* Nobody other than Nabulee, came to the extradimensional safe these past days. *WHIRR* Nabulee came to the vault once in the morning and multiple times in the afternoon to recover various items. *BEEP*'
Back upstairs they questioned Jasmin Metalwart. She was a housekeeper and had spent her morning cleaning the auction room and lobby. Fenrir noticed she was wearing a magical ring.
'I don't know what your talking about!' she said putting her hand behind her back.
(They later learned it was a Ring of Reduction and she used it to have sneaky naps in small hidden places!)
She seemed to prefer talking to Reinward and told him;
'A man came to see Nabulee in the morning. At that time, I was getting cleaning supplies in the broom closet under the stairs. I didn’t see who it was. I did overhear a conversation though. The man sounded angry at Nabulee. He said something about not being paid enough. Nabulee then asked him to keep his voice down and invited him to his office. They then went upstairs, but I doesn’t know what happened after that.'
Next they interviewed the house butler, a man called Ronald Walrut.
He'd been working for Nabulee for a couple of years and had been out all morning running errands.
He told a strange story:
'I could not credit it, but I saw Nabulee running through the streets, a couple of blocks away from the auction house. His shirt was stained with blood!'
Fenrir and Reinward explored the rest of the house and noticed that there were two wine glasses that had been used recently and no-one could account for it.
'I certainly wasn't running around in the street covered in blood!' Nabulee declared. 'I was in my office doing paperwork, then conducted the auction when I came down stairs... and yet... I do feel I have a gap in my memory. I do not recall drinking wine with anyone.'
They asked him about the raised voice that Jasmin had heard. He appeared to genuinely believe that he had been alone all morning.
They were starting to think that some villain had done something in the bazaar then blanked Nabulee's memory about it.
Reinward hit upon the idea of using the Crown of Baleforte to cast 'Magic circle against evil' - and it worked!
Nabulee's memory came flooding back.
'Why yes! I remember now. It was Mortimer Yorman, one of my suppliers. He came to see me in the morning. We argued over a payment. While we talked - yes that's right - the alarm in my vault went off. Then Yorman cast a spell and... I awoke tied to a chair. He then cast more spells on me... Well, I can tell you where that rotter lives anyway. I'd say you need to talk to him!'
Mortimer Yorman's house was not far away, so they finished up and headed over to see what he had to say for himself.
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