Calling All Adventurers: S1 E2 - Omen

S1 Episode 2: Omen

Intro & News

Calling all adventurers, I repeat, calling all adventurers.

We have a few jobs available today, but it's first come first serve so pay attention.

In the town of Blacksnow at the foot of the Frozen mountains, a team of adventurers have burned down a building during a fight with an unknown enemy. It appears that the team has since left the town in a hurry.

Someone needs to find them and convince them to return to Blacksnow and clear this mess up. Often, as private contractors, the difference between a crime and an unfortunate accident is whether you report it to the correct authorities or not.

I'm not saying that only the guilty run, but if you used reasonable force, you won't have anything to worry about. If you didn't, then maybe you should face some consequences for your actions.

Any adventurers in the area, speak to the Blacksnow guard about a possible reward.

Another request here. Varkoth, owner of Varkoths Emporium has been murdered at his store in the town of Pelsted. Adventurers in that area may want to check it out. There are no suspects at the moment. Varkoths business partner and widow are offering a reward for the capture of the culprit. Speak to the Pelsted Guard Captain to get in on the job.

Finally, reports of bandit activity outside the town of Formwick. One walked into the centre of the settlement and told the locals to hand over their mayor. The bandits promised that once they are in possession of the mayor, they would be on their way. They claim that if they are refused, they are not above hurting locals. The mayor has since sent out a request for assistance. Anyone around there, could you pop by and lend a hand before it turns ugly?

In the news, a recent survey performed by the Institute of Study has revealed that at least 5% of adventurers adhere so strongly to the rules written in the Adventurer's Guide, that they ruin the adventuring experience for whoever they are partied with. Many are self professed but others refuse to believe that they are afflicted with this poisonous mindset, and thus have no intentions of stopping.

In my opinion, there is a right way and a wrong way to do most things, but adventuring is not a case of organised fun. You are free to explore your options and try new things, maybe even break a rule or two if it gets the job done and looks cool enough. To quote a famous pirate, "They're more like guidelines, than actual rules."

So, I got a lot of positive feedback from the last broadcast. Many enjoyed the story where I discussed my first adventure. So much so that I think I shall continue telling it. Wouldn't feel right to stop half way through. I'm sure you're positively thrilled at the concept of hearing more about the lost cat. 

Story Start

The client's door closed behind us and Valuin and I found ourselves back on the street. The orange sky had passed and the darkness was now upon us. I think we both quietly admitted to ourselves that we didn't know the first thing about cat catching but we had taken the job so we had to figure something out.

I turned to Valuin.

Host: "So, how are we going to find this thing?" 

As I caught her rubbing her jawline with a gloved hand, her eyes lit up.

Val: "To catch a cat, perhaps we must think like a cat." 

I hesitated for a moment.

Host: "Or we could ask someone if they've seen it? I don't have much interest in fish or yarn."

Val: "Yes, that is probably a better idea...for now. The client is having a tough time about it because he only just found the cat, said it was snooping around his garden a few days ago so he thought he'd let it in."

I thought for a moment.

Host: "Meaning that there is probably some other family looking for the cat too. The people who the creature originally belonged to?"

Val: "Most likely, but the old man is paying us, not them. Maybe, if we see another job offer from that family, we can tell them that it's with him."

That somehow felt dishonest but I figured that we were simply middle men in all this anyway.

We spent the next  half hour knocking on doors and speaking to passing townsfolk. Some claimed they had seen a cat that matched the description, but only recently. As we were walking around, Valuin began to make small talk.

Val: "So, where are you from?" 

A harmless enough question. We were working together now so perhaps sharing some information could build trust.

Host: "I'm from a small village south of here."

Val: "Did you live there with your family?"

Host: "Yes, it was comfortable, to be sure."

Val: "Then what made you leave?"

Host: "To be honest, I don't fully know. Perhaps I felt like there was some greater purpose for me out here. Perhaps I wanted to know why my father left when I was a child. Perhaps I was escaping my mothers growing obsession with buckwheat pancakes. Who knows? It could be all of it, could be none of it. I have no real goal beyond making it to the capital."

There was a noticeable silence for a few moments as Valuin thought.

As we questioned locals, many had claimed that they had seen the cat around the area. Snooping, looking for mice or other cat things. Someone eventually mentioned that there was another old man on the other side of town who had tried to feed it a few times. They said he was a very nice man, so we figured we would try his house next.

While on our way, Valuin continued her efforts to get to know me.

Val: "So, did you leave your mother at home alone?"

Host: "No. She remarried several years back to a bard that she knew from her hometown of Maidenstone. He's the decent sort, he taught me how to play the guitar. My brother is also still in town. So, she isn't lacking for company. What about you? Why are you out here? I thought Elves mostly stayed in Irmidia?"

Val: "Well, they mostly do, there are more in the cities here than in the towns and villages in-between so I expect you'll see a few more of us on your journey. I left the Empire a year or so ago. I'm on the hunt for destiny now."

That answer made a lot of sense coming from Valuin. I didn't know much about her at this point, but one to be pulled along by the strings of fate is definitely the whimsical sort of nonsense I could ascribe to her already. Little did I realise how much more sense it would make in the years to come.

Before I had time to reply, I realised that we were standing outside the second old man's house and Valuin was already knocking on the door.

[SFX knocking]

No answer.

[SFX knocking again, harder]

Still nothing. I tried to peek through the window but the curtains were drawn.

Valuin turned to me.

Val: "It is late, perhaps he has already turned in for the evening."

Host: "Well, that doesn't add up because there is light coming from the top window. He must be awake...what if he's injured?"

[SFX cat meow]

Host: "did you hear that?" 

I leaned in toward the door and heard a faint meowing and light scratching against the other side.

Val: "The cat is inside. Should we try to open it?"

Valuin asked. But before I could suggest that opening people's doors without an invitation could be illegal in some way, she was already twisting the handle.

A second later, the door gently swung open and the little creature came running out past us before disappearing into the dark. It matched the description given to us by the client and was likely heading back to his home now. The situation was more or less sorted...but a question loomed in the air; why was the old man not responding?

It seemed she had the same thought as Valuin took a few steps inside and spoke aloud.

Val: "Forgive the intrusion, but we are just popping in to make sure you're okay...and...are you? Okay, I mean?"

The quiet continued; that didn't bode well.

We edged further into the living room. There were a few points of interest to me. The fire was but embers at this point, meaning he must have turned in not long ago. There was a comfortable rocking chair in the corner, and a dining table set for one on the other side, meaning he must live alone. On the floor, near the fire, was a soup bowl filled with milk that didn't look like it had been touched. I looked back toward the door, and there was a sheathed sword hanging from a wall hook, not uncommon but it means that he was ready for trouble.

I think in these moments, your mind runs through a thousand possibilities, but somehow, from deep in your gut, and growing in the back of your mind, you begin to realise something is wrong.

Reluctantly, I drew my sword and we climbed the stairs. I didn't exactly know what I was going to do if I actually encountered an enemy up there. Perhaps I could hope to talk them down, and, if push comes to shove, maybe throwing my sword at them would confuse them enough to let us escape. In any case, it's good practice sometimes to pull your sword before you need it.

It somehow felt like an eternity had passed by the time we had reached the landing at the top of the stairs. That was when we saw him.

He was laying on his front, blood pooled around his chest, and a weeding fork was protruding from where his heart was. For a second, I was confused. I thought this old man was the same who’d hired us, but under closer inspection, I realised that they just looked quite similar.

Val: "Oh my." 

Valuin spoke suddenly, startling me.

Val: "What a terrible accident."

A pit formed in my stomach, and I couldn't help but grimace. Valuin must have seen my face because she turned to me, placed a hand on my shoulder and told me to,

Val: "Go downstairs, get some air and ask a passer-by for the guards." 

She was remarkably focused in this moment, which implied she was either heartless, or was simply used to this sort of thing.

I was okay, it was not the first time I've seen something like that: wolf attacks, butchered livestock, funerals, I've seen a few instances of death before but this felt different.

Stepping back out onto the street, I saw a local woman passing by and told her that the man in this house had been murdered and to fetch the guards. She was immediately startled by my sudden request, but nodded and ran off around the corner.

I returned to the living room and consciously fought off the stupor that I was slipping into. Realising that I was still holding my sword, which must have looked bad to the woman outside, I sheathed it again.

‘Wait’ I thought ‘I just reported that as a murder. Why did I do that?’ 

A lot of things weren't adding up here certainly. I knew it from the second we walked in but that is a hell of a thing to start suggesting with no proof.

Valuin reappeared in the living room through the doorway.

Val: "We were only a few minutes late." 

She said. 

Val: "The old guy is still warm, the blood still wet. He must have tripped and fell on his own weeding fork. Nasty way to go."

He just tripped and fell on his weeding fork? It's possible, I once stuck a pitchfork through my own foot by mistake, these things happen. But why didn’t I believe it?

Valuin must have been watching my expressions as I absorbed all this information because she piped up again.

Val: "You okay? Something bothering you? I mean, besides the dead body upstairs."

I didn't want to cast aspersions and turn this into something it wasn't, but I thought that maybe talking it out could help. 

Host: "The cat matched the description from the client, meaning it's likely the same one. Not to mention, milk in a soup bowl? You'd buy an animal bowl if it was your cat or if they frequented your house. Also, anyone who deals with them knows that cats can't drink milk, it makes them sick. My mother has three so you figure these things out, even if no one tells you."

Valuin looked on, her expression didn’t change.

Val: "What about it? We know it's not his cat. What are you getting at?"

I continued.

Host: "Well, didn't he look familiar; the guy upstairs. Didn't he look a lot like the client?"

Valuin thought for a moment and her eyebrows raised 

Val: "Actually, yes. He did. A fair bit, I would say."

Host: "Right, so, didn't the client say that he took the cat in recently? That he only just saw it stalking around his house a few days ago." 

I felt like I was on the verge of something.

Host: "His cat then disappears, and where do we find it? In the house of a recently dead man who looks just like him? An older guy, who, for some inexplicable reason, is walking around his house at night with a weeding fork?"

Valuin's expression darkened, she was beginning to see what I was talking about.

Val: "That does seem a bit silly. It looked like he'd recently gotten out of bed, perhaps to attend to a knock on the front door by two visitors?"

Host: "Exactly, except he never makes it down the stairs. Was he coming down with a gardening fork in case we tried to attack him? Unlikely. Everyone said how nice he was. Besides, he has a sword by the door. If he was worried about dangerous guests, he'd use that instead."

Val: "Meaning that he wasn't carrying the fork at all...he was stabbed. But, that can't be. We were the only ones in here any time recently and we certainly didn't stab him, I'd have remembered that."

I stopped and slowly began to turn toward the fireplace.

Host: "But we weren't the only ones here recently..."

Valuin’s gaze was drawn to the same place, and we stared at the milk bowl for a few moments before simultaneously uttering 

Val and Host: "The cat."

Break

Right, let's take a little break as we have some updates.

Any adventurers near Dunwissen, the floating orb has officially earned the ire of the town and they have put out a bounty on it. It hasn't been reported if the creature has actually done anything yet, but work is work, and we're servants of the people. So, it might be worth heading over there and putting a stop to whatever is going on. Speak to the guard captain when you get there and she'll fill you in.

The royal palace is currently holding its Spring Cotillion and thus the season's festivities are in full swing throughout the kingdom. If you are able to attend, it is worth it. Fine foods, incredible clothing, ingredients and materials from the world around, fantastic displays of magic, craftsmanship and acrobatics throughout the evening. I hear the firework show this year will be bigger than ever. It is going on all week, so I'd suggest popping by if you are in the area.

Right, that's all, so back to the story.

Story Resume

Valuin looked puzzled for a second.

Val: "Wait...the cat? I know they can come across a little cold at times but murder? Is that not a stretch?"

Host: "Look, I'm with you on that one." 

I started. 

Host: "I'm fully aware that this sounds insane, but think about it. We've all heard the stories of the mages who take the forms of dragons and whatnot when they go into battle or pop to the shops, we know that shape changing is a thing. Rare and difficult, but definitely a thing. 

Imagine: You are a killer who can shapeshift, and you are told to kill an old man in this town who matches a certain description. You come to the town, take the shape of something inconspicuous, like a cat, and start looking around. 

You find one guy who matches that description, but after a while, you realise that he's not the guy you're looking for, so you go out again. A little while later, you find another guy who matches and you stalk him too. 

After a while, you realise he is the right one. So, you let him see you, and he's nice and old and he tries to feed you and eventually, he lets you in. Now, he wasn't expecting to host a cat and doesn't know what to do, so he gives you some fresh milk in whatever bowl he has to hand. 

Next, he turns in for the night, and maybe you had a plan on how you were going to deal with him, but before you can make a move, you hear a knock at the door and it's guests you didn't expect. 

Suddenly, your window for getting the guy has drastically reduced, so you shift, pick up the nearest thing, a weeding fork, and stab the guy as he's heading downstairs. 

Then, you shapeshift again and make your escape through the front door, appearing to the guests as nothing more than a normal house cat."

Valuin stared into the space between us in disbelief. 

Val: "And at this point, nearly ten minutes have passed. You could feasibly be out of the town and lost in any direction by now."

I looked out the doorway. Whoever it had been was long gone, that much was obvious. My legs went a little wobbly. If we were right, the killer ran right past us and we didn't even know. I looked back at Val, unsure of what to do, when a thought hit me 

Host: "Where are the guards? They should be here by now, it's been ages."

Val chuckled.

Val: "All you did was report a recent murder. It's late, you'll be lucky if they show up today at all. 

There's something important that you need to realise; guards and any policing entity, likely do not give a shit about you or anyone they are assigned to help. The sooner you learn this, the better. They take the job for all of the power and none of the responsibility. Don't rely on them."

I remember thinking that it may have been bad advice, or at least phrased badly, but I decided to just nod. We don't even have guards where I grew up, if Valuin was saying it, then I thought she must have had a good reason.

A few minutes later, the guards did arrive with swords drawn and armour donned. They looked around, then insisted that we hand over our possessions and they would escort us to the station for further questioning. Within two minutes, we were at the guard station, making the 15 minute wait time all the stranger.

They sat me in a dark room with no window that was lit by a pair of wall sconces. The only furniture in there was a rectangular wooden table with a matching chair on either side. I didn’t know how long they let me sit in there, but I knew it was for at least an hour.

I thought that maybe they were questioning Valuin in that time and I wondered what she would tell them. The cat thing seemed less and less likely the longer I waited.

Eventually, two guards arrived, one sat down and the other stood near the door. The one sat across from me, who identified himself as Guard Bower, asked me if I killed the old man. I explained that I did not, and if I had I would have used my sword which is free of blood. Also, I wouldn't have called for the guards and told them it was a murder if it was me. He sat patiently as I spoke, but never once made me feel like he was actually listening to what I was saying.

I explained that a number of things seemed suspicious, but he assured me that I just had an overactive imagination, and that it was simply a terrible accident. That there hadn't been a murder in their town for years and this was no different. After all, he stated that murders make the town look bad, which affects tourism and potential settlers, so I should keep my suspicions to myself and leave it to the professionals. 

In light of that, I chose not to mention the cat theory.

After a few more minutes of waiting, I was handed my things and told I could leave now. The whole time I was there, I don't think anyone actually wrote anything down. I was already beginning to understand what Valuin meant earlier about guards. This was nothing more than pointless pomp and circumstance, they didn't care that someone was dead, they were just upset it interrupted their evening and disturbed their peace.

Stepping outside onto the steps in front of the station, I saw Valuin leant up against a wall nearby. We talked briefly, and she admitted that she also didn't tell the guards about the cat theory. I couldn't blame her, even if they listened, why would they believe it? Fact is, they let us go because it was obvious enough it wasn't us and that's it, case closed.

We returned to the Golden Stag Inn and Valuin got the room next to mine. I struggled to fall asleep at first. I didn't know what to make of the day's events, not really. It was a mess, I had only left my village a few weeks ago and I had already been one step behind a murder. I assumed that this was the outlier and that this sort of thing didn't happen much. While my mind was toiling away, I fell into a deep slumber.

The next morning, Valuin and I had breakfast together in the barroom and talked a bit before winding up at the part of the conversation I think we both knew was coming.

Host: "Where to now, then?" 

I asked. She thought for a second.

Val: "Well, you're heading east, you said, to the capital? I'm heading north for a bit, but will be heading to the capital too after that. I just have something to pick up but I don't think I will be that far behind you."

Host: "Sounds like an adventure, and I wish you the best." 

I knew she likely considered asking me to join her. I've heard about how adventurers can rope you into things, and I wanted to snuff that thought out before it really came up. I finished my meal, left a coin on the table and picked up my rucksack.

Host: "Well, if our paths cross again, we should get a drink. But, until then, farewell, Valuin Emmaris."

Val: "Farewell, my friend. And best of luck to you. Stay safe."

I left the inn, walked through the town and out of the eastern gate; back on track to see the capital. I considered going with her. Of course I did, but I had my own thing going on and I felt like Valuin was something of a lodestone for trouble. We had hung out for barely an hour before someone was murdered, which was a little too much drama for me at that time. I wasn't looking for that sort of life just yet, as exciting as it was.

Outro

Well, that's all for today, I think. Next time, I shall regale you with my first visit to the town of Maidenstone. I intended to only pass through it to reach the capital but I can tell you it went about as well as you can expect.

For now, however, the day is done. I hope you are ready to settle in for the night. I'm sure many of you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.

Until next time, adventurers, rest well and good hunting.