"What have you got for me?" "Well, he's relatively fit for his age and status. It is a militaristic cult after all. There is evidence though that he was suffering the effects of poison though." "What? Poison? Is that what killed him?" "No, though it contributed to his death. The actual cause of death was this stab wound here." Harnasti pointed to one of the messier mutilations and showed me that there was a brutal and clumsy stab wound inside it. "He was also smothered, see the slightly bulging eyes. I believe that the poison weakened him enough to make it possible for someone to smother him. Then he was stabbed." "He was poisoned? Then smothered and then stabbed?" "Yes." "But what about all the mutilations?" "Oh, someone did those after he was killed but before he started stiffening."
I sat down. This case continued to get weirder. I thanked Harnasti for his help and told him to send the body over to the Sun Dome temple. I pledged a large donation to the Healing Hall courtesy of the Lunar's governor's office and decided to call it a day. I went to Bob's Bisonburger for a much needed supper. I decided to make it a long and lesiurely one so that I could think some more on this messy business. After supper I headed back to Gimpy's for some much needed rest.
As I neared the place I could see a big crowd hanging around the entrance to the tunnel leading to the Inn proper. That would mean that either the Blonde Piper or the Minstrels Three were performing tonight. Only they could draw crowds so big. I got close enough to catch the eye of Crush the Great Troll bouncer that Morey the Short and Parzel and Miltry Post the owners of Gimpy hire to handle big crowds when Krogar Wolfhelm's not in residence. Crush noticed me and growled at the crowd to let me through. Since Crush is a particularily large scary specimen of a Great Troll they eagerly obliged by making a narrow passage. I squeezed through, went down the stairs, how I hate stairs, along the tunnel back up some more bloody stairs and entered the Inn's common room. The place was packed so I imagined that the courtyard was packed too. There on the stage was the cause for the crowd. The Blonde Piper was here tonight and as I started negotiating my way to the stairs she launched into her signature song, The Pavis Adventurer's Lament*. The whole room sang along.
This cruel country has driven me down
Teased me and lied, teased me and lied
I've only sad stories to tell to this town
My dreams have withered and died
Once I was scraping the tops of the walls
Kind words in my ear, kind faces to see
Then I struck up with a group from the West,
Hunted for gold, hunted for steel.
They left me for dead and fled with the rest.
My dreams have withered and died
Silver coins roll up and silver coins shine
Over the Rubble so wide, Rubble so wide
Stole from me all that I could say was mine
My dreams are withered and died
If I was a butterfly, live for a day,
I could be free just blowing away
This cruel country has driven me down
Teased me and lied, teased me and lied
I've only sad stories to tell to this town
My dreams have withered and died
This song always gets the adventurers going. By the end they're usually in tears. They can all emphasize with the sentiments of the song and if they've been in the game long enough they've probably been betrayed by someone. I even sang along though I've never been tempted to go anywhere near the Rubble. I can always emphasize with human greed and stupidity though. When the song ended the applause, whistling and shouts went on for a good ten minutes. The Blonde Piper then announced a break to much good-natured disappointment from the crowd and I finally managed to get to the stairs, sigh more stairs, and up to my room. As I opened the door, thank goodness someone had fixed it, I saw scales.
To be continued.
Oliver
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