[Perrin Mayce]

"Oh, no no no..."  said Perrin to the large giant before him.   "You
misunderstand me.     I asked if you had SEEN a large, loudly-dressed
mage... I WASN'T comparing your mother to one."

"RGH?   RARRGH!"

The giant's bellow of confusion shook the walls of the seedy tavern, and
upsetted more then a few of the questionable drinks of the
equally-questionable patrons.  The hairy, smelly, snaggle-toothed giant
grabbed the huge halberd that was leaning against the bar beside him.
Then he stood.

At nine feet tall, the giant towered over the thin defense attorney.

"RAGH!  RA-RAGH-RAGGGH!"

"I see,"  said Perrin.   While he could understand Giantese quite well, he
simply lacked the oversized tongue and vocal cords to even attempt to speak
it correctly.   His earlier attempt had upset this particular giant, and he
didn't think that another try would make things better.

"RAH!"   The giant scowled down at Perrin.

Perrin looked for his assistant William, who was cowering quite well in the
farthest, darkest corner of the tavern.

"William, you didn't by any chance bring your rapier, did you?"

William peeped and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Oh well then.   I'll just handle this myself."

The giant bellowed and lifted the halberd.   Several patrons leapt from
their chairs... and dove straight under the nearest table.

"RAAA-"

*shhLING!*

Perrin pulled his rapier free.

*swish - swish - swish - SWISH!*

"RRAGH?"

THUD!!!

The walls shook once more as the giant backed away, tripped over his own
halberd, and hit the floor. Blood seeped from a perfectly carved rectangle
that neatly framed his private parts.  Perrin hadn't actually damaged
anything permanently, but cutting AROUND the family jewels usually
discouraged most attackers.  And with the giant's size, the jewels
presented a more accessible target that most other opponents.

The giant whimpered something about not seeing any fat mages, and then
crawled over to the other side of the bar.

Perrin sighed.

"All right then... your turn."   He turned to the old, but muscular,
bartender, who had watched the entire display with mild amusement.    "Have
YOU seen anyone fitting that description?   Large man... but not in the way
of our giant friend over there.    Rather rotund... dressed in-"

"Ain't seen nothin' like that.   Nope."

Perrin knew the man was lying.   He could tell by the brief flash of panic
in his eyes.

"Look, old fellow,"  said Perrin.   "I am an attorney here in town on
official business.   I'm trying to keep an innocent man from going to the
gallows!"

"If'n you mean the guy that killed that woman a while back... seems like
the gallows is where he belongs!"

"That is for the jury to decide,"  said Perrin.  "And they will need as
much information as possible in order to do it.    This man... this large
mage... he is at the very LEAST a witness.  He MAY even be the true
killer!"

"And he MAY be a figment of somebody's imagination.   I ain't never seen
anyone like that 'round here." The bartender raised his voice and addressed
the patrons.  "What about YOU!  ANYBODY seen what this man is talking
about?"

There was a round of grumbles and grunts... all indicating negative.

And quite a few of them were lying.

"FINE!"  spat Perrin.   He made an exaggerated show of sheathing his
rapier.  "Come along William-"

William leapt from the corner and bolted for the door.  Perrin caught up
with him just outside.

"I wish you wouldn't embarrass yourself like that," said Perrin.

"Can we go back to the Dragon's Inn, now?  It's much safer there."

"Well we might as well... we're getting nowhere like this."

The pair of men walked down the street toward the other side of town.   It
was almost sunset, and the darker it got, the faster William walked.

"We were getting close,"  said Perrin.  "I could FEEL it.   The taverns...
the patrons of these local taverns have seen this mage, but they're
protecting him.   And not out of friendship, I bet.    There's something
bigger here.   I can feel it, William."

"And I felt it when that little guy with the eyepatch hit me two taverns
ago!"

"Well that was because you insulted him."

"I just asked him if he'd seen a fat man wearing colorful mages robes...
how was I supposed to know he'd be so sensitive about having one eye?"

"And being color-blind in the other," added Perrin.   "And being
overweight."

"He didn't have to hit me!"

"And you didn't have to run off screaming like that.   Quite embarassing.
Quite."

"I would have made it to the door if that other fellow hadn't tripped me!"

"He didn't trip you on purpose, William."

"Well THAT'S true... he was trying to KICK me and he MISSED!"

"Do calm down, William.   We'll have better luck tomorrow."

"TOMORROW!?!?"

"Yes.  We're not giving up, you know."

"Well what makes you think we'll have any better results tomorrow?"

Perrin stopped walking.

"William, you're a genius!"

"Yes, I know.  What?"

"Perhaps WE won't have any better luck... but someone else will.   We
aren't accepted by these simple townsfolk because we're outsiders-"

"Oh, no..."

"But if we were to hire someone-"

"No, no, no..."

"A detective... or whatever passes for that around here.   Someone local,
who knows his way around.   Someone with his own contacts."

"No Detectives!   Remember what happened last time!"

"What are you afraid of, William?"

"The LAST detective we hired almost KILLED me!"

"But only because you didn't stand up to him, William.  Besides, there WAS
the matter of  his eldest daughter-"

"She never TOLD me she was-   Oh forget it!   No more detectives!"

"I'm afraid we have no choice.  When we get to the Dragon's Inn you can
start spreading the word.  With any luck we can start interviewing
tonight..."

"Oh, I am SOOO looking forward to that..."

[Emmon Filgers]

From downstairs at the Rampant Jackal came the sounds of a "lovers'"
quarrel - the daily tiff between the waitress Lecinda and her husband
Mortban, and as always the later statements were punctuated by the crash
of pottery. Emmon, a rather stocky half-elf, leaned back in his chair and
cut another slashmark in the wall behind him. He eyed the dirty window
before him, waiting till the uproar had quieted, and again wondered what a
knowledgeable and skilled private eye was doing playing bouncer at rat
trap inn.

He _knew_ the answer - there was about as much call for a PI in Montfort
as there was for a Church recruiting officer. Well, maybe it wasn't
_quite_ that bad; a Church officer would probably get stoned on sight,
with a PI they'd wait till you dug a little too deep into someone's
business. Over half the population of Montfort had clans' worth of
skeletons dancing in their closet, and were mean enough to want to add the
inquisitive to the collection. Which was why he worked for Montban - room
and board, and what passed for food, and sometimes even pay.

Minutes had passed since the last piece of crockery had cracked, so Emmon
swung his feet to the floor, brushed a lock of dirty blond hair out of
his eyes, and went downstairs to see if he needed to call a healer for
Montban. After all Lecinda _had been_ the women's wrestling champion of
her tribe, and was still in pretty decent shape for a half-orc of three
hundred. And Montban was only human.

[William]

William squeezed through the tavern's door as unobtrusively as possible.
He paused, trying unsuccessfully to blend in with the wall behind him.
When no one yelled or started throwing things at him, he took the topmost
sheet of paper from the stack he was carrying and quickly nailed it to the
announcement board by the door.

He cleared his throat, and for an instant he honestly considered doing
what Perring had told him to do:  read the announcement aloud at every
tavern he could find.  He hadn't found the nerve to do it yet, and this
tavern was no exception.  It WAS dark, after all... and he'd heard stories
about what went on in these towns after dark.

Still, he did take the time to glance at the paper and make sure it was
legible in the tavern's dim light.

DETECTIVE WANTED -
APPLY IN PERSON AT DRAGON'S INN
ASK FOR PERRIN MAYCE... ATTORNEY AT LAW.

William nodded and moved quickly for the door.

[Montban/Emmon]

"Hold on ye," a gravely voice said and a beefy hand came to rest on
William's shoulder,

[William]

"AAAAHHHH!!!"  screamed William.   "Don't kill me!   I was just
posting a flyer!"

[Montban/Emmon]

"Not yet. I want to see what ye're posting on me walls. I can read
ye know?"

Montban, the barrel-chested (and still no match for Lecinda) innkeeper of
the Rampant Jackal leaned forward, and squinted at the notice. As his
thick lips moved drool formed new channels in a raggedly-cut beard -
suddenly he belowed, "Filgers!!!! Get your halfling arse over here!!!!!!"

"Get it right, 'Ban," Emmon said, strolling out of the kitchen, with a
chunk of burnt dark bread in his hand, "I'm not no halfling. I'm a Half
High Elf."

"Half of this or half of that," Montban growled, "I don't care what ye're
high mama slept with. But what matters is that ye're about half of me. Now
get over here and ask this gent about a job. Ye're owing me some rent."

Emmon bit into the chunk of bread - then spat it out. "Hells, ye're paying
_me_ to live here and see that a healer patches up the dents in your
skull. 'Course I haven't seen much coin in a few months - just rocks for
dinner." He pushed back his uncut dirty blond bangs and eyed William up an
down. Then he glanced at the flyer.

"You Mayce?" he asked, "Or the cuckolded husband?" Though, in truth, Emmon
had heard the rumors about town - and knew that this fancy lawyer was
trying to stir up some very slime-thick waters.

[William]

"Mayce?  Me?  Oh no... I'm just an assistant.  I hang the flyers.  Take
the notes.  Carry the books.  Are you a detective?  From Montfort?"

[Emmon/Montban]

After eyeing the man a little longer Emmon drawled, "I am indeed a
detective. And I do currently reside in Montfort...."

He glared up at Montban and said, "Won't Lecinda be wanting you to chop
the onions?"

Montban made a growling sound in his throat but swiftly headed back
towards the kitchen.

[William]

William was quite glad that the large unpleasant man left.  But
unfortunately that left him alone with the detective.

William didn't like detectives.   They were so.... violent.

"Umm...  I s-suppose that... uhh... be wanting details.  I guess.  Unless
you don't want to. I mean...  never mind.  There's a case and we're
looking for a fat man in colorful clothes.  A mage.  He might be in the
company of a skinny fellow.  Then again, maybe not.  M-Mayce can tell you
more."

[Emmon]

"Decisive, aren't you?" Emmon asked good-naturedly. He weighed the risks
of taking this case, which was already proving to be _very_ public. On one
hand, that was good - he could make his reputation, both here and in
Bleckner; however, mages were involved and Emmon didn't really desire to
spend eternity as a pockmarked pink toad.

So far, since he had wandered into Montfort a few months ago, he had kept
a relatively low profile; making his living at bouncing for Montban and
finding lost articles for folks. Lost items were his speciality - he had a
knack for tracking things - a instinct, but it worked best with the
inanimate than with people. It was probably the only bit of magic he had
inherited from his mother, who had been a Elven exotic dancer in a port
town, but Emmon was proud to say that he did know his Da too; or kind of
knew, if you counted being a year old when his Da had gotten washed
overboard in a storm. But at least they had been married and all!!

"Hang on," he said, "Let me get my cloak." He decided it wouldn't hurt to
hear more about this case - after all he probably get good coin for it,
which could either set him up in Montfort, or giving him some running
funds.

[William]

Willam waited patiently... and nervously... while the detective prepared
to accompany him.   When he was ready, William led him across town
to the much safe Dragon's Inn.

Perrin's room was upstairs, and the slim attourney was still going over
his notes when they arrived.

[Perrin]

"Ahhh!" said Perrin.   "Excellent work, William!"

"Uhhh... yeah.   This is... uhhh... who are you?"

[Emmon]

Emmon, who had combed and tied back his hair, and changed into a clean
tunic and trews, held out his hand and said, "Emmon Filgers, Private
Investigator."

[Perrin]

"Excellent!   I don't know how much William here has told you, Mr. Filgers,
but I am representing  a young man who has fallen into a bit of trouble
with the authorities.     He's accused of murder, and assault upon a member
of the royal officiate.

They have some physical evidence agaisnst him, but it is most likely been
tampered with or is altogether false.  There are also the statements of
several individuals who captured him.  They claim that he confessed... but
the confession was procured under... ahem... extreme duress.  It seems
that two of these individuals have vanished, and I am sure that truth of
this whole matter lies with them... or with whoever they work for.  They
may be compatriots of this entire scheme....  and one or both of them may
be the real killers.  Of the two, we have the best description for a mage,
large in stomach and loud in clothing.  Dark hair. Rather jovial.  The
other is a thin man who is rather quick with a knife.

William and I have already made inquiries at several local establishments,
but being from out of town you can imagine the welcome we recieved.

We would like you to find these men.    I will pay whatever your going rate
may be, plus a sizeable bonus if you are successful in locating one or
both of them.    If you chose not to accept, I would be very appreciative
if you could give me the names of any of your peers who may be
interested."

[Emmon]

"Not many of us in town," Emmon said, pulling up a chair, "Matter-of-fact,
I think I'm the only one who has hung out his shingle."

How much should he ask? He weighed the publicity of the case - _very_ -
against the risk - _alot_, and decided on his fee. "How does five gold a
day sound, plus expenses and healer care?" He smiled; not really a
bad-looking smile, afterall he had all his teeth and they were reasonably
white and straight. "And that bonus, of course, if I can find your missing
witnesses."

[Perrin]

"Agreed.    With a bonus of a hundred gold if you are successful."

William made an uncomfortable sound, but said nothing to interrupt
Perrin.

Perrin gathered a stack of neatly-sorted notes and handed them to
Emmon.

"These are the... ahem... 'official' statements of those involved.   Most
contain some reference to your quarry.      And these are my own
notes on the inquiries we've made so far.   They include descriptions
of those whom I thought were hiding something.    There were quite
a few of them."

"Watch out for the giant,"  added William.

"Yes,"   said Perrin.  "Perhaps it will be best not to mention my
name.   I believe I may have left a bad impression on a few of
the townsmen."

"Not that he cares,"  mumbled William.

[Emmon]

~Maybe I should have asked for hazard pay,~ Emmon thought, but decided
that probably fell under "healer care." Aloud he said, "Well, I'm afraid
that as soon as I start asking questions they're going to associate me
with you. No way around it..." He didn't sound overly worried, though he
wasn't ignoring reality either.

He met Perrin's eyes and said, "Despite appearances, the folk of Montfort
are _very_ sharp....afterall these were the ones who _survived_, so they
will remember what questions have been asked and by whom." He shook his
head and took the stack of notes, "Nope, no way around it at all."

With this he stood and said, while holding out his hand, "I'll get started
tonight...But I better have some bribe money to get things lubricated out
there."

[Perrin]

"William..."  Perrin waved at his assistant, and William retrieved a small
sack of coins from Perrin's bags.

"This should cover it,"  he said as William handed the money to Emmon.
"If you need more, then we'll have to make some arrangements. I'm glad you
can get started so quickly... a young man's life is at stake.  Please
report to William daily...  you'll probably find him cowering somewhere in
the Dragon's Inn."

[Emmon]

"Thanks," he said, taking the bag.

He clapped a hand on William's shoulder, and with a chuckle said, "Eh,
there are worse places to cower, and it will give me the excuse to have a
decent meal without upsetting Lecinda. And _believe me_ no one wants to
upset Lecinda!"

[William]

"Heh, heh,"   William gave a feeble chuckle.   He had no idea what Emmon
was talking about, and he was none-too-happy about Perrin saddling HIM
with the task of taking the detective's reports.

Emmon seemed like a nice enough fellow, though.

But then... they ALL seem like nice enough fellows before they start
trying to kill him.

[Perrin]

Perrin extended his hand to the detective.

"Looking forward to your success, Mr. Filgers.  I hope it will be a
pleasure doing business with you."