Brigitte Yrsdottir | Dusk | 20th of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

Brigitte leaves Sonya's shop in the early evening, aching from the sewer fight, her shoulder wound still fresh. She is going to lie down back at the Family Hideout before her fight tonight and hope her body cooperates. The beast mutters something about her generosity with the tart vendor as she walks, which she ignores.

On the bridge pathway through the scaffold district she passes two of the oldest people she knows here: Bertus and Marisse, two deerfolk arm in arm minding their own business with the unhurried comfort of people who have been minding their own business together for decades. She gives them a small nod as she passes, moving carefully because everything hurts.

A man bumps into them. Young, human, apologetic in the way of someone who has rehearsed the apology. He steadies himself, says sorry several times, then shifts his manner slightly and asks if the two of them are well-informed about the district. He is new here, he says — from the Free Roadsmen, waiting on a work assignment from the listing board tomorrow. Is there a good place to sleep nearby?

Bertus tells him to apologize to his wife first. The man does, with visible effort. Marisse tells Bertus not to be so hard on him. Bertus relents and directs him to The Drunken Phoenix, and mentions the Bubbling Cauldron if he needs medicine, and the tailors and a few other shops. The man thanks them, turns toward The Drunken Phoenix, and walks away.

Brigitte had paused, watching. She noticed that as the man turned away, he slipped something into his pocket. She doesn't see what it was. She watches Bertus and Marisse continue around the corner toward their home behind Sonya's shop until they're out of sight, then watches the man round the corner toward The Drunken Phoenix...

At the hideout, most of the family is out or occupied with the evening's business. She finds Branded behind the bar, chopping vegetables with the focused precision of someone who learned cooking from professionals and carries that learning in his hands. The carrots are cut into identical pieces. The onions are separated from the tomatoes. Everything is arranged by category, nothing touching anything else, and he is working through a written recipe with the care of someone who takes instructions literally.

He is making an unusual salad. For the harefolk guest tomorrow. He explains, when she asks, that they can eat meat but most choose not to. Brigitte sits at the bar. He asks if she's all right. She says she could use sleep. He looks at her wounds, which she is not discussing, and notices the smell of sewer on her clothes, which she is also not discussing.

Branded offers her a pinch of enchanted sand from his pocket which he sometimes uses to help him sleep. Branded tells Brigitte that a friend gave it to him years ago. And by using an incantation, it makes a few minutes feel like an hour of rest. Brigitte declines with some emphasis. She can handle it herself. He puts the sand away and she heads for her room, leaving him to his precisely organized vegetables.

Reinald Vulperian | Dusk | 20th of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

Reinald, heading back from the scaffold district toward the trader's district, passes along Crow Streets. He is depleted from the sewer fight, out of breath, and thinking practically about rest. The shops are closing. An older deerfolk steps out of a pottery shop and flips the sign from open to closed. Another shop further along, a small trinket shop with a sign bearing carved fox ears and a bow tie still shows open.

Reinald steps inside just as the proprietor is moving to flip the sign himself. A foxfolk like himself! The man has two differently colored eyes, a ponytail strung with color-matched ribbons and a larger bow tie whose colors mirror both eyes. He has a strange metal implement in one hand and the energy of someone who has been waiting all day for exactly this kind of customer.

He welcomes Reinald to Rink's Trinkets, says he was just about to close, and then decides that a kin showing up at the last moment is sufficient reason to stay open for a few more minutes.

The shop is spectacular chaos: everything from everywhere, organized by no principle Reinald can identify, dense enough that navigation is archaeological. As Reinald navigates the chaos, he spots a massive pressure-plate scale used to weigh dragonfolk, marked with dragonfolk script and the eight-pointed star of the faith of Siegfried, retrieved from a physician's building in Draketongue where they were clearing out an old herbalist's space. Rink describes the journey home with it as genuinely difficult. Reinald asks if it's for sale and concludes that he does not, in fact, weigh dragonfolk... So he has no use for it.

As he browses, his journey leads him to the book section... Shelves of completely unordered volumes, just shoved in, and on a small pedestal nearby, a blank book lying open with an inkwell in front of it. No sign. No price. He picks it up. Every page is blank, old, dusty, and unremarkable. He mutters aloud that he could use a notebook.

Rink points him to the ink and dares him to write into it! Reinald writes his name and a sentence. The book shakes.... And the ink splashes directly back into his face. He is briefly blinded. Rink grabs his chin, tells him to keep his eyes closed, and wipes the ink away with the practiced sympathy of someone who did exactly the same thing the first time. He explains that the book rejects everything — ink, graphite, chalk — spits it all back. Nobody knows what it is. He's had it for years. It is, he says, a pride of the shop.

Something about it reminds Reinald of his own book, though it isn't the same. This seems more like a wizard's prank book than anything else. He considers buying it but ultimately declines.

Rink also mentions that he sometimes receives strange artifacts from other nations or excavations. He mentions the foxfolk ambassador Marco Vulperian, Victoria's brother and Reinald's uncle, although Rink doesn't know that they are related.

Rink digs through the shop and produces an odd wooden doll: humanoid, made of twisted vine-wood that flexes slightly at the joints, entirely featureless — no face, no markings on the hands or body — with what appear to be needles inserted at multiple points. The needles are a different variety of wood, finer, and are not needles in the conventional sense. Rink says Marco found it somewhere in the Sunset Expanse, didn't know what it was, didn't want it, and gave it away and it ended up here. Reinald hears Röka mumble... But then becomes evasive.

Reinald buys the strange doll for five gold. Rink returns him a coin with a small kobold symbol on it. He explains that it's a discount token redeemable at any business the gold kobold network runs in the city, including the bathhouse and the laundromat.

Rink also mentions, as they wrap up, that the last few days have been uncomfortable: strange figures moving in the streets after dark, a house fire up the block, and neighbors who have been arguing in ways he doesn't recognize them for. A couple that has always been lovely, suddenly shouting, the guards called in. Rink used to keep his shop open for much longer, but lately is closing earlier.

Eventually Reinald steps out into the evening, notes all of this, and thinks to himself as he watches Rink flip the sign to closed that the way he experienced Rink's extraversion is probably how most people experience him. He pockets the doll and walks toward the trader's district.

Reinald Vulperian | Evening | 20th of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

Back at the Ragnaisse mansion, empty for now, Reinald finds the kitchen: two rooms, one a cold storage kept by a large spinning ice crystal that hums faintly. He finds about seven varieties of imported cheese, dried and hanging meat, fruit. He makes a sandwich from the simpler options and carries it upstairs to his room. On the stairs he hears something fall, or shift, in a room directly below his. But... there's nobody home besides him...?

Reinald investigates: locked, no marking on the door, his house key doesn't work on it. Röka offers to take a peek inside and using his spectral form slips underneath the door.

Röka reports back. The locked room is a gallery, moderate in size, but all the statues covered in tarps. He pokes around and finds no broken windows, and nothing obviously tipped over. One tarp has a loose rope, but unfortunately Röka's incorporeal form doesn't allow him to touch it.

There is nothing conclusive. Reinald wonders why someone would keep a gallery and put everything under tarps...?

Reinald goes upstairs, eats the sandwich, and he and Röka play the board game. Röka calling his moves aloud and Reinald moving the pieces for him. After a while, Reinald examines the amulet from Lucien: small, mechanical, interlocking gears, a faint ticking. Three presses and it opens to show the clockwork inside. It is older than it looks, something dwarven-like in lineage but quieter than the dwarves typically work — less grand, more personal, more precise. When he puts it on and lies still, the ticking matches his heartbeat. He decides to take a nap, and an hour later, the front door opens downstairs.

Aveline comes home with guests, Celica and Ervin. Aveline greets Reinald warmly, asks if he's made himself at home, mildly notes that as long as he cleans up he can do as he likes. She introduces Celica, who works for her. She has a Concordian accent she doesn't call attention to. Celica is professional and composed in the way of someone who manages a great deal and chooses what to show. Reinald describes himself as a friend of Aveline's family, staying here on her father's business. Reinald mentions the noise he heard from the gallery. Aveline says that she'll check it later, and thanks him. Her answer seems practiced, but he leaves it there.

The business talk begins while Ervin makes tea. The ladies talk about shipments arriving, issues on the roads. Reinald doesn't have much to add, but listens in. Ervin returns with the tea, but as he tries to leave, Aveline asks him to stay. He does so with the resignation of someone who has learned that this happens often...

Eventually the business talk ends, and Celica prepares to leave for the day. Aveline asks if she could perhaps help Reinald with a visit to the Temple of Allura. After a glance between Celica and Aveline, she accepts.

After Celica's departure, Reinald describes his first day to Aveline and Ervin: a visit to the harbor, the Barnacled Barrel, a walk through the city. He mentions seeing the Lighthouse, now the Temple of Allura. Aveline mentions that the people here want to preserve the exterior, which is a sensibility she respects even if she has restoration projects in mind.

Mayor Hartthorne liked things as they were. But perhaps Lewys Hershkowitz seems like someone who might be more accommodating to change, if approached correctly. Reinald mentions that back during their academy days, Lewys was competitive and headstrong, he adds, by way of context and without thinking, that this is characteristic for a deerfolk. Ervin chuckles, but Aveline tells him, very calmly, that such a remark is best avoided here in the city.

Aveline mentions Bertus and Marisse, the oldest family in the Scaffold District, grandparents of Douglas, one of her employees. She suggests Reinald visit them. They're excellent sources of information and the whole district and Crow Streets looks after them. Aveline also mentions Celica's son could be a way to get information, but Celica and her son's relationship is strained.

Eventually Corrin arrives at the Ragnaisse Mansion and Ervin returns home. Aveline sets up the chess boards and invites Reinald to play in rounds against the two of them. In the first match, Reinald is checkmated in two moves by Aveline. And Corrin and Aveline's last match runs past midnight...

Brigitte Yrsdottir | Evening | 20th of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

Brigitte takes a short nap, and wakes about an hour before the fights usually begin. Now is about the time most people make their way to The Bright Lye, and people making their way down.

She steps into the hallway and nearly collides with Sloane, who has just come out of her room loading an enormous crossbow. Brigitte asks how she shoots with that thing. Sloane lifts it, fires, and puts an arrow through a candle at the far end of the hallway without dropping the candle. The arrow pierces it clean. Brigitte says that is clearly what she had meant to ask.

Sloane walks past her around the corner, Beastie rolling out of the same room immediately after and chasing after her. Brigitte follows them to the main hall. On the bar there is a large plate covered in a tarp, with a note in majestic handwriting: Do Not Touch, For The Guests. Eventually Brigitte, Sloane and Beastie make their way to the Bright Lye.

At the Bright Lye, Salt and Pepper still haven't appeared. The bar is filling. Coldrock is behind the counter. Brigitte asks after them; nobody has seen them, not upstairs and not down. If they don't appear, there is no match... Brigitte takes an ale, and clocks the room.

The bearfolk from last night's arrest is in the back corner with two other companions, all three of them loud in the comfortable way of people who believe they escaped something. One of them gets up to fetch drinks. They talk about nothing in particular. And the bearfolk himself — the one who was caught, the one whose drugs Beastie and Sloane had already lifted before the guards found "just a pamphlet" — is keeping his eyes moving in a way that suggests someone who expects to be approached. Brigitte walks over. Sets her ale down, and sits at their table.

The two friends immediately go on alert. Brigitte looks at the bearfolk without saying anything for a moment. He asks if he has something on his face. She says he should have, implying a punch. He asks what she wants.

She tells him that a pamphlet is not what he had on him, and they both know it. He says the guards found only a pamphlet. She says the guards did a bad job. He corrects himself twice in quick succession, starting sentences that go one direction and landing somewhere safer, and she catches both corrections. She says she knows what he was carrying. She tells him that bringing that into the Bright Lye once more will result in considerably more than an interrogation. One of the other companions asks if she's threatening him, and his friends tell her to leave their friend alone. She ignores them entirely, watching only him.

She gets up and takes her ale... As she's walking away, one of the friends says something unpleasant. Brigitte throws the handaxe without turning. It enters the back of his chair, through the wood, and stays there. She walks back over, removes it, and looks at the bearfolk one more time.

"Next time, I won't miss."
--Brigitte

She hears The Beast Within say something approving in the back of her skull. She walks to the bar. She tells Sloane and Coldrock to keep an eye on the table. Sloane comes close and asks quietly whether he has anything on him tonight. Brigitte says she can't confirm it, but she spots, a moment later, a wolffolk passing close to their table and moving on... Something possibly exchanged, impossible to tell from the bar... Salt and Pepper do not appear. As more people are moving downstairs, Brigitte follows after.

Brigitte Yrsdottir | Night | 20th of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

Downstairs is The Cage in full operation. Lit and loud, a taufolk brawl is finishing up as Brigitte arrives, the crowd rowdy and betting and happy. The Cage in full swing is a different organism from the bar above it. Rhazeth is sitting on his lounge couch watching the fights, beside him on the remaining space sits the harefolk guest: small, red-eyed, watching the fight with a stillness that reads as predatory rather than patient.

Her two companions, harefolk in body but unusually tall, armored and nearly identical in appearance, watch her like hawks. Gurak is nearby, and Wilt is at the announcer's position, making the kind of commentary that keeps the crowd warm and entertained.

Salt and Pepper still haven't shown up. Gurak murmurs to Brigitte that the guests arrived earlier than expected. Rhazeth has been keeping them entertained. Gurak considers it a shame that Salt and Pepper haven't appeared, because they always make such a spectacle. Brigitte suggests that she could challenge someone from the crowd. She steps into the ring.

Fen'ryk volunteers from the crowd. Large, blond wolffolk, long-haired, wearing only a loincloth and carrying a massive axe he clearly knows. The crowd bets.

Wilt introduces Brigitte with particular relish and the crowd starts to shout "Brute, Brute, Brute!" Brigitte lets The Beast Within out. The crowd sees something shift in her, something take over — and the fight begins.

It starts as a proper fight. Fen'ryk is fast and hits with real force, but The Beast Within counters with equal force. Brigitte claws and bites, her tail whipping out and missing, her strikes landing hard when they land. The crowd is loud, the battle is a spectacle. Rhazeth, Gurak and the guests watch from the edge.

As the fight endures, Fen'ryk realizes he's losing. He subtly takes a dose of TGS mid-fight and becomes something different: veins visible, something almost frenetic, swinging his axe with doubled aggression, reaching into himself for reserves that are not entirely his.

As Brigitte knocks down Fen'ryk twice, he's forced to yield. But The Beast Within smells... something... First the familiar chemical sharpness of The Good Stuff coming from Fen'ryk. But there's something else, the smell of a flower... A Lily of the Valley. A smell that has nothing to do with this fight. A scent that belongs somewhere else entirely, to someone else entirely, to a memory that has no business surfacing here.

The Beast Within cannot control its rage. Brigitte loses her control over it. Gurak jumps into the ring to restrain her. But the last thing she clearly remembers is standing over Fen'ryk. After that, fragments only: a smell, a sound, blood, Gurak's voice, and then nothing...

Reinald Vulperian | Early Morning | 21st of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

He wakes comfortably, and goes downstairs to find the dining hall laid as a full breakfast buffet. Aveline is already up and talking to Mathilda, an older deerfolk and the house's attendant. When she doesn't answer, Aveline mentions that Mathilda is mute.

Aveline and Reinald have breakfast in the dining hall with a buffet prepared by Mathilda. Aveline asks if his visit is comfortable, and Reinald says the beds are excellent. She mentions that they're imported from Felisara — the lionfolk know how to make comfortable beds.

Reinald asks about Victoria. Aveline says she came in very late. She couldn't sleep and heard her return. She probably must be in her room still resting. The two deduce that she probably had a long meeting with Lewys...

Eventually, the topic shifts and Aveline reveals a pair of earrings from a cabinet: small sapphires, rough-cut, which would allow communication between the two wearers, but they seem damaged or unrefined. She demonstrates the malfunction by striking a fork on a plate. She hopes he might know someone who can fix them, or repurpose the enchantment into something less dangerous. He says he'll look into it.

Before Reinald continues his investigation, Aveline suggests that Bertus and Marisse in the Scaffold District are worth visiting — they know about everything that moves through the city. She once more mentions that Celica's son works the docks and might have seen something, if Reinald is discreet about asking.

Reinald Vulperian | Morning | 21st of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

At the Ragnaisse warehouse, Reinald meets Douglas, commonly known as Humble. Reinald finds him while he's unlocking the warehouse gate. Douglas seems to already know about Reinald upon him introducing himself! 'Reggie' told him yesterday, and described Reinald as the intriguing one, which lands somewhere between a compliment and a warning.

Douglas gives Reinald a friendly warning, noting without hostility that walking up to someone in the scaffold district and immediately asking about their employer is not how things are typically done here. Reinald acknowledges his mistake and follows him inside.

Celica is mid-inventory, surrounded by gemstones and reference books, a magnifying glass in hand. She is occupied, but agrees to take him to the Temple of Allura, with the air of someone who has been asked to do something on behalf of Aveline and will do it regardless of the inconvenience. She puts the book down and they go.

On the walk she is mostly present, answers his questions, but occasionally drifts... Her gaze going past him toward the docks, toward activity around a specific warehouse where goods are being loaded and unloaded around a recently arrived ship. He realizes that she's watching something, but he can't tell if it's a person or a group.

The two arrive at the temple. The interior is beautiful in a way the outside deliberately conceals: polished old wood, restored mosaic visible only from within. The priest, an older gentle deerfolk man, is tending the space when they arrive. As Celica introduces Reinald to the priest, he asks how Celica has been. She says that she's fine, but Reinald can see that she seems uncomfortable.

The central piece of the temple is a sword in a display case: Allura's Sword, the sign reads, and below it a second inscription in a script Reinald doesn't recognize. He examines the blade closely. The engravings along both edges are deliberate, old. But the damage at the tip is unusual — not from combat, not from clashing against another weapon, but from stone? As if the point was driven into rock. He notices a blue flicker from inside the steel, but then it's gone... Did he imagine it?

Celica and the priest tell him this sword was used to bring the wolffolk to the table to sign the first Sevenfold Accord. A demonstration of power that helped bring reluctant parties to agreement. The priest says the temple has been here as long as Allura's Haven itself, that this sword has been here the same amount of time, and that it is, along with the building, one of the oldest structures associated with Theran society. Reinald asks if the inscription beneath the main sign has a meaning. But even the priest cannot answer that.

When Reinald offers his assistance, the priest mentions his delivery runner hasn't shown up. The priest describes the delivery runner as a large blond wolffolk, long-haired, who answers to Fen'ryk, but tends to spend his evenings in bars and has been unreliable lately... The priest mentions that he was hired as a favor to a friend. The priest asks if Reinald could make a delivery in his stead. Reinald takes a bundle of ceremonial candles marked with scales and a sword and promises to deliver them to the pottery shop on Crow Streets.

Brigitte Yrsdottir | Morning | 21st of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

Brigitte wakes tied up to her bed. The ropes are good. It takes her significant effort to even get free a bit. Outside the door she has been able to hear, for some of that time, the argument that apparently ran through the night: Branded saying it wasn't her fault, Coldrock telling him to wait for Gurak... After freeing herself, she opens the door.

Sloane sits in front of Sonya's door across from Brigitte's with the crossbow on her lap, pointed at the doorframe. Branded looks relieved upon seeing her. Coldrock leans in her own doorway. Brigitte asks what happened. Coldrock tells her that Gurak and Rhazeth are dealing with the body. Brigitte realizes what happened... She killed him.

Brigitte takes this in, and asks who stopped her. Gurak did. She asks if Gurak is hurt, but Coldrock and Branded tell her that he'll be fine. Brigitte asks if Sonya knows. Coldrock repeats Gurak's opinion on the matter — Sonya doesn't know any of this, and it will stay that way for now.

Brigitte waits for the full family meeting. Kaelis appears and tells them Gurak and Rhazeth are on their way back. On their way to the family hall, it seems clear that Sloane has been ordered to strike if Brigitte loses control. Brigitte understands and says nothing.

The meeting assembles without Sonya. Rhazeth opens it by looking at Brigitte and telling her to speak. She tells them what she remembers: the fight, the win, the two smells layered over each other, and then nothing. She tells them she doesn't have a better explanation. Rhazeth says she has been in the beast form before and it hasn't ended like this. What was different this time?

She says she doesn't know. Branded speaks up. Her opponent had used TGS, and when she sniffed it, she lost control — it wasn't entirely her fault. Gurak agrees. Coldrock does not.

Coldrock says it plainly: "Turn her in to the guards."

Not a threat, not a dramatic moment, delivered in the tone of someone who has been thinking about it since last night. Coldrock says that Brigitte broke the most important rule of the family. That The Cage's guests saw it happen — how are they going to cover this up? Allowing it to pass sets a precedent the family cannot afford, especially now with Mayor Hartthorne's replacement and raids across the city. She argues that Brigitte willingly chose to allow the Beast Within to take control before things escalated, and that choice belongs to her.

Gurak interjects that The Cage is an outlet for Brigitte's other side and that she needs this.

Coldrock demands a vote about the situation and Rhazeth obliges. Brigitte tells the room she understands what she did, and does not argue with the result of the vote even as she hopes the vote goes the other way.

• Sonya's vote is skipped, but everyone knows she probably would vote for Brigitte to stay.

• Gurak, Branded and Beastie vote for Brigitte to stay.

• Coldrock, Kaelis, and Sloane vote against.

• Wilt seems in doubt... Brigitte says she will not use her Beast form again except when the family absolutely needs it, but she can't seem to convince him.

The family is divided, but Rhazeth votes for her to stay and says that he's not sending her out on a tie. But there will be conditions. No fighting in The Cage until things calm down. Rhazeth wants Brigitte to focus on the investigation of the mayor, because she has the best instincts for it in the field. Coldrock yells that she can't handle this preferential treatment and leaves the meeting. Gurak moves after her, but Rhazeth tells him to let her be frustrated. This is not the moment to press them. Gurak stops.

The meeting continues. Brigitte reports that the city guards have been going door to door in the scaffold district, no stated reason, taking inventory and in some cases removing goods. Sonya's shop was hit — they took half her technically illegal inventory. Brigitte decides not to bring up anything about Sonya's sewer activities for now...

Gurak brings up Brigitte meeting Reinald. The foxfolk Kaelis confirms what Reinald told them: Katrien was last seen on Crow Street, and did not go on any trip. Felix lied to their faces. The foxfolk knew this before anyone else. Rhazeth, unsure what to do with this information, orders Kaelis to keep observing for now.

Then 'Vesper' walks in from the guest rooms, stands next to Rhazeth, and announces that she just couldn't help overhearing and had assumed that being invited into the family included family meetings. Rhazeth introduces the family to 'Vesper', as he hadn't had the chance because of what happened yesterday. Vesper immediately clocks Brigitte's presence at the family meeting and asks Rhazeth why 'his pet' is here as well, implying Brigitte. Brigitte notices that Rhazeth does not even respond to Vesper's insults toward her. Brigitte's intimidating stare does not seem to affect Vesper, and for a moment she feels dazed.

The family introduces themselves to Vesper as well. Brigitte does not state her name when prompted. Gurak steps in and says that Vesper will call her 'Brigitte.' Vesper calls him "Oh, Feisty. Seems you have your use."

Vesper suggests that the foxfolk could be handled the same way the Fen'ryk problem was handled, implying last night's incident. When Brigitte responds that just killing someone doesn't solve things, Vesper comments dismissively. "You land dwellers... and your way of life..."

Brigitte tells the harefolk that she should go back to where she came from. Gurak, despite agreeing, steps in to stop Brigitte from saying more. Vesper comments that she would do excellently below...

Vesper
"If this whole family things doesn't work out for you... Let me know. I'll find a use for you."

Brigitte
"I'm good, thanks."

Vesper
"I can't like...? You know...."

Rhazeth
"Grrr... No. I think I've had enough. This family meeting is over."

Vesper
"Oh... Well, don't let me stop you."

The room empties. Gurak suggests that Brigitte and he go to the beach to meditate. Before heading outside, Brigitte and Gurak spot Kaelis — he touches the necklace he wears and transforms into a wolffolk, with a striking resemblance to the killed wolffolk.

The disguised Kaelis goes out. Brigitte hears his earlier words ring in her head: "I don't like pretending to be someone I'm not." Brigitte understands what he's doing. He needs to create some kind of cover story for the family...

Reinald Vulperian | Midday | 21st of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

Reinald travels to Crow Street when he spots them first: the two from yesterday. Brigitte and Gurak, unmistakable at any distance, moving together through the street traffic in the direction of the Ambassador's Pier. Brigitte is a head taller than most of what's around her and Gurak's red skin catches the afternoon light without apology. They haven't spotted him yet.

He steps sideways through the nearest door. The sign says "The Knightly Endeavor." He had not read it carefully. The shop is small and warmly lit and stocked with unusual items. As Reinald looks out the window, waiting for Brigitte and Gurak to pass, he realizes that he's staring at pink fluffy rope. He spots a bell on the counter with a phallic shape that is technically functional and also unmistakably something else. Along the back wall, armor-themed items of unclear purpose... There is nobody behind the counter.

He waits until they are definitively gone, then turns and takes a single, composed look at his surroundings. He steps back out into the streets and continues toward the pottery shop with an expression of someone who just didn't see anything at all...

At the pottery shop, named At Clay's, Reinald meets Clay, a down-to-earth deerfolk who accepts the package and pays ten gold for them. Suddenly Clay sneezes hard enough mid-transaction that a trace of blood appears on his handkerchief. Clay mentions the itch in his nose — maybe a cold? Reinald asks when exactly it started. "Since yesterday, I think..." Clay responds. The potter seems unconcerned about it. Reinald notes this, says goodbye to Clay, and decides to head toward Felix's shop for more inconspicuous clothing.

On the way he spots a gold kobold handing out coupons outside Wolfthorne's General Store. He stops and asks. "Allura's Bathhouse opening soon!" the kobold says. Reinald asks if Dragons and Deposits have a bank here in the city. The kobold informs him of the small office in the House of Trade.

Inside the House of Trade, a large building arranged for commerce with booths and meeting spaces, there's a small booth dedicated to Dragons & Deposits services. The kobold at the window wears a pink bow tie and introduces him to Dragons and Deposits. Reinald asks to make a withdrawal of 25 gold pieces, but is charged one gold piece for the transaction. It is a new fee, the kobold explains — a new regulation from the new mayor. Reinald says several things quietly under his breath about Lewys, as he wonders what exactly that man thinks he's doing...

Reinald Vulperian | Midday | 21st of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

As Reinald wanders out of the city to get to Allura's Reach, he spots at the checkpoint a deerfolk trader arguing with the city guards who are unpacking his entire cart — every box, every crate, every wrapped parcel inspected individually. A new sign has been posted: mandatory inspection of all delivery goods upon entry. Reinald passes through without incident and keeps walking.

Reinald first checks out the bookshop, where he finds someone else on his contacts list. Siegbert is behind the counter, a Hordeling with thicker body hair than most Hordelings, possibly of mixed ancestry.

He is dusting off bookshelves when Reinald arrives. Reinald hands him the package given to him yesterday by the young lady, meant for Hoocrates. Siegbert puts it under the desk and returns to the dusting. Reinald mentions their shared friend Lucien Olivier de Ragnaisse.

This prompts Siegbert to be a bit more open. When Reinald mentions that Hoocrates is on a business trip, Siegbert confirms that is what is being said. But his tone suggests he is not certain this is what happened.

Siegbert mentions finding Hoocrates' diary. He found it while setting up the shop, read it because he was curious, and has been thinking about the last few entries. Hoocrates heard odd sounds from the sewers below his shop and had documentation on them. Siegbert suggests it's likely Hoocrates had these notes on him when he disappeared.

The diary also mentions a surprise he had planned for Katrien around her birthday, which was a few weeks ago. Siegbert and Reinald note that Katrien is also gone, also on a presumed business trip, and that the two of them disappeared in proximity to each other.

Siegbert offers Reinald access to the city archive in case he needs it. He has Hoocrates' key as part of an older arrangement — the city archive contains records of ships, sewer layouts, and the city's history. Reinald thanks Siegbert for his efforts and makes a visit to Felix.

Felix is covering a broken window when Reinald arrives. Reinald offers his assistance so that Felix has an extra set of hands. But when Reinald crouches down he spots a thin layer of dust with a bootprint on the ground. Now realizing that the broken window has a hole near the window handle — someone has been inside! To Felix this seems entirely odd, because whoever did this came in during the night, looked around, but left without taking anything...

Suddenly Felix sneezes loudly, mentioning an odd feeling in his chest since yesterday evening, after he bathed. Reinald wonders if it might be connected to Clay saying the same thing. He thinks of Rink describing neighbors behaving out of character.

He asks Felix if he boiled the water, but Felix explains that for bath water that wouldn't be necessary as it originates from the nearby Waterworks, which filter the water clean.

Reinald warns Felix to be a bit more careful — it could be connected. Reinald asks Felix for more plain laborer's clothes, something that marks him as someone from the trader's district. Felix tells him he can pick them up in a few hours. Reinald decides to check in with the priest to return the gold pouch given to him by Clay.

Brigitte & Reinald | Midday | 21st of Leaffall 248 A.T.C

Brigitte and Gurak walk to the beach. She plops down without ceremony and sits looking at the ocean. He asks about her nose, as Gurak was forced to punch her rather hard yesterday. She says it's fine. He lifts his shirt briefly: his shoulder, where she bit him, is healing.

She tells him what she remembers of the smell. The Good Stuff first, and beneath it a flower. A Lily of the Valley, bringing with it a smell that belongs to someone from her past and has absolutely no business triggering what it triggered... Gurak listens without interrupting. He says maybe that is something to meditate on — why would the other self respond so heavily to that? But she doesn't have an answer yet.

Meanwhile, Reinald stands outside of the Temple of Allura and spots the cloaked man from yesterday wandering toward the beach. Something's off about it... and he decides to follow him. Reinald spots that the cloaked man is watching Brigitte and Gurak meditate on the beach. He puts this together without difficulty and turns around before any of the three can see him.

When Brigitte spots that Branded was waiting for them, she wanders toward him, leaving Gurak to meditate. He asks, quietly, if she 'saw' anything during the fight. When Brigitte asks what he means, Branded wonders if she may have had a vision. She says she doesn't think so. Not in the way he means.

Branded tells her that while Gurak and Sloane were dragging her into her room, she was shouting in a language none of them understood. The Beast Within was screaming about a flower. Branded states that The Beast Within was yelling in Luminary... Brigitte asks if he can speak the language, but Branded says that he can merely understand a few words. Branded says that he didn't say anything to anyone, and Brigitte invites him to join their meditation.