Apparently it is considered poor taste to interrogate the wounded at night, so Lance had to change his plans. He booked a room for the night in the closest inn and prioritized interrogating the civilians first. It did not last long, this is not the kind of city with a very active nightlife, or a useful one, so now Lance lays on the roof of the inn.
"Well, it may not be much but it's a start. I may as well update some notes. I wonder how the agency is doing." Somewhere far away Eugenio shudders in his sleep muttering paperwork.
Case Files
Portable Version
Dyna (Displaced challenger)
Possible crimes: Minor crimes related to her poor understanding of society, suspected manslaughter.
Multiple accounts of people scamming her and tricking her, despicable behaviour really but nothing I can do about it right now.
A simple creature from some distant and reclusive tribe, possibly the last survivor or sent into the world as some kind of tradition. Seems to possess two very peculiar qualities that are oddly in synergy. She possesses some means to get stronger from adversity, very likely to be magic in nature. And the repeated accounts of her getting into a fight are not normal, her parsonality seems to be at odds with the constant struggle, which means it could be a curse. I know all too well what it's like to be cursed in a similar way, but her version seems to be more centered about violence.
I would be curious to learn about her tribe and culture, it would help solve some of her problems at least, but even if I were to ask her personally proof seems to point to the fact she would not be able to answer the important questions. I will keep an eye out, I suspect our curses will react somehow, I just hope we don't end up in an endless loop, my curse should balance it out. I would have opened a psychiatrist if I knew how to be one, it would be more useful considering the kind of people my curse attracts.
Cyrus (Corrupted remnant)
Possible crimes: None in recorded history, probably warcrimes.
A new face at the outpost, only got here today with the wave of adventurers and daredevils. All evidence points to him being a Draco, already rare by itself but if the blood I found is his then it becomes much more complex. Conflicting accounts about the guy abound, they all describe him as pleasant enough but also feel uneasy near him. His magic is old, his arrival is suspicious, and a curse may be at play even if I don't know the extent of it yet. A couple of mercenaries said he comes from the rotten peaks, interrogating him should be a priority, hopefully he will be collaborative. He seems to be searching for someone, the mercenaries were not good whitesses, I amy need a direct account for the full story.
I have a theory, and if I am correct he will need an archeologist more than a detective, I could still help but I am missing critical evidence to know if I should.
Byelana (Resurrection girl)
Possible crimes: None, crimes against the natural order depending on who you ask.
This poor creature had to suffer for a power she probably did not ask for. A sad story, but not unheard of, what is worrying is the severity of it. A fraction of the powers of a phoenix, even if temporary and severly limited, is enough to make her a traget and victim of pretty much the entire world. She seems to be good at hiding, so people know of her and her power very well but they don't know where she is. I could find her, but as much as I would like to find a living legend it would only put her in danger. There is a person behind the legend, and she deserves the same respect as anyone else, sadly I am unable to help her.
The best I can do is pretend I don't know her and hope they don't ask me to find her, refusing a client is never easy but not that big of a problem, the possible implications of refusing the same case over and over are the problem. Another one that would benefit more from terapy, at lest this one is not at my doorstep, not that I would refuse her if she was.
Astrid (Familiar stranger)
Possible crimes: Breach of privacy/secrecy, indecent exposure.
Another phoenix, I never met one, I was not even sure there were any still around here. She seems to be an actual ancient one, even if the lack of records would seem to disprove that it does the opposite. If she was young I would have found something, a birth certificate, some rumours, hell I was talked about for the rest of my life and if there was one thing my adoptive father was good at it was keeping secrets. This lack of information feels unnatural, so she is either cursed or does not want people to know her, but then why be a journalist? In the end we are more alike that I would like to admit, we both seek knowledge even if for different reasons and we are both immortal.
I do want to meet her, if anything she may know my parents, the real ones, and she probably knows a lot more than me about general phoenix things. We are both immortal, which means that for good or ill we will have to share this world until the end of time, which also means I have all the time in the world to actually get to know her. I am not sure what the proper customs are for this.
You would expect wisdom to come with age, but she is even more reckless than me. She could know about why my fire is different.
"The Lord"/"The King" (Ruler of the ghouls, as much as that's possible)
Possible crimes: I don't think they apply but mass murder probably.
This is what I was able to get from rumours and the "interrogation". There is someone leading the ghouls in the grove, it's almost certainly a Nachzehrer, they are the only thing ghouls respect. It is unclear how much his influence can control the ghouls, they seems to hold great loyalty for this king but that is probably out of fear. There are rumors of a massive ghoul being spotted in the deep parts of the sanctuary groves so it must be him. Despite the legends about how dangerous and bloodthirsty these creatures are the king seems to keep his "subjects" to his part of the world, and he seems to have a grudge with the infection spreading from the north.
He must be capable of reson if he coordinates attacks on both the undead and the flesh, but I am not sure how useful he would be as a whitness. Kings don't usually take kindly to my kind, as a secret searcher more than as a phoenix. He does seems very old, he may know about the past and my family, but it's not a good lead.
En (Walking disaster)
Possible crimes: None in recent times, may have been an horrible person in life to be so cursed in undeath.
A new undead found in the groves by guards and strangley adopted as some kind of mascot. Nobody I meet seems to have anything bad to say about him and the only thing they remark on is how polite and well behaved he is despite being undead. Some call him a ghoul, the few instances of commbat he found himself in point to the fact he is much stronger than he appears, with a calm and focus that make is seem like he already saw it all before. His way of speaking is very old, older than the normal undead capable of speech around the groves. He also is a victim of very bad luck, he found himself in very unusual situations, often dangerous, that he either jokes about or simply ignores.
Undeath is already a curse depending on who you ask, but in this case I think even normal people would be able to put the pieces toghether and see that he is cursed. Evidence leads me to believe he is very old, and unlike other similar creatures I amy be able to get something out of an interrogation. He is still hiding something, I am not sure if he is doing it on purpouse or if he simply has not been asked the right question yet. A lot of ancient creatures are awakening or reappearing, I suddenly feel very out of place. I should search some old records from the history books, maybe I can recognize some of them.
The Man with no Face (Dealmaker)
Possible crimes: Unknown, probably a lot.
More of a local legend than a person, no clear descriptions of him exist and the ones that do are often conflicting. What is considered true is what he does, almost anything for the right price. A shady wish granting creature that may or may not exist would be a cool case to solve, but I have no intention of doing that on my own, there are too many risks even for someone that cannot die and I already have a lot to deal with lately.
It is said that some people don't search for him but are instead found, nobody seems to aggree on what happens after. Considering the crazy times we live in there are equal chances this is just a guy with a very good scamming network or a genuine supernatural creature. If he is a fake he is damm good at this.
Alistair (Play director of the dead)
Possible crimes: No major accusations, chances of noise complaints from dipleased customers. (Probable discrimination victim)
An Omen, unusual outside the traveling comunities they call carnivals but not unheard of. They have a peculiar culture that is poorly understood by other races, mostly because of an unwillingness to learn from what I can tell. She appears to be one of the members that are particularly active outside of the carnival, setting up "Plays" with her as the main performer and using the spirit of the dead as the cast. Some consider it morbid or creepy, I don't mind it could be a interesting experience.
They worship death and the dead, mostly Debirus but rarely of other reces too, so I do wonder what they would think of a phoenix. We don't die, so would they hate me on principle? Her traditions seem to guide her in her life out of the Carnival as well, I am unsure how much however. I don't know how much she may need a detective but I would take the chance to learn more about her culture, and how much she differs from it. I don't often think about my state as an immortal, not in this sense at least. Recent events make me reflect on it more as much as I dislike it.
Monster of the Woods (One eyed witch)
Possible crimes: Literally everything bad in the city right now according to some people, lack of proof of any involvement. (Clear victim of discrimination, maybe even multiple victims. I proved to a housewife that her husband was just cheating on her and was not being slowly killed by the cursed eyes and she still was convinced it was her fault, somehow)
A Cockatrice, may be the same one that left those corpses in the groves. I was not able to find a name for her, just that she was the terror of a village a long time ago and lived in a cabin on the outskirts of it. The cabin burned, the guys sent to do it died, and the problems stopped for a while. Now rumours abound of her coming back for revenge, it could be a different one, it could not even be a Cockatrice, but civilans do like to spread baseless accustions, it makes it easier when you can blame someone for all the evil in the world.
I have been asked multiple times both directly and indirectly to find her by civilians blaming her for everything. Her presence is undeniable, I saw the proof myself, her guilt not so much. I will have to find her eventually, but I have the feeling proving her innocence will be much harder than just blaming her, I will come up with something when I get there. The way they talk about her sometimes is eerily familiar, curse or not I have a feeling I should help anyway.
Sa'ad Al-Asad (Coup survivor)
==Possible crimes: I am sure the foreign powers that want him dead pinned something on him, none in this country.
A noble from some far away land, running from the people that took control by killing the previous nobility, they clearly missed one. He managed to bring massive ammounts of whealth and a flying fortress of sorts, not a bad way to leave. It must be strrssful situation to be in but it's not my field of expertise. The logistics of his travel are not well known, he wants engineers to repair the flying ship and soldiers for protection, but what he wants to do after he has the is unclear. A pretty good merchant if he manages to stay afloat.
I am more likely to be hired by his pursuers to find him than from him. I don't plan on accepting, I want to stay out of politics if possible. I would rather not have to prepare for a wat so maybe I should start planning for how to avoid it.
Arthur Darling (How does his family still exist?)
Possible crimes: None officially, suspected of much.
An unfortunate victim of the curse placed on his whole bloodline, he seems to be taking it well. He has money and connections, as well as a very rare and expensive product, his company would certainly outlive him if given the chance. I heard a lot of things on this guy, most are probably fake but some I would rather not be so sure they are real. He is interesting, for some people, I am not impressed.
His kind tends to hire detectives as glorified spys for the competition, he seems to already have someone for those roles. If he wants to hire me for legitimate cases I will not refuse, and I would be happy to help search for some way to fix his curse, but I am sure he already has people for that too. Compared to him I was lucky with my cure. Or was I unlucky because death would have no effect on me?
Emiline (Artificial Dryad)
Possible crimes: Ecoterrorism I think, she does not seem to bother anyone however so it was probably just someone that hates plants venting.
A girl that lives in the forest, she is one with nature and really likes plants unsurprisingly. Apparently she used to be a normal human but somehow became part plant, not the strangest thing around but still worth noting. She acts as the sort of guardian of her section of the woods, surrounding herself with animals and being surprisingly ruthless in combat. Her house look abbandoned because of the plants growing over it but she takes great care of the plants to make sure they stay there.
Her separation from society means that any interaction on her part is unlikely, someone could hire me to gather info on her but it would not be for violent reasons. She has a lot of animal friends but not many humanoid ones it seems, but is not completely unable of social interaction. Plants are very flameable, so is fur surprisingly enough. The forest is not a good place to live so I guess she makes it better.
Alexandra (Rebel Singer)
Possible crimes: Disturbing the peace, she is in debt but considering who she took money from not paying is not really a crime.(Discrimination in this case is clear, it has a stronger reason than most but it's still based on hearsay and rumours)
An up and coming star in the world of music, maybe some day. She is an Omen that split from the carnival to pursue a different kind of creative endeavour. It's not particularly successful from what I gather, she puts in a lot of effort but she honestly chose the wrong brand of expression considering her race is known to kill with songs. She displays frequent reckless behaviour and general lack of long term planning, she managed to acquire some starting capital from some sadly familiar faces and she has yet to pay up. Her prformances don't pay enough, or much at all right now but she manages to have some income by being an adventurer, which maybe should have been her plan from the start to gahter money.
Debirus already face discrimination, Omens even more because of the singing, I am not sure if she can be famous, not like she wants at least. I have never heard her music, she is not at the stage where she can afford to make records and I was not in the zone for her past performances but I am curious to see if she is at least good at it, I have nothing to lose since I can't die. She chose a difficult road to travel, and she reminds me of the people my curse attracts, but she may have the skills to get there. I feel bad for her, and I feel like the real problems will start after people start recognizing her. Jealousy is more dangerous than indifference and fear sometimes.
Alicia Sandmane (Miss guildhouse)
Possible crimes: None, she would probably act mysteryous about it if I asked.
I found the owner of those heel tracks. She is a very popular adventurer and high ranking member of the guild, everyone seems to know and look up to her in some way. She is described a very strong, very arractive and generally like a role model. She also shows to be very unprofessional at times when it comes to interacting with others, especially younger members of the guild. I was unable to comfirm or deny any of these statement yet, I missed her by a few minutes today. She does help a lot with the effort to keep the undead at bay and they seem to focus on her when she appears, it may be a curse like it could be just a part of her fighting style.
Interacting with her seems to be an inevitability if I want to have anything to do with the adventurer's guild, the kids talked about her a lot, I think the boy had a crush on her. I will try to interrogate her if the chance presents itself but it's not a priority. She does not seem like an easy person to deal with, at least I know what to expect.
Livya Mihnair (Prefers Liv, Unhinged Mechanic)
Possible crimes: Her creations could be classified as warcrimes by some.
The guild's mechanic and a pretty good adventurer as well. She has her own workshop and takes care of orders from outside the guild as well, her time seems to be unlimited. Her creations are often praised as marvels of technology, her fame goes beyond that of the guild as well. I am not sure why she decided to adventure, she could live a good life from her fame and reations alone, but her personality seems to be out of the norm, as it happens with people like her. From what I know she is at least the sociable type if you can get past the apparent crazyness, which may have something to do with her popularity. The landslide may be her doing, purpousefully or not.
She does not seem like the type to need a detective, but her presence at the guild means I could run into her regardless. I think the agency could use a better database, Eugenio would definitely appreciate it, but I am reluctant to use it since I can't bring it with me. I also need to ask her about the landslide, I need to be careful to not sound accusatory, I just need to rule out the impossible, and her being the cause would be better overall. Maybe I should get one of those cellphones, they seem useful. I could ask her to look at my gauntlets, but she is unlikely to know much about them.
Mikhail Valhir (Aspiring adventurer)
Possible crimes: None
A strange kid trying to find his way in the world. I don't know much about him, they just told me a new advenurer was seen in town. He does not do much, just loitering around the guild entrance for a couple hours before going back home. A good kid from what some of the locals say, his family even supports him in his decision. I am not sure why he was pointed out to me but I guess I will look into it more later.
Classic story of a kid looking for adventure, he seems to not be completely ready for it yet, at least mentally. Maybe by the time I manage to interrogate the guild members he will manage to enter the building. Why would he want to be an adventurer anyway? Does not seem like the type.
Lance closes the notebook and look around the town from his spot on the roof, the lights are off in most houses and only a few drunk people are still shambling around. "I should probably sleep, this place looks so dead at night compared to home." Lance jumps off the roof and flies in the open window to his room for the night.
The night moves on, next dawn is another mystery.