Following up on a tip from The Sentry regarding some strange happenings around the Philomath and Golden Cape districts, I decided to pound the cobbles and see what I could find. Rumor on the street was that a string of strange robberies and missing persons had plagued the area, and that they may have been related. To get the hard-hitting facts my readers desire, I went directly to the Philomath guard station to speak with the captain of the guard. As he wasn’t there, I settled for the soft-spoken theories of a cadet who goes by the moniker, “Officer Jason”.
Clearcrest Chronicle: Rumors of kidnappings have been swirling around the city as of late. Are you able to tell us if there any truth to these rumors?
Officer Jason: Well ma’am, there have been a number of code 10-65s as of late in the districts of Philomath and Golden Cape. Investigations are underway to determine if these incidents are at all related.
CC: 10-65s…?
OJ: Sorry about that, ma’am. Forgot you were a member of the press; a 10-65 is a missing persons report. You see, this little fellow came in concerned about his missing friend in Philomath. Surname of Serpentwood. We went to his address and definitely found a 10-65– he wasn’t there and we had to let ourselves in, see. Oh! I know we didn’t have a warrant, but see when it concerns the safety of a reported missing persons, we’re allowed to check in on citizens without one. With force, if necessary.
CC: Uh, it sounds like you take your job very seriously, Officer. What exactly did you find at Mr. Serpentwood’s home?
OJ: Well Ms. Wraithwait, there had definitely been signs of a disturbance– blood on the floor, scattered papers, and so forth. While there we also discovered that this could possibly also be a 10-99!
CC: Officer, I’ll remind you that I am, as you so politely put it, “a member of the press”.
OJ: Oh yes, I apologize. A 10-99 is stolen property. In this particular case, some books. Well, to be more specific- parts of books. The report states that chapter 13 was ripped right out of the book. We also found some strange maps of Golden Cape with red arrows pointing to a circle in the Arundel Ocean.
CC: That seems a bit odd. Who would want to steal a specific chapter of a book? Why not just the whole thing? And what did you make of the maps?
OJ: Truthfully ma’am, we are a bit stumped. However, we actually received a tip earlier from the Golden Cape guard station–curiously, placed by the same small fellow who came to see us about Mr. Serpentwood–regarding a 10-62 that had taken place at the Star Falls Observatory in Golden Cape.
CC: Officer Jason, it’s obvious that you’re passionate about your work, but I must remind you to speak plainly so that our readers can follow. Guard codes aren’t necessarily in the public lexicon…
OJ (blushing): My apologies, ma’am. A 10-62 is a breaking-and-entering disturbance. It seems that a dark-robed figure made his way into the Observatory and stole some books and maps. As it turns out the keeper there, a Dr. Selena Krayton, is an amateur cartographer. She’s a delightful old biddy who always has pockets of strange caramel candies. She would also like me to let folks know that she is getting into the business of selling copies of maps.
CC: Interesting. More stolen books and maps?
OJ: Yes ma’am. We also made the connection there and thought it was a bit odd. She gave us the names of the three books that had been stolen from her collection. They were apparently some old, rare first edition books on maps. She also gave us a description of the cloaked figure that attacked her. This description aided our artist in creating a rendering of the suspect that we have posted around the city.
CC: We’ll make sure to include it in the article when it gets published to help get the word out. Where did your investigation take you next?
OJ: Knowing that citizens are getting parts of their books stolen from them, we thought, “what’s the best place to find books in the city?” The Archives! That’s where! So we went down there and inquired about these volumes.
CC: And what did you find?
OJ: Well, the books were there, but they were later editions. The only original edition was also missing chapter 13! Given that this is a topic that draws a very specific audience, we worked with librarians at The Archives to determine if anyone else had recently checked the books out. What we found was that a small girl in rags had recently been in the section, but didn’t actually check any books out.
CC: What would a young girl want with old books on maps?
OJ: That’s a great question. After doing some ear-to-the-ground detective work, we found that she had recently been seen around the docks outside the Harbor Master’s office in Golden Cape. We stopped in and talked to the Harbor Mast- err, Mistress there and found that she had met with a man in a dark robe, but they left separately.
CC: Another man in dark robes?
OJ: Wow. You put that together too? Maybe you should apply to be a city guard. I mean- don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy to catch onto the codes, but you seem to have a real knack for the work, if you don’t mind my saying, ma’am.
CC: That’s very kind, Officer. But I think I’ve found my calling already. What else did you learn about this girl?
OJ: We continued asking around the area and found that she’s an orphan named “Thatcher” with a reputation as a bit of a troublemaker. We went over to the Chandlery and found that a dark-robed man matching previous descriptions stopped in to buy a week’s worth of rations for a purple-sailed ship called the Windfall Rush, which was recently seen leaving port for Bryn Shander.
CC: Bryn Shander? But that’s almost a month’s worth of travel.
OJ: Yes?
CC: …why would he only buy a weeks worth of rations?
OJ (eyes wide): Oh, man. I didn’t think of that. Let me write this down. You’re good at this. Hey, is it alright if I ask you some questions about our other open cases?
CC: Uh, perhaps we should get back to the story at hand?
OJ: Oh yeah, uh… We met a mean-spirited dwarven man who goes by the name “Ten” and captains a ship called the Golden Finch who said he saw a girl matching Thatcher’s description in the warehouse district arguing with a man in a dark robe. So, we went down there to investigate. As it’s a relatively unoccupied area, the only witnesses we had were a couple of winos who mentioned that a fight had occurred between a young girl and a dark-robed figure before the girl was dragged off.
CC: That’s horrifying! Has there been any sightings of her since?
OJ: While horrifying, the winos then began ranting about snake people owning a secret island they use to perform experiments on victims. So…we don’t truly consider them reliable witnesses at this juncture. Unfortunately, that’s where the trail goes cold. But don’t fret–we guardsmen are working diligently to keep the folks of this great city safe and track down these villains!
CC: I think I speak for the people of Clearcrest when I say that with dedicated folks like you in the city guard, we’ve never felt more safe. Is there anything you’d like to say to the fine folks of Clearcrest in closing?
OJ (grinning): Well, yes ma’am. I’d like to say hello to a Ms. Minxi Monhollith in Philomath. Please return my messages, Minxi! Physical height shouldn’t keep us apart!
At that, I wished Officer Jason luck in his continued investigations and made my way out of the guard station. One thing is certain… Something strange is happening on our city streets; mismatched maps, missing citizens, marred tomes, an improbably large number of dark-robed figures, and potential snake people. As always, faithful reader, stay tuned to the Clearcrest Chronicle for updates on this story as they become available.
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