You can’t help but to be drawn towards what is doubtlessly the most interesting thing in the room, Auberon’s collection of loot from his extensive travels and adventures. This is the sort of retirement plan you hope to have one day. Your heart rate picks up a bit as you scan the various objects tucked “safely” away within the glass display cases along and built into the wall, the sign above them stating, ‘The Mysteries of the Arcane: A Collection of Rare and Powerful Artifacts’. A sharp-dressed halfling stands nearby, eyeing one particular case containing a rather ordinary looking ring. You wonder if looks could be deceiving, for the ring or the halfling.
Plagued with mostly innocent curiosity, you decide to get a closer look at the artifacts.
You tap on one of the glass cases, and inside a floating orb begins to glow with a pale green light. There’s something about the glow that looks… off. It makes your skin crawl. It’s a relief when the sickly light fades.
Another artifact that catches your eye is a djinn’s lamp. It’s adorned with intricate designs, and you can almost sense the power emanating from it. You’ve been scolded for grabbing loot without having someone check it first plenty of times, but those warnings fade away as you wonder what it would be like to hold such an object in your hands, and what wishes you might be granted.
As you continue to survey the cases on and against the wall, you start to realize how many of these items seem to be magical or enchanted. Memories of warnings about ‘look, don’t touch’ fade even further as your mental tally of the loot before you begins to tick away. Weapons, armor, jewelry, and a myriad of unidentified baubles… You shake yourself back to the present. There’s a murder to investigate, after all. There will be time to consider a souvenir later. As you turn away, an empty display case catches your eye.
You sidle up to the halfling, who seems absorbed in studying the case before you. From the canny glance he casts you though, you get the feeling he’s quite aware of your intentionally casual approach. He’s well-dressed, almost too well-dressed for the atmosphere of the tavern. He holds himself with a confidence that belies his stature, and when he finally turns to look you over, there’s an evaluative light to his gaze that you recognize all too well.
“Finnian Highhill is the name, and you are?”
Despite his well-mannered appearance, he has a sly look in his eyes.
“Well met. It’s a shame what’s happened here, and it’s certainly a shame that I’m not sure who could have done it. That’s the problem, isn’t it? So many of Auberon’s so-called friends had plenty of reason to see to his demise, and just as he was about to name one as a thief, no less. As such, I can understand why you’d want to talk to me.
Haven’t they told you? In my younger days of adventuring at Auberon’s side, I was a proper thief. Yes, disarming traps in dungeons, picking the locks of treasure chests, sneaking ahead as a scout – ah. I see from the look in your eyes that you know exactly what I mean. Then you’d understand that I did my part for the party, and Auberon and I both benefited greatly from our mutual alliance. Poison, as seems to be the case here, was never my forte, however. Fingersmithing and the like was my game, not apothecarial work.
As it so happens, there once was an alchemist in our adventuring entourage, and as it so happens she’s sitting right over there at the table. If this was indeed a poisoning, she might have had something to do with it. After all, Auberon did kick her out of the party all those years ago, and I did hear them having a rather heated debate about something earlier tonight.
As for my own innocence, let me just say that there was a great mutual respect among Auberon and I. He was as avid a collector of magical items as I am, and we shared many wonderful conversations over the limitless potential these artifacts could bring to the world. Would these make great additions to my own collection? Well, no one could deny that. But I wouldn’t murder my friend over them.”
