Market day in Bane is always a wonder to behold. Hours before dawn the merchants and farmers start to arrive, many of them having traveled all through the night to get there. Lilly Zepher is one such trader, having come from her parent’s small shrine to Akronar in the woods to trade meat and pelts for coin and supplies. Some few of the town’s residents, like Bryant Fynne, are also up before the dawn, but only to make their living off of such backwater folks, as they snatch a purse here and a bit of food there in the confusion. However, most of those living in the town are like Milo Highhill, sleeping in until well after the sun has crested the horizon, and only then rising to deal with their business of the day.
Bryant Fynne’s morning had gone well in spite of his brothers decision to sleep in, leaving him alone as the family bread winner (or stealer as some would call it) for the day. He was just sitting down to a meal behind some tents near the alchemist’s quarter when a foul smell hit him like a battering ram. Rotting meat and strange chemicals, it smelled like the runoff from a tannery. Eyes watering, he looked up to see a child sized figure in a dark robe standing just a little bit away where he was sure there had been no one a moment ago. As he approached the figure to see if he could be of assistance, it scurried away between a pair of tents and with it left the terrible odor.
Milo Highhill had spent his last few coins the day before on a beautiful set of matching daggers. If he was going to eat anything other than steel he needed work and for a man of his talents in a town like Bane that meant the entertainer’s guild. However, there was an entry fee for most of their events that while a pittance, was too much for him to afford. Still, he did manage to find a throwing competition, his specialty, which was free to the public and actually had a sizeable purse. As he was walking away from the entertainer’s guild house, an overpowering scent of rotting meat and strange chemicals almost knocked him off of his feet. He turned to see what was the cause of such a stench and saw a halfling sized figure in a dark robe standing in front of the entertainer’s placard of the day’s events. Deciding that he was more interested in keeping the contents of his stomach than finding out about some foul smelling thing, he left the area quickly. On his way home, Milo ran into a dancing troupe performing in the street and saw that one of the coins thrown in appreciation had not quite made it into the group’s purse. As he was bending over to pick up the coin, a silver one, a beautiful human dancer did a graceful backbend right in front of him and snatched it up. Startled, Milo shifted awkwardly, and loudly split the seat of his pants much to the amusement of the crowd and performers alike. He quickly dashed the rest of the way home; trying to salvage what little was left of his dignity.
Lilly Zepher was just coming out of Mrs. Miggens’ Pie Shoppe, when she caught a scent far worse than the store’s usual lingering aroma. (The pie Shoppe was always Lilly’s last stop of the day since Mrs. Miggens was never too terribly discerning about the quality of her supplies.) Looking about to see what was causing such a stink, she noticed a small figure in a dark robe standing at a nearby cross road. Thinking that such a foul smelling being could not be natural, she decided to follow it to see what it was up to. The stinking figure made its way through the market, heading strait to the auction block where its smell quickly cleared a small patch in the crowd. Seeing that it was not going anywhere for a little while, Lilly noted an elderly noble woman sitting in nearby stands, apparently waiting for some sort of entertainment which was to start soon. Lilly approached and offered the woman a sprig of mint through her body guards (a pair of androgynous humans in court dress and make-up.) before returning to the auction block.
While this was going on, Bryant, who was wondering the market place helping to lighten shoppers of their burdensome purses, used the distraction caused by the figure to cover his pick-pocket attempts. However, even given such an impressive distraction, he still was not as quite as subtle as he needed to be. Just as one of his victims noticed Bryant’s gentle tug on his money pouch, a small ragamuffin appeared out of the crowd and rushed Bryant away amidst a constant babble. By the time that the shopper realized what had happened, both of his assailants as well as his purse were long gone.
At the same time Milo arrived at his competition site a little early to warm up and spread a little trash talk among the competitors. However his concentration was soon broken by a familiar odor creeping through the air. Enraged by the distraction, Milo followed his nose to its source and started yelling at the robed figure to leave. A tirade that the small being completely ignored. Disgusted, Milo walked away back toward the competition.
The robed figure waited, still and silent until a supposedly magical sword came up for auction, when it raised its hand to place a bid. The rest of the crowd seemed to just want the figure to go and were reluctant to challenge it, so there were no counter bids even though the price was extremely low. After winning, the foul smelling being went to the collection tent to claim its prize. Moments later, a muffled cry was heard from the tent and noxious smoke came rolling out of it.
Lilly was the first person to the tent, and managed to enter despite the thick, foul smoke. Inside, she discovered two humans, but no sign of the small being or the magical sword. Bryant and his small companion, Rizzo, were the next people to the tent, but were overcome by the fumes at the entrance. Bryant managed to stagger away, but Rizzo collapsed in the doorway. Lilly managed to help the two from the tent as well as Rizzo out into the fresh air. By this point, Milo had made his way back across the square to reach the tent where the smoke was dissipating quickly. Thinking fast, he wetted down a cloth with spirits and entered the tent, keeping low as only a halfing can. He managed to discover a slit cut into the back of the tent just as guards were arriving on the scene and was promptly taken into custody for questioning as were all the others near the tent.
The city guard’s investigation was momentarily interrupted by the appearance of the elderly noble woman whom Lilly had given a sprig of mint. It turned out that she was Lady Torrey, head of the entertainer’s guild and council member. One of the individuals pulled from the tent was the auctioneer’s attendant, but the other was Lady Sandra Dee, a local socialite and niece to Lady Torrey. Though both were unhurt, Lady Sandra’s long white-blonde hair was all shorn off extremely close to her scalp. Questioning was brief, but all involved were asked to stay in town for a few days incase anything came up.
