After three days, I believe we are finally closing in on our targets. I suspect tomorrow may bring information more pertinent to our mission than any we have obtained in the past.
We spent the day continuing our investigation. The longshoremen we spoke to knew nothing useful about the blown up ship, though, based on what we learned the next day, it is possible they simply did not wish to speak with us. They were very busy preparing the docks in anticipation of the clear sailing ahead. We visited one of the aristocrats – the one who speaks of nothing but his lust for some woman. We learned that he had sold a goodly amount of sulphur to another baron, adding a third person to the list of those with all the ingredients of smoke powder.
We visited the mansion of another baron, and were told that he was away on business, and would not return until the council meeting. Our suspicions aroused, we went to the sheriff, who said we lacked sufficient evidence to obtain a warrant to search his house. I knew better than to suggest we break in in the presence of the Infiltrator, though if he is associated with the three vampires who assaulted us, it may be the wisest option.
In the evening, we went to the mayor, who had little to say, except that he agreed that the thieves had probably been framed.
At some point during the day, the Infiltrator bought two vials of a thin silver paste. As the priest explained, one of the few vulnerabilities of vampires were the combination of magic and silver, and both the Infiltrator and the Empty Hand have refined their abilities to the point where their hands are as powerful as weapons imbued with magic. By coating their hands in silver, they would become deadly weapons to a vampire.
I have clearly become slack in my own meditation, for even after watching the Infiltrator and the Empty Hand battle their enemies, I have been unable to determine how to mimic their ability. Perhaps I focus too strongly on the intellectual aspects. Our master always taught that we should not allow intellect to overcome wisdom, but I find the study of magic requires a tremendous amount of time and concentration, particularly as I study into more and more complex spells.
The rain finally stopped, making our investigations easier. First we returned to the docks and questioned more of the longshoremen, who said they'd seen eight or so men rolling barrels onto the ship before it had been destroyed. Their features had been obscured, but somehow neither the loading of a ship during a rainstorm nor the hidden faces had seemed suspicious at the time, and somehow the unusual event had not been important enough to tell us about the day before. At times it seems that this world of man is populated entirely by fools.
The remainder of our investigations that day told us nothing. The temple of the vampire we killed was undisturbed, and there were far too many other abandoned buildings to search them all. We searched near the suspicious baron's house, but found nothing.
There was a council meeting that night, which we all attended, armed with mirrors or with the symbol of the priest's religion. Although we did not let anyone past us without first verifying that they were not vampires, the town council used a back door about which we had been unaware. The priest used his wand to determine whether any of the council were undead, but he found nothing. Spells have been known to fail, however.
The council meeting itself was not insignificant. Several council members and others spoke for or against an attack on the thieves' guild. The most influential speeches were the suspicious baron, speaking out against the guild in a most unconvincing manor and accusing two council members of membership in the guild, and the priest, who gave several arguments that not only impressed the crowd but that sounded valid in their own right. The thieves had been framed before, so there was no reason to assume they weren't being framed again. And more vampires had been seen. By the end, the mayor was convinced that this was not the time to vote on an attack. The decision will be delayed until we have a better understanding of the situation. The three people who had access to smoke powder were the three most visibly upset by the decision. These included the suspicious baron, the baron whose family founded the town, and the head of the longshoremen.
Before the meeting ended, the foreign guardsman rose before everyone and spoke out against the town, complaining about their weapon policies, their overt dealing with thieves despite town law, and a dozen other things. Although this seemed a foolish thing for one in his position to do, I admit I derived some satisfaction from his tirade. I had thought many of the same thoughts on my own.
Before the end of the meeting, the suspicious baron left through a side door, which I later discovered led to a series of offices. When the meeting did finally end, the Infiltrator asked for my ring and hurried outside. I followed him until I saw him climbing rapidly up the side of the building. I knew I could not follow, so I returned inside and kept watch by the side door. When the Infiltrator returned, he came with an important piece of information. He had gone to the roof with the priest's magic water, and sprinkled it on everyone leaving through the council members' entrance. It only affected one man, and that was the most powerful baron in the town. One of our suspects had been confirmed. As for the head of the longshoremen, the water missed his head.
I wanted to stay back and wait for the other baron to leave his office, but the others thought it wiser to return to the temple.
That night, I finished carving another flute. It was far more satisfactory than the last. It was good to play again.
Things seem to come to a head today, and tomorrow, I suspect will will find what we've been looking for. We visited all three of the potential vampires at various times during the day. The suspicious baron whose guards had been keeping us away from his house was as elusive as ever. The guards said they would let him know we were here, and that we should return tomorrow. The most powerful baron, his guards claimed, was sick in bed. The head of the longshoremen had not been seen in days. He had paid off all his debts and afterwards stayed away from the bar where he usually spent his evenings.
The alchemist told us that the vampire's coffin could heal injuries. It seemed a strange thing for a vampire to have, for, as the priest informed us, healing magic worked in reverse with undead.
The final event that brought our investigations to a close was when the foreign guardsman came stumbling into the temple. He could hardly walk, and his head was covered in blood. Based on the story he told us, he had had a sudden urge to murder the mayor of the town, and, to suppress the urge, had beaten his head against the wall until he was on the brink of death. The voice that had told him to murder the mayor was that of the elusive baron.
The sheriff thought this sufficient evidence to search the baron's house, but he had to be sure. He would not give us a warrant unless we used the priest's truth spell on the guardsman, and made him tell his story when he could not lie. The priest can not cast the spell until tomorrow, so we wait until morning.