Chapter 32: Pi
“Sal is summoning devils?!” Syril asked after Ellen explained her finding.
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Ellen said. “But we know somebody is doing it and he has ordered the suppliers required to do so, even if he lacks the skills himself.”
“So…” Grom said. “No luck with the name I take it?”
Ellen and Syril both shot him stern looks.
“What?” Grom asked. “That was the whole point of the mission.”
“No sign of the name,” Ellen said.
“Gods,” Grom grumbled. “I’m just gunna tell her the truth.”
“Can we talk about this later?” Syril asked with sympathy in his voice.
Grom continued as if Syril didn’t speak.
“I’m going to tell her I’m not a Revan dwarf. She’ll end it with me then and there and I can move on with my life.”
“Not going to tell her the name thing?” Ellen asked.
“I don’t want her ta kill me,” Grom said.
“Speaking of killing,” Syril said to pivot the topic back on track. “We have a bunch of murder candles we should look into.”
“Not murder candles,” Ellen clarified. “They are made with the blood of magical creatures.”
“Oh,” Syril said, “So the missing people aren’t being used to make these candles to summon devils?”
“No. But if you’re terrible at ritual magic, sacrificing a few people goes a long way to smooth over the cracks in your technique when summoning a devil.”
“Alcohol works the same way with musicians,” Syril said idly.
“You play better drunk?” Ellen asked.
“No,” Grom said, having heard this particular line before. “He plays better when the crowd is. Whose off topic now?”
“Sorry,” Syril said. “So, if we track down these candles, we can find the ritualists?”
Ellen nodded.
“And I know just where to start.”
***
Ellen led them out of the inn in the Blue district, the area of town that was too shabby for the wealthy to visit, but still felt superior to the poor relegated to the Gray district. They went to the Brown district, where most of the trades were located, also known colloquially as the “Loud District” for the preponderance of smiths. On the way Ellen sent a message via spell to Linar and he was waiting outside the shop Razzle Dazzle Boom when they arrived.
“What do you guys want with Fanny?” Linar asked when they arrived.
“We found out that Sal has been buying illegal blood candles for a ritual that is likely summoning the devils,” Syril explained.
“Fanny?” Grom asked, holding in a laugh.
“What’s this got to do with Fanny?” Linar asked, ignoring Grom.
“Well,” Ellen said. “I didn’t know there was a black market for illegal reagents, but I’d hazard a guess you already knew about it.”
“I am an upstanding businessman!” Linar said, with considerable force to make it believable.
“He’s multiple upstanding businessmen,” Grom said.
“No loitering!” came a high pitch shout from inside.
Linar shot Grom a warning look and made a ‘cut it out’ gesture, with his hand at his neck.
“Good evening, Fanny!” Linar said cheerfully, pushing the door open.
“It’s Fannil—Oh William! What brings you here today?” Fanny—or whatever his full name actually was—said, his irritation turning into a nervousness as he recognized “William.”
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The man was a gnome, standing behind a short counter only two feet above the ground, but perfectly sized for him. While the shop was normally sized and all the group could fit comfortably inside, the space was severely underutilized as every display case and table sized for a gnome or halfling and no shelves stood higher than one of the smaller folk could reach.
“My business associates here have a quandary they were hoping you could shed some light in,” Linar said, gesturing to the other three.
“Of course!” Fanny said. “Always happy to help my business partner!”
He noticed Ellen then in her wizard robes and finally recognized her as well.
“Oh Ellen! I didn’t recognize you! How did the void essene I provide for you go?”
“Oh, uh…” Ellen said, startled to be called out. “It went well.”
“Hmmm,” Linar said loudly, sniffing the air. “Is that hypocrisy I smell? Void essence is it? Is that not one of the controlled reagents that aren’t to be sold without a warrant from the mage’s college or royal court wizard?”
“She had all the proper paperwork,” Fanny put in. “And it might be the corpse berry bush over there, it’s in bloom and the flowers are rather rank.”
“Forgery then?” Linar said, feigning aghast and only then noticing the actual smell, he fought back a gag.
“No,” Ellen said. “Connections.”
Linar deflated at that, his air of superiority gone and the smell he had to fight to prevent retching stole any chance he had to regain his upper hand in the social situation.
“Look William ,” Rapheal said to Linar. “We know you are into illicit dealings, you know we know you are into them, and it stands to reason that Fanny—or whatever your real name is—is working for you in some capacity as a middle man for black market alchemical reagents, so can we just skip all this back and forth so we can get to the bottom of this whole devil summoning thing?”
Before Linar could even try to protest, Fanny let out a gasp.
“Devil summoning?” He asked urgently. “Oh no, Sal! I sold him blood candles, you don’t think he used them to summon devils do you?”
All eyes turned to Fanny with different levels of interest, irritation and confusion.
Syril and Ellen having interest, Linar irritation on how well he seemed to keep secret their illegal dealings, and Grom confusion as to how the little man could not have known about the devil summonings threatening the city.
“That’s what we are thinking,” Syril said and the worry on Fanny’s face turned to fear.
“Oh no, no, no. No. Nononono.” He repeated quickly to himself. “I knew this black-market stuff was a mistake. I should have listened to my mother. I—”
“Fanny!” Linar said in a strong yet kind tone. “Calm yourself, we don’t know this was Sal. There are plenty of other people doing the same business you are in the city.”
“There are?” Fanny asked.
“Yeah, totally,” Linar said in a way that fooled only the gnome. “How about you tell us where you delivered them and we’ll check it out, confirm they weren’t the ones used.”
“That would be great!” Fanny said, jumping on the lifeline.
Fanny quickly wrote down the address, and they all leaned way over to see the inn’s address written down.
“Well, that’s not helpful,” Grom said, who’d read it first due to having hardly needed to lean at all.
“Do you have any extras from the order?” Ellen asked. “I could probably track the rest from them.”
“No…” Fanny said. “But!”
He ran into the back the word “but,” not finishing the thought, only to return a moment later with a large—to him—wooden crate.
“They came in this crate, but I couldn’t reuse it because it was residue from the candles on it. I was trying to think of a way to dispose of it without burning it—which you know, would weaken the barrier between realms and threated a devil invasion.”
“What it the gods names did Sal say he was using these for?” Grom asked.
“He… uh…” Fanny began, suddenly growing flush. “Said he was summoning a succubus.”
“And you believed him?” Grom asked.
“It happens more than you’d think!” Fanny said. “It’s why the mages college hasn’t come down harder on the supply. I send regular shipment—”
“Ahem,” Linar said, shooting Fanny a warning look.
“Will the box work?” Syril asked Ellen who nodded.
“Great,” Syril said. “Fanny, thank you for your assistance, maybe try to ask more questions the next time you sell illegal substances.”
“No, don’t do that,” Linar said, “And I’m coming back to give you some training on the art of discretion.”
“If he was any less discrete, he’d be pi,” Ellen said, and then chuckled to herself.
Everyone stopped to look at her outside the store.
“What?” she asked. “That was a great joke.”
At the blank looks she continued to get, she explained further, because as everyone knows you can keep explaining a joke until its funny.
“I’m funny!” Ellen insisted.
“Maybe stick to summoning eldritch horrors,” Grom said, patting her on the shoulder as the other two walked away.
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