The Epic of Dalen Grey

I meet up with Ondre early in the morning inside my house in the market district. I needed to check on his progress. I noticed him laying on the bed in one of the cells. It had seemed like he Just woke up.

"Ondre, don't you have a home?"

"Honestly, I don't. I stayed at the inn alot when my old friends got sick of me sleeping on their floor. You have enough beds here, I didn't think you would mind."

"If thats your wish. I will at least be able to find you."

"Thanks. I did manage to find something you might be interested in. Its a letter with some information."

I looked at it and it had information that was really useful, not Just in tracking down Brick, but also information on other things I was investigating.

"Where did you get this?"

"Its best if you don't ask Dalen. It's a trade secret. Those who say too much end up lying in the bottom of rivers, at least I am told."

He smiled and I think I might have smiled a bit myself. I didn't want to push the question although I was very curious. This guy might become more of an accent then I thought. He might also be a hindrance. At the moment, I am glad I spared him.

"What else can you tell me?"

"Well, they didn't recognized you. They think you where a hired assassin. Brick might have seen your face, but his friends are loyal and wouldn't talk for anything. So it was pointless to press them. The best part though is that they don't suspect me at all. Do you know what that means?"

"You can continue to help me find him."

"Well that and I get paid twice."

He smiled at me and I might have smiled back. I think I Just might get along with this guy.

I read over the note. It had plans for new ways to get wealth out of the village. It mentioned the Dragon Foot Clan, and payments made and to who. I asked myself again why would they deal with him to rob a bar that they could easily rob themselves. It did not mention Brick's hideout location exactly, but it said it was Just on the end of the woods. This paper was a finacial report, businesses, contacts and reports. It appeared that he was making money off the village using what would normally be free to him and selling it to the merchants in town. It seemed to be a decent scheme but something didn't make sense. He was trading with nothing and selling it for coins. What where the villagers getting for there goods and why was he robbing the bar.

I checked the merchants in town on the list. I talked to them all. The questions and the answers where all the same. They dealt with Brick, but not directly. They bought the goods, but didn't know where they came from. He sold them cheap, but they didn't know how. The business was not illegal at all from what I could tell. The last merchant I checked however said he never trusted Bricks men. He also had recent trouble getting robbed recently. I went back and asked the others about theft. The answer again was all the same. We use to get robbed all the time, but recently not so much. The times were linked to their dealings with him.

It started to make more sense, and least it seemed so to me. He stole from the market district to trade with the villagers. He took the village goods to the merchant district for coins. The village traded for goods and services amoungst themselves and the merchants traded for money. They never crossed paths because of this so no one would notice lost goods. The last thing in the puzzle, why rob the bar for gold, and so often. There is something going on at the Fireside Inn, but I don't know what.

The investigation took all day and the night was quiet at the Midnight Moon. There were a few more leads on the letter. I will have to follow them in the morning.