Tales of the Jewel

He nodded slowly. "Their agenda was a mixture of stupidity and desperation, and they paid the price. They will trouble her no further, but I'd rather not go into details how I made sure of it." The smile was gone for a moment.

"Any idea why they fixed upon her as their target in particular? Surely there were other marks in the city..."

"Ah! Guard, I say, guard may I have a moment of your time?"

The man approaching moved with a leisurely pace as he flagged down Aydi so it seemed no emergency. He was likely a contemporary of Aydi in age though it was hard to be certain. He had one of those youthful faces, though one that clearly had seen some hardship, and old eyes. Despite an appearance in the flesh of one that might have spent some time upon the streets his clothing was opulent and he was bedecked in jewels - including over his gloved fingers is an ostentatious display. In displayed wealth he could easily challenge a Dahabi merchant... if not an heir.

"They thought it would be a good risk-return ratio..."

He then turned to the approaching man, taking in the outward symbols of status and the less apparent hints of character before replying with a smile.

"As-salamu alaykum. How can I help you, Sidi?"

The man smiles, "I was just hoping you, as an arm of the law, could assist in a minor matter regarding a... misappropriated... belonging. I would not go so far as say stolen. I believe in good faith the current holder did not know it belonged to me."

(Perception/Investigation one roll but two TNs to potentially beat 37 and 68)

"Is that so? I'd need to know more about the issue to take an appropriate action."

EM3. Investigation. VP. Hahaha that TN,: 7d10o10k4 26

(He is definitely a perfectly normal human being and Mekhem himself never spoke more truth)

The smile widens further, but surely a normal human amount of wideness and teeth, "A minor merchant in the city has come into possession of a pet of mine that I would dearly love to see returned. Things just aren't complete without him. Sadly I do not yet know the merchant's name so cannot approach him about the matter personally. I spotted them yesterday during the competition, I believe the merchant was selling pistachios, but sadly they were across the field and I could not reach them in time. I do not ask you to retrieve my pet, I am willing to compensate the merchant for his swift return, I simply need assistance in learning the identity of this man. In truth if you were so kind as to deliver the message for me then you would not even need risk his privacy of giving me his name if there is any such fear."

"I'd still need the names of both you and that merchant, Sidi." The man was so presumptuously verbose. While not entirely suspicious in itself, it made Aydi uncomfortable, but he hid it under the smile.

"You can call me zuK. As for the merchant, as I said, I do not know his name. That is the dilemma I am faced with. Sure, I could hire many to scour the market seeking him but you can see how that could be misconstrued as, perhaps, a threatening act. Were he to hide or flee I might never find reunion with my beloved pet. Thus I thought requesting the aid of an upstanding member of the city, one surely more suited to such a search than one such as I, would be best for all involved."

"And that pet is of what kind?" Aydi chose to stay on the matter.