(no subject)
1.
The cobble-stoned streets are still wet, glistening after a slight evening rain. It is getting hard to see much of anything in places that are not lit with bright lanterns since the sun has sunk most of the way beneath the horizon. Even though it is starting to get late, the streets are hardly empty or quiet. Errand boys run around, deftly avoiding pedestrians, carriages and puddles with hardly a blink. Some street corners have become impromptu gathering places for groups of people chatting together. The driver of your carriage keeps swearing under his breath; gusts of wind steal most of the words away before they carry to your ears, but from what little you have been able to hear on the way here, you aren't missing much (unless you actually want to hear a grumpy driver curse the weather, streets, puddles on the streets, the sea, other carriage drivers, animals, people in general and investigators in specific). From somewhere further away, you can hear a drunken argument between three people.
In other words, it's a normal evening-turning-into-night in Levanna. You are still new to the city and especially this sprawling part of it, so you have been focused on trying to make out the general features of the buildings around you while listening to the sounds of the city. You almost fall off the bench of the carriage when the driver stops it and gives you a look over his shoulder.
"We're here," he says in a tone of voice that clearly means, 'get the hell off that bench and let me continue my work'.
"Thanks," you say, get off the carriage and start to reach for your wallet. You didn't get any money from your boss for the fare, but you should have enough to cover it. Whether you have enough to get back to the office or home is another matter, but before you can start to make calculations in your head, the driver gives you a flat look.
"You new? We have a deal with your office. I'll charge the fare to your agency." He gives your wallet a pointed look. "My guild is well aware of what befalls someone who double-charges you lot. I'm not getting caught up in that. Good evening."
You are faintly impressed the air hasn't frozen around him from the chill he projects in both his words and expression. He urges the beasts drawing the carriage to a trot. The carriage disappears down the street and behind more tall buildings.
Well, at least he didn't physically kick you off.
You shrug and turn to face the door in front of which the driver deposited you. The faded, weather-beaten and salt-scoured sign above reads Refuge from the Heavens. You can only wonder whether the murdered man felt like this place would offer him safe refuge from - from whatever it was he was trying to avoid.
Oh, yes. That is why you are here. A murder. As one of the newest members of the prestigious Levanna Investigation & Law Agency, you have been given instructions to come here and look into the murder of a prominent university professor who was better known for his bad temper than his academic achievements.
Your boss specifically handpicked you for this assignment. What made him do that?
A. I am the best for the job. Why wouldn't he have picked me?
B. My knowledge of magic. Not many people know much about magic these days, let alone can sense its presence.
C. I am well-liked by most people. There is something about me that seems to put people at ease and get them to talk to me more openly than they might to others.
D. Honestly, I think he just wanted me out of the way. My single-minded tenacity and stubbornness get on people's nerves at times, but it's more than worth it if it helps us solve more cases.
The cobble-stoned streets are still wet, glistening after a slight evening rain. It is getting hard to see much of anything in places that are not lit with bright lanterns since the sun has sunk most of the way beneath the horizon. Even though it is starting to get late, the streets are hardly empty or quiet. Errand boys run around, deftly avoiding pedestrians, carriages and puddles with hardly a blink. Some street corners have become impromptu gathering places for groups of people chatting together. The driver of your carriage keeps swearing under his breath; gusts of wind steal most of the words away before they carry to your ears, but from what little you have been able to hear on the way here, you aren't missing much (unless you actually want to hear a grumpy driver curse the weather, streets, puddles on the streets, the sea, other carriage drivers, animals, people in general and investigators in specific). From somewhere further away, you can hear a drunken argument between three people.
In other words, it's a normal evening-turning-into-night in Levanna. You are still new to the city and especially this sprawling part of it, so you have been focused on trying to make out the general features of the buildings around you while listening to the sounds of the city. You almost fall off the bench of the carriage when the driver stops it and gives you a look over his shoulder.
"We're here," he says in a tone of voice that clearly means, 'get the hell off that bench and let me continue my work'.
"Thanks," you say, get off the carriage and start to reach for your wallet. You didn't get any money from your boss for the fare, but you should have enough to cover it. Whether you have enough to get back to the office or home is another matter, but before you can start to make calculations in your head, the driver gives you a flat look.
"You new? We have a deal with your office. I'll charge the fare to your agency." He gives your wallet a pointed look. "My guild is well aware of what befalls someone who double-charges you lot. I'm not getting caught up in that. Good evening."
You are faintly impressed the air hasn't frozen around him from the chill he projects in both his words and expression. He urges the beasts drawing the carriage to a trot. The carriage disappears down the street and behind more tall buildings.
Well, at least he didn't physically kick you off.
You shrug and turn to face the door in front of which the driver deposited you. The faded, weather-beaten and salt-scoured sign above reads Refuge from the Heavens. You can only wonder whether the murdered man felt like this place would offer him safe refuge from - from whatever it was he was trying to avoid.
Oh, yes. That is why you are here. A murder. As one of the newest members of the prestigious Levanna Investigation & Law Agency, you have been given instructions to come here and look into the murder of a prominent university professor who was better known for his bad temper than his academic achievements.
Your boss specifically handpicked you for this assignment. What made him do that?
A. I am the best for the job. Why wouldn't he have picked me?
B. My knowledge of magic. Not many people know much about magic these days, let alone can sense its presence.
C. I am well-liked by most people. There is something about me that seems to put people at ease and get them to talk to me more openly than they might to others.
D. Honestly, I think he just wanted me out of the way. My single-minded tenacity and stubbornness get on people's nerves at times, but it's more than worth it if it helps us solve more cases.