Child of Ember - Chapter 26

"The Ronges have a small holiday cottage just the other side of the river. We should look there first."
The Ronges place is a small house, much smaller than Dolph's keep, but in much better repair. Dolph walks up and rings the bell, and is answered by a young child.
Not a child. A young man. Dolph looks at him. "Is Slim home?"
"I am sorry, Slim hasn't been seen in over a season," says the doorman. "Is there someone else that might be able to help you?"
Dolph frowned. His contact with the Ronges family was limited. "Is Keth home?"
"Keth went to the greenhouse to talk to Lord Botana."
"Thank you," Dolph said as he slipped a pair of silver coins to the doorman.
He looked at Dea, "Do you like flowers?"

"Yes, ofcourse.", Dea smiled " I love them.
We Maidens take care of the palace garden in Abdok.
It is a very peace-giving activity, except when you have to cut the blood roses, of course."
She winks at Celestia on her little joke.
"Who is this Lord Botana? Not a Ronges, I suppose?"

"Lord Botana Hajime comes from far across the sea, the land he comes from is ruled by feudal warlords, and surrounded by a sea of poison. Hajime is a good man, I often practice the art of self defense with his daughter Ishi. He is a newly come lord, hid fortune revolves on foriegn imports and exotic plants and spices."

The greenhouse is filled with sweet smelling flowers and the scent of soil and water. The humid warmth wraps around you as you step inside. The temperature is a vivid contrast to the cool air outside.
Neat rows wind through beds of exotic plants. It is in the soil of one of these beds where you find a tiny asian man, is hands tilling the soil, weeding the plants and sewing seeds. The man is of slight build, and dressed in robes of flowing gold and red silk in an oriental dragon motif. A thin rat tail mustache and wispy gotee adorn a face beneath a hat that looks like nothing more than a flattened, stretched cone. His eyes are his most remarkable feature, they are the pure white orbs of a man long gone blind.
As you approach he straightens his posture, "Welcome Dolph. If you are looking For Ishi, She is away taking care of business with the Reniers. But I expect her back soon," He tilts his head slightly. "I see you have brought friends."
"Forgive me Hajime, but this is no social call."
"These are my associates, Dea and Celestia. They are helping me in an investigation..."
"About the Flaming spirit? I had heard, though I know nothing about it."
"Actually I was looking for Keth Ronges."
"AH, master Keth was here earlier. There is to be a dance tonight and he wanted to by some flowers for the young woman he was escourting."
"Do you know where he is now?"
"I am afraid I do not. Perhaps you might try the Flying Fish?"
Dolph looks at the two women he was escourting. "Shall we?"

Dea nods absentmindedly, as she looks at the plants and flowers around her.
"A nice collection of plants, Lord Hajime.
Do you also plant Turtle Weed?"

"A rare and delicate bloom," he says with a smile. "Many of my customers ask for it. I also have maiden scarf which works almost as well, but has a sweeter flavor."

"Medicine shouldn't be sweet. It's not candy.
Well, we have a busy schedule, but I will return later for some weed, if possible, for Faith's tea."
She paused at the entrance.
"You notice a lot, Lord Hajime. More than most people who can see. It may be of no consequence, but... did you glimpse who this Keth is courting tonight?"

"Claudia Renier," he says without hesitation. "I could tell by the scent of her perfume. It is very rare, only a handful of girls wear it. My daughter makes perfume from the blossoms in my greenhouse, and it is one of the scents only she makes," he pauses in thought.
"I believe my daughter may have known the woman whose death you are investigating."

"I assume you mean Isabella? In that case we may well like to talk to her.
Maybe you can introduce me to her - Ishi, yes? - later, when I return."
Dea nods at Celestia and Dolph.
"Let's go the Flying Fish. It's the tavern with that dead demon on the wall, right?"

Dolph nods. "After you," he says.

Dea casts a last look at the plants, then walks out, turning towards the city center.
"So... the Reniers and Ronges are on good terms then? Powerful families, yes?"
She speaks to her friends but it seems she is not really expecting an answer.

"Both families have old ties to the land. The renier's are more powerful because of their numbers. Many people dont even realize that the Ronges exist. The Ronges tend to quietly take care of bussiness, and they tend to be heavily religious. Their ancestor was a powerful priest of Ezra, and led many of the demihumans from slavery in Falkovnia. He is the Patron Saint of Demihumans. Of those that worship Ezra anyway."
"The relationship between the two families is cool. They avoid one another for reasons I wont go into. They tend to be rivals in all things. Their family is larger than their Halfling kin, they often adopt orphans into their family. The Ronges are good people, but the Reniers are the ones who rule here. But with Jaquiline sick and her sister incharge, that may change. The ROnges are coming to power, Politically if in no other way. If things dont change there is going to be a subtle Coup in the powerstructure of the land in the next few months."

"I think I understand that. Family bonds. Power focuses by blood ties. Tough to break."
She pauzes, her steps bringing her to the market, where the Fish can be seen in the morning sun. She turns to look at her friends.
"Some people seem to believe that someone is killing the nobles of Mortigny, or those they care about. Severing the bonds that hold the power, as it were. Interesting theory, not?"

Dolph nods, "Power can often be found in blood."

"Well, let's see if we can find how our Ember Child got involved in this." She turns to the Fish and walks inside, tossing a few coins in the bouncer's hand.

The bouncer nods a warm greeting to you as you enter. Dolph looks at you, "So where should we start?"

"Let's just look around for the hobniz. There shouldn't be too much of them around. Keth IS a hobniz, yes?"

"Yes, though he looks like a short human."

"Hmmm.. yes. He'll be not too hard to notice."
Dea checks the tables as she walks towards the back, the most likely place a man and his consort would go to sit down. She casts around to see if she can see the serving wench Griffen turned up with. Maybe that ranger was hanging out with her?

She sees him sitting with an attractive woman in the corner. He doesnt seem to notice either her, Celestia or Dolph as the three of them approach.

Dea walks up to the table, taking in the woman, who look quite like the Renier woman they met earlier.

As Dea aproaches, the conversation comes to a halt. The woman gives her a scowl, "Is there something I can help you with?"
Her companion is a bit more friendly, "Dolph, you old Dog! Come join me for a cup! You MUST introduce me to these two lovely ladies!"
Dolph smiles warmly at the greeting, "I am sorry to say but I am on bussiness as a Knight of the realm..."

Dea frowned. Lovely? Men didn't change much, she reflected. No matter what land or race.
She nodded to the man, then nudged Dolph in the middle of his sentence.
"I don't think the lady here is interested, Dolph.", she smiles, ignoring the woman's annoyed looks. "We might handle this in private as not to bore her?"

THe young man raises his eyes inquisitively, "I suppose so," he turns to his female companion, "If you will excuse me?"
She waves him away, "Just hurry back my love."
He leads the group off to a secluded booth and gestures for them all to sit, then seats himself before pulling the curtain for privacy. The interior is dark and smells of spilled spirits and things you would rather not imagine. The seats are slightly sticky, leading your mind down paths you would rather not take.
"So what is this all about?" Asks the 'Hobbniz', breaking out of some rather disgusting contemplations.

Dea waits for one of her companions to take charge, but they seem equally stumped at what to do next.
"Well then."
She bows to the halfling, "I am the Maiden Vanitas, also referred to as Dea. Please excuse us interrupting your rendez-vous.
We are looking into the history of a tortured soul, who we hope to release from her sorrowful existence, and we hope you can help us. You must well have heard of the lady Louisa Miller?"

He nods,"What do you mean about a tortured soul?"

"Louisa is... not at peace. Her spirit lingers.
She is... upset, and we belive she is hunting those who killed her.
We try to find a way to put her soul to rest, but we have to find out more about her first.
We heard she had a flirt with your brother. Maybe this is painful but we would need to know what happened that night, at the carnival.
And what it was Lucian gave her."

Forthcoming