Scarlett ignored the sarcasm in Aggy’s comment and began to tell the tale of Gravenhall’s sister school in the north.

At first his tale agreed with the one Aggy had told to Flem and Terri about human and elven settlement. Scarlett told of how elves and men had left the sanctuary of the Dragon's Teeth mountains and founded the town of Valleros. Soon after this they began to train four person teams of adventurers who took on the task of removing the ‘monsters’ from the lands surrounding the town. It was at this point that Aggy’s and Scarlett’s tales began to differ. According to Scarlett, not all of the settlers were comfortable with what was being done to the indiginous populace and this discomfort sowed the seeds for the establishment of Ravenhold.

While the majority of settlers viewed the scourge as the natural order of things, a smaller group thought more effort should be made to live in peace with the creatures they encountered. The friction between these different viewpoints slowly escalated until there were arguments, protests, and finally violence. In an effort to maintain the peace it was decided to establish two new colonies. The majority of the adventurers would travel south to found Gravenhall while the ‘peacemakers’, as they were known, would travel north and create Ravenhold.

Ravenhold was similar to Gravenhall in that it trained adventurers in the fightingh, magical, clerical and roguish arts, but how they employed those skills was quite different. They tried to make peace where possible, and to only use force when the settlers were being attacked. However this kinder, gentler approach meant that their expansion was rather limited compared to the settlements in the south and it wasn't long before Gravenhall's influence far exceeded their own. This wasn’t enough for Gravenhall, however, and through their rogues’ guild they tried to stamp out any mention of their sister school in the north. They were so successful in this endeavour that by the time Valleros got on its feet and began trading with the dwarves of the Dragon’s Teeth, not a word was mentioned about Ravenhold ever existing.

When Scarlett finished his story Terri was the first to speak. “I know that Aggy, and probably Flem, will think me a fool for doing so but I believe your story Scarlett. And for my part I forgive you for what happened in the warehouse in Providence. However I would like you to fill us in on why you were there, and why Nathaniel Briggson ended up dead with a dagger in his chest.”

Scarlett looked strangely touched by Terri’s faith in him. “Of course,” he replied. "But if you’ll allow me to, I’ll tell the story in order rather than jumping around.”

Terri nodded her assent and after a moment Scarlett continued.

“As I said, my grandfather sent me to Ravenhold to try to find out what Dartaniel the Black had learned about transformations and illusions. It took me almost two years of searching but eventually I found the information we were after. Buried deep in the Ravenhold library was the record of a magical spell that could reveal the effects of every kind of magical transformation or illusion known to man. It was so well hidden that I don’t think anyone at Ravenhold even knew it existed. I immediately left to return to Providence and arrived back six weeks ago with a copy of the spell and a list of the ingredients needed to cast it. You won't be surprised to know that one of the key ingredients is a piece of clothing that has been worn by the person, or one of their frequently used personal items, like a hairbrush.

I didn’t take this information to my grandfather directly as he’d insisted that we stop meeting in person. Instead we used a third person to communicate, a trusted friend of his called Nathaniel Briggson. He acted as the go-between for us and when I returned to Providence he carried the details of the spell to my grandfather. When you followed him to the warehouse that night he was bringing me a message from the professor.

"Nathaniel managed to tell me that the spell worked but he then immediately drew his dagger and plunged it into his own chest. When you three burst out from hiding I assumed you were part of the infiltration and were there to kill or capture me, and I responded accordingly. I am very sorry about that Terri."

Silence filled the room after Scarlett finished speaking. Finally Flem lifted his head and his face was grim as he began to talk. “And now you believe that there is a doppelganger impersonating Lord Dennyson and that they burned down our shop to destroy the suit we were working on. That’s a rather extreme step to take don’t you think?”

“Yes it was,” Scarlett replied. “And I couldn’t understand why the imposter would take such drastic measures until I overheard your conversation tonight. From what you said the doppelganger had already instructed your father to destroy any unfinished clothes that were being made for Lord Dennyson. Not exactly a surprising move if they knew that it was possible for the clothes to be used to reveal their deception.

From there, my guess is that your father did, in fact, meet with the imposter again in the weeks before the fire. I think Davoro made another attempt to rebuild the relationship with his old friend and offered to finish the clothes he had been working on. Clothes that the doppelganger thought were already destroyed. From there the imposter decided to take matters into their own hands and make sure the clothes were destroyed by burning down your tailor shop. I don’t think they intended to kill your father Flem. But it is possible they thought Davoro had kept the clothes for reasons other than friendship. I imagine that severe paranoia goes hand in hand with stealing someone’s identity.”

Everyone was quiet for a while as they pondered Scarlett’s story. Eventually Aggy cleared her throat and said, “Well, if that’s the end of your story it’s probably time you left so that we can have a talk about it.”

Scarlett smiled sadly at this abrupt dismissal before nodding and then turning around to climb over the rail of the balcony.

“Och, you may as well use the door,” Aggy said gruffly.

Scarlett accepted her offer and climbed in through the window before walking across the room and opening the door. “I know things are tough right now but I really hope that in the future we can be friends, or at least partners. It would be nice to be able to work with a team instead of on my own all the time.” With that he stepped into the hallway, closed the door and was gone.

Once the door closed Flem was the first to speak. "Given everything we’ve just heard I think we can agree that we're either being invaded by doppelgangers or we've somehow become part of the most detailed and elaborate ruse in history."

"You're right lad," Aggy said quietly, "and it doesn't take too much more guesswork to put the final pieces together. Briggson's dagger had a jewelled hilt so it could have been enchanted to cause the poor bugger to kill himself if he said the word 'doppelganger', or 'shapeshifter' or any number of other key words or phrases. Giving someone a beautiful jewelled dagger is a risky way of protecting your secret, but it is a subtle and safe way of doing it. All of the pieces fit together, we just have to decide if they are actual pieces of the puzzle or if we’re being led up the garden path."

Aggy turned to look at the dark eyed elf before speaking again. “How likely do you think it is that your father spoke with Lord Dennyson in the weeks before his death Flem?”

"Quite likely I'm afraid," Flem answered. "He was devastated by the breakdown in their friendship and I think he would have done just about anything to repair the breach between them. He could have spoken to Lord Dennyson about the suit or doing another fitting, for old times sake."

“So then,” Aggy said, “what we’ve got is an elaborate explanation that fits the facts from people we don’t trust. Any ideas on what our next step should be?”

When Flem answered his face held a fierce determination. “Our next step is to get some answers for ourselves. Regardless of whether he’s a doppelganger or not, Lord Dennyson’s behaviour today was completely out of character and I want to know why. So, I suggest we wait until dark and then pay him an unexpected visit.”