The alchemy guild seemed peaceful and not busy at all, so it was just a normal day. He made his way to the basement. He did not knock and just went in. The basement was dark and gloomy as usual. He made his way over to Gettafix who was hard at work at the bench.

He made his approach slowly in fear or bumping against something or startling all the animals. He walked up till right behind Gettafix and looked what the man was doing. It seemed he had two frogs on the work bench with him and a suction tube in his hand. He was about to talk when Gettafix beat him to it.

“Are you real?” Not this again Tinker thought to himself

“Yes, same as the last time you asked me”

“No need to be cute about it. I ask to make sure if you are really here in the flesh and not to haunt me, like the others.”

Others, does that mean there was more than one? “No I am here because I am done with the quest you sent me on.”

“That is good. I send many out for quests but so little return. Remind me what task I gave you again?” Tinker now knew this person was crazy and who ever put him in charge was clearly bribed or blackmailed to do so.

“You sent me to get venom sacks, I brought them back for you.” Tinker walked to him and handed it over.

Quest Complete. Reward is that Gettafix will pass his knowledge to your Alchemy Book.

Quest updated: Become Tristan’s student. Stage 4

“Ah yes, now I remember. Hand me over that scroll and book so I can do it. Have you decided what you wanted to do in the future? I can use a student like you that gets the work done and does not die at the first sign of danger.”

*Ting*

You have received a job offer!

If you accept it, you will take a role on as Student for the alchemist Gettafix. You will become a member of the alchemy guild and receive a monthly salary. In addition you will be able to use and make use of all the services provided by the alchemy guild. Will you accept his job offer?

“O HELL no, there is now way I am going to work for a man that goes through students like I do toilet paper.”

“That saddens me, if you change your mind or come across a rare creature, come and see me.”

Tinker never agreed to that and was all too happy to leave once Gettafix was done with his book. He went up the stairs to room 305. He decided best to check up on Tristan before he ventures over to room 302. He knocked and was told to enter. There Tristan sat at his deck busy with papers, Tinker could not help but feel most of these alchemist never make potions instead they are busy with papers or frogs or whatever all day long. He took a seat across Tristan waiting for him to finish.

“Ahh Tinker, how are things?”

“Good Tristan, I have returned from the Searing gorge with a lot of extra venom sacks and Gettafix has used the scroll on my book. Can you believe he offered me a job right after telling me he sees ghosts and loses students by the dozen.”

“Yes, he is definitely not the most popular of people around here but the man knows his alchemy. Think it has been a decade now since the ghost of a student of his came and haunt him.”

“Really, you are kidding me right? Ghosts do not exist.”

“Well ghosts are like spirits and there are many different types of spirits in our world. Think the term ghost refers to the spirit of a human and is usually associated with revenge. Not sure of that, maybe someone else knows.”

“How do things like this happen?”

“Not sure, maybe a curse or the person that dies feels there are still things to do and stays behind to complete the task. In the case of the ghost that came for Gettafix, it seemed like he wanted revenge or peace of some kind.”

“Maybe you should start this story from the beginning.”

“All right, I cannot remember the man’s name, but like so many before him Gettafix sent him to collect samples. Eager to please he left. He was to collect cockroaches in a cemetery. As I remember there were many Crypts over there so he had his pick of where he wanted to look for them. Like so many other students that will start to follow this trend he never returned. Life went on for a few months till Gettafix started to complain that there are noises and disturbances down in the basement where he works.

We all assumed he inhaled something to give the illusion. Maybe the animals and little monsters he keeps finally got to him. After a few more weeks of complaining we finally had enough and went down to the basement to investigate. At first glance we found nothing, heard nothing out of the ordinary. We were about to stop when Gettafix came down to the basement to ask how things are coming along. When he entered there was rattling of cages, books fell from shelves and a host of other spooky things. We tried following the noises and happenings but no success. We set traps, drank potions to enhance our senses, illuminated the entire room but still no results. Than I had the idea to use magic to cast a detect spell I learned ages ago. After that it all made sense, I detected a spirit and could see it. It was the man sent to the cemetery. We tried talking to it but we had no success.

After a few more hours we came to a few conclusions. That the spirit only seems to see Gettafix and that it cannot talk. It turns out a person needs air in lungs or magic to talk. It seemed the ghost had neither. The little magic he did posses he used to shake items about and that’s it. Gettafix tried casting his calm spell on it to no effect and after that he tried talking to it. It was odd to behold, whenever he spoke the ghost would stop what he is doing and look at him. But the look was more along the line of that a baby gives when you make noise. It seems like he is listening but he cannot talk back and his mind does not understand what you are saying. Since we could not get anything done after that we in listed the help of the mages guild. They sent a couple of mages and wizards over. They had 3 suggestions, kill the ghost, trap it in a soul gem or communicate with it. Since we knew the fellow we did not want to kill it or trap it forever in a soul gem. That only left communication. Naturally none of them knew how too and left us. They said they would send someone over from the mages guild the moment they figure out to talk with it.

The next few days we all left Gettafix and his ghost friend alone in the basement. Gettafix reached the point where he would just keep on talking so that the ghost would not wonder and mess up his lab. At night he would drink a custom made potion that puts him to sleep for 8 hours and resume the endless talking the following day. The Mages guild finally sent a person and we thought our problem would be solved. It turns out is extremely hard to communicate to a lost spirit or one of low magic properties. The first spell the wizard used was a spell that allows communication like we are doing. But instead of talking through our mouths we use our minds. The range is limited but it was not a problem then. We still got the same result. We each tried talking to it with no success only Gettafix had some success. The problem seemed that the ghost did not want to talk back. Our last resort was telepathy. The problem with that is that people think it is a lot like talking but in reality it is more than just sending words. It is about sending images and feelings. You may think it is an easy task but we have been talking all our lives. And we think faster than we are able to talk.

Here is a test for you, try and describe a battle for me between you and another warrior. You will start talking but in your mind you will let the images of said battle progress further, or let it stop, or lose focus and think of other images and then go back to the battle. It really is hard and that is even without the feelings added in. Those experienced in telepathy can limit and regulate what they send, but we would have no limits and as the images are thought up by the ghost, Gettafix would receive it. It was decided Gettafix should go first while the rest of us leave so that we cannot distract him.

Later he told me what happened. At first he was overwhelmed with images and feelings. The images were only there for an instant before they were replaced by others. Fortunately the images were not from his entire life, but from what Gettafix could deduce there were 4 major stories. At the start he did not know anything but after an hour or so he managed to put most of the images in these 4 stories. It seemed one story was the times he spent with his girl friend. Another was all the times he was seated at a table and his mother would bring food to him. The other images were at the cemetery where he was supposed to get the samples and the most of his images were of all the times he spent in the basement with Gettafix. He tried to focus more on the images from the cemetery to try and paint a picture of what happened. What he managed to put together was that he entered the crypt. Killed roaches and collected many samples.

Until he saw a standing skeleton with glowing green eyes. He tried to retreat but was surrounded by more skeletons. He tried to fight but was brought down fast. The skeletons did not kill him, only wounded him to the point where he could not run and was slowly bleeding to death. The last image showed was where he was lying on his back and a skeleton looking like a mage of some sorts killed him. Gettafix claimed the emotions and feelings of dying were so vivid he cried and screamed from the pain.

We contacted the warrior’s guild, church and mages guild to tell them of a possible undead army multiplying in a nearby location. It took them a better part of a month to kill the thousands of undead and to cleanse all the dead bodies, grounds and bones. Sometime during that month the ghost disappeared, the only explanation was that his remains had been cleansed. Gettafix was locked up in his room here on the 3rd floor. After that the man changed, he became more distant from students and all of us. I think on some level he feels responsible for this. He could not for see the hordes of undead at the cemetery and after he experienced dying in the truest of sense he stopped caring about everything accept his work. Only recently is he showing signs of improvement.”

Tinker had died before and assumed the real thing will be so much worse and more painful, but to experience such things and live can truly change a person. After hearing the story a lot more of Gettafix as a person started to become clear for him.

Tinker needed a distraction of this sad story so he left Tristan and made his way over to room 302. He knocked and was told to enter. The man sitting at his desk was young compared to the other people he had met. If he would guess he would think the person was 45 years of age. After introductions and Tinker telling him of the book and what he needed from him the man, he took a moment to think.

“Alright I have a task for you. It is not something I would normally ask of someone but maybe a fresh face is what I need. I need you to go and investigate how Judy Maximuss is making my product, who is supplying it to her and you need to put an end to it.”

Complete a task for council member Jim.

Go investigate the decreases to his business, he claims the Maximuss mercantile company are to blame.

Difficulty level: E

Quest requirements: Must be someone new to the capital of the Heaven Kingdom

Reward is getting Jim to use the scroll for the Alchemy book

Failure will result in Jim rejecting your request.

“Yes I will look into it, is there more you can tell me?” Tinker thought that he needed more information because if he fails this quest he will also not be able to become Tristan student.

“First what you need to know is what I do here, with my alchemy skills I create more people oriented potions, powders, slaves or solutions and even the odd elixir. My area is more specific and it is for the people that magic cannot help. For example if a person needs a salve to help strengthen the skin, fight aging or help hair growth I am the guy you come and see. Most popular item I sell is a potion that helps men achieve erections. Many of the rich and Lords need them for their personal life. It is mostly those with multiple mistresses or that really have trouble down there that buy. I do not have a big sign that tells people I sell them, I work discreetly and my cousin sells it at his shop so that those that want to keep it secret and not make others suspicious.

The name of the shop is Dazine Wares. He sells a bit of everything that people would need that’s not useable in battle. As you can imagine the amount of money people would pay for a great sex life it good. I won’t be able to retire of all the money I make but it helps to have gold for rainy days or exotic items. I am not going to give you a list of the specific ingredients, then with some luck and time you will also become my rival. I can mention one plant they would need. It is called Berberidaceae or the street name is rowdy lamb herb. Now go and find out what is going on, once you know who is to blame come back to me with a solution, that we can discuss our next plan of action.”

“Yes sir, a last question. Is there a time limit involved?”

“Not really no, I am still making money, just not as much as I use to. So until I stop making money you have time to figure it out.”

With that said he was off. Outside the room he took his book to look if there was a Berberidaceae in it. It was no shock there was nothing. He went over to Tristan to ask what he might know of the plant. At first Tristan did not recognize the name and asked for more details. When he added the street name for it Tristan actually laughed for a brief second.

“Ah yes, the rowdy lamb herb. Funny story it is not an herb but a weed according to classifications. Guess the local people that used it long ago thought of it as an herb, since it’s helpful. They grow in high altitudes in warmer places. So think along the lines of your Stormy peaks but just lower and warmer. There are places like that all over the Kingdom and most of them have the plants. It is hard to cultivate them and they just don’t have the same potent effect if you grow them in the green houses. Thus all those that are used are those that grow in the wild and get harvested by people climbing mountains.”

He was not sure if that information would prove useful but it was a start. He left and opened his party chat to hear their opinions. To his surprise all of them were offline so he was flying solo on this. After asking for directions to the Maximuss building he arrived. The building looked like it had a medium store room and a shop to the side where you can go do your business. If they did not have magic bags to put items in he assumed the store room would have been 5 times the size. He stood outside in the streets to watch the building. He kept an eye mostly on the store room doors. After about 3 hours only 2 merchant wagons arrived and left again. Since items in wagons and inventory could not be seen he was unable to see anything. He moved closer in the hope he might be able to get a glimpse of what was going on inside but no success. It occurred to him that not all merchants use wagons. Only those that sell in bulk would use wagons. Further any person that entered the side store could be the person that was transporting the plant. Thanks to magic a person can carry a lot of things and it will only look like your backpack is of normal size.

This approach was getting him nowhere. He would need to rethink his approach. He left to get some food and think. In cities they rarely made food. They either stopped at inns or made excess when they were in dungeons for later use. While eating lamb with a nice side of creamy potatoes he thought of possible plans. His last plan would be to walk into the store and ask them about the plants and potions but that will most likely back fire. He could hang around more at the building and hope something happens but he was not confident that would work. The other plan he thought might work was to follow any old rich looking Lords that leave the building. But if he does that he would have to wait for the night time to see if they use the potion. Also in this plan he would have to sneak on estates and dodge guards and hope the person drinks a questionable potion in the light by a window.

Another plan that won’t work, he thought he could maybe talk or bribe the workers in the store room. The problem was that there were not many workers. A person can transfer items from one inventory to another if both parties agree to the trade and there is enough space to accept the items. Thus a merchant can come and dump items over to the store room bags. From there they can be removed or resorted to other bags. You will only need one or two strong men for the odd big item that needs transporting once it out of the bags. His best bet would be to talk to the person in charge of the store room records.

It took the better part of an hour to ask who had records of the store room that was not lady Judy, he tried to ask is so it does not seem suspicious and only asked people that did not work there. Sorting out who the people that worked there, took the bulk of his time. It turned out the Lady Judy kept a copy of the records and also a man named Adam. An employee described Adam so Tinker waited for him to leave the business before he made his approach. Adam was about 2 blocks away before Tinker walked up to him to talk.

“Good day, are you Adam?”

“Yes, who is asking?”

“I am Othello, It seemed I had just mist you back at the trading company. They told me you are the man I need to talk to if I want something specific.”

“That is true, the Lady Judy as at the store right now, she will be able to help you, as you can see I am off duty.”

He had to think fast. In his mind he played out the conversation between them, everything went smooth from the fake name till the end part where he gave him the information Tinker wanted.

“Um yes, she was busy with a private meeting that was going to take long, so someone suggested I ask you, but you had just left.”

“All right, are you a new client or do you have an account with us?”

“My uncle has an account but I am new.”

“Very well, what is his name and what do you want?”

“The name is John Smith and I want to ask about a certain item.”

“I do not recall that name, but then again I focus on the store room and others handle the accounts. Well speak up about the item.”

“I am looking for a plant by the name of Berberidaceae or rowdy lamb herb. Do you have any in supply?”

“It does not sound familiar. I can maybe look in the books when I am back, but that will only be later tonight. Best go ask the Lady Judy to help you out.”

“No I think I will wait for you. I am already late for another appointment so I will see you later.” They shook hands and Tinker was off. He was close to the guild house so he decided to head over there. Upon arrival he put on his coat and took a seat at the table in the corner. The guild did not seem busy, as a matter of fact it seemed nearly empty. There were only 3 other people. At his corner table he took out his leather tool kit, extra leather and his leather armour. He started braking and repairing it. He was so focused he did not notice a person walked right up to him and started to talk.

“Tinker buddy, what are you doing?”

“O Sorry Major, just working on my leather working while I wait for night fall.”

“It is already night fall. You busy with a quest?”

“Still not late enough I am afraid and yes, working on a quest which is right up you ally as a matter of fact.”

“Really do tell.” He took a seat at the table.

“Well I need to obtain information or evidence that the Maximuss trading company are making a certain product. The only clue I have is one of the ingredients they use. I tried casing the joint but that did not work. So after a while I managed to set up a meeting with the store room master sometime tonight when the boss is not around.”

“Sounds like you got everything under control.”

“Not really, that was the easy part. The ingredient I am looking for is rare and will not be in large amounts. Also there is the chance that he does not know of it, or the other chance he knows and does not want to tell me. I am not sure how to approach this.”

“Yes things like there are tricky to say the least. There are 3 ways you can go about this. Ask the person and hope they are in a talkative mood. Of course I would not suggest this because merchants value their intelligence and privacy. The other is to convince him to tell you. That can be done with a bribe, blackmail or forcing them to tell you. The last resort is tricking them into telling you. For example you force them to boast or give other relative innocent information. The other example I can think of is take those sweet cherries you got from Reeseville. If you were tracking them and want to go about it discreetly. You can instead ask the store room master about his shipments and where they recently had come from.”

“So you are saying I must know where the plants come from and ask about shipments from that area?”

“Well that is one way of doing it. That is why the person can unknowingly tell you if the plants are there or not. There is always the risk that there are a lot of other things coming from those areas that are not your supplies, but you will have to sort through the information.”

“I think that can work. The plant get’s harvested high in warm mountains. I do not know what other items they will send to the capital but it can’t be much.”

“Good luck. One more thing, remember merchants like money above all else. So have your bribe ready and word your questions right. Ask them if they know of said plant or shipment from the town and rather not show me your books and log from said town or shipment. You want them to feel they are doing little wrong and not betraying the boss and loosing the company money.”

“All right, thanks for the advice.”

“No problem, and one more thing, when you mislead someone with information I find the best way is to make it as close to the truth but not the whole truth. Best to not to tell them everything and let them fill in the blanks and little pieces. If you dealing with a merchant type and the information is sensitive, it is best you make him put the pieces together. Since he worked hard to piece all the information together, he believes it that much more. Let me know how it goes.”

He agreed to do just that and was packing up his items and putting them back when a man stepped up from nowhere and took a seat. He did not speak and was clearly waiting for Tinker to leave. As he was walking away he heard Major speaking. “It went well Dismas?”

Outside it was not late at night and Tinker knew the only man he could get the information he needed from, was Tristan. He remembered Tristan once told him he lived at the alchemy guild. He would go and pay him a late night visit. Over at the Alchemy guild he was not surprised to see it open. Since players played any time, most important places were open 24 hours a day. The Npc had to sleep so the master’s offices of the third floor were all closed till the morning. He approached the front desk and spoke to the woman on duty.

“Evening I am looking for Tristan’s room, where can I find it?”

“Sorry young man, the master’s room are off limits, come and see him again in the morning.”

“No you don’t understand I am training to become his student and need his guidance.”

“Yes and I am the queen of the Heaven Kingdom, can you prove it?”

“Yes.” He showed her his quest for becoming Tristan student.

“My apologies, the masters do not like when we give personal information out on them. As for you I did not know who you were. You understand right?”

Funny how she went from the queen to a very apologetic and humble person all of a sudden. ” Yes I understand, you were only doing your job. Now can you tell me where I can find his room?”

“Room 402, again my apologies.”

He just left her and made his way up to the room. He could tell the room was lit by seeing the light come through the door. He knocked and heard Tristan voice telling him to enter. The room was not very big, it had a bed, book shelf, cupboard, cooking place, table and a few chairs. It was surprising neat and well kept, could have used a woman touch but that was not important.

“Tinker, what brings you here to my house?”

“Not much, I was hoping to ask you a few questions again.”

“Certainly.”

“Can you tell me more about the region and the names of the places where the largest amount of rowdy lamb herb grows?”

“That again, well there are 2 places in the Heaven Kingdom I know of that has more of the weed than other places. At our south border there is a big mountain range called the Hudson mountain range, and closer by about 1 week from here are the Red Ridge mountains. The soil there is red and the entire mountain range looks red. In addition the red soil is fertile and more than a few different plants strive there. Not much more I can tell you I am afraid. Want to stay for dinner, was about to start.”

“Thank you, think I know all I need to know right now. You have done so much for me, let me return the favor and make you dinner, have you ever had Spider stew? It tastes like chicken…”

He left Tristan late that night, they talked and ate and shared tails till he had to go sleep. He judged it late at night enough for Adam to be on duty. After arriving at the shop only Adam and another was there. Tinker had time to think how he wanted to play this, he had his bribe money but out of fear that the person would reject it or know nothing he would only use it as a last resort. He did not want to lead by asking directly about the plant for in case Adam was part of it and then he would never tell. Some people take loyalty way to serious and if he gets on Adam’s bad side he could fail the quest. His plan was to make contact, butter up to Adam. Find out if there are caravans or wagons going from here to Red Ridge mountains and Hudson mountains. Ask if there is a person working here who can use plants. After that things will be made clear or he will use plan b, b as in bribe.

As he entered Adam stopped what he was doing. “Well met mister Othello, your other appointments went well I assume?”

“Extremely. You guys do not seem very busy. Slow night?”

“The nights are usually quiet, only the odd caravan arrives or few clients stop by. With the outlanders here that stay awake for days and run around at all hours we stay open for.”

“Yes, just the other day my uncle and I were talking how they keep unnatural hours. Good for business on the one had but too much time to make trouble in.”

“Hahaha, I agree.”

*Ting familiarity with Adam increased

“Now let us get down to business.”

“A yes, my uncle has interest in two parts and we like to know how frequent do your caravans go to the regions. As we understand your shipment routes are vast and the safest.”

“That is true, we guarantee delivery of goods, now tell me what type of business are we talking about and which are the two regions?”

“I fill say this, the product can only be used by a select few and they are on the rare side. The places are Red Ridge and Hudson mountains.”

“The Hudson mountains are far away, we do not have caravans that far away but it can be arranged. As for Red Ridge we have caravans that cycle through there every 3 weeks.”

“Very good, have you recently received a shipment Red Ridge?”

“No, but in a few days time it will arrive. Do you wish to import from Red Ridge or export to it as well?”

“Both, I have concerns that others might jump on this opportunity and if our sources are correct some might already have.”

“Really. Red Ridge, fertile soil. Good weather. Must be fruit your uncle wants to plant and export or herbs.”

Tinker tried to show surprise on his face. “Well you did not hear that from me. A lot of money these days in plants. All the outlanders want potions to give them the edge and they will pay a lot for it. So you can imagine we want to have full market control. Do you know if plants from that region are already coming in?”

“Afraid I do not know, the only other people that might have interests there are the Collins mercantile group. Of course after us they are the second largest merchant group here.”

“Yes second, that is why I am here and not there. Are you sure the records do not have logs about plants coming from there?”

“Sir I cannot violate the privacy of our clients by sharing such information with you.”

It was now or never, he had to use the money for a bribe but how to word it that he will take the bribe.

“Mister Adam, I am not asking for all the records, I just want you to check the books and see if a plant by the name of Berberidaceae has been coming in. I need to know if we have competition. According to my uncle if we have full market control we can look at profits around 500 gold a week, after taxes. But that can only be achieved with full market control and a merchant group that can secure on time delivery of our supplies.” As he said the last part he gave a bag with 50 gold in it to Adam.

He could see the shock on his face. He did not seem to except so much. He could see that Adam was having conflicting emotions after that. This was going to be the moment of truth.

“Well I can have a look, but just this once.”

“Very well, we can keep this between us I assume?”

He nodded and left to a closet looking room. 5 minutes later he returned. “Sorry, no plants by that name. There are two others.” He read the names but it was not what he was looking for.

“Do you people have somebody that works with the plants? Our negotiations with the Alchemy guild is going bad” he tried to say with a tone that sounded like frustration. “They are difficult and want a minimum of 75% on all potions sold.

“No we don’t have I am sorry. But now that you mention the alchemy guild I have been seeing one of their young members here lately. He is friends with Joey, he works here and helps with the storeroom. Joey is not here right now.”

“No matter, our first harvest will most likely be in 1 month. I will keep you updated on our progress and we can discuss our beneficial business later on as we progress.”

“Very well, hope to be hearing from you soon.”

He walked out and after he rounded the first corner he logged out.

That night in bed Scot thought of what his next plan of action should be. He did not think the bribe will yield no results. At least Adam would not betray him or notify the wrong people any time soon. His best bet now was to talk to Joey and maybe spy on the next shipment that comes in from Red Ridge. He was back to being nearly broke. That 50 gold bribe took a lot out of him, best to figure out a way to make money tomorrow.

He logged back in and calculated the shipment will be coming in tonight. He was offline for the better part of 2 days. It seemed the others were not online yet. They would most likely log on in the next 8 hours or so. They would catch the sunny morning while he needs to go sneak about in the night.

He stood in the dark a good distance away from the storeroom. He waited for the caravan to come. After a good 2 hours he saw the caravan arrive. Once it entered the storeroom he went closer and tried to look into the window. Before he could a shifty looking fellow walked up to the door and knocked. He was looking about to make sure not anybody saw him. Unfortunately he made eye contact with Tinker. Tinker at this time tried to pretend he did not notice and walked onwards around the corner. He gave a good 3 second count and peaked back around the corner. The man was no longer there and went in.

Tinker was still thinking should he go peak in the window or wait for said shifty person to come out. He reluctantly went from his hiding place to peek inside the window. After a few seconds the door swung open, he barely had time to hit the ground and become one with the shadow next to him. The person that came out did not see him and was hastily making a b line away from the store room. Tinker decided to follow him. The person went back to the Alchemy guild, once there he made his way up to the second floor and that is where Tinker lost him. At least now he knew the person was here. He went to the lobby of the alchemist guild and worked on leatherworking during the night. He was sitting in the corner and hoped the person would reveal himself. He could not see the person well in the night but he remembered him to be tallish, skinny, eyes wide part and a long stride in his walk. He hoped that would be enough to identify the person.

During the morning many people came down the stairs and there might have been a person that fit his description but that person seemed to be broader in the shoulders. Finally the person he was looking for came down. He seemed normal enough. Talked to a few people and stepped out. He talked to the same lady he did a few nights ago. It seemed she is working the morning shift now. He waited a minute before walking to her.

“Morning, in what room does that fellow you just talked to live?”

“Do you mean Ned? The skinny one?”

“Yes thank you, I forgot his name.”

“Room 209, must I leave a message for him or tell him you are looking for him? You had just missed him.”

“No need, I will talk to him later, he is expecting me.”

Now knowing what to expect, he went to the room. The room was locked and he did not want to break it down. He could wait and confront Ned or he could go talk to Jim. He thought it best to tell Jim what he knows. After explaining all the details to Jim he just took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.

“Well I did stop using the Maximuss trading company to import the ingredients and now the Collins company are doing it. Not sure how this Joey person picked up on it, but if Ned put him up to it, it made more sense and it adds up. We need evidence though. Let us go to his room and have a look.”

“I have tried, it is locked.”

“Like it should be, all masters have a master key that opens all locks on level 2 and lower.”

They went to the room and entered. Nobody seemed to mind them going in or noticed them really. Inside Jim looked around and made his way over to the small work table. After a brief search he stopped.

“By my living tree sack, it is him. I detect the smell of a finished potion and there is residue left over from where he worked. Ned was a student of mine and he always did not clean his equipment after he was done. He must have seen me make it or figured out how I did it by taking my ingredients. None the less. Put a stop to this.”

“Why must I do it?”

“Well I am a master here and cannot get him kicked for making illegal potions which he learned from me. Neither can I murder him. So you figure it out and if this gets back to me I will deny everything, naturally.”

“Fine”

Tinker sat in the room thinking up a plan.

Later Ned came back to his room and was a bit surprised that his door was unlocked. He entered and he saw a man sitting in his chair with two swords on his lap. He was fully clothed for battle in his leather armour.

“Shut the door” Tinker always wanted to say that in a demanding bad ass voice.

Ned complied. He was not looking eager or pleased with his current situation. “Who are you and what do you want.”

“Who I am, is not important, what is important is that your side business ends today.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about”

“Really, then why do you sneak over to the Maximuss storeroom whenever a caravan arrives for Red Ridge, why does your work bench smell like you just made a potion with the Berberidaceae. Lastly why don’t you clean said plant and others properly from your equipment when you are done?”

Ned glanced over to his work bench. “Don’t worry I cleaned it for you while you were gone.”

“You can’t bully me to try and make me stop my business. I won’t give in to fear.”

“Really, then why can I barely hear you over your trembling voice?”

“If you report me I will take master Jim with me, If you kill me they would kick you out of the guild. I have seen you, I know you are trying to become master Tristan’s student and maybe they would toss him out once they hear his favorite did all these bad things.” Ned was starting to gain confidence and decided to bluff his way out of this. “And do not forget about my Father he will…”

That was about as far as he got before Tinker killed him with a fast and deadly strike. Tinker looked over the dead corpse. He did not want to do it and was hoping his bluff of being a bad ass would convince Ned to give up his side business. It just showed that no matter how well you plan things, it can go bad at anytime.

In the time he waited for Ned he thought that this might happen, he did not plan for it but here he was. He took out some poison plants he got and grind them up and boiled water. After that he mixed the water with tea in the room along with the poison. He then drank of the poisoned tee himself and put in neatly down next to him. He waited till his health dropped a good amount before he drank his multipurpose antidote. He first took most of the plants from Ned inventory which he did not recognize along with the Berberidaceae. Now would come the hard part.

He burst out of the room yelling murderer. As people came rushing they saw him in the hall with common cloths and swords in hand. When enough people and a few masters arrived he started to explain what had happened. He claimed that Ned tried to poison him and right before Tinker had killed him he said things along the line of Tinker not being worthy to become a member of the guild and so on. As people arrived on the scene it looked like Tinker killed Ned and his word was his only defence. The guild however started to investigate the room. The tee was still warm, it was in fact poisoned. Tinker had lost a good portion of health. The work bench had said poison left over in it. Most seemed to fit but all they needed was motive. Tinker supplied that.

They were not truly convinced but Tinker said he met Ned and that he asked him over a few days ago. He told him to meet him at his room. He assumed it was for a quest or something so he came when he could. He asked a lady in the lobby for the room number so he could go see him when he gets back. Their conversation at the start was about how Tinker is enjoying the guild and how his tasks are going. He claimed that when he noticed his health was dropping he attacked Ned and drank and antidote as soon as possible. Before that Ned tone changed and it became harsher. His last words were that he was not worthy to be here.

In the end his story checked out. They could not find evidence that Tinker was the reason for hostility and that all his actions were in self defence. They concluded it was Ned that tried to kill him with poison but he failed only because he underestimated the health pool of Tinker. As for the exact reason, it died with him.

Tinker was not arrested and would do no jail time. His infamy increased but that was worth it. He made his way over to Jim’s room.

“The deed is done, his business is shut down”

“Indeed it is, good job with the fake murder scene. If I did not know, what I do, I would have been fooled like the others. Hand me over the Scroll and let us be done with our business.”

Quest Complete. Reward is that Jim will pass his knowledge to your Alchemy Book.

Quest updated: Become Tristan’s student. Stage 5

“Now the only problem is what do I tell the others if they ask what I did for you to complete a task?”

“Make something up, you are a smart boy.”

“Maybe I am, but not smart enough to fool Tristan when he asks”

“I think Tristan is well aware of what I use my plants for. When it comes to plants a person cannot get anything by him. Just tell him you got plants for me and spent time grinding, sorting and so on.”

“All right, guess that will have to do.”