Bride of Bahadir

”There were letters coming in before, then? Would it be too personal if we were to take a look at them?” Talliver asks.

”I don’t suppose we’ll get much from them, but I guess anything could help,” Strega replies. ”Maybe she left some sort of secret code in them.”

"If she was smart enough to leave a code like that, she'd've been smart enough not to marry him," the man mutters, but nonetheless nods and turns to leave. "I'll go get 'em, then. Be back soon."

Talliver watches the man leave, and once he’s out of earshot, mutters, ”it seems there’s no shortage of bad blood between the two of them, if I had to wager a guess.”

”Are we even helping the right person then?” Strega ponders aloud. She then looks at the other people around here. ”I already met the dwarf but I’m not yet acquainted with either of you. I’m Strega. It’d be nice to know who i’m working with.”

"I am Morgan Moonseeker, Lieutenant of this district's Guardhouse. Well, effectively former Lieutenant at this point, given my indefinite leave of duty," Morgan introduces herself.

"My name's Talliver Chadwick, ma'am. A pleasure to meet you," Talliver says, offering a hand.

Strega shakes Talliver’s hand. ”Pleasure to meet both of you,” she says before releasing her grip. She turns to Morgan. ”Hope the business that put you on indefinite leave wasn’t too nasty. I might have to do something about it were it to involve a real crime.”

"It was nasty, but not in that way. Just my own mistakes, costly enough my CO wanted me off duty," Morgan replies, shaking her head.

”Fair enough,” Strega replies. It’s quite clear from the look in her eyes that she is still curious but she promptly turns to Talliver. ”So what’s your deal, Tally?”

Talliver shrugs, ignoring the nickname he would no doubt be saddled with henceforth. "I'm just your every-day adventurer, really. I was told by an angel that I've the blood of the divine in me, so I sought to make good on that gift and return it to the people of the land. My journeys have led me here," he responds. "I bear the bow on my back, the sword at my side and the will of justice in my heart to aid all who need it."

”You sound like my mentor,” Strega says with a slight laugh. ”Positively dripping with virtuous resolve.”

"Thank you," Talliver says with a musical laugh of his own. "Will that be a problem?"

”If it were I probably wouldn’t be graduating as his squire to swear an oath of my own soon,” Strega replies. ”I might not have the same kind of fire in my heart, but I don’t stand by for injustice.”

Morgan looks at the dwarf, the only one who hadn't done an introduction yet. "So how 'bout you, what's your story?"

"No' much o' a story 'ere," the dwarf replies. "Jus' a restless ol' man feelin' tha empty nest."

"How about a name? Or would you prefer 'the Dwarf'?" Morgan asks.

"Sure thing," Morgan replies with a nod.

The man returns with a stack of letters in his hands. "Here they are."

Upon inspection, Estelle's letters are pretty much as her father had described: she sings the praises of Lord Bahadir, never giving any indication of abuse or any other sort of trouble. Incidentally, she also never mentions Lord Bahadir's given name, though she does make frequent mention of Salim, the lord's son from his previous marriage.

Inspection of the letter reveals nothing notable.

"Here's half your pay up front," says the man, handing each person a bag of coins. "I arranged transportation for you too. Got a friend of a friend who breeds griffons. He's kinda crazy, but his birds'll get you there. Go see him in the morning." He hands them a note with directions to the rookery.

Come the next morning, off they go. From their overhead view, they can see that the lord's game reserve is split evenly into two sections- grassland and forest, with a watering hole in the middle. The griffons drop them off in the grassland section, not too far from the watering hole.

Morgan looks over their surroundings, comparing the ground view to the view they had from the air. "The criminals I've dealt with in the past tend to prefer to stay out of sight, so it's highly unlikely the poachers will be out in this grassy side much. Besides, they undoubtedly know this terrain inside and out, which would make it easier for them to get the drop on someone in the trees," She says, turning her attention to the forested area across the way. "As such we should probably start over there. Normally I would advise a grid search, but given we don't know how many of them we're dealing with, we're rather lacking in numbers, and some of us seem less than inclined to close quarter combat, it's probably best if we stick together," She finishes.

Talliver nods, and adds, ”you make a good case, Morgan, but I’m sure I can get a bead on these poachers if you give me just a moment.”