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[Xanmyral]

"Chapters? ...I suppose it has been a good while, hasn't it. I have to ask though, did your education come with a literary emphasis? I'm a little surprised to hear time mentioned like that, usually those that do tend to be very involved writers." Despite the oddity of the phrase, Fezz pushed on, his excitement from getting his research back preventing him from letting Alec explain the whole of it.

"Alec mentioned that he had leads to who might have my reasearch! If it pans out, I might be able to get my trunk back or at least part of it soon. He mentioned one of them were in this city, although the others are a bit of a ways away though."

[CrimsonEon]

Alec leaned back and grinned.
: "I have friends in the trade industry. I've been asking around for the past few months about a certain trunk that may have been put into possession of a merchant from Riemond."
: "Nowadays traders are a very interconnected lot, they want to know who's a trustworthy buyer and who isn't. So the Trade Guilds tend to keep records and recommendations on people who are in the business to keep frauds out. Ask the right people who might have dealt with him, lo and behold, you've got a lead on a few potential transactions that give you a breadcrumb path to the merchant in question."

[freeformschooler]

: "I see. But... I dunno, Fezzrobe, this doesn't sound like your kind of thing, and I didn't imagine Music Man involved in sneaky trade whispers. Don't you think this is more a job for Broccoli?"

[Xanmyral]

"Ye--ah its not really my thing." The historian relented.

"Alec was the one who did all the work figuring that out. I... Wouldn't really have any idea of what to do if I tried this sort of stuff."

"To be honest if we find my trunk I hope we don't find the merchant who took it too. I'd just rather just not see him again to be honest, me yelling at him wouldn't solve much. Would probably be cathartic though..." Fezz sighed.

[Furtuka]

"Well I believe it goes something like...

Once there was a King by the name of Jerid. Now Jerid was known by many as a good king. Slight incompetent when it came to war, but good for the most part.
Buy anyways, Jerid had a beautiful daughter, one so beautiful and pure that he believed that no man was worthy of her. Of course word of her beauty got out, and the King knew that suitors would be coming.

So to keep them away from his daughter the King devised a series of trials that they would have to complete to obtain the hand of his daughter. Suitors from far and wide
Now one day, a scruffy looking peasant boy showed up to challenge the trials. Of course everyone at the court laughed at him, for how could he succeed where scores of more impressive suitors had failed.

The first trial was very dangerous. The suitor challenging the trials was to pick from a pair of bottles the one which was safe, as one bottle was filled with a deadly poison that would kill them in an instant, showing their dedication.
Now the boy was given both bottles, a red and a blue one, and was told he had a day to decide. However, the boy instead downed the blue bottle instantly. While to many this would seem madness, he had purchased a panacea from an old nomad before coming to the castle, one that would temporarily make him immune to all poisons.
However it seemed that he had chosen correctly, as the crowd erupted into a applause, and no weird looks were given to him by the king.

The night after that trial, the boy was visited by one of the castles servants with a gift for him. It was a lock of hair from the princess, who had been impressed by the boy and wanted to give him a token. He of course accepted the gift, and went to bed to rest for the next trial.
Now the second trial was to tame a wild pegasus, and was very difficult, since as everyone knows that pegasi will only submit themselves to young women. The few suitors that had managed to get past this trial had had to use brute force, and it could takes days in order to defeat one of the beasts in that way.
However the boy had a plan, and threaded the princess' hair through the bridle he was to place upon the pegasus. And so when the time came, he merely had to hold it up to the pegasus, and because of the princess's scent it gladly allowed him to put on the bridle and mount it.

Now the next day at the third trial, the boy was out of tricks. Or at least he thought he was. The trial was to defeat the king's best knight in single combat.
But the boy was the son of a blacksmith and knew how to recognize weaponry, and so he saw a wing spear among those offered and took it. To his joy he found that the pegasus he had tamed still obeyed him, and he mounted it for the fight. With the spear in hand he could easily pierce through the knights armor and brought him to his knees.
Now at seeing this the king was horrified. He had never expected anyone to ever get past all his trials. But then an idea struck him.

Since nobody had ever gotten this far before, he declared the boy must face a fourth trial. He would have to go into the forest and slay the manticore that lived at the center.
The manticore was a fearsome beast which devoured anyone who entered its territory, regardless of their strength or skill. To face it was certain death.
But regardless, the boy mounted his steed and made his way deep into the forest. The trees around him grew closer and closer together, and it became more and more dark, when suddenly the beast itself appeared before him.
"What business do you have here human? Do you know what I am?" it asked. Now the boy was terrified but answered, telling the Manticore of his quest to win the hand of the princess.

Now at hearing this the manticore had become enraged. For centuries ago there had been an ancient pact forged between the kings of the land and it, one which stated that they would leave it in peace in exchange for it not expanding its territory. It immediately unfurled its wings and took off for the palace.
Seeing this the boy followed him, trailing close behind though it was faster than his pegasus. The Manticore soon left his reach and crashed through the ceiling of the palace.
The King called for the guards of course but it simply tore them to pieces. Slowly it advanced upon the throne, when suddenly the boy arrived.
He flew in through the hole in the ceiling and jabbed his spear into the creature's neck. The beast could only turn to look at him before dying, as he had coated his spear in the poison he had obtained during the first trial.
King Jerid was so greatful at being saved, that he forgot all about the trials and acknowledged the boy as worthy for his daughter. Soon they were wed, and lived happily ever after.

"In some versions there's an extended ending where upon seeing her face at the wedding Jerid became so overcome with grief that he threw himself off the top of the castle, but that's irrelevant."

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo tilted his head, an eyebrow raised as he thought.

"So you're saying I should... coat a spear in poison and stab Renault in the throat? I doubt I could do that. The man taught Sheila how to use an axe, and I'm untrained. Doubtless he would see that coming a mile away if I tried."

[Furtuka]

"Uh...  I... I was trying to go for that you should try to impress him so much that he'd forget about his issues with you. What sort of things do you know about him?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Oh, right. And killing him wouldn't sit well with Sheila either, so I can't be doing that even if I could do that. Good point."

Leo crossed his arms.

"Well, I know that he's a marauder, he doesn't like priests, he abandoned a woman after having a child with her, and he kidnapped that child in her youth and forced her to become a pirate, and he's probably the reason she's got that scar she's so worried about. Personally I like it, but I don't think I can convince her it looks good, and I dislike the man on the principle that it's his fault she has doubts about it."

[Furtuka]

"Huh...That doesn't sound too good. I assume pillaging a village is out of the question. Are you sure there's nothing else?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo shrugged.

"That's all I know about him. I suppose I could sit the man down and try to talk to him. That will be... unpleasant."

[Furtuka]

"Well I suppose you'll have to deal with that eventually. But anyways, in the end you know the man better than I do, is there anything you can think of that would win his approval?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo shrugged again.

"...Sheila thinks highly of him? I honestly have nothing."

[Furtuka]

"I'm not quite sure of how that's a method but... maybe in the end the best way to get an idea would be to ask Sheila herself. Unless it would upset her or something."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"No, she wants us to get along. She would probably be happy to help... though she'd be happier if I figured this one out on my own I imagine."

[birdy51]

Miguel decided he would allow the two young men to talk for a time. Perhaps he would his advice on the subject later. For now, he returns to the ol pawn shop to have his Turquoise Brooch appraised.