Tim, Tim, Tim [Research DTA]
Oct 5, 2022 16:40:41 GMT
Delilah Daybreaker, Velania Kalugina, and 1 more like this
Post by Jaezred Vandree on Oct 5, 2022 16:40:41 GMT
(Continued from Nice But Dim and Resting Lich Face.)
A new report finds its way to Queen Nicnevin’s daily briefing stack.
26th Eleint 1499
I have acquired further information on the Daring Academy professor known as Tim. He was last spotted by adventurers in the demilich’s lair (see previous report), teleporting out through an arcane gate with the demilich’s talisman. It appears he has tricked adventurers into killing the demilich and its bodak minions in order to steal the talisman for himself.
• Tim is a wizard specialising in conjuration magic. He was last seen in the demilich’s lair escaping from adventurers through an arcane gate. (This fact makes it likely that he was the one who summoned the clutch of tressyms into the chasm.)
• His academic interest lies in magical creatures (or “unfortunate biology” as Academy scholars term it), mainly in oozes.
• He had a hidden stash of copies of plans for sections of Daring Heights, tracing subterranean areas, both natural and man-made, under the northern and central sections of the city. (Notably, the underground areas depicted in these plans are still not very well-known, as the creator seemed to have given up in trying to identify where everything connects.)
• According to his colleagues, the shy and timid Tim has always managed to acquire grants from the Academy higher-ups, even for the most unlikely bids. It is highly probable that Tim magically influenced his superiors to persuade them.
• His colleagues attempted to scry on him for fun and could never manage to, no matter how many personal belongings or biological material they used. I have to speculate that he possesses an anti-divination magic item on his person.
• They also describe him as someone who dislikes gambling and always wants certainty before setting out on a task.
• He tended to disappear for weeks at a time for largely unexplained reasons, though by the time he gave us the sham mission, that habit had been in decline. Perhaps in relation to this, he worked highly irregular hours and was rarely seen socialising outside the Academy.
• He was trying to create an Amnian-style personal sigil stamp after the style of Mr. Heret Velnnarul’s stamp, but had not used it in his correspondences. Likely just a flight of fancy.
• He is vegetarian and left-handed.
As if he was expecting people to comb through his office in the Academy building, he left a box containing a magical curse in a trick panel for us to find. Mr. Heret Velnnarul is now cursed with enforced left-handedness.
Curiously, about a month ago (28th-29th Eleasis), a ransom note was pinned to the jobs board of the Gilded Mirror tavern in Castleside:
“Put 1 million Gold Pieces (or an equivalent in Platinum, I’m not picky) in unmarked bags at the front door of the Daring Heights academy. Failure to do so will result in the deaths of all the frivolous gamblers of the city. Hour by hour they will fall, as their luck truly runs out. You have 3 days. At midnight I strike.”
(The note was crafted using words cut out from books and letters and glued onto the parchment, to conceal the author’s handwriting.)
It was a frankly baffling demand considering that there was not 1 million gold pieces in circulation in Daring Heights. Nonetheless, the Council hired a party of adventurers to sort this out. I spoke with several members of that party regarding the incident: they cleverly filled bags with wood chips and two adventurers who could hide within, and left them in front of the steps whilst the rest of the party laid in wait. A hand* with pinkish human skin tone was seen popping out of a portal to take the bags, which pulled the two adventurers into the library. They heard a male-sounding, reedy voice curse when the culprit realised the scheme. This resulted in a chase that led to Tim’s office and ended with the culprit teleporting away with dimension door.
A subsequent investigation carried out at the Mirror by Aurelia’s people revealed that cards and dice at the casino were imbued with glyphs of warding that were due to explode in 3 days’ time.
Pinkish skin tone, reedy voice, a penchant for teleportation, and a distaste for gambling do match Tim's description. It might not have been a coincidence that the card bomber chose Daring Academy as the drop-off spot and ran in the direction of Tim’s office. And yet, if his colleagues’ description of him as a man who values a sure outcome is to be believed, it is unlikely that he would embark on such a reckless endeavour.
However, if the card bomber and Tim are the same person indeed, perhaps he did not post that ransom note out of a true desire for riches. As previously stated, Tim never had a problem getting grants from his superiors and there was not enough money in Daring Heights to meet the ransomer’s demand. Perhaps he did it to test the skill of Dawnlander adventurers, as preparation for his grand heist in the chasm.
But as Your Majesty can probably see, this is pure speculation on my part. The evidence for this theory is still wanting. In any case, I have informed the Duchess of what I know, in the hopes that the Council will take further action in finding this dangerous character.
*The adventurers I spoke to could not recall whether it was a left hand or a right hand. They did not get a good look at it.
A new report finds its way to Queen Nicnevin’s daily briefing stack.
26th Eleint 1499
I have acquired further information on the Daring Academy professor known as Tim. He was last spotted by adventurers in the demilich’s lair (see previous report), teleporting out through an arcane gate with the demilich’s talisman. It appears he has tricked adventurers into killing the demilich and its bodak minions in order to steal the talisman for himself.
• Tim is a wizard specialising in conjuration magic. He was last seen in the demilich’s lair escaping from adventurers through an arcane gate. (This fact makes it likely that he was the one who summoned the clutch of tressyms into the chasm.)
• His academic interest lies in magical creatures (or “unfortunate biology” as Academy scholars term it), mainly in oozes.
• He had a hidden stash of copies of plans for sections of Daring Heights, tracing subterranean areas, both natural and man-made, under the northern and central sections of the city. (Notably, the underground areas depicted in these plans are still not very well-known, as the creator seemed to have given up in trying to identify where everything connects.)
• According to his colleagues, the shy and timid Tim has always managed to acquire grants from the Academy higher-ups, even for the most unlikely bids. It is highly probable that Tim magically influenced his superiors to persuade them.
• His colleagues attempted to scry on him for fun and could never manage to, no matter how many personal belongings or biological material they used. I have to speculate that he possesses an anti-divination magic item on his person.
• They also describe him as someone who dislikes gambling and always wants certainty before setting out on a task.
• He tended to disappear for weeks at a time for largely unexplained reasons, though by the time he gave us the sham mission, that habit had been in decline. Perhaps in relation to this, he worked highly irregular hours and was rarely seen socialising outside the Academy.
• He was trying to create an Amnian-style personal sigil stamp after the style of Mr. Heret Velnnarul’s stamp, but had not used it in his correspondences. Likely just a flight of fancy.
• He is vegetarian and left-handed.
As if he was expecting people to comb through his office in the Academy building, he left a box containing a magical curse in a trick panel for us to find. Mr. Heret Velnnarul is now cursed with enforced left-handedness.
Curiously, about a month ago (28th-29th Eleasis), a ransom note was pinned to the jobs board of the Gilded Mirror tavern in Castleside:
“Put 1 million Gold Pieces (or an equivalent in Platinum, I’m not picky) in unmarked bags at the front door of the Daring Heights academy. Failure to do so will result in the deaths of all the frivolous gamblers of the city. Hour by hour they will fall, as their luck truly runs out. You have 3 days. At midnight I strike.”
(The note was crafted using words cut out from books and letters and glued onto the parchment, to conceal the author’s handwriting.)
It was a frankly baffling demand considering that there was not 1 million gold pieces in circulation in Daring Heights. Nonetheless, the Council hired a party of adventurers to sort this out. I spoke with several members of that party regarding the incident: they cleverly filled bags with wood chips and two adventurers who could hide within, and left them in front of the steps whilst the rest of the party laid in wait. A hand* with pinkish human skin tone was seen popping out of a portal to take the bags, which pulled the two adventurers into the library. They heard a male-sounding, reedy voice curse when the culprit realised the scheme. This resulted in a chase that led to Tim’s office and ended with the culprit teleporting away with dimension door.
A subsequent investigation carried out at the Mirror by Aurelia’s people revealed that cards and dice at the casino were imbued with glyphs of warding that were due to explode in 3 days’ time.
Pinkish skin tone, reedy voice, a penchant for teleportation, and a distaste for gambling do match Tim's description. It might not have been a coincidence that the card bomber chose Daring Academy as the drop-off spot and ran in the direction of Tim’s office. And yet, if his colleagues’ description of him as a man who values a sure outcome is to be believed, it is unlikely that he would embark on such a reckless endeavour.
However, if the card bomber and Tim are the same person indeed, perhaps he did not post that ransom note out of a true desire for riches. As previously stated, Tim never had a problem getting grants from his superiors and there was not enough money in Daring Heights to meet the ransomer’s demand. Perhaps he did it to test the skill of Dawnlander adventurers, as preparation for his grand heist in the chasm.
But as Your Majesty can probably see, this is pure speculation on my part. The evidence for this theory is still wanting. In any case, I have informed the Duchess of what I know, in the hopes that the Council will take further action in finding this dangerous character.
*The adventurers I spoke to could not recall whether it was a left hand or a right hand. They did not get a good look at it.