"My grandfather's brother, Pinlas, was tasked to carry out the duke's final wishes and was unable to do so. I am here now to complete that task as outlined in that document. The fact that I am Menan Variel and not Pinlas Variel should not interfere with this task. Can you think of anyone better to do that? I do have a lead on locating the heir, so your ignorance of that information is neither unexpected nor a show stopper."
"Then I assume we'll meet again, once you found the heir." the priest comments.
"Thank you for your time. It is appreciated."
Once outside again Persephone sighs. "That went as well as expected. I suggest we bring the chest to Father Grimburrow's chapel. Or my arms might reach to the ground at the end of the day."
"Let's do that. How can we find out who is charge of the education department at the House of Flame? I would like to ask for that person by name and hopefully avoid the witch. She does not need to know about this. She reminds me of a snake in the grass. I have some serious suspicions of her but they remain unconfirmed and cannot be shared until that time."
"I don't know a single name of the elves there." Persephone replies. "But I believe your attempt to avoid her is in vain."
"To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Isabella greets you as Seneschal of the Duke this evening. 'You know that elf pair that came to town lately? They are asking around about a heir of the Duke!'"
"This gossip will spread like a wildfire. What makes you think, you can talk to one of their priests and Pepe not hearing about it."
"But even if all that fails to inform her, you forget that I'm in her employ."
Father Grimburrow invites all into his little office where he stores the archives of births and deaths within Abadon.
"Please place the chest over there." He points to a free corner.
Persephone puts the chest down at the requested place.
Looking at the books labeled with years and after inquiring what they are Persephone asks "Can't you tell by those books who the heir is? This 'Ill begotten son' sounds a lot like there should be a fair maiden with a child, but no father."
"It is not impossible. But this is only of the births and death I'm involved in and what the midwives tell me. If a duke wants to hide something it is easy enough done."
"But it might be in there somewhere. Feel free to search for it. If you narrow the year of birth down to a range of five years it shouldn't be over 2000 births."
"Well.....that is certainly better than this becoming pubic knowledge. At this time one person other than ourselves knows of this. May it stay that way.
Menan hits the books.
"Two. You forgot the guy at the entrance." Persephone objects. "Also, that is assuming that the high priest of Abadar is sitting on his hands after you waved the 'give me 30,000 gold' paper in his face."
Menan looks to Persephone and smiles. "True and true."
With nothing better to do some of the party sit down with pencil and paper while Father Grimburrow reads through the lists and reads out all childs which have only a mother listed as parent. He also names all women that died, to mark off the single mothers who no longer live.
In the end there are 52 single mother births in the assumed time. Of those 52 children, 7 died in young years. Of the Mothers, 9 are still alive. Of the children 38.
"That is basically the same as my day job." Persephone states. "And now would come the part where you do the inventory, to see if the real stock matches your books. It's a pity those entries have no shelf numbers."
Faerveren chuckles. "Now what? You're walking up to every candidate and ask: 'We have a 30,000 gold inheritance here, you wouldn't be by chance the ill begotten son of the last duke?"
"Then you'd end up with a lot of sons. Also you forgot to strike out the girls from that list."
"We need to get the information the House of Flame has on this. How to do it without giving them revelation..."
Father Grimburrow goes over the short list and strikes out the girls, leaving 18 living sons of single mothers.
"That is still a lot. Not all of them live here anymore. Some went to the sea. Some I don't know where to look for. The old women I all know personally though."
"We need to get the information the House of Flame has on this. How to do it without giving them revelation..."
"Why the hassle? They are named in the testament. Or are you planning on keeping that information from them too?"
"If they provided an education, they should be paid for it."
"Father Grimburrow. I am interested in your legal system. How it works in general and then some specifics. For instance, what would it take to get a legal copy of the House of Flame's student records?"
"You need more than that, Menan. You need one of those legal men to do stuff for you. Have him get you declared legal seneschal and have him freeze the account at the temple so they cannot lose it."
"Every community is different, Arawyn. They can vary wildly. Father?"
"If it is one thing you can trust the church of Abadar with, it is your money. That is going nowhere."
"The interesting question you raise Arawyn, is if there is a way to have the named seneschal to mandate you instead. How are such responsibilities passed on under elven legal systems?"
"Depending on your goal, this whole mess is easily solved. Find the heir, hand him the testament, congratulate him and be done with it. Because 'seneschall' yadda yadda, 'until my son is old enough'. How old is he? Fifty years was our guess, right?"
"Maybe milk his unending thankfulness as long as it lasts to get some coin out of it." Faerveren suggests.
"That is what I am hoping for, Fae." Addressing the cleric, Menan responds "We have a very complicated set of laws that are diligently followed. I have no idea how a situation like this would be resolved in Kyonin."
The door to the chapel opens. Someone comes in and sits down in a pew. You can't see this, but you hear it from the side room you're in.
"How far away is this Kyonin? Would it be worth finding out what the law there says? Or isn't it worth it, because no one knows if the result of that would be accepted here anyway? I don't know."
"Very far away. I believe the laws here apply. Is there a magistrate I can speak to about getting these affairs in order?"
"Not really. The closest thing to a magistrate is the court that comes together for important cases. But that consists of the high priest of Abadar, the head of the City watch and the city's major."
"Calling to their authority wouldn't speed it up, but create a real big issue. Right now we're talking about money changing hands. If you're going to ask who gets to lead the Duke's affairs until the heir is found, at that level, you're basically asking them to take their hat and leave office."
"Looks like I am headed to the House of Flame. Do you know the clerics or anyone who works there?"
"Not really. They have no office outside the temple. And as I have no business with the temple, there is little chance to meet."
"It is also a rare event when one of them dies. As far as I know it hasn't happened during my time."
"Very well. I do dread this. I need a deity. Protection from trickery would be nice. I can only meditate and hope I deal with the witch appropriately. Thank you for your involvement in this endeavor, father. It is always a pleasure to be with you."
Menan does nearly enter a state of meditation as he heads toward the flame. He reviews the witch and tries to anticipate her actions. He is awakened from thought as he almost passes the temple. He enters through the front door and waits for the attendant.
You are met by one of the elves that guard the entrance behind the curtain. "Welcome to the House of Flame. Are you here for business or for pleasure?"
"Thank you. Business. Your educational department. Records keeper in particular."
You get a confused look, before the elf braces himself. "Please follow me." You get led through a secret door in one of the alcoves along the main corridor into a large waiting room and from there through another secret door into a very comfortable room. An upholstered armchair, a matching canape, a small coffee table with a game of chess as inlaid work. There is a large mirror at the wall and pillows lined up on the floor at the wall.
But the first thing you notice is the dampened sound in the room. It feels like a pressure on the ears, but it isn't.
"There will be someone with you in a minute." The elf leaves and closes the hidden door behind him.
A minute later the door opens again and the dreaded witch enters the room. She carefully closes the door before facing Menan. "Good evening. I hear you are here for business again?"
She sits down on the free seat. If Menan hasn't chosen a seat yet, she sits down in the armchair and offers him to sit on the canape.
Menan stands as the lady enters. He takes a seat on the canape. "I must say it is a pleasure to see you again." He smiles and looks her over. "I must apologize. It is not like me to forget a name. Please refresh my memory and accept my apology."
"The pleasure is all mine." the elven priestess replies.
"Your memory works just fine. I didn't tell you. Call me Ealoviel."
Menan smiles at the response. "Ealoviel, I am here to inspect your education records. I would assume that is below your station here. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding with the attendant."
"The options are business or pleasure. The kind of business you want to do is of no interest to our concierges." Ealoviel ensures Menan that there was no misunderstanding.
"I wonder what gives you the idea, that we have education records, and if we had some, why would they be of interest to you?"
Detecting her amusement, Menan smiles at the attractive elf once more and says "Records are always made and kept for many reasons. My goal is to get the temple paid for educational services that possibly will add up to a good sum of gold. Before the transfer occurs, I must determine that it is indeed owed to the temple. That the education was in fact provided and for how long."
"You're trying to keep your cards close to your chest." Ealoviel states the obvious with a smile.
"This temple isn't about education. It is about lust, revenge and trickery. Of course we'd welcome money, especially for services yet unpaid. But if we ever educated someone then it wasn't because we have the best reputation for higher education."
"It could be someone who became a priest. Or someone who has something to hide. I can introduce you to the head of the pleasure department of the temple. Maybe you'd find that educated person there. But I can't show you those who came here to not be found."
Ealoviel lets herself sink into the armchair and looks at some features of the room. After that pause she continues. "How about you put one of your cards on the table. You know what you would look for, if I had a list and you could see it. So why not tell me, and I see if there is any information I can give you about that. I promise I won't forge an educational record to cheat you out of your money."
"I have been around these short lived humans too long." Menan's expression goes from amused to serious. "How many years have you been in this town?"
"For all practical purposes in regards to Seacrest, always. The town isn't that old."
"Duke Fallon."
"Fallon Duke of Seacrest. An unlucky guy. The last one to bear the title of duke. His wife died early and he had no heir when he was murdered. That was quite the uproar. The duke had fallen on hard times and agreed to sell the land between what is the old town today and the docks for a big lump of gold."
"The contract was sealed, proclaimed publicly on the place in front of this temple. And the next day the duke was dead. The clerics of Abadar were almost murdered too. But the attempt failed and the man was brought to justice. Public beheading."
"It is only speculation, but I believe, had he done the deal under our patronage and not with Abadar, he would have lived to enjoy the money. It is hard for me to imagine that we would have fallen for a trickster. Malicious gossip has it that it takes one to know one, but that isn't always a bad thing."
Menan smiles at the elf. "Pinlas Variel."
"A relative of yours? He practiced as a scribe. He died about the same time as the duke. There wasn't anything special about his death that I remember. He was of venerable age."
"That is good to know of my great uncle if true. The timing is suspicious. Prince Fallon indicated that his heir who was not of age was to be educated by the House of Flame and set aside the funds to cover the cost. Pinlas apparently passed before he could carry out the Duke's wishes. It is my intention to do that out now. I must assume that the child was sent here to be unseen. The need for that is surely over by now. How much does the duke owe this temple?"
"The duke paid generously as long as he lived for taking care of the boy. I don't remember the sum that was donated regularly. But the agreement ran out with the death of the duke and the end of the donations. With no one ever asking for the boy, the requested education was changed to prepare the boy for a life without a rich noble to back his livelihood."
"But your request raises interesting questions. You seem to know what the last wishes of the duke were. You seem to have access to some inheritance from the duke which allows you offer the temple payment. And you call the boy his heir. This is priceless." This is the first time you see Ealoviel excited.
"So, what are your plans now? I mean besides settling the debt with the temple to be done with that part of the will."