Two Days Later...

It had taken the better part of a day for Aris to find one of the old Lord Cencin's servants who was willing to talk. It took a few mugs of ale and a quiet corner table to loosen his tongue, but Aris learned much and more about the dragonborn that had fathered Aflia, but had never been her Father.

"Aye, the bastard was abusive. Manipulated everyone of his staff down the years, and had his wife either blinded to it all or turning a blind eye. It wasn't too bad while the lady of the house was alive, mostly petty slights. After Lady Cencin was born, the current one that is, it got a bit worse. Not much, mind you, but the wetnurse was never heard nor seen again once she quit. Word is she was found in a ditch with her throat cut and her purse gone, but I thought it awful convenient that she wouldn't be talking about what she had seen and heard. Then the lady of the house died. Grief, so the story goes, but also awful handy, given that the bastard was looking to get a 'proper' heir off of some other lady. He did manage to knock one of the dockside whores up, or so the lady claimed, but word was out. No one would take the bastard's hand in marriage, and fewer and fewer willingly shared his bed."

Aris set aside his finished mug, "thank you for sharing this with me."

The old servant shrugged, "I could wish the Lady Cencin would take her rightful seat, but I can see why she would hate the place. If it helps her heal, then all the better. Did you hear how they found the body?"

Aris' brow furrowed, "the body of Yarizos Elmid, the old Lord Cencin?"

The old servant gave a wry grin, "aye. Some pompous merchant got sick after breakfast in a seedy tavern and filed a complaint with the guard. Guard comes down just to do a look-about, make the merchant happy, look good for their bosses. Then this dog come running out of the kitchen with the cook chasing after it. Dog sees the guards, drops its prize, and bolts out the front door. Cook sees the guards, goes white as a sheet, and tries to run out the back. One of the guards chases after the cook, the other one picks up the dog's prize: the foot of a dragonborn. With the 'good Lord Cencin' still missing, the guards got all suspicious and decide to have a real look-see in the kitchen. The found what was left of the bastard chained up to a butcher's block in the back. From the scratches in the board, he was still alive when they started cutting."

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"Damn, that is a bad way to go."

The old servant just shook his head and drained his mug, "from what I knew of the bastard, and from some of the things the Mages have found in the tower after his death, it was a better end than he deserved."

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Status Report:

Treasury: 750

Income: +105 gold per day

Amount & Source

+5 Semi-retired Agent of Altheim

+100 Food sold from Ikin

Equipment: In good condition.

Estates:

* Ikin: Village: Fishing Docks, Farms Under Construction

* Trebor Convent: Under Construction

* Colubrinus: Village: Under Construction

* Three Empty Holdings (may be improved later)

* One Old Temple (occupied by undead, traps, and animated statues)

The Ring: obsidian band with one carbuncle gem and two empty settings

Total Deaths: 1