Sorry about the delay.  I had to draft the mystery and manor so that I can plan the next few chapters.  Btw, big fan of mysteries sitting at the Troll's computer this past month.

-- Dreslief

After the employment is settled with the Lord's staff, our group of beta testers go to the left servant's wing off the dining room.  Drake begins to define the secondary task he picked up at the guild.

"This morning, when I selected the task, the guild master specifically offered a second one to me.  His daughter has gone missing.  Not only her, however, but almost every adventure who has come here to fill in as staff while they are short handed.  Each missing adventurer is also reported to have stolen from the Lord, which given their ratings and who they are, is quite out of character.  Three of us have blessings that prevent us from being forced into slavery, one of the ways this can happen.  This is important because the only adventurers who returned from Lord Mulwine's were also similarly blessed. So before we begin our tasks, Frell, are you blessed in such a way?  If so, I can provide you with such a blessing from Elan... although, some would see it a curse. It depends on what you think of monogamy.  It falls under the 'attempts to force relationships'  clause of the blessing's restrictions.  As such it can also cancel slavery contracts and invalidates brothel ones since they can only have one partner while the blessing is active. As far as I can tell, it's active until death since it also invokes the marriage system when you finally get down to the night business."

Frell only smiles. "Already have that blessing.  It seems I received it once when praying in Elan's sanctuary.  So is there anything else you know about these thefts and disappearances?"

"Only that no one has left the village, not even a wagon of goods.  The total count is a dozen missing.  Judging by the staff I've seen, it's possible they are all here disguised and enslaved.  The only way we are going to find out, however, is if we fulfill the primary task of interim help."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

After this, Frell and Rya proceed to the right wing quarters, which were ostensibly the female barracks.  The first thing to accomplish was getting a map and list of staff and the household.  It turns out, Lord Mulwine is single since no woman has met his requirements.  He's also very fastidious and does not indulge in his maids or the local brothels.  It is easy to see the true reason for being short staffed within a few minutes of being shown around.  There's nothing of value in the manor and the cellar is completely empty.  He couldn't afford a brothel or to dispose of a loose maid.  He barely has enough to feed the staff and himself.  It seems that the staff has to work two jobs each. Frell will be both in the kitchen and the garden, Rya will be cleaning and feeding the cattle, Jack will be both the stable boy and driver.  Apparently, this leaves Drake as a butler and poison tester (I mean cook, really I do) working with Frell.  The house is setup in a very simplistic fashion: mirrored left and right. Going against the grain, the family rooms are the four bedrooms at the front of the house, the least defensible and shabbiest looking rooms, if you ask Drake.  Frell thinks the light and bushes look pretty.  At the rear is the kitchen, cellar, pantry and dance floors (two of them, an upper elite floor and the bottom common one).

--Short, again.  But now, each of my detectives can play.  I may even have Drake pull out a Sherlock Holmes deerstalker cap or give a bowler and mustache to Jake like Poirot (He's just not as good at the Belgian accent though).  Dreslief, Troll of Mystery (at least this week)