I need to do something good for the community. Perhaps there is a deputy position I could take up in the area. I'm strong enough and certainly smart enough to stop some thugs trying something illegal here. I need to flex my muscles in any way I can this week before joining the others. I didn't learn to fight only to be useless for weeks on end. If there was a fighting tournament, I would certainly do that, but since I have not seen or heard of one, law enforcement is a good backup. Now where the hell do I find the authorities?     DM RESPONSE:   As Raesh is deep in thought about the job he is seeking to find, he passes not one, not two, but three guards who are walking down the same road he is on that first morning. He is so engrossed in his task that he completely misses them. Until however a potbellied gnome with cloudy eyes and bad breath nearly knocks Raesh down. "HEY! Why don't you watch where you're going! People are trying to walk here." The fat gnome yells out at you loudly. You try to apologize but this draws the attention of another gnome. This one, a balding female, is just as loud as the first. "Why don' you look where ya' goin' shell boy? Or do you like knockin' down gnomes who don' see good?" This goes on for a moment, all the while you try to apologize and make your way around the loud-mouthed group. Unfortunately, they have caught the attention of one of the guards. Just the person you have been looking for, but this is not the way to get on their good side. "Guard, I saw the whole thing! This turtle pushed Jippert and nearly made him fall, and you know he don' see good." The guard looked from the gnomes to the Tortle. He knew what was coming, the gnomes Jippert and Lyris were always up to one scheme or another. The guard looks as though he'd rather be fighting a dragon than dealing with these two again, but he kept his thoughts to himself and asks what the problem was. After several long moments, the guard, who introduced himself as Gimwic, pulls you to the side and has a private conversation. "Look, I hate to do this to you, and you seem like a nice guy but the only way they will leave you alone is to pay them off. They are harmless but annoying. They buzz loud enough to the higher ups and cause a lot of drama for us when they get upset." he lets out a sigh. "I think...12gp should just about shut their traps for a while." In your shock and confusion, and also in your eagerness to look good in front of the guard, you hand over 12gp to the gnomes and they look at each other, stifle a giggle, and run off. Gimwic pats you on the shell and smiles "There, now hopefully they won't be buggin you anymore. You're a good man." he says and quickly walks away. Raesh stands in the middle of the road, shell shocked at all that just happened.   You pay a lot more attention as you walk the road and spot another guard. You strike up a conversation with him easily and tell him all about this incident. He listens intently and tells you to follow him. You stay on his heels as he leads you to a wooden sign board near the tavern. There are discarded bits of old parchments and hides used for messages, rusty bent nails that no one bothered to pull out. The board is old and splintered, the top has started to bleach in the sun. The guard points towards a hand drawn picture of three gnomes. Below is the name Gimwic Gang and the word REWARD 25gp. "Would this happen to be the three gnomes you saw?" You practically yell a yes as you feel your anger rising. "These three gnomes have been a menace to our town for a while now. They are pretty sneaky, always evading us. If you can catch them, I'm sure you would get your money back plus some." Raesh yanks down the poster, rolls it up, and puts it in his pack. "Consider it solved and those crooks behind bars!" You both go your separate ways. You didn't get anywhere else on the case for the rest of the day.   Day two and you start to investigate more. You don't really find anything of use out, but you have heard a lot of gossip. People have reported hearing three songbirds that sing at the end of the eighth hour. This has gone on for the last three days. You hear about a new charity that is just being started. Something about feral gnomes being hurt. Or maybe it was the feral gnomes hurting people? The person who told you didn't have a lot of information to go on. You are pretty sure it's the charity your franchise is starting up.   Day three and you check back in with the guard who showed you the board. No real news of any help has come in he reports. You give him 1gp to keep an eye out and head down to the area where you were scouted. You settle yourself down in a slightly hidden spot and wait. Roughly three hours later, a familiar bald female gnome walks past. You quietly follow Lyris several feet and she turns around the corner of a nearby store. When you round the corner a moment later, she's gone. You search outside but can't find her. You enter the shop, but to your surprise, it's just an empty building. After you look for a long time, you give up and leave to get a drink. The guard you paid enters the tavern and orders a drink. He spies you across the way and once he has his order, makes his way over to you. "Mind if I sit? I found out a little bit of information." You invite him to sit down and he tells you "I was asking around, trying to see what I might find and I was told that these low lives are part of a group of refugees who landed in Isondale. They made their way here and started to cause trouble. Things have gone missing and people have been swindled." You both finish your drink and conversation then go your separate ways.   On day four you are sitting at the tavern in a dark corner eating a bit of lunch and listening to people talk around you. You pay special attention to a boastful gnome who brags about taking gold from a stupid tortle recently. Your body goes still, and your neck extends a bit further as you listen. You don't recognize him from behind, but you are almost certain it's Gimwic. Your meal is left untouched as you quietly leave the tavern through the door farthest from Gimwic's table. You wait for him outside. About an hour later, he leaves. You follow him, staying several feet behind. He turns down the same corner as Lyris the day before. Dang it! It's that same building. You go in and look around but can find nothing. You don't even get a sense of magic. You stomp your foot, let out a growl and leave, slamming the door behind you.   By day five you have had it, you're going to solve it if it's the last thing you do. You spend 5gp to hire a rogue to set up a series of trap wires inside the empty building. You are so excited about your plan you just KNOW it's going to work. You stake out the building and wait. You don't have to wait long, about two hours later, Jippert is caught like a bug in a trap. His muffled screams can be heard. He calls out for Lyris but before you hear him warn her, you hear her yells and protests mix with his. You leave them for a few minutes, allowing them to wonder about their demise. You can feel your rage begin to rise, but you swallow it. Now is not the time. You open the door and lean against the frame, grinning at the bugs caught in your web. "Well, well, well... if it isn't my two friends. Jippert and Lyris." The rogue, for an extra 1gp had showed you how to avoid getting caught in the trap. Raesh easily maneuvers around the wires and ties the two thieving gnomes up. He roughs Jippert up, claiming to do the same to Lyris in a minute if they don't tell them how they are hiding in the building. They refuse, stubborn gnomes. Raesh rages and flexes his muscles against Jippert. The blind gnome lays unconscious in a pile of blood. He takes a step towards Lyris, cracking his knuckles as he walks. (FADES TO BLACK)   On day six, Raesh is hiding behind a stack of chests in a secret room beneath the floorboards. Lyris sang like a bird when she thought he was going to knock her out too. So many times, he had walked over this same floorboard, all he had to do was slide a hammered flat bit of metal between the boards and he could have pulled it up. That's how they were getting in and out. Once you were inside the small cubby, you were able to access the inside handle that opened the much larger door. Inside he found chests with coins, bags, jewelry, magic items, and other trinkets. There were barrels of wine, piles of hides, books, furniture, food, and the weirdest of all, a 5ft tall wooden carving of Gimwic. He had found the gang's hoard. Before he hid, he used a vial of ink and a quill to draw a large mustache on the sculpture. A few hours later, the floorboards creaked, and he heard the door open. Gimwic entered the room, unaware that he was being watched. He had a heavy backpack on and began to unload its contents. He froze, stood up, and turned around. "Who...what..MY STATUE!" he ran over to look at the painted mustache. Raesh took that moment to rage out and rush the gnome. He plowed into him so hard that he was thrown into the statue and it broke in half. The top half pinned Gimwic's legs to the ground. Still feeling a little ragey, Raesh smacked him around a few more times and then tied up his hands around the other half of the statue for good measure. He pulled the two gagged and bound gnomes from the nearby chests and set them next to their leader. Raesh went to find the Master of the Guard.   Day seven Raesh was in the tavern having a drink, grinning ear to ear. A purple pouch filled with 27gp sat in front of him. They wouldn't let him keep any of the items from the hidden room however. He was a bit sad about that because it had been a nice sized loot. But, he was happy with what he got. Once of the shop keepers had been so happy to have those crooks finally found, she gave him a glass jar containing lard with a label that reads, 'Griffon Grease'. She said it was multipurpose and was good for Tortle skin too. All in all, Raesh had a pretty good week. He solved a crime that had been troubling the town and gained the respect of the Master of the Guard. He not only recovered the gold that was stolen and spent, but also came away with a bit of a profit.