Fiontann was laying in the bed for the second day. He was in the room once used by Lieta in the Barracks until she grew older and got a house of her own with that man Fion never liked. For some time now that room was turned into a small infirmary in the Barracks for those wounded but not badly enough to need to stay at a healer's. Now it was his turn to stay there, injured by an arrow in his right thigh coming straight from Cedwyn's bow two days ago. But how did it all start, Fiontann contemplated that and went through the parchments the members of the company found in the past eight days, after being called by Litton Applegate to investigate some incidents that threatened his son's, Hendrick's marriage.
It all started eight days ago, the man had come to the Thirsty Boar to seek help because some things didn't make sense. First of all, the Dwarven ale the family of the bride ordered from Thorin's Gate was destroyed when some bandits attacked the caravan the wagon was part of. After that, him, Litton Applegate, got injured when the tent that him and some other workers were setting up got blown over by a strong wind, the man fell and a beam pinned his leg on the ground. If not for a worker named Nowles Oakson the second beam would crush Litton's head. The third hit that happened after that was when the wind, by the looks off it ripped the arch that was place on the stage under which the couple was to stand under during the ceremony. Despite the strange circumstances most people blamed bad craftsmanship on those incidents and nothing was done, until the wedding dress of the bridde, Brisa Brightblossom, was somehow taken from the house and thrown in the mud outside and ripped. When that happened Litton found Fiontann and seeked help from the company. The Black Steel responded as always and some people were sent to investigate.
On the first day the company investigated the wedding grounds, the area were the festivals of Bree take place. The stage and the tent were investigated but nothing indicated foul play, only bad craftsmanship and maybe bad weather. On the second day some members of the company investigated the wagon that carried the drinks. They found that most of the, were broken and the wagon was left at the side of the road in a bad condition. A small trail was followed and more bottles were found and a strange orange sash that some of the members have already seen on some bandits and that could be used as a lead to follow. The third day brought a call on the company because of an accident at the Mess Hall in Bree, the companies rented it from the Town Hall in order to cook the food on the day of the wedding and store it, as well as drinks, until the wedding the place was used to cook meals for the workers who were making the preparations for the big day. It turned out that the oven collapsed, someone made it collapse and it fell on the young Hobbit cook, Theodelinda, who was taken at the Prancing Pony to rest and recover. The company investigated the Mess Hall and found out that most of the drinks were soured with vinegar or the bottles broken, all but the crates on the bottom. There were some faint traces in the Mess Hall and but nothing more to be found. When they visited Theodelinda they found her dead, someone suffocated her with the pillow. The first victim of the case, an innocent Hobbit that could have been involved in everything?
The fourth day brought a letter at the Thirsty Boar addressed to Cedwyn giving her a key and information in exchange of stopping the chase of the person responsible for the Hobbit's death. A search proved fruitless because whoever it was disappeared but the key and the words the house by the Beggar's Alley gave some leads. The company found a strange torturing table, smelled some strange incense and found a symbol drawn in specific spots in the house. A deep search revealed some notes that mentioned a stone able to resurrect and lead them to a cave on the fifth day. Fiontann was there but he stayed outside to guard it. Those that investigated the cave found some mutilated and some resurrected bodies but also more notes. Notes that explained that the whole thing was a process of trial and error in order for the perpetrator to resurrect a loved one, whom unknown, Stanwick was the name, how it was related to the wedding was unknown too. But a key was found, a small key that fit to a small keyhole in that accursed house. On the sixth day Fiontann went along once more and saw that house, it looked as if it was one of those rooms in Evendim used by Angmarim. The diary found shed light on the case. The mother of the bride wanted to sacrifice her husband in order to resurrect her lover by placing that stone in the torn heart of the sacrificed one and then the whole placed put in the chest cavity of the dead one. The ceremony had to take place on the deceased's birthday which happened to be on the day of the wedding and on a full moon.
Everyone rushed to the house but no one was there. The next destination was the graveyard, North of Bree and next to the wedding grounds. A strange, sickly, yellow mist covered the burial ground but the company went on with strategy. After a brief fight the woman died and Fion got shot by Cedwyn who had no visibility due to her being outside of the mist. The thing ended with another innocent life lost but the perpetrator was killed too. Athlenah started seeing nightmares after first entering the house. It got worse and before the last investigation in the house she got drunk. During the investigation an odd storm started and Fiontann, Cedwyn, Athlenah and Zavas, the Dwarf who recently joined the Black Steel saw terrible things happening to them or to those they care for. Athlenah got the worst of it, so she had to be left with some Dwarves in Bree. Now that the whole ordeal was over it was only Fiontann who was injured, by a friend hand but injured nevertheless and thankful that it's him that has to spend some weeks in bed and not someone else.
Fiontann pondered over the case, wondering why would a mother do that to her daughter, how strong her love for someone who died more than twenty five years ago can be. How stronger than the love for her own daughter. Strong enough to make her murder her husband in order to bring back her lover, her husband, her daughter's father, on her daughter's wedding day. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and Fion called out that it's open. It was Triston, the 19 winters old boy who just started working at The Thirsty Boar, to serve if there were a lot of people or to help with carrying and lifting at the inn or the Trading Post.
-It's from the Townhall. said the boy and gave Fion a sealed envelope.
Fion took it and the boy left. It was the Solemnιzation Marriages Certificate that he applied for in order to officially perform wedding ceremonies. He smirked.
-Take it back and make copies of it and have them validated.
-Aye, sir!
