Document 3: Chasing Leads

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The Invisible Bond

A Gift of Love

Anabel and Kendrick Demetrias knew they were blessed when they saw their child for the first time. Demetrius had known only a life of brutality and service, while Anabel had lived a long life of exile and ostracization. Their new daughter was the embodiment of the redemption and change that they sought for themselves, so they poured their love into the child freely, without reservation or hesitation. Anabel was a frequent vendor of alchemical items in Yanmass and she became good friends with a quiet Shoanti exile named Takoda Greyeagle. The smith always made time to listen to Anabel’s impassioned stories of her new daughter and he almost felt he knew the child even though they had not met. So when Anabel approached the smith with a commissioned work, he was more than happy to create something beautiful, unique and rare. When Anabel arrived to pick up the item, Takoda revealed a surprisingly delicate and detailed silver bracelet that looked like it was constructed of silver stems and flowers. Anabel had never seen anything like it in Takoda’s previous works. It took her breath away and she could not be happier. But Takoda was not quite ready to hand it over. Handling the delicate items by a soft calfskin cloth, he whispered an ancient Shoanti word of power and handed it to Anabel with instructions to give it to her daughter before anyone else. The bracelet would form a bond between mother and daughter that could transcend distances and maybe even time.

When Anabel arrived back at their home, she and Kendrick presented the young child with the bracelet and when she took it and clasped it onto her wrist, the bond ritual completed. A small portion of Anabel’s soul melded with the silver and the young girl could feel the warm love of her mother whenever she wore it.

The silver bracelet is a semi-intelligent item that has a small portion of the consciousness of Anabel Demetrias and the ability to communicate with its bearer via empathy and mental imagery. Its ultimate goal is be reunited with Sertia, but it is also very wary of trusting strangers. The bracelet experienced a dark time when Sertia was killed on the Galt border. Although the young half-elf was transformed into a cruel reflection of her former life, the bracelet stayed hidden on her wrist under layers of rotting skin and dried blood. And when the undead creature was expunged from her body and raised again as a living being, the bracelet rejoiced. But joy became confusion as the bracelet, which still had the connection to Sertia’s soul, did not recognize the mind of the girl any more. Her memories were gone and the bracelet was determined to help the young woman regain her memories…somehow.

When the old mage removed the bracelet from Sertia’s unconscious form, it cried out in despair, causing the old human to ‘accidentally’ drop it on the ground, but he dutifully cleaned it up and placed it in a small leather sack near the girl’s bed. The next thing the bracelet knew, the mage picked it up and was desperate to reunite it with the girl, but she was not near. It was then passed to a young human who was tasked with reuniting the bracelet with its owner. And that was good enough for the bracelet.

The next time the bracelet was held it was between the fingers of a nasty, evil human who had stolen it from the human boy! The bracelet began to subtly influence the nasty man to greedily hoard the fine piece of jewelry. It found a perfect plan when the nasty man began to daydream about a pretty serving girl from a nearby town who he wanted to impress. The bracelet ‘suggested’ that the serving girl would fall head over heels for anyone who presented her with such a fine piece of jewelry. And so, the bracelet has been on its way to the forest border town of Mirewood in Taldor.

Background

When Alma left Izan Artigas’ care, the old wizard hired a young local to take her to Cassomir so she could begin her search for answers and maybe find someone to help her with her blossoming internal arcane power.

A couple weeks later, Izan was tidying up the room where Alma lived for the past few months and found a small satchel of goods that he had found on her person on that fateful day in the gardens. He had completely forgotten about returning these to her and now he had lost track of the young woman. With hopes that perhaps she was still in Cassomir, Izan hired a different local farm boy name Osto to take the satchel of goods to Cassomir and seek out the young woman in each inn he could find. He was instructed to question the gate guards, innkeepers and dockmasters and given a few silver to loosen lips if needed.

Unfortunately, the young man was set upon by a band of ruffians out of Sinkmoor who have a reputation for shaking down travelers or outright robbing people as they pass through the area. Osto was not a fighter nor a brave lad so he quickly gave the thugs what they wanted and he was allowed to return from where he came.

The brigands enjoyed their new booty and within the satchel found a few interesting items: an empty shortsword scabbard, a floral handkerchief made of well-worn silk and a thin silver bracelet with fine details depicting flowers and vines. The leader of the brigands was fascinated by the bracelet and would not allow his comrades to sell it. He intends to give it to a particularly friendly and buxom lass he met in Mirewood in hopes that she will find new respect for him and fall in love.