sunk, not treasure

The sunken boat investigation was a bit of a bust. It was a sort of big rowboat, used for local deliveries and such, and was sunk while moored at the dock.

The owner was talking with some customers, said he heard an explosion and saw smoke, and saw someone running away. He was sure it was a "rogue wizard" who sunk the boat with a fireball. If there really was a rogue wizard, he'd have better things to do than sink a small boat, but whatever. He is a bit of a whiner, but seems to know some people; enough to get Pergimtor to tell me to check into things.

The mooring line was still attached to the dock, so I convinced a passing army squad to help me pull the boat out of the water. They weren't too happy about it, and I had to show them my (ugly) badge of office and do some convincing, but then it only took a few minutes. We got a big rope around the back part and dragged it up on the nearby muddy bank.

The boat it had a scorched hole in the back - but the scorching was from the inside. I don't know what he was carrying, and he wouldn't say, but it looked like a clay pot filled with something (maybe spirits of wine or something) exploded inside the boat. In other words, Foolish Owner Error, though he's unlikely to admit it. So now I'm off to write a report to that effect.

Oh joy, reports. I can hardly contain my excitement.

Sunken treasure?

I got called up to Pergimtor's room at the top of the tower today. I counted this time, there are 156 stairs. Good thing I've been walking a lot, but my legs were still burning a bit when I got to the top.

Apparently a boat was sunk today, and the owner swears it must have been a wizard that did it. Well, that's just the sort of thing that I'm supposed to look into - the fancy charter on the wall says I'm supposed to "promote the benevolent and fruitful discourse between Wizards and Countrymen of Etrobia".

So, sunken treasure(!) - Well, sort of; the treasure is the chance to actually do some work. I thought I'd enjoy doing nothing more than I do, so something useful to do will be nice. It's across the river (over near the Emperor's palace, where the rich folks live), I get to start investigating tomorrow morning.

Swords, not sticks

Today I went shopping for a couple of new scabbards for my swords (I have a couple of nice ones I picked up many years ago, before I got to Vaggert). One of the perks of the new job is that I get to wear a sword now if I want, so I'm planning on it. (Constables just get issued a truncheon or cudgel, it's just a thin club really, and with the average constable's scant training that's probably best.) I spent too many years as a trader's guard I guess, I got used to wearing swords, so I need to get accustomed to it again. I've kept the swords in good shape but sadly neglected the scabbards; I'm soaking the leather in oil and hoping it can be saved.

I found a great set -bejeweled beauties, smooth dark leather, silver tip and brightwork - for "only" forty gold pieces. Hmmm, I think I'd rather eat the rest of the year. So I'm having two matching ones made, leather and wood and a few places where fancy work could go later. I bargained them down to eight silvers, not bad for custom work - and I get to eat this week after all.

Actual work, sort of.

I finally ran out of paperwork to fill out, and started my first patrol as Wizard Constable. It felt good to stretch my legs at last. I'm supposed to get a uniform someday, but for now my old constable tunic is good enough.

Calling it a patrol is a stretch, it was just walking around trying to get a feel for this part of town. Lots of clerks, small supply shops, and small taverns. There are a bunch of clerks that work for the wizards or the merchants, and I think they all eat nearby. I wonder which is best? I'll just have to test the food and drink in each of them, woe is me :-)

I walked down to the constable office and talked to Cerom (my old boss) and showed him my new badge, it's a ugly silvery metal thing. Cerom thought the animal on it looked like a three-eyed cow, and I'm not sure he's wrong.

More Paperwork

Spent the whole day doing paperwork. Someone spent a lot of time and thought preparing these forms, it's a shame I have to mock them. It is really good, in-depth questions about a Wizard Constable who is a wizard. Ummmm.... not me, sorry.

(I heard the guy who had the job before me spent most of his time keeping the wizard apprentices in line. I'll go back to being a city constable before I become a dorm proctor to teenage wizards {shudder} .)

Anyway, the paperwork assumes you are a wizard (rank, spells known, any specialties). Nope. Then another form asks the same question again (favorite spells, power ranking, grades in your wizards class). Sorry, no. I twice missed a place that I was supposed to fill in, and had to borrow a pen and write 'Not Applicable' (again).

Then came the sort-of-fun part. The clerk took the form that will let me get paid to a guy at a desk in the back, and he put it next to some blank sheets of paper, and next I started sneezing - he was a wizard of course, nice of you to warn me :-(. When I recovered there were four copies of the form I wrote, even my handwriting (but not the dents in the paper from the pen; I looked.). So yea, I'll get paid!

Ok, working with wizards is kind of strange - haven't really done any work yet though. I'll find a way to patrol tomorrow, or at least get some exercise .

Tower Tour

Got a tour of the wizard's compound today. "Simples"* like me usually have offices far from the tower, but my office is a long narrow room not far from the tower itself. From the smell I think it used to be a storage room. I was given a beat-up but serviceable desk and a key to the door - as if a simple lock is going to stop a wizard from coming in!

I found a list of my fellow workers to visit on my desk, and so the morning was filled with instructions on how to do various types of paperwork. I can apply for reimbursement for almost anything if I'm willing to defend it to the High Wizards. --in other words, be damned careful and get receipts for everything. And Pergimtor likes reports whenever something happens, detailed reports. .

I'm going patrolling tomorrow - nothing to investigate yet, but I need the exercise.

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*Simples are what the wizards call people without magic. I had to bite my tongue a little when I heard that.

Wizard Constable

I was officially promoted to Wizard Constable today (go, me!). A Duke who's name I dare not mention interviewed me last week, and today I met with High Wizard Pergimtor, head of the wizard council, and it's done now. It's double the pay of a normal Constable, and theoretically less work, or at least I won't have to walk a beat anymore, I don't know about the paperwork side of things; I've heard rumors. . . .

Pergimtor had me climb up to his rooms at the top of the tower, six or eight stories up. I hope that's not something I'll need to do all the time. For now I'm supposed to read the charter on my wall and dust the office they found for me - I hope it doesn't make me sneeze, heh.