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A fresh poster has been tacked over an official guard wanted posted. It is a wanted poster itself, though clearly not one furnished by the town. All it says is "Wanted dead or alive for murdering my son." You've heard about this target before. He's a killer who's evaded the city guard for years, and is wanted on suspicion of murder in all of the portal cities.
- Employer: Senior Guard Tolker, Therian & Matthew Merin, Anyeli
- Starting Location: Nubia
- Objectives:
- Locate Denny Michaels
- Capture him alive
, or kill him. - Bring Denny's body to Merin at his home in Nubia before taking him to the guard.
- Turn him over to the Nubian Guard, still alive.
- Locate Denny Michaels
Maaike glanced at the sketch on the WANTED poster in her hand, frowning. His likeness to Ashton was uncanny and looking at it gave her the creeps, but she wasn't sure how much that had to do with the eyes and how much this guy really did look like her ex.
Well, she wasn't sure ex was the right word for what she'd done to him.
The artist wasn't that good to start with, so who knew if she was even searching for the right guy anyway, likeness or no likeness?
“So you're saying you've never seen this guy.”
“Right. No. I mean, he looks like any other 'Varian to me, you know?” And that was pretty much whatever everyone she'd approached so far had said: They all look the same to me. Especially in black and white, when it was almost impossible to see their only truly distinguishing feature - the colour of their eyes.
Maaike couldn't even blame them. The 'Vari all looked alike to her too, and more so since she started seeing her husband in every single one of them. Even the females had started taking on his characteristics, but she supposed that was her reward for killing him. The vlareon was still tormenting her.
“Sorry I can't help, aye?”
Maaike nodded but didn't glance at the man she'd been questioning, instead turning back to Cailean; the azani was wait impatiently on the street where she'd tethered him to a lamp post, Magda roosting on his saddle and keeping him in line with intermittent squawks. Maaike didn't know if Nubian winters were worse than Espur's or if today was just particularly bad, but the mistral didn't like being up in it and since Maaike wasn't even convinced Michaels was still in Nubia, there was no sense in risking the falcon's health.
“Another dead end,” she told the pair, clucking her tongue. She wouldn't normally have bothered with the tether, confident that Cailean was disciplined enough to stay still on his own, but Nubia was unfamiliar to him and the people here just as nosy as those back in Espur. The azani didn't appreciate the constant gawping. Neither did Maaike, for that matter, and she wouldn't even be here if not for Graeme's request. There were plenty of murdering vlareons back in Espur, after all, but he'd begged on behalf of an old friend who'd heard of her successes.
Maaike's heart wasn't hardened enough for her to say no so she'd keep up the questions the next street over. Eventually, someone had to know something.