Pia let out a low whistle as her brow furrowed.
"That's not the easiest request," Pia frowned, thinking. "But I might actually know someone who fits the bill. He doesn't work for cheap, though."
Merse grimaced, then glanced over at Drin as her expression changed.
"Hand over that stuff you snagged the other day," Merse demanded.
"Wha..?? I nicked that fair and square!" Drin protested.
"And who saved your sorry hide? You gonna compensate me for my digs after the trouble you brought 'round?" Merse scowled as Drin finally reluctantly took out the pouches and vial he had stolen from the archmage on the ferry. "Well, whaddaya think?" Merse asked, placing them in front of Pia.
"Wouldn't touch this one, people put the strangest stuff in vials," Pia pushed the vial back towards Merse. "Pouches are usually less dangerous." So saying, Pia opened each pouch and examined its contents: a small scroll, a bundle of herbs, and a fine powder. "I'm assuming the scroll is an advanced spell, only a magician would know how to use it. The herb is a pretty rare one named Chronosia, they call it "Timeweed." They say if you take it you can change the appearance of your age for however long the herb's effective; downside is it's rather addictive, coming down after long-term use can drive a person mad. As for this," Pia picked up the pouch filled with powder and poured out a tiny amount onto a small silver plate on the counter, then held a thick glass lens up to her eye and squinted as she dripped a strange liquid on it. "Wow..." Pia looked up in awe. "That must've been some hide you skinned to pick this up. I've never seen it before, but if I'm right, it's Mirrormyst. From what I hear, you grab another person and toss this dust over the two of you, and it changes the appearance of the person tossing the dust to match that of the other person for about 12 hours. I thought it was a legend; the Guild would pay a pretty penny for this." Merse gathered up the goods and tossed the vial and two of the pouches back to Drin.
"Think this'll be enough for the info?" Merse asked Pia, holding up the pouch containing the scroll. "It's no use to us," Merse muttered to a pouting Drin, then secreted the pouch as Pia nodded.
Leaving Pia to locate an underground healer for Drin, Merse headed out to the location Pia had indicated she would find the black market information vendor. After wandering through numerous backstreets, Merse turned down a winding alleyway and entered a small door hidden inside a narrow nook. The room was small and musty, and appeared to have no openings other than the door, which resulted in near darkness when Merse closed the door behind her. Merse walked to the farthest wall, sat on a stool, and knocked in the rhythm Pia had indicated. A second later, a small plank swung down from the wall and created a narrow counter-like protrusion, and left a small opening in the wall low enough that the person on one side would not be able to see the face on the other.
"Payment?" A raspy voice sounded out from the other side of the wall. Merse took out the pouch she confiscated from Drin and slid it through the hole. After a few moments inspecting the goods, the voice asked, "What do you need to know?" Merse took a deep breath.
"I need to know if there was an...incident recently involving the Sorcery Conglomerate, and what steps are being taken to deal with it?" Merse asked.
"Something of import has definitely occurred," the voice replied after a pause. "The details are being suppressed, but there are rumors an archmage was killed. As to the steps taken by the Conglomerate, orders were sent out from the Elder's Council to all mages throughout the realm, but the details of those orders have been strictly guarded. However, there is one indicator of how serious this is being taken: two days ago, an archmage and his underlings entered Dregsbale by the main gate."
Merse gasped. The Conglomerate was known to avoid being recognized Dregsbale like the plague, not wanting its image to be sullied. To openly send not just mages, but an archmage into the city? Matters were looking worse by the minute.
"One more thing," Merse hesitated, but plowed forward. "Have you ever heard of a 'cursed' monster? Maybe one that 'curses' the person who kills it? Changes them into the creature they killed?" Merse waited impatiently through a long pause.
"Most curses are about retaliation, subjucation," the voice finally began, taking an almost academic tone. "There are transformations imparted by certain creatures, but they are usually induced to fulfill biological imperatives, such as procreation. If the death of a monster were to transform its killer into that monster, it would not be a curse; a curse would be to transform the killer into something vulnerable to that monster. No...a transformation of that sort is something different entirely. Hmm..."
"Look, I don't care what it's called, I want to know if it can happen, and how to stop it!" Merse snapped.