"Come in," a warm elderly woman's voice answered in response to Lowris' knock. Upon opening the door, Lowris was faced with a room that looked like it belonged in a country cottage's parlor, complete with stout and homely owner. However, Lowris knew way better than to trust the appearance of her superior, Erig Surren, Department Head of the City Inspectors. If Lowris could be said to have an aptitude for transformative magics, Surren was a positive whiz at them. Hence, while one week the Department Head might appear as a lovely aristocratic lady, another week the City Inspectors might find themselves answering to a screeching goblin. Heck, there was even a period where Surren converted the office into a henhouse, demanding the reporting Inspectors identify their boss amongst the roosting chickens. Some of the City Inspectors still refused to eat eggs.
"Now then, how are you adjusting to life in Morphia, dearie? Oh, have a teacake," Surren smiled gently at Lowris, pushing a cup of tea and a tray of treats across the desk. Lowris, having heard enough scuttlebutt to know better, kept her hands well away from any foodstuffs.
"I'm finding my way, Chief, thank you for your concern," Lowris answered flatly. "You wanted to see me about something?"
"Ah, yes, look at me, things just seem to slip my mind in my old age," Surren answered cheerily, as Lowris fought her natural inclination to raise an eyebrow. "Take a look at this, dear."
Surren handed Lowris a report, and while Lowris scrutinized the papers, Surren's seemingly harmless eyes narrowed and scrutinized her. Finishing reading the report, Lowris placed the papers on the desk and leaned back in her chair, deep in thought.
"As you can see, there's been a spate of unusual disappearances over in the Muitale district," Surren's voice suddenly becoming all business. "Now, disappearances are nothing unusual in this land, but for one rather odd quirk."
"No trace of transformative magic," Lowris muttered, then looked up. "Why are the City Inspectors interested, then?"
"Naturally, this should be a job for the City Guard. However," Surren smirked in a way ill-befitting her current grandmotherly form. "those who disappeared were all 'overloads.' Given their saturation with transformative magic, and the inconvenient form it left them in, none of them could have left the city without anyone knowing, yet they have not been found. And then there was this. Someone showed up claiming to be one of the 'overloads.'"
Surren slid another paper across the desk, and Lowris' brow furrowed as she picked it up and read. Her eyes widened as she reached the end of the report.
"He showed up as..." Lowris looked up at Surren. "A human??" Surren nodded in reply while placing two cubes of sugar in her tea.
"His original form," Surren stated. "And the next day he was found murdered. I'm assigning you to investigate--"
"Murdered?! What do you mean, murdered??" Lowris broke in, irritated at Surren's nonchalance.
"Put together whatever team you like, the department will allocate a budget," Surren continued without missing a beat. "Only, you cannot let anyone in the Department know anything about this. Officially, you are being sent to evaluate 'overload' facilities and recommend improvements. Now, would you like some more tea?"
Lowris cursed a blue streak to herself as she trudged down the corridor back to her office. Now she knew why every one avoided Chief Surren like the plague. All things considered, it was also pretty obvious why she had been chosen for this assignment: she was the newest addition to the City Inspectors, and as such, if an Inspector was involved with the disappearances, she was the only one with an airtight alibi, since the incidents had begun nine months ago, three months before she ever set foot in Morphia. And of course, the likeliest suspects were the City Inspectors, because they had the deepest understanding of transformative magic.
Lowris pondered who to bring along on this wild-goose-chase. As she locked up her office and headed home, she paused, then changed her direction and headed off to see...