Diaries of an Ooze Witch (Entry 3.2) (Patreon)

3.2

Jeru stumbled into the inn late last night, drunk as a skunk and depleted of all his coin I had given him as an allowance. Willing to overlook his condition, I tucked him into bed and waited for him to recover before grilling him on what he had learned. It probably wasn’t likely he had anything groundbreaking, but at this point, any lead would be a welcome avenue to explore.

When he came to in the late morning, I bid him to talk about what he found out over brunch. Cautious, Jeru acquiesced and we soon found ourselves in one of the nicer bistros in Placedo. Over some good grilled meat and drink, he informed me of several morsels intel. First was that much of the current iron was being supplied by a merchant company based out of Cawdor named the Boheme Trading Company. It was because they had such a stranglehold on the iron industry of the area that they were able to flood the market with cheap ore and drive the price of minerals far below market value, crowing out any potential rivals on the public market. Jeru tossed me a piece of iron ore from one of their samples and I could tell after a moment of scrutiny that it was of poor quality. He then went on to explain that the Boheme Trading Company had been using such tactics for at least the last year, with no signs that they were slowing down.

It didn’t make any sense, at least to my logic, that they would continue losing coin to such a frivolous pursuit. What benefit was there to flooding the market with cheap ore, lowering the price to a fraction of their worth?

The next rumor that crossed Jeru’s attention was that people were uneasy over a growing presence of the Uhl Kattan, a burgeoning crime syndicate from the Theocracy of Ulqorra. Apparently, they had been making waves in the province through their smuggling and prostitution rings, trafficking contraband and people over the border for their own profit. They’ve been making inroads into Placedo’s Black Market, trying to set up footholds to launch further into Wide. There has been some talk over how the existing criminal elements are going to respond to the incursion, but there’s suspicion they might have some sort of patron high up in Ventigiore politics looking out for them. As preposterous as it sounds, it would go a long way in explaining their relative success as of late despite their foreign status.

What Jeru said next perked my interest in the matter. From what he was able to gather, the Uhl Kattan had been using some of their recent success to start buying products in bulk from the Black Market. While the products they were after were relatively mundane in nature, it was interesting that they didn’t touch the public markets for it. For the moment, I can’t fathom why they would. A way to escape taxes on the product perhaps? But the prices on the Black Market far outstrip any taxes on what they would purchase. There must be some rhyme to their reason. I bid him to continue as I mulled over this newest bit of gossip.

For his final rumor, Jeru mentioned that there was an old wives’ tale about a certain alley on the east end of the city. Rumor had it that if a man were to walk through it on nights of the new moon, they would be accosted by a veritable succubus who would leave them drained of all their vitality. At first, it sounded like the ravings of a mad degenerate, but Jeru continued to spin his yarn. From apocryphal accounts, they say that the succubus had gold spun hair tied into twin tails on the sides of her head, a face of an angel and a body so decadent that it was an absurd caricature of the female form.

Immediately, my attention was rapt. I demanded to know where this alley was, my hand clutching my locket tightly, so much so that it began to ache. Jeru professed that he was not privy to such knowledge, only that it had been rumored to be somewhere on the east end of the city. While not ideal, it was still a lead to follow up on. I requested that Jeru start his inquiries of the area in earnest, hoping to kick up something more substantial on my Brother’s assailant. Even if the chances were faint, I needed to know. Jeru merely nodded at my desperation, understanding how much this meant to me. I found that these rumors painted Placedo in a rather unfortunate light. Just what had transpired to turn my Brother into the maddened husk that came home to us in Steelbane?