A Child Missing From Lathander Farms

*Ardylan had no trouble finding the shop of the local taxidermist, James James - an odd man with the same name twice who worked an even odder profession. Stepping into James' workshop, Ardylan immediately froze. Dozens upon dozens of animal heads mounted on the walls of the building, each one expertly preserved, and each one with a gaze that seemed to follow Ardylan's movements.*

"Good Rillifane... this is horrible."

*Ardylan muttered this to himself as he stood in the doorway. The smell of the room - chemicals and pipesmoke - didn't bother him a bit, being a smoker and an amateur alchemist himself. But the empty eyes of dead animals certainly made him uncomfortable.

Waving to James as the man stepped out from behind a counter, Ardylan introduced himself and began asking him questions about Gladd. James was friendly enough, despite his utterly disturbing choice of profession, and answered his questions easily.*

DM_MindFlayer wrote:

"He worked for me starting last summer, nice enough fella, bright smile, very smart for a farm-boy. Prolly got twenty five annuals behind 'em. Right hard worker too, literally worked his hands till they bled." James James stood behind his counter puffing on his trademark deer antler pipe. The room was small and dank, inundated with a thick haze of pipesmoke and the smell of chemicals. The room was lighted with candles and the flicker of the flames danced within the marbled eyeballs of the assorted animal heads he had displayed on the wall. They all seemed to stare at Ardylan, frozen forever in a silent plea.

"Never dun anything fetchy or snide, always on time. Best contractor I've ever 'ad." James took another big puff and released it, oblivious that the billow had just consumed what fresh air Ardy had left. "Tall guy, Ah! and His name something buggered though, kinda. . .fruity if yah ask'd me." He tapped his pipe on the counter in contemplation. "Gladd, yeah. . .but iss furst name." James repacked the pipe and lit it with a match he pulled from beneath the counter. PUFF PUFF.

*Still smoking the cigarette he'd lit up for himself after leaving the library, Ardylan was pretty much unphased by the dwindling fresh air... though the chemical smell was starting to make his nose itch. It was a strong smell, but not like what he used to coat his weapons, so he wasn't used to it. Ardylan had been jotting down notes while James spoke, but looked back up to him as James paused.*

DM_MindFlayer wrote:

"Gigh! That's it, name was Gigh. Like Hi. . .but with a Guh. Kinna strange sometimes, real focused like, would watch me peel deer for hours, commented that he liked the sound of the hide tearing away from the muscle. I even let him make several of 'em, he was good right away, better than me when I started, prolly coulda been one of them field surgeons on a battlefield."

*Ardylan nodded and jotted down "Gigh" in his notes, along with "possible medical or field surgeon training."*

DM_MindFlayer wrote:

James began to pet one of the frozen racoons on the countertop absent mindedly as he spoke. "He just up and vanished one day, without a word, though I suspect he ran away with that Library woman he was courtin'. Not really sure, that's just a rumor."

*When James added this mention of the library woman, Ardylan fumbled and dropped his charcoal. He swore in Draconic under his breath, picked it up, and gave James a look, eyebrow raised.*

"Might have run off with a library woman? I... see."

*Ardylan quickly writes this into his notes as well.*

"Was Gigh courting this woman? Do you know her name, or anything else about her or where they might have gone? Just recently I learned she's been missing, so anything you know that could help find her could help get your best apprentice back here and working again."

*Ardylan gives James a hopeful look as he waits for an answer.*