Beginnings to an Insightful Investigation [Solo Job]

The large bus reduced its speed and slowed down to a stop. The people in side ever so slightly moved forwards on their seats as the remaining forward momentum left their bodies. One by one each passenger got off the bus, some were lone individuals, others came in pairs, and some in groups. The last passenger to get off the communal vehicle, paused and said "Thanks, you have a nice day sir.", to the bus driver in a noticeable accent which indicated that he hailed from Seven. The individual wore a long coat with hood that obscured his face, the coat was beautifully made, raven black adorned with umber black crow feathers. The mysterious fellow looked up revealing a pair of stunning ocean blue eyes, with locks of warm orange hair. It was none other than protagonist of out little story, Finnegan Fontaine. After his chance encounter which led to his unconventional initiation into the Rune Knights, the reason of his arrest lingered in Fin's mind. His false arrest was the fruit of some runaway drug dealer planting some contraband into his pack. Thankfully the whole misunderstanding was cleared up and the young ginger was able to join the venerable Rune Knights. Today the young man had arrived at the town of Talonia official business. After going through some recent case file Finnegan had noticed a notable influx of crimes revolving the sell and buying of illegal substances. At a glance, the cases seemed to be unaffiliated with one another, however the pilgrims intuition was right on the nose. After discussing with one of the scientist that worked in the engineering department, Fin was able to discover that all many of the confiscated illegal substances were indeed identical in its composition.

This revelation proved to be quite perplexing, considering the fact many of the culprits came from rival gangs and groups. There was simply no way they were all working together, however, the most likely answer to this anomalous discovery was that these criminals all had acquired their contraband from the same supplier. The lab results also revealed that the drug was a fast acting hallucinogen that would render the user in a dream like state, causing them to vividly relive the happiest moments of their lives. Although this substance sounded like a wonderful method for an individual to briefly get away from life's problems, the substance was highly addictive to the point where it would essentially cripple those who would use it. Those who would get addicted would develop a severe reliance on it, causing users to have terrible withdrawals making them violent and incredibly aggressive when unable to get their dose off said drug. The substance was aptly named Rewind, others called it Memory Lane or ML. Fin had requested to investigate the manner, in hopes to uncover more intelligence regarding this new drug that had recently hit the streets. This would have been more in the the realms of the spec ops jurisdiction, but the young rookie pushed for it and was indeed granted approval to undergo with the investigation.

This mission was indeed favorable for Finnegan, due to being a fresh recruit his face wasn't widely known. The eager rookie could mingle with the criminal criminal underbellies of the cities without garnering much attention to himself. Even so, Fontaine knew he had to be cautious, although he had been only been on patrols in era, there was still indeed a slim chance that someone could recognize him, hence the hood and non-uniform outfit. This wasn't the first time Fin had to travel in a manner where he had to hide his identity. Fin had spent many of his years growing up under the tutelage of an old pergandian Pilgrim by the name of Vanessa. The Pilgrim's were a nomadic group of warriors, who held a special code of honor. The group traveled separately in pairs of trios, often each pair or trio was led by a teacher or as they would call it an elder. The pilgrims focused on improving their combat prowess by training and perfecting their craft. The group was made from individuals all across earthland. Some hailed from Fiore, others from Dongxia, a few notable pilgrims came from Midi, some even from Pergrande.

Fin walked through the town until he came to an inconspicuous inn by the name of The Hollowed Inn. The rookie rune knight pushed the double swing doors, as he entered the establishment with his traveling sack slung on his shoulder, the buckles of his jacket and boots rattled, giving him the audible footsteps of that of hardened cowboy sorts. He sat himself at the Inn's bar which seemed to doubled as the check in and check out.

"How ya bar keep?" Fin nodded as he dropped his rucksack ooff to his side, still clearly visible in his peripherals. "Doin' good, how can I help you sir?" the barkeep inquired. "Lookin for a room to stay in, ya got any?" Fin stated quickly following up with his inquiry. The bartender was in the middle of drying a large mug with a clean cloth, he nodded. "That we do have, how long will you be staying?" The barkeep inquired. Fin mulled over his answer for a few seconds before responding. "Oooh I say about week or two, with a chance of an extended." Fin nodded. The bartender nodded to Fin as well response "gotta pay first to book a room and for how many nights you'll be staying. If you need to extend just let me know and you can pay for how many extra nights you'll be staying. May I get your name sir?" the barkeep asked. "Johnathan Reeds, ya can call me John." Fin lied naturally as he breathed.

"Johnathan Reeds it is..." The barkeep said back to Fin as he wrote the rookie rune knights alias down on the worn and wells used guest book. "Just need your signature and payment." Fin obliged and signed with a fake signature and handed the man the payment. "Anything else else Mr. Reeds?" The barkeeper inquired. Fin paused and thought for a moment before responding "Yeah, you got any Lucky Seven Whisky?" Fin inquired as he glanced over the shelves adorned with various alcoholic beverages. "That something we do have Mr. Reeds." the barkeep smiled indicating that he approved of the young mans choice. "Savage, I'll have that then lad." Fin smiled from under his hood. The barkeep quickly poured the Sevenite man a glass and collected the corresponding fee from the patron.

Fin began to drink slowly, savoring the the distinct flavor profile of his homelands whiskey. The familiar light and fruity taste with evident cereal notes, the signature oakiness and caramel of the aging washed over Fin causing him to recall some fond memories of his homeland. He remembered the first drink he had when he was at the ripe age of ten, he had snuck himself a drink while his uncle wasn't looking. He chuckled how he disliked it at first, but over his repeated early drinking through out his years, he grew to enjoy the beverage. After downing the last drop of his drink he turned to the Barkeep saying: "thanks a million." before heading up to his room. The room was a simple room, it had a slight smell of smoke, most likely due to the last guest smoking in it. It didn't bother Fin considering the fact his old teacher, Vanessa, was a chronic chain smoker. Despite her bad habit, she had iron lungs, and had way more stamina than a normal human should. Fin tossed his bag onto the bed and began looking around, he concentrated his mana, and expanded his senses via arcane enchantments to see if anything was amiss in his room. He stood there silently for a few seconds taking in everything, allowing his mana to probe and scan the room for anything suspicious. The coast was clear, there was indeed no signs of tampering or anything out of the ordinary in the room. Once satisfied, Fin took a quick shower and changed his clothes. His new outfit was dark colors, leather with some warm cloth and furs perfect for the chilly weather of winter. Fin grabbed his long coat he had worn earlier and headed out the room to start his investigation regarding the new drug. He locked his room and pocketed his keys and made his way into the town Talonia.

He walked around for a few hours, stopping only to buy snacks and food at certain food stalls and stores. Although Finnegan Fontaine was there for business, he made some time for himself. While he was gallivanting through the town of Talonia, he kept his sky blue eyes peeled for anything interesting or suspicious. The main heart of the town seemed normal as it is, normal folk going about their normal lives doing normal business. Fin had passed by this town once, but it was many years ago. So the town was essential foreign to the nomad, there were a few prominent land marks he recognized, but for the most part it was a new experience for Finnegan. Nothing too note worthy came to his attention, but this something he expected. Fin had a hunch that if he wanted real clues he would have to go to the more unruly parts of town. Fin knew very well that Talonia was a town known for being neutral, many guild-less mages had taken residency there or at the very least turned the town as some sort of neutral central hub. The town was not lawless by any means, there was indeed authority and order in the town. But it was certainly a prime spot should anyone want to establish some sort of shady business, for there were credible rumors that the black market indeed resided in the town by the waterfall, the town of Talonia.

Fin walked through the town, towards the more ghetto area of Talonia. As Finnegan Fontaine drew closer to the dark underbelly of the city, Fin noticed that the streets in the ghetto portion of the town was certainly neglected. Soon enough Fin noticed more and more shady folk out to make a quick buck roaming around. He noticed many young urchins running out and about the streets and ally ways. Fin remained vigilant yet inconspicuous, he walked with such purpose, his saunter casual in his pace, thus allowing the young sevinite rookie rune knight to blend in just fine just like a chameleon to its surroundings. His sky blue eyes scanning the area hidden by the shadow cast by his hood. The wind was cold, he noticed some homeless folk shuddering to the cold, he couldn't help but feel sorry for them, but he knew he had to stay focused and on task, these were the people dealers would target. People down on their luck, preying on the desperation and sorrow of others to pander and sell their poisons that promised momentary relief. Fin subtly quickened his pace in attempts to cover more ground faster.

After taking a few turns, and walking into an ally, Fin noticed something. Two individuals, and elderly man, and a young boy no older than the age of thirteen were in the middle of some sort of exchange. The Young boy handed the old man a stack of jewels while the young boy received a package of some sorts in return. Fin narrowed his eyes and he smirked to himself, for he knew that what he had just witnessed could be the lead he was looking for. Fin casually took a turn, and cut through the ally attempting to cut off the boy when he was far away from the old man. Finnegan did so undetected and unnoticed by anyone. With his hands in his pocket he blended in to the dirty and shady masses of the ghettos. Sure enough, Fin was able to tail the young man holding on to the mystery package.