Daemon of Seorn- Chapter 2

Chapter 21

Peter was having some morning coffee at the pier. He was waiting for one of the many criminals on the list to show up. At least one of these sleaze balls would know something about the artifacts. At exactly eight o’ clock, a man in a very big coat appeared. He was a strange little fellow. This was mostly because the coat he was wearing could probably double as his house. The dwarf hobbled over to him and a muffled “You Hollow?” radiated from the coat. “Yes, I am. You must be The Lilliputian,” replied Peter. “You wanted to buy some items from me?” rumbled the coat. “Actually, I was wondering if you have recently received one of these items,” explained Peter as he gave the coat a piece of paper. “No, never seen ‘em. So you want to buy anything?” mumbled the coat. “No thank you, but if you do see these items, please tell me,” said Peter. “Whatever,” mumbled the coat, who seemed extremely melancholy from losing a sale. Peter walked out onto the street away from the pier, dropping his coffee cup into the trash.2

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It was a week later since he had met the Lilliputian, and Peter still hadn’t found anything. He had met more than twenty leaders in organized crime and none had seen it. Bored, Peter flicked on his computer. The monitor sprang to life and was covered with images and symbols. He looked at it and saw a news article. It was about the museum incident. It told him all the things he already knew until he read the line “there were ashes all over the floor and a giant hole in one wall of the Ancient Artifacts exhibit.” He couldn’t believe he could have been so stupid. He knew where to go now. He needed to go to the Petterborn Museum. 4

The Petterborn Museum had definitely seen better days. It seemed to be a dried up shell of a building, and the recent events had given it a crinkly burnt look to the atmosphere. Yes, only history fanatics or very brave souls would venture into this crippled house of history. Peter briskly walked into the complex, not wanting to have to stay here any longer than need be. He gazed at a nearby sign, which seemed to have become the home for a little spider family, and found the Ancient Artifacts exhibit. Unsurprisingly, it was covered with police tape. 5

Peter walked up to a nearby officer and walked up to him. The man was one of those people that you would never notice if they didn’t have a uniform on. “Excuse me,” asked Peter “Is it all right if I take a look around? Here are my qualifications.” “Go on through,” mumbled the policeman, or that’s what it sounded like. The officer had just downed a poor defenseless donut with noted ferocity, and so what he said really sounded like, “Gor on froofgh.” Peter ignored this unusual statement and pressed onward, determined to solve this case.6

The exhibit should have been torn down. The newspaper had forgotten to mention how badly scorched the exhibit was. By the looks of it, it could collapse any second. Peter walked in, dodging the occasional police officer. There was a lot of display cases, many of them shattered. He also noticed the big gaping hole in the wall. It was huge! It could have been made by a bunch of speeding buses. Some birds had begun to rest on it, chirping and squawking at the police. There were also ashes on the ground, adding to the burnt atmosphere. “Excuse me,” inquired Peter, “Whose ashes are these?” “We don’t know,” answered the policeman, “but that pile over there seems to have been the security guard on duty.” Peter pondered this and walked over to the ashes. There was nothing particularly significant about them, except for the fact that about nine days ago, this was a person. He kept staring at the pile, incapable of looking away, when he noticed something near it. There was a mark burned into the ground. Peter already knew where he had seen it before. It was the markings on the Amulet of Seorn.7

The bright mechanical light emanating from Peter’s computer was the only light in his crummy office. He had found the clue he was looking for, and he was determined to find out what it meant. He was browsing a very interesting article on Wikipedia about Europe during Roman times. While he was browsing, a message appeared suggesting he should check his fourteen new messages on his e-mail account. Bored and weary, he clicked on his e-mail and looked at the spam and viruses. At the bottom, there was an e-mail listed as urgent. It was from the local news station, since he had subscribed to a news service that sent him current new update. He casually opened the e-mail letter, and was shocked at the headlines. The headlines read “Mysterious incident at nearby Meterreon Museum of History.” 8

The article continued: “Late last night, there was a strange unexplained theft at the Meterreon Museum of History. A giant gaping hole was made in one wall, and many ancient artifacts that are believed to be “cursed” were stolen from the museum. The only clues are the hole, a few piles of ashes, some broken display cases, and a strange symbol scorched onto the ground near some ash. The symbol is shown here.9

Peter glanced at the picture and instantly knew these two cases were connected. Call it an inference, but he knew that the two cases were caused by the same thief. That and the symbol was the one shown on the Amulet of Seorn. 10

Peter read through the rest of the article, shut down his computer, and headed off. He had things to do. First thing in the morning, he was going to Mendelen to see the Meterreon Museum of History. He was going to check the symbol, and possibly find more background history of the Amulet. He knew that whoever or whatever was doing this was going to be hard to find. Peter put on his mangy moth-eaten coat and beaten-up hat and walked out of his office, ready for the day ahead of him.