Your party wakes in their respective inn rooms, crisp post-storm air streaming in after you open the window, and the smell of the innkeep making food downstairs. Suddenly your attentions are drawn down to the ground floor, into the streets where a group has circled around. Upon closer inspection the group has formed around a humanoid figure laying on the ground. It is covered in a thin blanket, guards standing watch making sure no fools or children mess with it.
 
Corpse Site: Dead robed body on the ground of an old man of elderly age, his lower jaw has been completely torn off.
DC 15-17 Arcana check can tell that it was some kind of force magic due to bruising around the side of the head.
 
Clutched in his hand is a button or gilded copper attached to a patch of silk cloth less than 1 inch big.
DC 13-15 appraisal can tell that it is of fine quality silk.
 
Inside his robes there is a piece of folded paper that have the words: "Come to the usual spot, we have to discuss your daughter's 'Predicament' - O ".
 
Around the ground near the site you can see behind a tree about 20 feet off there is a tree with boot prints in mud that walk to the tree then walk away and are lost about 100 feet away and then there is a strange shiny glittery substance on the ground and then the roads become stone laden.
DC 13-15 (Know.) Local alludes that the person went toward either the Market District or the Old Noble Quarters.
 
Vendor/Dealer Site in the Old Noble Quarters: You see a scruffy faced man dressed in admittedly nice clothing On his hands are a manner of fine jewelry. He seems to be manning a rather large stall peddling fine clothing and apparel at a corner. As you approach he hails you "Good Day, travelers! Wanna get outta those dusty clothes and into some FINE QUALITY wears?"
DC 15 Sense motive to sense his discomfort if the murder is brought up and that they found some cloth that looks like his.
 
As you begin pressing more on his involvement he tells you he knows nothing, "L-Look, I don't have time for this, either buy something or get lost."
DC 13-15 Sense Motive will tell them he is lying.
 
He begins to walk off at a hurried pace, and when you begin to chase him he breaks into a sprint.
DC 15 Con check to catch up to him, and a grapple check maneuver to keep him caught, or the Entangle Arrow. He runs through the market pace, throwing over boxes that require DC 15 dexterity checks to jump, and can only run 3 rounds before tiring and slowing.
 
DC 15 Persuasion check or DC 13-15 Intimidate check will get him to talk.
"Okay! Okay, I'll talk!, all I know is that someone with loads of money comes by here every once in a while and buys some nice dress clothes. Robes and slippers and such. They give me a letter of credit with the letter "O" signed on it. T-They also, uh...They also buy some powder from time to time. But you didn't hear it from me! I don't wanna know what someone with that kinda money does to snitches!"
 
Site: Warehouse in Market District:
 
 
 
 
 
 
Characters:
 
Lector Takaoka: The dead man with the mystery around him. He keeps his personal life to himself, and is a well respected teacher at the Arcanum. He has a daughter named Aneyo who is a Neophyte caster in the Arcanum. He was a well respected Evocationist. Nagai had it out for him ever since he was failed during his test to become a Neophyte, so he used his daughter's curse to lure him out and murder him with a Force Punch spell (Lol, 5d fuckin 6 to a wizard's face), removing the lower jaw and killing him in the process.
 
Neophyte Takaoka Aneyo: A smart, shrewd but kind young woman. She is well on her way to following in her father's footsteps, and his death has hit her harder than anyone else. She has an infernal bloodline that has become a curse that will make her fire magics go out of control. She only ever told a few people close to her, some of her good friends and Nagai when she thought that things were going to get serious with him. She never was able to reciprocate his feelings due to her father only wanting the best for her. He didn't want her seeing someone who hadn't even achieved the rank of Neophyte yet.
 
Tyro Higana Otsui: A tomboy type of girl who is studying magic to better serve her for when she becomes a Magus. She is friends with Aneyo and has been since they started in the Arcanum. She knows that Aneyo has infernal lineage and suffers from uncontrollable fire magic outbursts from time to time, limiting her repertoire of magic and hindering her growth as a wizard. She is a Red Herring in the mix. She will try to keep Aneyo's involvement with Nagai a secret out of respect for her friend, but if she is threatened sufficiently enough she will cave. (Because there are some high level characters in the group she would know she had no chance against.)
 
Merchant Lord Omui Shingu: A middle aged man of great wealth and influence in Miru, but not as much as some others. If questioned he will admit that they purchas from time to time from the man at the corner because he has the best prices for the quality. He will protect his son by saying "Leave my boy out of this, he is already under enough stress as it is!" He cares for his family and will do whatever he can to keep them safe and happy, even hiring assassins to take care of unwanted snoopers who get too close to an answer. If the party questions his vendors or drug dealers then he will send an assassin after the party. He has a hiring budget of 5000gp. If things get bad then he will try to buy off the investigators in disguise.
 
Omui Nagai: An egotistical, Gild addicted man, son of a merchant, and he likes fancy things. He is a young adult in his 20s with swept aside short brown hair and slightly tanner skin and average height.  He had feelings for Aneyo but they were one sided. To top it off her father was part of the reason he was scorned and even added insult to injury when he failed him in the test to become a Neophyte despite him clearly being of adequate skill. All things added together he was also under the influence of a drug called Gild which is supposed to give you a calm and cool mind when used, but high doses and high strains of stress will have the opposite effect on a user instead. He specializes in tactical magic use as well as magic item creation.