From: tim@mik.uky.edu (timothy c huesman)
Subject: at Mrs. Cludne's (city guard)
Keywords: body investigate city guard watch psi cludne
Summary: A guardsman is sent to investigate the body at Cludne's
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 20:54:25 GMT

    "Another body," thought the guard as he made his way to Mrs. Cludne's.
 When will people in this town stop overreacting to corpses?!   Most
 likely it was a former resident of Low City who didn't have the decency
 to die where he was attacked.  Oh well, Cludne was one of the good guys
 ...er gals, and didn't she see that the guard had pastries and hot
 cafe before the nightwatches began?  Oh well, here goes Nothin'.
    The guard rang the bell at the threshhold of the open door and waited 
 to be admitted.  One of Cludne's myriad of grandkids came running up.
 The guard patrolling this area near Merchant's Hill had long grown used
 to the sight and often misfortune of meeting one of Cludne's grandkids.
 It depended actually whether it was Rupert's kid, or Syl's, or that
 mysterious singer whatsisname's, or Bent's or that scoundrel Prosper's.
 Prosper, if that wasn't a misnamed human!  Oh well, one could tell
 whose kid it was within seconds....
    A girl of ten or so ran up to the guard and smiled, "Yes...ummm
 <she looked for any rank insignia--there was none> corporal?"
    That got a smile out of the lowly guard...this must be Syl's kid
 or Rupert's; they were the polite ones.  "Miss, please direct me
 to the ...umm body found here earlier... then I'll need to see
 the finder of the body."  He knew he'd best get straight down to 
 business, but still he was curious if this polite kid had an older
 sister.  If Rupert had a daughter, she'd be unreachable to one not
 of at least the merchant class, but one of Syl's brood....
    The girl led him to the basement and waited as he examined the 
 corpse.  This guy looked far worse than he'd expected.  But there
 was no way it had come from Low City.  The clothes, the slave collar, 
 the dirt caked about him...He had come from outside the city.  No 
 sign of foul play, but this was a mystery for a more experienced 
 eye.  Still he could get some preliminaries.  "Alright, who found 
 him?"
    "Mother's mother found him.  I'll take you," chimed in the girl.
    The guard noted the usual superstition of not using the word,
 'grand' or 'great' with 'mother' common to this side of town.  It
 was a superstition shared by all classes.  
    Mrs. Cludne was making bread when the guard was brought to her. 
 She eyed the young gaurd as though he were the main course for late
 meal and wiped the flour from her hands.  "Mary," she said as she
 extended her hand to the guard.  On her arm, exposed by the rolled
 sleeves was the tattoo that verified most of the gossip about Cludne,
 it read: M.A.C.  She had a firm handshake for such a small woman.
    The guard wondered briefly if she was as old as she was said to be
 since her auburn hair caught the light and spun rays of gold and red
 within it.  He sobered his thoughts as he noted the granddaughter
 standing behind her.  Yes, she must be that old.  He resumed his
 guardly demeanor.  "You found the body?"
    Mrs. Cludne recounted the tale of the barefoot runner caked
 with blood who had colapsed, dead, on her doorstep.  She showed 
 the guard the two articles held by the runner...a ramshackle
 rune-covered device and a piece of parchment.  The guard admitted
 that this was best looked into by one more skilled than he, but he
 would hasten a report and see that the body was collected soon.
    "Good!, I've got ale in vats down there, I'd hate to have them
 tainted by BAD spirits..." She grinned.  "Well I've got baking to
 do...goodday guardsman."
    The guardsman thanked her for her time and thanked the girl, Sherry,
 for her assistance.  She was Syl's daughter, for she had said, 
 "Mother's mother," in describing Mrs. Cludne.  Still she might be
 from one of the daughters that had moved out of Generica.  Perhaps
 the investigator sent here could check into some things for him
 as well....  The guard left to make his report to his officer.

ADMIN:  someone e-mail me as to who is responsible for the guard of
        Generica.  I'd like to have access to a guard or two from
        time to time and continuity is always a plus!  8)

--

  Doc  Pan       tim@mik.uky.edu          Tim  Huesman