Previously
----------

It's the first day of autumn, and the town of Hawkfeather is busily
preparing for tonight's festival - "The Reading of the Dead". The town is
packed with visitors from the surrounding villages, ready to pay their
respects to the recently deceased.

The market stalls in the town center are doing a healthy trade in pies,
souvenirs, charms, and the like. Among the shoppers are a few strangers -
Amordon, Damilon, and John. They don't yet know it, but their destinies will
soon be intertwined.

The flow of commerce is suddenly interrupted by the sound of shattering
glass, and a heavily armored figure (Serj) comes flying through the broken
window of the Grinning Goose tavern. It seems that Serj has a bounty on his
head, and a few thugs have come to collect. John, feeling no sympathy for
the cutthroats, shoots one in the chest with his crossbow while hiding in
the shadows. Serj manages to hold his own in melee combat with several
others. He takes an arrow from one of the thugs, but his armor absorbs some
of the damage.

Most of the gathered shoppers flee from the violence, but Amordon and
Damilon both try to work to end the fighting. Amordon is able to magically
charm one of the thugs, and Damilon's words send the others fleeing.

Amordon and Damilon lead Serj and the thug, both suffering arrow wounds,
back into the wreckage of the Grinning Goose. Emmand, the tavernkeep, isn't
happy about his window, but is too shocked to react properly. Thanks to the
charm, Amordon convinces the thug that engaging in illegal bounty hunting in
broad daylight is a foolish idea.

This discussion is interrupted by the appearance of Samden, governor of
Hawkfeather. He's not happy about the chaos that Serj has caused, and
complains that he's already far too busy dealing with the festival. Samden
accidentally lets slip the fact that the Book of the Dead has gone missing.

These are the facts of the case:

* The book is usually kept locked in a safe in the governor's mansion.
* The book is used to record the names of everyone who has died in
  Hawkfeather.
* The book was last taken out of the safe two months ago, when old farmer
  Landon died.
* The names in the book are read off every year at the Reading of the Dead.
* A Vermin caravan arrived at the edge of town a few weeks ago.

Samden believes that a Vermin thief broke into his mansion and stole the
book.