Arannis pressed on despite the blinding light of the sun. Now that there were others with him, he didn't try to look down at the ground so that he could look like he was capable to his friends. The streets of Phlan were fairly active despite it being evening with several laborers leaving their work while merchants called out the various wares they had for sale. Arannis hadn't been to Mantor's Library before and noticed that Hana and Camilla took the lead. Nalos fell in behind them, and at Arannis' request, handed him the bounty that Hana found.

A caricature of the wanted thief took up most of the parchment. Something about the human man depicted with rat-like ears and beady eyes seemed familiar to Arannis but he couldn't place where he saw the man given the likely exaggerated features of the drawing. The man, Spernik, was charged with numerous crimes, including theft, disturbing the peace, and aiding the enemies of Phlan. The Lord Sage of Phlan was offering a hundred gold for the books Spernik stole and an additional fifty gold for capturing the thief. Arannis kept quiet of how Spernik seemed familiar to him and handed the parchment back to Nalos. The Lord Sage would have more information on how best they could find Spernik and apprehend him.

Mantor's Library was a large building made of sun-bleached stone and was the most prominent location within Scholar's Square. A lone bench by the building sat near a clear and tranquil pond and Arannis could see the grounds of the library were well-maintained. There were a few scholars, marked by their robes, by the library's entrance, and Hana walked up to speak with them. She was familiar with who they were, and after a few moments of explaining the bounty, she was able to arrange a meeting for her group with the Lord Sage of Phlan. One of the scholars led the group into the library, heading to the Lord Sage's office by passing through the closest hallway.

The office that the group was led to was small but neat. The desk was organized with its various contents ranging from glass ink bottles to closed books. The back wall of the office was lined up with filled bookshelves and there were two chairs in front of the desk. The Lord Sage, an elderly half-elf in robes with balding gray hair, sat behind the desk and looked up at the visitors. Arannis could see the dark bags under his blue eyes and realized that the theft must have kept the Lord Sage up at night. The Lord Sage forced a smile and gestured for the adventurers to step inside the office and close the door behind them.

"Good evening," the Lord Sage greeted. "I take it that you're here about the bounty."

"Indeed we are," Camilla said, stepping up to take one of the open seats for herself. "You can trust us to catch the thief."

"We were wondering if there was more you can tell us about what happened," Arannis said and found that he was moving to the other chair without realizing; Nalos and Hana remained standing behind the chairs. "Anything can help us find Spernik."

"Of course, of course," the Lord Sage nodded along. "Spernik was hired as a scribe to the library four months ago along with Tibeem. They were skilled but were unfortunately unexceptional."

"Tibeem?" Hana questioned

"Ah, where are my manners? Tibeem was a friend of Spernik's, and as it so happened, was involved in the theft. Two nights ago, they were both caught sneaking out of this very office, and when they were questioned by a scholar that caught them leaving the office, they fled. The Black Fist was called to pursue them, and they managed to catch Tibeem after he had killed one of the knights."

"Despicable," Camilla muttered quietly with a frown.

"But Spernik escaped," Arannis said, less asking and more stating the obvious.

"That's right," the Lord Sage continued. "They shared a room in the library, and when I searched it, I found two rare tomes that were a part of my private collection. Later, when I returned the tomes where they belonged, I found that the reason why I never noticed before was that they had been replaced with clever forgeries. I believe that Spernik has several other stolen tomes hidden somewhere else."

"Are you sure they're not hidden in the room?" Nalos asked. "Maybe they were hidden there."

"You are welcome to search their room and their work desks but I don't believe that the books are in the library. The books I found were in a single haversack with supplies for traveling, such as extra clothes and trail rations."

"It's strange that there's only one haversack packed for traveling," Arannis nodded in agreement. "Spernik likely left Phlan already."

"What about Tibeem?" Hana asked. "Has anyone tried talking to him about where Spernik might have gone?"

"I did visit him in his cell yesterday but he refused to answer any of my questions," the Lord Sage told the group. "He's being held at Stojanow Gate if you want to try questioning him."

"I'm sure we will," Camilla said with a nod. "Their room and desks haven't been touched since they fled, right?"

"That's right," the Lord Sage nodded. "I'd be happy to show you to their room. One of the other sages can point you to their desks and workstations."

"Then let's get to work," Camilla stood up from her seat.

Arannis stood up from his seat a second later. "Hana, Nalos, you can search their workstations. Camilla and I will search their room."

Hana and Nalos both nodded in agreement of Arannis' plan, and while Camilla kept silent, the dark elf noticed her tensed frown. He figured that she had her own idea on how to handle the investigation and was frustrated that he had beaten her to coming up with the plan. Arannis was starting to realize that he was subconsciously trying to do more as a leader, as if trying to defend his role to the newcomer. He was glad that Camilla didn't protest his plan but knew that she wouldn't give up so easily. They would have to talk at some point but that would have to wait as he'd rather not let the Lord Sage listen in on the conversation.

The group split up after leaving the Lord Sage's office with Hana leading Nalos toward where the scribes worked. Arannis could tell that she was familiar with Mantor's Library and trusted her and Nalos to handle the investigation on their own. The two were young but they were more than capable. The Lord Sage led the way upstairs to where the scribes that worked in Mantor's Library slept. He stopped by one of the rooms, pulled out a key, and opened it for Arannis and Camilla.

Arannis stepped into the room with Camilla following behind him. The dorm room was small with the only furniture being a bunk bed against the wall, a narrow desk, and two small dressers. Arannis took off his brimmed hat and left it on one of the bed posts as the Lord Sage stepped into the room. Aside from a few parchments on the desk, he couldn't tell if there was a lead to find out where Spernik went.

"I'll check the desk," Camilla quickly volunteered, and without waiting for Arannis, grabbed the parchments to look over.

"Right," Arannis nodded and hid his frown. "I'll check the dressers."

The Lord Sage watched by the door as the two adventurers continued their investigation. Arannis opened one of the dressers and went through the clothes. There wasn't anything incriminating in the dressers, and eventually, he reached to the bottom of the dresser with clothes scattered throughout the floor. He tapped his chin in thought and stepped back from the dresser, seeing that something was off with it. Behind him, Camilla sighed and shook her head.

"It's just a grocery list," Camilla said and set the parchment down. "Maybe one of the grocers in Phlan remembers Spernik but it's not much of a lead."

Arannis nodded along and snapped his fingers. "This dresser doesn't have as much space as you would think looking at it."

"So what?" Camilla shrugged indifferently.

"It could be a design flaw or it could be a sign that there's a false bottom," Arannis knelt down by the dresser and reached his hand into it to press against the wood at the bottom. "There it is. It looks like our thieves had something to hide."

"An excellent find," the Lord Sage said with a nod.

Arannis pressed down against the false bottom to move it out of place and pulled it out of the dresser. He reached down and grabbed the cloth within to pull out and show to the others. Camilla and the Lord Sage looked blankly at the black-and-purple robes, not recognizing what it was. Arannis looked down, and after a second of thought, his eyes went wide. He had seen similar robes not so long ago when investigating a ghost ship attacking the Moonsea.

"Spernik and Tibeem were part of the Cult of the Dragon," Arannis revealed.

"What?!" Camilla and the Lord Sage gasped in shock.

"I've seen these kinds of robes when fighting the Cult of the Dragon not long ago," Arannis explained, throwing the robes to the bed nearby. "Lord Sage, were the books that you've already found important in any way?"

"The two books I recovered were The History of the North and Lex Geographica," the Lord Sage answered. "The forgeries omitted some of the content from the original. The forgery for The History of the North was missing an entire chapter about the Circle of Scale, a sect of druids that wanted to enslave dragons. As for Lex Geographica, the forgery didn't have the entry that referred to a circle of stones located in the Dragonspine Mountains."

"The circles and druids could be connected," Camilla thought out loud. "This is more serious than theft. Spernik is up to something, and unless we can find out where he went, the Cult of the Dragon could go through with their plan without anyone able to stop them."

"Did Lex Geographica mention specifically where these stones were?" Arannis asked.

"I'm afraid not," the Lord Sage shook his head with a frown. "The closest answer is the Dragonspine Mountains. The mountains are not far from Phlan but they are vast. It could take months to search them in its entirety."

"We need to find a way to narrow down where the stones are," Arannis said. "If we find the stones, we may have found Spernik and the tomes he stole."

"Let's hope that Hana and Nalos were able to find a lead of their own," Camilla stepped toward the door. "I'm afraid that we're likely not going to find anything else of note here."

"I'll have to let the Black Fist know of this discovery," the Lord Sage bowed his head. "I can't believe I let cultists work for me."

"They're cunning and deceptive," Arannis told the Lord Sage and grabbed his hat. "No one would blame you for falling for their tricks."

The Cult of the Dragon was up to something and Arannis hated that he didn't know what they were planning. Even if they found out where Spernik was, he had a head start on the adventurers and may have the time he needed to fulfill his plan. While he wanted to believe that Hana and Nalos were able to find something that told them where Spernik went, he didn't think it was possible. Spernik and Tibeem were able to cover their tracks in their room and he didn't think that they would leave anything incriminating in their workstations.

At the very least, Arannis was glad that he was able to discover that Spernik was part of the Cult of the Dragon before they set out to find him. They knew what they were getting themselves into compared to the last time they had gone against the Cult of the Dragon. Arannis was sure that he and his companions would be caught off guard by the cultists and their minions. It was only a matter of time until they found out where Spernik went so that they could apprehend him and put an end to his plans.

A/N: Not a lot to say here. I am particularly glad that The Courting of Fire introduces the Cult of the Dragon early on as it gives the characters knowledge of what the stakes are moving forward with the rest of the adventure.

Until next time.