Patron and Vessel

Stix lies on the bed, looking up at the ceiling of the inn. He was expecting a message from the firm sometime soon, but he never knew how they would contact him. Sometimes it was a telepathic message, sometimes they would arrive in person, and sometimes they would send a messenger. Either way, each time it contacted him it was always a jarring experience, especially when he was dealing with Inkwell.
He didn’t dare drink or eat in case he choked when he expected such a contact. It always came at inopportune times, and if a messenger showed up, they often would insist on sharing his food, so he often waited until after them. It's been three hours since he expected the message, and he was starting to get hungry.
Thinking they forgot about him, Stix reach down to his pack beside his bed for a pouch of jerky he often keeps, but when he looked back up he saw the horned head of the Imp looking up over the edge. “Looks good. I hope you have enough for both of us.” Inkwell cackled.
Stix gasped, rolling over and falling out of the bed onto his pack. He felt the pack collapse under his weight as fell, likely crushing the rest of the rations he kept. “Dammit, Inkwell. Why do you always do that? Do you wait to do something like that?”
The little imp smirked as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Nah, it was a coincidence, this time.” He remarked motioning to his body. “The boss insisted on taking a soak before we continued, and you know how time works down there. Kind of got away from me.” He walked around the bed, reaching down and taking a piece of jerky from the fallen pouch.
Stix pulled himself up off the ground, grumbling as he did. He glared at the imp with his jerky and sighed. He won again.
“Anyways green skin, you get what we need from you?” Inkwell asked, jumping up onto the bed to get to eye level with Stix. “Anything you learn from the holy man?”
Stix scoffed as he looked at his pack, reaching in to grab his notes. “Got quite the mouth of on him for being a man of the cloth for one thing.” He remarked. “Had some strong feelings about your client's dark arts.”
“Heh. Sounds like he would start a crusade if he knew they summoned a second devil.” Inkwell jokes, popping the jerky in his mouth.
“Actually, that’s the interesting thing.” Stix remarked, flipping through the pages. “I don’t think they summoned this Bonrar fellow. Seems like he has a way of getting around himself.”
“Oh hoh, the mortal has been doing his homework.” Inkwell coos, lying down on his stomach and putting his chin on his hands. “Find out anything our experts couldn’t?”
Stix grinned, taking out the map he copied from Father Enzo. “Seems there have been reports all across the country of deals like this one being made, seemingly from the same devil in question.” He flips through his notes, pulling out another page. “It also seems miscarriages are on a rise as well. It's probably related to the guy.”
“I see, I see… so mortal a failing to get knocked up everywhere, am I understanding this right?” Inkwell asked.
“Essentially yes, but also no. The details are not important.” Stix says, not wanting to clarify any further. “What is important is that it's not supposed to be as common as it's happening.”
“So long story short, our case isn’t a one off.” Inkwell surmised, taking the map, “What are these numbers next to each of these X’s mean?”
Stix walked overed, pointing to them. “These are the dates the reports took place.” He said he then drew Inkwell’s attention to the numbers between the towns. “And these numbers on the lines are the average number of days it takes to get between locations.”
Inkwell frowned, quickly figuring out the math in his mind. While he struggled to understand how humans used numbers, he knew math. “This doesn’t add up though.”
“That’s what I was saying about Bonrar being able to get around.” Stix remarked, looking at his notes. “Correct me if I am wrong, but Devils can only transport to locations where their summoning circle were placed before.”
“And there minion’s, yes. Unless he had been to all these places before, he would need mortal help to be this far reaching.” Inkwell’s mischievous grin turned to a serious tone, as he looked at everything that had been presented to him. “Is there anything else you learned? This is getting interesting.”
“There was one more thing.” Stix began, sitting on the bed beside the imp. “The Priest is certain the child was tainted while it was still in the womb.” He explained, looking to the imp. “But the information you provided me says the child was untainted. Do you have an explanation for this discrepancy?”
Inkwell frowned, a genuine frown Stix rarely witnessed. “We were hoping you would find an explanation about that.” He said coldly. “We were hoping you would say that the priest was lying completely about the child being tainted. Are you sure he wasn’t lying.”
“A lying man would not use the kind of language he used.” Stix remarked, sighing. “The man is convinced that he saw the taint of a devil on that child while it was in the womb, but it was gone at delivery.”
“Shit, I really didn’t want to hear that. You're one of the few mortals I trust at face value.” Inkwell scowled, looking back at the notes. “So not only do we have to track this guy down, but we got to figure out where that corruption from the child went too.”
“If it helps any, the old man from the church agreed to let me know if the devil shows up again.” Stix explained. “They have faster communications than a typical messenger.”
“Not really, like you mentioned, even if we get word of the guy’s movements, unless we already have had a circle in the area, there is no getting there quickly.” Inkwell chuckled, “Unless you want to go around and draw the circles for us.”
“I mean, it would cost extra, but…”
“Aaaaand, that's the end of that conversation.” Inkwell interrupted. They were full on soul energy, sure, but their coffers were running empty. “But if you could drop a circle wherever you travel to and send a line that would be great.”
Stix chuckled, the imp was annoying and mischievous, but he did seem to mean well at most times. “I suppose it would make things easier. Huh…” Stix considered the exchange for a moment. “You know, if a mortal working for this guy is already making the rounds across the country for some reason, they would be able to draw out the circles. I doubt a regular person would travel all that way just to draw out the circles.”
“Any examples?” Stix asked.
“Maybe a trading caravan, or a traveling bard. People who would already be on the move. Not only would they be able to place some circles around for their master, but they could also cause complications to childbirth.” Stix shrugged, as he reached for jerky. He took a piece out and handed it to the Imp. “I don’t know, just spitting out ideas.”
“Well, congratulations, you just figured out your next lead.” Inkwell remarked, gobbling down the jerky. “If you can look into anyone who visited the town around that time on the map, we can cross reference that with any contracts made with those mortals, and possibly find a match.” Inkwell looked at Stix with a grin, snatching the pouch of jerky out. “And next time, I would prefer some lamb rather than pork. More stringy.”
“The jerky wasn’t meant for you, it was mine.” Stix growled. “You owe me next time you show up.”
The imp rose his hands up, shaking his head. “Well, I suppose it's the least I can do. Guess I’ll bring you a treat next time.” He gathers up the notes and returns a grin to the orc. “The big boss will want to know about what you learned so far. Might be able to figure some stuff out. You did good, mortal.”
“I still don’t know if being complimented by an imp is something I can be proud of.” Stix retorted. “A lot of people would take it as an insult.”
Stix smirked, stuffing the notes in his pack. “Well, I’m trying not to lie anymore, if that means much to you.”