Greetings,
Manny Mandeheim with you again this month. PH asked me to take a break from my investigations again for his newsletter. I suppose he’s too busy to cover it himself, but I’m all too pleased to take a break from one of my investigative binges.
There are numerous puzzles to my investigations, but none more befuddling than the Watcher, that indistinct criminal figure who lurks behind many of my cases. I call him the Watcher since he seems content to observe, but it’s a name that’s not so innocuous. In reality, I suspect the Watcher possesses many threads in which to trap information and use it for more nefarious causes.
The Order of the Dark Rose, as I term it, is his means of reaching into the mundane functions of Cal Rindon and is probably more far-flung than I have noted. It’s a shadowy group to be sure, and they don’t give up information easily.
One person has entered my sphere who has interacted with the Watcher: Vyara. She’s now my erstwhile wife through circumstance, a magical agreement I entered to gain information about the Watcher. Vyara is a closed book, knowing little specifics about her occasional employer’s intentions other than warning me away from my line of investigation. Is she trustworthy? It remains to be seen.
Vyara is a curious person who seems to gravitate to me for some reason. Judging by her accent, she’s possibly Cupartian, a minor province that once controlled much of the broken empire of Menkinar. Sestela is the main political survivor of that old realm. Her presence is curious, though she is an operative for hire, dealing mainly in acquiring and importing rare antiquities of magical relationships.
My wife is a powerful mage in her own right, especially skilled with illusions, enchantments, and such. Even so, she’s not to be underestimated as an opponent, skilled with an array of powerful spells. She’s dangerous when cornered or angered, yet a skilled negotiator too. Her interest in me is curious and my goal is to find out more about her and her association with the Watcher. She’s my only toehold when it comes to my opponent, and not one entirely reliable, being a wild card who plays more than one side in any situation. Still, for good or ill, she seems to reside on my side now. But whether this is a ploy to catch me off-guard I don’t know.
For now, I’ll use her to my advantage and guard against possible betrayal. Perhaps an opportune moment will provide more information regarding her background. If she were trained in Gallantea, she might well be an arch-mage. Whoever schooled her in magic was an expert of similar level and I suspect the same person gave her lessons about espionage techniques which she uses very well.
Vyara remains as much a mystery as the identity of the Watcher, but a mystery which may unlock the criminal’s secrets.
My well wishes until my next appearance in this newsletter or in new books,
Manny