)"Greetings, friend," he says in a tired voice. He begins fumbling in a pouch as he talks. "My name is Vantavius Kane, and I've traveled four days, three nights with little rest to get here, and I see now, walking by your keep, that my efforts were well founded."
Finally finding what he was searching for, he pulls a small cloth bag from his pouch, not yet showing its contents. Turning even more serious, he says, "I'm going to show you something but for your protection I'm going to ask you not to touch it for I don't know what it will do. Possessing it has had no effects upon me that I am aware of, but I cannot speak to physical contact as I have not yet had the courage to touch it myself."
He turns over the pouch and out falls a necklace, completely black, including what appears to have been jewels. His next words confirm as much. "Four days ago, this was gold, the gems were red, blue, brilliant yellow. It was my wife's favorite and had the fastener not broken just the evening before, if my laziness had not prevented it from being quickly fixed, it would have been around her neck when this occurred. I cannot speak intelligently to why this happened, but I know a man who might, a man who will surely be in danger if I'm right about him, a man who may endanger all those around him at the academy where he works.
"I guessed that whatever may have happened to this necklace may in some similar form have happened here, and that guess has proven quite true. I'm hoping then you might be motivated to help me discover what this man knows and help protect him from whoever else may seek this knowledge."
Having said his peace, he seems even more tired, but he rushes on with his last statement, as if it were as important as the rest of what he said, "And boy could I use a drink..."
