You sip your drink as you sit at the bar and watch the medic hurry into the private VIP room, hoping to catch a glimpse of what’s going on inside. Other VIPs mutter, and gossip is well under way; you’ve already heard someone claiming that Karven is dead.

Tansen sits nearby, eating a handful of dried hibbi cubes from a fancy glass bowl, while a server, with nothing else to do currently, hovers behind the bar, talking to the bartender and looking concerned. Though more VIPs than normal have lingered, no doubt wanting to find out what happens to Karven, most have taken their leave by now, only about a third remain. The space downstairs, on the other hand, is still rammed full of regular patrons.

Off to one side, you see one of Karven’s companions having a heated discussion with two Stardust staff members; a bartender, and the floor manager Evan Janris. You can’t tell what they’re saying, but you get the impression that the companion is blaming Stardust, judging by his angry gestures and accusatory pointing. You think you hear the word “lawyer” at one point. Eventually, another one of Karven’s friends emerges from the private room and joins in, and things soon get a little more heated. The security guard from earlier is still nearby and looks on edge, but Omon arrives and steps into the fray. However, the discussion continues.

Another server, carrying a tray of collected glasses comes over to the bar, handing them over for cleaning. Then “Lora”, according to the name embroidered onto her jacket, leans against the bar clutching the empty tray, and joins you and the others in watching the argument. She speaks to Tansen in a low voice.

“Mr Wrasky’s got it in for the staff and is threatening to sue. He’s claiming that Karven was served a contaminated drink, or someone poisoned him.”

“Pigsplosh,” says Tansen, not looking up from his bowl. “If the drink was contaminated, other patrons would’ve fallen ill too.”

“Yeah, I think Jan brought it up but Wrasky’s persistent,” says Lora. “The poisoning accusation is harder to disprove though. You guys didn’t see anything?”

“No,” says Tansen, “nothing happened. They were at their table the whole time, and Karven was sitting right next to the balcony; it’d be hard for someone to sneak something into his drink when they’re all looking in his direction.”

So then, that would only leave the time after the drink was poured, and just before it was delivered to the table. The bartender who poured it, and the waiter who carried it are no doubt under fire. Are they still being questioned?

“Mmm… This isn’t good. I don’t see how we’re gonna get out of this one in one piece, “says Lora. “If it turns out Morren or Tia did slip something into his drink, they’re finished, and Stardust’ll take a big hit for sure.”

“No, there’s no way,” says Tansen, shaking his head and looking back at the group by the VIP room, “they’re just looking for a scapegoat. Karven got completely drenched to the point of being unable to handle it. He probably went overboard when Master Inglesbury was dishing out free drinks like he was on fire. Now, they’re trying to frame his drunkenness as a poisoning to save face. Either that, or one of them did something to him at some point, and is trying to shift the blame. I just wish I could’ve seen it…”

After Karven collapsed, Stardust’s resident medical specialist had hurried to the scene. After moving him to the VIP room for privacy, an external doctor had been called in; evidently, his condition was more serious than was initially imagined. Meanwhile, the guests and the staff, yourself included, had been questioned by Janris and the security staff on what you had witnessed. You’d given your account of the incident between Karven, and the other man, whose name turned out to be ‘Sir DeNaw’.

Now, you think further back. Karven had been fine, if mildly demanding, for the majority of the evening, and when ‘Master Inglesbury’ had paid for drinks, Karven’s behaviour had deteriorated after that, along with several others. However, his deterioration was much more extreme. Maybe, taking advantage of Inglesbury’s purse, Karven had opted to try a much, much stronger drink, and had underestimated his ability to handle it? Seems plausible.

But then, he was acting a little weird before that… You remember him hovering outside the staff door, and his brief but strange movements before he returned to the main hall. Was he already drunk at that point? And why was he there? You remember seeing the sudden movement of the leaves of the plant across the hall. No one else was present, the staff door he was blocking was closed, and he was too far to be able to reach it himself. If he was drunk, maybe he had staggered into it shortly before? But then, he was already standing still in the corner when you looked at him, and you didn’t see the tail end of him moving, so, it’s unlikely. Yet, the plant’s leaves had shuffled quite visibly. Did he throw something at it?

You lean in to Tansen and Lora’s conversation, telling Tansen again about when you saw Karven in the hall. Previously, you only mentioned that he was loitering by the Staff door, but he had nothing on him and didn’t seem to be doing anything in particular, so you didn’t think much of it, but this time, you highlight his odd movements, and that he might’ve thrown something into the plant pot there.

Tansen and Lora look at each other, and Tansen’s brow furrows slightly.

“Which plant?”

You tell him and he gets up, dusting his hands off. Wait here. I’ll go check it out.”

He casually saunters off towards the Gentlemen’s Suite, and returns a minute later just as casually. He sits back at the bar and focuses back on his bowl of hibbi, though he doesn’t eat any.

“That man is completely shifted. Without a doubt.”

You notice that Tansen is holding a small, crumpled up brown paper ball. He shifts the paper with his thumb slightly so that you can see the top of the tiny corked vial inside it.

—

30 minutes later, Karven has been stabilised, and he and his companions escorted out of the venue via a private exit. Only a handful of VIPs remain upstairs now, mostly still having quiet discussions, obscured from outside ears by the jaunty music from downstairs.

The remaining staff have resumed cleaning the tables and utensils, and Lora also helps to tidy. Very slowly. She meticulously cleans and re-stacks glasses, using her evident busy-ness as a cover to keep talking to you and Tansen, and sneak a look at the vial. Tansen does not dare smell the remnants inside, let alone taste it, but he is convinced that it contained an illicit substance, and something quite strong at that.

“Definitely heavier than what they usually take…”

Karven and his friends usually take drugs in here?

“Not just Karven; I’m sure that 98% the VIPs take some substance or other before a night on the town. But it’s usually pretty mild, and they do it before they leave their manors and out of sight of prying eyes. The trick is to get high discreetly, and not so much that it’s noticeable by others. Most get away with it. Looks like Karven messed up.”

As you contemplate the implications of that, Lora seems thoughtful.

“But why? Why would Karven not only have something stronger, but resort to taking some IN the venue in a visible location? You said he was in the hallway? Why not go somewhere more secure, like inside the Suite? And why take something so strong that you end up threatening to stab a guy? The aftermath would be outrageous, and his reputation in tatters.”

Tansen shakes his head, unsure. It doesn’t make any sense. This whole event was a recipe for disaster. Karven should know better than that.

“Either way,” says Lora, “his claims won’t slick, not when we have both evidence and witness testimony. Give this to the boss and Karven’s cronies won’t have a leg to stand on. If anything, we could probably sue them for slander.”

“Maybe,” says Tansen, “but I doubt it. With this, Stardust could shift blame back onto him. Whatever he took was the root cause, and drinking on top made it worse. It had nothing to do with Stardust, but, when they realise that, they’ll just find some way to pivot. It can’t be pinned on Karven; someone else must’ve set him up.”

Tansen drums his fingers against the bar, the vial wrapped back up inside its paper bag and wrapped again inside a napkin, now hidden somewhere in his jacket. He looks up at the ceiling, studying a chandelier that dangles overhead.

“They’ll probably claim the liquid was some medicine for some undisclosed condition Karven’s currently dealing with, privately, of course. Then clearly, whoever prescribed it either… mixed up the recipe, or… gave the wrong dose, or didn’t consider how it would react with alcohol. Kraithe; maybe they were actively trying to do him in?”

He lowers his voice a little more. “Either way, whoever gave him the medicine is the one to blame, and poor old Karven is just an innocent victim of circumstance. His behaviour was abnormal; way out of line, even for him, so they can spin that as prove that the medicine caused temporary insanity; as long as he doesn’t do it again, people will buy it. He can drop the claims against Stardust, issue an ‘apology’ to the VIPs he wronged, maybe pay for a free night for them here, and everything will be smoothed out. Some apothecary or drug dealer might go through Kraithe for this if they decide to really go through the motions, but over all, it’ll be a happy ending for everyone.”

Lora puts another glass away. “Well, better that than Stardust, Morren or Tia taking the fall.”

Tansen doesn’t say anything, but you notice a glassy look in his eyes.

“I can give the vial to the boss and tell him what happened. He’ll contact you Valine, and ask you for your witness statement. Then they’ll take care of it. In a few days, things will all have straightened out, and Karven will be back to his best behaviour, and will have avoided a truly nasty scandal. Win-win. Or…”

He glances at you.

“We can make sure that Karven doesn’t get to skip out of this so easily. We can make him pay. Literally. I can contact him, anonymously, and tell him that we know his little secret. And that, if he doesn’t want that secret to be plastered across the Royal Herald, silence costs money, of which he has an unacceptable amount. Say, a fee equivalent to a year’s wages at Stardust? Maybe two? Pocket change for him, really. All to make a nasty problem go away quietly. All he has to do is take back what he said about Stardust and the staff, pay a little fee, and use some other excuse for his behaviour; he can go for the bad medicine story if he likes. Problem solved. If he tries being troublesome later or refuses to pay, well, then that’ll really be his problem. But if he complies, all will be well again. He’s in the clear, so is Stardust and the staff, and our purses are a little bit heavier. Not bad for a single evening’s work, huh?”

Tansen smirks, and Lora looks thoughtful, gazing at the door to the VIP room where Karven was.

“So, what do you think? It all depends on you and your testimony, after all. Should we give Karven an easy out, or, make him pay for the privilege?”