Mission:
I turned down the offer for a crew, preferring to do detective work on my own. I trusted none on the Isle completely. After all, the assassin could be an associate of mine.

The day before I took the job I got into fight concerning the superiority of officers over peasants on Sampetra. Unfortunately, I had to concede the fight after sustaining injuries to my face, thigh, knee, and lower legs. While being healed, I took another two daggers in each shoulder from a bystander...I wasn't happy.

But serve I must. The first thing I did was examine the palace for clues. Almost immediately I found a piece of tattered, brown cloth that was burnt around the edges, pinned to a windowsill by a little knife. Scribbled in tiny letters were words that I deciphered as, "Ublaz will dy." Hmm...the assassin was a beast with spelling difficulties. Well, that narrowed it down to 700 corsairs and a good share of the rest of the beasts on Sampetra. Evidently, because of the placement and message of the cloth, it was purposely left there. A brazen beast, the assassin was. That clue did about as much good as the misspelled word did.

I was granted access to the Emperor's main chambers, where I found the next, much more helpful hint. A bottle of fine in was knocked over, and the would-be murderer had conveniently trod through it. The prints looked to be canine; most specifically, fox. The middle left claw was either missing, cut short, or pulled up. Mingled with the pawprints around the spill were a set of marten's. I respectfully asked Ublaz to check his soles, and sure enough, they were black. Once he noticed how ruined his rug was, he was furious. I stole away as quickly as possible after saluting, for fear of being on the receiving end of his rage.

A fox, possibly missing a middle claw of his left footpaw. That was the only really useful evidence I had; it's not like I could round up all the foxes on the island and put them through a spelling contest. I was rather stumped. So, I did the thing that I usually do: go to the taverns and listen.

I stopped by at the tavern that had the most beasts in it. Hobbling in, I looked around for any foxes. There were two; both male, by the looks of things. The one that appeared to be younger was also fitter. He stood in the corner repeatedly stretching a bow to break it in. The older fox was sitting at a table, conquering a mug of grog. I glared at the younger one as a test of attitude towards authoritative figures. He rolled his eyes impudently and concentrated again on his longbow. Next, I drilled the older fox in the same way. He looked up from his mug, set it down, and spit a mouthful of grog at my feet.

"Fool, mind yer business." Then he started back on his drink.

I stopped him with a lie of an offer that was addressed to the whole of the tavern. "I'm looking for beasts to crew a small raiding ship. Revenues are split between the crewbeasts and the Crown. Any takers?"

A youthful ferret and an ugly rat rose to the occasion, literally. I motioned them over asked them their names before attacking the old fox with another question. "No desire for goods?"

The other fox answered instead. "My appetite for such booty is great. Why does the Emperor get a share, though?"

"Because, naive beast, these are his taverns, his mugs, his grog, and we'll be using a ship he owns." Hopefully the comment about his experience would cause him to slip up his words.

"Fair enough."

Stang. If he was the assassin, he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Back to the more aged beast. "And you?"

His voice was harsh and tinged with an accent that denoted he was from Southsward. "I 'ave no desire to risk my neck for any gold or the Emperor. And it's not my problem if he's dumb enough to supply us with grog."

"Show me your footpaws."

He glared at me, so I reached into the back of the tunic through the sleeve to grab something. My shoulder was pained because of it, but I withstood it long enough to pull a bronze badge with a captain's insignia out. It was something very old and hardly used, I might've been the only captain with one of the old style badges.

I flashed it in front of him. "Show me your footpaws."

Amazingly, he complied. Not a trace of ink, all the claws.

I turned to he younger fox. "Now you."

He submitted as well. Nothing odd with his paws either.

I gave up on the foxes for now and held a hushed conversation with the rat, who told me her name was Enderra, and the ferret, dubbed Aroxen. I told them it was just a ploy and that they should go back to their business. With a shrug and a sigh, they did. As I turned around, a figure darted towards the door.

"End, Aroxen, get that beast!"

My words actually carried some clout. The beast was cut off from the door and apprehended. A fox. I ordered my lackeys to throw her backwards to the ground as I stared intently at her paws.

Less than an hour later, she lay prostrate on the floor of Ublaz's chambers, just about to wake up from the unconsciousness that the hilt of my sword threw her into. Enderra, Aroxen, Ublaz, the guards, and I stood off to the side. When she awoke, she saw that nothing was hindering her. Immediately the fox darted for a window-which, like all the windows, had been covered by thick tapestries to look like the other walls. Her black paws and knowledge of the chamber indicated strongly that she was the assassin. Guards restrained her at a twitch of Ublaz's claw.

"My Emperor," I said, "you ordered that I should kill this assassin. I decided that I shall not kill her if you do not so wish, and that you shall have the opportunity."

"Proceed, Captain. The catch is yours."

I obliged. Placing my two short swords on each side of her neck in a scissor-like fashion, I pulled them together and cut off the blood flow to her brain within twenty seconds; during which, the guards restrained her. A clean kill, for the Emperor's rugs were already stained enough.

Her body had not hit the floor before Mad Eyes spoke. "Hmm, good...Your rewards, Captain...what do you aspire for?"

I knew what I wanted, it was quite simple. "Two bronze badges forged for Enderra and Aroxen here. They shall be honorary captains if you so decree." I gestured to the rat and ferret respectively. "And for me..."

I walked out of the palace with a fine, bronze-capped cane of dark hardwood. I thought a little about what I had done, how we never knew the assassin's motives as I ambled out the main gates. Not that it mattered...those who offend the Crown deserve nothing short of death.