They have a particular set of skills and they will find you in the Corners of Khorvaire.
If you're anything like me, dear readers, you grew up reading sensational stories in the Korranberg Chronicle and many, many mystery novels in which dashing and daring Inquisitives follow clues, track down leads and catch their quarries in hectic chases through the mean streets while expounding at length about the mistakes their target made while committing their heinous crimes.
But I'm afraid to say that this version of Inquisitives in popular culture is, for the most part, highly idealized.
Due to recent events in the City of Towers that have hit very close to home for this humble writer, I had the opportunity to consult with Edric d'Velderan, a member of House Tharashk's Finders Guild and a professional Inquisitive in Sharn.
The day-to-day work of an urban Inquisitive, he explained, primarily involves taking bounty hunting assignments from a local bail bond service. The "hunts" are usually simple and unexciting, consisting of little more than visiting the target's home or favorite tavern and bringing them in with little to no resistance.
"I don't know what you're on about," he told me. "I ain't never been to a classy dinner party, let alone one where the lights went out and when they came back on, someone had been mysteriously murdered. I wouldn't even know where to begin explaining what's wrong with all of that. You read too many novels."
"Most of what I do, besides bringing in bail jumpers, is tracking down cheating spouses or hunting down sullen teenagers who've run away from home to try and join an adventurer's guild. Most of the stuff you read about Inquisitives in the Chronicle or the, haha, Sharn Inquisitive gets handled by people higher up in the House than me."
So, like most things in life, dreams are fragile things that don't always work in reality. As a younger zil, I dreamed of being a smart and savvy solver of mysteries while exchanging flirtatious badinage like my idols, Kipp and Konna ir'Chez.
But some dreams are best left on the pages of a book. Because it's hard work out there in the Corners of Khorvaire.
Genbo Santor d'Sivis.
