Truly Evil?

Ician scanned the papers, checking to see if the nobles in question had any connection. Maybe by blood, or by occupation...

June let out a low whistle at the chalkboards.  "Sinny's planning something big.  He's really good with magic, I'll say that much."  A frown.  "What would he need this much magic for?  I'm not sure he's done anything super-magicky yet."  She paused, and chuckled.  "Well, except for the manor.  Lots of magic there."

"Vengeance, maybe," Dusk answered, "Or perhaps a hatred for some of the noble houses in Canterlot. Then again, it's not hard to hate some of those puffed up wind-bags. But Sin's hatred must go further than that, if it is that reason."

Dusk did not like that they had so little information about Sin Ester. He at least knew some of his real name, or possibly a nickname, and somepony he knew. But that alone said nothing. "Hey Ician, if you see anything with the name 'Mez' on it, that's Sin Ester, at least as far as I know from what's in the box."

"Alright." Ician replied, checking the scrolls for the name Dusk had supplied as well. Sin Ester's other name is Mez...? Interesting.

The scrolls and papers didn't contain a scrap of the name Mez, although there was one with the name Mesmerize. Seemed to be some kind of formal deal or agreement between the two houses of Stardust and MorningGleam where several members of each house signed off on.

"A formal deal..." Ician mused. He scrutinised the documents, trying to find out what the details of this deal were.

The deal was over a plot of land, probably with the paper finally ending the dispute between the houses MorningGleam and Stardust. Seemed that house MorningGleam was trying to build on a piece of contested land that had been near the edges of both houses for quite some time. The agreement was that given the more open nature of the building, both houses would have joint custody of it and use it at alternating sanctions of time.

"Hm." Ician swept the rest of the documents into his saddlebags. "Nothing about Mez in particular, I'm afraid."

He turned to the scrolls, checking for any correlation between the dark magic in question. Perhaps a common line of effects, or methods of casting?

Other than the general dark theme and nature of the magic itself, there was little correlation to the different curses that were displayed on the table.

"Hm." Ician swept all the papers and scrolls into his saddlebags. He trotted over to the others to see how they were doing.

When Dusk saw Ician was done going through the papers, he then asked, "Find anything useful, like names and events we can possibly link Sin Ester too?"

June rather quickly gave up on looking through the documents.  She had never really learned legalese.  Too much variance, unlike math.  She turned to Dusk, looking at the box he had.  "What's in the box anyway?  I suppose you got it open."

"The box was full of pictures, love letter and sappy poems, as well as a medical document. The letters were sent back and forth between a mare and a stallion, and from the letters they're named Ivy and Mez. The pictures have the same ponies as the ones in the room with all the paintings, so it's safe to assume this Mez is Sin Ester. The medical document in the box says that Ivy had some deadly medical condition. As to whether or not she's alive, I can't say, but I assume she's dead. I don't see why Sin Ester would turn to a life of crime if he had a close marefriend," Dusk explained.

"Puzzling, too. There's clearly more here than meets the eye." Ician mused. "Anyway, this is the only document of interest I found. You might want to have a look at it." He passed Dusk the document about the formal deal between Stardust and MorningGleam.

At thr mention of the medical document, June's ears perked up.  "Maybe I could have a look at that?  I'm good at medical documentation."  A pause.  "Also, just making sure, at least one of you speaks legalese, right?  I don't."

The medical document looked official enough, and it diagnosed the mare Ivy with a rare and very deadly disease that attacked the kidneys first and then spread from them throughout the body where it would continue to degrade the various major and minor organs until death. The document was dated a few years before Sin's first appearance, and given the nature of the affliction, there was no doubt she'd be dead by now.

The other document, the land dispute, was a seemingly simple statement that was resolved between the two houses before it became a serious issue. It was signed by at least 5 members of each house. There was Spectral, Haze, Shimmer, Mesmerize, and Shade of house Stardust, and Dew, Aurora, Illusion, Nimbus and Stratus of house MorningGleam.

"Mm." Ician walked around the room, peering through the telescopes, checking to see precisely which constellations they were aimed at, if he could recognise the nobles' houses within view from his experience in the Guard, and if the empty space was really as empty as it seemed.

Dusk gave June the document and also said, "I understand some legal stuff. I wouldn't say I'm an expert though."

Dusk soon focused his attention on the land dispute. The names were what interested him the most. "Wait a minute," Dusk thought out loud, "Mez sounds like it would be short for Mesmerize. It's the only thing I can think of. Mesmerize must be the real identity of Sin Ester. So why would a noble of house Stardust turn to crime? I doubt for money unless the house Stardust fell from nobility."

The telescopes aimed at the constellations were pointed at Gemini and Orion, while the one aimed towards Canterlot wasn't focused enough for a single target and was rather just aimed at the noble section of the town.

((Does anypony's character know of the nobility and what houses would be in power IG.))

((Well, Ician is the strategist of the Royal Guard, responsible for the protection of Canterlot and the Palace, so he would likely be familiar with the layout of the city and at least some of its internal politics. He would certainly know who all the nobles are, just by name and residence if not personally.))

((Dusk knows of some nobles houses, but as for which ones are in power, he doesn't really keep track of them.))

((And June doesn't follow politics.  Looks like Ician's in charge here.))

June 'hmm'ed. "Well, did it? I've stopped trying to keep track."

((Alrighty then, Dusk will have heard of both houses as they are fairly old houses that can proudly trace their lineage back far too many generations. They haven't been the bitterest of rivals, nor the best of friends, it's been for the most part fairly mutual and civilized between both houses. Ician, you'll also know of these houses, that they're fairly powerful and have a decent sway on the council, even though they aren't at the top of the list. You know some of the names, but the ones Spectral, Mesmerize, Stratus, Nimbus, and Dew you don't know. You also know that house Stardust had a nasty internal affair some time ago, but a lot of the details were kept quiet. The rumor is though that there was a scandal and roughly a fourth of the house was disowned.))

"Well, house Stardust has been around for a long time, so I think it would be a big deal if they fell from nobility," Dusk said, "Although I don't recall them being a big name. And like I said I never really cared about it."

"Intriguing." Ician mused. "Intriguing that these houses should be the ones being watched... but more intriguing that I don't know of the names I'm reading." He paused. "There's definitely more than meets the eye."