Overview

The Elven Bureau of Investigation is the Beandom’s premier criminal investigative organization. It collects records on dangerous offenders, operates enchanted interrogation tools, tracks the realm’s most wanted criminals, and maintains a floating headquarters designed around one exceptionally large basilisk.

The bureau traditionally works with elves and other official authorities. Sir Roderick enters its orbit when his search for a worthy villain leads him to the EBI’s Bad Beans list and the file of Nathaniel Nadle, better known as the Needler.

Quantiflow River Headquarters

The EBI complex floats on the Quantiflow River and resembles a cluster of enormous silver beehives. A concealed harbor opens within the structure to receive official vessels, suspects, and knights who unknowingly arrive in stolen boats.

The headquarters is built around Director Misterssippi. Much of the basilisk’s enormous body remains underwater while the bureau operates around and above him. His presence provides both leadership and a powerful security system.

Elegantia

Elegantia is a large, broad-shouldered elf who wears black armor, a dark visor, and a short beard divided into tight braids. An enormous ax head is strapped to his back without a visible handle.

During interrogations, Elegantia removes one of his beard braids and transforms it into a three-headed serpent. The creature moves closer whenever a subject lies or withholds part of the truth. It remains still only when the answer is complete.

Elegantia values full information over comfortable information. He requires Sir Roderick to list every alias—including “Little Sir Roddykins”—before accepting his identity as truthful. He later escorts Roderick to the director and provides the Needler’s enchanted wanted poster.

Director Misterssippi

Director Misterssippi is a black-scaled basilisk whose long body coils through the submerged foundation of the EBI. He is described as the Beandom’s most powerful lie detector and poison producer.

The director tests Sir Roderick by asking him to remove something caught between his jagged teeth. Roderick’s willingness to reach inside the basilisk’s mouth demonstrates courage; his ability to withdraw his arm before the jaws close demonstrates reflexes.

Misterssippi approves Roderick’s request for a villain hunt because he detects no deceit in the knight’s claim that love, rather than money, motivates him. He assigns the Needler case despite Elegantia’s warning that it has broken more than a dozen agents.

The Bad Beans List

The Bad Beans are the ten highest-priority criminals tracked by the EBI. Their enchanted posters are displayed on a stone monolith shaped like an enormous bean in the bureau’s poster room.

The posters contain additional information on their reverse sides. The Needler is listed as number nine. His file identifies him as a Pintoberg native with powers of demotivation and demoralization gained through a wishing-well mishap.

Rezella—later revealed as Priscilla of the Dragonborn—holds the number seven position at the time Sir Roderick arrives. His accidental use of her stolen EBI boat makes his introduction to the bureau considerably less dignified.

Rules and Methods

• Suspects may be hooded, restrained, and interrogated before their intentions are accepted.
• Truth tests detect omissions as well as direct lies.
• The poster room bans food, drink, vandalism, uncontrolled sneezing, and fire breathing.
• Wanted posters may be enchanted to store information beyond the visible front.
• The bureau uses specialized magical creatures where their abilities serve law enforcement.
• Incomplete intelligence is treated as a danger to agents and the public.

The Needler Case

The Needler case is unusually dangerous because the suspect does not rely on ordinary weapons. His words locate a target’s deepest insecurities, turn uncomfortable truths into emotional attacks, and destroy the will to resist.

Sir Roderick’s personal history with Nathaniel Nadle makes him both uniquely motivated and unusually vulnerable. The EBI provides the file but does not accompany him into the field. The resulting crisis eventually threatens the palace, the giant clans, and much of the Beandom.

Relationship to Other Lawkeepers

The EBI investigates major crimes and dangerous offenders, while the Beandom Highway Patrol handles road safety and field enforcement. Book Three places the two systems side by side when Officer Grimblewaith and Officer Glocke join the Rod Squad.

The EBI believes every investigation should begin with complete truth, enchanted paperwork, and at least one creature capable of swallowing the applicant whole.

—The Chronicler

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