Battle of Bloodmarch Hill [IC]

[Nightclaws]

Part One: Mysteries in Trunau

The town of Truanu may usually be said to be staid, living under constant threat from the orcs and wildlife nearby, it is a town that values work over play. The residents work on trade, and despite being far off any trade routes, Trunau still receives the occasional merchant from Lastwall or Nirmathas eager for the valuable salvage the townsfolk still pull from abandoned settlements (as well as the inflated prices the merchants know they can demand from such an isolated community). The town is built on survival, and it shows well in it's walls and in it's streets. Even the main amphitheatre is used mainly to train the militia. But not today. Jubilation fills the evening air in the town of Trunau, for it is the twelfth birthday of the Chief Defender’s youngest daughter, Ruby, and the townsfolk have been preparing all day for the ceremony and festivities to follow. A throng of spectators has amassed at the town Commons; the buzz of the crowd here and there with drinks and food and chitter chatter galore. Not only is it her birthday, but her twelfth means that she has grown into a woman, and will receive her hopeknife.

You're all no stranger to these people, and have seen a fair few of these ceremonies. Lyn herself would have had her own, so mingling and idle talk won't come hard. You know that little events are to come soon, but first. Socialising.

Carried by every resident of Trunau, a hopeknife is a small sheathed dagger, usually worn on a chain underneath one’s clothes, though young adults recently come of age often display theirs ostentatiously. The tradition of the hopeknife comes out of Trunau’s understanding that capture by orcs is often far worse than a quick death, and thus all residents need to be prepared to take their own lives or offer mercy to the wounded in the event of capture. Ironically, what was originally a grim necessity has become a symbol of adulthood and independence, and many children wait impatiently for their twelfth birthdays, on which they’re presented with their own hopeknives and shown which arteries to cut should they or their loved ones fall into enemy hands. Hopeknives are always kept well sharpened, and never used for anything but their intended purpose, though spouses often trade knives as part of a marriage ceremony.

You may meander about and introduce yourselves, description and whatnot. You probably know each other by face, if not by name. Don't feel this means you must socialise with each other, you'll have good reason soon!

[TheOneHawk]

His Lordship Silas Maynard of Taldor

"Ahh, what a beautiful day for a party." Silas looks forward to these ceremonies, meager though they are in comparison to his days in Taldor. Trunau is a tiny speck of a place and even the most impressive celebrations here are muted by the constant threat of attack, but it's very much off the grid and he was safe here. Popping open his last bottle of absinthe, Silas takes a quick swig and gets ready for the closest thing to a party he'd find around here.

[Kallimakus]

The Amphitheater is at the highest tier of the town. Lyn Penell has rushed there through largely empty streets of Trunau. She is latee, something typical for her. The best spots have been taken long ago and she can't see any familiar faces. She scans the crowd again to see if she could see any of her friends before shrugging to herself and moving into the crowd with a smile on her face. She's wearing a modest white dress with red accents. She keeps tugging at the fabric at her right shoulder, feeling self-conscious about the brand-mark concealed beneath it. She's happy for Ruby, though she doesn't really know her. The necessity of a grim tradition like the Hopeknife sits ill with Lyn, though after what she went through she can see a point to it. She chides herself for thinking about such things. This is a happy occasion. She pauses to pick up something to eat before moving on, hoping to find a decent spot to watch the proceedings from.

She heard an elderly gentleman remark on the weather and replied "That it is friend and rightly so. This is something the whole town has been looking forward to for a while." She pauses for a moment and realizes that she hasn't met the man before. "I don't think I've met you before." The words slip from her mouth before she realizes, and she adds, with the greatest courtesy she can muster, "Where are my manners? My name is Lyn Penell, who are you?"

[TheOneHawk]

"I am Lord Silas Maynard of Taldor, but you can call me Silas." He smiles kindly at the young woman standing beside him. "I'm fairly new in town, which is likely the only reason we haven't already become acquainted in a town this size. Would you care for a drink?" He asks offering up his bottle.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Borg makes sure his wares are safely locked under his stall before heading toward the ceremony. He's been here for four months and has done what he could to get by; building a small vendors stall, helping the various patrols to aid his new home and getting to know the few folk who talk to him hopefully being at this event could improve his social standing. At least it wasn't a as bad as living in his tribe near Urgir he was lucky if others ignored him let alone notice his existence and that's when the pain came, he was lucky to escape while he could. Pushing the bad thoughts away he found a place among some of the others gathering for the event standing next to a pretty girl in a dress and a elderly man . Borg nods at the both of you "Evenin'". Probaly doesnt help that you cant say more than 5 words to people.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, Protector of the Innocent

Morthic whistled a little tunelessly. He was happy. Today was a good day. He had spent the previous day polishing Valaim and his armor until they gleamed. He had spent an hour on his helmet alone, burnishing the symbol of Torag on the crest.

He enters the festivities a bit late, having found a spot of rust on the underside of his armor. He looked around, and saw a small group starting to form. Grinning, he walked towards them.
Alright, what are you lot plotting today? I don't want any funny business that might disrupt Ruby's celebration.
At this point he drops the grim exterior.
Besides, it might interfere with the drinking and the story telling if you do!

[Nightclaws]

The sounds of the crowd subsides significantly, as the weathered town leader, Halgra of the Blackened Blades, takes the stage and begins to speak.
“Thank you all for joining us this night. I take immense pride in my responsibility as Chief Defender, especially when it comes to the honor of the hopeknife ceremony. It is always a great privilege to bequeath Trunauan youths their hopeknives as they come of age.” Halgra stops speaking long enough to open an ornamental case and retrieve a slender, ornately decorated dagger hanging from a silver chain. “But tonight is a special occasion, for the recipient of this hopeknife is none other than my youngest daughter.” Once again, Halgra pauses, but this time she turns to talk to the child beside her. “Ruby, by the traditions of our town, you have come of age. This hopeknife represents your responsibilities as an adult and defender of Trunau. You must be willing to use it on yourself, your fellow Trunauans, and your family—even me, should it come to that. It will be a far quicker death than that which the orcs will offer, and providing it is your duty. Do you swear to guard Trunau from all comers, and to use your hopeknife only for its intended purpose?” Ruby—dusky skinned, black haired, and painfully shy—nods her head in response to her mother’s question. “If the orcs come, and there is no other option, this is where you cut—here, here, and here.” Halgra demonstrates which arteries to sever while Ruby watches. When she is finished, Halgra sheathes the hopeknife and places the necklace around Ruby’s neck before turning back to address the crowd. “Tonight, Ruby becomes a full member of our community! Let us welcome her, and celebrate her passage into adulthood! Trunau forever!” The crowd echoes Halgra’s last words in unison, signalling the end of the ceremony, and the crowd wastes no time to getting back to it's festivities.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, Protector of the Innocent

Morthic turns and gives Halgra his attention through her speech. As she finishes, he too raises his voice with the crowd
Trunau forever!
He turns back to the group he had confronted, and sighs.
I really do admire these people. Each and every one of them has the soul of a hero!

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Borg feels happy for the little girl but at the same jealous, he wished he had a knife that made him a instant citizen but working for it at least put money in his pocket. He cringes as the crowd roars in celebration, "damn Ill pop an ear drum soon if they don't stop calm down" luckily the crowd quieted down and began to disperse towards the other events. "This is a hell of a kids birthday giving her a knife to use on herself or her friends if the time comes." Turning to the others around him he asks "What do you think of all this".

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

It's a bit more involved than that. These people would all rather die than be taken as prisoners by the orcs or giants.They see that as a fate worse than death. So to earn a place among them, you must be willing to give them that mercy.
He sighs heavily.
It is part of why I am still not a citizen, though I have been here for years. I would sooner give my own life protecting someone than end their life myself.

[TheOneHawk]

"Let us hope you never have to do either, then. Being prepared is all well and good but I don't think there's going to be a Orc raid this afternoon, let's celebrate this young lady's coming of age!" Silas takes a swig from his bottle and places a hand on the backs of Morthic and Lyn while beckoning to Borg with his head. "They've probably got some nice food all prepped up for this one, Halgra's daughter and all. You lot seem as good company for dinner as any! Come on, let's have some fun."

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell
Lyn thought about Silas' offer for a moment. If there was a chance she might accept, it was dispelled when she caught whiff of the stuff, catching the strong scent of alcohol. It wouldn't be good for her, she decided. "Thank you for your kind offer, but I must decline" she says. Others had gathered around the two, and the ceremony was going on. She craned her head, standing on her toes to see past the crowd. "Trunau forever" she echoes with the crowd. The ceremony got her thinking of her own hopeknife, strapped to her thigh beneath her dress. That was not nearly as ostentatious, but was kept sharp nevertheless.

"Before I settled here I would have thought this tradition barbaric" Lyn says softly. "But after I came here it feels almost natural. However, I think everyone here looks forward to a time when this ceremony is done out of tradition rather than necessity." She turns to the dwarf, nodding in agreement to his words. "I feel the same way, but not everyone is born with a heart of a warrior, and there won't always be someone to save you."

Lyn cranes her head to see over the crowd again, jumping a few times before letting herself be led away by Silas. "Yes, the dinner is sure to be great. Good idea."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, The Protector of the Innocent

Morthic nods sadly.
Indeed. 'tis the sad truth of the world.
He smiles broadly
But today is not a day for sadness! Today is a day for celebration! Let us go feast and drink to Ruby's health!

[Nightclaws]

A small group of villagers seem to have congregated to the side, surrounding what obviously looks like an open space with a mix of cheers and smiles. All the goings on are easily visible and heard however far away from them you are in the Commons.
In the ring of people stands Ruby with her mother, Kurst and Rodrik Grath, top members of the militia you all know at least by face, with a few other militia alongside. It seems like games are starting as they make space and unspool a length of rope. As Kurst marks the ground, Rodrik steps forward to address the crowd.
"Hello! Hello! In honour of Ruby's twelfth birthday we are going to host a tug of war! We need to show off her potential as a hero!" He smiles as the crowd cheers, "You all know the rules, first team to drag the first member of the other across the line wins, but who will pull on the side of Ruby against my men, she gets to decide!"

Ruby steps forward, somewhat nervous and awkward, and begins to scan the crowd slowly.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas lets out a deep booming laugh. "A tug of war! Oh man, I haven't seen one of these in years. Anyone want to put some money on this, I'll put a gold coin on Ruby's team, whoever they end up being." He reaching into a small coin purse at his side and pulls out a gold piece. "Anyone have the guts to bet against the lovely birthday girl?"

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic chuckles. He considers for a moment before deciding he may as well poke some fun at the militia.
Do you really think she'll need the help, Rodrik? Your lads are looking a might stringy to me.
He looks over at Silas
Maybe you guys should take this good stranger. He can probably show you a thing or two about putting your backs into it.
His broad smiles clearly shows that he jests, but the challenge is still there

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell
On her way to the tables, the call was made for Ruby to pick herself a team for tug of war. Just don't push to the front of the crowd and yell, Pick me! Pick me! Lyn thought to herself.
"Pick me! Pick me!" she called out, waving her hand and practically leaping in place to be noticed from the crowd. Dammit. She eyes the rest of her prospective dinner party. The dwarf definately looks strong, as does the tall half-orc. She knows some of the militiamen quite well, having served as a healer in the Sanctum. Surely this is a worthy test of her own skill in preparation for her heroic journey. It was surely a hero's duty to stand up for a young girl?

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

"A tug of war? Best to work out before gorging yourself on festival food after all ". Borg moves himself to the front of the crowd so to have a better chance at being picked.

[Nightclaws]

The men laugh at the dwarf's words, a couple of the ones at the back making a show of looking dejected. Laughs from the crowd join them, as little Ruby steps forward. She points towards each of you, Morthic first, then Lynn, Borg and finally Silas, naming each of you except the last whom she points and suddenly looks lost and curious about the new man, but smiling at everyone's words. The militia make a show of getting ready.

Everyone make a Sense Motive check.

[TheOneHawk]

"Me? Well of course my dear! There's strength in these old bones yet, let me tell you!"
Silas makes a show of rolling up his sleeves and steps forward, putting the coin away and standing next to Ruby. Kneeling down next to her, he quietly asks her "Hey, you want to see a magic trick? I think this rope should be special for a special girl like you!" He then traces a finger along the half of the rope their team will be using, imbuing it with a deep red colour reminiscent of a ruby. "There, proper team colours now. Strong, powerful red for us and dull, boring brown for you. Very fitting."

Cast prestidigitation and use it to colour half the rope a ruby red colour. Also, sense motive as requested. [roll0]

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic's grin doesn't shrink as Ruby chooses him to aid her.
"Very well my girl! Let's show these militia what we are made of!"
He settles himself down at the back of the rope, planting his feat on the ground. He laughs when he sees Silas' trick.
"Well played good sir! Remind me to buy you a flagon of ale at some point!"

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg


Beats his fists to his chest and roaring right "Right! Lets show this lads how a man does it, and a old man...and a lady you get the idea." grabbing the rope and digging his feet into the ground Borg is ready to give his opponents rope burn for weeks.

[TheOneHawk]

"I will absolutely hold you to that flagon good sir, and I prefer the term 'elderly gentleman' thank you very much!" Grinning jokingly at the Dwarf and Half Orc, he finishes colouring the rope and stands next to it, checking that his sleeves are still properly rolled up. "Everyone ready?"

[Kallimakus]

Lyn walks to the rope with the others, thanking Ruby for choosing her before taking her place along the rope. She chuckles slightly at the banter but refrains from joining in for now, excited to be there.

[Nightclaws]

Ruby looks down in a happy surprise as the rope changes colours, looking up at Silas with awe. The audience claps and cheers as you all take the rope whilst on the other side, the militia wave and make shows of warming up. It sure does look tough and challenging.

You indeed sense motives, as you look towards Kurst and Rodrick you can see they're not really taking things seriously. They're here to put on a show and make Ruby feel like a hero. However, one of the militia towards the back seems to be giving Morthic in particular some pointed looks, as if his words has roused a challenge. He seems like he's not going to make things to easy.

"Alright, so we all know the rules! Hold on tight and pull!" Rodrick calls out, first in line on the other side of the rope. Ruby herself visibly tenses up, muscles showing through despite only becoming twelve today.

Make a strength check. Ruby pulls the rope with a [roll0]

[Kallimakus]

Lyn remains undaunted by the posturing, adding her strength to those of Ruby and her champions. She leaned back and tightened her grip, bringing what weight she had to bear on the rope. Those militiamen were not going to ruin Ruby's big day by winning. And she wouldn't fail either.

[roll0]

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg


Taking a deep breath Borg pulls the rope with all his might, veins popping up over arms. He didn't want to look bad in front of Trunaus leaders kid after all.

[roll0]

[TheOneHawk]

Silas picks up the rope and does his best to get a solid grip on it, but his old hands struggle to maintain that grip once the pulling starts. Despite giving his best effort, he contributes little and gets a pretty serious rope burn on his hands from his hold on the rope constantly slipping.

I got a 3

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

The dwarf shoots an impish little look at the man in the back. There's a challenge in that look. After all, it wouldn't do to have the girl win PURELY out of it being her big day. If she found out, it would cheapen the whole experience.

Morthic sets his muscles, readies his stance, and heaves.

Str check, with the added bonus of Stability since GM said that would apply
[roll0]

[Nightclaws]

A booming display of heaves and ho's from the other team have the crowd cheering, but primarily it is Ruby's name that can be heard. The militia man at the very back seems to be straining, holding onto the rope with all his might, but his footing isn't as steady. The rope pulls almost too quickly, and there is genuine surprise in Rodrick's face as he falls flat into the mud.

The crowd cheers and Ruby turns, beaming at all of you. Even Rodrick, fished out of the dirt by his brother, is grinning.

[TheOneHawk]

"Told ya there was strength in these old bones yet!" Silas walks up to Ruby and puts a hand on her shoulder "But I think it's safe to say young Ruby is the real hero here. Few more years and she'll be the top warrior in this town, mark my words!"

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell
Lyn answers Ruby's beaming smile with one of her own. "Well done" she says, "This is but your first triumph." She gives Ruby a congratulatory pat on the shoulder before backing away to the side. Though it wasn't overly long, the exertion still got her hungry. She decides to wait until the situation is resolved before making her way to the tables.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic laughs as Ruby's ragtag band of tuggers prevails and the cocky militiaman falls flat on his face. He smiles warmly at the girl.
Well pulled, lass! We certainly showed those overgrown lads that size isn't everything when it comes to strength.
He jogs over to Rodrick to help him up.
Well fought, my friend, but your men just aren't fit enough. Set them to work under Sara for a while. Nothing quite like smithy work to build up muscle. And it's productive too! Now, what do you say we all go and get a drink to toast Ruby's future?

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg


"Way to go kid, well make a fighter out of you yet, now I believe its time to stuff our faces and drown and good ale!"
Borg makes his way to the food stalls figuring everyone well catch up whenever.

[Nightclaws]

Ruby beams with a face slowly going red, a mix of embarrassment and pride no doubt. The crowd cheers and she runs over to her mother. Other festivities start up, a drinking contest there or other townsfolk deciding their own game of tug of war should draw a similar crowd. People begin to meander off around and do their own thing in the commons, grabbing drinks and food.

You all hear snippets of idle conversation in the crowds;

"Even though she’s the Chief Defender’s daughter, Ruby has to pledge to uphold the Standing Vow in order to receive her hopeknife, just like the rest of us. She must agree to hold Trunau against all comers and to never forfeit her homeland willingly. That is the Vow."

"Shame about the graffiti all over town. The militia’s got better things to do than clean up youngsters’ messes, but even stranger is how long it lasts. Try as one might, soap and water don’t do a thing to those marks!"

“Rumor has it that Rodrik Grath is next in line for the position of patrol leader after his old man Jagrin retires. Jagrin’s a good commander, but he’s getting old, and it might be time for some new blood in the militia’s leadership."

“Have you read Rodrik Grath’s latest work, ‘The Other Side of Contempt’? He’s our own home-grown writer. It’s a controversial poem, but that’s what makes Rodrik’s writing so strong—he’s not afraid to push limits.”

The source of conversation isn't easily discerned, a villager has their back turned or in a crowd of people. Idle chit chat and nothing more. You're left to do what you'd like in the ceremony, just as long as you don't leave yet! There's plenty to drink and more fun to be had!

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic passes a flagon to Silas.
There ya go, ya "elderly gentleman"!
He takes a deep drink before setting in to his own plate of food, pay little heed to the town gossip. All fairly standard stuff, to be honest. He'd give them maybe another hour to get drunk before he started trying to get the storytelling competition going.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas grins at Morthic and gladly accepts the ale. "My thanks good sir. Was a well fought battle there." He takes a long draw from the flagon before setting it down and starting into his meal. He listens closely to the gossip he hears around them, but doesn't comment on it yet.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell
Lyn gathers up something to eat and drink before joining Morthic and Silas, all thoughts of joining her friends momentarily forgotten with the rush of shared victory. They could surely wait, there was still plenty of evening to go. She sits down and eyes her dinner for a moment before digging in. "I heard someone mention replacing the current patrol leader Jagrin Garth with his son Rodrik." Lyn says after taking a few mouthfuls. "I think that he's certainly a fine warrior, but I'd like the leader to have a little more experience under his belt."

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

With his second tankard and a leg of turkey in his mouth Borg slumps down next to Lynn "I here he fancies himself a poet or something, Ive helped run with the patrols a few times doing my part though Im not a native and Ive met a few times he seems nice enough sort though how he can his job done writing in that journal of his all the time is beyond me" he manages to say all this with only minimal food bits flying from his stuffed mouth.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn hides her disgust at the half-orc's table manners, but her interest has been piqued by his comment. "Wait. He writes a journal?" she asks, puzzled. This is the first she's heard of that. Her clearly incomplete impression of Rodrik is that he leads patrols along with his father and brother and helps train the town militia. Outside of that, Lyn admittedly knows very little of the man.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

"Aye think he writes his new poems or some such in them though".

[TheOneHawk]

"I had not heard that either, though I am quite new in town and have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Rodrik. Still, good to see the younger generation still being interested in the arts. I've never had much in the way of artistic talent, but the world would surely be a less interesting place without the creative souls that write the poems, sing the songs and tell the stories." Silas pauses for a drink and bite from his meal. "To be honest, is it not impressive that he's capable of both sword and wordplay? Many talents often speak to someone of great potential."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

After about an hour has passed, Morthic rises.
"Alright, I'd say we're all ready for some tales about now! And I have one in mind. The tale of my ancestor. For those of you unfamiliar with myself and the tongue of my people, my name is Morthic Valard, and my family's name comes to mean something akin to "Dragonward". This is the tale of how we earned that name."
He clears his throat, and begins to speak. For such a brusque individual, he has a surprisingly good speaking voice.
"It was about a thousand years ago, and my ancestor was part of a newly established village in the mountains. They were peaceful, but they had great wealth, as my kind tends to accumulate ores and gems from our mines. That wealth brought enemies, as it always does. At first, it was simply orcish raiders and the occasional drunken giant. But one day, a great red beast came. Its claws were sharper than any sword, its scales the color of burning blood. The fire that poured from its mouth burned so hot that it melted the stones of the houses, trapping several families in the ruins of their own homes. No warrior could stand before it as it pillaged."
He lets out a long sigh, as of a long accepted regret.
"But the beast wasn't stupid. It didn't kill all of them. It left about half of my people alive. They couldn't leave, for fear of retribution. So they were reduced to near slavery. The mountains were rich with precious metals, but scarce was iron or any other metal that served well for weapons. What little they found went to tools, to allow them to placate the dragon. This lasted for nearly three hundred years. Then, a young dwarf found a sizable vein of iron. Knowing that he had only this one chance, he concealed the spoils of the vein, and slowly built a forge of his own deep underground. He forged for himself a suit of armor and this blade"
Morthic pulls Valaim from his back, and holds the ornate weapon aloft.
"He named it Valaim, Dragonslayer! And when his task was finished, he stood, armed and armored, before the indolent dragon. And as he stood, the God Torag saw his plight, and suffuses him with holy strength to support his courage. He struck down the vile beast and, when the clan learned of his deeds, was given the name Morgar Valard, Bold Thief and Dragonward. And so named were his descendants, though none were ever called upon to face a dragon."
His voice quavers slightly on those last words.
"None, that is, until my day came."
He reaches up and removes his helmet, revealing his burned face.
"This was the toll taken from me for not being prepared. This is why I have taken up the duty of my family. And this is why I support this town and all that it stands for. You understand the papain of such loss. And you all understand that even the youngest child must be trained to protect what they cherish."
There are tears flowing freely down his face as he concludes with a bellow
"And this is why, should the time come, I will gladly fight and die alongside each and every one of you. Trunau Forever!"

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn listens to Morthic's tale, feeling great compassion for the centuries-old ancestors and their enslavement, and acutely reminded of her brush with the same. Unconsciously, she tugged at her dress around the shoulder. She listens attentively until the end of the dwarf's story.
"That was a great story" she says, pausing for a moment. "I have no tales of heroism of my own, nor have my ancestors done deeds of greatness. These five years I've lived here, I've gone on a few patrols as part of militia training but not gone beyond the village other than that." For a moment she seems lost in thought.
"I once met a paladin of Iomedae. He was a half-orc like Borg here, once driven from his clan for his human weakness. Years of raiding and barbarism were left behind and he sought redemption. He found his way to Iomedae and eventually, his path led him back to his brutish clan." Lyn falls silent once more, lost in memory. When she next speaks, her voice is laden with a mix of sorrow and joy. "He vanquished them and freed those they had taken as slaves." She finishes her story there. "His heroics inspired me too to try and be a hero. "But what drove you to face a dragon in the first place?" Lyn asks Morthic, eager to hear more of the dwarf's excellent stories.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas smiles and politely listens to Morthic's tale, then Lyn's before speaking. "Heroes are a wonderful thing, aren't they. This town is a hotbed of them, it seems. Dangerous locales seem to draw in heroic personages like moths to a flame, let's hope none of you lovely folks get too close to the fire and burn away."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic smiles.
Now, I would hate to hog the spotlight. I can tell my own tale once someone else has had a turn.

[Nightclaws]

As if summoned by your words, Rodrick appears between you all. His cheeks are beaming with a grin, if a little dirty still.
"Ahh, heroes indeed! It's the challengers! You four did FANTASTICALLY against our defenders!" he says, patting Silas hard on the back and Morthic on the shoulder, "Good and tough, I've said it to you a few times, Borg, Lynn, but joining the militia would be a fantastic idea!"

His brother Kurst bursts from the crowd shortly behind his brother, patting Morthic on the other shoulder, "And you'd get to maybe make some new stories def-def-defending our little town, Morthic!" They both laugh, honestly smiling and happy. The smell of drink is around them but debilitated they are not. "Truanu Forever!"

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell
Lyn is reserved but delighted to be offered a chance to join the militia. That much is obvious from her wide smile and slight blush of embarrasment. To be picked out so soon after taking my wovs. And by a patrol captain no less. It can't have been more than a week since she stood vigil at Sanctum and took her vows as a Paladin. To be picked so fresh out of training was a great honor. "I've completed my training under Calderon so I should be free to join you in training and missions as you require" Lyn answers, her tone steady and formal, though laden with excitement.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Borg was happy to be complimented and by a town celebrity not only that being offered to make patrolling a full time job, that basically make him a citizen not only in name but in full. He tried not to show any excitement so as not to spoil the moment " That's a grand offer Roderick although I not sure what to do with my "popular" stall and all" he hopes that doesn't make it seem like he isn't interested, Play it cool now don't sound desperate..."

[TheOneHawk]

"Young lads and lasses like yourselves are exactly what this town needs to survive. I've just met the both of you and already I can see the strength in you. You'll both do fantastically, I'm sure. Part of me wishes I was still young enough to assist this town, but even in my youth I was no warrior. Alas. I can at least drink to your enduring good health, however!" Silas takes deep drink from his flagon, his face beginning to become quite flushes from the drink. "But that can wait, we have the two lovely sons of Jagrin at our table. Is there anything I can do for you?"

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic laughs at the two drunken lads.
You boys should know that there is a good reason I'm not a part of the militia. I'm far too busy helping out at the forge to run around with you lads.
He looks back at his fellows.
Now, as to my tale of draconic encounters. I did not seek out the beast. My father trained me as an armorer, but while I was younger and more foolish, I fancied myself a hero. I would sneak away and practice with a stick as though it were Valaim. One day, several years ago, while I was so occupied, I saw a pall of black smoke rising from my home village. I ran back as quickly as I could, and there I saw the monster. It was as if the beast from my childhood nightmares had stepped into reality.
He shudders a the memory.
I had taken Valaim itself with me that day, and I stood my ground. I'm not sure, but I think I amused the beast. As it raised its great maw to incinerate me, I heard the pounding thunder of hooves. Suddenly, a flash of gleaming steel was between me and the dragon: A mighty knight, born by his loyal steed.His comrades stormed around me, filling the town. My face was scarred, but my life was saved.
He looks skyward
That was the day that I met the Empyreal Guardians. Knights without peer, follows of the ways of an angel who was cast from heaven because he did what his heart told him was right. They had pursued the dragon for weeks, but had not arrived in time to save my people. For their failure, they took me in, and trained me. I owed them my life, and, in their eyes, they owed me my family. During my years with them I encountered Halgra during her adventures. When word reached the Guardians that she had retired here, I decided to come and lend a hand. After all, everywhere can use a little more light, can't it?

[Nightclaws]

The brothers seemed pleased at peoples responses, though politely shushed themselves for the rest of Morthic's story, and put a hand to Morthic's shoulder when it finished.
"Indeed, everywhere can use a little light!" Rodrick said, beaming wide, "And we make sure that light doesn't go out that easily, eh?"

"I'm happy to hear that you'd be interested," Kurst follows on from the previous discussion, looking towards Lynn and Borg a bit more sternly, a serious look on his face, "It'll be good to have more arms for up-"
He's cut off by a flailing flagon in his face, as Rodrick shakes his head.
"The time for Official Talk is in the morning! We drink and tell stories for now! Say, have you folks ever read my 'Ballad of the Bloodmarch!?"

Rodrick continues, regardless of whether you have or not, to regale the table with a long poem wherein Trunauans held off the orcs of the Legbreaker tribe for 6 days before finally routing them. The epic piece is not as somber as its name might indicate, and it is practically synonymous with Trunauan pride and the iconic militaristic fervor of the townsfolk. While the poem does manage to capture much of the solemn reverence that accompanies the trials and horrors of warfare, those sobering themes are contrasted by emotionally powerful scenes of wartime heroism and examples of holding one’s own. On the opposite side of the group, Kurst rolls his eyes, hearing it yet another time, but piping up to do parts of the orcs with a grin.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

This wasn't the first time Lyn had heard the story, but it was a good one and it always paid to remember the past. Rodricks rendition of it is good and Lyn tries not to laugh at Kurst's antics while it plays out. She isn't trying not to smile however and her face bears a slight smile in spite of the seriousness of the tale.

"I never fancied you as a poet Rodrick" Lyn says after the ballad is finished, "I'm impressed. Is it your own composition?" Lyn asks. She's already looking forward for the following day when she'll be able to start as a fully fledged member of a militia. It's not a heroic job, the kind she eventually wishes to do, but it is a step to the right direction.

[Nightclaws]

Lyn Penell

This wasn't the first time Lyn had heard the story, but it was a good one and it always paid to remember the past. Rodricks rendition of it is good and Lyn tries not to laugh at Kurst's antics while it plays out. She isn't trying not to smile however and her face bears a slight smile in spite of the seriousness of the tale.

"I never fancied you as a poet Rodrick" Lyn says after the ballad is finished, "I'm impressed. Is it your own composition?" Lyn asks. She's already looking forward for the following day when she'll be able to start as a fully fledged member of a militia. It's not a heroic job, the kind she eventually wishes to do, but it is a step to the right direction.

Rodrick moved to stand beside Lyn,
"Of course, I wrote it myself, I'm sure you of all people have heard it before now." He says, grinning and winking at her, "Have you heard that Halgra want's to use it as 'Trunau's Anthem?!" He grins and guzzles from his drink, expectantly.
"Yes, you've been telling everyone for a month." Kurst calls over from the other side of the table.

[TheOneHawk]

"Trunau's anthem? Well, isn't that quite the honour! The piece is absolutely deserving of it, though. A masterful tale of bravery and heroism in the face of death." Silas stops and sighs. All these tales of wartime heroics make me wish I'd taken a different path in my life, learned to fight for the innocent or somesuch. Bit late for that now, I doubt I could lift the weapons you young folk wield so admirably, nevermind put one through an orc!" He pantomimes stabbing ferociously with an invisible sword but stumbles slightly from the drink he's imbibed. Recovering quickly, he laughs aloud and raises his glass for another swig."See? Can't even stab properly when I'm not holding a sword to begin with!"

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn considered Rodricks words. It was the first time she'd heard that. "An hounour indeed" Lyn echoes after Silas. It took a moment for her to registered that Rodrick had winked at her. She felt blood rush to her face, and judging by the fact it got harder to think clearly it must have come from her brain. He was staring at her expectantly.
Is he courting me?
Lyn had limited experience in dealing with social interactions. Since starting her training, she had spent most of her days training her body and mind, helping the injured at the temple followed by more training. She had started noticing men, and rather more clearly, them paying more attention to her but that was still new. And she had no one to talk to about it. She needed time to collect herself. She needed a clever plan to distract Rodrick. "Perhaps we can continue this conversation tomorrow after I sign up for the militia?" she says, blushing and smiling.
Well Played... she thinks to herself. Fortunately, Silas blundered with his invisible sword, prompting a quick laugh from Lyn. She gives Silas a look trying to convey that she intended no offense.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic grins, the drink beginning to get to him, despite his dwarven nature.
"Indeed, a marvelous tale. You are truly gifted, Rodrick. But have I ever told the tale of Sir Halbrecht and the bawdy goblin?"
He launches into the tale, though his censorship of certain parts is rather obvious to any who understand innuendo. The tale is of a knight of the Empyreal Guardians who attracted the lust of a goblin who spied them during a patrol. It is a cheery tale, full of humorous exploits from both the goblin and the knight, that ultimately ended with the two happily wed.

[Nightclaws]

"Well, that'd be lovely Lyn," Rodrick winked again and grabbed his drink, joining in heavy laughter at Silas' fumbling and even more so for Morthic's story. Kurst joins in as well, but with a number of eye rolls to punctuate his laughter.

The night goes on, things begin to wind down. The party has gone on long enough that the birthday girl has long gone to bed. The brothers don't wish to leave of course, lighthearted conversation and entertainment being a rarity most of he time in Truanu, but duty starts in the morning once more. Rodrick mentions staying in the Ramblehouse, a good place for anyone to sleep if they're going to have trouble making it across town tonight. He laughs at his own remark, putting down the bottle he'd been holding.

They of course claim that you needn't stop your evenings because of their departure, whether or not you planned to is subject to stroking Rodrick's hearty ego, but they definitely need to turn in.

Before its founding as an independent town, Trunau had little call for an inn, and for many generations after, the town’s rare visitors would stay wherever there was space. Nearly 30 years ago, however, a handful of escaped halfling slaves from Molthune fled north all the way to Trunau, determined to start new lives. One of them, Cham Larringfass, decided to build not just a place for herself and her friends, but an entire inn and boardinghouse. She got the rest of her crew in on the endeavor, and before long a sprawling, eccentric manor packed with rooms of all shapes and sizes sprang up in the town’s lower end. Though guests are still rare, the aptly named Ramblehouse now houses a sizable chunk of the town’s halfling population, as well as many boarders of other races. Cham, still the head innkeeper, also makes a good living off siege fees, and is thus fond of cutting deals to other halflings and members of “right-sized” races— with the only annoyance being her tendency to play matchmaker for available guests.

You'd all know the Ramblehouse as the only inn in town, with happy Halflings running it. Although you may all have homes or other little sections around town, it's -likely- that Silas and Borg would be here. This is up to you of course, it won't really change the effects on the story.

You all gain 400xp for the Tug of War, and conversing with Rodrick and Kurst.

[TheOneHawk]

"Sleep? At your age? Don't tell me you're tapping out before old Silas!"He lets out a hearty laugh and downs the last of his current drink. At this point in the night he is well and truly drunk, but still he calls for another beer and pulls out the last of his bottle of absinthe while he waits for it. "Not enough parties around here to waste the ones we get with sleep. Pah! Morthic, my man, you've got that... Dwarven drinking constitution, eh? You'll stick around for another round at least!"

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the (drunk) Protector of the Innocent

By way of response, Morthic grins and launches into yet another tale about a fellow member of the Guardians whom, after a blow to the head, had recruited a statue into the order. For three years, everyone thought it was just a very well shaped statue, but it eventually turned out to be an extremely shy and very skilled oread.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn listened to Morthic's story with mild confusion, laughing along with the others but not really realizing what the big deal was. She felt her heartbeat slowing down to regular levels after Rodrick and his brother excused themselves. It was the most fun she'd had in years but the night was growing late. She listened to Morthics latest story of the shy Oread, laughing at the revelation before turning to leave. Lyn rises from the table after the story is finished "Thanks for this great evening everyone." she says, smiling widely at each of them before starting away. After a few steps she turns around and yells "I hope our paths might cross again" before walking off towards the lower levels.

She had not taken beer or wine in the festivities, and would likely wake up with a clear head.

Lyn lives at the Sanctum, She has no quarters of her own and usually sleeps in places reserved for those in need of long-term care, which are usually available. With her training complete, I'm not sure if they'll let her stay there indefinetly.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Felt like he was going to fall over he was stuffed, drunk and wanted nothing more than to sleep on a nice bed. He felt like laughing at Morthics stories but was afraid he'd barf if he so much as chuckled. He heard something about Chams Ramblehouse "I jusst happen to -hic- have a room their mysself, I think Ive got enough -urp- partying for one night Desna tend your dreams gents" Borg begins to stagger towards the inn or at least the direction he thinks its in in his drunken stupor.

Borg usually sleeps behind his stall with a canvas and sleep wear because he doesn't make enough to buy a home and occasionally stays at the inn when he can pay for it.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas waves a cheery farewell to Lyn and Borg as they set off for the night. Three years and he never said a word? I've met some quiet buggers in my time but that takes the cake! S'pose it's about my turn to tell a story, then. See I've never been part of an interesting group of adventurers like these knights of your, mostly just been a boring city dweller all my life. There was this one time, though, back in my youth..." He pauses and closes his eyes, obviously deep in thought trying to remember the details of a story decades past. "This was before I was anyone in Taldor. Just one of the unbearded masses back in those days, working for my daily bread. I can't recall what I was doing, but I found myself in a popular little store selling tourist knicknacks for people visiting the city. There was quite the line up that day, and just before I left there was an Elf who got to the front of the line after waiting for probably 20 minutes. Walks up to the clerk and pulls out a wicked looking knife, asking for the strongbox with the gold in it. Just as he does this he hears several metallic 'shhhing' sounds from behind him and the clerk starts laughing. Turns out right behind him was an ambassador from Andoran touring the city, accompanied by 10 royal guards! Silas lets out a hearty laugh, remembering the look on the Elf's face. "They'd been there the whole time, the fool never looked behind him before trying to rob the place."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic's laughter is booming.
I think I heard about that. One of the mercenaries I worked with once while protecting a nobleman from a crime ring, sweet girl, I think her name was Leah, mentioned it. Her mentor was in the entourage, you see? Scarlet Sentinel, top notch bodyguards for hire!
He shakes his head.
That lass was a handful. From what I gathered, the Sentinels adopted her after her family was killed because they were delayed reaching the estate. Firey little thing, proud as any dragon, beautiful, and deadly with that little pig sticker she carried. The noble we were protecting nearly found that out the hard way when he got a little deep in his cups and decided to try to help her continue her family's line.
He chuckles.
Let me tell you, he was singing soprano for a solid week!
He looks around, realizing that everyone has slowly trickled away and gone to be.
Well, I guess it is about time to retire. One more drink, and then we sleep!
And so it was!

[TheOneHawk]

"Aye, one last drink to new friends. I'm sure our paths will cross again, Morthic." Silas gives Morthic as stately a bow as he can manage in his inebriated state, before turning to leave. While very drunk, he's been partying for many years and is quite capable of finding his way, slowly, to the Ramblehouse to get a good night's sleep.

[Nightclaws]

The morning sun rising over Traunu feels like a betrayal, as it seeps into the windows and forces people to rise. You all wake up where you fell, remarkably considering the drinks going around, and have time to get ready, to prepare yourself for the coming day. Those of you not at the Ramblehouse find people in the streets in a state of dismay and of sadness, a whispering around the streets. The news talked about with heavy heads and sad eyes, leading to the inn.

Those of you in the Ramblehouse, and around it's premises, note this too, however around the inn is a crowd, and the militia quickly come in and usher everyone inside out. The news spreads quickly, nobody is keeping it under wraps;

Patrol Captain Rodrick Grath has been found dead.
They're calling it a suicide.

The innkeeper, Cham Larringfas, is sitting to the side of her now roped off establishment, a little shaken. Guards stand around, sympathetic, but with a job to do..

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic rises, his dwarven heritage protecting him from the hangover, hangs his head as he sets to work at the smithy. He was saddened, of course, but something wasn't adding up. Rodrick had no reason to have done this, and he hadn't been so drunk that it might have pushed him over the edge. Something was missing. It nagged at him, preventing him from properly focusing on his work.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas wakes shortly after sunrise, feeling quite well rested and only mildly hungover. He starts his day in a very good mood continuing on from the previous night until he gets downstairs and hears the news."Suicide?!" Silas roars with disbelief. "Horse turds. Damned impossible, I will not believe it. This is the same Rodrick Grath who wrote 'The Battle of Bloodmarch' and was practically crowing about it last night? Same Rodrick who was drinking and partying and flirting with a pretty girl? Like hell he killed himself. I have to see this for myself, who's in charge here?" He puffs himself up and walks determinedly towards the nearest guardsman, hoping to find a better explanation than the rumours circling the building. "You, soldier, where is Kurst, or Jagrin in all this mess?"

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn headed up to the higher Trunau to properly sign up for the militia as she had said the day before. The palpable feeling of sorrow quickly threw off her initial good mood. She paused to ask a passerby what the matter was, to see if she could help. Upon hearing the rumour, she took off towards Ramblehouse at full run, shaken.
That can't be true. It just can't. I need to see it with my own eyes, I need to help... [And what are you going to do to help?] she questioned herself Shut up.
It just didn't seem right. The man had been quite joyous and full of life only some hours ago. Alright, more than some hours, but what could have changed so much? She arrives to the scene out of breath, her skin sheened with sweat. She walks the last hundred feet, taking in the scene, guards, crowds and all as well as catching her breath. Her eyes are drawn to Cham Larringfas, the innkeeper of Ramblehouse. Lyn approaches the shaken halfling, a hundred questions about what happened running through her mind. She pushes them aside and brings herself down to her level, places a comforting hand on her shoulder and asks "Are you alright?" She waits for her reply before asking if she knows anything about what happened.
She spots Lord Silas from yesterday marching through the crowd pressing the guards for some answers and their superiors. She stays with the innkeeper for now but keeps half an eye on Silas to see if he finds something out.

Diplomacy
[roll0]
Kinda low

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

His head felt like a dozen hammers were pounding down on him, but it was from anger more than the drinks he had last night. Dozens of people crowded the hallway leading to Rodricks room. "OK think, you came in then fell asleep than nothing, Roderick was a few doors down from you, you moron". Borg usually isn't this hateful of himself although Roderick was one of the people who accepted him when he came here he even offered you a ticket to the real job to support yourself. Borg suddenly felt a little guilt squeeze into his head "Well isnt that grand here you are worried about a job while a friend "supposedly" committed suicide? No Roderick was made of sterner stuff than that" out in the inn he can hear a familiar voice shouting with anger. Good at least someone moving this along, come to think of it so should he Borg than decides to bull his way down the steps to find Silus yelling at the guards and Lyn looking distressed.

[Nightclaws]

Morthic - People fall into their lives again around you, albeit it slowly. There is a distinct lack of effort from anyone you can see. This disaster has obviously demoralised the town and they're left with the same nagging feeling you are. Phrases are thrown out around you;
"He was always so happy," "Well it's always the ones you don't suspect.."

Silas - The guardsman Silas in the eyes, and the fox can see water in the guards eyes.
"Sir, I know.. I know it's a distressing time, but you must c-calm down. Kurst is inside with Jagrin.."
As if on cue, the two step out, having a loud discussion, Kurst obviously distressed and looking like he's almost pleading than anything else. Words escape from his mouth quickly, leaving a lot of what he says quick and hard to hear, but key parts can be made out. It's obvious he doesn't think this is a suicide. Jagrin looks pained and saddened, and can be seen as she puts her hands on his shoulders, speaking softly to calm the man.

Borg - Borg is quickly ushered out by guards, they must have missed him in the initial knocking on doors. He also hears the discussion between Jagrin and Kurst. Closer, you can make out some more words.
"We need to look into it, we can't leave it like this!" he exclaims, but seemingly for naught. Jagrin assures him she'll try, but the militia's jobs are spread thin as it is.

Lyn - Cham looks up at you quickly, as if she hadn't noticed you approach. Her face softens when she realises it's you, and stammers out a reply.
"Lyn, I-... Yes, yes I'm as okay as I can be..." she lifts a tankard filled from next to her, previously unseen, and takes a sip, "I found him... this morning... his wrists were slit and... he was holding his hopeknife..." She visibly shudders, closing her eyes and taking another sip.

[TheOneHawk]

"Kurst, man, by the gods what happened?" Silas's original anger quickly gives way to sorrow and empathy. He liked Rodrick, to be sure, but these two had lost a big part of their family rather than just a friendly acquaintance. "I... I'm sorry. I understand how difficult this must be for you two, is there any possible way I can be of assistance in this difficult time? Seems impossible to me that he could do this to himself, he was so happy. Are you sure it was suicide? I have some talent with magic, though I don't use it particularly often. I could see if anything seems abnormal in that regard."

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn nods and holds Cham close for a moment before getting up. Now she knew something. The set of her face hardens as she says "That doesn't sound like suicide to me." she says, her tone carefully level. She considered the facts for a moment. Slit wrists didn't sound fatal, or at least not like a swift death like she'd expect of a suicide. Who would choose a prolonged passing. The use of hopeknife was also a curious bit of information.
She approaches Silas and Borg, the half-orc having just left the building. "I'd like to offer any help I can give as well" she says after the elderly gentleman offers his assistance. Lyn looks crestfallen as she realizes that she has fairly little to offer for any investigation in terms of her persomal skills. "Um.. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do, but an extra pair of eyes and hands can't hurt, surely?"
This wasn't the kind of help she'd imagined giving the militia when she rose that morning, but it was something.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic continues working for several minutes, until suddenly he hears a snap.The horseshoe he had been working on for one of the travelling traders had just been hammered through under his vicious blows. Swearing under his breath, he hangs up his hammer.
Sara, I don't think I'll be able to work today. I'll be on the practice yard if you need me. I feel the need to hit something.
That said, he begins to strap on his armor, then picks up Valaim and heads for the common grounds. As he passes the Rumblehouse, he stops for a moment to watch Silas' antics

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

"I wanna help too, Roderick wouldn't hurt himself and now way he would let someone do this without a fight I know a lot of about certain drugs and plants that could lull someone to a sense of vulnerability".

[Nightclaws]

Kurst nods solemnly at everyone's words, a brief forced smile coming to his face before the grief comes back to wipe it away.
"I'll appreciate your assistance indeed, thank you, all of you, I’ve had my hands full since..... Right now, the official cause of death is suicide, but I just can’t believe that. Something else has to be going on. Unfortunately, Rodrik was the best investigator in Trunau; if he were on the case, solving the mystery of his death wouldn’t take long, but with just me left, we might never know what really happened.” Kurst sighs heavily. “I simply can’t handle the investigation and tend to my family duties at the same time. I may be a patrol captain, but right now, I feel my responsibilities as a brother outweigh my other duties. Still, I can’t just let this lie. I’m afraid I’ve exhausted all my other options—the members of Trunau’s militia are competent defenders during siege times, but they’re not sleuths by any means. I need your help. Will you investigate my brother’s death?”

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Wearing a grim visage Borg thumps his fist to his chest."Yes, Ill do everything I can to bring whoever did this what they deserve".

[TheOneHawk]

Silas steps forward and lays a comforting hand on Kurst's shoulder. "Fear not, good man. We'll take care of this. If this team is good enough to win a tug of war against your men, there's nothing we can't do." He smiles at his own joke, before composing himself and adopting a more somber expression. "I give my word as a Lord of Taldor that I will do everything in my power to make this right."

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn smiled at the affirmations of Silas and Borg. "Of course we will help." Lyn says. "I won't fail you." She was already trying to think of ways to start off the investigation. One would search the site for clues and talk to witnesses and... That was pretty much all she could think of. Hopefully something would come out of that, or someone had better ideas.

[Nightclaws]

"I have a few leads, ones I cannot follow up with at the moment," Kurst continues, looking to each of you with a little smile that beams gratefulness, "Talking to Cham would be a good idea, she found the body, as well as Omast Frum, a patrol sergeant in the militia, long-time friend of the Graths and one of Rodrik’s frequent patrol partners, he might be able to shine some light on suspicions.."
He paused for a moment and then spoke slowly,
"There is also one other person, Brinya Kelver, a half-orc weaver whom I... recently learned... had been conducting a.." He blushes a tad, "clandestine love affair with Rodrik."

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

She hadn't heard about Rodrick having a lover. That wasn't really relevant now, and she wasn't quite sure why that caught her notice out of the three. "I just spoke with Cham, she's right over there." Lyn says, gesturing to the direction of the halfling. "We could start with her" she continues, adding "but we should probably be sensitive about this. She seemed pretty upset" she adds as an afterthought.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas nods at Lyn. "You're absolutely right, Lyn. Kurst, return to your duties, I know you have much to do. We'll take care of this for you. " He pats Kurst on the shoulder once again before heading over towards Cham. "Cham! I'm so sorry about this whole mess, that must have been quite a fright for you to wake up to. Is there anything I can get for you, a drink perhaps?" He grins when he notices her already present tankard. "Ah, you've already got a drink. Atta girl, it'll help for sure." He pulls up a chair and sits next to her, looking at her with a concerned expression "Now I promised that lad Kurst over there I'd take a quick look into this, do you think you could explain what you saw for me? I know it's probably difficult, and you don't want to think about it, but the more detail you can offer the better."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic steps up as Kurst makes his request.
Of course we'll help, Kurst. I don't think I'll be able to focus on my work until the matter is resolved.
Seeing that Silas has already made his way to Cham, Morthic glances at the others.
I don't think we want to crowd her. I'll go and talk to Omast, see what he thinks of this.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Borg works his way upstairs past the guards to start looking over the scene hopefully Silas can get what he could from Cham. He makes his way into the crime scene to start working.

[Nightclaws]

Kurst thanks you all one by one before making his way back to his other duties, the weariness and grief almost exudes from his face as he turns to go, but he feels this is in decent hands.

Lyn and Silas - Cham is still somewhat shaken but looks up to Silas as if wanting to say something,
"I..urm.." she stammers out, the fox still somewhat new to her but had seemed nice for the while he was here, "I screamed and fainted when I saw it, like I said to the guards, ain't nothin' out of ordinary that I saw.."

Roll Sense Motive.

Morthic - You head off to locate Omast. The crowds of people have parted, and everyone has gone back to their usual duties. This of course makes Omast harder to locate, being a patrol man he could be literally anywhere in the town, which, despite small, is still a like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Meandering about the streets, it dawns on you that Sara didn't quite seem herself when you left.

Roll Diplomacy, or another way you might try and learn information for Omast's whereabouts.

Borg - You manage to get back upstairs with ease, the guards that are around assuming you're heading back to your own room It's only when you open the door to the room Rodrick spent his last night that anyone pipes up;
This sparse room contains only a single cot and a writing desk. The cot is a cheap affair with a straw-stuffed mattress, now stained red with blood and stripped of its linens, while the desk is a slightly nicer piece of furniture that has nonetheless been chipped and worn by time. A cracked window in the southern wall is the only exit other than the room’s door. A guard behind you puts a hand to your shoulder, "Can't let you roam around the other rooms without Cham's sayin' so." he says, but with a little understanding in his voice,

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg


Why do people make things difficult, he doesn't wanna get rough with the guard but he cant do anything from the outside. "Im helping with Roderick's death, me and a few others are investigating what REALLY happened here" Borg tries to be civil but he hopes his size and appearance make the guard back down.

[roll0]

[TheOneHawk]

Silas nods at Cham's words. Poor woman must have had such a fright, no way she would be able to be much help. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he gives a gentle squeeze and says "Thanks, Cham. You've been a great help. Just stay here and relax, we'll figure this mess out. Lyn, what do you say we go look into that Brinya lass as caught Rodrick's eye? Love causes tragedies such as this with alarming regularity."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic sighs. Tracking the man down would be a long and arduous task, and likely one accomplished much faster with the others. Recalling Sara's distraction, he decides to head back to the smithy and make sure nothing MORE was amiss. That was the last thing this town needed.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

"It's unfortunate that this happened, but we'll leave you to recover." Lyn says. "I'm sure we'll be able to find the culprit soon. If you come to remember anything else about the crime or related to it, feel free to inform us."
She smiles at the halfling reassuringly and nods to Silas. "That seems like a good idea" she says, "But maybe I should go and check out the scene itself. I don't know much about investigation, but I might be able to get an idea for the cause of death if I see the body before it deteriorates." She winces imperceptibly at this and stops her hand from reaching for her shoulder. It had been a long time since she'd seen a body that died out of violence. She hoped it wouldn't be that bad. Cham said she'd fainted upon seeing the scene. At least this wasn't done by orcs Lyn reassures herself and starts for the inn.

[Nightclaws]

Silas - You recall, despite your brief time in Truanu, that Brinya lives in a boarding house northwest of the Commons. The boarding house is a decent sized thing, housing rooms for several residents who do not own a property in town. Villagers seem to meander about it and listening closely, you can hear a profuse and loud wailing.

Morthic - You find the man with little trouble, people offering directions to where they're pretty sure he was five minutes ago. He is at the South Tower, dangling from the battlements via a rope tied to his belt. As you watch, he is muttering to himself as he cleans graffiti from the walls. There's a container to his belt, and as he moves drops come out of it which he doesn't seem to notice. The small puddle below him reeks of alcohol.

Lyn - You head inside without issue, and looking around to where Rodrick's room would be, you spot Borg fairly easily as he is accosted by a guard.

Borg - The guard looks you square in the eyes and for a moment you feel his grip on your shoulder tighten, but he lets go, nodding.
"I suppose there's no harm in letting you look around..."

[TheOneHawk]

Silas walks up to the boarding house, quickly noticing the wailing sound. Likely Brinya's quite upset about Rodrick's death. Suppose they didn't have a spat that caused this, then. Frowning, he decides to leave the house for a moment and heads off towards a small bakery and picks up a few sweet breads of various kinds before returning. Once back at the boarding house, he finds Brinya's door listens at it for a moment, confirming that the wailing sound is coming from within before giving it several slow, purposeful knocks. "Brinya, dear, are you ok? I brought some sweet breads."

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn walks into the the room and introduces herself, nodding recognition to Borg as she enters and explains that she is also here to look into Rodrick's death. She takes a quick look around, her face remaining calm at the sight of the blood-stained mattress. The body isn't here. She sighs mentally in relief, she might not have taken that sight in stride quite as easily.

She turns to the guard and asks from the guard, "Have you investigated the room?" Lyn knew she was no investigator. She had some ideas, having heard stories of investigators and mysteries. She preferred stories of heroic adventurers instead. She didn't like the irony of her situation, not at all. She awaits for the guard's answer patiently before carrying on.



[roll0] Perception
Looking for things like this:
Cracked window - broken enough that anyone could've opened it
Room - signs of struggle.
Door - signs of forced entry
Body (not available) - Position

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic calls up to him.
"Hail Omast! Your flask seems to be leaking, my friend!"

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Well that was awkward but back to business, Borg nods as Lyn enters the room before helping look through everything he notices the bloody mattress and other tight areas of the room to look for anything out of the ordinary.


[roll0]
Checking under the bed
Behind the Bed post
inside the Desk
Where the body was

[Nightclaws]

Silas - The wailing inside quietens a little, and you hear a small commotion in the room as she scrambles to clean her face and stumble to the door. Opening it, you see the half orc isn't hiding her grief, and tears still pour down her face.
"S-s-s-Silas, t-t-thank you.." She stammers out the words between oncoming sobs, "S-s-sorry d-do come in."

http://www.endlessrpg.com/pathfinder/images/9/93/Brinya.png]

Morthic - "Oh blast!" Omast yells as his covers his flask, scrambling to find the lid that seems to be absent. A stream of expletives trail down to Morthic's ears as he lowers himself down. "Thank you, Morthic, wouldn't have noticed the bloody thing if it wasn't for you."

http://40.media.tumblr.com/f67bcd2dbf1a4b3f3f0b1cc83ebdf9c9/tumblr_nq58ovqKtu1uqhshmo1_400.png

Borg and Lyn - "We've investigated what we can miss, but it's a suicide, don't seem to be any signs of foul play." The guard says, attempting to take more charge of the situation, "It's a sad one at that, but we've swept up and down this room and there ain't been any clues to the otherwise."
As if the fates decided timing was everything, Borg notices a couple of things. There seems to be a false bottom in the drawers, but it is empty. Additionally, looking under the bed, a piece of paper is trapped between the headboard and the wall.
Lyn's own perception notices that the window is broken, but the dust on it makes it seem like it wasn't used at all. There is no sign of a struggle, and no signs of forced entry. It's entirely possible that if a murder happened, it was whilst the man slept.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn sighs in frustration. She found no clues at all. The inn was likely a busy place, and there was no way to ascertain whether or not someone might have entered the room unbidden, let alone when. She nods absentmindedly to the guard and hoped that Borg would find something more useful.

Lyn turns towards the guard and says, "I'm certain that you've examined the body thoroughly. If at all possible, I'd like to see it myself." She swallows after that, tried to not let her discomfort show too much. "Or speak with whoever examined it in the first place." She continued. A thought occurred to her. Dying of cut wrists meant dying of blood loss. She had a pretty good idea about the amount of blood people could lose and still survive. She examined the remaining bloodstains again, trying to gauge the amount of blood. This was made more difficult by the missing linens. Still, it would have taken a while to bleed out, and a lot of patience to wait it out while still.

She still couldn't believe it to be a viable method of suicide. It would take minutes. She considered other causes. Poison? Unlikely, seeing as we all took the same food and drink. No opportunity. Suffocation? Possible, but can't be determined without the body. Even then, it would be difficult. Other wounds? They would certainly have been noticed by now. For now, she had to wait and see what the others had found out. The feeling of inadequacy was gnawing at her, but she kept it in check.

[TheOneHawk]

"Oh Brinya, dear, I'm sorry to intrude in a time like this. I simply heard you were struggling with Rodrick's passing and wanted to help if I could. I didn't know you two were so close, though I am but a newcomer in town. Come here, lass." He steps forward and gives the sobbing Half-Orc a hug, patting her gently on the back. "Here, let's sit down, have some pastries and we can talk about it."

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg


Borg curses, he was ecstatic he found the false bottom but there wasn't anything in there however the fact is something important had to have been in here and whether it had anything to do with this or not the it was possible. But finding the scrap of paper under the bed certainly raised his spirits, he looks it over.

[Nightclaws]

Silas - The half-orc bursts into a teary wail once more, even louder than before. She splutters to try and get words out but no coherent sentences can be made out. She hugs Silas tightly, almost crushing the poor man's frame, and sits back to her bed in the room. The wailing doesn't cease.

Borg - The piece of paper is in fact some kind of receipt, and reads the following;


Morninghawks Fine Steel
Receipt of Purchase
Customer: Rodrik Grath
Order: One (1) Hopeknife
Additional Options: [X] Engraving [ ] Silver [ ] Matching Sheath
Engraving should read, "For Rodrik, My Love."
Smith: Urusul


Lyn - The guard stammers a yes ma'am before rushing off to find, presumably, the person who oversaw the body examination. Looking at the mattress it is apparent it is very bloodstained indeed, but details beyond that seem for naught.

[TheOneHawk]

"There, there. It's going to be all right. It's a tragedy to be sure, but sad as it may be life must go on." He sits next to her and simply has his arm wrapped around her while she cries for a time, softly saying various reassuring things in an attempt to help the woman regain her composure. After a while of waiting for her to calm down enough to speak coherently, he says "I didn't know the man as well as I wish I'd had the opportunity to, but he didn't seem the type to do this to himself. Am I wrong about that?"

Diplomacy roll to try and calm her down a bit. [roll0]

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Reading the small scrap Borg figures it to be a receipt, "A hopeknife? Did Roderick lose his, but no the inscription says to love for himself so it must be for someone else and if it is why was he hiding it and who is it for. I better show this to Morthic he said he works the smithy with Sara so maybe he knows more about it." Borg looks over the scene before going outside to catch Lynn before she leaves to show her what he found.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic chuckles.
"Just doing my part, Omast. We're all a bit distracted today. Who did you piss off to get stuck doing this? And just how drunk were you when it happened?"
His tone is jocular, clearly intended to put him at ease.

[Kallimakus]

"It's a tradition to trade hopeknives with your betrothed." Lyn says to Borg. "He might have intended to propose and was making preparations for that. It seems less and less likely that this was a suicide."

[Nightclaws]

Silas - The half-orc visibly seems to calm down, but her words come out distorted and half senseless, but she nods with your own. She keeps quiet after a while, sobbing punctuating the silence.

Morthic - "This bloody graffiti has been appearing everywhere Morthic, and I can't scrub the goddamn thing off no matter how much I try." He points at it, displaying what looks like new graffiti. It seems to be in the shape of a white cross, or sword. "I catch the bastard doing it I'll ring his neck."
Despite the threat, he smiles towards Morthic, "Ah well, busy work is good after..." he trails off.

[TheOneHawk]

"Didn't think I was wrong. I promised his brother I'd look into his death. Seems fishy to me, something's not quite right. Did he have any enemies? Anyone that would want him dead and could set this up?"

[Nightclaws]

"Didn't think I was wrong. I promised his brother I'd look into his death. Seems fishy to me, something's not quite right. Did he have any enemies? Anyone that would want him dead and could set this up?"

She bursts out sobbing as a form of reply, louder than before and for a lot longer before she comes to grips with things again. Coming to grips with herself once more, she tells Silas she appreciates his coming, through sobs and heaves. She tells him that she'll talk to him, but if he could come tomorrow, and give her some time.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Marriage? Then it must have been from sweetheart, but if that's the case why would he need to make one wouldn't she have already given hers to him? I was gonna look for Morthic I know he works at the smithy and might know who Roderick was making the knife for"

[TheOneHawk]

Silas nods and stands up. "All right, I'll give you some time. I'll come back tomorrow with some tea and hopefully then we can talk." He pats her on the shoulder once again and leaves. She was definitely Rodrick's lover, from that reaction. Very unlikely she killed him from a lover's spat as well. He'd return tomorrow bright and early and try and get any information out of her that he could, assuming that whoever killed Rodrick didn't kill her next. In the meantime, he'd try and track down Morthic, see if any progress had been made elsewhere.

[Kallimakus]

"Perhaps they wanted more elaborate-looking or matching sets?" Lyn suggests. In all honesty, this was outside her area of expertise. She'd remain and wait until the guard returned with whoever had examined the body. Idly, she wondered if the others had made more headway.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic nods sadly
I actually wanted to ask you about that. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees that things don't add up here. Roderick was in good spirits last night, and had a promising future.
His eyes narrow
Further, how he died. He was a Trunuan, through and through. The Hopeknife is pretty sacred to all of you, and is meant only to be used in the direst of circumstances, when death is better than the alternative. It seems out of character that he would do this, and even the method speaks to that. Do you have any ideas what might have been going on?

[Nightclaws]

Borg and Lyn - A few moments pass when a haggard looking man comes up the stairs. It's obvious he's another militia man. He takes a brief up and down glance at the both of you, a distinct look of disapproval at Borg, before talking. His voice comes out more like a demand than a question.
"You asked for me, did you?"

Morthic - "I'll tell you somethin'," Omast exclaims suddenly, and you note that during your explanation his face and eyes drooped, as if half paying attention. The smell of the booze is more potent as the man bends down to talk to you, "It'll be a freakin' orc, or one of them crossbreeds if it's true, betcha it was that bloody.... Ka-ka-katrezza.. I saw 'em..." he trails off, this time as if losing his train of thought than anything else.

Silas - Taking to the streets to find Morthic is fairly easy enough, and after a decent amount of time you spot the dwarf a fair distance down one road. However, once the dwarf comes into sight, you hear the sound of growling and barking, before screaming. To your right, three young wolves come into plain view, teeth bared and running towards you.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

"Umm... Yes, I did" Lyn says, after a brief hesitation. This had to be the one that handled Rodrick's body. She mentally backs down at the guard's authoritative tone. His disapproving look at Borg didn't escape her notice either, but she decided that it wasn't something to pay attention to right now. Right now, the important thing was finding something to confirm the fact that Rodrick didn't commit suicide, but rather was killed by someone. hopefully someone she thought. She racks her brain for some useful questions, and says "I need to ask some questions about Rodrick's body. First, did he die in his bed?" That wasn't very useful at all, in hindsight. She decided that this wasn't the time to be overly blunt. If this person examined Rodrick's body, that meant he believed it to be a suicide. Maybe.

"I understand he was found with cuts in his wrists, inflicted by his hopeknife." Lyn says, attempting to sound official. "Did he have any other injuries on him? Around the neck or face? Was he found lying in his bed or seated? slumped against the wall?" she asks, before holding out her arm, pointing to the tendons standing out of her flexed wrist. "Were these tendons cut? Also, there would have been a terrible amount of blood, more than a gallon I think" She sounds less certain of this. "Was there a note or something declaring it a suicide" she asks, finally ending the barrage of questions.


Sorry for these questions, I don't know how much they go into detail.
I study medicine (well, dentistry) and have for a while now. One can lose around 40% of their total blood (5-6 liters) before risking coma and death.
Lyn has her facts wrong, suggesting more than a gallon, but it's still a whole lot of blood.
Otherwise she looks for abnormalities around the neck and face for strangling and suffocation.
Another thing worth noting is that if he cut his wrists wrong, he,d have a hard time holding the knife for the other wrist
(if his tendons are cut in both hands, he likely couldn't have inflicted such injuries to himself. Also, his chest or lap would likely have bloodstains from the time of cutting.)

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Stares back at the guard with a grim expression but otherwise keeps quiet while Lyn starts off with the questions, he was hoping they would take him to the body for examination besides making potions he knew the inner working of a body then most...although most of what he learned was from corpes back home.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas' ears perk up at the scream, his eyes quickly locking on the swiftly approaching wolves and widening with panic. By the divine, what were wild animals doing inside the town? This is what he gets for leaving Taldor's cities, the guards there would never have allowed these filthy mongrels in! Stumbling backwards a few paces towards Morthic, he quickly turns and steels himself. He was a Lord of Taldor and he would not turn and flee from these mangy mutts. Still, Morthic should be alerted. "Morthic, lad, I think I could potentially use some assistance up here. Few hungry looking wolves up the street!" He yells out before turning the face the animals again. It had been quite some time since he'd needed to use his magic aggressively, but it came forth when he called it as easily as it always had. He quickly projects his mind outwards, breaking through the wolves inner defenses with a simple command. SLEEP.

Cast sleep on the three wolves. DC 21.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, Protector of the Innocent

Wolves? What in the Hells are you on about man?
Morthic hurries towards Silas, pulling Valaim from his back.Seeing the wolves, he quickly takes a defensive position between them and Silas.

Move between Silas and the wolves. If I'm allowed a further full-round action, use Defensive Focus to extend my threatened area to 15ft (I have to move forwards 5ft to attack into the outer area). If not, just ready an attack if a wolf comes within reach

I'll use Iron Shell if one of them attacks me and rolls above a 16

[Nightclaws]

Silas and Morthic - Omast looks to Morthic with a bit of confusion before the situation dawns on his face, drawing his weapon and stumbling a bit before running to join you both.
The wolves in the alley begin to run, teeth gnashing and ready to fight. That is, until a wash of Silas' spell creeps over them, and they slow for a moment and come to a stop in the road.
A wary few villagers creep out of their homes, one in particular holding a large pitchfork and looking very angry at the wolves.

Lyn and Borg - The man stammers out replies, trying to get them in between Lyn's asking of questions and failing. He seems to opt to wait until she's got them all out before responding.
"There were no injuries on him, no, at least nothing that hasn't been there for weeks, and there was a terrible amount of blood, we're thankful to have gotten it cleaned up quick as we did. It wasn't a pretty sight." He gazes towards the bloodstained mattress and shudders a little, "I know what you're trying to do, but if there was some clue to foul play, we'd have found it. You'd have better luck searching the other rooms."

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Why could it never be easy? Lyn wondered, looking down in an embarrassed manner after her burst of questions at the guard. Of course they didn't want to believe it either. Rodrick's death has me wound up. I need to calm down. "We'll just get on with searching the rooms then" she says, glancing at Borg. She leaves the room and looks along the corridor. It might be useful to fetch Cham here since she knew the inn better than Lyn, but she decided against it. The poor woman was still distressed, and Lyn had no desire to add to it. She decided that it was probably best to search the rooms systematically. She decides to wait for Borg and help him instead of starting on her own.

I rolled a 6 for my perception, not much use there.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

As Morthic slides into position, the wolves begin to nap. He turns to the old man.
How long are they going to be out for?

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Well no help there however checking the other rooms seems sensible enough the last place to look for a murder would be the place the crime took place. He figures that Cham is still upset about the whole thing but she would be the only one who'd know about the other people who stayed last night and that's too much of a lead to just throw away despite her mood. "She might be out of it but I think we should ask Cham for the registry for whoever stayed yesterday, it might give us some clues and make checking the other rooms easier for us". Borg makes his way downstairs to ask for the halfling.

[Kallimakus]

"That makes sense, I suppose" Lyn says. She accompanies Borg on the way down to look for the halfling.

[TheOneHawk]

"Not long, maybe a minute. Enough time to restrain them for transport the hell out of here, at least."As he turns towards the wolves he spies the villager brandishing a pitchfork and quickly moves to intercept him. "Whoah there, buddy. No need for that, they're no threat right now. We can just tie them up and get them out of here. Anyone have any rope? Morthic?"

Diplomacy to stop any aggression from the villager. [roll0]

[Nightclaws]

Silas and Morthic - Omast steps forward, using the rope that he was hoisting himself onto the wall with to tie the wolves. He frowns when finished doing so, looking around.
"Odd that, there's nowhere here these creatures could've gotten in.." he attempts to murmur to himself, but his voice gets louder as he doesn't control the volume very well. The villager with the pitchfork, alongside a number of others, backs off the scene, but keeps nearby, wary.

Borg and Lyn - Coming down the stairs, it seems Cham herself is behind the counter. Still obviously shaken up, but trying to resume her schedule. She spots the both of you as you come up towards her and shuffles papers in front of her, smiling weakly.
"Did you find anything?"

[TheOneHawk]

"You sure about that? I mean, they can't have just materialized out of nowhere. Either they found their way in or someone let them in..." He trails off and looks at Morthic. "Wolves in Trunau, a beloved community leader found dead... Something isn't adding up."

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn spirits plummeted further at the halfling's question. "Not much, as much as I hate to admit it." she says, sounding as though she's apologising. "We'd like to get access to the neighbouring rooms. It would be even more helpful if you could provide us with a record of those who slept here last night. It might help us narrow down who's behind this."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic shakes his head.
Not on me, no. I have some with my old adventuring gear, but they'll be awake before I can get back with it.
He glances up
Omast, bring some of that rope you were dangling from over here. We'll need to restrain the beasts.
He glances down the alley the wolves had come from.
After that, I think we should have a look around down that alley. We can't have wolves slipping into the city somehow without the guard knowing.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

"We know your not in your right sorts with all this going on but the chance that oneof the geusts may have been the culprit of this is high".

[roll0]

[Nightclaws]

Lyn and Borg - Cham's face falls just that little bit when Lyn mentions the registry, and she stammers out her reply;
"Y-yes of course, it's r-right here, and the other rooms.... they would be fine to l-look in."
The only entry of note in the register is a single human man who rented the Ramblehouse’s last room after Rodrik had reserved his room, but before the patrol captain had checked in for the night. This entry stands out because the guest’s name has not been recorded.

Morthic and Silas - "I'm sure as sure," mumbles Omast slowly, "Come look at this." He beckons to Morthic more than Silas, pointing towards the wolves mouths. They seem rotten and running with blood. The villagers still look on, watching what's going on. The only other thing of note in the alley is a cart, which has some kind of tarp over the back.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas gags at the sight of the wolves' mouths, the rotting, bloody flesh making him feel nauseous enough that he needs to back up a few steps after looking. "Gods... that looks terrible. I've never seen anything like that. What could have caused... whatever that is? We didn't injure them."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic steps forward to examine the wolves' mouths.
If they are ill, then perhaps it would be best to put them out of their misery.
He looks back at the crowd
Can someone try to track down Silvermane? This seems more like his area of expertise than mine.

Heal check:[roll0]

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell


"Thank you" Lyn says to the Halfling, taking a look at the list. She notices the missing name and checks the location of the room. The one who rented it was a human man, then. That was a start. "I'd like to inquire on this man as well. Did he look like he was a local?" She waits for the answer and thanks the halfling woman before heading back
to the Ramblehouse. That room seemed suspicious, and the best place to start searching. The nameless occupant might have left something there. Lyn heads there and opens the door, and starts searching.


Perception to assist Borg
[roll0]

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

The unnamed guest was like a looking for a ogre among halflings. He follows Lynn upstairs to look over the room.

[Nightclaws]

Lyn and Borg - Cham breaks down into fearful sobs and quickly explains herself. “He refused to give me his name,” she manages between gulps of air, “and he paid me a fistful of gold. He said he’d be gone before sunrise. I didn’t ask any more questions. I had no idea that something like this would happen!”

Morthic and Silas - Looking at the wolves for a moment makes something very obvious. They aren't as rabid as they initially seemed, but in fact have been poisoned. A villager nearby claims he will find Silvermane, as he runs off. Omast frowns at the creatures, drawing his sword clumsily.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Posion!
Morthic's cry is shocked.
I doubt anyone would poison a pack of wolves. Which means that it was most likely in either their food or their water.
He remains kneeling next to one of the wolves
I have a little experience with animals, even if most of them were horses. I might be able to keep them calm until Silvermane gets here.

[TheOneHawk]

"Poison? Are you sure? How can you tell?" Silas is beginning to sound worried but quickly recovers himself. "Once Silvermane arrives, we really should take a look down that alley where they came from. This is all very strange indeed. Certainly not what I was expecting when I woke up!"

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn places a comforting hand on Cham's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. Thank you for telling this. It must have been hard, feeling that it was your fault" Lyn says softly. She wasn't sure what to feel. A part of her wanted to be angry. Another curbed down that one. Rationally, a name wouldn't be much use. If he was from out of town a name wouldn't be much help. Maybe someone might be able to find out his place of birth, but that wouldn't bring back Rodrick. She focused again on the task at hand and got up. There was a killer on the loose, possibly in the town itself. She hoped the others were okay.

She heads to the Ramblehouse to find the mystery man's room. Hopefully there would be something that would shed light to this situation.

I'll keep my previous roll if that's alright. 12

[Nightclaws]

Lyn and Borg - Looking into the room, you can see that apart from the misfortunes in the other room, it matches it. The same mattress, albeit not bloodied up and neat. The same drawers, the window and so forth. All the rooms are the same, and this one doesn't look like it has been slept in. You are sure this is the room that was under the name of the registry, though.

Morthic and Silas - Being closer to the wolves, Morthic can easily spot some other things of note. The poison is obvious, and small puncture marks on the creatures are apparent. The villagers still look quite uneasy and at the cry of "Poison!", a susurration goes through the crowd. Omast watches with a frown, sword still out and poised. No word of Silvermane's arrival reaches them for a while, and one wolf begins to stir.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Sees nothing out of the ordinary just like the other rooms, but he remembers that Roderick's desk had a false bottom so why not this room, He approaches the desk and looks at it from top to bottom.



[roll0]

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Noting the marks, Morthic turns to Omast
Alright, it wasn't food or drink. Someone was experimenting on them, I think. There are marks from a needle. Go calm the people down. Silas, you may want to help with that, unless you're good with animals.
As the wolf begins to stir, Morthic looks directly at its eyes. His voice is calm, but firm.
Stay still. You are injured. Help is coming.
He repeats this, his voice remaining calm, while he waits for Silvermane to arrive.

Handle Animal: [roll0]

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

The room was nondescript. The bed was untouched and Lyn wondered if he'd even been there. She discarded the thought. There had to be something here. Had to be. This was all they had left. If the others didn't turn up anything, there wouldn't be a trail at all. She moved past Borg to the drawer to see if there was something amiss. There had been something fishy there in the other room. She then moved on, sweeping across the room, trying not to create a great mess that would conceal any traces.

Perception 14

[TheOneHawk]

Silas nods at Morthic. The Dwarf seemed significantly more competent with animals than he, and the crowd was getting restless. Stepping away from the wolves, he raises his voice to be heard over the chatter and makes a quick speech to calm the villagers. "No need to fear, my good people. I know today has been difficult for all of us, but the situation is under control. We are investigating what happened to get these wolves into Trunau and what happened to Rodrick and once we discover and deal with the problem, you will be notified. The best way you can help us is to simply go back to your daily lives, complete your part of keeping Trunau safe and independent." He then walks through the crowd offering gentle reassurances to individuals and urging them to return to work.

[roll0]

[Nightclaws]

Silas and Morthic - Both the wolf and the villagers surrounding the scene visibly calm down. The wolf itself begins to whimper and pine loudly, obviously struggling against the ropes.
"Experiments?" Morthic asks, "Like some alchemist?"
The villager that ran off shortly comes back, reporting being unable to find Silvermane at this time, but has put the word around in case someone see's the elf.

Lyn and Borg - The drawer reveals something, a small piece of paper in the hidden compartment, trapped near the back and down the hinge, as if left behind on accident. It reads the following;
Melira,
I shouldn’t be away for much longer.
We still haven’t found what we’re looking for, but it’s only a matter of time, and the other preparations are proceeding as planned.
A meddling militia patrol captain has been poking around, but I don’t foresee him being a threat for much longer.
Once our work is done, it won’t matter anyway, and I can return to you.
I marvel that I found you in the midst of all this, and think of you constantly.
Soon, my beloved.

The rest of the room seems relatively untouched.

[TheOneHawk]

"Blast it. Typical. All right, we're on our own with these mutts for now. I am curious what's down that alleyway, though. Think you could keep an eye on them while Morthic and I take a peek, Omast?"

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic rises, shaking his head.
"Alchemists would be possible, but it could be any number of walks. Crazy doesn't discriminate any more than cruelty."
He looks down the alley.
"I do agree that we should investigate"

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

This was interesting. Condemning evidence. "So someone is looking for something, probably here in Trunau. No clue as to what it might be." Lyn thinks out loud. "Do you think we should show this to the others?" This wasn't exactly a breakthrough towards capturing the murderer, but was, in Lyn's opinion at least, more than enough evidence to suspect a murder. Mysterious, out-of-town man, paid a hefty sum for a room and left no name, and now a note saying that a meddling guard captain was a problem.

Rodrick might have known what this was about, but he was dead. He might have told some other guards, or might not. She would have to remember to ask if there had been any mysterious activity that might be related to this. She idly wonders who the Melira that the letter was addressed to is.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

A love letter from a foreign stranger and one with a grudge against a militant captain supposedly Roderick but meddling what could that mean? This and the receipt for a hope knife seem good enough evidence for whatever going on. Lynn seems we've found all we can but it looks to be just enough to prove this was a murder, we should meet with the others I know Morthic works at Sara's blacksmith so maybe he can help us figure it out.". Borg leaves the room going out of the inn with a thanks to Cham for the help and walks of to find his companions.

[Nightclaws]

Morthic and Silas - Omast nods and agrees, waving a sword over the wolves as you go to inspect the alley, and subsequently, the cart in the middle of it. It's crude and old, and the back is open, covered in a large heavy sheet. Underneath, there are ropes, which have now been cut and left behind. Tufts of fur on them make it look like the wolves were tied here, and cut to be let loose.

Lyn and Borg - You manage to find the location of Morthic and Silas with relative ease, what with Morthic shouting and the mumbling of rumour stemming from it. You spot Omast, a man you've both known for some time as part of the militia, with his sword out above three wolves who are tied up. One seems to be awake, but placid.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn first heads towards Sara's blacksmith shop, but switches to following the mumblings of the crowd and soon enough Morthic's own voice. She pushes her way through the ground, apologizing most of the way. People were talking about wolves and poison, and "Silvermane" had been mentioned. Lyn was pretty sure that it was the name of the elven druid that watched over the local spring. She wonders what all the commotion was about. The answer presents itself when she reaches the front of the crowd and spots Morthic, Silas, Omast and three wolves. The wolves are tied up, and it seems that some of them are sleeping. Concern wells up in her, but she sighs with relief when she sees no-one appears injured.

"We found something" Lyn says, fishing out the note she and Borg had found from the nameless man's room. She realizes that Morthic and Silas are looking at a cart that has been left in the alley. She peers in and takes a look, but can't immediately say what was so important about the ropes and fur. She waits until they're satisfied with their inspection before swamping them with her explanation of what she and Borg had found out.

"We found this note from a neighbouring room. It was rented by an nameless man for a lot of money. Cham said he was a human, and left before morning. The note spoke of a nosy guard captain that wouldn't need to be worried about. I'm pretty sure that's Rodrick. Speaking of Rodrick, there was no evidence of murder on his body or the crime scene. We found another note though, a commission for a new hopeknife for his beloved. I think that's it."

It comes out incoherent and out of order, but the others can glean that there was a really suspicious man that left a note about a meddling guard captain, stating that he and a "Melira" wouldn't have to worry about him for long. That there was no sign of foul play on the body itself. That Rodrick had commissioned a new hopeknife to a beloved. That the man seemed really suspicious. This time she will allow herself to interrupted and answers questions.

"So how about you? What have you found out?" she asks, and adds "Also, what's with the wolves?"


Perception to look in to the back of the wagon, 10.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

"The wolves were poisoned. Someone with a needle. That news is even more disturbing though. It seems someone was doing something questionable, and Roderick was getting in their way. And they killed him to remove the inconvenience. Could you get any kind of description of this man? Or which way he was going when he left town? We might want to pursue him. He clearly doesn't mean the town any good."
Morthic analyzes the situation as he searches through the cart for any more evidence.

someone who can see sheets roll perception for me?

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Borg first notices the crowd hanging about Silas and Morthic, then his eyes fell on the three tied up wolves with Omast standing over them. Someone in the crowd mutters that Silvermane is coming to inspect them, but Borg figures he can give them a look with his knowledge of living bodies...and those not living. : Here now let me have a look at these beauties, might be I can figure out their problem" he glances at Omast standing above him with his sword raised and looks over one of the wolves from top to bottom, inside its mouth its eyes to any abnormalities with its fur and skin.


[roll0]
[roll1]

[TheOneHawk]

As Silas peers into the cart and realizes the meaning of the ropes, his mind starts to race. The wolves had been released so close to him, they may well have been intended to kill him. Had his problems caught up to him here already, out in the middle of nowhere? He'd thought this little town safe, but perhaps not. As Lyn rattles off her list of findings, his worries grow. Had Rodrick been killed because he'd caught on to someone trying to kill him? Would this whole mess have been avoided if he'd simply left this poor town alone? Questions that could not be answered properly, yet, but the worry nagged at him relentlessly. Surely if this was an attempt on him, they would try again with more force. Hopefully someone was just stirring up trouble in Trunau and this had nothing to do with him, but he'd only find that answer if he continued his search. Plus, he had given his word, he would not go back on that without good reason.

This parade of thoughts and worries running through Silas' head leaves him looking pale and causes a vacant look for a few seconds before he regains his composure and does his best to hide his fears. "Looks like the wolves were let out of here by... someone. Any other ways out of this alley? I didn't see anyone come out this way, but I was rather distracted."

[Nightclaws]

Borg - You start to inspect the wolves as they begin to slowly wake up, and the one that is already awake and somewhat passive thanks to Morthic gives you the least trouble. You identify the aliment as Bleeder’s Disease, and that indeed these wolves weren't rabid, but have been poisoned purposely and directly. You understand that the wolf might inflict this disease when it bites someone else, and it'd cause a slow effect of bleeding out. As you inspect them, one of the wolves wakes and thrashes about, its bonds slipping off. Omast cries out as the wolf bites at him and tries to wave his sword, missing the creatures head by inches. His swordsmanship possibly matches his working with a rope when he's drunk as he is.

Everyone else - The cart is somewhat empty apart from the things you've already noted, cut ropes, tufts of fur and claw marks from the wolves indicate they were indeed here before being let loose on the town. Back where the wolves are, you begin to hear commotion and cries once more.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

"These mutts were forcibly diseased but by who? I doubt it was coincidence that Silas and Morthic happened to be near when they were loosed" his thinking was put on hold when suddenly one of the wolves regained consiouncess and began thrashing about, Borg takes his great axe out and swings it wildly at the rabid beast "Careful Omast the beast is diseased dont let it bite you!"

Attack 1d20+4
Damage 1d12+6

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Her head snapped away from the cart and towards the street at the sound of Omast crying out. She grits her teeth, her hands moving to the hilt of her sword, her feet already carrying her towards the scene. I should've worn full armour today Lyn thinks. She dislikes the restriction caused by her full armor, and usually takes only the cuirass when within bounds of Trunau. Today had been no different. The protection offered would be welcome soon, she decides. No time for a shield either. She increases speed, running and turning corner to see the scene. One of the wolves had gotten out of its bindings and bitten Omast. Lyn moves to draw her sword.

Aiming for nonlethal damage
[roll0] 24-25 crits, possible +2 from flank depending on positions.
[roll1]

Possible crit confirm
[roll2]
[roll3]

Lyn's AC is now 11, switches to 16 next round after she dons her shield.

Flat-footed after running, AC 12

Lyn wears only the chest piece of her scale armour. By piecemeal armour rules, this has AC of +2, maximum Dex of +3 and check penalty of -2. It also allows 30-foot movement like light armour. Alternatively this could be re-skinned as leather armour, it doesn't make that much of a difference.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas is forcibly pulled from his reverie by the sounds of combat coming from up the alley. He begins to run towards the sounds but quickly finds himself struggling and slows himself back to a brisk walk. "Omast did you not tie the ropes properly? Blast it man, I'll be right there to knock them out again."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic curses violently in dwarven.
I'm on my way Omast!
He runs as quickly as he can, pulling Valaim from his back as he does so and thanking Torag that he had been going to practice when he got dragged into all of this!

Moving 80ft towards the sound, drawing my weapon. I am in full armor.

[Nightclaws]

Omast kneels to the floor as the teeth of the wolf bury into him, the other wolves nearby begin to fuss and struggle, but their ropes hold strong, for now. Borg's axe slices quickly down onto the beasts next, splitting its head from the rest of the body as blood spurts. Omast rips at fabrics he can get a hold, shakingly trying to dress the wound. A slew of curse words stream from his mouth. The villagers move closer to the wolves, improvised weapons ready to put down the creatures, but Morthic storms in way in front of them, followed by Lyn.

The crowd cries out to put the beasts to death.

[Kallimakus]

One of the wolves lies dead as Lyn pushes her way through the crowd next to Morthic. She's quite surprised that he'd kept the pace. Then again, she assumed the crowd was a bigger obstacle to her than the dwarf. She takes a quick look at the scene, seeing Omast trying to stem a bleeding wound with rags of fabric she hopes are torn off something cleaner than his shirt. One of the wolves lies on the ground bleeding, obviously dead. The missing head lying a few feet away is a dead giveaway. Borg is holding a greataxe that probably did the deed. The other two wolves appear to be bound more securely. The crowd seems out for blood, and she can't really disagree. They had clearly attacked Omast and one of their number was dead already. And there was something more important than the fate of a few animals.

Lyn takes closer note of Omast and his attempts at first aid. "Language." she says to Omast, taking a note of the 'colourful' turns of phrase. "You don't want to cover the injury with rags like that." she says, kneeling next to him some distance away from the wolves and producing a rolled up bundle from a pouch. She unrolls it on the ground, revealing some rolled up bandages, needles and small bundles of herbs. "Borg. Did you say these wolves were poisoned?" she asks the half-orc. The alchemist tells her what he found out about the condition of the wolves. They might be infectious then.

"Could you hold still for me for a while." she says to Omast, her tone making clear that this wasn't a question. She pours water over the wound and takes some herbs, crushing them in her hands before rubbing them on the wound. They were... She didn't remember their names, but they were supposed to be good for keeping injuries clean. That might help. "Could someone get Tyari Varvatos here. We might have need of her talents."


Heal check [roll0]. Healing poison or first aid is a standard action and diseases takes 10 minutes. Regardless of which this counts as, she uses a charge of her healer's kit.
If someone tries to calm the crowds, She will chime in support but doesn't take initiative on the subjects.
Aid another [roll1]
Tyari Varvatos is the local cleric.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Takes a cloth from the pocket of his coat and wipes away the blood from his axe blade. "Be thorough Lynn Bleeders Disease will corrupt every ounce of blood in him if we dont work fast" notices the crowds anxiousness and cant blame them " As for the rest of them their infected too, best for everyone is to put them all down". Borg begins to move toward the other bound beasts to end the situation.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Gods blasted druid!
Morthic swears under his breath. He look at Borg.
Is there a cure? If for no other reason than because Omast may need it.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas rounds the corner several seconds after the others and the situation seems mostly under control before he even arrives, which is good because the scent of blood from the dead wolf instantly makes him nauseous and forces him to sit down just outside the alleyway. His head feels very light and there is no colour whatsoever in his face. He sits like this for a few moments before hearing Borg's comment about the poison. "What in the Nine Hells is Bleeders Disease, man? Is that what was wrong with the wolves?"

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

It causes ones blood to lose the ability to clot thus increasing the chance the wound will bleed out without stopping". Borg thinks it would do everyone some good if he came up with some medical means before the day is done.

[Nightclaws]

The crowd becomes more restless, coming closer to the party and the wolves. Another wolf escapes its bonds and snaps at one of the villagers, but is open to Morthic's Bardiche. The wolf is cut down with relative ease, and barely makes it away before being sliced in half.
The other wolf is restless, but bound, growling and barking loudly. Omast keeps bleeding, and although Lyn is keeping her kit with him, the wound gapes and oozes with blood. Omast visibly looks woozy. People of the crowd begin to either stand some kind of ground with their impromptu weaponry, or run off. If any of them are off to find Tyari, they do not mention it.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic continues his motion forward as he cuts down the wolf.
"May you find peace in the afterlife!"
He swings Valaim in a broad overhead arc, and as he does so, holy energy begins to seal up Omast's wound.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas gags a little as the second wolf is cut down, this was more blood than he'd ever seen in one place before, and it was extremely unpleasant. How did soldiers handle this in a fight? The smell was absolutely nauseating. Trying to distract himself from the blood and death, he stands up and stumbles towards Lyn and Omast, to see if he can help. As soon as he arrives, though, he realizes this is far beyond his nonexistent medical ability. True to what Borg had said, the wound was bleeding through bandages as fast as Lyn could apply them, not clotting in the slightest. Omast was obviously struggling from the blood loss and needing magical healing, fast. Silas was no healer, but if he could get Tyari here, it would likely save this mans life. Silas looks to the panicked crowd, no way were they going to be any help like this, unless he made them. Quickly striding towards a young, fit looking villager, he makes direct eye contact and forces his power upon her, addling her brain in an instant to cause her to receive his requests in the best possible light. "You, lass. Go find Tyari right away. Bring her here as quickly as you are able. I am counting on you."

Cast charm person on a villager. DC is 20 to resist.

[Kallimakus]

Why does it not stop? Lyn thinks desperately. Calm down. Calm down. He's just bleeding and it's not stopping. She applies the bandages and racks her brain for something that could help here. "Omast" she says, trying to sound calm and keep her voice level but not quite succeeding, "I need you to lie down and keep your arm raised."
Why won't the bleeding stop? she thinks as she presses her hand to the wound, fishing bandages from her kit before wrapping them around the wound. They needed to be tight. She is quite immersed in her task, not realizing that a wolf has gotten free before Morthic cuts it down. She flinches from her work, shaken. She returns to her work as Morthic cuts down the other wolf, taking note that the bleeding seems to have abated. She sighs in relief and attempts to collect herself.


[roll0]
Lyn's flaw (-2 to skills after failing) doesn't apply to retrying the same check.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Borg doesn't hesitate as he approaches the last wolf and brings his axe on its head.


[roll0]
[roll1]

[Nightclaws]

The wolves are cut down with relative ease, and the commotion dies down. A number of the villagers make their way back to their day to day jobs. Few people still stick around, watching Lyn and Omast. A stream of curse words still fall from Omast's mouth but it eases up. Although the leg doesn't stop bleeding, it does significantly slow after a flash of light and from Lyn's work. The villager that Silas spoke to rushes back, Tyari in tow. The cleric pushes through the crowd, the colours of Iomedae bright and apparent as she looks over the scene. She moves to kneel down to Omast.
"What happened?" She asks, quick to the point. A man dressed in armour known to you all as Brantos Calderon also pushes through, but his weapon is lowered when he see's the situation..

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Someone seemed to have us on their **** list and set these wolves up to keep us from asking around about Roderick. Borg figures the lady to be the cleric but the fellow in armor is drawing a blank."I figure you to be lady Tyari these beasites were drugged and gave Omast a nasty present to remember them by called Bleeders Disease."

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

"Thank Iomedae" Lyn sughes with relief, seeing Tyari approach the site with Brantos in tow. She nods in greeting before returning her attention to Omast's arm. She makes space fur the cleric as she approaches and points out what first aid she had gotten done. She starts clearing away her supplies, wiping sweat from her brow. She was nervous about explaining what had happened, as she didn't really know what was wrong here, but fortunately Borg filled Tyari in on the details.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas nods his assent at Borg's words, before pointing Brantos off down the alleyway. "Wolves came from down that way. They'd been poisoned according to Borg here, and that's why they gave off this... Bleeders disease. There's a cart down there that makes it look an awful lot like someone had them tied up and loosed them as I was walking past."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic looks at Borg
"You think this is connected with what happened to Roderick?"

[TheOneHawk]

"If he doesn't, then I do. I find it unlikely that he was killed then a pack of bloody poison wolves were released right next to me as I was looking into his death. Certainly seems the most rational explanation to me."

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Speaking of Roderick...Morthic me and Lynn found this receipt for a hope knife from Saras blacksmith for him know anything about it? Borg hands him the piece of paper.


Morninghawks Fine Steel
Receipt of Purchase
Customer: Rodrik Grath
Order: One (1) Hopeknife
Additional Options: [X] Engraving [ ] Silver [ ] Matching Sheath
Engraving should read, "For Rodrik, My Love."
Smith: Urusul

[Nightclaws]

Tyari goes about her business making sure Omast is alright, treating him as best as she can. Although, the fixing up from both Lyn and Morthic seems to have done the job, at least for the time being. Nevertheless, she picks him up and exclaims that she'll be taking Omast to the temple, and beckons Brantos, who was vaguely looking own the alley, but keeping closeby.

As it currently is, leaving you guys to RP what you've learned seems a good step. I'll post next when it's obvious you guys are moving on.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn Penell

Lyn thanks Tyari for her help and waves at the departing group. It seemed that Omast would recover. She felt relieved. At least one thing had been handled well. She stopped before patting herself on the back for a job well done. They'd been in the middle of something before the wolves got loose. I still don't know whta Morthic and Silas found out. That was it. "Did you find any leads to follow?" she asks. "If not, we could go back to Cham and ask if she had any idea where our mystery man was going. I'm sorry, I should have asked the first time." Lyn looks down, obviously ashamed of her mistake. It might make all the difference for catching the man, though based on the letter he might not have left town at all, or at least not wandered far.

The note is ambiguous as to whether or not the man has been to Trunau previously. I think that he has, but he may as well have been running into patrols in the wilderness and decided to slow them down by eliminating a nosy patrol leader.

The letter's contents, now that all characters can read it (so that you don't need to check previous pages.

I'd love to make knowledge checks to see if Lyn knew of anything worthwhile to look for in the vicinity of Trunau, but she likely wouldn't know.

Melira,
I shouldn’t be away for much longer.
We still haven’t found what we’re looking for, but it’s only a matter of time, and the other preparations are proceeding as planned.
A meddling militia patrol captain has been poking around, but I don’t foresee him being a threat for much longer.
Once our work is done, it won’t matter anyway, and I can return to you.
I marvel that I found you in the midst of all this, and think of you constantly.
Soon, my beloved.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, Protector of the Innocent

Morthic shakes his head.
"I was about to ask Omast if he's noticed anything odd when the wolves attacked. But your plan sounds like it has promise. That note wasn't exactly vague."

[Kallimakus]

Lyn had the oddest sense of forgetting something. Something pretty important. Oh yes, the reason we were headed this way in the first place she thought. Something Borg said about Sara. I have the strangest feeling that I should remember that name from something. Maybe it was the note he'd found, about the hopeknife. Morninghawk's Fine Steel, it said. Sara... Sara Morninghawk. She felt dumb. She should have recognized the name. It wasn't long since she'd had her own weapon made there. "Umm... Morthic? I think you mentioned being a smith yesterday. You wouldn't happen to know anything else about that note? I mean, it's a smithing order."

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Having past Sara smithy a few times in the past Borg makes his way toward their assuming the others are heading in the same direction.

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic shakes his head.
I don't work with the hopeknives. But Sara might know something.
He begins to head back to the smithy.

[Nightclaws]

You all get to Clamor, a squat, cramped building in the western corner of Truanu. The sound of metal clangs through the day, and it's easily heard as you approach. Sara can be spotted fairly easily, half-orc and half-Shoanti, plying her trade. Her wife, Agrit, is currently nowhere to be found. Sara stops working when she see's the group of you approach, crossing your arms and greets you all by name.
http://www.endlessrpg.com/pathfinder/images/c/cb/Sara.png

[TheOneHawk]

"Good morning, Sara. Good to see you're still keeping busy in light of recent events. We're looking into Rodrick's death and we came up with a receipt from here for a hopeknife engraving. Urusul was supposed to be the smith in charge, could you tell us anything about it?"

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Nodding a greeting to Sara, Morthic lets the others ask their questions as he heads over to the small bag he had left at the smithy when he left earlier. He fishes out a cloth, and begin to clean his blade. It wouldn't do to walk around town with a bloody blade, nor to be lax in caring for his weapon.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

While Silas makes introduction and Morthic cleans his weapon, Borg wanders around looking over Sara's wares "Maybe I should get a new ax this one from Ugrik is starting to put on mileage in rust..." . Borg trails off thinking.

[Kallimakus]

Lyn entered the Clamor behind the rest of the group. She'd been here several times before but was still caught off-guard by the owner remembering her name. Silas made their point eloquently enough and she saw no reason to speak up. She entertains herself by looking at the items spread around the workshop.

[Nightclaws]

Sara takes the receipt and gives it a look over.
"Hmm, yes I think I recall this," she says, moving towards what looks like a log spread out on the table. She flits through a couple of pages before finding one that seems to catch her liking, "Yes, Roderick commissioned this himself, about a week ago. I did the preliminary work and I handed it off to Urnsul to finish it off, it should still be around here.."
After a few moments of obvious scrambling and searching for the hopeknife, she frowns. "I'll bet Urnsul put it somewhere before she up and quit; it’s hard to get good help." She shakes her head and looks to each of you, "That's really all I can say, it was commissioned, it was worked on, I'll let you know if I find it."

[TheOneHawk]

Silas frowns, troubled both by the missing knife and news of Urusul quitting without notice. Sara wasn't the type to just lose people's orders, either. "She up and quit, you say? Do you know where she went, or why? I'd like to ask her a few questions." Immediately after saying this, he tilts his head as though something occurred to him and steps up to Lyn, quietly whispering to her. "You didn't happen to see the knife that killed Rodrick in your search, did you?"

[Kallimakus]

Lyn ponders on the smith's words. So this smith that had the commission quit in the smithy. If only we knew whether the knife was ready or not. Silas spoke up. "I don't think we did." she replies to him. She wondered what the old man was getting at. She had her doubts when Sara hadn't been able to find the knife. This was sounding awfully suspicious.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

Borg hears Sara's explanation for the receipt, "At least this helps us along see the knife should help" Borg decides to remember Urnsuls name in case they need to speak to them later, actually this is a good chance to ask Sara on her thoughts about the whole ordeal. "Sara you haven't happen to see any strangers in your shop or around lately have you? Their was a nameless person on CHams register who disapread after Roderick's death in the inn who might be a suspect."

[Vhaidara]

Morthic Valard, the Protector of the Innocent

Morthic just keeps polishing the blade, listening to the questions of the others. He hadn't had much chance to interact with Urusul. He tried to remember why it was she had left.

[Nightclaws]

Sara crosses her arms, "I don't know where she went, no, she just up and left yesterday whilst we were at the hopeknife ceremony." He seems to be lost in thought for a moment, before answering Borg.
"Nobody recently, Urnsul came into town a few weeks back, but that's all that currently comes to mind.

You recall Urnsul easily, she'd been taken on several weeks back, and Sara took pity on her when the young half-orc explained her tragic story in broken Common.

Sorry for delays all, I've been up and about trying to sort life related things out and haven't been online much.

[TheOneHawk]

Silas nods at Sara's words. "That's understandable, you can't be expected to read your staff's minds, of course. One last question and I'll let you return to your work, you said you had done preliminary work on the knife, how much did you do? Was the inscription started? Most importantly, would you recognize the knife that you had worked on if it was brought to you?"

[Kallimakus]

Up and left? That felt weird, especially during the ceremony. Why didn't she attend? Lyn had so many questions running through her head. She supposed that it might have been this entire "being a half-orc" thing, but they weren't treated nearly as badly in Trunau as she remembered from her distant childhood home. Admittedly those memories were hazy at best, but nevertheless. She wondered if Urnsul was a victim of circumstance here, or whether there might be something suspicious going on. She half-listens to the conversation, lost in thought.

[Rollin20sAtm]

Borg

This Urnsal leaves after working on the hope knife for Roderick then he gets murdered suspicion crept into Borgs mind and he payed close attention to Silas ans Sara searching for any falsehood.

[SPOILER=Sense Motive[/SPOILER]