Gethric makes smalltalk and asks after the people in the caravan to which they have just come across.
Apologies if I missed it, but I don't think we know any of these people's names or what they do? - that's the sort of general info Gethric is after.
HP 19 || AC 17, T 14, FF 13 || F +1, R +7, W +2 || Init +4, Per +4
Asanna's curiousity is piqued as she notices the pair of eyes watching her intently off to the side. Alem takes a more direct approach when noticing the watcher, going so far as to go up and introduce himself. Not sure of the watcher's intent, Asanna uses Alem as a diversion to slip out of sight off to the side and try to sneak up on the person from the opposite side of the wagon.
Stealth Check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Bluff Check (if needed to go into stealth): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
If she creeps up on the person unawares, she listens for a moment while Alem converses with them, then whispers in the person's ear, "Whatcha doing?"
The man watches the group as Alem walks up to him to try to speak to him, the man just stares at him for a moment. He seems to than switch his view to watch the group again as he watches Asanna as she tries to move he than walks away to his tent.
Gethric and Drellik:
The halfling thinks for a moment before speaking "Well you know Garavel, he has worked for Almah, a long time now. There is Dashki he is a bit of an odd man but knows the area as well as gnolls. There are two sets of guards, the first set are the personal guards of Almah they are called Fixx, Keldon, Podarn and Vodrave. Second set are mercenaries there are six of them total Trevvis who seems to be the leader, Utarchus, Dullen, Kallien, Brotis, and Yesper(Last three are female names.). Last of the important folk are Hadrod and his wife Hadrah, they take care of all the animals." He answers after Gethric asks.
HP 10/10; AC 15, t10, ff15; Init +2; Per +7 || HP 10/10; AC 15, t13, ff11; Init +3; Per +6
Gethric and DM:
"Is this Almah going to join her caravan with ours, or is this meeting by chance? Drellik inquires.
After his response, Drellik asks "What happened to cause that fire, I didn't see any enemies about, and the weather didn't seem bad enough for lightning."
The halfling just looks at Drellik oddly before answering "No your caravan has come to join this one. Almah is the one that is funding this expedition. As for the fire I do not know why it started."
Barakus:
One of the men says "I am Utarchus." The second man says "I am, Dullen." The woman nearest Dullen says "I am Brotis." Finally the last member of the group says "I am, Yesper(a female name.)"
HP 10/10; AC 15, t10, ff15; Init +2; Per +7 || HP 10/10; AC 15, t13, ff11; Init +3; Per +6
Gethric and DM:
Drellik watches Gethric leave, then he turns back to the halfling "Ah, my word choice may have implied something I did not intend. I beg your pardon if I caused offense. Is Almah a noble or merchant then? She must be important to have her own personal guards?"
HP 19 || AC 17, T 14, FF 13 || F +1, R +7, W +2 || Init +4, Per +4
Alem and DM:
Asanna glances at Alem and shrugs her shoulders, "Not very hospitiable is he?" The tiefling wanders over toward the tent that the man retreated to on her approach. She stands a few feet away and clears her throat nosily as she sways back and forth on her soles, waiting for a little bit. If the man doesn't acknowledge her after a few minutes, Asanna will cough several times. If that doesn't ellict a response, she will tap on his tent flap and say, "Hello in there. It looked like you wanted to speak to me but were too shy to come up and strike a conversation. So here I am."
"She is a bit of both, she is what is known as a merchant princess. No it is okay I just thought your question odd."
Asanna:
Asanna does not get anything for a few moment from tapping the tent flap before you hear a guff voice say "No I did not wish to speak with you, why I left, now leave me be."
Male Human (Garundi/Keleshite) Wizard (Conjurer) 1
Alem watches Asanna as she waits outside the tent. Looking around at the rest of the camp, he shakes his head slowly in bewilderment. Seeing people coughing, talking, recovering from the fire, he can't help but wonder what the cause of all of this was. He pulls the card out from his sleeve and examines it for a long moment. What a strange world I have come to. It looks much much the same as the old world, but there are strange things afoot here... Replacing the card, he makes his way toward the tent, following Asanna's lead, and laughs silently to himself. Though perhaps not so out of place. Strangeness is so common in Katapesh!
Approaching the tent, he makes a thoughtful frown as he addresses Asanna. "Not very cooperative, is he? That is not so good, I think, and perhaps...suspicious."
HP 10/10; AC 15, t10, ff15; Init +2; Per +7 || HP 10/10; AC 15, t13, ff11; Init +3; Per +6
"Well, not too bad. The halfling cleric was not much help to be honest. But I did learn that the lady in charge of the other caravan is Garavel's employer - she's leading this expedition, not him. And given all the guards and mercenaries she has around, I don't know...."
Drellik looks at Omaz and continues in a slow voice, "I haven't been around people much these past few years, so I may just be reading the situation incorrectly, but something about this doesn't seem right to me. I'm planning to relax a bit before we get started again... but I'm going to keep my eyes open, if you know what I mean."
After a hour Garavel comes out of Almah's tent gathering the group to speak with them. Once all of you are present he begins to speak "Almah wishes for all of you to find out who or what has caused the fire. The wagon belonged to Almah's personal fortuneteller Eloais, who comes from Varisia. His specialty of divinatory was a deck of cards known as Harrow. The reasons you are to do this is you all were not present when the fire was started. Do any of you have questions for me before you do this?"
HP 10/10; AC 15, t10, ff15; Init +2; Per +7 || HP 10/10; AC 15, t13, ff11; Init +3; Per +6
Drellik proceeds to the wagon and casts detect magic. He starts looking around the wagon, beginning by circling the outside, then inspecting as much of the interior as possible without going inside.
Garavel shakes his head at Barakus, "No need for that, unless you are sure you found the right person, than bring them to me."[/b] He turns to Gethric "She is a busy person, she is currently making an account of everything that was lost due to the fire as well as seeing about getting more supplies if we need such."
Drellik:
You do not seem to find anything.
Omaz:
You do not spot anything, or seem to find any tracks.
You notice no signs of struggle or violence, suggesting that the fortune-teller was killed by the fire itself or from inhaling the smoke the fire caused.
HP 10/10; AC 15, t10, ff15; Init +2; Per +7 || HP 10/10; AC 15, t13, ff11; Init +3; Per +6
Drellik leaves the wagon and informs the others about his findings. "Looks like he died from the fire or the smoke, there are no signs of a struggle inside the wagon, and no traces of magic either. I've got another idea..."
He heads back towards the animals looking for Hadrod or Hadrah. When he finds them, he inquires, "Excuse me, with all the excitement I'm sorry I wasn't more help calming the animals. Were you able to save them all, or did you lose any in all the chaos?'
HP 19 || AC 17, T 14, FF 13 || F +1, R +7, W +2 || Init +4, Per +4
Asanna furrows her brow in deep thought as she ponders this problem. A fire that claimed the life of a fortuneteller. Was it natural or man-made? If the later, was it done to harm the seer or to cover the tracks of some other crime? She taps a finger against her lips as she glances to Garavel, "Did anyone in camp have public issues with the seer?"
After she gets an answer one way or the other, the young tiefling starts to wander about the camp, watching folks before moving up to start brief conversations about the journey so far. She eventually brings up if they saw anything odd around the seer's wagon a little before the fire.
Diplomacy to gather information from witnesses on events throughout this day leading up to the fire.
Diplomacy Check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
HP 19 || AC 17, T 14, FF 13 || F +1, R +7, W +2 || Init +4, Per +4
Do we have a list of the names of folks around the caravan? If not, I'll start with those that helped with putting out the fire with the buckets/barrels. First Diplomacy can work for them.
Then I'll move onto the mercs that helped with the wagons.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Then the medics at the aid station.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Then the man who was watching Asanna and Alem.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
HP 10/10; AC 15, t10, ff15; Init +2; Per +7 || HP 10/10; AC 15, t13, ff11; Init +3; Per +6
Drellik pats him on the back, promising to look for the goat as soon as possible. Excusing himself, he goes to find Omaz.
"I wonder if you wouldn't humor me for a few minutes. Our friend, Hadrod, has lost his prize goat. I'm wondering if you could take a look around the area where he last saw it, see if you can find any tracks it might have left?"
Once they are away from others, Drellik continues in a quieter voice:
Omaz:
"I'm starting to get the impression that the fire was just a diversion. Nobody saw anything, there wasn't anything odd about the wagon, nobody had it out for the poor man who died. I just find it very convenient that this one animal disappeared during the chaos when we were able to prevent all the others from panicking."
First Group: Almah's guards
Almah’s personal guard were all standing guard at her tent when the fire started—none of them saw anything suspicious at the astrologer’s wagon,
but one did catch a glimpse of Dashki trying to hide behind a tree nearby; “It was clear that he was trying to get a look into Almah’s tent. That boy is obsessed with her.” The others nod after this statement.
Second Group: Utarchus, Dullen, Brotis,Yesper
The mercenaries were enjoying themselves around the feast-fire, finishing off breakfast with a light drink. They weren’t too fond of Eloais and thought of him as a weakling. They also note that Dashki was not with them while Dullen muses that Dashki was probably spying on Almah. They also mad suggestive jokes about how maybe Dashki killed Eloais to get rid of a rival
Third Group: Father Zastoran, Kallien, Trevvis
Zastoran was reading a book by the fire-pit, but the mercenaries were being too loud for him and he’d just stood up to return to his wagon when the fire started. He thought Eloais was a charlatan and that Almah is better off now without his attention, but admits she did seem quite fond of him. He finds Dashki to be unsettling, and his obsession with
Almah somewhat disturbing;“No one with healthy desires skulks around a pretty woman the way he does; who knows what a scoundrel like him is capable of?”
Fourth Group: Dashki
As for being asked questions he states that he does not know who started the fire and if asked if he had done it would protest loudly that it was not him but saying “No! I had nothing to do with the fire! How do we even know the fire was set? That idiot burned a hundred candles in his wagon. Perhaps he just got unlucky. We’re in gnoll country. It was
probably pugwampis.”
At the mention of the goat, Omaz raises a brow and nods, "of course." and follows a bit.
Drellik:
Quote:
"I'm starting to get the impression that the fire was just a diversion. Nobody saw anything, there wasn't anything odd about the wagon, nobody had it out for the poor man who died. I just find it very convenient that this one animal disappeared during the chaos when we were able to prevent all the others from panicking."
Omaz admits, "It does seem strange. You think someone is giving us a wild goose to chase? Or in this case, a goat? while they do something else? Unfortunately I don't know what we can do besides play it out. What do you suggest?"
HP 10/10; AC 15, t10, ff15; Init +2; Per +7 || HP 10/10; AC 15, t13, ff11; Init +3; Per +6
Omaz:
"No, I think a couple of gnolls caught sight of this caravan and decided to steal their dinner. Create a distraction, grab the goat, get away in the confusion."
Drellik shrugs a bit and looks unsure, "I don't know if that's what happened, but that's the best I've got. Could you help me look around the area where the animals are kept to see if we can find any tracks?"
He goes over to the animals and begins searching the area.
HP 19 || AC 17, T 14, FF 13 || F +1, R +7, W +2 || Init +4, Per +4
DM and Gethric:
While Asanna and Gethric stroll around the camp, talking to everyone that is a member of the caravan, a scenario starts to construct itself in Asanna's head. Like puzzle pieces, things fall into place as the pair finally find themselves heading to talk to Dashki. She glances at Gethric, "So this Dashki seems to be infatuated with Almah. Almah has a soft spot for the deceased seer. Do you think Dashki could of bumped off a potential rival for her affection? I suppose we can ask him straight up but he will probably lie if it is true." Asanna walks the rest of the way to Dashki's tent in quiet contemplation.
Once they question Dashki and he denies any wrongdoing, blaming it instead on possibly pugwampis, Asanna peers hard at Dashki, disecting him with her eyes. While Gethric is pre-occupied with the nature of the possible suspects in the crime, Asanna looks for any signs of recent struggle or injury to Dashki and any signs of soot or wax upon his person.
Sense Motive vs Dashki (if lying): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Perception vs Dashki: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Male Human (Garundi/Keleshite) Wizard (Conjurer) 1
As the others leave to pursue their own lines of interrogation, Alem approaches Garavel, drawing the card from his sleeve. "I do not believe this to be an accident. It may be simple coincidence, but I found this card blowing in the wind as we arrived," he says, displaying the card. "Divination was never my specialty, but I know it to be a card that portends destruction at the hands of a malevolent intelligence. Who do you suspect may have done this? You know these folk far better than we."
He nods to Gethrics question before saying “Terrible critters what crawled up from the Darklands below the earth. ‘Jackal rats,’some folks call ’em, on account of their pointed little heads. They worship gnolls as gods and infest their communities like rats. Wherever pugwampis go, bad luck is sure to follow. The gnolls hate pugwampis because of it, and try to kill them all the time. But they always come back. Perhaps their bad luck caused the fortune-man’s candles to start a fire? Yes, pugwampis. I am certain it was pugwampis.”
Asanna, he seems to be being honest, you do note however that he seems to be walking with a slight limp.
Drellik and Omaz:
You find some tracks but they stop.
Alem:
Garavel looks at Alem before saying "I would not be shocked if it turned out to be Dashki."
HP 10/10; AC 15, t10, ff15; Init +2; Per +7 || HP 10/10; AC 15, t13, ff11; Init +3; Per +6
"Well, does he know where we can find these pugwampis? We found no tracks to follow, but if Dashki has some idea where they might go, we might still be able to find them?"
I really don't have any idea what to do right now...
HP 19 || AC 17, T 14, FF 13 || F +1, R +7, W +2 || Init +4, Per +4
Asanna thanks Dashki for his time as she follows Gethric away to meet up with the others. She is rolling over the testimony given so far in the investigation in her head as Drellik and Omaz tell them a strange story about a missing goat. She shakes her head in puzzlement as she taps a finger across her lips, "From what everyone in camp has said it would seem that our man, Dashki, is the guilty party of the fortuneteller's death or at least the one with the most motivation. Curious though, it's as if a big arrow has been painted across the ground toward him and signs hung over his tent that read 'The Murderer Is Here'. Very convenient, almost too convenient. He sounded honest in his denial of the deed though. If these pugwampis' are truly to blame in the incident, it might be best if we hunt one down and question it. What direction were these tracks heading in when you lost them?" She directs the last question toward Drellik and Omaz.
