The Ballad of Bloodmarch Hill

Game Master Joana

"Your fault."

Marikel rolls his eyes but speaks in a placating voice.

Shrugging Vhailor launches into a lengthy discourse "Well depends how far back you want to go... but I'm guessing you mean more in the present than the past right... I mean I could do a lot of things when I was a mite younger I wouldn't try now, flexibility and all that. Plus since Carb came back I'm not exactly sure what's going on some of the time... okay most of the time, but then again making spoons stick to my nose probably isn't that useful in the current environment anyways."

"I make toys... like little puppets and things, I'm even pretty good at it... except faces, faces are hard. I've loved fairy tales for as long as I can remember as well - especially ones like Infantem scriptor primum detruncatióne and Katta yomon mitti... though Kumi za njia za inakera wazee wako was a favorite growing up... even if it lacks the lyrical quality of some of the more bestial tales." noticing a raised eyebrow at some of the words "Oh... sorry, I forget sometimes most people don't speak nine languages like me... never mastered Orkish though... phonemes are too harsh on the tonsils... plus their fairy tales suck... I mean Man came and I eated him... clearly they aren't interested in setting up the denoument with suitable obfuscation and guile."

Pursing his lips and furrowing his brow he shrugs again before adding "Carbonel was teaching me magic too though... wasn't the best student." a pause "Not this Carbonel... the other one, that went out and got himself killed in the mountains. I can throw my voice and make things sound and look like they're something they're not" making a rock nearby yip like a little dog for emphasis (ghost sound) "Plus when Banny was yelling at me I had a picture in my head of an eruption of colour and light that would've made him stop... but I didn't do it... not his fault you made the mistake that got him angry after all."

All the while amiably hustling alongside the longshanks as he walks.

The dog is moving slowly and deliberately as he tracks the scent, and Jess is matching his pace, so by the time Banny jogs around the western wall of the building and onto the road the pair aren't out of her sight. They are skirting the northern edge of the Commons, Bumpus's nose to the ground beneath the lone bur oak whose spreading branches loan the amphitheater a refreshing patch of shade in the summer heat but are bare now, waiting for spring.

With a bit of effort, Banny catches up to the two. "Tracking him back," Jess murmurs, concentrating on the dog's tracking as if she herself were trying to follow the scent. "Find out where that knife came from before it was driven into the wall."

Banny is a little out of breath as she comes jogging up behind Jess again. Stamina she has, but her legs are still shorter than a human's...

"Sorry bout that," she wheezes. "Had a bit of a misunderstandin' over if someone was comin' with you."

She rubs at her side a little, her mind puzzling over the revelation of the cliff-side path. She can't help but remember old Frum's story of the councilor that fell... or jumped... and wonders if he jumped from that self-same point on the cliff.

Or: if a man of Kerst's general build 'jumped' last night, to land on that tiny ledge and fool an observer's eyes... is there a scent-trail on that ledge? Though it'd be hassle and plenty to get the dog down onto it, she supposes.

With her breath caught again, Banny says, "I take it we ain't found nothin' yet, just tracin' back far as we can."

Marikel nods attentively at Vhailor and makes positive sounds as he listens closely.
"Okay. You're good at making toys and you like fairy tales. I don't think that will help us find Kerst's killer, but you never know. You have magic that lets you control sound and light and you can even make someone stop with it. That could be very useful if the killer comes for us. Wait, you're good with languages? What do you make of this?"
Marikel fishes out the fragment of map and shows it to Vhailor.
"And Carbonel is your cat, and your teacher. You said Bumpus didn't like him but the hound is well trained and I didn't think he would chase your cat. Is that a cat?"

With her breath caught again, Banny says, "I take it we ain't found nothin' yet, just tracin' back far as we can."

Jess nods. "Aye," she goes on in the same hushed tone of voice, as if not to distract the hound, "the bastard stopped here under this tree for a while, then there," she turns to look over her shoulder to the southwest, "under that 'n. Stopping under cover, I'd guess, moving from shadow to shadow, trying not to be spotted."

The hound, having snuffled around the base of the tree trunk for a while, begins moving again, toward the northwest and the source of the Hopespring. Several of the oldest and most respected families of Trunau have their homes here, including the Crumkins, the Kelvers, the Plumbs, and the Sawyers.

Squinting Vhailor regards the piece of paper Marikel offers, adjusting his useless glasses as he does...
Reading back over I think it's in Orcish? - Linguistics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
...before responding to the padre's questions "Mostly right... Carbonel is my cat, but Carbonel was my teacher." oblivious to how that doesn't really add clarity "Not so much that the hund would chase the cat... more that the cat'll cow the hund"

Marikel was present both times Carb arced up with haunted fey aspect and this was how Bumpus reacted

"Why would the cat cow the hound? You said your magic can contol light and sound. It makes more sense that you'd enchant your cat if you felt it was threatened. It makes less sense that a cat could do something unnatural like that. Which is why I asked if it's a cat."
Marikel raises an eyebrow and suppresses a smirk.

Brow furrowed Vhailor is confused by Marikel's statement "Of course Carb's a cat? - what else would he be... sardines, hairballs, milk, tummy rubs." pausing for a few seconds "Are you sure you're alright? - the headache not making you see things that aren't there?" The white cat perched on the gnome's shoulder showing general disdain for the ongoing conversation and focusing on smoothing out some ruffled fur on it's paw.

Holding up the piece of paper "It's a part of a bigger picture, schematics or a map... written in Orcish. If you can't read it, maybe the drunk or the delinquent can?"

Marikel frowns down at Vhailor.
"I've already asked my friends, and they said no. If you wish to help us to help Rodrick, you'll be keeping a civil tongue in your head. Miss Alicia and Banny are both members of this town. You'll be referring to them as Miss Alicia and Banny respectively unless they ask otherwise. The rest of the townsfolk won't help you if they hear you talking improperly towards them. Be especially nice to Banny. She's been through a lot. Understand?"

Stopping dead and cocking his head to one side Vhailor points out the mismatches in Marikel's statement "Dwarf called herself a damned drunk... I'm not going to be admonished for calling her something she called herself. Plus you hardly leapt to my honor when she was being rude to me... and earlier when she was being racist your lips didn't even part."

"Bit of a double standard there I think - why does the drunk get a free pass when I don't? - and why haven't you chewed out Miss" sardonic tint dripping over the word "Alicia for skipping out on helping Banny and doing whatever it is she wanted without a care in the world? So far both your friends have done far worse than I have but I'm the only one copping any flak for it..."

(Note to GM: Banny does speak Ork, so presumably would have been able to read Orkish symbols if any of them were intact enough to do so, on her inspection of the map.)

Banny nods at Jess's words, taking her example not to disrupt Bumpus's hunt by unnecessary loud talking. She follows a few feet behind the other woman and the sniffing dog, her face still drawn into a worried frown.

"I hope it ain't just trailin' Ruby's scent, if Sara's right about this bein' Ruby's knife," she mutters, mostly to herself. "Some one of us ought to go see where she is, come to think of it... but I'd better stick with you for right now."

She cranes her head back to look up the road towards the others, but doesn't see them immediately. (I presume she doesn't, anyway, as she jogged to catch up with Jess and I don't think the others are there, yet. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Reference for Banny

Banny looks at the note, then shrugs both shoulders. "Looks like a little fragment of a map, but can't tell nothin' on just one piece of it."

Then Vhailor got in trouble :P

Yes. I'm fully aware of what was posted to Banny at the time, as I do read posts directed at her; and there was no mention in that post of Orkish runes, hence my note to the GM to point out that she does speak Orkish, if it is relevant, just in case that was accidentally glossed over.

For Vhailor: Orcish runes accompany each X.
For Banny: date within the past few months next to each X.
I'm guessing Joana didn't explicitly state that the dates were orcish for Banny because you speak it - but did so for Vhailor since he doesn't.
However Marikel also doesn't speak Orcish - and since neither Alicia nor Banny told him specifically that they were dates - he's presently as clueless as Vhailor... I think... maybe?

*shrugs* Fair enough. I sort of assumed that information was being relayed when Alicia showed the note, but, looking back, you're correct that it was not specifically stated by Alicia. So, retcon slipping that in:

*timey wibbly wobbly*

"Beyond those dates, I can't read th' map with just part of it," Banny said at some point in the not-so-distant past. She squints a moment-- written Orcish wasn't her strong suit, but then, it wasn't the strong suit of most orcs either, really-- then relays those dates. Are they dates in the future, or dates in the past, or...?

*end timey wibbly wobbly*

I'm obviously doing a less than stellar job describing the item. It looks as if someone has drawn a map or blueprint or something and marked certain points on it. Then each of the points has been crossed out at a later date and a notation made next to the X ... like someone is checking off or eliminating locations. There are about five of these points plotted on the corner of the document you have, and the dates (as read by Alicia and Banny) are all within the last few months.

Will update for real later today; just wanted to grab a chance to clarify.

Bumpus's nose leads Jess and Banny into a close dominated by the bare branches of a hackberry tree. On three sides are the homes of the Crumkins, Kelvers, Plumbs, and Sawyers, the first families of Trunau. "He spent some time here as well," Jess points out as the hound snuffles around the tree roots.

Stopping dead and cocking his head to one side Vhailor points out the mismatches in Marikel's statement "Dwarf called herself a damned drunk... I'm not going to be admonished for calling her something she called herself. Plus you hardly leapt to my honor when she was being rude to me... and earlier when she was being racist your lips didn't even part."

"Bit of a double standard there I think - why does the drunk get a free pass when I don't? - and why haven't you chewed out Miss" sardonic tint dripping over the word "Alicia for skipping out on helping Banny and doing whatever it is she wanted without a care in the world? So far both your friends have done far worse than I have but I'm the only one copping any flak for it..."

Marikel's voice remains calm, but firm.

Various things flow through Vhailor's head at Marikel's response... most of them flitting over the surface without submerging to his mouth. He collects the most valid of his thoughts before answering briefly and concisely "No, as long as you're letting Banny be abusive towards me without reproach I'm going to answer her words with similar courtesy. Like my mother used to say Mkuki kwa nguruwe mtamu,kwa mwanadamu uchungu." pausing a beat before explaining "Its nice to throw a spear to a pig, but painful when thrown to you. She can be the guide of what she wants me to say... but as the pig in the analogy if she throws a spear at me it's getting thrown back. But if she speaks with a civil tongue then that's what she can expect in return."

Furrowing his brow slightly "I'm confused as how delinquent doesn't fit though? - you did ask her to do something and then she didn't..." sighing "But since you've asked nicely I'll play nicely. Can I just call her Alicia though? - the Miss bit seems somewhat extraneous. I'm fine with you calling me Vhailor or Falk or a range of the other nicknames I had growing up cucurbita faciem was one of the more colorful... don't really need for it to be Master this or Mister that"

"Thank you for playing nicely. You keep playing nicely, most folk will come around eventually. Those that don't will eventually mark themselves for Iomedae's justice."
Marikel's face darkens ever so briefly.
"So, I guess you can call Miss Alicia Alicia if she's okay with that. I prefer calling people Miss and Mister as a sign of respect. I know not all people see it like that so if you prefer Vhailor then I'll call you Vhailor. Miss and Mister does seem a human tradition though and given the way this town thinks of me I try and respect their traditions. It may not make them like me more but it stops them liking me less."

I'm presuming that Alicia/Marikel/Vhailor are following after Banny and Jess? Is that correct?

Well, after getting home from church camp yesterday, I passed out and slept over 12 hours. But I'm alive!

Alicia remains silent as she keeps a short distance ahead of the squabbling cleric and wizard and follows after Banny and Jess.

Alicia, Marikel, and Vhailor approach a small courtyard around a hackberry tree that Bumpus is sniffing under. Some of the finest homes in Trunau encircle the cul-de-sac: those of the Crumkin, Kelver, Plumb, and Sawyer families. Beyond the houses is the western edge of Bloodmarch Hill, the cliff dropping off to the badlands below.

Bumpus's nose leads Jess and Banny into a close dominated by the bare branches of a hackberry tree. On three sides are the homes of the Crumkins, Kelvers, Plumbs, and Sawyers, the first families of Trunau. "He spent some time here as well," Jess points out as the hound snuffles around the tree roots.

Banny squints up at the houses on either side of the little tree-courtyard. Nice homes, old homes... the people in the town who can trace their roots back to just-when, and who were not among the gladdest to have an amnesiac dwarf homeless flopping around the town. And the Sawyers specifically... She thinks of Frum's story, and the place where Kerst 'leapt,' excepting he didn't, and gazes sidelong at the Sawyer home.

"You ever hear tell of any bad blood between th' Sawyers an' th' Graths?" she asks Jess curiously.

Is it possible to cut through past the nice houses to the western edge of the cliff without, say, actually tromping through the yards?

"Not that I know of," Jess replies. "Can't say that they've ever had much to do with each other. Moving in different circles and all."

Yes, you can easily go between the houses to the edge of the cliff. Bloodmarch Hill is too rocky for lush green lawns so there's not a clear property line other than the walls of the houses.

Banny nods a little, thoughtfully. "Hm. Holler at me if Bumpus's nose takes you outta here, I just wanna look over the cliff-edge quick--"

Banny sidles between the houses to the cliff, and glances over. Call it a hunch, but... are there any ledges and convenient little outcrops on this side of the Trunau bluff?

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

However, in the early decades of Trunau, one of the new citizens hit a minor strike of iron while digging a basement for his home; it made the family's fortune and fueled a hundred fever dreams of would-be prospectors.

Was that citizen by any chance a Sawyer/does Banny know who that was?

Banny, without Knowledge (local) trained, does not know who that was, but someone else in the party might. ;)

Passing between two of the houses, the dwarf approaches the edge of the bluff and peers over, as she did at the promontory behind the Longhouse. She doesn't spy any similar ledges on this cliff wall, however, at least not near enough that a person could leap down to them without risking serious injury. Farther below, a few trails seem to trace across the face of the cliff, leading from one old mine shaft to another.

Padding along at Marikel's side gamely and gainfully Vhailor keeps his mind to himself for the moment... an approach on the required nature of appellations was considered for Alicia, but parked and delayed until a later time. Looking around though he couldn't help but notice the relative improvement of the houses around them and commented absently on the same "Some nice buildings here..."

After a few moments of prolonged snuffling, as if unraveling a tangled skein of scent, Bumpus doubles back to the east, moving toward the gate to the Inner Quarter. "Hey!" Jess calls to the watching trio. "One of you want to run tell Banny we're movin' out?"

"Yeah, after one of the Sawyer clan struck an iron vein digging in their basement, they definitely had the means to join the rest of the rich and famous," Ali says to Vhailor over her shoulder. She then hustles over toward Banny and quietly calls, "Dog's on the move again."

As Alicia slips away Vhailor continues his reflection on the new piece of information to Marikel "Hmmm... that can't be good for security can it? Tunnels can get all squiggly and go everywhich way."

"We may want to look into those tunnels later," Marikel admits.
"From the ground."

Banny squints down at the cliff face, looking at the old mining paths, then lifts her head to Alicia's words, giving the human girl a quick nod. She jogs back to the others and to Jess, giving Jess a nod that they're ready to keep following.

"We def'nitely wanna look at those tunnels," Banny agrees. "Soon as we figger out where this trail ends. Or... starts, I guess."

Vhailor furrows his brow and contemplates for a few moments before turning to Carb on his shoulder and sharing a glance for a couple of seconds. The gnome then turns to Marikel and asks "Is that the sort of thing that we should ask permission for first?" insinuating a couple of layers of depth within the question.

Bumpus's nose leads the group back down the main road to the gate to the Inner Quarter and then through it. It occurs to the party members that the gatehouse was likely manned overnight as the main town gate was; if someone passed through before dawn, it might have been unusual enough at that hour for the Patrolman to have noticed.

From there, the trail descends directly down the road through the Inner Quarter and out the gate at the bottom of the switchback without the hound making any pauses or digressions. They bypass the pool of the Hopespring and then turn back toward the east, still following the main thoroughfare. As the group approaches the road out of town, Bumpus hesitates, snuffling in the direction of the Ramblehouse and whining in confusion.

Jess watches her dog steadily, interpreting its distress. "Trail keeps going," she informs the party, "but the fellow's been in and out of Cham's place at least once. Not surprising; anyone not local stays there." She looks unsurprised at the apparent revelation that whoever's been tampering with Hopeknives isn't a resident of the town; no true Trunauan would do such a thing, clearly.

Plenty of time for intraparty discussion as you've been following the dog down the hill. Fill in as much as you like.

Alicia lingers at the gatehouse and asks one of the guards there, "Who was on guard duty here last night before dawn?"

After receiving an answer, she hurries to catch up to the rest of the group. "No, I'm already positive of who it was. He registered under a false name at the Ramblehouse. I saw him meeting with Councillor Sawyer late last night in an alley. His room was where I found that scrap of paper," Ali adds to Marikel. "I'm fairly sure he's already skipped town."

Alicia learns that Hoss, the winner of the previous evening's pie-eating contest, was on duty at the gate during the night shift.

As she was a little bit away from the others when Alicia mentioned the Sawyer-iron-vein-issue, Banny muses aloud about the tunnels connecting the homes...

"I wonder if any of those old mine shafts connect to any of those rich folk homes," she mused! On hearing Alicia confirm the bit about the Sawyers, Banny's eyebrows arch, and she proceeds in silence for another dozen steps before speaking again.

"This is turnin' out to be a mess of hardpan, innit? So... near as I can tell, this might be what happened: this fella with the bit of map, who Alicia saw, he leaps from the cliff, so that folk see it and suspicion themselves a jumper-- but he lands on that ledge, and is able to follow that trail there easy-peasy into one of them old mine tunnels, which coulda spat him out anywhere... including, say, somebody's basement," she says. "Not that I'm naming names or nothin', just thinkin' 'em loud."

"Once he was back in the house he coulda left easy peasy, gone down through the gate, back to the Ramblehouse, and out in the mornin' with nobody the wiser. Meanwhile, someone's put... put poor Kurst's body down at the bottom of the hill, and wedged Ruby's knife in the wall... if it is Ruby's. We still need to talk to her. If someone took it off her, then maybe she saw who-- or saw somethin'. --oh, that's right, Alicia, you weren't here, but Sara says she'd bet money that the knife that was found in the wall is Ruby's. Did she look okay this mornin'? Worried or anything?"

Banny rubs at her jaw slowly. "It's an awful lot of work to go to, to set-up a suicide, tho, don't you think? An' it still don't tally with the whys-- what would anyone have against Kurst? And why take Ruby's knife, if it's hers? Someone tryin' to get that poor kid's name tangled up in this?"

The dwarf sighs. "As for gettin' permission, I dunno. It'd be nice to have, but if-- I say if-- Sawyer's in on this, then it seems kinda awkward to go, oh, Councillors, can we look around the tunnels that lead to your house an' mayhap find evidence that'd tie Mr. Sawyer there to a gods-damned murder? Pretty please?" She shrugs. "If we could get it from Halgra alone without lettin' Sawyer know, I reckon."

Vhailor shrugs "Probably just easier to use an orphan's knife than someone with deeper roots... Kerst could've been wrong place wrong time? - Was he on duty or not last night?... can't remember if anyone said."

He does press a little bit on Banny's last comment though, but still looking to Marikel for opinion "But she might say no... and if she does... do we still want to look anyway?"

For clarity, does the party want to encourage Bumpus to examine the Ramblehouse or continue to follow the immediate trail right now?

Given Alicia's information that our suspicious individual already checked out from the Ramblehouse and likely isn't there, my vote would be to continue down the trail. That said, I wasn't paying close enough attention to where we are on the map-- when we made the drop from Upper Trunau to lower, Banny would have wanted to stop by the Killin' Grounds and grab her full kit. If that can be handwaved to have happened, awesomesauce. If not then she'll proceed without it for now, but she won't leave the town walls without all her gear.

My vote on the trail thing is, of course, just one vote of four.

Yeah, no problem on her picking up her equipment. Jess's last post took the party all the way from the top of Bloodmarch Hill to the bottom so you went past The Killin' Ground at that time.

Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey:

As the hound passes The Killin' Ground, Banny takes the opportunity to duck back in and grab her belongings. The bar is well-patronized, a not wholly unusual fact despite the early hour due to the night-shift Patrol members stopping in for a drink before they sleep, but the mood is palpably more somber than normal.

Behind the counter, Rabus Clarenston notices the dwarf's entrance and cocks a significant eyebrow as he lifts an iron pot questioningly: the cider Banny had started to heat for her and Brinya before the school marm's revelation had her dashing back up to the Upper Quarter. He waves off any explanation she begins to attempt. "You all right?" he inquires, with genuine concern given the events of the morning.

Likewise, Ali is in favor of continuing down the trail.

"Always easier to ask forgiveness than permission, I've found," the rogue chimes in.

Marikel raises an eyebrow at Alicia's response.

"When I spoke with Miss Blackblade, she advised us to not stir up any trouble. She did not forbid us from investigating this matter but she will require solid proof if we are to make any accusations of murder. I see no reason to bother Miss Blackblade again until we have that proof. However, our investigation will certainly be no justification for any untoward behaviour. Let's look into this trail."

Back to the now~

"We got a planted hopeknife," Banny says laconically to Marikel's responsible words about needing proof. "We got a guard who saw someone who jumped... as luck would have it, right over the spot where a fella could land, safely, and get to a secret path the council dunno about. Dunno that's proof enough to start pointin' fingers an' namin' names, but it's sure enough to me to say that this stinks worse than a midden heap at noon, an' to ax for permission to poke in th' tunnels."

She's shrugging a chain shirt on over her head as she speaks, the words coming muffled through the links. "Anyhow, yer right about us needin' to follow that trail."

"I knew this was murder when I saw the body. That's why I'm helping you. Not everyone has my knowledge of anatomy. We'll need more conclusive evidence to convince everyone it was murder. Like maybe the murderer and his confession."

Jess says something to the hound in a low voice and gives its lead a tug, and Bumpus allows himself to be turned away from the Ramblehouse and back to the main trail. Nose to the ground, he continues on to the east, then turns sharply north on the road out of town. As he leads Jess and the others through the main gate, the Patrolmen on guard watching the small procession with mild interest, Alicia remembers the half-orc she was told came through the main gates before sunrise.

The hound hesitates, snuffling inquisitively on the well-used road, trying to untangle the one scent he's following from those of so many others who trod the same dirt after the ceremony last night. Jess waits patiently, and after a moment, he begins to lead away to the west in the direction of the Barterstones.

Marikel looks to the Sanctuary, then back to the others.
"I'll speak to Ruby about her Hopeknife later. Better to follow the trail while it's fresh."

Ali seems troubled, her brows furrowed together. "This is where the guards said they saw a half-orc come in this morning...." she murmurs.