"My apologies, the name is Caeradan, and this is Ozymandious, or just Ozzy." Caeradan looks up at the rooftops. "The magic I detected may have been some sort of glamor to disguise or hide the assailant while he got into position, or could perhaps have been something to enhance his ability to move around. Could he have gone up on another building, and leapt around to get here?
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The buildings are close enough to jump from roof to roof, but not by any normal person.
The footprints are not around the base of the building the assailant made his attack from, which may lead you to believe that the assailant did jump from roof to roof.
There are no ladders nearby, which shows that the Rogue probably climbed up the face of a building
"Ozzy, scout." Caeradan points toward another of the nearby roofs and sends his familiar to look for more footprints.
"Looks like we have a bit of a trail, let's see how far back we can follow it."
Watching to make sure Sinque is ready to follow, Caeradan grabs his gear and lets Ozzy continue to see what he can see on the rooftops.
Uldu ensures that the woman is resting peacefully then returns to the public room of the tavern. She begins to ask around to see if anyone knows anything more unusual about the Rangers, though she does not reveal why she is asking or that the woman had seemed to be accusing one.
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The general attitude towards the Rangers is obviously very sour. Most people in the tavern gripe about how they don't feel safe anymore and others make more accusations, even without evidence. These bargoers admit, grumpily, that the "Rangers" have not been seen with their customary longbows in a while, instead using slings, dagger, and shortbows.
Is Caeradan attempting to scout from the rooftops, or go on the ground while Ozzy keeps to the air? If he's doing the first i'll need a climb check.
Is Caeradan attempting to scout from the rooftops, or go on the ground while Ozzy keeps to the air? If he's doing the first i'll need a climb check.
Cilda I say we play nice and diplomatic and if that doesn't work then I'll use my friend Dagger here to loosen his tounge Georgette answers.
"That's boring, isn't it?" Cilda replies. "But, if it works, I won't complain."
Sinque follows closely, lute in hand.
Perception to find a person nearby
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A drunken man in his late 30s sits around mumbling nothing of any importance. When you pass him he waves his hand in a shooing motion. "Be gone with you!", he slurs, dropping his alcoholic beverage in the process. The drunkard curses as it shatters, then continues mumbling.
This man is obviously not a very reliable witness, but might have had a good view of the route the attacker used to get to Arroway.
Uldumastie sees to the woman's health, asking her to stay safe for the time being, then makes her way out of the tavern. While her speed is not as high as the others. (She has a 15' speed.) Uldu does walk about the central square in an attempt to gather other clues.
She also asks others about the Rangers and their normal ways of doing things, tracks, routes, and more.
Upon seeing the drunk, Sinque thinks He probably saw something. I'll ask if he went this way.
"Excuse me, sir, do you mind if we ask you some questions? It won't take a moment of your time."
By now I have reached Arroway's house and have began to look around outside for anything out of the usual
Perception
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Uldu sees no real evidence. The public has little knowledge of the mysterious Rangers and have no idea of any routes or tracks. When there is any trouble to be had, the Rangers just seem to appear.
Their normal way of doing things used to see that there was as little bloodshed as possible and any evidence of a struggle concealed from prying eyes. As of late these "Rangers" seemed to have become much more brutal, preferring open slaughter and leaving bodies out to show as warnings to the people.
The drunkard makes another shooing gesture at Sinque mumbling incoherantly again.
There appears to be nothing out of the usual at Arroway's house. It's a simple one-story building made with concrete, a wooden door with an open slot for letters, and a metal bell hooked next to the door.
"If I buy you a drink, will you tell me if someone ran through here?"
Before I ring the bell I muster up some tears and start to cry in hope of gaining information form Arrowway then I ring the bell.
Cilda sighs as she sees Georgette starting to fake crying. "Is all that really necessary?"
"yes if I want him to believe me." Georgette replies
After coming up with the tears Georgette rings the bell.
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The door opens to reveal a grizzled man with a salt-and-pepper 5 o' clock shadow. His hair is messy and gray is starting to come in at the sides. He does wear the woodsy colors of a Ranger, and his clothes match the description.
An Aldori Dueling Sword hangs from the man's belt and you now get the impression that this IS Wilnan Arroway.
Sinque hurry back to Caeradan.
"You wouldn't by any chance have a bottle of water on you?"
"OH Wilnan I'm so glad your home. Something terrible has happened in town. Your brother... he's... dead." At this Georgette breaks down completely on Wilnan's front step.
Cilda holds in whatever she might be thinking of Georgette's performance and keeps up an appearance of stoicness. "We were hoping that we could at least stay here for a while. She's been going on like this ever since she found out, and is worried that she might be next. Hence why she hired me."
Sinque hurry back to Caeradan.
"You wouldn't by any chance have a bottle of water on you?"
"Umm ... what? No ... why?" Caeradan is a bit distracted, keeping an eye on his familiar while the owl scouts along the rooftops.
"I need to run back to the tavern right fast. That man will talk if I give him some beer. You don't have any spells like that, would you?"
"I need to run back to the tavern right fast. That man will talk if I give him some beer. You don't have any spells like that, would you?"
"No ... I do have a spell to make people more friendly and helpful, but I wonder if that might be better saved for a more dire circumstance. Your suggestion of a beer might work just as well, and conserve needed resources. I will wait here."
"And off I go!"
Sinque runs back to the tavern, strait in and right to the bartender.
"I need 2 mugs of beer. Here's 3 copper for the drinks, and a silver for the mugs."
After obtaining the drinks, he hurries back to Caeradan and the drunk.
"Did I miss anything? No? Good."
Sinque quickly gives one of his mugs to the drunk.
"Did a man come through this way in a hurry wearing a dark cloak?"
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The drunk grabs the mug and downs half in one big gulp. He wipes his lips with his sleeve and pauses to remember if he did see this man.
"If some... humans have green... skin, then yeah. Bit big for a... goblin, but wee for an orc. Didn't use the street though. Just... jumped on buildings."
He resumes drinking and wipes his mouth again before saying, "Went that way". The drunk points North, towards the city gate.
"And for your virtue and my thanks, another drink unto thee!" Sinque says and gives the man the other mug.
Sinque walks back to Caeradan, and says to him "We're looking for a Half-Orc, I think. The man said that he's "too big for a goblin, too small for an orc" and I personally know what that feels like. He also said he went to the north. I don't quite know if he left the city or not, but we should probably check it out."
"And exactly who are you?", Wilnan asks Georgette. The look on his face shows he is torn between thinking this is a prank and actually believing his brother is dead.
With a giant sniff Georgette answers,"My name is Lydia and I was well acquainted with your brother, and now he's gone."She pauses for second to try and collect herself through the sobs."I was on my way to see him and when I reached the tavern there he was laying in a pool of blood." With this Georgette continues to cry uncontrollably.
"Let us move north, then. Ozymandious has spotted tracks on the roofs that probably belong to our green quarry."
Uldu makes her way back to the tavern, the news hub of the town.
She is mildly confused by the state of events, and looks around at the others.
"Then North we shall go. We'll ask the guards if they've seen a half-orc recently that is not me. Shouldn't be too hard. I mean how many Half-Orcs, Orcs, or tall Goblins come through this part of town, anyway?"
"Right, and i'm an Elf courtesan. I believe you where just crying, but not for that reason.", Wilnan retorts flatly.
"Listen, we have literally just come from seeing your brother's body lying dead in the street. Lydia here is still......squeamish from having seen it. Do you have any idea how long it took me to convince her that she should even come here? She wouldn't stop crying about how much she loved that guy. We just want to talk. That's all."
Once Sinque returns from speaking to the drunk, Caeradan returns his full attention to Ozymandious, and urges him to continue following the trial. He follows as best as the roads allow, counting on the bard to watch the ground level and keep him out of trouble while he concentrates on his familiar.
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"Fine", Arroway sighs, "I'll take a look. Always knew my idiot brother would get someone mad enough to kill him one day."
Wilnan ducks back into his house and returns with a longbow, arrow quarrel, and even a new knife on his belt.
The footprints continue through the gate and both guards lay dead against the huge wooden structure, pools of blood around them. One's own shortspear sticks out of his chest and the other has a stab wound in his back.
"How on Golarion did this get missed? Caeradan, we gotta tell someone about this. Quick."
Georgette sniffs and wipes her nose on a cloth that she pulls out of her sleeve. "OH thank you so much Wilnan. I'm so grateful you agreed to come with us. We must hurry though for I fear my life is in danger."
She turns to Cilda,"Thank-you again for accompanying me out her I am forever grateful."Georgette hands Cilda 5 GP for her trouble,"This is for your trouble."