Burahl's investigations around the area find no connections in the hallway, but the area out the windows connections to the other rooftops. Majenko has to warn you of something, though. 'Remember that the Sable Company are out looking for Trinia. We can't spend very much time out there, for fear of her being caught.'
Trinia pipes up. "I...I can make myself unseen, and meet you somewhere below!"
"No." Raijinn bursts out suddenly, catching everyone off guard.
"You're right." Rajinn thinks. "The girl is so slight, I had not considered that she could kill a King. I need to remember more that people have power beyond what is visible."
"I mean...I have another way. The best disguise is not being invisible, but hiding in plain sight." He looks towards Fredo and Burahl, hoping they will back him up. "The girl must be a talented painter to have done work for the royal family. Perhaps she could disguise herself that way. Boils and wounds, and could travel the streets as a beggar."
"I won't let her from my sight." Raijinn directs his thoughts back to the unseen voice. "Who, or what are you? You do not have the same presence of the thoughts of others I've had in my mind. Yet you presume to know me."
"Of course!" Trinia shouts. "How did I not think of this before?" then she claps her hands over her mouth, and shyly looks to the window and then the door, as if the mob was waiting at either place for her to yell.
Then she quickly runs to her cupboard and begins rummaging around in it for a variety of things - her smaller brushes, and several clay jars of paint. Then she reaches behind her cupboard and pulls out a mirror. Running back to the half-finished painting, she pulls it off its easel and sets it on the ground. "Please don't step on this." she says, before placing the mirror on the easel. She sets the clay jars next to herself and begins dabbing and painting on herself...a little red here, a little gray there, maybe even some green. "By the by," she asks, face practically touching the mirror as she skillfully puts on the paint, "None of you happen to have a cloak and a cane, have you?"
While she does this, it becomes more and more apparent that the noise outside is building - a mob must be at least passing by.
Twenty minutes pass by fairly uneventfully as she finishes her face-paint, and when she stands up to show it off, it's actually quite good. You're pretty convinced that she's at least got boils, if not sores, pinkeye, a black eye, and far more freckles than she had before. Perhaps she overdid it a little.
"So, about that cloak? And how are we getting out of here?"
Thaven recoils slightly. "That oughta work."
"I can lend you my cloak and walking staff, but you might have to bend over a lot for it to look right." Burahl says as he removes his robe and staff and gives it to Trinia.
"I can walk just fine without."
Burahl looks up to the others.
"Shall we use the roofs or just simply take the stairs? I suggest the roofs if that's possible."
"As do I," says Fredo. It looks like Trinia has to lean on top of the walking stick rather than grasping it by the middle, but that just makes it look more authentic. "Again, it is difficult for a great many to gather on rooftops, and we will look no more out of place there than on the street."
Raijinn smiles, pleased with how Trinia's makeup has come out. He nods to Fredo and Burahl. "Take to the roofs. I'll follow some distance behind the lady, should any trouble arise on the ground."
Trinia accepts the cloak and staff, and wraps the cloak around her head tightly. Although it doesn't extend far past her waist, she's still obscured much of her clothing and her face and hair. She then grasps the staff and bends down to touch it to the ground. To the unsuspecting eye, she's little more than a crone suffering from a disease or two.
"Eh? Lezz gettergoing. Me old bones won't hold out fer long."
...Apparently her own eyes are pretty unsuspecting as well.
Regardless, the group sets off across the roofs of the Shingles, towards the Citadel. Navigating carefully, each member of the group save Trinia has some difficulty moving about the complicated tangle of buildings, but they get to the edge safely enough and without any of the passing Sable Company patrols catching on that they have the dangerous fugitive with them.
Raijinn and Akiki, meanwhile, have some difficulty themselves moving about on street level. The Shingles are some of the most densely populated portions of the city, so in order to keep up with their friends at roof level, they have to shoulder their way through hundreds of people. Many iterations of "Sorry, excuse me" must be uttered.
As the group gets closer and closer to the Citadel, Trinia whispers loudly enough for only those around her to hear her, "Do they really have to arrest me?"
"There is something to be said for it," murmurs Fredo reassuringly, not entirely comfortable with the words that are coming out of his mouth. Maybe even the week he's been working with the Guard has been too long. "You could try and run, but there's no guarantee you'd get far, and you'd be unable to clear your name. Meanwhile, if you're in the custody of the Guard, you will be afforded certain rights, including a fair investigation and trial." Fredo isn't actually sure of this. He hasn't spoken with Verik since he'd surrendered himself to the Guard. He will have to inquire after him.
"We could make Marshall Kroft promise us that we will be with her questioning or else she'll lose our service, Fredo. Seeing the way she needs extra help I guess she can't refuse us protecting miss Sabor."
He looks around a bit as they go.
"It would be your safest bet at this moment, miss Sabor. Until someone can get you out of the city that is."
Two burly Guardsmen and the Field Marshall are waiting for the group as they saunter into the Citadel, and as soon as its indicated who Trinia is, the guardsmen roughly grab Trinia by the arms. The Field Marshall intones, "Trinia Sabor, you have been accused to regicide, the most serious of crimes in a monarchy. You are to be taken in for questioning to verify whether or not you did this. If you are determined to be guilty, your execution will follow shortly. If you are innocent, you are to be released with our apologies. Do you understand?"
Trembling, the girl seems even smaller than she is, shrinking into her cloak and behind her makeup. She nods before being manhandled away and into the Citadel's cells.
"Thank you for bringing her in." says Cressida, turning to the adventurers. "I'm sorry if I appeared a little somber. I'm no less suspicious of the Queen's motives, but regicide is indeed a very serious offense, and it must be taken as such. You understand, surely."
She goes to turn away and walk back to her office, but then remembers something and turns back. "Ah, yes. Thousand Bones has some minor errand for you to do on the morrow. Something about proving yourselves. Thank you again, and take the rest of the evening off."
It's mid-afternoon, perhaps around 4:00 P.M in a world with clocks.
"I understand that Citizen Sabor's is a capital case," says Fredo, advancing and building on Burahl's point from earlier. Both she and Verik had come quietly with them, in part, because they had been promised fair treatment. "As such, I would like to be present for the questioning, just to be extra careful that nothing unfair or inequitable occurs." Fredo looks at Burahl. "I would also appreciate the opportunity to speak with Sabor after this evening's session, as well as to Vancaskerkin. Again, just to soothe my fears, which I'm sure are entirely unwarranted."
"Of course you may" Cressida says, a bit taken aback by Goffred's question. "If you want to sit in on the interrogation that's fine...but know that Verik's been consigned to jail for a pretty extended sentence now (of course we've been treating him fairly) and...well, you won't get to join in on the interrogation."
As Trinia is taken away, Burahl wants to rush forward and say something from it, but feels a strong hand from behind him to stop him. He looked back and saw Raijinn simply shake his head.
A few moments later, Fredo voiced his concerns very well, but still with carefully chosen words.
Burahl looks at Fredo and nods approvingly. "It pleads for her case Marshall, that miss Sabor came with us willingly because she wanted a fair trial."
He walks over to Marshall Kroft and looks up with a stern look.
"I'd like to see her as well, to ensure she is not hurt or molested. The treatment she got just now is warranted if she were the assassin, but an assassin wouldn't come here willingly. I respectfully ask that you treat her with some respect and dignity."
Raijinn is pleased to see the other step in to support Trinia, and the burden not being left to him. He couldn't stop thinking about what that voice said, and it bothered him that she might actually be guilty. Still, if she was, she would be convicted and sentenced. That's how it worked.
But what Burahl said was true, too. If she really had killed the King, would she be foolish enough to come with them, to even still be in the city? And if she did, why? She didn't look like she'd been rewarded with riches from the state of her home.
With a sigh, Raijinn forced his thoughts to turn to Thousand Bones. A simple errand would be welcome. Right now, anything that didn't raise more questions than answers would be welcome.
Thaven stands back, impassive, as the girl is taken into custody. Something pains him, inside. This doesn't seem like a person capable of regicide. Still, the law was the law.
Trinia's interrogation is scheduled for later that night, as a messenger informs Goffred, Thaven, and Burahl. They spend the intervening time, I'm sure, psyching themselves down from the stressful mission they'd just gotten back from and, in Thaven's case, making himself look extra-pretty for Trinia.
Sure enough, though, the hours roll by and the time comes quickly. Another messenger brings a scroll with the room and time, and anxiously Goffred, Burahl and Thaven pack up and head over there. Standing in front of the door is Cressida, and she's got an apprehensive look on her face. "Look, it seems plans have changed a bit. I'm letting you know just so you aren't caught by surprise. Word got over to Castle Korvosa that we got her, and the Queen sent over one of her favored servants to interrogate the girl himself. Here, come into the observation room.
The observation room is a simple stone room with only a few features. A wooden table takes up most of the floorspace, there are a few wooden chairs, and an opening in one wall reveals another room with an interesting caveat - a one-way permanent image of a wall, visible only from the other side. In the other room sit two people - one is a handcuffed Trinia Sabor and the other is a massively corpulent, bald, middle-aged man.
"That's Togomor." explains Marshall Kroft. "He's a bloatmage employed by the Queen. He's going to use...some kind of magic to get her to talk."
Elsewhere in the castle, Raijinn sits.
Raijinn sits cross-legged, almost getting up in surprise before realising that it's, once again, all in his mind. He thinks in response, 'And not under pressure with making a decision about a young girl's life. Maybe now you can tell me who you are.'
"Fredo I don't trust this, for all we know the man will torture the poor girl. A spell making her speak the truth is ok, torturing her, not a chance. Can you identify spells as he casts them?"
Thaven smooths his hair and stands back. The fat man is making him nervous and the talk of torture and truth-telling even more so.
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Kroft turns to Burahl wide-eyed. "You think I would condone torture? That is under no circumstances an acceptable form of questioning here, not when the Bank of Abadar owes us so many favors. Now, of course, this is a special circumstance, but that doesn't mean standard procedure has to be changed."
"I can try, Burahl," says Fredo*. Cat slinks cautiously up to the illusory wall and bats at it with her paw, recoiling and hissing as it goes through. Fredo picks her up and holds her. "Thank you for letting us be here, Cressida," he says. "Both Togomor and Trinia can work magic. As such, there is a strong possibility that this interrogation will turn into a battle of wills where the truth becomes whatever the stronger party wishes. That is especially likely given Castle Korvosa's need to believe that Trinia is their murderer. As such, you'll be glad of having observers who can tell whether or not that's happening." Before the bloatmage can begin casting or questioning, Fredo tries to take his measure. He suspects the other man of knowing much more magic than he does.
And have some Aid Anothers versus DC 10.
Any extra rolls should be discarded.
Raijinn frowns. 'Since the beginning? Everything I ever had, I lost in one night.'
'No.' He remembered. 'That's not true. There [i]was one thing.'[/i] Unsheathing his sword, he placed it on the ground in front of him, staring at it for a few seconds before shaking his head and growing angry. 'Ridiculous. Enough riddles! Tell me what you want.'
The corpulent man sits down in the wooden chair across from Trinia - a chair that looks far too small and fragile to support his bulk, but defying reality, it still manages to do so. Trinia eyes him apprehensively, but barely manages to keep eye contact. "So, shall we begin?" the man named Togomor asks. "Y-yes sir." responds Trinia.
"Very well then. I'll begin by casting a few simple spells." Reaching into a small pouch at his belt, he removes a small handful of a powdered green stone and closes his fist around it. Opening his hand again, the dust is gone and an arcane gesture later, the spell is completed.
In the observation room, Goffred is unable to determine what kind of spell it was.
Next, he reaches into his pouch and removes two different eggshell shards, one sky-blue and the other ivory-colored, and does the same crushing prodecure whilst incanting and gesturing some more, in a pattern that Goffred recognizes to be the casting of telepathic bond.
Next, he removes a snake's head and a small piece of a honeycomb from the same pouch, now growing noticeably lighter and burns then in a small burst of arcane flame whilst concentrating very hard on her, forehead forward. Goffred is unable to recognize this spell as well.
Finally, he pulls out a fat wallet and retrieves a handful of copper coins. A final arcane gesture is revealed to be seek thoughts by Goffred's attentive watching.
"Now," intones Togomor, leaning forward on the table. The table creaks noticeably under his weight. "What do you think of the late King Arabasti?"
Trinia now turns to meet his gaze head-on. "I hated him. I hated everything about him. I wanted to see him dead."
One of the bald man's nearly nonexistent eyebrows rises at this. "And did you kill him?"
Trinia nods. And nods, and nods. Maybe nods a little bit more. "Yes," she answers, simply.
The fat man looks right at the illusory wall after this with a grin on his face. He shrugs. Waves of blubber jiggle all the way down his body when he does this. "Would you like to see what she was thinking about or is that enough for you?"
For her part, Marshall Kroft is speechless. Her mouth hangs open. "I...I never thought it would be that easy." She chuckles. "Magic, huh?"
"Very powerful, very dangerous magic," says Fredo. He turns to the Field Marshal, not bothering to hide what he's saying. Togomor will know regardless of any precaution, and Trinia will not care. "Cressida, this is important. Before we came in, to what exactly did Trinia consent? The second spell Togomor cast requires a willing target. I don't know what the first spell was, but if she was prepared to resist before Togomor started casting, and became pliable after, then the whole confession is thrown into doubt."
"Foul magics." Burahl simply states, "According to what Fredo whispered, these were psychic spells. A simple zone of truth spell should have been enough to make her speak the truth, this is breaking into her mind."
Burahl furiously turns and starts to pace around. "You never know what kind of spells he used to interrogate her, he did not state which spells he was going to use nor why. Marshall Kroft you have no proof here, I suggest you ask an independent party to do the interrogation again, he is not unbiased or righteous, he serves the Queen instead of the law."
Burahl is furious and is leaving the room, until he stops and asks Marshall Kroft one last important question.
"Don't you think it is strange miss Sabor was so scared and now completely ruthless? Her entire attitude changed in mere moments. It was not the same woman talking or am I the only one who saw that?"
Unaware of how wrong things are nearby, Raijinn finds himself agreeing with the voice. 'Yes, they must.'
Raijinn thinks for a moment and then continues speaking. 'You were right about the girl. Had you said nothing, I may through negligence have allowed her to escape. She seemed so innocent.'
Staring at the sword, still unable to determine if that's really where the voice is coming from, Raijinn allows himself to feel overwhelmed for the first time in a while. Sitting on the floor, he thinks about what he has seen.
A psychic dragon. A man who lives in a den of spiders. He has seen himself open doors by looking at them, electrocute a man with nothing more than his sword. He has seen Fredo compel another man to turn himself in. A deck of cards imbued with a person's spirit.
Why was it so hard to believe that his sword could be something more than just metal. He thought back to when Gaedren had given it to him. The man hadn't even looked like he really wanted to. He knew even then that there was something strange. The black blade.
Raijinn lifted it up, studying the handle, the blade, wondering if it was true, and that he had never really been alone. Swallowing hard, he asks the age-old question. 'Why me?'
Thaven's jaw drops open. The fat man makes his skin crawl, but the hatred in Trinia's voice seems defiant and honest.
Burahl moves outside and seeks out Raijinn, to rest and relay the story to him, he needs to vent his anger.
"This city has had its problems before, but this makes my blood boil. Such injustice on a large scale. If this persists this city will go down the drain as fast as Ratfolk on the run."
That man isn't a human being, if I ever get my hands on him he's gonna get fried... Burahl seems to brew over some sort of revenge on this injustice, especially that man who seems to bring up the worst in Burahl.
He thinks to himself what dark alleyways the man has to take to go back.
Kroft seems to have been expecting Burahl and Fredo's protests, and turns to face them with upturned palms ad a sympathetic look. "Listen, gentlemen, none of this is my call. I would much have preferred to get an Abadarian in here to put a truthtelling mark on her and get it over with, but the reins are no longer in my hands. She's verbally confessed, and I gather that Togomor over there has a mental record of it as well, so I'm obligated now, as per the Queen's request, to hand her over to Togomor. To answer you, though, addressing Goffred more specifically, She agreed to accept whatever forms of interrogation used, or her guilt would be assumed. If that means being a willing subject of a spell, that's what she had to do."
Thaven, looking closely, can't tell anything but straightforwardness from Togomor, but something is a little bit...off...about Trinia. He can't quite put his finger on it, though.
Thaven frowns. Something is off, but he can't put his finger on it. Well, mother always said he fell for the wrong girls...
"Those terms are extortion," says Fredo hotly, "and they throw Trinia's confession even further into doubt than it already is!" He feels personally attacked; he had made Trinia a promise that she would be treated fairly, and he had been made a liar. Not to mention the similarity between the accusations against Trinia and those against Aless! "Besides, he hasn't taken her yet. Trinia's still in your custody, and she should go before the Arbiters. Even if you expect to get overruled, arguing such will buy you time to bring in an Abadaran and to collect more evidence from her flat." He knows, however, that this is a lost argument. Whether because she wants to believe they have Eodred's killer, or because she just doesn't want to challenge the Queen, Kroft has given up.
Fredo's mind starts turning to other, mostly gloomy, alternatives. The Arbiters themselves might be convinced to demand Trinia, but that will take time. The people on the streets demanding Trinia's head might be convinced to change their position, or be overwhelmed by some other unforeseen mobilization, but that's unlikely. Trinia might escape, but she might not want to anymore, and Togomor will be difficult for her to elude in any case.
"I was still promised the opportunity to speak with her before she is taken away," he says, a hard and disappointed expression on his face, "and I intend to do so. Without Togomor present. More time for you to use, if you want."
Raijinn thinks worriedly, 'The potential is not only for good, but also to do terrible things.'
'Still. Perhaps we will be able to help each other after all. There is much to be done here, and I'm of course grateful for any assistance... Even if I don't know exactly what or how you are.'
'How should I address you?'
"Listen." says Kroft, who's rubbing her temple and sighing lightly. "That would be an excellent idea if we had any time or if the Queen were perhaps a little bit more patient. He's supposed to be taking her pretty much...right now. You can certainly speak with her, and I'll even send Togomor away, but there's little that you or I can do at this point."
'Have you not figured it out yet? I rest in front of you. I have existed for an age and have been in the hands of many worthy and unworthy swordsmen. Some have called me Matai. You may call me this.'
Raijinn can hear the disgruntled sounds of an angry ratfolk from pretty far down the hallway. Something has gotten a ratfolk all riled up and you wager a guess to whom that could be.
"Preposterous is that what they call justice? This is tiranny I tell you! Bah corrupt bunch of pompous bastards that's what they are, even that new Queen."
He says that last bit in a softer tone as he rounds the corner and notices Raijinn sitting there all by himself. And goes to pace in front of him, saying what's on his mind and troubling him so.
"You won't believe what happened, that poor girl, scared as she was, agreed to any interrogation method to be used on her. You know what they used, hmm? That pompous slimeball with his fat grin used psychic spells on her he did, Fredo confirmed it. I know he just put the words in her mouth, he broke her mind! A simple spell by a cleric would be enough to let her speak the truth isn't it? No now she confesses everything they want her to. Bloody criminals that's what they are and tyrants too!"
Burahl paces around some more in front of Raijinn and finally sits down next to him, still angry.
"I'll get him for it you hear, that slimeball of an 'interrogator' of the Queen will not hear the last of this. And that godforsaken Queen too!"
Burahl calms down a bit and then blankly stares out in front of him.
"We couldn't protect her Raijinn, an innocent woman we led to the wolves of this city." He looks up at Raijinn, a few tears in his eyes.
"We couldn't save her and it is my fault."
Raijinn was in the middle of thinking "Matai. It's a pleasu-" when Burahl burst in, intrerupting him. After listening to him without saying anything, Raijinn looked at his sword with a sad smile before picking it up. "Injustice, even here." He said to it before sheathing it.
Looking at Burahl he said, "It is not your fault, dear friend. We all did what we thought was right. If she truly is innocent, their actions will not go unanswered. I know that you're frustrated, and we may yet leave the guard's employ over this, but for your own sake, I'd suggest not threatening the Queen within these walls."
He stood up. "Now, let's move quickly and see if we can't find you a Cleric. I don't know what magic this 'slimeball' may have used, but between a monk and Fredo, perhaps we can see about finding real answers, not convenient ones."
"...there's little that you or I can do at this point."
"We shall see," says Fredo, seeing Burahl scamper out of the room out of the corner of his eye. He takes a moment to collect himself, then follows the little man out into the hall. By the time he does, Burahl can no longer be seen, the Fredo thinks he can still hear the patter of his feet on the flagstones. Hopefully, wherever he's gone, it is with purpose; regardless, Fredo is determined to stall as long as possible. Maybe Kroft will find a spine, or maybe Burahl will come back with a plan.
Fredo turns, walks a little ways down the hall, and knocks on the door to the interrogation room. "Togomor?" he says, knowing Kroft will be able to hear him through the illusory wall and hoping against reason that she will follow his lead. "The Field Marshal conveys her thanks and asks that you meet with her in her office to discuss the transport of the prisoner to Castle Korvosa. What sort of escort she will assign, what kinds of accommodations and upkeep the prisoner can expect between now and her punishment, that sort of thing. We must, after all, establish that the Guard did its duty and more in the capture, interrogation, and detention of the prisoner. Don't worry, I'll watch her while you and the Field Marshal work out the jurisdictional details between the Guard and Castle Korvosa." He gestures politely out into the hall and stands aside to let the corpulent mage pass through the door. Cat, however, slinks through and into the room, as though trying to get underfoot.
Thaven stands, stuck and unsure of which way to turn. On the one hand, Trinia has confessed. On the other hand, she's really pretty. On the third hand, if he wants back into the Sable Company, he's got to follow orders. On the fourth hand, he has this weird itch on his left buttock that's been bothering him ever since he came in here. Did he sit on something sting-y?
There is a delay between when Togomor's head turns and when all of his chins follow suit, but follow suit they do to face Goffred as he enters the interrogation room.
"Very well," he says, standing with some difficulty. "I'll go see her, then. How kind of you to offer to look after her." For someone so repugnant, his voice is somewhat incongruously sophisticated sounding. He leaves the room, turning sideways to get through the door and allowing Goffred the way in. He doesn't even notice Cat, and as a result nearly steps on the poor feline when she darts into the room prematurely.
Fredo, unlike Thaven, can't really see anything strange about her. She just seems to be Trinia at face value.
In fact, even Thaven, as he refocuses his attention back on Trinia (and the itch on his butt, but that's another story) sees that something has changed fundamentally about her since the last time he looked.
Iomedae's largest temple in Korvosa is only a few minutes' walk away from the Citadel (although depending on what "a few" is, most things are only a few minutes' walk from the Citadel). Burahl and Raijinn arrive to find that it seems to be a re purposed barracks, with a renovated doorway (to make it look more arch-like) and a golden sword of Iomedae hanging over it.
Entering the temple, they see that it only has a few inhabitants, perhaps five or so, as well as another half-dozen incidental worshipers at the moment. One, a fairly old and kindly-looking man wearing simple robes and the silver sword of Iomedae approaches the odd pair to inquire, "And what brings you two...unusual faithful to us today?"
Burahl sizes up the priest as he speaks.
"Good day to you, may Iomedae's justice and light guide your path. We have come to Iomedae's temple as we are investigating a crime and perhaps a great injustice as well. We have brought someone before Marshall Kroft for questioning, and she cooperated with us, not even trying to escape, scared even. Her tale would have been confirmed by a cleric of Abadar, but alas another magical interrogator was sent before we could question her.
Her statement was suddenly pleading guilty, and she had a very sudden change in attitude. We were sent here to ask for the assistance of one of Iomedae's followers to show us the truth in this case. Injustice may have been done involving her prior interrogation and we humbly ask for a second party to confirm her words."
Burahl seems a little pleading with these last words.
Raijinn bows before the man, waiting for Burahl to speak before adding anything, and when he does, simply tries to appeal to the man's sense of justice. "Certainly you need not be told the ramifications of sentencing a potentially innocent girl."