"Dear, I'm the adjudicator of facts, it's not my position to gather evidence.", Embreth smiles at Eloise at this point and continues in a matronly tone, "You're going to have to talk to the Barrister and probably even the Beast himself to develop your leads."
"Come along, Eloise. Time is short, and we've taken up too much of th' good judge's as it is. Ma'am." The ranger nods to Daramid and leaves. Have to get out of here before Sour Heck explodes....
Sour Heck does his best to hustle the party out the door.
“Not a minute too soon,” he says, once they’re on the street. “I think you folks missed where the judge asked us to vow to keep her out of her investigations. Either she’s a devoted Pharasman, determined to let nothing compromise her judgement, or she’s a political puppeteer, keeping the left hand from knowing what the right hand is drinking. Er, doing.” The bard cocks his head thoughtfully. “Or there’s something to this we haven’t figured out yet, and she wants a likely bunch of scapegoats. Or all three.” He shrugs. “Whatever the case, she’s hired us specifically not to hang around her and ask questions. In fact, let’s not mention her by name again. If we must talk about her, call her the Gray Widow. She seemed to have a bit of the spider about her, and I don’t mean hairy legs.”
“We should register at the courthouse, then go to that tavern she mentioned as soon as possible to drink about our next step. Think! Think about our next step. No doubt she pointed us there because it’s someplace we’re likely to find contacts and leads.” Sour Heck eyes his companions critically. “Also, we should try to keep a lower profile. Let’s look for clothes that will help you blend on the streets of Lepidstadt a little better.”
Sour Heck buttonholes another passing food vendor, buys another silver’s worth of food, and asks the way to the courthouse. “Also, where can we find a cartographer’s shop? This investigating without a map is turning into a greasy business...I’d prefer to find a way around these streets without risking my digestion further.”
Eloise looks down at her black clothes and chainmail shirt, then back up at Sour Heck.
"I am telling you this right here and now," she says in a flat tone. "The first person who suggests I put on a dress is going to be in trouble."
The Chelishwoman holds up a balled fist, her leather glove creaking.
"I haven't worn one in years, and I am not going back to putting one on, just so a bunch of xenophobes will think I'm a good girl. 'Sides, they're murder to run from an angry crowd in, and getting the kind of dresses I actually used to like would be murderously expensive."
Peredur stifles a grin. "'Murderously expensive?' And how much platinum have we only just obtained? Not to mention what th' good people of Ravengro let us keep from their prison." He taps the hilt of his longsword.
"Not that I'm after suggesting that you should wear a dress, mind. A bit more color might be welcome, though, if 'tis something you can cover easily."
As Sour Heck asks around on the street, he is given general directions to the courthouse. This is accompanied with an inquiry into whether he is going to watch the trial.
After several inquiries regarding a cartographer, another passerby offers general directions to one "Lucious Xander, Map Maker and Scribe", who runs a small bookstore and is apparently not far from the courthouse.
“Eloise, you in a dress would be the opposite of inconspicuous. What’s that word?” Sour Heck jerks his thumb at a cluster of young men and women in dark wool suits. “You should dress like a student. It’ll give you an excuse to tote that big pig-sticker around--there’s a lot of dueling societies at the university--and work spells. And drink heavily. The perfect disguise.”
As the party follows bystanders’ directions to the courthouse, the bard draws folks out about the trial as best he can, trying to get the city’s mood. “Sounds like a lot of people want to watch this trial. Why is that, friend?”
"Can't see a lot of these folks up to casting anything interesting," Eloise says, with a glance for the students. "'Sides, if I dress like a student, what am I supposed to do if we run into a teacher? I haven't been studying what these kids have. Wouldn't want to get an F for an on-the-spot quiz..."
“So after being bitten by a giant, venomous abomination, you’re still afraid of getting an F? Pretending to be a schoolgirl isn’t going to be a stretch for you,” says Heck.
"Being bitten by a venomous she-beast could kill me," Eloise says in a dry tone of voice. "Teachers are not so kind..."
Eventually, you will find yourself standing in front of a large, squat building dominated by an enormous clock overlooking the town square. A huge figure of wood, roughly man-shaped, stands in the square in front of the building. A few children are running around the large figure throwing sticks and other rubbish. The smell of oil and fresh wood fills the square.
The building is three stories high, with narrow, open windows only a foot wide. Several wooden doors adorn the exterior. The largest of these sits atop a small set of broad steps leading up to the building's front face. On either side of the front door are large notices detailing the upcoming trial in long-winded legalese.
Talia, unable to contain her amusement, giggles at her friends' banter. "I wouldn't mind a new dress," she grumbles, but she can't keep a scowl longer than a second before she grins, laughing. "But Kieli likes sitting on my shoulder, thus ruining any nice dress I have. See, Kieli? I told you you're the reason I can't have nice, frilly things! Though I think a sundress would be out of place in this town, so it's just as well."
She ponders for a moment, as she approaches the courthouse, and tosses a final question at Sour Heck. "Do you think a parasol would work, SH? If not for the sun, then the general gloom?"
"Why not just get a leather cloak to go with your dress?" Eloise suggests. "At least for when you're outside. When inside, you need to find a perch for Kieli, but that's that."
The Chelishwoman frowns at the wooden figure.
"Don't like the look of that," she mutters. "Let's go see this fellow, and then question the creature."
Immediately inside the large courthouse doors lies a small room. 3 doors line the walls of the room (2 along the wall across from the entrance and 1 a few feet ahead and to the right). A large grate on the floor lies in the middle of the left (eastern) wall. A large, burly man sits at a desk here, dressed in scale mail and wearing a short sword and dagger on either side of his hips.
As you enter, the man stands, and you find his size (as a human) quite imposing. On his chest is a patch which might easily identify him as a sergeant, although this patch looks rather new and hastily sewn. "What business have you with the court?", he says curtly and with a somewhat clipped smile, raising an eyebrow.
The half-elf steps to meet him. "It's here we've come to register as volunteer defenders, Sergeant."
Iesha nods. "It is Shelyn's belief that all may seek redemption, and so I have chosen to offer this Beast such."
“I couldn’t talk them out of it, sergeant,” Sour Heck moans. “Please point us the way to Barrister Gustav’s office--maybe he can talk some sense into them.”
"I'm with her," Eloise says, pointing out Iesha with her thumb. "Never met me a beast before. Curious as to what drives it."
"Very well. Don't see what good you could possibly do, but that's your business and your waste of time. Follow me." the sergeant says, turning to one of the doors on the far well. He leads you through it, up some stairs, through a large court area, and to a door on the far side of the large courtroom. He opens the door and ushers you inside. "Wait here," he says, and disappears for a few moments.
The sergeant eventually returns with a short, gaunt man at his side. Dressed in fine apparel, with a huge, white wig atop his head, the man looks somewhat taken aback as he enters the room with you. He says with a quizzical tone, "I'm Barrister Gustav Kaple. I'm told you're here to volunteer for the defense?"
The sergeant turns and leaves with a crooked smile on his face.
Talia curtsies before replying, "Yes, sir, you have it quite correct. We're here to help learn what we can and present what evidence and knowledge we may find."
She gestures to each of her companions in turn, by way of introduction. "These are my friends: Eloise, Iesha, Peredur, and Sour Heck. My name is Talia." Her smile is friendly as she curtsies once more.
Sour Heck nods. “After all, it might be any one of us faced with the Punishing Man some day.” He grimaces. “Probably me. But why are you here, Barrister? How’d you get stuck with the job?”
"N-n-nice to meet you all," he says, his face somewhat flushed. "How'd I get s-s-stuck with the job?", he continues, turning to Sour Heck. "Probably because I d-d-deserve this fate. You see, I've recently lost a few c-c-c-cases, and they figure I'm likely to lose this on-n-ne. They say in the old days, the b-b-b-barrister suffered the same sentence as the accused."
"Just as well, too. The poor beast is almost certainly guilty, and I'm not finding any ev-v-v-idence to support his innocence. The prosecution is using three recent crimes to convict the poor wretch: the murder of 10 citizens of the village of M-M-Morast a year ago; the slaying of six children in the farming community of Hergstag 7 months ago; and the ar-ar-arson attack 4 months ago at the Sanctuary on Karb Isle, which resulted in the deaths of Doctor Brada and his p-p-patients and the blinding of the doctor's assistant, Karl."
"I've interviewed the main witness from each of the three cases and have found their stories very p-p-plausible", his face turning downward. After a moment, he looks up at the group, that same puzzled look returning, "How did you come to v-v-volunteer? Has someone p-p-put you up to it? What do you propose to do -- help me investig-g-gate?"
"Yeah, that's about the shape and size of it," Eloise says, nodding. "Congratulations, your lawfulness; you've got the support of the Hawthorne Society, known most recently for scouring a haunted prison and putting all of its haunts to rest. If you've got any doubt as to those witnesses' claims, we'd be happy to help you talk to them again. We can also do a bit of detective work on the locations, if you like. First off, though, I must confess I'd like to see and talk to the defendant. I like to know that someone's innocent of crimes if I'm working to get someone off the executioner's block."
The Chelishwoman grins merrily and claps the barrister on the shoulder -- not too hard.
Peredur likewise gives the man a smile. "It's business we had here with Professor Montagnie Crowl; he told us of th' Beast, and th' creature interested us. A few questions to th' right people later, and it's on your doorstep we're appearing."
“And who knows? Perhaps we’ll get the Beast a lighter sentence. It wouldn’t be the first time I convinced a bloodthirsty crowd not to burn somebody alive.” The bard frowns. “Though I suppose ‘alive’ isn’t the right word to use in this case. Cheer up, Barrister! Either you win a case, or one of the world’s horrors goes up in flames. And really, don’t worry about being stuffed in the wicker man yourself. A mob’s much more likely to stab or hang us.”
"I see -- you are going to going to be able to cover more ground, maybe turn something up I missed. 2 heads are b-b-better than one, as they say." he says, his forehead furrowing.
After a pause, he sighs, and continues with, "Well, if you want to talk to the beast, I guess we should make that h-h-happen."
At this, he turns and beckons you to the door. He leads you across the courtroom and back down the stairs. He continues leading you down another flight of stairs into the jail, which has a slight odor to it. As you turn the corner of the last step you see the Beast of Lepistadt.
A towering abomination sits in an iron chair, bound with no less than a dozen sets of manacles. Stitching holds together this grotesque patchwork of flesh and bone, beast and man, though the wires are so taut they look as though they may fly apart at any moment. Its mouth is twisted in a permanent sneer, and a shock of lank, dark hair clings to its scalp. The creatures slumps in its chair, a despondent expression upon its monstrous face.
Gustav turns to you and points at the creature. "Good l-l-luck and be c-c-careful", he says, turning to ascend the stairs. "Be sure to see me after you question him so I can tell you where his alleged c-c-c-crimes occurred and where you should probably r-r-re-investigate."
Iesha studies the creature, trying not to seem to be just staring.
"Hello. We are here to help you. What is your name?"
Eloise stares, and makes no attempt to disguise the fact. She is, however, not gawking. Rather, she appears to be looking the Beast over with the practised eye of an arcane scholar.
"I won't insult you by saying you're not a surprise to behold," she tells the Beast by way of greeting. "I will say that I am impressed with your obvious power. If you truly possess a mind of your own, I will be even more impressed. So. Do you?"
Peredur stands back in something like awe at first, scrutinizing the creature carefully before catching himself and shaking his head with a grin. "It's sorry I am; no one likes to be stared at." With that, he waits expectantly for the Beast to answer either of the other two questions.
“We might be in the wrong cell. We’re looking for the Beast of Lepidstadt. Have you seen him? Big fellow, maybe a little funny-looking?”
"You talk funny! Use big words! You tease beast like guards!", the creature roars at Eloise. He glares at Peredur and Iesha. "Beast know beast is funny looking. Don't know what you mean 'mind'."
After a moment, he turns to Sour Heck with a small frown. "You funny little one. You looking at Beast, you silly." He shoots Iesha a quick glance and continues with,"What you name?"
Peredur starts when the Beast shouts, hand dropping to sword hilt, but recovers his composure before the creature addresses him. "Is there aught we might be after getting for you?"
"I do apologize," Eloise says as soon as her heartbeat has slowed down and she is certain that when she opens her mouth, her voice won't come out as a shriek -- or a battlecry. "I did not mean to tease you at all, my word of honour. My name is Eloise Tow."
Talia offers the beast a timid smile, trying to ignore his roar and angry glares.
"Hello, sir. We mean you neither teasing nor harm. My name is Talia, and these are my friends: Peredur, Eloise, and Iesha. The funny one is called Sour Heck. Do you have a name you like being called by?"
Talia smiles at the beast and offers a polite curtsy, before patiently awaiting what next he may say.
Peredur nods to the Beast when Talia says his name.
Pretty sure that'd need to oppose a bluff check made by you. For now, I'm keeping the monsters actions as suggested by the encounter, so unless you want to bluff on something more substantial than a name formality, I'm inclined to just play with it. Thanks for being so honest about it, though!
The creature turns to Talia after a side-long glance at Eloise. He says in a accented voice almost not quite fitting a creature of this size and stature, "That is my lord, steereth with cruelness;
And every owre a thought in readiness,
As though that death were light in such a case.
An endless wind doth tear the sail apace".
He lets out a sigh, and after a moment "Beast have no name. Beast is name. Cruel humans always call us that. Why?"
He turns to Peredur. "Aught do? Take chains off! Why are we chained? Why are we here?!" he shouts, rattling the chains clasped to the manacles on his wrists. His anger seems directed at the chains, and not directly at Peredur.
A brief moment later, the guard and Gustav come running back down the stairs.
As the guard glances carefully about the cage, Gustav looks about and simply says, "Oh dear, he's still upset, isn't he? Are you getting much out of him?". The guard, satisfied that the restraints are still intact, retreats back up the stairs.
"There is no cause for alarm," Eloise tells Gustav. "We are just getting to know each other."
Turning back to the creature in the chair, she says: "Would you like a name if your own? There are quite many you could choose from. How about Andrew?"
"It's quite th' poet you're being, Master Beast. Or Andrew, if that's your druthers."
Sour Heck stiffens and looks grim. “We were told that you had performed the most henious of crimes: arson, graverobbing, murder, cannibalism. And now we find you’ve committed poetry. This is very serious indeed. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to defend you in court after all...the Ustalavic people do not appreciate poetry, I can tell you.”
The bard sighs. “You really don’t know why you’re here? What’s the last thing you remember before you were captured?”
"Just to be more clear than our gloomy bard here, you are accused of three crimes: killing 10 people in the village of Morast a year ago; killing six children in the farming community of Hergstag 7 months ago; and an arson attack 4 months ago on the Sanctuary on Karb Isle, killing Doctor Brada and his patients and blinding Karl, the doctor's assistant. Plus, of course the attack on the University, and the theft of-a statue-that you seem to have hidden so well, they couldn't find it when they captured you. Do you deny any of these charges, and, if so, can you tell us where to look to prove it?"
His face covered in frown, he responds to Eloise with, "Not sure about Andrew. Andrew nice name. You humans not nice. Beast think about that one.".
Turning to Sour Heck and Iesha, his frown deepens. "Don't know about Morast, and Karb whatever. I know about Hergstag. Tried to help children there. Bad place. Bad spirits. Try to save little girl from bad spirit but she died and then humans be mean to Beast there. Mean to...Andrew."
"Don't know about a statue. Beast go to sleep not in University, Beast wake up in University. Beast not do anything in University."
After a sigh, he continues with, "Beast...er...Andrew know nothing about cusations. Beast innocent. Humans always hurting Beast. Hurting Andrew. Don't know why, but always saying wrong, bad things about Andrew."
He looks mournfully out at the group.
Peredur nods as he listens to the creature. "Hm. It were a puzzlement, aye. It's thinking I am that we have a few places to start now. Andrew, where did you go to sleep 'fore you woke up at th' University?"
"And were you alone there, Andrew?" Eloise asks, using the new name without irony. "No one else skulking about the place? And... those bad spirits you mentioned. Was it an undead, a ghost or specter, or someaught else?"
The Chelishwoman asks her next questions a bit more delicately: "And... what is it you do with your time, Andrew? Where did you come from? Who... well, who made you?"
"Beast...er...Andrew go to sleep at big stones outside city. Andrew get tired of waiting for bad guys to come for Andrew to smash, and Andrew find sleeping place near stone."
He turns to Eloise. "Skulking? Don't know big word. Just know wake up in fog and bad men in shiny armor take Andrew and put him here", he points upward. "Bad spirits? Don't know what they are, exactly. Ghosts, Andrew guess. Tried to protect little girl. But Andrew can't stop ghost. Ghost hurt girl."
"Andrew don't have own time. Andrew mostly do what master says. When master not saying, Andrew like to read poetry. And Andrew try to help lesser peoples. Lesser peoples like Andrew. Like little girl."
The Beast's shoulders slump.
"And what might your master's name be, Andrew?"
"Protect a little girl? What was the little girl's name...Andrew?"
"Master's name? Can't say."
"Little girl? Little girl's name Ellsa. Nasty ghost nearby stole souls of little ones and walks at night. Ghost kill girl. Tried to help, but can't stop ghost. Took dead girl to village to explain about ghost but cruel villagers drive Andrew away with pitchforks."
At this point, the Beast's face is tightened and contorted. The stitching in its face pulling its jaw back into a grimace, making it appear almost as a laugh.
"Souls?" Eloise repeats, her voice soft and dangerous. "Some blighter is stealing souls from children?" Slowly, Eloise raises a hand and clenches it into a fist. "My dear Andrew, I think we've got more in common than we thought."
Peredur nods once, sharply, in agreement. "Trespassing in Pharasma's domain, they are. It's thinking I am to do something about this. Andrew, can you be telling me aught else of your master? Say, where he or she lives, or where you meet him or her?"
"Yes, bad ghost. Hurt many children." he says, his face still somewhat contorted.
"Can not say about master. Forbidden.", his head bows as he says this.