"Can you tell us why he's left you to go about unguided?" Eloise asks. "Or why he hasn't come to help you now, in your time of need?"
"Master has reasons. Master mostly leave us alone. Sometimes we do things for master, but not remember much. Foggy."
At that response, Peredur looks intently up at Andrew, eyes narrowing in interest. "Who is this 'we' you're after speaking of?"
The Beast looks at Peredur with slightly tilted head, "We means Andrew. Who else?"
"Andrew," Eloise says, "when you think... is there one voice in your head, or are there several?"
"Just Andrew's voice in head. Except when foggy. Then hear master's voice. Sometimes."
“Oh, well, now the court’s bound to let him off.” Sour Heck imitates the Beast’s basso profundo voice. “‘I didn’t do it, your honor! Um, unless the voice of my master in my head told me to, and I forgot afterwards.’”
The bard sighs. “I thought we’d have a chance, but it sounds like the Beast here might actually be innocent. In which case the court is going to eat him alive. Not literally, big fellow. No, they’re going to make a bunch of speeches about how you’re an offense to the gods and a scourge of the land and then burn you to to a crisp. Literally.”
“Well...unless these heroes here can do something about it. They’ll try, anyway. Probably get themselves killed trying...almost certainly get me killed. I’d like to think we’ll get lynched by angry family members of the victims before we can get murdered horribly by child-killing spectres, but that’s just my wild optimism.”
“Time to go to work. We should find that silver-tongued barrister and get all the court documents from him, so we know where and who to investigate. Then we should head to Gorak’s and see what leads and contacts we can find there.”
Sour Heck peers around the cell. “Next time we see you, should we bring you anything? Something to you like drink or eat? If those are things you do. I, um, don’t see a chamberpot...”
The bard’s ironic manner falls from him like a cloak. “We promise to do what we can, Andrew. Be brave, and prepare yourself for the trials to come.”
He breathes in deeply and closes his eyes, then recites in a courtly fashion:
Though I myself be bridled of my mind,
Returning me backward by force express,
If thou seek honour to keep thy promise,
Who may thee hold, my heart, but thou thyself unbind?
“We’ll be back soon.”
Eloise croons a brief, simple ditty. Something easy to learn, but uplifting. "My present to you, Andrew," she says. "For if you grow bored or lonely, waiting for us. We shall return."
For a moment, the Chelishwoman's eyes bore into those of the construct. "If your master can see and hear what you see and hear, let him know this: he should be looking out for your interests better. If he feels like being more responsible, he should send us a message."
Having spoken - and sung - Eloise turns on her heel and sweeps out after Sour Heck.
"Keep care, Andrew," Talia says, smiling up at the Beast. "We will do what we can to find out the truth, and if you are as innocent as you appear, we'll find a way to make the court, and the people, listen." She curtsies before following her companions out the door.
"Yes, cruel humans burn poor Andrew. Poor, innocent Andrew. But Andrew not need chamber pot. Andrew not eat. Besides, chamber pots for cruel humans too small for Andrew!". You can hear a small rumbling in his chest vaguely resembling a chuckle.
The Beast's face lights up as Sour Heck finishes his oration. His face again appearing to twist into a contorted laugh. This time, it seems more genuine than before.
He continues to beam as Eloise sings. He moves to clap his hands but is immediately stopped by the numerous manacles keeping his arms and hands apart. He seems to shrug that off.
"Bye, bye, friends of Andrew. Be careful!" he says as the party leaves the area. A small, indistinct humming echoing Eloise's song can be heard as he continues his horrific smile.
After working its way back up the stairs, the group will find Gustav, the Barrister, standing just outside the door conversing with the Sergeant. Upon seeing the group, he will ask if they have finished speaking with the defendant. He will lead them back through the courtroom to his makeshift office and proceed to hand them various maps and notes about the locations involved in each of the charges against the Beast.
- A hand drawn map to the swamp hamlet of Morast (where 10 citizens were murdered a year ago)
- Directions on finding the abandoned village of Hergstag (where six children were slain)
- Notes on getting to the asylum of Sanctuary on Karb Isle (where arson was apparently the cause of death for a doctor and his patients for the blinding of the doctor's assistant)
The Barrister also reminds you that the creature was captured in the midst of his alleged crime at Lepidstad University.
"Gustav, what might th' law be on guilt if a criminal can show he be under th' magical control of another when th' deed were done?"
"I'm not positive, but I believe there is an exception to the guilt if you can prove the dominating control."
"You are saying the Beast is under some sort of magical control? Can you prove it?"
"Let's start with something very basic," Eloise says, looking Gustav in the eye. "The phrase 'Beast' is not only insulting and demeaning to the individual, it will hurt his chances in court as it allows for him to be further depersonalized. Can you please arrange for an amendment of the defendant's identification? He has accepted the name "Andrew"."
After Gustav has answered, Eloise continues. "Regardless his apparent intellect, Andrew started his existence as a flesh golem. By the very laws of his creation, he is bound to his master so long as that master has power to affect this world, regardless whether he is alive or undead. To constructs, the will of the master is an Absolute. Andrew has at least revealed that his master is still around; he is actively forbidding Andrew from revealing his creator's name. This should provide reasonable doubt for his trial, should it not?"
"Interesting theory, but difficult to prove at any trial, particularly this one. A-a-andrew, as you call him, is regarded as a wild freak of nature, even though you claim he is a flesh golem. Even if I could prove that he is a flesh golem, the evidence against him is quite substantial. There will be witness testimony tying him to every scene, and in at least one case, he is alleged to be displaying emotion -- laughter. It will be hard to support a legal argument alleging someone else was in control when there is such an emotion involved He demonstrates a level of intellect that belies the emotionless n-n-nature of a simple construct. ."
"Without his m-m-master taking the stand, I don't see how we'll make the argument stick."
"As for ch-ch-changing his identification, I don't see any harm in trying that. Perhaps it will help the judges identify with him more as an individual, and less as a nameless thing. It c-c-c-an't hurt."
"I'll need more to go on than the master-made-me-do it defense if there's any chance of getting him acquitted."
Peredur nods. "We weren't after expecting you to take our words for it, look you. We've spoken with th'--with Andrew but once, and have more questions than answers. With what you've handed over, though, we have places to look for more answers."
“I don’t really expect to find much at these places a year or more after the crimes supposedly happened. Can we get the names and locations of the witnesses, so we can find out what they’ll testify to in court? How many days do we have to investigate our leads? What’s the nearest tavern to the courthouse?”
"There was one survivor, wasn't there?" Eloise says. "A... doctor's assistant or somesuch? Blinded, but alive, or so I recall."
"Well, the first witness will be Lazne from M-m-morast. He will testify that the Beast, er, I mean Andrew killed 10 people in Morast. He claims that at first the beast only took people who were alone outside of the village. And eventually became bolder and began killing and taking people from their homes."
"As for Hergstag, three sisters, Garrow, Starle, and Flichte, will be called. I interviewed them, and they claim that the village's children slowly disappeared, one by one, and eventually returned as ghosts. Finally, one day, they allege that the culprit actually came into the village carrying the body of a little girl. They recall it was laughing as it carried it. The village then took up pitchfork and chased the B-b-Andrew into the nearby swamp. The village was abandoned soon after as the child ghosts continue to haunt it"
"I believe you already know about the events at the University which lead to his capture. And as for the Isle of Karb, the prosecution will be presenting Karl, the dead doctor's former assistant. He will testify that the last thing he saw before the fire that took his eyesight is a beast matching Andrew's description."
"The trial begins the day after tomorrow, so you have one day to gather evidence on the killings at Morast, as that will be the first charge dealt with. The day following, the charge of the children murders in Hergstag will be dealt with, and finally, on the third day, the trial is scheduled to deal with the charges of arson and murder at Karb Isle. And then, of course, final arguments will be made and the verdict rendered."
"As for the closest tavern, there is one about a 5 minute walk up Canal street called Ghoran's"
Peredur stays quiet while the stuttering barrister describes the witnesses. "There's a lack I'm seeing in all these tales, Gustav. None of th' witnesses against Andrew you describe ever saw him kill anyone. This Lazne claims that Andrew is responsible for taking people who were alone, and outside th' village; and they were alone, how does he know? Did he see tracks? In Hergstag, 'tis disappearances again, and Andrew's association with one of th' bodies, but nothing about th' state of th' body."
The half-elf shakes his head. "Have you seen th' power in that creature? Were he to kill a little girl, she'd be torn to pieces. What will th' sisters say of how th' girl came to die?
"And all we have from Karb is that th' B--that Andrew was there, for 'twas a fire that took Karl's sight from him. Will Karl say aught of what Andrew did to cause th' fire? Speaking of th' University, I've heard naught of anyone dying at Andrew's hand there. Were his actions there a capital crime?
"No, I don't deny crimes--terrible crimes--were committed, but Andrew seems guilty of naught but being near to th' crimes and looking, well, th' way he does. Th' task of th' Hawthorn Society seems clear. We must determine what truly happened in Morast, Hergstag, and Karb, and thus free your unusual client. Or, truth be told, we'll find better evidence 'gainst Andrew than this chain of hearsay and happenstance."
Peredur looks around at his comrades. "But first--a five minute walk, you say? One round at Ghoran's."
"A quick round," Eloise says. "Morast may be patient, but the crimes' trail is already wretchedly cold. We've little time to waste."
"A quick round, yes. If there's evidence of Andrew's innocence to be had, I think we should gather it quickly to allow Gustav to incorporate it into his defense."
Talia looks thoughtful for a moment, before saying, "Is there aught we ought to take with us or prepare for on our trip to Morast that we don't already have?"
"Whoah, now, let's not be too hasty! We've got reason to think we'll find contacts and leads at Ghoran's. This calls for a full investigation of the tavern and its cellar. I think I can pick up necessary supplies for our trip to murder village, too."
"How far is this Morast place, anyway?"
"I don't disagree that the evidence seems flimsy against er, Andrew. Almost completely circumstantial. But it will be hard to refute the testimony as there is little evidence to the contrary. Yes, he can t-t-tear things to pieces, but maybe he strangled her? I found nothing to suggest something else killed those children, or those people, or set the fire."
"Perhaps you will turn up something that I have missed. I don't care if you do -- bring it and we will all save face."
"As for the village of Morast, it is some 8 miles east of Lepidstadt. An easy walk during the day."
If and when the party arrives at Ghoran's, they will find it warm and relatively clean, if but a bit uninviting. There are several locals here, and almost to a person, they cast quick, judging glances at the party before returning to their meals and conversations.
There is a small bar here with space for the party, as well as 2 open tables.
Peredur steps up to the bar, but lets Sour Heck do the talking.
Sour Heck leans on the bar, cradling his face in his hands, and moans loud enough for the whole bar to hear. “Barkeep, a shot of your strongest whiskey. I had a message last night that my mother is dying.” He reaches one hand out weakly for the glass. “And I had another message just now that she’s fine. Oh, the humanity! I’m going to need a lot of whisky to get past this one, barkeep. More than I can drink myself, actually...breach a new cask and let’s have a round for the house.”
After getting on the tavern’s good side, Sour Heck tries to get everyone laughing and loose-tongued. “Looks like you heroes finally caught the Beast of Lepidstadt, eh? What are the chances--the area is menaced by a giant monster, and he just happens to have the same name as your town! Just goes to show what a vicious bastard coincidence is.”
“Me and my friends are just in town to spend our gold and catch the trial. Should be a real circus, right? Hope we can get seats in the courtroom. As a bard, I’ll drink free for a year off the stories the witnesses tell! Of course, what I’d really like to do is talk to the witnesses themselves, and get the real story, not just what they’ll say in court. Hell, I’d even talk to the lawyers if that’s what it takes.
Eloise lets Sour Heck do the talking, but keeps a careful eye on the rest of the customers, in case any of them react oddly or suddenly slip away...
Peredur does likewise; nurses his whiskey, tries not to look hostile, and watches Sour Heck's audience.
Most in attendance will chuckle at Sour Heck's routine, and seem pleased at the mention of the trial. A few raised eyebrows will greet him at his mention of a story behind the trial.
A few patrons will mention, in passing, the troupe camped outside the western city gates.
Regarding, Lazne, one patron suggests that the folk in Morast are a strange, long-lived lot that don't treat foreigners well. "Good luck talking with that Lazne. He's a codgety ol' cuss." Apparently, he is the village elder and can be found in one of the 20 or so wattle-and-daub hovels. "Careful with those folk -- they're inbred. Maybe a little swamp critter in their blood as well"
"Justice Khard? Toughest son-of-a-Boruta you'll ever meet. Gave my cousin the noose for lying in court.". Chief Justice Ambrose Khard will be the one most responsible for conduct during the trial.
"Judge Aldaar? Make's Ambrose seem kind. Word is he had four score of his troops impaled for deserting when he was a general.". Kasp Aldaar is regarded as a hard-liner in the extreme.
Otto Heiger's the prosecutor. "He'll get the Beast burned, which is the right thing to do. Did you hear about what it did in Hergstag? Murdered all them children. Poor villagers."
Peredur will notice a few gruff characters who will eye the party warily and whisper among themselves. Other than their dubious demeanor, nothing else will stand out about them. Nor anyone else.
Talia sits back and enjoys both the whiskey and Sour Heck's rather masterful manipulation of a crowd of people, finding herself laughing at his jokes, chuckling at his ironies, and being amused by his antics. She occasionally puts her hand over her cup when Kieli dips down to take a sip, whispering to him that birds don't like whiskey, which he studiously ignores.
Iesha stays quiet and sits with the rest of the women, calmly sipping her drink.
This will not be easy, I'm thinking. After the conversation dies away, Peredur stands up and nods to the bard. "And you were wanting to talk to these folks, best we be moving while it's light out yet." He tosses back the last of his drink.
Sour Heck raises an eyebrow at Peredur. “Have you been listening to what folks are saying about Morast? A weird, inbred swamp village full of hostile recluses? Sounds like my home town--ye gods, what a memory. I’m not crazy enough to leave this whiskey behind and go splorching around out there.”
“So, ho, barkeep! A bottle of whiskey to go, if you please! A big, impressive looking bottle--something with a smooth bite.” Sour Heck spends another twenty gold on a respectable whisky, and tucks it away. “I got directions to Morast from those drunks in the corner. Probably get us lost out there, wandering in the swamp getting eaten alive by bugs without ever finding the village...no, when have we ever been that lucky? Well, let’s go, if we must.”
A bottle of Andoran distillation named GilGarth's Aged slides toward Sour Heck.
The evening draws near. There is perhaps about 2 hours before sunset.
"The only thing worse than a day in the swamp is a night in the swamp," Sour Heck sighs.
You do have enough time, assuming that your work there won't take many, many hours. Depending on how long you take there, you may be camping out in the swamp, or you might choose to hoof it back to Lepidstadt and retire in an inn until morning and the start of day 1 of the trial.
"With me, Talia, and Iesha along, it's no trouble we'll be having after dark, unless th' city closes up then."
"I say we press on and gather what evidence we may before tomorrow. I mean, what's the best that can happen?" Talia say with a smirk in Sour's direction.
"Wouldn't know about the best, but the worst would be that get attacked on the road by vampires or other bogeys that only come out after dark," Eloise says, succinctly. "Still, time's a-wasting. Let's go and see what information we can gather before Andrew's runs out."
The sun is just setting as the group arrives at the outskirts of Morast, the swamp like area just about 8 miles north east of Lepidstadt.
Morast itself is a collection of hovels, most of which are on stilts which stretch deep into the swamp and mud. Asking about "Lazne", after a few brief encounters, the group is pointed in the direction of a particular hovel near the center of the village. Somewhat larger than the surrounding dwellings, this hovel seems a bit older and perhaps more run-down. Several of the outside timbers appear to be rotting, and the roof looks like it is in serious need of re-thatching.
After knocking at the door, the party will be greeted by a grizzled, middle aged man with dirty gray hair and skin the color of swamp mud. His mouth full of some sort of swamp weed (which smells most foul), he will bark through black teeth, "What do ya wan'? Who dares befoul ma' peaceful evenin'?" After a quick glance at the group and a sneer, a big glob of weed-juice will fly from his lips to strike the ground immediately in front of the group.
Peredur looks over at the more charismatic members of the troupe.
Sour Heck gets a pained grimace on his face, and waves at the party lke a child herding chickens. “All right, all right, outlanders, wait here while I talk to the village elder. Keep your eyes on the trees--lots of dangerous things come out of the trees at night.”
Rolling his eyes, the bard takes Lazne aside a little--not actually far enough to be out of earshot of the party--and shakes his head. “Look, I’m really sorry about this. I found this feckless bunch in Lepidstadt. They’re in town for the trial of the Beast, guess they heard of the great terror in whateversburg they’re from. I heard them saying they wanted to go out and meet the hero who’d seen the Beast and lived, and thinking about that lot wandering around in the swamp alone, I took pity on them.”
He pauses. “Actually, I’m impressed to meet you myself. Not many people alive who’d seen the Beast out in the open. I’m a bard, Sour Heck. Here, let me offer you a drink.” Sour Heck pulls out the whiskey bottle and starts to pass it to Lazne. “Careful now, this smooth stuff has a kick you don’t expect. Oh, wait, where are my manners?” He breaks the wax seal, twists out the stopper, and takes a quick slug before handing the bottle over. “See, that way, if it’s poisoned, I’ll die first. Kind of a stupid custom, now that I think about it...who wants to watch someone die of poison, knowing they’ll be next? Well, it’s what my pappy taught me.”
“Now, these outlanders promised me a little gold to get them out here. If you can tell them about the murders, maybe take them to the murder site to put a scare in them, I’ll gladly split that gold with you--it’ll be worth it, to get them back to town. I’m afraid otherwise they might hang out here for days, stomping around your fishing holes looking for clues, taking Pharasma knows what as souvenirs. Do we have a deal?”
On entering Morast, Eloise casts a simple cantrip () which she holds onto while the group passes through the derelict-looking town. The Chelishwoman's nose wrinkles a few times as she looks left and right, trying to keep an eye out for danger.
Her alertness to peril does not lessen when the group finally reaches Lazne's home and they meet the man...
On the outskirts of Morast, Kieli flies off Talia's shoulder, alighting in trees and watching the party as they walk through the town towards the main hovel. "Good idea," Talia tells him. "The locals will likely be spooked enough with our party and our questions. No need for a shouldered raven to rile them up even more."
Talia somehow maintains a straight face during Sour's discussion with the elder...
Peredur looks exasperated, but does as the bard indicates. He rubbernecks around, though, finally having an excuse not to be surreptitious in his searching.
"Normally I don't cotton ta furriners, especially furrin drink. But that's a mighty fine bit a whiska ya got there." the gray haired man will mutter, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve after taking a short pull from the whiskey bottle.
After eyeing the rest of the group, he'll lean into Sour Heck and mutter in a low tone "murdahs, ya say? Why there haven't been murdahs here for 'bout a yeeah. Funny thing, 'bout that. They got me goin' up to tha city tomorrah on account of me givin' testimonies 'bout them murdahs. Twas the Beast ya know! An we thought we'd had him killt good and ded all this time, 'ceptin' they say he's up in tha jail up theyah in tha city.". The smell of the big clump of swamp weed stuck between his gums and teeth will wash over Sour Heck as he talks.
He'll announce in a louder voice, loud enough for the rest of the group to hear, "Well then, gather in. Don't 'xpect me to shout out at ya all night, do ya? I ain't as young as I used to be, ya know!". Another gob of swamp weed juice will fly from his mouth and strike near the front of the porch.
Eventually, Lazne will tell you that a little over a year ago, there were several murders in the outskirts of the village. Lone villagers were taken at night, although eventually people were attacked in their homes. "'twere the Beast, fer sure. I saw him m'self, as did tha rest tha village the night we laid a trap for him.".
Here he will pause for dramatic effect and take another pull from the whiskey.
"We laid in wait fur tha Beast ta come, see. And 'ventually he did. We chased after him with pitchfork and fire. We wounded him fierce we did, and when he took to tha water, we chased aftah him with ah boats. Chased him clear to tha boneyahd. Theyah he got caught by a blood caiman and we thought him a gonah. Musta not been so, though, since theyah say theyah got him up there in tha city.". He pauses long enough to spit another wad of weed juice before taking another tug from the bottle.
"I'm lookin' fohwad to watchin' that beast buhrn.". The look in his eyes is dark as he stairs far into the distance.
"What did it look like?" Eloise asks, innocently. (Or doing her best to seem innocent, anyway.) "Please, do tell us."
Iesha covers a snicker at Sour Heck's performance. "Feckless? Humpf. Did you want paid more to not be rude?"
She turns to Lazne. "You laid a trap for him? And nearly destroyed him? How wonderful! You and your townsfolk seem to be much more effective than those town guards. After all, he...it's been running wild for so long, and it seems like you're the only folks who ever managed to harm...it in any way."
“Huh. Wonder if the city people got some wretch mixed up with your Beast? Be a shame if you stopped him, and didn’t get the credit.”
“Now I expect this lot will want to go to the boneyard, to see if they can catch sight of the thing that attacked the Beast. Probably get me killed into the bargain. Can I talk you into showing us the way, and keeping us away from the dangers out there? I don’t even know what a blood caiman is. Not sure I want to know...just one more thing to have nightmares about, I expect.”
"What'd it look like? Why big 'n' ugly!" He takes a moment to emit a very large wad of weed juice from his mouth, wiping his chin with the back of his hand.
"It was tall. At least 7 foot. Had skin 'n' fur 'n' puss 'n' boils 'n' scales. Stuff like that."
He lights up as Iesha mentions the trap. "Yeah, we shure got it good that night, ya know. Well the caiman got it better, I guess. Got it good on tha sholdah. We was shure it was dead. Never heard cursin' like I did that night. Not since.". Splat! Another large wad of juice hits the ground.
"A blood caiman's just the kind o' gator we got round these parts. Color of blood on its head. I'll shows ya the boneyard, sure enough", he says, pausing long enough to take a side-long glance at Iesha, barely hiding a grin. "Gonna cost ya, though. We gotta take some boats. They cost 5 gold to rent, but I can take one person in mine. You'll have to rent 2 more. Follow me and I'll take you to Lagren's. He's the boat man."
"Bring the whisky. Gonna get colder tonight"