"Unsurprisingly, my father is not doing too well at the moment. And he has forbidden me from speaking to that 'half-orc temptress', which is part of why I need your help."
"I can't speak to those rumours, but maybe somebody knew about the rift between Rodrik and my father over Brinya."
"And I can't think of any suspects, but anybody in town may have useful information. I'm just suggesting the three leads that seem most likely to me."
"I tink ve go to Ramblehaus first und look for clues. Den we speak to Brinya, if ve do not find better idea."
To Kurst: "We will see justice done for Rodrik."
"Maybe I should talk to Brinya first. If she's heard the news she may be distraught. If she hasn't she should hear it from a friend of Rodrik's. I can catch up to you at Ramblehouse. Does anyone want to come with me?"
"We can all seek out the Sergeant together after that."
Kurst asks, "Any other questions? If not, I have a lot to do. You can leave word for me here, and I'll meet with you as soon as I can."
"Sure, Brinyas as good a place to start as any."
"I concur, Brinyas is a fine place to start."
"Okay. I vill go begin infestigating at der Ramblehaus. Perhaps ve meet dere later?"
Zepfina waits a moment to see if anyone wishes to join her, then heads back to her place of lodging.
"Zepfina, if you want to come with us, then we can all go to the Ramblehouse together, afterwards. Otherwise, Slei and Tarakona should go with you.
And then looking at everyone: "And just one more question. Where does Brinya live?"
"Ya, okay, das ist gut too."
Kurst speaks up.
"Brinya lives in a boarding house near the Commons. Father just recently found out about the engagement, and had a falling out with Rodrik over it. That's why he was staying at Ramblehouse."
"I don't care what Brinya's heritage is. She was good for Rodrik. Please make sure that she's alright. And ask if she saw anything strange about him the last few nights."
"Anything else?"
"Where will we find Sergeant Omast Frum? Is he on patrol today?"
"I'm not exactly sure. Last I heard, he was trying to deal with the graffiti around town. He shouldn't be hard to find."
"Anything you can tell us will be kept in confidence. We are only interested in finding out who killed Rodrik."
"Let's head over to the commons, and start looking for Brinya. Someone must know where her boarding house is."
"Brinya, we have very sad news. Rodrik has been slain. It was made to look like he used his own hopeknife, but that does not sound like him."
"Did you notice anything different about Rodrik's behaviour in the past few days? Was there anything bothering him? Have you seen any new people around him lately?"
"Somebody has been painting white swords around town, and they don't come off with soap and water."
"Hmpf prolly teenagers. They get up to all sorts."
The group soon finds Brinya's room. Sounds of sobbing can be heard from inside.
A knock on the door, summons the crying weaver. After she asks for introductions, Zigil immediately launches into a blunt explanation of the party's presence.
After her jaw drops a bit and tears well up again, a look of puzzlement passes across Brinya's face.
"Wait. His hopeknife? But Rodrik lost his hopeknife, or the hopeknife I gave him. Are you sure? Do you have it?"
"Ve can get it, but dis is news to us. Vas it commonly known DAT he had lost his hopeknife? Vuld his bruder know? How did he lose it?"
"I don't know what he would have told Kurst, you'd have to ask him yourself. Other than that, I can't imagine he would have told many people. Not his father."
She shows the party the hopeknife hanging on a chain around her neck.
"See! This is the one he gave me."
The knife is engraved, "For Brinya, my love."
"If you get the knife, I can be sure."
"I'm sorry for your loss Miss Brinya, I know this is a difficult time for you and that you would do anything to help us, but I'm sorry we cannot get you that hopeknife. Perhaps you can describe for us the knife and what we should be looking for? Could you also tell us about how he lost his knife?"
Whitecrow keeps his hands in his pocket and surveys the room, continuing, "Can you tell us when you saw him last? Who was he with or where he was going? What about his relationship with his family? It has been suggested that he wasn't that keen on taking over for his father."
"We will try to get the knife that Rodrik was found with."
That should be after going back to Ramblehouse, I think (unless someone at Ramblehouse has it).
"Please do. There has to be some way to make sense of all this."
Leaving Brinya for now, the group makes their way past the inner walls and to Ramblehouse.
There, they meet with the halfling proprietor, Cham Laringfass.
After she hears the reason why the group is there she asks, "So I suppose you want to see the poor boy's room? I can't think of anything useful I could add to your quest."
"Yep Cham we will be needing to investigate the room and ask you what you saw and know."
"Don't hold back on any details, no matter how trivial they may seem."
"Nope. Nothing. Can't think of anything."
"C'mon and I'll show you that room now."
Smiling politely, "Thank you Cham, why don't you take my companions up to the room. I want to ask around down here and will join you when I am finished."
Brinya sighs at Eldan's questions, and thinks a minute before responding.
"We had an argument after he lost the hopeknife that I gave him. If only I had known that would be the last time we spoke..."
She takes a few moments to compose herself.
"He had my old hopeknife, and we got Sara Morninghawk to engrave both of them. It should say "For Rodrik, my love" on it."
"He'd told me that he was involved in some new investigation and lost the knife during that, but never gave me any details, so we fought."
"He and his father had a falling out over me. It was part of why we kept our relationship secret. And why Rodrik was staying at Ramblehouse. Jagrin just cannot get over his wife's death during an orc raid, and somehow that is my fault. Kurst is fine, if quiet. I imagine any rumours about Rodrik and his father would come from their fighting about me."
"If only we hadn't fought, maybe he'd still be alive. It's all my fault!"
Cham gives Eldan a suspicious glance, but escorts the rest of the group to Rodrik's room.
The room is sparse, with only a cot and a writing desk. The cot has a cheap mattress stuffed with straw, which has been stripped of linens and is stained with blood. The desk is in slightly better shape, but the room's window is cracked.
"Ver is de body? Vas de vindow cracked before? Vas Rodrik in bed ven you found him?"
Zepfina begins looking around the room for clues.
Cham answers, "Yes, he was in the bed. It was awful! The militia took his body away. I'm not sure, but I thought they said something about taking him to Sanctuary."
"I'm sure the window must have been cracked by Rodrik last night. I'd never allow things to get like that."
Zepfina gives the room a cursory once-over, but only notices that the desk has an empty drawer.
To Brinya: "Investigation? Did he say what he was investigating, or who had asked him to investigate?"
In the room, Ziggy will look around. "Bed? Oh, that bed!"
She also looks at Cham to see whether he is hiding anything:
"As I said, he wouldn't give me details."
After a couple of minutes, Eldan joins the rest of the party with Cham in Rodrik's room.
Standing in the doorway, Eldan looks down the hallway and then back into the room. "Gentlemen, I have some very grave news! There is someone here in the Ramblehouse who is not being honest with us, nay, they are betraying the very memory of Rodrik! I don't think we can count this person as a friend or even a respected member of Trunau." Looking directly at Cham, "If the traitor does not come forward, We will be left with no choice but to clap them in irons, dragging them through the streets to Jagrin as a clear assessory to Rodrik's murder. Now, if the traitor were to stand up and take responsibility for their actions, maybe they could explain to us just what is going on and there would be no need for this harsh treatment. Maybe it is all a misunderstanding. What do you think, Cham?"
Cham's eyebrows raise a bit, and she looks out into the hall.
"An accessory?? Where?? You should go and catch them!"
"Cham, you look unsettled. Would you like to explain to us, or to Kurst?"
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"Look, Cham, we are not trying to get you in trouble. Rodrik was our friend and we want to know what happened to him. I don't believe you would do anything on purpose to harm him."
"Huh? I don't know what you bigfolk are on about. Are you done looking in this room? I have a lot of work to do for my paying guests."
"Who was 'Human Male', the only person you recorded to book a room after Rodrik? If you want to go back to work, stop being evasive and help us."
"That's private! You can't just go looking at a businesses private stuff like that!"
Large tears form in Cham's eyes as she sobs.
"He wouldn't give me his name, and he gave me a fistful of gold. I didn't know something like this would happen! I just thought he was hiding from his big wife or something."
"Thank you Mistress Cham, we appreciate your help. Can you tell us what he looked like? Is he still here? Which room is his?"
Also look around the room for any clues.
"He t-told me he would leave before dawn, and he did. But I c-can show you his room."
Eldan carefully takes the time to go through the rest of the room, and finds two interesting things. The desk drawer has a false bottom, but the cavity underneath is also empty. He also finds a scrap of paper stuck between the bed and the wall. It's a receipt for a hopeknife from Morninghawk's Fine steel, purchased by Rodrik, with engraving which corresponds with what Brinya told you.
Cham then leads the way to the nameless customer's room, which is furnished similarly to Rodrik's. In this case, however, the bed is made, and Cham says she doesn't believe it was slept in.
Eldan surveys the room and begins his search for and clues. "Mistress Cham, how long was this human here for? Did he check in right after Rodik, at the same time, or days later? Did they interact together? Cross paths? If so, did they seem to know each other? Did this human eat in the common room? Talk to anyone besides you?"
Also, what is the proximity of this room to Rodrik's? Does this room have a window? Does Rodrik's? Are there other rooms between Rodrik's and this one?
"Eldan asked you what the human looked like. What was he wearing? Did he have any kind of symbol or insignia on his clothing, or speak with an accent?"
"He checked in after Rodrik did, but before Rodrik came in for the night. He just went to his room and called it a night. He was tall, and had brown hair, and a big nose, and big hands and feet. And long legs."
The room is separated from Rodrik's, but not at the opposite end of the inn. Both rooms have windows. Rodrik's was cracked, this one is not. There is no easy external path between the two rooms.