"Only good things, I hope," Zache grins, nudging Marcus in the ribs before before bowing somewhat awkwardly over his breakfast. "Zache Kovachi, wanderer and lover of tall tales, at your service!"
"It seems a cleaner, more peaceful place than Magnimar and a happier place than my home country," He says as he steps up to take Sal's hand in a firm grasp.
"It is a pleasure, Ms. Salomae. I've heard tales of your battles against goblins and demons. I've also heard all sorts of stories about you and the lords of the town," he replies before helping himself to the food. "Did you really turn one of them into glass after he made unwanted advances towards one of the female acolytes?"
Kaede's neat quiet eating slows for a moment as she studies the Magnimarian magistrate. "No, one had molten glass poured over him by his murderous son after he was clocked by other of our friends. I do believe you've heard a great many exaggerations about us, " Kaede finally responds with a cautious tone in her voice. "Speaking of which, Where's Tera?"
"True, but it is interesting, nonetheless," Ivan says to Kaede after she corrects him on the story he'd heard. When Tera and Elizabeth are mentioned, he raises a brow and looks at the others, waiting for an answer.
"Now that you mention it, it is strange that she isn't here," Zache muses, twirling a fork over his fingers. "Should one of us go check on her? I don't think Marcus and I would be allowed to go knocking on her door."
"Forgive me, but who are Tera and Elizabeth?"
The door to Tera and Elizabeth's room is slightly ajar and swings halfway open when Sal knocks on it. Inside the room, Tera's bed is neatly made. Elizabeth's bed is made as well, though the trained tracker can tell that its been sat on since being made. There are no signs of a struggle, and there doesn't seem to be any indication of where either one might be...
"She wouldn't have tried to go to the Misgivings herself, would she?" Marcus asks as his face shifts to a worried look.
"Should we ask the guard if they saw her leave this morning?"
"On it." Abandoning his breakfast, Zache starts flitting around the hall like a butterfly, casually slipping into existing conversations and asking if anyone heard or saw anything.
Zache pretty quickly learns that nobody has seen Tera or Elizabeth all morning. Neither of them were at morning prayer- Tera (like the rest of the marked) isn’t required to be, but Elizabeth is and was generally thought to be in line for a rebuke when she turned up. It seems many people assumed that Tera had gotten her roommate sucked into some of her ‘marked business’ and some of the brothers and sisters appear alarmed to learn that Zache and the others don’t know where the two are...
"I have a bad feeling about this...," Kaede says as she goes to look specifically for Brother Faustwick and Father Zantus.
Not saying anything yet, but if Tera ran off to 'save' Lord Foxglove alone,- or worse with Elizabeth- This has suddenly become a race against time, she thinks as she hunts for the two people that Tera respected the most.
Ivan follows along, grabbing and finishing Zache's plate as they leave the table.
"Tera, I take it she is not the sort to go haring off alone or with her friend," he half-asks as they continue their search. "Can you tell me more about both of them? I might be able to help figure out what may have happened."
"Would it be easy to manipulate one or both of them? Did anyone have a particular dislike for either of them?"
"I know some, but not all I wager. I know there have been, ah, unpleasant events recently, but I know little specific."
Kaede finds Father Zantus and Brother Faustwick in the hallway outside Tera and Elizabeth's room. When the High Priest sees her approaching he asks with earnest concern, "Is it true that none of you know where they've gone?"
Kaede's stomach drops at the good Father's words. "Know? No," she says with only a slight waver in her voice, "But I have a good guess, and if I'm right, we need to hurry now." Without a pause, as the time for secrets are past, She continues, "I think that Tera went to go save Lord Foxglove. Unfortunately, that would be at the Misgivings, where we were told the serial killer is. I'm not losing that pair, not like that."
"So, this Tera, does she love this Lord Foxglove? What about this Elizabeth? Would she be of any use against this killer?"
Ivan shakes himself and gives the others a sheepish smile.
"Oh, forgive me. I always try to piece together those that I am, ah, seeking. It helps me better predict their actions."
Father Zantus gasps at Kaede's theory and, in an uncharacteristic display of emotion, Brother Faustwick's mouth turns down in a worried frown.
"If they left the city then the watchmen at one of the gates should have seen them," the Abadaran reasons, "The south gate, most likely, if they were headed to the Misgivings."
The High Priest nods and offers, "I can send someone over to the Barracks to ask Belor about it..."
"It might go faster if that person was a deputy," Brother Faustwick counters as he turns his gaze back to Kaede.
"She seems rather fond of him, yes," Zache says to Ivan. "I can go ask Belor. Anyone want to join me?"
Marcus eagerly does his best to keep up with Zache.
If she has this much of a head start, any group that catches up to her wont likely include me....
Kaede nods to Brother Faustwick's statement and is about to bolt for the Garrison when Zache volunteers. "Actually, that's a good idea,"Kaede hurriedly spits, her mind now in panic over Tera. "While he's doing that, Salomae, will you please help me with my armor? After that, we can set packs for the group of us to follow."
Zache and Marcus hurry to the Barracks... or, rather, Marcus hurries to the Barracks while Zache tries to remain patient with his young companion's pace. Upon their arrival, they discover the Sheriff Hemlock has finally gone home for a few hours sleep.
The officer on duty informs them that there was only one person who left through the south gate after dark last night- an older Varisian guy on his wagon; he seemed like he was in a little bit of a hurry but he didn't give the guards any trouble so they didn't think anything of it. Nobody left through the north gate last night. There isn't a real gate at the Undercliff bridge, and the 'records' turned in from there are informal and sparce, but apparently "about half a dozen farmers headed back into the hinterlands" through there last night. None of the watchmen who are still around from last night has any memory of seeing Tera or Elizabeth.
Ivan goes with Zache and Marcus to see what news they have from the gate.
"The Varisian. We should find him. People don't leave in the middle of the night in a hurry unless they have reason."
"Well, uh, sir," the officer on duty at the Barracks replies, "we don't have a report from the day shift yet, obviously, but the report from last night says he was headed for Magnimar... finding him might not be real easy."
"could they have been in the wagon? Would she really have gone to those lengths to cover her departure? " Marcus asks, mostly to Zache.
"The guards didn't have any cause to search the wagon... and don't usually ask about passengers unless something seems fishy..." the officers offers, "so, it's possible they could have been in there?"
"And here I thought being Varisian made you 'fishy' by birth in Chelish eyes," Ivan teases before flashing a mostly harmless smile. "We shall speak with the guards to see what they know."
The city watchman turns and leaves without another word and makes for the southern gate.
With Sal's help, Kaede gets into her armor well before the boys return.
The officer on duty at the Barracks frowns at Ivan's comment. "I don't know how things work in Magnimar, sir, but out here many of us have a Varisian or two in our families..."
The guards at the southern gate are fairly busy with people coming in for market day and don't seem very happy about having to stop to answers questions. However, as Ivan outranks them, they begrudgingly cooperate. A bunch of Varisian wagons have entered the city this morning but none of them were driven by a lone, pudgy, balding Varisian man.
The act of getting her armor on serves a second purpose for the Tian-Min priestess: calming her down from her almost manic worry about Tera. When the last strap is tighting, Kaede takes a deep breath, lets it out, and looks to Sal. "Okay, I think that I was mostly ready to leave today, so my supplies should be ready. What about you, Salomae?" After a moment's pause, she adds, "Wait, did we see Tera's pack?" We should check on that too."
While Tera doesn’t come close to Brother Faustwick’s meticulousness, it’s still readily apparent which areas of the room are hers and which are the domain of her carefree, Shelynite roommate. Although you are far less familiar with Elizabeth’s belongings, and they aren’t very organized, it seems that all that’s missing is a single acolyte’s robe, the soft shoes she wears around the Cathedral, and her silver holy symbol; a pair of traveling boots and a heavy cloak are still in her wardrobe. Tera’s stuff is a different story; her usual Cathedral outfits are all in her wardrobe, but none of the gear she had with her yesterday (including her pack, her bow, the various wands you’ve discovered, etc) is anywhere to be found.
"Tera left ready to travel, but Elizabeth didn't. And Tera's bed wasn't touched, but someone sat on Elizabeth's...,"Kaede says after a moment.
Thinking about that, she continues, "This is just a guess, but what if someone grabbed Elizabeth, and sent a 'ransom' note to Tera. Tera would respond to that." In response, Kaede removes Elizabeth's cloak and boots to add them to her pack. "In case I'm right and she needs them when we find her," she says before she's questioned about her actions. "I'll leave money with Sister Hera if I'm wrong."
"...idiots who can't take a damn joke shouldn't have children," Ivan grumbles as he nurses a bruise beginning to darken his cheek. He really shouldn't have asked if the farmer was selling his wife when he declared his intentions, but he'd been waiting to hear the full report and hadn't appreciated the interruption. He moves his jaw without any difficulty, but it is sore.
"Well, I guess this lot wouldn't know if he came back with a potato sack if we asked them," he says to Zache and Marcus after a moment. "I guess we head to this Misgivings place and see if it's as haunted as everyone claims it is."
While they wait for the girls to return, Marcus meditates and calls upon the spirit of flame to join him.
I need to be at my fastest if we are to catch up with Tera.
To Ivan:
"I've found the people of Sandpoint more responsive to honey than vinegar. Perhaps your....jokes could wait until after we have gathered important information?"
Still, the older mans interaction has the side effect of putting Marcus a little more at ease. If Ivan had anything to do with this plot, he would be much more caseful.
"Perhaps Kaede and Sal have found something useful," Zache sighs. "This would be easier if all Varisians did know each other, the way people assume!"
"Besides the lack of a sense of humor among some of the farmers, we did not," Ivan answers with a sigh.
"I suppose it is to this Misgivings place then?"
Kaede and Sal head out of the Cathedral and across the square where they find their friends, and the helper the sheriff assigned them, heading back towards them. As they fill one another in on what they learned, Sal spots something out of the corner of her eye... tucked away in a nearby alley, a stray cat is tugging on something. It seems so inconsequential that she almost overlooks it entirely, until she realizes that its muddy gray slipper. Once her attention is on it completely, she's able to make out what looks to be a woman's slippered foot just barely protruding from a stack of wood...
"How hard would one have to work to learn of their friendship," Ivan asks before noticing Sal's apparent fixation on rubbish choked alley.
"Ms. Salomae? Do you see something?"