"Is there no hope of seeing this one treated and released in the wild?" Finch asks, concerned by how putting down the animal appears to be the first option.
"I fear I know little of medicine, but I should at least be able to calm it down when it comes to."
Bellanie wipes off her blades on the dead wolf's pelt before sheathing her dagger. Always enterprising she adds "Perhaps someone should skin the dead ones, their pelts might fetch some coin to aid us in our continued endeavors." Looking over the dead wolves she nods to Cors words "Yes, either someone intentially let these in or they found a way in, either way it should be addressed. Perhaps before we head out in the morning?"
As Finch suggests treating the still living wolf Belanie shrugs "If no one here has the skill perhaps take it to Silvermane?"
"Thank you Rabbit. You're battle songs are as great a boon as your healing touch." Corentin says as he inspects his wounds and finds them starting to close.
"I leave such decision to you Finch so long as it is not a threat to the town. I am willing to aid in carrying the beast if you wish to take it to be healed. Let us be quick though. this is another strange event in a series of them and I do not think them unrelated."
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Hannah heals Johan as he finishes his inspection of the unconscious wolf. Rising he thanks Hanna for the curing and his would closes partly. He still looks troubled though. These wolves are not rabid as I first feared. Their disease is not natural at all. I am no alchemist but recognize their state as alchemical induced. Someone drugged these animals in order to encourage them to mad violence and then release them on the town. Let us keep this one alive as proof. He will go about tying it so that it cannot run or bite.
As his sister heals one of their companions, Iacobus calls upon Kurgess' blessings to bring strength & health back to another.
"Silvermane would probably be willing to help us," Finch says. "Or at least know who might be able to."
Corentin nods and hefts the young wolf onto his shoulder.
"Let's see it to Silvermane then. If it was alchemy that was involved then perhaps Gorkis could be of aid. Regardless let us get this wolf to Silvermane and then hurry to Brinya. If whatever this threat is has agents in town as it would seem she may be in danger for what she knows or what they might think she knows."
He then sets off towards the Hope Spring.
Sasha heaves a sigh and follows the others, keeping an eye out for the guard as she walks.
"Cannot the wolf wait? We need to let people know there are enemies within our walls."
Hannah looks about for a way to alert the townsfolk.
After a few minutes of standing around in the middle of the street with a bunch of dead diseased wolves surrounding you, you will start to attract attention. While the militia's sole purpose is to defend the city from external attacks, meaning the walls are patrolled far more than the city proper, a pair of men will make their way from the lower quarter to investigate the word of an animal attack.
"Here now, what's the issue...wolves?" the man stammers out. Locals would know the man to be Nichlas Ohlsen, one of the older militia members. "Where did these come from? Is everyone ok?"
At his sister's words, Iacobus turns to the nearest visible tower. Waving his arms, "!" he calls out vociferously.
Bellanie shrugs to the militia's question "Someone either set wolves free in town or they have found a way in. We dealt with them but the watch should be on the lookout." She looks at the others then back at the militia men "Think everyone is alright now."
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Thing is that these wolves were poisoned. They looked rabid, but it was some poison that effected them. Who would have or could have found wolves, poisoned them, and turned them loose in the town? We have one tied up. I'd like to turn it over to you so it can be checked out by someone that knows more about poisons and such than I do.
"Please do be careful. Once it wakes up, it will likely be very agitated from its injuries and bindings. Perhaps we had best find a cage."
Bellanie sighs "The wolves are a problem, but by the sounds of things not the biggest one. The militia is aware of the situation. Maybe they can haul it to the druid at the Hope Spring and we can be on our way to visit Brinya? Kill two birds with one stone and all that." she quirks her eyebrow inquisitively and nods her head to the side to indicate Let's go.
Nichlas listens as the party explains the event of the attack. Considering the amount of locals involved he doesn't show any outward signs that he doesn't believe the rather wild story, as the corpses of the attackers are still cooling in the brisk evening air. After a few moments he states, "We will take this one to Silvermane, maybe he can make something of it. Worst case, one of us will end its suffering before it becomes a danger to anyone else." With that the two guards quickly truss up the creature and secure its muzzle with rope before using a nearby piece of wood to support it between them. Then they head west, towards the spring.
Noting Finch's eye following the animal Corentin says "Don't worry, I'm sure Silvermane will do what is best for the creature."
To the rest he adds, "We should be on our way. I begin to fear for Brinya."
As the party heads off to see Brinya they notice several additional militia members showing up to the scene. They begin cleaning up the remains of the wolves and the surrounding street.
After a short walk the group finds themselves at the Spinning House, one of the common boarding houses within the city. As they enter, the proprietor, a half-orc female by the name of Tegan Gwyn, greets them in a friendly manner, exchanging brief pleasantries with the Trunau residents she knows. Tegan directs the group to Brinya's room, which is on the second floor of the establishment.
The half-orc woman answers her door, looking fairly disheveled. Her eyes are swollen and red, an obvious sign of someone who has spent much of the day in tears. "Yes?" she weakly asks.
"Brinya, I am so sorry for your loss. The entire town grieves with you. We were tasked to investigate his death, and what we discovered suggests that it may not have been suicide. Would you please answer a few of our questions, so that we might find Rodrick's true killer?"
Hannah asks eye's brimming with sympathy.
Brinya weakly smiles at Hannah, and after a moment it dawns on her that there were so many people standing in the hallway. Speaking to the bard she says, "Anything I can do to help. I don't believe he would do something like this to himself, but after our last parting, I feel responsible." She steps behind the door, opening the view to a modest looking room with a small dining area. She motions the group inside, saying, "Please, come in. I'm sorry that some of you may have to stand, I fear I do not have enough room for everyone to be seated. How can I help?"
Finch reluctantly leaves the wolf with the militia, regretful that he is too busy to see the animal to his teacher.
Finch files in with the rest of the party, opting to stand and leave the seats to others. He remains silent, beyond offering the most comforting smile he can.
Sasha enters with the rest. She says nothing, but her expression speaks volumes.
Bellanie follows the others in, sitting on the edge of one of the chairs so Sasha could fit on the other half. She waits for someone else native to the town and familiar with the woman to lead the discussion.
Brinya is silent for a long moment, considering how to proceed. "Last night, during Ruby’s hopeknife ceremony, Rodrik told me that he had lost my hopeknife. I was furious, and I told him that I didn’t want to see him again until he found it or otherwise made things right. If I would had known that night would be the last time I would see my beloved, I would have acted much differently." She stops, and sobs deeply into a handkerchief for several moments. It is obvious that she is barely keeping it together and is well beyond your standard "grief". "I don't know what to think. I just want my Rodrik back, I need him back!" says the woman, as she completely loses it and buries her face into her hands, crying uncontrollably.
Corentin gives Brinya a moment to collect herself and then asks, "Did he say where he lost it? Can you tell us anything about what he'd been up to the least few weeks?"
This explains the unusual engraving, Finch notes somberly to himself, powerless to help Brinya's grief.
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Johan listens. He needs to hear the answer but is genuinely sorry that his question caused pain. If it matters I want you to know that none of us think Rodrik killed himself either. We are going to do what we can to prove that too. And what you are telling us is important. Its like completing a puzzle and you are providing some of the pieces. He tries to smile.
Speaking to Corentin, Brinya says, "He didn't say where he lost it, and I'd hope that had he known where, he would have been able to recover it." She frowns for a moment when asked about his recent activities, "He wouldn't tell me, but he had definitely been spending a lot of time doing research or investigation into something. He called it “his greatest work” but refused to share details with me.
To make matters even worse, his father finally find out our relationship, and repudiated Rodrik for betrothing himself to a [i]filthy half-orc." Her face becomes a bit sour at the last comment, and obviously she holds some pretty serious feelings towards the Grath family patriarch.
After a moment she composes herself, and asks, "They said he killed himself with his own hopeknife, which would have been mine. Might I look upon it one last time before it accompanies him to his final rest? It would mean so much to be able to hold it once more."
"You may certainly look on it but I don't believe it's yours as it lacks inscription. I had thought it was his own original knife but now that you say you were betrothed I realize that you must have that one. This raises the question of who's knife this is."
Corentin shows Brinya the knife in question.
"Have you heard of a book titled "The Other Side of Contempt"?
Brinya’s face suddenly grows sober. “That’s not Rodrik’s hopeknife,” she says levelly after examining the knife, “because his hopeknife was mine. At least, it used to be. When we got engaged, we traded hopeknives to symbolize our union, and had Sara Morninghawk engrave them with our love notes.” Pulling at her heavy silver necklace, Brinya reveals her own hopeknife dangling from the chain. “See? This was Rodrik’s hopeknife. It says, ‘For Brinya, my love.’ I don’t know where that hopeknife came from, but it’s not Rodrik’s. It’s not the knife I grew up with. Which means, he never recovered mine. As to the origin of that knife, the only person who would be able to shed light on that would be Sara herself.”
Brinya nods to the second question from the cavalier, "Of course, it was easily Rodrik’s most controversial poem among Trunauans. It is a tale of a young half-orc whose orc mother died when human raiders overran the orc settlement in which he grew up. Rodrik reined in his writing somewhat after it was created as many disliked it all together, though he privately claimed that his critics were simply too closed-minded to understand the deeper significance of his poem." She pauses a moment and adds, "It was never one of my favorites, but it was still beautiful in its own right. It wasn't a book however, merely a poem."
"Would you happen to have a copy of the poem? Do you recall if it referred to crossed white swords at all? Do you know if there was a specific incident that inspired his work?"
"Brinya, I hate to ask, but did Rodrick ever talk to you about the plague house or mention being afraid of anyone? We heard that a strange blonde half-orc was seen entering the boarding house and we found blonde hairs on the floorboards. Almost as if he were hiding beneath Rodrick's bed waiting for his return. I think he might have been Rodrick's killer."
Hannah reaches out her hand to comfort Brinya. This was hard news. "Wait, Rodrick's father disowned him? That's the first we have heard of this."
At Brinya's suggestion of speaking with Sara about the murder weapon Bellanie notes, to no one in particular "I guess we need to go talk with Sara again."
Nodding to Hannah, Brinya says with obvious distress, "Yes, he claimed that no blood of his would bed a mongrel."[b] Thinking for a moment, she adds, [b]"I don't think he ever mentioned the plague house, and I don't see why he would go there. That's a place of children's tales and the like, not something any adult would put stock into. However, I do think he was leaving the city proper at odd hours, so maybe there could be some truth to that."
She grips Hannah's hand firmly at her comforting words, "Please, find his killer. Bring them to justice. I want my love to know peace in the afterlife. When we are together once more I want to be able to tell him he was avenged." and she trails off into more sobbing.
"We're very thankful for your help, Brinya. All of Trunau stands with you; never forget it. We'll find the killer before you know it, and we'll see to it that justice be done." Finch says, solemn.
"We should probably be going. It's been a long, hard day for everyone; and I imagine you need your rest as much as we do, in these tough times."
Bellanie hops out of the seat at Finch's words "Good idea. Let's get some rest and meet up in the morning. Maybe see Sara first then head out to the plague house? Make sure you all prepare in case we face any possible threats." Before anyone says anything else she starts for the door ready to grab a snack and get some rest, her mind swirling from the events of the day.
Corentin thanks Brinya for her assistance and tells her, "Please be careful Brinya. Whatever is going on I fear it is not done yet. You were known to be close to Rodrik even if how close is not generally known. Please be careful until we can see an end to this."
With that he makes his goodbyes and heads out with Bellainie and the rest.
Before the party heads off to their homes for the night Corentin inquires if any still hold healing magics.
Afterwords he walks with Bella, Sasha and any others who reside at the Ramblehouse or the lower town. When they get there he greets Cham and does his best to convince her to provide a late evening meal for the hungry investigators. As the night grows even later he checks the exterior doors and then heads to his room. Removing his armor and weapons he takes a few minutes to look them over, clean and oil them before turning in for the night.
When the sun breaks the horizon Corentin rises and dresses. Heading first to stables he chats with the stable workers as he sees to Resolute's care. Brushing down and feeding the horse he speaks quietly to his old friend and finally puts on the beasts armor. Promising to return soon he returns to the Ramblehouse to see to breakfast and equip his own gear.