Mathus was happy indeed to be headed back and hope they'd not hit any problems on the way.
...right. Ask Lorant to recap all of that later.
Cassiel gets up and follows.
Lets report in to the lawyer and check the beast for Caiman bites...
Lorant leads the way to returning to Barrister Kaple's office so they may report in to him.
Lorant strokes his chin as they check the Beast over.
"No bite marks...so we know whatever the people of Morast saw fighting that blood caiman that night, it wasn't you. That's good."
He turns to Kaple.
"Remind me again, what is the exact nature of the accusation against our client in regards to Morast?"
"You have names?"
And other locations for us to investigate? If all prove as decisive as the last this case won't stand.
"Odds are these victims suffered the same fate at that trapper whose remains we discovered at the scene. We should consider a response to the inevitable attempt by the prosecution to paint our client as attempting to make a "human suit" of the skins of multiple victims as they are quite larger than the average human," Lorant comments.
Cassiel had more or less tuned out of the whole conversation--and was abruptly jolted out of his daydreaming by the mention of a 'human suit'.
He shifts from foot to foot and tries to disguise that little fact.
Judah was very much paying attention, but still had a very similar reaction to the discussion of making suits out of people.
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The barrister nods his head at Judah's request for names. "I can get them for you. The second crime of which it stands accused is the murder of six children in the village of Hergstag in the Dimplemere Swamp. Third is the arson attack on the asylum of Sanctuary on Karb Island. This resulted in the fiery deaths of the administrator, Doctor Brada and all of his patients, and blinded the doctor's assistant, Karl."
Which is closer?
So be it.
"I doubt we'll have the chance to make it to Hergstag tonight, though," Lorant comments.
The doktor grins as he puts on his coat.
What a shame.
Ive rented a loft room not far from the center of town... it even has a bath tub available. I will be sure to make use of both. Shall we meet at your hotel just before dawn?
Lorant shakes his head.
"I'm going to make a few more inquiries around Lepidstadt while we still have time today. We should follow up on these tools we found in the swamp, see if anyone recognizes them, or if any local surgeons have reported them missing. And more importantly, if any local surgeons have made regular trips out of town in the past year."
Now that? That I can do... I am known to many within my profession. Let's go to a shop or two specialising in surgical tools and then find a few colleges. My bath can wait for that.
"You think they were stolen?" Judah said, a bit surprised. "Tools this specialized and high quality seem like they'd be custom jobs. If we find out who made them, they might be able to just tell us who they were made for. Is there a craftsman's stamp on them anywhere?"
"I doubt it, but we can't rule out the possibility," Lorant comments on Judah's question. He pulls the tools out and takes a closer look at them, checking for any maker's mark.
Cassiel gets to work asking questions about the errant craftsman.
Lorant, not one to give up a chase once he's caught the scent, continues to make inquiries.
It had really only been a few months since Judah had left his old life behind, but it felt like years. Now, that old life seemed like it might come in handy.
These surgeon's tools were a bit more modern than the stuff his acquaintances were used to dealing with, but Judah had a well deserved reputation as a useful idiot. It had never been his job to know how old something was, or how valuable. That would play to his advantage here.
He slipped one of the tools out of their case, and vanished into the city to track down old connections.
for
After an hour of finding out people don't want to talk to him late in the day, he resolves to try again after circling back to his friends and spends a copper for a waif to run a message back to their tavern that he'll see them at dawn.
Lorant has no better luck before the end of the evening, a grim expression on his face as he rejoins the others.
"I don't like it when the quarry goes to ground like this. We were so close..." he grouses.
Judah wanders in to join the others for a late meal and says "I got a lead."
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Judah, you discover that the raven symbol on the tools is a maker’s mark used by Zbraslav Hora and Sons, who have a workshop on the tiny
Anatomists’ Alley. There is little more to be done after dark, so the group settles into the inn. The next day (unless anyone wants to RP, in which case, please do), you can resume your search.
I am assuming that a visit to Mr. Hora is in order.
Zbraslav Hora is a bookish, taciturn man who wears thick spectacles. He greets you as you enter his shop with a brief nod, and watches you carefully.
Before sunset, Lorant sees fit to purchase ground coffee and the means to prepare it from a popular cafe for the University's students. One of the benefits of being in a much more cosmopolitan place than Ravengro meant his habit was more easily accessible, and such places usually were open a little further into the evening than the average business.
I've not visited Herr Hora's establishment before, this will be interesting.
Greetings Master Hora, I am Doktor Kohlheim, I have studied under many of the professors at the university, and am hoping you can help us with a few inquiries?
He lays out the tools on the counter.
What can you tell us about these tools sir?
Lorant greets Master Hora politely, mentioning his status as a Knight briefly before letting Mathus do the talking. The Doktor was in his element here, talking shop with a fellow professional, in a way he hadn't been out in the marshes.
Judah let the others go in without him. He didn't know who these craftsmen were, and chances were they just made specialty tools and had nothing to do with any of the unpleasantness those tools had been used for.
That said, Judah was a paranoid cynic.
Can you keep out of sight and watch the back door for me? he thought to his ever present companion. If anyone leaves, let me know and follow them.
He felt like something was being pulled from within him. What the hell was that?"
A̵̝̱̝̘̦̣͔ ̪̠̱̼͇d͉͖̪i̸̼̯̲̻͓͎f̡̺̠̪f̱e̺͔͕͔̺̝͎r̛͙͇̲͖̲̯e͓̼̪̩̺͘nt͙̭̠̦ ͇͉̯̬̭͚́ͅc̗̳̣̭o̶̫̦̱̩ͅn҉̫̼͔̤͓͍̘f̩̥͍̘͓͈i̡̹̞g͙̪̮̠͙͉͠u͡r̳̼͈̫a̩t̫͔̖̬̳ͅi̱̳̺͙̯̭̦o̝̭ ͚n̻͔͚͍̱̘ w͈̙̣̝a̝̹̖̥s̡̹ ̼̮ͅn̞͎͓͉e̷̤̼e̝̘͚͎͠d̻̤͜e̡̥̣d̮̻̳̤ ̬̩ͅt̝̝̲̖͙o̵͙͎̝͉̹͙ ̬̣̠͞c̢͎̠̻̗̖͚o͉̠͔̣m̳̰̼̭̹̟̳̕p̮l̫̹̰̻̹̗et̨̖̖̬ḛ ̖̗̮̻͕͇́y̷͍̥͕̫ou͔r̴̤̦ ͈̲̜͕̗̫̫r͙eq͎̼͈ͅụ̻̬͔̫̫̪͝e͇s̻͎͚t͓̰̘̘͓̪͟ the thing in his head said in a thousand stitched-together whispers.
A different configuration? What's that mean? Judah asked as he watched his companions speak to the proprietor from the front door.
T̻̟͖̤̣͚́he̝̺ ̙̖f̙̭͎̦̥̜̝l̳̻͔e̦̝͙̗̮̮̻͘s̰h̙̜̪̭̱̙ ̗̱̰̻̪h҉̮̱̮̘̰͎̻a̖͕͝s̘̼̻̰̰̞̳͟ ̧̯̻͚͓̬̼͇b̢̞e̞̦̣͕͢é̠̻͖̦̤̺n̢̜ ͔͢s̝̥͇͇̘h̬̻͚͔̝̘̹e̱̝d̸͍͍͙̙͕͙͉,̗̙̣͈̳ ̴̖̠͎̩r̤̹̰ͅe҉͈̰p̹͇͓̺̫l̯̜̤̱̳̺a̧̪c̙̱̘̫̹e҉̥̦̺͚d ͅwi̗̲͚͝t̹̱̯̪̯ẖ̭̣ ̷͚e̬̯̗̯ͅͅa̮͓̭̙̼̤r̝̪̬̗t̛͎̤̞̫͓̙͍h͙ ̡̹à͎n̜̱͕̣̘d̫̜̰͇͚̲͍ ̠͎͕̮͓͉͡s͍̙̤̝̗̲͔̀t̢͓̤̱̮̠̤̗o̼̘͉̤̞͝n̛e̬̱̤, the thing said.
You can do that? Just make yourself into whatever you want? Judah asked, surprised and a bit worried.
"We̤̫͖ͅ ̯̦ar̮͞e̻͘ ̡̰̗͕͍̩w̢̩̹̝h̞̗̜̥ͅa҉̝̖̣͓̰̭̠t̢̺̦͕ ̸̠̠̳̯̼͚̟y̱͈̗o̞u̫̬̗̫̙ͅͅ ̸n̸e͔̗̰e̢͈̳̣̯̼͍̜d ̸̮̘̠us̻̜̘͎̪ ̤̤͢t͚̩̗̳͝o̻͖̣̤͞ ͈̱̞̻̞b̸̩̲e̥̥̫͖̰" the thing answered.
for Hours.
The Doktor is pretty sure he knows the right people to talk to but... some of these people need persuasion.
Cassiel goes with Mathus to make sure nothing is overlooked.