"Did you 'create' the corpse of Nan Klebem, whose face we found without her body at Morast's burial ground? Are the tools we found with her face YOUR tools?"
"Please bring forth the large skin...thing that was discovered outside the cabinet," Lorant says.
Good idea, the Doktor says quietly, Was thinking the same thing myself.
"Mr. Vorkstag, you've stated you find it useful to appear as different people. What use would you have possibly had for THIS appearance?"
|
The creature on the stand turns his face aside. "I decline to answer," he says, matter-of-factly. The chief justice pounds the gavel and says, "The defendant will answer the question!" With a sigh, Vorkstag says, "I used it to appear as the Beast while performing our work." A murmur runs through the courtroom.
"If it please the court, I would ask Mr. Vorkstag to don this "outfit." Should my hypothesis be correct, we should find marks similar to those of this caiman skull's teeth on this outfit, proving that the creature witnessed by Elder Lazne, Calvin and the other residents of Morast was in fact not our client, the Beast of Lepidstadt, but Mr. Vorkstag disguised as him to frame him for the heinous acts he and Mr. Grine were committing!" Lorant says, making a grand gesture between the frightening disguise and the even more frightening man who had worn it.
And guard him thrice well lest he use this as an effort and incentive to attempt escape!
Dylan moves to block off possible escape routes.
He is too relaxed, too antagonistic, does he know something we dont, expecting some type of rescue?
Lorant approaches Vorkstag, looking him over to see any specific areas of the disguise that look torn or savaged, caiman skull in hand.
The doktor is on the balls of his feet, ready to move, but turns to the jury.
And there! THERE you have your beast!
|
|
The courtroom bursts into shocked cries and shouted commentary, but the gavel again sounds, silencing them. "It is clear that the beast witnessed by Elder Lazne was, in fact, this creature clad in the skin of a monster. However, this does not clear the beast of the remaining charges. This trial will continue on the morrow with a discussion of the events in Hergstag. Until then, this court is in recess!" As the beast is led from the courtroom, the unruly crowd boos and jeers the monster and those who would defend it.
Gustav Kaple meets you in the Defense Chamber. "You have done well, my friends, but I fear this trial is far from over. You should probably go to Hergstag to investigate the happenings there before the morrow." It is currently 2 PM.
How secure is the prison that bugger is held in? He is some type of fae, do they have cold Iron laced cells? Some of them can summon more of their kind.
Dylan speaks.
Yes, let us head off to Hergstag
As they left the courthouse, tension finally left Judah's body. Considering how sideways their little heist had gone, he wasn't sure the situation could have turned out any better.
"Hopefully that lady we found wakes up in time to testify," he muttered. "Nice work in there Lorant."
"Thank you, Judah," Lorant replies with a nod. "I didn't get a chance to interrogate Grine, see what their part in this horror story was, but there'll probably be another trial for them later."
"So where the hell is Hergstag?" Judah asked.
Lorant thinks on Judah's question.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
|
|
The Beast’s second alleged crime is the murder of six children in Hergstag, formerly a small, religious farming community in the Dippelmere Swamp. Now abandoned and overgrown, the village of Hergstag lies some 10 miles northwest of Lepidstadt. The farmland has fallen to ruin, and now
even the well-trodden pathways around the area are difficult to follow. The crops have gone to seed and high corn grows everywhere, affecting visibility and providing concealment as light undergrowth. In the northern portion of the village, the land turns into deep bog. It takes only a short time to ride to the former community.
"Charming place," Judah deadpanned as they crested a small hill and finally saw the abandoned village over the overgrown corn. "I love the lively atmosphere."
Agreed... let's investigate the graveyard first, then I suppose the homes or what's left. You'd think they'd have more information in their charge docket about HOW the beast supposedly killed these children? Buuuut noooooo... just straight to "burn the witch", or monster in this case. Gods forbid if one of the chickens didn't lay eggs that day...
"I've been gone a long time," Lorant says quietly when Hergstag comes into view and he realizes it's naught but ruins. "There were people when last I was here...it's...I don't know how to say it. Very rarely do I return to a place and find it's just...gone."
As Mathus makes his assessment, Lorant nods.
"The people who lived here, and who live in many places around Ustalav, were simple and had simple fears. That's part of why I moved around so much. Grayce was used to me, I was the weird kid the village priestesses had adopted, but everywhere else I could never stay long before they might notice time passing for them and not for me. I wonder if that's how elves feel sometimes. Maybe that's why you don't really see elves in Ustalav all that often."
He nudges Margravine forward to where it appears the cemetery might be.
Understood, not going to bare my fangs.
With any proposed murder, what is the motive? Not a question to ask either, as superstition "its a monster!!!" would answer it perfectly.
Do we have a short list of alternative suspects? Of means that could be used to shift into our clients shape? I have relatives who could, if they also had an enlarge person potion, which is acquireable easily enough.
He trods along.
I thought my time of grave robbing would be done once I finished medical school but that Judge calls in a favour and Viola!, I'm back to digging up graves again.
He looks sideways at his friends.
Hey... it's what was done where I studied. The anatomy professors were keen to save money on professional corpse thieves.
"I'd rather trust an amateur like you than pay for the likes of Vorkstag and Grine," Lorant replies. "You at least have a moral compass."
Hmm, moral compass? I guess I have one? Rule number 1: Outsiders should only be on Golarion if invited. Rule number 2: Leave kids alone. Rule number 3: My contract binds me. Rule number 4: In case client turns out to be an Eldritch abomination, or is in thrall to any entity seen as currently invading Golarion, such as Baphomet, Deskari and some others, by the main Mercenary liason of the Pathfinder chapter of Absalom,
my contract does not bind me. Its literally written in the contract.
He pauses
Guess what really pisses me off, yep, murdering kids. So lets solve this and bring the true twerp to preferably brutal and permanent justice.
Agreed.
"At the Professor's place I had a lot of time to kill while the rest of you were asleep. Mostly I tried to figure out how to keep my new monster friends from casually murdering people. So, there was this book in Lorrimer's library. 'The Scale and the Sword.' It's all about the morality of using weapons. It helped to a point." He picked up the bronce pyramid hanging from his belt. "If I think about this thing like a sword, it makes me weigh which situations are worth unsheathing it."
"It gave me a lot to think about, but I can't get past the part where it was written by an Abadaran priest inside a fancy temple, you know? Morals and codes of ethics are great for people who already know where they're going to sleep, and where their next meal is going to come from. Anyone who can afford to have them should have them."
"I just don't think it's right to sit somewhere comfortable and judge the actions of desperate people."
Hmmm, my experience is that you very much can have some morals while poor, to an extent to protect you from yourself, it also tells me that people who profess few morales... Well, the ones they do have, they actually posess, and are willing to fight for. Meanwhile, the very prim and proper, frequently they just run. The burly man speaks, uncommonly introspective.
All terms I have stated I am willing to fight for. He speaks, almost like a Mantra.
"At the Professor's place I had a lot of time to kill while the rest of you were asleep. Mostly I tried to figure out how to keep my new monster friends from casually murdering people. So, there was this book in Lorrimer's library. 'The Scale and the Sword.' It's all about the morality of using weapons. It helped to a point." He picked up the bronce pyramid hanging from his belt. "If I think about this thing like a sword, it makes me weigh which situations are worth unsheathing it."
"It gave me a lot to think about, but I can't get past the part where it was written by an Abadaran priest inside a fancy temple, you know? Morals and codes of ethics are great for people who already know where they're going to sleep, and where their next meal is going to come from. Anyone who can afford to have them should have them."
"I just don't think it's right to sit somewhere comfortable and judge the actions of desperate people."
"Very insightful, Judah," Lorant comments.
Hmmm, my experience is that you very much can have some morals while poor, to an extent to protect you from yourself, it also tells me that people who profess few morales... Well, the ones they do have, they actually posess, and are willing to fight for. Meanwhile, the very prim and proper, frequently they just run. The burly man speaks, uncommonly introspective.
All terms I have stated I am willing to fight for. He speaks, almost like a Mantra.
"And I am glad for that, Dylan," Lorant says with a nod. Let's go...I suspect we'll want to do as much investigating as we can while we have daylight left."
|
|
and the creature is held immobile.
Spotting the trap, Lorant stops Margravine just in time.
"Whoa! Whoa, Margravine!" he says. Then he points out what he'd seen. "Bear trap...either that's been here a while or...we're not alone here."
What trap I dont see the mercenary is sensible and experienced enough to stop talking and also moving. Ironically with his right foot in mid air, about 15 cm away from stepping into the trap himself.
He slowly moves his right leg back one step, then walks back another step.
Care to point out excatly where? Also, do you perceive it linked to an alarm element?
Experienced trap finder himself, Mathus examines it.
"Nice, free bear trap!" Judah grinned. "Usually the alarm element on these things is the swearing and screaming."
"Keep an eye out while I deal with it. Oh, and don't wander around. These things tend to get put out in groups."
Lorant chuckles a bit at Judah's joke.
"Handy for zombie-culling too. They don't make as much noise, since they don't feel pain, but it holds them in place which prevents them from swarming you, enabling you to hack them apart with relative ease."
Never thought of that... curious.
Proper tactics, kind of lacking the grease pits which I would recommend vs Zombie swarms. Dylan adds.
Most dangerous Undeads I encounter so far were ghouls, very annoying as I have like, considerable concerns about biting them, which limits me to me Bardiche. Never personally encountered any of the ethereal ones, I woulnt be very effective against them.
"Speaking of tactics, we should single file through this area, just in case there's more of these," Judah said as he attached the trap to his pack where a bedroll would have gone if he had one. "When we get paid for this job, I'm going to get one of those fancy magic backpacks. I've always wanted one of those."
Not a bad choice!
"One of the most useful items in an arsenal, whether you're an adventurer or a knight," Lorant agrees, taking Margravine into line with the rest of the party to avoid more traps.
I thought this place to be abandoned, he moves a bit forward then beckons to the child.
Come here... we won't hurt you, he says kneeling.