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Brinya's face suddenly grows sober. "That's not Rodrik's hopeknife," she says levelly, after examining the blade, "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."
"You see, Rodrik lost mine in the course of his investigation. I was furious with him when I found out last night and told him that I didn't want to see him until he had found it or otherwise made things right. If I had known... if only I had..." She breaks down into uncontrollable sobbing again.
Aisha's eyes widen slightly. "So if this isn't Rodrik's, or yours, it's not just the... murder weapon. It's the murder's hopeknife! Or... maybe a knife that they stole from someone if they were clever about it."
She tries to set a comforting hand on Brinya's shoulder. "It's alright. Well, maybe it's not. But it will get better."
"Do you know where he kept the journal?" Zeviel put in from the side. She was keeping a respectable distance. No need to crowd, in her opinion.
"Or where he investigated? Those would both be useful in retracing his steps."
You're doing great, Brinya. Anything you can remember will help, even small details.
Rokar tries his best to be encouraging, while not overwhelming the poor girl.
I wonder how hard it would be to find out who's missing their hopeknife? Maybe Sara could help, or even identify it...
Norasha gave Brinya an understanding look as if she herself knew what the half-orc was going through.
"Don't worry lass. We'll get to the bottom of this mystery. By the way what caused you to fall for Rodrik? And um...someone mentioned that Rodrik frequented the Sanctuary. Did he mention anything about that?"
"Good call, Boram," Zeviel says with a small smile down at the fellow.
"There was also a note addressed to a 'Melira' found at the scene. Any idea who that may be?" she asked Brinya.
Hold up everyone- just give the poor girl a chance to answer. Rokar says, gesturing towards Brinya.
Go ahead, Brinya. Anything else you can remember.
"Well, this has just been wonderfully enlightening. Can we go to the sanctuary now?" Zeviel asked, a tinge on annoyance coloring her words. She had wanted to go their first anyways.
Yes, but perhaps Brinya should come with us. If someone is out there looking for her, the safest place might be with us.
Rokar answers, his eyes darting towards Boram, who's still keeping watch at the door.
See anything going on out there, friend?
"We can't ask her to follow us all over town when she's like this," Aisha protests. "But..." She turns back to the sobbing woman. "Is there anywhere you can go where you don't have to be alone? Maybe with a friend that can keep an eye on you."
"Aye that would be a good idea Aisha."
The dwarf smiled at Aisha before giving Zeviel a glare for not showing a bit of sympathy for Brinya. She was going to give the elf a piece of her mind later on but not now.
Fair enough, Brinya, but please stay safe. If you need anything, we'll be heading to the Sanctuary to follow up on some other leads. Again, my regards.
Bowing towards the woman, Rokar takes a step towards the door.
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The first thing that you notice as you approach the Sanctuary is that besides the sizable white sword representing Iomedae's own holy sword that juts from the roof of the temple, a thick white cross or sword has been painted on the rock face behind the Sanctuary.
The inside of the temple is a hubbub of activity. Acolytes run hither and fro, performing tasks assigned to them, or delivering messages. A handful of people sit quietly, their heads bowed in prayer. Tyari Varvatos, the high priestess, performs a ritual at the pulpit.
"Thank ye lass for yer aid. You have been extremely helpful. And there an old dwarven custom: if two people who have fallen in love and plan to marry but one dies, they can be wedded in spirit so that their souls can be together for all eternity when they finally reunite in the next life. If you like I could perform the ritual for ye. It is an old custom and ritual done by the followers of Bolka, and as one of her paladins, me be happy to perform it for ye. No need to make a decision now, just let me know whenever you're ready."
With that said, Norasha said goodbye to Brinya, and after saying a prayer to Torag to watch over the half-orc woman and protect her, and quickly followed the others.
"Say ye maybe onto something Boram. Very odd someone would go to the trouble to mark those places. Me thinks this be connected with the mystery of Rodrik's murder. He could have found out these marks be part of a plan to destroy key points for an invasion or a plot to disrupt the town. What do y'all think?"
The dwarven paladin began wondering especially given the fact that this mystery was creating more questions and unveiling few answers.
"I think until we identify their meaning that no such conclusions should be drawn yet. It'll only taint the investigation. We should make a note and set it to the side without speculating until more evidence is found. Too early to make such assumptions now. It's a big jump to go from murder to 'tactical invasion targets marked with graffiti' when only two such symbols have been found. We have as much evidence that it's a few local kids as we do hinting it's some sort of organized infiltration operation."
Zeviel moved forward, filing the symbol away for a later time and continuing into the sanctuary.
"Excuse me, but is Katrezra around?" she asks the first person she sees once entering.
And how long do you think until the Priestess is available? This is unfortunately a very serious, and official, inquiry.
Rokar tries his best to be respectful while conveying the gravity of the situation.
I wonder what that ritual is for? It probably wouldn't hurt me to be at least a bit more familiar with the goings on of the Sanctuary- especially after all they've done for me. I can't even recall the last time I was here...
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"'Tis but a simple prayer for a fallen church member. She should be no more than a few moments."
True to his word, the ritual lasts no more than 10 minutes, after which high priestess Tyari leaves the family to pray in peace. She speaks briefly to the acolyte, before joining you.
"Akhem has informed me that you wish to visit Katrezra. I wish that I could be of assistance to you. You see, Katrezra is no longer here. He was gone when I awoke this morning, and has told no one where he went. I feel that, given his condition, he can't have gone far and I feel certain that he would not leave Trunau. He sought sanctuary in the church long ago, and has become a devout follower of the Inheritor."
"I do not suspect foul play, as his bed was neatly made, though it does seem odd that he would leave on the same day that Rodrik's body was found." The woman walks as she speaks, bidding you to follow.
By the damned Gods, what is going on here? Now Katrezra is missing? I didn't think I'd be tracking down half the town today...
Rokar does a particularly poor job concealing the disappointment and confusion on his face from the rest of the group, before letting out an audible sigh and following Tyari.
I hope she's taking us to his quarters, at least. Best to start there if I'm to track him down...
"Oh, that's... unfortunate. Did he have anywhere that he liked to go? Somewhere to start looking?"
"I see. So he just disappeared? That's quite odd. But like Aisha asked, is there anywhere he would have gone to?"
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"I'm afraid I couldn't begin to say where he might have gone, or why. Unfortunately, I can be of no more help in your investigation. Iomedae’s light shines on those who seek the truth, however, and
you are always welcome at this Sanctuary should you need healing or other assistance from the church. You may feel free to investigate his quarters, if you wish." She opens the door to a small, neatly-kept room.
Well Boram, what do you think? Care to take a look around?
Rokar steps into the center of the room, and after glancing around briefly, sniffs the air in the room, searching for a unique smell that he could attribute to Ketrezra.
Hopefully he hasn't been gone for too long...
"Just curious here, but how did Katrezra come here in the first place? And we heard that he usually had prophetic dreams and visions. Do you know anything about these as well?"
Norasha wanted to make sure they didn't leave any clue uncovered if you will.
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He claimed to have visions. I cannot vouch for their prophetic accuracy, but I do believe that they were more than mere hallucinations. Iomedae moves in mysterious ways. As for how he came to be here..."
"I can answer that," a handsome human male says in a deep basso voice.
"Ah, Brantos," Tyari says with an air of urgency. "Brantos Calderon is a trusted knight of Iomedae. If anyone here knows Katrezra better, I have no knowledge of them." She turns to leave, satisfied that you are in good hands.
"Katrezra came to us a refugee from some orc tribe or other. He had suffered greatly in both mind and body for his time among them. He has proven himself a loyal citizen of Trunau time and again, and while he has no love for his kin, he does have a soft spot for fellow half-orcs. As for where he might have gone," he says, as if sensing your next question, "I have no idea, but he does have many friends in town."
"Looks that way. Say before we go, do ye mind if we see Rodrik's body? Maybe he has a clue on him. It's possible the murderer drop something on him."
Norasha then asked, "By the way, have you noticed anything unusual lately?"
And who exactly did Katrezra associate with? Rokar says, quickly tacking on another pair of questions to the end of Norasha's query, or where do you think he might be?
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"You're free to take a look," Brantos responds to Norasha's question. "Follow me.
He leads you down into the basement of the structure, addressing Rokar's question as he goes. "Mostly just Rodrik, though some of the children enjoyed his stories. Most people avoided Katrezra. I was usually the one who took care of him when the acolytes were busy elsewhere."
You arrive in the basement room where Rodrik's body is being stored until the funeral. The room is unlit and very cold; your breath forms wisps of vapor when you breathe or speak. Rodrik's body is laid out on a stone table, his arms folded neatly across his chest. It is obvious at a glance that his wrists have been slit and that he died from blood loss.
Aisha follows the group in near silence, heading down to the basement with everyone else. She approaches the body quietly and looks down at the man. "May you journey forward in peace," she says softly, looking down at the body. "And may the Lady of Graves judgment be fair and kind to your soul." She carefully examines the body with her eyes, not wanting to touch his corpse. It feels wrong to paw at him when he's barely cold.
Norasha examines the body, trying to see if she noticed anything odd or out of place.
Rest easy, friend. Rokar bows his head down in respect for the dead.
But hrmm, I wonder...
Rokar sniffs the air in the basement, curious to see if he notices any more of the Orc smell that was present at the Ramblehouse that morning, or anything else out of place.
"Aye Boram has a good point there," the dwarf said in reply to the halfling's actions and words.
"Well nothing I can tell from examining his body. Has anyone tried speaking his spirit?" She turns and looks at Brantos.
"I see. Well that's going to be a bother. I guess we have exhausted everything we could do here."
Zeviel looks over the body with a certain detachment. "So we've got a missing prophet. Rarely a good omen, that. We should keep our eyes and ears peeled for any signs of her. Urnsul is probably our best bet for now, Boram, I agree."
She pauses and thinks a moment.
"We need to find his journal. Rodrik's I mean."