Lyriah pulls a stick from the burnt out wagon and speaks in strange tounges as she makes complicated hand signs over the stick. Within seconds the stick begins to glow as if aflame. Once she finishes her spell, Lyriah hands the stick to Durandel.
“You may want to enlist the help of the others as well, there’s no telling what might be lurking out there in the shadows this night.” She says with a shiver looking out into the desert.
Lyriah and Durandel look around the pens for a bit, re-lighting the stick when necessary, but the jumble of goat and sheep tracks give no clue as to what happened to Rombard.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear. Did you say, ‘gnoll expert’?” Lyriah asks Hadrod. “What exactly makes someone a ‘Gnoll expert’, and why would the Lady need one?”
"I see," Reza says, rubbing at the three days of stubble growing on his jawline, and finds himself wishing, not for the first time, for a decent bath and shave. "Where might I find this Dashki, now?"
"What? I don't know anything about it! I was eating dinner at the campfire when it started. Who said I did it? They're lying! I was just making sure you newcomers are doing a good job!"
Tariq makes his way towards Lyriah and Durandel. "The healer has also indicated that Dashki may have had ill will towards the fortune teller. He seems over interested in Almah. He also said that save for those with us, the mercenaries were all with him at the firepit before the blaze started."
Because a few of the group are getting back together, Garavel goes over to join them, bringing Novid with him.
When he joins Lyriah, Durandel, and Tariq, he adds, "Perhaps you should also speak with the mercenaries. I have my own suspicions, but would not wish to influence the investigation."
Because a few of the group are getting back together, Garavel goes over to join them, bringing Novid with him.
When he joins Lyriah, Durandel, and Tariq, he adds, "Perhaps you should also speak with the mercenaries. I have my own suspicions, but would not wish to influence the investigation."
“That may be a good suggestion, but before we do, perhaps you can explain why the lady needs a ‘Gnoll Expert’?” Lyriah counters, knowing full well he was trying to influence the investigation. “Everyone knows a good gnoll is a dead gnoll, so what is the purpose of any expert?”
Garavel shrugs.
"Of course, the primary law in Katapesh is that you shall not interfere with business, and some times gnolls may be useful for business. So say the Pactmasters. And we are all agents of the Pactmasters. So you may wish to be careful about what you say about citizens with the full rights of Katapesh."
"That said, we are looking to reclaim a village from gnolls which have unlawfully occupied it, so the Lady believes it is best to have somebody who can advise on the habits and tactics of our opponents."
Garavel shrugs.
"Of course, the primary law in Katapesh is that you shall not interfere with business, and some times gnolls may be useful for business. So say the Pactmasters. And we are all agents of the Pactmasters. So you may wish to be careful about what you say about citizens with the full rights of Katapesh."
"That said, we are looking to reclaim a village from gnolls which have unlawfully occupied it, so the Lady believes it is best to have somebody who can advise on the habits and tactics of our opponents."
“What is it that makes him a ‘Gnoll Expert’? Or rather how has he become such an expert?” Lyriah asked earnestly.
Reza thanks the guards for their help, and begins looking around to find Dashki. If he cannot do so, he'll rejoin the others and share what information he has learned.
Reza sees the mercenaries are sitting around a cookfire, sharing a skin of some beverage. He also sees where his companions have gathered together, and that Tydus is approaching them with a young man.
When the group gets together, they smell Tydus' companion before they can see him clearly. He is a mangy, sour-looking, young man with greasy hair and overwhelming body odour. He is dressed in filthy rags, and the group can see he walks with a slight limp as he approaches.
"What do you want? I didn't do anything!"
Reza holds up his hands, palms out, an easy smile on his face. He tries to make his body language as un-threatening as possible.
"Be at ease, sir," he says. "No one's accusing anyone of anything." Well, not yet anyway, the Farsi thinks to himself, if they young man's behaviour is anything to go by. "Are you Dashki? We just wanted to ask you some questions about what you saw before the fire started."
The man seems unfriendly, but glances at Garavel and answers, "Yes, I'm Dashki. I didn't see anything. I was just eating my dinner at the fire. I didn't do anything wrong!"
Reza nods his head sympathetically, giving Dashki a soft smile.
"I see," he says. "The others mentioned you were an expert on gnolls. Is this area part of their territory?"
"Of course! All of the wildlands are claimed by the gnolls. And we are near Kelmarane, as the lady wished."
(Whoa. That was definitely a crappy typing job on my part).
"Dashki," Reza says, his smile never leaving his lips, though his eyes have hardened. He crosses his broad arms over his chest.
"This really would go better if you explained what you saw. You weren't at the fire. You were guarding the camels. This we already know. So, please, let us hear the truth, now, as you stand before a Farsi of Sarenrae."
[/i]
Dashki licks his lips.
"They're probably blaming me, aren't they??"
"I had nothing to do with the fire! How do we even know if somebody set it? That old fool burned a hundred candles in his wagon! Maybe he just got unlucky."
Dashki licks his lips.
"They're probably blaming me, aren't they??"
"I had nothing to do with the fire! How do we even know if somebody set it? That old fool burned a hundred candles in his wagon! Maybe he just got unlucky."
[dice=No reason Reza]1d20
[dice=No reason Lyriah]1d20
[dice=No reason Tydus]1d20+2
[dice=No reason Tariq]1d20+7
[dice=No reason Durandel]1d20+6
[dice=No reason Novid]1d20** spoiler omitted **
“How would you know he burned a hundred candles? Were you there that night? No one is blaming you for his death, but if you were there, you should tell us everything that happened or people may start blaming you. If you don’t speak up now, you will look guilty, then not even we could help you. I don’t think it would be fair for them to blame you without hearing your side, do you?” Lyriah Said earnestly.
"Maybe not a hundred. He burned lots all the time! I wasn't there!"
“Anyone bear a grudge against the old man?” Rena asks, attempting to stay patient with the man’s frequent protestations.
"I don't know. I think I heard the priest call him a fraud before. And you can't trust those mercenaries. But it was probably just bad luck."
His voice trails off a bit towards the end.
Speaking up for the first time, Tariq confronts the 'Gnoll Expert', with genuine anger in his voice.
"It is obvious to everyone here that you are hiding something, and it is common knowledge about the camp that you were jealous of the seer and of the amount of time Alma spent with him. Jealous of how she heeded his words. All of the Mercenaries have been accounted for... as has everyone else in the camp."
"Perhaps you didn't intend to start the fire, or perhaps you didn't intend for him to be burned to death. Maybe you just wanted to warn him off. Speak up now and speak only the truth, and you may yet find mercy, though it is not we who will judge you. It is only in truth that you will find leniency and mercy."
"Stop trying to wheedle your way out of this. Be a man. Speak the truth."
Dashki sulks.
"I had nothing to do with the fire. I was... somewhere else. I admit I didn't like the old fraud deceiving the Lady, but I had nothing to do with the fire. It was just bad luck."
"Who knows? This is gnoll country. Bad luck sometimes means pugwampis. That's probably it! The jackal rats are to blame!"
Dashki sulks.
"I had nothing to do with the fire. I was... somewhere else. I admit I didn't like the old fraud deceiving the Lady, but I had nothing to do with the fire. It was just bad luck."
"Who knows? This is gnoll country. Bad luck sometimes means pugwampis. That's probably it! The jackal rats are to blame!"
“If you weren’t there, then where were you? Only the truth can set you free. Please help yourself. As I said it would be unfair for you to be blamed for something you didn’t do.” Lyriah said, hoping her ‘good cop’ would contrast Tariq’s obvious ‘bad cop’.
"Agreed, Lyriah," Reza says, adding his voice to hers in the 'good cop' element to the routine.
OOC: If possible, will aid another?
"Yes! Yes! It was probably pugwampis! Horrible creatures what crawled up from the Darklands. They worship gnolls as gods, and infest their communities. Wherever pugwampis go, bad luck follows. The gnolls hate them, and try to wipe them out, but they always come back. They could've caused the fortune-man's candles to set the wagon on fire. It was probably them!"
Dashki's eyes drift downwards, "For me, I was watching the Lady's tent to make sure she was safe."
"No, you were guarding the camels," Reza says, shaking his head in annoyance at the Dashki. "At least, according to the other guards."
Lyriah turns to Durandel and begins reciting, as if directly from a well known textbook.
“Pugwampis are of the Fey family under the Genus of the Gremlin. All are know to curse or destroy that which has been built or worked on by any other living being. These creatures are well known for their malevolent nature and should be eradicated anywhere they are found. They, like most Fey, are resistant to most weapons, but their biology is averse to sedimentary ironstone.”
Lyriah pauses in her dissertation and looks about at everyone’s faces as though just noticing they were there, then adds, “I mean, you can kill them with cold iron.”
Now obviously embarised from her dissertation’s outburst, Lyriah manages a nervous smile, which almost seems more like a facial twitch. But just as quickly as the embarrassment invaded her features, a look of understanding spreads across her face, all signs of the embarrassment gone.
“No, Reza. I think I believe him.”
“You were watching the lady, weren’t you?” She said to Dashki. Then in a low voice almost quiet enough for only Dashki to hear, “You like her don’t you?”
"I went to guard the camels after the fire started."
Dashki looks sheepish at Lyriah's statement and shrugs.
Garavel leans in and whispers in Reza's ear.
Reza looks at Garavel, and whispers back.
"I do not want this boy's blood on my conscience if he did not commit a crime. He is lying, yes, but, did he actually start the fire?"
Lyriah moved closer to the young man, despite the smell. Over the years Lyriah had grown accustom to the peculiar smell of humans, but this young man tested her desire to douse him with enough water to put out ten fires. Placing a hand on his shoulder to give him support she said, “I know. The heart wants what the heart wants, but Dashki, if someone did start the fire with the intent to kill, they may kill again. Even the Lady could be next. You must tell us everything you know, so we can stop this person.”
Dashki spreads his hands.
"I can tell you nothing more. It was probably pugwampis."
Garavel suggests, "If we have no further leads, perhaps we should report to the Lady."
In a softer voice, he adds, "I'm sure she will find him guilty."
“Yes. Perhaps we should report to the Lady.” Lyriah said, then added almost under her breath. “I’m curious to see how the Lady will find him.”
Lyriah’s gaze remained steadily on Dashki as she spoke, but there was no malice in the look, only curcomspect curiosity.
Reza thanks Dashki for his time, and follows the group back to the lady’s tent.
As they walk, he shakes his head in annoyance.
“I do not believe the boy was responsible for the fire, though his lies do not help him. Let us hope the lady does not jump to conclusions.”
Tariq also follows the group, though remaining silent, considering all that had been said.
The list of suspects may be very short, but to his mind, they had found nothing that proved Dashki did or did not light the fire... either intentionally or not. One unfortunate truth of humanity was that everybody lies. The hard part was figuring out 'about what' and 'why'.
Garavel escorts the adventurers in to see Almah again.
She asks them to report on their findings.
Reza bows politely to Almah, and offers what little information he had received from the guards--that they had witnessed Dashki looking around near Almah's tent, but that he had been guarding the camels when the fire happened.
He mentions the boy's evasiveness, but that he suspects this was caused by the dislike from the guards.
The Farsi then waits for the others to share their information.
Lyriah watches Almah and Garavel quietly with her detect magic spell still active. Hoping to glean more information about Dashki’s behaviour and perhaps a clue as to what actually happened she tries to determine their motives as well.