Trimar looked over towards Gawain "We got nothing useful over here! You?" he yelled to the man. He sheathed his sword "I'd recommend expressing your remorse in front of the King when we bring you in. Regardless of whom will take your plea and your story, show remorse and pray to whatever you hold dear that you are given a chance to prove yourself a changed man." he said as he produces a pair of well made manacles and secured his prisoner.
Should anyone give him a weird look, he'd shrug "What...you don't carry something to secure someone on you at all times?"
"Let's see the letter," Gawain commands, turning to the man when the mage proves uncooperative.
Rion nods. "Yes. We must have answers for the king." He draws a rope from his pack and begins binding the leader.
The man who was not locked in manacles gave Gawain an odd look. "What letter?" He asked with a half shrug.
"None of them ever read the letter, I might not be the best fighter but I'm not a idiot. I wouldn't give the underlings where I get the information from. That would cut me out." The bandit leader said as Rion tied him up. "The letter is in my room, down the hall, next to the cell you found the girl in." He said.
Seeing Rion tie up the leader, Gawain decides to go fetch the letter...
After cleaning her sword and re-sheathing it, Catriona went with Sir Gawain to make sure that if there were any surprises left, he wouldn't be alone.
The bandit leader's room is a bit of a cluttered place, but the desk was the main focus of the whole room. There among everything is a letter only able to be found with such ease because the parchment was vastly different from everything else.
To those who might be of uses
There is a small task I wish to have done and along with this letter you will find the coin for the job. Know that if you do not perform the task and not return the coin you and yours will be razed without a second thought. Follow the instructions below and more coin will be sent.
You are to travel to the tournament grounds and take one of the pages that make it to the final round of the jousting. If the choice between a noble's child and the urchin creature take the latter. However be warned, don't harm them. I will send someone along to pick them up when I send the coin.
Where the signature would normally be was a five pointed star with a vertical line right down the middle.
"Perhaps we should simply wait until someone comes to pick her up?" Gawain proposes.
"I think we should show the note to one of the others. Perhaps they might recognize the writing," Catriona suggested.
Gawain nods and returns to join the others, letter in hand...
Rion stares at the symbol without any comprehension. "Hmm... what does it mean?"
Trimar looked deep in concentration while he let the others look over the note, he didn't want to bring up his suspicions till the others had seen the note but given that no one noticed or just simply failed to bring it up, he spoke up.
"This was writing by someone's scribe. If you notice the seal, you can tell it was a scribes mark. Now, unsurprisingly, you'll notice the noble himself didn't sign it. It might be helpful in the investigation but I'm not sure if the King keeps his letters or burns them. If he did keep them, we might be able to figure out which scribe wrote this." he offered.
However, the information in the note also brought up concerns "Part of me says we should lie in ambush for the person that is coming with coin, but I would not wish to keep the king and the tourney waiting." he said as an afterthought.
Rion ponders the idea. "Perhaps the four of us should wait to arrest whoever brings the coin while Owen returns the young Elmina to safety?" But the young knight is very unsure of his idea and looks around for confirmation from the more senior knights, including his mentor.
Trimar mused "If that idea is our plan, we best make haste to hide the signs of combat. Potentially I could even disguise myself with the first man's clothes and stand guard." he offered.
"If I return with Elmina and whoever sent that letter is watching the grounds, they won't ever come to have her collected." Owen pointed out. "Although there is a part of the letter that has my interests." Owen went on as he gently handed the young page off and then took the letter. "This part here is odd, If the choice between a noble's child and the urchin creature take the latter, so it shows that whom ever had this made cares not for the lesser classes. They dont even refer to her as a person. Yet in just a sentience later they say However be warned, don't harm them. One could take this to mean only the noble children but they called out Elmina before so why not do so here as well?" Owen questioned.
Trimar ran his hand through his head in contemplation "Interesting questions...Hmmm, well I'll think on it while I move the bodies someplace less...noticeable. " he said before he made off to drag the bodies into the mine.
This was moving into the political arena, which Catriona tended to avoid if she could. The Game was not her specialty.
Turning, she said to Trimar, "I'll give you a hand." The Knight of East Watch then followed her compatriot.
Rion ponders the options. "I am unsure what they want with Elmina or another contestant. We must continue thinking on this and tell the King everything we can find out. Let us see if Elmina is well enough to wait to return so we may lay an ambush."
With that, Rion checks the page to see if she is in any immediate danger.
Elmina seems fine, if asleep. Though if this is natural, magical, or drugged you cannot tell. "She was asleep when I picked her up and I could not awaken her. So I believe she might be drugged." Owen said with a small shift as he kept looking at the letter.
"It doesn't say when they plan to return." Owen stated as he looked around the room. "They may not be coming today."
The young knight considers carefully. "How long is it fair to this young lass to keep her here in order to have a vague chance to capture her kidnappers? Perhaps we should take her back now and pursue the kidnappers through other investigation. Identifying the scribe, for example." He looks uncertainly to his seniors.
"They may not come at all," Gawain agrees with Owen. "Perhaps some of us can remain and keep an eye on the mines, while the others return with Elmina?"
Rion scratches his head, wondering what would be the best course of action. "We could lay a trap for them. I do fear that Elmina's return would warn them not to come to the mine... What would be best?"
"Fair enough," Gawain concedes, faced with Rion's sound logic. "Perhaps we should simply all stay and wait for a while..."
"I can't figure out why. Did they want to put an end to the tournament? Did they figure the squire would be of some value?"
Rion nods. "Elmina will be well waiting here. Let us stay in the upper reaches of the mine with one of us on watch, either hidden or disguised. Then the others can come quickly if any suspects appear?" The young knight speaks uncertainly. He thinks his plan will cause no harm, at the least, but he is unused to speaking his mind so freely to those he considers more advanced along the path of knighthood.
Should the others agree, Rion will head outside the mine and bring the body in, attempt to obscure any signs of a fight, and leave several empty wine bottles lying about. "Perhaps this will convince anyone approaching that the lack of a guard is no cause for concern."
Trimar and Catriona would have already gotten the bodies outside the mine and the one outside the main room here. They were the first to be gotten as the furthest away but I appreciate the enthusiasm for hiding bodies Rion!
But yes, unless someone else decides that we need to head back for any reason at all and the group does in fact stay...then Trimar will disguise himself using the kidnappers clothes to hide his armor and such. He'll leave his blade behind as it's the main thing that denotes him as a knight that he carries with him.
Disguise Check iffin they decide to stay: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22
As they moved the bodies out of sight, a thought had been weighing on her mind. Catriona turned to Trimar, "Ser Trimar, can I ask you something?"
Trimar raised a brow as he helped move one of the men "Well, I suppose now is as good a time as any for questions. We do potentially have a long wait upon us." he said before setting his body down and looking over the man's clothing to check for noticeable tears and bloodstains.
He took to taking off any "clean" clothing and tossing it in a pile once they brought a body in.
"I know that you have a fairly silver tongue, so I ask you, how would you admitting your feelings for someone that your parents might not see as an.....ideal match for you?"
This may not be the most opportune time to ask for such advice, but it was really bugging her, and if there was to be more fighting in the near future, she needed a clear head.
Trimar looked up, a foot unceremoniously dropping from the boot he was removing with a heavy thud. This had perhaps come as a surprise to the man, he had certainly not expected to be asked for advice of the heart. He honestly expected another probing question of his demeanor and lack of chivalry on the battlefield, or perhaps even the ease to which he could lie to someone and assume a false face.
He sat the boot down and stood up, clearing his throat a bit. "Ah, the heart. A wondrous muscle that causes much trouble when pierced both on the battlefield and not." he said smiling.
He put a hand up to his ear and stroked the gentle tip as he put hair behind it. "If it were me, I might try for the subtle and discreet approach. Perhaps slipping away into the countryside to meet and hold the affair private. It certainly could offer some extra passion into the relationship, the forbidden fruit as it were." he mused a bit.
He shook his head "Hmm, are you worried of his response or of your family's?" he asked in consideration as they began walking to gather another body.
What am I worried about? She thought as she helped hide the bodies in out of the way locations. Was she worried about her Mother's reaction? Or Aline's rejection? She had been dealing with these feelings for years now, and it was time to finally admit what they we're.
With a deep breath, she steadied herself, "While I am worried what my Mother would think, I do believe that I am more worried about..........her, response."
He heaved another man up over his shoulder and paused to look at her for a moment before he turned abegan moving the dead back into the back room. "Well then I suppose that depends on how your mother thinks. If she is a noblewoman herself by birth, then she'll likely view each suitor as more a potential gain for the house than whether or not you really enjoy each other's company. If that were the case, then show her what he has to offer or wait for the old crone to die." he said mildly.
He looked over his shoulder "Though if you worry so much, I doubt you have such a relationship with your mother. Honesty would likely be the best policy." he offered. He grunted as he adjusted his load. "Though, I'd more worry if you family has strong ties to any lord with a young pup in their stock. You two being arranged to marry by your fathers would be the most likely outcome." he said as they walked.
There was a pause before one final musing "Though, one of the benefits of being a knight in that front...You don't have to be home to suffer the bonds of holy matrimony very often." he said simply.
"As far as I know, there haven't been any arrangements made for my hand. But I haven't been home in three years. If such an offer were made, my parents would most likely hash out the details before letting me know," Cat replied.
After making sure there was no blood trail leading to where she hid her body, the Knight continued, "The thing is, the one I love is a Knight and a friend. I'm just not sure how to tell..her, how I feel."
"To be honest I'm not sure why they would do this." Owen said as he put the table right side up and began to removed the arrows that where buried in the wood. "But it isn't my job to figure everything out, I had the information over to those who do." He said before he took a seat.
"You all know we might be here for a while... days even." Owen brings up with a small shrug. "You'll miss all of the Tourney."
"What if that was the point?" Gawain asks, suddenly concerned. "What if all of this was meant as a distraction?"
"For us? Or for the Tourney?" Owen asked with a slightly raised brow. "I mean the rest of the knights are there... and even though Arthur isn't telling everyone even they know when to be on edge..." Owen stated as he thought upon Gawain's words. "There would have to be something to be gained while in plain sight." He said.
Rion ponders the possibility of a distraction. "What would be gained indeed..." He helps clean up while pondering the matter. "Are there any nobles who would wish to see the tournament disrupted? Perhaps they see the tournament as a time for the King to gain popularity among the people and they believe disrupting it will cause him to lose face."
"I guess that really depends upon who you ask." Owen said with a sigh, he never really enjoyed the politics of the court but recently it seemed like everyone needed to know them.
Trimar set down his load and looked over at the pile of clothes. He felt he had what he needed and began to strip down till he was left with his under clothes and his chain mail on. He pulled out a bit of leather strip and tied his hair up as he thought.
Certainly it was a bit of surprise to hear it was a woman that she was after but the fact that it was a fellow knight was less surprising. With her having not seen her family in three years, he doubted they had a suitor in line for her or they'd obviously have sent for her or at the least sent her a letter of declaration. No, this was at least for Catriona's sake, seemingly the least complicated it could be.
He sighed "Well, the lack of heir might be difficult at least for your family. I doubt you're as worried. As you've said though, your worries lie in your beloved response? Being friends as you are, you'd know best how to make her smile. Show this to her time and again, be her shoulder when she needs it and help her bear her burdens. I suspect you'll know when the time is right to broach your feelings, perhaps on a day when you can tell she's upset but just the sight of you brings a warm smile to her face...take your time, esway her concerns and problems and then perhaps share your feelings. It wouldn't hurt either to attempt to feel out if she's even interested in women." he offered as the best advice he could as he dressed himself up in the bandit's collective clothing.
He paused and looked over himself for any arrow or sword wounds before giving her a slight jerk of his head "Think I look successful at kidnapping? I think I managed to make it look like I'd not seen battle yet." he said showing her his front and back to make sure that a second eyes could agree he found enough useful clothing to make the disguise work. He kept only his bow on him, for the sword would spoil the disguise.
Yeah, provided Fergus doesn't try to marry her first. She thought to herself.
Looking him over, Catriona grabbed some dirt and rubbed it in his hair, "Now you do."
After looking about to make sure there were no obvious signs of struggle, she turned back to the Elf, "Thank you for the advice, I'll certainly keep it in mind."