Soros
He points to the courtyard. "Nice throw."
D'ogryn knew that the throw was excellent. The blade was design for eating and was severely off balanced. Still, he was amazed at his skill.
..thanks...He was still upset with the guards.
The sausages are good and they have fresh cider and milk."
The young cooks looks sideways at Soros as he mentions the food.
Good...b~@##@%!!
”What news of Thout, or Pis...the prisoner?”
It almost seems like an angry grow escaped the throat of the young man.
Joining D'ogryn and Soros right behind Grond he grins and accepts some cider, and a sausage. "Never say 'No' to good sausage. Don't always know when the next meal will come along. And my cooking's barely edible!" He takes a bite of sausage and tries to chew quietly enough to hear the answer to Naia's question.
Well, you should defiantly say no to this saus...what ever this over cooked thing is. More fat than meat...they used a sweet wine and green peppercorns, which are better used in sauces...and no garlic at all. Just a piss poor product all around.
D'ogryn stands and starts to walk away.Edan
"D'ogryn you look flustered! Why the sour look my friend!"
His shoulders slump as he mumbles
f$@!ing idiots...The lot of them...all f@~*ing idoits
He turns and walks towards the table with food on it.
Should have just gutted him right there and then.
Slamming his fist down on the table with a light thud. The cook grips the sides of the table and seems about to toss it up in the air when he stops.
Naia pales upon hearing D’ogryn’s utterance.
”No.” she murmurs, clearly taken aback. What was a reaction of fear is replaced just as suddenly with anger. Her pallor is replaced with a ruddy then red agitation. The Temlow lass emits a visceral snarl. she shrieks running for the militia captain’s office.
Grond shakes his head at the outburst from both D'ogryn and Naia, but continues having his cider.
When Narciso hears D'ogryn's comments about the sausage he just shrugs. "I'm not too fond of garlic anyway. I'll be burping the green peppercorns all afternoon, but I've certainly had worse...."
Then the other words sink in. "Lost him? That's it then. Next prisoner gets hamstrung. Or gutted, sure. He wouldn't be a prisoner then, but we can handle the interrogation!"
Rabalar
Not pleased with D'ogryn's news he shakes his head. "We should have finished him there. Now we have to worry about a knife from the dark. He didn't seem like the sort that forgets or forgives easily."
Soros
Soros seems to agree with D'ogryn's feelings on this and nods in agreement with Rabalar.
"It seems to me he was sent after us for a purpose. I would guess that purpose has not been fulfilled. So we have cause for concern"
Edan
Listens for a bit. "Did we find anything of note on the man? Any clue to who he is?
Naia runs out of the barracks hall and into the hallway. She looks about and in several doors, that are open, she sees barrack rooms. In another door she sees a small armory with several racks of weapons, shields, and armor. As she turns and sees the door going out into the courtyard she sees Commander Geolin, Lt. Commander Iborian, and Master of Arms Walthas walking into the barracks with the Lord Mayor Timertikos, Town Councilor Hoskins, and High Priestess Ivessa (also a town councilor). Geolin sees Naia moving quickly down the hall looking into rooms and when she sees him the old Dwarf frowns clearly noticing the concern on Naia's face.
Geolin hurries his pace to meet her and puts his hand on her arm. "Naia, calm yourself girl! What is wrong? Take a deep breath and steady yourself." The last he says calmly like a father to a daughter and not a commander to a warrior. Walthas follows him and a moment later the entire entourage comes up to her.
Antas, Ferona, Perran
Antas notices that most of the blood and gore was cleaned up after they left but a lot of it still stains the cracks and crevices of the cobblestone street. He also notices that several people from the windows are staring at you.
Ferona notices the same thing that Antas does about the clean up of the street.
The three of you make your way into the market square and to the barracks. As you walk into the courtyard you see a group of people walking into the barracks hall. Then you hear a panicked women's voice (young/maybe your age) from inside the barracks. You see the dwarf move quickly (the one called Geolin and the commander of the watch). You also see Hoskins behind him with Lyra the Priestess of Pelor and who you believe is the Lord Mayor. The guards let you pass and on your right you see the wagon that came and picked up the bodies of your three would be killers.
Naia’s face is a kaleidoscope of fury and fear. Something inside her wants to explode, but the way that the old dwarf holds her has the desired effect - she is still angry but the fury is contained.
”Geolin. That man...he almost killed your nephew. He’s a killer. And we had him. We had him, dead to rights. He wasn’t some dossed out drunk, sleeping one off. This was a hardened murderer, an’ he had something shady to do with that house. Where we were investigating.”
The young woman deflates, shrugging off the dwarf’s hand. Her anger rises.
”And you lost him. Let him escape an’ know we don’t know a thing about him.” Naia’s eyes steel, and hold the dwarf’s. ”An’ he knows plenty about us. He’s on the loose Geolin. A killer. Zove is...dead. Thout...almost killed.” Naia turns away, taking in the barracks with a withering look.
”We coulda handled an interrogation out there. Made sure, one way or another that he talked. But we came back. For Thout’s sake. And because a part of us wanted to see justice done. But justice failed. And now we’re targets.”
Naia turns back to the dwarf.
”What did you do with the goblin?” she asks through gritted teeth.
Ferona quickly hurries after Antas a look of concern on her face as she approaches Geolin and the agitated young woman, a Flan warrior by the looks of it.
Listening to her words she quickly realized she knew about the murders...and of Zove.
And of us? Is this related to the abush from the night before?
Quickly stepping in front of Antas she gives the Flan woman a nod in greeting, using a calming tone...hopefully.
"Greetings and well met, Miss... I hate to interrupt here yet we have pressing business with Commander Geolin. It...concerns the events you speak of...and Miss Zove."
Grond comes out of the barracks calmly following after Naia - "We can try to look for him..." - he starts, but then stops short at Ferona's words, looking from one woman to the other, and then to the dwarf.
Peran also hurries with his friends as he hears the yelling from the barracks. He stands beside Antas as Ferona speaks to the Flannish woman.
Naia is stopped short as the Suel woman interjects before Geolin can answer.
”What?” is all she can muster, clearly losing steam, and any handle she might have on the situation, rapidly.
Naia can’t help giving the woman a look up and down to take some manner of measure.
”What about Zove? Who are you?” she shoots back.
Ferona pauses here as she studies the woman, nay barely a young lass, but still she moved older than her years showed.
She must be a local resident, judging by her familiarity with the Commander. Tread carefully here...
Raising her hands in greeting she nods (a bit hurriedly, slightly flustered). "I Am Ferona Ardomil, a visitor to Saltmarsh and also, along with my companions Antas and Brother Peran, investigators into the murders of several citizens of this town...including...Zove." Here her voice breaks as she recalls the incident, the pallor of her face evident now.
Shaking her head slightly to reclaim her focus here she continues, "We had discovered a promising lead concerning who may be behind the murders, but before we could follow up on this," here she turns to address Commander Geolin as well, "we were...ambushed late the previous evening. There were six men, who sole intent was murder. We defended ourselves with lethal force as we were given no other option. Three of the...sailors were slain, the others fled for their lives."
Her face clearly shows the painful memories of the event now but she doggedly continues. "Now I have a question for you. You mentioned a murderer who escaped the gaol. Tell me...tell us about him. What do you know of him? How did you find him?"
"So you were the ones who felled those men" - a large half-orc grunts, taking a step closer.
There is no mistaking this one's orcish heritage - he is massively built with clearly evident fangs, as well as deeply furrowed brows and nose. His skin is darkly tanned, and his hair and beard a deep black, matching his eyes. He wears a scale mail, and carries at least a long polearm and a wicked looking morningstar.
"Seems like an appropriate fate for those who would try to ambush and murder in the night" - he adds, with an approving nod.
Naia is stopped short as the Suel woman interjects before Geolin can answer.
”What?” is all she can muster, clearly losing steam, and any handle she might have on the situation, rapidly.
Naia can’t help giving the woman a look up and down to take some manner of measure.
”What about Zove? Who are you?” she shoots back.
It is clear that Geolin has not slept and his face looks worn and he appears tired. He is trying to not let it show but it is obvious to you that the dwarf is exhausted.
Geolin looks a bit flustered at the entire situation unfolding in front of him. Naia is a whirlwind of questions and responses and it is the fastest he has ever seen the young women speak but he lets her finish. Things start to unfold and he seems to let them happen before he speaks up.
"The goblin is fine. He is in a prison cell and didn't escape and seems fine with the food and water he his getting and we will deal with him today. Thout is in my quarters and he is..."
Lord Mayor Timertikos
The tall man seems to take control almost immediately. "Let us move this conversation into the Hall. No more talk until we are behind closed doors! I realize everyone here has had their shield rattled but we need to discuss this in privacy."
Geolin stops talking and shakes his head in agreement as does Hoskins and the other two guard officers.
Lyra Ivessa - Priestess of Pelor
The priestess of Pelor walks over to Naia and puts her hand on her shoulder. Naia didn't know the priestess personally but she was known for our compassion for those in need and the rumors that persisted that she often took on young men as lovers. She was a very attractive women and looked as if she was in her early thirties but Lyra had been a member of the council for nearly twenty years and was a young priestess nearly thirty years ago.
"Thout is doing as well as would be expected. He is in a deep sleep as the poison was hard on his body on his body. His wounds were also very serious but we managed to get him mended up. He is in Geolin's quarters resting and you will be able to see him after our meeting young lady." She smiles and seems to try and calm Naia knowing that she and the entire group had been through a lot in the last few days.
Edan
Edan hearing Lyra's update of Thout moves up to her. "So he is fine then? Can he be awoken from his sleep?"
Lyra Ivessa
She turns to Edan. "No. His sleep is self-imposed and it appears the poison has forced it upon him. We have done everything we can for him right now. The church council will continue to care for him."
Edan nods and thanks her.
Standing beside the Oeridian warrior is a youth in battered leather armour and carrying a shield with the sigil of St. Cuthbert. With brown hair and eyes, he seems to have a local feel to him...maybe not from Saltmarsh, but probably from the south of Salinmoor. He has a look of concern on his face as he looks over to Geolin.
Iborian Kestinar
The half-elf Lt. Commander and the right hand of Geolin looks over to him and the Lord Mayor. "Lets move this discussion into the hall as the Lord Mayor requested."
AS the rest of you talk the conversation moves down the hallway into the Barracks Hall. The last to entire is Walthas who calls for two guards to stand watch by the outside of the door and to not let anyone near it. He then closes the door and locks it. Geolin finds a table and sits on the bench quickly. Iborian sits next to him and Hoskin moves over to another nearby table and finds a seat on it. On his way he grabbed a mug of milk to take to his table.
The rest find places to sit leaving the Lord Mayor standing up in the middle of the tables everyone is seated at and Walthas standing by the closed door.
Antas, Ferona, and Peran
The man asking the questions to Lyra is a Touv, his hair is short, like black wool, that accompanied by the darkness of his skin put his heritage as directly Touv, if perhaps one step away. He has a honest looking face. He wears traveler clothes a sort of leather apron, and a short sword is by his side. You see a silver chain with a heart painted red (some sort of holy symbol).
The religion is Berna. Berna is the Touv goddess of passion and forgiveness. Formerly, she was the goddess of hatred and vendettas, but she got better. Her symbol is a red metal heart, preferably red gold.
The members of the Touv pantheon are spirits that dwell physically on the continent of Hepmonaland, home of the Touv people, rather than in the Outer Planes.
Berna is the patron of all small emotions, both positive and negative. She also represents the forgiveness of wrongs.
Another person standing nearby him is a wood olf. The most obvious feature of the young elf before you is the neck-length copper-red hair, muted in tone by the lack of a recent washing. His emerald eyes stand out from his burnished-copper skin, providing an alien appearance to any not frequently in contact with Wood Elves. His gear is well-tended, but all subdued in more natural shades of wood and leather browns. He has a longbow resting on his shoulder and a longsword on his back with a quiver.
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As soon as the doors close Antas speaks up I've no use to bandy words an my father would clap my ears ifn I did. Yev set us into a nest of hornets fer sure. We are in serious danger an we have strong suspicions of the killer an the fact he's using hired help from local including sailors and the like. We need help to bring this to an end
"Have you found any reason at all for all this violence?" - Grond blurts out, his mind racing to find connections in all he is hearing - "And well met - my name is Grond" - he adds.
"A moment Antas. Before we start throwing accusations about it is clear we have no proof, only a strong lead." Ferona pauses as the brawny half-orc introduces himself.
"Well met Grond, and as my friend her has said we have indeed stirred up a nest of insects. I hesitate to voice the suspect's name aloud here, but if he is resorting to cold-blooded murder then we may have little choice than to act to seize the initiative from him!"
Hoskin
His head and eyes darting back and forth from one person speaking to the other finally puts his hands in the air. "Ok...ok! Can we pause for moment before all of this gets confused. At the very least we need to start at a common point so we all undersand what is going on exactly."
Looking both frustrated and curious he looks over at Naia, Soros, D'ogryn, Edan, and Rabalar. "I am sure they are just as confused as I am and I would like to know what has occured and what they are talking about!"[b] He then looks at Narciso and Grond. [b]"And who are they? And how do they play a part in all of this?"
He puts his hands down and lets out a deep sigh. "I need a drink..."
Lord Mayor
He turns to Hoskin and nods in agreement. "Well said my friend. He turns to Geolin. "Commander can you tell us what has occured so far and then our two young parties can fill in the gaps for us."
Geolin
The veteran dwarf stands up and looks around the table. He looks down at the table and at his hands for moment and back at Walthas and Iborian.
"As of yesterday all hell has broken loose. Zove and her pet where found slain in the Peddler's wood. Her cat's body was found just west of Peddler's road on the southern tip of Peddler's wood. Zove's body was found on the far west end of the wood. There was an apparent ambush buy at least three maybe four people. The cat was hit by numerous crossbow bolts...all of which were poisoned. Zove was raped, tortured, and then murdered. We have narrowed it down to the early morning hours after all the rain. Zove was seen walking into the woods with her cat around sun rise. She was never seen again after that." See looks at Naia and the rest of her group and seems to nod in respect. The story seems to weigh heavily on him.
"We also received word from Zove's uncle that four of his horses were paid for two days of riding and would be brought back but never returned. The horses brought back from Naia's group had the brands of Quandor Aesar, Zove's uncle, and he confirmed that these were the same horses last night. The person that rented them was a some bald headed sailor with tattoos all around his head as Quander stated. He thought it was funny that a man like him would need to have four horses to ride out of town but didn't bother to ask to many questions as the man was not wanting to discuss his intentions. He just told Quander he would return them in a few days. He never saw them pick the horses up as the man asked to have them readied and tied up out by the stables. When he walked back to check on them he saw four men, one of them the bald man, riding off to the east road. The three others looked like sailors as well and one had a cloak over his head and around his person. A bag of coins was left on one of the fence posts. Quandor said it was enough coin to cover the two days."
He pauses again and looks at the door to the barracks hall room.
"As the Lord Mayor as stated it is best that the rest of this dark tale stays in this room. We have confirmed that we had a traitor in midst or at least someone that was not loyal to the town and the guard and was more loyal to his purse. Naia's group came in before sunset with many of them wounded and Thout on a litter in bad shape from an attack. This ambush that happened was by a group of four men. From what have pieced together it was the same exact four men that murdered Zove. From what we can tell they murdered that poor girl the night before and then made their way to the old house once they knew you were there. Which was not hard to know since rumors were flying around that you had left for the house to track down the remaining goblins."
He turns to Walthas and looks back to your group. "The goblin appears to be the last one of his band. At least he believes that so I gather Naia and her group rooted out the remaining goblins that where in or around the house." He pauses again.
"That means the problem with goblin's raiding the roads around Saltmarsh has been eliminated. But we found out that the goblins hail from the Hoolmarsh...they were driven out but we could not understand what the goblin ment when he tried to explain by what. Just ranted on out they bursted out of the water and attacked any of his tribe on site until they all fled. We could never get him to explain what drove them out but their tribal lands are on the eastern edge of the hool marsh which is not that far from us. Most of us don't speak Goblin well enough to understand the finer parts of it."
He pauses again but this time to let everyone take in what he just passed along.
Lord Mayor
The Mayor at this point jumps in to give Geolin a small break. "It appears we know that the goblin problem is put to rest. But it seems your small party has created another problem by rooting out the Goblins." He turns to Naia and her group of friends. "It is clear someone didn't want you going after these goblins or to that house."
Geolin
He turns to Naia and her friends. "What you are not aware of is we have also had another murder in the town. A young daughter of a merchant that does a lot of business here from Burle. His daughter was murdered and in a similar fashion to previous murders from the past. We had originally thought these murders were not really connected or not being comitted by someone in our town. That has changed and this group of investigators was asked to look into it." He points to Ferona, Antas, and Peran. "They are in the process of unearthing evidence in regards to these murders. Last night it appears they were attacked twice. Once by two sailors who were paid to attack the priest."[b] He points to Peran and then as the three were going home they were ambushed by five cut throats. We found gold coins on each of them, all of the same type, so it appears they were also paid. Thankfully our group of investigators were able to fight them off. The results you can see out in the wagon. Just before this occured a fire sprang up on the back side of the barracks by the gaol. It was not a big fire and now we know it was a ruse. When this happened our entire guard that was on watch or in the barracks was called out to put out the fire. AT the same time we had the guard responding to the watch about the ambush. It created a lot of confusion and in that confusion one of our guards helped our prisioner escape. We found that guard's body in an alley with his throat slit and a dagger in his back. From what we can tell Grust, our gaol warden, had already left for the night. Two guards were on watch in the gaol; one responded to the fire and one acted as if he would stay behind but helped the man get out and away. Our prisoner is now gone and we know nothing about him or his employer. Whoever paid our guard must have known him from Iborian could tell from the guard's body and the location he was not surprised and the murder happened quickly. The man that murdered him was not the man that escaped. Both fled and there is no sign of them."
He turns to the Mayor and Hoskins.
"I don't think the murder of the girl and whatever this is are related but they have created an enormous amount of chaos and we don't know who to trust. Someone paid to have Naia's party killed or at the very least to stop doing what they were doing. Whoever was behind this had the ability to bribe one of my guards, get this man out, and kill my guard. Why?"
D'ogryn remains quiet and by the food. He shakes his head in anger.
ok calm yourself...
His chest expands as air fills his lungs.
prepare yourself...look at the lock...see inside it. What secrets does it hold.
His chest remains still as his eyes close.
see the tumblers and their formation.
His chest contracts as the air is released.
adjust them to the proper sequence...
Again his body is still. No movement at all.
...and the secrets are yours for the taking.
The young man turns and hears Naia yelling even more.
He remains quiet as the others come in. Being woefully out of place here. A young man with maybe a couple of years into manhood, looks more like a servant than a goblin killer. While others are attired as adventures with weapons and armor, the young man appears to be nothing more than a commoner. His only weapon is a simple knife for eating dinner.
His eyes look over each newcomer as they enter. A look of concernetched on his face.
Naia becomes calm with the priestess’ also gentle touch. Her face loses some of the color and agitation, and though seeming unhappy she gathers her wits and accompanies the rest into the hall.
Her attitude ranges from renewed anger and (to her mind) righteous indignation when Antas mentions collaborators from among the townsfolk to sheepish relish when that selfsame is confirmed to horror at the details of Zove’s abuse and subsequent slaying. She stays quiet, not really knowing what else to say. Finally she speaks.
”D’og is right. The house. Something about that house those bastards don’t want us to know about.”
Ferona digests the onslaught of information silently as she tries to draw a conclusion to how all the pieces fit together.
"If you in your investigations and the capture of this assassin were getting close to determining who is pulling the strings then it would indeed trigger these events, from the murder of Zove, to the attack upon the three of us. It is clear this prisoner who escaped knows who is behind this, as many favors were called in to prevent us from learning more." Here she pauses to directly address the mayor, Hoskins and the others, "We have learned a name yet I caution you we have no conclusive proof. The name is...Hikendor Bavilton. I believe he is the one who orchestrated this...though for what ends I am unsure. Perhaps the evidence we seek can be found by checking into this house which you speak of?"
Religion:
Brother Peran recognizes the symbol of Berna the Touv wears. Thinking back to his religious studies at the church, he recalls that Berna use to be a very negative spirit, but for some reason or another started to be viewed in a more positive light. It's not really a religion, so much as a cult, but he would need to be kept a watch on to make sure his pagan ways did not worm their way into the proper worship of the gods.
He brings his attention back to the task at hand and listens as the plot is laid out...or as much as their group had been able to unravel.
Grond listens to every recounted detail without apparent reaction, except for the tightening of his knuckles around the bardiche shaft when this girl Zove is referred to, and the suffering she went through.
"The house has been checked, though I am not sure if completely" - Grond pipes in again at Ferona's words - "Shortly after me and Narciso met Naia and the others in the road. By chance, and in amicable terms" - he adds.
"I guess the details can wait, but we actually cooperated in at least part of the exploration of this house, and in retrieving a chest which contained multiple documents - those may prove relevant once their content is revealed" - he turns to D'ogryn - "I was not yet given a chance to peruse them, but then again I am but a stranger I guess. He can probably tells us more about it"
Narciso follows behind Grond. It was a position he liked most of the time. Shielded but able to observe. He was concerned about Naia's anger, but fully understood and was similarly agitated. If they found the bandit he'd be happy to hold the man's arms while Naia pushed her spear through his bowels, slowly....
When they see the new group he watches and listens.
When the group is directed inside Narciso follows. When the goblin is mentioned he quietly speaks up. "The goblin was but a lackey. The escaped man was a poisoner and should have been executed. That he escaped may indicate inside help. Here.... But of course we have no proof of that. Just speculation."
"You say 'Had a traitor'. Are you sure that the traitor been dealt with? The slain guard could be another murder and a red herring! He might have been innocent."
"I'm Narciso Virbaldi by the way. Grond and I just arrived at the house that Naia and her group were investigating, actually as they were leaving. The house is in terrible shape and likely should be burned down. But that others were using it to lair indicates something of interest may still be there."
Walthas
He speaks up at Narciso's questions and comments. "You might very well be right that he was just a victim but his job was to guard the gaol. One guard was responding to the fire there was no reason for him to be found in an alley in town." He looks to both Iborian and Geolin and turns back to Narciso and the two groups. "As much as I would like to say he was dragged out of the gaol it looks like he took this man out the back gate and even the guard posted there said it was two guards...not one and the prisoner. That tells me they took the time to mask his appearance."
Soros
Having been quiet up to this point he looks about the room and then back at Naia and then Geolin.
"I am sorry but I am bit confused. THis might be from the fact that I have spent most of the night being chewed on by vermin the size of Rabalar and chasing around crazy goblins with poisoned darts." He pauses for just a bit and wipes his hands.
"I still don't understand the purpose of this group." He points to Antas, Ferona, and Peran. "Were they investigating the murder of Zove because that doesn't seem right in this timeline and their arrival. And how is this merchant's daughter involved? Are you saying this young girl's fate some how intertwined in our affairs and Zove's death?" He seems to stop and then looks up again. "Also, The goblins don't seem to be mixed into all this extra stuff going on around us. As far as I can tell they were simply trying to find a place to hold up and that damn house was it. I am not sure they knew anything more than we did other than how to crawl around the house and avoid all the bugs and traps. It sounds as if they got pushed out the marsh and this group that was raiding the roads was no more than a scouting or raiding party"
Rabalar
The wood elf speak up after Soros finishes. "I agree with Soros. The goblins seem to be exactly what they are...a raiding party for a tribe that has been forced out of their home in the Hool. If so then there is a good chance the tribe is somewhere west of here and east of the Hool Marsh looking for a new home. The goblins we hunted down were out raiding and hunting. That group we finished off in the house seems to have been the last part of them if what Geolin says is true about the goblin we have."
D'ogryn remains quiet and by the food. He shakes his head in anger.
ok calm yourself...His chest expands as air fills his lungs.
prepare yourself...look at the lock...see inside it. What secrets does it hold.His chest remains still as his eyes close.
see the tumblers and their formation.His chest contracts as the air is released.
adjust them to the proper sequence...Again his body is still. No movement at all.
...and the secrets are yours for the taking.The young man turns and hears Naia yelling even more.
He remains quiet as the others come in. Being woefully out of place here. A young man with maybe a couple of years into manhood, looks more like a servant than a goblin killer. While others are attired as adventures with weapons and armor, the young man appears to be nothing more than a commoner. His only weapon is a simple knife for eating dinner.His eyes look over each newcomer as they enter. A look of concernetched on his face.
Soros
"I still don't understand the purpose of this group." He points to Antas, Ferona, and Peran. "Were they investigating the murder of Zove because that doesn't seem right in this timeline and their arrival. And how is this merchant's daughter involved? Are you saying this young girl's fate some how intertwined in our affairs and Zove's death?" He seems to stop and then looks up again. "Also, The goblins don't seem to be mixed into all this extra stuff going on around us. As far as I can tell they were simply trying to find a place to hold up and that damn house was it. I am not sure they knew anything more than we did other than how to crawl around the house and avoid all the bugs and traps. It sounds as if they got pushed out the marsh and this group that was raiding the roads was no more than a scouting or raiding party"
Ferona replies earnestly, "The three of us were asked to track down the whereabouts of...Zove after her feline companions body was found. This was after we had started looking into the original murder of that poor girl." She twirls a lock of hair in thought as she considers the situation further. "The two murders, while they seem to be unrelated upon the surface, do carry one thing in common. The same man who has been preying on young girls would have no compunction in eliminating anyone who threatens to uncover his schemes."
Soros
He takes in everything Ferona tells the room. "So if I understand you correctly you had been investigating the murder of this young girl and it appears you have unearthed enough evidence to point a finger at him but the murder of Zove was something else you were asked to look into. Interesting... Can I ask if you had any run ins with people in conjunction with the young girl's murder prior to looking into Zove's murder?"
Ferona digests the onslaught of information silently as she tries to draw a conclusion to how all the pieces fit together.
"If you in your investigations and the capture of this assassin were getting close to determining who is pulling the strings then it would indeed trigger these events, from the murder of Zove, to the attack upon the three of us. It is clear this prisoner who escaped knows who is behind this, as many favors were called in to prevent us from learning more." Here she pauses to directly address the mayor, Hoskins and the others, "We have learned a name yet I caution you we have no conclusive proof. The name is...Hikendor Bavilton. I believe he is the one who orchestrated this...though for what ends I am unsure. Perhaps the evidence we seek can be found by checking into this house which you speak of?"
Once Ferona called out this name Hoskins looked over at the Lord Mayor and at the same time the priestess looked over at the Lord Mayor.
The Lord Mayor clears his throat, rather loudly, and for just moment everyone quiets. "You realize that Hikendor is a guild master. He is the guild master of stonemasons and his position has serious implications in this matter. What evidence do you have that points him to the murder? Directly to the young girl's murder?"
Hoskins seems to eye Geolin for a moment with a raised eyebrow and a bit of concern. He speaks up but Lyra, the priestess, cuts him off. She excuses herself but continues. "These are serious charges and Guild Master Bavilton is a respect member of the town. He lost his wife not to long ago. I would not be surprised that once his mourning period passes that every eligible women in town, and out of town, seek his favor. I hope you have evidence that can link him to this girl's murder."
Hoskins speaks up. "We know that these three have been working diligently to find who did this. Erolin, you know very well that there are rumors that he has a hot head and often loses his temper. Why just last year he lost his temper in the Rest and blew up at several other merchants and one of my staff."
He turns to Ferona and her friends. "I am interested in what you have on the man. We can't go throwing around accusations without having all the facts."