At about this point, Banny comes back out of the smithy and returns to Jess's side, looking bemusedly over at the addition of two more.
"You got some news?" she asks. "Sara thinks this might be Ruby Wilder's blade, cuz there ain't that many new ones in town an' they're accounted for save hers."
"Any of them ever mention Councilor Sawyer? Or did you ever see one of them talking to him?" Ali asks.
"Sawyer?" she replies derisively. "Can't see him coming down off of his high horse to talk to a wandering prospector. Leastaways, if he did, he never did it down here."
"You got some news?" she asks. "Sara thinks this might be Ruby Wilder's blade, cuz there ain't that many new ones in town an' they're accounted for save hers."
"Well we...Ruby?!?" Marikel feels something slip away from him.
"I was hoping she wouldn't have to worry about this. Last night she was with Miss..."He looks about quizzically and his shoulders slump as he sighs.
"Where's Miss Alicia? Miss Blackblade doesn't want anyone to know." One isn't sure, but there may have been the tiniest hint of a whine in Marikel's otherwise business-like voice.
He looks across at Jess, then Marikel moves closer to Banny and lowers his voice. His tone is apologetic.
"Miss Blackblade doesn't want the whole town thinking their neighbour is a murderer. She'd prefer that we were wrong, but since we're not wrong, we need to find proof; real, solid, unshakable proof. And we need to do it quickly and with as little fuss as possible. I'm..."
Marikel pauses.
"Rodrick has let the guard know we've got a hound coming. Shall we go?"
Alicia quirks her mouth into a nonplussed half-frown. "Well, thanks for the help," she says as she crouch-walks toward the human-sized wing of the inn, and the exit.
Vhailor watches and waits from a few steps apart... so as to not cow the hund any more than necessary. Taking it in, Vhailor sagely quoths "Well I don't think Ruby did it..." but apart from that staggeringly startling insight... seems content to follow along.
Alicia exits the Ramblehouse. To the east is Sanctuary; northeast is Jess Meeson's place, where Banny had been heading; west is Clamor and the road up Bloodmarch Hill to the rest of Trunau; almost directly north, the road goes out of town, through the gate in the palisade.
Banny shrugs, a brow quirked. "Don't think none of us really believe that slip of a girl went an' killed Kurst. But someone takin' her knife, wantin' a scapegoat... What was that fuss about yesterday, with the other younguns?"
She starts walking for the hill-top even as she speaks, nodding to Jess to indicate their business is up at the scene of the 'fall'.
Frowning as he thinks Vhailor begins to worry "We need to find the orphan... has anyone been to her room? If someone has her suicide knife then they might have her too..."
Marikel grumbles.
"She was with us this morning. She's fine. Leave her be. When we pass the Sanctuary on our way out to investigate where Kerst was found, we'll check in with her then. Maybe Miss Alicia will be there too," Marikel says with a complete lack of conviction.
"Suits me," Banny says with a shrug to Marikel's suggestion. "Bet she's sick with worry over losin' her hopeknife right after her ceremony... least, I would be if I were in her shoes..."
Banny is content to walk next to Bumpus, reaching down the few inches to scratch the long-legged hound behind the ears as they go.
"Hey, Jess," she murmurs quietly, "I reckon we ought to keep this soft-spoken til we know the truth of it. Don't wanna let the scum-suckin' sonuvagoblin know to flee town, eh..."
Unable to pad beside Banny due to his lack of desire to further terrify the hund, Vhailor instead has to call out to the dwarf "What makes you think she lost it then? She wasn't drunk or anything last night so it seems a bit funny she'd just accidentally misplace her suicide knife so soon after getting it."
"I don't think she lost it," Banny says evenly. "If I had to wager, then my bet would be that someone filched it from her, more likely.
"But as far as she'd be thinkin', it'd be that she lost it. She seems the sort who'd blame it on herself first, on carelessness or somethin'. Worry herself sick over it. But not tell nobody it was missing, cuz who'd want to say you'd lost your hopeknife first night out?"
Alicia decides to hustle toward the gate out of town. Once she arrives, she asks one of the guards there whether they saw a half-orc leave town some time since after the festival last night.
The guard shrugs. "I wasn't on night shift. Just came on duty at sunrise."
---------------------------
The other three party members, with Jess Meeson and her hound keeping a grudging distance from the white cat, climb the switchback up Bloodmarch Hill for the second time this morning. Upper Trunau seems to be going about its usual business this morning, albeit with a touch of solemnity that seems centered on the sentry posted beside the Longhouse, guarding access to the precipitous point behind the building.
Banny shades her eyes against the morning sun with one callused hand, leading towards the site. "C'mon Bumpus.... thanks again, Jess... just hope we ain't lost the trail all to hell yet..."
Vhailor whistles a tune as he pads along with the others. The tune is both cheery and mournful at the same time... well as well as the gnomes unskilled lips can manage at least.
Banny and Jess advance toward the guard standing beside the Longhouse, Bumpus in tow. His first inclination is to shoo them along, but the mention of Roderick's name causes him to frown and wave them through. "Try and stay out of view of the street," he mutters, "or you'll be gathering a crowd."
Once behind the building, Banny carefully unwraps the mysterious hopeknife and offers it to the dog to sniff.
Given that the vantage is limited and he doesn't want Carb to upset Bumpus too much, Vhailor remains nearby the guardsman. On a whim he asks "So... anyone else been interested in having a gawker since this morning?"
Marikel follows Banny out of sight, then looks around to notice Vhailor with the guard. He grimaces and peers back around the corner. Indecision crosses his face, then he leans back against the wall.
He sighs and looks towards the crowd around the hound, takes a few steps closer and watches from out of the way.
"Do you know who was on duty overnight?" Alicia presses.
After Banny has carefully set the knife down for Bumpus to sniff, she takes herself back out of the dog's path, not wanting to confuse it with her own scent. She watches from over near Marikel.
"Do you know who was on duty overnight?" Alicia presses.
"I might," he replies, with an appraising look. "What's it worth to you?"
-------------------------------
Given that the vantage is limited and he doesn't want Carb to upset Bumpus too much, Vhailor remains nearby the guardsman. On a whim he asks "So... anyone else been interested in having a gawker since this morning?"
He snorts. "Only everyone. Bunch of damned ghouls strolling by rubbernecking. 'Oh, Beulah,'" he raises his voice to a falsetto to imitate an older woman, "'would you believe, I've forgotten my shawl? Just walk back home with me, will you, there's a duck?'" He shakes his head in disgust.
After Banny has carefully set the knife down for Bumpus to sniff, she takes herself back out of the dog's path, not wanting to confuse it with her own scent. She watches from over near Marikel.
Marikel is content to wait silently beside Banny. He shifts his weight once or twice and cranes his head back to check on Vhailor.
Banny and Marikel watch while Jess directs Bumpus's nose to the knife. The hound gives a muffled yelp, its long tail swinging side to side as it looks up at the half-elf.
"Orc," Jess remarks with satisfaction. "Not full-blood, only part, like the smith, but enough for Bumpus to sniff out. Of course, that could be the Grath boy."
The hound puts its nose to the ground and sniffs around a moment before its ears perk up and it snuffles its way to the edge of the cliff.
"It is the Grath boy," Jess grumbles. "He must have had his hands on it. Maybe he found it or took it from someone? Come on, Bumpus, leave off there, leave off." She tugs the dog insistently away from the ledge where it's leaning its head over. "Not that way, the other way, the way it came from. How'd it get up here? There's a good dog."
Slightly reluctantly, the hound lets itself be redirected from the cliff's edge and retraces its steps toward the back wall of the Longhouse, its nose brushing the dusty ground in search of a trail.
Sharing a companionable snort with the guard Vhailor's eyebrows crease with a momentary thought before adding an additional query "Anyone kind of stand a bit off and look... but without actually coming over?... you know... suspicious like?"
Marikel frowns, and once Jess pulls Bumpus away from the cliff, he takes a couple of steps towards the edge and stops.
He turns to Banny.
"Bumpus was mighty interested in the cliff edge. Maybe something was over there. Maybe something snagged on a rock. And it would be a good idea to see where Kerst fell. Could you check it out?"
"Anyone kind of stand a bit off and look... but without actually coming over?... you know... suspicious like?"
The patrolman looks nonplussed by the question. "No, just your run-of-the-mill rubberneckers. What do you mean, 'suspicious?' You think someone goaded him into it?"
Banny listens to Jess's words with a little frown. The thought that Kerst might have handled the blade himself hadn't occurred to her. Marikel's suggestion makes her shrug; it can't hurt, anyhow.
She moves closer to the cliff's edge, unbothered by the long drop-- Banny doesn't like close, tight spaces, but she has no problems with heights-- and peers over. She doesn't expect to see much save for the long, long fall that killed her friend (or, if he was already dead, greeted his corpse), but if there's any clue to be had, she'll peer for it.
Alicia narrows her eyes at the guard, then fishes a gold coin out of her pouch and holds it up for his inspection.
Vhailor shrugs, putting a mildly confused look on his face and pushing his lens-less glasses up the bridge of his nose "Just doesn't seem Grath-y... thought maybe there might've been someone who'd had words with him last night... feeling bad about it or something." shrugging before Carb gives a disquieted rawr on his shoulder and demands some of the gnomes attention for purposes of scratching.
Alicia narrows her eyes at the guard, then fishes a gold coin out of her pouch and holds it up for his inspection.
"Now that you mention it," the Patrolman grins, holding his hand out for the coin, "I think I do remember who it was I relieved this morning."
"Rob Twitchell and Marian Morris," he informs her cheerfully as he pockets the coin, "though if your half-orc wasn't leading a parade, they might not have noticed. Rumor has it she's more interested in his company than in who might be coming and going."
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Vhailor shrugs, putting a mildly confused look on his face and pushing his lens-less glasses up the bridge of his nose "Just doesn't seem Grath-y... thought maybe there might've been someone who'd had words with him last night... feeling bad about it or something." shrugging before Carb gives a disquieted rawr on his shoulder and demands some of the gnomes attention for purposes of scratching.
"I'll tell you who had words with him last night," the guard answers, lowering his voice. "The Patrol Captain. He told Kerst off over that pie-eating thing ... and it wasn't even his idea to begin with! If you ask me, if there's anyone eating himself up over the way he treated Kerst Grath, it's his father. And maybe ... maybe Rodrick."
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While Jess redirects her hound away from the edge of the cliff, Banny moves forward to give it a closer inspection. The Hold of Belkzen stretches out before her, a monotonous dusty brown vista, spotted with boulders and scrubby evergreen brush. It's a desolate landscape, the only man-made feature the ruins of the old church at the foot of the cliff just visible around the watchtower to the east. From the precipice, there appears to be nothing between her and the uneven, rocky ground below but a brisk morning breeze, but when she positions herself exactly where Bumpus had been sniffing, she notices something: just visible below her, less then ten feet down, a small ledge protrudes from the cliffside. It looks like there might be just enough space for a man to stand ... although where he'd go once he got there is an open question.
Alicia does indeed hand over the coin, then asks, "Do they stay at the barracks? Or should I be looking over at Cham's place?"
Banny shrugs at seeing nothing more than she expected to-- the parched landscape stretching away as far as the eye can see-- hang on, what's that--?
Banny looks bemused, peering over the edge. "Huh. There's a little outcroppin' there," she says, her brows knit together. "Prolly nothin', but..."
She eyes the drop a moment-- the ten feet to the ledge is nothing, but it's the drop past that that's the dodgy bit. Well, she hadn't brought a rope, and she's not goin' all the way back to the Killin' Grounds to get one, not for a pissy little ten-foot-drop.
"There's a little ledge down here," she says to Marikel. "'m gonna climb on down to it."
And with that, she suits deed to word, starting a careful climb down the cliff face, her strong fingers digging into small crevices and cracks.
"Wait. Iomedae can guide you and protect you from mischance."
Marikel takes a couple more steps forward towards Banny, but doesn't get too close.
Banny finds a crooked grin for Marikel. "Iomedae shines pretty, but I'm told her path is straight an' narrow-- and my path's goin' down," she says, pointing over the edge of the cliff. "How about you make it a prayer that Kerst's soul gets where he ought?"
"Of course."
Marikel takes more than a few steps back towards the Longhouse.
"If there is anything you want or need, be sure to ask. There's no request too small if we're to find justice for Kerst."
Marikel's words may be pretty but his conviction is evident.
Vhailor nods along with the guard's words, though his mind runs a slightly different tack. Then noticing the isolation of the guardsman and the fact that those beyond are taking a while he cocks his head and asks "Are you thirsty? - hungry?... must be boring just standing around... I could run and bring you something back?"
"If there is anything you want or need, be sure to ask."
"Rope might not go amiss," Banny says deadpan. "Just in case I gotta climb down further than this little bit..."
And with that, she goes over the edge, intending to scale down carefully.
Alicia does indeed hand over the coin, then asks, "Do they stay at the barracks? Or should I be looking over at Cham's place?"
"Should be at the Longhouse catching a wink," the recently enriched Patrolman replies cheerfully, "unless they waited for the Killin' Ground to open so they could have a drink first."
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"Are you thirsty? - hungry?... must be boring just standing around... I could run and bring you something back?"
The Patrolman's demeanor brightens. "That's right neighborly of you. Didn't get more than a bite and a promise at breakfast, with everything that was going on at sunrise. If you could scrounge up some sort of sandwich and maybe a cup of coffee, I'd be obliged to you."
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Banny carefully lowers herself down over the edge, feeling for toeholds. Although the edge of the cliff that she's clinging to is solid enough, her feet have a hard time gaining purchase on the cliffside; it seems every protruding rock she finds momentary support from crumbles out of the dirt surrounding it when she tries to put her weight on it. Desperate, she kicks the toes of her boots into the holes left behind by the falling stones and manages to half-climb, half-slide her way down to the ledge she saw from the precipice. Hopefully the priest finds some rope, because climbing back up without one will prove to be more difficult, with gravity working against her.
Her heart pounding with adrenaline, Banny is relieved to find that the ledge she is standing on feels rock-solid and firm; it must be part of a stratum running deep inside Bloodmarch Hill. There's just room, she thinks, for her to lay out a bedroll in the space available -- as long as she didn't roll over during the night. Looking around to see if there's another ledge nearby, she notices instead what appears to be a rudimentary trail, much narrower than the ledge she's standing on, leading to the north and gently downward around the edge of the hill.
"Damn," Banny grunts after she's caught her breath, and noticed the skinny hint of a trail that curls around the hill. She rubs at her jaw with one hand that's dusty from the slide down ten feet of cliff-face.
"There's a bit of a trail leadin' on," she calls up to the Iomedan. "I mean, it's thin as a starved nag, but... well, damn if I don't want to see where it goes. Reckon you wouldn't even be able to see it from below.
"But the cliff's all dust and scree, not good solid rock. A rope's a good idea. I'll honor my friend, but I don't care to take a pilgrimage down-hill in memory, neither."
"Thanks," Ali says, and hustles off to the Longhouse again.
Marikel calls down to Banny, "Be careful. I'll be back soon with that rope."
Marikel almost runs from the cliff to the guard and Vhailor.
"I need a rope. Now. Can you help?"
He addresses either.
The Patrolman looks startled at the request, almost moves to the edge of the cliff to see what's going on, but then remembers his posting and sets his feet firmly in position. "In the Longhouse," he directs Marikel to the interior of the building. "There's coils of rope and rope ladders."
Bumpus erupts in a restrained bay, and Jess calls out to Marikel, "He's on a scent! You want me to hold him back or let him follow it, see where it goes?"
Vhailor stiffens slightly at Marikel's return... as though a toddler caught with both hands in the cookie jar blurting out "Sorry, busy... coffee duty..." smiling disingenuously before extracting himself to secure the guards selected vittles of sandwich and coffee. It's a dozen steps before he smacks his head "Bugger... didn't ask if he wanted sugar or what needs be on the sandwich" but his intent to return is forestalled by the prospect of a admonishing gaze from Marikel.
Marikel rushes to the Longhouse, but stops as Vhailor begins to take off.
"No you don't," he admonishes the gnome. "Go with Jess."
Marikel darts inside without seeing whether or not Vhailor complies.
Internal Angst:
Vhailor is given momentary pause by Marikel... but at least he remembers how angsty the poor mutt was with Carbonel nearby... so Vhailor continues on with his personal kahve and sandvich qvest.
"No, you'd best follow it while the trail is hot!" Banny hollers up to Jess's words. "Our luck can't hold forever before that scent gets all mucked. The trail I'm on ain't goin' nowhere..."
Hearing Marikel tell the gnome to go with Jess makes her snort to herself down on the cliff face, but she supposes that'll do. Someone's better than no-one, after all. She briefly debates climbing back up again to stick with Jess-- it had been her request that dragged Jess into this, after all-- but the knowledge of how her own climb down had been halfway a slip-slide makes her hesitate. Like she'd said to the priest, it doesn't do anybody any good if she topples downhill after Kerst's poor body.
Instead, she takes the few minutes until Marikel's return to squint at the dust and rocks of the little ledge and trail, before she goes tromping down it herself.
Marikel rushes back into the Longhouse. The small office where Halgra spoke with Rodrick and Jagrin and where, later, the priest examined Kerst's body and found no evidence of a long fall stands empty on the right. There are two closed doors on the left of the corridor and two other open doors, one further along on the right and one at the end of the corridor. As Marikel stands, wondering which way to go, a female soldier appears in the hallway from one of the open doors and looks at him in mild surprise.
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Down on her dizzying perch, Banny examines the rock beneath her feet. It's now buried under a sifting of dirt and gravel from her slide down the cliff, but beneath that it's easy for her to ascertain where the tufts of dry weeds growing out of the thin layer of dirt covering the stratum of rock have been crushed, as if by a violent impact. Whoever last landed on this spur of rock didn't climb down but jumped. Looking up at the cliff's edge above her head and the ground far below, Banny can't help but be impressed by her quarry's nerve: to leap in the dark from such a high point in the assurance that the jut was there and would hold ... whoever she's following must be intimately familiar with the crags and crevices of the cliff.
The narrow ribbon of rock which leads away from the precarious perch crenelates from barely more than a foot wide to almost a yard before it disappears around the edge of the cliff and beneath an overhang that blocks it from view from above. Despite the open air on its left side, the path looks navigable without climbing gear ... at least as far as she can see it.
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Having jogged up the switchback for the second time this morning, Alicia arrives in the Upper Quarter to see the gnome Vhailor trotting in her direction with a palpable sense of purpose. Further away, near the Longhouse, she spies Jess Meeson, the eccentric proprietress of the general store near the mission, with her hound Bumpus on a lead. The dog has its nose to the ground and appears to be tracking a scent.