"Secret hankypanky with the schoolmarm..."
It is Brinya's turn to look offended. "This is no tawdry affair. We were married! You can ask Sara Morninghawk."
Marikel gives his own version of Alicia's dirty look to Vhailor.
"That won't be necessary."
He turns back to Alicia.
"Miss Alicia does have a point. We would be better moving on as opposed to standing here talking about things. However, before interfering we should get permission from Halgra. Trunau may have it's own processes and we don't want to get in their way. Then we might want to try Banny's idea before any trail gets cold. As Roderick pointed out, the guilty party seems to be a local, and even if they did flee Trunau, Miss Alicia, their departure would be noted. And they're unlikely to get far without protection from the many marauders out there. That doesn't mean we should take our time, though. "
Marikel nods politely to Roderick and then Brinya not quite meeting her eyes.
"Anything else you can tell us that may help us bring the guilty to justice?"
"What I mean is that I don't think your father did it," Ali replies to Rodrick.
Not entirely sure why his words had drawn ire from Brinya, Vhailor shrugs it off. Instead he looks to Marikel, naturally submitting to his authority, he helpfully suggests "I can go and talk to Halgra if you like... save you people for doing the more useful things?"
"What I mean is that I don't think your father did it," Ali replies to Rodrick.
"Of course he didn't. No one here thinks he did. Do they?" He turns challenging eyes on Brinya.
"Of course not!" she snaps back. "He may be a stubborn and unreasonable man who was perfectly willing to make Kerst miserable for the rest of his life, but he wouldn't kill him!"
She speaks more sedately to Marikel. "He didn't say anything to me about anything out of the ordinary, but he was definitely upset last night. You were there, both of you," she includes Banny in her appeal. "You saw the way he walked away from me."
"That was...," Rodrick shifts uncomfortably. "Dad laid into him when the ladies complained about that pie thing. Doesn't have anything to do with this. Unless you think one of the pie ladies killed him."
"If the pie ladies were put out... wouldn't they target Banny with their ire? Do you think we should put a pastry protective detail on him?"
"No. Come on. We should be going."
Marikel turns to Brinya and his demeanour softens noticeably.
"I'm so very sorry for your loss."
He turns to Roderick and offers a hand.
"And yours."
Marikel makes his way to the door and opens it for the others, looking pointedly at Vhailor.
Banny stays in the doorway, taking the little bundle of the knife wordlessly, still restless and absorbed with her own private itchings. She could go door to door, she thinks, hammering until people answered, shoving the knife before them, seeing who flinches and who doesn't....
Hearing her name said, Banny reluctantly draws her attention back to the room. She stares at the red-headed gnome with her brows knit.
"...I know your kind are all touched in th' head, 's a racial failin' an' you can't help it, but could you struggle hard to not be daft? My friend is dead," she snarls, "and someone out there did it, violent an' nasty, not a bloody pie-baker, so I don't care to dally with your absurdin'."
Banny shakes herself, forcing her fingers to unclench from the tight grip she has on the little wrapped knife. "An' speak respectfully, of those who've lost those they love," she adds on shortly, with a flick of her chin towards Brinya.
She looks to Marikel and Rodrick. "I'll go to Jess an' see if she won't loan me that mutt. As for yesterday..."
She trails off, her eyes seeking the floor. "...he wasn't best-pleased-- he was sad, like. Worried about livin'... up to Jagrin's expectations. Figurin' that-- that he never might. But he didn't seem angered at nobody, nor like he'd had a fight-- and you both know that's not Kurst's way, anyhow, he'd talk to a body before tradin' blows..."
She trails off, swallowing. Again the question rattles in her head: why Kurst, of all people?? Banny shakes her head. "I'll go see about that dog," she says again, and turns for the door. As she goes out, she throws on in a mutter over her shoulder, "And even a bleedin' gnome ought see I've no beard and quite the matched pair of drinkin' flagons, ye daft little flash-spar...."
Banny's rebuke is met with merely a slightly tilted head and a speculative thrust of the lens-less glasses back up his nasal ridge. Showing no sign of offence he bats back "Right... so should I get racist and angry instead? Excuse my lack of understanding of the social mores at play, but I don't see how snarling and casting aspersions towards dwarfish grooming habits would really help here..." tone bemused and surprised rather than insulting.
"Duilleoga bás briseadh croí féidir aon duine a leigheas, duilleoga grá cuimhne féidir aon duine ghoideann... I'd not cheapen your caoineadh by trying to tell you how you can do it, so I don't see how you've the right to tell me the same." slipping into the brogue of Banny's dwarfish cousins to make a more personal point.
"Mourning"
Catching Marikel's pointed look he shrugs and makes to leave as Carbonel nuzzles into his ear. In passing he adds "Look, Rodrick saved my life, and I'd like to help... either you keep me involved in your investigation or I'm going to go off and start my own..."
"I don't give a poorly-forged damn what you do, or how you 'mourn', " Banny responds to the gnome, "as long as it's not by wastin' our time suggesting we put out bodyguards versus pie-marms, nor insultin' a woman who's lost her lover with crude words."
She remains speaking the common tongue, not responding to his usage of the dwarf tongue, and stomps on out, the false hopeknife with her.
Vhailor probably wisely refrains from pointing out that it was Rodrick who first cast aspersions as to the depredations of angry matrons wielding rolling pins...
Catching Marikel's pointed look he shrugs and makes to leave as Carbonel nuzzles into his ear. In passing he adds "Look, Rodrick saved my life, and I'd like to help... either you keep me involved in your investigation or I'm going to go off and start my own..."
Marikel rolls his eyes and looks to Roderick.
"I'll take care of him, if you'd like." Marikel tries not to wince as he nods towards Vhailor.As Banny leaves, Marikel calls after her, "Banny, we'll meet you in an hour. At the..." (Don't say tavern, don't say tavern.) "...longhouse."
He turns to Alicia. "Do you want to come to the council house with us and speak with Halgra, or help Banny?"
Alicia looks back and forth between Marikel and the doorway through which Banny stomped out. Finally, she moves for the door and follows after the dwarf. Probably easier to slip away from her than Marikel, anyway, she thinks.
Rodrick gets up to exit the school teacher's house as well, showing no inclination to stay behind and comfort his sister-in-law ... and to be fair, she's going to have to be leaving soon herself to meet her students. "I'll come with you to Ivory Hall," he volunteers. "Handle Dad, if he's there."
Banny heads down Bloodmarch Hill, trailed by Alicia. The sun is well up now and the day begun, but over all the normal scenes of morning life in Trunau hangs a pallor. The people they pass on the road are talking quietly in small knots outside their homes and businesses, with hushed voices and somber faces; clearly, the news of the tragedy has spread.
Jess Meeson's place, That 'N' Such, is at the base of the hill, just past the smithy and before the Ramblehouse. As the pair approach the general store, the clean white walls of the Iomedaean mission are visible up the street.
"I'll come with you to Ivory Hall," he volunteers. "Handle Dad, if he's there."
"Of course."
With a last uncertain glance towards Brinya, Marikel makes his way to Ivory Hall with the others.
Flouncing along beside Rodrick... considering him less likely to punctuate the walk with a lecture than Marikel... Vhailor does his best attempt to put a sombre and reserved expression on his face. His success is mixed however, and the pensiveness could be mistaken perhaps for mild constipation by an observer... but the effort at least is genuine. The claws of the white cat with the strange eyes upon the gnome's shoulder dig a little tighter to keep it's position, keeping to his perch gamely.
Marikel, Rodrick, and Vhailor walk back the way they came past the Longhouse to Ivory Hall, the meeting place of the Council and home of the Chief Defender. A few knots of people are loitering around the Longhouse, having a look at the precipice and speaking together in low and somber voices; they fall silent out of guilt or respect as Rodrick walks by. A guard has been posted on either side of the building, to keep rubberneckers away from the cliff's edge.
Ivory Hall is the only other building in Trunau, besides the Iomedaean mission, to be painted white. Built, like the Longhouse, on a protruding crag of the cliff, its southeastern windows offer a panoramic view of the scrubland surrounding Bloodmarch Hill, a vista that is more tactically-useful than aesthetically-pleasing, especially at this time of year. The front doors stand slightly ajar as the men approach; they walk into a narrow foyer lined with chairs. In the opposite wall, open doors lead into the Meeting Room with its broad windows. The long table around which the Council of Defenders meets is being transformed into a catafalque for the honored remains. In addition to some Patrolmen and servants moving about, Halgra and Jagrin Grath are consulting quietly with one another at one end of the room.
Alicia doesn't take long before she breaks away from Banny and walks off toward the Ramblehouse. As she approaches, she slips into the shadows and tries to observe what she can of the building's exterior--windows, the likely room "Mr Freley" was staying in, vines creeping up the walls and so on.
Banny's look is dark enough that any townsfolk in her path give her a bit of a berth on her way to Jess's. She wishes like hell she'd had that cider this morning instead of rushing Brinya back up to the Longhouse. Might clear her headache, the throb of blood with each step that murmurs Kurst is dead. Kurst is dead. Kurst is dead.
Each person she passes gets a dark stare as she wonders if they're the one, the bastard, that killed one of the few people in Trunau she can truly call a friend... but ultimately, Banny stands before the general store, and takes a deep breath before she goes in. She's there to ask a favor, after all.
" 'Lo? Jess?" Banny calls as she sticks her head in. Most of the town calls her Crazy Jess, but Banny don't. Too many whispers about her own broken head for her to be keen on that.
In addition to some Patrolmen and servants moving about, Halgra and Jagrin Grath are consulting quietly with one another at one end of the room.
Marikel approaches Halgra and Jagrin but stops respectfully just outside their conversation. He waits politely to be acknowledged but then gets straight to the point.
"Miss Blackblade. I've some information about this morning's events, if you can spare a moment in private."
Vhailor walks beside Rodrick and Marikel, feeling about as useful as bir buqa ko'krak. A hand goes reflexively to Carbonel, wiping away some of the gnome's tension as he gives the cat a back rub. The white feline purrs through narrowed mismatched eyes.
When Marikel addresses Halgra, the gnome overtly presses forward beside to make the implicit implication that private didn't mean only Marikel and Halgra.
Halgra and Jagrin appear to be discussing details of the public visitation. The Chief Defender is quizzical but polite at Marikel's address. "Of course, Padre. I understand that you undoubtedly have some strong opinions on funerals, but I hope that you understand that we of Trunau have our own traditions and customs that we intend to honor. That doesn't mean we wouldn't be pleased to have your clergy take some part in the ceremony. Come with me; there's an office over here where we can sit down and discuss it."
She ushers Marikel in the direction she is indicating without tacitly excluding Vhailor and the Graths, should they choose to follow. The Patrol Captain turns a scowl on Rodrick, who nervously drops his gaze.
Marikel allows himself to be shuffled in to the office but doesn't sit.
He waits until Halgra has closed the door, before apologising.
"I'm sorry, Miss Blackblade, but funeral arrangements are not what I had in mind. But I think you knew that already."
Marikel looks about before continuing. "We know Kerst has been murdered. I understand Trunau may well have its own processes for investigating this, but Banny Kneebreaker was a good friend to Kerst and has taken it upon herself to investigate the matter. There are others close to Kerst and his kin that also want to help find the truth of what happened. We suspect that the murder was committed by a native of Trunau, but we have no motive yet. Is there someone these people should be working with or under?"
Rodrick intercedes with his father as Halgra leads Marikel and Vhailor to the office.
"I'm sorry, Miss Blackblade, but funeral arrangements are not what I had in mind. But I think you knew that already."
Marikel looks about before continuing. "We know Kerst has been murdered. I understand Trunau may well have its own processes for investigating this, but Banny Kneebreaker was a good friend to Kerst and has taken it upon herself to investigate the matter. There are others close to Kerst and his kin that also want to help find the truth of what happened. We suspect that the murder was committed by a native of Trunau, but we have no motive yet. Is there someone these people should be working with or under?"
Halgra's reaction belies Marikel's suggestion that she had any inkling of what he intended to say. "Murdered?" She sits down heavily behind the desk, looking from the priest to the gnome. "You must be joking. By whom? By my understanding, Inger Redhill reported only one figure at the cliff."
Raising an eyebrow Vhailor is equally surprised "What? You really thought it was more likely that he killed himself?" holding a pause to drive that home before nudging Marikel's knee to prompt him to continue with the facts and figures... as he'd likely be a mite more convincing.
The Chief Defender fixes Vhailor with a penetrating stare. "When the alternative is an invisible assassin? I've known the Grath boys since they were born, and while Kerst's act sorrows me, I'm familiar enough with his family not to be surprised." She looks back at Marikel. "I don't question Banny's good intentions, Padre, but she's not the most reliable of sources. If she can't accept her friend's death... well, she's lost more than many in this town, and you know as well as anyone that she's far from stable as a result."
Alicia separates from the dwarf and heads toward the Ramblehouse. Architecturally, the inn lives up to its name, a disorganized affair of several wings added at various times without any regard for symmetry or harmony of style; still, she can at least eliminate the rooms with windows three feet from the floor, those sized for the halfling staff and Small guests.
This confines Ali's interest to the human-sized wing of the inn. It boasts only two stories, in contrast to the four precariously-stacked floors that house Small inhabitants, but the wing is longer. There are a couple of dozen rooms that the half-orc may have occupied. There is no ivy or other such vegetation -- the climate is too dry -- but the walls are built of natural stone and could conceivably have been climbed down due to the roughness and variation. If his room was on the first floor, of course, egress would have been even easier.
Vhailor doesn't bend at Halgra's gaze, instead positing "Oh... and he fell a hundred feet and only got hit once... right here" digging a finger into the base of his skull "And half-orcs must be cold blooded because he was halfway to being an ice cube when he came up... plus the rocks must have cut his bowstaff through cleanly when he became a meat pancake..." jutting his chin out belligerently as he likely gets overidden by Marikel acting with more grace and balance...
Banny stands before the general store, and takes a deep breath before she goes in. She's there to ask a favor, after all.
" 'Lo? Jess?"
That 'N' Such, properly Meeson's Goods & Salvage, as the faded lettering on the sign proclaims, is guarded by a ramshackle split-rail fence around the dirt yard. As Banny approaches the front door, her arrival is heralded by the hoarse yelping of Bumpus, the Meesons' hound, from the back of the building. The dog is actually the most recent of several generations of hound to which Jess has given the same name, for simplicity's sake. The half-elf claims that its ancestry can be traced back to an original Bumpus who helped the first defenders of Trunau hold back the encroaching orc hordes; it is certain, at any rate, that the last several generations of Bumpuses can be traced back to Jess's first canine companion. Its many descendants are scattered liberally around the outlying farms, and when Jess's current Bumpus begins to age, she breeds it with one of its country cousins. If the inbreeding has weakened the dynasty at all, the effects haven't yet been detected in its tracking abilities or its hatred for orcs.
Jess Meeson herself appears in the doorway, a loaded crossbow in her hand. This might seem a unfriendly welcome, were it not her usual reception for customers. Seeing Banny, she lets the point swing casually to the ground. "'Lo, Banny," she replies laconically.
"And half-orcs must be cold blooded because he was halfway to being an ice cube when he came up... plus the rocks must have cut his bowstaff through cleanly when he became a meat pancake..." jutting his chin out belligerently as he likely gets overidden by Marikel acting with more grace and balance...
Marikel does interrupt Vhaillor.
"What Mr Vhaik..., my colleague is trying to say is that the wounds Kerst suffered are in no way consistent with a fall. It looks to me as if he was struck from behind earlier and then dragged to that spot. I don't know who Inger Redhill saw, but if we're to get to the bottom of this, we should talk to her."Marikel lets out a deep breath.
"As you say, Banny isn't all stable like. So I think we should be helping her with this. If you don't have anyone to investigate, maybe we could help."
Marikel spreads his hands out palms upwards and waits.
Banny gives Jess a nod, giving the crossbow a healthy respect until it's lowered but not otherwise put out by it; 's Jess's way, innit.
"You heard the news?" she says, shifting her weight foot to foot. "Bout Kurst? Cuz if'n you haven't, 's bad news. And if'n you have, it's worse than what you've prolly heard. I got myself a need for Bumpus's sniffer to root out some truth, like, an' mayhap I'll need you too to guide him, I ain't never known much about animals.
"I can't say I've got much coin, but what I got 's yours if'n you'll help me. An' if you need hands repairin' the fence when spring rolls around, or luggin' goods, then I'll do that too," Banny blurts, all the pent-up breath escaping her in one big rush of words.
As she waits for Jess's answer, she wipes at her nose with the back of her hand, blinking furiously. 'S stupid, to wanna cry. Only children do that.
Vhailor's cheek earns him an unfriendly glare from the Chief Defender before she turns her attention back to the cleric. "I can't claim to have examined the body," she admits stiffly, "except to verify who it was. If you say he didn't fall, well ... you're the expert. Are you implying that Inger Redhill lied about what she saw?"
Though the glare doesn't faze him, Vhailor muses and figures that it's best perhaps if Marikel continues with the formal responses.
"You heard the news?" she says, shifting her weight foot to foot. "Bout Kurst? Cuz if'n you haven't, 's bad news. And if'n you have, it's worse than what you've prolly heard. I got myself a need for Bumpus's sniffer to root out some truth, like, an' mayhap I'll need you too to guide him, I ain't never known much about animals.
"I can't say I've got much coin, but what I got 's yours if'n you'll help me. An' if you need hands repairin' the fence when spring rolls around, or luggin' goods, then I'll do that too," Banny blurts, all the pent-up breath escaping her in one big rush of words.
Jess nods once. "Heard he took a leap," she replies. "There was a Councilor did that once when I was a girl; at least, those were the rumors. His family swore it was an accident." She gazes at the dwarf a long moment through narrowed eyes. "What is it you're wanting Bumpus to find? You think it was orcs?" Like her dog, she seems to perk up at the prospect of orcish quarry.
"I can't claim to have examined the body," she admits stiffly, "except to verify who it was. If you say he didn't fall, well ... you're the expert. Are you implying that Inger Redhill lied about what she saw?"
Marikel shakes his head.
"Not at all. But she could have been deceived. The hopeknife in the wall did not belong to Kerst, so someone placed it there to deceive. You suggested an invisible assassin. While I hope that isn't the case, if magic was used then the truth could be very well hidden. As I said, with your permission, we'd like to talk to Inger and anyone else that may be able to help us get to the truth of the matter and see justice done."
Ali decides to examine the outside of the Ramblehouse more closely, confining herself to the exterior of the human-sized wing. She tries to be nonchalant as she looks for evidence of someone climbing down the wall, or footprints leading directly to a first-floor window.
Banny pops the knuckles of one hand with the fingers of the other as Jess gives her that wary scrutiny. "Sawyer," she says with a half-nod. "Heard some on that..."
She takes a deep breath. "I dun reckon it was orcs less they got in here last night and pushed him off the wall. But I was speakin' with him just yesterday and he didn't have the mind and manners of one who thought life wasn't worth th' livin', not in my notion. There was a knife in the wall, and--" Banny's eyes dart around, scanning the street nearby; her voice lowers, "--it ain't his, Jess. Someone wanted it to look like he jumped, see?
"So as I reckon it, maybe the stink of whatever sumb%@~# put it there might still be clingin' to the blade," she says, and taps at the little bundle furtively.
Scoffing Vhailor adds dismissively "Not hard to make someone see something that isn't there... even I could do it... not that I did..."
Halgra looks pointedly at Vhailor before swiveling back to Marikel. "Then I presume you'll be questioning the local mage, Agrit Staginsdar. And good luck to you, I might add. I advise you to tread very lightly, Padre, and don't stir up unnecessary trouble. If Kerst was killed... well, that's a serious matter. But so is accusing someone of murder."
"There was a knife in the wall, and--" Banny's eyes dart around, scanning the street nearby; her voice lowers, "--it ain't his, Jess. Someone wanted it to look like he jumped, see?
"So as I reckon it, maybe the stink of whatever sumb$*!@ put it there might still be clingin' to the blade," she says, and taps at the little bundle furtively.
Jess' face folds itself into a disapproving scowl. "Not his hopeknife? What kind of no-good, lowdown, dirty, sneaking polecat'd tamper with a man's hopeknife?" Her hand goes to her own belt-sheath where a well-worn blade resides; unlike some of the town's womenfolk's, her hopeknife has been baptized in blood more than once. "Bumpus! Here, boy!" she calls back into the shop.
The hound appears. He's a rangy, flea-bitten thing, clearly not bred for looks or manners, but his long tail thumps eagerly against the floorboards at the prospect of action.
Alicia approaches the Ramblehouse looking for footprints. Unfortunately, the ground here at the base of the hill is rough and rocky, and she can't pick out any signs of passage. Whether that's due to the adverse conditions or because no one sneaked out a window recently, she doesn't know.
"I dunno, but I aim to find out," Banny says grimly to Jess's words on who might've done such a thing. She gives Jess a thankful nod, rocking back on her heels as she waits for the dog.
"Ey there, boy," Banny says, crouching to let the dog sniff at her hand. From that position, she squints up at Jess. "Rodrick touched the knife, to bring it back. But as far as we know, he's th' only one... other than who put it there. Here, I got it in this cloth..."
She produces it, adding on in a low tone, "We ought not noise it about too much, I don't reckon. I want this slag-sucker to reckon he's gotten away with it right until he tastes my fist."
"Then I presume you'll be questioning the local mage, Agrit Staginsdar. And good luck to you, I might add. I advise you to tread very lightly, Padre, and don't stir up unnecessary trouble. If Kerst was killed... well, that's a serious matter. But so is accusing someone of murder."
"Very well, Miss Blackblade. Don't worry, I'll try to keep Banny in line and make sure that she gets proper evidence before trying to accuse anyone. Is there anyone else we might talk to, for one reason or another? Thanks for your time."
Marikel tips his head deferentially and waits before heading for the door.
Halgra purses her lips and tilts her head to one side in a manner which indicates that, despite her skepticism, she's doing more than just brushing them off. "Perhaps his colleagues in the Patrol? I know of no one with a grudge against Kerst, or against anyone in his family, for that matter. Rodrick is well-liked, and while the Patrol Captain can be strict, he is highly respected by his men. I suppose if there were any mutterings against him, Cham Larringfass would have heard of it, though prying information out of her is like parting an Abadaran from his money-pouch." She stands up. "I'm sorry, Padre, that I can't be of any more help. I won't deny that I hope you're wrong about all of this. A neglected second son giving up on ever earning his father's approval, well, that's a crying shame, but it's better than thinking we've a murderer in our midst."
"If we ain't got a lineup of suspects," Jess warns Banny, "can't promise Bumpus'll light on your villain. Maybe there'd be some value in starting where the knife was left and trying to trace him from there? Not sure Halgra'll allow us to take him in every store, church, home, outhouse, henhouse, and doghouse in town. Course, if anyone refuses us entry, it might count as admission of guilt." Her set chin belies her lack of training as a scholar of law. "Suppose you've asked Sara Morninghawk if she knows whose blade that is, if it's not his. Nah, see what you mean," she murmurs, looking down at the gleaming knife in its swaddling. "That blade's too damned pretty to belong to a Grath. Looks like a woman's." She spits in the dirt yard for emphasis.
Vhailor's chest swells with a small amount of mis-earned pride when Marikel singles out the dwarfish sop as the one he needs to keep in line and not himself. He almost holds himself from saying something before Halgra's last words catch in his craw. Softly and calmly he raises "You're wrong... Spem mortis fine ulla maior." pausing for a beat before translating from the original Infernal "There is no worse death than the end of hope..." mouth half flapping open to explain further before shaking his head slightly and walking out before Marikel.
Carbonel absently scratches at his ears upon Vhailor's shoulder.