Seldon closes his eyes and mouths a silent curse for graverobbers, and examining the bones, tracing gentle fingers along a cracked skull. "Then these were brought here by black magic. They do not belong to the priesthood, as I feared." he says, with a pained smile. He busies himself right away with removing the bones and sanctifying the crypt again. "Is anyone hurt?"
You easily follow the tracks to the edge of the crypts and to the town wall. The tracks appear to have originated from this spot, as if the wall had created them.
"I'm fine." Darius answers as he discards the robe and leaves the crypt, following Noro to the town wall.
The Half-Elf didn't see anymore signs of the trail. "Well this seems to be the start of the trail, but where did they come from? Did they climb the wall? Or did they use magic?"
"Somebody give me a lift up--I think the tracks maybe go up over the wall?" Olly asks. "There are scuff marks up here. Somebody -- lots of somebodys, I think -- have been climbing over the wall. I think the trail ends down at the cliffs where the wall ends. I think we may want to go around, though, it's kind of a long way down from here."
"Well, we can go over the wall and check the ground on the other side for any tracks? Maybe the one with the robe knew some pass through wall spells?"
[ooc]I actually had a post typed out pointing out Darius'd missed a spot. Then I saw my roll and had to backspace the lot and have a good chuckle./ooc]
Karas simply followed the others. He had never been a great tracker, something he had been ridiculed for many times. As such he didn't quite feel like trying now, the others seamed to be doing fine anyway.
Olly looks down at Zella. "I don't think we want to go down the wall, not without a lot of equipment. It's a long way down." She pauses. "Speaking of which, can someone help me down? I don't think there's much more to do here."
Zella helps Olly down as she wonders about the graverobbers. "Even if there had been something worth stealing buried with the body, why take the body too? And why leave skeletons behind? This is all so strange. I came here for some fun at the Festival and a chance at a theater job. I certainly would never have expected to be involved in any of this weirdness."
With a sigh, Zella turns back towards the town. "Shall we all go and inform Father Zantus or did you wish to talk to him privately Sheriff?"
The Sheriff nods to Zelladania, "I will be speaking to Father Zantus privately. Your service for me today is completed. I appreciate all the help you have done. Please, let us head back to town, and once again, I would appreciate if you kept this information to yourself."
And with that, the Sheriff begins to head back to town.
As you head back to town, Darius, you notice a rather vivacious townswoman giving you an interesting look from out the corner of her eye. Zelladania also notices the look, and as she looks around, she sees a few other of the townswoman looking at Darius with "hungry eyes".
Darius tips his wide-brimmed hat out of courtesy, but continues on his way back to the Dragon.
As she notices the looks some of the women are directing at Darius, Zella feels a twinge of jealousy and annoyance. Oh I don't think so. I saw him first, so they had all had better just keep their distance."
Zella takes a hold of Darius's arm as they continue to walk through the town. "Shall we go on and attend the consecrating of the new temple? Assuming there aren't any more goblin raids, maybe would could stop by the Dragon afterwards and pick up some food for a picnic on the beach?"
"I don't see why not, let's go." Darius replies as he puts his hand on top of the one that Zelladania had placed on his arm. They casually walk towards the temple.
You arrive just in time as Father Zantus opens the doors to the new temple and leads people inside for the service. As you look around, you notice that only a small percentage of the town has shown up, probably due to remaining fears from the goblins. Father Zantus leads the congregations in prayers to Desna as well as other gods.
At some point, you are able to see Flit, the goblin pathfinder, examining various statues of Desna and other gods. He doesn't seem interested in the sermon, which is good as you can tell a lot of the townsfolk in the audience are staring at him with mixed faces of fear and anger.
The sermon and prayers are not long, and soon you are headed back to the Rusty Dragon. While seating and eating before your performances, a young, rather energetic, and extremely attractive woman approaches your table. Noro recognizes her as Shayliss Vinder, the daughter of the owner of the Sandpoint General Store. Recently there was a rumor circulating that her sister was "involved" with a mill worker and might have a bun in the oven. Novo stands with a smug look on her face, "Hey Shaylish.. how's your shister?"
Shayliss pretends to ignore Noro and comes over to stand beside Darius. "I've been seeing you around town and saw you fight the goblins yesterday. You're really good with those blades! And I am in need of a good man that can handle himself. I think a dire rat got into the basement of my father's store, it jumped out and tried to bite me the other day, but my father was unable to locate it. Would you be able to take a look for me? It's just the one dire rat, and I'm sure you could handle that with no problem!"
"One dire rat, huh?" Darius replies as he takes a draught of the juice he ordered. "Well.." He shoots a quick glance at Zelladania, "I'll have to check with my adventuring companions here, but I'm sure we could accommodate you. What do you think my friends?"
Shayliss looks slightly confused at your comment, "Brave sir, I just meant for you to assist me. Your friends need not bother with just one single rat, I am sure you can more then handle it yourself!"
Darius shoots an apologetic look at Zelladania, finishes his drink, stands up, then responds, "Lead on then, dear lady." As he walks out the door, he turns and looks at Zelladania, then puts on his hat and exits the Dragon.
Olly watches curiously as Darius follows the woman out with just barely a look back at Zella. Okay, there's something wrong here. Unless he's changed his mind about Zella really suddenly.
Zella remains quiet during Darius's conversation with Shayliss because she doesn't trust herself to speak. What a little mannerless trollop! Too intent on what she wanted she completely ignored everyone else and was quite rude to Noro. And I *know* she saw me on Darius arm outside, yet she hasn't even glanced t me as I sit right beside him. I would've loved to have thrown my drink right her face.
Zella tries to smile back at Darius as he gives her an apologetic look, but it comes off weak. As soon as they clear the door she quickly goes over to Noro, ignoring the rest of her food and drink. "Ok, who's her father and where is their store? I have an urge to go shopping for whatever he sells.
Darius is lead out the door of the Rusty Dragon by Shayliss and begin to head towards her father's shop. "I'm so glad you are able to assist me with my problem."
Noro looks slightly startled, "Her father ownshs the general shtore"
"Not Miss...Shayliss is it?" Darius responds, "But I am rather curious, how big is the rat? What color is it's fur? And are you certain that it's the only one?"
"Thank you Noro. Time to go shopping, I am sure I can find something there I absolutely need to get right now. Anyone coming with me?" With that, Zella gets up and heads out the door, making her way to the general store.
"Zella, wait, I'll come with you," Olly says, scooting after her. When she reaches her, she whispers, "There's no rat, I'm sure of it. She wants him, for some reason or another."
Shayliss looks at Darius as they walk, "It was quite dark when it attacked me, but I think the fur was a jet black, it scared me something awful!"
You arrive at the general store and Shayliss takes you around the corner to the cellar door. She opens it and leads you inside. The cellar is quite clean and Shayliss leads you over to a corner where a nice cot has been setup. She pushes you down on the bed and rips open the front of her bodice, exposing herself to you. She looks at you with a mischievous look, "Will you slay the dire rat for me?" She says with a purr.
Zella pauses briefly for Olly to catch up. "Oh, I bet I can just guess what she wants him for. That little tramp. Did you see the way she just rudely ignored the rest of us? Only had eyes for what she wanted. Well, there's the general store, help me find them in there. If he's going to go around "helping" other girls I want to know now before getting further involved with him."
Zella enters the store and looks around for any sign of them.
Darius blinks rapidly for a couple seconds before standing up, grabs her shoulders, and pushes her to arms length. "I'm sorry madam, but I'm afraid I cannot accomodate your...desires." What would Zelladania say? He then re-adjusts her bodice to make her less revealing. The warrior looks into her eyes, and sternly asks, "Now tell my truthfully, was there ever a dire rat?" He hears the bell ring, indicating someone entered the store. Why do I have the feeling things are about to get complicated?
Shayliss grabs Darius' hands as he is trying to straighten her bodice and she presses them against her breasts. "There sure is a dire rat..." She says hungrily as she stares at Darius' crotch.
Zelladina and Olly, you look around the store and see stacks of food and trade goods as well as a lot of mundane equipment. One thing that strikes you odd is that the store is empty. You don't find Darius or the "tramp", and you don't see any clerk.
"Hmmm, she said there was a "dire rat" in the basement. More like "dire tramp" in this case, but help me look for a door to the basement anyway. Also, isn't it rather odd for a general store to be empty of people? Not even a clerk anywhere in sight..."
Zella looks around for a cellar door. When she finds it, she'll attempt to open it.
Olly looks around, but the stacks of things are an obstacle at her height and she can't see much. "They must be here somewhere!"
Darius withdraws his hands, clears his throat, and says, "Madam, I apologize, but I am just not interested." Tips his hat, "Good day." Proceeds towards the cellar exit.
Darius turns around to come face to face with a rather large, aging man. His face is red with anger as he looks at you and looks at Shayliss. He screams in a loud voice, "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!" Shayliss squeeks and says, "Daddy, this horrible elf tried to force himself on me!"
The man roars in anger and stands face to face with Darius, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right here!!!"
Olly and Zelladina, as you look behind the store counter, you see the open door to the cellar. As you take it down, your way is blocked by the back of a large man you appears to be yelling at Darius
Terrific. Darius thinks as he tries to answer the Storekeeper, "Sir, I assure you that I did nothing of the kind. I was under the impression that there was a dire rat problem down here, and when I arrived, there was a misunderstanding."
Ok, just what the heck is going on here?! Still stuck on the stairs and unable to see what is going on, Zella speaks up loudly to make sure that she is heard. "What is going on here? Olly and I decided to come along just to make sure you didn't need any help with the rats in the basement. And why are you threatening to kill Darius? Do I need to bring the Sheriff down here right now?"
Without looking behind him, the clerk speaks to Zelladania, "Get the Sheriff! He needs to arrest this piece of scum for forcing himself on my daughter!" He glares at Darius with hatred, daring him to move past him.
"Olly, stay here and make sure he doesn't do anything to Darius til I get back. I'm sure the Sheriff will get everything calmed down here."
Leaving Olly to ensure the shopkeeper doesn't just try to kill Darius, Zella practically flies up the stairs and goes straight for the Sheriff's office as quick as she can.
"Sheriff, I need you to come with me right now. Otherwise you might have to deal with a murder." Assuming that gets his attention, Zella will take him to the general store.
Well that didn't work, now what? Darius thinks to himself while he doesn't move at all.
Olly frowns. I knew she was up to something! Now how do we get him out of this?
"Sir, I was there when your daughter approached him. She did indeed tell him there were dire rats in the basement and asked for his help. And being one of the heroes of yesterday's fight against the goblins, of course he offered to help -- not expecting anything like this to happen! Surely there's something we can do to help clear up this confusion."
Zelladania and the Sheriff show up within ten minutes, the shopkeeper walks over to him, he points to Darius "Arrest him! For assaulting my daughter."
The Sheriff looks slightly dumbfounded before bringing out a pair of handcuffs. He walks over to Darius and hands them to him, "Put those on son"
Hmm, why do I get the feeling she may have done this sort of thing before? Zella nods at Darius. "May we help you escort him to the jail Sheriff?
Well, well, clearly he knows something we don't. "Yes, we'd be happy to help you escort him. Perhaps I should go fetch the other potential witnesses?" Our new friends, that is...
Seldon, at the good father's request, takes part in the consecration, but the soft mask of his features cannot hide the troubled look in his bright, elven eyes, that even in the most stoic of elves seem to well up with emotion at the slightest provocation. "I... am troubled, Father." he says, pacing around the open courtyard and tracing his fingers along the seven standing stones with a considerable degree of awe. "With your leave, I would stand a vigil this night, and entreat the goddess for answers."
Thank Calistra the sheriff seems to have some sense. I hope these don't chaff. He takes the handcuffs and proceeds to clasp them on his wrists. Darius then looks at Zelladania, as if to say, I didn't touch her, and with the sheriff's 'strongly' gripping arm, leaves the store cellar.
As you walk out of the cellar, Mr. Vinder moves to follow. The Sheriff puts out his hand. "I'm sorry Ven, I will deal with this myself. If I deem he is innocent, I will be letting him go. This isn't the first time I've had to clean up a mess for your daughters, although this is the first time for your youngest. Keep your family in check..." And with that, the Sheriff leaves the cellar and escorts Darius outside, leaving Ven Vinder with a look of anger and shame on his face.
Once outside, the Sheriff leads Darius for about a block before taking out his keys and unlocking the cuffs. "Really? A dire rat? You couldn't see this one coming? No matter, just make sure to stay away from the pretty girls. My Ma used to tell me that the more beautiful a woman is, the less you can trust her, why this one time..." He trails off as something catches his eye in the distance. You all look over and see about fifty men ride into the towns square. They are all heavily armed and armored, their plate armor appears angular and sharp, but the part that makes them stand out is their helms, which all give the appearance of some sort of demon.
The Sheriff walks away from you in the direction of the armored men.
"Of course, father." he says, clasping the priest's hand in his and grasping him by the shoulder. "You know I am always happy to break bread with a brother of the faith. But... I believe my road has taken me here for a reason. I shall return the bones of your father Tobyn. As soon as the goddess shows me the way." he says, with the self-confident smile of a true believer. He starts as they are interrupted. "Ta oio teluva?" the elf says, with a weary smile.
The elf bows his head, excusing himself, as he walks toward the square, leaning on his staff as he seeks out their commander, meeting his gaze with a half-smile and an appraising stare.
Karas and Ignir had followed Zella after she went to get the Sheriff, seeing the scene unfold from where they sat enjoying the sun.
They are just about to approach Darius and inquire about the current events when they see the armored men approach. Ignir automatically drops into a defense posture as armored men were rarely good news when you were a Shoanti.