Taking note of the foliage, Conner checks out the window the footprints outside had led to.
Eostre shudders at Ekan's observations.
"Nicat, you think someone came back from the dead? But why target THESE people? I mean, Nualia and Tsuto had their obvious axes to grind, but these folks didn't have anything to do with that drama."
She looks at the sihedron carved on Banny's chest. She knew Thassilon's legacy wasn't exactly clean and squeaky, but this felt like desecration...like the use of it here had nothing to do with the runes or the magic and it was just WRONG.
"I don't know enough about undead to..well, I don't want to know about undead but it looks like" He nods ..this has shaken him somewhat.
The window itself is unbroken, and its lock is still intact. Whoever entered through this way had enough skill to pick it without too much trouble.
"I don't get it. I just don't get it."
Eostre straightens herself up.
"I'm gonna talk to the family. I don't know enough about these two to know why someone'd kill them, much less get this disgusting spectacle set up."
She leaves the sawmill and looks for Sheriff Hemlock and the remaining Vinders.
Conner has one last glance around then heads downstairs. "Muddy footprints going up the wall outside, window was locked and unbroken. Bushes on the far side of the water are disturbed, we should check it out when we're done here."
"We should," Evelyn responds, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.
For now, though, she follows Eostre to talk to the sheriff and the relatives of the deceased.
Those of the party who leave the sawmill find Shayliss easily enough. She's sitting on the bank of the Turandarok River, her head in her hands. Her hands are wet with tears. Sheriff Hemlock appears to have left the sawmill for now, leaving a few guardsmen standing watch.
The grieving young woman coughs as Eostre & Evelyn approach. She doesn't look up or say anything.
Evelyn quietly sits down next to Shayliss. She briefly places a careful hand on the Shayliss's arm and smiles softly to let the grieving woman know she's there for her.
Shayliss swallows a few times, trying to get herself together enough to speak.
"...what do you need?"
Eostre plops herself down on Shayliss' other side and gives her a sympathetic look.
"What's happened to your family is...it's disgusting and wrong. And I promise you we're gonna get the disgusting monster who did this. But we need to ask you some questions...some of them may be hard for you to answer...please, lemme know if I'm out of line. We need to know about your sister and Banny, and why someone might target them."
Shayliss sniffs and rubs her eyes again. They're getting red, and tear tracks make their way down her cheeks.
"...no...I don't know why either of them would be targeted. Banny was a hard-working man, and he swept Kat off her feet. Daddy didn't see the good in him, and they... well, they eloped."
"Given how enraged and aggrieved the Sheriff says your dad was when he got the news, I think it's safe to rule him out as a suspect. Besides, he's got no quarrel with Evelyn here, or Conner, who both got rambly, threatening notes most likely from the killer. Your dad reminds me of mine a little: crabby and stubborn, but who loves his kids and wants the best for them."
She turns and offers Shayliss a strong dwarven hug.
"Tell me more about Banny. Why didn't your dad like him? Maybe the killer was targeting him for similar reasons and your sister just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Shayliss doesn't say anything when Eostre brings up her father's justified rage. When the dwarven mage hugs her, she clings to her with a strength born of desperation.
"Banny?" Shayliss' hands tremble. "Banny was... he was a slick, charming man. I didn't know him that well, but f-from what I gathered, he had a few bad habits that Daddy didn't like. He'd have the lumber mill run on well into the night, but other than that..."
"...I don't know." Her shoulders slump. "He had a business partner working at the mill--I think he was brought in by the garrison. He probably knew him better than Daddy did."
"What's the name of the business partner?" Evelyn asks. "We need to verify if it was indeed he who was brought in."
Evelyn looks at Eostre. "Shall we check on this partner first, then head to mister Vinder?"
She slowly gets up. "We'll find who did this, Shayliss. We will. In the meantime, if there's anything else I can do for you, just ask."
"His name's Ibor Thorn. He was the one responsible for accounting--Banny oversaw the work floor." Shayliss seems to have calmed somewhat.
"When you do find them... please, don't let them escape."
"His name's Ibor Thorn. He was the one responsible for accounting--Banny oversaw the work floor." Shayliss seems to have calmed somewhat.
"When you do find them... please, don't let them escape."
"We won't, Shayliss, I promise you that," says Eostre, grim determination in her eyes. "We didn't let Tsuto or Nualia get away, right?"
"We will stop them." A grim tone,"One family being lost to tragedy is one too many ."
Nicat, sitting on the opposite side of Shayliss from Eostre, holds his sweetheart's hand and listens as the others question her. As their attention focuses on Ibor Thorn, he gives voice to his thoughts, "So are we going after Banny's business partner? What about the things I noticed inside? You know, the ell-smay on the axe-ay?"
Though his efforts to do so are more than a little awkward, he's trying to shield Shay from the gruesome details of what they saw inside.
Conner comes outside. "There's a fresh trail on the other side of the water, we should check it out before we go see Mr Vinder, we might get lucky. Unless someone thinks they can talk to him then catch up to us."
Nicat nods at Conner's suggestion, saying, "If it's a fresh trail, we might actually catch someone. I think Conner's right."
Evelyn nods in agreement. "Trail, Ibor Thorn, mister Vinder. Got it."
She stands still and awkwardly waits for Conner to lead the way. "Ehm... shall we go?"
"Yes, let's." He makes his way to follow Connor. His face is grim
"Aye. Never a dull moment for our merry band, it seems," Eostre says, using her glaive to hoist herself up to standing.
"I should add that my options have increased dramatically by copying the spells from Tsuto's wizard accomplice into my own spellbook. Which reminds me," she turns looking for Sheriff Hemlock.
"Sorry to pester you, Sheriff, but I was wondering if you or one of your men could do me a favor, and relay a message to Brodert Quink and Orik not to wait up for me. I can't help the others investigate this murder and run a dig site at the same time. Well...not until I'm powerful enough to place multiple scrying spells at once."
The nearby sheriff nods. "I will."
---------------------
The party treks to the other side of the Turandarok River, towards the trail Conner found on the bank. To the uninformed eye, there's nothing of real importance here--just a few stray weeds and a good view of the sawmill.
The smell of rotten flesh hangs in the air around this spot.
"It was right around here..."
"Wait, there's a dry spot here on the bank and I think I see tracks..." He wrinkles his nose "Rotted flesh? does anyone else smell that?"
He bends down, "Watch out for the nettles, here... the tracks o back and forth. Someone was pacing very close to the water's edge."
"Wow, sharp eyes, Ekan!" Nicat says excitedly as his friend relates what he's found. "You found some clues! But what do they mean? Did whoever was walking back and forth here just watch and wait while terrible things happened in the saw mill? Did they send someone in to kill them? Conner, you said you saw muddy footprints going up the wall, could they have been made by whoever was pacing here?"
Scratching his head and making a face that shows the effort he's putting into thinking all this through, he continues to wonder aloud, "I can't even tell if we're looking at one murderer or more than that. We smelled the rotten smell inside too, on that axe, so that makes me think the person pacing in here was also inside..." With a start, he adds, "So, if the killer paced here a while, then crossed the river and went inside, then where did he go afterwards? Should we look for more tracks?"
Evelyn tries to find tracks, but it doesn't take long before she shakes her head and says, "I wouldn't know what to look for..."
"Ekan...?"
"I don't know much about undead, but... I doubt they need to breath." He eyes the water
"Did you see any tracks leaving or going into the water?"
"Wow, sharp eyes, Ekan!" Nicat says excitedly as his friend relates what he's found. "You found some clues! But what do they mean? Did whoever was walking back and forth here just watch and wait while terrible things happened in the saw mill? Did they send someone in to kill them? Conner, you said you saw muddy footprints going up the wall, could they have been made by whoever was pacing here?"
Scratching his head and making a face that shows the effort he's putting into thinking all this through, he continues to wonder aloud, "I can't even tell if we're looking at one murderer or more than that. We smelled the rotten smell inside too, on that axe, so that makes me think the person pacing in here was also inside..." With a start, he adds, "So, if the killer paced here a while, then crossed the river and went inside, then where did he go afterwards? Should we look for more tracks?"
Eostre strokes her chin at Ekan and Nicat's descriptions of the tracks.
"Given what we've seen in the notes, we may be dealing with multiple people...or one person with multiple perspectives. Our "Lordship" may have been having a conversation or argument with himself, and that's why he was pacing the shore like this. It's a bit of a leap, I know, but there's a lot of weird s#!t with these events...just like the last one was. I mean, we dealt with a freak goblin assault at the local festival and stumbled on a conspiracy between a demon-worshiping aasimar and an embittered glassblower to destroy the town in revenge for their s#!tty childhoods. I don't think it'd be too odd if Lord Foxglove somehow ran afoul of an undead in the past few weeks, and then went nuts and murdered our two victims just to get our attention."
"Did you see any tracks leaving or going into the water?"
Curiously, they do not leave the site.
"To and from the river," he says, "but.. I don't think the prints leave the site."
"It might still be here then. Or, it used the river, swam away."
Evelyn walks up to the river's edge. "Hmm... maybe if the killer went into the water... well, he would've had to reemerge elsewhere, wouldn't he? Maybe we can find out where, if we follow the river?"
Some frowning and deep thinking later Evelyn adds, "Maybe he had a boat?"
Ekan contemplates, "One of us could dangle a toe into the water as bait."
"How 'bout Conner? He's got sabatons on."
Conner rolls his eyes and wades out knee deep.
The current isn't that strong--you can wade across without too much trouble, even dressed in all your armour.
Nicat waits expectantly, a hand on his sling, as Conner wades into the water.
The tracks leave one side of the riverbank and emerge on the other, heading for the second-story window. They go in both directions--towards and away from the mill.
"Nothing here we can find, we should focus on the leads we have. Shae's father, and Banny's partner."
"Very good. Though we'll probably want Nicat to stay out of sight when we interview Mr. Vinder. We don't want him to get so mad he doesn't wanna talk to us," Eostre says with a shrug.
"I suggest we go to Mr. Vinder first. Let's go." With that said, Evelyn starts walking.