"Some mystery man is not our lead suspect." Ekira retorts, to Floria's comment
"True, it does not appear your Taldan friend was responsible for ending these two poor souls' lives." She almost sounds disappointed by this revelation, though clings doggedly to her point. "But that does not mean one of the others didn't use her knife to do the job."
"Not to mention the other three, already convicted. It just shows that it is not beyond any of you Pathfinders, to do such vile deeds." The bitterness and anger in her voice is almost palpable, though for the moment, it does not seem to be aimed at Floria and Huni.
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"The problem with that- that one of us used her knife- is that he said a stranger killed him. Thanks to you, we are well known in this town. He would have said a Pathfinder killed him. Your hatred of us is our alibi."
"Sheriff, you know that we've been doing our own investigation into the first set of murders. Floria was just reminding me of some of the other discrepencies we've uncovered. In addition to the letters, that is."
"You are all strangers." Ekira responds with a scowl. "Have you met either of them, such that they would recognize you in a dark alley? If not, then that is not an alibi, but a condemnation."
"But it is reason to question." Tobias jumps in, before things escalate.
Ekira pauses, frowning, before nodding slightly. "Now it is unlikely to be the vanaran, I'm sure Jothis would have noticed that. But that does not exclude you, or either of your other two male companions... One of whom has disappeared. Those are leads."
Tobias apparently agrees. "Unfortunately, you are not the only strangers in town right now. But, we are here to try to solve these two murders. The others have already been tried."
He shrugs helplessly. "I thank you for your help... we at least know we're looking for a male, not known by Jothis and his son. That's a start. But unless you have more information on this crime, I need to get back to my investigation."
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Alessio's thought on the spell seems a good one... but finding magic scrolls in a town of a hundred people seems very unlikely... But lucky for you, there are way more folks than that in town at the moment... and many of them are in the mood to deal!
He and Sangkip return to the fairgrounds, checking out the various shops, though have no luck finding someone that is selling what you need... or at least is admitting to having one to sell. You even go so far as to check with some of the fortune tellers and magicians, hoping one of them might actually have some magical background, rather than just chicanery and sleight of hand... but have no luck there either.
Eventually, you are forced to give up on that tactic.
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Alessio is getting a little tired of turning up nothing on these searches. Thank you for joining me, Sangkip. We'll have to explore an alternative. Our traditional methods have yielded very little so I'm not sure what left there is to try. We should circle back with the others and finalize our evening appraoch.
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"Very well Sheriff. Do you not think that this attempt to frame one of our group at least throws doubt on the outcome of the trial, where no more evidence of guilt was found than a weapon and an anonymous letter? We've spoken to Orug and he told us he didn't see the Pathfinders commit the crime, he only saw a tall man running away from the scene, and that describes none of the accused"
"Tommy and Bint recounted their testimony when we spoke to them, claiming it was just a prank. Are there any other witnesses?"
Before she leaves to reconvene with the others she tries a conciliatory tack with Ekira.
"Ekira, when does the Inheritor usually talk to you? I'd like to offer my own prayers to her, and when her attention is here seems like a good time"
"As Ekira pointed out, nothing here points to your groups innocence. Just the womenfolk. As to scuttlebutt, well rumors are just that." He says, apologetically. "Certainly not enough to overturn a legal conviction."
When Floria mentions the button though, he raises one eyebrow.
"A button?" He replies, instantly curious. "We searched the site, and found no buttons. Let's see it..."
"Probably planted it." Ekira chimes in, though more out of habit it seems, than any real belief in that.
"Not something you'd see in these parts, certainly." He mutters, after examining it a moment. He holds it out for Ekira to look at, which she does, then shakes her head, not recognizing it either.
"Still, can't hurt to let them take a look." He adds. "Here, let me fetch them."
He glances to Ekira, and adds "Play nice." Before leaving the room to wherever he's storing the evidence.
Floria takes that moment to try to make nice with the inquisitor... a tall mountain to climb indeed.
"Iomedae speaks to me, when it is important that she do so." She exclaims, almost proudly. "I am truly blessed."
"There is no timetable on the gods." She adds. "If she does not choose to speak to you, then you must obviously be lacking in spiritual and moral character."
That last was clearly a barb... though before it can escalate too badly, Tobias returns, with a number of cloth sacks.
"Wasn't sure if you wanted to check the dead as well, in case it was one of theirs, so brought those too." He offers, placing the sacks in two distinct piles. "We have nothing from the first victim as they were naked, never did find their possessions. But have all the rest."
He taps the three sacks on the left, indicating they were the victim's clothes. The other three, apparently belonging to the pathfinders.
A quick look at the victims' bags, show the usual style of country buttons, simple and nondescript, on all of them. There were a few missing buttons, but nothing that would have matched.
The clothes for Trip, Lucillis, and Horvit, prove little more insightful. None of their buttons missing, nor matching the one found at Otto's farm.
The sheriff looks a little disappointed that the comparison provides no obvious break in the case.
"Guess it was too much ask." He mutters... apparently not eager to see the condemned hanged... just a man doing his job.
"Well, unless you have more, I have other duties to attend to." He finally says, "Including burial arrangements for Jothis and his son."
You get the impression you've overstayed your welcome.
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When the group reconvenes, Floria relates everything that happened with the corpse.
"... long story short, even Ekira doesn't think you're the killer now Kara. I envy her almost, can you imagine being completely certain about everything? It would be wonderful, until you got yourself killed walking on an imaginary bridge or fighting an army by yourself"
Her tone changes as she becomes a little more wistful.
"I used to want to be a crusader you know. When I was a teenager, and first coming to terms with my, condition, I read stories of the Knights of Ozem and the shining crusade. Heroes of legend, untroubled by doubt or fear, willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I wanted to be that pure"
She sighs heavily, her breath ragged.
"Now with Ekira, Eamon, even Jorsal, I just see children clinging to the rules their parents gave them. I don't know what's right anymore."
There's a long moment of silence before she stands up suddenly.
"I do know that if those Pathfinders are executed tomorrow I will feel terrible if I haven't done everything I can. I know that a mystery man has been going round killing folks, and I know that if Iomedae has been talking to Ekira I've been having tea with Nivi Rhombodazzle."
Floria would like to find this killer. She's thinking that perhaps a demon with invisibility is talking to Ekira and perhaps another veteran from Kenebres, one even more damaged. Could she use her knowledge of such things to try to narrow the search during the afternoon session?
You once again, meet up to compare notes, and aside from making some ground on the button, and Floria's obvious biases vs Ekira, there is not too much progress to share.
Already noon, on the final day, you haven't much time left to find some concrete evidence!
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Alessio slumps into a chair with the group, frustration drapes across his face. We have a suspect, we just have to find him. We have witnesses that saw him at the scene. we've been focused on opportunity, but what motive would the Pathfinders have for this murder? Or any other? Perhaps we look into who would want them murdered?
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"I think the sheriff knows its not them anymore, but he can't release them without having someone else to blame. We need to find the actual culprit. After that, the evidence will tell the story. But I'm stumped. All this guy has to do is stay indoors for one more day and there's nothing we can do."
Huni will spend the day at teh inn. During that time, he'll buy rounds for everyone, spending another 50 gold.
With only the rest of the day to go, you find yourselves a little discouraged by your lack of progress! The locals have gotten more hostile to your presence every day, and fewer folks seem willing to talk to you. Not that the gaggle of rumors was all that helpful, even when you could pick the wheat from the chaff.
All the alternate theories in the world do you help without some sort of solid evidence to convince the sheriff to hold off on tomorrow's execution.
The afternoon doesn't provide any more clarity.
Fiona tries again to get a lead on this mysterious stranger some have reported, wondering if perhaps he might be another survivor of the attack on Kenabres, but all she finds are ordinary country folk, the majority of whom do not want to talk to her.
Huni attempts to get on at least some of the locals' good sides, staying in the Heath and Hearth, offering up rounds for all... free drinks a path to good will everywhere... But he soon finds that even free drinks have their limit... as most of the Pathfinders hang out at the tavern, fewer and fewer locals seem to come in, until by late afternoon the place is mostly deserted... much to the owner's distress. Even his good will seems strained, as he stands by the bar, polishing glasses, looking disconsolately at his mostly empty establishment and throws the occasional dirty look towards the cause.
The light of the day is fading from the evening sky and Floria is returning to the tavern to confer with the rest, when a local villager steps in her path, a nervous look on his face. She recognizes him, though not by name... just one of many villagers you've seen over the past few days.
He holds out a small rolled up piece of parchment, and mutters "Here."
Once she takes it, he quickly turns to walk away, apparently not comfortable near her.
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"Wait, what is this? Who are you?"
Wary of opening it in public without appropriate scrutiny, Floria keeps hold of the parchment and tries to see where the villager goes, going as far as to follow him if she can, but she won't stray too far from the tavern, no more than around 200 ft, or a few buildings.
Once she's done her best to see where he goes, she'll return to the Tavern and find the others. "I've something interesting to show you, lets go to our rooms"
In the room, she will explain what happened, cast detect magic on the parchment, and if it turns up nothing, open it and read it
The man looks back, and shrugs. "Some kid said to give it to you."
He waves his hands slightly. "I don't want no trouble. Just delivering a note."
The man looks at the proferred coin like it's poisonous. He shakes his head, backing away.
"Don't want to trouble." He repeats, clearly not wanting to take the money.
"Was just some little girl." He adds, holding out one hand to indicate height. "Didn't know her... not from Dawnton. Probably with those out at Tent City."
He shrugs, slowly backing away, then, when it seems he's out of reach, he turns and strides away.
Please rescue me.
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Nervously looking around, Floria rushes back to the tavern and and recounts what happened to the rest of the group and shows them the note.
"Yes I think I'd recognize him. He very well might be the culprit. He did say that a child gave it to him, but it seems as likely to be a trap."
She draws a scroll from her scroll case. "I can show him to you."
She casts her scroll of Mindlink and gives Huni a series of images focusing on this person's identity so that hopefully he'd recognize him too.
"Regardless I think we need to go at once, either an innocent is in danger or we have a chance to turn the tables and apprehend this killer. It would be nice to get the sheriff, but I don't think there's time. I suggest we give the letter to the barman and ask him to find the sheriff while we go to the house."
She makes sure her dagger and wands are accessible on her belt and moves to the exit.
"If we do encounter the killer we need to bring them in alive. I don't have much in the way of non-lethal magics, but I'll do my best"
The man that gave Floria the note, she already recognized, as one of the villagers, though she'd not interacted with him to that point. Huni will also recognize him as such.
Huni does note that the handwriting on this note is similar to the other notes you've come across. He's not entirely certain, without the other notes to compare it too, but it seems very close.
You all suspect a trap, but with no other real leads to follow, there is not a great deal of options but to investigate it.
Not entirely surprisingly, none of the few remaining folks in the tavern seem willing to take Sangkip up on his offer to run off alone in the dark with potential murderers.
The building you're looking for it just outside of town, to the east, along the river. Luckily the sheriff's is not far off from the tavern, so you stop there in hopes of letting him know what's going on... but when you arrive, he's not home, and the guards standing watch, warn you off with suspicious glares.
In the end, you have to head there on your own. It doesn't take long, the directions in the note more than good enough to lead you to the building in question. Though the sun has long gone down, and you are forced to produce some light of your own to see.
Locating the building is not difficult, the double chimney description easy to spot. It is a two story affair, the bottom floor of which looks like it is designed as a business... though one dedicated to the harvest when its happening... so not in use now, in the off-season. The top floor used as a residence.
It has sturdy wooden plank siding, and a number of windows on the second and first floors, though all of them are dark, the light from your own sources reflecting off what appears to be an empty building.
There are two entrances, the main door along the east side of the building. and a small door on the west side.
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Much like she did outside another house, what seems like a lifetime ago, Floria puts one hand to her head and concentrates. She probes out with her mind, listening for any answering consciousness within.
If she doesn't pick anything up, she'll assume it's because the walls are too thick and continue to concentrate on it while the party gains access.
While concentrating she draws her wand of magic missile, just in case.
Alessio will find both the front and back doors locked, though he notices no extra protections on them, in the form of traps.
Sangkip, immediately, and quietly scampers up the side of the building, finding lots of handholds. He reaches the second floor without issue, and notes that almost all of the windows are partially open... but he can not make out much inside, the interior completely dark.
While Floria concentrates, trying to detect the presence of someone inside through psychic means, Kara decides to go with a more hands on approach... or perhaps pincers on. She reveals a small scorpion, and whispers to it quietly for a moment, before sending it towards one of the open windows. It quietly skitters inside, and out of sight.
Floria, after concentrating for a while, starts to pick up faint fleeting flickers of something, though quickly realizes she's catching the little scorpion as it scuttles about on the ground floor... its thoughts a complete mystery to her. She does not pick up any other thoughts, but realizes there's likely a lot of walls and floors to go through, and it is probable she can't reach the entire building through them all.
With a little light, Sangkip is able to chase away enough of the darkness inside, to see that he is looking into what seems to be a bedroom. In fact all three of the windows along the river-side of the upper story appear to be bedrooms, none of them looking like they have any occupants. The door to each of them stands open, revealing a hallway beyond.
Down below, as Floria continues to concentrate, she changes her position somewhat, to try to get a better scan of the entire home. She can sense the movement of Aragostina through the bottom floor, and at one point, she thinks she detects a second mind, though quickly loses track of it, and is not sure if she imagined it, or was catching the little scorpion as it moves about, or whatever it was moved.
Even as she ponders these weighty thoughts, Alessio produces a set of tools, and makes short work of the door, in lieue of Huni kicking it down. Luckily, the door is not actually locked at all, merely barred from the inside, and a quick lift later, he has it open.
It opens into what appears to be a storeroom of some sort, there are two doors, both standing open. The northern one opens into a small side storage area, while the one across the room opens into a larger room beyond.