"In the disorder I couldn't see who threw the mug, but I doubt it was deliberate. I've been hit by flying debris all too frequently at the Feedmill. Someday, I'll be able to save enough to move away from this place and work in one of the fancy inns of Elidir."
"I was busy serving near your table, but I would bet it was one of those drunk farmers, as usual." Trin purses her lips. "I don't know how they have the energy after working all day in the fields. I bet the customers in Elidir don't have weekly bar brawls."
"Are there any regulars who tend to be more problematic than others?"
"Farmer Eallom is usually the ringleader. He gives Rolth problems all the time. He's mostly harmless though--not a bully like Hallod."
"No, you caravan folks were the only newcomers in town. We don't have many visitors, so I would have noticed any other outsiders."
"I haven't seen him since we were working together last night. Did you check the stables? I think he sleeps there."
You get the distinct impression that Trin considers Finnick beneath her notice.
Distracted during the conversation, Vetch keeps looking up at Etran's Hill, which is nearby.
"Before we interview anyone else, I'd be curious to climb that hill and get a view of the countryside. We might get sight of the witch's house from up there."
As you leave the farm, you realize that the path past the farm leads back up to Etran's Hill, which you visited on your tour with the old man.
You do see Tamli walking toward the south side of town, holding a long bundle, awkwardly wrapped in burlap. She waits on the road for you to return to the outskirts of town before speaking to you. “I have a little chore that needs to be seen to. Bort’s final delivery is here in town, and it needs to be done delicately.”
Tamli unwraps the burlap bundle to reveal a pair of sparring swords that were ordered by Pari Hemsoth, a young woman who lives with her mother on a farm about a mile from town. "The directions for the delivery were...particular." She hands you a note that reads “Make sure the mother doesn’t find out.”
Bennington rewraps the swords to be more inconspicuous. They are too long to be totally hidden, but it would be difficult to guess what they are without close inspection.
Walking out to the Hemsoth farm takes you less than an hour. It is a typical farmstead for the area, set down a small lane from the road.
Guldun will take the rear with Telly, since she isn't much help in the communications department. She will keep an eye out for anyone who seems unusually interested as they make their way.
That will give you a chance to sneak up close to the house. Would anyone that is going to come right up to the house do a Stealth check, please?
With the package in hand, Bennington sneaks up to the house, undetected. Through an open window, you hear sporadic conversation between two women, one older and one younger.
The house itself if a small one-story affair, with a front and back door and several utilitarian windows on each side.
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Bennington gestures to the party to go to the front door. He then looks around for a place to stash the swords where the mother won't see them.
If there's no opportunity to hand the goods over directly to the girl, maybe he can leave them in a dead drop and let her know where to find them, Bennington thinks.
There is a convenient woodpile to stash the swords in.
"What are we going to say when we knock? Ask about the murder?
When you arrive at the door to the farm and knock, you're answered by a sturdy-looking human woman in her middle years.
She sizes you up quickly and asks, "What do we have here? Are you vagrants or busybodies, wandering onto a stranger's farm?"
"Mother!" a voice calls from inside the house. "Don't be rude." A woman in her late teens or early twenties appears, peeping over her mother's shoulder to see you.
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"Greetings, madam. I apologize for the intrusion, but we are associates of the late caravan leader, (Bartram?). You may have heard he passed away last night, rather tragically.
"So the reason for our visit is twofold. First, we've been deputized to investigate his death and we are asking everyone in the village if they know anything about it. Second, we are trying to settle his affairs. Were you expecting any deliveries?"[/b]
Diplomacy
Deception
"Deliveries? No, there must be some mistake. I don't hold with importing strange good from foreign parts. We make everything we need right here in Etran's Folly. You can come in, if you like. Pari, put the kettle on."
The young woman who has been peering intently at you gives the goblin a significant look, then--before her mother has a chance to notice--she turns on her heel and hurries back into the kitchen.
Inside, the house is plain but clean. The only object that catches your eye is as small portrait of a young man that sits on a mantle. The woman sweeps you in to sit around a large, rough-cut table.
"So, there's been some kind of murder?"
She seems eager to gossip.
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"Oh yes, m'lady. Our dear friend, Bartran, who managed the trade caravan which kept the town supplied with needful things, has passed away. Poison is suspected."
UGG returns the young girl's meaningful look and is equally cautious to avoid the matron's notice.
At an appropriate point in the conversation, he'll say, "My, now there is a handsome young man. Who is depicted there?"
"That seems like just the sort of trouble that a caravan leader would get in to! You'll excuse my speaking ill of your friend, but the town is probably better off without someone bringing such trouble into it."
Pari brings in a teapot and a handful of mugs. With her back to her mother, she rolls her eyes at the woman's rude comments while she sets and pours.
The woman points at the painting. "Ah, that's our Peter." She sighs dramatically and brings a napkin up to daub at her eyes. "Died in the wars."
"Why, the Goblinblood Wars of course. I'm not surprised outsiders like you have forgotten, but we'll never forget! The youth of the country cut down in their prime. I'm lucky I still have my Pari here. She was only a little thing when her brother died."
"Mother, don't burden the visitors with our ancient troubles. That was all a long time ago."
Pari steers the conversation back to neutral topics, such as the weather around town and the small worries of the local farmers. You get the feeling that she is trying to hurry you out of the house.
Circling out of the house the way you came, you don't have long to wait before Pari meets you by the woodpile.
"Sorry about that. Mom's going to be doing dishes for a while." Her eyes fairly glow with anticipation. "You have something for me?"
"I need to advance my training. I'm going to leave here someday--the sooner the better." Pari tests out a blade with an experimental swipe. You can tell she has natural skill with it. "Maybe I'll be an adventurer or a mercenary, but I know it will be away from here."
She looks you over, Uhtred. "You look like you're handy with a blade. Care to give me lessons some time?"
To the rest of you, she says, "Bort had me pre-pay for the blades, but I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about town. You're strangers here, but I've been hanging around my whole life--and mother is such a gossip. I know most things that there are to know around here."
"I always found Bort to be very charming, though some of his stories were pretty outlandish. I think that most people in town felt the same way." Pari puzzles over your question. "I...this is just a rumor, but I don't think I was the only person that Bort was making secret deliveries to. He had a reputation for being able to get anything you needed. I don't know any specific examples of him smuggling in anything sinister, but it's a possibility."
"We haven't had a poisoning in ages and ages, as far as I know. Hmm--"Sheriff" Rolth must be soiling his drawers." Pari chuckles, but quickly covers her mouth with a hand. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's very rude of me to make light of the situation when you've lost a friend."
"There hasn't been a decent herbalist or alchemist in town since the plague, or so mother always says. If any of you are inclined in that direction, I'm sure people would welcome you to settle here."