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"I can give them a sad song. I know lots of those." Aurora considers which mournful romantic ballad she should begin with, then remembers the skeletons.
"Oh! Skeletons! And look, nobody's controlling them. That's why they're going round in circles. What a shame. It's certainly not unethical just to have skeletons around, Zu. Think of them as post-consumer humans. Or elves, or whatever they used to be. They'd go to waste just staying in the ground. But they're also really going to waste in a cage. They could be useful, for stuff like cleaning up after the animals."
Aurora stops her horse in front of the skeletons cage. She holds the reins tightly as the animal grows nervous at the presence of the undead.
"Please don't run away! I won't hurt you
I'm awfully sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you
But you don't know what I've been through!
And all because I was afraid
I'm so ashamed of the fuss I've made
What do you do when things go wrong?"
"♫♫Oh, you sing a song!
With a smile and a song
Life is just a bright sunny day
Your cares fade away
And your heart is young
With a smile and a song
All the world seems to waken anew
Rejoicing with you
As the song is sung
There's no use in grumbling
When raindrops come tumbling
Remember, you're the one
Who can fill the world with sunshine
When you smile and you sing
Everything is in tune and it's spring
And life flows along
With a smile and a song♫♫"
Zu's vines are starting to look somewhat wilted, especially around where the giant lizard originally took a bite out of him. The pumpkin is looking a bit shrunken, too. Deciding that your companion needs some bed rest, you decide to forgo the rest of the carnival tonight. Hopefully, the leshy will feel better in the morning, and you can come back after you collect the relic.
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"Uh...post-consumer? What?" Zu asks after Aurora's song is over, genuinely confused. "I mean...I guess it sorta makes sense? Their spirits left their vessels empty, yeah, but um...they could just be planted in the ground to help make other things grow, right? Or left as nourishment for critters."
Zu looks like he wants to say more but as he turns to look at something else he stops and looks down at his limbs. "Hmm. They're getting even more like sticks. That's probably not good."
"Mebbe we should pack it after all. But mebbe let's stop at an herbalist or something first and get some of that liniment stuff I always hear the old humans talk about. It's supposed to help achy joints!"
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You stop by the impromptu market that has already begun to grow next to the outer bounds of the carnival. There you look for an herbalist or alchemist and purchase a vial of antitoxin from a vaguely respectable looking merchant. The wilting leshy downs the vial in the hopes of recovering from whatever the giant lizard did to him. While there are plenty of distractions within the market, you all decide that providing Zu with a good night's rest is more important than any trinket.
It takes you a good bit to get back to town, as you are approaching the inn you have selected for the night, cramps begin to dance through the poor leshy's body (a very strange feeling for a plant).
"Oh, dear me!" the innkeeper says. "There's a temple to Erastil down the street toward the north side if you need a cleric."
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"Oooh...I'm creakin' like a rocking chair," Zu complains as they finally arrive back at their lodgings. He gulps down the antitoxin they'd bought earlier, hoping it'll help.
"Mebbe that'll do me some good...if not, I guess I might need to go see a priest," the leshy sighs. "Next time there's a dragon on the loose...I'll lasso its' mouth shut first and THEN wrestle it."
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Once she's convinced that Zu won't die and he's tucked in bed, or wherever pumpkins rest, Helvetica spends a good portion of what's left of the night partying it up with the local Caydenites.
The next morning, she gets peeled off of a table and gently placed on the floor so it can be cleaned for the day's customers. Lucky for her, she stirs as the inn comes to life and she finds her allies before they run off for the day.
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Most of you have a fairly restful night. Zu awakens from his rest feeling slightly more limber . After a breakfast that is likely extremely rich given your mermaid's predilections and your general willingness to try new things, you decide to deal with the task for which you were sent and then see to the carnival once more--maybe take in the big top.
You make your way to the upper tier of Ilsurian where the homes are larger and surrounded by cultivated yards and gardens. A balding Chelish man opens the door after a moment of knocking. He arches a brow and says, "You must be Pathfinders. Or from the carnival, but I don't know why the carnival would seek me out. You have my package from Farabellus? One moment." He holds up a finger and disappears for a short time.
When he returns, he hands you a letter. "I stored the plates at the Locked Box. It's run by Archivin Walder. He's a moneylender and pawnbroker. His vault is the best for hire. Take this to him, and he'll get the plates for you."
A quick scan of the letter confirms it to be a receipt for a set of engraved Azlanti plates entrusted to Archivin Walder.
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"Why do every-person thinks we are from carnival. We are master Path-venturers! We are here to get things. I am Tibitz of the Graymanes... I am master finder-sneaky-magic-things-maker."
After a member of the group takes the plates.
"This will be fun. We makes much golds. Maybe when we are done we can do more seeing of city?"
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"Ehhhhh...I reckon we kinda stand out a bit amidst all these human beans," Zu remarks. Though still decidedly stiff in his joints he clearly feels - and moves - better today than he did when the group turned in last night. "This ain't Absalom, you know? But aw, we shouldn't worry too much about it. Personally, I think it's pretty dang neato folks think we could be in a carnival. Those carnival folks work hard - least it seems that way from what we saw last night!"
Zu stands on tip-toe to peer at the letter. "Huh, so now we gotta hit a pawn shop? Well let's get going! Sooner we do that, sooner we can get back to the carnival!"
Rufus is happy enough to give you directions to the Locked Box and soon enough, you are on your way. The Locked Box is a sturdy, stonewalled building on the middle tier of Ilsurian. However, you quickly notice that something is amiss as you turn the bend in the road. Standing outside the pawn shop are two guards, though not city guards, and a woman who is repeatedly wiping her eyes.
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"Oh, uh...reckon we came at a bad time?" Zu asks as they spot the guards and woman congregated outside the shop. "Look's like something's going on. Should we go have a look-see?"
Zu waits a beat to see what his companions think before trundling onward towards the shop, albeit it at a slower pace than before.
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Tibitz, my little Path-venturing friend, I hear you," Helvetica says, resting a hand on his shoulder. She shakes her head somberly. "These people don't know who we are. I say, we should fix that. We should become symbols of the Pathfinder Society!" Finding something to stand on, she clambers up. "We will become... "
She lets the moment sink in before climbing back down to the floor. "We can get costumes and everything, it'll be so much fun!" We just need the scratch first!
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"OH.MY.GOD! Do you know what this is?!" Without giving anyone time to respond, she tells them. "A JOB FOR THE PATHFINDER LEAGUE!"
Raising a fist to the sky, she rushes towards the guards. "Hi! We're here to pick up some stuff," she states, waiting to see what the guards have to say for themselves.
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"Mmm. Matching cloaks and pins? That's a good idea Tibitz. Maybe we could each have a symbol or personal glyph on our cloaks? Something that speaks to our unique gifts and powers..."
Aurora ponders a mermaid variation of the holy symbol of the Divine Princess, picked out in blue with statement emeralds.
Noting your approach, one of the guards breaks away to intercept you. He holds up a hand in the universal request for you to stop. "You'll have to come back another day. Probably after the funerals. Please respect the mistress' grief," he says. You can tell his voice is strained holding back emotion.
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Squinting through the glare of the sun on his face Tibitz fails to see the woman and continues forward, "We have importants business that can't wait. Where is this funeral... did you say funeral or funeral(S)? More than one at a time is badz luck. You better make special offering to Lady of the Lucky Coin... or Desna as 'umans call her. She is very good goddess for luck."
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Aurora is about to comment on the wastefulness of putting corpses back in the earth when she spots the youth coming towards them. Pickpocket, or somebody with an offer? She manoeuvres her horse towards the young man, using the animal to provide a screen so that he isn't seen by whomever it is that he is trying to avoid.
Aurora leans over and says in a quiet, conspiratorial voice "Can I help you, young man? Or are you about to tell me how you can help me?"
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Helvetica looks like much of the wind has been taken out of her sails. "Oh, I, well, yes, that is some poor timing..." Can't people have their problems when and where it isn't inconvenient for us? We have a job to do, we didn't even know these people and we need to get our fancy dinner plates! OH OH OH!
She clears her throat and puts on her best "large and in charge" voice. "Yes, as my partner here has explained, we'd like to know some details and when we can retrieve our things. As I know you've already guessed, we're the Pathfinder League, so everything will be ok now. We'll take any investigation from here, solving mysteries is something like a specialty of ours," she insists. Damn! This would be so much more compelling if we had costumes! And if I know what was going on, but I'm pretty sure confidence will get me through most anything, I've just got to double-down.
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"Hold on, now!" the other guard says forcefully as he moves to intercept Tibitz, drawing his sword as he does. "Your business is just going to have to wait, ratfolk. Now turn around and mind yourself before we detain you for the sheriff."
With the other guard dealing with Tibitz, the first guard answers Zu's question. "Yes. It was Mister Walder and Jorge, one of the other guards." He shakes his head at Helvetica. "The sheriff is on the case."
The Varisian boy, who is now close enough to be obvious to the rest of you, nods vigorously. "We need your help. You're good at games, mistress says. Sharp eyes. And outsiders. Mistress thinks that's important. Mistress Delisen, our boss, owns the carnival, wants you to come help her with a serious problem."
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"Oh wow, what are the odds?" Zu gasps and then sighs, shaking his pumpkin head. "That's really sad. I'm sorry for the wife bean's loss."
He looks at his companions. "I guess we're stuck here in town for a while then, huh? Because he's right, I'd feel bad bothering her," he nods towards the weeping wife, "about our package right now."
Any further thoughts or commentary on the situation are waylaid as the youth approaches the group with his message. There's a brief pause - you'd swear Zu would've just blinked if he had eyelids to blink - and then the leshy looks at Helvetica.
"Hey, I guess maybe we'll get to solve mysteries after all! Or at least kill some time? Just hope the baby dragon didn't get loose again..."
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Tibitz doesn't know quite how to react to the guard who is obviously doing his job but also appears not to understand the super-awesomeness of the PATH-VENTURE LEAGUE OF SUPER-FINDERS!!!
"We can wait only one day, we needs to get job done for big bosses so we can have money for matching cloaks and badges!"
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Helvetica throws the guard here most petulant pout and waits.
And waits.
And waits.
When it is clear the guard is still convinced that the Sheriff is the best person for the job, she exhales loudly with disapproval, disappointment, and dismay, then turns to her companions. "Not even my most ruthless tricks worked on him! I tried everything," she confesses. It is clear she has much more to say on the matter, but the Varisian boy derails her train of thought.
"TIBITZ LEAVE THE GUARD ALONE, WE'VE ANOTHER, MUCH BETTER, AND MORE IMPORTANT JOB!" she stage whispers. That'll make the guard feel bad for spurning us on what should have been our mystery-solving debut! She narrows her eyes and sneers at the guard.
She clears her throat again in preparation of using her Pathfinder League voice. "Greetings small child! What can the Pathfinder League do for Mistress Delisen?" But are we the Pathfinder League on Carnival soil or Carnival royalty? It is waaaaay too much responsibility to have both, I'll have to consult with the others on the way. I don't even know how I'd do both voices at once, that would confuse everybody! They'd wonder if we were Pathfinder Royalty, or the Carnival League! GAH, THIS IS ALL TOO MUCH!
Her eye twitches for a moment before she refocuses her attention on the boy.
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"Come!" the boy insists. "Mistress Delisen will explain."
The first guard, close enough to overhear says with clear bitterness in his voice, "If you go with him, be careful it's not a trap."
"Murderers, them Varisians," the other guard mutters as he catches sight of the youth. However, neither guard makes a threatening move, and once to move away, they return to the Mistress Walder's side."[/b]
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"Very parochial, aren't they?" Aurora comments to the boy. "The Pathventure-League, ahem, that's us, would be delighted to meet the owner of your wonderful carnival. Lead on. And ask Mistress Delisen to prepare fried butter and candy floss for us. Unless there is another delicacy that you favour, perhaps?"
"Um. I like biscuits, ma'am," the boy says. Answering Tibitz mercenary question, the boy shrugs and adds, "You'll have to ask Mistress Delisen."
The sun is well on its way toward noon by the time you reach the carnival grounds. It still possesses an air of whimsy and wonder, but it clearly suffers under the revealing light of day. Chipped pain, patched canvas a brighter shade than the faded tents and tarps, and an awareness of the churned up grass and dirt as well as the lack of faerie lanterns and candles take away some of the wonder.
The carnival has yet to open for the day, and the youth leads you past the empty tents to the wagons behind the big top. He takes you to the largest wagon and walls toward the curtained entrance, "I've got 'em here, mistress."
A tall, middle-aged Varisian woman with a tattooed chin emerges from the wagon and descends the short step ladder meet with you. "Good to meet you. I am Almara Delisen," she says. "I appreciate your efforts yesterday in the regrettable incident with our dragon. I fear I could also use your help with another matter. You may have heard there was a murder in town last night. The circumstances, I am told, implicate people from my circus--something I find very hard to accept. I’d like to contract you to represent the Umbra Carnival to determine who is really responsible and preserve our reputation."
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"A murder investigation, Tibitz!" Aurora looks down to the ratfolk master-finder. "Surely an opportunity for lots of findy-outy path-venturing!"
She turns to the carnival mistress: "But you see, Mistress Delisen, this murder business has got in the way of our existing work. Now that might mean our interests are aligned, but it also means that we are without an income. What remuneration do you propose in this contract? And have you got any biscuits? I'm famished."
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"" Helvetica shouts while pointing at the Mistress. That guard is going to feel like such a dope when we solve this case! Naturally, she offers no explanation for her outburst.
"I think that's the sort of job we can handle," she says, echoing Aurora's words as she begins pacing back and forth. "If the renumeranting is acceptable..." Now she knows we're all on the same page, she can't pull a fast one on us! Checkmate Carnival Mistress. Bet she wishes she was a Queen with my mastery of vocabularies and smarty pants friends!
"I can offer you six hundred gold if you can find definitive proof of the identity of the murderers," Almara Delisen says. "If you take the job, the circus us open to you for your investigation. I'll also draw up a letter to take to the sheriff, certifying that you have been chosen as a third party investigators. When you do go back to town, I recommend you visit her."
She sighs and shakes her head before answering Zu, "Varisians are easy to blame."
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"I think 600 gold is a little lower than what the Pathfinder League typically accepts, but I think we can make a special exception this time, right?" Helvetica says, looking to her companions. "We all know a little something about being easy to blame." Or maybe it is just me, but it isn't my fault I have a reputation for starting trouble! People just don't know how to have fun, is all.
"That's an interesting analogy," Almara says with a laugh.
"Yes. Six hundred gold. I hope that is sufficient. We are not a wealthy circus. We keep our prices low so that the commonest of the common folk can escape their daily grind and experience wonder, if only temporarily."
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After wiping his chin Tibitz takes a serious tone and becomes all about the business of Path-Venturing, "Besides being against you because you have tattoos, why else do you think these 'umans might have suspected your people? Do you have any ideas of whose they are suspecting? We need to know all things that you know if we are going to be master-finder-special investigators for you...yes, yes, tells us everything you know."
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"Oh wow, that's a lot of gold pieces isn't it? Hey Aurora, you could buy all the biscuits you wanted with that!"
He thinks for a moment.
"Honey goes best on biscuits, if you wanted my thoughts on the matter."
Then, getting back to business, he nods up at Almara. "Go talk to the town sheriff, gotcha! Oh and like Tibitz said, anything you know about what happened could help. I mean, we'll ask the sheriff that too, but if we're gonna be investigators we gotta do it right, you know? We gotta investigate everyone!"
"You can," Almara says with a slight hesitation. "However, you probably ought to let the sheriff know you'll be investigating before you begin investigating. I can tell you what the sheriff told me, though. The man who was murdered, Walder, I believe is his name, was found between the circus and the town by his wife. His body had been mauled by what appeared to be a large animal. We have a few large animals, so... you see."
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"Oh. Ooooooh. Yeahhhhhh. I get it now. Most towns of human beans don't usually just...have...big critters, even in cages. Well, big critters that aren't livestock, I mean," Zu nods, now understanding things a bit better. He's still got a lot of questions but checks himself; the sheriff would probably be able to give them more details.
"Hokay! Then we'll go talk to the sheriff, first. I guess you're right that she'd prolly appreciate a heads-up before we start our investigating."
Another thought, this one more uncomfortable, now occurs to him. "Uh...y'think the sheriff will listen to us? I think some of the beans in this town think we're with you guys. Guess we stand out a bit too?"
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“I don’t believe Sheriff Feldane is an unjust woman, so I believe she'll take my letter at face value," Almara says. "But I think she’s under greater pressure to keep the peace than to find the guilty. After all, my people aren’t her first concern. Thus my belief is a third party investigation stands a better chance of clearing our good name than the local constabulary.”
Around this time, a man carrying a plate of still steaming biscuits and fresh honey combs arrives. "The boy said y'all wanted some biscuits?"
"Don't tell the sheriff about the biscuits," Almara adds with a wry smile. "She might think it a bribe."
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"Oh, these are biscuits? Mmmm." Aurora takes two, and a large piece of honeycomb, and goes to work on them.
"Mmmm mmmm. Oh, your secret is safe with us! As long as the biscuits keep coming!" Aurora winks. "Nobody who makes such food could be bad! We'll clear you, I'm confident."
Once she's eaten (perhaps after seconds - or is it 'thirds'?) Aurora is ready to go to the sheriff.