"There was a lot of screaming and when I came over to see what's going on there was the woman with the dagger in hand. The boy lay on the ground, blood gushing out his neck."
"I guess you could simply visit the vendors at the market and ask them. Most are regulars. At least if you go on the same weekday, Toilday that is. For customers I don't know, you'll have to ask around."
Meanwhile Carl walks Menan into the dungeon. It is a long dark corridor only lit by a torch at the entrance that those who want to go in take along. There are cell doors to the left and right with small barred openings to look into them.
"Here we are." Carl points to the door.
"Does she have a name?"
"That's 'Lady' Pembrooke. Not very lady-like to slaughter a kid if you ask me."
Menan taps on the door and opens the cuff port. "Lady Pembrooke, I am Menan Variel and I have been tasked with investigating your claims as to what happened on the fateful day. Please give me your full name and your son's full name. What other family do you have in Abadon? Please tell me what happened in as much detail as you can possibly recall."
"My name is Lady Agatha Pembrooke. My murdered son was named Michel. You have to find who did this to me! I'm an esteemed member of the upper society. It is a blatant injustice that I'm in prison!" Her confident and angry introduction turns into a whiny tone when it comes to describing the act.
"I was on the market place shopping for groceries when suddenly this power took me over and forced my hand. It reached into my purse, where it found the dagger. I didn't put that dagger into my purse. And holding that dagger my hand stabbed my beloved son Michael in his neck and he fell, and bled to death."[/b] At the end she is sobbing and tears.
"Do you have any friends who can attest to your character? Do you have any enemies that you are aware of? Who would benefit from this? Where is the home you were living in at the the time? The address please. I will do some investigating. More than likely I will return here when I have some facts. Have you retained legal council? If so, who. If not, why?"
Lady Pembrooke gives a description where to find the house and what it looks like. She also gives two names and locations of families as reference.
"Those are business contacts, but you can ask them, I guess. I have no legal council. I can't do anything, and no one cared to ask before you appeared. It is really nice of you, to look into this."
"I will surely get back with you. Good day."
On his way out Menan asks Carl "Carl, was there blood on her when you first saw the dagger in her hand If so, where was it?"
Menan makes his way to the temple of Abadon. "Hello the house. I am Menan Variel."
"The dagger was bloody, but that was it. All the blood was on the ground."
Carl brings Menan back outside.
At the temple of Abadar Menan is greeted by a guard in full plate. On his request for a book about local law he is pointed to a side room that serves as a library. There are some books about accounting, some holy texts of Abadar, some about trade rules and a rather thin volume about local penal law.
Basically it is a listing of crimes, the related jail time and the price to buy yourself free from jail. A few crimes have a death sentence, and from what you read, Lady Pembrooke qualifies. That short list consists of high treason and murder even if only attempted, when done in a way that the general public was offended.
There is a tribunal consisting of the chief of the guard, the mayor and the high priest of the temple of Abadar. But they come only into play if the general public is involved. Either because of an ugly crime, or because someone who is important enough makes a fuss about being thrown into prison instead of simply paying the fine.
But if there is no one intervening on behalf of the one thrown into jail, that one will have a hard time, as there is no way to intervene from the cell on one's own.
Menan moves on to the business acquaintances. He asks about her personality and anything about her personal life. Her feelings toward her son and if they believe she is capable of such.
"Good day dear Sir. Please state your business with the Heidmarch family." the maid who opens inquires as Menan knocks on the door of the manor.
After naming his business with Lady Pembrooke and the topics he seeks information about the maid excuses herself to ask the masters. She closes the door on Manuun.
She comes back a few minutes later. "The masters want nothing to do with that person anymore. It was purely a business relationship."
As Manuun tells his goodbye and turns to leave the maid speaks "The Pembrookes were well known for Sir Peter's shop for jewellery, antiques and pocket watches. Sir Peter and Lady Eleanore Pembrooke that is. They were regularly invited to social events, also here at this house. But then she died and Mr. Pembrooke later married the maid, Lady Aghasta Pembrooke. Then Sir Peter died too. Lady Aghasta was still invited out of courtesy, but she never really fit in. She wasn't a real lady, and she looked down on people like us maids."
"Then one day after years of being a widow, she offered the services of a girl to do cleaning. She told the girl has to earn her food, and the best she could do was robbing on the floor for cleaning with her stiff leg. I don't know if they accepted out of pity or because of the low pay. I also don't know where the girl was from, or why she asked for a job for her."
"But you don't know that from me." she adds and quickly disappears into the house and closes the door.
At the second house they simply deny knowing that person.
Menan thanks the servant for her insight.
He thinks to himself Eleanore dies and after he marries the maid Aghasta, Peter dies. A destitute girl is put to work and then the son dies. That is a lot of dying around one person.
He heads to the house and asks the neighbors about the Pembrookes. He is interested in any observations they made of the family. Did they attend religious services? If so where?
He also inquires of any activity at the house since the incident. He would like to inspect there as well.
The neighbors tell that the Pembrookes have become more and more reclusive after the death of the father of the family. Since the incident, which everyone has heard of, only the daughter of the family lives in the house. Nothing notable has changed regarding the house. Like always the daughter comes and goes.
As Menan knocks at the Pembrooke house itself it takes a while until the door is answered. As it opens, he is greeted by Persephone.
"You here? I don't remember telling you where I live. You're that eager to join the resistance?"
"Our second unexpected meeting. What are you doing here?"
"I live here. What are you doing here, when you didn't expect me?" Menan starts looking suspicious.
"I am investigating the murder of a young boy by his mother for the city watch. How is it you now live at this location?"
"Oh, great." Persephone rolls her eyes. "Because this is my father's house? And what's to investigate there. This crazy nutjob of a stepmother killed her son, my half-brother. Whom I buried two days ago." You can see the rage come up from deep within on Persephone's face as she gnashes her teeth and the knuckles of her fists turn white.
"Perhaps this is not the best time. Peter Pembrooke is your father?"
"Yes he was. But there will never be a good time for this, so if you don't drop it completely, we can as well get it over with."
"Did Eleanor and Peter seek medical attention prior to their untimely deaths? Detail those deaths for me, please. Did your family attend services at a local temple? Please describe your half brother and step mother in as much detail as possible. Is there any family wealth remaining at this time?"
"When my mother fell ill my father was still alive. He did everything he could to have her treated and healed, but nothing worked. The doctors were dumbfounded and had never seen such an illness. She lay in bed and was pale until she died. I don't remember any details, I was too young."
"My father fell sick of the same illness some years later. Doctors were called, and priests I think they were of Abadar, but again nothing helped and he died. It started with becoming pale, weak, with a stomach ache. It became worse by the day until he were tied to the bed and died within a few weeks."
"Our family was never very religious. We went to the temple for the holidays."
"My father was a very talented businessman. We were rich. But my stepmother managed to dissipate all the money. See this stiff leg? When I broke it she didn't deem it worth to call a doctor for that. She spent all the money, sold everything in the shop, and then started selling the silverware and the furniture. The only thing left is the house."
"Lionel-Michael was a little boy. A spoiled one. She loved him. I guess he's the only person she ever really loved. To everyone else she played a role, only showed a false facade. Well, besides me. She openly hated me."
"I would like to speak with these clerics and physicians who treated your parents. Where are they laid to rest?"
"Feel free to ask my stepmom then, who she called for the sickness of my father or who my father called for my mother. For I have no clue who they were. I was a kid back then."
"My parents and my half-brother lie in the family crypt on the cemetery with Pharasma's chapel in the old part of town. You can ask Father Grimburrow for the grave of the Pembrooke family. Or you can search for the inscription. At least that of Eleanore. The one for my father and my brother were only ordered two days ago. My stepmother must have somehow forgotten to add the name of her beloved husband."
Menan seeks out Father Grimburrow at Pharasma's chapel.
"Good day. I am Menan Variel, a newcomer to this town. I am working for the city watch and have a few questions for you regarding the Pembrooke family. Primarily Peter and Eleanor who now rest in your graveyard. How familiar are you with those two and were you aware of the illnesses that took their lives?"
"I know that most clerics end up eventually being able to cast divine spells. I have noticed that Abadon does not have much for sale regarding magical supplies. I am just interested in how magic is treated in this town. Some communities revere it and others display fear. Would you say it is well received here?"
"I was only ever involved after the deaths. Really tragic what bitter fate has befallen that family. I only know from hearsay, but it must have been a serious illness that cut the life of those two short."
"Of course the divine gifts of the gods to provide healing to those in need are welcomed in this community. Or did you have other magic in mind?"
"But why are the deaths of those two of interest to the city watch so many years after their demise?"
"I am able to cast a few low level arcane spells. I am a scholar and a scribe. I like to sell magical scrolls when possible. Never of the evil sort. I refuse to learn any of that."
"The city is not currently interested in those deaths. I was asked to investigate Lady Pembrooke's murder of her own child recently. While doing so, I find these untimely deaths of interest. I should not verbalize any suspicions I have at this time without proof. The arcane could be of use with my investigations."
"You piqued my interest. I'm aware of some magical divinations, but what kind of magic are you thinking of here?"
"There is a spell called Discern Next of Kin which would allow me to read the target’s mind to learn about its family. I can also see alignments. That would allow me to detect evil much like you. And I can detect thoughts as well as have someone share a memory. Good tools for an investigator. There are others depending on my finding."
"That is an area of magic where I have no expertise, but it sounds interesting."
"Where might I locate the physicians that cared for the Pembrookes?
"I have no clue whom they went to with their illnesses. Maybe one of the other temples?"
"It was a pleasure meeting you. I hope we have the chance to visit again with more pleasant matters to speak of."
Menan arrives at the temple of Abador and inquires to speak with a cleric.
"Abadar bless you. The library again, or do you want to open an account?" The man asks as Menan comes along again.
"Maybe I can help you too?"
"I am looking for the clerics and physicians that treated Eleanor and Peter Pembrooke before their untimely deaths."
"You're lucky, I was among them."
"Please tell me your observations of their illnesses and what treatment was given."
"We suggested some herbs and special diet to strengthen them and did several castings of restorative spells, but the positive effect was always only short lived. It kept getting worse. The disease was special, in that we've seen nothing which was that persistent. Even castings to remove the disease didn't help."
"Usually we simply keep the patient from dying, until they recover from within. But this recovery from within wasn't happening. As it happened to the man too, we suspected it might be something in their bloodline? But we didn't really know"
"They we related by marriage, so we can rule out bloodline. I will assume no others in the community had this illness. Did you consider poisoning? What poison is there that could cause these symptoms and responses."
"Poisoning? Who would do such a thing? And poison doesn't work for weeks and months, does it? I don't really know much about poison, besides to avoid some venomous animals, that are rather rare in this area."
"Same here. If it were reapplied this would explain your inability to save them. Who in Abadar would be familiar with poisons. Are there texts on this I can review? Please keep this suspicion to yourself as that is all it is at this time. Leave no stone unturned."
"You're right, who in Abadar's name would search such knowledge. Therefore I'd refer you to the House of Flame. I suspect your chances of finding such knowledge are better there."
"Thank you, sir." Menan heads to the House of Flames.
At the House of Flames it is the same procedure. Menan is seated in the alcove and the elven woman comes to parlay with him.
"Do you want to become a regular visitor of the House of Flame? Because you're not supposed to come regularly through the main entrance." Merileth schools Menan.
"But what is it that leads you here?"
"I will be glad to enter wherever you prefer should I find the need to return. Invisibility is possible as well."
"I am on official business with the city. I was asked to investigate the Lady Pembrooke ordeal that I am sure you are aware of. As I began gathering facts I noticed something just not right which leads me here. The temple of Abadon indicated I may find the information I seek in your House of Flames."
"I am seeking knowledge on poisons. Do you know anyone with a great deal of knowledge on this subject or of any texts that I may refer to on the subject?"
"If you don't plan on coming more often, but find yourself in need of our services anyway, invisibility would work. Please be aware, that you need to drop that immediately when the curtain closes behind you. Sneaking in further using invisibility might lead to an unpleasant experience for you." the elf explains. "If you plan on coming more often, I'll lead you out another way, that will be your future entrance."
"About your request. You are suspiciously vague. I'm not interested in guessing what you mean. What exactly is your connection to the city, that has you call your visit official? What ordeal of what Lady Pembrooke? And as you're asking for knowledge about a topic that is frowned upon in town, you need to explain where you see a connection that would justify gathering knowledge about poison." Merileth clearly becomes even more formal and reserved.