"Sheriff, what can you tell us about the second victim?"
"Orug, she merchant down the street, reported a killing outside of his shop, he stated that he pursued the killer, but they ran away after a short confrontation with Orug himself. We found this dagger - he points to the blade on the table - bloodied, and near the victim's body. We have then recieved an anonymous letter pointing towards the pathfinders. Once we apprehended them, the dagger fit into one of their sheaths. Like a glove. We arrested them on the spot based on that."
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"Perfectly understandable. Where were the wounds on the second victim, and were there similar wounds on the first victim? As far as could be told...I understand that the first victim was skinned, but deep stab wounds might still be obvious." She ponders briefly. "I suppose what I'm asking is whether there's anything that ties the two murders together, other than timing."
"Not that I know of, but the perpetrator of the first murder was not interrupted, so... You know. Skinning a man takes time. Probably."
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Zandu, quiet for most of this time, finally speaks up. "Anonymous letter? Is that not odd? If someone had concrete evidence, why not bring it directly? It seems like it would not be hard at all to steal a dagger, commit a murder with it, then write an anonymous letter pointing to the owner of the dagger. Particularly suspicious because the assailant was described as quite tall, which lines up with the physical wounds, but is not at all consistent with the collection of short prisoners..."
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"Do you still have this letter?" Shenendril asks. "And may we examine it?"
"I know we said we were done and that we would leave you in peace and now we're asking you all these additional questions but we just don't want to leave any stones unturned, not only to potentially save innocent lives and maintain the reputation of our organization but also because, if we don't find the true murderer they may just find another patsy at some point and resume their killing spree."
Everyone skilled in Linguistics, please give me a roll.
"Be my guest...", the mayor slides the letter towards your side of the table. "I was given this letter by one of my people. They state they have found it under their only hours after the second murder."
The anonymous letter before you is brief, but to the point. The author states they are a concerned, and frightened citizen of Dawnton, and are a witness to the murder outside of Orug's place. The letter states that the second victim was murdered in cold blood by a halfling and two dwarves.
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Sakura looks at the sheriff.
“Please look at the handwriting. Here and here! The handwriting on the letter of the witness is the same as the handwriting on both letters hinting at a Sarkorian site near Dawnton, and the letter warning the Starrise Spire warning the Society of the imminent execution of their agents! This is a plot!!“ she says concerned.
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"Well. That's interesting...wouldn't you say, Sheriff? Don't trust us, though--verify it yourself, and while you're doing that you might want to consider that this letter contradicts what the only known witness has said about the death of the second victim.
"There's another little wrinkle, by the way. Is it too much to assume that the third letter was sent with the expectation that the Society would send a team to investigate? If Sakura is right and this isn't some sort of farfetched coincidence, we may well be here because that's what the real killer wants. We'd best tread carefully."
Tobias seems surprised, stands up, and moves towards you with some urgency. He takes the three letters and puts them next to each other on the table to compare them.
"Well, this certainly is interesting. I'll need to look into this further. I'll need some time to think on it, if you don't mind."
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"Thank you for taking a second look. We'll go see if we can find some more evidence and, hopefully the real culprit," Shenendril says to Tobias.
"Let's head to the second murder site and see if we can't find any exonerating evidence. Hopefully the scene hasn't been disrupted too much," she continues.
You leave the mayor's house and step into the open. Within a few minutes, and after some crowd dodging, your find yourselves near Orug's. The foot traffic here is signifficant, and people are already grouped in the shop and the barber section.
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"If you think it is worthwhile, my cousin could give it a closer look...though Belthelgior isn't exactly sneaky," Shenendril says.
Her hair, which seems to constantly ripple in a breeze grows larger and a section of it whips around more wildly. You could swear that a pair of eyes made out of smoke stair out at you from within the mass.
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Shenendril gives a wry smile. "Probably not. Belthelgior isn't exactly a fighter. But he's very fast and can fly so if it tries to get away, he can follow it."
As though to prove her point, the eyes disappear back into her hair and it settles, though still seems to sway in an invisible breeze.
Her shirt puffs out and ripples noticeably, though.
As you make your way to the tent city, you occasionally check the surroundings, but it seems the avian is nowhere in sight. The Tent City itself is starting to brim with activity, as usual for the festival. People start to unload their goods into their trading stands, and entertainers start to set in their spots.
But you can't help having a nagging feeling as you walk.
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Sakura suddenly stops.
"Team, listen! It seems that some of the people eye us suspiciously, and a few even go out of their way to distance themselves from us. Groups of children eye us curiously, but when I looked back at them, they averted their gaze and pretended to do something else." the Aphorite says with a stern look on her face.
"I think that people in the city have a negative impression about us. Maybe us being Pathfinders has spread?"
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Shenendril sighs in exasperation but nods at the logic of Ilarien's plan.
"If nothing else, perhaps we can force the real killer's hand. We have to do something before the people here turn on us. There are enough rumors floating around that the Pathfinders are going to stage a breakout that folks might get worked up enough to try to detain us to prevent it from happening."
She turns to head back to the scene of the 2nd murder.
You come back to the crows gathered near Orug's place. The crow is nowhere to be seen, for now, at least.
You still get a few nasty looks, and some people give you a wide berth. As you enter the shop itself, some of the locals - previously quite audible - start speaking in hushed voices as they look at you, and some even stop talking completely and start making their way towards the exit. Orug stands up from behind the counter, surprised by the sudden change of atmosphere, and then spots you in the door. "Oh...", he pauses for just a second, but immediately puts on his seller smile, and beckons you to come forward.
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Shenendril cuts right to the chase. "We are getting close to determining the true culprit in this case, Mister Orug but we need some more details from you. You said that you fought the attacker so you must have been quite close. Anything about them that you haven't told us? Even the smallest thing will help us. Which way did they go? What did they sound like? Any unusual smells? Anything about their appearance? Did anything unusual happen before or after?"
Orug notes, and makes an announcement for the shoppers. His voice booms through the room. "Hey everyone, I will need a few minutes. Tessa will take care of you in the meantime. Thanks."
He moves from behind the counter, and indicates towards the back rooms. "Come..."
The back room is beyond a simple wooden door, and works as a warehouse of sorts. All kind of baubles and trinkets are sitting next to crates and barrels, most of which are labeled, but some are not. The stale smells in the room indicates that there is little to no air moving through the back room. But various spices and ingredients balance it out.
Orug sits on one of the barrels, relaxes a bit, and crosses his arms. "Give me a second, I need to collect my thoguhts..."
"By -this case- I assume you mean the murders, and the killer I saw?"
He stands up, and starts slowly walking up and down the room. "Well, not much to tell. Me and Tessa heard a noise outside the shop. This was just before we wanted to hit the bed. We usually do that an hour or so after sundown. We check inventory, serve any occasional walk-ins, close shop, grab some food, a bottle of wine, the usual evening stuff..." he coughs.
"Well, we were about to lie down, when I heard a noise. A thud of sorts, and a muffled scream. Something like that. Wind was howling, so it's hard to tell. I went to investigate, and exited the main door. The one you used to enter the shop today. I saw a figure in a dark cloak, hooded, across the street. They were leaning above a man. Human. Likely not local, since I don't know him." he pauses. "Didn't..."
"Maybe a visitor for the festival. I guess. I shouted at the cloaked person. Clearly, I did interrupt something, because they stood up... and growled? I don't know if they had any tall shoes, but... ", he puts his hand above his head. "Was about this tall..."
Now, Orug is not exactly tall, but what he indicates is roughly six and a half feet above the floor level.
"I went closer to check on the person on the ground. I assumed it was two drunks, and one got overwhelmed by the celebration. Turns out this was not the case. The hooded figure charged me, and threw me on the ground. Now I'm not much of a fighter, but Ilike to think I have good balance. This person dropped me like I a broken strawman. I didn't see their face, but I'm sure I registered a sharp smell. Maybe sulphur?"
He nods. "Yeah. Something like that..."
He stayus quiet for the time being, and tries to think of anything else.
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Sakura nods appreciatively.
“Thank you for your testimony! Did you tell all of this also to the sheriff? How could he imprison people that definitely are much shorter than the person that attacked you and that murdered the second victim? This does not make any sense!? What do you think about that?“ the aphorite with the metallic skin says.
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Ilarien sniffs. "What my large and overly excitable friend is getting at is that none of the three people accused are anywhere near that tall. They still may have killed the first victim, of course, or used magic to change their shapes, but..." She shrugs. "The same thing could be said of anyone. Thank you, Master Orug. You've been most helpful."
"Well - not my place to say who gets arrested, really. I am in the trade business. There are people who are in 'keeping the people in check and arresting criminals' business, but that's not my expertise.", he shrugs. He's not smug about it, just states it as a fact.
"Sulphur, yea. I was moving some barrels just before, so that might have been a factor, but I doubt it. None of those were open."