"Sounds like someone playing pranks, and not caring if it hurts someone...."
"So it might not be just the dogs then, but animals in general...?" Kieran wonders. "Maybe we should ask around town for similar incidents these last few weeks, after asking Sir Eustus for advice."
"That would probably be a good idea. This may have been happening for a while with small pranks that have become more dangerous over time." Thraag said with a shake of his head.
So with the drama seemingly over, you prepare to return to your errands as the coach driver and guards prepare to haul the coach out of the roadway. The driver calls out to you.
”Fellas, this is only my second run to Lyon’s Brook and I don’t really know many folk. My guys can replace e a broken wheel but this whole axle will need to be replaced. This town wouldn’t happen to have a wainwright or a carpenter, would it?”
Thraag turns stiffly on his lame leg and says, "There is no wainwright in town, but we do have a carpenter named Tomos. He would likely be able to aid you. I could take you to him and ask if anything else has been breaking strangely of late."
"I really should be getting back..." Grahm shifts guiltily, like a child who has stayed out after curfew, and not at all like the knight who stopped a runaway cart.
"Oh! Kieran! You wanted to meet Elrithrathiel, right? When you go, can I come? I've always wanted to meet a wizard."
"You... live here, but haven't ever met her?" Kieran replies, surprised, his grey eyes shooting a questioning glance.
"Anyway, she might still be out of town, given she was going with the search parties for this barbarian on the loose. Though, while I'd normally welcome such company, I'm afraid I'd like to speak with her in private first."
He then looks at the couchman and the star-haired spheard accompanying them. "I don't suppose either of you know whether Elrithrathiel returned already, do you?"
"I'm not from around here. I just moved in a little bit ago, I'm staying with Sir Eustus until my father comes back for me."
"Somebody probably should report all this to the Sheriff too. Or I could see if I can locate Papus, the Deputy? I'll run out to the Green and see if he's exercising. And over to jail if he's not there. I wouldn't want to bother either of them at home though. Nobody is hurt so it can be reported tomorrow I think."
"Ah, that makes sense," Kieran nods to Grahm. "Why this little town, though? Does he have similar reasons to mine?" Kieran can't help but wonder, but perhaps this was too early to pry into such private matters.
He waits to see if the coachdriver was content with Thraag's suggestion, but also asks: "By the way, if I may ask, who did you drive here? Is the town currently hosting esteemed company of some sorts?" he asks the man, curious.
Finally, when Macus offers to leave to inform the deputy, Kieran leans his head sideways slightly, in questioning manner. "A good suggestion. Though, do you want anyone to come with you? Earlier, you seemed to suggest people dislike you here, for some reason. Do you believe the deputy will listen to a warning from you?"
Marcus turns back to Kieran at his question. "I'd be happy if anyone wanted to come along with me. I'm fairly certain that the Sheriff would listen even if he doesn't really like me. I'd rather find Papas though. He's one of the few that accept that my mistakes were the foolishness of my youth. He's also a follower of Irori, so I sometimes workout with him. I'll have to ask him sometime if he's ever punched a wild boar though. That might get a laugh from him!"
The coach driver has no idea who Elrithrathiel is, nor when she’s returning. ”I have to supervise picking up this stuff. Here’s a pair of gold coins: mind if I hire you to run that message for me? And no passengers this trip: just mail and supplies. As for you, my strong young friend, if you ever get tired of sleepy village life, I could use muscles like yours guarding the stagecoach. With you with us, I could afford to take on a lucrative run up to a real mining town.”
Kieran looks to see if Thraag would take the coin and deliver the message to the carpenter. He had no idea where he was, himself. Plus, they still had the boars to deliver and ask Sir Eustus for advice, too.
Kieran looks to Elipho and shrugs. "Okay, so if Thraag gets the carpenter and the others report to Sir Eustus for his advice, shall we go and deliver the boars?" he asks the ranger, and waiting to hear if anyone objected to the idea. At this point, he just wanted to start getting things done.
Thraag nods and motions for the Elder to follow as he says, "That sounds right." Turning to the man who needed the aid he says, [b]"Follow me and we will see if the carpenter can do anything for you." He then turns and starts heading towards Tomos' shop.
"Thank you for the kind offer coachman, but some day, I hope to join my father in adventuring." Still intrigued by the offer he adds, "But perhaps while I'm here, I might be able to take some time to join you?"
--
"Yes, that seems wise. I really should be getting home. This fish is getting somewhat ripe..."
So Thraag heads off to find Tomos, the town's carpenter, while Kieran, Marcus, and Elipho go to sell the boar meat, and Grahm and Varian report to Sir Eustus.
"Elipho, wasn't expecting you to be out hunting today. What have you brought?"
"Grahm, my boy. Good to see you back safe. Been having an adventure, have you?"
Marcus accepts the stern frown from Lusia with a nod and just assists with carrying the carcass. Maybe if he is just a helping hand he will be ignored....
"Sorry Sir, about being gone for so long Sir. You could certainly say that it's been a bit of an adventure. Would you know anything about creatures that live in this area that might thrive off of pranks, both harmless, and harmful? Turns out more dogs than Tricia have been vanishing, seemingly with no trace, and a wagon brace broke for no explicable reason on the way back home, nearly mangling poor Elipho!"
"Elipho, wasn't expecting you to be out hunting today. What have you brought?"
Kieran shares a look with Elipho. "If you'll permit me, sir, we weren't exactly hunting, just following the trail of a supposed thief of dogs and perhaps other animals too. These boars, however, attacked us while we made camp. I'm Kieran, a traveler, and it's a pleasure to meet you. I have some skill with hunting game and preserved the kills as best I could. They're from last night, and should be decently fresh. Elipho seemed convinced you'd be interested in buying them."
”40 gold coins seems a fair offer for meat of questionable providence. As you say, you were not on an…official…hunting trip.” Her gaze shows that Marcus’ efforts to fade into the background have failed miserably.
Thraag frowns and looks at Tomos and says in Orc, "Tomos, what's wrong? The Elder and I have been working with some others on a bunch of odd things happening around town and potentially hurting people. Did something bad happen here?"
Marcus hears Lusia's words, and does his best to not react. He remembers his history, especially with the notorious gossip. Obviously she would never let it go....
"40 gold each? That seems a fair price. It was what Elipho assumed they would be bought for yesterday, and I'd defer to his experience in past honest dealings with an experienced craftsman such as yourself," Kieran says. He wasn't entirely sure if this offer was for one or both, but if the prior, it seemed like they were getting swindled. Based on... dislike for Marcus? Well, hopefully buttering them up slightly would help.
"Are there any in particular with a hatred for dogs? Something strange is afoot here." Grahm, torn between a desire of not wanting to worry the old man, and wanting to share all the information he has mutters, "I had to stop a wagon from running a man down just now in town. I didn't know I was that strong, but what if I'm not around next time?."
"A hatred for dog?" Sir Eustus asks. "Not that I recall. And stopping a wagon? Do you mean literally?"
"40 gold each? That seems a fair price. It was what Elipho assumed they would be bought for yesterday, and I'd defer to his experience in past honest dealings with an experienced craftsman such as yourself," Kieran says. He wasn't entirely sure if this offer was for one or both, but if the prior, it seemed like they were getting swindled. Based on... dislike for Marcus? Well, hopefully buttering them up slightly would help.
Lusia snorts. "Of course not each! For day old boar?"
Clemis lays a hand on his wife's arm. "I'm sure a price of 50 gold coins for the two would be more than fair? The meat does look quite expertly tended."
Lusia glares at her husband but seems unwilling to chastise the man in front of customers, even ones like Marcus, and so departs with a final dramatic sniff. Clemis, full of nervous smiles, counts out 50 gold coins and places them in a small pouch. Elipho seems to indicate that this is a fair price.
"Um..." Grahm begins before finishing lamely. "Yes."
Marcus keeps his head down and mouth shut. He'd only been along to help carry, and knowing his history with Lusia he was glad that she didn't reject the meet out of hand. Others might forgive and forget, but he had embarrassed her. She would likely never accept that he wasn't that careless youth anymore.
Kieran glances between Elipho, Lusia and Marcus, noting the odd-seeming dislike for the half-orc yet again. What was it with him that the townsfolk disliked so much...?
Regardless, he puts on a pleased smile and humble posture to keep the peace, if anything. "My thanks then, Master Clemis. Say, may I ask if either you or your wife have seen or heard anything strange happen around town lately? I mean, apart from the whole barbarian thing. We're looking into the disappearances of a number of dogs, but it might be other animals as well. If not, we'll be on our way."
Thraag sees the packed bag and says, "Your leaving? What happened? Why would you leave so suddenly without saying anything?"
"All right, thanks anyway. We'll continue investigating on our own. And I have to say, this meat smells delicious! I'll definitely drop by here again when time allows."
"Shall we go and check on the others now? Perhaps Grahm had some luck at Sir Eustus?"
Marcus considers options. He really wishes that the deputy were back. He at least was a friend, treating Marcus fairly. "Good idea. Maybe Grahm had some luck...." He leads Kieran toward Sir Eustus's estate.
Once they are definitely far enough away that nobody else might hear he talks to Kieran. "By now I'm sure you see that I'm persona non-Grata around town. Lusia back there probably hates me more than anyone else. I learned to accept my penance while working with the brothers of Irori, but I have to admit that sometimes when it's really focused like that, it can be hard. See, growing up my mother raised me to follow rules, speak honest, stuff like that. She raised me right. But.... I was young and didn't really understand the lesson. And, I was a good listener and pretty well ignored by the folk. And, well, I started pointing out when folk weren't exactly telling the whole truth. I know better now, but see, Lusia is kind of the town gossip. And I pointed out things that she said that weren't right. Others too, but she just had so much more to say that was wrong. I hurt her, embarrassed her and really hurt her reputation around town."
"After, well, I wasn't really welcome here so I left. And, leaving a small town like this the way I did, that didn't help. The Brother's instructed me that I needed to come back and accept the will of the people. Irori teaches that you don't gain by running away and leaving your problems behind you."
Thraag blinks but is so used to just being in the background he finds he is at a loss of what to do and watches the door close. He looks back at the man who came with him and says, "Umm.... it looks like Tomos cannot help you now. Sorry."
"By now I'm sure you see that I'm persona non-Grata around town. Lusia back there probably hates me more than anyone else. I learned to accept my penance while working with the brothers of Irori, but I have to admit that sometimes when it's really focused like that, it can be hard. See, growing up my mother raised me to follow rules, speak honest, stuff like that. She raised me right. But.... I was young and didn't really understand the lesson. And, I was a good listener and pretty well ignored by the folk. And, well, I started pointing out when folk weren't exactly telling the whole truth. I know better now, but see, Lusia is kind of the town gossip. And I pointed out things that she said that weren't right. Others too, but she just had so much more to say that was wrong. I hurt her, embarrassed her and really hurt her reputation around town."
"After, well, I wasn't really welcome here so I left. And, leaving a small town like this the way I did, that didn't help. The Brother's instructed me that I needed to come back and accept the will of the people. Irori teaches that you don't gain by running away and leaving your problems behind you."
"Sounds like you've had it rough, and only for trying to be a decent person. If I were in your position, I might have done the same," The half-elf shoots the monk a grin. "I was raised to honor traditions too. But, I don't think I could keep looking the other way if everyone kept lying to pretend to be better than they were."
He halts a moment and waves his hands, and a large splash of water forms that he uses to clean his hands of the bits of blood and boar carcass.
Then, he extends it to the orc. "You know, you seem like a decent sort of folk to me, no matter what the people say. How about it? As far as I'm concerned, I'd gladly have you as a friend. Can't be that bad to have someone at your back who can punch out an enraged boar. Hah! I'm sure Elipho would agree, too."
Marcus grins at Kieran's acceptance. "Absolutely. But remember that i don't need protection from any of the locals. No reason to make yourself a pariah in the town too! But really, most of the townsfolk just prefer to ignore me. There's only a couple of them, like Lusia, that actively despise me...."
Grahm is moderately embarrassed by Varian's story, but he tells Sir Eustus the unabridged truth after the bard has had his fun. Hopefully the old man isn't too angry with him.
Marcus grins at Kieran's acceptance. "Absolutely. But remember that i don't need protection from any of the locals."
"And I wouldn't ever dream of implying such. Just know that you'll have a friend in me should you wish to." The half-elf grins. "Now let's see if Grahm and Varian had some luck, shall we?"