The women all appear to be in their forties, and are a bit more rustic in their dress than most residents of Lepidstadt.
Garrow responds to Ismene's inquiries.
"Ayep, we were there. Yes, we knew Ellsa. We knew all of them.
The children that vanished one by one, only to return as ghosts. Allen, Ellsa, Gaard, Karin, Maarten, and Rachel.
We found the culprit. The Beast of Lepidstadt just revealed itself one day. It walked right into the village, holding Ellsa's body, laughing, to taunt us.
We set upon it with pitchforks, but it escaped into the swamp.
The poor children it killed continued to haunt the village, and so we all left that cursed place."
Theodore persuades them to elaborate.
The three sisters look to each other nervously.
"Okay, uh, oh... some of what happened was a mite confusing, that's true," says Starle. Garrow looks angry, then sadly nods.
Flicht picks up the story to explain more.
"You see, Karin died in her own bed two days after the Beast was driven out of Hergstag. Her father heard her screaming in her bedroom, but by the time he got upstairs, she was dead. Not a mark on her. No sign of entry. Window was shut and latched from the inside."
Garrow interjects, "So maybe she was killed by the ghosts of the children that the Beast had killed and not by the Beast itself. But it still killed the other five! We saw it laughing over Ellsa's dead body!"
The women look to Theodore. "Please, good sir," says Starle, "we want to make sure we say the right things so that horrible monster burns and pays for what it did to Hergstag. How should we tell our tale tomorrow?"
Theodore graciously smiles at the three stygian witches rustically portrayed ladies as they tell their tale by continuously interrupting each other and finishing each other's sentences....
His blue eyes suspiciously (nervously) peer about for an eye that one of them may be holding....
Perhaps it would be a bit easier if we individually interviewed each of you. Quinn?
"Well, what the court is after, and what we are after, is merely the truth of what happened here, Miss Starle, so we, and the Justices, need to hear what happened exactly as you saw the events. If the Beast is guilty, then rest assured that the Beast will face justice, as Pharasma judges us all. Can you tell me which of the children was the first victim? Who found them, and where?"
He'll listen to their answer, prompt them to describe the next victim, and the next in turn, before finally asking, "When was the first time that The Beast was seen here?"
Whether questioned separately or together, the women provide the same answers.
Maarten was the first to disappear. He returned as a ghost, and - it is assumed - somehow lured away Gaard, then Rachel, and then Allen.
"Who found them? Nobody. None of the bodies of those first four were ever found. They disappeared over a few days. All left their houses after dark, even when the danger was clear. Now, our children weren't stupid -" Garrow starts sobbing.
"He was such a bright boy! Smart, knew all his prayers and also knew his numbers. But he was so kind, my Allen. He was kind and he loved his friends. So..." She breaks down again, then manages to continue.
"We think the ghosts must have told Allen that they needed help, and that by following he could save all the ones who had gone missing. Because we can't imagine why else he'd have left the house after dark.
And then their souls came back to haunt us. They didn't follow us once we left Hergstag, though."
Ellsa was the fifth to disappear. That was the first time the Beast was seen, bringing her body back to town, laughing.
The villagers chased the Beast out of town, and then Karin died two days later. In her room, with no marks on her, the window shut and latched from the inside.