Ranhild watches as everything erupts into chaos and borderline panic, remaining silent as the experts arrive to treat the wounded.
Purg flinches at the yelling, both from Vethorm and from Wild, his large ears making the experience painful. He thinks Ranhild has the right idea, and uses his hands to cover his ears so that all the yelling and loud people stop hurting him.
|
Tyari nods to Robin as she begins looking at the local who was bit. ”Vethorm, I assure you we will see to the care of those who were bit. It will be days, maybe even weeks, before we know if they have been infected. We all owe you folks our appreciation for stopping the threat, but it sounds like there may be more to this.”
Sara looks at her employees and motions back to Clamour, and without more than a grunt they head back, leaving her to answer the questions. ”Urnsul?” Sara spits in anger before she answers. ”That sorry and ungrateful aurochs dung, if you find him, remind him I have zero tolerance for anyone who fails to show up when they promise to do so. She left early yesterday, and then has just disappeared today. Now what do you want to talk about, especially with that woman?”
"Urnsul's missing? Don't tell me they got her as well!" Robin's eyes go wide at the news "Did Urnsul tell you she took a job to make a new hopeknife for Rodrik before he was killed? He lost the knife he exchanged with his love, and we found a receipt that was signed by Urnsul to make a replacement." If Robin can get it, he fishes the note out to show to Sara "But maybe Rodrik's killer went after Urnsul as well to clear up loose ends!"
"Do you know where she went yesterday? And do you know for sure she didn't make it back to Clamour to sleep?"
Tyari nods to Robin as she begins looking at the local who was bit. ”Vethorm, I assure you we will see to the care of those who were bit. It will be days, maybe even weeks, before we know if they have been infected. We all owe you folks our appreciation for stopping the threat, but it sounds like there may be more to this.”
"Abso-****ing-lutely," Vethorm replies with a grim nod. "Thank you, Tyari. May Her shield shelter them from pestilence."
He makes the sign of the sword before turning to Sara.
Sara looks at her employees and motions back to Clamour, and without more than a grunt they head back, leaving her to answer the questions. ”Urnsul?” Sara spits in anger before she answers. ”That sorry and ungrateful aurochs dung, if you find him, remind him I have zero tolerance for anyone who fails to show up when they promise to do so. She left early yesterday, and then has just disappeared today. Now what do you want to talk about, especially with that woman?”
Vethorm's expression remains stony. For all he whinged about how bad he was at being a dromaar, it was times like this where he was reminded at he at least tried to do his share, no matter how mediocre it was. That was worth something. He lets Robin do the talking, as while he knew Sara somewhat from his failed stint as her wife's apprentice, he wouldn't say they'd talked enough to begin anything resembling friendship.
"Seems like every time we think we're on to something it gets yanked out of our hands," he grumbles.
"It can't be a coincidence that the person who forged the knife that wasn't supposed to have been lost, and was used in a 'suicide' has gone missing before anyone could ask about the knife." Rahild mutters, only partially to herself.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Wild paces around mumbling apocalyptic nonsense to himself while the tall folk do the talking.
"Days... weeks... months... years..."
He then plops down unceremoniously onto a nearby rock and attempts to cover up his wounds with a mixture of mud and grass. He clearly has no idea what he's doing, having generally relied only on his natural fortitude to survive in the past.
Vethorm turns and sees what Wild is doing. His jaw drops in shock.
"What the Hell are you doing?!" he asks, straining to keep his voice down.
Glancing over at Ranhild as she mutters, Robin nods "It's about as suspicious as it gets."
Vethorm turns and sees what Wild is doing. His jaw drops in shock.
"What the Hell are you doing?!" he asks, straining to keep his voice down.
Wild looks up at Vethorm and replies as if it should be obvious.
"Old orc medicine. Learned from High Prophet Hakzug of Shattered Moon clan. You don't know it?"
Purg not understand much of what is going on. Ranhild was being quiet and making a lot of sense though, so Purg takes a few shuffling steps closer to the Dwarf. It's also helpful that Dwarves were not significantly bigger than he was. Being around smart people was a good idea, because then people thought you were smart. Of course Purg was smart, the big ones just didn't know that because smarts took too long to reach their head from their guts where smarts come from.
The gnome seemed counter to his theory, however, because there was not a thought in that gut at all. Maybe he hadn't eaten. Or maybe he had eaten something that was making his gut angry. He looked very angry.
This was all very confusing; knives, love, and other complicated things. That was a big word. Purg sat down because his head wasn't ready to handle words that big this early in the morning.
|
|
Tyari momentarily watches the exchange between Vethorm and Wild, then shakes her head in an effort to clear her thoughts. ”Vethorm, if you or your companions have need of my assistance please feel free to come by Sanctuary. Also, I suspect you will want to come pay your respects before we begin preparing Rodrik’s body for the pyre.” With that said, she assists in bringing the wounded to the temple.
Sara contemplates what Robin has said about Urnsul. ”I do not see why they would want to go after Urnsul, but yes, I knew about the knife Rodrik had asked for. I assigned it to Urnsul to begin the forging and hearing that Rodrik lost Brinya’s knife would explain the urgency he had in getting it worked on. But does this…” Then Sara’s attention is drawn to Ranhild and her whispered comment.
”Pardon me Madam Runeshield,” she asks Ranhild in order to clarify. ”Did I hear you correctly? What do you mean, ‘was used in a suicide’?” Sara is clearly upset about this, though it is unclear exactly if she is troubled by what was said or the truth of what it may mean.
He then plops down unceremoniously onto a nearby rock and attempts to cover up his wounds with a mixture of mud and grass. He clearly has no idea what he's doing, having generally relied only on his natural fortitude to survive in the past.
Vethorm's eyes widen as Wild's question brings unwanted memories surging back into clear focus...the stinging, the burning, the harsh and raucous voice yelling at him to hold fast and stop crying like a mewling pinkie. He glares at Wild unbidden before choking out an indignant "NO!"Vethorm turns and sees what Wild is doing. His jaw drops in shock.
"What the Hell are you doing?!" he asks, straining to keep his voice down.
Wild looks up at Vethorm and replies as if it should be obvious.
"Old orc medicine. Learned from High Prophet Hakzug of Shattered Moon clan. You don't know it?"
Tyari momentarily watches the exchange between Vethorm and Wild, then shakes her head in an effort to clear her thoughts. ”Vethorm, if you or your companions have need of my assistance please feel free to come by Sanctuary. Also, I suspect you will want to come pay your respects before we begin preparing Rodrik’s body for the pyre.” With that said, she assists in bringing the wounded to the temple.
Vethorm tries to calm his breathing once again, to clear his own thoughts. He turns back to Tyari. "Sorry...yes...thank you, Tyari. Gonna...need a proper chance to say goodbye."
He frowns and his expression softens. Was this why he was angry and scared? He didn't want anyone else to die? It seemed obvious, the wound of Rodrik's death still raw but it wasn't like HE wasn't his fiancee or his brother. Why was he taking it this hard?
Sara contemplates what Robin has said about Urnsul. ”I do not see why they would want to go after Urnsul, but yes, I knew about the knife Rodrik had asked for. I assigned it to Urnsul to begin the forging and hearing that Rodrik lost Brinya’s knife would explain the urgency he had in getting it worked on. But does this…” Then Sara’s attention is drawn to Ranhild and her whispered comment.
”Pardon me Madam Runeshield,” she asks Ranhild in order to clarify. ”Did I hear you correctly? What do you mean, ‘was used in a suicide’?” Sara is clearly upset about this, though it is unclear exactly if she is troubled by what was said or the truth of what it may mean.
At this, Vethorm stiffens and glares, though not out of anger at what anyone'd said this time.
"No," he says sternly. "That's what a hopeknife is supposed to be used for. A merciful death to spare you the pain and degradation of one as an orc's captive. For Rodrik it only LOOKS like a suicide. He was murdered."
"Exactly like Vethorm said. There's no reason for a suicide, and too many suspicious things that point to foul play." Robin nods, turning back to his earlier question "Still Sara, even if you knew about the knife being forged, it seems too much of a coincidence that Urnsul's now missing. Did you end up seeing where Urnsul went?" He looks over at the other apprentices "Anyone else see where she went?"
|
|
Sara considers the group's words. "I agree." She nods gently in agreement as she continues. "There seem to be a lot of coincidences, too many most like. The knife that Urnsul was working on turning up and then at the same time she goes missing, I don't buy these as unrelated."
As Robin continues with some questions, Sara looks back towards her shop. "If anyone saw her, they didn't say anything to me. I was ranting quite a bit but the team knows I'd never do more than yell, so I would hope they would say something. As for me, I was ranting so much I never even considered where she might have gone. I certain didn't see any sign of her."
"So we'll probably have to go back to Clamour with you and ask them," Vethorm says with a nod. "Sorry for...uh...disrupting the work-day," he adds with a conciliatory shrug.
"Purg will let you go loud place without him. It hurt his ears. Maybe you have idea for Purg to help without going there?" Purg offers helpfully and hopefully. It was one of the noisiest places in town, and no amount of cotton stuffed in his ears would help him.
Hilde holds up the hopeknife.
Robin looks to the other smiths he recognizes from his daily work "Talla, Magin, did you see anything, or hear anything from Urnsul over the last few days? Seems weird she's just up and disappear." He shrugs "And even weirder if she slipped out without anyone knowing - or got grabbed by someone else without anyone seeing. Then again, we had a whole wagon of wolves get smuggled into town, so anything's possible I guess."
He looks to the rest of the party "Think we should check in with the guard? They might've seen Urnsul. Or they might have noticed the stranger in town that stayed only a single night at the Ramblehouse. Can't have been too many of those."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
|
|
Sara takes the blade from Hilde. She examines it while she, Robin, Vethorm, and others return to her smithy, Clamor. ”This is the knife we did,” she says to the group. ”The one Rodrik wanted.” The muscular smith seems to shrink slightly at the realization but then she sighs and hands the knife back to Hilde.
Sara then calls together the other smiths and they gather around the yard. As Robin addresses his fellow smiths, Talla and Magin, Sara quietly speaks with a few others but then excuses herself. Talla shakes her head when asked about Urnsul but Magin has a few answers.
”I returned here last night,” he says to Robin. ”I was out pretty quick. A lit’le too much celebrating, ya know. Urnsul weren’t here, and if she came back, I didn’t hear ‘er. The roll she used was left on ta wall.” Magin nods towards the storage behind the forge where he and the others sleep. ”Come ta think, I don’t recall seeing her at the Festival. I know she’s new ‘ere but she usually was good for a drink.”
The cleric reaches up and squeezes the smith's shoulder. "You couldn't have known. But I didn't think this knife look finished. How did Rodrik come to have it?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Purg thinks, it's very difficult to keep thinking after all that had happened. Everyone else was chasing the knife, and the killer. What about the wolves? Those wolves could have killed someone. Robin had a good idea. He could go talk to the guard, maybe with someone like Vethorm. Vethorm had been good at talking so far, though not as good at thinking.
"I see Magin. She was already out at the time of the Festival then?" Robin starts to fret, rubbing at his fingers "No one saw her go. No obvious struggle. Everything orderly over at Clamour. She couldn't have been our mystery man at the Ramblehouse of course, but it sure seems like she decided to leave at exactly the time when the knife would be discovered. And Rodrik would be... killed." He bites his lip "Why?"
He nods with Hilde's very apt question. If Purg indicates that he's going to go talk with the guards, he asks the goblin to also check with them if they saw Urnsul.
Wild follows along with the group, arriving at Clamor. Without much to contribute to the conversation, he simply listens for a time. When Magin nods at Urnsul's unused bedroll, Wild begins poking around behind the forge to investigate.
He unfurls the bedding and gives it an olfactory inspection.
Purg thinks, it's very difficult to keep thinking after all that had happened. Everyone else was chasing the knife, and the killer. What about the wolves? Those wolves could have killed someone. Robin had a good idea. He could go talk to the guard, maybe with someone like Vethorm. Vethorm had been good at talking so far, though not as good at thinking.
Vethorm listens to the questions the others ask and folds his arms, nodding.
"So now we need to figure out how this knife came into Rodrik's...or the murderer's...hands. Sara, apart from her disappearing and seemingly not going to the Festival last night, has anything been strange about Urnsul's behavior in recent days?"
After hearing what she has to say, he looks at the floor.
"I don't wanna think Urnsul herself is the murderer, it just doesn't seem like she'd have motive. But then that's true of almost anyone in Trunau considering Rodrik's popularity and just how f***in' nice he was. Especially after the wolf attack, that screams someone from out-of-town considering the effort it'd take to sneak them past the militia and set up, like Purg said."
|
|
As the questions continue, the apprentice and journey-folk smiths shake their heads as if saddened by not having any more answers. While Robin, Hilde and Vethorm ponder their own questions, Wild takes a big sniff of the bedroll identified as Urnsul’s. The scent of a young half-orc woman is present, it is not fresh. At the same time, Sara returns with a sack in her hands, shaking her head as she notes what Wild is doing.
”That no good, gorthak-dung orc.” Sara turns a darker shade of green. ”She clearly ran, no since coloring it any different. This is her gear.” She drops the sack on the ground. ”Tools, clothes, a few left over rations. And no sign of her axe, that she took with her.”
”I can’t say why, but how it got into the hand of the murderer? That I can guess. Urnsul! I left the knife with her to finish up. I thought I could trust her, clearly I can still be fooled.”
"I mean, that goes without saying," Vethorm replies. "I just wanted to nip the obvious assumption some might that Urnsul herself did the murder in the bud. I agree, it sounds more like she was a useful idiot for whoever killed Rodrik."
Robin shakes his head "I think the most obvious culprit is still our mystery visitor to the Ramblehouse, but Urnsul might be our lead to finding them, despite that." He offers an apologetic smile to Sara "Sorry, I'm probably going to be delinquent on that cup you asked me to make - finding out the truth behind Rodrik's death has to come first. Thanks for the help." He waves to the other apprentices.
He turns to the rest of the party "What's next? Do we want to try catch up with Purg at the guardhouse?"
Not really having much to contribute, Ranhild simply listens to the ongoing conversations.
"Aye, let's make sure Purg hasn't bitten off more than he can chew."
|
|
Sara looks weary as the group seems to be finding more questions than answers. "I wish I has more for you." She nods to Vethorm. "And thank you brother. Too many people would jump to the conclusion it was one of the many half-orc in town that did this. Rodrik though, it's hard to think he would want anyone making that assumption."
She then turns to Robin and rests her heavily worked hand on his shoulder. "You have more important things to be doing right now. The cup can wait. No one in town is likely to worry about such things right now. My heart goes with you. Get to the bottom of who did this."
Meanwhile, Purg makes his way to the top of the hill. He approaches the Longhouse where most of the militia barracks. Purg knocks and after a pause, a young militia member answers the door. The young human man recognizes Purg immediately and stoops slightly to speak with him. "Purg. Is there trouble outside the walls? Something you saw while hunting?"
Not really having much to contribute, Ranhild simply listens to the ongoing conversations.
Purg looks quizzically at the soldiery boy. "Did... did you not hears screaming of townsfolk? Someone set loose wolves inside walls. Maybe have rabies, maybe not. We not know how wolves get inside walls. Purg come to ask question and find answer. You have answer?" His tone is inquisitive, not accusatory. "Purg and friend have to kill bad wolves, some people get bit. Temple already helping them. We find cages where wolves were. Maybe someone remember seeing cart?"
Robin runs a hand slowly through his hair "We will Sara. I'm pretty sure at least." before turning to the others and heading toward the Longhouse to catch up with Purg.
Sara looks weary as the group seems to be finding more questions than answers. "I wish I has more for you." She nods to Vethorm. "And thank you brother. Too many people would jump to the conclusion it was one of the many half-orc in town that did this. Rodrik though, it's hard to think he would want anyone making that assumption."
Vethorm offers a wear, sad smile to Sara.
"That...means a lot comin' from you, Sara. Especially after...the whole apprenticeship thing with Agrit didn't work out. I imagine you got an earful of what a frustrating student I was from her."
He nods at her assessment of the sour, oily undertones of town gossip.
"Yeah. That's...one reason I want to help find the bastard who did this. Rodrik wouldn't want us fighting amongst ourselves, and he always tried to see the best in us dromaar."
He lingers a bit, the last of the group to leave Clamor, to follow after the group towards the barracks. He glowers a bit as they approach. He'd spent too many uncomfortable nights there, even if Rodrik and Kurst did their best to make him feel welcome.
Wild finishes up his thorough investigation of Urnsul's belongings before departing Clamor with the group. He snatches up the leftover rations for a snack along the way.
"Killers are harder to hunt with a grumble belly."
He offers to share the rations with the others.
"Food?"
|
|
The guard at the Longhouse door pauses for a moment as what Purg has said sinks in. "No, word had not reach here yet." He says and then grabs Purg by the shoulder, pulling him inside. "There's been an attack! Grab arms men."
While the militia begins to rouse itself, the young man turns back to Purg. "We will need you to tell us everything. You said someone let them loose within the walls, are you certain? I know you know wolves, so I trust they weren't just larger dogs. I don't know if I would know one cart from another, but my brothers may know more."
Another man comes forward from those gathering and addresses the young man speaking with Purg. This older man seems a little shaky on his feet but the others seem to defer to him. "Go ge's Kurst." The older man says and the younger man nods, addressing the older man as Omast. "Now littl-ee Purrr, we will look into thisss. Thaks f'r comin to uss."
Purg's expert ears can hear the slurring that isn't just a Dwarven accent. He goes back to the original young man, and if need be he specifically takes him away from Omast. "Scuse Purg, but that man seem... not okay. Purg worried that man who sneak in and kill Rod-Rick also use wolves to create mess so he get away." The word diversion was definitely too big to use right now. "And Purg think maybe someone who have too much fun at party not do good job of watching gates."
He tries very hard not to look at Omast as he says things, and he tried to get clear, but Purg is not the best at this. "What we know so far is some stranger come in, stay at Ramblehouse for one night, Rod-Rick die, wolves set loose, and no one seem know anything. This very bad."
|
|
The young militia member doesn't seem shocked by Purg's words about Omast. "The old man is taking Rodrik's death quite hard." He says quietly and motions for Purg to look at Omast himself. A wounded militia member is gently directing the inebriated Omast to a table, clearly trying to keep him here in the Longhouse.
"Now, we should go find Kurst I guess. You can explain things to him yourself if you come along. The others will head out as well, and see if they can gather the ones who have been on the gates the last few days."
The young man leads the way with Purg beside him. He asks a few clarifying questions, mostly about how many wolves and how many people were injured. As the two are passing through the upper gates, the rest of the investigators can be seen coming to join Purg.
Robin hesitates, eyeing Wild's snack, before his stomach grumbles. "Agh, fine fine. A little snacking never hurt anyone too much. And if there was ever a reason to break your diet, hunting down a murderer seems a good one." He bites off a piece. "After what we've seen so far, I'm worried we might be too late. Urnsul and the culprit could have slipped out of town already. In which case who knows if there's any chance of finding them. We can only hope they're nearby, and that the guard have seen them. If they haven't... any other ideas from the rest of you?"
Robin trots to catch up when he sees Purg leaving the Longhouse. "Have you found anything yet Purg? Any sign of Urnsul or our mystery man?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
On Robin's arrival and questioning, Purg once again shakes his head. He was going to have to find a new way to indicate negative responses because this shaking was not good for his brain. "No, but we go talk to Kurst and maybe find who was on gate that let in wolf cages. Not know about Urnsul or Mystery Man. Who Urnsul?"
"Urnsul's the apprentice that made our extra hopeknife. She's gone missing just last night. Maybe ran away. I sure don't know how she ties into all of this, but it seems very likely she knows something." Robin frets.
|
|
The young man leading Purg pauses while the group gathers and catches up. "Purg," he says motioning to the others. "These the friends you mentioned? If so, we thank you for helping out. Come along, we are heading to see Kurst. He's as close to a leader we got right now."
He nods to Vethorm as he leads on. "Kurst said you were helping find out what happened. I know there's history, but I think Rodrik would be glad someone close would be helping "
He continues to walk while asking further questions. "You said you found a cart that these wolves likely were brought in. How did no one hear them?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hilde considers Robin's question. "Even if they left, I don't think they went far. This doesn't feel like a chance killing--there's too much of planning that went into it, and some sort of motive we're not seeing yet." She shrugs. "Maybe the wolves had nothing to do with Rodrik's murder, but that would mean two different people or groups plotting something. Maybe Purg has more from the guards."
Once walking together with Purg and the guard, Robin answers "Right, we were hoping someone here at the Longhouse would be able to report on whether the people we're looking for were spotted." He describes Urnsul, and then recounts the few scarce details about the mystery man "Might be a hard thing to recall with the festival and all. But I'm hoping someone saw something!"
"As for the wolves, that's a question I was hoping your people would know more about. Seems like a cart making its way into town would be noticeable for those at the gate. And we know what this one looked like."
Purg listens, and tries to keep it all straight. "Yes, these Purg friends. Well maybe friends. These people help Purg kill wolves and not let towns people die." He continues listening, taxing his already lacking patience. "Purg think maybe someone make wolves sleep, so we not hear wolves. Is only idea Purg has."
The young man leading Purg pauses while the group gathers and catches up. "Purg," he says motioning to the others. "These the friends you mentioned? If so, we thank you for helping out. Come along, we are heading to see Kurst. He's as close to a leader we got right now."He nods to Vethorm as he leads on. "Kurst said you were helping find out what happened. I know there's history, but I think Rodrik would be glad someone close would be helping "
"Aye, that he would," Vethorm says with a nod. "Good work, Purg, by the way."
He leaves other thoughts unspoken...it sounded like Kurst was taking the role thrust on him in stride. That was good. Much as he was his brother's shadow, Kurst had always seemed just as leaderly. Just in a quieter way. Rodrik was a talker, made flowery speeches, Kurst just said what needed to be said and did what needed to be done.
He continues to walk while asking further questions. "You said you found a cart that these wolves likely were brought in. How did no one hear them?"
"That's a very good question," Vethorm replies. "It...raises other, more uncomfortable ones...like 'did our murderer have a man inside the militia too?' Don't think a militiaman could have murdered Rodrik any more than Urnsul could have. The man tried to make any enemies he might have picked up into friends as soon as he could. Even a sulky runt like me. But that doesn't mean someone might've been "persuaded" to ignore a suspicious looking cart."
|
|
The young man, who Vethrom recognizes as Jonathann, nods at the ideas. He listens intently at Robin's description of Urnsul. "Ah, yeah." he says. "Sara's new apprentice. Yeah, I've seen her around, though not since before the festival. I can't say I know her well but Sara would never hire on someone who would do such a thing. Or at least not if she knew it."
He continues to lead the way to the Graths' home, but he continues on the way. "Once we speak to Kurst though, I will spread the word to keep an eye out for her. And ah, Purg, that might be an idea to look into. I don't know of anything personally, but Rabus over at the Grounds might know more."
"Now you said you have the cart, perhaps if we can show it to the others in the militia it will ring a bell. We don't get a lot of visitors but we do have some people stay after they complete their business at the Barterstones. I can't see someone looking the other way, but if there was nothing obviously out of place, they may not have inspected it at all."
Jonathann pauses as he looks between Purg and then Vethorm. "You know Vethorm, you and your friends might help the militia with something else. Your friend Purg met the old grump, Omast. He can tell you that Rodrik's death hit Omast hard, and Omast went back to the bottle real quick. You know they were close, and had even been partners recently on patrol. Perhaps you could help remind him that Trunau still needs him?"
"Omast's off the wagon again? S+%#..." Vethorm says. "Can't blame him, but yeah, I can talk to him."
Vethorm looks to the others.
"You wanna split up again or stick together for this chat before we head down to the Killin' Grounds? Wouldn't want to bring Omast down there. A bar's the worst place to talk about a drinking problem."