Maybe we need to be a little more persuasive..." Ewald grins broadly and turns to Vae "Fancy using that silver tounge of your's again?"
Amunrel unseen by any of those behind him very noticeably winces at Ewald's comment and makes the effort to move a little ahead to avoid the inevitable comeback...
Ewald for his part looks totally bewildered at Sannas response..."What?...all I want Vae to do is gently persuade some people to give us the information we need..is there anything wrong in that?"
Seeing 'Sanna and Uncle Amunrel's expressions and Ewald's sudden defensive reaction, Vivaeri decided to go for the soft jab. She wanted to fling a barb Ewald's way, but she also wanted to keep her sister calm.
"Yes, that sounds like an excellent plan." she said, just a bit too eagerly. "I know something about acting, and since no one here is a liar with a history of telling lies that probably makes me the most likely of us to gain his trust. We should hurry along then, yes?" She had once again managed to forget her and her sister's own impromptu deception.
If the man was a simple as they had heard, Vivaeri wanted to keep her deception as gentle as she could. On their way through town, she excused herself just long enough to step into a store to buy a plain, somewhat rugged and rough set of brown robes.
Ewalds reaction to Vae's comment is a slightly raised eyebrow..however he refrains from passing comment filing it away for later
Ewald waits patiently for the family to begin what ever new squabble they can find.
Ewald waits patiently for the family to begin what ever new squabble they can find.
"Onwards!" Amunrel says after a pause.
"To Jemiche's place!" he adds after another pause.
"Ah..so you DO now where he lives...lead on then and let us try and get to the bottom of this farce"
Vivaeri had almost left the shop entirely before she had a second thought and went back for four more sets of brown, hooded robes.
"It'll look more convincing with more of us. If this Jemiche is reallly so simple it shouldn't be a problem to pass ourselves off as a circle of druids. We might just convince him that the best thing to do is to leave well enough alone when it comes to other peoples' animals."
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"I'd advise against this idea," Adjunta says, "as much fun as committing sacrilege and giving false spiritual advice sounds, but druids, I'm told, are very real things, and might actually exist out here in the wilds somewhere. Also there is the matter of their strange gods, it seems unlikely that a god would take notice of such a trivial matter, but then, as a priest have had seen stranger things. I'd suggest we try to find the local druid and have him talk some sense into the boy. Either that or try to have him convert to a more law abiding deity."
"I'd advise against this idea," Adjunta says, "as much fun as committing sacrilege and giving false spiritual advice sounds, but druids, I'm told, are very real things, and might actually exist out here in the wilds somewhere. Also there is the matter of their strange gods, it seems unlikely that a god would take notice of such a trivial matter, but then, as a priest have had seen stranger things. I'd suggest we try to find the local druid and have him talk some sense into the boy. Either that or try to have him convert to a more law abiding deity."
Amunrel pauses for a moment to look at the cleric before shaking his head.
"The druid idea sounds fine but unless you know of one we're running short on time," Amunrel notes.
"I really don't have the charisma nor wisdom that would go with that role," Amunrel sighs sadly.
Vivaeri deflated. "But...it's not like we'd be giving him bad advice.... I mean, most of those animals probably would have died out there in the wild. That's not natural, is it?" she protested weakly, ready to surrender the argument and not quite realizing the fallacy in her defense.
Ewald certainly has no intention of offending a true druid..he knows a few and they have his respect for what they have taught him..
"It..just wouldn't be right...no we confront this Jemiche directly I say, no subterfuge, no clever words..just honest questions for which I hope we get honest answers"
The young Ranger checks his weapons all the same.
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"I think I should take another go at the Sheriff," Adjunta says after a moment, "it's possible he knows who the where the real druidic influence comes from. Simply talking to the boy in earnest might also work. Obviously the lad is soft headed and if he's the one solely behind this affair then I'll try to see the boy repays his debt in a suitable manner, but as of yet we haven't confirmed that fact yet. We need to talk to this lad, hopefully before he disappears , and I need to try to convince this sheriff that we're all on the same page here."
Vivaeri grew quiet upon hearing Ewald's and Adjunta's answers. She could only stare at Ewald as he checked his weapons. It wasn't a glare, like almost every other look she had given him the past few hours, but a curious look, as if she was finally actually seeing him for the first time.
He really isn't like most of his station, then.... She cleared her throat and gave Halsanna an awkward look as she placed the robes over her shoulders. "Never know...might be some people in the neighborhood that could use these." she quietly mumbled.
Ewald nods at the Priests words.."Aye Father..the sheriff should be helpful..and if not I won't have problems pulling rank on the man..but lets try Jemiche first that way we might be able to solve this mystery without a load of paperwork getting in the way"
He turns to the sisters and their uncle.
"Looming in the background might be the best thing..let me and the Father here deal with this man but hold yourselves ready in case there is trouble"
His eyes follow Sanna's upward look.."Aye time marches on and it were best we get this concluded quickly"
Sanna's smile was infectious; Vivaeri was thankful for that. She quickly shed the moody look she had been wearing and leaned into her sister as the linked arms. "I'm not very good at looming. I'll need you to walk me through it. It's like aggressively loitering, right?" she asked as they walked through town.
Adjunta would like to talk to the sheriff
"I agree, let's keep it simple if it was Jemiche at least we can prevent this from escalating and if someone manipulated him it would be better to have someone official with us in case we need him as a witness," Amunrel nods in agreement.
"If nothing else you can get an apology from him and we can resolve this as amicably as possible," he adds as Amunrel wonders what was really behind all of this.
"If the sheriff decides to be helpful, of course..." Vivaeri muttered. She remembered him laughing off the matter when it first came up.
"Oh I think he will be"..
Ewald fumbles in his belt pouch and takes out his signet ring which he jams onto his finger then replaces his glove on top of it...
"In fact I'm almost certain off it"
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Adjunta would tell the constable that we're here to speak to the sheriff about a personal matter and that he should be expecting us.
"Greetings sheriff," Adjunta says, "I think you know why we're here. Small towns don't hide secrets well and nobles and priests tend to be quite resourceful and have ample time to be idol or to meddle. I assume that you knew it would only be a matter of time till we found out about the lad. I can only assume that you want to protect the boy as he's likely to be simple minded. Well let me reassure you that we wish the boy no harm either but we need to take steps to assure this doesn't happen again. Could you imagine the lad releasing a price hawk? Carrier pigeons? There are nobles who would have the boy flayed alive for something like that! We need to find this lad's priest to talk some sense into him! I'm assuming you know who that is and if he can be reasoned with."
Ewald is surprised to find a member of the nobility as sheriff in this quiet backwater but then given the nature of Taldors noble class his surprise doesnt last for long.
"We are talking of the attack on this lad here Sherrif.." he points to Ned "we believe we may have discovered the culprit..or at least one of his confederates..I know you dismissed this as a prank but I think it is more serious than that"
"The good father here thinks we can bring this matter to an amicable closure without involving the full force of the law. However we thought it best to inform you of our intentions before taking any action."
He tugs off his gauntlet and presents his Signet
"I am Lord Ewald Salador..Lieutenant in His Imperial Majesties army..my oath requires me to protect the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic and whilst I realise I might be stretching the point here a little I'm sure you will agree that lawlessness begets lawlessness and that can only lead to anarchy.We have the chance to nip what might be a very serious situation in the bud. All I ask is that you let me and my companions deal with it as we see fit"
"Ah, I see. You're already making me feel guilty about something." Vivaeri quipped as Halsanna demonstrated the fine art of intimidation. "Must be useful, scaring off any potential suitors." She winced at the sting of the crack she had just made, aimed at both her sister and herself.
"So..." she lowered her voice as she leaned against the wall beside her sister. "...he's not all bad. Not the ponce I thought he'd be, at least..." She couldn't bring herself to be more charitable just then, not yet. She looked at her sister silently, her eyes clearly asking, "But what do you think?"
"Well..to be honest we are not sure how serious the situation is yet...it may be just one young man's delusions..or he may have been influenced by others who have a deeper agenda. I thought it prudent to inform you in case the situation does turn out to be a serious one"
Ewald goes on to explain just what they have discovered.
Halsanna tilted her head slightly in consideration, giving the question the response that she thought it deserved, which all equated to a slight shrug and a small, slightly guilty smile that she kept to being barely noticeable. The menfolk were busy discussing the situation with the sheriff, so who was really going to pay attention to the two women in lingering behind them, nearer to the door?
Is he staying long?"came the whispered question to her sister. A slight frown displayed her confusion, thinking that they might be in for a span of time in his company, and really uncertain of how to feel about that.
"I wonder how your father is going to react when he finds out!" Amunrel whispers to them unaware of Halsanna's comment.
Ewald nods in agreement.."Those were our thought's exactly Sherrif. there's no point in taking a hammer to squash a gnat and if it's more serious than that we doubt the lad is the prime mover..most likely he's been led astray"
Ewald nods in agreement.."Those were our thought's exactly Sherrif. there's no point in taking a hammer to squash a gnat and if it's more serious than that we doubt the lad is the prime mover..most likely he's been led astray"
"It certainly looks that way, Adjunta, Vi do you know of any way to discern if Jemiche has been bewitched?" Amunrel asks.
"Whilst this mage would have to be seven kinds of a fool to do such a thing I agree with the sheriff that from the sounds of it there's more to this than simple misplaced faith so I was wondering what else could have coerced him into such a violent action if indeed he was involved?" he adds thoughtfully.
Halsanna tilted her head slightly in consideration, giving the question the response that she thought it deserved, which all equated to a slight shrug and a small, slightly guilty smile that she kept to being barely noticeable. The menfolk were busy discussing the situation with the sheriff, so who was really going to pay attention to the two women in lingering behind them, nearer to the door?
Is he staying long?"came the whispered question to her sister. A slight frown displayed her confusion, thinking that they might be in for a span of time in his company, and really uncertain of how to feel about that."I wonder how your father is going to react when he finds out!" Amunrel whispers to them unaware of Halsanna's comment.
Vivaeri had turned even more quiet at Halsanna's question. And Uncle Amunrel's question only reinforced why she was silent. If Ewald stayed long, they couldn't keep this cold war of words up. Something was going to have to change. But if he left...if she refused to follow, how would her father take it? Their family would surely take their frustrations out on him for her rebellion. But if she did go, life as she knew it was over...
"I...I don't know..." she answered both their questions. Her head jerked to attention at her uncle's second question.
"Not really. I guess I could tell if he's out of sorts, but I wouldn't be able to say if it was magic that was causing it." She looked around at the others, quick to join in the conversation to take her mind off the subject she was mired in already.
"How do you want to do this?" Vivaeri asked Ewald and Adjunta. "You don't think he'll panic if he sees people wearing arms on their belt at the door, do you?"
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"Let me talk to him first," Adjunta says, "I am a priest and even if he doesn't respect my religion he might be less willing to attack or threaten a man of higher status. Afterwards, once I talk him out, I'll take a step back and observe. Perhaps I might be able to learn something."
Adjunta approaches the home and gently knocks on the door.
I'll stay close to the good father in case anything turns nasty..I suggest the rest of you retire a little ..just out of sight but be ready for anything.
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"Greetings madam," Adjunta says with a slight bow, giving his priestly robes a slight flourish, "I am Adjunta Paul and this is Ewald Salodar, and we're looking for a lad by the name of Jemiche. We'd like to talk to him if you don't mind. We lost a cat on the road this morning you see and we'd heard that Jemiche was out that way and we were hoping he might have seen it. We do know that the lad is simple but we also know he loves animals. Perhaps he saw this cat. It is quite special and usually well trained and if the lad can help us there might be a reward for him."