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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 5896206" data-attributes="member: 6669384">[FONT=&quot]"So, where did you get off to last night?", Appelenea demanded accusingly."Me?", asked Penn, feigning innocence. "After the shocking events at dinner, I escorted the lovely Lucrecia out to the quiet of the gardens. We had a lovely conversation.""Her father will kill you, you know.", Cassius laughed, pushing his breakfast plate aside. "And if he doesn't, I imagine she has about a dozen suitors waiting to do it for him.""They'll have to stand in line.", laughed Penn, as he loaded porridge into a bowl and scattered honey crystals on it. "Seriously, did you and she...", asked Appelenea, leaving the question hanging."Yes, dear lady, we strolled and we talked.", Penn replied teasingly as he signaled the innkeeper for hot tea. "She told me of five feuds, three rivalries and a few dozen others who might have wanted the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Concilatori [/FONT][FONT=&quot]dead, particularly while he was visiting this fair city. Nothing untowards happened though. If you don't believe me, ask her body guards. They caught us as we slipped over the balcony, and ensured that we remained proper the entire evening.""So we only have to hide Seeburn then?""He seems to be doing a good job of that himself.", Marcus replied, looking worried. "He isn't in his room, and I haven't seen him all morning.""You mean the man in the checkered robe?", asked the innkeeper? "He's in jail. They say he murdered someone.""They're accusing him?", asked Marcus in shock. "He wasn't anywhere near the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Concilatori[/FONT][FONT=&quot] when he died.""That's the mark of a good assassin.", laughed Cassius. "They never seem to go near their victim, and will always have a perfect alibi.""I'll see if I can get him sprung.", Penn sighed. "Though it would serve him right to spend a few days in jail, after the scene he made last night.""His trial is this afternoon, and the hanging is set for sundown.", the innkeeper mentioned as he cleared the used crockery. "Don't wait too long."*** "So, my lord Magistrate, you still have the drunken lout in jail. He probably belongs there, but was the murder charge really necessary?""He was found covered in blood. The blood belonged to Renaldo daPiza, a mercenary. He's dead, and your friend will be, come sundown.", the elderly man replied tiredly. "Such a shame, to disrupt your busy day with a trial and a hanging, when I'm sure you have other things to do.", Penn began. "Particularly if it turns out that this Renaldo had my friend's blood on his blade as well. That would make the entire affair seem questionable. And considering where he was last night before this, and the names that might be mentioned, wouldn't it make more sense to simply fine the fool?""The damages would be considerable.", the Magistrate argued. "The weregilt to Renaldo's family alone...""...will be paid, if the man has any family to claim it. Having no family name suggests that he was disowned, or worse yet, never acknowledged.", the Half-Satyr countered. "I'm far more concerned with the time and effort you have already wasted on the matter. Let us establish damages and be done with this affair. The sooner the man is out of your jail, the sooner he can leave town." A purse appeared in Penn's hand, like magic. The magistrate weighed the purse with is gaze, long practice telling him the balance. "There is also the cost to the church, since the Scot is in no condition to walk.""I'll see that that's attended to.", Penn agreed, as more coins suddenly clinked in his fingers, adding themselves to the weight of the pouch. "And nothing will be said, in any circles. No names, no hint of petty revenge. He'll be out of your prison and out of your life.""Done!", agreed the old man, pocketing the money. "Once I sign his release order, I wash my hands of the man."*** "The prisoner will stand away from the door!", snarled the guard, though he needn't have bothered. Seeburn remained where he was, sprawled upon a thin straw pallet, looking much as he had when the guard had deposited him there the previous night.The keys clanked and the lock creaked, the hinges groaned and the door opened. "Well, we can't let the world see you like that.", said Penn with a note of disgust. "Come, Marcus, lets get him on his feet and away."Marcus said a small prayer, easing Seeburn's pains and lending him a bit of strength. Then he and Penn helped their friend to his feet, and out into the morning air."It's lucky for you that I made friends with the Magistrate last evening.", Penn confided. "It would have been a lot harder to get you out if I'd had to deal directly with the guard. As it is, it was pricey. You offended some very important people last night.""I didn't think you had much left, after everything you bought the other day.", Marcus commented, concern in his voice."Think nothing of it, for nothing is too much for my friends.", laughed Penn, as they turned a corner. "After all, 'nothing' is what it cost me. I used Seeburn's money for the bribe."*** "Now, who owned what, and it went where?", asked Marcus, as his friends brought him up to date."Anastatius Cicero Formentius was his full name.", Sylus explained, looking over the notes taken. "He wrote a book on the dark gods, and the rituals they sponsor. He died several months ago, and the book went missing from his collection. We need to find it.""Hmm. All right, if we can impose on Nedel, perhaps he can inquire in the higher social circles, see if it found its way into a private collection. Take Cassius with you for protection. Marcus and I will inquire at the temples, to see if they have word of it. Then we'll hit the book dealers.""You think it's for sale some place?", asked Appelenea in surprise. "If it was stolen, then nobody will ever admit to having it.""We're not looking for the book.", Penn said pointedly. "We're looking for people who inquired about similar works, the kinds of things that one might need to understand such a text. We're also looking for the person who didn't inquire about the book after it went missing, the one who should have been searching, but wasn't. That will be the person who has it. So we need names of people who might have such an interest, and names of anyone who did show interest."And so they set off, each to their assignments.*** "Do you think we'll ever find a clue?", Marcus asked, after their fifth fruitless temple visit."Of course.", the Bard replied, a smile on his lips but deadly serious in his manner. "Three of the acolytes we've asked made note of our inquiry. Our quarry will hear of us through them. When they send someone to kill us, we simply ask the assassins who sent them, and we have our clue.""I think I see a flaw in your plan.", warned the Cleric, as they headed off to the next book shop. [/FONT]</blockquote>

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