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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Seravin" data-source="post: 1878156" data-attributes="member: 6783">Questions, Answers, and ProblemsBlonde-haired, blue-eyed Beth walked through the late morning streets of Corlean.  The morning was chilly and she knew she was running late for her day at the warehouse, but she took the time to observe the people around her.  The woman across the street with the dirty brown hair, sharp nose and scowl; the gentleman approaching with the light eyes and hair who seemed to be some sort of laborer; Beth took her time to look them all over, finding something of interest in everyone she glanced at.  Her sharp mind filed these features away for later use.--The well-appointed coach was moving faster through the narrow streets than was really wise; but the driver was one of the best and if he narrowly avoided slower moving pedestrians, at least he advoided them.  Soon the coach was at its destination, and while it wasn’t a record-setting time, the passenger, Grandal Deverex, had no cause for complaint.Stepping out of the coach, Grandal looked up at his driver.  “Thank you, Tyver.  I’m not sure how long I’ll be.”  Grandal’s voice was devoid of his usual pleasantness.Tyver shrugged philosophically.  “I’ll be here Ker Deverex.”  There wasn’t much more to be said.  Ker Deverex already knew that and was walking away before Tyver had begun to reply.  Which was just as well really, Ker Deverex was not a happy man right now; and bad things happened when Ker Deverex wasn’t happy.--Grandal stalked towards the warehouse but stopped before entering through the main doors as he usually did; the current problem was distracting him more than he liked.  Curling his lip in disgust, Grandal altered his path to the back door of the attached offices. The small, dingy office was unchanged from his last visit; two scarred desks dominated the middle of the room, while in the corner a small iron wood stove drove the chill from the room.  Across the room was another door that led to the main floor.  The warehouse manager, Raul, a paunchy, tough looking man in his fourth decade, was sitting at the larger of the two desks looking over a sheaf of papers.  The man was alert however and looked up at Grandal’s entrance; seeing who it was, the dark-haired man stood quickly with a look a respect.“Sit.”  Ordered Grandal, waving to enforce his order.  Then, composing himself, sighed.  “You heard?”Raul nodded.  “I heard, both of them.  What did they get away with?”Grandal’s face curled up into a snarl again.  “At home?  Some minor things, nothing that can’t be replaced; but it was so…amateur!”  The last word was filled with venom.  “Jewelry, loose coins, and some baubles.”  Grandal took a deep breath.  “It would almost be funny if it wasn’t so embarrassing.  What happened at Adar’s warehouse is less funny and not amateurish.  Every lock, trap, and spell bypassed; and every portable item takened. ““You think they might be related?”Grandal frowned.  “I don’t know.  They don’t seem related, but the timing seems too coincidental; and what happened at my house bears no resemblance to what happened at Adar’s.”Raul nodded. “You’re here about the girl I’m guessing?  It’s too much of a coincidence that she showed up here the day of your robbery.”“The girl showed up then?  I was wondering if it was all a ruse; she showed up with flowers for my daughter from someone.  Maybe this was all innocent after all.  I won’t know until after I talk to her though.”Raul started to speak and then stopped himself.  Grandal caught it.  “What?”Raul shrugged.  “She seems like a nice enough kid.  Bright, quick, and doesn’t ask questions.  I like the kid, but I suppose your servants did too.”  Unspoken was the letter of recommendation signed by Grandal’s daughter.Grandal was a bright man who prided himself on knowing how to read people.  The half-elf knew what Raul was leaving unsaid and why.  He admired the man’s discretion, but then that’s why he had his particular job.  “Is she here?”“She should be here soon.  I have her running simple errands right now to see how dependable she is.  So far she’s working out pretty well.”“I can wait then.  In the meantime, let’s go over the shipment coming in this afternoon.”--There were two quick taps on the door leading to the main floor of the warehouse.  Grandal and Raul looked at each other and Raul called out, “Enter.”The door opened up cautiously revealing Beth.  Raul smiled paternally at the young girl.  “Beth, come in.  I have someone for you to meet.  He needs to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer him to the best of your ability.”The child nodded tentatively and cautiously entered the office, giving Grandal a furtive look as she walked towards the proferred chair.  Grandal used the time for his first impression of the child.  The first thing he noticed was that she seemed older than her apparent years.  Her movements were controlled and possessed a grace beyond most children that age.  She actually reminded him of his daughter when she was young.  The girl also seemed very aware of her surroundings, keeping an eye on him the entire time, sizing him up in return he realized.  She’s a survivor.  He thought approvingly.  It’s a shame that children still need these skills, but she has them.  Good. Once she was seated Grandal nodded at Raul who bowed, excused himself and walked out into the warehouse, closing the door behind him.  All would be well.  If it wasn’t, well, better that there were no witnesses.Grandal smiled pleaseantly at the blond-haired little girl.  “My name is Grandal Deverex.  I’m told your name is Beth?”The child nodded warily.  “Yes, sir.”  She replied.“Good, good.  I’m told you met my daughter yesterday, Jaylissa?  She wrote you a letter that told Raul to give you a job?”  Again the child nodded.  “Uh-huh.”“Well, yesterday somebody robbed my house about the time you were there.  Did you see anyone when you left?”The girl tensed, almost imperceptibly, before answering.  “No sir.”He almost sighed.  He had been hoping that she was truly innocent.  Instead, Grandal shook his head.  “I don’t believe you girl.  You’re lying.”  He could see the panic well up in her eyes as she shook her head.  “No!  Really!  I was just there to deliver flowers to the pretty lady.  The man said she was unhappy and wanted to cheer her up.”  Beth was looking just over his right shoulder.CRACK!  Grandal’s hand slammed down on the table.  It startled the girl and she looked at him directly.  He locked his eyes with her.  “No more lying girl.  This is important and I don’t have time for it.”The girl sniffed and tears started streaming down her face.  “I’m sorry!I’m sorry!He offeredme silver and Ineededthemoneyformysisterandeverything.  Hejustwantedme todelivertheflowers and openthedoorforhimand…”“Slow down girl!”  Granadal halted her headlong explanation and thought.  This time he believed her and she had said enough for him to piece together what happened.  Now he just needed to confirm a few things.  “I’m sorry Beth.”  He started gently.  “It’s just that some important things were stolen from me and I need to find out who did it.  I’m going to say some words in elvish for a moment.”  He smiled reassuringly.  “You can think of it as a prayer.”Beth sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes.Seeing that she was calming down, Grandal recalled the first real spell that he ever learned and invoked it.  Detect Magic was a simple spell, allowing the caster to determine if a person or item was enchanted.  It was possible that the girl was enspelled in some way, either charmed or scried, or under some sort of illusion (for whatever reason). The girl looked at him quizzically, not understanding the words he spoke.  He unfocused his gaze for a moment and looked her over.  Nothing; the only magic within his gaze was the ring on his right hand, and a slight glow from the bottom of Raul’s desk.  Grandal noted three aura’s of conjuration and the one transmutation from the desk.  He made a mental note to investigate the desk; but the girl was clean.He focused on the girl again.  “See?  That wasn’t so bad; just some words.”  His voice hardened a little.  “Now, tell me about this man.  Who was he?  What did he look like?”“He was just a man.  He offered me two silver to deliver the flowers.”“I know.  You told me that.  What did he look like?”Slowly, Grandal extracted a description from the girl.  Seeing that she wasn’t going to be punished she was eager to help and she apparently had an excellent memory.  Grandal knew he was looking for a human man, about his size, with ragged blonde hair and blue eyes His hair was the same color as mine and his eyes were blue like a flower).  The man had a thin goatee (and a beard in the shape of an upsidedown triangle); and when Beth met him the man was wearing a white shirt and dark pants and wore the badge of a stonemason.  This man had paid Beth to deliver the flowers to his daughter.  She was supposed to find a free moment to let the man in and then leave.  The thief paid her two silvers for the task when she let him into the house.  Grandal was annoyed at Beth, but he understood her motivation.  She was an orphan living on the streets with a younger sister who apparently was picking up a cold.  Grandal would have done the same thing and shown less remorse.  He resolved to help her once he got these other problems resolved.“All right Beth.  I think you can go now.  Thank you for answering my questions.  Go see Raul and see what he needs you to do.  Then tell him to come see me.”The wide-eyed Beth nodded and climbed out her chair and headed to the door.  Grandal leaned back in his chair and thought.  First, he had to find this stonemason; obviously a disguise of some sort, but if the thief was stupid he was still using it.  Grandal allowed himself a small smile while thinking up ways to make the thief pay for setting foot into his house.At the same time he needed to find out who had done the Adar robbery.  He had already sent a description of the stolen warehouse items to every fence in the city and messengers were on their way to Karos, Harrow, and Jeralin, the three closest cities.  The stolen items had no value until they were sold, and whoever sold them would have a late nate visit within a day of selling.--Kestral knocked on Kellrons’ door at the Scabbard.  The paladin answered the door, looking surprised at Kestral’s presence.  “Kestral?  What’s the matter?”Kestral refrained from asking why he assumed anything was wrong.  “I think I may have made a mistake.”Kellron sighed and ushered her in.  “What happened?”Kestral entered and waited until he closed the door.  “You know how I went to work at the warehouse in disguise?”“Yes.” “Grandal Deverex was there when I got there.  His place was robbed after I talked with Jaylissa and since he knew I was there at the time, he wanted to see if I knew anything.”“And…”“Well.  I did know something, but he couldn’t tell him that, so I lied.  Only he figured it out and I had to come up with another lie.  He believed that one.”“Kellron closed his eyes for a moment.  “Sarath.”  He whispered.  “And?”“Well, I told him a man had paid me to open the door when I left.  Naturally, he wanted a description so I gave him one; but I could only think of a person I saw on the street today so I described him.Kellron waited patiently.“Based on what we found out, I think Grandal is capable of and will have this man killed and I don’t know what to do.”“I…see.”  So Grandal’s house was robbed and when asked about it you gave up an innocent person as the culprit?”“I was alone with the man. I thought he’d kill me.”“I see.  We have to find this man.  Do you think you can?”Kestral nodded.  “Good.  We’ll find him, and maybe we can dress Ashimar up as him and attract attention.  It will help determine what we’re up against.”Kestral thought hard and her form shimmered briefly.  In the space of a few minutes Kellron was facing a rather innocuous looking, young tradesman, almost his size with unkempt blonde hair and a rather thin goatee.  “He looks like this.”  She told the paladin.Kellron nodded.  “I see. I hope you learned your lesson on lying."Kestral nodded.“And you and I need to talk when this is over.  If you had anything to do with this robbery it would be best that his things were returned.”“It was an investigation!”  Defended Kestral.  “Jaylissa’s diary expressly said she thought her father had Imach killed!”Kellron felt a headache coming on.  “We’ll let the guard decide that.  In the meantime the diary needs to be returned and right now it’s more important that we find this man before something happens to him.”Kestral nodded mutely, he was right.</blockquote>

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