(Tavern) City of Orussus, The Red Dragon Inn IV

[Ruined]

Kristoff took a step forward towards the bar, hands open to show no aggression.

"Joe, those men knew you. You must know what kind of men they are - cutthroats, murderers. You do not know me, but I am a devotee of Grendath. Not one who would kill a hapless sailor for no reason whatsoever."

"I had just stepped over to share a drink with yon fellows, when the dead one there came running in, begging our help. Before he could say much more, he fell dead from the wound in his back. Then those three you knew - Patch I believe? - came to finish their handywork."

"Gurian and I drew our weapons against them, yes, but it did little good. The large one snatched mine away and planted it in the dead man's back, thinking anyone would fall for their ruse. I would care to see justice done against his killers, but first need to straighten out the truth of this ordeal. What say you?"

---

OOC: It's all truth. I have a Diplomacy of +3, if it will help.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

"Joe, those men knew you."

Joe nods. The three men had apparently had the opportunity to visit the Inn on occasion.

"You must know what kind of men they are - cutthroats, murderers."

Joe shrugs, then shakes head his head meaningfully. He's seen a lot of people come and go, every one of them 'adventurers' of a sort. Depending on who you ask, every one of them is a cutthroat and murderer. The three men who so recently left the Inn must have behaved themselves to some degree, at least, while patronizing the Red Dragon Inn in the past.

"You do not know me, but I am a devotee of Grendath. Not one who would kill a hapless sailor for no reason whatsoever."

Joe shrugs. Since he doesn't know you, your personal opinion of yourself evidently carries little weight.

"I had just stepped over to share a drink with yon fellows, when the dead one there came running in, begging our help. Before he could say much more, he fell dead from the wound in his back. Then those three you knew - Patch I believe? - came to finish their handywork."

OOC: For the record, the three fellows never called each other by name. 'Patch', 'Muscles' and 'Shorty' were simply descriptive monikers that I was using for literary ease. My apologies if that was confusing.

"Gurian and I drew our weapons against them, yes, but it did little good. The large one snatched mine away and planted it in the dead man's back, thinking anyone would fall for their ruse. I would care to see justice done against his killers, but first need to straighten out the truth of this ordeal. What say you?"

Joe just sighs heavily.

Once, when you were very young, your pet dog knocked a pie your mother had baked onto the floor and eaten half of it into crumbs by the time you caught him. The dog ran off to hide, and you bent to the task of cleaning up the mess. Unfortunately, before you finished tidying up, your mother walked in to find you with pie on your fingers, and a half-empty pie plate on the table. Then too, you told the absolute truth.

Joe stands looking at you with the precise expression your mother did so many years ago.

Joe motions back to the chairs around the table that you'd been sitting at, and leans back to wait for Brother Cadfel to arrive.

 

[neoweasel]

"I know that some priests have magics available to determine the truth of a statement," Gurian says as he sits down, "if Brother Cadfel is capable of such things, or knows someone who is, I'd be willing to undergo such magic to prove our innocence."

 

[Scorpio]

[OOC-Again, I just got a reply notification on this thread...best be checking more often, I suppose]


D'Artagnon coils his whip and lets out a disgusted breath. He sidles back to the bar and takes another gulp of his ale.
"Well Joe, You don't know us, so I can understand that you'd be leery of what we might be tellin' ya, but that's how it went down. They were searching this poor soul for something, just as you came back in.
Now in the interest of maintainin' relationships and all, you tell us what you'd like to do to resolve this matter. As it's your place and all.
Let's just relax a moment guys, I'm sure Joe here is a wise enough man to see what's what."

 

[Ruined]

Kristoff nods at D'artagnon's wise words and heeds Joe's suggestion. As he walks over to the table, he looks at his sword protruding from Masthead's back and shakes his head in dismay.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

OOC: Sorry for the delay, guys... I caught sick in the middle of my midnight shift. Back to work, eh?

In a few moments, the barmaid returns with someone you can only presume to be Brother Cadfel. He is a slim fellow, balding slightly with salt and pepper hair and a trim beard. He wears plain and well-worn preist's vestments, but the badge of the Orussus town guard is emblazoned beside the long-beared goat of Antonidas the Drevin.

"Missy's informed me a murder has occurred," he announces straight away, ehile eyeing the body and the witnesses. "Anyone care to give me the detailed account?" He waits patiently as Kristoff repeats his earlier story, jotting a few notes down on a scrap of parchemnt with a pencil. Afterward, he examines the body and sword with an occasional sprinkle of holy water, a flourish of his holy symbol, and a brief divine utterance. Minutes later, appearing only mildly satisfied, he stands up, removes the sword from the corpse's back, and rolls it over.

The mouth of the death body opens slightly, "Uuuuhhhh..."

"Yes, he's ready now." The investigating priest leans in a little. "HELLO THERE, MASTHEAD!"

"I-I-I-I... ne-e-eds... yer-r-r-r... h-h-e-e-e-elp..." the dead lips reply.

"A bit late for that, I think," the preist mutters. "MASTHEAD, WHO KILLED YOU?"

"W-w-a-a-atch... o-o-ut... fe-e-r-r-r... l-l-e-e-ee-w-war-r-r-d..."

"Well that's a little less than helpful," Brother Cadfel complains. "MASTHEAD, WHY DID THEY KILL YOU?"

"Th-th-the-e-ey'r-r-r-re... l-l-o-o-ookin-n-n'... f-f-e-e-r-r-r... i-i-it..."

Cadfel sighs almost in exasperation, "WHAT WERE THEY LOOKING FOR, MASTHEAD?"

"Th-th-e-e-e b-b-i-i-i-l-lge p-u-u-u-uh..." The voice fades away and the mouth goes slack.

"Well," he says to Joe, brushing off his hands, "I'll need to perform some further investigations. There was poison in the wound, but I couldnt' find any on the sword, except where it cut into the body... Not that that means anything, the poison could have been only at the tip. Brother Kristoff believes he's telling the truth, and though there's no evidence to the contrary, there's also no eveidence against these other fellows. Unless that is, we can find away to isolate and trace the poison."

He looks at Kristoff and the others carefully. "Right now, boys, it all boils down your word against theirs. We don't have anything worth arrsting them over just yet. Fortunately, the same can be said for you."

He picks up the body and hefts it over one shoulder, and picks up Christoff's longsword in his free hand. "I'll be taking the body back to the temple, Joe. Maybe some of the other brother can help me out. And I'll need to confiscate the sword for evidence. If what you say bears out the truth, Brother Kristoff, you'll get it back when everything gets sorted out." Cadfel leaves out the front door, where he can be seen slinging the body over the back of his horse before trotting off.

Joe shrugs, as if it he's seen it all before. The barmaid gets a mop and bucket to clean up the mess, while Joe gets back to tending bar.

 

[neoweasel]

Gurian looks up "But I... dangit. I was hoping to see if there was anything on Masthead's body that they'd be looking for. A map or a note or something." He frowns, and thinks for a moment. Then he looks around at Kristoff, D'artagnan and Izra and says, "There's a good chance that we can find something to prove our innocence and their guilt. I think if we can look in the bilgepump we might get a clue or two. He was warning us about the leeward side of something could be a boat or an island. I'm guessing the latter, because a boat can change direction so you can't tell which one is leeward."

"I think that we should work together on this. We'll all benefit from proving our innocence, and it is the proper thing to honor a dying man's last wishes. I'll do it myself, if I have to, but I'd rather have a few compatriots backing me up if things go... poorly."

 

[neoweasel]

[OOC By the way, Jack. Is there any way that we can interject into your actions? There have been a few times when I would have in a Face-to-Face game but, given the nature of PbP games, I didn't really feel like I could. If the answer is no, that's fine, I'd just like to make sure that I know the ground rules we're dealing with.[/OOC]

 

[Pbartender]

"Don't mind me," says the fellow eating a plate of COOKIES in the back corner.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

[OOC By the way, Jack. Is there any way that we can interject into your actions? There have been a few times when I would have in a Face-to-Face game but, given the nature of PbP games, I didn't really feel like I could. If the answer is no, that's fine, I'd just like to make sure that I know the ground rules we're dealing with.[/OOC]

OOC: As you might guess, a very long post from me usually means that I'm trying to move the game along. It's a tricky thing sometimes to keep a PBP from stagnating.

So, let me it put it this way... It doesn't hurt to try. If it works, you'll know about it in-game. If it won't work, you'll about that in-game too. Due to the nature of the game, I'm usually pretty lenient about that sort of thing, especially if it concerns a possibly important clue. For example...

Gurian looks up "But I... dangit. I was hoping to see if there was anything on Masthead's body that they'd be looking for. A map or a note or something."

Fortunately Kristoff, while examining Masthead's wound, had gotten close enough to the body to notice the he had nothing on him, but his tattered clothing, a small purse of meager coinage, and a slightly rusty sea-knife. Unless it was very well hidden somepace Kristoff didn't want to look anyway, there were no notes or maps. If there were, they're in the hands of Brother Cadfel at the Temple of Antonidas the Drevin now.