(YBA) Oskarn the Traveler on the Caravan Road.

[Yellow Sign]

"A half wit you say?" Grunwald's face bunches up in anger. He gives you a short bow."Thank you for your information." He pulls out a golden guilder and tosses it at your horse's feet. He yells at his henchman. "Hans, go get Yassra and bring him to The Smiling Prince and be quick about it." With that he gallops his horse towards the town.


(You get 2 hits defeated for talking your way out of the situation and you gain another yen. Don't worry I will give you a chance to earn all that yen)

 

[Ciaran]

Pocketing the guilder, Oskarn rides on down the road. "Perhaps he was not, in fact, responsible for the assassination," he muses after a few minutes. "From his reaction, he may well be the girl's lover or suitor; doubtless she had many. But his instructions to his lackey bore an ominous cast. It would do little harm to pass this information along to the Burgermeister, and he may well pay for it. And," he adds archly, "it would do little good to travel all that way to fetch the antidote, only to return to find the girl dead at an assassin's hand. But I have been observed, and returning will alert the observers. And Bloombald will be observed most of all..."

After a moment's thought, Oskarn hatches a cunning plan. After finding a secluded spot off the road, he strips off his most ostentatious garb and stuffs it into his saddlebags, then dons his oldest traveling cloak after smearing it (and the horse) with dirt. Traveling off the road, he gathers several armfuls of dry sticks and ties them into bundles that he loads onto his horse. Then, cutting around to the town's south gate, he leads the horse into town, covering his face with the cloak's hood and feigning a twisted back and a limp. "Firewood for sale!" he wheezes, coughing upon anyone who comes too close. Once in town, he makes his way via a circtuitous route to Modric's shop, where he hopes to encounter the old physic.

 

[Yellow Sign]

Your disquise works perfectly. What few people that pay any attention to you quickly get out of your way. As you near the Physic's shop, you see Modric walking down the street with a bundle of goods in his hands.

 

[Ciaran]

"Goodman Physic!" Oskarn limps up to Modric, coughing and twitching. "I fear that I have the marsh fever... please, I have a little money..." He segues into a heavy coughing fit, sufficient to disperse any eavesdroppers with any concern for their continued health. "Please... your shop..."

 

[Yellow Sign]

Modric looks at you and starts to say. "Why Herr Osk....." He stops in mid sentence. "Why of coarse, follow me quickly." You both walk the short distance to his shop and enter. As he closes and locks the door, he turns to you. "Herr Oskarn, what is all this about?"

 

[Ciaran]

Returning to his normal patterns of speech, Oskarn replies, "It appears that the Burgermeister's enemies possess a most efficient spy network, an unexpected thing in a town of this size and stature. This seemed to be the most effective way to reach you without alerting them as to my whereabouts. Now, please tell me: who is Yassra? I am certain that you will recognize the name."

 

[Yellow Sign]

"Yassra? Hummmm...I believe he is a merchant. He sells exotic items from far Cathay and beyond. He comes down the Caravan Road every few years to sell his wares and to purchase our trade items such as clocks and silverwork. To tell the truth. I believe he is in town as we speak."

 

[Ciaran]

"Yes, well, he is an associate of a Herr Thoric Grunwald, who has spied upon me since my meeting with the Burgermeister and who assaulted my person just after my departure from your town. Now, may I assume that Herr Grunwald stands among the lady Ammela's suitors? And not, perhaps, the one she most favors?"

 

[Yellow Sign]

"Thoric Grunwald you say?" Modric shakes his head. "He might believe himself a suitor for Ammela's hand but he has a snowflakes chance in hell of woing her. He is a abrasive, mean, self centered flop. Since his father is one of the richest men in town he thinks he can have anything that he wants. And he defantly wants Ammela and her fortune. You must be careful with him. His enemies have been know to disappear and while he looks the fool he is deadly with that sword of his."

 

[Ciaran]

"Ah. Well, I have considered the machinations thus far exposed and the variables that remain, and I believe that matters are both more sinister and more simple than they might heretofore have appeared. Whilst my evidence is circumstantial, I believe that Ammela's condition was no accident... and furthermore, that it may not be necessary to travel to the Crossroads to effect her cure."