A New Barovia: Chapter Two

[Ail]

The dark elf stares at Robert closely. He grows very serious and and fears the worst, but has to ask.

"What do you mean by "Happened"...."?

"I think we should sit, Fhargos. I am the bearer of ill news for you."

[steveflam]

The dark elf stares at Robert closely. He grows very serious and and fears the worst, but has to ask.

"What do you mean by "Happened"...."?

"I think we should sit, Fhargos. I am the bearer of ill news for you."

The dark elf does sit. He remains calm and objective. "She's dead, isn't she." This is not a question but a statement. "And where is father?"

[BigBadQDaddy]

Adam notices Thomas is upset and sighs.

"I will go talk to him, he is my friend and I don't like seeing him like that."

Adam follows Thomas and knocks gently at his door saying:

"Thomas, may I come in? I'm sorry if I upset you with what I said. Do you want talk about it?"

Pausing in his actions he then turns and faces the door. There goes that idea... he thinks to himself. Would have been too risky of a gambit anyway.
Opening the door he gestures his friend into the room with a head nod. Once Adam has entered he closes the door behind him and invites his friend to have a seat.
"Speak what is on your mind Adam, you know how I appreciate your point of view." Thomas finds himself a seat at the edge of the bed next to his traveling gear. and eagerly awaits a response.

[Ail]

Robert nods silently.
"We found her dead in an alleys, last night. Rizzin was still alive and is being cared for now, but he alone could not save Delsenora. We were not near her when she was attacked, and we still don't know much about whoever did it...

I'm sorry", he tries to sympathize with Fhargos, but it is hard in such a situation.

"Your father... I don't know for sure.... Rizzin, he said he could not sense Jacob anymore. I'm afraid this is a cruel land we're in."

[Ken of Ghastria]

"I wasn't made aware of your existence sir. Uh, noone's come or gone through here since I've been here this noon. I can't say about this morning, sir as I wasn't here. You can pass but I'll be checking into who you are, sir." He moves aside and lets both of you pass.

"My apologies, good soldier," says Khalfani in a less strident voice. He reaches into his robes and displays the badge that he had been given at the beginning of this strange, tragic, horrifying adventure. "I am not used to carrying this around. Both Marilee and I have been ... what is the word? Deputized? Yes, deputized by the good Captain and have been given permission by Dmitri to investigate where necessary. We shall be examining the area of a recent crime. Thank you."

After he and Marilee move a few yards past the young man, the gnome says bitterly, "I am a fool to be playing at soldiers. Ah well, it often seems that the only way to get a militiaman to do what you want is to act the part of the bullying superior. In any event, we are here, Marilee. There -- that is where we stood nearly back to back before the advance of the badgers. Let us see what tracks, if any, our foes left behind."

[steveflam]

The soldier lets you both pass, remaining at his post. He seems relieved that you showed your badges. There is blood where Delsenora last lay. Where there was a trail of blood leading away, you can now see much better as it is late afternoon, not dead of the night. The blood drops lead to the end of the alley and into the next street. From where the blood started, there is also two pools of blood that lead to the building east of the alley. Blood specks dot the wall then stop. A close inspection indicates there was an attempt to climb then it stopped. A piece of torn cloth lays at the base of the wall. Dull brown cloth at that.


Spot and Search checks puh-lease

[VAN]

Adam comes in and sits on a chair so he can face Thomas. His face is calm but can be noticed that he is worried for his friend.

"Thomas, what happened down there? I understand that something troubles you, was like you were soffocating. Is it about we are considering getting Cornelius with us or is it something else? Because if is only Cornelius, then we can just try to learn what he knows and then proceed by ourselves. Don't get me wrong I still belive that he would be good addition to our group for the time we need to get the werebadger and whoever is behind Deselnora's murder but I would never let someone make one of the party members uncomfortable. I believe we can trust Cornelius since Deselnora herself did and that he will not harm us in any form. Also his experience, knowledge and strength can help us a lot but if this is against what you want then I will pass on Cornelius help. We may need some more time and resources but I have faith and I do believe the good gods will help us. But as I said if it's something else that troubles you and made you feel bad or uncomfortable I'm here to talk if you want."

[BigBadQDaddy]

Thomas sits quietly in thought. Justifying why he did not want Cornelius to join them in the investigation was as simple as remembering the nightmares his mother used to have. Of course explaining that was something he was not interested in doing.
"Adam, I am a hunter of such creatures. Lycathropes. I have focused much of my learning studying them and though a werebear is considered for lack of a better term a more noble lycanthrope it is still a beast with it's own agenda and right now that beast has suffered the loss of a great and personal friend. How can we trust him to not change form and fly into a rage at the first sight of the enemy? And in such a bestial state how can we trust him not to turn on his allies when the fight is done? In such a case we will have only one of us equipped well enough to put a stop to him. I do not want to be the one to pull the trigger on an otherwise descent man who has a good life running this very inn just because he had the gumption to put it all on the line to play hero.
"If the group consensus is that we trust in Cornelius I will not try and stop anyone from working with him. That does not mean I will do the same."

[Ken of Ghastria]

Blood specks dot the wall then stop. A close inspection indicates there was an attempt to climb then it stopped. A piece of torn cloth lays at the base of the wall. Dull brown cloth at that.

Khalfani bends down and picks up the cloth. He looks at the drops of blood around him and then back at the wall.

He says, "Marilee, it seems that whichever foe was injured tried to climb... was unable to do so... and then -- what? The trail of blood stops here as far as I can tell. Either the wounds were quickly bound or healed, someone lifted the person up the wall, which seems unlikely, or he or she found another means of escape. Teleportation or something more mundane...? Please look around -- you may find something that I did not."

The gnome examines the cobblestones in the alley for any signs of a concealed entrance, perhaps to the sewers.

_______________________________________________
I had mentioned going to the scene of the party's ambush, not the scene of Delsenora's death but this'll do.

[VAN]

Adam scratch his head as pondering Thomas words:

"If you think we cannot trust Cornelius then I agree with you. I thought he could control himself but indeed we don't know how he will react when he sees the person that killed Deselnora. So better just ask if he can give us any information but we will not take him with us."

Standing up Adam offers his hand to Thomas as both to help him stand and as sign of deal.

"Join the others downstairs now?"

[steveflam]

Robert nods silently.
"We found her dead in an alleys, last night. Rizzin was still alive and is being cared for now, but he alone could not save Delsenora. We were not near her when she was attacked, and we still don't know much about whoever did it...

I'm sorry", he tries to sympathize with Fhargos, but it is hard in such a situation.

"Your father... I don't know for sure.... Rizzin, he said he could not sense Jacob anymore. I'm afraid this is a cruel land we're in."

The dark elf slumps in his seat as if he has been deflated. "I.... I am ..... I can't say ..... Great Gwaeron Windstrom..... I am too late....".

He sighs, rubbing his eyes. "Thank you. Can you tell me how she died? And I believe Rizzin is right. She is dead, thus so is father. He had a protective spell linked to her which was linked to his life force. I would like to visit the scene first then see her body after." Though he is taken aback by the news, he is still all business.

[kintire]

Marilee wanders over to Khalfani

"hey there's some drops of stuff on the ground over there. and what's this coin doing stuck in the wall?"

She reaches down and tries to tug the coin out, glancing at something else on the floor, but dismissing it with a shrug

[Ail]

"Yes, I can take you to the place it happened. She was waylaid, apparently. We were not there, when we arrived she was dead and someone just disappeared in front of our eyes."

OOC: Need to sync with Tarlyn. Does this happen as Thomas and Adam come down or can Robert and Fhargos leave before that?

[VAN]

OOC> We are coming down right now, can we say Robert saw us and called us there?

[steveflam]

OOC: Yes you sync up