A New Barovia: Chapter Two

[VAN]

Adam wakes up, looks around to make sure everything is ok and then washes his hands and face, prays for his daily spells, wears his armour and goes downstairs to the dining room to wait the others.

[Ail]

Robert wakes and looks around him. Khalfani still seems asleep, and so he gets dressed as silently as he can. He is a bit hurt from sleeping on the floor, and so flexes his muscles and quickly feels reinvigorated.
Then he tries to wake the magician up


"Hey, Khalfani, it is time we get moving, I think. I'll be downstairs if you need me."

[Ken of Ghastria]

"Hrrrm, allakhem mesat...? Oh, Robert.... yes, yes, thank you," says Khalfani groggily. He sits up, replaces the kaffiyeh on his stubbly scalp, and rubs his hands over his deep-set eyes. "Indeed, we have much to do." He walks downstairs only a few seconds behind Robert.

"I hope that everyone slept, uh, 'satisfactorily'?" he says to those gathered. "Considering the conditions and recent events, it would be too much to expect that any of us slept 'well.'"

[kintire]

Marilee rises, dresses herself in her armour and descends th stairs, looking thoughtful. To Khalfani's question she answers:

"No, I had a disturbed night. Very vivid dreams. But that's no matter. What do we do today?"

[Ail]

Robert nods to the others.

"I slept well, no complains here. But Marilee is right, we need to decide a course of action."

[VAN]

"I didn't have the best of the nights either, even while sleeping couldn't forget the feeling of the Count as bat watch over us. As about what to do, we already decided to not split the group so just need to decide what to do first deal with Delesnora's murderer or go after the were-badger first."

[BigBadQDaddy]

The cold and quiet suited him. The air heavy and fatted with moisture, over-ripe and bursting, feeding his hungry calm. The tea he had brought with him, half gone and long cold, rested steady in the cradle of his rough hands. The madness of the last few days washed away on the sea of the sleepy streets. The others would be awake soon enough. Then the race would begin again. He half felt selfish for taking the present moment all to himself yet he greedily lapped up the simplicity. Watching an idle street filled to the brim with no one hurriedly doing nothing.
He could hear chatter coming from within. The others were no doubt assembling. He could anticipate the thrill of hearing the new ideas that spawned from an evenings rest.
Taking a last deep intake of the heavy molasses infused morning air and tossing out his cup of cold tea, Thomas turned to enter the inn and meet with the others. He brought his empty cup to a convenient counter top to be bussed by the now surly inn-keep. He was still quite confident in his decision to separate the were-bear from the investigation though not quite certain that he had handled it correctly. He had told himself many times not to concern himself with such trivial things as hurt feelings in the face of potentially saving a mans life but that didn't steady the flow of doubt he felt at how he treated Cornelius to make his point.
Approaching the others he gave a curt morning greeting as he overheard Marilee briefly mentioning her dream. He caught himself staring at her worriedly and quickly changed his expression at Roberts change of topic just as Adam recounted his dream. It was not uncommon for the vampire to employ strange and otherworldly methods to ensnare its prey. Perhaps the Count had taken an interest these two beyond there affiliation to the investigation. If such was the case the Count could be relied upon for his lack of subtlety.
"While the morning is still quite young I would like to look into our strange visitors of last evening." He warmed his hands together as he spoke. "Someone must know who they were. They stuck out like Falkovnians in queue at a Richemuloise cafe'. They should not be hard to track. Once I have the identification on who's who I will feel much better about continuing our investigation."

[steveflam]

This morning, Cornelius is not around. Quorrin, however is. He keeps occupied behind the bar, cleaning glasses and preparing for the day. The waiter approaches your table, a young woman with long black hair and blue eyes. Definitely a native. "Good Morning. What can I get you?"

[VAN]

"You think they have something to do with Delsenora's murder or th were-badger Thomas? We may then pass from Militia and ask if there were any troubles during the night."

When the waitress comes Adam says:

"Black coffee and 2 toasts for me please".

[Ken of Ghastria]

"Strong coffee for me," says Khalfani pleasantly, "and, oh... do you still have any of those blueberry muffins? Most delightful they were. Hmm?"

When the waitress walks away, he says, "Our first duty is to find the werebadger. It's what Delsenora wanted us to do. Consider, too, that every clue we have found regarding Delsenora's attackers indicated that this was part of a khanleef... a vendetta against her and her family. Their gruesome work is likely done. The werebadger, however, very much remains a brutal threat to nearly every resident of Kresk and must be dealt with!"

[steveflam]

The woman nods to everyone's requests for foodstuffs and leaves. She returns after a few minutes with what you've all ordered. After having served you all, she turns and does the rounds of the rest of the room. It is now filling up with more patrons.

[Ail]

"Who's to say that group has to be aligned with either Delsenora's murder or the were-badger? There's nothing on them to suggest such. They just felt threatening, that's all, and a very good part of it due to the fact that some of them were not living. Aside from that, I don't know where to put them. I'm afraid we'll have to open a third front, so to say. "


Robert is worried, as he drinks his coffee. He asks the maid for a stronger version and some kind of cake


"This business puts me nervous"

he says as he hungrily eats the sugar-infused pastries.

"But I feel active today. I feel we have to do something physical. I don't think Thomas's idea is bad. I also agree with Khalfani and I wouldn't mind checking Jacob's house either. I don't have anything solid to grasp to and decide this is a priority so I'll pretty much throw a coin in the air and decide accordingly."


If the others go silent, he continues:


"Bah, it's just a way of saying I can go anywhere. You want my feeling, though? Were-badger."

[VAN]

"The problem with Deselnora's attackers is that we don't know if they have fulifiled their task. For me is hard to believe they arrived here from a different land just to kill her and her father. I believe they are after something else, an item most probably that Jacob took from them or one he already had and they want. But need to be something really powerful, precious or rare to have arrived till here to get it. If you want we can go to Jacob's house after breakfast or leave that for later and continue our were badger hunting. But I believe we should go to Militia and ask if something happened during the night. We have to begin from somewhere anyway."

[BigBadQDaddy]

"You think they have something to do with Delsenora's murder or th were-badger Thomas? We may then pass from Militia and ask if there were any troubles during the night."

Thomas dismisses the serving girl with a simple no thank you and waits for her to finish taking orders and leave before answering Adam. "I believe the lady and her men are neck deep in this whole mess. I just don't know how. The fact that she came to this inn with such an entourage is no coincidence. She was sizing us up and was prepared for a skirmish. Either that or she meant to be recognized as a powerful individual and wished to intimidate us. Whatever her reasoning is I would feel a lot more comfortable knowing more about her before she decides we are in the way of whatever plan she has and decides to act against us."

[Ken of Ghastria]

Khalfani looks at the table, hands wrapped around his warm drink, as the other speak. He says, "I had hoped that an evening's rest would aid us in coming to a decision. It has not. Very well. There is no evidence to suggest that last night's new arrivals are involved with the other grim affairs, and frankly, Thomas, I have encountered many people who desired to intimidate me but did not seek to fight me.

"Still, I agree with you, Thomas, that it is worthwhile to visit the militia headquarters and find out if anything gruesome occurred while we slept. At the very least, such information would be new. Any clues in our other investigations have seemingly become as cold as the evening sands."