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Post by HorizonsDream on Mar 21, 2022 23:17:07 GMT -8
Kysriani looks over to her small group. She had a hard time believing that any of them did it. Was it Jenma? It was a possibility, but she wasn't going to mention that. "What happened?" She asks as she cautiously approaches the crowd.
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Post by Bunny Commando on Mar 22, 2022 3:35:51 GMT -8
Henry - HP: 36\36 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None--------------- Quevalin forces himself to not look at any of his companions, especially Matrym - there will be a time when he would ask if any of them did the deed, but now is definitely not that time. He does however give a long, inquisitive look to the body to better understand what could've happened; the half-elf does look gravely concerned, keenly aware that regardless of what really happened here the cultists might assume that it was him and his companions that murdered one of them and choose to retaliate in a much more direct fashion. {Spoiler}Investigation roll 7IFAq4bR1d20 1d20
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Post by Daos on Mar 22, 2022 13:59:12 GMT -8
Henry isn't able to tell much at all. The crime scene has been badly tainted from pretty much everyone by this point. There are footprints going in all directions from the lookie-loos and the body appears to have been moved at some point. All he can be sure about is that the deceased was stabbed in the back with a blade, like a short sword based on the wound size.
"I'll tell you what happened," Fenn says, stepping forward. "Murder. And it's obvious who is responsible." He points directly toward Caelin.
Caelin narrows his eyes and slowly starts to reach for the short sword on his belt. "You best be puttin' that finger 'way, or Ol' Matrym'll be takin' it off fer you."
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Post by Bunny Commando on Mar 22, 2022 14:39:41 GMT -8
Henry - HP: 36\36 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None--------------- Quevalin puts himself between the two quarreling men, hands off his own weapons; he then turns towards Fenn and asks in a calm, collected and non-threatening voice in order to de-escalate the whole mess "I am sorry for the loss of your friend. But before condemning anyone for such a serious crime, I do have to ask you if you have any evidence that this man has committed the foul deed you accuse him of."{Spoiler}Persuasion roll to calm Fenn down and avoid bloodshed. wijwflFv1d20+6 1d20+6
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Matt4
Paragon
Posts: 3,545
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Post by Matt4 on Mar 22, 2022 15:47:23 GMT -8
Chantilly "Cinnamon" SweettoothHP: 35/35 - AC: 17 - Perception: 15 - Insight: 11 - Inspiration: No Chantilly loudly gasps when she sees the macabre showing in front of her: " Oh dear Branchala! What happened here?!" - she says, as she covers her eyes with her hands. As Henry stands in the way between Fenn and Caelin, the half-kender tries to help pulling Caelin away. - " Please, let's not fight among each other and make things worse! Did anyone happen to hear or see anything tonight that could help us figure out what happened?" - she asks to the crowd.
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Post by HorizonsDream on Mar 22, 2022 23:22:27 GMT -8
"What makes you say it was him?" Kysriani asks calmly. "What proof do you have?"
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Post by Daos on Mar 23, 2022 15:16:15 GMT -8
Henry's attempt to diffuse the situation is misdirected. Fenn does not appear on the verge of violence at all; he seems calm and collected, if not a bit over-dramatic. Rather, Caelin is the one who appears on the verge of stabbing someone.
"It's obvious it's him," Fenn continues calmly. "The murder weapon was a short sword, which he carries. He's a loner, always skulking about, acting like he's hiding something. Remember how, for several weeks, he followed the caravan from a distance, only to sneak back into camp each night? But perhaps most telling, is I saw him lurking around our wagon late last night, like a thief casing a potential burglary. I suspect he was trying to steal from our cargo, got caught by poor Trevor here, and so he killed him to cover his tracks."
"Yer lyin' through your dirty teeth!" Caelin hisses. "Shut up, or I'll--"
"You'll what?" asks Fenn, crossing his arms defiantly. "Kill me, like you killed Trevor?"
"Step over here and find out, arsehole," Caelin says, seething, gripping his short sword's hilt on his belt.
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Matt4
Paragon
Posts: 3,545
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Post by Matt4 on Mar 23, 2022 16:35:09 GMT -8
Chantilly "Cinnamon" SweettoothHP: 35/35 - AC: 17 - Perception: 15 - Insight: 11 - Inspiration: No Seeing as everyone ignored her, probably too focused on the heated exchange between the two men, Chantilly looks around to see if Gale is somewhere near, otherwise she'll summon him in her bag where no one can see him. " Hey buddy! What do you say? Did you see what happened here last night? Or at least do you know if Caelin is really involved? No, right? He can't be!" - she communicates with him telepathically.
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Post by HorizonsDream on Mar 23, 2022 21:06:22 GMT -8
Kysriani reaches out and grabs Caelin's arm, mostly in hopes of calming him down. "Juat because someone was sneaking around your wagons doesn't mean they are the ones that killed your men," she says calmly. She glances around to see if she can see Jenma anywhere.
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Post by Bunny Commando on Mar 24, 2022 2:34:08 GMT -8
Henry - HP: 36\36 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None
---------------
"Hm, I see." Quevalin nods thoughtfully at Fenn's words, trying to present himself as a reasonable mediator and discreetly tip the scales in Caelin's favour "While it seems that the weapon that killed your friend was indeed a short sword, I would say it's hardly evidence against anyone in particular - it's quite a common weapon and I doubt the man you're accusing is the only one carrying such a weapon in this caravan." the half-elf tries to match the calm demeanor of his opponent - at the end of the day, this is a battlefield, just of different nature "About seeing him returning to camp at night - I would hardly call it sneaking, since I noticed him as well. I also noticed him spending quite the time with some of the sweetest ladies traveling with us - maybe that's why he chose to be discreet." that said, he clears his throat and makes a short, dramatic pause so that anyone listening might fill the blanks by themselves; Quevalin doesn't stop there, though, and keeps hammering Fenn's arguments "Lastly. You saw this man lurking around your wagons, feared he could stole from you and did nothing to prevent that?" he now turns to address whoever is currently listening "Besides, the man has risked his life to save those beleaguered merchants from the hobgoblins. Doesn't seem like a thief would do that while there was no reward on the table to do so."
Finally, Quevalin issues his closing statement "There are no witnesses of the foul deed, just hearsay. I do not believe we can pass judgement on such feeble grounds."
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Post by Daos on Mar 24, 2022 13:06:36 GMT -8
Nobody steps forward to answer Chantilly's question, as nobody saw anything. Presumably if they had, they would have spoken out by now. So instead, she spots her green-tailed towhee perched in a nearby tree and waves it over. It flies down to her shoulder before answering her question. "Saw it happen! Featherless two-legger attack other featherless two-legger," the bird explains. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the easiest time telling one human from another. "Face covered, couldn't see."
Meanwhile, Eliana scans the crowd and can see Jamna among them. She looks as surprised at the gristly scene before her as anyone else in the crowd.
After Henry speaks, Fenn counters, "Well, of course you would defend him. You two have clearly been in cahoots this whole time. Come on, people, open your eyes. Notice how every time something happens, these specific people," he points to Henry, Caelin, Eliana, Chantilly, Zakkoth and Benyt, who have conveniently all grouped together again, "always seem to group up?"
Murmurs spread throughout the crowd. The general gist is that while the party has, on more than one occasion, stepped up to help the caravan, the cultists have always kept to themselves and been rather standoffish. It's clear that they are largely on the party's side on this one.
"Was anything taken?" asks Noohar.
"What?" Fenn asks, a bit caught off guard.
"Crack open your cargo and find out what is missing," Noohar continues. "We can search for who is carrying whatever it is, and maybe find the culprit that way."
"That's...it's not necessary," Fenn says, stumbling over his words now.
"No? Are you hiding something?" asks Edhelri.
"Enough!" Surprisingly, the word comes from Azbara Jos. He steps forward. "This is getting us nowhere. You, take your hand off your sword," he snaps at Caelin. "If someone accuses you of murder, you don't threaten to murder them, fool. And as for you," he says, turning to Fenn, "throwing around accusations without proof does nothing but cause problems." This is by far the most anyone here has heard him speak before. "It may well be this is a crime that may never be solved."
Caelin does remove his hand from his sword hilt, but he spits on the ground to show his disgust. Fenn, abashed, drops the matter.
"It seems then, as our revered cleric of Habbakuk says, there is not enough evidence to hold anyone accountable, at least for now," Samardag the Hoper says. The other merchants seem to largely agree with him. "We must leave this to the gods. They will see to it that the guilty party is punished, in their own way."
With that settled, the crowd starts to disperse. Arrangements are made to bury Trevor and everyone prepares to set off again. The cultists glare hatefully everytime they see Caelin, though, and he returns the favor tenfold.
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Post by Igordragonian on Mar 24, 2022 16:25:40 GMT -8
Sharq look annoyed and tired. He watch carefully Caelin to sense if he is lying.
--- Aura Perception
Insight(with advantage)
fnFpT8DZ1d20+4 1d20+41d20+4·1d20+4
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Matt4
Paragon
Posts: 3,545
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Post by Matt4 on Mar 24, 2022 20:24:00 GMT -8
Chantilly "Cinnamon" SweettoothHP: 35/35 - AC: 17 - Perception: 15 - Insight: 11 - Inspiration: No " Oh, Gale you must have been so scared! There, there...I'll get you a cookie or something later." - she says, conforting the little bird as she pats him softly on his head. " Mr Noohar that was so cool! After you intervened the discussion calmed down, thankfully." - she then says to her employer as they go back to their wagon. - " Although I have to admit I'm pretty worried with a murderer on the lose, I really hope no one else will get hurt. Did something like this happened on your other travels?"
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Post by HorizonsDream on Mar 25, 2022 1:27:39 GMT -8
Kysriani sighs now the matter seems settled. She can't help but wonder if the cultists murdered one of their own so that they could blame it on Caelin, but she doesn't voice that opinion.
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Post by Bunny Commando on Mar 25, 2022 14:21:26 GMT -8
Henry - HP: 36\36 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None
---------------
The matters seemingly settled for now, Quevalin goes back to his own horse with a thought nagging his mind - was really Caelin the killer, or someone else? For now he does however try to avoid Caelin as much as he can without raising even more suspicions, even though he seems to be more sullen than usual; having to hide his own identity is starting to weigh heavily on his heart, and he doesn't like this cloak and dagger game they're playing with the Cult. Has Sir Frume sent him here, to this mission, because he has trust in his own squire or because he thought Henry is, at the end of the day, expendable?
Of course, he can't voice these dark thoughts with anyone so he just stays quiet and help Samardag prepare the cart so that they may continue traveling.
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