| DM | You quickly find your
way back through the tunnels to Harlon. He is just coming back down the ladder
from Poppy's house. |
| Harlon | Anything
interesting? |
| Leanna | Well, we found
that the other exit led into a back room of a butcher's shop, which he had
been renting out. The butcher was called Turano and seemed innocent to us. His
tenant, called Skevlos, had left yesterday, and there was no current tenant.
Skevlos was described to us as being 25 and fat, with thick black hair, but
clean shaven.
Investigating the room and the cellar below...
We found in the room a bottle of wine similar to the one in the Toney
basement, apparently a good vintage from the Trouscan estates, and also a
cloth cap containing red hairs.
In the cellar, under one of Turano's boxes, was a piece of parchment with
this map [Proffers the map to Harlon] with some locations marked on it.
We thought you might be the best person to ask so here we are.
[Looks around the group] Did I miss anything? |
| Narond | I don't believe
so. |
| Harlon | [Thinks for a
moment] Cap with red hair and Trouscan wine. Sounds like our man doesn't
it? Well I found this in the bottom of the bag with her body in it.
[Hands you a length of thick rope, about 1.5 feet long] I think she was
strangled with it.
[Starts perusing the map] |
| Narond | Sounds like it
should be our man. Where does Trouscan wine come from? Any of the major houses
own the vineyards? Oh, and do you recognise any of the other locations on the
map we found? |
| Harlon | Trouscan wine is
from a vineyard in the south. I've no idea who owns it though, Mauntea
probably.
Now let's see this map. Well this cross here [Points] is the house
above us now. This one is an inn. I think it's called The Rattlebone. It's on
Temple Street. These two I don't know but they're houses in the Elite
district. Very expensive I should think. And this last one I don't know at
all. |
| DM | At the last he points to
the one that Turano said was his. |
| Leanna | [Clears her
throat] So what shall we do now, Captain? It seems to me that -
potentially at least - the people in the elite houses may be under a similar
threat to poor Poppy Toney (Khoronus rest her soul). Meanwhile the Rattlebone
might be, similarly to the butcher's spare room, a way into the tunnel system
for the murderers. My thoughts are therefore that we should firstly find out
who owns the two houses and thus whether any connection becomes apparent,
whether they need protection or have already been harmed; and that secondly it
might be that our suspects are based at the Rattlebone, and that we could go
there on the lookout for redheads. |
| Berillia | [Murmurs] Now is not the time to go out on the pull,
Leanna... |
| Harlon | That sounds fair
certainly. I'd be grateful if you'd check out these houses but there's also
the wine to consider. I'll let you take it from here. I'll come to your inn
tomorrow afternoon for an update. You'd better take these as well. [Hands
you the rope and the dagger] |
| Narond | Thank you
captain. Would it be possible for you to find out who owns the vineyards in
time for the update tomorrow, while we check out the other locations on the
map? [Takes the rope and dagger] |
| Harlon | [Starts up the
ladder to Poppy's house] I suggest you ask a good wine merchant about the
Trouscan estates. I'll see you tomorrow.
By the way what inn was it again? |
| Narond | The inn we are
staying at is called the Silver Stag. |
| Harlon | [Departs] |
| Narond | [Turns to the
group] So off to the nearest of the two unknown houses, I take it then?
[Checks out the map again] |
| DM | You can now see that the
house you are under is on Eighth Street. One of the two unknown crosses is
reasonably close to the north. The second is not too far from it.
The Rattlebone Inn is a similar distance south on Temple Street. Turano's is
further south still, past the old woman's house. Of all of them, the
Rattlebone is closest. |
| Leanna | Shall we go to
the Rattlebone first then? Let's be on the lookout for high-class wine shops
on our way around the city. |
| Berillia | Mmm.
High-class wine shops being exactly what you'd expect to find around somewhere
called 'The Rattlebone'... |
| Leanna | Well, I was
thinking that as we are currently in a high class area, there might be a
chance nearer to the start than the end. |
| Narond | Well, I shall
leave it to your fine eyes to spot any wine shops as we leave this affluent
area on the way to the Rattlebone. |
| Leanna | When we get
there, what's the plan? Go in, have a pint, size up the clientele, and then
take it from there? |
| Berillia | I like the
pint aspect of the plan.
We'll not seem too out of the ordinary, then, I mean. |
| DM | You exit carefully
through the victim's house and find yourself on Eighth Street. The area seems
to be a combination of some good gold class housing and various temple
accommodations.
Turning left you head into town and wander through the mid-afternoon crowds.
Already you hear occasional snatches of conversation regarding the discovery
of a body. Turning onto Temple Street, you can see the massive bulk of the
Cathedral further down the boulevard. Eventually you come to a medium sized
inn on the right. It looks well decorated and has glass windows looking into a
large bar-room. Hanging from a beam is a picture of two crossed bones.
Underneath is written 'The Rattlebone'. Like everything else on Temple Street
- including the nearby conveniences - it looks to be of good quality.
You have passed no wine shops on the way, principally as you did not pass
through a merchants' district. |
| Narond | Well this looks
like a very pleasant place. I think we should go in, have a quick beer and
look around the inside before chatting to the proprietor. |
| Leanna | Agreed - although
we should bear in mind the possibility that the proprietor could be one of the
group when we're talking to him. |
| Berillia | Good plan.
|
| DM | You do. Inside, the inn
is spacious and well maintained. There are several well carved wooden tables,
and a couple of small fireplaces keep the place warm. The clients appear to be
well groomed and even the waitresses look nice. It reminds you of the Silver
Stag. Behind the counter stands a medium build man with dark hair and a
drooping moustache. He smiles at you as you enter. |
| Berillia | [Smiles
back] Five pints of dark ale, please, and if you have any, goat's milk for
our friend here... [Indicates Habib] |
| Barman | [Smirks
slightly] Can't do goat's milk. Sheep's all right? |
| DM | He begins pouring pints
from an enormous barrel behind him.
Your five pints are ready. They have a good head and sit on the bar in metal
tankards. |
| Narond | [Reaches for
his and tries the ale] |
| DM | As Narond tries his ale,
the barman puts a sheep's milk on the bar. |
| Berillia | My round.
What's the charge? [Picks the milk up and passes it back to Habib, then
picks up her own] |
| Barman | That'll be 1
tendrid. |
| Berillia | [Tastes it
for off-ness before taking a drink] |
| DM | The ale tastes fine (so
does the milk). |
| Berillia | [Finds a
coin from somewhere and pays, then enjoys her ale] |
| Barman | [Goes back to
his stool and sits down] |
| Narond | [Continues to
enjoy his ale while looking around the inn] |
| DM | It looks pleasant
enough. Through the glass you can see that the light is beginning to fail. A
couple of men play dominoes on one of the tables. |
| Narond | [Attempts to
attract the barman's eye] Could myself and my companions have a quiet
word? |
| Barman | Certainly.
[Leans in conspiratorially] |
| Narond | Myself and my
companions are investigating a murder on behalf of the City Guard.
Specifically a Captain Harlon, you may have heard of him. Anyway, we are
interested in knowing whether there is any sewer access from your property, or
any cellars, and that we might take a look at them. |
| Barman | [Looks a little
skeptical]
There's certainly sewer access but only through the normal... er... channels.
As for my cellar, it's full of wine barrels and I don't see that you need to
see it. |
| Berillia | There's a
good chance that your cellar has been damaged - dirty great holes in the walls
are what we're talking about here, which means that anyone hanging about in
the sewers can get at your wine, and through the cellar into your
property, if that's happened.
Did we mention that there are kobolds down there, for some reason? I know I
wouldn't want to drink wine that's been round any of that sort for long.
|
| Barman | [Raises his
eyebrows] Kobolds in the city. I bet the militia loved that. Don't you
worry, my cellar is perfectly safe. I see it every day and I can assure you
that there are no holes in the walls, big or small. But thank you for your
concern. |
| DM | The bartender fixes
himself a drink and sips it quietly. |
| Barman | So who's been
killed? |
| Narond | No one massively
important. Anyway, thank you for your time. Unless any of my colleagues have
anything they wish to say, then we shall finish off our fine ale, and be
leaving to pursue our investigation elsewhere. |
| Barman | Good luck to you.
[Smiles benignly] |
| Narond | Thank you.
[Settles back to finishing off his ale] |
| Berillia | [In a low
voice] Well, beer's not got us anywhere. Shall we try wine? |
| Dreylin | Narond, hand me
the map for a minute. Now I recognised this area as we were coming in - the
public lavatories with the exit are just down the road, so I wonder if Harlon
was mistaken about the location of that cross... if not, we can always use it
as a way of quickly checking this chap's cellar. I suggest we split up and
leave a couple of guys here to keep an eye on the place - and him. |
| Narond | Certainly agree
that we need to keep an eye on him, I am a bit suspicious of him. Using the
local lavatories to have a quick look is easier than the only other entrance I
could think of. |
| DM | You check the map. The
cross is large and not very well placed. It is certainly possible that it
marks the conveniences and not the inn. |
| Berillia | ...bugger.
[Looks at the other crosses] |
| DM | The other crosses seem
better placed. The two you haven't visited are both on quite large locations
and so are unlikely to be mistaken.
The barman fixes himself another drink. |
| Berillia | [Wonders if
it's too late in the day to find a wine merchant, or someone else who might
know] |
| DM | It's probably getting a
bit late to wander over to the merchant's section of town. As for someone
else... well now where would you find a place that sells alcohol near this
inn? |
| Dreylin | [Finishes his
pint] Another drink anyone? [Wanders to the bar] |
| DM | Dreylin stands on a
stool. The barman saunters amiably over. |
| Barman | Can I help you?
|
| Dreylin | Some more
drinks, I think, but I think we'll have a bottle of wine this time...
something from the Trouscan estates if you have it...? |
| Barman | Trouscan estates?
Well now there's a rare request. I don't have much. Let me see. [Wanders
into the back of the inn] |
| Dreylin | [Waits at the
bar] |
| DM | The barman tramps back
in with a bottle in his hand. |
| Barman | I'm afraid I've
only got half a bottle left. I sell so little that I only buy a few bottles
every now and then. There's about three glasses worth in here. Is that enough?
|
| Dreylin | That'll be
fine, with 5 glasses so we can all try it - someone recommended it to us as a
fine vintage. |
| DM | He pours the wine into
five glasses and carefully stops anyone getting the dregs. |
| Dreylin | [Tastes]
Ooo, that's not bad, I don't suppose you'd know where we could get hold of
some more? |
| Barman | That'll be 6
daros. [Smiles] As for where you can get more. I'd have to think about
that. |
| Dreylin | [Dumps some
of the coins out of his purse onto the bar and starts fishing out 6 daros]
I don't suppose you know who owns the estate, maybe they would be able to help
us get hold of some more... |
| Barman | I've no idea who
owns the vineyards. I know they're in Karameikos though. There's only one
merchant in the city who deals in Trouscan wine and I could give you his name
but then why should I when you can buy it from me instead? |
| Leanna | [Murmurs]
Interesting... perhaps my red-headed racial stereotyping wasn't so far off
after all. |
| Barman | [Looks at you
with raised eyebrows] |
| Berillia | Because
you've just run out of it, and wouldn't mind having someone willing to pick up
some more for you since they're going that way anyway? [Smiles
winningly] |
| Barman | [Laughs]
I'll pick some up when I need it but thank you for the offer. No, I was
thinking more of some sort of... fiscal remuneration. |
| Dreylin | [Adds a
couple of daros to the six he's already pushed across the bar] |
| Barman | It's two daros a
glass and you want me to take two for my supplier's name? How about 20?
|
| Leanna | You have a point
there, I suppose. How about 2 daros more from each of us? As I'm sure you're
making a decent margin by the glass anyhow... |
| Barman | 3 each. |
| Berillia | [Resists
the urge to throw her hammer at him]
[Under her breath] Are we getting expenses for this?... |
| Dreylin | 15 total, and
that's as high as we'll go. |
| Barman | Done! [Grins
expansively] Let's see the money first. |
| Leanna | [Shows him
hers] |
| Dreylin | [Adds another
13 daros to the pile already on the bar and waits expectantly...] |
| Barman | The man you want
is Aristo. He works in Vinter's Lane in the Merchant District, off Second.
[Scoops up the money and disappears into a back room] |
| Dreylin | [Grimaces as
the bribe disappears] Well, my purse felt that. So what next?
[Without waiting for an answer] I suggest we go and visit the two other
potential targets and see who might have it in for them... |
| Berillia | Might as
well. |
| DM | You leave the inn and
find that the lamplighters are passing down the street lighting lamps at the
corners. The city seems well lit around the temple region. |
| Narond | Ahhhh it is
always good to visit Darokin City, where the unwary can be lucky to leave with
any money at all... Anyway, yes let's go and have a look at the other places.
The nearer cross first. |
| DM | You head north through
the streets passing easily through the thin evening crowds. As you pass a
huddle on the street corner you make out the words 'Toney' and 'Hallonica'.
The conversation pointedly stops as you pass.
You continue down Temple Street and into the Elite districts. The houses are
vast, often with several wings and long driveways. Eventually you reach the
building marked on the map. It is a medium sized building by the standards of
the area. It seems to contain four floors and has glass windows all the way to
the gabled roof. It is surrounded by railings. Worked into them is the Eagle
and Scales of House Hallonica. |
| Leanna | [Looks on the
map to see how far it is to the next one] Why don't we go on to the next
one so we can see whether there is any more information we can glean just from
the outside of the houses, and then decide who to tackle first as we might
learn something that would impact on how we approach the people inside?
|
| DM | It took about 15 minutes
to get to this one. You estimate a similar amount of time for the next. Then
maybe an hour back to the Stag. |
| Narond | I think it would
be useful to see who owns the other place, then go in one of them this
evening. Especially if the other place is not one of House Toney, or another
House Hallonica residency. |
| Berillia | Shall we go
with Leanna's suggestion then, and have a look at the other one? |
| Dreylin | Well, we
suspect that the kidnapping was going to be used to frame House Hallonica, so
the intention might have been to use this exit to plant evidence against
them... if the tunnel wasn't enough. Maybe the other place will prove to be
another target, but I think it'd be worth a quick look now that we're here -
after all, they may not want to let us in and we'll have to come back anyway.
|
| Leanna | Let's just go in
here then. Are we going to plan any form of spiel in advance, or just winging
it? |
| DM | You open the gate and
walk up to the large door. A Hallonica crest knocker hangs in the centre of
the thick wood. You knock a few times.
After some seconds the door opens and a large man in Hallonica livery opens
the door. He scans you for a few seconds. |
| Servant | What do you
want? |
| Dreylin | Is the master
of the house at home? We're here on behalf of the City Watch on official city
business... |
| Servant | [Doesn't look
conviced] What sort of business? |
| Dreylin | Business
concerning the safety and security of those living in this house, as well as
the reputation of House Hallonica... |
| Servant | [Looks faintly
impressed] Wait here. |
| DM | He wanders away and
shuts the door.
Several minutes later the door opens again. Inside are four armed guards and
a young man. He is about 20 with longish brown hair and a long nose. He looks
at you as if you have just crawled out of a dark hole. |
| Man | Yes? |
| Dreylin | Good evening,
my name is Dreylin Willowbark, and my companions and I are currently acting on
behalf of the City Watch in an ongoing investigation. You are the master of
this house? |
| Anders | Father is
actually but he's out so yes I am. I'm Anders Hallonica. |
| DM | He looks as if this
should mean something. |
| Berillia | [Recalls
that we've heard him referred to as a bigoted slob, and that he's not much
liked] |
| Dreylin | [Looks
sheepish for a moment] Ah... of course... yes.
[Makes an effort to pull himself back together] Well, Sir, I don't know
if you've heard, but earlier today there was a tragedy involving House Toney
and... [Pauses] I wonder if we might be better to talk of this
inside... |
| Anders | I don't see why.
[Pauses for a moment] Oh very well. Come into the hallway. |
| DM | He steps back into the
house and the guards follow him.
You head inside and find yourself in a vast hallway. There is a double
stairway at the far end running up to a mezzanine level above you. There are
several very good quality paintings and a bust in the corner. The floor is
covered with thick carpets which seem to be Ylari. At least eight doors lead
off in various directions and light is provided by a chandelier populated with
floating balls that glow gently. It is, without doubt, the richest and most
opulent house any of you have ever been in.
Anders is standing about 6 feet from you. Between you and him is a line of
six guards. They all have hands on their sword hilts. The wrapped weapons law
seems not to apply to them. |
| Anders | You were saying?
|
| Dreylin | [Looks
slightly nervous as he continues] Well, I thought it might be best to
ensure that no-one could overhear us... you see, earlier today Poppy Toney was
found dead. It appears that the criminals gained access to the house by
tunnelling from the sewer system into their cellar... we found a map
indicating that several tunnels had been dug, and we believe that one of them
may come into the cellars of this house. |
| DM | He goes slightly grey at
the mention of Poppy Toney. There is a long moment of silence. |
| Anders | How was she
killed? |
| Dreylin | [Continues
slowly] Well, it looks like whomever it was was attempting to kidnap her.
We think she managed to grab a knife and wound one of her assailants, and in
the struggle they killed her.
[Pauses and then continues in a sympathetic voice] I'm very sorry to
have had to bring you this news, clearly you knew her well. |
| Anders | Nonsense. I
barely knew her. |
| DM | This is very obviously
not true. |
| Narond | [Looks like
someone attempting to not be nervous] The watch thinks she was strangled.
|
| Anders | [Looks very
nervous then very annoyed] You think it was me don't you? That's why
you're really here. |
| Dreylin | [Raises his
hands in a calming gesture] Sir, please, it's far too early in the
investigation for us to have formed any opinions as to who is responsible.
[Takes out the map and offers it to him] This is actually why we're
here. We discovered this map in the course of our investigations. It's of the
sewer system and includes the tunnels added by those responsible. As you can
see, this mark indicates the presence of a tunnel leading to this house, and
we came with the intent of warning you about it, and hopefully examining the
area for evidence... |
| DM | He looks at the map then
back up at you. He is sweating slightly. |
| Anders | I'll have the
cellar checked by my own people. If there's nothing else you can be on your
way. |
| Dreylin | [Gives him a
penetrating look] Well Sir, if that's the way you want to play it, but it
would go a long way towards convincing us of your innocence if you allowed us
to examine the cellars ourselves... |
| Anders | I don't need to
convince you of anything. I outrank you on every level that matters. [Turns
and stalks off up the stairs] |
| DM | From the level above,
you hear his voice. |
| Anders | Show them the
damn cellars then throw them out. |
| DM | A door slams. |
| Dreylin | [Turns to the
rest of the party with a relieved look on his face] Anyone else want to
handle the next one... [Grins]
[Turns back to the guards and looks at them expectantly] |
| Guard | Follow me please.
|
| DM | He heads off towards one
of the doors. All of the guards accompany you as you follow.
You head through the doors and down a corridor. Another door then takes you
into an old stone stairway. At the bottom of it is a large cellar. It is
stocked with many racks of wine.
The guard stops at the bottom of the stairs. |
| Guard | You've got 15
minutes. |
| Dreylin | Let's split up
and search for clues. |
| Narond | Split up into two
parties and head opposite ways round the edge of the room? |
| Leanna | Good plan.
[Looks at the layout of the cellar] |
| DM | The cellar is divided
into about 10 aisles. They stretch a fair distance but you can make out the
far wall in the gloom. It seems to be stone. |
| Leanna | 2 groups of 3, 5
aisles each? Or just 6 aisles and 4 people do 2? Presumably the outer walls
are where we need to take most care as there hasn't been any evidence of
vertical tunneling so far... |
| Dreylin | I think it's
unlikely that they'll have managed to tunnel into the middle of the cellar, so
let's not get too complicated before we need to, let's just check the walls
first... |
| Leanna | [To
Dreylin] So, 3 down each wall, meet at the middle of the far wall and then
do the middle? Me, Narond and Shianara go one way and you, Berillia and Habib
the other? |
| DM | You split into two
groups and head off into the cellar.
You start down the first aisle. There are lots of bottles of wine. Several
look like they have not been touched for many years. |
| Leanna | If two of us
examine the wall and the other looks along the floor and inwards we should
cover it. So far none of the tunnels have been overly subtle so we shouldn't
miss anything going fairly quickly. |
| DM | You start to check the
walls and floors. Mostly it's just dust and wine. |
| Leanna | [Continues
searching along the walls] |
| Berillia | [Looks over
the wine for Trouscan-ness] |
| DM | There doesn't seem to be
any. |
| Berillia | [Looks over
to see how far away the guards are and whether they can see us] |
| DM | They're a long way off,
clustered round the stairway. They don't seem to be very interested. |
| Berillia | Shall we take
a bottle? I doubt His Pompousness outranks us in the field of pilfering...
[Makes an 'after you' gesture to Leanna, shifting herself to be between the
distant guards and her, then busies herself with examining part of the
wall] |
| Leanna | [Considers for
a moment and looks wistfully at the bottles]
[Whispers back sadly] Normally, I'd be way ahead of you on this... But
if we get caught, even after the event, there'll be hell to pay, and I just
don't think it's worth the risk for a bottle of wine, even if it is a good
vintage. |
| Berillia | Ah well. I
suppose you're right. [Doesn't look thrilled, but acknowledges Leanna's
point] |
| Leanna | [Doesn't look
overly thrilled by her own restraint either...] |
| Berillia | Let's carry
on, then. |
| DM | You continue exploring
the cellar and find very little of interest. Eventually you all meet back
where you started. |
| Narond | Well that was
certainly interesting, we found something of interest though not particularly
relevant as far as we could see, thanks to Shianara here. Did you guys find
much? |
| Dreylin | [Gives Narond
a look and glances back at the guards to see if they're listening to him
prattle on] |
| Leanna | We found nothing
- what was the interesting thing? |
| Dreylin | [Makes for
the door looking pointedly towards the guards] Shall we go? After all, we
don't want to outstay our welcome. |
| Leanna | I guess that not
outstaying our welcome would be a good plan. |
| Dreylin | Then let's get
going before anyone says anything stupid... |
| Leanna | Let's go then.
[To the guards] We have completed our examination of the cellar and
have found nothing of concern. Would you mind very much apologising to the
master of the house on our behalf for our intrusion? |
| DM | The guard clumps off.
One of the other ones asks you to follow them. You head back up to the main
house and are swiftly shown the exit.
You are now outside the residence. A light snow is beginning to fall.
|
| Leanna | Right, what did
you find then? Tell us on the way to the other house... |
| Dreylin | We found the
tunnel, well Shianara did. Anyway, it's been there for a while, unlike the
others, and there is a locked gate across it. There's no evidence that it's
been used recently, so I think we can rule out anything having happened from
this house. It does lend weight to the 'attempted frame-up' theory though...
which means the perpetrators have intimate knowledge of the Hallonica
cellars... |
| Leanna | Ah. Intriguing.
|
| Narond | I don't see how
it does, all they know is that Hallonica have some cellars, which is probably
easy to guess, or find out about anyway. Doesn't mean they have intimate
knowledge... That said though that locked gate might get used soon, we might
want to attempt to investigate the sewers around the Hallonica house to see if
we can find a connection to that gate. |
| Leanna | Yes, but it does
suggest that they knew that the gate was there, and also that there must have
been a pre-existing tunnel, perhaps an escape route from the house in case
Anders pissed the general populace off.
How well hidden was it? |
| Dreylin | Very... from
the cellar side at least. |
| Leanna | We could
potentially stake out the gate on the sewer side to see whether anyone comes
to use it from either direction. |
| Dreylin | Um, you can
stake out the sewers if you want, but I'll pass... maybe we could ask Harlon
to get one of his guards to do it... |
| Leanna | I was just
replying to Narond really, I think the thing to do right now is investigate
the other house and then sit down over a meal to work out what's actually
going on! |
| Narond | [Nods at
Leanna] Yes, I wasn't meaning we do it now, it was just thoughts.
|
| Shianara | What you
didn't mention, is that the tunnel doesn't directly connect to the cellar, but
that there was an intervening room... and steps under the flagstones of that
room down to the gate. Perhaps that's not significant in itself, but the
presence of a pair of manacles in that room might well be, even if they
haven't been used as yet.
[Muses some more]
In any case, the evidence for someone trying to frame house Hallonica seems a
little bit slim. Based on the reaction of Anders to the demise of poor Poppy,
I would suggest that the presence of the Hallonica ring at Poppy's house is
more likely due to some relationship between Anders and her, or at least
between her and someone at Hallonica. A marriage between the two houses would
certainly seem to suit both parties: Hallonica has the power and money,
whereas Toney has the goodwill of the people. It'd fit the rumours of the
collaboration and the behaviour of Toney at the procession too. The kidnappers
or murderers could just be those who would gain from the union not taking
place.
Perhaps they marked the Hallonica residence on the map when they knew about
the gate, but then found it locked - there were footprints mainly on the other
side, and the gate hadn't been opened recently? Maybe there is a conflict
within Hallonica: that might relate the manacles to the potential
kidnapping of Poppy.
Does that sound more plausible? Well, perhaps apart from the latter...
|
| Leanna | [Chokes
slightly, then gives Narond and Dreylin one of Dreylin's famous looks]
[Smiles at the elf]
Thanks Shianara, that sounds like it might be very significant to me. And an
interesting theory too... I don't know if it's more likely, but it's certainly
at least as likely as the framing theory. Yes, the more I think about that,
the more I like the idea. If we meet any more people from either House, we
should definitely see if we can put in a couple of questions about whether
Poppy was seeing anyone or whether there would be any reason why she should
have been the target.
Just on a detail - these manacles... you say they hadn't been used - was that
just deduced from the absence of a decaying skeleton attached to them? Were
they lying around discarded on the floor or attached to the wall? |
| Narond | [Ponders a
bit] Yes, definitely an interesting theory.
[To Leanna] The manacles were attached to one wall, they looked to be
in the sort of position that would mean that the person in them would be
unable to sit down, and probably be unable to stand up as well. Generally a
very uncomfortable position. |
| Shianara | Let's just
say that unless they're heavily magical manacles, which I doubt, I can say
with a great degree of certainty that they haven't been used. Oh, and they're
probably a couple of years old. [Smiles cryptically] Narond describes
their alignment accurately enough. |
| DM | You make your way deeper
into the Elite district as you head towards the last house. The road you take
curves on towards the river.
After passing ever larger houses you find yourself at the marked address. The
house is huge but not ostentatious. There are railings and double gates which
clearly open for a carriage.
Beyond the gates is a short driveway which leads to a large portico and a
double door. There seems to be no sign of who owns the house. |
| Berillia | [Musing on
the cellar gate still] Damn... my second plan for annoying dear old Anders
was to find a bunch of thieves and sell them the map into the Hallonica
cellars... |
| Leanna | I'm sure a bunch
of thieves could deal with a locked gate, Beri! [Smiles] |
| Berillia | [Nods to
Leanna] Oh, yes...
[Looks round for a passer-by to ask who the big house belongs
to] |
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