#61
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he/him\his
In Repose |
#62
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Nodding politely to Karl's answer, Mara seems part relieved, part resigned by Dr. Brada's apparent difficulties with physical deformities. Of course they are harder to correct than simple behavioral issues—this comes as no surprise to the songstress. She idly wonders if any of the Crooked Kin had ever sought the doctor, but does not vocalize her query—it would be better to ask the travelling troupe directly, for an alternate view of the Sanctuary.
To the Hergstag sisters' offer of introduction, she flashes an appreciative smile. “That would be lovely, thank you. Pellin sounds like a spirited fellow indeed.” Before the trio of sisters depart, the singer briefly inquires about where to find the Marko family in Lepidstadt, and when would be a convenient time for one of the sisters to introduce her. After the questioning has concluded and Veronique has left, the soprano turns to confer quietly with her companions. “I am beginning to understand why Barrister Kaple is so disheartened. There is no hard evidence that the Beast is guilty of these crimes,” she glances at Pike to ascertain whether he shares her assessment, “save the relatively minor incident at the University, of course—but that does not seem to matter. The witnesses do not care about the truth—they simply desire that someone pay for the injustices visited upon them. It appears that circumstantial evidence and prevailing prejudice will suffice—the Beast is guilty until proven innocent.” She slightly tilts her head, looking inquisitively at the paladin. “Is this usual for,” she looks around the room warily, ensuring that they are truly alone before hinting ever so slightly at her secret, “for justice in your lands?” Mara pensively entwines a lock of hair around her finger. “It appears that we will need to find the actual perpetrators if we are to save the Beast.” She does not seem happy at the prospect. “Which means that we shall need to visit all these locations. And soon.” She sighs.
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#63
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Father of proud children. Expect the next 18+ years to be erratic and/or chaotic.
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#64
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Pike watches the last of the witnesses leave the room, having no further questions for them at the moment. He sighs and rubs his eyes, this was nasty business of the kind that tore at ones spirits "Well that was something." he says, pouring himself a glass of water and moving into the corner of the room, as far away from Mara as he can and lights a cigar "Apology Miss Mara, but my sanity insists." he says with an apologetic smile.
He listens to their words nodding to himself "There is that." he says "But mere testimony won't save him from the inferno, we need evidence." sighing he extinguishes the cigar in the cup of water and stands up, his legs and back stiff from sitting for too long "The difference in height is not so odd, they are describing a large and a terrifying being, a feet or two added or subtracted is a matter how they perceive the terror in front of them. But everything else just doesn't add up to the right sum." he clears his throat and stretches his back "I sensed no lies coming from any of them, though some truths are still hidden or perhaps altered. The anger and the grief, however.... well you both sensed it as well I believe. They are afraid and justly so and this kind of fear is contagious, dangerous." he looks at the women "Proving our client is innocent isn't enough, we'll need to find that other "Beast" and bring it in." |
#65
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The dismissive treatment over the dropped books is totally forgotten once they get to the library. Carlo seems a kid in a candy store as he looks about the place. He starts with the statues that line the library. He pauses at each one, drawing from his memory each shred of detail he can about them. As with the consequential connection to Kaple, these shreds of details add up. Unlike with Kaple, he takes the time to spell them out to those around him. For a few of the statues this is rather quick, maybe a minute or two. For others, he goes into greater detail, perhaps up to ten minutes for those few statues that touch closer to his areas of interest: a fellow Varisian, for example, or someone known for their ability to bind outsiders to this plane. If Hrani or Crowl care to engage in his monologue he will certainly be willing to quibble over a few details, extending the time devoted to statues even longer. There are no shortage of statues to converse about: thirty or more. And Carlo has something to say about all but two of them: there are two that he doesn’t know anything about.
“Even us Varisians know a thing or two about history, it seems,” Carlo tells the old professor. diplomacy, as much for keeping the profs attention for over an hour discussing statues as it is for gaining access to one of the rooms: Dice Roll:
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On hiatus while I figure out my gender. Checkout my games at itchio. my mailbox is full, but you can reach me on twitter: @goatmealery |
#66
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Mara backs away to the opposite corner of the room when Pike lights his cigar. “Very well,” she nods perfunctorily, with a tight, stiff-lipped expression of discomfort upon her face, “if you absolutely must. Perhaps we can indulge your insanity some other time.” Given the dwarf's minor concession to her fear however, she is gracious enough not to protest, and even manages a small, forced smile. The smile broadens into genuine thankfulness once the cigar is put out.
After hearing both Runa and Pike out, the singer shakes her head apologetically. “You do realize how ludicrous this will sound to the court, do you not? The existence of the Beast was a legend, a myth until he was caught ... and even now, I might doubt such a fantastic creature were we not embroiled directly with his trial. But to suggest that there are two of them? Or more?” Her gaze turns towards the paladin. “I agree that there is more to the tales told by the witnesses—much more. But two such 'Beasts'? Even if there were, that would only explain the differences in appearance. Much would remain unexplained—for example, how and why did the children of Hergstag become ghosts?” She glances at the door, waiting for Veronique to fetch them for their interview of the Beast, then shakes her head again. “Finding a second Beast would give them a second scapegoat: nothing more, nothing less. I imagine they would be equally pleased to burn two effigies instead of one. No gentlemen, I believe we shall have to solve these crimes ourselves to have any chance of saving of our client.”
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#67
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Father of proud children. Expect the next 18+ years to be erratic and/or chaotic.
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#68
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Pike glances at Runa and shrugs "I'm honestly not so sure about that. Why go through months of hard work, killing people, digging up bodies, waking up ghosts just to mask some alternative motive?" he shakes his head, not convinced "Let's say their motive was to steal whatever this item was at the University? Surely a simple break-in would be easier, cost less and require far less work on everyone's behalf. Unless all of the these crimes are in some way connected and we're not seeing it?" he adds "For now I'm willing to accept that we might have two entities that fit similar description and that our client might not be involved in some of these atrocities, but the Hergstag incident? Wraith you say? Couldn't the trauma from the incident itself create these ghosts? I've read that sites where acts of great evil have been committed sometimes create restless spirits? But the witnesses can point a finger at our client, claiming he was there with a dead girl in his arms. Do you realize just how hard it will be to turn the opinion of the judges, let alone the people on the Hergstag case?" he paces the room, feeling restless in the face of the work set before them.
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#69
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Father of proud children. Expect the next 18+ years to be erratic and/or chaotic.
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#70
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It's a grim assessment, but one Pike is willing to accept "I see, I'll defer to you on this matter. Nasty business." he hesitates for a moment, then looks at Runa "You think we'll need help to vanquish it? The church?"
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#71
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Mara listens quietly, gaining a particularly thoughtful expression when Runa mentions the Whispering Way. Pike’s last question temporarily nudges her out of her thoughts.
“Yes, the assistance of the church would be most helpful in this regard ... and even better were both involved. Perhaps the faithful of Iomedae and Pharasma could unite in cleansing Hergstag.” The singer turns to the paladin. “Did you not mention encountering an inquisitor for the Lady of Graves? Perhaps he could be of assistance?” The songstress resumes musing silently until her thoughts are finally ordered enough to be slowly ventured. “You are quite right, Runa, that we should not neglect the role of the Whispering Way in all of this. And that brings up the problem of the vandalism at the university—for there seems to be little doubt that, even were there multiple Beasts, it is our client that is responsible.” She pauses, shifting her gaze down to the dwarf. “There is another possibility, however, if the prisoner is but a scapegoat. I have heard of magical enchantments that can compel another to do one’s bidding. Perhaps he was enchanted by a spell? The gnome himself seemed to think so—did he not say that the Beast’s eyes changed color to … the gnome didn’t actually say what color, but Mara’s not always one for detailsgreen, was it? And who knows? Perhaps he was enchanted for one of the other charges as well. Or perhaps some other magic was used to cast the blame upon the prisoner ... say, an illusion? That might explain the discrepancies in appearance.” The singer sighs. “If we could only track down the Whispering Way—I am certain they could provide more answers. But how does one find the members of a secret cult?” She seems to look directly at the detective as she asks this last question.
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#72
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Father of proud children. Expect the next 18+ years to be erratic and/or chaotic.
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#73
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Hrani is exceptionally pleased with how things are turning out. He had hoped to delay the professor a little bit, to buy the others time, but the way things were playing out they might actually prevent him from making an appearance at all today. And best of all, the conversation is taking remarkably little effort on the elf's part. Which is good. Conversations in which he doesn't have to say anything and the other person does all the talking are his second favorite kind of discussions...right behind the sort of conversations where neither party does any talking.
So the magus interjects a dutiful "Uhuh." and a noncommittal "Hmm..." every so often, and just lets Crowl take it away. Only very rarely, when it looks like the man will actually run out of steam, or remember he had a previous engagement does Hrani come up with a new question, or a new topic for discussion. Sometimes he needs to give it some thought. Other times it is a simple as dropping a "My dear professor, I do think you are right. Given the nature of the books you have described, it would be best to return them to the university before anyone sees them..." Of course, the content of the books is not uninteresting in itself, in particular the one that might contain more information about the missing statue. "It would be most appreciated if you could take a look and let me know. I still find it highly curious that out of all the objects, that one in particular appears to have been chosen..." Not that the magus has high hopes this new book will contain a chapter on how that particular statue is used in a world-ending ritual, but an elf can hope... Then they reach the university, and despite his visit of parts of it yesterday, Hrani is still impressed by the school proper. To say nothing of the library. Just like Carlo he takes a look at the statues, and though he is clearly less informed than the Varisian, he is happy to contribute Dice Knowledge History:
"My good man..." Hrani says, an air of genuinely being impressed in his voice. "You must have the willpower of a thousand men. With a library like this at my fingertips, I am not sure I would ever get anything done for spending all my days reading through every volume. Of course, we don't have time for every volume. But I remain curious about the exhibit the Beast broke into. Are there items from the exhibit somewhere here, perhaps in one of the private rooms? And if you remember, I had asked about seeing the ledger of those who had requested access to the exhibit prior to its destruction. Would we perhaps be able to see that at this point...? |
#74
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he/him\his
In Repose Last edited by Sassafrass; May 11th, 2017 at 06:53 PM. |
#75
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Pike gives Mara a curious look, his search for his mother had once led him down a dangerous path where he became involved with a cult, his father had risked everything to get him out and back on his feet. But that was a long time ago...
"We don't." he says with a ghost of a smile on his lips "Not openly at least. It's bad enough that we arrive in town to defend the Boogeyman, but if we ask the wrong person questions about the Whispering Way..." he let's out a low whistle and rolls his eyes "We might find ourselves sharing the same view of the fire as the Beast in short time.We'll just have to keep our eyes and ears open at all times." the Cadet enters and soon they find themselves in the presence of the Beast itself. Pike studies the Beast as he recites poetry, his vision giving him a clear enough view of the creature to realize that the description matches that of the creature from Hergstag more closely than the one from Morast or Sanctuary, so no use asking him about the latter. Yet they were running short on time and unable to question him thoroughly, clearing his voice the dwarf steps forth and removes his hat "My name is Torsten Pike and with me are Miss Mara and Sister Runa, we are here to learn the truth so we could help you." he swallows his fear and looks the Beast straight in the eyes "I need you to tell us about Elsa and the children of Hergstag." |
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