Kosef will share what he learned from The Pole about the size of the wounds and the size of the weapons with Rudneve and Kendes. "The question is what to do next," he says. "Leda and Elif seem unlikely, but not impossible. They probably wouldn't want fewer guards around for the same reason we don't want fewer guards around. Jamna and the man with the badger . . ." He's thinking out loud. "Jamna wouldn't want us to get in trouble, right? because we're working toward the same goal. Would she know Lvor's buddies would blame us? The man with the badger is a complete mystery." Kosef rubs his beard. "Rudneve and Kendes, how could we get to know him? I don't know a thing about badgers."

"Didn't we talk to a miner before, or was he a prospector? Anyway, he seemed to be a man who could make new friends with ease." Sir Rudneve suggests, although you can see from his expression that he's not quite sure who he is talking about.

"Hmm. Not a bad idea, Sir Rudneve," Kosef says. "He was working secretly. If I can find a quiet moment to talk to him I will. He might even know the badger man." He'll watch the other members of the caravan with more suspicion. "This trip has become more complicated than i thought it was going to be."

"Oh, umm, thanks Kos...Fesok." Sir Rudneve answers, not being able to recall when he last had an idea that was not considered bad.

Kosef, while doing his duty as a guard, will also wander the caravan looking for the prospector and the badger man. He tries to smile as he goes, watching for short swords, Ivar's buddies, and Leda and The Pole. He walks up one side of the caravan, going only slightly faster than the wagons are being pulled, crosses the road in front of it, then walks down the other side in the opposite direction it is moving. More than anything else, he's looking for a badger and a prospector.

If it looks like Kosef is searching for something around the caravan, “Kettles” will work his way over towards him and slowly pass by, offering a polite greeting.

Leda and the Pole can be seen chatting while they travel beside Acardy's wagons, Ivor's guards are mostly around his wagons, except for the stocky accuser and Ivor himself. Aside from all the shortswords he has already seen, he does not spot any new ones. The badger man is talking with Beyd while his badger trails behind.

Kosef will greet Kettles politely as well. "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question," he will say. "Your mustache? How do you keep it looking so . . . orderly? My beard always grows in the wildest, chaotic ways. Is there an oil you use?"

Once the two are walking together, Kosef will ask what Kettles knows about badgers. If things seem private enough, he'll ask about short swords as well. "Have you seen Ivor or the man who's brother died?" he will say.

"I'm afraid that's a trade secret," Kettles replies to Kosef about his mustache question... before laughing.  "In truth, it requires a persistent regimen of grooming and application of different oils and waxes.  Even out here in the wilderness, who knows if I might bump into the next future Mrs. Kettles.  One always must pay attention to appearances."

As they walk, Kettles will reach into his horse's bags and pull out a couple of items from his disguise kit, including walnut oil and show it to Kosef.  Speaking lower and while pointing to the oil as if he is explaining its use, "I haven't paid the badger any attention.  I can start if you think its critical.  I've been keeping my distance from your employer, though I have means of getting much closer if there's something you need to know.  I also confirmed Severin has gathered a stockpile of mushrooms, poisonous if eaten, for purposes unknown."  He uncorks the dark brown oil and applies just a tiny bit to the mustache.  It stains his fingers and he wipes them on another cloth he pulls from the saddlebags.  "Oh.  The guard Orvustia has expensive jewelry... she may have stolen it from the cult, is in their employ, or is simply independently wealthy.  Not enough to go on yet.  And the wool-capped man with Ivor is a mage or warlock.  He hides tattoos of magical runes under that cap of his."

Packing the items back into his bags, he gives a polite smile to Kosef.  "Any other questions?"

*Earlier*

Though he does not give word to his thoughts, Kenny is troubled by Jamna's words regarding Losvius.  It it true that Kenny is using the halfling to play a dangerous game... but Losvius seems experienced at sneaking around and with Kenny's spells he should be safe enough.  He doesn't care for the callousness Jamna demonstrates with regard to Losvius' life... but reflecting on it, he is the one sending Losvius into harm's way.  While he may rationalize it, he may be no different from Jamna in that regard.  This gives him much to think about.

"Walnut oil!" Kosef says. "Imagine that."  If possible, he will take the bottle from Kettles for just a moment and hold it up to the sunlight. "Pressed purely," he says. "One of the people I spar with, a potential ally, was very sick, perhaps poisoned. By mushrooms. Rudneve helped him, but could Severin be the source of the illness? Does he cook?" He'll hand the oil back and test the texture of his red facial hair, twisting it around his fingers.

"Would the oil darken my beard? I like the bright color," he says. "I'll talk to the badger man. Unless there is a reason not to, let's worry less about Orvustia, more about the mage. Ugh. Mages. Can we make a friend out of him? Or is he Ivor's?"

"Next time we are in town, please show me how to find and purchase the best walnut oil," Kosef says. "Most of all," he whispers, "who has a short sword and reason to kill the dead man?" Once he's collected all the information he can from Kettles, Kosef walks on, seeing if the badger man is still talking to Beyd and trying to come up with an intelligent question about rodents of unusual size.

“You can try to buy, but all the best grooming compounds are homemade.”  Kettles will try to slip in what answers that he can.  “No clue yet on the murder.  The mage is bosom buddies with Ivor, inseparable since he joined up with the caravan.  He will be no friend of ours.  And your friend wasn’t the target… I overheard Elif and Severin say they ‘got the wrong one.’  I’ll look into the murder tonight.”

"Hmm," Kosef says. "I'll watch for walnuts then. We'll have to talk more!" he says. "Excellent plan."

Kosef thanks Kettles and moves farther down the caravan. He hopes to start the conversation with the badger, but have to find a way to mention the murder. See how the man seems to feel about it. 

The man with the badger is talking to Beyd about the best kinds of pie now. Kosef can here the badger man defending steak and kidney pies, while Beyd insists that rose hip pies are the best. The badger was already trailing a little behind before Kosef spoke to Kettles, and now it has fallen even farther back as it investigates something in the earth.

If nothing else occurs, night falls, and the caravan rests. They are back at a village for the night, and many of the travelers are relieved to have alternatives to the caravan's food. The village has a small shrine to Torm, a few shops, a nice little inn called the Tipsy Toad with a frog pond, and a statue of a unicorn. Losvius is up, and seeks out Kettles for another night of adventure. The badger man separates from the group to examine the frog pond. Ivor has still not been seen all day, and the accuser has not been spotted either.

OOC: You can start a conversation with the badger man and just insert it before night comes. Just trying to help things along.

If he believes he can do so without being spotted Sir Rudneve would discreetly visit the shrine of Torm, praying for strength to endure the wait for battle.

Kosef will approach the badger man at the frog pond. "Couldn't help but overhear you debate earlier," he says. "Steak and kidney, especially with extra kidney, always wins the day for me. Frog pie is not bad either," he says. He gestures toward the pond. "My mom used to make the best frog pie, the best ever. Wish I had some now." He'll sign.

"Sorry. Long day for me. That accusation against me and my friends has me unnerved. I'm an orderly person. Not going to take a life without authorization," he says. "Even if it only the authorization to defend an employer. Never going to stab someone in the back? What do you feel? Am I over thinking this whole thing? i didn't even know the guy, much less attack him? Did you know him?"

Kettles buys a room at the inn and makes sure Losvius buys himself a ground floor room as well (will pay for Losvius, if necessary).  “Here is the plan.  Make sure at least someone sees you retire for the night.  I’ll stop by your window and cast the spell… you then slip out the window and return that way when you are done exploring.  If something turns up missing then you will have an alibi.  Remember the time limit!  Don’t push it past a half hour.  Also, you can’t be seen but you CAN be heard.  Be silent and careful.  In addition to whatever snooping catches your fancy, try to over hear conversations… some folk will spill their secrets if they think no one is listening.  I am nervous about this murder.  If anyone speaks of it, their suspicions, their theories, mark well what they say and report it back to me.  Take care now.  Good luck.”

Later, after Losvius makes a show of retiring to his room, Kettles will go for a walk, cast the spell through Losvius’ window, then retire to his own room to maintain spell concentration for an hour.

After dark Evendur is able to slip away to the shrine while everyone else is either asleep or occupied indoors.

The badger man smiles at Kosef. "I must admit I've never had frog pie. But my friend here enjoys them." He quickly snatches a frog from the water and hands it to the badger who begins eating. "I didn't know the guard. Those guards of - is it Ivor? I think that's his name. Anyway, they were very unfriendly, so I avoided them. I'm surprised you work with them. You don't act as distant as they do." He watches the legs of the frog disappear into his pet's mouth. "I can see why you would be rattled. It can be hard to be on the receiving end of accusations of murder, especially when pointless murder is so against your nature. But it seems no one in the caravan doubts you or your companions. The real problem is the actual killer of course. Like you, I believe in rules and order, and it appalls me that someone in our group could do such a thing."

Losvius was already purchasing his own room, and is happy to pick one on the ground floor. He listens to Kettles' plan and rubs his hands together in anticipation. Losvius says goodnight to several of the people still awake before heading towards bed and then eagerly awaits Kettles to come and cast the spell.

The next morning, Losvius seeks out Kettles with some news. "There's a lot of speculation about who the murderer is. I overheard Leda, the Pole and Orvustia talking. They think something strange is going on with the guard. Orvustia thinks Ivor's involved and that he silenced the guard to stop an investigation. Leda thinks that's silly. She thinks the guard did it and is accusing Kosef, that triton, and Sir Rudneve to draw attention away from himself. The Pole thinks they're both wrong. He claims a shortsword must have made the wound, so he blames that irritable half-elf guard. He's called Auster or something like that. The Pole says he was in an argument with one of Ivor's guards a few days before the murder. Some of Ivor's guards were out watching over his wagons last night too, and I overheard them talking. It seems Ivor's said something about Sir Rudneve being one of those people against "her", and something about Kendes being as bad as his father. They seem to think those three were as guilty as that accuser said they were. Also the man with the badger has been feeding frogs from the frog pond to his badger. I don't think that is allowed." He looks very pleased with himself.

As the caravan moves northward again, Beyd can be heard excitedly telling the green woman that Waterdeep is only a day or two away.

8

"Waterdeep, at last, it can't be long now to Naerytar, can it?" Sir Rudneve leans down from Bayard and whispers to Fesok, perking up a bit over the thought of fighting dragons soon again.

Kosef likes what he hears, but does his best to gain insight into the badger man's intentions: 16

He's not really to remove him from the list of suspects, apparently?