The woman pulled back in fear and shock, awakening with a cut off yelp. Siegfried's calm words seemed to soothe her, but before she could say anything the party began to fight within itself and she held her tongue.

Once Ace departed and the tension seemed to go with him, the woman, cleared her throat. "Ah... well. Thank you so much for saving me. As to what happened here, I'm not entirely sure." She stands and seems to be just holding onto her composure as she sees the carnage around her. Almost to herself she mutters, "I suppose it was too much to hope anyone else had survived."

She shakes herself and then looks to Brother Siegfried. "I work for Gallina. She is-- I suppose she was, a merchant who trades-- traded, in rare spirits and wine. We had just pulled off for a short meal break. Gallina had mentioned something about checking on the new stock. We had just picked up some very old bottles that had come all the way from Calimshan. She was fretted over them the whole way from Waterdeep, checking the straw-lined boxes they were in. She said they were supposed to bea gift to Lord Neverember from an ally of his in Waterdeep, but the old glass, you know, it gets fragile. Anyway, we're just sitting there, eating our meal when we hear a screen from Gallina and then suddenly there's this giant demon holding her by the throat. I'm ashamed to say I froze. I've never been much of a fighter you see. The thing flipped the whole cart at us and everything went black. That's all I remember before you woke me up, m'lord."

"A gift for Lord Neverember?" 

The gears in Oloven's mind start turning, and he stands without a word, confident that Siegfried has the situation with this poor young woman well in hand. He takes his wand out from a sleeve at his belt and returns to the grizzly scene at the cart. He casts Detect Magic and begins looking through the debris of the wine shipment for an aura surrounding any of the cargo. He's careful to avoid touching anything unless he absolutely has to, so as not to disrupt the scene any further than he already had while searching for survivors. Investigative work was the brunt of his duties in Helm's Hold, and he was good at it. But he had hoped that part of his life was behind him. Apparently not.  

(OOC: Backtracking a little as I was asleep).

As the efreeti charges towards Tor he steels himself for the incoming attack, which he knows will be brutal and merciless. He raises his axe high, and just as the genie comes within reach, roaring threats... It is gone. To the side Tor can see Sigi completing the movements of the Banishing spell, focusing, then relaxing. 

The genasi allows the axe to hang loosely by his side as he takes in the scene. The sight of the blackened bodies scattered around the wrecked cart seem to take him away somewhere, and he barely catches the argument between Ace and Oloven. He should intervene, especially when Ace rides away, but perhaps it was best to have some distance between them. If Ace waited for them that was fine, he could talk to him later. If not, then that was fine too. You can't help those who won't take it.

After listening to the conversation with the survivor he reaches into his pack and takes out a tiny silver figurine of a raven. "Be-inway" he speaks gently, and perched on his wrist was now a large black raven. To the bird he says "Take this message to Lord Neverember, tall, broad, red-brown hair and pointed beard. He'll be at Castle Never [OOC: I assume...] 'High Road attack on merchant Gallina encountered. One survivor, taking to Leilon. Body collection required. Efreeti assailant, now banished.' "

The raven croaks a little, then flies off in a flurry in the direction of Neverwinter.

"Should still be in range..." Tor mutters to himself, a little unsurely.

With the constant rain, the worst of the fires have gone out and it's easy enough to search the remains of the wagon. There's nothing magical left in the wreckage, but you find the remains of a jar sealed with a half melted wax seal still showing faint magical symbols.

In addition, the cart has some high priced items which can be salvaged from the fire. A particular vintage of elven riesling is worth much gold to a collector. There is also 595 gold, 30 silver, and a elaborate gnomish device that serves as an intricate corkscrew that looks worth something as well.

Oloven isn't particularly interested in the wine, the gold, or the gnomish device, but he sets them aside in a wine crate for others to pick over later. The fragments of the jar intrigue him though. Careful not to touch them with his bare hands, he picks up each piece with a handkerchief, examining each shard with his magnifying glass. 

(Magnifying glass gives advantage on investigation checks for looking at tiny objects.) 

19

Give me a history check as well.

History: 5

"That all sounds dreadful.  I'm so sorry that we could not have arrived a little sooner and prevented this calamity completely.  We plan to press on to Leilon... will you allow us to deliver you there to safety?"

Brother Sigi's gears are turning as well, though he is not sure whether he suspects the monster was attacking to steal the gift, or if the monster was somehow a part of the 'gift'.  For now, he seeks to keep up a dialogue with the woman.  He will also visit each of the dead and offer a prayer over their mortal remains.  He lacks the material or preparations to perform a proper ceremony over them but he nevertheless asks his god to watch over them and guide their souls to rest.

(I sent Oloven a private message with the results of his investigation).

To Siegfried, the woman says, "Well, we were headed to Neverwinter, but without Gallina I suppose there's nothing for me there." She looks sadly at the remains. "We were going to settle down there. Or so she said. Maybe she was just using me." She shrugs. "At any rate, I'll likely make my way back to Waterdeep. I have family there."

Oloven carefully gathers up the pieces of the jar into the handkerchief and ties it up into a bundle. With that done, he returns to speak more with the woman. "Ma'am, do you by any chance remember the name of the 'ally of Lord Neverember' who hired your employer?" 

She shrugs apologetically, "Not particularly, it would've been in the log book, but we took in a number of expensive vintages there. I don't know which bottle came from which source. That was Gallina's job. I handled the logistical side of things and managed the workers."

She looks up in thought, chewing on a fingernail. "I know we did business with a number of new sources this trip, which had Gallina excited for new business prospects. I don't remember everyone, but I know there was a Lord Bartemeus, a Lady Durham, a Lord Tellnin--well we called him Lord, out of respect, but he weren't truly noble, just a very successful merchant--and the Cassalanters.

(Do you think I would've seen a log book, or would it have likely been destroyed in the fire? I can do another investigation check if need be.) 

Oloven repeats the names a few times, attempting to commit them to memory. Then he says "Ma'am, my name's Oloven Skabor. I'm so sorry for what you've been through today. This was an unfair, terrible thing and I can't imagine how ya must be feelin'. And I bet you'd like nothin' more than to go home and be with your family right now. But... Well, in my professional opinion, I think it might be for the best if ya didn't return to Waterdeep right now. It may not be safe for you there. Do you have friends or family outside the city you could stay with for a while? Somewhere out of the way, where you could lay low?"  

The log book is certainly destroyed. 

She shrugs again, "I suppose I could visit my cousin in Phandalin."

Brother Sigi's brow furrows when Oloven warns the woman Waterdeep may not be safe for her - what has he figured out about what occurred here? - but he remains silent and decides it will be best to ask questions later.

"I think that would be for the best. May I ask your name, ma'am?" 

Oloven asks her a few more polite questions, all the while continuing to ruminate. He intends to tell everyone what he's learned and suspects, but it can wait until after all of the bodies have been properly taken care of. Oloven certainly would not be comfortable leaving them where they lay in the middle of the road for the crows and coyotes to pick at them. Oloven will wait until the group is settled somewhere further away from the scene, and hopefully at least partially out of the rain. This poor woman surely doesn't want to have a prolonged conversation a few yards away from the corpses of her former coworkers. 

"I am called Nikita, m'lord."

"Well Nikita," Oloven says with a gentle, affirming smile. "We're gonna be passin' close to Phandalin on our way to Leilon. I'm sure I'm not speakin' outta turn when I say we'd all be happy to accompany you to your cousins."

He looks to Tor and the others for confirmation of this statement. "Right fellas?" 

Tor nods. "I've already sent a message to Lord Neverember saying she's coming with us. I said Leilon but Phandalin's close enough. But we're not hanging about there. We drop her off, one night if necessary, and then we move on."

He looks at Nikita. "This shouldn't have happened to you." He glances quickly at the bodies again, almost compulsively. "To any of you. I'm sorry we weren't here sooner. The good news is that the chances of you ever being attacked by a genie again are about as low as it gets. Why it happened in the first place, i doubt we'll ever know."

"If everyone's good, let's move out. Our journey is suddenly longer than expected, so every minute counts. Plus we need to see where General Greywind had gotten to."

Oloven takes Tor to the side quickly after he gives the order and quietly asks "Speaking of the kid, boss... Everything was happenin' rather quick back there and maybe I missed something, so just for my own edification... Did you 'give command' to Ace during the attack?" 

Tor lets out a dry laugh. "Ha! Absolutely not. He wanted to charge in, I gave him permission. And I agreed that we shouldn't group together. But I know his type, bred to lead, whether they want it or not. I think he has a point to prove to someone, even if it's just himself. Let's go see where he's got to."