"You talk with Maid Mary at your own peril," Garran says. "She will be in a rotten mood now after chasing Dastan Urgash through the forest. Probably disciplining the brat right now. The other, however, would be hard to do. Tonight's our last performance in Erdelun before we head south to Timaril for the Night of Winterlight festival next month, so there is a good chance that everything would already be in order. Maid Mary never does a rush job, so any problem with the uniforms would have been done and finished yesterday. You will find her near the archery range behind the main tent. If she's not there then she's probably near the kennel with her hounds."
"My thanks for your time. Perhaps we will see you again soon. If we return in time from the search I would be keen to see the last show before you move on", he says.
With that, he leaves the carriage and starts to make his way across the encampment looking for the archery range.
Cob, spotting the others as they come out of the carriage, hurries over to them.
"I gave the tent back there a look," Cob says. "Didn't see anything that would suggest kids have been around or sign they'd taken anything from kids. You find anything out? The carnival boss did mention they were headed to a festival in Timaril. There's some big tower that's been built and is at the center of the fest, I think."
"I do not believe these people have anything to do with the disappearance of the children in truth, certainly not with the knowledge of the manager, Garran Swifthand", Drexon says as Cob meets up with Eremoz and himself.
"I may of course be wrong, and there are some leads yet to follow, but the most troublesome members of the troupe are the Urgash brothers who live in that tent. They are not exactly without sin, but kidnapping is unlikely to be one of their vices. They are more into smuggling. Not ideal, but not our reason for being here", he says in a whisper.
"We need to find Maid Mary. She is the archer and also looks after some hounds. The reason we are interested though, is that if anyone returned with a torn shirt, it would be her that would repair it", he adds, filling Cob in on the plan.
Finding Maid Mary is not a difficult endeavor. You find her at the archery range, shouting orders at a ragged-looking Dastan Urgash. The younger Urgash seems to have been sprinting back and forth the archery range for quite some time while Maid Mary shoots arrows at his heel whenever he lags behind in his pace. You can see that she is very skillful with the bow. The arrows she unleashed seem to fall just a moment after Dastan moves away from them, ensuring Dastan knows of the threat but also leaving him enough time to move away to save himself. It makes a very good motivator.
"Let's go!" Maid Mary says. "Faster! Faster! Faster! You stop when I say you can stop! Hopefully, you can think more clearly before doing anything rash when this ends. We'll make a law-abiding person out of you yet."
“Maid Mary, I presume”, Drexon says as he approaches, making sure to time his interruption so it does not distract her aim.
”Mr Swifthand suggested we talk to you with regards to some tailoring you may have been required to perform in recent days”, he adds as he takes off his hat and gives a bow.
”I can see you are busy, but we are happy to wait for an opportune moment”.
Cob watches the archery work of Maid Mary with a smile on his face.
"There's someone with a sense of humor," Cob says. When they get to Maid Mary, he adds "I can fire arrows at him if you like while you speak to Drexon and Eremoz here."
"Odd," Maid Mary says. "Who are you supposed to be, then? Not the City Guard or the Ranger, that's for sure. What's my tailoring has to do with... whatever it is you're doing here? And no, no need for that. He won't take this lesson seriously from anyone else. Robyn will take care of it while we talk."
She lets out a whistle and from one of the tents a hound as large as a small pony trots out. The hound stands at attention beside Maid Mary, posture straight and prideful. Maid Mary pats the hound's head and whistles another sharp tone as she points at Dastan. The hound begins to growl and menacingly runs at Dastan, keeping a pace slightly slower than him and nipping at his heels every time the pace slows down.
"You are very perceptive, we are not affiliated with either of those groups you are right. In fact we have been engaged by one of the parents of the missing children to aid the rangers in their search", he explains.
"I was speaking with Garran about the fact that a fragment of torn shirt was found at the scene of the latest abduction. it clearly and conveniently has the symbol of the Magisterium on it. He suggested that if anyone had needed a shirt to be repaired, they would have engaged your services", he continues.
"For what it is worth, know that we are not here trying to prove any kind of guilt. Having met Garran, I have been totally convinced that he is an honourable and caring employer and not capable of this kind of misdeed. I have even spoken to the other Urgash, and although he and that one there are definitely miscreants, they are also not capable in my mind of this kind of endeavour".
"So this leaves us trying to figure out why evidence that the Magisterium is involved has been found at two abductions. It could be coincidence or something more sinister, like the real culprit trying to cover their tracks by creating a false trail leading to your good selves".
"There is always at least one scuffle between performers every few days," Maid Mary says. "Mainly it's the acrobats and the clowns. They get on like oil and water, but that's just an old family quarrel between the two. They've been like that since the Magisterium was first founded. But, since the sudden search by the City Guards a couple of weeks back, they have been quiet.
"The only recent torn shirts that I have to remake from scratch are the Urgashs'. They were brought back by several people from the city beaten up with their shirts shredded about a week ago. Probably angered one of the city's nobles and paid the price. Those two don't know the word discreet they probably insulted someone powerful without even knowing it.
"Other than that, the other tailorings I got to do recently are just the usual button replacements, embroidery additions, and fixing up torn sleeves when the after-party got too rowdy. Don't know if that helps at all."
"Mm-hmm", Drexon mumbles as Maid Mary speaks of the Urgash incident.
"It may well help. That incident with the Urgashs, do you happen to remember whether the Magisterium insignia's were missing from their shredded uniforms?", he asks.
"I would suggest that anyone trying to cover up their involvement in a crime, would find those two more than easy pickings as scape goats".
"It does," Maid Mary says. "The older one's shirt was barely clinging to him -- nothing more than thread. The lesser one had most of the left portion of his shirt torn, and yes, including the symbol usually embroidered on the left breast pocket. I had to make them a pair of brand-new shirts. That's why we've been a bit hard on them -- to prevent another beating or them being used by someone unscrupulous. If you're here, then it seems we haven't been hard enough in pounding some sense into their head."
"Is that important, then, the shirt?" Maid Mary asks after a pause. "Is that the clue you are following? Will we get a thorough search again by the City Guard? Last time our flyers were found near the place the kid went missing and our encampment was searched to the smallest boxes by the guards. The people are not comfortable with foreign people invading our privacy violently like that. We'll have to cancel the performance if they're doing another search as the last one caused a lot of damage to the equipment from their rough handling of things."
"Right now there is time, the rangers are following another lead. Some horse tracks leading away from the scene. But if that does not lead to anything more concrete, they may well turn their attention back to your circus", he says thoughtfully.
"That is, unless we can track down the people who ripped the lesser Urgash's shirt and took that symbol. Perhaps we can call him over and find out who they were?".
"Well, might as well ask your question now before we leave this place early tomorrow," Maid Mary says. She whistle again and the hound, Robyn, began ushering Dastan back toward Maid Mary and the group. "This guy has a question about who beat you up a week ago. Answer him truthfully and plainly, and maybe I'll consider giving you a break."
Dastan Urgash, breathless and gasping from exertion, nods and begins to retell his tale. "I don't know who they were, but they were cloaked in dark color. It's the middle of the night, but I can remember that there were five of them. It's a bit hazy, but I also remember one of them using magic on Tristane before doing the same to me. One of them is someone I've seen before in the city but don't remember where. Definitely local as all of them were wearing purple armbands. That's about all I can remember. It's a lot blurry that night. We did kind of insult the City Guard on our way back to the camp, but we did that a lot every time we went to the city. They're a bunch of stuck-up thugs. Just yesterday they were harassing some merchant and we pranked them by turning their armor bright yellow. It was glorious."
"That's not something to be proud of," Maid Mary barks, slapping the back of Dastan's head.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
{{I was about to deny that Dastan can even remember, but I think rolling makes sense. Makes it more interesting. Let's do it. I'll make an Intelligence check with guidance: 7 + 1}}
Dastan is quiet for a long moment. His brow furrows and his eyes look down to his feet distantly. There is a flicker of something in his eyes before he looks up again and shakes his head.
"I'm sorry," Dastan says. "I can't quite remember where I've seen him, but it's somewhere in the Old Town District. He's very distinct. Regal, blonde almost white hair, deep blue eyes, noble-looking. That's everything I can remember. Nothing else comes to mind. Sorry."
Cob shakes his head. He's not the interrogating type.
When they're clear of the others though he looks over at Drexon.
"Sounds like a lot of work to frame the circus. No one has come close to finding the kids," Cob says. "I think we should get the others, and help with the search today. If that turns up nothing we could go look for this blonde guardsman."
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"You talk with Maid Mary at your own peril," Garran says. "She will be in a rotten mood now after chasing Dastan Urgash through the forest. Probably disciplining the brat right now. The other, however, would be hard to do. Tonight's our last performance in Erdelun before we head south to Timaril for the Night of Winterlight festival next month, so there is a good chance that everything would already be in order. Maid Mary never does a rush job, so any problem with the uniforms would have been done and finished yesterday. You will find her near the archery range behind the main tent. If she's not there then she's probably near the kennel with her hounds."
Drexon stands and gives Garran a sweeping bow.
"My thanks for your time. Perhaps we will see you again soon. If we return in time from the search I would be keen to see the last show before you move on", he says.
With that, he leaves the carriage and starts to make his way across the encampment looking for the archery range.
If he spots Cob, he will divert towards him.
Eremoz nods his head. “Sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused.”
He follows Drexon out of the carriage and looks over it briefly before continuing to follow Drexon.
Investigation: 12
Cob, spotting the others as they come out of the carriage, hurries over to them.
"I gave the tent back there a look," Cob says. "Didn't see anything that would suggest kids have been around or sign they'd taken anything from kids. You find anything out? The carnival boss did mention they were headed to a festival in Timaril. There's some big tower that's been built and is at the center of the fest, I think."
"I do not believe these people have anything to do with the disappearance of the children in truth, certainly not with the knowledge of the manager, Garran Swifthand", Drexon says as Cob meets up with Eremoz and himself.
"I may of course be wrong, and there are some leads yet to follow, but the most troublesome members of the troupe are the Urgash brothers who live in that tent. They are not exactly without sin, but kidnapping is unlikely to be one of their vices. They are more into smuggling. Not ideal, but not our reason for being here", he says in a whisper.
"We need to find Maid Mary. She is the archer and also looks after some hounds. The reason we are interested though, is that if anyone returned with a torn shirt, it would be her that would repair it", he adds, filling Cob in on the plan.
Finding Maid Mary is not a difficult endeavor. You find her at the archery range, shouting orders at a ragged-looking Dastan Urgash. The younger Urgash seems to have been sprinting back and forth the archery range for quite some time while Maid Mary shoots arrows at his heel whenever he lags behind in his pace. You can see that she is very skillful with the bow. The arrows she unleashed seem to fall just a moment after Dastan moves away from them, ensuring Dastan knows of the threat but also leaving him enough time to move away to save himself. It makes a very good motivator.
"Let's go!" Maid Mary says. "Faster! Faster! Faster! You stop when I say you can stop! Hopefully, you can think more clearly before doing anything rash when this ends. We'll make a law-abiding person out of you yet."
“Maid Mary, I presume”, Drexon says as he approaches, making sure to time his interruption so it does not distract her aim.
”Mr Swifthand suggested we talk to you with regards to some tailoring you may have been required to perform in recent days”, he adds as he takes off his hat and gives a bow.
”I can see you are busy, but we are happy to wait for an opportune moment”.
Cob watches the archery work of Maid Mary with a smile on his face.
"There's someone with a sense of humor," Cob says. When they get to Maid Mary, he adds "I can fire arrows at him if you like while you speak to Drexon and Eremoz here."
"Odd," Maid Mary says. "Who are you supposed to be, then? Not the City Guard or the Ranger, that's for sure. What's my tailoring has to do with... whatever it is you're doing here? And no, no need for that. He won't take this lesson seriously from anyone else. Robyn will take care of it while we talk."
She lets out a whistle and from one of the tents a hound as large as a small pony trots out. The hound stands at attention beside Maid Mary, posture straight and prideful. Maid Mary pats the hound's head and whistles another sharp tone as she points at Dastan. The hound begins to growl and menacingly runs at Dastan, keeping a pace slightly slower than him and nipping at his heels every time the pace slows down.
Drexon gives Maid Mary his most winning smile.
"You are very perceptive, we are not affiliated with either of those groups you are right. In fact we have been engaged by one of the parents of the missing children to aid the rangers in their search", he explains.
"I was speaking with Garran about the fact that a fragment of torn shirt was found at the scene of the latest abduction. it clearly and conveniently has the symbol of the Magisterium on it. He suggested that if anyone had needed a shirt to be repaired, they would have engaged your services", he continues.
"For what it is worth, know that we are not here trying to prove any kind of guilt. Having met Garran, I have been totally convinced that he is an honourable and caring employer and not capable of this kind of misdeed. I have even spoken to the other Urgash, and although he and that one there are definitely miscreants, they are also not capable in my mind of this kind of endeavour".
"So this leaves us trying to figure out why evidence that the Magisterium is involved has been found at two abductions. It could be coincidence or something more sinister, like the real culprit trying to cover their tracks by creating a false trail leading to your good selves".
Persuasion: 13+6=19
"There is always at least one scuffle between performers every few days," Maid Mary says. "Mainly it's the acrobats and the clowns. They get on like oil and water, but that's just an old family quarrel between the two. They've been like that since the Magisterium was first founded. But, since the sudden search by the City Guards a couple of weeks back, they have been quiet.
"The only recent torn shirts that I have to remake from scratch are the Urgashs'. They were brought back by several people from the city beaten up with their shirts shredded about a week ago. Probably angered one of the city's nobles and paid the price. Those two don't know the word discreet they probably insulted someone powerful without even knowing it.
"Other than that, the other tailorings I got to do recently are just the usual button replacements, embroidery additions, and fixing up torn sleeves when the after-party got too rowdy. Don't know if that helps at all."
"Mm-hmm", Drexon mumbles as Maid Mary speaks of the Urgash incident.
"It may well help. That incident with the Urgashs, do you happen to remember whether the Magisterium insignia's were missing from their shredded uniforms?", he asks.
"I would suggest that anyone trying to cover up their involvement in a crime, would find those two more than easy pickings as scape goats".
"It does," Maid Mary says. "The older one's shirt was barely clinging to him -- nothing more than thread. The lesser one had most of the left portion of his shirt torn, and yes, including the symbol usually embroidered on the left breast pocket. I had to make them a pair of brand-new shirts. That's why we've been a bit hard on them -- to prevent another beating or them being used by someone unscrupulous. If you're here, then it seems we haven't been hard enough in pounding some sense into their head."
"Is that important, then, the shirt?" Maid Mary asks after a pause. "Is that the clue you are following? Will we get a thorough search again by the City Guard? Last time our flyers were found near the place the kid went missing and our encampment was searched to the smallest boxes by the guards. The people are not comfortable with foreign people invading our privacy violently like that. We'll have to cancel the performance if they're doing another search as the last one caused a lot of damage to the equipment from their rough handling of things."
Drexon strokes his chin, deep in thought.
"Right now there is time, the rangers are following another lead. Some horse tracks leading away from the scene. But if that does not lead to anything more concrete, they may well turn their attention back to your circus", he says thoughtfully.
"That is, unless we can track down the people who ripped the lesser Urgash's shirt and took that symbol. Perhaps we can call him over and find out who they were?".
"Well, might as well ask your question now before we leave this place early tomorrow," Maid Mary says. She whistle again and the hound, Robyn, began ushering Dastan back toward Maid Mary and the group. "This guy has a question about who beat you up a week ago. Answer him truthfully and plainly, and maybe I'll consider giving you a break."
Dastan Urgash, breathless and gasping from exertion, nods and begins to retell his tale. "I don't know who they were, but they were cloaked in dark color. It's the middle of the night, but I can remember that there were five of them. It's a bit hazy, but I also remember one of them using magic on Tristane before doing the same to me. One of them is someone I've seen before in the city but don't remember where. Definitely local as all of them were wearing purple armbands. That's about all I can remember. It's a lot blurry that night. We did kind of insult the City Guard on our way back to the camp, but we did that a lot every time we went to the city. They're a bunch of stuck-up thugs. Just yesterday they were harassing some merchant and we pranked them by turning their armor bright yellow. It was glorious."
"That's not something to be proud of," Maid Mary barks, slapping the back of Dastan's head.
"That is interesting indeed", Drexon says, ignoring the whack Dastan gets on the back of his head.
He whispers some words in Deep Speech as he brushes his hand over his crystal and reaches out to pat Dastan on the shoulder.
"It would be good if you could think hard about where you saw that person in the city", he says, giving Dastan the benefit of his focus.
{{I was about to deny that Dastan can even remember, but I think rolling makes sense. Makes it more interesting. Let's do it. I'll make an Intelligence check with guidance: 7 + 1}}
Dastan is quiet for a long moment. His brow furrows and his eyes look down to his feet distantly. There is a flicker of something in his eyes before he looks up again and shakes his head.
"I'm sorry," Dastan says. "I can't quite remember where I've seen him, but it's somewhere in the Old Town District. He's very distinct. Regal, blonde almost white hair, deep blue eyes, noble-looking. That's everything I can remember. Nothing else comes to mind. Sorry."
"That is very helpful, Dastan", Drexon says.
"At this point any lead is a good one. if you or your brother remember anything new, write it down so you don't forget it", he adds with a chuckle.
He looks to Cob and Eremoz to see if they had anything to add, or if they were ready to head back
Cob shakes his head. He's not the interrogating type.
When they're clear of the others though he looks over at Drexon.
"Sounds like a lot of work to frame the circus. No one has come close to finding the kids," Cob says. "I think we should get the others, and help with the search today. If that turns up nothing we could go look for this blonde guardsman."