As Katarina moves her claw on the mans neck he frezes, closes his eyes and clenches his teeth in anticipation of his death...

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

"Who did you send the poor lady to warn? And why did you at once want to get your friends to come do bad things to Katarina and her friends? Katarina didn't want to hurt anyone until they tried to sneak off like a pack of thieves..."

 "No... I didn't... I didn't wanted anyone to get hurt... I am so sorry..." He sounds scared beyond belief. His body is trembling as Katarina keeps holding him up. Without this he would surely fell on the ground.

 As Swan is moving closer, he opens his eyes and dares to look at her as she speaks.

Quote from WhiteByakko >>

"We don't want to harm you, but we need to know what's happening here. Who is this 'she' you've been talking about? What secrets are you hiding?"

 "I don't know." He weeps. "August..." He looks for a brief moment at the lifeles body lying on the ground. The opened eyes stare into the night without seeing. "He came to me a few days ago and told me we could change our lives... He told me we could get honors and no longer be farmers... I am sorry, I didn't knew what he was talking about ..."

Swan lowers her spear slightly, her stance softening as she listens to the man's words. Her eyes show a mix of empathy and understanding.

"It's alright," Swan reassures him, her voice gentler. "It seems you were caught up in something beyond your understanding. We don't blame you for that. But we need more information. Is there anything you know? What's the lady's relationship to you? Do you know anything about dragon attacking Greenest? Have you seen a half-elf named Leosin passing through here?"

Swan keeps her tone patient and compassionate, hoping to coax more details from the man without further distressing him.

Fiach is taking nothing at face value and remains ever vigilant - words are, at the end of the day, just words. She does, however, step back a pace and lowers her bow, so as not to appear as confrontational.

It takes the man some time to control himself and to stop weeping. He tries to lean onto the rocky wall behind his back. As he slowly takes deep breaths and finaly he takes a look at Swan and others.

"The lady leads them..." He starts slowly. "She is their leader... A sorceres that claims the dragons have chosen us to be their..." He pauses for a moment. "...knights? I am not sure if I get this right." He shakes his head and slowly bangs his head a few times at the wall. "Stupid August."

Katarina glances skeptically at the crumpled body of the woman who fell to her death down the side of the cliff.

"Katarina assumes that 'the lady' is not the one at the bottom of the cliff... if the same lady they are, Katarina is not very impressed with her sorcery," the feline says.

The man laughs through the tears. "No. She is at the camp." He wipes his eyes and a nose with his sleave. "She is said to be able to speak with dragons... And they listen to her..." As he speaks he looks straight into your eyes.

OOC: if you are talking with the man, please roll insight check.

Katarina Insight: 14 (rolled in game log)

OOC: how easy would it be to go check what the lady who fell had on her. I’m looking for clues :)

OOC: she is not that far, so the distance (ca. 20, 30 feet) would not be a problem. As for the light, if I am not mistaken, Cerau used Eyes of the night feature that gives up to 4 creatures 300 ft of darkvision so that would cover the light requirements... If you want to search for clues, please roll perception.

Katarina only:

Perception 15

OOC: Fiach took a step back - so will not be rolling for Perception

Katarina considers the man, spending a few moments sizing him up.

"Scaredy-man, it seems you tell Katarina truth," she says. "But... perhaps not all truth... what to hide is there still?"

The man looks at Katarina with fear in his eyes. "No, I am telling the truth! She is in the camp... The sorceres! Not farther than a few miles that way! Everyone are coming back there... but don't go there... Save yourselves!" he speaks looking at Katarina and at Swan and points to the darkness.

As you stand around the camp you can notice the fire is slowly dying. It will burn for some time, but the flames are not that high as before. There are three, now disturbed blankets on the ground and headrests made from coats as well as some wood gathered for the night.

The man is silent for a moment but he speaks in trembling voice "W-what are you going to do with me?"

Elmin:

Katarina pauses thoughtfully... that is a very good question, actually.

"Um... what should Katarina do with the scaredy-man? Katarina cannot kill a man who threw down his sword... perhaps Katarina should tie him up so that follow he cannot then Katarina and friends can leave him here? Katarina is sure he will get out eventually..."

Elmin picks up the money and slowly comes back to the group.

The man's eyes move from one person to another nervously. 

"I can promise I will go home and will never return here, or to the camp..." He says swiftly "...or I can show you the way to the camp where they are staying...if you will promise I will be able to go free..." He ends with hope in his voice.

Katarina's rage has fully subsided at this point and now she is genuinely starting to feel a bit bad for the guy.

"It would be most cruel for Katarina to hurt a scaredy-man who gave up," she purrs, hoping she is sounding at least a little bit reassuring as she retracts her claws and pats his shoulder with the soft paw. "So Katarkna at least will do you no harm if you do Katarina and her friends no harm..."

Then she looks at the others.

"Um, were Katarina's friends looking for the magic-lady's camp? Katarina does not remember... Katarina is better at hitting things than knowing things..."

Fiach chimed in following Katarina's words. "We were planning to rest, so the decision is...do we hold them captive and head for their camp in the early morning. Or should we use the element of surprise and the darkness to see their camp now? Until we know how many forces we are up against, I am unsure we can have a plan much beyond understanding precisely what we're up against. I don't know what anyone else thinks."

Swan considers the options, her brow furrowed in thought. She turns to the man who had surrendered. "If you lead us to their camp, and it proves to be peaceful, we'll allow you to leave unharmed. But remember, if you lead us into a trap, it won't go well for you. Your safety is in your hands."

She then shifts her gaze to the rest of the group, considering their next move. "I think we should at least check out their camp now, under the cover of darkness. Once we have a sense of what we're dealing with, then we can decide our next steps. If the camp and these sorcerers are related to the dragons and their attacks, there's a chance it might also be related to the man we're looking for. It's a risk, but it could provide us with valuable information and possibly lead us to Leosin."

Katarina's tail swishes back and forth. She nods and smiles.

"Okay, that sounds good. Then Katarina would like to sleep..."

She pauses and looks at the two dead bodies.

"Ummm... is it bad that Katarina and her friends just killed two people? It doesn't feel very nice to kill people for being sneaky... maybe next time try to catch them instead...?"