"Eye for an eye I think is happy here.  I believe there was talk of us helping you all move along.  Are we moving tonight or in the morning?". Gadhan finds a bottle of wine knocked over picks it up and takes a drink as he looks around to everyone.

Tahnis nods as he stands next to Silent Blade. He takes out paper and ink and scans the campsite. "I don't even know how to begin my notes about this. It's so much to take in." He begins to write "Don't piss off the Vis..Vistani."

Gekks is laying on the ground, his vision straightening. What had just happened? He remembered yelling trying to calm people down... then... ketch’s wild swinging... oh that’s what happened. Gekks sits up with a large bloody gash on his head. “Ow... ow... ow... that hurts a lot.” Gekks‘ vision blurs and moves before it normalizes and he sees the mess that is left “oh... oh no” he rubs his face with his hands “This could have gone better... How many are hurt?” Gekks stands up and stumbles a bit he looks at Ketch “Im sorry I couldn’t help you...” Gekks presses his palm against the wound on his head and looks at Tahnis Gekks appears at a loss for words

    The Vistani people in general have settled into a very somber mood, their arms falling to their sides as the thought of battle becomes the last thought on their mind. Ratka appears angry and kicks the corpse of Ketch as he passes, but his face visibly softens as he goes to stand over Minerva and Elliot’s corpse. He lays a gentle hand on her shoulder and says with a kind but saddened voice,
 
   “We must prepare him for the next Minerva.”

  You then see Ratka gesture over his shoulder to a couple Vistani, which jars them all into movement. Some step forward and begin to carry Elliot’s body out towards the grassy fields. You’d see several others grab wood cutting axes from the carts and head off into the forest, eventually returning with enough wood for a pyre. About half of the camp seem to begin preparing for the funeral of their fallen member. Minerva remains in a state of shock just staring at the blood on her palms, still naked but she doesn’t seem to care at the moment. She remains there until they begin preparations for the funeral, in which she heads back to her tent to get clothed. 

  As this happens Stanimir will gently gesture for Damia to let him stand on his own before looking to you all with sadness in his eyes, a stern look, and then speak with a quiet but almost heartbroken tone. “We still need help...We leave in the morning if you still wish to join us, I will let my people grieve tonight. If you have a problem with that then I must give my apologies.” He then seems to whisper some words to his daughter, before hobbling over to a tent father away.

     The half elven female twin stares at you all and gives a deep sigh, “I’m not sure why he believes in you, if it were anyone other than Stanimir I’d be raising hell on why he’d ever trust you lot after this. But he’s not dumb, and there must something to you all that causes him to place some sort of belief in you. So I will respect it, but just know I’ll be watching you .” She then walks off behind the cart parked near where the chaos with Ketch had taken place, but not before whispering to two crossbow wielding Vistani. These two stay with their crossbows pointed down and not particularly combative, but still very much keeping watch of the party.

    Adaine will approach the party with a cautious look, she holds her arms tightly to herself as her red, tear stained eyes scan you all with a bit of fear. “Why exactly were you all sent in the first place, he was completing a job yes but what exactly were the orders given that caused him to act in such a way? Stanimir was fine with leaving, I don’t understand why...this-” She gestures to the the bloodstains on the ground, “-had to happen.” As she finishes speaking, her eyes meet yours Tahnis. 
    
   Tahnis (Passive Insight & eye contact):

 Shayne:

(Party can decide how they spend rest of the night essentially, once you guys settle that I will move to the morning. It’s likely 10:30 now)   

Gadhan will Help Minerva with what ever she needs before bedding down.

Ye would also check in with the remaining party about the reward from the Dutchess.

"Schould we all get it, get a good night sleep inside, or one run there and back, and who?"

“Someone should at least inform the dutchess of the fact they will leave by the morning and that we will be absent for a time. I’d be fine to if no one else.” Gekks turns to Adaine “The dutchess sent us here because she wanted you gone, if we didn’t succeed, she was going to be out for blood tomorrow. A few of us looked at that as you being deadly in deceitful foes. Other of us, took it as a chance to hopefully save some lives. And I hope that is what has happened, I hope we saved some of you though I would’ve liked to have saved everyone...” Gekks sighs and looks down “I think it was mostly that everyone has their own type of ways the deal with things. Ketch was a holy man and I can only guess that he was honor bound to get you out as quick as possible. Or mayhaps he just misunderstood...”

   "Hidden?" Shayne ask, mock offended, after returning to himself.  "As if," he says rolling out from his spot and up onto his feet with grace and ease.  "McGowan does not hide, merely waits in the shadows so as to record the unfolding of events."  Shayne believe he earns a small smirk from Damia but given the circumstances could not expect to earn much more.

   Shayne McGowan is a charming, good looking, and slightly disheveled human male.  He is dressed in leather armor with a rakishly worn and stained dark gray cloak about him.  On his belt you can eye a rapier on one side and on the other a scabbarded dagger and flute.  He looks like he just rolled out of bed, he looks like it took him a while to look that way, and he looks like the perfect person to be everyones best friend.  The charm is always on, the smile always easy and the eyes always roaming...

   "Well isn't this quite the calamity you have all brought down upon yourselves?" Shayne calls out, his voice sharp but melodic, commanding attention.  "A toast!  Yes, a toast is in order!  Let us drink to lives cut short and what could have been!"  Shayne grabs up a flask and starts filling cups and pressing them into the hands of those around, his insistence and self assuredness causing them to take the cups wether they want to drink or not.  "A toast to both lives, both friend and foe, for all lives are precious and dear and so full of potential.  No matter our differences in life we are all brethren in death.  The grave is the great equalizer and there all quarrels are set aside."

   Through shear force of will and personality Shayne McGowan encourages members of both side to raise cups and drink together.  ((Performance 11 and Persuasion 26 being used in combination to calm tempers and sooth enflamed passions.))

   "Let us not deceive ourselves here, we all have grievances and gripes from this evening.  We all also have losses and grief.  And we are all at fault...  You!  You brave band of warriors, all self assured and righteous!  You come up to this family here upon a hill here and you're of a mind to shove them off, force them upon their way.  And why?  For some coin?  Because you were given some grave warning about the ills they have caused and you felt doing this would make you into heroes?  You did not ask if it was right, you did not ask if it was true or just.  You asked but for coin.  Then you come here saunter in and bluster about.  No plan.  No organization.  A bunch of individuals assuming all will go well because you are you... You take the wine and the women, you enjoy the hospitality and even listen to the story...  But did you ever ask if the claims of the town were true?  No, no...  You just assumed this family of travelers would entertain you and then shove off because you were such fine and mighty warriors of right."

    Shane believes he sees some nods of agreement amongst the Vistani but his goal is not to just blame the people from town.  Shane smiles back at the Vistani but also gently turns on them.  "But you and yours are surely not blameless here.  No, no... it is true.  You have your own pride and prejudices that have wrought such chaos this night.  You cannot be blind to this and yet be true to your fallen brother.  You know how townsfolk see you.  You know they look at you askance, there is much amusement and acceptance of your frivolity and you take advantage of that.  But you know there is also fear and concern and worry... This you do not accept.  This you spit upon and blame them for their refusal to accept you and your lifestyle.  Yet you do not accept them or theirs!  You do not bend, you do not try to be accommodating to their concerns. To allay them.  They must accept us, you tell each other, but you do not accept them.  And when they send guards to shoo you off you wine them, you dine them, you ply your wiles against them," Shayne winks salaciously at Minerva or whatever sexy Vistani woman may be near. "You are so sure of your skills to seduce, with story and wine of course, of course...  To shoo shoo the guards and whatever the town sends against you that you never really accepted when the town got scared enough to let things get this far."

   Shane is silent for a minute, moving through the crowd slowly, pressing a hand against a shoulder here, sharing a look there, letting his words sink in and his movements press the shared loss upon those near him.  ((More Persuasion 16 and Performance 26)). As he moves amongst the gathered Shayne starts softly singing an old Elvish song of loss and longing.  It is low and quiet and accompanied nicely by the crackling of the fire and the soft sounds of movements of those who are preparing the Vistani body.  

   During the song Shayne moves to the dead Vistani and presses a hand lovingly against his cheek, Shayne moves to Stanimir and uses a Cure Wounds upon him for 8. The song continuing, Shayne then moves to Silent Blade and toucher her shoulder Cure Wounds and cures her for 11 and ends the song kneeling next to Ketch, the lament of the song possibly bringing a tear to the eye of some as Shayne lovingly straightens the garb of the fallen Half Orc. ((Sleight of Hand 20 as he tries to lift the dead mans coin purse.  If he feels he succeeds in doing so unnoticed he shall pocket it, if he gets the feeling the coins clinked or such then he will stand up and offer the purse to Gadhan, telling him the coin should stay with the party...)  Shayne will also use the fact that he is obviously removing Ketch's holy symbol amulet as cover for his petty theft...  Rising, Shayne will present the amulet of Gruumsh to Goblin with great solemnity. "You should take this and bring it back to town as proof that your comrade has fallen.  Tell them mission accomplished, but at a price.  And if I were you, I would demand full price for his death, do not let them short your party this man's share of coin...You know he would not have wanted that."

   "Now let us honor our fallen, both in memory and deed, and all strive to avoid adding any more to the brotherhood of the grave before necessary.  Let us toast once more to the brotherhood of the living and remember that we can all do better, be better and understand each other better.  And let us end this night working together for the greater good, our brothers not forgotten but our grievances not staining our path forward..."

   ((Unfortunately I cannot be as eloquent or convincing as the character...  But the goal of his persuasions and performances is to slightly scold both sides for being so brash and get them to accept some of the blame for the events of the evening and perhaps forgive the other side just a little bit...))

   Beyond that, Shayne will offer any assistance he can with the respectful handling of the corpse of the Half Orc.  If the party seems unsure of what to do with him, Shayne will assure them that followers of Gruumsh disdained burial and funeral rights - Their goal was to fall in battle and this one had accomplished that.  All he would need, Shayne would assure them, is a place to rest away from the bustle of others and perhaps a small pile of stones besides their head, left by those who would remember them... ((Deception 24))

Tahnis nods and motions to Ketch and Silent Blade. "Sometimes people have that tunnel vision that makes them see one way, whether it's to complete a job or attack when someone fires the first spell. I am sorry this happened and we didn't come here with the intention of hurting you. I know we'll probably never earn your trust but hopefully we can help you destroy this evil."

    Shayne moves to get up just as many of the Vistani are about to leave camp to fetch the wood needed for the pyre. They look at the eloquently spoken human male with some hesitation. For the party it may be strange seeing a figure slip out from under a cart and immediately begin a very well spoken speech that seems to shock everyone back to reality. However as he begins speaking to you all the exhaustion at the events of the night truly set in, as the Vistani nod their heads and drink at his very persuasive words. They all very much nod and toast as he explains the faults of the party, of the town of Daggerford. But as he also shows them their own part in creating such a volatile situation, many of them seem to look at the ground in shame after realizing the accuracy of his words. Yet they nod and seem to accept their role in this tragedy. 
      The Vistani fully embrace the toast, with Damia even offering cups and wine to the rest of the party if they accept.  They all drink at Shayne’s final toast, and Damia looks to Shayne with a small but very grateful smile as she stands next to Stanimir. After that the mood is still somewhat somber, but the words of the bard have definitely made themselves known in the minds of the Vistani. They move with purpose, and they no longer seem to be glaring or heavily watching the party as they continue preparations. 
      Shayne is offered a tent to sleep in within the Vistani camp if he wishes, Stanimir personally offering it up to him in a private moment of thanks for speaking out. The old man has clearly been crying but gives Shayne an honest and grateful smile at the offer. He tells the bard that not many people would do as he’s done today, and that he has the makings of a gifted storyteller. After a firm handshake and a tight hug, Stanimir makes his way back to his people preparing for the funeral. 
      At your words Tahnis, Adaine will sigh heavily and softly reply, “We’re all just trying our best, I understand. You cannot control how everyone will react, or how they treat you.” She looks in the direction of Shayne, who’d just finished his speech. “Even we are not innocent here...” She holds her self tighter and her eyes look watery, “I’ll see you later Tahnis.” She then moves towards the tent Minerva had disappeared into. 

(Shayne successfully grabs Ketch’s coin purse without many others noticing, but he does notice Damia watching him with a smirk as he does so.)

Gekks holds the holy symbol in his palm his large ears drop low “I suppose it’s best I go tell the duchess before it gets too late. I’ll be off then, and back soon.  Lest anyone wants to come with?”

Silent Blade stands after having her wounds patched up and nods her head appreciatively. She remains quite and stays to the back of the pack. Taking in everything and just watching carefully. 

   Shayne McGowan looks in the direction of Daggerford hesitantly, then back at Gekks.  "Ahhhh... I'll stay here in case a peacemaker is still called for," he says with a hesitant grin.  "But, if you'll have me, I'd be happy to accompany you all when you tackle the mission the Vistani have for you.  Stories are my livelihood and I imagine you folk will provide many..."

Tahnis nods at Shayne. "The more the merrier. It sounds like this mission will provide many opportunities for us. I'm Tahnis by the way. That was some nice singing you had back there. It reminds me of my mother. She's a singer." He turns to Gekks. "Someone should go with you, but I don't want to our feathery friend by herself." He scans the area for Gadhan. "Gadhan is here in case any more trouble goes down. I'll go with you." He rises up and stands next to the merchant.

"Don't worry I don't Minerva is up to any more fun for the night, so, yeah, I will be helping out around here.  He finishes the bottle of wine he is drinking from, and then finds another on the ground to drink from.  "SB you good to hang here with me?" Gadhan is still naked and really does not care.

   Tahnis and Gekk make their way back to Daggerford in the late night, being escorted inside the Ducal Castle property once telling the guards that you had good news for the Duchess. Being escorted inside the walls you both find her outside, shooting a longbow in the practice range where her personal guard usually train. She appears to be drunk, if the two empty wine bottles sitting next to a goblet near her were a good indication, but she does seem to be hitting almost exclusively bullseyes. The guards leave you two with her the minute they get the chance to run back to their posts. She turns and faces you all, “You lot finished the job already? Looks like I did end up hiring a vicious group of killers didn’t I!” She laughs at her own words as she releases an arrow that flies wide and almost hits a guard walking by on his patrol. She laughs even harder after seeing the guard flail around in panic. 

    Shayne, Gadhan, and SB stay in the Vistani camp where they are mostly left to their own devices. They’re given time to handle the burying of the dead half Orc if they wish, but they do notice all the Vistani begin to gather in a grassy field just outside the camp around midnight. It’s here, if they choose to join and see, where the Vistani have placed the body of their fallen member atop a wooden pyre. Before they light it you all hear several members step to the front of the crowd and share memories they have of Elliot. Ratka chokes up with guilt as he talks about how Elliot would always look up to him, about why Ratka never understood why he was good enough to be admired. And that he was sorry for leading Elliot into so many pointless and troublesome situations. The rest tell stories that paint the fallen Vistani as a quiet but kind young boy who had a knack for medicine. They joke of how Elliot had had a shitty singing voice yet always joined. The final speaker is Stanimir who wishes Elliot a sweet escape, and that in the end he is lucky. 
     The ceremony ends with Stanimir chanting in their foreign language, then sending a bolt of fire from his fingertips to the pyre holding the once living Elliot Degtas. The smoke is heavy and black as they all stand watching him burn away into the dark, inky night. 
     After the funeral Minerva looks for Gadhan, and asks that he only lay with her. She tells him that she doesn’t wish to be alone in the night, but that she’s not quite in the mood for more sex. The rest of Vistani begin to retire after making sure that Elliot’s pyre is put out properly after being left to burn for awhile.

       The party is left to their own devices, the Vistani fine with them setting camp near them or simply coming back in the morning. Shayne would be led to a humble but spacious tent, where he sees the same Vistani woman with delicate features who’d collapsed by Elliot’s corpse, taking a couple of items from inside and placing them in a crate. She has the face of someone still in emotional turmoil but gives him a very small smile as she finishes up and moves to get out of his way. Inside the tent is a small bedroll, but nothing else. There’s space in here for maybe two more people other than himself if he wished to share. 

Shayne:

Tahnis nods as Lady Morwen shoots her bow. "I almost think we should have brought her with us. Lady Morwen, we have some good news. The visitors on will leave for their home in the morning. They were also apologetic about any misunderstandings between your men and their group." 

“That said, we as a group will as well be gone fora small time helping them on a job, part of a deal we made. As well...” Gekks holds the holy symbol in his hand ”some unfortunate mistakes were made and both sides lost one of our own. Thankfully they’re good people and promised we wouldn’t have any more trouble with them here. Long story short they will be gone come morning and we would like our payment in full before we leave as we know not when we will be back.”

   Lady Morwen looks at you all with a drunken smile and slowly claps. “How wonderful that they were good people! While a quite boring solution at least you weren’t failures!” She ends the last sentence with a loud, final clap before whistling to a servant to fetch her the adventurers pay she has prepared in her office. The young girl who’d been sweeping the courtyard quickly rushes into the castle after getting the order. 
   She then slowly walks up to you Gekk as you all wait for the girls return and suddenly, but not overtly roughly grabs your face, “Who did you lose?”. She looks you dead in the eyes as she asks, then a drunk smile appears on her face. “I bet it was the dumb Orc or brutish Goliath  wasn’t it! Did they collapse after being asked to count?!” She laughs so hard that she snorts then stumbles drunkenly, falling into the half elf form of Tahnis. “Tell me it wasn’t my sweet songbird that was lost! She has quite a future ahead of her you know!” She says loudly. 

Gadhan does any heavy lifting that is needed, and stays with Minerva.

Tahnis stands uncomfortably as he nods. "We did lose our priest friend. Gadhan was also putting his sword to good use. A little exhausted but he's fine now. As for your songbirg, he's fine."