Irenia will also examine human tracks and a sign for anything that might be clues, like ash or residue from a burning building.

Investigation - 21

Aishela Euclid arrives separately from the rest of the group, walking about looking in various directions other then in front of her as she goes.  She briefly pokes her head into buildings and adjusts her glasses as she notes people who she suspects are outsiders to this village, likely the rest of the investigative party. She catches up with the group she believes to be the others and pushes her glasses up on her nose, calling out a greeting in a somewhat flat, needlessly harsh tone, for a greeting.  "I assume you're the rest of the investigative team?  I'm part of the team as well, a bit tardy due to some personal business, my apologies.  Aishela Euclid, cleric of Kadem the Observer, a god of knowledge."  

She stares at people and objects with an equal amount of uncomfortable, undisguised scrutiny, with the same kind of distant criticism some use when judging the quality of a complex piece of art.  Aishela is a human girl who looks to be in her early 20s, but her serious demeanor gives her an impression of being older than her features suggest. She wears a pair of circular glasses which lend her pretty, youthful face a severe air, and her sharp, staccato manner of speaking, combined with the fact that almost no one has ever, or will ever, see her smile, cause the harshness of her demeanor to distract from any beauty of feature and form.   

She is of slightly below average height with a slender build.  She has brown eyes and long black hair which hangs to the length of her knees, a brown blouse with a short tie at the neck, a brown dress with brown stockings, and black shoes with a tall flat heel that provide stability, and also another inch or two of height, bringing her closer to eye level with a woman of average height.  She wears cleric vestments over this, an ankle length white coat bearing an emblem of her deity, Kadem, a neutral good Knowledge domain deity whose symbol is an abstract circle with a line crossing it at an angle, with several smaller circles orbiting it.  

Her visible arms and armor consist of scale mail and a shield which also bears the sigil of Kadem, a light crossbow, and a simple dagger strapped high on her left thigh.  Her backpack bulges with various odds and ends, including what appears to be a scroll case and an ink pen.  

Her passive observation skills are honed, something she has trained at extensively.  Passive Perception 20, Passive Investigation 18, and Passive Insight 15.  

Note, to be applied whenever appropriate (Olwer is currently poking through an abandoned house with Genesh , so he may not have met Aishela yet):

Once Olwer meets the priestess Aishela Euclid and hears her introduction, he afterward treats her with a measure of courtesy beyond the politeness he displays toward all the others. Not fawning or flattery, but just a touch of added formality. 

Genesh and Olwer's investigation leads them to the second story of the house where the room the two were arguing was. Perhaps there was direct reason for the man storming out of his house on the horse that night. Much to your dismay, however, the only notes of any kind are fleeting. The woman left a written one detailing that she was going to be leaving and never returning, but not a reason why. To the right, some less direct but in no way omitted evidence appeared. A hastily gathered pile of clothes tells you she left in a rush. Perhaps the two were arguing to such a degree that she felt she had to leave immediately with no notice of where or why.

But why? What were they arguing about?

Outside, Elisha's investigation leads to a similarly head scratching moment. There are hoof prints and footprints all about the outside of the house, but none she can mark out with any distinction. Why were there so many tracks? Its as if he came back and circled his house with his own horse. Perhaps this place was looted.

Irenia finally breaks the cycle and manages a clue. On the first story, in the kitchen, there's a small amount of ash near one of the counter tops. At first slowly then without much care at all, she began rapidly opening all drawers and closed cabinets till she found it folded and stuffed into a back corner behind everything that could be stuffed in with it. The ash covered, slightly burned, grey blanket lay before her. This means that not only was the angry man in the tavern, the man from the second story, but that he also came back to this house AFTER the fire and tired to hide evidence of him being there.

Just then, Aishela walked in from the forest with much confidence in her abilities. While she is unable to discern much more from the house, the others having made some pretty good head way, She casually just kind of strolls around looking to confirm or perhaps pick up the scent on something else. Nothing really comes of it though, this place doesn't appear to have much going for it. She picks up the note from Genesh and Olwer's looking, and gives it a once over. She does the same with the feed bag Tyriel found and the blanket Irenia found. Then she looks at the tracks Elisha was examining. The combination was head scratching, and it lead to no certain conclusions beyond this: The man was at the tavern after the argument and came back here after the fire. Then he left town.

With as small a town as this is, you think back to how long the canoe trip took. He couldn't have just left town on his horse riding through the woods, the Elves would have killed him. If they didn't certainly a handful of feed was not enough for a horse to travel all the way to Lhargh Llur. 

So where did he go...and when? 

If Genesh was physically capable of smiling he would have at Olwer's comment about performing a song about an enchanted fish, "I'd be interested to hear it, maybe tonight when all of us are gathered around a campfire or in front a fireplace as the case may be."

Once the bard has finished his examination of the Pike's Pearl then Genesh will put the stone back in his pouch. Upstairs in the second story of the house, Genesh looked over the note as he recalled what he had read in the incident report then the tortle turned his gaze to Olwer and asked the bard, "is it possible that the woman had intended on slipping away from her husband (boyfriend) and left the note for him but he came home and discovered she was going to leave him which resulted in a heated argument between them. As to the two men in the tavern, could it be the man who had begged the innkeeper for a bowl of soup was the investor visiting the town while the second man who came into the tavern after with fierce anger in his eyes was the woman's husband (boyfriend)? Perhaps it is possible the investor was having an affair with the other man's wife and they were going to run off together and thus the reason for her writing the note in the first place. If so the investor and the husband could have gotten into a fight of some sort which resulted in the fire, motive was either an affair or perhaps the investor swindled either the husband and the wife or just a deal gone sour. I think I am going to have a look and scout south of town... in that general direction anyway. You are more than welcome join me if you like but if we both go then we need to inform our companions first what direction we are headed in but if you are not coming then you can let them know where I am heading."

That said Genesh heads back downstairs, exits the house with the idea to head south to investigate that direction out of town...

Aishela attempts to get up to speed with things, asking, "So this is the house where the guard heard  two people quarreling?  The woman seems to have left this note, and evidently packed her things and left.  The man seems to have gone to the tavern, then returned here, and now he is missing as well.  The elves are xenophobic and likely would have killed anyone who entered their territory without permission. I don't see that the Investor has any motive to damage an investment, and that's what this town was to him.  Such people aren't prone to fits of rage or whimsy.  It's entirely possible the one who did this, perhaps the man who lived here,  or even the woman, may be dead now, if they acted in haste, and entered elf territory without permission.  We may need to talk to the elves.  Motive is a question.  Broadly speaking, I would put it down to profit, anger or ethos."

Aishela paces about, pushing her glasses up on her nose, the heels of her tall black shoes clicking on the floor as she walks.  "Profit seems difficult to gain from this.  The tavern burning is a loss to an investor, and to the town.  It's hard to argue anyone gains from it.  But it could be personal profit, if someone was paid to do it.  That means we have motive for the agent, but not whomever hired them.  Their motive would still need to be anger or ethos.  The elves could have hired the man, he lives further on the outskirts of town and could have made contact with them without anyone knowing.  Unless the woman he lived with knew, that could have been what they quarreled about.  The elves hire the man to burn the tavern, setting back the efforts to build up the town, a motive of ethos, he flees to them to claim his reward, and has either received asylum from them, or, more likely, they kill him to cut off any links." 

She pauses, taking her dagger from the sheathe high on her left hip, and stares at the blade for a moment.  "Right now I'm spinning a tale, of course.  Just one possibility, given the small bit of evidence before us.  It's far too early to draw any clear conclusions, and we cannot trust anything we see at face value.  Perhaps the woman never left.  Perhaps she was killed, and the note and the evidence of clothes being packed was meant to hide that fact.  She could be rotting under the floorboards or buried outside somewhere.  If someone is trying to paint this crime in a specific manner, then the evidence we find could be their handiwork, laid out to lead us to a specific conclusion.  We may need to look past the obvious." 

Aishela takes some of the ash and rubs it between her thumb and index finger.  "Do we know with certainty the cause of the fire?   I do have my alchemists and herbalists supplies.  I might be able to study this ash, and the remains of the tavern, to see what an alchemical analysis might reveal, if anything.  We might at least be able to discern if the arsonist used a chemical accelerant , or employed magic to start the blaze.  After all, it was reportedly raining hard that night.  Short of a lightning strike, getting a building to burn under those conditions can't be a simple matter, and if there was a lightning strike, surely someone would have observed it."

OOC: Whether it reveals anything or not, Aishela will gather some samples to test for any chemical residue using her Alchemist's tools.  

Genesh...

 Aishela expertly takes a few drops from the containers in her case and applies them to testing vials containing differing levels of ash. It produces the results that the ash came from a wood fire that burned with an intensity of heat that is not consistent with a normal flame. That is to say, this fire burned so hot, the wood was calcined. This is impossible for a wood fire to do on its own, even with all the alcohol in the building. 

Tired of looking at footprints Elisha notices Genesh heading South. He calls out: "Hold up for a second. I need a change of scenery I'll go with you if you dont mind."

Aishela shares the results of her testing with the group, as she collapses the set of various alchemical devices and components.  "This wood did not burn naturally. The heat was too intense, no normal flame did this.  The fire burned hot enough to calcify the wood.  Even the presence of alcohol couldn't account for this."

After preserving the sample, or a second sample of the original was destroyed in testing, and stowing away her alchemist's gear in her pack, she asks, "Has anyone interviewed the tavern owner and staff as of yet?  What about the guard who overheard the argument from this residence?  I'd prefer to speak those people during daylight hours, and before they have even more chance for their memories to fade, or, more cynically, for their dissembling to become more polished, if they are preparing a cover story."  

Genesh at the edge of town with the woods before him will survey Survival 7 to the general area to look for any paths or trails by either people or animals and any signs someone or something has gone into the woods from this direction spending about thirty minutes on the task then whatever holds the most promise he will head that way where he starts out though he will first cast a Light on a fishing hook and use some fishing line both from his Fishing Tackle with a bit of colored cloth on the hook to a tree branch to mark his entry point in case one of his companions, etc. should seek to follow later, the light on the hood is good for an hour.

The tortle will seek to travel into the woods for about an hour, see what he can see, and then after time is up, he will head back to town figuring this would give him plenty of time to be back before dark...

Irenia shakes her head at Aishela's question as she holds the blanket to the rest of the group who are present. "No, not yet. It appears the man left the blanket here in this place. Now we just have to find where he went."

Before Elisha and Genesh went too far, Aishela would have called out, "Be on the lookout for any buried bodies, perhaps signs of a fresh grave.  The elves are masters of the land, so if they were responsible it will be very difficult to detect." 

To those who remain, Aishela says, "I would like to speak to the tavern owner and staff, and the guard.  If you've already interviewed them once, please summarize what they provided.  If not, we can go and speak to them together."  

Quote from Al_the_bard >>

Irenia shakes her head at Aishela's question as she holds the blanket to the rest of the group who are present. "No, not yet. It appears the man left the blanket here in this place. Now we just have to find where he went."

 "Agreed, he is a person of interest, most definitely," Aishela says.  "I'd prefer to learn what we can close to the scene of the crime from interviewing the tavern staff and guard first.  It might give us a better picture of this man, and where he might have gone, before we enter into a situation blindly.  Mitigate risks, and increase our awareness."  

---

Aishela welcomes any other investigators who wish to accompany her, and goes to look for the tavern staff and tavern owner, and the guard who reported the argument, to interview.  

Elisha will catch up to Genesh before he enters the woods and says: "Hold up friend. these woods may be teeming with Wood Elfs and we have all seen how they act toward outsiders. You should not go alone." 

Elisha will give a quick look around to see if anyone is lurking in the woods. perception: 14

edit: I put in the wrong modifier for the perception check (should have been +5 instead of +7} the roll should be a 19

"Also, I'd like to examine the ruins of the tavern itself," Aishela adds.  "We know the fire was not natural.  Perhaps we can learn more from examining the physical evidence itself."  She will make that one of her first stops, on their return to the "main area" of town, to see what she can learn from the ruins about how the blaze played out, and to see if there are any other objects that might shed light on the exact cause of the fire.  

Genesh pauses and waits for Elisha will catch up before he enters the woods offers a quick reply, "teeming huh... if you are coming along if we run into any Wood Elves then I'll entertain them with a song on my bongos otherwise I'm just going to take a little look about, no more than an hour."

Irenia nods and follows Aishela. "Perhaps there might be something about the tavern we don't know. Maybe it was once a former temple or home belonging to someone who has something buried there."

Aishela nods to Irenia's suggestions.  "Anything is possible, truly.   This town is at a unique intersection of progress and preservation, the ancient and the new, as well as an intersection of cultures.  Who knows what secrets lie buried there?  Well, we will, of course, soon enough.  That's our job, after all." 

Elisha rushes after the speedy tortle, Genesh having gained a short distance on her. When she arrives at the forest, she follows the fish hook and line to him. Its not hard, He's pretty much just been bumbling about in a zig-zag pattern. Ironically, however, he has managed to maintain a generally true South direction, and has wandered into the domain of something lurking in the shadows.

Elisha caught a glimpse of it, but only a flash. A stag? A bear? Some kind of huge...goat? It was impossible to tell, but it was watching from a distance. It could be caught, if you ran after it, but Genesh insists that only an hour, and no more, should be taken out here. You are just looking for horse hooves and foot steps. Neither of which could have been that large, or have had horns that big.

Back at the two story house, Alsheia conveys the results of the Alchemical tests. She suggests that they warrant speaking with the Tavern keep whom Irenia says nobody has spoken to yet. Aleshia strikes off in the direction of the town, suggesting a murder may have taken place. Irenia agrees and the two converse about the man with a blanket being a suspect and the possible ancient roots of the town. They come to the lantern post the investor stood by before going to the tavern. The direct middle of town. To the north, the first three shops and the tavern. To the South, the second three shops and the end of the cobblestone path leading to the two story house. 

Meanwhile, Tyriel sits alone at the two story house, listening to the sounds of the lonely winter forest at 2 pm. What did a "stronger fire" mean? Why did the woman leave? Why were they arguing? Why was the guard captain going to interrupt them? 

Genesh obviously continued to bumble about the woods...