"I believe it is best we do follow the large man in shining armor. Before we leave, I would once again like to offer our services to Lady Avena. Being the only Tabaxi in all of Talia, to our knowledge, has its perks."

Aramae slowly approaches her and drops to a knee, taking her hand and softly planting a kiss before letting it rest comfortably upon his furry forehead.

"May Tisus watch over you."

He releases her hand and stands with a warm smile. He bows one last time to her before moving to begin following the Crown.

As they walk, Aramae casts Message to Edgar.

'If he asks a question of you, answer honestly, but ONLY if he asks.'

Edgar would know Aramae is referring to his religious leanings.

Lyrika grumbles, "Is the contest over?  Because someone needs to improvise a STINKER of a ditty about Count Vaclav Jezek." She follows along with the group, absent-mindedly trying out chords and muttering words that rhyme with various popular insults.

Oryxis, somewhat disappointed that his kill had been claimed by the goliath, had listened to the conversation quietly. He had some abilities to restore others around him, but the Æthling seemed well enough to him, and he liked having his reserves, just in case another surprise took you. When an opportune moment arises, the leonin speaks up.

"Oryxis of the Brightmanes, at your service. Well, actually, at the service of someone else, but glad to have helped." As he glances about, he can't seem to find his employer nearby, so he awkwardly continues: "I... er.. would have to check with my employer first... I'm meant to be his bodyguard, you see." It was almost ironic to see the mismatch between the leonin's mighty presence in battle and his clumsy speech now.

The goliath looks very confused at the all of the different reactions that he is getting. He seems to be trying to decide who to respond too before finally settling on Oryxis. "I'm afraid I must insist. As much as you all seem to have helped I have no way of knowing what side you are on. If I let you go now, who's to say you will come back? What I can do is send some of the guards to check on your employer. Who is he and where is he staying?"

“I am happy to come to the keep, but, before we go, I need to collect my gear from the main entry. They took our weapons from us as we entered. Though as I think about it, it was probably because you were here m’lady.” If Fenro appears to have permission he goes to retrieve his gear before returning to follow the Goliath. 

(Safe to assume we all collect our weapons at some point.)

"His name's Osmyos, the Silvertongued. They called him here to adjudicate the contest, but he might himself be out of a job, by the looks of it. I figure though, it might be best if he was invited to the keep too. The old skald will never forgive me, if I get to go and he won't be able to tell tales of the event. Oh, and before you're afraid of any infiltration- he's 347 years old, and you have me by your side should anything be tried against the Æthling for a second time today."

Persuasion: 23

"Silver-tongued, you say? I take it that is not a literal moniker? Either way, sounds like an interesting fellow to meet. And if he is indeed in peril, we must act posthaste!", Aramae says with a grin.

Turning to Lyrika, his grin fades and is replaced with a soft smile.

"It is a shame that you were unable to compete. But you are a winner in my book."

The Goliath nods. "We can leave the tent by that entrance and you may collect your things. And I will send guards for Osmyos, he is known to me and not someone I deem a threat, as you say. He is welcome to meet us there." He leads you out past the table where you can collect your things. He then begins to take you through the streets of the city, up toward the walled keep at it's southern point. "So, what is your problem with the young Jezek?"

"Thanks, Aramae. I will consider this a win by default, but they've defaulted on the prize as well. Ah, well, " Lyrika says. Turning to the Goliath, she adds, "It's a long story. You want me to sing it to you as we go?  My lyre is all tuned up with nothing to play."  (If he takes her up on it, she will repeat the Ballad of the Seven Idiot Brothers.)

12Following them to the table Edgar take a quick glance over all the weapons. (Anything fancy catching his eyes? With so many rich people there ought to be some fancy weapons that has t been collected yet, and with this confusion who know what might go missing? ) 

Investigation: 11
slight of hand if there is something steal worthy: oops, the roll happened at the start of the text 😳

Edgar then joins up with Lyrika and start singing the text with her. “You must teach me this song at some point Lyrika”

Lots of fancy looking weapons but nothing any more special than what you have on you. Some swords with gold blades that would make them utterly useless in a fight. The only actually useful weapons are on the attackers. Knicked and scratched to no end but all bearing the stamp of a master sword maker, a bull. 

The goliath looks down at Lyrika as he walks. "Seems to me, if I am reading between the lines of your tale correctly, that you and your brothers were as much to blame as the Count. You did ruin his wedding." 

"But was it right to force them into slave labor? And for this long? Plus, wasn't it the count that had invited them in the first place? Or at least, he did not remove them from the ceremony immediately. Seems the count is also to blame."

Persuasion attempt: natural 1 for a 7 total (Talking is supposed to be Aramae's thing! My dice do not agree :P )

(LOL!)

"Yes, true enough," says Lyrika cheerfully. "But he has no sense of humor. And what was he doing here? Was he part of the assassination attempt? What did he do during the attack? Where did he disappear to and when? Highly suspicious, if you ask me."

Edgar laugh, “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime..” he say as he pick up one of the golden weapons and follow up on the others. 

“But jokes aside, I was following him for a while, but I think he messed with my head somehow.. I suddenly got this feeling that I had to come back here and help Ara, although I new he was completely capable to take care of him self.” He look at them seriously.  

This time the Æthling nods. "The Count was invited to take in the ceremony. As you would know, since you visited his keep, he is the lord over a good bit of territory right on the border with Novgortah. It is best to have good relations with him. He is also known to be a practitioner of the arcane, so you may have experienced something of his abilities. And if he witnessed the attack he may have been fleeing like the other nobles around, and since you followed him he used his magic to turn you away. It seems to me that you are all putting your personal feelings towards him before the actual facts. As for the incident at the wedding m'lady, if I know your people like I believe I do, my guess is that you were invited and then you snuck your brothers in as well? So really the Count is just dealing with trespassers. You should feel glad that he has not taken up with some of the new church in Schirit. The followers of the God Above All do not practice forgiveness very well." 

Aramae has his arms crossed and eyes closed, doing a very exaggerated nod and saying, "Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Quite undeniable!"

He relaxes his posture and looks between the Lady and the Crown.

"Shall we begin discussing business? With the bardic competition having been effectively canceled, I now have no pressing plans that can't wait. So I am curious what you two have to offer."

"Well, I need to find another way to earn my brothers' bail, now," Lyrika says. "Or if I can't find that, I should at least find somewhere more fun to be than this. Those assassins may have missed their target, but they seem to have killed the festival. Nobody's going to be in the mood for my tunes now. If any of you know of a way for a bard to make some gold around here, my ears are wide open."

"For now you are all coming with me. Until we figure this out you five are the only living people who saw the entire attack. This is no business transaction. You're not under arrest but you're not free to go either." He leads you all up and through the front gates of the keep. You walk through narrow halls made of dark grey stone until you reach two side rooms. He opens the door to one as a dwarf with dark brown hair runs up to him and the Æthling, signaling that he needs to speak with them. "You five in here for now. We will join you once Rollo says what he has to say." He shuts the door behind you.

"Not under arrest, just temporarily held captive." 

Aramae sighs and shrugs.

He sits down in the middle of the floor and closes his eyes, silently meditating and praying to Tisus for the safety of those in town possibly attacked by the assassins.