Saus

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Drannin
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Re: Saus

Post by Drannin »

Argus bowed politely. "Father Digby, our apologies for the interruption, but the two of us are aiding in the investigation of the fire. We were wondering if you could take a moment or two to possibly shed somw light on what happened." Argus' tone was the polar opposite of what he previously used on the guard. Polite and sympathetic without being sycophantic, it was perfectly calibrated to this situation.

Making his way through Tsuiraku's social landscape in his younger days, Argus had learned that there were times when you just kissed ass and had a breath mint afterwards. This wasn't quite one of those times but similar rules applied.
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Re: Saus

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"Yes, yes, I'll be glad to help, but I don't have much time," Father Digby said. "Brother Roeland's relatives are arriving from Svizera. I feel I must be there to comfort them; I'm sure they're very upset."

Brother Miguel searched his memory -- not being a native Veracian, he didn't know the locations of things off the top of his head. Svizera. A town in the mountains somewhere up north, notable for an indigenous language that practically no one else spoke, in Veracia or elsewhere. Was it relevant to their investigations? Probably not, but he filed the fact in his memory for future reference.

"Well, I'm sure they will, so we'll try not to take too much of your time," Miguel said. "I have just two questions, in fact. First, do you know anything about the other man who was killed in the fire? Our investigation has turned up nothing on him." That was true, and Digby didn't need to know that theirs wasn't the "official" investigation.

Digby shook his head. "No, unfortunately. All I know is that his body was found under a collapsed wall, with his head crushed beyond recognition."

"And no burn marks on him?" This was all consistent with what Sister Hortense had told them, and really nothing new, but still, how could that be? Unless he'd died from crushing and been covered by the wall before the fire even got going.

"That is my understanding, but I did not inspect the body."

"Well, then," Miguel said, "my second question. Do you know whether Brother Roeland received any guests at the archive earlier today?"

"That, I can answer," Digby said. "We spoke briefly before our dinnertime service, after he'd locked up the archive." Interesting, Miguel thought; that constrains his time of death. He started to form a question on the timing, but better was yet to come, as Digby continued, "He mentioned that he'd had three visitors from Farrel, an older man and his nephew and niece. He said they were very nice and were asking about a Father Egbert, who was unfamiliar to me. I'm new here and --" He stopped in mid-sentence, noting that Argus' and Miguel's faces had assumed an aspect not unlike the storm cloud that had formed mysteriously overhead the previous evening...
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Drannin
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Re: Saus

Post by Drannin »

Damnation.

So they had a suspect. Too bad it was a little too late to do anything about it.

"Do you know these people's names?" Argus asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm afraid not," said Father Digby. "It simply never came up." He looked at the dark faces of Brother Miguel and Argus. "Er.. is something the matter?"

Argus and Miguel looked at each other. "We know who he was talking to," said Argus. "There's a fair chance that this individual is a murderer. And he has most likely already skipped town, if you will."

As Father Digby's eyes widened in shock, Argus considered that right now, he desperately wanted a very strong drink, and a highly pornographic magazine to do something for his mood.

(OOC: We've all had days like that, I suspect.)
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Re: Saus

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Brother Miguel frowned. "Father, I think we'll leave you in peace. Please give our condolences to Brother Roeland's family and colleagues. Thank you for your help." They were dismissed.

As they walked out of the abbey, Miguel said, "There's one thing I'd still like to try, if you're game. The marriage records in Veracia are made of more durable stuff than most other official records, precisely so they can survive disasters like this. If we can find them in the mess in the archives -- and that's a big 'if' -- there's a good chance they will have survived. I'd like to see if we can find the marriage record for Father Egbert's sister, so that we can at least figure out what his last name was."

Argus was surprised. "You mean you don't know?"

"That's correct," Miguel said. "Priests and nuns don't use their last names after joining the Church. It signifies their turning their backs on the old ways and being gathered to Luminosita. Even the priests who know each others' full names from before ordination are forbidden from revealing them." Argus looked skeptical, but Miguel continued, "There are records of all that, of course, but they're held at the main temple in Emerylon and treated as highly confidential. I don't think the church fathers there would let us see them, even for this investigation."

They were back at the visitors' entrance, encountering no trouble this time from the abashed-looking soldier. Miguel glanced up and saw that the two birds were still sitting in the rafters. "They're in here somewhere," he said, starting to pick his way carefully through the debris. "Our challenge is to find them. You don't remember ever mentioning Father Egbert's sister to our bogus Grumiel, do you?"
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Drannin
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Re: Saus

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"Not that I recall," said. Argus. "On the other hand, if he really is some sort of... I don't know... agent, I suppose... then he might have information sources of his own." Argus cleared some debris from his path with a gesture.

"Huh. I never realized that the Church could be so... enigmatic." He considered a fallen timber in front of him, debating whether to disintegrate it or simply bend it out of his way.
Veracians like their secrets, it would seem. But I guess that's true of everyone. Argus finally chose to just bend the timber into a more convenient position.
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Re: Saus

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"Just the 'no' was good enough, and I do mean good," Brother Miguel said. "That tells me that the marriage records should be intact, rather than ripped off by whoever set this fire, so that we should have a reasonable chance of finding something useful in them. Let's start digging." He thought, but did not say, It also tells me that I was the one who screwed up and set those three goons on the path that led them here. I'm going to have to do some serious penance for that one, but first, let's do what we came for, and maybe develop some information on them in the process.

As it turned out, it didn't take all that long to find the marriage records; they had indeed survived the fire practically intact. Miguel muttered, "Now just to sort through these, they seem to be in alphabetic order, but I still wish they had one of those crystal-ball cataloguing gadgets that you Tsuirakuans have ... AHA!" he yelled, as he found the "H" folder ...

... and shortly thereafter, a marriage record for a Mildred Kankaniel of Lorenzel and Wilbur Hamael of the Saus district.

Better yet, it was witnessed by one Egbert Kankaniel.

"Jackpot," Miguel said. "So now what?"
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Re: Saus

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"What else?" said Argus. "We go pay these individuals a visit. However, I don't want to stop there. Father Egbert was involved in something. Something big enough to send him running. I really want to know more about his background, but..." He trailed off, his face clouding over. Without warning, Argus suddenly kicked a chunk of masonry across the room with a viciousness that Miguel hadn't seen before. "Weave curse it all!"

Brother Miguel staggered back. "Argus! What's wrong?" The rage in the old man's voice startled him, to say the least. He was just beginning to realize that what he heard wad actually frustration when Argus sagged, deflated and suddenly looking quite old.

"Brother Miguel, I apologize," Argus said, quite wearily. "It just occurred to me how much... and I can't believe I'm saying this... how much I miss an old friend of mine in Tsuirakushiti. He was a private detective. Dug up dirt on people for a living. Very much in demand in that society. If there was a personal secret, he could uncover it. I still have no idea what his sources were..." he trailed off looking into the distance.

"I'll admit, I took advantage of his services from time to time." A shrug. "It was necessary for survival in that environment. The thing is, during my exile 'hearing' certain files were brought to light that I was sure I had concealed. Nothing damning... or so I thought. They were the straw that broke the camel's back. Things just went downhill when they were brought out." A very deep sigh.

Brother Miguel considered. "You think this friend of yours sold you out, don't you?"

Argus shook his head. "I don't know. I think so. He came to see me off, sort of. Just stood at a distance and looked in my general direction without meeting my eye. That's as much as a confession back h... back in Tsuirakushiti." Another deep sigh. "When I thought 'uncover someone's history,' I immediately thought 'Carwel Noozian.' But there's no way I'm going to ask him for help. Even if I could."

The two men were silent for a moment. Finally Argus seemed to collect himself. He smiled ruefully. "Sorry about that. I don't mean to get all melancholy. It's just that sometimes I remember what was taken from me by those I thought I could trust." He took a deep breath.

"Hopefully this Mildred can shed some light on Father Egbert's history. But if not... where could we go to conduct out own investigations on the matter?"

(OOC: Data dump complete. Back to the main event.)
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Re: Saus

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"Well, there are various options," Brother Miguel mused, with a bit of compassion in his voice; he could feel Argus' pain like a physical blow... But a job had to be done. "You're right that the Hamael family seems like a natural place to start, and the fact that Father Egbert would witness the marriage license makes me think that the relationship between him and his sister was pretty warm." Now why did I say "was"? As though the present tense doesn't apply any more ... "I think we should also call on those two sisters, but the Hamael home is on the way to Emerylon, so there's no gain by bypassing it. We might visit the ancestral home at Lorenzel, which is not on the way, but ... Okay, you've convinced me. We'll want to prepare more fully if we go to Lorenzel." He turned and walked deeper into the gutted archive.

"What?" Argus was puzzled. "Aren't we heading back to the temple to pick up that wagon?"

"In a minute," Miguel said. "There's one quick thing I want to check on." Argus followed him as he made his way carefully into the badly damaged main section of the archive. "If this thing is alphabetized at all, there should be a section for family names beginning with K, and a Kankaniel file in it -- if we're lucky."

There was indeed a "K" section, but it didn't take long for the men to figure out that it wasn't going to be helpful, to put it mildly. The fire damage was particularly severe in this section. The ashes were so dispersed that it was hard to tell what had ever been there, but not an intact document remained.

"Just what I was afraid of," Miguel said. "I'd just about bet that the fire started here. The only reasonable interpretation that I can come up with is that the bad guys knew Father Egbert's last name, maybe came here to look for something about the Kankaniel family, and then either took the Kankaniel records or just started the fire to cover their tracks."

He turned to go, walking as briskly as the wreckage would allow. "Seeing this, there's no doubt that your plan is the right one. We'd better get moving, because if we don't, the fake Grumiel and his, ahem, nephew and niece are going to get there first ... and that could turn out very badly."
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Drannin
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Re: Saus

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Argus looked around them, wondering vaguely if they were being followed. Still, his runes weren't buzzing... at least not now. And how could he be paranoid of every last bird that flew by? He wished he had access to his old notes. He could probably put together something more effective than what he had...

But enough. What was, was. He had a job to do. Best to focus on it and leave the past behind, until he could return to it with some very heavy artillery and and burn it until the worms choked upon the ashes. Happy thoughts like that kept him warm at night. As did booze.

A couple of hours later, Argus and Brother Miguel were preparing their cart for departure. Argus, for his part, was hoping to leave before the crazed Mesuinu girl (if she was really here) showed up. He was so focused on his surroundings that he never noticed a small mental blip in the back of his mind.

Several miles away, something stirred....
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Re: Saus

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"Wait just a minute before we go," Brother Miguel said. He clambered off the wagon and assumed a meditative position, muttering "Haven't done this in a long time..." before starting to chant quietly.

Whatever spell he was casting, it took an impressively long time and a great deal of energy; Argus could feel a depletion of the mana in the area, slight but definite. Finally, Miguel finished, panting as though he'd just run a considerable distance. The wagon glowed momentarily with a magical aura, then returned to its mundane appearance.

"What the weave was that thing?" Argus asked as Miguel climbed onto the wagon, still panting, and dropped heavily into one of the seats.

"It's called 'Luminosita's Chariot'," Miguel puffed. "A leftover from the Mage/Priest Wars; I hope that's not offensive to you. It renders the vehicle and everything in it immune to magical detection and scrying. The only thing in that vein that it can't do is break the connection between a mage and his familiar. That was a design feature from back when Veracia had useful mages outside the Church." Who, of course, were the firepower that they transported in those concealed wagons. "There's also some controversy as to whether the immunity extends to the horses or oxen or whatever is pulling the wagon, but in my own experience, it must have."

"And what experience was that?"

"Don't ask, and please forget I said that." Did Miguel blush slightly under his caramel complexion? Or was it just the effort of casting the spell? Hard to tell ... "We don't use it often, which is a good thing, because it takes a lot out of you. I'm going to have to take a nap before I do much of anything else. But I just had this nagging feeling that it was going to come in useful here."

"You may be right," Argus said. "If you'd like, I can --" But he didn't finish his sentence, because Miguel had already fallen asleep in a reclining position, his mouth hanging open. He started snoring peacefully as the wagon lurched into motion.
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