The Wrong Guys IC II

[DeafnotDumb]

"Don't tell 'em I do magic." Is the only thing Jess says when out of the smuggler's hideout. "They don't know. They won't arsk, even, so you don't have to tell any lies."

Then she flips her hood over her head and walks ahead, scurrying like a cat. It's unclear why she wears the hood, because it makes her more noticeable rather than less and it's not as if there's any harsh weather raining down now that it can keep off. It does shadow her face, yes, but surely there are better ways to disguise oneself?

Inside the house, Jess hesitates a bit, and then motions Audric back a bit with her left hand. "Hey. It's Priest, with company." She calls out. "Anyone there?"

[Strawberries]

Audric nods and does as Jess says, stepping a bit back and keeping in the background. This doesn't stop him from arching a questioning eyebrow when Jess calls out. Priest? he mouths to himself, shaking his head slightly.

[Ajadea]

There is a long pause. Then a door creaks open above you and a rather mousy looking woman comes down the stairs. Her face seems too thin for the rest of her and she doesn't quite seem to know what to do with her hands. The dress she wears is nothing fancy, but it is clean and well-made, without patches or frayed hems. "P-Priest? Did you - have you -" She stops when she sees Audric, staring down from the landing with an expression of poorly hidden fear. "What - who is that with you?" She swallows audibly.

[DeafnotDumb]

Back more! Priest mouths angrily at Audric, but when she turns around her smile is again on her face. "Apologies," She said, spreading her hands wide in a placating gesture, "But I didn't want to hide him away like he was here to listen to me trick you into saying something...bad." She doesn't elaborate. "This way you can see him front and center. Ch-Sir Audric is not from here, understand? He isn't involved wit all the corruption and sin. He's here to shut that down."

She takes a deep breath and continues. "I found your child. She's not - He wants to know - to know how she was taken, so he can find those responsible and bring them to the law."

[Strawberries]

"Please, no 'sir'" Audric interjects almost automatically, but then hesitates before going on "I..." he doesn't know what to say, exactly. He isn't used to people looking at him in fear... not if they aren't mages, anyway. He should be seen a protector, not as a danger. "I am sorry for your daughter. Would you... Will you agree to talk to us?"

Spoiler

Show

Detect magic, just for the hell of it. Audric is pretty sure that the woman isn't a mage, and I together with him, but I see that as a matter of training: strange, fearful reaction to the sight of a paladin=possible magic user=detect and when necessary smite... (well, the last part is where he gets a bit fuzzy )

[Ajadea]

Audric

Spoiler

Show

The poor woman is about as magic as your average rock, which is to say, not at all.

The woman only looks marginally placated by Jess's words. "If Priest says you're not...not like him." She practically spits the last word, putting more vitriol in that one word than seems possible for such a timid woman. "I believe you. C-come on up, then. This isn't - I'd rather talk in p-private, if you don't mind. She shuffles backwards, knocking her ankles against the next step, then turns around and almost flees up the stairs.

[Strawberries]

Audric launches a quick glance to the others. His lips are pursed in a thin line. If he was still doubting Sandry's story, the woman's reaction would be all that he'd need to change his mind. "I do not mind." he answers, mildly, moving to follow the woman up the stairs.

[DeafnotDumb]

Sandry is looking hard at Audric's reaction to the outbursts, and follows him upstairs with the hint of a frown on her face.

[Ajadea]

The landing that seems to pass for a second floor is small, no more than a walkway, really. There is a door in the far wall, closed tightly, and a barrel next to the door that serves mostly to impede passage through to the floors above. A lonely wooden bowl sits on the barrel. Up the next flight of steep and narrow stairs, there is another, nearly identical walkway. No barrel blocks your way however, and the door is ajar.

[Strawberries]

Audric keeps following the woman up the stairs, pausing just for a moment in front of the door to assess if there are signs of magic around.

What am I going to tell her if her child was a sorcerer?. The paladin sighs, and gingerly pushes the door open, pushing the tought away.

[Ajadea]

Audric

Spoiler

Show

No magic, except for the magic that came here with you.

The door creaks slightly as it opens. Inside, the room is sparsely furnished. It is cut in two by a curtain. A cubic brazier, unlit, sits on a brick-topped counter in the far corner, next to a blackened pot. A basket of yarn, with two knitting needles and half a white woolen sock sticking out, lies forgotten on the floor. A small table, covered with a mostly plain white cloth, and a pair of benches stand near the door. There is a rocking chair - the only real chair in the room, in fact - adorned with a patchwork quilt and a lone cushion. The quilt is made of dull fabrics, and stitched in a seemingly arbitrary pattern.

The mousy woman has firmly ensconced herself in the rocking chair. A thin cloth bundle sits in her lap, tied up with twine. She twirls a particularly ugly and ragged tassel around one finger and does not look up when you arrive. You can see the tips of her leather shoes - not cracked, not patched, not stained. Silence pervades the room. "They were kind. Kind enough. At first." Her words are choppy and hollow; each one sounds like it was forced from her lips. "They promised us things. Gave them, too. Coin. A decent amount. A chance at steady pay. Get us out of the slums. A good life for her..." Her voice fades. "A lie, that one. Else you'd not be here."

[Strawberries]

Audric has to turn slightly sideways to fit through the narrow doorway with the armor he's wearing, and takes another couple of steps inside the room to allow the others to enter, as well. He launches a look to Sandry that clearly says help me out, here "Madam" he finally starts, slowly and carefully "We have only just arrived in this city: I am afraid we need more details that that. Could you explain us who those 'they' were?" A pause, then, in a slightly uncomfortable tone "And why they were interested in your daughter?"

[Savannah]

Rana and Shadow squeeze into a corner of the room, Rana looking quite uncomfortable. She seems strangely interested in looking at the patchwork quilt, although that might have more to do with avoiding looking at Audric, Jess, or the woman.

[Ajadea]

She rocks back and forth with a sort of nervous energy, and avoids eye contact. "I-I don't know... they said she was s-special. Said she could do it, be like that, like them. Protect the realm. Said they'd keep her safe...." She sniffles, and seems to grasp for words. "How - how could we not? Deny her that? Safety. Happiness. They said... they said the gods smiled upon her. The sun - he chose her. She'd write to us. She'd learn things like that, even." And there is wonder in her tone at that, at that sliver of long-lost hope. "They promised she'd come back to us. Not long. Just little visits... never did that. Never came back...."

[DeafnotDumb]

"We may need you to tell some other people this as well," Jess says, breaking herself away from watching Audric's expression, "But considering the possibility of someone striking back I'd like to avoid that."

She can't bring herself to say it directly. "If you want to bury her remains..." She holds out the pathetic burlap sack. "I'm sorry."

[Savannah]

"Just a moment. We do have a couple more questions."

Rana finally looks at the woman. "Why is there no record of your daughter existing before the paladins took her? And why do their records indicate she was your son?"

[Ajadea]

"Her-so she is-is-" the woman stares, stricken, at the sack. She doesn't seem to notice Rana's questions. Slowly, she stands and walks the few steps to Jess, dragging the quilt behind her like a toddler. Her free hand reaches out, recoils, then snatches the sack anyways. "Th-thank you. I-you found-thank you." Her words are choked. Tears trickle down her cheeks and she makes no move to stop them. Nor does she make any move to sit down. Instead, she remains a little too close for comfort, head bowed and sniffling loudly.

[Savannah]

Rana gives Jess an annoyed look. She steps forward, closer to the woman, "Ma'am, we need more information to help you, to...avenge your daughter's death. According to the paladin records we found, your daughter was, in fact, male. Why would they say this? Additionally, there is no record of her before they took her. Why?"

Spoiler

Show

Sense motive! (1d20+4)[18]

[Strawberries]

The paladin's expression is difficult to read, seemingly wavering between sorrow and anger, but it's clear enough that the tale and the whole situation has affected him.

He bites his lips and hesitates a fair bit before speaking. He feels like he doesn't have the right to, but still, they need the woman's help to make sure this doesn't happen again. He gives Rana a grateful look when she takes the lead.

[DeafnotDumb]

Jess backs away, like a cat sliding out of the reach of a friendly but still possibly dangerous dog. She smiles disarmingly in the face of the emotional outburst, not sure where to put herself at all. Rana's question certainly creates a reaction suddenly different from the nervousness before - her shoulders raise and her teeth almost curl back in a hiss. It is not hard to miss, even though it lasts only a brief instant before it is controlled. She opens her mouth, thinks better of it, and clamps it shut with a deadly glare.

[Ajadea]

The woman wipes her nose on her sleeve. The bones clack together softly inside the sack. "R-records? What records? Never knew 'bout any records," she says, still sounding rather congested from the crying. Her brow furrows in thought, but she seems to come up blank. "We told them things. Not much to say. Who we were. Where we were. Name day." she mumbles. "That's whats records are for, right? Keeping things like that." She seems quite confused. "Said she... why'd they do that? I know they let the girls take arms now, I saw one, patrolling streets. I know that. I don't understand.... "

Rana

Spoiler

Show

The woman is angry, sad, confused, and you might be scaring her a bit. However, she doesn't seem to be hiding anything.

DC 13 Knowledge (history, religion or local)

Spoiler

Show

The paladins keep their own records, and make sure nothing is missing. Records are taken during tax time. It's quite conceivable that the slum dwellers are not so well recorded, and according to Jess, that's exactly what these people (the Darrins, presumably) once were. However, if they gave the paladins the information the woman says they did, there is no reason there should not be proper records of 'Faolan's' existence, especially given her status as a paladin-in-training.

[Strawberries]

Spoiler

Show

Knowledge religion, first of all (1d20+4)[20]

Audric shakes his head, almost without noticing. “There must have been something”, he says. In his experience, it's rare for the church to ask for children, it's the parents that usually vow to commit them to Aldaran. That’s what happened to him, for instance, and to everyone he knows of. "Something your child could do, that brought her to their attention. Did you ever notice anything?"

[DeafnotDumb]

"It was because that there was nothing unusual about her that she was taken." Jess said slowly, firmly. "Yistin didn't want any attention coming to him. Any."

[Strawberries]

"Why her, then? Why not anybody else, and why go to such trouble as altering her sex on the records? He sighs "Sandry, I appreciate you wanting to protect these people, but if she had any power... that is something I need to know. I promise it will not change the way in which I'll handle this"

[DeafnotDumb]

"You think that he only took one child?" Jess snaps, almost a hiss, before calming down with an obvious effort. The smile is unsteady for a moment but remains on her face. She turns to the woman, taking refuge in more formal language than her usual. It suits her ill. "If you could tell Ser Audric when your child was taken, and he sees when the child on the paperwork was gone - we can find out if they are one and the same or not."

[Ajadea]

"She was very pretty, our Fiona." the woman says, eyes downcast. "I suppose she must have had some sort of power, if they thought she could become one of them... I mean, they don't just let anyone into their ranks... They took her three years ago. Maybe a bit more."

[Strawberries]

Audric nods. The dates match, but of course, he didn't think either Sandry or Fiona's mother are lying to him, at least on this matter. He just can't understand why Yistin would abduct a child, if she had absolutely no power at all. But he he's not about to ask Sandry, not right in front of the mother. "We... we will try not to involve you further" he says. He understands Jess' reasoning about wanting to shelter the woman, and shares her concerns. "But Sandry is right, it may be possible that your testimony would be needed in the future. Would you...agree to speak in front of the Order, if necessary?" He makes a small pause, considering something. "And... is there anything else you feel we need to know?"

Spoiler

Show

((It seems Audric's mind isn't wired the way mine is... he is absolutely incapable of even considering some of the scenarios I am...expecially when his Order is concerned. There IS a reason why the guy is a paladin and I'm not. ))

[Jallorn]

Antal decides it's time for something the paladin won't like, Looks like she probably wasn't a sorcerer then. Still don't get why she was made a boy in the records though, that doesn't make much sense.

[Savannah]

"Actually --" Rana starts to respond to Jallorn's statement, but stops abruptly, glancing between Audric and the woman.

Spoiler

Show

Rana's mind is not so innocent as Audric's, although she's been trying to avoid thinking too hard about it until now....

[DeafnotDumb]

"A moment, Madam." Jess says, with her too bright smile. "I think our group has something to discuss."

The mother probably wouldn't react much, given her grief, but Jess feels an obligation towards politeness here. She catches Rana and Audric's eyes and indicates outside the room with her head. The rest of the group can follow if they want.