Fortune's Favor IC III

[AquilaRift]

"Theoretic?? Theoretic?! ...what's theoretic mean?"

"I presume it means he doesn't use it."

"So...YOU don't use any of it, and I'M made of it. And I don't even know what I'm making, so how can I destroy anything with it or whatever you just said?"

Elias leans back in his chair and steeples his fingers. "You ask me how ignorance can be destructive? Surely you can answer your own question if you stop to think."

[Kelvin360]

The thrum of the crowd is a heartbeat to match the stilled breaths and long footfalls of the executioner's escort, echoing in the incredulous whispers and forlorn silence of those assembled. Evil had come to this community, and what was more, it had come from within, pushing out hidden biases and the edges of suspicion and terror like pustules surfaced by some vile disease. And the culprit - at least, in the eyes of those who knew no better - stood in the midst of her armor-plated entourage, high shoulders and a defeated gaze plodding forward, a corruption of what may, in her mind, have eventually been a queen and her honor guard.

The guards themselves are only a formality. In truth, one would be hard-pressed to care whether the former wizard met her end via the noose that awaits her not a dozen more steps ahead or an angry mob. Justice would be done either way. But if such thoughts had taken root, not a one steps forward to make good on them.

The mass of people is a strange stew of new and old, the outraged and the curious and the confused. Boudicca strokes her chin and exchanges terse words with Marjani. Both women hold an undercurrent of electric energy, of anticipation, though for different reasons. Behind them, the local herbalist has an expression of undisguised distaste, but perhaps Samnang's presence keeps him from speaking his mind. Adam and the Mayor are not with the Baroness in body or spirit, and they alone seem to be actively mourning the event - more likely, remembering what once was.

Visiting druids, Eravan among them but Jonwyn not, have made their own circle far from anyone else. They are here only to see, not to interfere. Miviryn, it seems, has summoned the strength to attend for the sake of her daughter's resting spirit, and the guards Timmes and Valeigh have seen fit to flank her for protection as much as solidarity.

Some of the crowd barely restrain themselves from loud jeering, while others whisper clarifications to one another. How did this happen? Why did this happen?

That question will have to be buried by the hand of Tagrus Fae, who has readied the noose and waits, expressionless, to carry out his duty. He forces Chartessa to her place in front of his with a gentleness at odds with the violence that will be the next few minutes, and looks to the Barony beside him.

Where are you, and what are you doing?

[Winds]

Lea waits among the crowd, as close as she can get without being jostled as people move to see what's happening. She watches Chartessa for any signs of spellwork...not the Lea is particularly equipped to recognize it.

[WindStruck]

Where was Adrexah? It was hard to say... apparently she had lost track of time and could not return to the former Mural's estate to meet with the others. She followed the chatter regarding an execution and unusually large amount foot traffic going a single direction to get to where she presumed to be the execution.

Eventually she found herself somewhere amidst a crowd, unable to find any of her old friends through the immense amount of gossip, though she was quick to correct some nearby people when they got a crucial detail wrong.

[AquilaRift]

Elias is also in the crowd, his cloak and hood hiding his face. Less because he doesn't want to be recognized, more because he doesn't trust his control over his expression. Much like Lea, he is watching the condemned.

[Kelvin360]

Were it even possible to weave arcane gestures in manacles, she certainly isn't trying. Her lips are shut tight in an expression of defeated contempt. Adrexah can feel a presence behind her, but not an unfamiliar one. "A shame we couldn't reunite under better circumstances," Orin briefly intones from a respectful distance, evidently having come along with Boudicca to observe.

"Chartessa Idman Murals." It does not take an excess of volume to carry the Baroness' proclamation across the crowd, but in the absence of the city's usual bustle it is all but a lion's roar. "The city of Fortune's Favor has found you guilty of Murder Most Foul. As per our laws, you are now to be hung by the neck until dead. Have you any last words before the sentence is carried out?"

What comes next is hardly a murmur, inaudible to all except Tagrus, Miriam, and Draco (and perhaps Adrexah). But whatever is said, it drains the color from the Baroness' face as well as any spell. When she cannot bring herself to speak, it is the Baron that gives the order with a scowl. "Proceed."

[AquilaRift]

As the executioner steps forward, Elias stops looking around the crowd and fixes his gaze on Chartessa. He does not intend to blink until the noose tightens. Surely someone with such magic at her disposal -- even if she claimed it had been stripped away -- would have some kind of contingency plan. Or Contingency plan. Not rational thoughts, perhaps, but having slept in the house where she murdered her niece, Elias has difficulty banishing them.

[WindStruck]

Adrexah's eyebrows furl. Who the hell was this witch talking about now? The Baron? Maybe someone else they lost long ago? She supposed it didn't matter. It probably took that woman the whole time in her prison just to plot that one little zinger. Well Adrexah could think of one in only a second.

<Elven> "Good riddance," she muttered.

[Winds]

Lea keeps watching. If anything was going to happen, it would be now. Even people who expect to die often get desperate when the time actually comes, after all...

[Kelvin360]

Tagrus steps forward, noose in hand. For a brief moment, it almost seems that he is uttering a prayer, but then his arms weave into action and his fingers wrap taut around the lever beside him. It is quick, perhaps owing to her frailty. The most startling piece of the whole affair is the pulling of the lever and the harsh snap of the opening trapdoor. The whole of the city and town watch in full with morbid fascination as her body swings, then gasps, then chokes, and finally is still. Years from now, local legend will repeat the rumor that the very wind sighed its relief in tandem with her last breath, but it is hard to see anything so mystical in the now. She is simply a dead woman, and no more.

The crowd begins to disperse.

[AquilaRift]

Elias lets out a long, shaky breath. Then he turns and begins making his way to the house to rendezvous with the others.

[WindStruck]

For a little while, Adrexah stood there letting the crowds disperse around her before attempting to navigate amongst them. It probably wasn't a good idea to try squeezing between the unseen people and risking tripping over anyone. No point rushing.

For the time being, while standing there, she pondered what to do. Should she approach the baroness and ask her about what Chartessa said? But then again, it was probably inconsequential. Oh yeah, and the Baron hated her... sure Adrexah has bad tastes, but even asking about that in front of him probably was an incredibly stupid idea. Hmm...

[Winds]

Lea shakes her head at the whole situation. She wasn't in any position to feel anything in particular for Chartessa, but this form of execution was almost always unpleasant.

She turns to meet at the others at the house, ready to move on to the next problem...

[Kelvin360]

In case anyone was concerned over Bria's whereabouts, she makes an appearance here, talking with Davand right outside the front door. They appear to be making a reconciliation, or at least small talk in the absence of open hostility. Marjani and Boudicca seem to have ducked into Defendor Investigations to discuss something, and Samnang is double-checking the mausoleum before anything else.

"You know they won't let me do last rites?" Bria opens when the group arrives. "I think the Baroness wants to do it herself, but what really bothers me...is I don't know if I'd want to do it. It seems callous after putting her victim to rest, know what I mean?"

Davand butts in and just as quickly quiets himself. "I'd have figured you'd be more wary about the demon-summoning, or the clones, or the nec-...er, sorry."

[WindStruck]

"To rest..? Ah, right," Adrexah says. "Well to be fair, don't ghosts usually come about when the dead don't get their last rights? Or something like that. In any case, we wouldn't want the ghost of that woman haunting us, I don't think."

[Kelvin360]

"But Denara got her last rites and she's still-" Clearly Davand didn't get the memo to not tell the cleric about the ghost.

[WindStruck]

"Still with us? Haha, I get that feeling too in that creaky old house," Adrexah says, chuckling nervously. "But it's a good thing it's not actually haunted, otherwise Bria here might feel most obliged to go in and exterminate anything unnatural in there..." she said. If only she had the eyes, her voice would be glaring a hole right through Davand.

Spoiler: Bluff

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(1d20+1)[7]

Crap. Bria was totally going to find out.

[AquilaRift]

Elias reacts with surprising calm. "The sooner Chartessa is safely in the ground, the better. Now who were the jurors who found her innocent...?" He can only hope a quick subject change will be more effective than Adrexah's regrettably unsubtle cover.

[Kelvin360]

Davand is failing at hiding his embarrassment with a fake cough and Bria sure as the hells looks suspicious - she's not great at lying either - but she lets it go.

Between Marjani's hassling and other miscellaneous investigations, the suspect list numbers four.

Meyer Wilkes is the local has-been, son of a well-respected miner who fostered and then slowly drained away his good will with a series of increasingly far-fetched schemes to increase the productivity of the mines. All that's left to his name is his late father's house in the city, virtually barren of its former heirlooms, pawned off to cover his debts and his abuses of various substances. Notably, Wilkes declared Chartessa innocent like the other three suspects, but was the only one who did NOT also declare Davand guilty.

Stenar Moor is quiet and something of a local Renaissance Man. Rather the opposite of Wilkes, he's subtly amassed enough wealth over the years to make a comfortable living among his many hobbies in the City, where he keeps to himself unless called.

Coleard Bryant fills the unenviable position of being generally unpleasant and also an emotional punching bag. Despite his drive and, as some would grudgingly admit, his actual talents, no one really takes him seriously when he tries to put up an accomplishment, and his short temper but shorter stature make him easy to dismiss.

Madeline Tirell seems the most likely to be an outright collaborator with Murals, if only because of their similarities. The gods evidently couldn't stand one archetypal racist, screaming old hag, so they made two and put them both in the same place. She's currently estranged from her daughter, who is well into term (though fortunately for her safety, the unmarried father is human) and gladly parrots her mother's desire to never be seen in public with one another.

Wilkes is often in the tavern, unsurprisingly, Moor tends to frequent the City's apothecary, Coleard has his own home in the Northern section of the City's apartments district, and Tirell readily bemoans her problems at the pigeons in the City garden.

[WindStruck]

"Hmm..." Adrexah ponders. "Well that Tirell woman definitely seems like the most obvious candidate. But would she actually have the gumption to do anything? ...then again, I wouldn't know. People thought Mrs. Murals was just a harmless albeit eccentric woman, and look what happened..."

"Wilkes could have probably just been too drunk to make good judgements, and Bryant.. well, considering he isn't human, I'd find it hard to believe he's in some kind of racist cult. Stenar Moor though... there's something definitely off about him..."

Adrexah claps her hands together. "Well! How do you all want to go about this? Maybe if the old harpy really does just blab to a bunch of birds, I can just sit somewhere out of sight and ... listen?"

[Winds]

Lea grins at that.


"You're not wrong, but what if she's paying attention to who's nearby? Can you hide well enough for that?"

[WindStruck]

"I'd have no idea if I am a shadow or I stick out like a sore thumb. But I can hear things from pretty far away... Well, I guess someone would need to help me find a good place to sit down first."

[Winds]

"Happy to help. Quietly. I don't actually have the title that's supposed to make this legal, after all."

[WindStruck]

"Speaking of which, what is that title again? Justices? Regents? Archons? Grand Poobahs?"

[AquilaRift]

"Wardens," Elias says. "And yes, Tirell is obvious... but from her reputation I doubt she was privy to many secrets. She seems far too straightforward about her hatred. All four are worth investigating, naturally, but I agree with Adrexah. Moor keeps such a low profile that one has to wonder if he's hiding something."

[Kelvin360]

Bria taps her chin. "I've seen Wilkes at the tavern before. He's easy to miss, doesn't make a fuss. He only strikes me as...sad. He might be the type to talk about whatever you like so long as you give him someone to talk to."

"Coleard...Coleard Coleard Coleard..." Davand murmurs. "I think I remember him playing with my brother when they were boys. He wasn't...mean, he just had something to prove. I think he was around Thomas so much because we took him seriously."

[AquilaRift]

"That plan gives us a lead on Tirell, at least, assuming it works. After that, it gets more complicated... Lea's the most personable of us, and least visibly involved in the trial, but if Wilkes is as prejudiced as Chartessa, I'm not sure he'd willingly accept a drink if she bought it for him. No offense intended, but you are not the sort of half-elf who can easily pass for human."

[Winds]

Lea's voice is completly deadpan.

"Goooosh. I'm not sure I ever noticed that."

She shrugs.

"I'll think about it, see what I can come up with."

[Kelvin360]

The founders never had a tangible presence of nature in their group, nor did they see the benefit of applying 'too much green' to their original blueprints (historians tend to cite their massive running tally of 'those damn assassin vines' as the reason for their suspicion of greenery). In fact, the arboretum, from which the alchemy shop derives most of its ingredients, was an initiative by the citizenry to begin with, and canny eyes will note that it is entirely closed off from the outside but for a single door. This lack of a green thumb would go a long way to explaining why the 'park' is one tree of moderate size, a few flowers, and a much larger fountain - more like a miniature moat, really - that encapsulates the whole affair. Stone benches and other seats have sprung up around it over time, but it's never exactly been a popular tourist spot. Even Tirell has been heard to complain that it blocks her view of the front gates while in her apartment, and she tends to be the sole visitor.

And speaking of Tirell...

Absent of too much hustle and bustle Adrexah and Lea can make out her mutterings to the birds before too long. She's not feeding them so much as throwing breadcrumbs at them viciously and then watching them lap up the evidence of attempted avian murder.

"...as though I'd never done anything for the little strumpet. Who fed and clothed her for almost two bloody decades, and even allowed her precious closet space, eh? Only to throw it all away on some lowlife bastard, the gall..."

[WindStruck]

Adrexah paused, shifting a bit with Lea. That kind of sounded like a woman that would off her daughter. Or niece... given the means and the gumption.

(Where are we exactly?)