Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on Jun 25, 2019 18:03:32 GMT
Warden's lips twitched at the assessment of Stanton, appreciating the candor with which the woman spoke. Being straightforward and not sugarcoating opinions was always Warden's approach, and it was so much easier to deal with people who felt the same way. Beating around the bush never failed to irritate the paladin, and it didn't matter that the woman wasn't the friendliest, as long as she was honest with them.
Taking the vanishing barrier as a cue to follow the woman inside, Warden did so and chose a stool to perch on, her focus remaining on the woman rather than peering around the shack as that seemed a little rude. She nodded with a serious expression, brow furrowing as she took in the details provided. "You could be right. We might not be able to do anything, but it only seems fair to discover if that's truly the case or not. I'd hate to leave if there was something we could have done.
Was there any kind of pattern to people going strange, like timing or location? When did you first notice it starting up?"
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Post by moralhazard on Jun 25, 2019 18:23:31 GMT
It took everything Miri had not to laugh at Echo. Everything. For a few moments, all she could think about was holding back the laughter that seemed to be bubbling up somewhere in her chest and threatening – threatening –
Luckily for all of them, the old woman began to speak. As subtly as she could, Miri coughed into one hand, cleared her throat, shot Echo the most amused look she could behind the old woman’s back, and followed her into the shack. She settled down on some of the pillows, propping one elbow against a stool, managing to not actually spread out (it was a small shack) but look as if she were.
And so: the truth of Wellholm. Stanton was an idiot (Miri had suspected it, but it was good to have confirmation), people had gotten strange and then started leaving. Miri leaned back a little, gazing thoughtfully up at the ceiling, shifting comfortably against the pillows. Warden was asking good questions again; Miri nodded a little. Any kind of pattern on timing or location, when did it start.
“Did it start before or after the girl went missing?” Miri asked, narrowing the question slightly. In her experience, and she had plenty of experience asking questions, people were better at before or after than they were at open-ended things. She sat up a little straighter, looking at the old woman. She paused, reluctant to pile on another question, but ultimately unable to help herself. Despite her many, many reservations - and desire to be compensated - Miri was starting to get curious. “… have others gone missing as well, or just the one girl?”
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on Jun 25, 2019 22:00:33 GMT
The Maybe Lady peered at the three of them for a good couple seconds – wrinkled, beady eyes lingering the longest on Echo herself – and the tabaxi just gave a little wave in return. Her tail twitched. Did…did she know? The Maybe Lady? Echo scratched her neck, half-listening as the lady called Stone Town an idiot (Which, like, honestly? Fair.) and then moved to let them all inside. Like, she had to! How could she not look into, uh, any mirror or puddle or really, really shiny rock and not notice all…that.
The treasure hunter caught Miri’s look, gave her an exaggerated shrug and point as the lady turned away, and then snerked as she followed after. Cat Lord, it was all sooooo weird!
Echo squinted, and her whiskers flicked, at the slightest of shimmers vanishing from the doorway as they entered the place. Huh! Even, uh, weirder! Strange glittering stuff aside, though, the inside of the shack itself was…pretty cool, actually! Homely, even. In a squat and round Maybe Lady living in a decrepit shack on the outskirts of town kind of way. Stools, pillows, and other bits and pieces of furniture were scattered around the cramped room, tucked in and around the jumble of herbs and assorted bottles the tabaxi had spotted earlier. The Maybe Lady hobbled over to the one rocking chair in the whole place, sitting down in it with a puff of her pipe, a wish-washy gesture, and a woody groan that sent shivers down Echo’s tail. Yikes! Poor chair.
Honestly? How was, like, anything in this shack still standing? At all.
Echo kept to her feet as the other two took a seat, moving over to one side of the shack and leaning a hand (carefully!) against the wall. She listened there for a little bit – something in town changed, people were mean (uh, duh?), Warden asking about strange patterns and stuff, blah, blah, blah. The tabaxi did pause at one thing, though, her ears perking as she frowned. She then mumbled maybe just a little too loudly to herself.
“Wait…seriously? Like, all of them? Maybe magic? Or…no way. No way! With someone else? Ugh!”
Yuck! Who would do that with…her? Like that? Gross. Still, the tabaxi’s growing curiosity was really just set on the one thing she was leaning over – the pretty and pretty cool looking clutter around them and, after a short while, her attention shifted to that. Bent over slightly, tail swishing, and nose wriggling at all the funny smells there, the treasure hunter began to poke around the different bottles, herbs, and other stuff lying around with a clawed finger. Ha! A red and gold bottle here. A dusty herb there. It was just like that one shop in Waterdeep! The one with the bratty teenager – the Big Place of Awesome Things? Or something? Whatever.
It was only when the missing girl was mentioned that Echo, ears flipping up, rejoined the conversation.
“Oh!”
Spinning around, the tabaxi opened her mouth and then quickly inhaled as her outstretched hand, following her body, caught and flung one of the glass bottles off the shelf. Hard. Uh oh! Echo lunged for it and was just able to catch it by the neck, standing on one foot while the other and her tail kept her balance. She then teetered a little as Echo gave the Maybe Lady an apologetic grin.
“Tell us about her, too! The girl, I mean. I, uh, heard that no one was able to find her, but if you’re…y’know…related to basically everyone here, maybe you know something more about it?”
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Post by Kai Wren on Jul 1, 2019 19:02:04 GMT
The old woman listened to the questions in silence, and only when they had all finished did she stand up with a heavy grunt, and walk over to Echo. She craned in to examine the woman’s head with a squinting eye, before she gave a second, dismissive, grunt and walked back to her chair, to throw herself heavily into it.
“Funny.” She said, “I don’t see any sign of a head injury. But it’s nice of you girls to take her out for walks I suppose.”
She tapped her pipe thoughtfully for a few moments as she let her mind drift back over recent events.
“That depends on what you believe.” She says, at last. “How many have gone missing, I mean. We’ve always been a quiet place. Spread out. We don’t go prying into each other’s business.”
A beat.
“But we all know each other pretty well. If I had to guess, I’d say I noticed it when the Roots moved out. Packed up their farm and headed off. Wouldn’t say why. Folks got more insular, distant. That was three months back. Lost the Swallows and James’ since then, too, and then the girl…”
She trailed off, shaking her head slowly.
“Nobody saw the James’ leave. Dead of night. Did they really head off? Ain’t impossible. Place is dyin’. Farmhands ain’t stayin’ and people’re spooked. Might just have decided to seek greener pastures. Couldn’t blame ‘em.”
Her nose wrinkled in distaste.
“That damn Abbess up at the convent has been stirring it up. Sayin’ it’s all because we ain’t praying hard enough. Callin’ me a witch.”
She gave a short, unpleasant bark of laughter.
“Next thing she’ll be saying I cooked the girl up in a pot, I bet you.”
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on Jul 1, 2019 19:20:47 GMT
Warden winced as the poor woman was confronted with an avalanche of questions, though she couldn't blame her companions for being curious or wanting to contribute. She was about to apologize nonetheless, until the woman eyed Echo and dismissed her so abruptly. True, the tiefling didn't know her companion very well and thought her more than a little odd, but who was this woman to speak about her in such a way? If they didn't need answers, Warden would have said as much aloud...but they did, and so she contented herself with silently bristling at that woman's manners.
She folded her arms and frowned as she listened to the answers given, taking note of the names. It wouldn't hurt to prod other neighbors and see if they had anything else to add, should said people not be scared off by a tiefling and a tabaxi. (Maybe Miri should be the one to lead that effort, if Warden could stop herself from interjecting.)
"Who owned the smithy? I saw that the path there was overgrown, doesn't look like anyone's been home in a while.
....convent, huh? Think they would talk to us, or just toss holy water at me to see if I melted? Wouldn't be the first time...."
She shook her head, not about to elaborate. "Do you think the convent folk are capable of starting anything on their own, maybe trying to win the remaining people back? Though with villagers leaving left and right, it seems a pretty bad gamble."
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Post by moralhazard on Jul 2, 2019 0:07:40 GMT
Miri’s face was twitching almost uncontrollably at Echo’s comment, and at the elderly woman’s examination of their companion, she nearly lost it, burying her face in her hands, shoulders shaking with silent, suppressed laughter. She attempted to mask it with a bout of fake coughing, with – well – mixed success.
The Roots, the Swallows, the James; once the old woman started speaking, Miri managed to get herself under control, listening despite herself. Miri frowned a little. People leaving without saying why – very interesting. She shifted in her seat.
“I can go to the convent,” Miri offered, grinning a little too broadly, an edge of something a little wicked in her voice. She sat up straighter, feeling steadily more curious as the conversation wore on. “Whose convent is it, anyway?”
Miri paused, thinking again. “… Wait,” she said, slowly. She hadn’t realized before, but Stanton had said the girl had gone missing four or five weeks ago. Ell, he’d named her. But she could have sworn that priest told them it had been half a year since the first disappearance. Miri shifted a little, feeling an odd twinge. “… anybody new come around recently?” She asked. “Maybe half a year back?”
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on Jul 8, 2019 20:36:44 GMT
Phew!
Echo righted herself with a swish of her tail, turned away from the Maybe Lady and the other caravan guards, and then slipped the bottle back onto the shelf with another swish. Carefully. Echo hummed, nudging the bottle a little farther back from the edge. A little farther back. Even farther back. There! The bottle now all the way up against the shack wall, she sighed. That was, uh, a close one! Giving the glass a little pat, the tabaxi began to turn back. It would have, like, really sucked to make a bad first impressi-
“Ah!”
Black. Dull. Wrinkly. Old. The Maybe Lady’s beady eyes were only inches away from her own (Cat Lord, how the heck did she hobble so fast!?), squinting, as she studied the treasure hunter. Echo jumped away, slamming her back into the shelf and knocking the same bottle off again. It shattered against the floor.
Oops. But, also, like, what in the Nine Hells?
“Um…hi?”
The lady hobbled, wordlessly, back to her seat a moment later, leaving Echo with her head cocked, an eye raised, and shooting a confused look or two at Miri and Warden. Then the Maybe Lady said something or other about taking…her…out for walks? Echo scrunched her nose. What – her? Who her? Her who? She then frowned. And what head injury? The bump she had gotten from, uh…trying to show the Urchin Bunch a double backflip off the Notch’s bar counter a few days ago had already healed, so what did she…like…wait. Wait!
“Hey!”
The Maybe Lady was already busy talking with the tabaxi’s other two companions. That was, uh, kinda rude, actually! Echo huffed, placing both hands on her hips, and lashed her tail. She stuck her tongue out. Echo could, like, take her own dang self out on walks – thanks! Or…something like that. Honestly, that had sounded a whooooole lot better in her own head before she had gone out and said it! In her head. Huh.
Echo squinted, ears flicking as the lady barked out a grating cackle. She muttered.
“Bet you are, like, a dumb witch, though. Eating all kinds of kids. Sounds like something a mean lady thing would do!”
Still…it was some okay information, at least. A start. Kinda. Not much on the missing girl herself, though, which Echo frowned deeper at. Maybe she really had been cooked up? It was, uh…a gross thought! Gross and sad. Hopefully not!
“Where did the Roots all live?”
Cleaning her throat, Echo poked herself back into the conversation, keeping her eyes on the floor and mostly talking into the space between all four of them. She did give the old lady a bit of a side stink eye, though. They needed to know more, sure, but…Cat Lord, had she mentioned she hated this whole place already?
“And, like, also with the others. What I mean is, uh…was there anything that they all had the same? Same spooky nighttime visitor. Farms next to the Woods of Dark and Evil Terror. Porcelain dolls. That kind of thing?”
Echo tapped a claw against her chin. Maybe there was a connection between all the disappearances? She shrugged. At least, like, outside of living in a podunk village in the middle of nowhere. Which, like? Was reason enough if everyone here was being honest. Especially with bitter Maybe Ladies like this hobbling around!
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Post by Kai Wren on Jul 10, 2019 17:40:01 GMT
Q5GCD9d51d20+101d20+10
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Post by Kai Wren on Jul 10, 2019 17:48:59 GMT
WHACK.
The moment the glass shattered, the old woman’s cane smacked out against Echo’s shins, before she hobbled back and away from the Tabaxi. She shook her head, leaving the poor woman to wonder just what in the hells she was actually dealing with here. Perhaps calling her a witch wasn’t the smartest life choice that the treasure hunter had ever made – but then, making smart life choices didn’t seem to be a specialty. Perhaps it also wasn’t the worst.
“Clean up the mess you’ve made, young lady, or I’ll plant my stick where the sun doesn’t shine and mop it up myself. And that's enough of your lip.”
Much of her good humour was evaporating, much like the strange, viscous fluid in the glass that Echo had smashed in her increasingly-determined efforts to make an enemy for life out of the woman who was very definitely not a witch.
“That’s Gilda’s place.” She said, to Warden. “No great mystery there. Poor dear hasn’t been well since her daughter up and left to go to the big city. She hasn’t bothered to tend the path. Don’t think she’s much interested in customers, either. The ungrateful little harlot doesn’t even write to her poor, dear old mother any more. But that’s city folk for you.”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“Maybe they will start something. Maybe they won’t. The Abbess is always looking for an excuse to bring out the fire and brimstone. Tell good folks how they ought to live their lives to avoid the plagues the Gods visit on us. Couldn’t get a stone in your shoe without her claiming it was divine intervention. Can’t imagine they’d be big fans of the horns.”
She huffed as she leant back in her chair again, and shook her head slowly.
“They call themselves the Daughters of the Sun. Lathander, I think it is. Can’t say as I have much faith in them or their God myself.”
(Take a point of damage, Echo)
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Post by moralhazard on Jul 13, 2019 13:46:29 GMT
Miri had the hang of it now, and there was a solemn look on her face at the chastisement of Echo by the old lady, accompanied by a slow, meaningful shake of her head, making the tight curls of her hair bounce slightly. She did her best to convey gravitas and sorrow at her companion’s behavior, but honestly it was hard enough to keep from laughing again.
The stick was a pretty good motivator though.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Miri offered the apology on Echo’s behalf, shooting the tabaxi a very meaningful look (or at least glaring at her for about half a second in the hopes that she’d understand).
Daughters of the Sun, Lathander. Miri made a face and shrugged; it didn’t mean much to her.
“Any new arrivals?” Miri asked, again. “Any time in the last - half year, even the last year?” How long had Mr. Finch and his waterwheel been around, anyway? From the look of the thing it couldn’t be that new. “Has anything changed at the convent?” Miri wasn’t quite sure the approach was helpful. All they had really confirmed so far was that people had gotten strange and started leaving. Maybe living in Wellholm just sucked; Miri had to admit it was a possibility.
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on Jul 18, 2019 19:26:46 GMT
"...really? Sweet Selune...." In contrast to Miri's amusement, Warden heaved a sigh and rested her face in her palm for a moment. She just wanted answers, not to bear witness to...whatever this nonsense was. Whether Echo deserved what she'd gotten, the tiefling still narrowed her eyes at the old woman who responded by smacking the tabaxi with her cane. It reminded her all too well of certain past caretakers, and though she attempted to focus beyond that to the present, it wasn't easy. Miri's questions helped provide some focus, though, and Warden latched onto those as she did to the old woman's verbal response.
"Daughters of the Sun? I've always been more of a moon person, myself. That'll probably be even more reason for them not to receive me well, but whatever." Honestly, it was more of a surprise when that wasn't the case. People always seemed to have a reason for suspicion and if one wasn't obvious, they'd create it.
Hm, Gilda. Warden's expression grew thoughtful as she absorbed the information. "Gilda and her daughter, were they close? If they were, it seems really odd that she wouldn't send any word back in all that time. Is there any proof that she made it to the city?" Maybe it was nothing, maybe this weird decrepit town was making her paranoid, but with the situation as it was, any detail could be important. Still, if the old woman couldn't elaborate beyond that then perhaps it was time to ask Gilda herself. She didn't want Miri and herself to overstay their welcome, as Echo clearly had already.
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on Jul 19, 2019 18:08:56 GMT
“Ow!”
Echo yelped, foot lifting with both hands over where the Maybe Lady’s cane had just thwacked her (hard!) in the shin as she hopped around. Like, ow! Ow! The tabaxi was just careful enough to avoid slamming into the same shelf again. Or hopping right across the shards of sharp and pointy glass all over the floor now. That would have been, uh, pretty bad too! Ow. She had stepped in glass before. A couple times at the Notch, at least.
It hurt. A lot!
Even more than the light throbbing in her leg now. The tabaxi’s ears flicked, though, and she hissed as the Maybe Lady ordered her to clean up the mess and shut up or she’d thwack her again. Again! Cat Lord, this lady sucked! She was bitter and mean and rude and mean and awful! Rubbing her shin one last time, almost slamming it back against the floor (uh, ow…), and then spinning around to face the old woman, Echo glared and opened her mouth. She then caught Miri’s look as the other caravan guard apologized for her. It was…a little amused, maybe, but mostly she looked concerned. Angry? Or just aware that Echo was prooooobably about to say something that would, like, super piss the Maybe Lady off. Which, like…was the point? She was the worst!
Echo looked from Miri, to the Maybe Lady, to Warden who was now leaning hard into her palm, and then back to Miri, and then sighed. Ugh! Fine. Fine!
“Right. Sorry.”
The treasure hunter nearly hissed through clenched teeth, but she leaned back against the wall and snapped her fingers. A disembodied and shimmering orange hand popped into existence next to her. Echo clicked her tongue. The hand, floating just for a moment next to another glass bottle on the shelf, then zoomed down to the floor and began to push the glass shards and what was left of the weird liquid into a little, mushy pile.
At the same time Echo, ears up and still shooting a glare or two at the Maybe Lady, kept listening. It was, uh, pretty obvious that she was ignoring the tabaxi now. A hard ignore. Which…okay, fair. Echo’s two companions seemed eager enough to keep the conversation going on their own, at least. The treasure hunter hummed. Gilda. The Abbess. The Gods. Lathander. Mr. Finch. Selune. Lots of names. Lots of possible suspects! Maybe. It was still, like, very (very) possible they had all just skipped town because it was boring as heck.
But…maybe one of them would lead to the missing girl! Echo tapped a claw against her chin. She was not about to, uh, ask another question and risk getting a whacking again, but the tabaxi had spent a little bit (like…a lot of bit) of her time either on the road or in taverns, inns, and dance halls. Maybe she could remember something about the Daughters of the Sun and Lathander? A roadside rumor or whispered secret or even the babblings of an overly drunk priest?
Hmmmmm.
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Post by Kai Wren on Jul 28, 2019 13:52:22 GMT
The old woman frowned a little, and then shook her head to Miri, "If there were newcomers causing trouble, I'd have brought that up first." She said, "People don't come here to stay. They don't come here at all if they can help it. We pay our tithes, live our lives, and stay out of everyone's way. That's just how it is."
That in itself wasn't so unusual - there are countless little villages dotted around the countryside, supported by and supporting farms which produce the food to keep the world fed. This attitude was fairly commonplace. They couldn't care less what the outside world was doing so long as it didn't bother them.
She shrugged her shoulders to Warden, pursing her lips in thought. "No more or less close than any other mother and daughter." She said, "The girl wanted her freedom so she went off. It is how these things go.
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Post by moralhazard on Jul 28, 2019 15:29:46 GMT
Miri glanced over at Echo, saw the tabaxi on the verge of opening her mouth once again, flinched, exhaled in relief when Echo tapped her chin instead, and turned back to the elderly midwife.
“Of course,” Miri said wryly, tilting at the waist in the faintest echo of a bow. Yes, she should probably have known better.
“Well, ma’am,” Miri said. “Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. I think we’ve bothered you enough for now.” She rose, and took a firm grasp on Echo’s arm and raised an eyebrow at Warden, not sure if the tiefling might have other questions and very much hoping that the tabaxi did not.
Once they got outside, assuming no one else kept trying to drag answers from the old woman, Miri would let Echo go and make a slight face. “Why not go talk to Gilda?” She asked, looking between her two companions. “Her daughter left after all, even if it was just to go to the city.”
“Then,” Miri grinned, shoving her hands in her pockets, “I suppose I’ll have to be the one to check out these daughters of the sun. Lathander, though!” Miri made a face.
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Jarovbees
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Playing: Solstice (Paladin 6)/Umbrae (Sorcerer 1/Warlock 4)/Avren Wands (Rogue 2/Sorcerer 1)
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Post by Jarovbees on Jul 28, 2019 15:59:04 GMT
Warden gave the old woman a respectful nod. She herself could be a little rough around the edges, but that wasn't to say she couldn't remember some manners when it counted. "Thank you for your time." The tiefling departed last, ensuring that Echo was out of the home before another clash of personalities happened.
Pausing a few paces away, she nodded at mention of Gilda. "It can't hurt, I guess. There's always a chance she knows something the old woman doesn't, and at this point, any detail could be a proper lead. As for the daughters of the sun...." Warden shrugged. "I can see if my status as a paladin will impress them enough to open up? Wrong god, but still. Religious folk tend to respect the power of such an oath. And if they don't, you two will probably come in handy a lot more than myself."
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