Though there is little more than tack in the stables, Rondald grabs the halters and lead ropes and the saddle bags as he searches around for other things...  He checks in the saddle bag briefly... this had been where his medical kit as well as his potions had been kept... two more things he was fairly sure he hadn't seen upstairs...

Rondald thanks the man and the two head back upstairs to their room, stowing away what they have and cleaning up what little is left.  Rondald quickly finds that his medical kit is indeed missing, and neither can he find the potions amongst the mess.  Terri takes the moment to change out of her new dress, putting on her normal clothes... though she keeps on her new necklace just to be safe.

It is well into the afternoon by the time that Rondald and Terri make their way down to the front room of the inn, Terri's anger now entirely replaced with a sense of concern and anxiety.  The inn keeper stands at the counter, smiling as Rondald and Terri make their way into the common room.

"Afternoon folks!"  He says jovially.  "Can I offer you a late lunch?  We've had a lamb stew going since this morning that's as savory as I've seen!"

OOC:  Just to be clear.  You had all your money.  Not all your valuables.  You took your weapons within reason, and your money, though that was the extent of it.

Despite the innkeepers jovial attitude, Rondald is much more serious.

"There are more pressing matters than food, sir. Your establishment it seems has very lax security, and we have been robbed of all valuables. My weapons and first aid kit and a number of other items are also missing. I will enjoy my food much more when they are recovered..."

The more significant valuables would be known to us, no? Since it was the same morning (though in real life it was months ago!).
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:29, Fri 22 May 2020.

The inn keeper's face turns towards anger and surprise as Rondald begins to speak, though as Rondald makes clear that they have been robbed, and in his inn, his face contorts back to mostly shock.

"There must be some sort of mistake!"  The man attempts.  "I've been here the whole day but for a stop by the toilets!  None have been through but the other man with the other room upstairs and my employees!"

OOC:  I am sympathetic to not knowing all the valuables that might be missing, but unfortunately I'm going to stay the self-righteous, megalomaniacal GM.  Your first post in this thread was almost exactly just one month ago, and to be fair, I specifically asked you to look over your gear and tell me what you brought.  I've given you an IQ roll in places where you could have reasonably been reminded about the things that you lost, but just saying that "it was valuable so I should remember it" doesn't hold water, especially if you have never mentioned or done anything with the items in character.

"Well then, that narrows the field somewhat. Let us check on the man upstairs, and then check your employees, so that their names may be cleared. If one of them is guilty, then indeed your name will be cleared as well. I also suggest closing the inn, or would you prefer I call the guards for that? It would appear items were stolen from our room and the stables...so perhaps at least one f your employees is not beyond suspicion, although the stable hand said he saw nothing too."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:46, Sun 24 May 2020.

The innkeeper sputters as Rondald suggests going upstairs to the other guest.  "He's not even here!  He stepped out this morning and has not returned."  The man says, though Rondald continues talking right over him.

It is when Rondald suggests that the innkeeper himself is under suspicion, and that the inn may be shut down, that the man widens his eyes in shock.  "What!"  He rages, his face aghast.  "Who do you think you are?  Is this a shakedown!  I am not responsible for your things and I certainly am not going to close my doors to business while you search for whatever possessions you couldn't manage to keep safe!  I provided you with a key, did I not?  Did you think to lock your door?  Perhaps that would have helped!"

Terri's eye's go wide as she holds up two hands, shaking her head as she faces the innkeeper.

At the back of the room, a middle aged woman, wearing a dark dress with an apron on the front steps out of an open doorway, a curious look on her face.  "Everything all right mister Dennick?"

OOC:  I think there might be a little confusion sewn in here.  Nothing was stolen from the stables.  I did mention that you normally kept your first aid kit and the potions in the saddle bags -- though you had emptied them and brought the contents up to your room rather than leave them in the common area.  Everything that was taken was taken from the room.  The stuff left in the stables (the saddlebags, halters, and other tack) was all still there.

"The door was most definitely locked when we left this morning, but not when we got back. You could get emotional, and shout and scream, until the whole town knows, or you can calm yourself down and work with us to find the culprit, and thereby clear yourself. Your call, of course...

We could start with this guy that stepped out this morning...what did he leave with?"

He kept his voice firm, despite the hysterics that seems to indicate more guilt than innocence. It could, of course, be an over-reaction to a strong suggestion that it was in his best interest to help, but one could not rule out it being something more...
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:56, Mon 25 May 2020.

"Clear myself!" The man fumes.  "I do not need to clear myself in my own place of business!"  The man's jaw is set forward, his eyes slightly bulged out of their sockets.

The man shakes his head wildly.  The woman at the back with the dark dress shifts her concerned look back and forth between Rondald, Terri, and Mr. Dennick.  Several moments pass before the innkeeper finally exhales forcefully, the muscles in his face releasing as he turns his head to the woman in the back.

"It's fine Natalie.  Our guests have been robbed...  We are sorting it out.  Please get along with your duties."

The woman's eyes go wide as she glances at Rondald and Terri, though she quickly follows the word of her employer, and ducks back through the doorway she had enterd.

"Please, sir."  Terri starts, taking a much more conciliatory tone than Rondald.  "We are just trying to find our things.  Certainly you could tell us about your other customer?  We just want to know what he left with."

"Just a satchel I think."  The innkeeper furrows his brow in thought.  "My usual customers are merchants... I had assumed he was another of them.  We didn't talk much this morning, he had breakfast about sunrise and set off.  His room is taken through tomorrow."

Despite the carrying on, Rondald kept his cool. Then his wife did her part. She was a great compliment to him in many ways.

"Do you think we could check his room, with you of course, so that you know we do not take anything that does not belong to us. It does seem suspicious that he is booked until tomorrow, but left today..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:16, Wed 27 May 2020.

The man thinks on Rondald's suggestion for a moment, but quickly shakes his head, his jaw still squarely set.

"No, I'm afraid I can't let you in...  I have another key of course, but the invasion of your room does not permit the invasion of all the others.  He's paid as much for his privacy as you have for yours, and I have a reputation to keep, after all.  If I go sacking everyone's room every time there is a disturbance, I'll never get another guest.  I'll help you in another way if I can, but that is asking too much."

His face furrows slightly, but he answers after a quick thought.

"Fair enough, there are rules. Since a crime has been committed, then I will ask the guard to check. Or you can check yourself, and if there is a crossbow there, then there is reason to investigate further. You are staff, after all..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:13, Fri 29 May 2020.

The innkeeper bristles slightly.  "If you insist on calling the guard, and they ask to see the room, then I will allow them, of course.  Still..."  The man places both of his hands down on the counter.  "I don't see why you can't just wait until he comes back tonight and ask him yourself.  If he is your culprit and he doesn't return, then I'll be happy to open up the room tomorrow morning."

OOC:  If you want to take things to the guards, feel free to head out and look for them.  As a side-note, you are doing a great job roleplaying your callous disadvantage, but I think going to the guards may be a bit against your loner one.  Please make a SC roll (12 or less) if you want to go that route, if you fail that option is out.  You'll also have to make a reaction roll with all your normal modifiers.

Rondald considers.

"And suppose he is the culprit, and is not coming back? Giving him a days head start for what good reason?"

He looks at the innkeeper intently, rubbing his beard in thought, before placing both of his hands on the bar opposite to the innkeeper, bringing the two face to face.

"And suppose he is not. I will not know until tomorrow morning. I really do not want the guards here, but right now I have no leads, and neither you nor any of your workers have given me anything else to go on. Tell me, if you were in my position, what would you do? Just let them run off while we wait until tomorrow morning to check the neighbour? The guards are the only ones I know of who are experts at tracking thieves. Would you not call them?"

He looked carefully into the mans eyes, seemingly daring him to try to lie to him.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:01, Sun 31 May 2020.

As Rondald grips the counter, putting himself face to face with the Innkeeper the man initially retreats, pulling himself back a step, though he quickly steps forward again, his face hardening and looking Rondald straight in the eye.  "Suppose the culprit was your wife!  Suppose it was the Manites who came to take you in for crimes to the nation!  Suppose it was any number of things which are increasingly unlikely!  Just because something is possible does not mean that you have the right to demand that others prove it is not so!  You have no evidence!"  The innkeeper sets his jaw as he steps back, his face puffed up with frustration.

Silence fills the moment as the innkeeper paces behind the counter.

"Fine!"  He finally erupts.  "Call the guard!  If they come and insist that I open the room then I will!  And if you are wrong!"  The innkeeper points an accusatory finger at Rondald, his face set hard in anger.  "Then to hell with you and your missing things!"

OOC:  Just let me know when you want to head to head to the guard, or else if you want to do something different.  If you want to go to the guard, please make a reaction roll.  Include your +2 for status, and any other reaction modifiers you have including the -1 for callous.

"My Wife was with me...with the Duke! So it was not here, not was anyone coming to take me in. But you are right...I have no evidence, that is the point, so it seems you force my hand in getting those who can gather evidence. I had hoped to resolve this quietly, but you seem to insist we involve outside investigation, or just wait an entire day! So outside investigators it is..."

He will look to Terri. "Do you want to ask the guards, dear, or should we go together? I am not sure I want to leave the room without supervision. The security here was not sufficient while we visited the Duke."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:04, Tue 02 June 2020.

The two men caught in the impasse, Rondald raises his voice in kind, not content to be shouted down by this property owner who had clearly not been doing his job as Rondald and Terri were gone.  He offers for Terri to go to the guards by herself, though Rondald's wife does not answer in words, her panic-stricken look and tiny vibrating shakes of her head are enough of an answer as he bids her to come with him out of the inn.

"Are you sure that was wise?"  Terri asks as Rondald pulls her along the street, looking for the nearest watchmen.  "I mean, I'm not happy that we were burgled in his inn either, but perhaps there was a better way to go about that?"

The search is not as quick as Rondald had hoped, and though he does manage to find one of the guard stationed at the market, the man redirects him towards the guard station located some several blocks away.

By the time Rondald finds the station, his stomach is gurgling from his missed lunch, though he knows that finding his things is the much more important issue.

After a moment of explaining the situation to the first of the guard that Rondald meets, the man fetches the captain of the guard, an middle aged man with salt and pepper hair and a pristine uniform.

"Good afternoon, sir.  Captain Geoffrey Talinson at your service."  The man introduces himself, inclining slightly towards Rondald.  "What seems to be your issue?"

OOC:  It is 1400 on the 13th of June.  You have lost 1 fatigue from missing lunch.

"Whilst a guest of the Duke, it seems that thieves were having their way in our room. The innkeeper has not been helpful in finding the culprit, wanting us to wait while the thief made off with our items to see if he came back. I thought asking the experts might be a better idea."

Rondald ignored his stomach to speak with the man. Unsure if he could offer any help, it was worth checking. All the while, there was a niggling doubt that the man might return.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:33, Thu 04 June 2020.

The captain nods appreciatively as Rondald mentions the duke, and gives satisfying snort of indignation as Rondald mentions that the innkeeper wants to simply let the theft happen.  Though when Rondald ends, asking for ideas, Geoffrey seems somewhat confused, as if waiting for Rondald to finish his statement.

When nothing more is forthcoming, the captain raises an eyebrow and says with enthusiasm, "I suggest you not let the thieves get away.  If you have an idea of their names or location, I can send a man out to bring them in.  All the more if we find your possessions in their clutches.  When did this robbery happen again?  Time is of the essence of course, it does not normally take long for stolen goods to be fenced on the underground markets."

The captain pauses, assessing Rondald for a moment to see if his suggestion hits the mark.

"You are, of course, correct. That is why I wanted to search the other rooms, since I was told by the innkeeper that no-one else had been to the rooms. I do not know who to suspect just now, but I do want to rule people out. I can rule out the other occupant if we return promptly and check his room, something the innkeeper was unwilling to allow. I would appreciate you accompanying me for such a search, preferably immediately."
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:35, Thu 04 June 2020.

"Unwilling to allow?"  The captain is taken aback at the statement.  "It seems reasonable enough a request, odd that he would be so resistant."

"Certainly I shall accompany you."  The captain says after a moment, turning to one of the guards to leave them with instruction for while he is gone.  "I'm happy to help get to the bottom of this."

The walk back to the Golden Candle is not a long one, though the streets are bustling with afternoon foot traffic and shoppers for the markets, which slows down their progress somewhat.  Rondald takes the time on the way back to keep his eyes peeled for any signs of his stolen equipment making its way to a vendor.  However, Rondald sees nothing more than a normal afternoon crowd in the city and before long they are standing back in the great room of the inn, with Captain Talinson only a step behind.

The stable hand sits at the counter, talking lazily, and the innkeeper still stands behind the desk, his brow furrowed in consternation.

"So anyway, I was saying that he probably just..."  The stable hand notices the look on the innkeeper's face, and turns to see Rondald at the door.  "Oh!"  The stable hand stands, heading towards Rondald.  "I was going to tell you that I asked around about your crossbow.  An' ain't nobody seen it."

Behind the stablehand, the innkeeper still looks murderous and doesn't even wait for the lad to stop speaking before he interjects as well.  "So, I see you've brought the city guard?"

"What did you expect? I did say that was my intention. Thank you for asking around for me about my crossbow..."

He hands him a few coppers, before turning back to the innkeeper to continue in a cool voice.

"If nobody has seen it leave, it either left very quietly, or it is still here somewhere. Now if you will kindly bring your keys, innkeeper, we can see if our stolen things are still here."

He turns to the guard. "Would you like to start your investigation in our room?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:28, Mon 08 June 2020.

Rondald puts a few coppers in the hand of the stable hand who smiles and thanks Rondald before the four, Rondald, Terri, and Captain Talinson led by the innkeeper, who jangles the keys at his waist, hurrying along towards the private rooms.

"Your room?"  Talinson responds to Rondald with surprise.  "Certainly not!  I'm sure you've already looked there.  The other patron I thought was where you were looking to go, the reason you asked me to come.  Let us see what is in this man's room so that we can start crossing out your suspects old boy.  I would like to be of use for the time I'm spending here."

"I'll just help myself to a pint mister Dennick!"  The stable hand yells from the main room as they leave, to which the innkeeper ahead responds, "You'll bloody well pay for it then!"

The four continue down the hallway, nearly to the end.  The innkeeper stops at the second to last door, sporting a painted number two on it.  He knocks first, and hearing no response from within he lifts his key into place in the lock.  He fumbles around with the lock for a moment, pushing the door open just a slight bit, looking in timidly at first, before finally pushing the door open completely and stepping inside just past the doorway.

"Are you happy?"  The innkeeper's anger seems boiling to the surface, a smirk of self-righteous disgust smeared across his face.  Rondald and Terri walk into the room behind, stepping forward into a small bedroom, nearly just like their own.

There are a pair of shuttered windows on the back wall, a foot and a half square each.  The single, narrow bed is tousled, the sheets hanging askew off the side.  There is a small wardrobe, in which a clean-looking set of clothes lay folded and a large bag lays folded at the bottom.  There is also some small type of painting kit, with a set of brushes that range from very small and thin to circular and a half-inch around.  The paints themselves are very thick - almost dry and vary little in color.  They seem to mostly be a variation of a creamy-gold, though off on one corner there is some black and a square of bright red.  Next to the kit is a small, cloudy mirror.

Needless to say, none of the items seem to be Rondalds.

"Are these your things?"  The captain steps in behind Rondald and Terri, looking at the small collection of items.  "I think perhaps that you can cross off one person from your list."

OOC:  To save some in character time, Captain Talinson is not going to do an investigation.  The guard is a peacekeeping force and has no real investigation arm.  At times, they are tasked with activities like that by the Governor, though they mostly handle it by roughing people up to get information and jumping to conclusions.  They will however, haul the thief into prison if they have evidence to link him to the crime.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:09, Thu 11 June 2020.

"Of course, Captain. I am just wanting to cover all bases." Rondald says in answer to the Guardsman's response at checking their own room.

Once the room has been entered, and the possessions not found, Rondald answers the Captain.

"Thank you Captain. Yes, I think that this person does not seem to have them. It would have been better to be able to cross them off the list before, though..." he says, more to the innkeeper than anyone else, before continuing.

"...but thank you for taking the time to come and check. But before you go, the thief must have entered the inn somehow. Either he snuck in unseen, or was someone who had some right to be here. Innkeeper, that raises the question: How could have someone snuck into your inn unseen, and who else was seen entering?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:53, Thu 11 June 2020.

Looking over the small wardrobe, Ronadald is quite sure that this man is not their culprit, though he is quick to find more questions to narrow his search.  The innkeeper, however, does not seem to be having any of it.

"If you are finished in this innocent man's room, then I must insist you leave immediately.  He has done you no harm, yet you insisted on forcing your way into his room.  Perhaps you think you can bowl your way through everywhere you go, but not in my inn!  So Out!"

Captain Talinson swivels his head quickly to the innkeeper before turning back to Rondald, his eyes wide with surprise.  "Good heavens!  Has this man been so antagonistic this whole time?  I had wondered why it was necessary for me to come for such a simple matter, but now things seem to be falling into place!"

Innkeeper Dennick stands at the door, resolute, and gesturing towards the other three to be on their way back into the hallway.

Rondald looked coldly at the innkeeper.

"Unfortunately, yes he has. He does not seem to understand the importance of ruling out innocent people, or perhaps he does not want innocent people ruled out. Either way, we can leave this room, but I will ask you to look at our room now to see if you can determine if the door was forces, or someone used a key. That would narrow our search down considerably...can you tell if a lock was picked or if the key was used, Sir?"

He led the Captain past the innkeeper to his own room nearby, ignoring the angry outbursts of the innkeeper, but remaining polite so as to highlight the contrast.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:48, Fri 12 June 2020.

Ronadald and the Captain walk out of the other guest's room without further protest with Terri tagging along behind, and the innkeeper walks out last, closing the door and latching it with his key.

Meanwhile, Rondald and the Captain continue on up the hall, passing room number three on the left, and stopping at Rondald and Terri's room, Captain Talinson bends over and looks at the lock.

"I'm afraid there's not much I can help you with there."  The captain explains.  "Any thief who has learned his foul trade won't look any different than a lock opened properly with a key.  Of course, even if a lock has been jabbed and bruised by lockpicks, it won't look that different than a drunk stabbing clumsily with his key."

The captain stands up, shaking his head at Rondald.  "For what it's worth, I don't see any evidence of tampering."

Terri walks up behind the men, giving some room as she contemplates the situation, her mouth a thin line of worry.

The innkeeper too follows behind and pauses when he gets to the group.  He still seems angry, though as Rondald opens up the door and show the empty room within, his expression softens somewhat.  "The windows aren't more than just the shutter."  The innkeeper offers, pointing at the wooden slats that cover the window.  "If someone did manage to steal your things, it would be easy enough to pass the smaller and medium sized items through the window.  It leads towards the back alley, which is busy enough most of the time times of day.  Still, it's easy access to the other nearby shops and stores that share the alley with us."