Celador pokes back into his cell and yells out with a hint of false desperation, "Mattis! Mattis! Dear is that you? Please bring us some bread and some water! They have locked us down here without food! It's inhuman!" the elf pauses for a moment, reflecting on the irony of his last statement.

"Please! You must tell them we are innocent! Or at the very least they should allow you to bring us some of your mutton" -...maybe that last bit wasn't a strong enough close...- he thinks.

"We want to protect Westbank! Not kill it's law abiding citizens!" -...better. not perfect. but better...-


22:01, Today: Celador Qiris rolled 16 using 1d20.  Persuasion. Or performance. DM choice. Both are +0

"Celador?" Mattis calls from the other side of the door. "Oh, my goodness. Celador, stay there and Mattis will bring you and your friends some food."

The conversation continues upstairs, but isn't entirely clear. Judging by the firmness of Mattis's voice, however, the listeners below conclude that food from the Trollip and Troll is on its way and the guards will be hard pressed to stop its delivery.

After a few moments, the Mayor opens the door, descends the stairs, and takes a seat about half way down them. "You've made quite the impression on Ms. Bumbleford," he confesses. "And others, as well."

He takes a deep breath and sighs. "So you contend that you didn't do it. You want to help Westbank? Then explain to me what happened. If you didn't do this, then who did? And why?"

Celador grins widely as Mattis calls back to him.

When the mayor comes down to talk, Celador intently listens.

"Good Sir Mayor. I have only arrived in your town recently so I cannot claim to know the list of grievances against Mr. Merris," he replies, "what I can tell you, as you may recall, he had his goons attack Mr. Lazaret for supposedly stowing away in his caravan. Unfortunately we needed to settle that disagreement with swords." Celador thinks maybe that is not the best thing to talk about and quickly moves on.

"But there were many witnesses who can tell you that Mr. Merris approached us last night and asked us to let bygones be bygones. He even bought us dinner as a sign of no hard feelings!" He says this a little louder in case Mattis is still here and can corroborate the story.

"There was a man we met on the road who was leaving town with his wares because of some fued with Mr Merris. It seemed to me that Mr Merris was the type of man that could, shall we say, rub some people the wrong way," Celador continues, sensing that his argument is appealing to the Mayor's sensibilities, "We did not kill him, but if you let us out we can help find who did."


07:56, Today: Celador Qiris rolled 16 using 1d20.  Persuasion.

The Mayor listens carefully to Celador's plea, nodding his head in agreement from time to time. Once the Elf finishes, he sits quietly for a moment before making his final decision.

Just as he opens his mouth to speak, however, he is interrupted by a voice from the 3rd cell. "You're not going to actually believe this garbage, are you?" Malik asks. "This sounds like the trickery of a guilty party, if you ask me."

Rising to his feet and descending the stairs, the Mayor shoots a sharp look at the hooded man. "I don't recall asking for your opinion, Malik."

"Maybe you should. You seem to want it from these other criminals."


And just as the Mayor opens his mouth to reply, he is interrupted again. This time from a voice from atop the stairs. "Mister Mayor," a voice calls excitedly. "I have a witness that I think you should speak to."

Down the stairs comes a young guard with an excited look on his face "He said he saw someone rushing away from the Inn last night, carrying a rapier!".
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:25, Mon 18 Sept 2017.

The young guard is halfway down the stairs, pointing over his shoulder to the room above. "He is right here. The witness, I mean. He comes from the North, and arrived late last night." He turns and calls up the stairs. "Come down and tell the Mayor what you saw. I think this might be important."

In reply to DM (msg # 36):

Therarak eyes the young guard suspiciously.

19:13, Today: Therarak Gemfinder rolled 10 using 1d20+3.  Insight.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:15, Wed 20 Sept 2017.

Yasha slowly walks down the stairs at the bottom he says "Wah gwan, Fi mi name ah Yasha of Healy mi arrived late lass night. Mi checked inna to de inn called.... ahhh Pollies Puffy Pillows. Afta getting fi mi room mi saw ah figure nah much bigga dan yuh" Points at the halfling "Dey was carrying ah rapia den dey disappeared " After finishing Yasha looks at gnome then to the elf and then the mayor.

The young guard, now at the bottom of the stairs next to the Mayor, spreads his arms out at his side with an eager smile. "Did you hear that? A rapier! This northman actually saw the killer!"

In reply to DM

Is am not following your logic Yasha.  This man claims to have seen someone with a rapier.  There could be any number of people in this town that carries such a weapon.  He said they were my size, but did he see their face?  Did he see the actual murder while it was committed? His statement doesn't prove anything.  What evidence is there to support this claim?

OOC:  Apparently I am not very perceptive or persuasive...

12:20, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 6 using 1d20+2.  Perception.
12:20, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 4 using 1d20+2.  Persuasion.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:21, Wed 20 Sept 2017.

In reply to Thorfire Shortankard (msg # 40):
Yasha listens to the halflings questions and then replies "Sorry mi misspoke" Then explains that
"Dey was bigga dan yuh lacka  human but nah as elegant as ah elf. Dey carried ah pointed blade wish is nah common around here. I tell you mon yuh innocent " Then he looks at the detective for help filling in the rest of the halflings questions.

"He's right. The rapier is uncommon in Westbank," the Mayor interjects matter-of-factly to Thorfire. "In fact, until you and your feline friend came to town a few days ago, none had been seen in quite some time, which made the matter of Morlough Merris being run through with one last night a point of interest. It cast a suspicious shadow on the two of you to say the least." He gives a long look at the thick-accented stranger before continuing. "However if this young man claims to have seen someone else carrying such a weapon so close to the time and place of the murder, then it seems our initial suspicions must be re-examined."

He gives each of them a look before returning his eyes to Yasha. "You're certain it wasn't a Halfling or an Elf, then. But what about a Tabaxi? Could the figure you saw last night have been a Tabaxi? They are, after all, taller than halflings."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:02, Thu 21 Sept 2017.

In reply to Taylin Naar (msg # 42):
Yasha responds to that by explaining "It was too sumall to be ah Tabaxi also it was too clumsy to be ah Tabaxi. Also wah mek there be ah rope fram de window to de roof wouldn't ah Tabaxi just climb de side of de building?" then Yasha will take a seat on the closest bench if none are near then he will sit on the stairs.

The Mayor rubs his chin thoughtfully, looking the stranger in the eyes. "Neither Halfling nor Tabaxi? Then who?" He glances toward the young guard. "Tyus, what do think?"

Tyus straightens. "Well, uh. I don't really know. There are more than a handful who had a complaint with the late mister Merris."

"You don't have to remind me. Mattis Bumbleford was lecturing me on that fact about 10 minutes ago." The Mayor turns into the first cell to Celador. "You offered to help earlier. I think I'll take you up on the offer if it still stands. Might I interest you in a murder mystery? The Good Sister is expected back in a week's time. We'll need it solved before she returns or we'll all be facing the wrath of Sister Gwendelon!"

"I think you are making a wise decision Mr. Mayor," pipes up Celador, "you will not be disappointed and the Good Sister will be delighted to find her jail cells filled with a necromancer and a murderer!"

Celador moves away from the front of the jail cell as to invite the Mayor to step forward to let them out.

"I can't wait to get to the bottom of this mystery," he says cheerfully, then rubbing his stomach, "but not before I get something to eat!"

It is apparent that the elf is quite pleased with the prospect of being let out of jail.

The mayor reaches for a ring of keys on his hip, but as he does, Malik protests from the back cell. "You aren't actually believing this fiction, are you? I suppose if some stranger walked in and told you that lake was made of gold, you'd believe that, too."

Malik and the Mayor exchange words for a moment, but they are both interrupted by a rustle that starts in the office above and appears on the stairs as one Mattis Bumbleford, barmaid from the Trollip and Troll. "My goodness," she starts. "You all look famished." She carries a bag from which she pulls a narrow loaf of bread and hands it to Celador. After a hesitation, she pulls it back, places the loaf back into the bag, and then stuffs the whole bag through the bars. "Here. Take the whole bag. Your friend with the long whiskers helped me pack it."

The Mayor does his best to explain to Mattis that it isn't allowable for citizens to simply pass uninspected bags to prisoners. For her part, Mattis doesn't accept such rules and does her best to explain to the Mayor why.

Finally, after a short argument, the Mayor explains to Mattis that the four prisoners (Celador, Thorfire, Therarak, and Kevil Moonstone) are about to be released to assist with the investigation into the death of Morlough Merrs.

With Malik protesting vehemently, the Mayor pulls a key and unlocks the first door, pausing after he turns it as if something in the mechanism was not exactly as he expected. He repeats the process on Thorfire and Therarak's cell, again stopping for an uncomfortable moment as he turns the key. He gives the Halfling a look from the corner of his eye, but says nothing as he pulls the door open.

Mattis bustles busily as the prisoners depart, pulling bread and fruit from the sack she handed Celador and giving some of it to each of the others. Even Yasha, Tyus, and the Mayor end up with some bread. Once everything has been distributed, she coughs rather suspiciously and points with her eyes toward the bottom of the sack. Celador glances in his bag to find a small piece of bread, two small apples, and a dagger. Lazaret's dagger, to be precise.

The Mayor motions everyone up the stairs and they return to the office above. From there, Mattis bids Celador (and to a lesser extent the others) farewell as she returns to work.

"We have about a week to figure this out," The Mayor figures aloud. "If we don't have it by then, I'm afraid Gwendelon might well arrest me right along with the rest of you! So far all we know is our murderer is a man. That limits our list of suspects down to about 500 people... including me, Enoch over there at the desk, and every other guard in town except for Traitlin. He rubs his hands through his hair in frustrated thought. We need a shorter list than that."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:31, Tue 26 Sept 2017.

In reply to Taylin Naar (msg # 47):

Still not completely trusting the mayor, Thorfire hesitates before exiting the cell while he contemplates putting his dagger into the mayor's eye.  Unfortunately, the halfling isn't exactly know for his perception skills....

14:01, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 8 using 1d20+2.  Perception.

Like the case of the hooded man, we will get to the bottom of this quickly.  Do you have any more evidence we can examine, leads we could follow, or witnesses we can interview?  Thorfire appears to be rubbing something in his boot. I for one, enjoy a good mystery and can be quite a persuasive interrogator, err, I mean interviewer....

14:07, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 20 using 1d20+2.  Persuasion.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:09, Sun 24 Sept 2017.

The halfling's words give the Mayor renewed confidence in his decision to let the prisoners go. "Tyus," he calls to the young guard. "See to it that these men- er... that this group has full access to all details of the investigation, including to their belongings, which I believe by now should be on hold in the armory."

The young guard nods and hustles out the door while the Mayor continues. "Tyus will bring your belongings. The crime scene is at your disposal. It should be undisturbed with the exception of the body, which was removed at the request of the Innkeeper."

In reply to Taylin Naar (msg # 49):

I am a little shaky on the details, did the murder happen inside the inn or outside nearby?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:56, Mon 25 Sept 2017.

In reply to Thorfire Shortankard (msg # 50):

Lazaret makes his way to the jail and waits upstairs with the constable.

"So are they coming up soon? Now that they are free men, as they always should have been, I would expect that their release is hasty and notwithstanding forthwith with undue delay.

"I'm sure they are more than excited to see me since I was the one who secured their release. Once when I was at sea my captain was captured by marauders wearing uniforms that looked suspiciously like those of the royal navy. They were fakes. I am certain of it. Well I laid low below deck and then pursued his captors in a small row boat. Under cover of darkness I was able to catch up to their ship and climbed up the bark to an open port hole.

"These claws have served me well, I must say.

"Once on board I made my way to the brig where my captain was incarcerated. The guards were far too large for me to subdue, but they were avid card players and aficionados of cheap liquor. Fortunately I had brought along a deck of cards and a large bottle of fine brandy. Within an hours time they were both short fifty gold or so and unconscious. I was able to relieve my captain of his bonds we both escaped through the open port hole and rowed back to our ship.

"So if you ever need someone sprung from jail, just give a holler and...is that them coming up the stairs now?"

In reply to Lazaret (msg # 51):

As he climbs the stairs, Thorfire hears the damn cat pontificating about some stupid story and considers putting his dagger into his own eye...

In reply to Thorfire Shortankard (msg # 52):

I'll race you...

In reply to Therarak Gemfinder (msg # 53):

"Enis?! That is your name, right? Do you like music? Sometimes I play a little flute to pass the time." Lazaret pulls out his slightly tarnished, but still rather serviceable silver flute.

"This first song is a lullaby that I remember from my younger days. The sailors would whistle and sing to keep me quiet. The words I have long since forgotten, but I recall the gist of the tune as being a rather filthy tale of an unfaithful lover and a prostitute who turned out to be a man. The story was quite awful, but the tune was most soothing."

Lazaret begins to play a slow song on his flute. The notes are true and his skill as a musician is remarkable.

"The murder happened in Mr. Merris's room," the Mayor explains. "There were blood stains on the bed linens and he was found lying on the floor next to the bed. There was a rope hanging in front of the window. We presume this is how the murderer entered without being seen by anyone in the hotel."

He then turns to Yasha. "But he didn't count on a late comer arriving next door just as he was leaving. The Northerner here said he saw a man with a rapier just outside the inn. He didn't know it at the time, but he was watching the murderer leave the scene of the crime."

By the time the Mayor has provided this much of an explanation, the room has filled with the surprisingly soothing notes of Lazaret's flute.

Enoch, trying unsuccessfully to focus on a pile of paperwork, has his face buried in his hands while the tabaxi plays. At the same time, Tyus returns with a wagon containing the belongings of the former prisoners.

"So where next, the young guard inquires while handing belongings to each of the adventurers. "Back to the room? Would you like to examine the body? I haven't searched that grove of trees to the south yet, either."

OOC: All characters have all of their equipment again.

In reply to DM (msg # 55):

Seeing Enoch with his face in his hands Lazaret ends the tune. "I'm sorry, Enis. Does this make you sad? You must know the tune. Probably the words also. I do hope it doesn't hit too close to home. Was she at least pretty before you found out that you had paid for a man? I am sorry for bringing up such a painful memory for you. Did your wife ever find out?"