"I can get a priest in. Shelyn or Sarenrae would be best, since we can't exactly ask Abadar's clergy for it." The guard captain grunts sourly, scratching at his neck. "It'll take a little while. Streets are chaos right now. You mind sitting in your cells while the priest gets here? Don't want to start a fight, but it'll look best, and if you aren't being level it'll be best."

"All square and on the level." giggled Hester.  She was suspicious as anything but couldn't think of any way to avoid such a fate.

"Sarenrae would probably be preferred," Bristle suggested, since the clergy of her own religion would probably not be the ideal choice in this situation. "It seems they have a connection to a paladin who fought this foe in the distant past, and we brought another of Whisper's victims to their temple for care only just last night. She was left unconscious when Whisper had finished puppeteering her. So either the banker is luckier, or he is still under Whisper's control."

"As for sitting in a cell, I would prefer not to, but I can also see why you ask. Would you be willing to at least leave the door unlocked in case a wild mob comes calling for blood?"

"That is acceptable," Voh'ren says. "I do have a request, however. I have a wolf pup companion that I have raised ever since he was rejected for being the runt of the litter. Could I bring him inside this jail as well? I would hate to see him caught in the midst of a riot." His voice cannot hide the concern he has for Kiru.

Firea was not fond of the idea of a cell herself, but she would go along with what the other's decided to do. Especially considering in this form she could squeeze out. Still, something Voh'ren said caught her attention and she listened for the Captain's answer.

Caleb took a moment to think over Bristle's question before answering. "Assuming that she was just going for a distraction and the Elect didn't factor into her overall schemes beyond a distraction, yes. Of course, the harder we push the more she'll escalate her attacks until we quit. Just something to keep in mind going forward."

His piece said on that front, he turned to the captain and shrugged. "I'll throw my hat in the ring for the Sarenites too, and I don't mind sitting in a cell for a little while. I'm not giving up my weapons though, not while Whisper might still be in the Banker."

The guard captain looks momentarily taken aback, then shrugs. "Can't say I thought that'd work. Yeah, the pup can come in, why not. Not standard procedure but who cares anymore." He sighs and escorts you along the halls of the guardhouse to the basement, where a few cells sit behind barred doors. One of them holds the Banker, sitting and staring blankly as though bored. The one opposite is where the captain opens the door and waves you inside. "We'll get this sorted out as soon as we can."

Bristle nodded to the guard captain as she stepped into the cell. She kept one eye on the door to make sure it did in fact stay unlocked, and she kept her other eye on the banker in the other cell. She was curious if there was any sign that they were still under Whisper's control. Or, Bristle mused briefly, perhaps Whisper was not actually involved in the assassination and the banker had acted on their own after all. But Bristle quickly dismissed that thought since it would be too big of a coincidence. Especially since Firea had smelled those spell components nearby. Perhaps they could make good use of their time in the cell and do a bit of light interrogation while here.

When the captain left, Bristle found a spot to lean against the wall. Her armored body clanked against the stone wall. Calling over to the banker, she asked, "So, did you figure out what happened yet?" She was curious to see if they would still try and claim ignorance about what they had done to the woman on stage.

Caleb walked inside the cell, nodding at the Captain's words. "The sooner the better captain, best of luck to you."

When the man left, Caleb assumed a firing crouch and took aim at the Banker before responding to Bristle's words. "He knows exactly what happened on stage, all that confusion was a lie." As he spoke he studied the man closely, waiting to see if his words elicited a reaction.

ooc: Rolling sense motive on the Banker to gauge his response with a result of 14. In addition, I am readying an action. If the Banker begins to cast a spell, I'm shooting him.

"Oh, there's really no need to put on an act now," the Banker says, his mannerisms melting immediately into those of Whisper. He yawns, relaxes back against the wall. "Can't blame a girl for trying. It might have worked. So how's things, anyway? Have the riots started yet?" Her smile is innocent, casual, effortless.

"How should we know? As you can see, we've been put in a holding cell." Of course, the guard captain had told them that riots had started, but Bristle didn't want to give Whisper the luxury of free information. Bristle just wished she could say she was surprised to hear the banker channel Whisper's mannerisms. But alas, it was no surprise at all.

"So was that your goal then, Whisper? Riots? Simple chaos? Now that we have been captured, maybe you can fill us in on your actual plan."

"She wouldn't wait centuries for that. She could have did that at anytime." The fox said as she padded along the floor. "She has another end game."

"You don't expect us to be impressed or surprised, do you?" Voh'ren growls. "After all, you did survive a crossbow bolt to the head. That would kill most men."

"So what's the endgame then mother?" asked Hester not really caring much what it was but just hoping they could find some way to kill the whisperer.

Caleb maintained his aim on Whisper, his features hardening in clear hostility as he spoke. "If I had to take a stab in the dark, I'd say she was trying to spread chaos and fear, make people easier to attack in their dreams. That sound about right?" he said, calling his question to Whisper directly.

"Oh, lovelies. You can't really think I'd answer such questions so easily," Whisper says, seeming wholly unconcerned about the crossbow. "Nor that I'm truly held captive. It merely didn't suit me to leave until...ah, here we are."

On cue a woman in a guard uniform sauntersup. "Good afternoon," she says, with Whisper's casual attitude. "There are some riots by the by. It's getting spicier. You want some fried chicken? Or, let's see, battered fried mushrooms and peppers? From the break room."

"I wouldn't expect you to answer anything. That seems to be your lot, to not answer a thing, and give enough clues to still answer, and yet not answer anything." Firea said calmly, deciding to curl up in a ball in her fox form on a bench next to Bristle. Her head laying on her multiple tails. "And yet, for some reason you keep us alive. Also it's not like any of us are trapped here. I'm a tiny animal for crying out loud."

Bristle absentmindedly began scratching Firea behind the ears with her clawed hands as she sat on the bench. She watched the new guard and did her best to confirm it was another Whisper agent, as she suspected. Bristle's mind was rushing to take in every angle of what was happening, but she wasn't exactly a super genius. A cleric of knowledge, yes, but not a super genius.

"If there are riots happening as we speak, is this really the time to be giving a known murderer a luxury dinner?" Bristle asked as innocently as possible. She tried to gage the guard's reaction, and was certainly ready for the guard to suddenly try to slaughter their group (if she was a Whisper agent or an agent of the original banker). Either way, she was glad to have her tiny bone-army still guarding her companions in case any sleepy shenanigans were about to take place.

---

Is the guard another extension of Whisper? Or maybe someone loyal to the banker?
21:37, Today: Bristle Chonk rolled 21 using 1d20+10.  Sense Motive: Guard - is she also Whisper?

"Or, I suppose any time is the right time if the murderer is yourself. Right Whisper?" Bristle looked directly at the guard while saying the name Whisper, letting her companions know the prisoner and guard were the same person.

Caleb seemed ready to respond to Whisper when the guard entered the room. As she spoke, he raised an eyebrow at the offer of food and had opened his mouth to answer, only to fall silent when Bristle revealed that the guard was infected as well.

Eyes widening in surprise and a hint of fear, he readjusted his position so that both the Banker and the guard were in his line of sight. "How many people are you in?" he asked, disgust plain to hear.

Voh'ren raises his hand, gesturing for Caleb to lower the crossbow.

"It's not as though you can hurt her or even slow her down that way," he grumbles. "You'll only harm her host."

The Half-Orc turns his attention to the "banker" and the "prison guard."

"You've made your point quite clear," he says, addressing both persons in Whisper's control. "You can be anyone, anywhere, at any time. If we confront one of your puppets, you can cut its strings and slip away. And now you've arranged for us to be caged here while another part of your plan for revenge unfolds, only to engage us in another of your momentary chats. Which makes me wonder...why reveal yourself to us at all? You've gone to great lengths to keep the public from knowing that you are behind this. Do our attempts to foil your efforts amuse you, or do you desire an audience?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:26, Mon 25 Jan 2021.

When Bristle started scratching her behind the ears her head started to tilt and lean into the hand. "...now I see why cay's like that so much, it feels good."

As she listened to the others she considered their questions. "Fall guys. Audience. As long as no one can find out she was the reason behind it all, and she can always put another to blame, she can do this again and again and again for all time." Then she considered for a moment. "The better questions should be, why is she doing it? What happened to her, to make her want to take this path?"

Hester smiled at Firea and said in almost a jolly voice.  "Precisely.  What did she suffer and who did it to her.  Same as the little girl.  Who was it Mama?  Would it help if we fed you his private parts?"

"She's told us why," Voh'ren replies, "it's for revenge. Something that happened long ago. She's just been pointedly vague on the specifics.

"I think I'll pass on the food," Voh'ren continues, shifting his focus back toward Whisper's puppets. "Feels too much like an intimation of a last meal."

"That's not telling us truly why Mister Voh'ren. That's just telling us something to keep us more curious, so that we keep asking." The Fox said pointedly.