The castle build site is a short ways downriver, north of the town centre. The half finished castle lies on a small cliff at a bend in the Ariegé, creating a natural barrier on that side. The tall eastern walls by the river, two of the towers on that side as well as the main keep are almost finished. On the western side the work is barely started.

It is a crisp spring morning, the sun is still rising and the build site should be filled with hammering, sawing, people working in the various manifacturing sheds, climbing the scaffolds and carrying materials. As Johann approach the site it is clear that something is amiss. It is eerily silent, the only sounds are birds chirping, the rush of the river and the low murmur from a group of twenty or so people that have gathered around something on the ground at the base of one of the tallest walls. As he comes closer he can see a grey-bearded man lying on the ground, blood trickling from his mouth and another man kneeling at his side.

"How did this happen?" Johann asks. He is addressing the man kneeling, but is willing to listen to whomever answers. (He hopes they don't all start talking at once, though.)

Upon coming closer, Johann could see that the 'kneeling man' was attempting to medically tend to the fallen builder.
His medical bag, military in style, lay close at hand ... open, and with bits drawn forth.

The medic looked up, briefly, from his patient when addressed, but did not let his attention waver from the dying man very long.
"I do not know", he said, with a shrug, "I was summoned after the event".

He returned his attention to the man on the ground immediately, attempting to save the man's life.
- rolled 29 using 1d100.  Medicine check.

Michal works swiftly and manages to stop the worst of the bleeding. It is clear that the master builder has fallen or been pushed from the wall and is mortally wounded. The bleeding is stopped for now and it is clear that the imminent danger to the mans life is over. He still have several broken bones and will need surgery to recover, if he can.

The gathered craftsmen stand to the side as the healer works and look sideways at the german knight. They seem unwilling or unsure if they should answer questions asked by a stranger.

Well done Michal, though I would ask that you wait for a prompt before you roll, so that you can know if there are any modifiers or special circumstances that apply. In this case it was a difficult roll so you had -20% but you still succeded, healing the man from a Mortal Wound. For him to recover and start Healing hit points you need to find a suitable place and perform Surgery (another skill roll).

"Is there anything you need?" Johann asks the kneeling man. "Something someone could bring you? Tools? More bandages? Some space?" Johann would like to ask the injured man if it was an accident or if he thought someone pushed him, but now does not seem like the proper moment. Such a question suggests a clear head, and if Johann was in an amount of pain similar to the man on the ground before him, his head would not be exceedingly clear...

Still... "How did this happen? Did anyone here see it happen?" Johann asks the crowd of onlookers. Best to try to find out information from possible witnesses right away, as soon as possible... Johann tries to sound both authoritative and yet compassionate at the same time...

A tall, redheaded woman steps forward. Her arms are crossed over her leather leather apron covered chest and she looks the pilgrim knight over from head to toe. A wry smile crosses her face. "He was pushed, chivalier. From there." She turns and points to the top of the almost finished wall, 30 feet above. She looks down at the master builder and her face softens as she asks Michal. "Will he live?"

"--You saw who pushed him?" Johann asks her urgently.

Michal is about to answer, when the blacksmith speaks up.
Hearing what she says, Michal's eyes shoot to her (as, I'm sure, most do), waiting for an answer to the knight's question.

She winces at the question and hesitates. "No... one of the boys did. It was Jehanne he says but I don't understand. She's so small and... well I can't see her doing something like this, she's very sweet." Ragonde frowns and unconsciously flexes her impressive arm muscles, like she wants to punch someone. "She's run off though, so, maybe it's true."

"I would like to talk to the boy... but first, did anyone see which way Jehanne ran?"

Somewhat confident that the injured man isn't going to die at his feet now, Michal stands to face the two (the knight and the blacksmith).
"I need to get this man somewhere safe:  somewhere cleaner, and where I can work on him.   He's not likely to survive the night otherwise.
Is there somewhere that either of you can suggest?"

Michal is far less interested in investigating this matter than he was in taking care of the fallen workman.
To Johann specifically, he asks, "I'll also need more supplies.  What I have is field equipment," he says, gesturing to his merger bag, "Please, where can I request my needs from?"
He is making an assumption, of course, that the lords and ladies of this place have any interest in the workman's survival.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:47, Wed 07 Sept 2022.

"I am a stranger to this place myself. But I just left the lady of this place-- we can go and ask for help from her and her... vassals."

"Without him we won't be able to continue this build for long," Ragonde says and gestures back at the half finished castle. The crowd around her murmurs and several among them nods in agreement. She continues, "You can probably take him to the manor, or the church. The Augustinians will surely help," she says to Michal.

She then turns to Johann. "The boy is right here. He saw her, I think. He sure did a lot of screaming for one so small." She points to a scrawny, dirt-covered boy of twelve standing at the back of the assembled group with a sloppy bucket in one hand. He looks ready to dart when everyone looks at him.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:53, Sat 10 Sept 2022.

Michal turns to some of the local workers, "I need some sort of sled or stretcher made, immediately.   This man needs to be moved, safely and carefully".

He will, of course, supervise this construction; as is his training and experience.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:00, Sat 10 Sept 2022.

"The manor or the church each sounds good. Whichever is closer, I'd say."

Then Johann squats down so he doesn't tower over the 12-year-old. "Young man," he says, "please be calm. Close your eyes. Take a couple of deep breaths. Then open your eyes. And tell me what you saw, please."

Two of what seems like senior masons hurries off and returns with a sled used to drag stone. They drag it up beside the architect. "The Manor is closer. I'll show you the way," he says to Michal.

The boy shakes, crosses himself and stammers but manages to answer the large knights questions though the garbled peasant speech is barely understandable."I dddd... diddn see all, it 'appened so fast. I was cleaning de tools 'an de m... mmm... master builder was looking out from de top of de wall, 'e always does dat. Jehanne jus' walked up to 'im and pushed 'im right off. I... I... why woud she do dat?" The boy falls silent, sniffles and wipes the snot from his nose with the sleeve of his worn and dusty tunic. "Den she turned and ran. To de forest, I tink." He gestures vaguely to the east.

"Good work, those men.  And thank you", Michal says ... and proceeds (directing others to help as he needs it) to load the injured man onto the sled.

Then, supervising for the best care, he has the men draw the sled on towards the Manor.

"All right, good-- that is, thank you for telling me what you saw. You're handling this bravely." Johann stands up, frowns. "Would anyone here say they know Jehanne well?"

The two men help Michal bring the wounded master builder onto the sled and start to drag him to the Manor. His breathing is shallow and blood trickles from a deep gash at the back of his head but they manage to get him across the uneven terrain in no worse condition than when they started. At the manor some of the servants help to get the man to a small room at the second floor.

[Continued in another thread]

None of the gathered men and women speak up at first as Johann asks his question. Ragonde eventually shrugs. "Not really. She does laundry, gathers our work clothes by the end of the day and brings it back the next. She doesn't speak much. She's rather young though so she's bound to have family around. The seneschal would know since he keeps records of everyone working here but he's away. For a few days as I understand it."

Johann frowns. "Something is wrong..." he mutters. He looks toward the woods. Johann does not consider himself to be a tracker, as such. A large wild boar, perhaps, especially if it was wounded. Not a young girl who lives around here... "All right then, who can tell me about the man who fell? The master builder? What sort of person is he?" Johann pauses. "Not his job. I mean who he is as a man."

"A good man, I suppose, god fearing and brilliant at what he does. But he don't... didn't... speak to us much, except to give instrucion. Tell me, chevalier, would you speak to the lady for us, ask her what we're supposed to do now? We can continue for a while but there's several pieces of construction that we just can't do without him." Ragonde nods in the direction of the men dragging the sled with the master builder towards the manor.

"...I will do this thing now," nods Johann, and he heads back to find the Lady.