[IC] Death & Taxes (Session 2)

mumbling something about having far too many guest rooms Nera simply walks into the first room (to her) and gives it a rundown: odd smells, loose items which were forgotten, hopefully something more obvious.

Nekurr smiles at the clear dislike the man has for taxmen "Not your regular taxman I'd had. We're both man of faith. I'm a cleric of Fortuna and my friend here is sort of in communion with Nature itself" Nekurr sneaks a quick look in the direction of the stone circle , as he mentions Nature "We're actually more interested in finding that other taxman than the taxes he never returned with.""Before we check if Vanya would like to sells something, is there anything you'd recommend we buy for the festival tonight? "

Tronus & Hildar

While Hildar considers the strange document, Tronus compares the two ledgers. It soon becomes apparent that the two books match up perfectly. The one exception is that Mayor Wayland's ledger shows a large tax payment given to Kellis Isle about a month back. To Tronus's eye, this looks pretty humdrum and routine; the baron's ledger shouldn't match up, since Isle never returned to the castle. What's a tad out of the ordinary is that Isle didn't sign the mayor's ledger, whereas the previous tax payments all have signatures from the baron's representatives.

NeraNera tries the room on the far left. She finds the door unlocked -- indeed, the door doesn't seem to lock at all. There's not much in the room, just a simple bed with a thin quilt, a wooden washbasin against the wall, and some foul-smelling water in a pitcher. The room has a window that looks out onto the fields behind the manor; this, too, has no lock, but it is closed.

Nera tries the bed, looking under and behind it, and between the mattress and frame. She looks into the pitcher and washbasin, and around the window sill, but nothing stands out to her. She makes record time, though, giving her an opportunity to try another room...

Bruv & Nekurr

The blacksmith grunts and shakes his head. "Well, your taxman ain't here. Damn fool nearly woke my whole house up when he ran out in the wee hours. Probably already gambled our silver away in Tamalir by now." He gestures toward the door. "Buy whatever you damned well please. Now if you'll excuse me." He returns to his forge and anvil, and the clanking of his hammer begins again.

"Strange people in this village, don't you think?" Nekurr asks Bruv after they are on their own and makes it to the shop, where he hopes to find a new deck of cards for his routine... prayers

"Mmm, Oi guess 'at's da word for it...

Dey clearly 'ave sumpin' unnatural goin' on here. Throivin' loik 'is in da swamp. And dey're clearly very... supportive... of wotever force 'at is, 'at keeps it goin' for 'em.

Wot's da force? Wot do dey 'ave ta do for it, ta keep deir good thing goin'? Protect da area from those 'hoo'd spoil da land, loik poachers? Let deir inner 'animals' loose boi smokin' some stuff? ... Sacrifoice, maybe?

Where's our man fit in oll 'at? If anywhere."

Boring... A barren room as far as Nera is concerned. She continues her search in Room #2.

Bruv & Nekurr

The door trips a small bell as Bruv and Nekurr enter the dusty shop. Some of the merchandise is lain out on shelves, while other items hang from hooks on the walls. It's all decidedly rural: plows, scythes, flour sacks, flails, hoes, shovels, and the like. The room is long and opens onto a kitchen area with a cauldron over the hearth. A woman sits at the table and looks up from chopping rutabagas. "Oh, come on in. Come on in. You'll be the baron's tax collectors then? I'm Vanya Tabbins. What can I help ya with?"NeraThe second guest room is much like the first: Simple bed, blanket, washbasin, and jar of stinky water. The only difference is that this room has no window, which makes it a lot darker and stuffier than the last one. The Catfolks thinks that she'd much prefer one of the other rooms with a window if she were to stay here.

Nevertheless, her search turns up nothing interesting. Neither this nor the previous room seems to have been used in some time.

As Hildar reads he begins to get more and more drawn into the documents, muttering various snippets as he pulls his other notebooks and starts consulting the things he’s noted down from the other times he has been studying recently.

"Hi Vanya, I'm Nekurr and this is Bruv. We're looking for some supplies to contribute to the festival and, I've seem some people playing cards by that nice pharmacist's shop, Erfan I think. You don't have some of those here do you? They looked exactly what me and my friend would like to keep our travelling interesting."

Bruv & NekurrThe shopkeeper smiles almost apologetically. "Bless you, sirs, bless you! I can only assume it was Nature's Lady who brought you here." She stands up from her stool and puts down her vegetables to consider the shelves. "Now if it's cards you're wanting, you're in luck. I keep 'em in stock for those old fools who play all day at Erfan's across the way." She sets a deck on the counter. "There ya go." She scans the shelves and purses her lips, arms crossed. "Now, if you want to make an impression at the festival, I'd suggest you buy a gift for the winner of the Founder's Feast Pageant. Not to brag, but I won it not 20 years ago! It's a big deal, if I do say so myself. Lots of winners past have left the village to find their way in the world... I hope our Jacey takes the crown and decides to stick around...!" She plops down a small bundle wrapped in paper. "How's about some sugared fruits? Anyone'd love that!" With a smile, she adds, "That'll be 30 silvers, please."

Hildar & TronusHildar thinks for a moment more on the names he's found in the strange tome...

Nera
Nera glances down and notices the others getting ready to leave the study. She may only have time to search one more room. There seem to be three more with windows, one more without.

Bruv fishes 15 silver out of his pack, and while he does so he speaks casually, " 'ppreciate the guidance on yer customs... But, eh, Oi did want ta say... we're not tax collectors. Or, at least not in da way ya tink... We're trying ta recova da taxes, yes. Bot not from ye lot... We suspect da Barron's man 'as made off with em. So... no worries... we're not 'ere for yer money.", he plants the coins on the counter.

"Bot... well, if ya had any information about yer recollections from the actual Tax Collector's stay, I know it was long ago now. Or 'is departure... Or tings you've 'eard from others. When did he go? Wot did he say? Or buy? Wot or who did 'e 'ave wit 'im? Any information loike 'at you could provide about that toime would be 'elpful."

That would have been useful information... It seems Nera is not above sassing herself. Still, it narrow the search down a little, and so she searches the room corresponding to her favorite number: 5.

Hildar stares at his notes with a frown on his face "How on Mennara would a Zanagan spider cult have gained a foot hold here? What's special about this area?" he mutters to himself before quickly gathering up all of his notes and stashing the tome they found here in with his other books for deeper study later. He turns to Tronus "Perhaps we should see if Nera has found anything else?"

Bruv & Nekurr
The shopkeeper looks up to the side and scratches her head at Bruv's question. "I'm trying to remember what I can about your colleague," she says. "I was in the shop when's he come, but from what I hear, he was all hot and blustery, demanding to see the mayor right away. After that, I only saw him at the moon festival, just a-pouting, and keeping to hisself. Dour ol' fella left early, I assumed to get some sleep." She frowns, apologetic. "Wish I could say more. Well, I suppose I heard he did leave early the next morning, galloping down toward the ferry at some goddess-forsaken hour. The ferryman might know more about that."

Nera

With the sun dipping toward the horizon, Nera knows that the mayor or his brother will no doubt come looking for them soon. With two more rooms with windows, the Catfolk tries another one, more or less a random. But by now, she has the routine down pat. Windowsills? Nothing. Cistern? Zip. Jug? Nothing but smelly water. Bed...

As she slips her clawed fingers between the mattress and the wall, she fells a slight bulge under the quilt. Pulling this up reveals a folded piece of parchment. Nera opens it and finds that one side is an official writ of some kind (it looks rather like the one that Rathin Vintoloness gave the group from the baron's treasury). On the other side is a crude map of the village with a few of the buildings circled.

Nekurr adds another 15 silver to Bruv's. "Oh right, checking the ferryman is a splendid idea! He may know where out little friend ran off actually". The half-catfolk casually mentions of Bruv before probing a bit deeper into what Vanya said "Well, if I may say, it doesn't surprise me you won the pageant at all. It seems your daughter may be getting these sugared fruits this year as well. It must run in the family." he smiles before putting on an excessively surprised expression "But you're saying the pageant leave this lovely town? After such an honour? Why would they do that? You're not saying that prefer that dirty and noisy place around here, what's it's name... Talamil?"

"Oh, I know!" Vanya Tabbins says, mirroring Nekurr's surprised expression as she drops the silvers into a pouch. "It's a real shame it is when they leave for Tamalir, or Dawnsmoor, or goddess knows where. But when we do get travelers such as yourselves, it can spark a bit of wanderlust in the young folk, I suppose." She shrugs her shoulders and sits back down at her vegetables. "Better to stick around, help your community, like I did, I think." She begins chopping, giving you the impression that perhaps she's not in the mood for more chatting.

Score. Now why would someone hide a map? Dead drops maybe? Very excited to have found something, Nera hustles down the stairs to find her snooping companions, proudly holding the map. "Look what I found."