Against the Cult: Disappearances (1.6)

Louis Marks responds to Aanbo's question. "The Reeve hasn't questioned them yet; he's been in and out pursuing his duties in the surrounding area. But I was considering whether to ask a priest to come in and oversee the process. They've done some amazing work in the past..." he lowers his voice, "They can tell when you lie!!" He shudders. "They can always tell. It's terrifying, but I must admit it's a useful thing when hearing one person's word against another's. Still, I don't know if I should wait for the Reeve...it may be another week before he returns. Of course, you could talk to them without a priest present, if you think you can trust what they'd say."Myrtha considers the heavy timbers that form the walls of the cabin. None of the walls could be physically breached with anything short of a boulder thrown by a mangonel, and even that might bounce off of the walls. The roof is more vulnerable; being made of beams, boards, and shingles, an attacking force could scale the walls and begin hacking their way through the roof with axes or pry it apart with levers, getting through in a matter of minutes. And of course the roof could be set on fire much more easily than the timbers, which would require a concentrated blaze for a sustained amount of time to ignite. She notes approvingly that the bars have each been set in holes drilled for them, so the only way to remove them would be to saw through the bars or disassemble the roof and lift off all of the timbers above the windows. All of these could only succeed in the absence of any kind of organized defense: how would you get a mangonel close enough to volley a boulder without getting attacked? How would a gang of marauders large enough to take apart the building remain unmolested for long enough to make any progress? A direct assault is unlikely to succeed; the place is pretty secure. But she knows that the exploits are more often in the people more than in the infrastructure. How are the doors locked, and who has the keys? How many people guard the prisoners at a time? Right now, it seems like Louis is just by himself.

Louis Marks nods. "That's a good idea. I'll send someone right away." Louis opens the outside door, sticks his head out, and gives a shrill whistle. Moments later, a sprightly young girl trots up. "Yes, Louis?" "Ah, Varah. Would you dash over to the Temple and ask if Diana can spare one of her Dellebenes? We'd like to ask our suspects some questions, and you know how helpful their presence is." Varah nods and runs off. Louis turns back to the group and smiles. "We've got a bunch of 'deputies' in the area - city kids without apprenticeships, mostly. Younger siblings without much chance of an inheritance or a profession; they're always useful for odd jobs. The Reeve thinks we should give them work, and it's worked out well so far."

In a few minutes (during which time Louis tries to get a sense of the extent of each party member's interest in gambling games), there's a knock at the door. Varah opens it before anyone can answer the door. "This is Brother Jamin, Louis." Louis smiles as the Brother enters the room and tosses the girl a shiny cub from his pouch. Varah attempts a curtsey and tiptoes out, closing the door behind her. Brother Jamin is a man of middle height but VERY stocky, skin leathery from the sun and with medium-length brown hair swept back so that it adds perhaps four inches to his stature. He is dressed in the charcoal grey typical of the knights of Delleb, god of reason. He looks dourly at the assembled party. "I am led to understand that you have need of the blessings of Delleb the Wise, Discoverer of Secrets." the Brother says in a deep, sonorous voice.
"Y-yes, Brother. We wish to question some people accused of serious crimes..."
"Well I'm yer man!" the Brother says, in a completely different voice, smiling widely at his fake-serious persona. "Sorry fer the old joke; it's something that we love to pull on newcomers, and I haven't met many of you before now!" He introduces himself warmly to each of you. "Now!" he claps his hands, "I've got a lot of studying to do, so let's get started! There's a few ideas some of the farmers and I have been talking about that could improve how much water the crops get in the summertime that I'd like to get to drawing up..." Louis leads the way through the inner door toward the cells. Brother Jamin immediately adopts his "serious" persona again: long, humorless face, flinty eyes, hands tucked into the sleeves of his robe.

Louis bangs on a door. "Jonbon, you've got some visitors. Step away from the door and have a seat. We want to ask you some questions!" He waits a moment, then opens the door. Brother Jamin turns to give you all a quick look (with a wink) then turns back and enters the cell ahead of the rest of you. There's not a lot of room for everyone to move around, but it's not a cramped dungeon. Jonbon sits on a stool, with a pleasant smile on his face. "Ah! It's good to have visitors! Conversation is so much better when there's more than one person talking, don't you think?" "KNOW THIS! Brother Jamin intones. "DELLEB IS WATCHING AND LISTENING. THE MASTER OF KNOWLEDGE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN CAN SEE INTO THE HEARTS OF ALL AND KNOWS WHEN YOU TELL TRUE AND WHEN YOU LIE." Jonbon smiles pleasantly and inclines his head; one performer acknowledging another. "That's very impressive! And good, too: let's all be honest with one another!" Jonbon notices Karliel for the first time and smiles with delight. "Ah, a fellow devotee of song! That's quite an impressive instrument you have there!" His smile falters a bit. "They've taken mine from me." Brother Jamin nods solemnly to the party: they can ask their questions, he has already invoked Delleb's Zone of Truth spell.

"I'm Jonbon Zhaffe. I'm a traveling entertainer."

Jonbon smiles genially. "I've traveled much. Most recently I traveled from Orlane, and I was looking for a new audience in Hochoch. But I didn't make it; I was attacked by that monster and your group showed me to the Jarl family farm."

"I thanked him for his hospitality, and for letting us all in to recover after my horses were killed. Later on, when your group suggested taking Devek into Hochoch for care, I agreed." He smiles again at Karliel. "That really is a lovely instrument. I'd love to get a closer look at it. How is the tone?" At Aanbo's next question, he considers: "The little missus and the kiddies were quite upset with worry about their brother, and nervous about the owlbear, too. I offered to help take their minds off of their troubles with some music and some herbs that I had for just such occasions. When they all fell asleep, well...I'm not a healer, but I knew that there are people in Orlane who could help. I was all by myself and there were five of them. I didn't want Abel to come back and worry about the rest of his family, too. So I went out into the woods - I was pretty scared about that owlbear, too - and found one of the oxen from your wagon, hitched it up, and moved them in so I could take them all to Orlane to get help. I was hoping that they'd be back home and safe before Abel ever came back. That was foolish, I know now. I thought he would spend more time with making sure his son was being helped."