Scene 1: The train from Korranberg

Garth nods, looking over at Mintina. "Are you on board with this?" After she gives he answer, he turns to Benedict and says, "Let's go find our missing companion."

Then, he'll move to check any sections of the train in which he thinks someone could be hidden, or hiding.

Stepping out into the corridor, Garth looks up the train, then down the train, thinking about where everything is and where he might hide if someone was looking for him. Nodding, he decides to check the baggage cars. "I think I'd be hiding in the baggage cars if someone were looking for me. More hiding spots and fewer people to give me away. Let's go check there." He looks at the inquisitive and says, "I'm pretty sure we'll be able to get in with your badge."

The Inquisitive nods. "A logical deduction. I am authorized to enter those cars in this situation. I even have the keys on me." He turns toward the back of the train and heads to the next car.

As Benedict opens the door to the rear of Corfan's car, the sound becomes nearly deafening. The roar of the wind is the first thing you notice. The speed of the train is not something you notice while you are inside and the windows are shut, you can almost forget that you are moving at all except for the gentle bob of the the car as it slips out of the control of one stone, hanging in the air for a quick two count, then just as gravity is about to send the car crashing back to the solid terra firma, the magical stones under the car connect to the next stone in the ground and the electric field reestablishes support for the train.

With the door open though, all this reality comes back to the fore of your conscious thought. The flashes of lightning every few seconds make it look as though you are flying over the most terrific storm ever seen by creation, there are no clouds though and the crackle of electricity is impressive, but no where near the intensity of a good, natural thunderstorm.

Waiting for the moment both cars are stable, the half-elf steps across the foot wide gap onto the cargo car's platform. Retrieving a set of keys from a pouch, he opens the door and steps inside, holding it for the two gnomes. Once inside, Garth and Mint enter the darkened car. There is about two feet of space inside the door before the first shelves, loaded down with luggage and goods, creates a narrow (by human standards) corridor.

Benedict goes first and is peering with squinting eyes ahead. He pauses after every step or two and examines the shelves around him. Garth follows close behind, and his sensitive nose picks up the coppery tang of copper. Looking around, he finds a dark smear of something. Leaning in closer it is revealed to be blood. "But who's blood, I wonder?"

A few steps further down Benedict points out another, then another. At the door to the next car, a small puddle, as though the bleeding person spent time resting here. The lock is open, perhaps left open by accident, but it also makes sense that the killer wouldn't bother locking the door if they were bleeding...

What do you do?

Garth looks at Benedict, then Mint and slowly and quietly draws his rapier. He takes a small, nervous step forward before reaching out and throwing the door open and through the opening, with his rapier at the ready.

As Garthinok opens the door and crosses over the gap, the door to the next cargo car is similarly unlocked, a small telltale drop of blood can be seen on the next landing. Inside the new car the situation is similar, but this car is packed with larger crates. Large goods, rather than personal baggage is stored here. As Garth looks around he is about to make room for the other two searchers...

...Suddenly he is grabbed and shoved to the floor. He maintains his grip on his weapon, and as he scrambles to his feet he hears the sound of the door close behind him, and the lock catch. Spinning around he is confronted with a surprising sight. Spinove stands before him, a look of anger and pain on her face. Her hand clutches her side where blood pours from a wound, staining a torn dressing gown. Her chest heaves with her breathing. She is dirty, her lower lip is swollen and bleeding some. The right side of her face is bruised, the eye will soon be swollen shut. In the hand not clutching her side she wields a large dagger, clearly not of gnomish design. She is about to lunge forward, but then stops. "Wait? I know that face...you're...?"

"Garthinok?" Spinove is cut off by another voice, coming from behind Garth. The same voice in fact. Keeping his blade pointed at the woman who just locked him in this car, Garth glances over his shoulder and sees...Spinove...again?

The second Spinove stands, just as bloody and dirty as the first, though this one is bleeding from a wound on her bicep, near the shoulder. The wound seems to have caused her to lose the ability to use her right arm, as it dangles limply by her side. This woman is wearing only a shift...although 'wearing' might be an overstatement. In her good hand she carries a stiletto, the thing blade drips with blood. The pair of women are identical in almost every way as far as Garth can tell (save for their clothes and wounds), though the relative darkness of the unlit cargo car probably helps hide the smaller details.

The second one to appear, the one barely wearing her shift calls out, her voice panicked and shaking, "Kill her! She's a changeling! She killed Severin and took me! She's crazy!" She moves forward toward Garth, weapon at the ready.

The one who attacked Garth first brandishes the large knife and takes a limping half-step forward. "No! She killed Corfan and kidnapped me. She was asking about some documents." Her voice is equally agitated as the other.

Garthinok studies both women for a second, searching for some clue to figure out which on is the true Spinove.

"Ladies, it's obvious that one of you is true and the other false. Before I can strike the false one down, I must be certain which is which. While you convince me, how about some music?" He reaches into his belt with his free hand, pretending to search for his flute to buy some time for his study.

Spinove...the Spinove that locked the door and has the wound in her side...scoffs at Gatrth. "We don't have time for this! I'm bleeding like a stuck pig here!" She takes a step forward, but winces in pain and stops. The pain causes her to drop the other arm down, the large dagger no longer points at Garth threateningly.

The other Spinove answers with a similar tone, "I'm an agent of The Trust. Corfan was suspected of crimes against Zilargo. I was trying to get evidence against him." She takes another step forward. Her stiletto remains pointed in Garth's direction. Both women are within 10 ft of him now.

Behind the first Spinove, Benedict can be seen through the small window, periodically as the lightning flashes. Garth can her the door being jostled as though someone, probably Mintina, tries frantically to get the door open. Benedict points a finger at the window. Clearly he is trying to tell you something, but the message is lost with the changes to the lighting outside.

Which one? Garth thinks to himself, frantic. He doesn't want to attack the wrong one. That would put his back to the true enemy.

His master's words echo in his brain, Trust no one... His mind is made up in that moment. Looking at both Sinoves, he turns suddenly and lunges at the one still pointing a weapon at him, lashing out with his rapier.

The woman Garth lunges at gives out a shriek as his blade catches just under her rib cage. She stumbles backward a step, then lunges at him with her stiletto.

As Garth's opponent lunges forward, she is thrown off balance as the train lurches suddenly. Garth keeps his feet and sidesteps her. Just then the door flies open and Mintina and the Inquisitive step in. Mint goes straight for the other Spinove and helps her to the ground. Benedict steps forward, a hand crossbow at the ready, leveled directly at their enemy.

"I've got you Spinove." Mint says as she cups the wound. A bright light erupts from between Mint's fingers and as she pulls away her hand, Spinove's wound is closed.

"By the authority of the Treaty of Thronehold and in the name of The Twelve, I charge and arrest you for the murder of Corfan Severin d'Sivis. Resist and I am authorized to use force." The woman in front of you drops the weapon she is holding and winces, , raising one hand slowly above her head. The other twitches as though she was about to raise it, but stops, hanging uselessly at her side.

"I'd change back to my normal form, but well..." the not-gnome says with a wave of her hand, indicating she is dressed only in a shift.

"Indeed. That can wait." Benedict tells her.

Turning to Garth he says, "Good show, my friend. Tell me, how did you figure out which one was the impostor? I'm curious if the clue that alerted me was the same."

Garth shakes his head, sheathing his weapon. "Something my master wrote to me suggested she might be telling the truth," he says, nodding back to the real Spinove. "Also, she was the only one that was still threatening me with a weapon."

Garth steps over to the real Spinove and says, "Are you all right, now?"

"I...I think so. Thank you." Her voice is tired and quiet. She sags backward into Mintina, supported by the other woman.

"Yes, she should be fine. I need to get her into a room with better lighting to get a good look at her, but the danger is passed I think." Garth knows that Mint would say otherwise if she thought Spinove was still at risk. "There is still a chance that he poisoned you, or your wound is infected."

"No, she is not poisoned."Benedict speaks up. As you turn he has produced a pair of shackles and a length of chain. The false Spinove is bound with her hands behind her back. The chain wraps around her waist and over each shoulder before it is locked to the shackles. "You see the dagger there." He indicates the weapon near Garth. "That is the assassin's weapon. Note its larger size. That was not intended for someone of gnomish blood. This one's wound was made with its cutting edge. The stiletto however is perfectly sized for a gnome, and the wound that was in your friend's side was made by this weapon. Additionally, the assassin's arm is limp. My guess is a paralytic agent was employed. The dosage would only be lethal if introduced near the heart or lungs, where it could cause the organ to cease functioning. I think what happened is that Ms. Spinove was able take the dagger by subterfuge and wounded the changeling, who was forced to obtain another weapon...from Master Corfan's own possessions. You were very brave Ms. Spinove"

Garth shakes his head, furrowing his brow, and addresses the false Spinove. "Tell me why? He was a good man. Who wanted him dead?"