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[h2][color=FF6C5C][i][b]Marita Bärbel[/b][/i][/color][/h2][i][b][color=FF6C5C]Human, Cleric, Level 3[/color][/b][/i]
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]HP:[/b][/i][/color] 18/18	[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Armor Class:[/b][/i][/color] 18	[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Conditions:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Location:[/b][/i][/color] Darenby, The Infamous Pear
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Action:[/b][/i][/color] Zone of Truth
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Bonus Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Reaction:[/b][/i][/color] N/A 
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Marita listened to the questions and demands of the others at the table, whilst silently judging them. Hugh had a couple of decent points but let his avarice show in full force. Not unsurprising for a true sell-sword type, but just because he operated within expected parameters didn't mean he wasn't going to lose even more points with her. Kosara wanting a journal was surprising, and Marita wasn't sure how the tiefling would protect such a thing from the elements when not even her stomach was, but that was none of her concern. She also thought it was obvious that the letter asking them to take care of goblins was an excuse to cover up their true purpose, but evidently not. New armor for Kathryn would be expensive given her size, but at least she recognized that she was in dire need of new equipment. And compared to shortstuff asking for contraband magical items, it was downright reasonable. Victoria remained smugly silent, if she wanted something extra she likely had already haggled for it during this previous conversation. And Naivara... well it certainly was a request.

Gregory's response both surprised and irritated her. He answered her questions immediately at the table despite her saying she didn't expect him to. More aptly, she would rather have just received a written report of some form in the morning with as much real information as he had, rather than leaving it up to the collective memory of those present to make sure that all the details were represented. Gregory also seemed to assume that she would want more than he had offered, and even after hearing the requests of the other party-goers nothing had changed in that regard. In fact, she was almost a bit offended even though he was probably just being nice.

Her irritation was cut off from the clamor that came from the next room over, near causing her to jump out of her seat. As good as the smells were and as empty her stomach, Marita was kind of glad she hadn't actually ordered any food from the kitchen tonight. Maybe everything would be less suspect come breakfast time.

When the sheriff stood from the table she followed his departure with her peripheral vision and listened intently to what was going on behind her. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, (she did a great deal more than most anyone else still sharing the table with her) but that he was clearly very guarded, and she had a feeling that the cards he was holding to his chest had information pertinent to the situation. It was difficult to hear considering May and the ambience of the bar, but she did manage to catch a few bits here and there about the expenses of lodging a party. More important than the words were the way they were spoken. Owen sounded rather lost, while Gregory was about as irritated as she felt at the moment and half as suspicious as Hugh on a good day. Of course, as dialed into that conversation as she was, it would be impossible to miss Guido's outburst.

With that revelation, everything made sense. Why would a man like him invite the people she had met here today? He wouldn't, which begged the question about where these other invitations came in. Of course it would be easy to get paranoid over who might be a secret traitor, but oddly enough, she didn't feel that sort of suspicion. Almost everyone here was flagrantly unreliable, and if you wanted to sabotage a mission with a mole, there were certainly better and easier ways than sending out a flyer to 2 dozen different people across the land. But she was quite tired of being in this informationless environment, so rather than merely conjecture to herself, she would do something.

For the second time tonight, the cleric stood up at the table. With her right hand she drew a sigil in the air as she spoke aloud.

[color=FF6C5C][b]"Let His holy light burn away all falsehoods, revealing barren truth."[/b][/color]

With these words spoken, her eyes and amulet briefly flashed a cold white light bright enough to create sunspots in the eyes of anyone looking directly at them.

[color=FF6C5C]"I have just created a [i]Zone of Truth[/i] here. I would like to ask all of you under what circumstances exactly did you receive your invitation? If there's legitimate reason to suspect one another of espionage or the like, I would like to get it out of the way rather than ruin my night worrying about it. I won't force you to answer if you do not wish to, but the less needless doubt the better. If you resist the spell so you don't have to tell the truth, [i]I'll know.[/i] More importantly if everyone here is clean then perhaps from sharing our stories we'll be able to find some sort of clue with which to work off rather than the table scraps we've been handed."[/color] Marita sat down once more and interlaced her fingers as she set her forearms flat against the table.

[color=FF6C5C]"I'll start. I received my invitation 11 days ago in Bleakriver, a town just North of here. I had been staying in the temple helping the clergy for some time when one day the lead priest Father Restoff came to me with mail. The next morning I began traveling here."[/color] Marita was silent for a moment before speaking again, this time looking over at Kosara, directly answering her question. [color=FF6C5C]"I quite enjoy a game of colf, but I haven't had a chance to play it in the past couple of years. Now back to business."[/color]