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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] 13/18	[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Armor Class:[/b][/i][/color] 18	[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Conditions:[/b][/i][/color] None
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Location:[/b][/i][/color] Avonshire Town Center
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[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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Now having had a moment to better organize her thoughts, Marita tried to lay out all the courses of actions they could take and the pros and cons of each. The issue most immediate in their vicinity was the fire. Strangely enough, despite potentially posing the most widespread damage to the township, it was likely of least concern to handle. Everything was soaked from the rain and the flames didn't appear to be spreading. Furthermore, nobody here really knew how to deal with burning pitch. That said, it really did not sit with her right to ignore it and assume that all would be fine based on that little evidence.

The second problem at hand was the location of the wererat guards. They were far too much of a risk to allow them to run around unchecked, unfortunately they were probably long gone, and finding them would take far more manpower than just the 5 of them. This one they would probably just have to let go until it came back to bite them in the arse.

The third option they could choose to pursue was visiting the Municipal Building and seeing what was going on over there. This proposed the most danger to them immediately. That building was a massive unknown in what they would find, and everyone was at the very least exhausted from the two fights they had had already been through today. On the other hand, there was a decently high chance that that's where the guards had fled to, and they might be scrabbling to abscond with anything of value/incriminating. The building would still be there tomorrow, but not necessarily everything/one inside of it.

And lastly they could attempt to track down the various people they had befriended. Various people had been suggested and they couldn't do all of them at once (without splitting up entirely, which was too risky even with the Constable dead), but the end result would essentially be the same no matter who they went after. In the grand scheme of things, this would accomplish the least, but they would personally know that their actions tonight did more than just 'save the town' in the abstract. They would need to check in on Lizbeth and Mallard eventually, but this was much less time sensitive.

Now that she had their options laid out like this, her thinking on what they should do aligned much differently than her initial instincts told her. She would like to be able to not have to only pick one, but that wasn't a real possibility for them. It was at this time that Kathryn made the discovery that the abominations they had battled were made of people. The cleric turned towards the half-giant, and in doing so, her foot accidentally knocked into one of Cavendish's gloves. Ash pours out of the garment, but in the ash was the glint of gold. Her eye was drawn to it almost immediately. Although she wasn't motivated by treasure as Victoria was, Marita did love jewelry and fine wear. Quietly, she picked out the ring from the ash. She would need to thoroughly wash it before she would consider wearing it, but far be it from her to simply leave it discarded.

That bit of avarice aside, Marita approached Kathryn to looked over the corpses she had been inspecting. Up until now she hadn't thought about where the things had come from, but she wasn't surprised about this finding in the slightest. Misshapen and rodentlike as they were, the things were far too humanoid to be stitched together from the likes of livestock the way Morty was. Cavendish certainly was not the type to let something as trivial as ethics get in the way of constructing puppets for his command.

[color=FF6C5C]"It's likely that this is what happened to those that disappeared and never turned up again."[/color] A statement that those with more tact would likely not have said, but there wasn't use in skirting around the topic now. [color=FF6C5C]"Perhaps if we had known about this weeks ago we could have been able to stop this, but at least their remains are no longer being desecrated."[/color] A statement that could be interpreted as offensive to Victoria, but even if Marita had been thinking about the bard's emotions, she doubted that even the bard would think that what Cavendish had done to create the flesh golems was anything but profane.

Speaking of Victoria, she directly approached Marita and offered her cloak. The half-elf was all smiles and friendly helpfulness, but her words could very easily be mockery. Marita narrowed her eyes and tried to suss out her intentions. Victoria was not as unreadable as she usually was, likely because of the encounter they had just had. She seemed to be forcing herself to act more cheerful than she really was. In a way it was similar to Kosara but intentionally rather than as an act of cognitive dissonance. Perhaps the bard was more shaken up by what had been said to her than she let on. After all, if somebody was likely to try to throw her out, it was the law cleric. Marita concluded that V was not acting out of malice right now and would treat her gesture as such.

[color=FF6C5C]"No thank you, I'd rather not ruin your clothes as well,"[/color] she responded flatly. Not interpreting the words as an attack didn't mean that she was going to attempt to muster the kind of facade of friendliness that those like V were capable of. [color=FF6C5C]"And on second thought, I think it's best if we visit the Municipal Building as soon as possible. We're in no shape for another confrontation like the one we just had, but I have a feeling that if we put off going there even until morning, we'll miss out on something important. If we come across something we can't handle, we will just need to prioritize escape before combat."[/color]