And I'm finally all caught up. Sorry for the wait guys. I'll bump the interest check again, I guess.
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Atticus
Eastern Outskirts, Rauru
"I hope they don't want to talk to us. The guards always act so suspicious around me," sighed Atticus, pulling his hood further over his head to look a little more inconspicuous. He sat cross-legged on an ornate square of rug, fiddling with his boomerang absently. Having developed an acute awareness of the weapon's weight and balancing points, the Subrosian vagrant often took to spinning the thing and flipping it end to end when he felt bored, or anxious, or in this case, both. A pair of guards stood across the way talking to the eastern gate's stablemaster, and Atticus knew that the way they kept glancing over in his direction meant bad news.
"It's their job to be suspicious. Never mind the fact that we both know the suspicion is entirely justified in your case," scoffed his friend, a deku scrub, resting inside an exotic looking blue deku flower rooted nearby. Unlike the row of five business scrubs rooted right outside the gate (lying in wait to ambush outgoing travelers and sell them food, water, lantern oil, firewood, and other supplies at an inflated price), this old crusty shrub was covered in red and orange leaves, signifying that it had been raised as a wild Mad Scrub rather than as a civilized merchant. Despite looking savage, the old scrub appeared quite calm and tranquil, lazily reclining in his flower and smoking a long pipe filled with bitter-smelling herbs.
"Fair point. Although I don't like the wording of 'in your case' when we're both a part of the same racket, Barako," he admitted, with a slight chuckle. "I'm sure you warrant a fair bit of suspicion yourself with those illegal infused potions of yours," Atticus smirked, with a slight shrug. "Let's not forget that the group of bandits who gets you your forbidden ingredients just happens to pay me as an informant. We're both vital cogs in the same big suspicious criminal machine, you see?"
"Nonsense. I just want to bring my medicine to the people of this land, and if the Captain says I can't buy the ingredients legally, I'll buy them illegally. If he says I can't sell my wares inside the village, then fine, I'll sell them outside the village," he ranted, puffing on his pipe a little more vigorously as he got worked up. "That's more noble than just snitching on poor defenseless travelers in exchange for handouts, I think. You're not helping anyone but yourself," he pointed out, sternly. Atticus answered with another shrug and chuckle.
"Pardon me? I help plenty of travelers who wisely choose to compensate me for my services. It's the ones that don't request my help that end up defenseless, which makes it a rather unwise choice in effect," replied the Subrosian, shaking his head in sarcasm-laden fake disappointment. "If nothing else, I can assure you the travelers I snitch on are anything but poor. After all, they wouldn't be worth stealing from otherwise," he chuckled. Barako found the comment to be far less funny and merely ignored his hooded co-conspirator, grumbling to himself between puffs on his pipe.
Atticus perked up as the first potential customer in hours emerged from the eastern gate. It appeared to be a young woman in a strange white robe. Atticus had never seen anyone dressed like this before; mages and the arcane arts were not practiced or supported in Subrosia, where the primary focus was on mining, smithing, and dancing. The only magicians Atticus knew of were the coven of Wizzrobes that dwelt in the cursed Sword and Shield Labyrinth at the base of the grand volcano, and they were reputed as dark beings wielding evil hexes and demon magic. He guessed that she must be a cleric of some kind, perhaps an acolyte of the weird Labrynnan religion they practiced here in this foreign land. Such folk were often kind and welcomed company on their travels, and what's more, they were known to pay handsomely. Atticus approached unassumingly, trying his best not to appear imposing despite sticking out like a sore thumb amongst his surroundings.
"Pardon me, miss. Are you headed for Lynna City today? On your way to visit the Maku Shrine, perhaps?" he asked politely, obviously in reference to the girl's strange clothing. "I happen to be a reliable trail guide and I can escort you there, for a fee. If you've heard about the incident with that poor knight then you know the roads out there can get pretty dangerous for a woman out all by herself," he noted, rather matter-of-factly. His voice was strangely raspy and his accent undoubtedly foreign, unlike any kind Syna had heard. The most odd part about talking to a Subrosian was that you can only read their emotions from their glowing white eyes; they had no perceptible moving mouth, and all manner of speech and expression seemed to originate from somewhere within the darkness of that blue hood.
The plot thickens!
I swear on my mom's undying soul that Syna's post goes up tonight. I'm so sorry. This is just the first time I'll be introducing Atticus so I want to do it right and not rush.
I swear on my mom's undying soul that Syna's post goes up tonight. I'm so sorry. This is just the first time I'll be introducing Atticus so I want to do it right and not rush.
Lieutenant Shiro looked up from the voluminous stack of papers on his desk as Sigurd walked into the room. Subtly, but also with a bit of a haste, Shiro closed a small journal-looking book that he'd been writing in, clasped it shut, and dropped it inside his desk drawer. Obviously it was something he didn't want Sigurd prying into further, but it would certainly make one wonder; what could such a boring, unassuming man know that was worth hiding anyway?
"Ah yes, well, hm... I suppose the captain only forbid me to share the details of my investigation of the body with you, hm... I guess that doesn't include the details like the east gate's departure and arrival log, so, I mean, I could probably give you that..." he thought aloud, rubbing his hairless chin. He began shuffling through the papers on his desk until he found what he was looking for, promptly handing it over to Sigurd. "This is the master copy, which is compiled at the end of each day and archived on a week-to-week basis. Today's arrivals won't be on it yet but it should have the records from Alston's departure three days ago. Unfortunately it can't leave this room, but if you'd like to make a copy of it for your own purposes, you're welcome to use my materials," he finished, gesturing towards the quill, inkwell, and parchment roll on the edge of his desk.
"It takes roughly a day and a half to ride to Lynna City from here, but that's if you ride at full speed and take no breaks; otherwise it's about two days. If Alston stopped at all on his journey, it seems unlikely that he would have been able to make the trip there and back and still find the time to get murdered and carry that note back to us all in the span of three days. It's still possible that he did make it, though... we didn't recover the Captain's note to the king from Alston's bag, though, so there's no way to know for sure... very troublesome indeed," mused the Lieutenant. He suddenly realized that he'd said something he wasn't supposed to, and for an instant appeared to be a little embarrassed before composing himself once more.
"Uh, I'm terribly sorry Sigurd, but I'm afraid I've got a lot of work to do here while I'm compiling all these notes for my own investigation... if you've got all the information you need, I really must be getting back to work..." he urged, politely indicating that he would very much like to be free of Sigurd's prying questions for the time being. This was all beginning to seem quite suspicious, but most of all, the redacted entries on the gate log were the most concerning. There were only three people in the fort with a high enough rank to alter gate logs; one of them was Sigurd, and the others were Captain Viscen and Lieutenant Shiro. Which one of them would want to alter the gate logs? Or perhaps more importantly, who was it that traveled and returned that morning that someone didn't want there to be any record of whatsoever?
"Ah yes, well, hm... I suppose the captain only forbid me to share the details of my investigation of the body with you, hm... I guess that doesn't include the details like the east gate's departure and arrival log, so, I mean, I could probably give you that..." he thought aloud, rubbing his hairless chin. He began shuffling through the papers on his desk until he found what he was looking for, promptly handing it over to Sigurd. "This is the master copy, which is compiled at the end of each day and archived on a week-to-week basis. Today's arrivals won't be on it yet but it should have the records from Alston's departure three days ago. Unfortunately it can't leave this room, but if you'd like to make a copy of it for your own purposes, you're welcome to use my materials," he finished, gesturing towards the quill, inkwell, and parchment roll on the edge of his desk.
Sigurd was temporarily lent the East Gate Log!
A log recording the arrival and departure of all persons passing through the east gate of Rauru, as well as some basic information about each traveler. For the entry three days ago, it reads:
On Duty, East Gate: Sir Grodus
A log recording the arrival and departure of all persons passing through the east gate of Rauru, as well as some basic information about each traveler. For the entry three days ago, it reads:
On Duty, East Gate: Sir Grodus
- [Redacted], 7am, Labrynnan (departing)
- Treko, 10am, Deku Scrub (departing)
- [Redacted], 12pm, Labrynnan (arriving)
- Sir Alston, 1pm, Labrynnan (departing)
- Atticus, 1:10pm, Subrosian?? (departing)
- Lieutenant Shiro, 3pm, Labrynnan (arriving)
- Marcus Simms, 4pm, Labrynnan (departing)
- Cecil Forsythe, 4pm, Labrynnan (departing)
"It takes roughly a day and a half to ride to Lynna City from here, but that's if you ride at full speed and take no breaks; otherwise it's about two days. If Alston stopped at all on his journey, it seems unlikely that he would have been able to make the trip there and back and still find the time to get murdered and carry that note back to us all in the span of three days. It's still possible that he did make it, though... we didn't recover the Captain's note to the king from Alston's bag, though, so there's no way to know for sure... very troublesome indeed," mused the Lieutenant. He suddenly realized that he'd said something he wasn't supposed to, and for an instant appeared to be a little embarrassed before composing himself once more.
"Uh, I'm terribly sorry Sigurd, but I'm afraid I've got a lot of work to do here while I'm compiling all these notes for my own investigation... if you've got all the information you need, I really must be getting back to work..." he urged, politely indicating that he would very much like to be free of Sigurd's prying questions for the time being. This was all beginning to seem quite suspicious, but most of all, the redacted entries on the gate log were the most concerning. There were only three people in the fort with a high enough rank to alter gate logs; one of them was Sigurd, and the others were Captain Viscen and Lieutenant Shiro. Which one of them would want to alter the gate logs? Or perhaps more importantly, who was it that traveled and returned that morning that someone didn't want there to be any record of whatsoever?
My post will be up tomorrow when I'm back at my computer.
Sigurd's investigation of the body will yield the following facts:
-He has been dead for two days.
-He has a three pronged stab wound in his chest, indicating the possibility of a pitchfork. It does not appear severe enough to be fatal on its own.
-His throat was slit with a short and slightly dull blade with a serrated edge.
-His burns indicate that whatever source of fire scorched him was dispersed a uniform circular pattern for a limited period of time (as opposed to a fire that spread naturally to that part of his body.
-No traces of oil or anything else to help the fire burn was found on his body.
-He has been dead for two days.
-He has a three pronged stab wound in his chest, indicating the possibility of a pitchfork. It does not appear severe enough to be fatal on its own.
-His throat was slit with a short and slightly dull blade with a serrated edge.
-His burns indicate that whatever source of fire scorched him was dispersed a uniform circular pattern for a limited period of time (as opposed to a fire that spread naturally to that part of his body.
-No traces of oil or anything else to help the fire burn was found on his body.
~Fort Hera, Rauru~
Sigurd approached the fort to find it mostly empty. Sitting just outside the northern gate of the town proper, the already small fortress looked even less imposing when devoid of the knights who usually patrolled and trained on the premise; most all of them were likely out and about conducting their own investigations or preparing the town for a siege as per Viscen's orders. The two guards stationed at the front offered a curt salute to the special investigator as he arrived in front of the large metal portcullis barring entry to the main hall and barracks.
"Sir, Lieutenant Shiro wanted me to let you know he's completed the initial examination of Alston's corpse. He's, well, he's... he's awaiting your arrival in the doctor's quarters in the west wing," reported the recruit on the left, nervously. He appeared quite young and obviously new to knighthood, but Sigurd's stature as a special investigator and his unknown intentions at the fort made many of the rank-and-file soldiers at the outpost consider him difficult to approach. Nevertheless, the two gate guards tapped their spears on the hard cobblestone beneath them in perfect unison, and the portcullis slowly began to rise until Sigurd was able to proceed onward.
((Cue music.))
The main hall was larger than it looked from the outside, but due to the lack of windows the lighting made it somewhat hard to see very far anyway. Small torches lining the walls were all that illuminated the hallway as Sigurd ventured deeper into the fort, passing by the (currently empty) armory and turning down a hallway to his left to continue into the west wing, where the doctor's quarters, the officers' quarters, and the map room were all located. This hallway also contained the Wall of Honor, a large section of well-illuminated wall on which various trophies, banners, and other keepsakes representing the garrison's past achievements were displayed. In addition to the standard fare, like Viscen's ceremonial spear and the painted skull of a grotesque horned beast, one item seemed to stand out from the rest and managed to catch Sigurd's eye in particular.
A large and intricately-woven tapestry showing a bloody battle on horseback sat in the center of the other trophies. On one side was an advancing line of Seashell Knights on horseback, brandishing spears and longswords as they charged against their enemies, who were depicted far less heroically. While the knights rode in on majestic white stallions in shining armor, the opposing force seemed to be composed of peasants and ruffians on old donkeys and plow horses, wielding pitchforks and clubs and generally looking dirty and brutish. Clearly a piece of history written by the victors, the tapestry seemed to represent the bloody uprising known as the Highland Rebellion, one of the darker stories from the later days of the old King Ralph's time on the Labrynnan throne.
Labrynna Palace, the home of the royal family, was a massive fortress nearly the size of a mid-sized city in itself. The old Lynna Palace, which still stood when the legendary Queen Ambi ruled the land, was demolished long ago when the royal family fell from power. The many acres of land the palace once occupied were returned to the poor farm-folk that lived in the surrounding regions of the Nuun Highlands. These farmers, known informally as Highlanders, flourished in this area just north of Lynna City, as the demand for crops was high due to their proximity to the largest city on the continent. A proud but simple race of people, they developed their own distinct cultural identity as decades passed, particularly being known for their worship of the harvest and nature.
However, when Ralph reclaimed the throne many years back, he sought to rebuild the magnificent Lynna Palace exactly where it once stood. Unfortunately this land was now home to a great many Highlanders, who considered the fields there to be their rightful home. They believed Ralph's actions were those of an unreasonable tyrant and refused to vacate the land, even when offered hefty bribes to relocate peacefully. The Highlanders rallied together and formed a militia of farmers and peasants to resist King Ralph and his army as they attempted to march in and remove them by force. While the conflict itself was short and relatively contained in just one region, it is remembered as among the bloodiest conflicts in Labrynna's recent history and one of the rare examples of King Ralph needing to use the full might of the military to accomplish an objective. Otherwise Ralph was known to be a king of peace and a shrewd diplomat. Why Viscen saw fit to display such a violent and gruesome piece of artwork seemed strange, but Sigurd suspected that the captain's strange and storied military career might have had something to do with it.
Sigurd entered the doctor's quarters and was assaulted by the stench of death, his attention immediately drawn to the corpse sitting out on the examination table. It was obviously the knight from before judging from the slit throat and the severe burns on the right side of his body, but he had been undressed now, with his charred and bloodied armor disassembled into its component parts and laid out on an adjacent table for further inspection. Although Sigurd initially thought he was alone in the room, he was startled to find that the meek and unassuming Lieutenant Shiro was also there. Despite being a very nice and polite fellow and one of the few people in the fort who seem to actively avoid interacting with Sigurd, he was also such a bland and unexciting person that it was quite common to forget he was in the room to begin with. He was often derided around the fort as being a complete and utter doormat and basically Viscen's faithful yes-man.
"Ah, hello, Sigurd. I wish we could meet under more pleasant circumstances than this, but alas, it seems the town will be seeing some hectic days in the coming weeks," he figured. His voice was quiet and weak, and he had a bad habit of trailing off at the end of his sentences. If you weren't actively paying attention to him he could yell in your face and you probably wouldn't even blink. "I just finished my examination. I would give you my notes, but... well, the captain instructed specifically to not involve you in our investigations and leave you to your own devices. Terribly sorry. I think... y'know... that the more heads on the case, the better, but... well, it seems like the captain doesn't want you interfering for some reason. You'll have to ask him about that, but he's out right now..."
If Sigurd didn't know any better he would think it was just white noise spilling out of this guy's mouth. Could one person's tone truly be this flat?
"You are welcome to perform your own examination, however. Please don't make any unnecessary incisions or otherwise damage the specimen if you can help it. When the doctor gets back later today I'll want to perform a more thorough examination with his tools and assistance, but for now, he's all yours," finished Shiro, patting Sigurd on the back as he turned to leave. "If you need me, I'll be in the officers' study next door," he added as he left, shutting the door behind him to contain that awful dead body smell in one place.
Working on a post right now. I know I'll get Sigurd's half of things up tonight but Syna's will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm traveling home for father's day this weekend so if I don't get a post in it's probably because I'll be away from my computer Saturday and Sunday. I'll try to find the time to get something done this weekend while I'm there, but don't expect anything.
"Oh that won't be necessary. I have some emergency cash stored away here in the village just in case something like this happens, I think I'll be fine. Although... I came straight here after arriving in town, so I suppose I have no way of paying for these drinks. I would appreciate some assistance there, if you don't mind," he asked, somewhat sheepishly, just as he finished off his second glass of water. Oliver, who had migrated over towards Syna and the scrub after deciding that their conversation was more interesting than the rest of the chatter he'd been eavesdropping, let out an audible scoff at this request.
"Woah, slow down there, big spender. Do you really expect this young lady to pay for two whole glasses of water all by herself? Ridiculous," he interjected, rather sarcastically. The scrub shot him a rather unamused glance before tapping his glass against the bar a few times. Oliver sighed and poured him some more water. "Make that three glasses of water, oof. Let's see..." Oliver trailed off, counting on his fingers and rubbing his chin thoughtfully, as if this bar tab calculation was some complex equation with a hundred variables. "...I'm no mathematician, but I believe that comes out to a whopping one rupee, if it's not too much trouble for you, Ms. Moneybags," he finished, turning towards Syna to collect the hefty sum. Mumbling under his breath about paying the bills and other such matters, he wandered off to deal with the other customers upon pocketing the single rupee.
"Hmm. That Subrosian. His name is Atticus, he wears a tattered blue cloak and carries a strange boomerang with a red jewel in it. A nice fellow and rather charming but I get the feeling that he's never quite telling me the truth... well, that may just be the suspicious nature of us scrubs," he chuckled. Scrubs, especially business scrubs, were known to be very defensive and wary of the other races, although one rarely becomes a successful merchant without looking out for number one. "He's a very good trail guide and he charges almost nothing for his services, which makes me trust him even less to be quite honest. I've traveled with him at least a dozen times and he seems to know the Highlands very well," he added.
"If he's in town right now, you're probably gonna find him hanging around the stables by the eastern gate. That's where most people looking to head to Lynna City depart from, so he'll probably be out there offering his services. The eastern gate's right outside this bar, you couldn't miss it if you tried," finished the scrub, taking another sip from his glass. "That's all I know about the guy. What makes you so interested in him? I thought you weren't traveling to Lynna City."
"Woah, slow down there, big spender. Do you really expect this young lady to pay for two whole glasses of water all by herself? Ridiculous," he interjected, rather sarcastically. The scrub shot him a rather unamused glance before tapping his glass against the bar a few times. Oliver sighed and poured him some more water. "Make that three glasses of water, oof. Let's see..." Oliver trailed off, counting on his fingers and rubbing his chin thoughtfully, as if this bar tab calculation was some complex equation with a hundred variables. "...I'm no mathematician, but I believe that comes out to a whopping one rupee, if it's not too much trouble for you, Ms. Moneybags," he finished, turning towards Syna to collect the hefty sum. Mumbling under his breath about paying the bills and other such matters, he wandered off to deal with the other customers upon pocketing the single rupee.
Syna paid out one rupee. Fuck, dude!
"Hmm. That Subrosian. His name is Atticus, he wears a tattered blue cloak and carries a strange boomerang with a red jewel in it. A nice fellow and rather charming but I get the feeling that he's never quite telling me the truth... well, that may just be the suspicious nature of us scrubs," he chuckled. Scrubs, especially business scrubs, were known to be very defensive and wary of the other races, although one rarely becomes a successful merchant without looking out for number one. "He's a very good trail guide and he charges almost nothing for his services, which makes me trust him even less to be quite honest. I've traveled with him at least a dozen times and he seems to know the Highlands very well," he added.
"If he's in town right now, you're probably gonna find him hanging around the stables by the eastern gate. That's where most people looking to head to Lynna City depart from, so he'll probably be out there offering his services. The eastern gate's right outside this bar, you couldn't miss it if you tried," finished the scrub, taking another sip from his glass. "That's all I know about the guy. What makes you so interested in him? I thought you weren't traveling to Lynna City."
Oh and also @Sho Minazuki where were you planning on having Sigurd going once he leaves the inn? I could detail that in my next post.
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