(Yup. Zelsh handed them 5 crownd each.)
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“I don’t know what you mean about the mention of the cult leader.” ((Zone does; Arius doesn’t.)) “We can probably talk about the details with the Watch.”
He looks at the group, when he notices one person missing. “By the way, has anyone seen Canary?”
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(This made me giggle irl. Giggles)
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“Zelsh agrees with Arius on this one.” Zelsh commented.
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Drakor shrugged. “We told the Watch, they have their list, and as incompetent as Rafau was I don’t think the others would have much difficulty rounding up people once they have their names.”
He looked around. “This is starting to feel like a dead end to me. Notably, the Baron was not one of the people Rafau mentioned.”
“It is not that I doubt the Watch’s competency -though Rafau’s existence has made me start to say otherwise-, but this is rather a matter of credit. We should strive to improve our image to the Lord-Mayor even further–”
“–far enough to gain more information on Baron Dalin, who is his uh… What was it. His nephew? Cousin? –whatever; family member.”
“The fact that the baron was not mentioned by the guard does not exclude the possibility that they are in cahoots with each other. A cult of some mighty demon surely has more than a dozen followers?”
“Perhaps Rafau was not told of cult members from other regions. Why would the cultists tell him that, after all? The cultists only need to tell him the bare minimum; the people in the vicinity whom he shouldn’t touch. He doesn’t need to be told anything beyond that.”
“This isn’t useful. The only reason get involved with the arrest of the cultists is to gain the favor of the Lord-Mayor. If we don’t speak to him first, we are just vigilantes.”
Paprika makes an irritated noise and walks off in a random direction to get away from Arius.
Arius looks in the direction Rika is walking, not actually aiming his gaze towards her, but rather the general vicinity around her.
(I still see no reason why we can’t have you inform the Lord-Mayor whilst we act as vigilantes, but you do you.)
Giving up on levelling with her arguments, he redirects his focus to the other party members to see how they react.
(Rather, if the goal was to not be classified as vigilantes, wouldn’t it suffice to visit the Watch guards and inform them that we wish to aid them in the capture of the cultists? They may not like it, or perhaps even outright refuse our help, but at least it would be worth trying?)
((R.I.P. Canary. You will be remembered… though by not more than half of us at most, it seems.))
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“Zelsh thinks we dhould go to the Watch and offer our services in rounding up those cultists.” Zelsh commented.
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As she walks off, Paprika opens her satchel and allows her cat to walk beside her.
She mutters under her breath: “Carrying out an investigation is fine, but arresting random citizens is just violent kidnapping. We already have sufficient information to locate and apprehend all of them, we just need permission. Do none of them understand that what they want to do will make them look like lunatics?”
And it’s completely boring. They can deal with the Watch if they want. What happens after I expose the truth is not my business. I’ve done my part.
Paprika’s eye catches on a stone wall that rises slightly above her head: by stepping on some nearby boxes, she makes it up to the top of the wall and sits, hanging her legs over the ledge. Then, she takes out her notebook and begins to write.
PREMISES
a. A symbol of the cult of Flauros was discovered in a disused cellar last Starday.
b. The cellar was then locked up by members of the Watch.
c. After the locking of the cellar, the evidence of the symbol was washed away with water.
d. Rafau of the Watch looked unsurprised at this disappearance and tried to dismiss the method of breaking and entering as trivial.
e. Rafau had an unusual amount of knowledge about the worship of Flauros and its history in the town.
f. When confronted about his involvement, Rafau repeatedly denied that he was not a demon cultist, even under the threat of truthspell.
g. There were no signs the lock on the cellar had been picked.
h. According to Valtyr of the Watch, the tip regarding the cult was made anonymously by tying a note to a fencepost.
i. When my companions Drakor and Zelsh followed footsteps leading out of the cellar, Rafau attempted to attack them.
j. After being accused of drawing the symbol, Rafau offered 10 gold crowns per member of the party as a bribe, a sum of 50 gold crowns, unusually high for a Watchman.At this stage, the detective confronted the culprit with the correct deduction.
CONCLUSIONS
- Rafau of the Watch washed away the symbol, per Premises (b), (c), (d), (g).
- Rafau was not a genuine demon cultist himself, per Premises (c), (f).
- Rafau was nonetheless also involved in the drawing of the symbol, per Premises (e), (h), (j) and Conclusion (1).
- Rafau was drawing money from his involvement with the cult, per Premises (h), (i), (j).
After the culprit and motive were established, the detective’s intuitions were confirmed by truthspell and the culprit arrested.
Paprika scrunches up her face and frowns. We still lack evidence on exactly who reported the cult activity. It was certainly a member of the cult, as they knew to fear the Watch. Would it be appropriate to add this, or would it be a loose end I need to tie up first?
Plenty of mystery novels have anonymous tips like this. So long as the tipper’s motive is established, it’s fine.
With slightly cramped handwriting, Paprika inserts a line under Conclusion 4:
- The anonymous tipper was involved in the cult and aware of Rafau’s involvement, per Premises (a), (h).
She flips through her notebook idly, looking through dozens of pages of deduction: her handwriting really was worse when she was eleven.
It’s definitely not enough yet.
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Drakor shrugged. “Some of us go talk with the Watch and help them take down the rest of thr cultists, some of us go talk with the Lord-Mayor, and some of us go do whatever. We don’t all need to be in agreement here.”
He began to walk back towards Amelie’s, presumably to “go do whatever.” Which was atypically inarticulate of him.
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Zelsh would follow Drakor too, seeing in him a kindred spirit. A fellow warrior if you will.
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Drakor looked over in irritation as Zelsh followed. Why is he following me? I thought I was pretty clear that I should be left alone. Didn’t I say-
He frowned. Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t said anything to that effect. Just thought it extremely passive-aggressively.
The memory came unbidden.“You need to stop lashing out simply because something bothers you,” his sister said snippily. “You’re not ten. Act like it. Express your emotions in ways other than verbally tearing people’s heads off.”
He sighed, then turned to face the other half-orc. “Hello, Zelsh. How are you doing?”
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(Rika can Do Whatever right now, if anybody wants to talk to her in some capacity she is available, otherwise she will probably go to Amelie’s)
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(Paprika is also shaken for 1hr because she didn’t stop Arius)
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“Doing good. We make a good team too.” Zelsh replied with a friendly smile. Zelsh thinks that together, we can handle most things."
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Arius waits to see what Wanderer and Lionel will do. He wants for the three of them to go to the Watch to aid them in apprehending the cultists.
…also, to his knowledge, they are the only two people who have yet to respond to where Canary is. Perhaps they should search for her soon.
Drakor smiled back. “Thank you for helping me back there. I am not certain we would have defeated Rafau if you were not present.”
(I was at 6 hp at the end of the fight lol)
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Canary is thinking about something unimportant.
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