…
I shouldn’t push the subject. Maybe it’s something similar to me. “I’m just… not very good at much.” I begin my lie. “I’m kinda… stealthy? But. Nothing really… useful in a fight, or…”
“…I won’t be dead weight. I’ll try my hardest. And- I’ll do more than most would- even if they could cast magic like you.” My left hand starts to twitch. I shouldn’t pay attention to it. I hope my example doesn’t make her think I think I’m better than her. “But… I’m…”
(Specifically she has tried to figure out in the past her own magic powers, whether she could possibly be Normal and Okay Thing rather than Evil Witch, and “hey who can cast this spell I have” is extremely relevant so I assume there’d be a substantial circumstance bonus there?)
nodnod, that makes sense
“I don’t know Taras in particular, but the Sacred Warriors are all Gorumites. Their main temple shouldn’t be hard to find, you just…”
(They describe how to get to the main temple of Gorum)
“…and you’ll know you’re in the right place because they’re wasting a bunch of space on a training yard.”
Arius thanks the person/people who informed him about the Sacred Warriors.
(I guess I know what I’ll do tomorrow.)
He then returns to the Auberge. ((And presumably goes to sleep.))
I need her to stop lying.
Paprika digs around in her bag and pulls out a notebook: somewhat worn, though clearly well-made and without a single rip in the pages. Without needing to search, she opens the book directly to a page near the middle.
PREMISES
a. Traveling with my group is a meek teenage girl. named Canary.
b. The group solved a murder and apprehended the culprit in a fight, then testified to this in court.
c. The girl carries no special equipment and wears no armor despite the others having received funding from the baron (see page 130 Conclusion (2)).
d. When confronted, Canary showed obvious fear of me and submission to the others in the group.
e. Canary claims she is with the group willingly and not being threatened.
f. When an invisible Arcane Mark was placed on Canary’s clothing, she cast a spell herself and removed the marked article of clothing.
g. Canary has shown unusual selflessness and complete submission with no signs of evil motivations.CONCLUSIONS
- Canary is hiding her true abilities, per Premises (b), (c), (d).
- Canary’s abilities are magical in nature, per Premises (c), (f) and Conclusion (1).
- Canary is a Witch or Cleric of an unusual but non-evil god or Sorcerer of unusual bloodline, per Premises (e), (g) and Conclusions (1), (2).
She holds the page out so Canary can read it, but says nothing.
I hesitate, taking a moment to think, then point at conclusion 2. “Your setup to this is. Flawed.”
“…I have a weapon. That’s not a sign of magical abilities. And neither was me taking off the skirt. Really.”
(Whoops that was supposed to be Premise c, her not carrying special equipment or armor)
(edited)
“You would have received some kind of armor or protection if you were meant to be fighting in close combat, unless that armor would have hindered spellcasting. Your weapon is cheap and doesn’t come across of that of someone who had access to a baron’s stockroom. You’re hesitant to use it and don’t seem the type to have been trained.”
Paprika looks down at the page. She frowns, pulls out a pen, and adds in a premise in the empty space at the bottom:
“h. Canary’s clothes remain unusually clean despite frequent travel through dirtying environments.”
She modifies Conclusion 2 to rely on Premise (h) – the dependencies are written in a spaced-out manner which lets her easily squeeze in more text.
“The removal of the skirt was circumstantial evidence, but you clearly reacted and were casting a spell to detect my mark. You also responded as if you knew what I was talking about when I mentioned it earlier, and obviously you’ve now acknowledged you knew what spell it was.”
Paprika’s voice is slightly more comfortable once she’s discussing deductions, but she seems unusually… muted, nervous, especially with her book of deductions open.
(I somehow lost the envelope you need to mail your ballot in and only noticed after walking down to the post office :/)
“…Lionel, the alchemist, tends to fight in close quarters. He didn’t get any armour.” I take out my spring blade and prop it open. “And this- is of. Good make.”
I don’t really like this back and forth. It makes it into a big deal. I can’t really- ever reveal it now.
I take off one my boots and raise it up as-well. “This is dirty. If I were a spellcaster who knew how to do that- why wouldn’t I clean myself? Arius is the one who- does that.” Half-lie. If she asked him, he’d hopefully agree without much details. If she gets too specific, I can just say that’s what I was referring to, not the fact that he cleans us.
I need to keep going.
“I didn’t cast a spell, and…”
I point towards the final line. “Knowing what a spell does doesn’t mean I have to use magic to find out. I identified the spell via my knowledge, not another spell. If I only knew of it by casting a spell, I’d… not know its name.”
“I was afraid you. Wrote something derogatory. Because I couldn’t see it. And I don’t really like writing on me either way- so I took it off.”
oh no! you might still be able to vote in person, it’s often possible to do that even if you requested a mail-in ballot as long as you aren’t trying to vote twice?
(…though, given Massachusetts, you may or may not have any competitive races to vote on,)
(And I need more sleep, but we can’t always get what we need in life)
(I go to school in New York)
oh right I forgot about. School being in session
Paprika closes her book, but continues with the debate.
“He was carrying expensive potions and a wand, which the baron had presumably given him – he got something very nice. You had only a single knife, which you don’t seem very comfortable using. Drakor had armor and a weapon.”
“There’s not much point to cleaning up boots, which will get dirty quickly anyway and aren’t especially visible. Your clothes don’t have any signs of wear whatsoever, but you clearly show an objection to buying new clothing. And they were even clean after you traveled so far to that village.”
(Assuming Canary regularly cleans her clothes, since she was introduced as having unusually clean clothes? Feel free to ignore if not)
“You know the name of Arcane Mark and successfully identified it merely from a quiet casting, so you should know it exclusively creates the caster’s personal signature. If you didn’t know the spell at the time, then you shouldn’t have specifically thought I wrote something on your clothing simply by touching it.” Paprika sighed. “You also visibly were performing the somatic component of a spell, and you were speaking under your breath.”
“I’m… bad at asking for things. Drakor got it for me. By that theory, I should have- something expensive too, like a fancy book. Or something.”
I lift up my right leg over my left and point to the various muddy bits. “I changed my clothes for the trial, and I’ve been in a caravan or just… sitting around… we got to Hazel Ford. This is marks of the wear from then until now.”
… “I knew about the spell. I just… forgot. I was… scared. I don’t know the spell that well.”
“I was just. Muttering. And. My body moves a lot when I’m anxious.” Maybe she’s seen that. It would- help me sell it.
“Not if you couldn’t ask for anything without revealing yourself as a magic user.”
“Did you buy new clothes for the trial? These show zero signs of wear.”
“May I ask why you’ve studied spellcraft enough to immediately identify a spell as it was being cast? That’s a difficult task that requires training.”
“I know what a spell looks like.”
How long are we going to go back and forth like this? Most people leave after this long even with a serious accusation. She has an easy retreat into claims of coincidence two moves ahead, such that the truth is obviously proven to me but deniable – implausibly deniable – for her.
Paprika closes her eyes and fidgets with her sleeve a bit. I’m not revising my theory, I don’t need any more proof than this, but… this isn’t going to work.
“Look, I…”
(Mmm sense motive to see what will help her get some level of confession out of Canary?)
@discobot roll 1d20