The party heads back to town vowing to tell no one what happened.
Eabha is not feeling well. She still has a lance wound that needs to be looked at, but it's the knot in her stomach that's really causing her pain. She can't believe what just happened.
She also can't believe the look she saw in her old friend's eyes as they killed the knights, and the complete lack of remorse afterwards, even after hearing that the Whyte Cloaks had not just illegally detained an innocent man. All Eabha wants to do is retreat to The Green Dragon and sleep. But that's not what they are doing.
They are going shopping.
They visit the Magic Users Guild and the Fighters Guild, and try to unload what was kept of the Whyte Cloaks' belongings. Whatever could not be easily traced back to them, that is.
A'mal arranges for a somewhat unsavoury locksmith to take a look at the most intriguing piece of loot--a small, iron bound chest--which was found not on the Whyte Cloaks at all but in the tower of an ancient and long-dead silver dragon, Volgarth. A'mal, Thrysp and Gilthain had been keeping it at the inn but decide now is the time to see what it contains. It is marked with a glyph and he wants an expert to do the opening.
They bring the chest, as secretly as they can, to the backyard of The Green Dragoon. Furb, the owner of the Dragoon and an acquaintance of A'mal's, is there with the locksmith.
The locksmith looks less than pleased as he wasn't expecting an audience.
He is even less pleased a few minutes later when he fails to disable the trapped chest and is burned by a flash of electricity.
The contents prove valuable, as all had hoped. A'mal makes various deals with Furb to sell the unusual coins ("very old but newly minted," says the half-orc innkeeper) and various gems and jewelry inside.
A'mal also gets some information from Furb: Flo hasn't been around the last few days.
This makes three missing companions. A'mal explains to Eabha and Morihana that Flo is a former adventuring companion of theirs, and that two more recent friends, Mingus and Cendra, with whom they arrived in town earlier that week, have not been seen lately.
A'mal is more than a little concerned. His first thought is that Ragest, the rat catcher, has them. Ragest is angry with the party because they have thwarted his plans and he might want revenge.
Furb lets them know that there is to be a little party that night at the Dragoon and all promise to attend. This might be a good time and place to collect a little information.
But there are other sources of information to exhaust first. They decide to go visit Flo's mother and see if she has heard from her daughter.
But Flo's mother isn't at home. A neighbour lady, more than just a little starstruck to find herself talking to the A'mal Shukup, explains that Nora has been away for a little while, maybe two or three days.
Finally, they head back to The Green Dragon and they call Wassup to take a look at Eabha, who is not doing well.
She lies down on the bed and the healer sucks in his breath as he takes a look at the wound.
"How did you get this?" he asks.
Eabha cannot answer and looks away.
A'mal answers for her. "Er, we were out riding and she fell. On a cactus."
"A cactus, huh?" Wassup asks, using tweezers to pull wood splinters from the Ranger's side.
A short while later, Eabha is feeling much better and they all head down to the dining room for dinner, where they get the chance to look at the day's newspaper.
Friday July 6, 1981
HORSE WHIPPED
Wednesday last, several horses were stolen from their pastures south of town. This is the first time that the thieves have been bold enough to strike this close to home; it was known that they had been operating in the South and along the West Road.
This theft was their downfall, for many of the horses stolen were the mounts of guests at The Green Dragon. George's stable hand, Toomie, was knocked unconscious during this raid, and George stated that Toomie was lucky to be alive.
After reporting this crime to the Gate Keepers, the visitors hired horses, and led by our hero, A’mal Shukup, pursued the felons into the wild lands of the South. A'mal and his companions recovered the stolen mounts, but apparently, although justice was done, none of the horse thieves were brought back to stand trial.
In celebration of the wedding on Sunday of Lady Gwen to Count Mather, this Saturday and Sunday will be declared Public Holidays.
Saturday afternoon, all are invited to the Castle Park for a Hog Roast and to watch the Jousting Tournament.
Saturday evening, there will be a demonstration of combatant skills at the Hexagon. This is open to the public and you can win big prizes.
Sunday morning at 11:00am, the wedding will be held at the Temple and after, the public can attend celebrations in the Market Square.
HEADLESS CORPSE BAFFLES CONSTABLES
A'mal looks up from the paper. "Er..."
It hits Thrysp and Gilthain immediately, as well.
"Mingus," Gil says. "He's the headless body."
Eabha is confused. "I though Mingus was a woman."
They explain that the Bard's female form was a recent alteration, the result of a spell. Once dead, the magically transformed Mingus would most certainly revert to his proper form, that of a man. And when exactly was the last time anyone saw the Bard?
As they walk, Thrysp hears something ahead, two boys playing on the street. For her own amusement, the playful Monk pulls ahead of the group and sneaks up on the children.
"Boo!" she blurts out from just behind them.
Both boys nearly jump out of their skins. Thrysp smiles.
But the kids' fears turn to awe as they see the woman's companions approach, and in particular, the handsome, black-haired man.
"Hey, it's A'mal Shukup!" they squeal.
A'mal shakes his head and holds up both hands. "No, no. I'm his brother…Omar. I'm mistaken for him all the time."
The boys ignore his protests.
"You're famous!" one boy says. "You're in the paper every day."
A'mal tries to change the subject. "Ah, we're interested in the murder that took place here a few days ago."
"Oh, yeah," the taller of the two boys responds. "Did you see the blood? There's blood all over the place!"
He points excitedly to a brown patch on the cobblestone not too far off.
"Did you guys see what happened?" A'mal asks.
The boys shake their heads.
"I know you'd probably not want to talk to the police about it, but you can tell me."
"Tommy saw it," the smaller boy says.
"Tommy? Where is he?"
"He's not been well for the last couple of days. His mom has been keeping him home."
"Where's that?"
The boys point to a home near a bend in the alley. "Right there."
"Thanks a lot boys."
A'mal looks back at his companions. "I know we've got places to be, but it might be a good idea to come back and talk to Tommy tonight. Maybe after visiting the morgue."
They are noncommittal.
Perhaps feeling a little sorry for her earlier trick, Thrysp entertains the children with a few spectacular tumbles as the group moves on toward the police station.
Once there, A'mal approaches the desk officer and announces that he might be able to identify the headless body.
The desk officer excuses himself and comes back shortly with another constable.
"So, you think you can identify our mystery man?" the second constable asks.
"I hope not, but yes," A'mal says. "I think so."
A'mal is taken down to the morgue and, based on healed scars and the recent rat bites, confirms that this is the body of Mingus.
He comes back upstairs and lets the rest know that they have indeed discovered their companion's fate.
There is a moment of awkward silence. None of them knew Mingus well but he had accompanied them for a while and they are not happy that he has come to this end.
A'mal negotiates with the constable to keep Mingus' name and his connection to the rest of them out of the paper, but no guarantees can be made.
"I'm sure the wedding will overshadow all other news," the constable says confidently.
A'mal sighs. He is not so sure.
Outside, A'mal says he wants to go see Tommy now, before the child forgets important details.
Gil looks impatient and others think this can wait until the morning. It's been a trying day and they could all use something to drink and a night of fun.
But A'mal is persistent and eventually Eabha agrees to accompany the Sorcerer back to the Zig-Zag to see their only known witness.
Tommy's mother answers the door.
"Ma'am," he says. "I'd like permission to speak to your son about what he saw the other morning."
The woman is suspicious and wants to know why he is interested.
"Don't tell anyone, but the deceased was a friend of mine. I'd just like to know what happened to him."
"Fine," she says after a few moments' consideration. "You can come in."
A'mal enters and introduces Eabha.
"He hasn't been well these last couple of days, since the killing. He didn't want to talk to the constables, but I'll go see if he wants to talk to you."
The woman goes to get Tommy from his room and brings him in. He hides behind his mother's skirt.
"Hey, Tommy," A'mal starts, kneeling down to the boy's eye level.
Tommy begins to cry.
"It's okay. I just wanted to ask you about what you saw the night the man was killed out in the alley."
"I didn't see nothing," he says through his tears.
"Well, your friends, a couple of boys we met earlier tonight, say you saw something."
Tommy sniffles. "Maybe. I maybe saw something. It was really foggy."
As gently as he can, A'mal gets from the boy that it was not only really foggy, but quiet. A woman had come down the street and he couldn't hear her footsteps. Then a shadowy figure had approached from behind and killed her. That's when the fog came along and another figure appeared to take the body's clothes. But he could not give a description of either.
Still in tears, Tommy says, "How come it looked like a lady then when they took her clothes, it looked like a man?"
A'mal looks at Eabha, who shrugs.
"Er, well…that's a really good question, Tommy. It was magic."
"Oh!"
"What happened next?"
"They took her, er, I mean his head."
"Took it? You mean they cut it off?"
Tommy nods.
"Did you see what kind of instrument they used?"
The boy is puzzled.
"I mean, is it like something your mother has in the kitchen? A knife? Did he go like this--" A'mal asks, miming a chopping motion, "--or like this?" he asks, miming a sawing motion.
Eabha cringes and hopes Tommy's mother doesn't faint.
"The second one." He looks like he might start to cry again.
"Tommy, you're done a really good job remembering." Reaching into his pocket, A'mal retrieves five gold pieces and gives it to the shocked boy.
"Wow!"
"You might want to let your mom take care of that for you," A'mal advises.
As A'mal and Eabha prepare to go, Tommy announces that he has something for them. He runs to his room and comes back with a metal snowflake a couple of inches in diameter. It looks to be silver but A'mal knows it's mithril.
"Where did you get this?"
"It was on his chest," Tommy says. "I took it."
His mother looks horrified at the thought of her son entering the alley and approaching the body. A'mal doesn't blame her, but accepts the snowflake graciously.
A'mal and Eabha leave, advising Tommy and his mother not to share this conversation with anyone. On the steps outside, A'mal examines the snowflake.
"What is it?" she asks.
"A sign. The ercs leave these after an assassination."
A'mal and Eabha meet up with the rest of the group, tell them what they've learned, and head over to The Green Dragoon to join the party.
Two hours later, she is drunk, and sharing off-colour jokes with a group of rough looking men at the bar.
Across the room, her companions are growing nervous.
"Ah, does someone want to go over there and keep an eye on Eabha?" asks A'mal. "Make sure she doesn't talk?"
Thrysp watches the Ranger collapse against the bar in a fit of giggles. "Sure."
"Knock her out if her lips even start to form the word whyte," he advises.
"Maybe it's time to go," Morihana suggests. "I think we've learned all we can."
The rest agree. Besides, it's been a long day. Morihana and Gilthain retreive their inebriated friend and the group is headed for the door when A'mal spots Caxton, reporter for the Cockermouth News.
"Hey, do you think you could lay off the stories about me?" A'mal asks.
Caxton laughs. "Are you kidding? You're big news. You sell papers."
"Surely with all the celebrations and special events going on in town this weekend, there are better things to write about. Really, I don't lead a very exciting life. I did absolutely nothing of interest today-"
Eabha, supported between Morihana and Gilthain, snorts in laughter. The Monk eyes her dangerously.
"-so I don't expect to be in the paper tomorrow," A'mal finishes, ignoring Eabha's outburst.
With that, the party leaves and heads back to The Green Dragon.
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