Hoppy-ness is Never Overrated

Posted on 20 Mar 2022 @ 1:47am by Mage Kalian Winter & Warrior Martin Josceran & Warrior Rhiannon Cadash & Warrior Katya Charbonnet (Shar-bon-ay) & Rogue Elinowy Ursulas
Edited on on 20 Mar 2022 @ 1:50am

2,874 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Summerday La Fête
Location: Raven's Roost Tavern
Timeline: Cloudreach 25th, evening

OOC: Continued from post "Wine, Danger, and Song"

Having decided to go to the Raven's Roost where they could find a quiet place to talk and drink good beer, Kalian, Rhiannon, Elinowy, and Katya left the Chantry grounds. The further they walked along the road toward Kalian's family's tavern, the fewer revelers and vendor stalls they passed. Kalian was first to reach the outer front door with a raven carved on it in relief, and he held the door open for his friends.

The Raven's common room was unusually empty of patrons, with everyone in town carousing the festival for food, beverages, and friendly company. A welcoming fire burned in the hearth as always. Rarer still for early evening, the floors had been swept and mopped, the tables cleaned, and the chairs placed in orderly fashion around them. Cook - a middle-aged woman with straight salt-and-pepper hair escaping from her head wrap and skin as dark as Kalian's - sat at the table closest to the kitchens with an Antivan-looking woman of similar age, the two of them playing cards, drinking from tankards, and speaking in Antivan.

Rhi had not been to the Raven's Roost yet. She had seen it shortly after she had arrived in Jadar. It had looked like a nice place. So when she walked in she could see that it was a pleasant place. Knowing the time she figured that it should be a little busier, though with the celebration she understood why it wasn't. What did catch her eyes were the the two women playing cards. The one woman looked like she could be related to Kalian.

The scarlet haired Chantry sister looked around the inside of the Roost. It was odd how the Maker continued to bring her to this place. Not long ago she had been trying to help begars out on the streets, now she had eaten slept and bathed in this little public house. Curious thought Elinowy. The Maker certainly kept her life interesting.

She smiled pleasantly at the two women sitting at the table raising her hand in a gesture to bless them. "The grace of the Maker be upon your both."

Kalian made introductions. "You've probably seen my friends here before, but well… this is Rhiannon, Elinowy, and Katya," he said, gesturing to each in turn. "And this is, uh…" Kalian had to stop and recall Cook's given name. "This is Ragenhild, but everyone here at the Raven just calls her Cook, and her wife Lucia."

"If your name was Ragenhild,whaRhi u'd prefer to be called Cook too," responded the older woman a jovial Rivaini accent. "Why aren't you youngsters at the festivities?

"Oh I know these two quite well. We move in some of the same circles." Katya said with a big smile. Of course the same circles being the lesbian community "And I do come to the raven often. One of my favorite places. Ladies good to see you again as always."

"We, uh, just wanted a quiet place to talk," said Kalian, answering Cook's question.

Cook smiled an acknowledgement to Katya, and raised an eyebrow at Kalian. "Talk?" she repeated skeptically, regarding Rhiannon and Elinowy. She made no move to get up and offer refreshments to Kalian's guests, that was his responsibility. "Go ahead, don't mind us."

"I've been trying to coax these two to come to work for Miss Caroline in the Orphanage but no luck so far!" Katya said.

"I don't know what the Raven would do without Cook," said Kalian. Lucia was a craftswoman, and he was pretty sure some of her apprentices came from Miss Caroline's. "Elinowy might be interested in helping at the Orphanage, though."

Rhi gave a nod to Cook and Lucia. She kept quite while Kalian and Katya talked. It was always good to listen before you spoke. This way you know what you were talking about. Her mother had taught her this from a young age. Once the introductions had been made and Kalian and Katya were done, Rhi stepped forward a little. With a small flourishing bow she gave Cook and Lucia a warm smile. "I am Rhiannon Cadash, daughter of Jessamir Cadash Captain of the Night's Kiss. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure," said Cook, looking rather intensely at Rhiannon. So this was the young woman who had captured Kalian's fancy.

In Lucia nodded graciously. "Well met. All of you."

Elinowy bowed respectfully to the two women. "I am a humble servant of the Maker, Sister Elinowy Ursulas."

Before Kalian could suggest they all sit across the room while he fetched a round of ale, the front door opened again, and Martin stood framed in the entrance.

"Well! Looks like you survived the wrath of the captain! C'mon and join us Martin! We are going to try to figure out all this over drinks!" Katya said

Relieved to find his friends here, Martin smiled as he approached. He'd been worried they might already have gone to chase up some trail or other, which would have made catching up with them a struggle. Of course they were more than capable of defending themselves, but that didn't ease the worry.

"I'm glad to find you all here." Thankfully the room was empty of patrons but Martin still did not feel entirely comfortable sharing what had happened in Landry's office in front of so many. "The captain was... not pleased, but we can worry about that later. Where are you at ? I was thinking we should be looking at the docks to track down where the shipment of wine came from, who bought it and who was handling it."

"Well, that my friend is one of the things we must discuss. I think your idea has a lot of merit and might be a good place to start. However where on the docks do you suggest we start looking?" Katya said.

"Our first stop should be the dock master," Martin replied without hesitation. "He should have a registry of all the inbound and outbound shipments. We can find out which ship was carrying the wine, and who it was for, and who had access to it. That should narrow it down a fair deal, especially as we know two of the people involved were elves."

Elinowy gave an unconscious shudder at the mentioning of the elves. She smiled a greeting at Martin. "That sounds like a proper line of inquiry. I would be pleased to provide an assistance I am able."

Rhi gave another smile to Cook and the other woman before she moved to the table that Kalian had gestured to. When Martin showed up, Rhi was glad that he had survived the wrath of the Captain. The short time she had been in Jader, it was clear the the Captain was someone you had to tiptoe around. Which for Rhi was a challenge. Rhi had been thinking this when she heard Martin talk about the issue it hand. She looked up at Martin and spoke quietly. "I can answer some of your questions. Let us sit first."

She could ? Martin furrowed his brow as he followed Rhiannon's guidance to sit. She was a sailor, he was suddenly reminded. It was no stretch of the imagination to assume that she knew about other sailors and their cargo. Still, something about this made him feel uneasy, he just couldn't pinpoint what exactly.

Elinowy stood back from teh table allowing the others to seat themselves first. She would of course be happy to settle next to whomever still had an open space next to them, or even to stand as the others ate and discussed.

While his friends sat down at a table across the room from Lucia and Cook, Kalian headed for the kitchen to fetch drinks and something to eat, since the group's plans to buy festival fare had been preempted by a corpse and a search for wine bottles.

Rhi sat and made sure that there was a place for Kalian to sit next to her when he came back with the drink and food. Once settled she looked to Martin. "I can tell you where it came from, who delivered the wine, where it is, and who part of it was delivered to. (pause) I want to wait till Kalian comes back before I continue."

Martin narrowed his eyes, his feeling of uneasiness increasing tenfold. He hadn't known Rhiannon long but this skittishness did not seem like her. Was she involved in some way ? Maybe whoever had carried the wine was a friend of hers. Either way he could tell that pressing her would not speed up the matter so he merely nodded and waited patiently for Kalian to return.

Katya was very curious now. How did Rhiannon know all this? And how long has she known it? Well they would find out as soon a Kalian returned.

Kalian emerged from the kitchen carrying a serving platter with bread, soft cheese, and sliced lamb meat. He placed it on the table in front of his friends, gave Rhiannon a saucy wink, then went to the bar and was back a few minutes later with a tray holding five empty tankards and three pitchers full of beer that he placed on the table next to the tray of food.

He took the chair Rhiannon has saved for him and began filling the tankards. "Martin," said Kalian, "Did they tell you we found two more bottles? One unopened and one empty." He pulled the empty one from his pocket and put it on the table. "A human man said he drank this whole bottle, and he was perfectly fit, if a little drunk."

"No we haven't. Rhiannon here says she knows all about it! Ok Rhiannon, spill! What do you know? I am dying of curiosity!" Katya said

Rhiannon said she knows all about it? Kalian looked sharply at Katya, then to Rhiannon. He thought all he and Rhi had was conjecture until they could sneak into the warehouse and verify it was the same wine the Night's Kiss transported. What had he missed?

Two more bottles ? Now that was interesting. The full one might be analyzed to identify the toxic agent - hadn't Kalian mentioned that a man in the market might be able to help with that ? But the what was less important than the why. Martin looked at the empty bottle, brow furrowed as he considered. If someone drank it and was fine, that meant...

"Either those two bottles are from two different shipments, or only some of the bottles are poisoned," he concluded out loud, gaze shifting to Rhiannon. Whatever she knew, it was another piece of the puzzle they needed to get the full picture.

"Rhiannon has the unopened bottle we just bought, and the half-full bottle that made the perfumer sick. Martin, you still have the first empty bottle, the one we think poisoned the man we found dead in a privy, right? Let's put them all on the table and make sure they're the same," said Kalian.

"Sounds good," Martin agreed. He lifted the bottle, which he had held onto all through his talk with the captain, and put it on the table alongside the other two. They looked identical, the intricate, beautiful label a sure sign of authenticity. Martin brushed it with his fingers.

"I've heard of this vintage. Their label is hand-drawn by select artists, to guarantee the authenticity of their bottles. The corks are covered in wax for the same reason, so that people can't just refill empty bottles with cheap wine and sell them for the price of the real stuff. As far as I can tell these bottles are either authentic, or the work of a talented forger - but I can't imagine one such would want to draw attention to their business, lucrative as it must be."

"Well, it does seem the poisonings were intentional. However, the motive is unclear.

Elinowy looked at the assembled bottles carefully. They were exquisitely crafted vessels. "One does not sell spirits such as this idly by at a festival booth. This is the wine of the wealthy and discerning of palates. How would elves come upon these let alone be circulating it in the streets. It is most suspect." the sister interjected.

Kalian picked up the two empty ceramic bottles, the one that seemed to have killed the miller's friend, and bottle consumed by a drunk but otherwise healthy man. The bottles were identical, and the labels both pictured a human woman with long red-purple hair drawn to look like wine flowing into a cup. As he looked more closely, he noticed a subtle difference. "These labels. This one – drunk by a man with no ill effects - the eyes aren't colored in. This other one – that likely poisoned the miller's friend - the eyes are shaded blue." He picked up the half-full bottle that made the perfumer sick, and the unopened bottle. "Blue eyes on these bottles too."

Upon closer examination Kalian was right. Martin had not paid attention to the subtle difference because he was looking for signs of forgery, and the eye colour looked more like an accident - or a child playing with pencils - than any attempt at deceit.

Rhi listened quietly as Kalian, Martin looked over the bottles and Elinowy questioned why such an expensive wine was being sold at a stand and how did the Elves get ahold of it. She had a thought.

"An attempt to distinguish between poisoned and non-poisoned bottles ?" he asked out loud, testing the words to see if they made sense. "But why poison some of the bottles and not others ? Why poison any of them in the first place ?" He shook his head in frustration. Usually motives were easier to puzzle out. Greed, fear and lust were the most common reasons to commit crime. But this poisoned wine business made no sense at all, unless it was the work of a lunatic.

Rhi had placed the unopened bottle up on the table once everyone has sat. She listened quietly as the group discussed all that they knew and found the distinguishing mark on the bottles. After a few more moments she spoke. "It is possible that the elves had no idea that the wine was poisoned. The possible reason for the poison and to distinguish the bottles was to make sure that the elves only received the poisoned ones to sell. This way it would draw attention away from those who poisoned the wine. I would say that they have a specific target in mind. And when the poisonings and death at the fair are blamed on the elves then they would also be blamed for the death of the real perpetrators target."

"A few days ago, I accompanied Rhiannon and her mother to a meeting with a man named Carlos Acerbi who hired the Night's Kiss to transport a crate of wine from Val Royeaux to Jader. Of course, in preparation for the festival, merchants bringing in wine and, uh…" Kalian grimaced guiltily in Martin's direction, "getting creative with customs fees… is not unusual. But, the whole arrangement seemed, well… off somehow." Kalian looked to Rhiannon to elaborate.

"Yes, we transported the wine. We never looked at the bottles. (pause) Professional curtisy." She looked to Martin when she said this.

"The wine crate should still be in Acerbi's warehouse. I propose that Rhiannon, Martin, and I go check out the warehouse, while Elinowy and Katya find Dominic, the potion master, and ask him to identify the poison. He's staying here at the Raven's Roost and has a cart at the festival. Elinowy and Rhiannon met Dominic the other day... the man with glasses looking for the privy." Kalian blushed, recalling the bath incident.

"Oh!" Elinowy responded reflexively, recalling the embarrassing incident. "Oh.... Alright, I suppose we should meet in a more proper setting." She turned and looked to Katya. "It would be a blessing to have you as a companion. I have some experience with potions, I can determine this man's competence. As I recall he doesn't speak well."

Rhi looked to Kalian when he mentioned the potion maker. She had not even realized it was the same person she had bought perfume from. She decided to keep quite on the fact that she had offered him a job.

Well, the arrangement made sense, even if Martin was loathe to involve yet more civilians in this whole thing. At least getting the potion master to work on the poison should involve no immediate danger, and going to the warehouse... he hesitated. While most smugglers did not turn to violence as their first choice, their trade usually meant they were able and willing to wield a sword. Especially smugglers who were potentially responsible for poisoning several people.

But this was exactly why he had to investigate, and why he couldn't afford to refuse help when it was freely given.

"Let's go then."

Rhi gave a nod to both Kalian and Martin. "Ready when you are."

-----

 

RSS Feed