• Closed • The Rotten Apple (Mute and Siorey)

[Vorpal]

I

n the chief's office, Mute received a warm welcome as Linca spotted him over the heads of those who had assembled.

"Good to see you again," the man nodded seriously. "It would be better if it weren't for all this, but well... perhaps you can help us with that. Immortals know we're going to need it."

As Siorey walked up to them and announced himself, Linca stuck out his hand and turned his head to exchange a few words with the trainee.

"So, the city saw fit to send aid," he said tiredly. "Not as many as we'd hoped, but at least Ariès will be pleased." Here he gestured to an old woman talking intently to a group of others at the back of the tent. "Just don't bother telling her about the 'in training' bit. She might take it the wrong way."

Soon, Linca cleared his throat to address everyone who had gathered in his office.

"As you know, this morning we discovered a dead man by the wharf," he began with a heavy sigh. "The surgeons tell me it was a murder. A stabbing. So, that calls into question the other two deaths we've experienced in the past two days, as well as the other minor incidents. We can no longer responsibly assume that all these have been accidents. That's why I've asked you here today to help prevent anymore deaths and to get to the bottom of this."

A moment of silence followed Linca's words and next moment, the room exploded into an orchestra of voices.

"The Elements are here. They can protect us!"

"They're picking us off! We have to stay together!"

"What a farse. Y'all are overreacting."

"It's a curse! The sea's angry, it is."

Reigning in the chatter, Linca stood at the helm, guiding the assembly of his worried villagers.

Off Topic

Information
Both of you will be involved in an official capacity.
Both of you didn't pick up an item.
Apologies for the delay. I'll try to post again by November 11

Objectives
You have a say in Havardr's next move. Here are some of the suggestions by the villagers.

1. Impose a curfew
2. Question the villagers
3. Post guards at key locations
4. Name a suspect
5. Have priests of the Immortals bless the village
6. Other (Somehow communicate your own suggestions)

Try to do a minor good or a minor bad deed toward a villager.

[Mute]

"Silence Reigns . . ."

I was still processing the morsels of information I had overheard during my exit of the Inn--several potential accidents in Havadr, so far--when Linca acknowledged my presence in the crowd. For whatever reason, that excited me; familiarity was a foot in the door to getting someone to trust you, and it never hurt to have a governing official on one's side. Plus, if I wanted to learn anything special about this current scare, the mayor was one of the best informants I could have. Thus, I nodded in response to the man's somber words, putting on a face that I hoped felt sympathetic. Like water, I hoped to erode the man away bit by bit until I could learn all that was inside of him.

Linca's focus shifted away from me when another familiar face stepped into the picture. It had been a while since I had last seen Siorey and I was thankful that he was smart enough to not try forcing his ship into this place. I was still rather perturbed by his antics that trial in the Sweetwine, but what else was there to expect by a trainee given autonomy like he apparently possessed. At the very least, these two men would get along given their shared interest in U'Frek. Blind leading the blind, as the saying went, though I could not deny that I at least liked the mayor. I hoped that, regardless of what happened next, that I was asked to help something completely separate from the Element.

Finally, Linca addressed the growing crowd about the incidents, to which I settled in and listened attentively. Murder was to someone like me who lived in Almund a common assumption when a body turned up dead, but to these fishermen and whalers it probably came as more of a shock. Plus, the fact that it has happened more than once suggested to me crimes that went beyond that of simple passion or vengeance. Repeated killings required a finer response because it was expected that it would not abate if the proper authorities were too cautious or too brutal with their response. Given that it did not appear that Linca had a firm suspect in mind, the need for finesse was all the more necessary.

The mob responded in the expected, multi-headed way. Confidence. Fear. Skepticism. Worst of all, piety. Death had a way of manipulating a dozen emotional threads, far beyond what I was capable of. I could not help but be impressed by the effect mortal inevitability had on man's psyche. The crowd was panicked, and it took a stoic Linca standing at the front to calm the tide long enough for official responses to be discussed. Ideas were offered up and debated; I stayed silent. This was not the way I would help Linca with the investigation; let the locals bicker and fight over the best way of hiding from this threat.

Once that was settled, I'd offer my services with the next step: catching the killer. I would not be reckless with my aid, but I would not sit around either, waiting and wondering whether I'd be the next body to wash up in the wharf. No, I felt the best defense of my life was to take it into my own hands and not expect any one, Immortal or otherwise, to take the same care with it.