First choice, 2) wins over 1) 8 to 6 votes. Seconds choice, B wins with 6 votes. Second place was E with 3 votes.
41 – An interrogation and a treasury
You agree with Lord Tilash that questioning the senior merchant before risking people in that room would probably be for the best. Also, you ask if you could be in charge of the interrogation. You do admit that you don't have experience, but you would like to try your hand at it. The lord looks at you for a second, then he agrees as long as he is still watching from the sidelines.
You think carefully whether or not to tell Lord Tilash of the matters of Qoor, then decide against it. Considering how close Strok is to Bitak, you reason that if he doesn't already know it means that Lord Medah did not want him to know. And you will not be the one to change that, unless the situation becomes critical.
And so, after a few minutes, you find yourself sitting right in front of the senior merchant in a small room. The man is tied to his chair and a soldier is standing guard beside him just in case. To the side sit Lord Tilash and a couple of his advisors, but you will be the one mostly in charge of asking questions.
You try to think of a good approach, and decide you should try to keep it psychological. There is always time to turn violent if need be, but once you start torturing someone you can't go back and try to be nice. Besides this old man looks like he would permanently break under violence, better keep it as a last resort. You must also admit that you're not sure at the moment you could be capable of torturing someone...
And so you start askign questions. The merchant immediately proclaims himself innocent, but you don't let him blabber. You start small, by asking him to tell you his recollections of the day.
"There's not really much to tell. I woke up, had breakfast and went to my work at the guild. Had lunch with some colleagues, went back to my post and worked there all the afternoon, then I heard screaming. I would never have imagined that the secretary would murder Herzil!"
You ask him why he was planning to leave the village, and where he acquired such a poisonous insect. And why didn't he let himself be taken in peacefully and killed a guardsman instead.
"I was not planning to leave before! I was just scared that the secretary would try to blame me and so I went back home and started preparing just in case! As for the insect, I bought it from a traveling merchant. I wanted to make a trapped safe in my home, but when the guardsmen came inside I was afraid and threw it by instinct."
And now that he said this, you can conveniently trap him. You point out that he had a lot of rations in his house, and that proves he was planning to leave from before the murder. And also you remark what a big coincidence it is, that the insect he bought would be of the same specie of the one that killed Herzil. He pales terribly at this, and you realize he didn't think you noticed that Herzil died of poisoning. You tell him that he's going to hang for this, the leave him in the room to stew a bit.
Lord Tilash follows you and good-naturedly tells you that you're quite inexperienced at this. You seem to have the right ideas, but you're lucky to be facing such an unprepared person. But since it's not going badly, he'll let you continue. He can always take over later on if needed, for now he tells you to just go and get some experience.
You go back inside after some minutes, and try to stress out that as things are he will hang, or maybe.. that he might end up like his accomplice. He seems lost, and so you tell him of the man with the torn chest in the treasury room. You take particular care in describing him all the gory details, and see that he's white as a sheet. You decide to try you luck in order to give him the final push. You have no idea if Lord Tilash will follow through with this, but you tell the merchant that he should just confess and collaborate, and appeal to the lord to sentence him to forced labor instead of a summary execution....
And this finally does it. The man seems to hesitate, then trembles, and finally agrees to talk.
"All right, I.. will talk. It's true that I had a part in this but.. I'm not the murderer. It all started about a week ago. The carpenters guild and the merchants guild never agree on anything, and so I was surprised when the head of their guild wanted to meet me. I was hesitant, but decided to go and talk at least. He told me he wanted something and for that, he would reward me greatly. He told me he knew very well that I was embezzling funds from the guild, but that he would ... overlook it and in fact reward me if I went along with him."
The man wets his lips and asks for something to drink. Then he slowly resumes speaking.
"He wanted.. something. He wanted to be rid of Herzil, stating he was a great bother, and he also wanted some documents. I don't know how, but he knew that some documents would arrive with the Royal Courier Service, and he wanted them. So, in exchange for my help in killing Herzil and obtaining the documents, he would support me so I would be the next head of the merchant guild. And afterwards we would make business together, and grow even richer than before.
My part in the plan was simple. I needed to find a way for one of his men to get close to Herzil the day the documents were delivered. That man would kill Herzil and steal the documents."
The man asks for some more water. You notice how much he's sweating right now, his face is flustered.
"And so I stole the key to the treasury from Herzil, and had a copy made before putting it back. I gave him the key yesterday when I met him for the last time. I told him I would make a diversion for the man to enter this morning, and another tomorrow or the day after for him to leave. And he smiled, and gave me the insect, telling me to use it only if absolutely necessary. I... was disturbed by this, I though he would use a blade. After that there's not much to say. This morning I had his man enter so that he could hide in the treasury and tomorrow I should have let him out... is that man really dead? How? Why? ...."
He seems to grow more and more panicked, and the lord says it should be enough for now. You leave the room and think about what was told to you. If the merchant is not lying, the man in the treasury is the one who assassinated Herzil, and the carpenter was the one that ordered the murder. And the reasons... seems to be the documents, and that Herzil was in the way. What was in those documents ? Still, there is no explanation for the dismembered man in the treasury.
Lord Tilash speaks at last. "I think it's time to explore that room. We're missing something here and we have to find it. And no Kyoss, you won't be going down there until it's safe. Leave it to the experts for now."
You go back in the study and see that a few soldiers are preparing themselves. They are wearing leather armor to be mobile, plus helmets, gloves, and in general clothes in order to cover up any exposed skin. You do not envy the first man that will go down there....
After the preparations are complete, a few lanterns are lowered in the treasury. That way the room will be brightly lit and the soldiers will have their hands free. You tremble in trepidation as the first man descends. He steps down and slowly, carefully looks around. Then he assures that no insects are in sight, and a couple of other soldiers follow him. Trying to keep watch of everything, they slowly set about to secure the rest of the small room. After a few seconds, one of then gives a surprised cry.
"My lord, there's a huge.. hole here! It's some sort of .. tunnel? It must be at least 2 meters wide! The stone floor has been completely torn off. And .. ugh.. what is this horrible smell! I don't know how long it is my lord, what should we do? There does not seem to be any centipedes in the room at least"
A wide tunnel. A horrible smell. Someone, someTHING capable of wrecking a stone floor. Small, poisonous, black centipedes. A half-devoured body. You can't stop thinking of the giant centipede and foreign men. Could it really be....?
If so... should you tell Lord Tilash? There could be many lives at stake here if you are correct
Should the tunnel be explored?
- No
- Yes, send soldiers
- Yes, go with the soldiers
- Other. Make a proposal, put a number on it
And.. what should you be doing now (If you do not go and explore with the soldiers of course)?
A) Go down there, explore the room, inspect the cadaver
B) Go back to questioning the merchant and the secretary
C) Go and search the secretary's and the merchant's houses
D) Lay low for now. You have done enough
E) Other. Make a proposal, put a letter on it
There it is, another long one. A general observation. Remember, Kyoss will not change personality traits unless you do so through your choices. Just saying.
Also, I just realized. I have been using metric system measurements. I hope everyone is comfortable enough with them.