Eno Arval

Rothan nodded and vanished to the upper floor. Eno was well aware that unless given a few hours to pour through everything, the priest's odds of finding anything regarding his possessions were slim. On top of that, Eno doubted that his name had actually been marked anywhere to identify them. Besides, he had the feeling that whatever Rothan's reasons were for accompanying him were more important than his own so it wouldn't be surprising if he prioritized whatever he was looking over the instrument-maker's plight.

Eno shrugged casually at his own thoughts and renewed his focus on the search for his bags. He moved around the room clockwise, poking bags as he went, ignoring the crates for the moment. It wasn't long till his foot brushed against something soft, not the false softness of the baggs with their hard contents, but something that easily gave way to the side of his foot. He looked down to see a red scarf made from expensive wool.
"It couldn't be..." The man muttered and bend down to pick it up, wincing at his aching knees as he did so.
"Yes it is, that's the Arvel crest embroidered into it alright. Then would the bags next to it be mine?" He wondered.

"Hello, what are you doing here?" said a voice upstairs. Eno froze and his heart skipped a beat. "Guards!"
"Rothan! Someone must have walked in on him. Oh dear, how to help him?" He thought. He had little time to think any further as the door leading outside flew open and a pair of Armiger's burst into the room. They looked at him with a deep frown. To Eno it was clear that they knew that he hadn't been the one who called for them. But then who did?

"Who are you?" The one on the left asked with a tense voice.
"Me? Well uh, I'm Arval." Eno stammered, just as confused as they were as he tried to find some way to not get arrested.
"Oh, but that's probably not what you meant, good sir. I'm Eno Arval, assigned to worksite 4. Our foreman requested an extra bag of nails, some more ingredients for the morter, paint, two hammers and four more wooden boards. I've got most of the stuff, these two bags are all that's left." He added quickly.

"Worksite 4? I thought that place was finished." The Armiger continued, before gesturing at his partner.
"Check the other rooms, hurry! Start in the back room." He ordered.
"Hey, I'm not the one who organises here. All I know is that the foreman ordered me to get the goods, and he wants them fast. Nothing's finished till he says it is, as far as I'm concerned. That's all." Eno threw the scarf around his neck and picked up two of the bags that could be his.

The Armiger relaxed slightly, though only slightly.
"Right then. Did you hear the shouting?" He asked next.
"Yes, it came from...upstairs. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to be going." Eno replied meekly and walked out of the door.
"Sorry, Rothan. I gave you some time to come up with an excuse of your own, but I'm afraid that is all the help I could give."

Dralas

Dralas and Rianne had nearly finished their morning breakfast when two Armigers sat down near them, though not too close. Dralas idly listened to their conversation while rolling a hackle-lo.

"Something's wrong, I'm telling you. Nobody can go into his office anymore, and all his orders are written now. I don't think I've seen him come outside all week. No one has."

"Don't overreact. Maybe he's not feeling well so he's staying in."

"Maybe, but things are getting worse here, and the overseer is doing nothing."

"It's out of our hands. All we can do is follow orders."

Dralas lit the hackle-lo, and looked elsewhere so his eavesdropping wasn't obvious. The little rumor spoke volumes about the camp and its bad state of affairs, and the hunter made sure to remember the information.

Rianne

She heard those Armigers conversation too, but didn't reveal she did, her eyes widened a bit...

The last sip of tea ran down her throat and she made a sign to Dralas; Can I have some of that hackle-lo?

Things were weird here and she had a feeling something nasty would happen.

Puffing her hackle-lo she sat silent beside Dralas, like a well brought up Ashlander girl, but her inside was chaotic

Dralas

Dralas passed the leaf on Rianne's request, still listening to the armigers' conversation. They spoke of lighter things now, like when they were scheduled to go home. Nothing else of value.

When they had gone, he finally spoke, "What do you make of all that?"

Rothan

Rothan turned to see a thin dunmer in a brown robe standing in the door glaring at him.

"Sorry sir," he said trying to sound genuine, "Is there a problem."

"What are you doing in my office. How did you get here?"

"Your office?" Rothan decided that playing ignorance was the only option, "Sorry I thought this was where details of where shipments were received were? You see my friend's bags went missing and I thought I might discover their whereabouts."

"What have you been looking at?" there was an edge in his voice.

"Nothing I just-"

The door behind him flew open and two burly Armiger's burst in. "Sir?" said the first to the robed figure.

"I just discovered this man here alone without permission."

"I had permission," lied Rothan before the guards could reply, "A clerk said i could look around for them."

"And where is the owner of these bags?"

"Downstairs, his leg-"

"Is this true?" the question was directed at the lead Armiger.

"No sir," he replied, "There is only a labourer down there getting supplies." Rothan cursed inwardly.

"Well", said the robed dunmer, "I think we had better discover what you've seen."

"I only just got upstairs, you must have heard the door or something. I'd just looked at that shelf to see if there was some sort of system before you arrived."

"Ah, perhaps that is not so bad. Lost artefacts?"

"Yes," Rothan noticed the man sounded less agitated, "I confess I read one, it seems to be nearby. A bell of some sort?"

The figure nodded, "You pair, escort him to my public office. I will be down momentarily."


The two Armigers glared at him and pointed down the stair and Rothan followed the first with the other behind. It wasn't as if he was going to run away, where could he go. He wasn't sure how badly he'd blown his cover yet, but he suspected that it might just about pass. This time.

"Who was that?" he asked.

The lead Armiger peered at him, "Athaso Vules, he's in charge of the temples logicstics here."

"Ah, I only just arrived."

"Hmmf, then you should know that he likes to be in control, and is. This place would fall apart without him."

"Yes," said the other Armiger, "No one else could keep on top of those books."

Rothan just nodded as they proceeded through the chaos of the main room and into a small side office.

OOC: I've given an NPC a name, if it doesn't suit I can edit.

Rianne

She turned to him, her dark red eyes were thuoghtful, slowly shaking her head...

"I'm not sure but I have this weird feeling, something is wrong, very wrong...I think he might be dead...or there might be an imposter.or...or. I think maybe maybe we should investigate things"

"It might be dangerous but my gut is telling me we can't just sit and do nothing"

She took out her waterbottle "You want some?"

Rothan

Athaso Vules, the head bureaucrat, kept Rothan waiting in the sparse office with the guards for some time. It gave him time to ponder what he'd seen upstairs. The ledger needed study, somewhere private ideally. But the upstairs room he'd seen was functional in the extreme, and the office was equally spartan. So what was Vules doing? Not lining his own pockets, not here at least but Rothan couldn't think of another motive.

The chain of thought broke with Vules entering the room in a flurry of robes. "It seems," he said, "You broke into my archives and illegally read temple documents. You wear the robe of a priest yet I do not recognise you. You had best explain yourself?"

"I arrived yesterday in the caravan."

"We have no record of a priest."

"I'm yet to register."

"Hmm," Vules stroked his short beard, his face bent into a smile, slowly as if unaccustomed to the activity, "It is a crime you know, even for a priest, spying on the Temple. But," he held up a hand to forestall comment, "Perhaps you weren't to know and the damage has not been to severe. From your tone when you mentioned reading of the howling bell you felt it would be best recovered? I can see an ideal opportunity for you to... redeem yourself."

"Yes?"

"You are unregistered, this is ideal as you shall not be missed," the way he said it made Rothan wonder at his meaning, "Go to this place and recover the bell and this little incident can be ignored."

Rothan considered replying in defence but decided against it. Obedience now might leave him freer to investigate Vules later, and truth be told, he rather wanted to retrieve the artefact. "Very well, may I request supplies from the store."

"Yes, but we can spare no guards. You must find you own people to accompany you, and I expect you to leave tomorrow. That will be all." He strode out of the room.

Rothan turned to the guards, "Gentlemen I must be about my business if I am to leave tomorrow."

"Very well..." replied the first guard, "Look," he lowered his tone, "Ser Vules did not say this. There are strange rumours about the area that old fort lies in. Be on your guard and almsivi be with you."

"And you," Rothan nodded and left the room. One day to prepare and expedition? It was madness, he didn't know anyone in the camp and didn't trust those who might follow him. It would need to be those from the caravan, if he could persuade them that was.


OOC: canis if you want now would be an ideal time to approach him

Dranas Heleran

Dranas Heleran was in a fine mood. Making a sale was good for that. He wandered about camp for a while--rather aimlessly, to tell the truth--until he found himself among the Temple offices. It was there he saw the priest, Rothan, looking awfully troubled.

"If you don't mind me saying so, you look like you could use a drink, Sera Rothan."

Dralas

"I have a bad feeling too," he said, "But we need to know more before we can do anything."

He was taking a sip of Rianne's water when he had a thought.

"Rothan did want us to tell him about anything unusual. Perhaps this rumor is exactly the kind of thing he's looking for. I wouldn't know where to find him, though..." he said, making a quick glance around the camp as if he might find the priest.

This post has been edited by Dantrag: Apr 6 2010, 07:40 AM

Rothan

"Perhaps," said Rothan, "But there is no time. I was hoping to meet you though," he paused. Dranas had been on of the better fighters and, although he didn't intend to run into trouble, the Armiger's warning was best heeded. He needed to sell the idea to Dranas and had a good idea of how to, "I've been tasked with recovering an artefact for the temple, I had a little issue with the person who leads the organisation here. I would be pleased if you would help me." He paused to let it sink in.

"I can request some supplies from the stores, I'm sure if they aren't used they would not be missed," Not with the book-keeping here anyway, "And these old forts can often have other treasures which we are not tasked with recovering..." he let the implication hang. "We leave tomorrow," he added.

Dranas Heleran

"Ha!" Dranas answered. "You'd make a priest of Zenithar proud, serjo, if you don't mind me saying. I should say no--such a hard sell could only mean that you suspect trouble and want my sword at hand. But I'll be damned if I'm not curious. What's this artifact supposed to be? And why do they need it here?"

Rothan

Rothan looked at Dranas with a confused expression, "What do you mean why do we need an artefact? Did the divine tribunal not gain godhood through questing and wisdom?" he paused, according to a certain book in his possession this was untrue. Of course the book was wrong but some of its arguments were proving hard to refute. He started speaking again, hoping he hadn't been noticed too much, "We must collect such artefacts that they can be properly revered and studied. And I must say it might ease things between myself and Serjo Vules.

"As for trouble I don't expect much, just the usual ashland wildlife. However it pays to be well prepared, and I wouldn't fancy facing a pair of alit alone if I could avoid it. The artefact itself is called the howling bell, some sort of instrument I believe. So are you in, it promises to be good for your soul and potentially your wallet."

Dranas Heleran

"Well now, I don't know much about the Tribunal, but I do know something about Ashland wildlife. I reckon I could help you out with that. So yes, I'm in."

Rianne

"We need to find the priest, you're absolutely right, but where is he?"

Rianne looked around, very carefully...






OOC: So where is he?

Rothan

"I'm glad to hear it," Rothan started walking down towards the camp proper and away from the temple building. The stolen ledger was heavy in his pocket. He thought it was for the best that they were leaving the following day, with luck before it's disappearance could be noticed.

"What supplies will we want? The fort is quite close by, it shouldn't take much more than half a day to get there," said Rothan as they walked. He paused for a moment, "You haven't come across anything... unusual have you?"


EDIT OOC: Got ninja'd there. They're (assuming canis doesn't mind me moving dranas) somewhere near the camp area, probably not far from where they can get travelling things (unless we have to go back to the temple building for them). I think about half a day to the fort/cave is about right?

This post has been edited by Olen: Apr 11 2010, 11:26 PM

Dranas Heleran

"Anything unusual?"

It was an odd question, Dranas thought. And hard to answer. He mostly kept to his own business, and that of any competition. And lo, was there competition.

Was there too much?

"I might have seen something, but I can't be too certain. In the merchant business, I've seen some things. Gotten to know some shady types." Dranas paused. "Smugglers, for example. I've seen a couple."

Eno Arval

Eno sighed. He felt like a coward and hated himself for that.
"What happened to the old honour and courage of Redoran? I can't even face a single figure of minor authority before I start quaking in my boots. And what for? It wasn't as if they were going to accuse me of high treason or something. Eno, you good for nothing knucklehead." He berated himself as he absentmindedly walked through the camp. The bags he'd picked up had turned out not to be his in the end. Instead of the ingrediënts for plaster he'd expected to find, they were filled with twisted nails, an old pot and even two pieces of the same broken sword. Scrap iron, basically.

He stopped and looked down at the bags in his hands. He really should return them, especially since someone might come asking questions about the building-site he fabricated in his hasty, too hasty, improvisation. But the same fear that had made him run off with them kept him from turning on his heels and return them.
"Agh. I don't know how, and I don't care...but I have to somehow repay sir Rothan. I did just abandon him after all and if there is even one shred of honour left in me, I will need to find a way to undo my treachery!"

Rothan

Rothan shook his head, "Doubtless there's smuggling and pushers, that's the gurads problem. Tell someone official if you're sure. No, I more meant things which seem out of place or poorly run. Like have you noticed no one seems particularly pleased to be here? Though I can't say I like the place so it's probably just that." He smiled, "Never mind, if you see anything tell me. What supplies do you reckon we'll need?"

He was looking over the the outdoor storage, with luck they could avoid the main building and just take directly. He saw Eno with two bags but looking strangely despondent given he seemed to have found his luggage. Rothan waved him over.

This post has been edited by Olen: Apr 18 2010, 05:07 PM

Dranas Heleran

Dranas was momentarily surprised about Rothan's lack of concern with smugglers. But then, the priest didn't know them as he did. Dranas opened his mouth to explain, but then thought better of it. He'd be revealing too much of himself.

"Supplies? So long as the artifact isn't too big for one man to carry on his back, I'd recommend traveling light. If you think the bell's too big we might take a guar, but I'd rather not risk picketing one out alone in the ashlands while we dungeon-dive, if it can be helped."

"As for what to carry, I'll be sticking with my steel, my throwing stars, and a few potions. You may not be expecting any opposition, but if we do I always find it best to preserve the option to run in the opposite direction with all due haste."

Rothan

"Ha, yes. Running is often a good option. I should think one person could carry the artefact though," said Rothan, "So I'd agree about travelling light. We should be able to requisition a few potions and some food without much difficulty. I'll have to get myself a new weapon too, I lost my old mace on the way here."

"What about ashstorms? I hear they can be bad out here, I might try to persuade those ashlanders to accompany us too..."

He looked up and noticed Rianne and Dralas standing not far from a food stand. He waved to them too.


OOC: are people ready to approach them yet?

This post has been edited by Olen: Apr 20 2010, 10:27 PM