The Monsters Among Us

Arlan, Cormar, 10th June 1083

Mehmet and Nutbolter, having secured permission from Rurik to investigate a little, went off to talk to some of the villagers about the recent deaths. The more urbane Mehmet took the lead, with the less personable Nutbolter bringing up the rear. They went from house to house through the pounding rain, shielded in heavy leather cloaks and carrying lanterns.

The first house they visited was that of Corvled the Potter, who - after some trepidation at the arrival of armed men - told them that he'd known two of the three victims quite well, no, they'd no serious enemies, the moon phase hadn't been anything particular, the deaths were'nt all on Fridays. He mentioned that the widow Dethras had sold up and left the village (this seemed to be an unusual step, but she'd been heartbroken), to one Bankos Goldbane, one of the most well-to-do farmers in the village.

The soldiers didn't even get into the next house; Percinious' appearance frightened the children so much that the goodwife threw them out immediately.

The third one was inhabited by one Kahan. He had little to add, but did mention that he'd seen Goldbane comforting the widow of the second victim - Sevlen - at the 'Harp a couple of days ago. The half-Khyle looked at each other; Bankos Goldbane sounded worthy of investigation.

A few minutes later they were knocking on the door of Goldbane's rather splendid (for Arlan) house. The man himself answered the door, and both recognized him from earlier in the evening; he'd been in the inn when they arrived. "Some of Rurik's boys?" he said as he saw them. "Come in, and welcome. You're just what we need, after all!" The pair came in, and explained what they were doing, but carefully didn't mention anything about his business dealings. "Do you have any idea of motive for the killings?" asked Mehmet.

"Well, old Gazar thinks it's the Twisted Ones," said Goldbane, "and from all the stories I remember they don't have or need motives. But I think it's more likely wild animals - don't you? And in that case the motive would be dinner."

He paused. "You'll be aware that I made the widow Dethras an offer for her property," he continued lightly, "that she has accepted. The land will be useful to me - Dethras was my neighbor." Mehmet considered. "What do you know about this Meryan army - these Free Forest Folk?" he asked. Bankos laughed. "What, the savages from the woods? There aren't enough of them for an army, are there? They crawl out of the woodwork every so often, in ones and twos, but not enough for an army."

The pair thanked him and left, considering. Bankos had seemed affable, honest, open; willing to bring up and discuss aspects that might have thrown suspicion on him somehow in a manner entirely in keeping with someone who had nothing to hide. And yet. Somehow, he seemed just a tiny bit too glib, too comfortable, and the half-Khyle were still suspicious.

Disregarding the water trickling into their clothing, they lurked nearby for a while, in case Goldbane suddenly discovered a need to go somewhere. Nothing happened - except more rain - and they returned to the 'Harp. Most of the Company were already asleep, but Rurik was waiting up for them, and commended them on their detective work.

Arlan, Cormar, 11th June 1083

The next morning dawned very damp and rather chill for June, but not actually raining. Rurik selected the two half-Khyle, Nikolos the scout, and Halldor the swordsman for his expedition to the murder scene. After a breakfast which more than justified the 'Harp's reputation, the team gathered directions to the area of woodland where the killings had happened, and set off.

An hour's walking soon stretched the kinks out, and the men were soon marching along through the fields that surrounded Arlan fairly cheerfully. A little later, however, they entered the woodlands, and immediately became more watchful. For an hour, they worked their way through the forest, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Then, however, something nibbled at the edge of Mehmet's awareness. Easily the most experienced forester among them, he was well-tuned to the natural order of things within woods, and something ... something ... was just a hair not right; to his left somewhere. Casually, he walked a little faster, until he was in the midst of the group, then feigned a stumble. As everyone's attention focussed on him for a moment, he whispered a warning in the lowest of voices, disregarding Nikolos' look of scornful disbelief. Rurik gestured for the soldiers to keep moving, and Percinious moved in close to Mehmet's right. Shielded from view, he quickly worked a Farsee, and swung his augmented vision across the area his friend had indicated. For an instant, right at the edge of his range, he saw two flickers of movement... a largish area of brown (maybe fur? hair?), and a flash of bright purple - and then it was gone. He cast about for a bit longer, but whatever it was was gone.

A little later, they reached the scene of Sevlen's death. Despite the heavy rain, there were still traces of blood on the forest floor, and some of the trees around showed signs of damage; a mixture of the sort of wounds caused by a small axe or short sword, and those possibly made by whatever made the wounds that killed Brion Oakapple. Rurik instructed his men to fan out and look for more evidence - tracks preferably.

The immediate area was bereft of sign, but circling out a little further, tracks were plain to be seen; clearly having been hidden further back. They were not human, but made by huge clawed feet. Gathering his men, Rurik followed them.

A little later, the land began to turn broken, and they realized they were ascending a rocky crag. Much to the half-Khyle's satisfaction, Nikolos lost the trail at one point, but finally they found themselves on a wide, flat ledge over the forest, looking at a cave mouth about fifteen feet across.

Cautiously, Nikolos inched his way up towards it, while Mehmet and Percinious covered him with missile weapons. With only five feet to go, the weaselly scout slipped, knocking a small stone off the ledge and down into the forest. Looking decidedly embarrassed, Nikolos huddled down, hiding as best he could flat against the rock face, as a movement inside the cave showed the sound had been noticed.

A human-shaped figure appeared indistinctly in the dimness, peering outwards. It waited a few moments, then moved forwards into the light. It was a man, a Meryan, dressed in dull colours and with a sword in his hand, and as he emerged from the cave he spotted Nikolos and raised his weapon.

Mehmet let drive with his longbow. It was a perfect shot, low in the body, the head erupting from the target's back as he was hurled back into the cave, and out of sight, instantly killed. As the others readied their weapons, Mehmet sent a flurry of burning arrows throught the cave mouth, loosing them as he walked, to illuminate the interior reasonably well.

As they reached the entrance, the soldiers could see a spacious cave interior dotted with quite large boulders. Taking cover behind these were four more Meryans, clutching short bows and with hand weapons ready to sieze.

There was a brief and savage exchange of arrow-fire which left two of the Meryans dead from Mehmet's lethal bow, and then Nutbolter and Halldor closed on the last survivor. He desperately parried Percinious' attack with his bow, effectively disarming himself, and then staggered backwards as Halldor rammed his pommel into his belly. His right hand clawed at the hilt of the sword he wore, but then self-preservation added up the number of dead on each side and he raised his hands instead.

Halldor secured him as the others investigated the cave. Apart from bedrolls, clothes, and a cookfire, there were the carcasses of four sheep hung up at the back, and a stack of some very peculiar items; huge boots modelled to look like clawed feet, and metal gauntlets with enormous curved steel claws...

Some fairly robust battlefield interrogation made the prisoner co-operative, and he confirmed what the investigators had suspected; the murders had been hired by a man whose description was a pretty close match for Bankos Goldbane.

"Where's the guy in purple?" demanded Nutbolter. The Meryan looked baffled. "There's only the four of us," he replied. Mehmet spoke. "Will you stand up in front of a court and identify the man who hired you for this?" he asked. The man hesitated. "What's in it for me?" he asked. Mehmet's early training in the law came back to him, and he spoke with confidence. "I'll vouch for you as co-operative. It should save your life."