Money Pouch
This said, Mehmet thought it over. Would the word of a prisoner, a murderer, a Meryan alone be enough to convict a man like Goldbane, respected in the community? He knew it would not. He turned back to the Meryan. "Where were you hired...." "Bytlan," supplied the man.
It became clear that, although he'd caved in and told them who'd hired him, he was far more reluctant to tell them where he'd come from. "I can't betray my people," he said. Mehmet took Rurik to one side, while Nutbolter continued to try and persuade Bytlan to provide more details.
Mehmet explained his idea to the captain in quick sentences. What he suggested was that the prisoner be made to appear on Bankos' doorstep, bloodied and dazed, while Rurik himself waited out of sight; with luck, Goldbane would say something incriminating. Bloodwind seemed to think it worth a try, and agreed. Nikolos, lurking nearby, grudgingly suggested that perhaps his friend Cormac could provide some herbal confusion to prevent Bytlan warning their target, and that Bytlan should be equipped with one of the claw-gloves to enhance the shock effect.
Returning to the cave, they found that Percinious' skills of persuasion had borne fruit; Bytlan had reluctantly told of his recruitment. He was from, he said, a place called Netherlin, an unusually large community of Meryans collectively calling themselves the Free Forest Folk. Rurik became very interested at this point, although he hid it well; this was of course what he was supposed to be looking for.
Bankos Goldbane had had dealings with the Forest Folk before, and specifically with their leader, Talakosgith Freeflame. Freeflame was by all accounts a charismatic and successful chieftain and leader, and had attracted a large following of Meryans with offers of plunder. Goldbane had come to him for hired help, presumably in exchange for significant money. He'd not appeared to be working for anyone else, but had been accompanied by two armed retainers, presumably bodyguards of some sort.
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"How were you paid?" they asked. Bytlan indicated the gold coins they'd already found, contained in a small pouch of soft leather. Mehmet wondered if there were regional stitching peculiarities in such items that could tie it to Arlan, but no-one knew enough about leatherworking to say.
Emerging into the pouring rain, the soldiers shrugged into their leather rain cloaks and headed back towards Arlan. They weren't rushing; for Mehmet's plan to work, they knew they'd have to wait for dark. As they went, each cast worried glances into the woods, wary of possibilities of the unexplained purple and brown glimpses they'd seen on the outbound journey. Nothing revealed itself, and by ten PM they had arrived at the edge of the village.
Rurik's men had been taking turns at standing guard in the village since they'd arrived, and Rurik quietly approached the man standing rather miserably outside Gazar the mayor's house. Sending him to round up the rest of the Company, he gave orders for the village to be sealed, and for Cormac the healer to come and meet them. Then he shed his armour, and sneaked quietly up to Goldbane's house, hiding himself near the door.
Suitably dosed and roughed up, Bytlan was prodded in the direction of Goldbane's door, and Mehmet knocked on it before he and Nutbolter slipped around the corner of the building and out of sight. The door opened.
"What the hells are you doing here? You fool, you could get us all caught!"
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The voice, rising to a near scream, was Goldbane's, and even before he'd finished speaking, the two half-Kyle were moving back around the house. Reaching the front, they discovered Bankos dragging Bytlan inside by his tunic front, and trying to close the door in the same move. Nutbolter doubled forward, sword in hand. "Thank you for stopping him, sir, well done, we can take it from here, don't want him getting away, do we?" he 'explained' briskly, all the time pressing forwards right behind Bytlan to get into the house, as meanwhile Mehmet halted behind and drew his bow, seeking a target.
For a moment, the very reasonableness of the tone and words threw Goldbane, and he gave back. Then awareness crystallized and he reversed his movement, trying to push Bytlan into Nutbolter to impede him. There was a moment's struggle, with the drugged and helpless Meryan pinned in between the two, but the middle-aged and slightly stout Goldbane was no match for the heavy, muscular half-Khyle, and he was pressed back as Bytlan sprawled on the floor. As Bytlan went down, Bankos was trying desperately to draw his sword, but Percinious was ready for this, and struck sharply with his own weapon to knock the sword away as it cleared the scabbard. The strike missed, however, and Goldbane drew his sword - only to be punched over backwards as Mehmet's arrow, flying horrifyingly close to his comrade, smacked into his shoulder. Mehmet had purposely only half-drawn the bow, and the wound wasn't mortal, but the impact slammed Goldbane into the wall behind him, knocking him unconcious.
"What's going on?" asked a voice. They looked up, to see a man with a sword at the doors of the house's main hall. Mehmet swivelled, and the man realized that he was looking at two - no, three now - armoured swordsmen plus a broadhead arrow he could almost reach out and touch. He wisely dropped his sword and surrendered.
The rest of Goldbane's house staff were captured with equal ease, although his other bodyguard ended up with an arrow in his arse, and the night's work was over. Rurik ordered the prisoner secured in his own home, and the place searched (not looted!), and sent for Gazar the mayor, who was also the local magistrate. He was flabbergasted by the tale, but seemed to regard Rurik as a trustworthy witness; and once Goldbane woke up, he made no effort to deny what he'd done.
Then all, except those chosen to guard the house, returned to the Harp for the remains of a good night's sleep.
The next morning, Gazar convened a full town moot in the marketplace, and tried Goldbane by due process of law. Various witnesses were called, and gave their evidence, including Rurik, and then Gazar began to sum up.
As he did so, Mehmet and Percinious, perhaps prompted by their suspicious half-blood natures, were eyeing the crowd of villagers, looking for anyone reacting differently. Most were pretty similar; outrage, anger, sorrow, or simple absorbtion in Gazar's words. Towards the back, however, one man was edging quietly away, looking worried. The pair slipped off around the crowd, and met him at the other side.
"Going somewhere?" they asked. "Me? No, no, not going anywhere special, just wanted a drink, that's all. Who'd have thought it, eh," he continued, guilt written all over his face, indicating the prisoners, "Upstanding citizen like that?"
"We know there was another accomplice," said Mehmet accusingly. The man looked even more guilty. "I was nothing to do with all that, honest!" he stammered. "If you've done nothing, you've nothing to fear," they reassured him, although it didn't seem to feel any better. On being questioned, it emerged that he hadn't had anything to do with the murders per se, but had siezed the opportunity to break into Dethras' home and quietly burgle it. This was a more 'normal' case for village justice, and Gazar took him into custody as well, before pronouncing sentence on the three prisoners.
The two bodyguards were banished from the village, free to go but under penalty of immediate death should they ever come back. Bankos Goldbane was sentenced to hang, and this was done forthwith.
The Meryan Bytlan was also technically a murderer, but Rurik wanted to take him along as a guide to Netherlin. Gazar released him into Bloodwind's custody, on the strict understanding that he too was never to return.
Taking Gazar aside, Mehmet asked him about the purple flashes in the woods. The mayor blanched, and urged the half-Khyle not to talk about such things. They were uncanny, he said, and bad luck. He seemed to know nothing solid, and the conversation passed to other things.
The next morning, Bloodwind's Company marched from Arlan. Two steady days of marching brought them to within ten miles of Netherlin, and the target of their mission
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Bankos Goldbane