A Nighttime Fire in The Fields

Less than a week after the new farmers were brought into Shadowdale from Zhentil Keep, a fire is seen burning in one of the formerly abandoned farms. It appears to have started behind one of the small barns on the land a few hours before dawn. Farmhands from that farm and the neighboring ones managed to extinguished the raging inferno before it had spread more than a few meters into adjoining farms, but the original farm was an almost total loss. Less than 20 percent of the crop survived.

Among the blackened fields that had been close to harvest, a burned corpse was found. It was curled up behind what had been the barn where tools were kept. From the remains of the possessions found on the body, it was identified as the man who had taken over the farm not four days ago. Beside the body was found the remains of a lantern as well as what appeared to be the remains of a pair of glass rum bottles from the Old Skull.

As the sun rises, murmurs of discontent can be heard from among the farmhands of the destroyed farm and the neighbors. Talk of the dead man being a "drunkard" and a "lazy con man" are heard spreading among the workers. When no guards are present, talk of why people like this were given lands and why they were allowed to threaten their neighbors comes up in hushed tones. Some of the more vocal farmhands dare to speak a bit louder about the dead man and how this would never have happened if the Zhents had not run off the families that had worked this land for generations.

When daylight breaks and the smoke had cleared enough to breath in the surrounding farms, the men stop their complaining, say a small prayer to Chauntea, and set about the every day work of the farmer. Quiet grumbles can still be heard throughout the day. But they always stop at the first sign of Zhent troops or guards approaching.

Novice Auranna comes to the scene in the morning and her brows furrow. She looks around at the destroyed crops and grabs hold of her pendant, whispering a silent prayer to Bane.

She then goes to the body and curses under her breath, clenching her fists. She looks around for one of her superiors to see what she can do to help.

It would appear to anyone asking questions that "no one saw anything". The stories all say basically the same thing. The smell of smoke and sounds of frightened animals woke everyone up an hour or so before they normally got up to get ready for the day and they all joined in to contain and fight the fire. This is all the questioning can turn up and the farmers are quick to get back to work in the remaining fields. No one is happy about the events nor being questioned while they work. And no one seems to have anything good to say about the dead man, though all grumbling comes to an abrupt halt as Magnus or any other Zhent comes near.

The Novice looks over the lantern curiously, then looks to the ground carefully where the body was found to see if there was any sort of burn pattern.

She feels around to see if the fire had any magical origin.

((Spell craft and Spot check incoming soon... Doing this from phone -_-))

Trusted Servant Unterminox comes to the destroyed farm upon hearing of the tragedy and frowns. She speaks to the farmers she sees, informing them that sometimes a fire is a good thing for the land to renew the ground for an even better yield the following growing season. As for the supposed drunkard, she orders the charred body to the temple for evaluation, through mundane and divine methods. ((heal skill 30))

Liandanna wrote:

The Novice looks over the lantern curiously, then looks to the ground carefully where the body was found to see if there was any sort of burn pattern.

She feels around to see if the fire had any magical origin.

((Spell craft and Spot check incoming soon... Doing this from phone -_-))

Nothing is odd nor magical about the burned area around the dead man. Just the remains of an oil lantern, some empty and burned bottles, and a crispy body.

Pentralia wrote:

Trusted Servant Unterminox comes to the destroyed farm upon hearing of the tragedy and frowns. She speaks to the farmers she sees, informing them that sometimes a fire is a good thing for the land to renew the ground for an even better yield the following growing season. As for the supposed drunkard, she orders the charred body to the temple for evaluation, through mundane and divine methods. ((heal skill 30))

The body shows no signs of attack or any other harm besides being burned to a cinder.

Swordhand Bainyrr arrives on scene. He immediately starts looking for tracks that lead away from the farm and obviously avoid contact of other farmhands and those putting out the fire.

These kinds of tracks would mostly likely be fairly obvious as people would stay near the fire to put it out (a vested interest). Anyone wishing to escape the scene would avoid visual and verbal contact with anyone and thus, would travel away from the fire (an opposing vested interest).

One of the many poor beggers walks to the area of the fire with the crowd of people to gawk at the ruins. He nods his head with the others at the loss of property and the fact that a drunk from Zhential Keep was to blame. When the soilders or priests show up he wonders off to beg for money from adventures or maybe earn some food helping the womenfolk with their work. His slight frame and pale skin mark this human as a poor destitute that is so common in town now a days.

Gethein looks over the aftermath of the fire and the discontent of the people, pondering long about how he might best invigorate their spirits without upsetting the powers that be.  Eventually, he swings his lute into his hands.  Though wishing that he had a companion to sing the backup vocals of his newest duet, he deems it the most appropriate message for the underprivileged, oppressed, and disillusioned souls of Shadowdale.  He strums until his skin breaks and sings until his voice is hoarse, hoping that everyone will have a chance to hear the words.

Magnus would stand behind the bard for the duration of his song, keeping as silent as can be (rolled a 52 move silent). His stance at a near perfect attention save for the fact his hands were full of pamphlets. Once the bard finished his song and was able to catch his gaze he would extend his hand and offer a Pamphlet.

“Do you know the answer to the Rebel question?” He asks in a soothing tone, his eye ever calculating, and his eye patch ever distracting.

After observing around where the fire started, the Novice begins patrolling the area.

She turns to the bard and watches him sing, her eye twitching. It is clear she is highly annoyed by his gesture, but she does not speak to him.

She turns from him after he finishes singing and the Vanguard speaks to him. She focuses her attention on people passing by, asking for papers when appropriate. She would take note of anyone suspicious.

Iwean goes to the scene of the fire. When he sees how many Zhents are there he changes his mind and returns to the campfire by Old skull. (based entirely on his reception on arrival)

Gethein turns around and startles slightly upon seeing Magnus. At first offering a cheery smile, he suddenly gets a distant look as he recalls the face.

"Well, good sir," he emphatically responds after recovering his merry demeanor, "I would need to know the question before I could posit an answer. I do so enjoy riddles!"

He takes the pamphlet with a word of thanks and reads over it, tapping his foot as if trying to find a suitable rhythm to the words. Upon finishing, he folds it up and places it in his satchel.

"My friend, did you write this yourself? Such powerful and moving words! Perhaps we could collaborate on a musical masterpiece, some day! As for the question, my song was the only answer that I can offer, and I meant it for you as well as them. They are not alone, those unfortunate farmers, and neither are we. Through every failure and success, great and small, we are in the company of all who've struggled before us. No one strives alone. None will perish unknown."

The farmers barely pay any attention at all to the singing or anything else other than their work while the fields are crawling with the Zhent soldiers and Banite clergy. They fixate their attention on their work and it leaves an almost eerie silence not normally found among the farmhands in the fields.

Daria arrives after the singing, during the eerie quiet, she takes note of the zhentarim officials. Explaining her presense to anyone who would ask she would politely if a bit awkwardly introduce herself by name explain that she is a private investigator working out of the old wakefield office in the shadowdale flats. She takes a few minutes to observe the farmers working, taking carefull note of each farmers behavior. She decides to not question them at the moment and head over toward the scene of the crime. She takes her time carefully searching the area for anything that the zhentarim may have missed.

(27 search)