Sorry for the long wait guys, things have been a bit hectic what with Christmas, New Years and then the restart of school.
17th Hematite 676The morning of the 17th heralded the start of the investigation into the still-unknown saboteur and attempted murderer who had caused the cave-in down on the lower levels. The tribunal was made up of everyone from the expedition, with Tarran spearheading it. As they interviewed each of Nomekast's 38 citizens, Spartan began work upon something which many people had not expected to see again since their escape from the crumbling ruins of civilization; a prison.
The investigation was difficult going, each story and alibi had to be cross-checked, with witnesses and more; and what with the community never really having kept much of an eye upon the comings and goings of its members, it made it all that more difficult.
Bayar and Volrath had been accepted into the community, despite the usual grumblings of Reg and his supporters, and the two had been assigned beds in the communal barracks.
The day also heralded another much sadder event;
Kogan Enshal, the widow who had seen her husband torn to shreds by the Nothing to save her, had finally succumbed to death after refusing to drink or eat. She had fallen into a deep melancholic mood, the famed melancholy that Dwarven society had nicknamed 'the Blue Death'. That night, they had a funeral for her, and she was laid to rest besides Sibrek the farmer, who had been killed by Mysterydrip, with a tombstone declaring only her name and date of death, no one knew anything else about her.
For the rest of the fort though, life went on. Summer heralded the planting of the crops, a task which everyone joined in, sowing plump helmets, pig tails and cave wheat.
Meanwhile the militia - or rather, the militia excluding those in the investigation - as well as the temple priests, Volrath, and Meinhard's recruits trained.
And hidden in the Fiery Cistern, Bayar had taken a spare pick and begun digging out a small recess which he intended as a shrine for the Ascended Ones of Kobold legend.
20th Hematite 676 - Evening"It's useless, we'll never find them!" Rion grumbled, throwing the sheaves of paper down onto the table. The tribunal for finding the wannabe murderer had laboured day after day for almost four days now. They had interviewed everyone, and yet it seemed they were no closer to finding the culprit. "All we have are people's shady memories, not to mention that if someone went somewhere less frequented for peace - like up to the lighthouse - then they'll immediately seem suspicious and yet be innocent. We can't win."
"Nonsense." Tarran said firmly, holding up a sheaf of paper as proof of his assertion, "I've finished the preliminary list of suspects. Now we-"
"Wait," Sandra interjected suddenly, "if we have the list of suspects, are we going to arrest people?" she sounded concerned.
"I volunteer to do it." Bax grinned. Despite his position in the tribunal, he had done very little in actually aiding them - if he even turned up. Tarran nodded at Sandra's question,
"Yes, but there's no one high enough in our suspicions to be jailed yet."
"Right, well show us the list then." Delta said. Tarran handed the paper over so that they could all see it,
Level 5 (Not suspect): All else.
Level 4 (Periodic checks): Ast Tekkudsefol, Stas, Goden Stinthad, Reg Archist
Level 3 (Watched): Ibruk, Nish Taronmedtob, Gutusp
Level 2 (House-arrest): Rakust Aranlikot
Level 1 (Imprisoned): N/A
"Rakust Aranlikot?" Steve asked, Tarran nodded,
"Apparently she vanished for an entire day not long before the cave-in. She says she went to the upper levels, but no one saw her."
"Why is Stas on here?" Bax questioned,
"Disappears for hours on end sometimes, as does Gutusp and her Elf child."
"You mean slave." Fori interjected,
"Aye, but that's not the matter at hand. We'll need to sort out who will watch who, when checks are needed on the Level 3's, and we'll need to put Rakust under arrest." Rion said.
"How are we going to put her under house-arrest when we have a communal bedroom?" Derm asked.
"They'll be under arrest in my cottage, I'm not going to be working on it while this is under way, and the only way out is the door or the cave crocodile infested lake which leads out into the wilderness." Tarran explained.
"Well, whatever you decide I'm sure you'll enjoy it, now I have to get going." Bax said, rising and leaving the room.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Stas was waiting impatiently for Bax, shrouded like ever in his cloak. He was down on the Fiery Cistern. With both Tarran and Muenster caught up in the proceedings, and with the rest of the workers off for dinner, the place was deserted save for him - a perfect atmosphere for underhanded work. Finally the greenskin arrived, with little Atis trailing behind him. He said nothing, giving the Dwarf nothing but a thumbs-up. Stas nodded, and the three of them made their way down to the forges.
"If we can do this, we may be able to get the saboteur blamed for the silver's disappearance." Stas murmured to Bax. Despite the emptiness of the place, it was still safer to keep their voices down, in case anyone came. Bax nodded,
"We'll have to do it soon, they're going to move in and arrest a certain Rakust soon, she's the best suspect they've got." he said. Stas grinned,
"Rakust Aranlikot? Slip a silver bar under her bed, when they search her quarters and find it, she'll be blamed and we'll be home and dry."
They soon arrived at the forges, and made for the stacks of bars at the side. Stas removed a large bag from beneath his cloak, handing it to Bax, "Keep this open while I put the bars inside." The Goblin did so. The silver bars were buried under stacks of lead and copper bars. Carefully moving the bars one at a time to avoid making the pile collapse, Stas began putting the silver ingots into the bag, as he did so he counted them under his breath gleefully, "One...two...three..."
"Hurry up!" Bax hissed, "They've only gone for dinner, not for a torture show."
"Torture show," Stas said with a bemused tone, "you Goblins really do live up to your reputa-" Stas stopped for an instant, a particular bar catching his eye. He made for it, picking it up, "Platinum." he breathed. There was a second bar besides it, he took it joyfully. He turned to Bax, "Platinum." he repeated, "These...fools, just left
platinum lying around. A bar of this can...could buy you a mansion in the mountain homes."
"Just put it in the bag!" Bax hissed. Soon the bag was beginning to get too heavy, and the two left it off there. With six bars of silver and two platinum bars. Stas meanwhile, was carrying a silver bar in each hand, concealed beneath his cloak. Just before they left, Bax took one more bar of silver, handing it to Atis, she stared at it curiously, marvelling at its reflections in the light, then Bax heaved the bag over his shoulders with a groan,
"Damn, loot tends to be easier to carry than this." he grumbled. Stas shushed him, leading the way back into the residential areas. Everyone was still at dinner, and the coast was clear. With fleet-footedness the three made their way into Stas' Thieves Guild hide-out.
"Put it into the treasury." Stas told Bax, handing him one of the silver bars he was carrying. He held the other one up to the light, admiring it, "I'll go slip this under Rakust's bed while everyone's still eating, before our friends the detectives arrest her. If she's going to be blamed for murder, what harm could tacking theft onto her record do?"
Author
Topic: [Community] Nomekast - At War with Nothing (Read 175072 times)