First Adventure 08: Adventure's End

"Your scars are fine. Gives you character." He winks, chuckling a bit. "Come on, let's get to the Mayor."

Passing out of the market, the wolf heads for the Mayor's office.

Evanar wrote:"Thank you." The wolf calmly said. Turning to the troll. "...We should talk to Zigund. Know more on when Harkun got hired. Why and how."

You have only begun searching when a tall Troll dressed in fine robes with a long mane of violently red hair walks up onto the small pedestal near the center of the square, accompanied by several troops in heavy armor.

Head for Zigund's office.

Having been monitoring the troops all day, Whis Kor follows the troops in to the square, keeping a close eye on each of them.

The Troll lets the crowd's hubbub die down a bit before speaking. "Fellow Naverre, I greet you on this auspicious day with notes of concern and hope." He gestures. "I have been made aware, first and foremost, of the gruesome murder of your Guardian. Make no mistake, I have several of my personal best investigators on loan from Al-Jalima working on this case. They will get to the bottom of this. I do ask that you refrain from needless speculation in the interim."
Adjusting his necklace, he continues. "This leads me to my next point. Please be assured that there is no Sho attack upon this state present nor known. Our borders are well patrolled and there have been no Sho scouts nor movements within a hundred miles, and if there were we would have an official response within very short order." He pauses as his tone grows slightly more stern. "I do not want my citizens living in worry and fear over speculation and rumor. We are here to take care of you, and we are doing our job."
"Now, to the matter at hand. It has come to my attention that this township has been dissatisfied with its leadership. As per Naverre custom it is your right to replace any given leader should you, the people chose, but from my understanding Zigund of Seeker has been doing a fine job in keeping this town prosperous and growing, and so..."
He trails off slightly as a Banderling, you recognize as Mayor Zigund, slowly makes his way up the podium. "I appreciate your just and fair nature, Governor Tol'tarn, as you have always been, but I feel it is time to accept reality." He is carrying his robe of office in hand, and hands it over to Tol'tarn without a further word, then quietly shuffles back off into the crowd, which is now muttering.
"I... see. It seems Mayor Zigund has resigned his office." Tol'tarn looks, for the first time, a bit befuddled, but he quickly recovers. "As per custom, the people now have the right to choose whom they would have take office."
The crowd almost as one erupts in cries of 'Hotawa of Seeker'. After a few minutes of this Tol'tarn raised his arms for silence, and the crowd died down until he could speak again. "Very well, that was... faster than I expected a consensus to be reached. Could Hotawa of Seeker approach?"
A tall, energetic looking Banderling in rich purple and blue robes approaches the stand. "I am here, my lord."
"Hotawa of Seeker, you have been chosen to be Mayor elect of the township of Al-Erat. Do you accept this burden?"
Hotawa pauses a moment as he considers his words. "I never sought this office, but I am not one to fight the will of the people. I will accept.... provided I can still keep my date and fig stand out in the market." His light joke elicits several laughs from the audience.
"Very well," Tol'tarn nods. "I suppose this town meeting has been concluded. I will be busy for the next several hours but I will be staying in town for the remainder of the day should any of my citizens wish to speak to me." With a bow, he removed himself and Hotawa from the stand.

"Zigund, a moment of your time, please." Whis Kor reaches out to stop the Banderling from completely leaving the area.

Zigund looks up, looking rather tired. "Can I help you, Sclavi?"

Raver immediately walked towards Zigund in a hurry. There are questions he wants answered, but he lets the Sclavi ask his own first.

"I'm thinking we can help each other, Zigund." Whis Kor looks strangely almost compassionate towards him. "I've a feeling you know that the turmoil in this area is not over yet. But, it's not the time to talk of that immediately, not so soon after your retirement . . . nor in in the middle of a public square." he says, looking around at the crowd. "Come, let me get you a drink. Perhaps we both has some things we can talk about. I too have recently been ousted from my position." he says, motioning towards one of the finer taverns.

Whis Kor wrote: "Come, let me get you a drink. Perhaps we both has some things we can talk about. I too have recently been ousted from my position." he says, motioning towards one of the finer taverns.

The Banderling looks almost amused. "I suppose if you were trying to kill me there'd be easier ways to go about it." He acquiesces, and journeys with you towards the tavern.

"I'll follow if you don't mind, Kor." Says the wolf, and nodded towards the Banderling.

"He's the only one I got now..." He muttered.

Caladirus looks at Governor Tol'tarn necklace as he adjusts it [Awarenss check]

"I'll follow if you don't mind, Kor." Says the wolf, and nodded towards the Banderling.

"He's the only one I got now..." He muttered.

"I will also follow you. The tavern sound like a gound idea."

There were too many people in the square to his taste.

Whis Kor nods to Raver and beckons them all in to the tavern. For the first few minutes, he attempts to swap stories with Zigund, trying to get the weight of this morning's events off of his shoulders.

Spoiler:

tabran walks over to the other members of the party

"well i think that we give the new mayor a bit of time to settle in that we go pay him a visit and see what we can do about the gnoll situation?"


tabran heads of towards the mayors office

Caladrius wrote:Caladirus looks at Governor Tol'tarn necklace as he adjusts it [Awarenss check]

The necklace looks rather expensive, studded with what looks like several sapphires and having a ruby at its center. The material is hard to make out from here but is some kind of grey metal.

After swapping a few stories, Whis Kor's smile fades a hit adopts a serious look. "Now, I'm not going to dodge the subject or approach this underhandedly; that would be insulting to both of us." he looks up straight ahead at Zigund, "We both know that something is happening here; a little beyond a roving pack of Gnolls or even a magically assassinated adventurer. There's larger powers looking at this area, and believe me I know, I used to work for one of 'em. I know you've been trying your hardest to keep this place together, and from the looks of hit, you've done a fine job with what you've been given."

He leans back, stretching his arms out to both sides, "I'm not asking for you to do anything, just to 'pass the torch' of what you know about this situation. You've more than earned your retirement. Unless..." he sits forward and looks intently at Zigund, "... you're not content to rest and are really determined to help these people, despite those who are against you."

Spoiler:

Raver simply stayed quiet and let the Banderling tell his story, instead letting him to ask all of it himself. Whis is doing enough of a good job to, perhaps, get everything he needs to know from the former Mayor.

Ashakel was just following the Wolf, satisfied the group has pulled themselves together so he no longer doesn't have to play advocate.

Zeiss simply wanted something to drink. But now, Whis Kor had to talk about helping the people in this region. Again. At one point, he thought about ignoring their conversation. But he wanted to understand what drove these people in risking their lives for someone else.

So he listened.

Spoiler:

Zigund took a long swig of his wine as he stares into his cup. "I have told you most of what I know with truth and honesty," he beings, speaking very quietly. "I brought Harkun in to help with the defenses, I did not think he was crooked. But I also did not wish death upon the man." He takes another drink. "When I took office 2 years ago I was approached by an Orc who's name I never learned who told me in no uncertain terms that I was to intentionally make myself unapproachable as the Mayor. To this day I only have speculation as to why, and he never elaborated. At first," he laughed lightly, "I dismissed it. After my first aid went missing and her body was never found, I grew worried. The next day a note was in my bed when I awoke, telling me to cooperate. I have done so ever since." He takes another sip, his face expressionless.

Raver's eyes were raised. He was very curious and further interested. A mysterious Orc who have manipulated the Mayor. It was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Did a... 'Note' told you to hire Harkun? Or did he simply came to you?" The wolf stopped "No, he must have come to you first. No notes. That would had been pointless."

"And I suppose he arrived on your desk before all this Gnoll problem started?"

Zigund turned with tired eyes towards the Lycanthrope. "No, Harkun was my idea, as I told you. And yes, I hired him before the Gnolls were a serious problem." He waves a hand almost dismissively. "It was a precautionary measure. The farmlands weren't being defended at all. A few teenagers with swords could have raided the areas. I didn't want that."

"You approached Harkun?" Raver got even more curious.

"How?"

Whis Kor's face grows very dark as Zigund finishes his story. "That is a very grim tale, I would not wish that position on anyone." he narrows his eyes a bit, "There is obviously another, this Orc or whomever he serves, who sees fit to murder those who ask too many . . . questions. Since speculation is all way have, perhaps you could share some of your theories? Also, if we could know everything about this Orc's appearance, it might be helpful. Don't leave anything out - anything. Details such as the tone of his skin, how he carries himself, what clothing her wars . . . could very well be a vital clue."

Spoiler: