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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jul 23, 2018 9:03:55 GMT 1
A quick search of their assailants would have to suffice, given the need to return Alicent to the safety of Highgarden. Such men were unlikely to be lettered, but Roland hurried a look for any useful identifiers on the men, such as tattoos, coinage or papers. Search assassins - Awareness (notice): 3d6 15"These fools should have stuck to farming," said Roland with contempt where a gentler soul might have spoken with sorrow. He was clearly unimpressed by their ambushers - four trained men at arms would have been a very different matter. He hauled the unconscious man on to his right shoulder, the offered his left hand to Alicent. "If my lady would allow us to complete our walk," he smiled. "I fear we would scandalise the court were we to return unchaperoned, so I shall carry our escort home." A grim joke, but gallows humour could often dispel tension... Foul play - Persuasion (Charm) - Calm alicent: 4d6k3+4 20
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Post by Father on Jul 23, 2018 12:49:52 GMT 1
They each have a dozen stags, give or take a couple, and several coppers in their purses. Roland could probably give a good description of the men in case they are known in Gardenton, though there is no clue to be found as to indicate belonging to a group or having an employer. "My reputation is bad enough as it is." Her laugh is forced and stifled and she grips his arm tightly. They make their way back to the road were they are spotted by a returning hunting party, a few riders breaks off, one of them wears a white cloak and Roland can make out the plate armor from his silhouette long before he has any idea which one it might, he spots a brother next to a man in black and red that surely must be one of the princes, the Man of the Kingsguard takes point as the other knights form a protective box around their charge and their pace picks up noticeably. One of the knights, or lord most likely, bids his retinue halt and rides towards Roland with another knight and their squires close behind. "Ser Roland? My Lady?" Ser Garth Redwyne is younger and better looking than his more capable brother, though the legends of the Redtusk probably added more difference between them than there truly is. He looks askance, noting the blood on Roland. "Are you injured, ser?"Lord Marq Durwell rides up without any introductions, this is a time for action, not courtesy.
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jul 23, 2018 13:40:33 GMT 1
Thank the Seven, one of the Princes. But which?
"The blood is from my lady's attackers. Thanks to hard practice with your brother I am unharmed. "
He was relieved to see a man of the kingsguard, noble and true in his white cloak. Lord Durwell too: a most potent company, as well as high in rank.
"Could my sers provide a steed for my Lady Alicent, and perhaps some milk of the poppy to soothe her nerves?"
At least in this case, Roland's assumptions about the gentler sex proved well founded. If anything, it was impressive she had not fainted, given the heat and a brush with death. He does not leg go of Alicent until she is safely with the royal party, despite her frightened grip marking his skin.
He set his prisoner down on the ground without much kindness, roughly prodding the man in the ribs with a boot to see if he stirred.
"I was one against four. I left two dead and have one captive, but I fear the fourth turned craven and ran. I could not abandon Lady Alicent to give pursuit, forgive me sers."
Roland paused and touched his necklace now that he had freed a hand.
"I have grim news I fear. Lady Alicent's chaperone gave her life to shout a warning that bought us our lives. Septa Tyane was brave to the last. I beg of you, if you have dogs to track with and a horse to spare, let me give aid in recovering her body to bury it with the honours it deserves, and hunt down the last of our assailants."
He gestured to the man at his feet.
"This wretch may yield more when put to the question, as he so richly deserves."
For now Roland left unsaid the remarks from the attackers suggesting they were intent on murder rather than violating Alicent's virtue, although the sharper among the royal part may have suspected as much at the mention the Septa being murdered rather than seized.
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Post by Father on Jul 23, 2018 14:55:35 GMT 1
"I have a better idea than milk of the poppy, ser." Ser Marq dismounts quick and nimble and unfasten a mostly empty wineskin, he seems far too sober to have drank even half of it, assuming it had been full this morning. A moments hesitation by Ser Garth appears to be all the cue he ever needs to take charge of the situation. Rafford, ride and find Lord Tyrell, he should be behind us with Prince Baelor, Ser Gwayne, find Walt and Donnel, have Ser Orton coordinate the search. Edmure, find get Ser Roland a horse. Once so done, he gives Lady Alicent and then Roland a once over. "You should check thoroughly if you have taken any injuries, ser." Lord Walgrave may not be gallant, but he had more than once said much the same, in the heat of battle, a warrior might not even notice cuts and bruises, more than one knight had failed to notice a bleeding wound before the danger had passed. And scratches left unattended could fester. "And I think that is quite enough, my lady" Alicent had gulped greedily, not caring for the few stains on her gown this lead to. Marq produces a handkerchief and subtly points that out to her, she begins to remedy the mistake as best she can with fury and diligence, allowing him to ascertain whether or not there is any sign of cuts on her backside, in another setting, it might seem as if he is oogling her, but this seem most unlikely given the situation.
"Now then, who's our new friend?" He proceeds to empty the remains of the wineskin on his face, which does the trick of waking up the thug, confused and groggy he looks around as he comes to.
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jul 23, 2018 17:26:35 GMT 1
We may not have the right of pit and gallows here, but can turn this filth over to Lord Tyrell when the time comes. Quick answers here may help track this man's fellows, or set us to unpicking this mystery faster. Some tales even have men silenced in the dungeons to avoid betraying their paymasters.
He had already half written an epic in his head.
Roland was impressed with Lord Durwell's quick mastery of the situation, and heeded his advice in checking himself again for wounds. He still wondered at the fight: he had expected to earn several cuts even in the best case scenario, and the worst case did not bear dwelling on. A dangerous situation even against half-trained louts: strange to have fought at his finest against meager foes, albeit plentiful in number and in defence of a young woman. A young Dornish woman...
After doing what he could to aid Ser Orton with directions and descriptions, he turned to aid Marq in the impromptu interrogation. Despite having taken the prisoner, he cast a look to see if the higher ranked man wished to ask the first question.
[OOC: happy to lead interrogation/rolls or to merely provide assist bonuses to my social better. Will intervene if Durwell overdoes things as I don't think we don't have legal execution rights here.
Roland's disposition towards Lord Durwell improves by one point.]
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Post by Father on Jul 23, 2018 18:55:59 GMT 1
"Well met, friend, might I know your name?" Nothing Roland has heard of Lord Marq suggests that he is a madman, but he struggles to think of any who would address a captured murderer as if casually meeting someone. "Why the fuck do you care?""Me? I'm just a concerned lord looking to catch a murderer and who knows what else he might do should he roam free. There were four you, two dead, you are in captivity and the last one fled. Obviously, you happen to be most likely to be of help finding him, and conversation is so much easier when you may address a man by his first name." His tone remains civil, to the point where it might be construed as mockery. "Piss on that, I'm not telling you anything at all.""Well, that's a pity, Lord Tyrell is not like to take kindly to one who murdered one under his protection, a woman of the cloth no less, if only one of his lords bannermen were to speak to him on your behalf about your remorse, willingness to repent and to cooperate in seeing justice be done...maybe, just maybe you might be allowed to join the crows on the wall. Did you know that before the reign of the dragons, the customary way to deal with those who murdered a member of the faith was to burn them alive? Nowadays, Lord Leo prefers to hang murderers, quick and painless the maesters say, but those old Gardener customs were never outlawed by the Iron Throne, and I imagine that Septon Abelar will demand the fire. I imagine he will sway many others."All the while, Marq seems very much composed, acting as if all he wants is to help. "If you stay mum, Lord Leo will have no choice but to hand you over to his inquisitors, I have little taste for the work of such men, but Highgarden is so vast that there are cellars so deep and far away from the areas where the Tyrells reside that they will not hear the screams or smell the roasting flesh. Not so at Norhall, no, if a man is put to the question, I grant him the mercy of a restful night, as I do not wish for my own sleep to be disturbed. Sometimes the horrid remainders of what goes on makes me lose my resolve and have him killed so as to not have it grate on my conscience the horrible pains that men under my command inflict upon another. But Lord Leo, he will hear no screams, and smell no roasting flesh, no reminders of hot pincers, flencing knives and all these other things which he prefers to pretend to himself does not exist under his roofs.His very vivid descriptions, and the visible distaste, revulsion and sympathy on his face is most fascinating, feeding the most gruesome scenes one can form in the imagination. It seems almost as if Lord Marq dearly wishes not to have the man before him to become subjected to such horrible tortures, a moving sympathy for the fate awaiting a vile murderer. The shell crack from Eryk, as the captive gives up his name to be, from Gardenton, all four of them are, he didn't really notice whoever ran away, Hobb, Pate and Will were the names of the others, with Roland's descriptions, he narrows the search down to Hobb, the man has a wife and two children, likely he would use the coin they got in advance for the job to get themselves somewhere else, Bitterbridge maybe. He knows not who paid them, a hooded man, stubble on his chin, otherwise unremarkable, gave them 10 Stags to show them he was serious, told them he knew where their families lived and promised them a Dragon each, a fucking Dragon, maybe nothing for lords, but more than a man like him might chance upon to spend in a lifetime. They only had to learn from the golden haired dornish lady that looked no dornish at all where she had heard the story of Ser Aegor and Ser Daven, who the fuck those knights are he doesn't know and doesn't care, but the pay was good. Should be easy enough, right, one knight they could handle out of his armor, evidently not. Then they were supposed to ahem, silence her. And leave the knives. Roland had the foresight to bring one with him, and true enough, there is the mark on it, he does not recognize on it, nor does anyone else present, but finding a smith that can should be easy enough. Marq wagers a Dragon on it coming from the forges of Longtable, Lord Eldon would have a motive, however weak, and few men would find it hard to believe him capable of such a thing. All you need to distract everyone away from the true culprit. Interrogate: 8d6k5+3 25 4 DoS, high enough status to do simple intrigue....he gets all the answers he likes.
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jul 23, 2018 20:39:58 GMT 1
Such was Lord Durwell's force of personality that Roland's assistance was scarcely needed. A fine ally to have, and an even more dangerous foe.
He nodded along as Marq laid out his theory, even if his own mind did not operate so quickly or at such depth. Leaving the knives was most suspicious now that he thought of it: only a fool leaves good steal behind. Too obvious, in hindsight. Still, with passions inflamed who would search for some deeper plot when an obvious, unpopular culprit started them in the face. Few would miss Lord Merryweather, but the beast deserved punishment for his sins, not those of others. If men were willing to kill to silence this talk of Bittersteel's involvement in Ser Daven Bracken's death, that seemed to elevate the matter from gossip to a likely truth. By the Seven, would a man truly strike his owns kinsman down to serve his schemes? No man is as accursed as the kinslayer.
Lady Gwenys Rivers may be in danger too, she is the end of this particular thread.
Roland looked to see if Lady Alicent had overheard, and if she volunteered this information while he wrestled with his own conscience. Would speaking up protect Lady Gwenys, or place her in more danger?
[OOC: Do we think Romantic triggers here to request an immediate guard for Lady Gwenys Rivers if Will roll fails? Can see an argument for it.]
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Post by Father on Jul 23, 2018 21:12:59 GMT 1
"Why would someone connect me with that rumor?" Alicent just looks confused. "I never even heard of it before this morning when it was on everyone's lips..."
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jul 23, 2018 21:47:10 GMT 1
If Alicent chose to ignore the man's comment to protect Lady Gwenys, then Roland would follow her lead. By silence he hoped to win the Blackwood bastard's safety.
"Deftly done Lord Durwell. To Lord Tyrell's dungeons with this one then?"
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Post by Father on Jul 23, 2018 23:39:43 GMT 1
"And did my lady speak of these rumors once she heard of them?" Alicent casts her gaze down, obviously guilty, he quickly has her tell that it was after the sermon for Lord Jon. He goes back to Eryk to find out when he was hired, and scratches his head. "No earlier than after the sermon, my lady? Absolutely?" She nods, frightened by how that answer seems to only make her even more concern. "He has no more useful information to give, I think, it is up to Lord Leo to decide what to do with him."
"More troubling is that the decision to hire these men must have been made before Lord Jon's sermon, and I doubt that whoever that might be cannot afford to hire more men, perhaps he already has done so." Alicent does a reasonably good job of keeping up her composure at that conclusion.
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jul 24, 2018 9:39:50 GMT 1
"Some deeper plan, perhaps with these tales as simply another strand in a deeper web. This timeline makes little and less sense. Could someone have known the tale was out there and sought to use Lady Alicent to follow it back to its source? Or did they simply mean to strike against her, with this talk of Riverland plot a mummer's trick to distract us, a feint to hide the true direction of attack."
Roland did not know scheming and intrigue, but he knew the value of misdirection in swordplay. Some tricks were designed to entrap a journeyman: in being skilled enough to notice a movement, he may not detect as a ruse and fall for the deeper threat that it concealed.
"We should ensure the Lady Alicent is under firm guard for the remainder of the tourney and beyond. I shall speak with my Lord Starling, but I suspect he will be irked that I even need ask to involve the Companions in guarding a noble maid from harm."
Roland nodded at Lady Alicent in an attempt at encouragement.
"If I have my lord's leave, I would depart now to aid Ser Orton in pursuing this Hobb. I thank you for your rigour in this matter, and the Seven for your fortuitous arrival."
With the matter at hand resolved, Roland makes ready to ride hard on his borrowed steed to catch up with Ser Orton in hunting down Hobb and recovering the Septa's body if time allowed. Else hemade ready to return to Highgarden if the search had been concluded.
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Post by Father on Jul 24, 2018 14:35:38 GMT 1
"We must warn Lady Gwenys Rivers! I learned that she was the one spreading these tales." Alicent blurts out, that was the only logical conclusion, but why would anyone mistake Alicent for her? Marq agrees that this would be prudent, though notes that she is likely well protected already. It's her sister that oft tries to lose her protectors, probably because she finds it amusing, not for the reasons some men might finds themselves to believe.
Marq thinks a mistake is more likely than such a convoluted plot, though he could name a few men that hatched schemes far more elaborate in the last years of Viserys the first.
Roland finds Ser Orton at the site of battle, having sent out most of his riders in pairs to scout for any man on his own, each having a hunting horn. The hounds are being organized, fortuitous that Roland now is here to point which way they should begin their search. Ser Gwayne appears to have taken upon himself the task of safeguarding the bodies from beasts and crows.
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jul 24, 2018 17:01:54 GMT 1
Could men truly confuse the ladies Alicent and Gwenys? He would have to dwell on this. With that thought still tumbling through his mind, he had raced to the ambush site. "My thanks Ser Gwayne, Septa Tyane did not deserve her fate, but the least we can do is see her body safely returned to be buried with full honours." Roland did what he could to follow the trail, moderately confident he had spotted it and could even follow it a short distant, but prepared to assist any more experienced trackers in the party. The vast size of the Mander was their ally here - their quarry was unlikely to have been able to cross it, and if he had chanced it was likely to have perished. Even this morning a cooling rain would have been welcome, but now Roland felt relief at its absence. No rain had come to wash away his quarry's sins. Where are you, Hobb the Heinous?[OOC: Happy to defer to someone else to lead the tracking if they pull rank or have better attributes, this is too serious a matter to be clouded by pride! Base TN 9 in the books to spot track (requirement for tracking roll), understand if this differs Foul play Awareness (notice) (plus assists?): 3d6 9 Foul play Survival (track) (plus assists?): 3d6 12 - follow tracks for two hours per DoS, so hopefully horses and hounds mean we only need one DoS, might get up to two DoS v TN9 with two assists. Clears a firm earth TN (set at equal to awareness difficulty) that would give TN9, plus perhaps the -2 from loose rocks, branches and debris that might be in evidence. Might be a TN11 or higher with loose rocks/branches and debris modifier, so kept my commentary vague!]
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Post by Father on Jul 25, 2018 0:22:24 GMT 1
There are very few hiding spots around Highgarden, and with the dogs on the trail, it is merely a matter of time, not even an hour before Hobb can be cornered, though having few illusions about the fate awaiting those who murder a septa, surrender seems not to be on his mind.
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jul 25, 2018 7:28:54 GMT 1
Longsword in hand, Roland offered terms of surrender, but made ready to ride the cur down if necessary. "Your crimes are heinous indeed Hobb, but a man can take the black to wash away his sins if he cooperates and answers questions. Drop your weapon, answer our questions true and you need not leave any orphans today. Erryk has already told us much and more." [OOC: Foul Play Persuasion (intimidate) (+Chivalry?): 3d6+4 15: Edit - 13 as Chivalry bonus to intrigue is only +2]
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