Prologue: The Barony of Harkenwold

Crap, crap, crap! Well, that was unexpected! Hunter leans into the hug, and then after Symania turns and starts walking, he turns his head to see if anyone saw them, starting with at Shandalar over by Ara's tent.

When Kathryn starts asking around for Salihn, he rolls his eyes and shakes his head, and goes straight to Folan to ask him if Salihn is at her tent or near her usual spot in the clearing.

"So oi, we ready to go make nice with the pendant lady or what?"

While Kathryn is busy realizing she doesn't remember what Salihn looks like, Folan points her out to Hunter, who leads the party over to her. He's a little on edge from the creepy stare Shandalar was giving him while she watched Symania hug John and him.

Salihn has a bit of a baby face. Paired with her athletic build it makes her look a lot like a human teenager. Besides the ears and shoulder-length green hair and eyes, of course. She's sitting with a group of women on a fallen tree, but also apart, as her face is a mask of grief. She only looks up after Folan makes the introductions.

Before Folan escorts away her friends he says quietly to you guys, "I suggest you take her somewhere more private. More than half the tribe is here."

"Hello Salihn. I'm sorry to disturb you, but we'd like to ask you a few questions; Aymar has already helped us a lot, and Symania too. How about we go over there? It shouldn't take long."

She points to a secluded part of the clearing near the tree line, and far away from Zoras' men.

Hunter pulls back a little to keep an eye on the crowd, and to dissuade anyone from getting close if it looks like they want to follow.

"Nothing to see."
"Let the knight investigate in peace."

His hyena companion trots along and stares as well.

Intimidate 10

Noble
Intimidate 15

"Oh, of course." She gets up and rubs her right eye with the back of her hand and follows the party over to the emptier part of the clearing. There's nowhere to sit in this area except in the tall grass, but Salihn keeps well away from there. You guys should probably do that too. No one wants a snake bite while they are questioning a person of interest.

As you guys walk over Hunter and Noble make it clear that the crowd should stay back, the little hyena growling and barking before happily following Kathryn over. He starts begging her for pets by rubbing himself against her leg.

Salihn smiles a little at his antics, but her grief comes back soon enough. She finally says, "I heard you were looking into the...d-drow attack, Ser Elwin. I don't know what I can tell you but if I can help I will."

Kat pets Noble to thank him for his assistance, but quickly returns her attention on the latest witness. "We know it's hard for you, so thank you."

Good, that'll do. Well, I hope I didn't just cause everyone to be suspicious of the tiefling with a pet hyena.

Hunter wanders over to find Noble flopping onto the ground and casually glancing over at the crowd of people, and rolls his eyes again.

Standing to the side and a couple steps back behind Kathryn, he pulls out a paper and pen, and a hard surface (from the writing kit borrowed from Jojo). "Can you tell us what happened?"

(Phelps mode engaged)

"It's all so confusing, I'm not sure how much I can tell you. Our leader Reptar joined our band to two others, led by Terron and Aymar the Strong, for some dire turkey hunting just west of the Briar Hills in the northern part of our territory. We've been out there before, but only rarely, so it made my job a lot easier. It's nice not having to compete with the other bands to gather fruits, herbs, and vegetables.

After setting up the camp, we got to work. We gatherers may not be hunters but it's a job like any other; no dillydallying if you want to get it done. So we had plenty of good foods to compliment the turkey meat we had for dinner that night. Everyone was so happy, there was music, singing, and dancing. It was so m-much f-fun." She is overwhelmed by emotion at this point and starts crying in earnest.

Zoe moves forward and hugs the poor woman, holding her close while whispering soothing things to her. She gives you guys a worried look before going back to comforting the crying woman.

Hunter takes a few notes and waits for Salihn to calm down.

OOC:

Kathryn lets the poor woman sob until she's calmed down a little bit. Whenever that happens, she approaches Salihn, kneels down next to her, puts her hand on top of Salihn's and says, "I'm really sorry to ask you this, but we must know. The Rangers and the Moondancers are close to fighting each other, and I hope that if you talk to us, we can avoid that. Please, can you tell us what else happened?"

Kat:

Salihn eventually gets control again and Zoe pulls back and hands Salihn her linen handkerchief. Salihn uses it to wipe away the tears, finally saying, "I'll d-do my best. I don't want any more people to get hurt. After the par--after things were winding down, more and more of us left to find our beds in the various tents. I held back to talk to Reptar. We'd been getting along better lately. The last time," the words catch in her throat as she narrowly avoids a sob, "The last time I saw him he was walking off to his patrol. Oh gods and spirits, he's dead. He's dead." She starts sobbing again.

The white-haired knight lets Salihn sobs for a moment since she clearly needs to. Once the elf has regained some composure, Kathryn tightens her grasp on her hand and asks in a soft tone, "And what happened after you spoke to Reptar?"

After a time, she continues her story. "I went to sleep. We'd set up a larger common tent for the single women like me so we could all sleep together in the same place. Next thing I know my friend Imizael was shaking me awake saying we were under attack. It was horrible! They emerged out of the shadows butchering us where we stood. One of the hunters from Aymar's band held them off while we ran towards the hill." She continues in a haunted voice, "I can still hear his death scream."

She shivers and Zoe hands the poor woman her waterskin, so she can take a drink. After doing so, Salihn continues, "As I was running, I was almost trapped by drow warriors with heavy swords when Lorsan and Lura ambushed them from behind in wolf form. Lura ordered me to save the children so I started gathering up any I could find on the way to Aymar's tent, the largest one nearest the hill. Imizael and me went out to find any we missed but we couldn't get far. There were just too many drow. By the time we got back Aymar had organized a breakout attempt and so we ran and ran to the Rangers at Overwatch. We spent the rest of the night trying to comfort the children. The grief didn't really hit me until we returned to camp yesterday."

Hunter tries to take all of that in as best he can and suss her out for any false fronts, but if she's lying, her genuine feeling and the nightmare she recounts make seeing through her very difficult.

Insight 7

Insight:

Kathryn takes mental notes of Salihn's account of the events.

Any eagerness Carlos may have had to speak to this woman is now completely gone, and his words drag heavy as if he's forcing them out - "Lady Salihn, we have to ask. The woman that was captured -- the Drow. Did you see her at all during the attack?"

Hunter: Insight Check ???:

Kathryn: Insight Check Success:

"I-I'm sorry Mr. Jalapeno, I didn't even know there was a living Drow until all the fuss started and the ones I saw wore helmets or scarves over their faces. The only thing I can say for certain is that their warriors were both men and women. And so many red eyes." She shivers again.

Hunter jots something down, and finally opens his mouth to ask, "Had Reptar recently received any gifts from you?"

"No, no gifts. His birthday isn't for another two months." She starts staring silently at the ground. She's so low that she looks like she might start sinking into herself.

Kat raises her eyebrows at that.

Insight:

Carlos tries to not show surprise at that.

Insight 16

Careful to keep his voice low enough that only their group can hear him, the tiefling replies, "Then who did, Salihn? Someone obtained or made a charm necklace out of tree stone and gave it to Reptar. That by itself is serious business, but it was also enchanted to track him. Why would he have something like that?"