Owen woke up to find Seldanna passed out on his couch from the night before. She had left out the letters in their envelopes, but he put them back in her bag without reading them.
Lark was coming back into town with Jastra from the carnival. He and Jastra also spoke with Juveha about being a doula for Jastra. Saxi woke up at the new guildhall, where she had spent her first night, and went to work.
Oisin spent the morning at the nature temple. Mari was at work in the shop that morning. Seldanna woke up, later than usual, on Owen’s couch and contemplated the letters she had read the night before
The Beer Forge
The city seemed lightly populated that day, not as many people were out and about because of the holiday. The Beer Forge was still pretty busy though. Ivy was there and The Raging Flumphs were performing
Owen, Oisin, Seldanna, and Saxi showed up first. Seldanna was still hung over, so Ivy gave her a “covered and smothered.” It was a deep fried egg tube covered in gravy, cheese, and grilled onions. Lark and Mari came in next. They discussed the carnival Lark had gone to and talked about what to do for the day.
They decided to look into what happened to Wabura. They would go ask about him at Tip to Tail. They would also ask if anyone had tried to sell the Farrosh pelt.
Tip to Tail
Only the butcher, Birch, was there working. The group asked him about Wabura and found out that Birch had not seen him recently. They had not seen him, at Tip to Tail, for a week or so. He had purchased meat to use as bait on his last trip to the store.
Birch promised to tell the guard, or get word to Owen, if he saw the rifle or the pelt. Owen bought a ham while they were there. Saxi bought some stew meat for Oisin’s kittens.
Barrel Run
Walking down Barrel Run, the group discussed how long it would have to be before Seldanna could try Speak with the Dead to ask Wabura questions. They debated asking Zeknar Feddles about Wabura as well. He might be a suspect, so Owen recommended not saying anything about the murder. Lark had seen Wabura camping out in the forest a few times before, so the group decided to head there to look for clues.
The Skyroot Forest
At the first campsite, the group found nothing that would give them clues about the case. The second campsite showed more signs of use, but it was hard to tell much because of the snow. Several people started digging out the snow, finding the sight and scent of blood.
There was a layer of blood a couple inches below the surface of the snow. It appeared to be a few days old given the amount of snow on top of it. There were also several footprints, but it had been long enough that they were not overly helpful.
Lark also saw blood splatter up on the trees. Owen figured out that something large was drug away from the camp. They remembered that there had been no blood at the site where the group found Wabura.
Nothing from the camp seemed to be missing except for the pelt and the rifle. The group discussed what to do and whether to ask Zeknar any questions.
The situation had left the group with a lot of questions: Who killed Wabura? Was his body left near Primeheart’s as a message? Was it Zeknar? To protect his reputation regarding Lamina Island?
Mari smelled some smoke in the distance and lead the group to a small wood cabin. The logs it was made of looked imported, not local wood. Seldanna started to cast Augury to see if the group should go to the cabin. Lark pulled out the picnic blanket for her to kneel on, but she refused to use it and he put it away. Her spell came back as ‘weal’
Lark did not sense evil, undead, fiends, or fey inside the cabin. It was a very old cabin that could have been there for a very long time. It was possibly from before the Skyroot Forest had spread so far.
It seemed to have been patched recently. Oisin sensed there was some magic inside the cabin, but could not see what the item was through the walls. Saxi, tired of waiting, went to knock on the door while everyone debated what to do. The door opened to reveal Zeknar Feddles.
Zeknar Feddles’ Cabin
He invited everyone into his cabin. It was a single large room with a fire going. Oisin sensed that the logs in the hearth were magical. They had magic that made them never seem to burn out. Zeknar’s cane was also magical, but the group knew he had a chunk of eirshale on it.
He said that he had taken over the cabin during the last month or so. He had also run into Pip in the forest a few days before. He had taken over the cabin because he could not get “home”, which to him was Lamina Island.
During the conversation, Owen asked if he had seen Wabura recently. Zeknar mentioned that he thought maybe Wabura was trying to make amends with him. He revealed that Wabura left his prized pelt on Zeknar’s doorstep about 4 days prior. As far as Owen could tell, Zeknar was telling the truth.
Zeknar said he had not found anyone to fund an expedition to go back to Lamina Island. Zeknar had put the Farrosh pelt into his chest, but he offered to give it to the group. They discussed possibly letting Pip bury it. He let Owen look at it and there were signs of blood on the pelt.
He said that he had not had any other visitors, beside the group. He said he had thought the party may have been Wabura outside his door. He estimated that another venture to Lamina would cost a lot and said he was thinking he would need 100 people who wanted to study the island. The group left to go back to town.
The Skyroot Forest
The group talked more once out of earshot of the cabin. They were very unsure whether or not Zeknar could have killed Wabura. Could he have dragged Wabura’s body? Zeknar could have been framed and that would explain why he received the pelt. It would also explain why Wabura’s body had been left so close to the path through the forest. Someone would have to find it for Wabura to be framed.
Seldanna used Locate Object, to see if she could find the gun. It was very nearby. The group headed back in the directed of the cabin and found Wabura’s gun in the creek behind Zeknar’s cabin.
The group stood for a while, just looking into the creek and seeing the gun. They were still not sure that Zeknar could have lifted Wabura to have drug him through the snow. They were also not sure that Zeknar would have been dumb enough to toss the gun directly behind his own house.
Foster went into the water to get the gun, while Lark and Mari looked for tracks near the water. The gun would have been very hard to see in the deeper water, if the group had not known what to look for.
They talked more about whether Zeknar could have done it and what the other possibilities might be. Maybe someone from the previous expedition was framing him? They decided to ask Zeknar again and confront him with the gun.
Zeknar Feddles’ Cabin
The group knocked and went back in. Owen said he had some more questions for Zeknar. Zeknar said that he went down to the creek twice daily every day for water. Owen asked him about whether he had seen the gun and Zeknar said he had never seen it.
As Seldanna tried to use her Read Thoughts channel divinity, a log in the fire split open loudly and her ability did not work.
Owen asked about the gun again. Zeknar said he had never seen it before. Wabura did not have a gun when Zeknar had travelled with him before. Zeknar said he had told the group everything he knew about Wabura. He claimed he did not know anyone that would want to frame him for Wabura’s murder.
Zeknar began to become more evasive and unwilling to answer questions. Owen tried to explain that the group did not think Zeknar had necessarily committed the murder, but they had to ask him questions given the circumstances and evidence. Owen also said that, per the new laws, he would have to bring Zeknar in for questioning under a Zone of Truth spell if he didn’t cooperate. Zeknar still didn’t answer everything, so the group took him in for questioning.
Travelling back to town
Mari offered to turn into a horse so that Zeknar could ride into town instead of walking with his limp, but he refused the offer. Owen and Seldanna talked on the way back to town about whether she should try to read Zeknar’s thoughts again. They decided against it. Lark watched Zeknar, to assess if his limp was real, but he couldn’t tell if anything was inconsistent.
Cinderhaven Guardhouse
Zeknar was brought in for questioning. He was processed as a witness and had his magic items taken away, just in case. Owen had another officer handle the questioning.
Zeknar refused to answer any questions about Wabura, the gun, or the murder. He refused to answer any questions regarding his whereabouts or anything else. The guards asked Owen if he wanted further tactics used for questioning.
Things like intimidation or persuasion were mentioned. Owen said persuasion maybe, but no intimidation. Owen had the guard offer Zeknar protection, in case he was being framed or targeted.
Mari, Saxi, Oisin, and Lark left the guardhouse to go to do other things.
Knowledge Temple
Seldanna performed a ritual and cast Divination to ask “Will Wabura’s murderer try to leave the city within the next seven days?” She had a flash of light in front of her and a book fell off the shelf. Posea’s Fables fell down and opened to the story of the turtle and the hare.
The group, as a whole, didn’t feel entirely right about the way Zeknar had been brought in, but it was a murder investigation. At the time, they had not known what else to do.
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