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 Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:07 pm
Location: BendenOnce the Weyrs were scoured and what information could be gleaned was obtained, the search expanded further still. If the Weyrs were one option, so too were the Abandoned Rooms that every Weyr possesses. Located in forgotten hallways, along dusty corridors, these places are tucked out of sight and out of mind. The halls that Kestril once walked – quiet, dark, shadowed now, avoided by nearly everyone. Those who walked them often did so in pairs at the least… skirting the area where the stain of her blood could still be seen soaked into the very rock itself, testament to murder. One of the rooms off the hallway where she died is open slightly, yellow light pouring out into the hallway and the sound of slurping echoes quietly in the silence. Upon opening the door, a man looks up, his gaze narrow, his build solid and clothing worn, patched and re-patched. The knife at his hip has clearly seen better days and the gloves that cover his hands are stained with the work of his trade. The flash of intelligence and anger echoes that of the whers he obviously handles and he grunts as the metal flagon hits the table. Smoke curls up from a pipe that he sticks between his lips and he arches a brow, apparently unsurprised by the intrusion. Had he been expecting the group? “Ey, I’d been wondering when you lot was going to roll through here. I heard ye’ve been turning the Weyr upsidedown in your headhunt. Find anything useful?” He chuckled and sucked on the pipe before turning to look at the wall across from him – the room was small, barren but for the table and chair he sat at and a yellowed, decaying map of the grounds. Arrows and circles were scrawled on the map, denoting to a familiar eye, the routes and barracks of the Benden Wherhandlers. Investigation Week 4 Only the NPC described in this post may be interviewed.
This is an ORP that will be lead by Staff - staff will be posting responses based on the posts received once or twice a day, each character can post as they want but the NPC response will not wait for all to post before answering.
Feel free to ask whatever questions that your character would ask!
Remember that this is an investigation about the Mystery Man who assassinated two ranking Riders and tried to kill a third.
A Hint: Look for relations between rumors and things said but remember not everyone knows the truth! Think about the answers you receive!
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:50 am
N'mol didn't look at Dinah, but inside he was already tensing for a fight. If only it hadn't been another wherhandler. He remembered all too well her tactics of the first week. He wasn't going to let her try to take over the investigation again, especially not when this handler looked more willing to talk than the first one. She was not in charge of their group or Kindra's. If anything, that role would fall to him, though he would never say as much aloud. The last thing they needed was more trouble.
"We've heard a great deal that could be useful," N'mol replied. They weren't supposed to talk specifics of the investigation-- the point was to find any accomplices of the killer, not tip them off-- but general statements were fine. "We can always use more information, though. I'm N'mol and these are some of my groupmates and some members of other investigatory groups. You're the first person we've come across down here. Are you planning on making some renovations?" He gestured at the map. It looked distinctly ready to fall apart at the least little handling. "Or looking for lost or forgotten passages between the buildings?"
It couldn't hurt to be careful. It was unlikely anyone would try to kill any of the wherhandlers, but as Kestril had shown them, there were clearly ways in and out of the weyr that people hadn't known about or had all but forgotten. It stood to reason the same might be said of the wherhandlers, and it made sense for some of the wherhandlers to take an interest in that. Judging from the state of his clothes, this wherhandler had been in his profession for a while.
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:53 am
Kindra walked slowly past the spot where Kestril had died, her stomach churning slightly.. she hadn't been this way in a long while but the dark stain made her shudder as ever before and made her wish she had worn a knife belt or something. She stopped for a moment, closing her eyes and giving the departed Goldrider her silent respects before moving on to where she was heading.
When she entered the room she almost cringed... maybe she would have if it hadn't been for the fact N'mol was already in there. She frowned as she laid eyes on the older Handler in the room, slightly perturbed by his almost friendly disposition. Was he being jovial to cover something up? Kindra didn't know but she noticed the table had a map on it... and where was this man's Wher?! "Wherhandler, where is your Wher and what is that map doing there?" she asked, being blunt but not completely unfriendly as the older man hadn't offered any reason for her to instantly dislike him, except maybe the pipe but people had their vices. "N'mol" she said, acknowledging his presence only.
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:40 am
The wherhandler gave a noncommital shrug at the question, "Renovations? Not any time soon, no. Just taking a break, actually. There's a warren on tunnels under here we work in but if a fellow wants a quiet klah break, well he's got to leave. 'Course I'll go deaf just the same, but hearing's nice while I've got it." Indeed his voice was a little on the loud side, as if he couldn't quite hear himself perfectly, and gestured at those gathered with a resigned expression, "The lot o' you wi-"
He was cut off by the Queenrider when she cut through his comments and the man sat up, the shift in his great bulk somehow giving the impression of bringing a beast to bear as he looked down his nose at her, "Ah, the Tiny Queen's Rider is here as well. I am not surprised." He scoffed and took up his flaggon again, drinking deeply of the steaming liquid, "I would be delighted to hear your explanation for how a Bronze Wher might fit in this hall, or this room, m'dear." His tone was a brilliant blend of friendly retort and condescension so that it was difficult to tell which he was implying.
Gesturing with the mug of klah, he arched a brow at the map, "The map? It's a map of Wherhandler Routes, Goldrider, places and people and stations the likes of you need not concern yourself with 'less you like getting dirty, that is." He grinned, a sudden flash of bright teeth, "Posts for protection, as it were."
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:15 pm
For a moment, N'mol actually felt a stab of irritation. Between Dinah and Kindra, they would never be able to complete an investigation without offending someone, something that N'mol rarely ever did on his own. He was amazed they hadn't been reported to W'lin already, though it likely helped that Kindra was in the other group and wouldn't reflect directly on him or his group.
He was a bit surprised at Kindra's inability to realize that most whers wouldn't fit indoors, especially since the wherhandler in her group never really brought his wher along. That she had pretty much just parroted what N'mol himself had said had only increased that moment of irritation; if Kindra bothered to listen to anyone other than herself once in a while, instead of needing to barrel headlong into everything, that wouldn't happen. She had just made all of them look bad in front of an older and more experienced man, albeit just a wherhandler. A good start to the day. Perfect.
"You were going over the posts on your break? I admire your dedication to your work," N'mol admitted, moving forward to study the map himself. "Are these all the changes you made in response to the incident with Kestril? Have you figured out how the killer managed to get to Kestril and then get in and out of the weyr so quickly, then?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:46 am
Kindra bristled a little at the Wherhandler's use of 'Tiny Queen' but she gritted her teeth on a comment, "Yes, i've been investigating.....you would have me sit and let others do it for me?!" she asked, trying to keep her voice even. "I can see that a Bronze wouldn't fit in here... i merely asked where it was" she added. She looked at the map again and was about to comment but then N'mol cut in. She listened and waited for the Wherhandler's answer before deciding to make further comments.
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:17 pm
He watched them with a certain unimpressed glint in his eyes, wondering if their future would be handed to youth such as these - the bronzerider wasn't so bad (as far as bronzeriders went, at least) but the goldrider... he yawned and glanced at the map again, "Black's the normal, red's the added. I'm certain he had help. Good help too, to get as far as he did…. Someone with their fingers in all the pots." He lifted the mug to N'mol, "Want some? S'good and fresh."
The man sent a pointed look Kindra's way as he continued, "Someone with authority and knowledge. Someone not interested in turning the topic to them." He gave a shrug, "Either way it's inevitable. We all die, don't we? Better for it to be fast then old and broken in some bed."
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Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:17 am
F'itz had spent some time out in the corridor, hands clasped behind her back, grey eyes running slowly over each small feature in the stone. This was where Kestril had died, quite possibly by W'lin's order. He had previously been wondering if the blade had been thrown in to confuse, and perhaps it had been, but then again perhaps it had just been carelessly lost by a murderer directed by the Weyrleader. Shivering at the thought the brownrider stepped into the room... just in time to hear Kindra in full diplomatic swing. He resisted the urge to sigh heavily.
"What do you suppose their motive were?" he asked the handler, tilting his head to inspect the map as it was explained. "My name is F'itz, and my dragon is Brumath." Hopefully some polite introductions would help matters, though at least the handler seemed merely unimpressed rather than angered.
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:32 pm
He smiled at the offer of klah and gave a brief shake of his head. "No, thank you."
'Someone with their fingers in all the pots.' N'mol didn't like the sound of that, but it was solid reasoning. Still, it leaned a bit too close to pointing fingers at W'lin again, though of course the wherhandler wouldn't outright say so. N'mol looked over at F'itz's question, then went back to studying the map. It looked as if there were an adequate amount of new placements, but he didn't remember seeing some of the ones that were marked on here. They likely had planned this, but it hadn't been implemented yet, then. N'mol hoped they did so soon; the last thing they needed was an attempt on the reclusive Isley or... Kindra.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:38 am
Emkin peered around. She did not want to ask what was the stain on the ground, but she had a pretty good idea. The candidate turned her attention back to the activity in the room. With any luck, they wouldn't notice her lurking back here. Not that the riders needed her anyhow.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:14 pm
Kindra bristled .. she felt the disapproving eyes and she didn't like it.. shardit she WAS trying... she hadn't said anything nasty yet, and she'd tried to keep her tone even too ... but it seemed that no one seemed to give two shells that she was trying .. well that was FINE ... just .. FINE ... She took a deep breath and looked over the map again. "exactly what changes have been made the the shifts for Wherhandlers?" she asked, genuine in her question, junior Weyrwoman she might be but she wasn't privy to ALL that W'lin did about the weyr, though... and she shuddered... maybe she should make more of an effort to uncover how deep into the weyr's workings the man was.
She turned to F'itz, but the man wasn't looking at her, and N'mol wasn't paying her much attention at all. Kindra was tired of trying to be something she wasn't, oh she wanted to be Senior Weyrwoman but ... at the same time, did she want to be that and lose herself in there somwhere? .. she was beginning to have doubts but she wasn't about to let them bring her down, she let out a big sigh of a breath. "I'm.....sorry Wherhandler..uh .. what's your name? ... this investigation... has put a lot of people on edge" she said, trying to save face and show she wasn't just a heartless, rutheless b***h. Not that she thought she had anything to prove but she'd seen F'itz's calmer approach work better when getting answers .. so she tried. "were the Halls patrolled by green handlers when .....when..." here she choked just a little "When Kestril died?" she asked, wondering if the fact that most of the larger Whers were unable to navigate narrower hallways was part of the reason for the changes in the patrols.
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 1:07 pm
He shrugged at F'itz's question, "Someone didn't like the Leaders very much. Getting rid of them ends up with things shuffling, might not be a bad thing. Kestril was... demanding and cold, to say the least. I don't think many people were overly fond." The wherhandler sighed, "Then again, when your function becomes that of breeder and that's all anybody really cares about, you can't blame the woman for growing hard of heart. Don't most o' you lasses dream of Impressing Gold anyway?"
His gaze swept over to the girls in the party, pausing only briefly on Kindra. It seemed the man had already dismissed the girl and her attitude. He question, however, drew his attention to the map, "Oh, the red's the new stuff. Mostly double patrols, extended hours, small patrol areas to reduce gaps, that sort of thing. Nobody's getting in while we're on it - but it's taking more whers over all."
Flox laughed, "Everybody dies, Kindra. Some to murderers, some to bad Betweening, and others to cave-ins. No point in being on edge about an eventuality. The name's Flox. And when Kestril was murdered? Not likely... these aren't work halls and it's very nearly in the heart of the Weyr... there was no reason have security here."
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