Child of Ember - Chapter 21

Dea turns, beckoning Lit and Griffen to follow.
"I would like to confer with you about the next course to take", she sais as they get outside.
"I suggest we get some refreshments at the Three Rats Inn. I have to ask the doorman there some questions, anyway. It's really a pity the others aren't here, but they should be able to find us there, if they cone looking for us. Agreed?"

At that moment Dolph enters with two Vistani in tow. One you recognize as Celestia, the other is an exotic looking stranger.

The ranger nods his assent to the travel to the temple. He smiles as the others arrive and offers a brief nod, "Well let's see about this tavern shall we." He pops his neck and walks to the others, "So how goes it Celestia, Dolph, and....?" He turns to the other Vistani.

"Alex of Tariiana." She bows respectfully, then extends a gloved hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Senor . . . ?" she responds with a cultured, spanish accent.

Griffen smiles to the vistani and bows slightly, "My name is Griffen Hawks." The young ranger smiles and continues walking with the group into the bar. He takes a seat and leans back listening, observing as he always tends to do.

As they enter the bar, Alex turns to him, "You seem very well acquainted with Dolph and the others staying in his home. If it is not too forward a question, have you all been adventuring together long?"

The ranger smiles slightly and looks to the new arrival with a wink, "I just arrived today. Strangest damn thing too. First thing I knew I wast hunting this criminal out of the city of westgate and suddenly poof!... into some mists and im trying to find out what happened to my carriage and my rider. Found this guy's house, " he gestures to Dolph, "and started helping them find out about this stuff that's been going on around here.

"Ah, I see. What things are going on around here? Aside from the funeral. Was it someone you know? Errr, sorry, knew?"

Dea eyes dart from the newcomer to Celestia, then to Dolph.
"You seem to be quite an attraction for the opposite sex." she says. "At least I presume the lady is with you?"

Celestia smiles at Dea's comment. "You know he does seem to have that quality. It is almost..... bewitching." she said with a wink at Dea.
"But on with business, I had some information that I wanted to share with the group, but I don't feel comfortable in bars." Looking around, Celestia drops her voice "You never know when the wrong ears overhear what they shouldn't."

Dea's face flushes a bit crimson.
Can people now see through to her inner most feelings already?
Or is it just so obvious?
She smiles weekly, hoping to hide her emberrassment.
"Hmmm. yes. well...
I am sure Dol.. lord Lithenstien can arrange the backroom for us."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Alex." The young vistani woman bows to Dea.

"You can call me Dea. I look forward to... knowing you better.
However, right now, we might best settle down and discuss our plans in the back room.
I would be interested to hear what Griffen and Celestia found out. I have not yet more facts to add, but that may change - if you excuse me for a moment... I would like to check something first. I will be right back.
In the meantime, unless ... Lord Lithenstien has already told you, it may be useful if you are filled in on what happened last night. Perhaps you wish to lend some assistence."

"I would gladly be of any help that I can."

Dea walks up to the counter.
She taps it to get the attention of the warden.
Hopefully it is the same man from last night.

It is a different man. This one has dark skin found in more southerly climes.
He looks up. "May I help you?"

"I am looking for an old woman and her grandson, who have been staying here, at least until last night.
The woman seemed very upset, touched, as you might say, by madness. She threw a ruckus shortly before the fire broke out. She migth have come to harm.
>From the reactions of your colleague, she seems well known, so I trust you will know who I mean.
I hope you can help me track down the woman and her grandson."

"I am sorry, she has yet to return. It is possible that she has found another place to stay, the city is filled with little hidey-holes and abandoned buildings. It realy is a wonder that any one stays with us at all, considering. But I suppose that the inn does offer a place to socialize, and relative security as well. The ruins are a dangerous place, and if Granny is staying there then she has as much to fear from the denizens there as she does from the monsters of her own mind."

"What about her grandson? Can you at least give me their names?"

The ranger takes a seat at the bar and sighs, watching the room closely, his keen mind observing every possible detail. He lays his gear at his feet and stretches fully to throw off the tire of having no sleep for as many hours as he had. Griffen looks to his comrades for a moment and then leans back against the bar with a sigh.

Alex settles in at the bar and listens to the conversation flow around her while taking in the various converstations of the other patrons.

"I am sorry miss, we aren't allowed to release that sort of Information."

"I see. Well, I understand that you have to protect the interest of your customers. However, this is of utmost importance. It can help us prevent any other fires from breaking out. I am sure you would not want another death being caused by you keeping important information to yourself."
Dea gauges the man, her eyes scanning his face as if reading his inner mind.
"As a priestess, I give you my word that I will be very discrete with the information. All I need is to know the name of her grandson and whether he is still staying at this inn."

"You think that they are the ones that started the fires? This one and that other one?"

"What?"
Dea swallowed. Her mouths suddenly had gone dry, and here eyes were wide with shock.
"Th.. there's been another fire? Where? When? HOW?"

"Just this afternoon," he says thinking, "Actually about the same time as the one last night."

"Too late..." Dea says, to nobody in particular. "We are already too late...
Please, tell me, where did it take place? And who died?"

"Dunno if anyone died, just that there was a fire over across town at another inn."

Dea sighs.
"We will have to investigate ourselves then.
Now, you can help us - and the town - tremendously if you can tell us more about Granny. While I believe her to be innocent, she is a very important witness, and will speed our search for the cause of these fires."

"She and da boy came in one night and got rooms, she is a little touched, but harmless."

That last phrase caught Alexandria's attention. Many times her mother and aunt had been referred to by that phrase. But they, like Alex herself, had not been insane. They mearly had 'the sight'.
"Pardon, but when she was touched, what types of things did she speak about? And did she or her grandson have contact with anyone else while they were here?" Alex interjected from her seat on the stool near Griffen.

"I am not sure, she came in that way. Nearly everyone that has stayed for some time has had contact with her though."

"So... her grandson still stays here?"

"He has not been back in a while, as I had said, though there is a chance he might return."

"If we can at least talk to him... >
Otherwise," Dea says to her companions, "we will just have to visit the ruins and look for her."

"Perhaps we should do both. There are enough of us that we can divide up, some searching for the grandmother, some the grandson, and perhaps a third group investigating what's left of the newest fire scene? If these arson attacks are coming this frequently, time would seem to be of the essence." Alex suggests.

"They will come every day, for as long as the festival lasts." Dea says. "That is the pattern I see. We are too late now, but maybe we can find Ember's child before she strikes next.
We should try to find the old woman as soon as possible, though I fear she will tell us nothing."

"If I may..." Lit speaks up, after silently watching the proceedings, "I would like to head the investigation of the most recent fire site. I have certain abilities, as you might guess, that suit em for the task.
"Pray, kind sir, where is this other inn?"

"Over near the river. The one that is burnt down, Ya cant miss it."

Dea steps aside to bring Lit in better view of the man. If possible, with Lit's distraction, she pulls the ledger towards herself, and skims through it to see if she can catch the names of the boy(?) and his grandmother who rented the room (and _which_ room). She'll look at the day before yesterday first.

The ledger contains names of the patrons that have been in today, but the page for yesterday has been carefully ripped out...

"Really." Dea sighs.
Drumming her fingers on the board, she eyes the clerc. "Now, will you _please_ tell us the names of Granny and her grandson? It _is_ of considerable import. Thank you."

"I personally dont know. A man came by the other night asking. I told him thu same as im tellin you, I dunno. Even if I did, I couldn't tell you."
"Listen, I like ya. But granny is protected by people, POWERFUL people. If I's you I'd let it go and enjoy the festival."

Celestia listened as the others talked to the Innkeeper. She looked like she had something to say, but was holding back. After a brief moment of thought, Celestia took out a piece of paper and a quill and started making notes. She made no move to hide what she was writing from the group, but kept it hidden from anyone else.
Here is what she wrote:

Child of Ember may not be a socialite. She may be a young girl that was entering the social arena and was killed or harmed in some way or it could be the girl's father seeking revenge.
The occurances of fire related death might be a curse that the girl or her father enacted on the ones responsible for the girl's ruination in the social arena, possibly even her disgrace and/or dead.
Since there have been fires for the last couple of days, we have to look atleast a day before the fires started for possible suspects. (@I am guessing that the festival is on its 3rd day) Something very visible and very big, like a Ball or Costume Party, might be the location where everything started.
We need to find out if there have been any other problems like this in the past. IF there haven't been, then this is something new to manifest recently. If this has happened in the past, then we are looking at some kind of spirit haunting this festival and we need to put it to rest. Finding the right people involved will be hard because the vicitms might not be the original people that was involved in the incident.
Whatever happened, there is more than one person that was responible. The attacks will probably continue on those involved. They might even continue if the attacker feels that there are other wrongs that should be righted.
We should plot out on a map of the city, the locations of the 2 fires and any possible big events. There might be some kind of visible pattern.
We should see if anyone has visited both places of the fire that left a lasting impression, like Granny.
To add another piece to the puzzle, I had a vision of a father letting his daughter attend the festival in the hopes that she might be able to attract a "good" husband.
We should also find out if there were any unusual deaths, any missing people or any females that showed up at a doctor's office with unusual injuries since the festival started.

Alex taps the above paragraph on the parchment, nodding. She says in a very quiet voice, "Fear breeds anger, anger breeds hatred, and hatred brings power and a lust for revenge. I am betting on the girl."
Being a traveler, she sets a map down on the table. It isn't the most detailed city map because it encompasses the surrounding area, but she hoped it would do for what Celestia was planning.

Celestia looked at the map and started to place markers at the different sites she could think of.
These sites were:
1) The Three Rats Inn
2) The New Place that caught on Fire
3) The Lord's House, that died in the First Fire
4) The Girl's House
5) The location of the Main part of the Festival

She looked around the table. "Can anyone think of anyplace else that needs to be marked?" she asked.

"Dolph's Keep." Dea says almost absent mindedly. "And the ruins. It seems we will need to know where they are."

"The ruined inn as well," Lit interjects, "when we figure out wat to do I'll head over there with whomever wishes to come with me."
He takes a quick look at the map.

"I don't thing I can", Dea says, "but I see you cannot help me further. Thank you four your time."
She turns back to the others.
"I fear we have no alternative than to visit the ruins.
I will have to go back to the pyre first. But I plan to go there later on.
I'd rather not go alone, giving the rumours that abound about that place.
First though, I would like to hear what you read, Celestia. I implore you to tell us everything.
And you Griffen, if you found anything on your search. Let's go in the back where all is quiet."

Dea moves to the backroom (the one that was used by lady Renier the previous evening), catching Dolphs' arm in the process and leading him away before Alex can.

After listening to her ideas, Lit watches Dea and a slight smirk comes to his lips as she grabs Dolph.
"I agree with the lady, I would very much like to hear what has been going on in our absence," a mischievious smile plays across his face, "but I am, as yet, without an escort to our meeting."
He looks at Celestia and crooks his arm, "Shall we?"

Alex catches this subtle gesture and finds this rather humorous. She thinks to herself, "Meowch. Guess that's off limits." Then she chuckles and follows everyone into the other room.

Celestia perks up when she heard something about another man and powerful people. She quickly and quietly casts a spell (ESP).
Getting up, she seductively walks over to the Clerk. "Hello." she says in a thick husky voice. "I overheard your comments about 'Granny' and her grandson, Is there any way you can give us any information to help our investigations? We might be able to find out who damaged the room upstairs and you could have them pay for the repairs." Celestia reached out and touched his hand. "I would appreciate any help you could give me," Celestia finished with a smile.

Dolph takes a seat in the back room and thinks as he listens to the others as they make their plans.