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"Wait, wot!?" Pint suddenly turned towards the guard that was wistfully reminiscing about their dead Captain. "He didnae have anyone posted at the watch tower?? Did he say why??" Looks like Pint was finally learn some reasons as to why the good Captain might have been poisoned, that was a mighty suspicious thing to do.

He couldn't help but scoff when the guard continued and seemed to be afraid of going into battle without his Captain leadership. "Oi, not to dismiss yer Captain's skills or anything but, ye got a bloody Dwarven Slayer 'ere with ye! I reckon I ain't too shabby at killin' orcs either." Said Pint stroking his beard proudly as he reminisced on all the orcs he had killed.

Brenna had to make an effort NOT to turn to look at Mr Swathmore as Mistress Weather told the story about the king being a master of disguise. She certainly didn't want to be the reason his cover was blown.

She wasn't sure if the story suggested the cat's innocence or guilt in the current matter. For all the strangeness around the woman's familiar, she still didn't see a motive for the cat to kill the captain. Maybe it really was just some helpful being.

"Do you think Catherine could pick out who murdered Captain Baring?" she asked, keeping her voice down so that the whole tavern didn't think she was crazy. Not that anyone besides Mistress Weather would believe the cat... except maybe Brenna. Maybe. She still didn't know if she trusted the animal. "With the cards, I mean."

((We've been running around prepping for the Corona virus. Now we're starting isolation, so I should be making more posts.))

"He didn't say why he stood down the watch," says the guard to Pint, "but we assumed it was because he was going out with you. Funny that there would be an orc after all this time, then he'd get murdered. Too much of a coincidence, to my mind."
"The orcs are out there," says the other, "what would the Captain do? He'd draw up a list of all the guests who can fight, and organise them. Then he'd probably send someone out on reconaissance. We need to know how many there are, and where they are camped."

"I was waiting for someone to ask me that" says Mistress Weather, "the cards know. Now lay out a Celtic cross."
If Brenna wants the fortune to go ahead, lay out a Celtic cross with random cards. Here's the layout ...

((Semi-isolated here too and staying home as much as possible! Not sure if you wanted me to roll, but just in case!))


Brenna nodded and drew the cards as instructed, laying them on the table one by one.

((Sorry m8s, I work for the health department so I've been swamped ever since this whole thing started. I got my groove going now me thinks so I think I can pose at an even pace now.)

"How convenient.." Pint narrowed his eyes in annoyance as the guard said he had assumed the Captain was going to go with him, Rin and Dain. Hadn't the Captain not wanted them to go out in the first place? For all intended purposes it looked like the Captain wanted the inn to fall to the Orcs but then he got himself killed.. none of this was making sense.

"Let's just focus on the bloody orcs, fer now." Said Pint as he kept a look out. "Wot about traps? Do we got any murder holes set 'ere? It's been a while since I've nailed an orc on the head with a rock."

72 - 16 The tower
71 - 15 The devil
65 - 9 The hermit
8 - 8 of wands
36 - 8 of swords
62 - 6 The lovers
39 - Page of swords
51 - 9 of pentacles
49 - 7 of pentacles
67 - 11 Justice

Brenna shuffles the deck, and passes it to Mistress Weather, who spreads
the cards face down over the table. The cat Catherine indicates a card,
and she cuts the deck at that point, and gives the back to Brenna to
lay out.

"This covers her" she says. The Tower. "That is the Inn".
"This crosses her". The Devil, "These are the opponents we face,
diabolical opponents. Dark powers".
"This is behind her". The Hermit, "You have come to the Inn from a
period of wandering, and introspection".
"This is before her". The 8 of wands. "Important news is coming your
way, likely good news. maybe also a romance."
"This is above her". The 8 of swords. The picture depicts a blindfolded
woman. "You think that you cannot see a solution to this problem."
"This is below her". The Lovers. "But actually you can see everything,
if just you acknowledge it."
"This is herself" The Page of Swords. "That is you, what more can I
say?"
"This is others". The 9 of pentacles. The card shows a rich, aristocratic
woman with a fine house.
"These are her hopes and fears." The 7 of pentacles. The card shows a
farmer at harvest. "You have worked very hard for success, but now you
fear it will be taken away.
"And this the best she can hope to achieve". Justice.

"Now Catherine, indicate the guilty party", says Mistress Weather.
The cat miaows, and paws the 9 of pentacles.
"The culprit is a rich woman. Look carefully at the card". Mistress Weather
give it to Brenna.

"Stuff and nonsense", says Macey, "How can paste and cardboard lead
us to the poisoner?"

Meanwhile Pint and the guards are doing a survey of the Inn's defences.
The tower is a small guard tower, surrounded by lower roofs. So Pint's plan of dropping rocks on the attacking orcs won't work, unless you can think of a way of throwing the rock some distance so that it doesn't crash through the roof. The Inn is in a fairly substantial compound, surrounded by an earthen rampart topped by a wooden palisade. That will keep out wild animals and casual attackers, but it doesn't
offer much defence against a determined attack.

The lower floor of the Inn has two entrances, one the main entrance and the other for the kitchen. There are no windows,
just narrow slits, through which you could shoot an arrow, though that works two ways - orcs outside the Inn could possibly
shoot the other way, at people inside the common room.

"We've got plenty supplies of oil, for the kitchen and for the lamps" says a guard. "We could make a fire trap for the orcs with
that".

"Right, so no murder holes." Huffed Pint as he saw that the roof of the inn was essentially providing cover for the orcs if they got under the tower. In dwarven keeps and actually fortified strongholds, there would be an opening in the tower where guards could slide a rock down, then it would roll down a long tunnel to drop directly on top of attackers, effectively hitting them with impunity. No such luck here though, he was going to have to improvise as usual.

"Let's leave the fire as a last resort. I donna want to burn the inn unless I really have to, and it's too late to bring oil bombs all the way up here." Besides he might end up hitting the roof of the inn if he tried to throw an oil lamp down at the orcs. The idea had merit if the orcs brought a battering ramp, but what where the chances of orcs bringing siege equipment? And with a roof too. More than likely, if the orcs thought of something like that they'd bring just regular ol' tree trunk to try and bash their way through the palisade. It'd still work though considering the inn's poor defenses.

"Sod it. If the orcs get too close I'll just have to get down there and fight 'em in the bottle neck. Ye lads keep me covered. Hopefully we can repel 'em before they get too close but lady luck has certainly been whimsical as of late, I tell ye."

Some of the card interpretations made sense to her. Some did not, but she tried her best to follow along.

As Catherine pawed the 9 of pentacles and Mistress Weather gave its meaning, Brenna's first thought was that the selection implicated Lady Helena. And maybe it did. But she was certainly not the only one that could potentially fit that description.

The landlady perhaps? Or maybe Kitty? Or Caitlin? Did it rule out the cat herself?

Brenna studied the card, then shook her head, a bit at a loss to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Thank you for the reading, Mistress Weather. ... and Catherine," she added.

When Macey butted in, Brenna turned her gaze to him. Caitlin was still gone, it seemed. Or at least Brenna hadn't noticed if she'd returned. "Did your daughter come back in? She shouldn't wander too far with orcs about. Best go check on her..."

Brenna would have gone herself, but she needed to stay put and make sure no one made an attempt on the king's life.

"We'll man the ballista, you hold them off downstairs" agree the guards, "Get the priest to help you too. He's a doughty fighter."

You're discussing this when one of the guards points something out.
"What's that?"
It's the figure of a woman, carrying what seems to be a lantern, and making her way to the palisade gate.

"She's been out a while, hasn't she?" says Macey. "Surely she's not gone to the orcs ..."

He gets up suddenly.

"Why would she go to the orcs?!" Brenna asked. Despite Caitlin being on her own list of suspects, it was still surprising that her father would immediately jump to that conclusion. ... unless he had a reason to suspect his daughter as well.

She stood up, intending to follow Macey just as far as the door and have a look out herself, but unwilling to leave the king without anyone watching his back.

"The priest??" Asked Pint sounding very unconvinced.. though really he couldn't be too picky with who helped him out. "Alright, I'll ask 'im I guess."

It was a good thing he didn't roll his eyes at the notion, otherwise he would have missed the guard pointing out the shadow moving out towards the palisade. "WOT THE SOD!?" He screamed, nearly shooting an arrow at the female figure, but he couldn't run the risk of hitting an innocent.

"STOP HER!" He yelled and dashed down the stairs and made a mad dash for the door, hoping someone faster than him took him up on the tast of stopping the potential traitor-- Pint was an excellent warrior but he still had short dwarven legs. "SOMEBODY STOP HER!!"

Brenna runs to the door of the Inn. She sees Caitlin's light at the gate, and Macey running after her.

Pint pushes past Brenna, running for the gate. He reaches it just after it opens, the great bar falliing to the ground, and Caitlin, followed by Macey, push through.

"Caitlin, come back!" calls Macey, "There are orcs out there".
"I don't care" says Caitlin, "Now I cannot marry Henry Fitzroy, I don't want to live anymore".

"Just shut the gate" shouts Rosalind to Pint, from the door. "If they want to go, they want to go. We can't risk orcs slipping in, we know they are prowling about".

"By the gods!" Brenna was torn between fear for the girl and rolling her eyes at the over-dramatics of the teenager that was now threatening to endanger them all.

She made the split second decision to leave the king unguarded, something she desperately hoped would not come back to bite her and sprinted after them, hot on Pint's heels, maybe even overtaking him.

Damnit! She didn't even have her bow... only her two knives, which she kept stowed for the moment as she slipped through the gate, intending to help Macey physically drag the stupid girl back to the tavern if they had to.

But her gaze still made one quick sweep of the road and area surrounding area... looking for moving shadows that might indicate orcs.

((Edit: Ouch. Feels like this might hurt!))

Brenna sprints throught the heavy wooden gate. It is dark, and there is only Caitlin's lantern to shed light on the scene. Macey is desperately trying to catch up with his daughter.
"Come back, Caitlin", he says, "There are orcs out there".
"Close the gate!" screams Rosalind from the Inn. "Don't let any orcs get inside".

From the corner of her eye, Brenna thinks she sees a shape slip past her, and through the gate, into the compund.
Then there's no question about it. Three or four ugly figures spring out from the shadows round the gate, and surround Caitlin. She screams in terror.
"Every man downstairs" calls Lieutenant Peter from the courtyard, "I am in charge here".

Her adrenaline kicked into high gear. She'd sparred plenty under the tutelage of her father's men, but a real fight? Where the consequences of losing were potentially much higher than a bruise and a bruised ego? This was new territory.

Hoping that Pint was right behind her, Brenna drew her daggers and moved as quickly and quietly as she could toward the closest orc's back. With any luck, she'd kill it, but her goal was simply to clear a path for Macey to drag Caitlin back toward the gate.


((What do I need to roll here? Stealth, attack, initiative?))

Brenna lunges at the nearest orc with her knife. It is between her, the gate, and Caitlin, obviously seeking to cut the girl off from retreat.

Caitlin is screaming, but still holding her lantern. It is the only light on the scene, and the unsteady rays of lantern light flicker and light up the orc's evil faces, momentarily, she is like a virgin dispensing momentary kindness to the massed ranks of the damned. The orcs snarl as they close in. Macey has drawn a scimitar and is stabbing at an orc. Out of the corner of her eyes, Brenna can see Pint, in one to one combat with another orc. The two go rolling off into the darkness and she loses sight of them.

"Shut the gate" screams Rosalind from the Inn. "Shut the gate".
Brenna also hears the sounds of soldiers rushing downstairs in response to Lieutenant Peter's order.

"Help me!" screams Caitlin.
Brenna's knife makes contact with the orc's back.

((You need a nine to hit, after modifiers for attacking from behind. If you hit, you do 1-4 damage, unless you get 17 or over, when it is 2-8.))

Pint clashes with one of the orcs and tries to stab him with the spear portion of his Urgrosh, muttering something about finally being able to fight something.