Death and Taxes
Session Three of The Crucible of Youth Campaign

Caladay, 32 Chillbone 204 [continued]

As Kaylas walks down the hill from the Grushko farm he can see the glowing orb that floats outside the Old Mill. Now there's something you don't see every day. Keeping his eye on the scene he sees a soldier run from the old mill down to the tavern. Kaylas arrives in the town square and ambles over to Krais who is sitting outside the gaol with a rather perplexed expression on his face. The shepherd sits down next to him.

Krais tells Kaylas what just happened, and that both Arax and Illyan are now hiding in the Old Mill. He also says that he has something for Krais and gives him the 143 crowns that he tried to press on Illyan earlier. Kaylas is grateful, but says, "I will pass this onto my grandfather if you don't mind. Bear's Reach needs a cleric of the land, but that cleric should be Sigmund. I will go with the baron in his stead. It won't take me long to pay off the debt. It might be something of an adventure." Krais notes how Kaylas can make the most selfless act seem pompous.

Inside the tavern, Thorn sees Weston burst into the tap room and quickly seek out Corporal Cole. It seems plain to Thorn that Weston is deliberately trying not to be noticed by either the captain or the baron. He sidles over to Cole and the two have a brief but animated discussion; Thorn cannot slink close enough to hear what they say. Cole then looks around suspiciously, grabs a random soldier (Jozan) and follows Weston to the door. Thorn is in two minds whether to follow them or not, but in the end he opts to remain in the tap room and see if anything interesting happens here.

At the Old Mill, Arax and Illyan are beginning to realise they are trapped liked rats. Trevane's magicks might keep the soldiers out, but they will have to stay inside to take advantage of that. Illyan doesn't even know why he followed Arax. It all happened so fast. Why did he do it? Why?

There is a tap on the glass of the casement window. Kaylas and Krais have walked up the hill. They smile and wave amiably at the pair. They too have worked out that the wizard and the healer have painted themselves into a corner. Kaylas suggests that the pair just stay there until Trevane gets back. There are plenty of carrots to eat.

Swiftly, Arax and Illyan try to look for another way out of the Old Mill. The trap door to the upper level is barred to them. The windows are too small to climb through. If only there was a cellar or something. Arax throws back the carpet to reveal a trap door in the middle of the floor. Unfortunately, this trap door is warded with the same magic that protects the way up. Neither of them like the idea of seeing what would happen if they forced the lock.

Outside, it is starting to snow. Kaylas and Krais pull their collars up against the icy wind and discreetly slip behind the Old Mill as Corporal Cole and Privates Weston and Jozan arrive at the front door. Cole knocks on the delicately on the door. "Come on lad," he says, "we know you're in there." Illyan and Arax make no reply, and quickly hide under the table. "Come on. You can't stay in there forever you know?"

Cole waits a polite space of time for a reply, and then assumes that Illyan and Arax do intend to stay in there forever. "I will go and inform the captain of what has happened," says Cole to Weston and Jozan. "You two stay here," he then looks up at the globe containing Tam. It is slowly revolving. "I'll send someone to get him down."

Kaylas and Krais slip away in the darkness, planning on taking a very long and circuitous route back to the inn. Cole strides down the hill back toward the inn, leaving Weston and Jozan to guard the door to the Old Mill. A few minutes later, Krais and Kaylas are walking in his footsteps and approaching the tavern. Kaylas lays his hand on Krais's shoulder. He thinks he saw suspicious movement in the alleyway behind it.

Calling upon the power of Terranor, Kaylas imbues a small pebble with light and throws it down the alley. There is a scream as the stone connects a skulking figure. The illumination from the stone throws Mab Brewer into stark relief. She and one of the baron's men are revealed in a decidedly compromising position. Krais is shocked and Kaylas turns a wonderful shade of crimson.

Mab quickly pulls up her dress down and scowls at her brother and his friend in what she hopes is a distressed and lady-like manner. When this doesn't work, she tries deigned outrage (which is not terribly convincing). In the end she simply shrugs and introduces the pair to Arlis who has been helping her with a little problem she had. Arlis is evidently more embarrassed about this situation than Mab is. He woodenly shakes hands with Krais and Kaylas and mumbles what a pleasure it is to meet them.

"Anyway, you better get in there, Krais," says Mab swiftly bulldozing through any awkwardness. "Things are getting pretty tense, and Tarn promised the baron an acrobat."

An acrobat? There is no way that Krais is cavorting around for the pleasure of Baron Swift, and he says so. He also tells his sister of the goings-on up at the Old Mill. Mab's eyes come alive when she is told of the spell attacking one of the baron's men, and the news that the unfortunate soldier is now suspended in a globe of glowing energy. This is something she has to see! Without giving Arlis the slightest thought she sprints up the hill. The soldier regards Krais and Kaylas for a moment, and then sinks off back to the inn.

Krais and Kaylas retreat from the inn. They head up behind the old Grushko where they can get a good view of the Old Mill. Two more soldiers whose names are unknown to the pair (privates Merban and Pug for your information) are outside the Old and, together Jozan and Weston, and using a long pole to try and hook the globe and drag it back to earth.

Mab arrives and proceeds to make as great a nuisance of herself as possible. But there is something in her demeanour, her enthusiasm and the sway of her hips that encourages the solider to indulge her questions and endure her help. Eventually the globe containing Tam is brought down to Earth with a thump. From their vantage point Krais and Kaylas watch as Pug and Merban begin to roll glowing orb down the hill toward the tavern.

It isn't a steep hill, but the orb almost gets away from them at one point. Tam can be seen turning over and over inside the golden field, but is completely oblivious to everything which is perhaps just as well. The pair roll the orb down the alley where Krais and Kaylas discovered Mab minutes earlier, and then into the stables at the back where the whinnying of the horses reveals they are none too thrilled with their new stable-mate.

Meanwhile, the Great White Bear is packed to the rafters, although no-one seems to be enjoying themselves. For many villagers that are present this is their last night before enforced poverty or servitude. Thorn stands at the bar with his brothers watching proceedings with interests. Of course, none of the Njedelstroms are going anywhere thanks to old Kvar.

Baron Swift is sitting at his normal table, an empty plate and goblet before him demanding his repast. In the kitchen Tarn is as patient as can be imagined. "I'll gut him like a fish!" Thorn can hear the innkeeper yelling through the open door. It is followed by the sounds of Jennete and Barvin attempting to placate Tarn. Barvin offers to deliver the baron's dinner, but Tarn almost has a fit. He snatches the tray away from Barvin and says that he will do it.

Tarn is still trembling with anger from the previous day. The tray containing three chickens (pets that had "been in the family for five season!") is shaking in his hand. He lays it down heavily on the table, and the baron regards him as one might a turd discovered on the underside of one's shoe. Tarn hastily pours the wine for the baron, captain and Janus Thomsett and then he hastily departs.

In truth Thorn is getting a bit bored. Nothing seems to be happening, and the crowd is beginning to thin slightly - some of the Fishers and Vitor Grushko have already left. Corporal Cole was called away on some errand, and returned with to mutter suspiciously to Captain Malkor. Thorn has had enough of this. There is obviously something going on outside, and he suspects it involves Arax. He is just heading for the door when a crash from the corner plunges the entire taproom into silence.

Baron Swift is standing. He is hunched over the table and seems to have difficultly breathing. Malkor stands next to him. He seems concerned. The baron coughs and spits something onto the table. It looks like a small ball of white fluff. He looks at it, perplexed for a moment, and then he gasps. He collapses forward onto the table, obviously trying to scream, but something is preventing him from doing so.

The baron writhes in silent agony, knocking food and wine from the table. He reaches up and grabs Captain Malkor by the coat. He looks into his captain's eyes. He is absolutely terrified. Then he collapses backward over the table and lands face down on the wooden floor. He twitches, he gags and he lies still. Moments later a terrible stench erupts from the body. Smoke of green and blown bellows out of his open mouth and his nose. The body contorts and begins to wither and decompose. He curls up like a blighted plant. Soon nothing is left but an indistinguishable mound of pulsing goo, and burning clothes.

The silence lasts for several moments. It is a heavy, oppressive silence punctuated only by the bubbling of the baron's body. And then suddenly, as if on cue, pandemonium erupts. Captain Malkor regains his composure quicker than most. "Seal the doors!" he yells to his men, and turns to look at the Scrivener Thomsett who is on the floor shaking in fear.

Soldiers race to the doors and windows, barring the way of many of the villagers who are seeking a way out of this chaos. Thorn is turned around by the mass of movement, but he has no intention of leaving himself. He wants to see what happens next. He sees Malkor advancing on Tarn Brewer with terrible menace in his eyes. "You!" Malkor fumes with rage.

Malkor grabs Tarn by the hair and slams his face down on the bar. "You did this!" the captain exclaims, "What did you do? What did you feed him?" Malkor doesn't wait for an answer, he thumps Tarn's head into the wood a few times and throws the concussed publican to Corporal Cole. "Take him to the town gaol and set up a guard," the captain snarls. "I'll question him later."

Malkor walks over to the baron's body as Cole's men escort the dazed Tarn from the premises. He nudges the steaming clothes with his foot; deep in thought. "Cole!" he announces abruptly, "take the names of everyone in this place. And I want them all searched. See to it."

Thorn isn't happy about this, but most of the villagers are too shocked by these recent events to offer any resistance. Thorn turns out his pockets and takes great pleasure in waving his two eyeballs he found in the graveyard in the direction of Janus Thomsett who collapses again into a quivering heap.

Meanwhile, Mab is standing outside the Old Mill talking to Weston and Jozan. When the door to the tavern opens she notices two guards (Pug and Merban again) dragging her unconscious father in the direction of the gaol. "Dad!" she yells, and her voice is quite loud enough to be heard by Krais and Kaylas in their hiding place. They see Mab rush down the hill as fast as she can. She launches herself at the pair, barrelling into them with such force that they drop Tarn. Before the soldiers have recovered, Mab has launched herself at Pug's groin, fists flying with furious force. Jozan and Weston look at one another with disbelief and then hurry to help their companions. Realising that Mab could be in trouble, Krais rushes to assist (Kaylas follows… slowly).

Krais runs down the hill, closing quickly on Jozan and Weston. He barges through them knocking them both flat. He calls an apology, but it is blatantly obvious that he did it deliberately. Merban has managed to pin Mab's arms behind her back, and is raising her off the ground. But the girl's feet are still flailing dangerously, and Pug is forced to keep his distance.

Krais arrives on the scene and dives at Merban in an attempt to save Mab. He misses completely and lands heavily on the ground. However, his acrobatics are enough of a distraction to allow Mab to slip from Merban's grasp. She launches herself at Pug, grabbing him by the throat, her knee to the groin working like a piston as she repeatedly inflicts as much damage as possible.

Merban races forward to grab Mab, but Krais has already got to his feet. Rushing up behind Merban he swiftly kicks the soldier from behind, catching him a particularly delicate area. Merban utters a high-pitched scream and topples sideways.

The battle at the foot of the hill is an unbeatable distraction. With no guards on the doors of the Old Mill, Arax and Illyan quietly slip out of the building and make a run for it out toward the farms.

Sanity descends on a Krais, and he grabs Mab and pulls her off the unfortunate Pug who may neither walk nor father children again. "Let me go!" Mab demands, "We have to save Dad!" Krais tells her to calm down. But Mab won't calm down. She will see this through, even if she has to take down every soldier in the town to do. Jozan and Weston are now not far away, their swords are drawn. Krais judges the situation for a moment, then releases his sister and scarpers like a frightened rabbit. Mab stands over her father ready to fight both of the guards alone.

Fortunately for Mab, this fight does not take place. Kaylas now arrives on the scene and inserts himself between the parties. He uses his position as a respected Shepherd to call for some calm. The door to the inn opens again, and Corporal Cole heads toward them. The corporal urges calm, and says that he isn't interested in apportioning blame at this stage. He describes to Kaylas and to Mab what just happened in the inn (Jozan and Weston are also hearing this for the first time).

At this news, Mab calms down. "He's only a suspect," Cole tells Mab. "Now please, let my men do their job." Mab is shocked, but she stands aside to let a rather wobbly Pug and Merban drag Tarn over to the gaol. Cole orders the other two guards to return to their post at the Old Mill, and then he turns to Kaylas.

"Do you know where your friend the half-elf is?" he asks the cleric. Kaylas replies that he hasn't seen Illyan in a while. "If you do see him, ask him to come over to the inn," continues Cole. "I wouldn't mind his opinion on the baron's body. Darndest I've every seen."

In the Wyrwood a mile to the west, Illyan and Arax stop running. "Hang on!" says Illyan with a mixture of disbelief and shame. "I'm not actually wanted for anything! Why am I running?" Arax shrugs. He hadn't given it very much thought. Illyan wants to return to the village, but he will see Arax somewhere safe first. The pair head to the one of the great winter food stores on the edge of the Farmer's fields. They sneak Arax inside. Illyan asks Arax to wait here while he returns to town. He promises to bring Arax something warm to wear. After Illyan has gone, Arax reflects on how cold he in and how it may not have been such a good idea to leave the warmth and comfort of the Old Mill.

In the town square Kaylas and Mab watch the soldiers lock Tarn away. They stand guard outside the gaol. Mab bursts into tears and Kaylas tries to comfort her as best her can. Krais, on the other hand, is getting far away from the scene. He has climbed the walls of the inn and entered through the hole in the roof caused by the storm. He drops into Mab's devastated room and hears the commotion downstairs.

Krais listens for a few minutes and eventually becomes sensible of the events of the evening. There is movement on the first floor of the inn. A soldier shouts down that he has found someone asleep. Of course, he is referring to Krais's bed-ridden mother Salia. "Bring her down, private Calmarcus," says the captain. But these words create a great commotion in the inn, as the village rises to defend Salia and says that she is too sick to be moved. Krais is moved by the loyalty of the village. Captain Malkor is forced to concede and orders Calmarcus to stand guard on Salia Brewer. Krais slips quickly into his own room, to consider what he should do next.

As he re-enters the town, Illyan runs into Mab and Kaylas who are hugging in the town square. He tells them where Arax is, and Kaylas quickly fills Illyan in on the events in the inn and the death of the baron. Obeying Cole's summons, the three head over to the inn. They are greeted by the corporal who takes Illyan over to the captain and the steaming remains of the baron. Illyan thinks that it's a little late for a healer but he keeps that opinion to himself.

Thorn sees his friends enter. He has also noticed the baron's signet ring lying under a table not far away. He decides not to tell anyone about it. Illyan now stoops and examines the body of the baron. Unfortunately, he doesn't really find much of anything. Thorn points out the bit of fluff that the baron coughed up. He thinks it is a bit of the stomach lining of the Squid King. Initially, Illyan is unable to rule that out. However, once he has thrown a bit of magic around he recognises the fluff as a spore from something similar to deathrattle nettle. Deathrattle is a natural diarrhoeic, that can be used in very small quantities in healing. Too much of it would make you very, very ill, but it wouldn't do this. There is something else here besides deathrattle, but Illyan cannot say what it is. However, he does think that the poison was ingested.

On the whole, Illyan discovers and says nothing that will exonerate Tarn. In fact, as the spore found its way into the baron through his food, his findings only make the captain more suspicious of Tarn Brewer. While this is happening, Kaylas slips out of the inn. He thinks Illyan will be tied up with his findings for some time, and everyone seems to have forgotten about Arax. He wanders over to the barn and uses his magic to render Arax immune to the cold. The enchantment will last for one day, at which point Kaylas will come and cast it again.

This long and trying day eventually rolls to an end. Kaylas returns home and gives the 143 crowns he is carrying to his grandfather, along with a report of what happened at the Great White Bear. Captain Malkor eventually lets everyone go from the tavern. Thorn wastes no time in reporting these events to his father and to Kvar. Kvar is quite surprised that she didn't see this coming. However she does say something useful. "This was no natural death. This was witchcraft Thorn, pure and simple. I've seen it before and I hoped never to see it again. There's a witch in this town."

Sharday, 33 Chillbone 204

Today is the first day of the dark of Terranor. Kaylas wakes up feeling underpowered and depressed. He wastes no time in seeking out Illyan. His lack of magical abilities means that he won't be able to help Arax as he promised. Illyan says that he will help the wizard, but with the snow coming down a little heavier today, it will be more difficult to get too and from the barn without leaving tracks.

If Kaylas is in a bad mood, Barvin Brewer is enjoying quire the opposite temper. Krais comes downstairs for breakfast to find his elder brother whistling tunelessly to himself. If Thorn is found guilty then the inn will be his! Krais despairs. His other brother, Grint, has also returned this morning. Mab berates him for not being there when he was needed by the family. But Grint is sporting a black eye and a headache and has no desire to speak to anyone. He goes up to his room.

The morning is frittered away in chores and other less entertaining pursuits. Arax shivers into the cold turnip he is having for breakfast; Thorn is on the beach mending nets. There is no word from Malkor regarding the death of the baron or the arrest of Tarn Brewer. No news until about lunch time when one of the soldiers is seen hammering a notice the old oak near to the town gaol. The notice reads as follows:

The contents of the notice provokes a general muttering in the crowd surrounding it. Certainly, Tarn must be innocent of this heinous crime. However, the prospect of getting rid of him is an enticing one, and there is some debate as to whether it's really worth doing anything much about this.

Krais has been doing his best to keep Mab from seeing the notice. After last night he doesn't know how she will react, or rather he is worried that he does know how she will react. However, keeping Mab from somewhere she wants to go is an impossible task even for the resourceful Shepherd. Very soon Mab has seen the worst, thought the worst and stormed off to the gaol to demand to see the captain. Krais and Illyan hurry after her to prevent anything violent from happening.

Perhaps fortunately, Captain Malkor is not present at the gaol. The two guards from the previous evening (Pug and Merban) are present - although this time they are rather more heavily armoured in the region of their groin. Mab and Krais demand to see their father. The guards, who have received no orders to the contrary see no problem with this, and let the three in.

Krais notices that the gaol-cell has been more heavily secured, and the hole in the roof has been patched up. Tarn is sitting on the small cot and staring into space as they enter. He is ashen-faced and looks as though he has spent most of the night throwing up into a small bucket. When he sees his family arrive he comes to the bars immediately. Mab thrusts her hand through and takes her father's hand. Tarn looks at her and at Krais. With fear in his voice and disbelieving look of honesty in his eyes, as if he cannot believe his words are true, Tarn says: "I'm an innocent man."

"Krais, Mab, you've got to help me. You've got to help me out of this," Tarn says desperately. "That captain, he's going to kill me you know. Kill me! And for something I didn't do as well. You're here, you're here. So what's the plan? How are you going to get me out?"

Tarn evidently wants the help of his family. But the sort of help he wants is not the uncovering of the truth of what happened to the baron, but a gaol break that involves a few trusty retainers in the Goodie family and the "good knives" hidden in a false compartment at the back of one of the kitchen drawers.

Tarn is useless as a source of information. He is too scared and too angry to be coherent. He doesn't know how the baron was killed. He realises that the whole taproom heard him threaten to gut the baron "like a fish". He knows he has no alibi. "I'm glad the bastard is dead, anyway," he declares unhelpfully. "He deserved it!" Krais and Illyan shake their heads. They don't know how they're going to get their father out of this.

But elsewhere in town, Kaylas and Thorn have had some thoughts on how to do exactly that. They know that deathrattle alone could not have killed the baron in such a manner. But what if the deathrattle was somehow mixed with bark from the evil tree in the Whittenwood that Rod led them to? The pair head off the Njedelstrom home to find Rod and confront him and to search his personal things.

Rod is not present at the Njedelstrom house, although he should be in the middle of his chores. Evidently, he has seized the opportunity to swan off to the Whittenwood and be alone with himself once again. Thorn makes a mental note to tell Konig all about this, and then goes into the room that Rod shares with his nephews Bartok, Halbad and Yaddagon.

The room is relatively small with a single window peering in the outside. There are two sets of bunk beds in this room that the four young boys share. Currently the room is empty. Thorn and Kaylas go through drawers, chests and cupboards but find nothing out of the ordinary until Thorn looks under the bed.

Thorn discovers a noose of trapper's wire covered in dried blood. Beneath the noose there are some loose floorboards. Not quite knowing what he is going to find, Thorn lifts the boards, revealing a crawlspace underneath the house that leads to the outside. Now they know how Rod is able to come and go as he pleases from the house without so much as a by-your-leave. Kaylas notices that tucked to one side of the crawlspace is a wooden box.

The box is a heavy, and Thorn has a little trouble man-handling it to the surface. The pair set the box on the bed, and Thorn gingerly opens it. Inside are two decomposing dead badgers. Thorn looks at Kaylas and then back at the maggot-infested corpses. "Right," he yells, "I'm telling Dad!" and storms off. Kaylas closes the lid slowly. Something very strange is going on with Rod Njedelstrom and he is not sure he wants to find out what it is.

Meanwhile, in the large barn housing the winter food stores, Arax is tucking into a lunch of raw turnip. He has uses some cantrips to season an otherwise bland and inedible vegetable, but it is still heavy going. He is glad of any excuse to pause in his meal, and the sound of someone entering the barn is more than good enough. He quickly hides behind barrels of salted fish, as Vitor Grushko enters the barn.

"I know you're in here Arax, you might as well come out," says Vitor in a kindly manner. "I'm not the provost any more, Arax. The good baron removed that privilege before he died. I couldn't arrest you if I wanted to."

"Before he died?" asks the emerging Arax. Vitor nods and tells the apprentice wizard of all the goings-on at the inn the previous evening. Arax struggles to take on the enormity of these changes to village life. Captain Malkor in charge of the town, and Tarn Brewer about to be executed!

"I need your help," says Vitor. "Tarn didn't do this. My guess is that someone has fed this Malkor with evidence to damn Tarn, and Malkor isn't looking too closely. He's just glad to have a neck to lower a noose upon. We don't have much time. There is no militia now, but we're going to see if we can find in the real killer. But we also have to prove that Tarn didn't do it. Now, I can't do both and I'm running out of time."

"Tarn is going to swing from that tree in little over a day from now. I'm turning to you help prove he didn't do it. You have skills that few other people in the town possess. You and Kaylas, Krais and the others. You have to get to the bottom of this."

Arax points out that he is a wanted man. If he pokes his head outside the barn he is likely to be arrested. "I wouldn't worry about that," says Vitor. "Everyone is rather distracted with the baron's death. If you do nothing to draw too much attention to yourself then I doubt you will be bothered. And besides Arax, this is important. Will you do it?" Arax considers for longer than Vitor is comfortable with, before agreeing to help the ex-provost.

Back in town, Krais returns to the inn to find out more about the evidence that the captain has against his father. He cannot believe that any has been found that would so convincingly damn him. He doesn't find the captain, but he does find the eminently more approachable Corporal Cole.

"The evidence is there, son," the corporal says sadly. "The captain received reports that your father was plotting to kill Baron Swift. Asking around the village it is apparent that Tarn Brewer has a history of violence. There is a report in the town record that he was accused of murdering his own sister when he was younger." Krais is about to leap in and defend Tarn, but Cole continues: "And we know that Tarn is a skilled a herbalist and is brewing potions in a secret room in his cellar."

Krais stops in surprise. "What room?" he asks incredulously. Cole beckons for Krais to follow and leads him down to the basement. There has been activity down here, and a large number of barrels of ale and beer have been moved revealing one of the stone walls. Some of the stonework has been pushed inward and moved to one side. "We nearly didn't find it," says Cole as Krais sticks his head in.

Krais sees a small room lined with shelves that are bursting with all manner of herbs and alchemical solutions. Things are looking very bad for Tarn. But this still does not answer the question of why the captain is so sure Tarn is guilty. "The evidence is all circumstantial," Corporal Cole admits. "We know the room was accessed in the last day or so. Tracks going in and leaving the room correspond to someone of your father's height and weight, probably a man considering the width of the foot. I'm sorry, Krais, but the evidence is good enough for the captain. There's nothing I can do."

Very soon after the companions Kaylas, Thorn, Krais, Illyan and Arax meet at the Old Mille, to attempt to decide their best course of action. Arax explains that Vitor has put them in the position of exonerating Tarn, but going about this is not going to be easy. Kaylas asks who would benefit the most from Tarn's death. Krais doesn't have to think very long about that: if Tarn died then Krais's brother, Barvin would enter the inn. But Krais cannot believe that Barvin would do such a thing. It's not too moral, but he is too stupid to come up with such a plan.

"What about Jennete?" asks Illyan, and this Krais cannot so easily dismiss. Barvin's wife is manipulative and determined to improve her lot by any means necessary. But how could she have murdered Tarn in such a fashion? "Witchcraft," says Thorn sagely. He tells the group of Kvar's suspicions, and points out that Jennete is the great grand-daughter of noted witch Goneril Miller. In very little time, and with wild leaps of illogic, the companions have come up with their theory: Jennete Brewer is a dangerous witch who murdered the baron to implicate Tarn, so that he would be executed and Barvin would inherit The Great White Bear. However, they want to check a few more things and decamp to see Corporal Cole.

Cole is in the middle of his lunch, but he consents to take the five down to Tarn's secret room. "This makes no sense," says Krais as he looks at the room for a second time. "If Tarn had this secret room then why did he hide all that money under a flagstone where the baron's men could find it. He's not that careless." Krais decides that Tarn couldn't possibly know about the room, but if he didn't then who else could have entered here. No-one else in the family matches the tracks that Corporal Cole reported to have found. Krais leaves his friends at the inn and goes back to the gaol to see his father.

Tarn is pleased to see his son, but less pleased when he realising Krais has not turned up with his special knives and fool-proof plan for his liberation. Krais asks Tarn about the secret room, and after a rather transparent attempt at obfuscation wherein Tarn denies the room even exists, the innkeeper comes clean. Yes, he knows of the secret room. Yes, he hid the money in the secret room. "But a few weeks ago Barvin blundered into it, I had to move it then." This offends Krais's sensibilities. How could Barvin have found this room if he, Krais, never had? Krais is twice the thief that slow-witted Barvin is! Maybe there is more to his brother than meets the eye.

"But enough of all that," says Tarn thoughtfully. "I want you to get the gang together: you and Barvin, Mab, Grint, Bernard Goodie… you should even bring in Kross and Garmond on this. Now, listen. You can do it under the cover of dark. There's only two guards out there, get the knives and… Krais, where are you going? Krais? Krais!"

Back at the inn, Kaylas and Illyan hit upon a generally insane idea. There someone in the inn who may have witnessed the comings and goings from the secret room. Not one of the Brewers per se, the pair go in search of the house cat, Mouser, in the hope they can work their magic upon him and discover the truth!

They eventually locate the elderly and largely immobile Mouser upstairs in what used to be Krais's room. Mab is also present and is moving in all her belongings. "It's Krais's fault," she says. "He's the one who cut a big hole in my roof that still hasn't been fixed. Until he fixes it, I'm staying here. Now what do you want with my cat?"

Both Kaylas and Illyan use their singular magical powers to converse with the creature. Stepping into Mouser's mind makes the pair feel rather sleepy themselves. Never did they realise quite how lazy Mouser truly is. In the past few weeks, he has scarcely strayed from the bed in Mab's room, except during the storm when he was under the bed. Occasionally (very occasionally) he goes down the stairs for food, but he prefers his food to be brought to him. If a mouse crosses his field of vision, he will very rarely summon sufficient energy to focus upon it. It is the most useless, languid and indolent cat there ever was, although the pair don't say that in front of Mab who dotes on the creature terribly.

In frustration, Kaylas leaves the inn and heads off to find his grandmother, Yelanna Grushko. He finds Yelanna sitting on the porch of the farmstead she shares with Vitor, rocking backwards and forwards on her chair. A corn-cob pipe is clasped between her teeth, and she is spewing foul-smelling smoke across the garden. However, if she knows anything that could be of use she is certainly keeping it to herself. She reiterates Vitor's request that Kaylas and the others try and find a way to clear Tarn, and don't bother themselves trying to find the identity of the killer as it will be too dangerous. Kaylas doesn't see how he can do one without the other.

Kaylas returns to the inn to find Illyan, Thorn and Arax in the taproom in the process of deciding what to do next. The group considers exactly how the poison (if indeed it was poison) was administered to the baron. If it was in the food then it very much points the finger at Tarn and the Brewer family. But what if it wasn't in the food? Since his arrival at the inn, the baron insisted on drinking out of the best goblet and eating off the best plates. The goblet, crockery and cutlery were left out on the baron's table all day. Anyone could have slipped poison into the goblet before the wine was added, or coated the fork in a bizarre concoction. Such a notion significantly widens the list of suspects, although Thorn is still adamant that Jennete is the killer.

The group heads into the kitchen. The washing up from last night hasn't been done yet, and they head toward the dirty dishes orisons at the ready to see if they can detect any trace of poison. "It's about time you got here Krais," says Jennete, throwing a dishcloth at her brother-in-law. "There's work to be doing." Krais takes the rag and throws it back at Jennete. "You're not in charge here yet!" Krais declares.

Meanwhile Illyan has sidestepped Jennete and is looking through the cups and plates that surround a large barrel of freezing water. He concentrates upon one of the simpler spells that Rellick taught him, and in less time than it takes to tell has produced the goblet the baron drank from the previous evening. There is still wine in the bottom of the vessel, and it is detecting as highly poisonous. "If we can get someone to identify this then we're one step nearer to finding the killer," says Illyan to Kaylas.

They are about to leave when Thorn purposefully strides up to Jennete and with no preamble or sense of social awkwardness asks: "Did you kill him?" To say that Jennete freaks out is something of understatement. She shrieks, she slaps, she throws plates, she calls for Barvin she does not (Kaylas notices) resort to witchcraft. Barvin appears in the kitchen doorway, a neckless mountain of muscle. He grabs Thorn by the scruff of the neck and propels him out of the door of the inn with enough force to send him skidding ten yards across the frozen ground. "You're barred!" he yells.

Barvin turns to the other four, to see them leaving out of another door and hurrying off before Barvin attacks them as well. Arax picks up Thorn and Kaylas roundly chastises him for tipping their hand. Krais thinks it was a bit funny. Illyan brings them back to reality. He still has the goblet, the question is: where can they take it have the poison identified?

The answer, Illyan thinks, is to see Dominic Dyer. The lay-preacher of Mortis and resident undertaker and taxidermist has an intimate understanding of various potions, chemicals and unguents. He may know what it is. Kaylas thinks this is a good plan, but bids his friends today as he has to hurry off and attend the regular Sharday service at the temple of Water. The remaining four companions head off to the Dyer place.

Krais is eager to see Kaleena, but she is not at home and so he makes do with a visit Dominic. The middle-aged Dyer is sitting in a poorly lit room ramming sawdust into the innards of an unfortunate badger when they enter. He looks up and welcomes Illyan, and listens to all they have to say. However, after a lengthy inspection of the poison, Dominic is at a loss. He recognises the deathrattle, but the rest is completely beyond him. The companions will have to find someone else to help them, and this will not be easy. Although Bear's Reach sports a seemingly unending supply of elderly women who consider themselves to be expert herbalists very few of them know their onions. Dominic isn't sure what to suggest.

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