Exhaustion: River's Dreams has started at Arx - Lower Boroughs - Rivers Edge.

About an hour ago Thena got a message from one of her contacts in the Lowers that someone matching-- kinda --the description of Calbert was seen down at the River's Edge. Word is that he was down dangerously close to the deceptively calm waters of the river. Drinking something and babbling nonsense is the description. Calaudrin also gets word but not specifically about Calbert just that there's some "drunkard" down by the river.

Our group manages to assemble themselves and get down to the river's edge and there's... no one there?

Despite the sunny weather and the heat people seem to have decided to give the river's edge a pass today.

There's a stillness on the riverbanks. The waters calm and a deep, deep blue-green.

Sparte is meandering around the rivers edge following the stoat, Tiny Tom, out for a stroll. What is the stoat up to? Who knows, but stoats don't use litter boxes. Trust the stoat, this is better. The news he is here for some message he didn't actually get? Well, that is just lucky.

Calaudrin arrives on the scene! To find nothing outwardly interesting going on. He frowns at the lack of some 'drunkard' and the lack of anyone really. He crosses his arms across his chest and begins walk along the river's edge, treading where water laps against the sand. With no one around on the land, he's forced to see if someone's body is floating in the river. How pleasent.

Thena has been wandering along the banks for some time; she's heading towards the others with her hands shoved in her pockets and a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, the casual slump of her at odds with the alert gaze with which she is surreptitiously checking out her surroundings. At her side paces a truly ugly near-black mastiff-type dog that occasionally stops to...well, he's probably eating trash or something.

Esoka has been - mostly - sticking to the Hall of Heroes. Though she was absent from it a couple of nights ago, and still has a rather haunted look about her. And is extra-dedicated to the task of finding Calbert, so she's along with the others on this particular search. She //glares// at the water. As if the force of her glaring at it would make Calbert appear. Thus far, it hasn't.

Tikva is here because she's following Esoka here. She moves quietly, the faded grays and greens of her leather and chain armor not melting into the backdrop of the lower boroughs nearly as well as it does in the forest.

Armel arrives on the scene because he's following the Guard members on their little trek as martial, moral, and theological support. His silver-edged steel armor /shines/ in the Lowers, and if people were trying to blend in, they'd be obliged to stay far away from that man. He saunters in behind most of them and sticks away from the water's edge, not being equipped to go swimming in his current state. He's munching on a bit of jerky, squinting at the buildings and bank around.

Esoka checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 9 higher.

Thena checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 11 lower.

Calaudrin checked perception + investigation at difficulty 30, rolling 2 higher.

Armel checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 7 lower.

Tikva checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 76 higher.

Sparte GM Roll checked perception(3) + survival(2) at difficulty 30, rolling 11 higher.

Sparte checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 23 lower.

The waters are calm but its still the edge of a river; gentle waves lap up against the shore and recede once more. A faint, cool wind blows off of the water and carries with it the petrichor-wet scent of rain and river. It's incredibly peaceful out here and nice.

Sparte pauses to take in the air, breathing it in deep and looking out over the calm waters with a contented sigh. "Nice to enjoy this without a siege on." He doesn't even notice the Stoat decide now is the exact right time to bugger off and leave him all alone. Et tu, Tiny Tom? Et tu?

Tiny Tom have been dismissed.

Armel takes a deep breath, and his smile is quickly fouled, replaced by a grimace and a suddenly more alert posture. "Something's wrong," he rumbles out. His hand has lifted to the handle of his warhammer, sticking over one shoulder, seeming sure of this, even if he can't seem to locate the source. He watches the stoat race off, and adds, "Animal is smarter than we are, it seems..." He moves closer to the others, seeming to be holding his breath for a long, long time as his face twists.

Calaudrin glances around at their little party that's formed at the river's edge. "Folks." That's his greeting as he continues to meander that edge, squinting down until he spots something. "That's not great." He mutters outloud to anyone close enough and eventually comes to a halt, his attention fully focused down on the ground. He'll stoop down, putting his fingers into some footprints in the sand.

Eyes focused on the river, Tikva crouches low as she creeps along its edge. Rather than interrupt those investigating the footprints directly, she prowls over and past their course, ghosting along while she tracks close to the ground. "--I see," she mutters, nostrils flaring, and then calls over her shoulder, "Look alive, people. I think I see a body. Every time I come down here I find bodies, I swear."

Esoka doesn't blend and doesn't try to. She is not a subtle creature. She's in steel armor, stomping around the Lowers and glaring at things. Some of her glaring it, at least, in service of searching. She has some knowledge of how to track by the edges of rivers. Her chin raises, nose twitching at the scent of rain. She seems to find no peace near the water. She does spot //something// of interest, though following Calaudrin toward those footprints. The kneels, frowning narrowly as she tries to follow them. And then, Tikva mentions the word body. She hisses something in Crownlands shav that has the distinct note of profanity.

Armel shakes his head firmly as they note the tracks. "No...Something else. Something's not /right/." Apparently to him, bodies don't count as 'not right' exactly.

Thena doesn't hurry, even when a surprising number of people she's familiar are suddenly in her view. Eventually she catches up with the gang and takes the cigarette out of her mouth, exhaling a lungful of smoke and watching it mix with the water-scented breeze. "Some folks thought they saw Calbert out here." A brow arches at Tikva's comment and the corner of her mouth quirks up a little. "Same."

Sparte blinks as though just realizing everyone else is there, glancing around. "Oh? Uh..." He blinks at Thena again. "Calbert, here. Right." He rubs at his eyes, sniffling a bit before straighting his tunic. No armor for him today, time'll tell if that was a mistake. At least he brought a sword.

Now that Tikva has pointed it out... There is something pallid and pale floating in the water about four yards out from the shore.

Armel squints aside to Esoka at her swearing, remarking tightly, "I don't think that's possible." Probably about whatever she was swearing about. He does spot the figure and sighs quietly, "I'm not a fan of drowning today, so who wants to get that?"

"People are always floating down here." Calaudrin mutters with a sigh, glancing down in the direction that Tikva goes along. He turns his head slightly, looking Esoka over as she arrives to check the tracks herself. There's an assessing looking before he haults himself to his feet. "Lets see what it is." His tone is grim, not expecting anything pleasent. When they arrive by the pale, pallid and floating thing. "I'm wearing full mail, not great for swimming. Plus..." That looks gross. "Sparte, you're not wearing armor. Go get 'em."

Tikva drops into a crouch at the side of the river, balancing on her boots. She lets her fingertips touch the muddy bank, breathing deeply in a long inhalation as she peers towards the torn fabric in the water.


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With the increased patrols, and effort many had put in recently, it seemed most of the banditry in the Gray Forest in the wake of the Siege of Arx had been trimmed back, and many of the travelers walking the roads in the Gray Forest were relieved that the worst was over. So at first, most didn't think much when Princess Peregrine Grayson's patrol in the Gray Forest did not return... until her absence stretches to days. Eventually, another patrol finds what remains of her scouting party. The bodies of her scouting party are strewn over miles of the Gray Forest, all of them seeming to have been running from someone or something... but not Princess Peregrine. The former shav'arvani princess had died fighting, with a few brave companions, but just who is responsible is as of yet unclear. There were no bodies left of any enemy, just a great many of birds mournfully chirping in the clearing where she fell.
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Sparte stares into the water for a few moments. Long moments, before he just looks at Calaudrin and says matter of factly. "Uh, this might be a crazy idea but... Anyone have some rope?" He scratches the back of his head. "Pretty sure we can fish it out." He is brave to a fault, Sparte. Also at least a little practical.

Thena throws her cigarette butt into the sand and stomps it out, shoulders rising and falling in a little sigh. "I'll go. Unless someone actually brought some rope. And, I don't know, a grappling hook."

Esoka blinks at Armel. "Oh. Yes. You speak that, don't you?" She clears her throat. It's a prim sort of grunt, if grunting can be prim. She does not offer a translation for the room. Also in metal, she does not offer to swim, though she steps to the river's edge. "Get him to the shore and we can haul him in." She her head to Thena. She gives the riverbank a look for rope, but she's not carrying any.

Calaudrin pulls his case of smokes out of his jacket and works on lighting one, content to let Sparte and Thena figure out how they're going to fish the thing out of the water.

3 Culler Hoodlums arrives, following Mae.

3 Culler Hoodlums leaves, following Mae.

Sparte starts taking off his belt, setting his sword on the ground and letting the pouches slip to the ground. A double length belt, it has something to it. "Tikva, wrap this around one of your fists, yeah?" Sparte glances between the others. "Someone else help me hold the other end? Better safe, yeah?"

Armel likewise whips off his long belt and his long, leather tabard, quickly passing them over to Thena to add to the length of the makeshift rope. "Here, use this, you buggers. And be /careful/, something fucking foul is /here/, I swear on the Gods."

Tikva checked perception + investigation at difficulty 10, rolling 9 higher.

Calaudrin watches the discussion of how to fish the thing out of the water proceed before he takes off his sword belt as well, tossing the often unused weapon off to the side. "Fine, take this." He doesn't look too thrilled with Armel's announcement and shifts uneasily.

Thena ties her hair back quickly and reaches for the belt Sparte's holding out. "Wouldn't it be better to do it like this?" making a loop and pulling it crosswise from shoulder to hip. It uses more 'rope' but... "I'll add my belt too." She cuts a little wry grin at Armel. "If I'm good and corrupted already maybe it won't notice me, yeah?"

"I mean, more foul than it would usually be?" Tikva edges up to the very edge of the bank, her knees bracing as she balances on her calves. "I can see-- that fabric--" Her breath trickles past her teeth. "I can't reach it, but if that shirt belongs to that body-- it's a woman's shirt, I'm almost sure. Homespun."

Esoka makes a little hand gesture at Calaudrin. And his smokes. She'd not mind a puff. "If you can get him closer to the shore, we should be able to haul him through the shallows. Even in all this." Blue eyes sharpen at Armel. She keeps her swordbelt on. It holds her sword, which is often used, for her part. "A woman?" She does more sturdy glaring at the water.

Armel leans over and murmurs something to Thena, nudging her with his elvow and taking ahold of the belt-rope with one hand, ready to pull Sparte back quickly if something goes wrong.

Larissa arrives, following Edward.

Larissa leaves, following Edward.

"Sure, sure." Sparte helps get the long leather braided wanna-be-a-rope together. Then once it is all together and Thena is one end with him on the other, he does what any good Sparte would do. He pushes Thena back from the water and hops in himself.

Sparte checked dexterity + athletics at difficulty 40, rolling 0 higher.

Calaudrin looks unsure of his ability to go pulling in anything that far and comments, "Pretty sure you're stronger than me." He mentions to Esoka before passing his smoke off to her. However, he'll get behind Armel and help add some of his weight to the pull. He doesn't actually want Sparte to drown even if he dared take off his armor for two hours.

Armel checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 19 higher.

Esoka takes a quick puff off Calaudrin's cig, smiling to him slight, and keeping it between her lips as she moves to help with the rope. She //is// fairly sturdy with such things.

Okay, so Sparte's going in. Thena handles being blocked with reasonable grace, being more of the survivor-type than an honorable-type anyway, though she'll dig her heels in hard and brace for badness. She turns her head at little at Armel's murmur and nods ever so slightly.

Calaudrin checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 9 lower.

Tikva checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 17 higher.

Esoka checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 16 higher.

Thena checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 1 higher.

Edward arrives, following Larissa.

Edward leaves, following Larissa.

Edward arrives, following Larissa.

Edward leaves, following Larissa.

Splashes, goes under. Splashes back up, and goes under again. Either Sparte is a lousy swimmer or the undercurrent really doesn't like him. When he finally gets a hold on the body he manages to splutter up long enough to shout at the others. "Tied to a bloody rock!"

Stuck to a rock? Well, that's just an excuse to pull harder, in Armel's mind. Never mind there's a real live person on the other end of the rope. Let's hope Sparte has a good grip on the body, because he grunts and /heaves/, along with whoever is latched onto his or is holding the rope, steel-clad heels dug into the dirt and muck.

Alejandra, a snowy white hound, 3 Grayson Guardsmen, Planchet, a young valet, 2 Iron Guardsmen leave, following Ainsley.

Heave ho, heave ho! They manage to haul Sparte and the body back out of the water. The body when it comes out is only a little bloated-- as if it had been in the water only a little while. The face blue from lack of air. Calbert is dragged up to the shore, staring lifelessly up into the air with sightless dark eyes. His body is covered in scratches, gouges, and other wounds. He wears no shirt and only a pair of low quality leather breeches.

"Just yank on it," Thena calls out over the water. "It's not a huge deal if we leave a limb. Or try to see-" Armel's hauling takes her by surprise and she staggers back a few steps before getting her footing again. When they body's hauled out she immediately steps forward and crouches beside it, trying to assess the condition of it.

Armel checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 8 higher.

Sparte flops onto the shore next to mister water-logged. He pants for a little while, head lolling to the side and seeing the body next to him. Rolling his eyes away with a look of disgust, Sparte rolls onto his side with his back to the body, still breathing heavy.

Tikva has rolled a critical success!
Tikva checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 27 higher.

Esoka checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 9 lower.

Calaudrin checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 19 higher.

Thena checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 10 higher.

Tikva looks down at the body with a grim, remote look in her eyes; the look of a woman who has seen too many dead. She looks over the injuries, and then frowns into the water towards the shreds of the fabric. "I want to get at that shirt," she says, reaching up to start unbuckling the chain shirt. "I think it's got to be relevant. Why would there be a woman's shirt?"

Esoka grunts and pulls on the rope, with feeling, and puts her back into hauling the poor sap out of the water. She needs another drag, at the end of that. At the sight of the body, poor Calbert, her dusky bronze skin grows a shade paler. The cig drops from her lips, into the water, and she shudders. Her left hand reaching over to cradle her right forearm. She murmurs something beneath her breath, in shav tongue again. More of a prayer this time. 'Gods help us' translates clear enough, for those who know such things.

Thena checked perception + medicine at difficulty 15, rolling 0 higher.

Armel moves toward the body, grimacing and kneeling next to it, breathing deep and long. Whatever he's thinking is well-hidden, but he says quietly, "This body is fouled by evil. Be careful when looking it over, I don't trust it." He does /not/ look happy as he glances over at the fabric floating in the water. "The Gods watch us, and they are /not/ pleased at this. You want to get the fabric, Lady?" He glances to Tivka.

Calaudrin staggers back after doing a terrible job at pulling the rope. He crouches next to the body with Thena. His face is composed, but he doesn't look happy. Who would? He glances once at the guardswoman before hearing Esoka's words beind him. He stands again and steps towards her, putting a hand on her arm and giving it a gentle squeeze.

Thena is reaching to touch the corpse, but at Armel's words she pulls her hand back and settles for just looking it over carefully. Chewing the inside of her cheek she mutters, "Those...he did himself. That one. Not those...and they haven't healed at all. See the edges? So those are recent. From before he died."

Esoka checked perception + medium wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 56 higher.

Sparte grunts, getting up to his feet still soaking. "Should I worry if I accidentally gave it a reach around draggin' it to shore, then?" He pulls his shirt off, showing that he - as usual - has some bandages on underneath. Well, now they're all soaked too. He steps away from the mess to start unwinding all the wet things from his upper torso and let others handle the body.

Thena cants an almost impish look up at Sparte. "Well that explains the post-mortem damage."

"I'm not sure we could get worse off than we are now." He comments with a drawl, lifting an eyebrow for Thena's remark back to Sparte. Calaudrin sighs and runs his fingers through his hair, tiredly. "I guess this ends the hunt for Calbert. Armel, where do you want him delivered?"

Esoka is working her gauntlet off, to expose the skin of her forearm. There's a bandage wrapped around it, albeit a reasonably clean one, and she doesn't seem to use the arm with much difficulty. "Did he do that to himself, or was it done to him?" she asks, her tone dark. There's a note as if she suspects the latter. A short little nod, at Thena's words. Her head half-turns at Calaudrin's touch on her arm. She leans into it some. "I fell asleep at the Badger, a couple nights back. I had work to do." It's said just a touch defensively. "I...I dreamt of fighting...a thing on the walls during the siege. Among other things." She unwraps the bandages on her arm. It reveals a wound, if not a deep one. Already closed and the sort that looks made by a dull knife. But a real cut nonetheless. "I awoke bleeding, with this on me."

Calaudrin checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 5 higher.

"You think so?" Tikva inhales thoughtfully and frowns, looking from the shirt to the body and then back to Armel. "Demons?" she asks the godsworn knight with her teeth set against the curve of her lower lip. She is momentarily distracted from her plans by what's going on with Esoka. She sucks on her lip and eyes Esoka. She says, "/Shit/."

Armel nods once, firmly. He doesn't explain /how/ he is sure, but Esoka's wound just seals the deal, far as he is concerned. "Evil magic. Abyssal magic. I am sure of it now. This body is tainted, and after you're done with it? Destroyed. Entirely." He moves to Esoka and peers over her wound, closely if he can and she allows.

Mirari GM Roll checked mana(5) + occult(3) at difficulty 15, rolling 8 higher.

Tikva checked willpower + theology at difficulty 23, rolling 10 lower.

Armel checked willpower + theology at difficulty 23, rolling 23 higher.

Thena stands up and brushes sand off her hands and her pants. "Well I am certainly done with it." She moves a few paces away from it and crosses her arms over her chest, watching the group around Esoka with an inscrutable expression on her face.

Calaudrin's hand pauses where it's raking through his hair to stare down at Esoka's bandage. "What is..." Her words turn quickly to an explanation and his eyebrows hike up, concern lining his face. He swallows hard and nods, looking up towards the sky before asking, "Were there any signs in the room that you had done it to yourself? In your sleep?" His eyes drop to Armel, fixing on him curiously.

Her brow pulling down, Tikva bares her teeth, her gaze narrowing. She starts to lift her head towards her face and then stops, shaking her head as if to clear it. Inhaling, Tikva fills her lungs and begins to sing: her tune is low, dirge-like, the words a chant. The power of her voice grows with an increase in volume as she sings, "Fall back, fall back from the dark; fall back, fall back from my spark, my flame will destroy you, I'm coming for you." It seems like such a weird time for an impromptu concert on the riverside.

Sparte puts his belt pouches back on his belt and slips it back on, leaving his sword along with the bandages laid out on the ground to dry a bit before he does anything with them. He finally goes back over to the body, kneeling down next to it with a heavy sigh. "Calbert, I don't know if you were a good man, but nobody deserves what happened to you. May the gods deliver you to a better place." That seems to be about as much of a prayer as he can muster for the man, Sparte stiffling a yawn as he straightens up.

"Indeed," is Esoka's simple response to Tikva. The singing, for all its impromptu-ness, doesn't appear to surprise her. This is what she brought Tikva for. A shake of her head at Calaudrin. "My sword was in my weapons rack, where I'd left it, and unbloodied. Besides, I've taken worse than this in the training center. Had this been by my own hand, I'd like to think I'd no longer have an arm." Her pride in her skills apparently bests whatever horror she might feel at severing her own arm. The arm is extended to Armel wordlessly, for him to examine as he will. "I will note I was not troubled by dreams in the Hall of Heroes." Her eyes fix on Thena. "It would be wise to make certain to sleep there, I think."

Tikva has rolled a critical success!
Tikva checked mana + performance at difficulty 15, rolling 48 higher.

Thena rubs absently at her eyes and then peers at Tikva when the woman starts singing. Her eyebrows lift ever so slightly, then she turns back in time to hear Esoka's words. The woman's jaw tightens but she remains silent.

The day seems to brighten just a little bit... The waves gently brushing against the shore, a cool wind that is /so damned refreshing/ blowing over the men and women gathered. The clouds above parting further so more sun light can shine down upon them.

If it weren't for the dead body on the ground this would be a good day. Each one of them filled with more energy than they had before. As if the lethargy and exhaustion spills away, as if the sun light had simply filled them up.

"Great. Can you convince it that my flame will destroy it too?" Calaudrin mutters as Tikva begins to sing on the edge of the river. It's not that her singing annoys him, just. Well. Sometimes bouts of grumpiness are part of your default state. His jaw is firming up into a line and he stares from Esoka's arm to Calbert's lifeless body. Then he looks at Thena with a distinctly annoyed expression on his face. It's one that fades as he suddenly feels a lot better than he has in /weeks/. He narrows his eyes and turns to look at Tivka. "Well... alright. Did you...?"

Armel looks over the wound, but seems unaffected by..Whatever shook Tikva for a moment. He looks it over carefully, closely, swallowing like something foul is being tasted every second he's hear and around...Well, all of this. "Blessed Gild, your protection is manifold, and the path to your righteousness paved by the actions of the faithful." He sighs, clapping his hand over the wound as Tikva's singing seems to brighten all his companions and his expression becomes as peaceful as it ever can be. "It's gone. It's all gone. Thank you, Tikva." He smiles warmly at the lady after she trails off. "Gods bless you."

Tikva finishes her verse, like a professional. Her head lifts, bannering, as she looks up into the cloud cover. Her mouth hooks in a sidelong little crook. "Limerance's grace on your sacred oath, Grandmaster," she says, with the tilt of her head. She sucks a little on the inside of his cheek. "I didn't-- realize that it would work so well. Did it work?" She looks between them all. "I felt myself grow weary and then when I sang it fell away-- did it work for you all? You all feel better?"

Esoka closes her eyes as Armel looks over her wound, drinking in the sound of Tikva's voice. As the song ends, she lets out a long, low exhale. "I feel lighter than I have in days. Gods bless. Indeed." A little nod to Calaudrin. She did, indeed. "Gone? Can you be sure?" A look to poor, river-dead Calbert. "Not soon enough for him, poor man. What //was// that, that's taken hold of us these past nights, anyhow?"

Sparte still looks tired. It may be the influence of the river he just swam into to recover the body. When Armel gives the prayer he wags a finger at the man in approval, nodding a bit as he slowly goes back over to collect the rest of his things left on the grass. "Glad we found him, but we gotta find where he worked next. He was a carpenter, something gave this to him."

Armel nods once and just says, "I'm sure" to Esoka, still looking thankful to Tikva. "I must admit, that was more..Pleasant than the last exorcism I went to. I had spine-cracking, that time." He chuckles quietly, seeming relieved. "Yes..Yes, this is likely not the end of it, is it? But that is to you and yours, Calaudrin, to find and investigate. I'll come if you like, and perhaps Tikva as well?" He shrugs, mostly just happy it's over for the moment, far as he's concerned. He stares at the body for a moment, looking considering. "Someone killed him, though. You claimed recent wounds he didn't inflict on himself."

"If I just banished it, it was definitely demonic," Tikva says, raking her hand back through the bright fluff of her hair. "That only works on abyssal things. I'm-- uh, happy to fight all the abyssal things you want, though." Her breath held for a moment, she tips her chin back towards the river. "There's some cloth in the water there-- cloth from a woman's tunic. I don't think it was his."

Thena cracks her neck absently and squints out over the water before turning back to the rest of the group. She still seems entirely uninclined to speak, though Tikva is graced with a chin-lift of what is probably Thena-thanks. Oooh, back to the corpse though. "Don't know if that's how he died. Just that he was bleeding when he did."

What, something else is in the water? Are they going to want someone to get it too? Sparte gives Tikva a tried look before starting down the shore away from the group. "I'm finding the stoat and getting a boat." No, he is not going for another swim.

"one needs a boat to float a stoat, if one wishes to dote," Armel quips, presumably doting on the stoat. He doesn't seem in a hurry to try swimming in plate himself, but hey, he does have the rope over there is someone wants to try.

"Maybe he was wounded in his sleep like Esoka. Maybe he wandered into the water to end it. I think I might if I was as bad off as him." Something catches in Calaudrin's voice and he shakes his head. "Thank you, Lady Tikva. I can't convey that enough." He nods, it's sincere. Warm in his own way. "I'm not sure what we'd find where he worked at this point, but Sparte is right. We should probably at least check it out. I'd feel better if the pair of you came along." He looks off to where Tikva says there's some cloth and sighs. "We didn't check on him immediately afterwards last time..." There's deep regret there.

"Did you do that by rote?" Tikva asks Armel. "I'll have to take note; I never did dote on a stoat in a boat that could float, but--" Luckily for all here present, she is distracted by Calaudrin's earnest thanks before she can go any further. "Oh-- I mean, you're welcome. If I'd realized it would be so effective I would've done it before. I've never done it on something before that wasn't, um, a demon ... or an abyssally tainted creature ... like, in front of me."

"I would not hazard it without my coat," Armel shoots back before falling mercifully silent on it, and nodding firmly once to Calaudrin, at least not quipping more around the dead body.

"I'm not going out there for a piece of fabric," Thena notes/floats when the plan starts veering in that direction. "Calbert yes, someone's dress, no."

"Demonic. Well." Esoka eyes the cut on her arm. "That could've been much more unpleasant, all things considered." The smile she gives Tikva is brilliant. "All thanks, my friend." She reaches a hand over to squeeze Calaudrin's shoulder, at the catch in this voice. "It's done now." Not that there isn't regret in her tone, as well. Her gaze rests steady on the corpse of poor Calbert. "He looks like he's been in a knife fight. Perhaps it was the dream. This looked like a knife wound, when I woke." Eyes down on her arm again. "Though I suppose here..." Her gaze rakes around the Lowers. "...he might've encountered something on the way to the water as well.>"

"It's a very fine coat, but you shouldn't ought to gloat," Tikva says with a bright laugh in her voice. "I think he had an assailant. Let's double back and look at those footprints, see if we can tell if there's more than one set, and if so, maybe if they came from different directions or if they arrived at the river together?"

Tikva checked perception + survival at difficulty 35, rolling 54 higher.

Calaudrin doesn't object to walking the path again. "We have to double back to leave anyway. I'll get someone to come and collect him, take care of his remains." Before he begins to move, he pause to say something quietly to Esoka. It won't hurt him to stare at the ground some more~

Calaudrin checked perception + investigation at difficulty 35, rolling 41 higher.

Thena checked perception + survival at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Armel remarks quietly, and with far more weight to his voice, "I will stay here and make sure that the body is disposed of properly. I'm sorry, but with the corruption of it.." He spreads his hands. "I must insist the body be burned in the fires of Lagoma. If his soul was pure, it will be taken care of, I promise you." Trying to make them not feel quite so awful about it, to whatever affect that has.

Esoka checked perception + survival at difficulty 35, rolling 7 lower.

"I have shit I need to get done," Thena says rather abruptly, slipping past the others and loping off into the welcoming confines of the Lower Buroughs. Welcoming if you're her, at any rate.

Tikva crouches over a point in the muddy ground that looks scufflish and pores over it for a moment, her gaze tracking one way and then the other. She looks up at Calaudrin, faint knit written across her brow. "Hm," she says. "You seeing this?"

Esoka makes another careful study of the ground. Though she's not terribly adept at city tracking, and doesn't seem to make much of it. "It's not deep. Wasn't in the waking world, at least," she says soft to Calaudrin. She does wrap the bandages that were holding it around her arm again, though. "Tie this off for me, if you will." A blink at Thena. Eyes following the girl. Dark brows arched. A little nod, to Armel. "If you need help getting him back to be prepared, I would offer it. I feel I failed him, so it's the least I could do."

A nod for Armel remaining behind with the body, got it. He dutifuly ties off the bandages that Esoka presents to him, giving her fingers a squeeze before he kneels down. Calaudrin looks up from his inspection of the footprints to frown after Thena. But there's nothing he can do stop her unless he's going to tackle her. Which is just going to result in the dog /eating/ him. So, "Yeah. Looks like a woman's footprints. Maybe our friend tugged off a piece of her clothing before he went into the water. She got away..." He gestures off towards where some dredging seems to have gone down.

Armel grunts to Esoka, making to wrap the body in linens and wraps, as soon as they can be arranged, to take the body to be prepared and burned. "Of course, Esoka, of course. For know, I will help you with this." And he makes to depart with the body, assuming that today, the horrible, otherworldly crap is just about over.

"Tried to cover her prints," Tikva says thoughtfully. "Probably trying to make it look like he drowned himself, or something."

A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Armel before departing.

"Row, row, row your stoat, gently down the stream..." Yes, the singing is exactly what you think it is. Coming down the river's edge in a small fishing boat is Sparte, working the oars as the stoat Tiny Tom chitters at the water nervously, running back and forth along the vessel. He actually found a boat.

3 Culler Hoodlums arrives, following Mae.

3 Culler Hoodlums leaves, following Mae.

When Sparte returns he'll be directed to the piece of cloth in the water. Which he'll be able to pull out. It appears to be a piece of a sleeve of a homespun tunic, the curf of it is threaded with pink ribbons. It was definitely a woman's piece too small for more most men's clothing. And rather recognizable... Clearly someone else was here. Did they just kill Calbert? Or are they also carrying the demon?

It will take finding them to find out.