Inquiries aboard the Hogue

JP with Voah, Hunter, Gonyaul and Winteroak

The Hogue’s Captain seemed to be busy already dealing with a soldier who was questioning him about some matter of importance but Voah approached anyway, hoping that their affairs might coincide. She stood close, cutting off the gangway as she waited for the soldier to be finished with him before addressing the man.

“Excuse me, Captain…” she said in a pleasant and familiar tone.

“Oho, Arbiter! So nice ta see yer back in good ‘ealth.”

“Thank you. It’s good to see you again as well. However, I’m afraid I’m here on some rather unpleasant and unfortunate business, you see… I was recently informed of the murder that took place on your ship and there must be some mistake. Is that what you all have been discussing just now?”

Hunter quietly observed the expressions on the faces of everyone nearby. He was looking for anyone who stood out. Fear was often a big clue in his line of business. He had seen many faces with fear in their eyes as he ended their lives in the past. He noticed the feminine man in a cloak trying to hide behind some soldiers but let him be as he wanted to see their reactions as Voah added to her questions.

There was something familiar but very foreign about the person standing at the rear of the soldier. Voah thought at first she was looking at a woman but she was sure now that she was looking at a man. He had the look of a native, that was the foreign part… but the familiar part was the way he moved. If she wasn’t focused on his movements she would’ve noticed the brief look of fear on his face as she approached. His stance was one of preparation for martial defense. Perhaps he was a secretive attendant to the soldiers? It was a momentary distraction.

Sergeant Carver paid her respects to the arbiter and repositioned herself to accommodate Voah into the conversation. Being all business and wanting to get on with her duties, she bluntly got right to the point.

“Arbiter, we are here because of other unfortunate events occurring in and around Ostiarium. Though they possibly could be related to your inquiry. Our investigation did not find what it was looking for here at the docks, so it is best we move on.”

She motioned to her soldiers and called for their attention to assemble and get ready to clear out. One of the soldiers firmly grabbed Gonyaul by the upper arm and shoved him to fall in line with the rest of the men. This took more effort than the guard anticipated because of the current stance Gonyaul was in. Not all of them appreciated being on this time consuming task while babysitting a key witness at the same time.

“Thank you Captain for your time and cooperation. We will be getting out of your way so you can get on with your day.”

She addressed Voah next, “Arbiter, always a pleasure to be in your presence. May the Pillars protect and guide us all.”

Sergeant Carver waited patiently for the Arbiters reply before she would make the move for them to pack up and leave.

Meanwhile Gonyaul’s dark doe-like eyes locked with Hunters. If Hunter was indeed a master of observation he would pick up on that Gonyaul was likewise observing him and sizing him up on a much more masterful level than just looking at him. Gonyaul’s eyes quickly scanned over his form, and they clearly paused at key places of interest; such as his injury, where weapons were visible and a few places where they were trying to be concealed, even a correct glance at which hand was his dominant hand. Gonyaul was still trying to keep a peaceful and lowest profile possible; however, it never hurt to be prepared.

Hunter could feel Gonyaul's gaze as he was being sized up. Hunter could see fear in the eyes of Gonyaul but he was not sure if it was him or Voah he feared. So in response to Gonyaul he gave a small smile at him to see his reaction.

“I didn’t get your name… Sgt is it?” Voah guessed from the ranking armor.

“That’s right, Sergeant Carver.” the woman responded in a prideful tone.

“Strange that there are two different investigations coming to your door, Captain.” Voah said lifting an eyebrow. Perhaps she had misjudged the character of this Captain all along.

Hunter noticed the Captain looked a bit flustered by Voah's comment. Apparently many still feared and or respected the Arbiter with good reason. Hunter continued to observe the Captain's reactions as he was now fidgeting his fingers and his voice began to quiver. he wondered if the Captain was hiding something or just a bumbling idiot who passed the buck.

Gonyaul was surprised that the fearsome bodyguard suddenly gave him a smile. It was the first smile he had received since he was brought to the docks by the Sergeant. Gonyaul was not going to let a smile go to waste, so he responded with a smile to genuinely return the favor.

The arbiters question to the Captain had given the Sergeant pause to stick around for a little while longer. Perhaps she was curious to see what results the Arbiter might be able to dredge forth with whatever she was investigating.

She notified the guards with her to wait. Gonyaul felt he was so close to getting clear of this situation, but now he was in limbo. It was like a moving prison being stuck between these disgruntled guards; however, he still welcomed it to the alternative of being alone while others wanted him dead. He once again took a readied stance and just tried to do nothing worth noticing. With the arbiter focused on the captain it afforded him the opportunity to pay attention to the other people in his immediate environment.

The Captain grunted at the Arbiter's comments. "Aye, when trouble happens, sailors and the docks are always the first port of call for the guard." He replied not liking the Arbiter's tone.

As much as Gonyaul would have been interested in following along with the conversation between them, it was just too far away and too much going on to keep up with translating everything in real time in his head. His gaze drifted to a seagull which had landed on the side of the boat. He admired the design of the bird, taking note of how it’s wings so neatly folded up alongside its body when not in use.

It was at that moment something in his peripheral vision and gut tag teamed to sound a warning bell in his mind. His vision shifted over the shoulder of the bird and past it down, over the side of the boat, to the ground. There was a mass pulling a small cart behind that just seemed familiar.

Gonyaul took a tentative step and then another, like one entering a cave with a beast inside. He had to get a better look. In order to do so his feet took him past the guards, that were more distracted by the drama with the Captain, Arbiter and there Sergeant.

The height and bulk of the build seemed to be a match; however, several men on the docks had similar body types. It wasn’t until he focused his vision did he notice the man was favoring his right arm near the elbow in how he pulled the cart of goods, an arm Gonyaul almost was able to wrench out of its socket. Without hurting the shoulder, the force loads were sure to have gone into the elbow which made the man voluntarily relinquish his knife from his grasp to the ground during their fight.

“Onos Erak” he whispered to himself. Then he finally saw the man’s face turn to a three quarter profile view and everything fell into place with his recognition. When a killer is shouting death threats inches from your face, you pay attention.

When he spoke, one of the guards woke up to his movement and grabbed him hard by the back of the cloak and pulled him back.

Gonyaul ignored the rude gesture and spoke up louder. In the direction of the Sergeant.

“Nihsasa o atekustim” he said in an urgent voice.

Gonyaul wasn’t shouting, he didn’t want to draw attention from anyone accept those in his immediate proximity. He was so quick to say something he forgot he was even speaking in his tongue. He quickly corrected his mistake.

“Found him.” He pointed over to the side of the boat. “Pull cart three crates.” His next words almost train wrecked coming out to describe him in more detail, but thankfully they made sense. Why wasn’t anyone looking yet? “On ground”.

The assassin must have been away from the docks earlier making a delivery with the cart he was pulling. Thus arriving back at the docks he had not yet become made aware of the soldiers presence or their intent, especially since they were presently concealed aboard the Hogue from the vantage point of the ground below.

“I mean no offense Captain, it just seems…” she was cut off by the commotion of the guards. The young man spoke in a language she has never heard. Surely he wasn’t one of the Odsier. He was now pointing their attention to something down on the docks. She watched with concern.