Grisht - The Fall of a Gladiator

The cool breeze does little to dispel the workings of Vardama's inner halls. Grisht had passed three days ago, but even with the ties to the Order Paramount, it's taken this long to get the paperwork through. Consequently, the preserving magics...

...arrived a little late. They DID arrive, and that's what counts, but it doesn't prevent the faint oder of miasma about the man, or the stale scent of his clothes.

Which is why acolytes are burning incense in the halls. They're lighting them now.

Local Vardamen have been invited to examine the corpse, and offer their opinion. The representative from the Order will be here in mere hours.

Heinrich has been here a few times in his life, for funerals of associates or friends of his mother, but he still looks more reverent than at ease in this setting. He watches the acolytes light the candles for a moment, then peers over the head of a shorter person to take a look at the corpse.

Boshter, of course, has arrived. He's pushing his way througgh to the inner halls with a yawn. He seems quiet curious about, well... /something/. Perhaps a little overly cheerful as well.

Arisha walks her way in a little behind Boshter....okay a LOT behind Boshter. She looks up to Boshter, but then looks to Kerbasi and Heinrich. "Greetings to thee." she says to Boshter and Heinrich....the only ones...so far, she recognizes. "What happened?"

Up from the catacombs steps of the local Acolytes, his frame covered in a black and gray cassock, and a long beaked plague mask covering his face. Small puffs of incense smoke rise from two slits at its end. Setting aside a bag of equipment, Arubesh removes his mask, his dark Veyshan heritage immediately apparent.

Those of the temple know that he recently transfered to Alexandria, and that his family had close ties to arts that the temple would rather not discuss, let alone practice. rAdjusting his gold rim glasses, and wiping away droplets of sweat from his forehead, he approaches the group near the body. He does not speak yet, but bows his head in respectful greetings.

"He was scheduled for a match just before he passed," Kerbasi says. He looks up from where he's washing his hands, with a warm if tired smile. "How has everyone been?" the Mourner asks. He nods to Boshter, and Arisha. To Heinrich, "Good t'see one of the Lancer's over. Apparently he was famous enough, though I can't say I follow th' matches, much."

Closer, the corpse shows some bruising over here, there. His clothes smell faintly of booze and...something else? Vomit, though by now--stale. Gresht appears in his early 20s, with the broad shoulders typical of a gladiator.

Sniff snif!

Boshter looks over at KErbasi and says, helpfully, "I think he puked on himself!"

Because our Boshter, he is very perceptive.

Arubesh leans down to look at the bruising on the corpse. Long thin fingers trace the lines as he tries to determine the age of each. Before he rises he lingers near the dead gladiator's mouth, his nostrils flaring as he scents the alcohol. "Curious," he says in a raspy tenor. "I wonder if it is common for a professional athlete, one with renown specially, to drink before a match? After, I understand. But right before?"

Heinrich nods. "Aye. He was certaily

Heinrich nods. "Aye. He was certainly famous. I for one don't want the same to happen to me, is why I'm here."

"Time of death, 3:40 in the afternoon. ...cause unknown. He was scheduled for a--hello, Mourner Arubesh--match shortly thereafter." The precise, arvekian voice comes from the deeper halls. Thin and preferring the safe, dark, dark depths of the temple to the world outside, the bottle-glass'd, book-keeping geekgoblin, Acleese, holds a sheaf of papers. "...he puked on himself," he says then. Wryly, awkwardly agreeing with Boshter--and doesn't flinch too much.

He still does, though. Totally does. He takes a step, and sliiiides behind Arisha. The notes appear in her hands as though by magic.

You paged Arisha with 'The notes repeat the time of death, and give the name of the person who he was to fight against. Sathen Amantine, the Growler. They're listed as both being moderately famous, enough to cause some interest. Grisht's assistant reports finding him in a pool of his own vomiting and--diarrhea. He says he'd complained of a headache, so the assistant had gone to fetch him water.'

You paged Arubesh with 'The Progressives have possession of the pitcher, and his last-known tankard. They're inspecting it for magic residue, and said they'd have a report over sometime today.'

Arisha looks to the notes handed to her. "Thank you, Acleese." She says as she looks at the notes. "Poison....." Is the first words out of her mouth. "I apologize, that's my first reaction. Vomiting, Diarrhea, sweating? Perhaps it was a bad batch of booze." She says softly before looking to Kerbasi, then to Arubesh.

You paged Arisha with 'It's a pretty full statement. ^^;'

Heinrich shudders. He says with evident shock and horror in his hushed voice, "Poison?! The SHAME. A noble knight taken down so dishonorably! The scurvy knave behind it must be answered with vengeance!" (Clearly, he isn't afraid of jumping too hastily to some conclusions.)

"OH, hi Acleese!"

Boshterb eams at the nerdgoblin and then turns bak to the body.

"Do you really think poison?" he asks curiously of Arisha.

Arubesh lifts his head to acknowledge Kerbasi and his apprentice. "Hello, speaker for the dead," he says in appreciation of Kerbasi's special blessing from Vardama. "I have been told that some of his belongings are presently with the Progressives to test for the arcane." As he straightens he inclines his head to Arisha. "I would be apt to agree with you," he reaches up a hand to touch the eyelids of the deceased with his bare hands. Drawing back an eyelid he examines the eye. "Though the hardier the target, the more powerful the poison. I would expect some signs of something quite lethal. Bleeding from the eyes and nose. Biles and humors imbalanced in his vomit"

You paged Arubesh with 'On examination, there are flecks inside the nose, and the eyes...well, since it was a bit before they were able to get to the preservation magics, it would be hard to tell.'

You paged Arubesh with 'The clothing is torn near the lower chest, also--stretched and pulled.'

"Evenin," Kerbasi says with a grin towards Arubesh. He steps back as the man takes a turn at the corpse. "Afraid I know what Acleese said, at this point. Th' paperwork on this one...well, there've been better, heh?"

Acleese darts back behind Arisha.

"Truly? The Arcane? Would such an aura last this long? Still," Boshter pauses for a moment, "It is just possible that he died from, you know, drinking too much!" He beams. Then he puses. One should not smile that hard at a corpse. he was just proud of himself for a moment there.

"That is just my first reaction. Perfectly healthy, went to get a drink, complained of sweating and the like, then found in a pool of his own vomit and bile a short time later....it's my first reaction." Arisha's rather blunt before she looks to Boshter. "Second reaction would be a stomach bug, but I don't think a stomach bug would come up that suddenly....." She doesn't ignore Acleese, but she doesn't draw attention to him. Seems to be the way he likes it.

You paged Heinrich with 'His opponent for the day was Sathen Amantine. They got along well enough, from what your buddies who've watched the match had said. Not good enough to go further, but not bad at all, either. Upper-of-middle their skill set, you'd say. Worth betting on.'

You paged Heinrich with 'Er, watched previous matches.'

Heinrich goes on, possibly talking more to himself than anyone else, "He was good, an up-and-comer in the sport, but not at the pinnacle where someone might be too jealous. Maybe some shiester put money on Sir Sathen and didn't want to lose."

Arubesh turns from the table to retrieve the bag that he had brought up from the catacombs. Within he draws out a small leather roll, and a think dusty tome. He lays the roll down, unties its leather thong, and unrolls to reveal a slew of small metal tools. The book, a tome of Vardama. He flips it open to diagrams of the humanoid form. "Some arcana lingers for quite some time. Necromancy in particular clings to those it has killed. Some poisons are in fact magical. I have seen, in my home country, diseases made by a mad wizard."

He withdraws no scalpel or medieval medical cutlery. He lifts up a simple pair of tweezers, with which he pulls a small fleck of dried blood out of the gladiator's nostril.

"The assistant suggested there was some miscoloring near the..." the arvek makes a gesture towards the corpse's rear end. The rest of the statement is continued safely behind Arisha, and in hiding from Boshter. If she moved her hands about, and moved her jaw up and down, she might be said to have an unusually deep voice. "--if we turned him over. Of course, that probably means he's been sitting in--"

"Taara's curly toe hairs!" more cursing. A booming, masculine voice from the temple doorway.

Acleese flinches. "I think that would be the representative," he whispers. He takes a step, sliiiiiiding, until he's now behind Heinrich. This places him one step closer to The Basement Door. It is boring and safe. So boring.

Heinrich looks over his shoulder.

You paged Arubesh with 'If you turn him over, you'll find that 'miscoloring near' means rather darkly colored diarrhea, that's stained into the pants. It will also increase some of the smell--not terribly, but some.'

'I'm not here,' Acleese mouths, when Heinrich looks at him.

Heinrich cocks his head a moment, then shrugs and turns his face back around.

Arubesh sets the dried fleck of blood into a small glass dish. His eyes lift to look up towards the ruckus in his beloved temple, but dismisses it as of yet unimportant. "Any disease that killed so quickly would die out. The host must last for it to pass," he comments on Arisha's theories. "I have a feeling your first reaction is right." Setting down his tweezers, he runs a hand down towards the gladiator's torso, pulling at a portion of his tunic that is stretched and torn. He lifts the fabric to look beneath it. "An old shirt? Or perhaps there was a scuffle?" From there he sets his hands under the body, and nods with his head to Acleese. "Assistance please," he more demands than requests. Once the body is flipped, the gladiator's diarrhea stained pants are revealed, dark blotches. "The color is odd," he says as a strong smell rises from the decimated pantaloons. "Too dark. Blood perhaps? Excess biles?"

When tht voiec arrives, Boshter pauses. He slooooowly turns in its direction. "Taara has toe hairs? HAHAHAHA."

He find that hilarious.

Heinrich is used to battle wounds and even violent death, but the smells from this body are... pungent. He recoils as the worst of the soiling is rotated into view. Then, when Boshter busts out laughing, he looks over, appalled at first, then amused too, and smirks.

You paged Arubesh with 'Some faint scratches.'

Silmeria has arrived.

You paged Silmeria with '

The cool breeze does little to dispel the workings of Vardama's inner halls. Grisht had passed three days ago, but even with the ties to the Order Paramount, it's taken this long to get the paperwork through. Consequently, the preserving magics...

...arrived a little late. They DID arrive, and that's what counts, but it doesn't prevent the faint oder of miasma about the man, or the stale scent of his clothes.

Which is why acolytes are burning incense in the halls. They're lighting them now.

Local Vardamen have been invited to examine the corpse, and offer their opinion. The representative from the Order will be here in mere hours.

'

You paged Arisha with 'No worries. I just checked bc connection and all. <3'

You paged Silmeria with 'That was the set. Since then, they've been examining the corpse, and pulling out clues. This is actually a pretty good time for SIlmeria to come in. Let's see...'

You paged Silmeria with 'The Paramount is anxious, and sent their rep early. He just entered the temple, and was heard to curse, "Taara's curly toe hairs!" ...so Silmeria could intercept him, if you liked. :3 He's going to ask them to recap.'

You paged Arisha with 'No no, go ahead. <3'

You paged Silmeria with 'THey're investigating the corpse, and he's concerned, loud, and anxious--and Angorian.'

You paged Silmeria with 'He'll probably barge right on through. XD'

You paged Silmeria with 'It seemed a Silmeria thing to do, and puts you in the middle of the evidence recap. >.>'

Arisha smirks at Boshter. 'yes. That would mean he's sitting in his own crap. No one ever said this job was glorious." She then softly sighs. "Mourner.....did we get permission for a more 'invasive search'?"

Heinrich considers what is meant by a more invasive search and turns around about ready to lose his cookies. m

"I know a lot about glorious jobs! Those are the ones where you get coered in blood, right?" Boshter asks, cheerfully. No, Boshter. /Glorious/, not /gorious/... though perhaps to some they are the same thing.

You paged Silmeria with 'Grisht was a warrior/gladiator. He died just before his match, and was found by his assistant in a puddle of vomit and diarrhea. He was in his early 20s.'

Heinrich says, "Excuse me. I think I need to go find a little hobgoblins room."

You paged Silmeria with 'They suspect it may have been foul play, but. ...that's why the Vardamen. There was a lot of paperwork though, so it took a day or two to get the corpse properly magic'd to preservation.'

You paged Silmeria with 'So it...smells a little.'

Arubesh looks to Kerbasi. "While I am an Acolyte, my experience with more thorough searches is limited to book knowledge. My expertise lies with those bodies that are not quite as..." The mahogany Mourner motions to the corpse. "Still?" His lips purse for a moment as he thinks. "Though I may have an idea. If you'll help me turn him back over?" He asks of Arisha. "If we pry his mouth open. And someone find me a rat."

Heinrich goes OOC.

Heinrich has left.

"We've been given full permission," Kerbasi says with a touch of grimness to his tone. And then there's the booming voice again that, bless the Lady, Silmeria intercepts.

"--Have you found anything?" says the man at the door. His hair falls about him in disarray. A flying thing of copper-brown. The muscle would decry him as one of Angoron's if the sign at his throat didn't.

"Have you--excuse me. My voice is just naturally--" he clears his throat again. "Have you found anything? I'm with the Order Paramount. Jesp," he says, in a more normal tone of voice, irrespective of the fact that Arubesh and Boshter have the corpse half-flipped and are examining it, and talking about--wait, what?

No one had been expecting him for a few hours. At least, according to Acleese. Wait--where--?

Oh. The basement door is heard, closing with a faint =click=.

Meanwhile, the man looks at each of you. He wrinkles his nose, and rubs at it as though it's running. The corpse of course, makes no comment. It just rests there, resting against the support of the Vardamen, and stinks.

You paged Silmeria with 'By the look of him, he could be either--but that isn't unusual in ANgoron's service. He looks like a mid-level official. Not too high up, not too high down.'

You paged Boshter with 'The story may continue from here, so feel free to engage. ':3'

It's not easy to stay an Angorite from their chosen trajectory, and despite all her best efforts Silmeria fails to keep the man from barging into the examination room's doorway. That doesn't slow her down, and hurrying up after the great man she rests a hand on his shoulder. "Proper postmortem investigation takes time, good Warrior," she says gently. "And it's quite likely to get... well. I'd say 'gruesome,' but it's really gruesomeness of a rather tidy variety."

Peeking around the large man's thews, she casts a quick glance at the body on the table. "And by the look of it, we've not yet got to that point. Never fear, we're quite good at putting all the bits back where we've found them and sewing everything up neatly. Mourners Kerbasi, Arubesh, Hunter Arisha... Are there any preliminary findings you've to report, before we get underway?"

Faced with an upset meat-mountain, Silmeria seems to have reverted to Schoolteacher Mode.

"Actually....what I mentioned was cutting him open....and get direct results. Acleese could...." And Arisha hears the door click. "....well...." She then looks to Silmeria. "I have the results from Acleese." She says handing Silmeria the papers. "Complained of sweating, then suddenly found dead in puddles of his own vomit and bile. My first reaction was poisoning, but I said we should cut him open and find more conclusive evidence from where it lays." She then looks to Arubesh. "I don't think a rat would help that much."

Arubesh works the corpse back onto its back, while he is physically frail, he does attempt to be as gentle as he can. From the fold of leather he draws a small pair of shears, three long sticks with cotton on their ends, and three bottles from within his robes. While he sets up, he explains. "Open his mouth. Hopefully rigor had passed before they cast the spell. See if his tongue, cheeks, or lips are swollen or have a rash or blisters."

Arubesh peers over the rims of his glasses, dark eyes darting between Seilmeria and the Angorite. "Greetings Speaker... Sir," he greets them both. "Astutely our elven friend here suspects foul play. We are still... looking."

"The rat, will not really be here to help. Unfortunately it will be here to die." His shoulders rise and fall in a shrug. "If we find what I think we may in his mouth, we can swab it and coat pieces of cheese. Feed it to the rat and look for results. A few rats would be most helpful. I can treat a piece of tainted cheese with drops from a vial or anti-plague, anti-toxin, and holy water. Which ever does not kill a rat will points to our cause."

You paged Silmeria with 'The notes repeat the time of death, and give the name of the person who he was to fight against. Sathen Amantine, the Growler. They're listed as both being moderately famous, enough to cause some interest. Grisht's assistant reports finding him in a pool of his own vomiting and--diarrhea. He says he'd complained of a headache, so the assistant had gone to fetch him water.'

"--You know, I'd hoped you'd be past that. ..." Jesp says. The large man puts his hands at his sides, then shifts them again, as though he doesn't know what to do. Silmeria's smaller hand easily stays the barge, though.

"What an interestin' idea," Kerbasi says to Arubesh. He leans forward a little, even.

"...say what now?" says Boshter to Arubesh. Staring.

This, well..

He's now completely lost.

"That sounds like an excellent idea; though I'd use bread, it'll absorb the residue better," Silmeria says absently, thumbing through the sheaf of notes that 'Abby' has left the Vardamen. "Also check for burns and discoloration inside the mouth, then we'll want to get a look at his primary organs to be doubly sure. Er..." Blinking owlishly, she looks up at Jesp. "...Forgive me, Warrior, but... D'you know if this man was a particularly hard drinker? I mean, relative to most gladiators, not simply your standard-issue adventurer. Also, were there any rumors spread about either of the two fighters, before this match?"

"Heh. You can find one of those, can't you, Boshter?" Kerbasi is saying. He looks towards the arvek, a sort of smile about his features. The smile...but it's the eyes, the curiosity there. He looks terribly interested in the idea.

"I--of course I did. Or, I'd know. He drank as much as any of us, but before a match?" the man, Jesp, says. "Ya drink /after/," he adds and starts to add something, but there's the--corpse. He glances at it, and shuts up.

"That is a superb idea, Speaker," Arubesh replies. "I was pondering placing a small bit of the flesh in the cheese, but the bread will work just as well. Though I would like to have him cleaned and have his skin inspected before the invasive investigations." Arubesh reaches for the corpse's mouth, but stops when the Angorite pauses. "Is there something we should know about before I search further?" His hands draw back from the body, in case whatever revelation may be able to cause him harm. "Might as well discuss it while we wait for our rats."

"...wait for our rats," repeats Boshter.

He is staring.

"This is fascinating," he adds after a moment, more sincerely.

You paged Boshter with 'S'ok. XD'

Turning back towards Kerbasi, Boshter does nod towards him. "OF corse,"he adds.

Arisha says, "Go ahead, Arubesh. I'm a little out of ideas at the moment...." She then sighs and steps back."

"I'm sure you'll come up with somethin," Kerbasi says to Arisha warmly. He then looks to Boshter, "Could y'go get some then?" Kerbasi asks. More loudly, "Ser Acleese!"

"...yes?" comes the whisper, from the safety of the very boring, very basement door.

"Could y'go with Ser Boshter, please? He needs t'fetch a rat."

"..." then, "I. ...I am sure I have paperwork to do. Quite some paperwork to do, sers. Rats are dangerous, and all of that," says the so-tiny-now voice of Acleese.

Near Silmeria though, Jesp speaks up: "...Well, it was a run-of-the-mill match, I mean. I couldn't imagine either men going in drunk. Sathen and he were good, not great, but they were good men, you know? Sathen still is, I guess, but I don't see him fighting soon after this."

"Grisht was a draw with the locals. Right popular gladiator. I'd placed a few bets on him myself, for the fun of it," Jesp says. "And then one or the other'd win, and we'd all go out drinking after. Oh gods--" he hiccups. Clears his throat then, as he shifts his foot.

"They'll be *clean* rats," Silmeria says gently, still paying more attention to the notes than poor Acleese. "If we're to try and poison them, they'll need to be the picture of rat-health, after all." Looking up at Jesp, the Speaker puts on a gentle, understanding look. "I understand, Warrior, truly I do. Were there any unusually high bets placed on this match, perhaps? If someone wanted to be sure to win a great deal of money, but didn't know their poisons, that would be one explanation. It's purely conjecture of course, but best to cover all possible angles."

Heinrich has arrived.

Heinrich arrives from OOC.

Heinrich returns from his indisposition and says, "Pardon me."

Boshter vanishes for a moment. Seems he's going to go take care of things!

Well, do what KErbasi asked, at any rate.

You paged Arubesh with 'Bits of blood, some bile. The inside of it's dry though, as though he'd been dehydrating.'

You paged Arubesh with 'If I'm getting that wrong, let me know btw. ^^;'

Arubesh begins working as the Angorite explains. Half a loaf of bread from his own lunch, and swabs. Using a pair of tongs he prys the gladiator's mouth open, pulling his head back slightly to avoid the smell. "Dry." A deep harrump exits the Vardaman's throat. Instead of swabs, shears, and pulled chunks of bread. One fresh and clean bread, and four with small chunks of tongue and cheek placed within. Three of the tainted receive treatment from the vials, only one type of serum on each. "We'll need five of our little friends," he calls out after Boshter. "A shame, but they give their lives so that we may care for one who gave his," he explains to his fellows at the table. "At least they will get a fine last meal."

"I...you know, I really don't know. But, I bet I could find out," Jesp says, with a heavy shrug that sends his mane twitching. "We could just give them a drink or two, see if they'd talk," he says to Silmeria, with a grin. "Do y'want to come with me?" ...ohboy.

Kerbasi watches as Boshter goes, then turns back to Arisha. "I'm not sure we're goin' to get Acleese out of his papers anytime soon," he admits to her, as an aside.

In front of them, the corpse is...still a corpse. It smells faintly, the more it's disturbed, but then it'd been preserved a day or so in. Paperwork, it seems.

You paged Silmeria with 'The knees. They could stab her with their odd knobbiness poking out from his bemuscled columns. On the other hand, that /hair/...'

"That's fine, Mourner. Acleese knows what he does best, and we should let him allow himself to be free of his shell whenever he wants to......not force him out here." Arisha says before knocking on the door to downstairs. "Thank you for your help, Acleese." And she shuts the door......

"...you're...welcome..." comes the voice, as faint as a bird.

You paged Arubesh with 'By now, you could put enough together to guess that it's poison--the rats would just be a confirmation. The rats will need time to work, though. Observed for up to a day.'

"We'll want to kill them anyway even if they don't end up taking ill," Silmeria notes. "The last thing we want to worry about is rats with a taste for people." Looking up at the Warrior, Silmeria chuckles quietly. "I don't think it'd be a terribly good idea, if only because having a Vardaman *right there* as you're asking about a gladiator who might've been poisoned? Not a good recipe for easing suspicions."

Heinrich, seeing the procedures taking place, finds a bench and sits down.

Rats fed, and placed in separate cages, Arubesh marks the cages. "They will require observation. They shall receive no other food, but may have water. I believe dehydration is a significant symptom of whatever we are looking at." Looking to the large man. "It is common for poisoners to get minor symptoms from what they use. Look for someone with dry mouth. They may have chemical burns or blisters on their hands." Arubesh eyes Heinrich with empathy in his features. "I am not capable of discerning the exact substance. We will need an accomplished alchemist to determine what was used. It'l be easier to trace if we can look for the right people that sell it. Perhaps a silent request to the Adventurer's guild?"

Jesp looks dissapointed for a moment, and follows by placing a hand to his chest. The look he gives Silmeria is his deepest sorrow. "You'll break my heart," he says, then looks over at the corpse. His amusement vanishes, becoming hard.

"Do you think you'll find anything?" he asks the rest of the Vardamen. "I guess we're just uhm. Waiting for the rats to die, then."

Heinrich perks up at the word 'prisoners'. "What are you talking about prisoners for? He wasn't a prisoner... was he?"

"For now," Silmeria says with a brief, crooked smile. "We'll want to open him up regardless, to verify anything the rats may tell us."

Arubesh steps to a small basin off to the side, and begins to scrub his hands. "Poisoner, nor prisoner. Though it would not surprise me if the person had a record. Poisons are vile substances for those with little heart," he says to Heinrich. To the Angorite he thinks a long moment before replying. "I am fairly certain it is poison. The symptoms are all there. The rats will simply be positive affirmation to that. Something that would hold up in a court of law. Both our Serriel brethren and ourselves do not like to do things without confirmation."

Once cleaned and dried he jots a note down to request several apprentices to aid in the cleaning and inspecting of the corpse's flesh for training and thoroughness. "I would like to request permission to sit in on the autopsy. Save for the risen, which are not always intact, I have not been a part of one. I must say this sort of work is refreshing."

"Heh. I don't think that will be a problem. I have a set of scalpels you can borrow, if you've a mind t'," says Kerbasi. Arubesh is his newest, bestest friend. They can discuss corpses together!

Poor Arisha. Poor, poor Arisha.

Finally, Boshter returns! He has... cages. Large ones. Under his hands.

"HELLO, EVERYONE," he says happily, "I HAVE RATS!"

Heinrich facepalms.

"Welcome back, Master Boshter," Silmeria chuckles. "THey're disease-free, yes?" With all the talent being brought to bear on the problem, Silmeria seems to see fit to step aside and let the smarties be smart.

Arisha steps back again to let Arubesh work, near Silmeria.

In three and a quarter hours, some of the rats begin to slow in their cages. Five to ten minutes later, two of them are staggering about their cages. Then, all three. They make their way to their bowls, where they begin to shake.

It takes a while before the noise dies down, but by then you have your answers.

Opening the man shows the distress of the system, and once Acleese is coaxed out, you're able to put together a detailed, if thorough report. Jesp takes it with thanks, and--the Tribune will be by later, likely. For an official report, if nothing else. The gladiator was well-loved, and while the report may not be welcomed--it's needed. And that, part of that, is what the Vardaman are. Doing a job that no one else can--or is able to.

"As far as I know," says Boshter to SIlmeria, allowing them to take the cages ad the rats from him in the first place. Then bad things are happening to the rats before long.

"On no!"

You go OOC!