Cairn: The Investigation Continues

Today was Cairn! On we go. Here's last time.

Night falls, and the Knights continue their inquiries into who killed Ladd Ringtail. Snootabur Shadowbough starts retracing Ladd's steps, starting with the Brookflower Inn (since they know he got dinner there). Russelet Leatherwind joins her, but is still grieving his friend and hangs back. Ratatosk Longberry heads for the Root, intending to ask Ripark, the proprietor, about the strange metal discs that seem to figure into this case. Rumdiggle Sunsong, knowing how rumors can spread and worsen, spends some time in the evening going around the town and playing songs for people to help keep them calm. 

Snoot talks to some of the folks around the Brookflower and learns that Ladd went to the Root. Knowing that Ratatosk is going to talk to the patrons therein, she and Russ continue on and track Ladd's movements south to the longhouse where the otter fishermen of Cairn gather in the evening to drink some beer and sing some oyster shanties. They welcome Snoot, sit her down, and put a pint in her paw, and when they hear Ladd's name they get somber and raise a mug to him. They confirm that they saw him the night he died, walking east towards the bridge. 

Ratatosk, meanwhile, talks to Ripark, but the old mole is less than forthcoming. He shows Ratatosk one of the metal discs and Ratatosk does some quick alchemy to it, and determines that it's made of silver and it's pretty useless. Metal is risky anyway, because it saps Harmony, but this isn't even functional metal. Ripark snaps it right back up, though, and claims that it is useful, but isn't answering any more questions.

At this point Rummy joins Ratatosk, and when she walks in they both hear the drunken "wa-hey!" of Jellin Berrytail. Jellin is, like Rummy, an opossum, and has made his interest in her clear on the occasions they've met him. He waves at them from a dark alcove, but then someone pulls him back to his seat.

The Knights walk over and find that the alcove's inhabitants are Moriarty Sprit and his bodyguard, Knuckles. Neither of these people are savory sorts, and the Knights ask after Ladd. Moriarty claims that Ladd was here last night, had a glass of mushroom beer, and left. A couple of times during the conversation, Jellin tries to pipe up, but then yelps as though someone was poking him in the ribs and Moriarty refills his mug. He does, however, manage to get the word "Sell-su?" out.

Back across the bridge, Russ and Snoot find themselves close to the main construction site (recall that Cairn has been expanding, and so groups of workers have been working to build more housing). Russ takes to the sky and spots a bat fluttering around the site, and calls out to him. The bat lands to talk to the Knights, introducing himself as Rink Fellswoop. He says that he's been helping out by tidying up the construction site after the workers leave in the evening - he's not strong enough to be a lot of help during the actual building but he does want to contribute, as a new arrival himself. He says that he talked to Ladd briefly the night he died, and pointed him toward where the folks doing construction were staying - the groundhogs have a temporary warren, the beavers have built a lodge on the banks of the Swiftriver, and the hares are mostly staying near the Cider Mill Inn. As far as he knows Ladd went to go talk to the groundhogs.

Back at the Root, Ratatosk and Rummy leave, but turn the weird word that Jellin said over in their heads. Rummy remembers that there's a mole named Selisu Vergildirt - she remembers because she found the name "Selisu" very euphonious and was thinking of including it in a song. Figuring that she lives in the Underground, they pay a visit to Mimsy Bogglesworth (it takes a few tries to find her house), and Mimsy guides them to Selisu's place. As they approach, they spot another mole watching them, but when they call out to the mole, he(?) vanishes down a tunnel.

They knock on the door and Selisu answers, but is paranoid and careful - she even asks if the Knights are there to murder her. When she realizes who they are, she lets them in, and says that she talked to Ladd at the root. He was asking questions about the construction sites, and grilling Ripark pretty hard, but Ripark wasn't talking. Selisu, however, told him something that interested him: "Jiddie ain't a mouse." 

An aside: Jiddie Littlebrook is (supposedly) a mouse, a recent arrival in Cairn, and has taken on the task of coordinating the construction crews and projects - definitely something for someone with managerial skill! But if Jiddie isn't a mouse, what is she? Ratatosk guesses maybe a very small rat, and Selisu confirms this. But why hide one's species? Residents of Cairn don't generally care, so there must be some other reason.

Whatever the truth, Selisu has been told that she'd better stay in the Underground if she knows what's good for her. The Knights make clear that she should tell them if she needs help, and then they try to blunder their way to the surface ("I swear this changes every time we're here," says Rummy). 

They surface near the construction site, just as Snoot and Russ are finishing their chat with Rink. They exchange what they've learned, and Russ and Snoot are just as confused as to why Jiddie would lie about her species. The only thing they can think of is that the various species common to Cairn do develop reputations - groundhogs are stubborn, pika are thieves, mice are industrious, and so on. Rats are believed to be sneaky and untrustworthy, so if someone wanted to avoid that stigma, especially as a new face, pretending to be a mouse might help. 

The Knights decide to get some sleep, but to get up bright and early and talk to the construction workers as they head in to the site. Russ heads back to the Roost to look over the day's reports, while the others head for home.

In the morning, they meet up and, as planned, intercept the group of workers heading to the site. The groundhogs aren't terribly forthcoming about Ladd, but one of the beavers nods to Snoot and hangs back to talk to her.

The beaver - one Copky Ripplesplash - reveals that the construction workers and the new arrivals in Cairn have all been told they'll get the best housing and other perks if they support someone to replace Keeble Brownberry as Lord Mayor. He doesn't know who, though. He does know that Jiddie Littlebrook is this mysterious person's mouthpiece, and she's been the one coordinating all this quid pro quo nonsense. Copky says that he's seen one powerful person put a whole town under their thumb, so he's not interested in seeing that happen again. And then he mentions that his mouth is numb, and collapses.

Snoot calls for Ratatosk, and Ratatosk yells at whoever's nearby to fetch a healer. In the meanwhile, he tastes Copky's waterskin, and determine it's been poisoned! Snoot asks some of the other beavers, and learns that waterskins are hung up every night to drain and dry, and then refilled in the morning and handed back. The beaver that filled the waterskins looks just as surprised as anyone, so Snoot guesses that someone switched Copky's skin for the poisoned one while he was on his way here. 

A hare healer, one Omat Thunderhop, scampers over and casts a Panacea spell on poor Copky, purging the poison. Copky doesn't have any idea when he got the poisoned waterskin, but whatever is going on here, people are willing to kill to keep it quiet. The Knights have their work ahead of them!