The Homecoming 58.

A Small City...

"What am i supposed to do with him then?" asks the adjutant "I don't know" replies Mira Reinholt the mage, who then adds "Execute him i guess".
The adjutant blinks in surprise, then he says "Er why would i do that?". "Because he's a murderer" says the once powerful mage who continues on with "Killed a few people on the road north to the mill towns since the autumn".
The adjutant pauses as he looks at the short, and fairly young man bound by rope, that's held by a troll, whose head is just below the ceiling of the office.
"He did?" asks the adjutant "He did" replies the Vexilian mage in exile, who then nods at Tarong and adds "My friend the troll here captured him as he tried to attack us on the road".
The adjutant, who is an assistant to the constable of the Almaeré fief. Looks from the short fellow, who looks a little beaten up and dazed. To the troll, who has a great big bloody axe strapped to his back. To the fellow in the black hooded cloak who is doing all the talking. Who has a strange, double bladed sword strapped to his back. As well as a longbow over one shoulder. Not to mention a hilt of another sword sticking out from beneath his cloak.
To the silent individual standing off to one side. Who is the largest human the adjutant has ever seen. Who must be a knight, or more likely an avenger as he's in a suit of dark, full plate armour. Who has a rather plain, but utilitarian looking mace on his belt. While strapped to his back, is the largest sword the assistant to the local constable has ever seen in his life. The blade must be well in excess of six foot in length.
He looks back at the supposed murderer, then he says in a slightly dry tone "Are you telling me, this fellow tried to attack the three of you?". It's clearly obvious from the adjutant's tone, that he thinks the idea of that is fairly ridiculous. Nobody in their right mind would attack the three of them.
The mage Reinholt shrugs then says "I think he's crazy, so that's probably why he did it". The adjutant sighs, then he asks "How do you know he's a killer then?". "We slapped him around some, and he confessed" says the spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster.
The assistant to the local constable looks over at the two soldiers in the office with them, both of whom shrug. Then after cleaning his throat, the adjutant says "The constable isn't here at the moment". Infact he's gone north to see if he can find out anything about the murders along the road that leads to the northern mill towns.
He didn't inform his assistant, or anyone else for that matter. That he was going north to arrest the very same troll standing in this office. To blame the roadside murders on him. Since he's been unable to catch the actual killer.
"Well if there's a magician of some kind in attendance at court, I'm sure he or she will be able to find out if this fellow is the killer" says the spellcaster who was once the most powerful mage of his generation, to be found anywhere in the Southlands.
The adjutant looks over at the two soldiers, both of whom nod. He sighs, then says "Very well" the assistant to the local constable says to one of the soldiers "Karm, inform the lord chamberlain what's going on, i guess the earl will want to know" he continues with "And send a runner to tell sorcerer Mabiss who we have here" he then adds "I'm sure he'll get to the bottom of this".
One of the soldiers nods, then hurries from the office, while the rest of them remain. The roadside killer Barbél moans, but shuts up when Tarong the troll pulls on the rope that's tied around his wrists.
They arrived in Poldaér early this morning, and at the north gates of the city. A city that doesn't really have much in the way of walls, as it's always expanding. They were stopped by the earl's soldiers on duty there. Who wanted to know why they had someone tied up they were leading around on a rope.
Once they explained, they were escorted to the castle, well it's more of a palace than a castle, in the center of Poldaér, where the earl of the Almaeré fief holds court.
Presently they're in an outer building to one side of the central keep. Seems this building is where most of the administrative work for the fief is done. Where the army commander, as well as the tax collections, and the lord constable, and most importantly the lord chamberlain all have their offices.
As the adjutant frowns as he writes something down in a book, a ledger really. The mage Reinholt glances at lord Farque. Who just shrugs his broad, heavily armoured shoulders as they both sense the court sorcerer approaching.
The highly skilled swordmaster lifts his eyebrows in a questioning manner, and lord Farque quietly tells him in the elven language "Drop that spell you've got on him".
As the exiled Vexilian mage drops the stupor spell he has on Barbél, the undead warlord murmurs in trollish "Punch him in the back, not too hard, don't kill him".
Tarong lifts an eyebrow ridge when he hears that, and after slightly shrugging, he gives a short, swift punch to the small of Barbél's back. The roadside killer groans and drops to his knees.
"What's wrong with him?" asks the adjutant looking up from what he's writing "Who knows?" says Mira Reinholt who then adds "Probably feeling guilty for all those murders he's committed".
"Rough him up a bit" murmurs the heavily armoured deathlord in the troll language, knowing that Tarong with his naturally enhanced hearing, is able to understand him.
"Whatever you do, don't let him speak" continues the murmuring lord and ruler of the lands Farque in the language of the troll race.
"Get up you filthy killer" says Tarong the troll, who hauls the murderer Barbél up, then slaps him across the back and shoulders, telling him "Quit that moaning and groaning" the mill worker continues with "You're going to pay for what you've done to those poor innocent people you've killed".
Barbél opens his mouth to say something, but he groans in pain when Tarong drives a couple of his fingers into his back, just where he hit him before. The roadside killer gasps in pain, and almost falls down again, but Tarong keeps him standing, and tells him "And keep that guilty mouth of yours shut infront of your betters. We don't want to be hearing your filthy lies you murderer".
The adjutant lifts an eyebrow, but he doesn't say anything about the treatment towards the suspected killer. For all he knows, the fellow named Barbél really is the murderer who has killed a number of people on the road north from Poldaér since the autumn. And a little rough treatment towards him is the least he can expect if he's guilty of those deaths.
Just a short while later and the soldier named Karm returns, a few moments later, a robed sorcerer enters the office.
"Darmid what's this about some killer that's been caught?" asks the sorcerer Mabiss as he enters the office "This fellow here might be the one responsible for those murders on the road north" says the adjutant who is the assistant to the local constable, he continues with "He ran into these gentlemen here, and the troll there caught him".
The sorcerer, a bald man, of average height, in his early forties raises an eyebrow as he looks around at those in the adjutant's office. Darmid the adjutant has an open pack on his desk, it's on it's side, and the sorcerer can see a number of daggers and blades of various lengths in it.
Mabiss the sorcerer who is one of the advisors to earl Almaeré, looks at the three strangers and says "Mercenaries?" he looks at the large human, in the suit of full plate armour, who has a sword strapped his back, that's far too large in the opinion of Mabiss, and adds "Sir?" not knowing if he's a nobleman, knight, or more likely an avenger. Someone who is a former knight, having left their order, either voluntarily or kicked out because they no longer believe in their oaths to their order.
"Something like that" says lord Farque in a slightly dry tone of voice, the court sorcerer nods, then looks at the individual who is bound, wrists tied with rope, the rest of which is held by the a great big hulking troll.
"What's his name?" asks Mabiss the sorcerer, the adjutant looks at the mage Reinholt, who says "Barbél". "And you think him to be the killer preying on victims along the north road?" asks the spellcaster who is one of earl Almaeré's advisors "We know so" replies the exiled Vexilian mage who isn't worried about the sorcerer trying to sense if he's a spellcaster. As the amulet he wears on a chain around his neck, shields his power and ability to cast spells from any other practitioner of magic.
"I'll be the judge of that" says the sorcerer who casts a spell upon the short fellow, who looks a bit beaten up to be honest. A moment later and the court sorcerer blinks in surprise, and his mouth opens in surprise too.
He pauses for a moment, then murmurs "Holy shit" followed by "He's the killer alright". "He is?" says an astonished looking adjutant Darmid "He is" says the sorcerer Mabiss, who continues with "And it's not just those he's killed along the north road too" the advisor to the earl of the fief then adds "He's killed a number of other people over the last few years as well".
"Well I'll be" murmurs an astonished assistant to the local constable "Think there might be a reward for you lot" says the court sorcerer to the trio who captured the roadside killer. Sorcerer Mabiss frowns then says to the adjutant "Didn't sir Laudác leave to go north recently to investigate these killings?".
"Yes he did sorcerer" says the adjutant about his superior the local constable, who he doesn't particularly like working for, because constable Laudác is lazy, and most likely corrupt too. Though Darmid the adjutant has been unable to prove that.
"Probably only bothered going north now because the weather has cleared up a bit and it isn't so cold now" says the court sorcerer in a slightly dry tone of voice, making it clear his feelings about the local constable sir Laudác. Who he thinks is lazy, and a pretty incompetent keeper of the law. And only holds that position because he's related by marriage to earl Almaeré. As he's a cousin of the earl's wife.
To the two soldiers in the room, the court sorcerer says "Take the prisoner to the dungeons, with the constable not here at the moment, it'll be up to the earl when we execute him".
Barbél starts yelling when he hears that, until Tarong slaps him across the side of the face, instantly knocking him out. "Right, you three come along then" says the sorcerer Mabiss to lord Farque, Mira Reinholt the mage and Tarong the troll.
A little while later and the three of them are in a chamber in the main keep of the place, they're there with the lord chamberlain of the fief.
A rather short fellow, who unfortunately at a little over five foot tall, has to look up at the three of them. The shortest of whom, the mage Reinholt is around six foot tall.
"It's rather short notice, and considering there wasn't an actual reward posted for it" says the lord chamberlain who continues with "The earl thought it appropriate that you shall receive a reward anyway for the apprehension of that murderer who's been plaguing the travelers along the north road".
He holds out a hand, and his secretary hurries over with a decent sized coin bag. The lord chamberlain of the fief goes to hand it to the mage Reinholt, who tells him "It's his" as he points at Tarong the troll "He caught him" adds the once powerful mage.
The lord chamberlain nods his head, then hands the coin bag the troll, who until a few days ago, lived and worked in one of the mill towns in the north of the fief.
A little while later, and the trio of lord Farque, Mira Reinholt and Tarong the troll leave the palace like castle that's the ancestral home of the Almaeré family. As they enter the streets of the city of Poldaér, going across a square, that tomorrow will host the public execution of the roadside killer Barbél. Tarong the mill worker asks the two foreigners who saved his life, and have let him keep the twenty gold coins, the reward for the capture of Barbél "What will you two do now?".
"Leave Poldaér" is the reply of Mira Reinholt, who then adds "Look for an airship heading east to the capital Leeabra".
Tarong nods his head, and as he looks around, thinking about how Poldaér is still a little too close to his former town. Where word from there will eventually reach Poldaér about how the local constable sir Laudác and a squad of the earl's soldiers were killed by the two foreigners he's been with over the last few days. And how he's mixed up in it all.
Says to the mage Reinholt "I think i might come along with you" Tarong then adds "I've always wanted to go to Leeabra".
The once powerful mage glances at lord Farque and lifts a questioning eyebrow, the undead warlord just shrugs his broad, heavily armoured shoulders in reply. The spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster then says to the troll mill worker "Sure, you might as well come along with us" . . . . . .