Questioning the Forager

JP with Jiyn, Islana, Alexis and Gonyaul

Gonyaul looked to the heavens as the sound of thunder bludgeoned the air. The temperature noticeably dropped lower. Rain drops began falling in ever growing migrations down to earth. It was a chilling downpour.

Gonyaul noticed the farmhands, and rightly so, taking cover. Likewise, the reluctant forager they came to question was moving from the rain. He glanced at Jiyn and Islana tightening their cloaks.

In this moment he was grateful he had purchased a winter cloak, but that didn’t mean he wanted to remain in the rain. That would be foolish. Fortunately shelter, the barn, was an easy stone throw away.

He looked to Alexis. She wasn’t wearing a cloak. He undid his and offered the both of them shelter beneath it as they could make their way to the barn’s cover. He was giving her a greater share of the protective garment, causing more of his left side to get wet. He did not rush her, being mindful of her injuries.

He gestured with his head to the other two as well to follow them and get out of the chilling rain.

He laughed, “gneilhp kaelht km uel gnuey.”

Rain could be a great cleanser, like tears. And he was grateful for it in this moment, strangely enough, because seconds ago he started thinking negatively on himself and this snapped him out of it.

Perhaps it was the less than hospitable reception the farmhands gave them, or that he only caught every other word the forager said when he shouted faster. He was feeling a little like a ball and chain to the group because of the language and customs barrier.

Why hadn’t he tried harder over the past years to immerse himself more in the language. If he had, he wouldn’t be taking longer to process things and then fumbling to get something out. What was he even doing with these warriors and hunters investigating murders? He was just tagging along at this point in something that wasn’t his business nor responsibility?

Fortunately the thunder and cold rain had seemed to fix his waning attitude. And once they were safely under the barn’s overhang, Gonyaul left his cloak completely on Alexis’ shoulders and crossed his arms tightly around his midsection to keep warm.

His teeth chattered a bit, “mohnhk kaehnhp yeah hinvuali”.

Alexis found herself what she assumed to be the Gonyaul equivalent of dragged into the barn.
When he tried to leave his cloak with her, she finally decided that enough was enough.

“One moment.”

She took Gonyaul’s cloak and put it back around his shoulders with a stern expression. The young man could see now, that unlike him, she wasn’t shivering at all. Growing up in the Garrah highlands did provide with quite a bit of cold resistance.

With that done, she returned to the forager to continue her conversation.

Gonyaul did not argue, but was quick to accept the cloak back. He could see the rose still in her cheeks, while the color had already drained from his. He was not used to this kind of cold. He felt sheepish, like he was the only one in physical distress. It was a good thing the cloak had a hood.

“Thank you.”

Iskana noticed the others headed for shelter and Gonyaul's gesture. She said something to Jiyn about joining the others and headed towards the barn. The ground was turning more mud than dirt, making it slippery. Islana, being shorter than probably anyone else, took more time to get to the barn. Despite having a coat. She got rather wet on her way to the barn.

Once she was inside the barn she moved to the side. Her coat was drenched but that wasn't as much of a problem as her hair. Making sure she was out of range of accidently splashhng anyone. She reached up and started to pull the off the piece of leather that was holding her braid in place, her hair freezing in a braid would not be good. Her long red hair fell cascading behind her and slightly over her shoulder. She never wore her hair down completely in public because it could get jn the way. With her hair now down it was easy to see it actually was long enough to reach past the small of her back.

Islana was petite, there was no extra fat on her to absorb the cold. So while, she had gained some resistance from living in the woods she just didn't have the physical body to take the cold as well as others. The sudden realization came that she was shivering, she also noticed Gonyaul seemed to not be handling the cold well.

Islana walked up to Gonyaul and commented, "You'll warm up quicker if you move around." She then started walking around the barn trying to warm herself up.

Gonyaul nodded. The hood was pulled down as far as it could go over his face and the wings of the cloak were wrapped as form fitting as he could make them without exposing his arms. Taking her advice, he began to move around; containing himself within a five foot diameter.

During questioning Alexis made it a point not to be too forceful. She wasn’t here to judge this man, nor had she any desire to see him behind bars. She just needed answers and she did her best to convey that to him.

She payed very close attention to his reactions all the same.

Starting up with the usual procedure, she asked him to provide the circumstances that led to him find the bodies and call the guards. She inquired about the addled man and wether he noticed something more despite the shock he must had to have been in. She asked him about the time prior and after the incident, subtly pointing out that it seemed highly unlikely that this was the spontaneous deed of one single confused man. Had he noticed people that didn’t belong? More signs on the trees?

Then she pursued another line of questioning.
How long had he been working here? Did he know the confused man? If so, how had that man been before this happening? Had there been any signs of mental impairment before? And had something like this- strange carvings in trees, missing people, confused persons - happened before?

Finally, there was one more question she needed to ask.

And for that she made very sure she held his gaze with her own and no one could hear them but the two of them.

“One last thing. Why are you so afraid?”

There was no menace in her voice, no reproach. She just needed to know.

The forager looked at Alexis in disbelief. These adventurer types were all the same. Always surrounded by death and blood that they ignored how frightful that could be to normal folks.

"T'was a pile of death corpses, miss. Any man would be scared." He told her truthfully. "Them carvings are appearing everywhere deep in the woods. Found them while foraging. Been here a few months only. Know nothing about anything or other on other murders nor do I know the berk talking to the trees." He replies getting more and more uncomfortable.

Jiyn on the other hand had been curious about something else.

"Why did you left us as soon as we got to the glade?" He asked "You would have been safer with us armed men, if you were scared?"