PREVIOUS: 022: Trial, Day 1 - Part 2
Some time after the trial is ended for the day and the crowd of spectators disperse back to their daily lives (albeit with more invigorated gossip than usual), Jagal is finally locatable on this mortal plane again. Not far past a certain paper-mill-affiliated house, he stands by Miga in the shade of a view-blocking copse. Though she's speaking, he seems a bit distracted by the dilapidated ropewalk they're stationed beside.
MIGA: "They'd have me switch it up every few weeks, but this was the most common spot. Guess that guy doesn't get out much..."
MIGA: (flatly) "You good?"
Jagal keeps nodding along until he figures out there's nothing else being said to nod along to.
JAGAL: "Ah? Yeah, just—" (waves) "—trick of the light, sorry."
JAGAL: (needing a minute to remember what she actually just said) "Uh, 'that guy'?"
MIGA: "Uh-huh."
Miga gestures lazily towards the building.
MIGA: "That's the paper mill. The nerdy guy with the mustache in the jury, uh, not Duncan but the other guy? He lives there."
MIGA: "I dunno what his deal is."
JAGAL: "Yyeah, he didn't seem like he gets out much."
Jagal stoops to get a better look at the drop spot.
🎲 Jagal rolls Gather Information and gets a weak hit. We'll toss him a bone, but this is a good setup for a new NPC approaching...
Jagal reaches down and manages to pick out a dark hair. Too short to be Miga's, but Veren and Pearce didn't have dark hair... right? He's trying to remember.
While he's busy squinting at that, he doesn't seem to notice the encroaching footfalls. Miga doesn't either, somehow. It's been a long day.
But the encroaching footfalls don't seem to notice them, either—which is, presumably, the point of having a drop spot here. Whoever it is strides straight through the copse and onto the ropewalk before taking pause.
She's a perfectly rowdy-looking woman with a purple mohawk, and a large black tattoo on one arm. Tucked beneath it is a small inconspicuous package.
BECA: "Whoa. Wasn't expectin' a party. Pretty lameass-looking party at that."
Jagal jolts hard. He's abandoned the hair in favor of both daggers before he's even turned to look.
MIGA: "What are you...!"
Miga starts to draw her own weapon, but-- she hasn't seen that tattoo in years, except on her own arm. That's a Black Ridge Raider, and if you hurt one, you anger them all. What's she doing so close to Mossgrove? Are they finally after...
MIGA: (terse) "What do you want."
BECA: "Ohh, just passing by~"
Beca slowly reaches over to see if she can push one of the raised daggers down.
MIGA: "Wait, Jack, she's--" (whispers) "Look at her arm!"
Miga's breath hisses as she tries to warn Jagal before he retaliates.
Jagal is already lashing out in simple reflex but manages to freeze at the "wait" before any blood is drawn.
JAGAL: "Her..."
Jagal still doesn't lower his weapons, but his gaze drags down to the visible tattoo. Unless there's something else about her arm that's supposed to be concerning. He's not completely sure.
BECA: "Ahah, nice ink, right?"
She flexes a little to show off the stylized couple of mountains.
BECA: "But like I said, I'm just passin' through. Not looking for a fight..."
BECA: "Unless you are?"
By the gleam in her eye, it's a little hard to believe she isn't, in fact, looking for a fight. Jagal, meanwhile, seems to have woken up a little more now.
JAGAL: (tilting his head) "Depends. You got something worth fighting over?"
Jagal nods at the package.
It doesn't seem like the girl recognizes her... Miga keeps her hand on the hilt of her flail.
MIGA: "Yer damn far off the road t'be just passin' through. Y'get lost?"
BECA: "What, a girl can't get lost if she wants to?"
Beca leans in over the others a little, menacing but still casual.
BECA: "Maybe you should try it."
Jagal attempts to stand taller, not that it makes much difference.
JAGAL: "Oh, but this is such a nice little spot. I'd really rather stay."
Miga snorts at Jagal, then kicks the stone guarding the dropoff point's hidden burrow.
MIGA: "This what yer lookin' for, kid?"
BECA: "Pfff, yeah, all right."
Beca leans back again, leaving Jagal to resume his Cool Rebel Slouch (tm).
BECA: "So what, you work for 'em? Or this some real sad-lookin' sting?"
🎲 Uh oh! Jagal rolls Secure An Advantage and gets a miss with a match! We decide Beca falls for the ruse, but that's a bad thing...
JAGAL: "Please. If this was a sting, you'd never know it."
Jagal shrugs loosely, finally lowering the blades a bit.
JAGAL: "Yeah, we work for them. Tried to catch you earlier, but couldn't do it safely. This drop spot's getting shut down—had somebody more social move in despite our best efforts—"
Jagal gestures behind him at Hallr's place, then holds out a hand palm-up.
JAGAL: "—so I'll be taking that directly if you don't mind. Assuming it is the real deal?"
BECA: "Oh it's real, all right."
MIGA: "Uh..."
Miga picks up on the grift pretty quick, though she's not too happy Jagal's made this a "we" situation.
MIGA: "Yeah, next time use the spot behind the manor."
Jagal nods along, like he has any idea which of these big ol' houses is supposed to count as "the" manor.
Beca certainly seems satisfied they know what they're talking about. She carefully removes the package from its spot and offers it to Jagal.
JAGAL: "Much obliged."
The very second he gets his hands on the parcel, metal flashes.
JAGAL: (startled) "Gh—"
Jagal doesn't drop the goods but doesn't manage to jump back until he's already bleeding. The raider woman withdraws a wicked-looking knife in a wide arc, presumably to make a point of the spattering blood.
BECA: "You take that directly to him, too, why don't'cha?"
🎲 Jagal Endures Harm and gets a strong hit! He Embraces The Pain, so he gets -2 health but +1 momentum.
MIGA: "Shit!"
Miga's hand flies to her hip, but...
MIGA: "..."
She sighs and puts her hands up instead. Can't risk it, not now.
Thankfully, the raider just spits at their feet rather than trying for more damage. Seems she's only interested in a little casual offhand violence at the moment.
BECA: "And tell 'im he'll get worse than that if he tries ripping off Beca again."
Beca turns to stride away, still holding the knife out to let it drip a short trail behind her.
JAGAL: "..........."
Jagal puts more pressure on his side with a wince. It doesn't look lethal, but it's not great.
JAGAL: "Are you KIDDING me. I just fixed this shirt! Uuuugh."
Jagal seems too grievously annoyed to even worry about trying to follow her.
Miga holds her breath until the raider's out of earshot, then lets it out in a groan. She kicks the stone again, hard enough to dislodge it this time.
MIGA: "...Dammit, I've gone soft, huh? Were it just me, I woulda..."
She flexes her fingers, but Jagal's griping distracts her before she can wallow in her own self-pity too much.
MIGA: (snorts) "Can you walk?"
Completely unconcerned with whatever else Miga's got going on, Jagal shakes a leg out and grunts.
JAGAL: "Being stabbed to death on multiple occasions has yet to keep me from walking, funnily enough."
LUCYA: "Ye wot-- Auh!! Again?!"
Lucya approaches just in time to hear Jagal say something ridiculous and catch a glimpse of a figure disappearing through the trees. She immediately draws her axe, and only Miga's hiss stops her from charging after them.
MIGA: "Quiet, girl!"
LUCYA: "But they STABBED him!!"
MIGA: "She's a raider! Y'know what that means, right? Or do ya need to ask yer pa?"
LUCYA: "I dinnae-- Bah! So I'm supposed tae just let 'er go??"
MIGA: "Do y'want Mossgrove to continue existing?"
Jagal can't help snorting at Lucya being told to quiet down. He seems a little bemused by the rest, though.
JAGAL: "Uh, yeah, stabbed me? Why are you upset?"
Beginning to lose what little volume his voice has, he puts more pressure on the wound with a grunt. Ugh. He's definitely gonna have to pack this one.
JAGAL: "Far as I remember, we're trying to solve a murder today. Maybe don't give us another one just yet."
LUCYA: "Why, yer a friend! And me hired hand! I cannae pay a dead man iron, aye? Hm?"
Still rather put out, Lucya slings her axe back onto her belt and stoops to inspect the damage.
"Auh, but we must patch ye up again... What was she even doing here?!"
Jagal squints briefly. There are several things there he could comment on, but only one bit manages to make it all the way.
JAGAL: "...Wouldn't not having to pay me be a benefit for you."
JAGAL: (brighter) "Speaking of which!"
Jagal gives the package in his non-wound-pressuring hand a little waggle.
JAGAL: "Gonna bet whatever she was trying to pay the dead guy is worth getting stabbed for. Definitely not iron by the feel of it, but with everything he was dealing, maybe I'll keep my hopes up for a minute..." (fading)
If he wasn't unconscious in a minute. Right. Should probably deal with that first.
Jagal straightens up and attempts a few steps. His movements are clearly stiff with pain, but that seems like the one detail he's not complaining about. Yet.
JAGAL: "Doubt she'll be right back, but rather not take the chance."
LUCYA: "Wait, so she was here fer the... Eh??"
Lucya's not sure how something so small as that package could be worth so much, but she's more concerned with the wee man's staggering footsteps. Now that she can help with! She scoops him up gently and turns to Miga to grovel.
LUCYA: "Mrs. Miga, prithee, yer home is closer than mine..."
MIGA: "Hrm."
Miga's face is a bit inscrutable as she looks over the odd pair, but she motions for them to follow her along the back road.
Once he's off his feet, Jagal's suddenly gut-punched with the urge to just curl up and sleep until he's feeling better. But that's sure not happening.
JAGAL: (putting the package away) "Haah? It doesn't gotta... be anybody's home? Just... not here...?"
Jagal still hasn't really registered he's being carried, but he does swiftly retrieve some herbs while his hand's in his bag. Years of experience locating his styptics during moments of questionable consciousness.
🎲 Jagal rolls Heal and gets a miss with a match, but Lucya rolls heal and gets a strong hit with a match! We decide that means the next scene is successful but emotionally fraught lol.
The group returns to Stormfall Ironworks without incident, and Bevan ushers them inside. Though he's naturally quite concerned about the fellow bleeding out on his living room floor, he seems a little less unsettled and a little more pleased with the situation than perhaps he ought to be. He smiles at Lucya, then turns to sign with his wife.
MIGA: "We were... I'll tell ya in just a minute, okay? How's Togie?"
Miga finally lets her guard down just a little as she watches him deliver his report.
MIGA: "...Good. Thanks, Bev. Poor kid."
LUCYA: "I-I'm sorry ma'am, but could I have some more bandages...?"
Miga scowls briefly at Lucya, but Bevan's already disappeared into a back room. She sighs and limps over to sit on the floor next to them.
MIGA: "He's gettin' some." (to Jagal) "She really did a number on ya, huh?"
Jagal has been bordering close to delirious for a bit, but that's hard to distinguish from his normal state of mind, anyway.
JAGAL: (with a short, vague wave) "Making such a huuge deal outta a li'l friendly greeting stab..."
LUCYA: "Ye're ridiculous."
Lucya pulls the last strip of cloth out of her bag and carefully rolls up Jagal's shirt to inspect the wound. Not that she knows much about stab wounds except that it Looks Bad.
MIGA: "Looking ain't gonna make him stop bleeding! Ya gotta keep the pressure on it!"
LUCYA: "A-aye, ma'am..."
Having successfully soaked some packing with his favorite herbal solution, Jagal twists a bit to put it in place but needs to double-take. He only has two hands why are there more hands there. He then registers the talking and pieces it back together.
JAGAL: "I dunno, some stares put on a pretty good deal of pressure."
JAGAL: (attempting to nudge Lucya away) "Okay, shoo, I got it."
LUCYA: "Ye do not got it! Bah!"
Despite the bickering and Miga's occasional "guidance," Lucya miraculously manages to get Jagal to a fairly stable condition. After returning with a handful of bandages and some beverages, Bevan sits cross-legged next to Miga, waiting to hear what in the lands happened to them.
Before she gets around to explaining, though, Miga catches an oddly familiar glint of metal on Jagal's belt.
MIGA: "Hey. Can I see that?"
JAGAL: "What? No."
He answers without even checking what she's referring to. If it's his, it's his.
MIGA: "Hmm. It's that-- is that a..."
Lucya won't mess with Jagal's things if he doesn't want her to, but she will observe them.
LUCYA: "Eh? An arrowhead?"
MIGA: "Ha! And does it look like this?"
She rattles the arrowhead dangling from her ear.
Jagal stiffens a bit and attempts to casually nudge the arrowhead under the closest bag. The action really has no trace of subtlety in context.
JAGAL: "Don't they all look the same?" (tentatively stretching) "Anyway, we got plenty left to investigate, so it's about time to head out..."
MIGA: "I mean, not when they're black iron... Wonder if it was the same broad. Hah."
She looks almost wistful about quite literally taking an arrow to the knee.
JAGAL: “Sure, whatever that means.”
Jagal moves to push himself to his feet. Really time to get out of here now goodbye—
🎲 Jagal Faces Danger to try and scoot out, and rolls. ANOTHER miss with a match.
MIGA: "Huh, ya sure y'haven't-- she's real tall and her hair's all... Ah."
Miga sees the streak of green in Jagal's hair and decides not to press the issue. He doesn't seem to be listening at this point, anyway...
LUCYA: "Where d'ye think yer going?!"
JAGAL: “Investigating? Or are we just gonna magically find proof by sitting around all day?”
Already agitated, he dodges in a swift attempt to keep Lucya from stopping him… and immediately passes out. Blood loss is a binch.
LUCYA: "Auh!"
She kind of expected this to happen, but it's still unnerving to see her friend (is that what he is now, she wonders-- a friend?) collapse in her arms so quickly.
By the time Jagal comes to, he finds himself propped up on the couch, a bowl of dried fruit on the table next to him. Miga sits up on a stool across from him, and Lucya sits... on the floor, still.
LUCYA: "So that was why... Auh, Mrs. Miga, if only we had known--"
MIGA: "Your people woulda run me out! Don't you get it, girl?"
MIGA: "And because you can't keep your damn word..."
Lucya's been holding her own against her ex-mother-in-law-to-be, but that makes her quail.
LUCYA: "Th-that's not... I wish I could explain!"
MIGA: "Then do it!"
Between the injury and the latest already-fading nightmare, Jagal is in a lovely cold sweat by the time he resurfaces. He takes enough of a glance around to ascertain he isn't in immediate danger, and—oh, food.
He swipes a fruit piece while the girls seem sufficiently distracted with whatever all that is. He can't focus on it that well, but it's probably nothing he'd remember later, anyway. He just chews silently, still miming sleep in case something actually interesting slips. ...All things considered he probably should have prioritized water over food, but. Harder to sneak.
Lucya bites her lip. How to even put it into words?
LUCYA: "Well... It's nae Togan's fault, aye, he is a lovely wee man--"
MIGA: "I know that much! And yer ditching him for this bozo?"
Miga gestures to Jagal just as he's slipped another piece of fruit into his mouth, but neither woman seems to notice his ruse.
LUCYA: "Nay, nay! I have nae felt such love fer any man! Nae woman either, fer that matter. I've tried and tried, ma'am, but it just feels wrong! And the thought a building a home with someone, when I cannae return the love they give me, auh, it scares and entraps me..."
LUCYA: "My heart is ironsworn, Mrs. Miga. Thy dear son deserves better than that, aye?"
MIGA: "You got a flair for the dramatic, huh?"
Bevan, who's been lurking in the doorway, silently arrives to hand Lucya a bowl of fruit. He gives his wife The Look and signs something.
MIGA: "...I guess he did say... something like that, didn't he?"
MIGA: "So what happens now?"
Jagal's eyelid twitches a bit at "bozo," but he restrains himself from anything further. This conversation sure doesn't feel worth listening in on, though. He sneaks a glance to make sure the women are still thoroughly occupied, but it's too fleeting for him to spy Bevan with them.
Jagal tests the surface beneath him for any creaking, then silently pushes himself back to escape the couch. They won't catch him sneaking out of the building if he makes straight for the entrance. If he, uh. Can remember which way the entrance was.
MIGA: "It's not like this makes us any less in danger."
LUCYA: "Surely Pa can do something! I'll talk to him--" (catching herself) "Only if there is nae other choice! But we shall vouch for ye, ye're good folk, ye must stay..."
As he leaves, Bevan taps Lucya on the shoulder and points to the now empty couch.
LUCYA: "Get back here!!"
JAGAL: "Ah."
Jagal dips behind the couch, but he can't exactly see the entrance from there. And it's clearly already too late.
JAGAL: (ducking his head back out) "Why, so I can listen to more of your love life issues?"
Jagal makes a brief gag noise.
LUCYA: "Bah! What's yer bright idea then, with the gaping hole in yer gut?"
Lucya hops to her feet and pats down her dress. Miga seems quieter than usual.
JAGAL: "What do you mean, gaping, you couldn't even see any of the..."
Jagal vaguely gestures at the wound area, though he's already tugged his shirt back down. He huffs.
JAGAL: "But, I figured I'd actually go find the new dead guy?" (grimaces) "Unless they beat me to it. Sure wasted enough time for that."
LUCYA: "Nae in that condition! 'Twas a half-day's journey, aye? Pa is nae fool, he shall give us the details we need..."
She trundles over and offers him a hand up.
LUCYA: "Can ye walk? We must go tae see Granny."
Jagal squints at her, though it's not clear whether it's in disbelief or if he just needs a second to catch up. He uses the couch to push himself to his feet, with an entirely unnecessary level of pointedness.
JAGAL: "Yes? Been able to walk the whole time."
Jagal doesn't question the Granny mention, if only because he vaguely remembers her being around somewhere, so maybe she's relevant to the investigation.
Lucya sighs and turns back to the blacksmiths meekly.
LUCYA: "Thank ye kindly fer yer help, Mrs. Miga, Mr. Bevan..."
Her hand rests on the head of her axe.
LUCYA: "Togan will be safe. I swear it."
MIGA: "..."
Miga still scowls a little, but doesn't say anything. Bevan smiles briefly and signs a "thank you".
JAGAL: "Yeah, what she said."
Jagal doesn't even fully wave as he swipes a handful of fruit and gets walking.
NEXT: 024: Granny Dearest