PREVIOUS: 009: Juggling Jagals
Mossgrove Outskirts
🎲 Lucya Undertakes a Journey this time, and gets a weak hit. Since we're in familiar territory for her now, we decide to Resupply as well, and get a strong hit.
Lucya's still rattled from the ghostie, but she starts recognizing more of the land as they press on. She finds a good stash of morels and leafy greens.
Jagal is more concerned with hunting down herbs he might not find much farther north, but either way it's good to have something proper to focus on after all that. Not that he doesn't keep freezing up at every little breeze for a while.
The trees grow taller as they move along-- the famous Mossgrove oaks, green with fresh foilage after the long winter. Plumes of smoke in the distance indicate they've almost reached their destination.
Lucya slows down and glances off the marked path.
LUCYA: "...Aye, we're almost there, but..."
JAGAL: (looking warily for anything that may have gotten her attention) " 'But'?"
LUCYA: "Auh, I can't just walk up tae the town square! There'll be a big hullabaloo!"
LUCYA: "But, if we can sneek over t'the farm, there's this spot where me and me brothers would run off tae, aye? Maybe they'll have an idea a what tae do..."
JAGAL; "Aww, you don't want a hullabaloo? But it sounded so exciting."
LUCYA: "Not if I can help it! Me folks have got enough trouble already!"
JAGAL: (eyebrow raised) "Did I hear a 'we'? Are you planning on sneaking here? I know this is your home territory, but, uh." (giving her a brief once-over) "Got my doubts."
LUCYA: "Aye, but I know how tae give the town a wide enough berth without gettin' lost... And ye can sneek, ye can tell me if the wee boys are there first, aye?"
Jagal snorts and starts to stretch.
JAGAL: "Your 'wee boys' got names or descriptions?"
LUCYA: "Ah, Brajan's about this tall, he's the one with brown hair, and Aleksy's about this tall and he's a chubby wee thing..."
Lucya gestures to indicate their heights. Both of her hands are over Jagal's head.
LUCYA: "Really, ye'll know 'em when ye see 'em!"
Jagal is briefly afflicted with a touch of The Face™ on his own part before moving along.
JAGAL: "Right, got it. Let's see what we can do."
🎲 Jagal rolls Secure Advantage (Shadow) to scope out the situation, and Lucya rolls to aid. Lucya gets a miss, but Jagal gets a weak hit.
Lucya tries to give him directions, but when all the landmarks are unmarked trees, it's hard to follow.
Jagal is keeping up with that explanation about as well as could be expected, but he's sure he'll be fine. Just gotta sneak around until he can find those two.
Mossgrove Estate
One thing that Lucya does manage to describe fairly well is her family home, the Mossgrove estate. It's a decently sized, two-story cottage next to a creek, far enough from the current town square for them to have their privacy. A few goats and chickens roam the property, and the garden has just been sown.
Further upstream, on the other side of a hill, is where Jagal finally finds their hiding spot. Two young men sit by the edge of the creek, the older one talking animatedly as the younger one seems to be drawing something.
BRAJAN: "...can ye believe that?! After everything he's..."
Jagal needs a minute to come to terms with the sheer size of the estate before moving on. He still manages to creep along normally the rest of the way—until he's suddenly seated straight across from the brothers.
JAGAL: "Hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
BRAJAN: "WAUHHH!! Who are you?!"
ALEKSY: "Hi?"
JAGAL: (snorts to himself) "Halfway runs in the family, all right."
JAGAL: "The Jackal! Pleasure to meet you—Brajan and Aleksy, yeah? I'm here for your sister's sake—she's hanging out a little farther back there..."
Brajan jumps to his feet and tries to grab Jagal by the shirt collar.
BRAJAN: "What did ye do t'her?!"
🎲 Jagal rolls Face Danger to dodge, as a bit. He gets a 1 on his d6, for a total score of 3... but the d10s are 1 and 2, so somehow, he gets a strong hit. Incredible.
Jagal sidesteps him without the slightest effort.
JAGAL: "Heyyy, let's calm down. I haven't done anything to her."
Brajan recovers from his stumble, and gives Aleksy a look of "ye didn't see that." The boy snickers anyway.
BRAJAN: "W... Well of course ye didn't! Ye couldn't! She could beat ye up like nobody's business, she could!"
ALEKSY: "I saw her fight a bear once."
BRAJAN: "B-but then... Why is she here?"
JAGAL: (waving a hand at Aleksy's comment) "Yeah, yeah, we've all fought bears."
JAGAL: "Of course I couldn't, and that's why you immediately assumed I had, huh?"
JAGAL: (leaning back casually) "Well, I'd like to deliver her the rest of the way to you safely..."
BRAJAN: "W-what?! Yer a rogue! A scoundrel! Auhh, this is the last thing we need right now..."
Aleksy gives Jagal a vestige of The Look™, but it turns back into a smile.
ALEKSY: "Aye, ye want a ransom or somethin'?"
BRAJAN: "We can't do that!! We gotta--"
ALEKSY: "I can get ye some uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh goat cheese?"
JAGAL: "Well, that could be a start..."
ALEKSY: "Oh ye actually want some? This batch isn't quite ripe yet..."
BRAJAN: "Quit bargaining with this hooligan!!!"
JAGAL: "I mean, if you don't want to bargain, I can just start making demands outright. Let's see..."
Lucya hears the hollering as she finally approaches the creek, and gives up making any attempt at stealth except for trying to keep her voice down.
LUCYA: "Ye wee lil stinker, I oughtae--"
JAGAL: (looking over his shoulder at her approach) "Oh curses, the hostage has escaped my villainous clutches."
ALEKSY: "Lulu!!!"
Aleksy charges straight at Lucya and jumps up into her arms. She catches him as if this was a daily occurrence, despite him being just as tall as Jagal and twice as heavy.
Brajan looks at Lucya and Jagal and Lucya and Jagal again.
BRAJAN: "What... Was that s'posed to be a prank?? At a time like this?!"
He forgets his blustering, though, as Lucya leans down to hug him with her free arm.
LUCYA: "I'm okay! But keep yer voices down, aye?"
JAGAL: (in the throes of snickers) "Lulu??"
Lucya gives him a death glare, but lets it slide for now.
Jagal trails off at the sight of the big loving sibling hug and exhales, picking out a coin to start rolling around his knuckles instead.
JAGAL: "Anyway, she was hoping to see the parents again but needed your help figuring out the best way to do it. That sound right?"
LUCYA: "Aye, we sought a scryin' mage in Lostmoor, and we've got that Mr. Bartender's payment here..."
BRAJAN: "So that's all it is, that's good..."
ALEKSY: "Ma and Pa won't be back home fer a while, though."
LUCYA: "At this time a day...?"
LUCYA: "Auhh, but, d'ye think it'd be alright fer me t'see 'em? Or would it upset Pa..."
Brajan and Aleksy look at each other. Brajan lets out a short, manic laugh.
ALEKSY: "Eh, put it this way, don't think ye're gonna upset anybody more than they already are..."
BRAJAN: "Y-yer just in time actually! Yer never ginnae believe this..."
Jagal watches, vaguely curious. Must be somebody dead, but apparently not her pa? Good, be real awkward if they had to forsake the delivery vow.
LUCYA: "Eh...?"
BRAJAN: "There's been a murder! And guess which poor sap they've got in the stocks for it?!"
BRAJAN: "It's Togan...!"
LUCYA: "What?! He'd never hurt a fly! But who was..."
Jagal halfway laughs to himself at that sentiment, but only just.
ALEKSY: "Mr. Pearce, aye?"
BRAJAN: "Aye, Mr. Pearce, b-but they won't tell us more than that! Pa willnae even let me look around..."
LUCYA: "Mr. Pearce...?"
Lucya looks back at Jagal nervously, and tries to mouth something to him without her brothers seeing.
LUCYA: "That's nae who we saw in the forest..."
Jagal looks mildly more interested now.
JAGAL: (mouthing back) "Who was that, then?"
LUCYA: "I dinnae..."
BRAJAN: "...W-what are ye standin' there for?! Ye have to help him!"
JAGAL: (raising an eyebrow) "Like a jailbreak?"
ALEKSY: "We don't have a jail."
BRAJAN: "Nay, he's just in the stocks in the town square. But he's got nobody! Just 'cause his folks don't get along with everyone... It's not fair!"
LUCYA: "Nay, it's not... Poor Togan..."
JAGAL: "Ah, well that's less exciting."
Jagal squints briefly at "got nobody" followed immediately by "his folks" but isn't gonna worry about it.
JAGAL: "Sooo... Your dad gonna be around the square somewhere? We did kinda vow to get something to him."
BRAJAN: "Auh!! Don't ye care at all?!"
ALEKSY: "Ye should probably just leave it at the house. Can I see...?"
Without asking, Aleksy reaches into the basket and pulls back the burlap on the jar.
ALEKSY: "Oh, it's a big one!~"
JAGAL: (not remotely sounding like he cares) "It sounds unfortunate, sure?"
Jagal seems on the verge of stopping Aleksy—
JAGAL: "Ah, right, specified we wouldn't tamper with the contents. Got that part right, at least."
Jagal peers at the jar. Inside, resting on a branch in a damp bed of leaves, is an enormous striped snail.
JAGAL: "...........Huh."
ALEKSY: "I can keep an eye on it, I'm not goin' anywhere."
Brajan sighs.
BRAJAN: "Nor am I, seems like... But! If ye find anything out, ye'll tell me, aye?! Maybe I can help..."
LUCYA: "Aye, of course, Brajan... Auh, I've only been gone a few days, and already this..."
LUCYA: (to Jagal) "It should be alright tae leave it, aye? The boys won't mess with it."
JAGAL: "Eh, close enough, I guess."
Lucya hands the basket to Aleksy, who trundles off back to the house. Brajan follows, after hugging Lucya one more time. She sighs as they leave.
LUCYA: "Auh, of all things an' people..."
JAGAL: "Hey, at least Mr. Won't Hurt a Fly isn't dead!" (pauses) "Yet. How long do criminals usually have around here?"
LUCYA: "Eh? We dinnae do such a thing... I'm nae sure we've even had a murder here before..."
LUCYA: "This town hasnae been a 'town' as such fer very long... But I can tell ye one thing."
Lucya looks uncharacteristically grave.
LUCYA: "He didnae do it. That man, Togan, I know him mighty well, fer ye see... He was supposed tae be my husband."
Jagal clearly doesn’t see how any of this follows logically, aside from the alternate reason they don’t have a jail.
JAGAL: “Riiight… Good to know you’re not at all biased here.”
She laughs wryly.
LUCYA: "Ach, there's a lotta context yer missin' here, wee man. But, I think ye'll see what I mean soon enough..."
NEXT: 011: Togan and the Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Day