Uphill Battle

[Dracos]

"We'll read as we go, I don't want to be surprised here.  It wouldn't be good.  Let's just make sure we're taking enough supplies and are well prepared for the eventuality of encounter.  What tools did they use to keep all these slaves in line anyhow?"

Dracos

[Carthrat]

Tom glances at the ground, wiping a hand over his head.

"We've been 'bred' to follow orders. Any orders," he replies, harshly. "It was lucky I woke up, so to speak, before there was.. further indoctrination."

[Dracos]

"Hmm, Found a solution to that?  Last we need is our friends here suddenly being told to kill us brutally," Dracos voice was considerably calm, given the explained circumstances.

Dracos

[Carthrat]

"Well, it doesn't work on me," replies Tom, proudly. "Anyway, I haven't got a sure solution, but I'm hoping that we'll develop enough of a.. hmm, sense of self to just ignore stupid commands."

He turns to the rest of the group, looking rather thoughtful. "Alright, everyone. What happens if two people give us.. two seperate orders, but we can only follow one?"

[Brian]

"We follow our leader," Seven says, blinking.  "Then we follow that leader -- you -- until they make us go through a gate again."  He says this like it's the most obvious and natural thing in the world, then shakes his head and gestures towards the house.  "Locked door, inside."

[Carthrat]

Tom nods.

Though he sounds a little nervous as he replies; "Alright. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, eh? Show me where this door is, then."

[Dracos]

"Hmm, what's your name?"  Dracos wondered.  "Anyhow, so if I told you to touch your toes, you'd ignore me?"

Dracos walked along with them, agreeing with Rat's goal of the moment.

Dracos

[Brian]

"Seven," he replies, turning around and leading the way into the house.  "Does Tom tell me to do what you say?"

The locked door is in the basement -- small wonder it didn't turn up initially.  The basement's a wine cellar, and barrels had been stacked in front of it.  Empty barrels, at a glance, but still.

[Carthrat]

"You don't *have* to do what Phil says," interjects Tom, grinning at the shorter man. "Or even what I say, for that matter. But if you're not sure what to do, then Phil probably has the right idea."

[Dracos]

"Mmm, he didn't immediately react and follow, so that's a good sign.  Not sure if it's truly safe, but we'll find out eventually I suppose.  Up with the ripping open?"

Dracos

[Carthrat]

"Yeah," replies Tom, sounding a little put out. "Yeah, alright."

Shoving the barrels out the way, Tom shoulder-rams the door! Once, twice, as many times as needed to break it down.

[Brian]

The door resists, but not for long.  After the fourth strike, it finally goes down.  Inside is an office, though it's dark, and requires the fetching of a lamp (gas, looks like) to spread illumination inside.

And inside is the information that Tom was looking for.  It appears that the reason the information in the library was so sparse was because the man who ran the operation wasn't the man who was responsible for training them.

That man is in this room, though someone else has killed him.  He is lying on his back in front of his desk, eyes wide, but clouded, mouth open in a scream that it seems no one heard.  A knife is protruding from his throat, and blood has stopped flowing, now merely pooling beneath him.  The knife is jet black, the blade, the handle, every bit of it, even the leather-wrapped (is that leather?) grip.  It's a perfectly uniform color, and the blade is slim, almost elegant.  It's also long enough to have a good three inches of blade free when thrust through someone's throat so hard it nails them to the floor.

Behind this man, probably an overseer, are loose sheafs of paper, a few personal effects (a rock?  Probably a paperweight.  A very fine musket that's been polished until it shines.  A sturdy looking but dependable dagger.  A flail with hooked talons on the ends, stained long ago with red blood that was never washed off), and the signs that someone was here first, and ransacked the place.  Most of the papers are just scattered everywhere, except that they're clear of the blood.

[Dracos]

"This cannot have  been done very long ago.  In fact, someone might still be here... worse, someone very skilled in assassination, given they must have done this after the revolt but before the our arrival in this room.  Seven, no one else but me has arrived here that you know of since following Tom?"

Dracos almost reflexively goes to work, gathering the papers that were left up quickly into a stack, ignoring the weapons for now and looking for any chance that something was missed or more specifically any signs left behind by the ransacker.

OOC:Switching points to use enhanced perception.

[Brian]

Curiously, Phil isn't actually certain that the man was killed after the revolt.  The timing is hard to gauge....  But the body has had enough time to cool, slightly.  Realistically, if this man was the overseer -- which the papers suggest he is -- he should have been on hand to deal with the revolt.

But instead, he was in his office.  But, why?  Or had he already been killed?

Without accurate clocks, and with Tom's somewhat confused memory of the affair (it was pretty brutal), it's difficult to say.  The dagger is not what did the man in, though.  It probably killed him, but to nail him to the floor ... he had to have been lying down in the first place.

Obviously, by the bloodflow, he was alive when he was stabbed ... but the lack of blood elsewhere raises some questions, too.

The paperwork is easy enough to gather up, but may take some time to sort out and read through.

"No one," Seven says stalwartly, before looking back over his shoulder.  His expression is troubled -- one of the others ran a message for him.  "Dust on the road," he says, shaking his head uncomfortably.  "Many people, probably, coming this way."

[Dracos]

"Already?!  That was way too quick.  We need to be long gone from this place now," Dracos snatched the papers and on second thought, grabs both daggers.  "His death is very odd.  Almost staged.  But we need to get out of here and finding out the details is for later."

Dracos hurried up the stairs, waving those who were near the supplies to grab them and get moving.

Dracos