Fire and Rain

[Brian]

"Yes," Lammermore says, nodding.  "I claimed it was locked away as a trap.  In truth, it was in Ekim's forge.  None saw it removed, and there were twenty guards watching the area."

[Bjorn]

"There were guards watching this place," Bjorn points out grimly, "and it stopped neither the killing nor the assassin from escaping."  His eyes stray over to the bodies again, and then he looks back at Lammermore.  "It might be excessive caution," he says quietly, "but I think it might be best if I went to ask Lord Ekim to confirm that he still has the knife.  Unless you have objections, Sir Lammermore?"

[Brian]

"We already know he doesn't," Lammermore clarifies.  "Which was the point."  He shrugs helplessly.  "So.  This is what we have."  He gestures to the corpses vaguely, and grimaces.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn studies the corpses again.  Looks like they were butchered, he thinks.  Hm.  Blood stops flowing on death, so amount of blood spread around is an indicator of how much was done when they were alive, right?  Just how messy is this place?

Out loud, to Lammermore, he asks, "Has anyone gone looking for Mistress Lindsey?"

[Brian]

There's not actually too much blood lying around -- the guards (on closer examination) were probably killed first, and then hacked at later.  It would take a bit of time, one supposes, to find the keys, unlock all the locked doors in the room, and probably have an argument or conversation with the prisoners who were released.  Though, an exact number on other prisoners would be helpful.

[Bjorn]

"And what of the other prisoners?" he asks, looking at Lammermore.  "There were... three others, you said?  What happened to them?"

[Brian]

"No sign of them," Lammermore says, frowning.  "Nothing to make them stand out in a crowd when they presumably fled."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn frowns.  "Didn't the guards at the entry see them leave?"

[Brian]

Lammermore blinks.  "They couldn't all have snuck past," he says, thinking about this.  "Hm.  Perhaps they got lost ... and are stuck in the Interer's quarters--"  No sooner does he say this than the four Blackguards around Kevin step away and break into a full-out run for the exit.  The other guards leap out of the way.

Kevin looks vexed, and rubs at his chin thoughtfully.

Lammermore grunts.  "Well," he says dryly.  "I imagine we'll find out about _that_ soon enough ... though I doubt there are any unwatched passages between here and the Interer's domain."  He nods at a guard, and calls him over.  "You!  Robert!  You know this area -- find out every place between here and the stairs leading to the keep proper that three prisoners could be hiding."  Robert nods, and turns to leave, and Lammermore quickly adds, "But stay away from the Interer's areas."

The guard nods again, and jogs away.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn turns and studies the walls, frowning, before looking down at the filthy floor to see if he can spot footprints.  "Is there any chance of another way to enter this room?" he says, thoughtfully.

[Brian]

"Only if it were through a cell.  And those are always kept locked," Lammermore says, shaking his head, and then glancing at the executioner's block.  "...or under that," he adds.

Bjorn doesn't see any footprints (bloody or otherwise) throughout the room.  But there is a large grating in the floor around the stone block.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn delicately steps through the mess over to the grating, and then squats down, examining both it and whatever's underneath it carefully without touching it.

[Brian]

About maybe ten CM below the grating, there's a layer of dark, brackish water, flecked with ice.  No telling how deep it is.  Or if it's really water.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn studies the grate itself, looking for scratches, scrapes in the dirt, or rust broken loose that might suggest the grate had been moved recently.

[Brian]

The grate looks pretty sturdy.  It's rusty, pitted, and coated generously in grime.

It doesn't seem likely that someone would be able to get in beneath it, and the giant stone block is wedging it in place pretty well.  Also, the stone block is neatly centered, but not actually attatched to the grate.  Anyone who moved the grate would need to be pretty careful to avoid moving the weight from the center.