13 - 10/30/25 : Onus Probandi

 

"Ninety years I spent suffering, wallowing in my own self-pity, and every day Joran would wake up and force me to keep going, to never give up. All that time, and I never once thought that he was going through just as much pain as I was."  

Staunton Vhane

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  The march to Drezen continued, and in between long stretches of road and skirmishes against demonic forces, the party spent time tending to their affairs and speaking with their companions.   Ulbrig informed Alanis one morning that she was something he could not 'figure out'. He expressed his doubts about her arcane and necromantic magic, talked about how his people handled the dead, and ruminated about how witches like Areelu Vorlesh were what destroyed Sarkoris. Ulbrig's people believed that the body was a mere shell left behind by the spirit after death, and yet still the art of necromancy greatly unnerved him, as did all arcane magic.   In an effort to explain her perspective, Alanis likened the bones in the ground to iron that could simply be excavated and forged into tools to fight the Worldwound. Ulbrig was still perplexed and cautious, but at least lessened his hostility towards Alanis' magics.   Meanwhile, Sosiel asked Satomi about her homeland's art and if she had any in her possession. She admitted that she didn't have anything substantial, but had something sentimental; the scroll she had recovered from Tacitus Manor, upon which was scribbled a few doodles of herself and her sisters. Sosiel became wistful when seeing this and told Satomi about his older brother Trever, who had become a paladin of Shelyn and ventured to Mendev to join the crusades, but had since disappeared. Seeking Trever was in fact the reason why Sosiel had come to Mendev in the first place, and the two related over their missing siblings. They agreed to meet later for a cultural exchange regarding their deities, and for some caligraphy practice.   While Hilda went out on her daily walks in the wilderness while the army was camped, Sylvia gradually built up the courage to follow and eventually talk to Hilda on these excursions. Sylvia was happy to say that she had found a discipline to focus on in her magical studies; given the war that she had unexpectedly found herself in the middle of, she had decided to hone in on defensive magecraft, pursuing the path of the War Mage.   The apprentice also stated that she was a bit frustrated about how informal her education had been, but came to realize that Hilda was just as new to tutoring as she herself was to being tutored. Sylvia suggested that they try to learn together, and demonstrated her potential by showing Hilda a spell she had concocted; shivering ray, a cold variant of Hilda's signature scorching ray. Hilda noted to herself that this was an impressive feat for such a novice wizard, and an indication of explosive growth in her arcane capabilities. She agreed that she would work more closely with Sylvia in the future to continue developing her talents further.   While the army was camped out around a day's march away from Drezen, Wenduag returned to the Knight-Commanders and tossed in a suspect in the vescavor incident; Tenacity, a tiefling corporal under the crusade banner who quickly confessed to his side-hustle of operating a small black market of contraband within the crusade ranks.   Tenacity explained that his operation was an anonymous, dead-drop-based exchange that dealt in minor demonic artifacts and materials. He explained that many crusaders had an interest in such items for a variety of reasons, ranging from scholarly interest to macabre fascination. One of the items he had on hand was in fact a sealed jar of vescavor slime, pungent with queen pheromones. He was quick to clarify, however, that he was not the one that had spread the slime the morning of the attack - in fact, he claimed that it had been stolen, and the rest of his hidden stash had been burned.   The Commanders considered the situation and the information Tenacity provided them with, and narrowed down their list of suspects based on the following information;  

• The suspect would have had to take great pains to mask their scent, since vescavor slime was notoriously odorous. A mere bath wouldn't cut it; they would have to cover it with something equally powerful.
• The suspect would have had to be close enough to the rank-and-file to move among them without drawing too much attention, and to have heard rumors about Tenacity's operation in the first place.
• The suspect would have had to be close enough to the rank-and-file to move among them without drawing too much attention, and to have heard rumors about Tenacity's operation in the first place.
• The suspect was likely a veteran crusader or someone who had detailed knowledge on a variety of demons, as vescavors and the properties of their pheromones were not exactly common demonic lore.

  After deliberating among themselves and with Irabeth, Anevia, Tenacity, and Wenduag, the party settled on two possible suspects;  

• Nurah Dendiwahr, the halfling historian who had been assigned as chronicler of the Fifth Crusade by Queen Galfrey, due to her arcane ability as a bard, her extensive education in demonology, and her love of perfume.
• Staunton Vhane, who was still not far removed from a near-betrayal, would have easily been able to cover up his scent with the many smells produced by his brother's forge, had fought in the crusades longer than nearly anyone, and was not an uncommon sight among the rank-and-file despite his infamy.

  Before calling in anyone, Irabeth also recommended that Tenacity see some sort of punishment, as clandestine dealing of demonic materials was a serious crime, to say nothing of black marketeering or of how his carelessness nearly resulted in a disaster. The initial offense alone was enough to warrant death; however, the Knight-Commanders (save for Elseth, who had no strong opinion outside of finding the true perpetrator and bringing them to justice) believed that it would instead be better to have Tenacity stripped of his rank and assigned to the Condemned to earn his redemption. They decided to place him directly under Wenduag's command as well, in order to help her snuff out the perpetrator should any new information arise.   After having Irabeth prepare a zone of truth, the group first called in Nurah Dendiwahr. The chronicler was initially excited to speak to the Knight-Commanders, but was alarmed when she realized what was going on. Despite this, she acquiesced to speaking under the zone of truth. By Satomi's instructions, she plainly stated the phrase 'I had nothing to do with the vescavor attack', clearing her of suspicion.   Nurah offered what knowledge she could to the investigation, although there was not much pertinent information that had not already been gleaned in their previous investigations or already stated by the highly knowledgeable Anevia. Wondering if an addict had possibly swiped the slime, Elseth inquired about whether or not vescavor pheromones had any narcotic properties; Nurah admitted that she had never heard of such a use for it, and believed it to be almost certainly deadly when ingested, but also couldn't completely discount the possibility.   The group then called in Staunton, collectively dreading the high possibility of another betrayal. Staunton entered the zone of truth with a look of resignation, but he too was able to state his innocence within the zone. This cleared him as well - however, inquiries about any possible involvement from his brother Joran caused Staunton to freeze up.   Staunton admitted that ever since he had been spared at the top of the Grey Garrison, Joran had been acting somewhat strangely; exhibiting eagerness to accompany the crusades, working at the forge outside of his ordinary schedule, and leaving home at strange hours. These habits had continued after they had joined the march to Drezen, with Joran wandering about all hours of the night, as if preoccupied. Staunton had thought little of it, having far too much faith in his little brother to suspect anything of him.   The commanders began to see how Joran would fit the profile of the suspect; he had participated in the crusades almost as long as Staunton, had worked with an extensive amount of demonic material in his time, would have been easily able to mask his scent with the ash and fire of the forge, and would not have aroused any suspicion while walking about the camp. They decided to call him in to be questioned as well, but Staunton revealed in a devastated tone of voice that Joran had already left the camp.   When asked, Staunton mentioned how Joran would regularly comb the sites of skirmishes with demonic forces after the army had left them, looking for abandoned steel and other items that could be melted down and repurposed at the forge. These trips were ordinarily undertaken alongside quartermaster Garms, but Joran had gone on this particular jaunt alone, fortuitously before he would have been able to be questioned. He suspected that Joran was easily a few hours away from the camp at that time.   Although Drezen loomed overhead, the party decided to dedicate some time and resources to locating Joran and bringing him in to face justice. Satomi took a moment to inform Wenduag via sending of Joran's flight and tasked her with tracking him. Staunton blamed himself for his brother's potential turning, and begged the commanders to extend any punishment they intended for Joran to him as well. Satomi promised that she would try to do everything she could to give Joran the same opportunity that Staunton had been given; such decisions would have to wait, however, until the smith could be found…