After the events of the last weeks revolving around House Kraken, Laleh decided she couldn't sit by and wait around anymore. So many had told her the House was bad, but to have attempted to kidnap the Judge of the Central District so blatantly - and to then send a clearly marked woman into the Lion to try and lead more people into a trap? It didn't add up...it was too blatant and obvious, but...maybe that's what they wanted?

She decided to find out.

She started at the docks, wandering around near the pier the ship had been anchored at and talking with the fishermen and others there. She was careful in her inquiries not to mention the Kraken herself, or even to implicate herself in the events that night. She wanted true, raw answers from the people she spoke to - so she asked questions about the ship ("How long was it there before the incident?", "Who did it belong to?", "How many people does it take to sail a ship of that size?"), the Captain ("Did you know the Captain?", "Did the Captain survive the ship catching flame?") and the crew ("How many of the crew survived?", "Do you know what guild or house the crew worked for?", "Were they taking on new crew members before the accident?", "Were there any women in their crew?")

(( Laleh is gathering information, attempting to find out whatever she can about the Kraken involvement in the kidnapping and attempted murder of the Judge, as well as the woman who attacked her and others in the Lion. ))

Dockworkers and Sailors from many other ships tell Laleh that the "Whispering Whore" was indeed a Kraken ship and was attacked 3 days ago by an unknown group with special abilities. The "Whispering Whore" was in port a day and half before the attack. None of the Crew survived nor the Captain. Port Authority reports that the ship was ransacked; the Ship's Logbook, map and lockbox were stolen. A Captain of the Port Authority reports they are looking into the matter separately. A Captain of House Kraken reports that the "Whispering Whore"'s Captain had reported an escort mission hours before the attack happened. The ship was known to be paid well for escort missions.

She pursues the line of investigation further, looking to find out if any crew had disembarked prior to the "escort mission" and, who the captain actually was for the "Whispering Whore" ship. Who were they supposed to be escorting?

If she can find out the name of the Captain, she tries also to find out more about them - what sort of captain was he, what sort of individual, and what sort of reputation did they have?

While not knowing Laleh was investigating the ship and crew of the Whispering Whore. Baele was doing his own investigation. And being of House Kraken he wasn't so indirect. He was going through records from the house about the captain, crew and then finding their mates that were still around to find out exactly WTF was going on.

Laleh finds out Captain of the "Whispering Whore" was Brialtar Trela, if anyone of the crew was unaccounted for prior to the attack then they are in hiding. As for whom or what was to be escorted that information is unknown as the logbooks are missing.

She decided to chase down the leads she could - She tried to learn as much as possible about who Brialtar was, and what she looked like...was she the woman in the Captain's Quarters? Or was she perhaps the Sorceress?

That would become her next line of inquiry. She described the sorceress to people on the docks - asking if they knew her from the area, perhaps from one of the ships. Perhaps from somewhere else nearby?

She remained unaware of Baele's own line of inquiry, and uncertain where her own would lead to. That it was actually a Kraken ship surprised her somewhat, but she knew the Logbook had been taken already, as she remembered people searching the ship the night they were aboard.

Baele is not 100% certain about any information he obtained as being honest to him. He found out two crewmates were reported as "AWOL" prior to the attack on the "Whispering Whore". House Records of Brialtar Trela showed she was a stern Captain and very rarely was late arriving in destination port late. She almost always had her cargo intact aside one occasion fending off Pirates. Baele was unable to locate the two missing crewmen.

Laleh was able to discover that Brialtar Trela was a Minotaur that had earned the right through single combat to be Captain. Noone on the Docks knew anything about the Sorceress that was involved in the attack on the Golden Lion Tavern & Inn.

While this was going on, Vanessa dropped into the Golden Lion to find out when Laleh would be available for another swimming lesson. Presumably Laleh would question Vanessa if she knew anything but Vanessa pleaded ignorance. She even looked a bit horrified that her House could be involved in judge-knapping.

"But, if you don't want to be a friend any more", she finally said. "I guess I can understand".

As far as Laleh can tell, Vanessa is telling the truth as she knows it.

Laleh doesn't question Vanessa about it - in fact, she doesn't mention it at all. For all she knew, House Kraken was out to get her for her involvement in the various affairs that had been foiled recently, but even if not, she couldn't imagine the house at the moment, being pleased with some common woman going around asking questions about the houses implications in some serious crimes. It's why she was carefully avoiding any questions that might raise doubts about the houses intent as she was inquiring throughout her discussions.

She's very pleasant with Vanessa when she comes by, cordial and formal as always, and suggests they could try another swimming lesson any time Vanessa had available that Laleh isn't working, providing the woman with her schedule to that effect, and just asks that Vanessa try and let her know enough in advance so she can have swimming attire at hand when she decides the best time.

But her investigation is not finished at all. If the sorceress wasn't known on the docks, then she needed to find somewhere that she was. Knowing that the map pointed to a place in Frost lands, she decides to try inquiring about the Sorceress with merchants and people from that area that come in to the Lion. Again, she keeps her questions generic - describing the woman in her natural form to some, and in her disguised form to others, and asking if they'd seen her, saying she'd like to get in touch with her friends or family.

Lelah is able to find that girl fitting the description of the Sorceress' disguise does live on a farm that is owned by House Frost. Originally the land and the farm was owned by House Tenderfoot but as House Frost is their Vassel; the lands was given to House Frost when Floom Frost became a Lord. The farm is about a 6 miles from the Frostville ruins [which is under reconstruction]. And is known to produce Sheep, Wheat, Grain and Dragonfruit.

It was an odd sight for those that knew the woman - to see her with a backpack over her shoulders containing some travelling gear, and her normal dress replaced with travelling dress, including a heavier skirt, a full sleeved shirt, and a cloak over her back - though she kept the hood down.

She had prepared herself in the early hours one morning, just this way, and set off with the workers and their escort towards Frostville, making light conversation with them about the road and the weather, how the repairs were going, and what sort of dangers they'd encountered in their efforts to rebuild the village. Eventually, she swung the discussion towards the outlying farmlands, and the families that own them. Slowly, she works her way towards details about the family with the young daughter, to find out if perhaps the workers or the escort knew about them, had seen them recently, or heard from them at least.

She travelled with her two companions - The charming young man, Ai'Thorn, a Psionic who had been on the vessel with her and in the Tavern at the time of the attack - and the self proclaimed 'Mistress of Flesh' Elo, a halfling woman with Psionic talents of her own - to Frostville, the farm, and back again.

The breeze carried the scent of the grain and wheat on it as it rippled through the fields around them while the trio traveled. From Frostville, it was just another mile to get to the farmstead they were heading to. At one point the group considered cutting across the fields to hasten their approach a bit, but they decided against it for worry of losing each other in the height of it all. It was fortunate that they chose not to - for as they turned the corner on the roads approach to the farm, the sight they beheld was a massacre they would not have been able to see from within the wheat.

At least twenty cattle lay strewn about the yard and road before them, slaughtered where they tried to run - their blood baked into the grass and dirt, corpses festering in the sun. A smell of rot touched the groups nose as they approached, not as bad as they might have expected, but the fresh air and breeze carried the scent away, and the carrion birds circled overhead, ready to begin their feast. It wasn't magic or poison that had done this, but blades. Men, or some form thereof, had murdered these poor beasts...likely the same men that had left the front door of the house open to the world outside.

Within, the stench was much worse, and caused the trios stomachs to churn - though only one actually succumbed to the effects of it and lost their previous meals to the foulness of it all. The man that had been killed was tied to a chair, his throat sliced, his body left to decay where he'd been sat through his ordeal. Unable to do anything for him, the trio looked for other bodies - but a sound drew their eyes to the floor, where a trapdoor into a cellar carried them down.

Down in the cellar, the woman and her children that they had found all suffered. Not only were they hungry, and frightened, but the soft sounds of whimpering and their failed efforts at talking gave reason to the blood that had dried to their chins and shirts. Laleh approached - a calm and soothing voice that reassured them and slowly worked up their trust, while the others searched the building before coming to help her. She gave them her rations, offered them what little she could do as a healer, and promised to get them safely away.

And that is what the trio did. In Frostville, they appeared suddenly, brought by Ai'Thorn's power - to the surprise of all around. The guards drew their swords and prepared to defend the reconstruction effort against new foes. But Laleh again stepped forward and reassured them, asking for aid. The workers gave the children and woman food, and Laleh sat with her as she wrote what she remembered of the whole matter down.

But she wasn't who Laleh had been searching for. She wasn't the girl that represented the illusion that sorceress had used. That girl from from another farm, only another half mile from the first. Determined to get answers and, if possible, save lives, the group headed back out again.

This time they were joined by Rani - the daughter of the Frost Family and one of the nobles of the land. She had been tending the pool and flower gardens that were being reconstructed in Frostville, and found herself by the adventurers just before they left back for the Franklin family farm.

A single step and they were there, as Ai'Thorn's powers carried them that far. Then they followed the tracks of a wagon that had left from the Franklin Farm, heading in the direction they knew they had to go. If the killers were ahead of them, they had to make haste. Laleh filled Rani in on what had happened along the way, and the farmhouse of Bethany and her Brother became visible in the distance, smoke rising from the chimney.

But as the group approached, they found themselves hearing the soft sound of music. Once again the wheat and grain fields obscured their vision of quite the scene, though...this time, it was not blood and corpses, but the copulations of countless individuals from the area. It seemed they'd come at an inopportune time, disturbing a party in celebration of a fertility ritual that was strangely compulsory, even to the party members.

Still, they managed to resist the temptation the music played at their minds, to join in the festivities themselves. Recognizing such musical enchantments, Laleh quickly began a song of her own to negate the effects of it for herself and her group, and they hurried their approach. In good fortune, the bards and druids performing the ritual ceased the song when they recognized its effects being dismissed by Laleh's voice, and moved to meet the party.

After a touch of explaining, and investigation, Bethany was found - alive and safe in the...loving embrace of her brother...and the group looked for the trio that had been described to them by the Franklin widow. There should have been three - but only two could be located, the third having possibly slipped away. These two, however, were not difficult to detain, too wrapped up in the throes of their own passions with each other to even realize they were being arrested it seemed. And once again, Ai'Thorn's powers swirled, ashes in the shape of a wolf spinning around as they were transported back to Frostville with their captives, and turned them over to the custody of the guards.

Laleh waited while the guards secured the prisoners, fretting silently over her thoughts, When at last they were ready, she stepped into the tent that they were held within. Ai had offered to burn their eyes out, and waited patiently to see if such means were necessary. It was clear the young man had no love for the villains, and their accomplice was still out there somewhere. Fortunately for Laleh, she had a way with words most did not. She sought answers to particular questions, and in turn would promise that if they provided her answers, she would report such to the Lord and Lady of the land. While this didn't necessarily mean leniency in the punishment that would befall them, it did mean that the powerful Psionics of the nobles would not be used to forcibly extract information from the two. That was all she could offer.

While Ai had indeed offered to burn the eyes out one by one to help motivate the captives to speak, it was shot down quickly by Laleh and he smiled and shrugged, all before the captives. He changed tack and tried to follow Laleh's lead in diplomacy showing the captors that she was in charge and she had just saved them from some gruesome and torturous pain. So perhaps listening and doing as she asked was the best thing to do in their case.

* Learns about the incident with the Judge, starts to make his own investigation with the faithful for any information on what has happened to be forwarded to Thagg Zolrander Kraken. He would investigate through the religious path of The Kraken*