Ialari knew from the moment the horse fell that it was too late to do anything for it. As she knelt next to the poor creature, she used her off hand, the one baring the mark of Dira, to pet and attempt to sooth the dying beast as its journey with the Goddess was about to begin. She did not take her hand away from the horse as she whispered prayers to the Goddess to see that he as well as the dead knight would see each other in the next life. She knew that Dira had little control over that happening but that she could at least add a nudge in the right direction. Her other hand was used to explore the contents of the saddlebags. As she felt around, a nearby Akalak approached and inquired as to what she was looking for. Ialari held back a roll of her eyes and silently fought back the creeping feeling of annoyance. Patience, she thought to herself. To a Pitrius Isur like Ialari, knowledge was quite literally power. What she about the knight and what killed him was not something that she felt others were ready to hear in full. With the smoothness of a serpent’s scales, she responded without looking in Vypec’s direction, “Not long ago, I heard some local laborers talking of a new job. Supposedly a known knight in the area hired them for some sort of operation not far from here.” Ialari did not stop the search nor did she take her hand off the horse as she spoke. “The knight looks like he could be the one they spoke of and these saddlebags are loaded for an extended outing.” Ialari pulled forth the contents of the bags and placed them in a small pile at her feet, all save for the journal which she held. As she produced the items, she commented of them with her observations. Her accent was strong but her slow speaking and focus on speaking as proper as she knew how, would make it easier to understand.
First the medical kit. “A medical kit; not something one carries with them unless planning on being away from such a resource for a long time.” Then came the armor repair kit. “I don’t know much about knights, but I don’t think they would need a kit for repairing armor if, again, they weren’t planning on returning soon to wherever they were posted.” Then came the extra cloths and wilderness survival bundle. “This knight was planning on spending some time away from civilization.” Finally, she pulled forth the writing kit and the journal. “He appears to have been prepared to take notes on whatever he was doing, observing or whatever.” Flipping through the journal, she realized that it was indeed the one she saw in her vision. “This…this contains notes on some sort of dig and of study of some creature.”
In response to Vypec’s question about the poisoning, Ialari took a deep breath, pointed to what she saw as the obvious physical signs of the poison’s effects on the horse and said, “Look at the discoloration of the skin beneath the fur. You can trace the discolor to the veins that are now more pronounced. Following those veins will lead you to the wounds.” Her senses now enhanced in the presence of death, she could taste certain details as well. “I can smell and taste the poison in the air. The knight was likely poisoned also. His wounds were worse and the poison wouldn’t have had as much time to take hold.”
Ialari watched as the Akalak and the tan woman began examining the dead knight, Ialari skimmed through the journal a bit more. She looked for details such as gemstone, scales and anything regarding a creature of some sort. She wouldn’t spend too long looking as she knew how bad she was at getting too much into something at the expense of noticing other details around her. She noted the red-haired female’s attempts to sooth the horse and recognized the signs of more significant displays of healing; similar to those she had experienced first-hand from Kavala. Despite the girl’s attempts, Ialari felt the last thread of the horse’s life break as it released itself to Dira.
Another red-haired human approached and got rather close to Ialari. Ialari’s head snaked around to look at the woman in a way that said, you may want to step back. Ialari’s caution was increased when the woman offered a rather roughly worded deal for an exchange in information. Ialari had already shared much of the information she was going to when the Akalak had addressed her. How and why this woman thought Ialari had any more information was a mystery in itself and was one that put Ialari in something of a defensive state.
She did offer a little information in response however even though it wasn’t anything that wasn’t already out there to be noticed. “The knight and horse were killed by a not-overly large creature capable of poisoning. Seeing how it’s daytime, it wouldn’t be zith. Besides, even the more dangerous zith hunting parties aren’t desperate enough or skilled enough to take on an armored knight on horseback. I don’t know much about predators in the area, but most I’ve encountered would not attack a knight or a trained warhorse face to face. Whatever did this is extremely dangerous. I would suggest some attention be given to the place where the knight and his laborers were operating.” Something about the woman was beginning to bother Ialari even more. She commented about the road being clear for a mile and of the long blood trail. Such were details she shouldn’t know considering she was standing in the same place as Ialari. If this information was true, how the woman knew it was curious as was her reasoning for the lack of subtlety in sharing it.
Ialari thought to herself that, more and more, the strangers she met seemed so trusting and open even when they were trying to be secretive. Letting go of knowledge too soon was not in Ialari’s nature. It was something that she had a hard time understanding in others as well. Of course, perhaps that was part of the reason for being in Riverfall to begin with.
Akalak, a group appearing to be of some authority, spoke to the one that had questioned her moments earlier. They called him, Vypec and it appeared as though they were giving him some authority of his own in the situation. During the exchange between the blueskins, Ialari used a piece of cloth from the contents of the saddlebags to soak up some of the horse’s blood. Perhaps, given a little time, she could find a way to create an antitoxin to combat the poison. After the Akalak in charge tasked the one called Vypec to take a look outside the city and retrace the knight’s path, Ialari ignored his pointing gesture at her, stood with journal in hand and said to Vypec, “I’m no thief. I am however rather skilled at uncovering lost information. I think that whatever happened here could be a threat to others in and around the city. This journal is basically a collection of the knight’s notes and I’d like to offer my services in researching them and aiding in this mystery.”
Ialari knew she wouldn’t be able to proceed much further on her own. Obviously, Dira wished for her to get more involved with what happened but without a bit of muscle and blade, it didn’t look promising.