(Archive) Interrogation

Log done by Rorgan, bitch at him if you need to.

Sheriff\'s Office

Strangely enough, this looks much like sheriff\'s offices everywhere. A plain wooden desk stands in the center of the room, covered with papers and scattered drawings of various wanted criminals. The sheriff sits there, scribbling frantically in something which vaguely resembles Adunaic. Her deputy, a heavyset, large fellow with an equally large longsword sits over in the corner, cleaning his weapon and watching you warily. And of course, the jail cell. Located, as usual, behind the sheriff\'s desk, it holds the usual combination of drunks, pickpockets, and other petty criminals which so plague cities these days.

Contents:

Galdorim

Thorgorin

Aearwen

Morthil

Weapon Rack

Obvious exits:

Cell and Road

The door of the Minas Tirith Sheriff\'s Office is flung open and out of the clear Summer night strides a tall man in the uniform of the Minas Tirith Guard. Several others follow him into the anterroom of the office, at least three of whom also bear the uniform of the Minas Tirith Guard.

With quick, confident steps, Rorgan, the newly appointed Lieutenant of the Silver Ship Company strides to the deputy in charge of keeping the Sheriff\'s cells. \"Bring out the prisoner,\" he sharply commands.

The deputy, a rather aged fellow, simply nods to the former tailor and fetches the keys before turning away with a muttered \"Aye, Sheriff.\"

While the man fetches the prisoner, Rorgan supresses a smile -- it has been many years since he held the office this place was built for, but there were still some who remembered.

\"Get on out there,\" the deputy can be heard to command the prisoner Thorgorin. \"You\'ve visitors,\" the old man sneers from where he holds the cell door open.

Morthil stands near the door way watching over everything curiously away from the torchlight his cloak drawn around him and hood drawn up.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

A grunt comes from the doorway. \"I will not come out at your beck and call. Yer\'ll have tah drag me outah yourself!\"

With a sigh, the old deputy motions to a few of his men. A short struggle ensues, and a moment later the full figure of the raider is revealed to all in the room.

\"You filth!\", spits Thorgorin. He seems to like that phrase, and the old man sighs as he hears it for the hundredth time.

The old man who keeps the cells is well-used to dealing with this type of occupant. With a sigh and a shrug, he enters the cell and lords over Thorgorin for a moment before reaching out hands strong as a smith\'s for the prisoner, \"That can be arranged, young man.\" Apparently bolstered by the presence of several armed men in the anterroom, the deputy is relatively certain there will be no serious struggle here and only applies what force is needed to lift the prisoner to his feet and attempt to quickly propel him out the door. \"Yer in a heap o\' trouble, young man, and you\'d best be doin\' as we say, or I\'ll knock you another one up side the head.\"

All through this, Rorgan stands idly by, something of an amused look playing across his features. The three Minas Tirith Guards who came in with him, though, gaze around uncertainly, looking anywhere but the cell, for they have seen this prisoner dressed as one of their own.

[Aearwen(#7229)] The door of the Sheriff\'s office opens to allow the slim form of Lady Aearwen, envoy of the Prince and healer to slip in at this late hour. The light scarf is removed from her auburn tresses as she steps into the brightness of the room, blinking as she adjusts to the light and views those already in the room.

Assigned by the Lord Steward to oversee the repair to the House of Healing, the envoy to the Prince of Dol Amroth is on an extended stay in the stone city.

Cerulean eyes find those of Rorgan, among the strangers in the room as she inquires softly, \"A healer was needed?\" Over her right arm is a basket filled with odd shaped bottles, pouches of herbs and various -tools- of her leech craft.

Stepping back as a commotion breaks out, she quietly watches those in the room.

\"Not just yet, milady, but by the looks of things a healer might soon be needed,\" Rorgan\'s voice is raised, the statement aimed at the open cell more than at the healess as she arrives.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The prisoner laughs at the guards as they force him forward into the light. \"Oh how great and mighty you are now. I used to have one of those--\" He sneers at the guard\'s silver and black uniform. \"--betcha you feel mighty good in that. I sure did.\"

Supressing another laugh, the the man swings his spidery arms in the direction of a guard, who deflects it easily. \"You\'ll get nothing out of me. They\'ll come back, He will. Then you\'ll pay.\"

\"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME FILTH!\"

Quietly speaks Rorgan, but his voice somehow carries over the prisoner\'s commotion as he is brought into sight, \"Little fish, little fish...\" he shakes his head, \"How should I bait my hook with you?\" Rorgan offers Thorgorin a smile of pity and makes a motion to the three guards who immediately move to assist the deputy in keeping the prisoner from hurting himself or any others in the room. \"Who will come, lad? Sandaerus? Feh! He has gone crawling back to your Master. No doubt by now he has orders to kill you on sight.\"

[Galdorim(#22020)] The door to the Sheriff\'s office open yet again to allow a large figure entering the room. He bears the insignia of a Commander. Most in Minas Tirith know this hulking officer as Commander Galdorim. His appearance as greatly improved under the direct care of Lady Aearwen. His face has color once again and his cough has mostly disappeared.

The large Commander looks over the occupants of the room as the three guards snap a salute to him. The large fist of Galdorim snaps across his chest as he returns the salute. His deep rubling voice calls out to his men. \"At ease..\" He then looks to his new Lietenant, Rorgan, as he works on his prisoner.

[Aearwen(#7229)] Setting her basket of supplies on a nearby desk, Lady Aearwen calmly takes a seat and settles comfortably, brushing the lines of her skirt in place as she idly looks around the room. The widening of her eyes is noticeable as she turns her attention to the prisoner and guards. Quietly watching the interaction of the men in the room she smiles as Commander Galdorim comes into the room.

Morthil remains near the shadows watching quietly huddled in his cloak. A bit of this conversation going over his head as well as some of it he just plain doesn\'t pay enough attention to get. He does however look over in surprise as Galdorim and Aerwen enter. He\'s probably not used to being in the presence of anyone important.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

\"Naw, you\'re just trying to trick me. Sandaerus wouldn\'t do that to me, I\'m his best man, he said so!\"

The man sneers as more guards and men fill the room. \"Not enough here already to hold me eh? A man that has worn the uniform of the guards must be a force ter to reckon\'d with eh?\"

Thorgorin looks at the woman healer, eying her up and down. \"Yeh, you\'ll be a fine catch indeed. Although I\'ve slept with many peasent women better than you. Why I remember this one girl. She seemed a little upset when I cut her suitor\'s throat. Guess that\'s why she was so good in bed!\"

He laughs again, confident and cocky.

[Guardsman(#17520)] Quickly and quietly another guardsman enters. He moves, with a few salutes, towards the corner of the room. He almost bumps into Morthil when he does this, \"Oh, excuse me...\" He is quick in responding and then takes a position agaisnt the wall.

Finally now does Rorgan move away from where he had leaned upon the edge of a desk, his long strides taking him to the fore of Thorgorin. \"I asked you a question, lad. Who will come?\" Rorgan looks down upon the man with a sadness in his blue eyes, \"As much as you don\'t like it, boy, I am your only hope of survival. The Steward\'s /justice/ is swift and sure. If He knew you had assaulted one of his own Minas Tirith Guards, you\'d be thrown from the cliffs and the carrion birds would have free reign over your carcass. No one would mourn your passing, Thorgorin. Not even Sandaerus or the fat man will be sad to see you go.\" Rorgan shakes his head again, adding with a sigh, \"It\'s a shame that you would waste your life so frivolously, my boy.\"

Turning his back on the prisoner now, Rorgan says, \"The uniform does not make the man. Men make the uniforms stand for what they stand for. The uniform you once wore stands for the stone certainty that the Nameless One shall not triumph over us \'till the last man of Gondor breathes his last. What would you inherit then? Cold stone and the blood of your kinsmen -- blood that no water or wine will wash away, my boy.\" Now it is the lieutenant\'s turn to chuckle, and he suddenly rounds back on the prisoner, sticking his face almost nose to nose with Thorgorin\'s as he crisply offers, \"I am prepared to see that you get out of Gondor alive if you cooperate.\"

At these words, one of the guards gasps and casts his eyes toward Rorgan, but the lieutenant silences him with a raised finger, \"My word is my bond. Tell me all that you know and I shall see to it that you are escorted alive to the border of Gondor and released.\"

[Aearwen(#7229)] An audible gasp sounds as the words of the prisoner reach the noble woman\'s ears. A crimson stain immediately spreads up her neck and across the delicate skin of her face. Lady Aearwen eyes the prisoner with frosty cold eyes as she replies, \"I would pull my dagger out and slit my own throat before the likes of you -ever- touch my flesh, of that you can rest assured.\"

Calmly her eyes rake across the face of the man as her lips curl in derision.

Morthil nods darkly to the guard but remains still smiling a bit in the darkness in amusement at the prisoners words...He shifts a bit at Rorgans promise of safety for the man but remains quiet watching the proceedings, either very calm.....or very out of his league.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The prisoner considers these words again, and shakes his head. \"Naw, it\'d be a trick. I know you and your men. You\'d never go any further than make threats... all talk and no play.\"

He looks lustfully at the healer woman again. \"I wonder... I once met this gal who could do the most peculiar thing she could--\"

Some of the guards look away embarassed as he describes the finer details of the deed, using powerful imagery and a few examples with his hands and fingers.

\"--and she did it good too!\" He looks at Rorgan, lieutenant of the guard again.

\"Sandaerus isn\'t a fool. He wouldn\'t execute me without paying me first. If the word got out, he\'d have trouble finding any mercenaries ter fight for him.\"

Seeming nonplussed by the vivid sexual description, Rorgan simply looks Thorgorin straight in the eyes, \"That is the best I can do. Embrace the hope that I do not lie or seal your fate.\" Again he turns his back on the prisoner, eyes now locking with the Lady Aearwen\'s, he gives a faint shake of his head.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The man looks relieved for a moment, and returns to his playful gaze at the woman. \"I knew it! HaHa I knew it, none of you have the guts to touch me! You\'ll get nothing out of me!\"

He reconsiders. \"Of course, maybe an exchange would be in our best interests afterall.\" He looks longingly at Aearwen.

Galdorim strides next to Aearwen and places his large hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her. He says quietly to her. \"Do not worry this man will not walk to streets anywhere near Gondor again.\" She smiles reassuredly to her and then looks to Rorgan and silently watches his tactics with this dishonorable prisoner. He then says quietly back to Aearwen. \"He will be handing fromt he walls of Minas Tirith of plummet from a cliff.\"

[Aearwen(#7229)] Anger flashes from the eyes of Lady Aearwen as she endures the taunts of the prisoner, finally at his vivid description she jumps from her chair and says, \"Enough! Enough I say, no more will I listen to the filth that streams from this man\'s mouth. Pacing back and forth she points a finger in the direction of Thorgorin, \"Over my dead body will there be an exchange.\'

\"If you think Sandaerus\' own money pays the mercenaries he hires, you\'re a bigger fool than he,\" Rorgan growls. \"Sandaerus is a no-count fool and lackey. He may be fairly good with an axe, but that\'s his most redeeming quality. Twice now have I thrashed him within an inch of his life and he has not moved up a single notch in my estimation.\"

Now Rorgan turns his gaze from the lady and back to the prisoner, \"Now look what you\'ve done -- you\'ve gone and upset the Commander.\" He shakes his head, \"The reason no one has laid a hand on you, my boy, is that I\'ve ordered that you not be harmed for now. Truly you can see that I am the only one standing between you and fates even you would find horrid.\"

Then over his shoulder to the lady, Rorgan says, \"There shall be no exchange. We have been very clear as to what his choices are. Perhaps we should let him think about it for a while.\"

Suddenly a cold light comes into Rorgan\'s eyes as he says, \"Or perhaps I should break with tradition and torture you, my boy.\" Rorgan\'s lips twist into a sickening parody of a grin as he pushes up his right sleeve and thrusts his arm into Thorgorin\'s field of vision. Two of the guards holding Thorgorin blanch and turn away, obviously sickened by the layers of scars upon scars on the one-time tailor\'s arms. \"The best have studied their art upon me, boy, and I learn quickly. I have the knowledge of how to break more than men, and the textbook is right here on my skin!\"

Then suddenly, his visage returns to the calm that has prevailed throughout the interrogation thus far, \"You have my offer. I shall not go back on my word. Scout, if you would be so kind as to count down from sixty aloud for us...\"

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The man\'s face pales as he sees Commander Galdorim\'s angry gaze. He is silent, and finally says something.

\"I get a horse, a sword, and my weapon back. I get thirty days head start on yer filthy bloodhounds.\"

\"And I get your word of honor on your oath to the Steward. That is the bargain.\"

Morthil smirks slightly he murmurs to anyone whose probably calm enough to hear, \"I\'ve heard better stories in the local tavern.\" He then cocks his head to the side and looks the prisoner over grumbling, \"If only I hadn\'t been slow in the forest...perhaps the fool wouldn\'t have been left alive to look the fool now.\"

[Aearwen(#7229)] A sweet, but false smile curves the lips of the healer as she says softly, dead serious in her offer, \"A little tea laced with Arnica would be -helpful- to the prisoner. I would so love to watch as your drizzle a little down his throat, spoonful by spoonful...choking as he struggled - not- to swallow the poison.\" Clucking her tongue as she adds with a deep sigh, \"I would imagine he would be most cooperative in order to receive the antidote\", smiling wickedly as she looks at the evil man.

Guardsman shakes his head as Thorgorin. He quietly says to Morthil. \"I think he should be killed, I don\'t see why anyone wants him alive.\" He then shifts and glances around at the various people. He settles on just shaking his head some more.

Galdorim glances to the private who just spoke. \"He is here to give us information, Private. If he can not, he will join the traitors and oath breaker at the bottom of the cliff. He may not die right away, but he would eventually die as the carion birds slowly pecked his bones clean.\"

Morthil waits for a moment watching then whoops as he realizes, /he\'s/ the scout, he begins slowly murmuring the numbers...starting with wow. 0. And continuing in an even pace. Speaking clearly and slowly each number. \"0.....1...\"

\"So now you would bargain with me?\" Rorgan asks quietly. \"You who attacked me in the dead of night and nearly took the life of my own horse?\" Rorgan chuckles dryly. \"My offer stands. You will be escorted in shackles to the Southernmost border of Gondor and released. For your own protection, I will allow you one spear and one dagger, placed four hundred paces south of where you will be released. No one I send will pursue you beyond the borders of Gondor lest you attempt to return. Thirty days or no.\"

Guardsman salutes Galdorim. \"Ok, sir. I am sorry for doubting you, sir.\" After he finishes, he goes back to leaning on the wall and rubbing his hand across the hilt of his blade.

\"Listen to the Scout there counting away the time, boy. There is precious little left for you to use to save your own life. What will it be?\" Rorgan asks the prisoner.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The prisoner quickly talks. \"I only know this much. Sandaerus has gone around the countryside and the city, gathering what rouges and men he can for his makeshift army.\" He laughs, \"You\'re right, I really have no idea where he gets enough money to pay us.\"

He looks grim. \"Perhaps this is for the better. An armed escort to the borders of Gondor? And the slime Sandaerus and his pig brother Pitrium gone far behind? Yes, this is a fine deal.\"

He turns to Rorgan again. \"I also know that they are planning something large. Something even you won\'t be able to stop. That\'s all.\"

\"What could I not stop, boy? The military of Gondor is my family, and family members do not let each other down.\" Rorgan offers Thorgorin a smile, though, motioning for the scout to continue counting. \"There is more that you aren\'t telling us, boy. You think your life is worth only half of what you know?\"

Morthil continues counting, \"30...31...32.\" Better hope he doesn\'t loose track.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The man looks shocked. \"But you swore on your oath! No sane guard has broken his oath to the Steward! You would be as bad as us!\"

\"Gverywn, Boraths, and the fat one was Wethas. Please! That is all I know!\"

The man looks very different than he had a few moments ago. His face is desperate, knowing his fate is near at hand.

Galdorim glances at the door as Aearwen rushes out as this is too much for such a high born noble lady. He looks back to Rorgan as he interrogates this prisoner. He looks over the one of the guardsman. \"Write doesn the information, private. That is if you know how.\"

Morthil continues his count, \"35...36.\"

\"Continue, please, lad. There\'s more. You know where they camp at the least.\" Rorgan nods to the Scout, a signal to keep the count moving along. \"I\'ll wager there\'s more than even that.\"

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

\"There... There is an abandoned farm just outside the city! We used it as a base to plan our takeover of the guard!\"

\"I wasn\'t one of his favorites, he was always more partial to the fat bastard Wethas! I didn\'t complain or ask when he gave me the uniform of the guard!\"

\"Please!\"

\"Directions to the farm, if you please,\" Rorgan instructs. \"Morthil, my boy, you may stop the count, but remember the number should this one\'s memory suddenly go bad.\"

Morthil nods, \"42...Yes, sire.\" He watches a smile of amusment hidden in the darkness.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The bandit quickly draws the directions to the farmhouse on a paper hurridly snatched by a guard. \"We haven\'t used it since we\'d gotten the guard uniforms! It\'s probably desserted by now!\"

\"Did I mention Pitrum? He and Sandaerus planned the whole thing.\" He looks to the counting guard. \"Sometimes a darkly dressed man came and talked to the two for long hours, as if directing them or driving them. I could never notice anything other than his clothing!\", adds Thorgorin as an afterthought.

You paged Ivriniel and Galdorim with \'When you\'ve been around as long as I have, you learn to appreciate the special times like last summer all the more. There will be more of them, Wen. Not always with the same people, but they always come \'round again. :)\'.

Nodding, Rorgan studies the man carefully, \"If you\'ve stopped using the farmhouse, then would you be so kind as to use the other side of the paper to draw a map to your last camp?\"

While the prisoner is given time to draw, Rorgan motions for both Commander Galdorim and Morthil to join him.

Morthil leaves the shadows quietly his robe of brown and green rustling gently he makes his way towards Rorgan looking at him questiningly. He shoots an occasionall glance also at the prisoner wondering if he\'ll get a chance to hunt him later.

Guardsman continues to lean agaisnt the wall. He listens and eventually begins to mutter to himself, \"He says We...weth...wethian, no, wethas was the man whoever was more partial to, why not get a search party to try and track him down?\" He shakes his head again as he leans on the wall.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The bandit turns the paper in a rush. \"Since we has acquired the guard uniforms, we didn\'t need to camp anywhere! Any inn, tavern, or peasent farmhouse would let us stay for free!\"

\"When things got hot, we used a mountain hideout just a few leagues from here. I\'ll draw it out.\", gasps the man.

Whispering to the two men, Rorgan says, \"I want Morthil to round up at least a dozen scouts and check out the farmhouse before dawn. On the morrow, Morthil, go back to Osgiliath and gather a dozen more scouts and find their camp. They\'ve no doubt moved it since the failed ambush last night, but I want the fat man, Wethas removed from their camp and brought to me for questioning.\" Then Rorgan turns to Galdorim and asks, \"Can the guardsmen I brought into this room be trusted?\"

Galdorim looks at the guardsmen and smirks slightly. \"None have been brought up as possible suspects, but I have a more reliable list that you might want to use, Lietenant>\" he grins knowingly as he look ot his long time friend.

A nod to his commander and Rorgan moves once more back toward the prisoner, motioning for the guards to release him, \"You have earned your freedom, my boy,\" the lieutenant says, \"but you must return to your cell for tonight.\"

Morthil nods slowly, and speaks quietly \"It shall be done...I\'m sure there are a few others who are not asleep yet in the barracks. And I\'ll send word ahead to Osgiliath to have a map of the areas and the men who know the areas best ready.\" He murmurs, \"But they have quite a start on us already.\"

\"Just see to it that it is done, Morthil. Head start or not, track them down and carry out my instructions. Tell no one outside the brotherhood what I have asked of them tonight,\" Rorgan instructs over his shoulder as the guards release the prisoner.

\"And Guardsman,\" the lieutenant orders, \"Fetch me the biggest sack you can find. Do it now!\"

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The bandit breathes. \"Now, I would like to leave in all haste please. My life is forfit now that I have revealed what I know.\"

He looks nervously around as if expecting an assassin to come out of the shadows and kill him right then and there. He hasn\'t stayed alive this long by not being careful.

\"Perhaps I will find work in the North. Word has it that employment is easy to find there!\", laughs the man.

Guardsman nods to Rorgan as he moves to release the prisoner. \"As you order sir.\" He quickly leaves the office in search of a sack.

Morthil nods slowly he begins moving towards the door, \"It shall be done, sire....It shall be done and in quiet..\"

\"So long as you do not cross Gondor to get there, my boy. Just one more night in the cell, though. I will see to it that trustworthy men are placed at your guard.\" Rorgan smiles at the prisoner rather disarmingly, \"On the morrow, you begin your journey.\"

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

As a last gesture of defiance, Thorgorin turns around to face Rorgan. \"You won\'t be able to stop him. I\'ve seen what Sandaerus and his bastard brother Pitrum can do, and he wouldn\'t stick his neck out so far unless he had certain... insurance.\"

He pales as Rorgan delays his escape. The man sees no alternative however, and silently follows a guard into the cell, watching the walls and shadows for movement...

Rorgan follows both guard and prisoner into the cell, motioning for the guard to leave. Once the man has left, and the lieutenant and prisoner are alone in the cell, Rorgan withdraws the ornate dagger from his belt quietly and slashes it out toward the prisoner\'s arm.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The blade slices through the man\'s thin arm like a knife through butter. It cuts deep into his coarse skin.

\"YOU BACKSTABBING DOG!\", screams the man.

\"They\'ll find out, they will! And when they do, you\'ll be FINISHED in the guard!\", yells Thorgorin in pain.

The next motion of Rorgan\'s hand flips the dagger on his palm, and then his arm swings toward the prisoner\'s temple, the added weight of the dagger\'s hilt carrying the strike to it\'s mark. \"Why don\'t you just die!?\" roars the lieutenant.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

The man yells some more. \"You\'re going to burn in hell! If it\'s the last thing I do you\'ll burn! I\'ll take your daughters, kill your sons--\"

The man continues with some obscene threats and curses.

[Guardsman(#17520)] Returning with a fairly large sack is the sent away Guardsman. He returns just as the noise is enough to not cause concern. The sack is held in such a way he can\'t really see what is going on, \"Sir? Sir, are you still in here?\"

Again does the dagger of Rorgan swing hilt-first toward the temple of the prisoner, \"Shut yer yap, traitor!\" he hollers. As one of the guardsmen attempts to enter the cell, Rorgan shouts, \"CLEAR THIS ROOM! WHERE\'S THAT BLASTED SACK!!\" Again and again the dagger swings hilt-first toward Thorgorin\'s temple.

[Thorgorin(#30040)]

\"ARRRRRRRRR!\", the thickheaded man yells.

Finally, the bandit is knocked unconcious as the blow and the pain are too much for him.

As the prisoner crumples to the floor, Rorgan fills the doorway to the cell, bloodied dagger in hand, \"Blinking traitor didn\'t tell us a single thing we could use.\" Rorgan shakes his head, \"Give me that sack, Guardsman and begone. I\'ve some work to do. I thought I said to clear this room! Get out! All of you!\" Rorgan\'s chest heaves with exertion, \"Commander, please stay. I\'ll have a word with you.\"

Guardsman hands the sack to Rorgan. \"Yes, sir, I\'ll leave.\" He glances at the dagger in Rorgans hand, but continues on his way out of the office.

Galdorim watches Rorgan silently. He occasionally chuckles softly as he notices Rorgan brutal behavior towards the traitor. His voice rumbles out towards the new Lieutenant. \"You will have a word with me will you? \" He grins broadly as he leans against a small desk.

Wiping the blade of the dagger on the sack, Rorgan dissappears into the cell again for a few minutes of grunting and cursing before he emerges with the blood-stained bag dragging across the floor, obviously filled with the body of the prisoner. He slowly makes his way to where the Commander stands, \"Thank you for trusting me, my friend. Lad\'s alive. I need a few of your most loyal men to take care of seeing that he gets exactly what he was promised. The performance there was for any watching eyes I may have inadvertantly let in.\" He smiles and shakes his head, \"Maybe you should lock me up for the night, just to make it look good.\"