[IRP] The Dead One Calls

[Lavi]

"The castle? We here have been lording over ourselves for a while now, miss," the tanner paused in his work on the hide, giving the librarian his attention. "The old lord Valais passed away and we have not received anyone to succeed him."

"We elected a man named Laurent to handle our negotiations with the other cities. He does his job well," he said.

"In fact, the castle was abandoned until fairly recently; we received a sizable sum of money in exchange for the castle's residency by some wealthy family, so long as the family stays out of our business," the tanner continued. "The servants usually come to town every week to purchase supplies."

The elder man paused for a moment, his face contorted in thought. "Speaking of which, it seems that they have not come by yesterday. I don't usually see them, but the apprentices around here often ask about the maids when it happens. Perhaps you'll see them later today or tomorrow."

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As she looked for Paige, Cecily found herself wandering through the streets, passing by numerous houses along the way. She noted that some had either a bouquet at the doorstep or a flower bed of poppies by the window. In Lycia, poppies were typically not used for flower arrangements: they were for mourning. Cecily understood that she might be misinterpreting the significance of this, but she could not help think of some worst case situation. Each scenario the noble concocted spelled trouble.

Cecily eventually found Paige speaking to the tanner from earlier, who gave her a friendly wave upon noticing her approach. In a fashion befitting of her upbringing, Cecily nodded her head with a warm smile to avoid interrupting the ongoing conversation. She stopped next to Paige to listen in.