Kitchener focuses his attention on Tannen. “Well master Tannen, you’ve got a lot of questions. Clearly, yer the brains behind this outfit and not just a pretty sword” (he delivers this in such a way that it is very difficult to tell whether he is complimenting Tannen, or gently mocking him).Birthright wrote:{Tannen will attempt to asks the following questions as appropriate}
"Can you tell us about Alan Grenewell and his wife? Are there any rumours about them? What are the finances like? Is there any chance that Alma has simply run away? What is their family's reputation like? Has there been any word or sightings of Alma since the disappearance? Has there been a demand for ransom?"
“Now, I’m a man who likes to deal in facts. In my experience, puttin’ too much store in gossip and hearsay only leads to trouble. So I’ll tell yer what I know about the Grenewells, but I ain’t gonna speculate about what I don’t know.”
“Northridge Farm has been in the Grenewell family for generations. It was run by Alan’s father before him, and his grandfather before that. Grenewell himself is gettin’ on a bit now - mid-fifties I would say. He’s known within the village, but not well known if yer know what I mean. Northridge is fairly remote - pretty much on the district boundaries. He only comes into Marketstone once a month or so to sell his goods at the market and stock up on supplies. Generally keeps himself to himself.”
“Alma’s a good deal younger than Alan - twenty years or more at a guess. She grew up in the village and there was a more than few eyebrows raised when her and Alan were wed. The age difference of course, but also that she would want to leave the village and go and live somewhere as remote as Northridge. She wasn’t the prettiest girl in the Marketstone. Rather plain if truth be told. But pleasant enough, and she certainly hasn’t, in the words of my furrry-footed friend here, been anywhere near the ugly stick.”
“There ain’t been any children so far. It’s just Alan and Alma, although they do have half a dozen farm hands that help ‘em out with the day-to-day running of Northridge. It was one of the farmhands that brought news of Alma’s disappearance.”
He now turns to Paladin. “It’s a fair point you make through the bottom of that glass. If she’s run off of her own accord, gettin’ her back may not be the sensible option. In that case, what we’re gonna need is some sort of evidence that she’s safe and well. A letter oughta suffice. Alan Grenewell will know her hand and be able to tell whether it’s genuine. But then, I’m quite sure that you’re all smart enough not to try any funny business. I’ve got an uncanny knack of tellin’ when people aren’t bein’ entirely straight with me.”
8 pm, 24th day of Harvestide