-----At first all that comes to Sol's senses is the silence. His attention is then directed to what he sees in the room he enters. Within the front room, this home appears to be quite comfortable and somewhat richly furnished for a family living within a village.
-----A stone fireplace featuring a dark wood mantle dominates the room although the furniture is no less of a detail. The chairs, tables, and a bookcase in different spots seem to be well made. Dark thick curtains, now pulled back, hang about the windows, but probably are quite effective in cutting off the light from outside when needed.
-----Through an opening in one wall, a small kitchen is seen and on the opposite wall two doors are there probably leading to bedrooms.
-----"You are certain this is the home you visited last night?" Lovan asks curiously as he eyes the fireplace.
-----"Certain." Sol answers directly. He points briefly to the small kitchen and says, "Search in there." The warrior then proceeds to search both rooms concealed by the small doors, hoping to find at least something.
-----As the storm priest turns his attention to the kitchen, Sol enters through one of the doors to find a small bedchamber. Though modest in size, the furniture in this room matches the richness found in the main room. After making a quick scan of this room and finding nothing of interest, Sol makes his way through the main room to the second door.
-----Here, he finds a tragedy that has unfolded. First, in this second room, Sol finds it to also be a bedchamber very much furnished like the first one. A window has had its shutters opened leaving the room exposed to the open air.
-----Upon the bed next to the open window lies a body. It is the body of a tall man with a beard and shoulder length hair. Somehow this person seems familiar to Sol.
-----"He's in here, Lovan." Sol informs the priest through the open door, no attempt at stopping the sad tone accenting his words. After a couple of strides, the Gorian reaches the bed and gingerly begins to search the body for means of death.
-----Sol instantly notices that the head lolls at an odd angle. From the degree of bruising on the neck, he determines that this man was either strangled or his neck was broken some time during the night.
-----Lovan strides into the room, his boots stepping heavily. The storm priest looks the scene over and grimaces. He eyes the open window and looks out onto a barren field that ends in a few yards at a thick line of trees.
-----Without moving his eyes from the body, Sol tells Lovan in a brisk fashion, "Head back t'th' stables an' bring Raven an' Rinda, once they've finished their prayers. I want t'see what he thinks about this." Seeing the Storm Priest eyeing the window, Sol uses the magic prism to view the area around the open portal.
-----"Take care," Lovan warns as he eyes the room, "I feel a storm coming on." He then turns and exits the room after clapping the young warrior on the shoulder.
-----As Sol begins to examine the sill, he hears the storm priest leave the home and stride back toward the stables. Instantly, the view through the mystical lens reveals to Sol smears and scuffs as from the boots of men passing out of this room. The black marks are along the lower edge of the window sill and although the marks are somewhat intermingled, Sol can detect that they have been left by three separate people, Although not completely fresh, Sol figures that they were made about the same time the unfortunate deceased person here met his demise.
-----"Well hero," says a familiar icy voice behind the young warrior, "you find yourself in the middle of things again."
-----Turning, Sol sees standing behind him near the open door to the main room a dark lithe form with a drawn bow trained on Sol's chest. Now in the growing morning light, the young warrior gets a better view of the assassin who assaulted him in the village of Xyl.
-----Standing almost as tall as the Gorian, the assassin has hints of the facial features of an elf, but his height and muscle tone gives a human heritage away also. Mainly clad from head to toe in black leather that matches his brushed back hair, the only sense of color comes from the eyes. There, the amber eyes shine out cruelly from the pale skin of the face. Dirt and grime are smudged on the assassin and his clothes; perhaps of carelessness or as an intent to camouflage. His very nature hints at a very violent and warlike quality as he stands deadly but calmly poised within point-blank range.
-----A burning desire to rip the assassin's head off with his bare hands rumbles through Sol's mind. But . . . for the moment the Gorian lets the rage build. In a voice as cold as the elf's, he replies, "You speak a lot fer one who kills in secrecy. Have ye something new t'say a'fore we continue our dance?"