(1866-07-15) An Avenue of Investigation
An Avenue of Investigation
Summary: Tristan meets with some fellow Rivanans to divulge some of what he has learned and set people on new paths.
Date: 07.15.1866
Related: Baron Hogan stuff.
Players:
Emilia  Raelyn  Stephen  Tristan  

Tristan's Sitting Room, Sunsreach
See first pose.
07.15.1866

Tristan had sent out messages shortly after he returned home after Thaddeus' dinner party had been concluded. A few of them were to several of his contacts in the city and in the palace, but some went to a few people who he has invited to join him in his rooms within Sunsreach.

Tristan's sitting room is decorated in an alternating pattern of two green colors, small golden dragons are spread out in a pattern of sorts on the wall. The floor is covered by Alhazri carpets that match the walls. Golden sconces along the walls hold candles that light the room. Near the center of the room, is a table with several chairs, near which is a divan. Though there are paintings along the walls, there is one that stands out from the rest, one of a young woman with blonde hair and sharp blue eyes.

As the Tracano man waits for his guests to arrive, he peruses through several pieces of parchment, catching up on any details that might be useful for the upcoming meeting.

It was in Raelyn's shadow that Emilia arrived to the palace of Sunsreach and thusly the Tracano Prince's sitting room. Somewhat surprised and equally curious to have been included upon the invitation to attend. Not that this currently showed upon those stoic features of hers. The younger Cassomir dressed within the more normal turn of tailored tunic and Huntress stylings. Half likely to be considered just that a Huntress as she walked in that shadow of Raelyn to the sitting room, if one wasn't aware of who she actually was. Though upon being admitted to the sitting room, Emilia offered the proper curtsey, with that unearhty grace of her,"Your of Highness," offering the simple greeting. Allowing Raelyn to cover something more proper and formal for this inital exchange.

"Thank you for the invitation," Raelyn offers to Tristan warmly, inclining her head to the man after leading Emilia to the sitting room. She, too, is dressed in Huntress attire, though her bow has been left outside, or perhaps even at home. She offers a brief, but polite smile to the Lord. "As well as for the consideration. I do not think any of us enjoy this foul business." Her lips thin, "And, I am exceedingly eager to bring whomever did this to proper justice."

Stephen Greycen arrives, clad in the blue of his house colors trimmed in white, with grey leggings, and blackened leather boots. He offers a bow to Tristan and another for Raelyn and Emilia, "Your highness, ladies. A pleasure as always." He smiles politely, moving to stand quietly nearby. The smile fades as the business at hand comes to the fore, and he nods, "We're still rounding up the manor's servants. Some have been questioned but offered nothing of substance beyond the names of other servants for us to seek, so we simply took record of their names and whereabouts and sent them on their way."

As Raelyn and Emilia arrive, he offers them both a nod and a smile. "Yes, it is indeed bad business." He comments to Raelyn, and then steps over to the table. "Here, sit, sit." He gestures to two chairs, and then moves towards a cabinet where a silver serving tray rests atop it, as well as several silver goblets and a silver pitcher. "Would either of you care for something to drink? There is wine, or if you prefer something else, I can offer some water."

Stephen then arrives, and he nods at the man's report and then gestures towards the table. "Please, sit. I will make the same offer to you that I made to them. Water or wine?" Taking any orders, he then makes the round of the table, delivering whatever drink that has been requested. Taking his own seat, he places his goblet of water in front of him and then sits back. "Lord Stephen. Lady Raelyn. Lady Emilia." He addresses them, each in turn. "I believe that I might have stumbled upon a bit of information that we will need to look into with the utmost discretion. I would have considered inviting more, but you know what they say about the more people who know something." He gives a small little gesture as if they've all heard it before.

Emilia offers a bow to Stephen in return,"Lord of Greycen," when he arrives. Before she moves to accept the offered seat, slipping easily into it. "Some of water would be of fine," is her choice of what is offered from the selections for the moment.

There is a slight nod when Tristin addresses each of them. A slight cant of her head as she listens to his words. Emilia raises a brow just slightly in the end, a slight glance towards Raelyn.

"I'll have some wine." Raelyn always did like a glass or two. She seats herself, her attention mostly upon Tristan, and the information the man claims to have. She only glances, briefly, towards Stephen offering the Greycen Lord a nod of her head. "I think all of us are aware of the dangers of too many ears knowing a thing," she concedes to Tristan's point.

"I'm fine for now, thank you." Stephen notes at the offer of hospitality. He looks quite curious as to what Tristan has to say on the matter, but remains silent, letting the canted head and tilted brow do the talking for him.

Everything is served, everyone is here. Everything is ready. And so Tristan glances off to the side for a moment and then glances back to his guests. "The Baron and Baroness likely did not share a happy marriage, from all that I have heard and from what I could perceive from the Baroness herself. The Baron enjoyed hunting and tourneys and intrigue. The Baroness? She is a romantic soul, who enjoys reading and the stories that bards weave."

"This is not entirely surprising, because their union was political, and such unions can often result in some… unhappiness." At that, he looks away again. His thoughts turning to whatever his cousin was going to do about finding him a wife. He hoped that union would not be unhappy. Who could say. He returns his attention to the others.

"The Baron was often away, here at court or spending time with friends. I use the word 'friends' loosely, as he was not a man who was overly liked, nor was he overly disliked. He was something of a political creature, and those he counted among his friends tended to be his political allies. Still, he and the Baroness managed to find times to come together and have children."

"Let us recall that Robert was of dark hair. Victoria is of dark hair. All but their youngest have dark hair. The youngest is blonde." Again, he looks at each of them in turn. "Any questions so far?"

Raelyn is polite enough to not mention that yes, she and Emilia both know their cousins well enough, merely shaking her head and tasting a sip of wine so that her blunt tongue does not interrupt Tristan's story time.

There is a small sip of water taken as Tristin speaks, Emilia's dark gaze settling upon him as he gains her attenion. The words taken in. Little of it likely new exactly. Even if her uncle was a fair bit older than the young woman. There is a faint nod at this or that bit, some concurance perhaps, or simply polite indication she is following along. There is actually a faint twitch of her lips at one point, when Tristin speaks of the Baron being a political creature. Though like her sister, Emilia shakes her head to indicate she has no questions at this point.

Stephen nods, "Following so far, yes." He moves to lean against a side, table, folding his arms over his chest and clearly giving the matter considerable thought.

Nodding to them, Tristan continues. "Baron Robert was never one that you would consider the knight's knight, not someone that would ever be compared to Jaren, for example." He smiles at that, knowing that not many could be compared to the man, but the example was sufficient. He takes a sip of his water before setting his goblet back down.

"Still, the Baron managed to train two squires during his life. The first was knighted at a rather young age. This squire, who is now a knight, is someone who you might picture being the subject of bards for their knightly deeds and actions. He is older now, of course, but during the years that he squired for the Baron, he would have likely had contact with the Baroness on a number of occasions. Oh, and he has blonde hair."

He pauses then, considering all that he has said so far. He nods to himself and then speaks again, "There are several key points here that I must consider: First, we have no actual evidence, merely a number of coincidences that seem to line up pretty well. Second, I am not making any accusations towards anyone, simply following lines of inquiry that might lead towards a possible motivation for why the Baron was killed. Lastly, absolute discretion is needed here, and I would like to take a moment to remind everyone here of that."

"You see, the man that I am speaking of is Dorian Durante. He is in his thirties, has several children, but has been widowed for a few years as his wife died during the Thorn Uprising. His brother was Donnel Durante." This makes him look at Raelyn and Emilia in particular and offer an apologetic look. "He died saving the Queen at Giorgio's Redoubt."

There is a mild brow rise by Emilia, indeed, who exactly could be compared to Jaren…especially these days. He was the subject bards used. And that was just the things they knew about. Yet that is about the only change to Emilia's otherwise stoical expression as Tristan continues on with story time, much about things that she is aware of in some turn or another. Not that reminders don't hurt for the 'touched' ones addled mind. The apologetic look is met generally with a rather stoic turn from Emilia yet. A sip of water is taken. "Discretion is always of wise when of considering of possiblities, especially when all one is going upon is of coincidences. "

There is a tinge of a frown that touches Raelyn's lips, and she nods to Tristan. She'd heard, of course, of the man's passing once returned from her own trials. She only offers, "Donnel died well, as he would've wished to," her voice that more traditional Cassomir stoic timber to it.

Tristan offers Raelyn a small nod. "He did, and he will forever be remembered well for his actions." His gaze shifts to Emilia and he nods again. "Which is why I wish to proceed very carefully from here. I have not had the time to look into this more, which is why I would cherish any assistance that can be offered. I am curious to know if Dorian has visited the Baroness in the last several years, if it is indeed possible that the child is his bastard. If it is, and if he has been seeing her, there may be potential motive here. It would not be the first time that a spouse has been killed in order for two lovers to come together."

There is a small nod from Emilia, that solemn stoic look at the comments about Donnel. "Some of that would be of easier to be of learning then of others, least in of certainty. There are of always shadows that are of seeing what of passes. Just have to find of the right of ones to get of the right whisperings, to see if there is possiblity or mere of coincidence, of aye?"

"A crime of passion would actually make the whole situation…easier, in some ways. The Queen is concerned it was a political attack. Petty infighting between the houses, if it were merely a wrathful lover…." Stephen shakes his head, "Well, we must not let these tidbits overly dominate our thoughts just yet. But it is certainly another avenue to be investigated thoroughly."

"Of course," Raelyn agrees quietly to Tristan. She frowns, however, at the implication that Tristan has left them with, exchanging a glance with Emilia. "Adrienne, Emilia and I shall look through Uncle's things at once, then. And get back with you and Lord Stephen with our findings. Mayhaps we will also seek to speak to Dorian, unless one of you seek to do that? It might come easier through us, as we were family, and Donnell did favor both Jaren and I."

"Yes, that is correct." Tristan says, nodding at Emilia before glancing at Raelyn. To both of the Cassomirs, he nods. "I agree with your plan of action, Lady Raelyn, and yes, it might be easier for you to speak with Dorian as you have closer ties to him than either myself or Lord Stephen." To Stephen, "Yes, I am in agreement with you there, both on a crime of passion being easier to deal with than petty bickering, but also in that we must keep all possibilities open. To that end, be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for any other information that might be out there." This last is said to them all.

Emilia seems about to say something after Raelyn's words but with Tristan agreeing soon after with the plan to speak directly to the lord, it seems the goblet of water is simply raised and a sip of water is taken instead. A simple incline of her head given to Tristin in the end,"Of true, never of knowing what the shadows might end up whispering of about."

"It may give me something to discuss with the servants, as well." Stephen adds, nodding to Raelyn and concurring, "The ties between Cassomir and Durante are strong. Certainly it would seem less cause to be defensive were the visit from close allies. I'd suggest couching the visit in terms of knowing he was once the Baron's squire, and inquiring as to possible enemies the Baron might have had, that sort of thing. Just to gauge his reactions. Be sure to bring up the Baroness at some point…innocuously, of course."

"You mean I shan't just ask him if he did it?" Raelyn's tone is wry, but perhaps because her mood isn't all that pleasent. Family, afterall, is family with the Cassomir's. She nods, and offers more politely, "That was my intention, Lord. We'll not draw attention to ourselves, or give him cause to suspect he, himself, is suspect."

here is a minor tug to the corners of Emilia's lips at Raelyn's words, the wry tones at Stephen's suggestions. but the younger Cassomir keeps quiet now as some of the particulars get discussed on how to proceed on the matters.

Tristan nods around the table once again, even going so far as to offer Raelyn a knowing smile. He returns his attention to Stephen who has just brought up a few great points and he nods. "Lord Stephen makes some very good point. Let us discuss what we have found in another few days time, hopefully by then we will have a better grasp on this situation and be able to give Her Majesty some answers." He stands then and offers them each a bow. "I appreciate the time you have each given me tonight, and I appreciate your efforts in this investigation. If you need anything or if I can offer any assistance, let me know. Until then, I wish you each a good evening, and good luck in your inquiries."

"Ah…sorry." Stephen smiles a touch sheepishly, "I'm a little too accustomed to freely offering advice on matters such as these. I didn't mean to imply any lack on your part, Lady Raelyn." Stephen offers by way of apology, then nods to Tristan, "Of course Your Highness. Good evening to you."

Raelyn shakes her head, waving off the concern, "Your advice is always welcome," she suggests as the Emilia heads off to start preperations, or whatever Emilia's do after the end of such meetings. "But, have faith in my judgement," she tells Stephen, with a mild smile. "You've seen some of my work." She tips her head to Tristan, "I shall pray to the One for guidance in this. And that he guide all of us, to truth."

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