"Is the kid talking in your head, Ruedi? Cause I couldn't hear him answer, and you seem to be translating? I asked him what I should know about him. Where did he learn that power? Does he have other kind of supernatural abilities?"
Assuming that Ruedi directs the questions at boy, he hears the answers in his head. «I don't know. I have always been able to talk without speaking. It is not uncommon in our people. Father was going to teach me to heal people, but now I do not know. There is nothing more to tell, I think. Can we save him, you think?»
"I honestly don't know if we can get him back if he's in jail, we'll have to talk with the others, maybe they have an idea." Cath'rinnne does walk a little deeper into the forest. "I wish we could help him, if there's a way. I think I have an idea. Do you have anything he held dear of his, a favorite tool or item, or perhaps a letter he's composed, a shirt he wore frequently by chance? Or maybe a strand of his hair..."
Cath'rinne does go a little deeper in the wood, enjoying exploring the nature, but she doesn't do anything special there beyond talk to the kid besides observing, unless something stands out.
Sitting watching the wheelwright's men work, Benedict feigns shock and wonder and runs out to gawk along with the others. When they head back to work, he does too, and he will chat with them as they work, telling stories and bawdy jokes to make them more comfortable around him. He will try to read the room; to figure out whether the wheelwright and his men have made a connection between the travelers getting their wagons fixed up, and the magical incident.
Betula clutches Obstetrix’s hand as she rushes into the forest where she saw Ruedi, Cath’rinne, and the boy disappear. She continues into the foliage until she meets the other group. Her own concerns on her mind she blurts, “We can’t let the books fall into the witch hunters’ hands. Not that they can do anything with them but it would be a death sentence for those who stayed with the wagon.”
"Wait, what books are you talking about?"
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“The books in the wagon, gifts to me from my fellow Criamon at The Cave.”
"I too have books, and am not about to let them fall into their hands. I need someone to come with me, and this time I will be a horse, so as to rouse less suspicion, and we can go salvage the carriage, and our belongings."
The craftsmen do not return to work. Having assessed the situation, they withdraw to the backyard to give room for a few random people fleeing through the narrow passage. Then they stop, between Cath'rinne's wagon and their workshop, to chatter.
- «What do you think that was about?»
- «Did you see the thorn hedge?»
- «Oh yes, it must have been a powerful warlock. Let's stay out of their way.»
- «What do you think they is after, then? Here at the market?»
- «I have no idea. It is strange that they dare venture into the market. They must have known that the witch hunters are everywhere.»
Thus the chatter continues. It is evident that they have heard less of the news than Benedict has.
- «Good custom today. Two fancy wagons at the same time, plus the handcart. Were they one group?»
- «Yes, they bargained together.»
- «That lady with the handcart looked a litte ... strange .. did she not?»
- «Nah, why? A little reserved maybe, but she had men to handle the practical stuff.»
- «Of course, but why on Earth would she travel on foot?»
- «Euh ... hmm»
and they pause, and Benedict notices that it is suddenly quiet in the square.
Benedict moves forward, just enough to hear what's going on in the square, knowing it will be much harder to see than to hear.
The square is almost empty. Only a few gawkers are left around the edges. The guards are busy trying to cut loose people caught in the thorns. From the North (town-side) another group of men-at-arms are approaching. The soap vendor is watching the guards work, constantly talking, but at this distance, it is an Awareness+Perception 18+ to hear what he says.
Still uncertain as to the best plan, Benedict decides to stick with the wheelwrights, but first he heads quietly back to the wagons. He will go inside, and check if there is anything obvious that seems irreplaceable or important, putting it in his satchel if there is. Once that's done, he transforms his satchel into a scar on his collarbone, and heads back out to rejoin them. He will be as ordinary and friendly as he can, with the hope that eventually they'll go back to fixing the wagons and everything will go back to normal.
Cath'rinne's wagon is at the back, Obstetrix' wagon and Betula's cart in the square. Does he check the two in the square first?
Yes, but he is approaching them stealthily; from the side where the fewest people will see him going in and coming out.
The cart is open, like a wheelbarrow, I think. You can hardly hide behind it, but the contents is mainly in plain view and of little consequence. Maybe something is hidden under that sack, just maybe.
The wagon is of more consequence, with several chests and a smaller strongbox. If there are any valuables, they are probably in there. Some tools and secondary weapons are left in plane view.
If you do not investigate further at the front, nobody seems to take any notice, and Cath'rinne's wagon at the back will be found to be similar to the first one, except for the missing wheel.
I'm assuming his satchel is just big enough for a hermetic book (as it was made with that in mind) so he probably can't fit a strongbox inside. So he will just stay and chat up the wheelwright's men, gently trying to get them to go back to work (not overtly, but by reminding them they have a customer) and focus his efforts on the wagons.
If there is a space where he can put them that's a bit more out of the way than just in the main square, he will move them there (using the horses).
«Strand of hair,» the boy ponders, «why would I have that?» He pauses, «Oh, you want to talk to him!? I have this,» he says, and pulls up a kind of rune staff. It is eight inches long and 1½ inch wide, with inscriptions that make no sense to you whatsoever.
Cath'rinne takes the wand handed to him by the young kid and examines it to assess whether it is of hermetic origin or not, and whether she has any idea of the type of wand it is (such as by examining materials).
"You can talk to him through this? Interesting."
She'll cast The Whole from The Part to confirm if this is an Arcane Connection and have an idea of what the father looks like.
It is a plain stick carved out of a single piece of wood, not completely dry. It is rather crude, done in haste or by a young kid learning to use a knife. The markings could well pass as letters of an alien script.
«Yes?» he says, as if he does not understand why Ruedi asks, «as if I could see him.»
Cath'rinne gets the image of a healthy and handsome man in his prime. Probably not more than 30 years old.
"This will work beautifully. Hold onto this for a moment, I'll be back." Cath'rinne will turn into her heartbeast form and fly above the treeline. She's trying to gauge whether the forest where they are is within 500 paces of the prison, and if not, whether the road they would travel on passes within that range. If the later, she'll also cast a Sense of Divine Power spont (InVi2) to see whether that's part of the Dominion aura or not.