(D3 - LM) Search for Iron

Athelstan arrives here before Corrine and at a distance he can see the figure of a man, Baelon but he ignores him he has better things to do for now

This would be a perfect place to just kill him and throw his body into a mine, but Corrine can arrive at any second...

Somewhat flustered, yet not so much as there will be plenty of other chances, but for his claim to be credible he would need someone else to verify it, after all he didn't want to fight for every thing that he brought to light.

Yeah, I can hear it already, he is a liar how can you trust him, whatever, my axe will silence some, but I won't have the energy to do them all if I had to argue against so many.

Looking again at the mines and wondering if they were burnt to hinder Blackwood's or the Black's? Maybe it was a third party as it has become a common occurrence in this crimes for now.

Athelstan turns and trying to see for Corrine

Where is she, before I convince my self that this would be a good time to do something, or should I say someone

He chuckles.

Corrine rides into view just as he finishes that thought, on her dapple grey rounsey, Jory, Ser Markus and two other guardsmen flanking her. She catches up to Athelstan quickly, and gives him a polite smile;


"
Good morning, Athelstan. I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long,"
she greets him amiably.

Athelstan nods to the Corrine's guards "
Not long enough for it to matter my lady"
bowing slightly "
Now let us see the Iron Mines and their current state"
Athelstan guides the small Marsten delegation through some mains pointing to were they were reinforced.

'This extra beams and other tid bits you can see are to reinforce the mine to prevent them from collapsing, but you can clearly see many of the beams have been put to the torch, some more recently than others, as more damage was sought to bring a mine down"
being careful no to touch any beam for the danger it could bring "
This is one of the many Blackwood mines and one of the few that have wild fire"
as he points to the traces somewhat well hidden were he marked the walls so he wouldn't have a hard find to find them.

"
There is two more mines like these, with wild fire traces now, combat must have been fierce but the damage was done and it will take a long time to repair them, but they still have enough iron to give for years to come"
.

"
Was anyone in the mines at the time?"
Corrine asks, looking around cautiously.

"
Not one soul, they are abandoned for now, fear of war and death. Besides they have to get the money to fix this first before they can even start mining again"
riding to the only Bracken mine pointing at it as it came into view.

"
This is the only Bracken mine, and it has some fire damage albeit, is not as bad as the other, but it will also require investment to fix and be operable again"
dismounting from his horse and walking to a point near the entrance "
Right here someone left the wildfire in the open, for anyone to see or take, a rather obvious place and if found by a Blackwood supporter they would have taken it as evidence and not give a second thought to tampering"
returning back to his horse.

"
The only problem, is that as far as I can tell, there is no wildfire damage done to the mines, or no amount of beams would have stopped that, so why plant something so obvious outside the only Bracken mine?"

"
It does seem that it was planted then. Gods, there are so many layers to these crimes. Planted evidence, unclear motives. This could be Blackwoods trying ineptly to frame Brackens, Brackens genuinely attacking the mines, but perhaps having another reason not to use the wildfire, and just dumping it, not caring for what the one who found it would think. It could be someone else entirely, trying to gain from escalating the feud, or trying to damage Prince Daemon's revenue."

"
Well if there is no wild fire damage to the mines, and the claim is the Bracken's set them all on fire, why would hey damage their only mine and leave wild fire practically at the entrance?"
eyeing Corrine inquisitively "
That is clearly a set up against the Bracken's, while some traces of where it was previously stashed and more hidden is inside the Blackwood mines, where the trace is there, just not as noticeable, as in someone failed to conceal it all the way"


"
The imediate damage is to the Blackwoods, and then the Prince"
Athelstan nods to Corrine in that she was correct "
Then again, in the fight probably the Blackwoods burned the Bracken single mine, after all it's easier to hit one target, while the Bracken's might have burned some in return or it was the other way around, we will never know who really started it for certain, but this was someone's attempt to frame the Bracken's"


"
Question is who gains from escalating the feud? Why would and IF the Blackwoods put wildfire like this?"
letting the questions sink in for a moment

"
It's not cheap and it has to come from Dragonstone, which means the Blackwoods are somehow tied to this, as I doubt the Prince would have let a green supporter have it and use it to burn the mines that benefit him, but not incapable of using it to frame a powerful House really, what does he loses. Nothing. The Blackwoods, take it as proof of wild fire used and other atrocities that never happened as far as I can tell"

"
It does certainly imply someone with means and connections,"
Corrine replies, thoughtfully. "
Let me have a look around. Perhaps fresh eyes will see something new."

Athelstan backs away and let's her inspect things "
I hope you can bring more information if you are able"

With Athelstan as a guide, Corrine wanders into the mines a ways, Ser Markus at her back. She inspects in each one the beams, the floor, and the walls, trying to spot clues, and connect what she sees with any relevant knowledge she has, hoping to learn the secrets of these dark caverns.

[url=Knowledge (Education)][/url]: 4d6k3 15
[url=Warfare (+1B from Bread &
Salt bonuses)][/url]: 2d6k1 2
[url=Survival (+1B from Bread &
Salt)][/url]: 3d6k2 5

Although the mines have been badly damaged, Corrine sees ways in which they could be repaired, and quite quickly.

If House Marsten helps the repair effort, that would help with our... larger goals. Perhaps the Prince would appreciate us knocking six months off the time these mines spend inactive.

While examining the Blackwood mine, omething crunches under her foot. Stepping aside, she looks down to see that it is a shard of pottery. On closer inspection, she sees it is identical to the kind of pots that wildfire is stored in. She picks it up and studies it, also glancing around for signs of wildfire or more pot pieces. She sees nothing else, though when her eyes fall upon Athelstan, his demeanour seems to have taken a turn for the suspicious after he saw her with the pottery shard.

However, there is a sound of approaching hooves that distracts them both, before she can say anything. She hastily pockets the shard.

[ooc]Yeah, let me do the roll and you assist me lol[/ooc]

[ooc: Is that allowed?]

[ooc]No, but what would be the point of me doing the rolls, and then telling you whatever I wanted lol[/ooc]

[ooc: I don't understand.]

[ooc]I can't roll for you, as I think I would get the info and then feed you what I wanted, but I can assist you instead, you just won't get much with the rolls probably and rely in what I say anyway[/ooc]

[ooc: Ok. I suppose I'll stick with what I have then.]

[ooc]Now let's wait on Baelon, he is jumping into our thread[/ooc]

[Coldbrook presence in multiple Day 3 LM threads at the mines approved by Reader]

Baelon rides from one mine to the next looking for the figures he had spotted earlier, his Bloodriders with him.

"
Lady Corrine!"
He calls out from a short distance away - no sense in startling anyone with the thunderous approach of twenty-one plate-bound horsemen.
"
Might I have a word?"


[OOC: I may be joined by the other members of House Colbrook that were investigating the mines but I didn't want to presume - they can write their own entrances.]

Looking up from her inspection of the mine, Corrine peers over to the source of the call. Even at a distance, Baelon is distinctive.

"
Lord Baelon!"
she calls back in greeting, with a little wave. "
Of course you may!"


She slowly wanders a little closer, but mostly lets Baelon come to her.

Athelstan just stares in silence, and gives a nod that could pass as courteous but, Baelon should know it's just barely so, but in a flat tone "
Lord Baelon"
nothing more, a cold and chilly uttering of words, but only followed by silence.

"
I want a word with you in private after he &
I are done talking,"
Corrine whispers in Athelstan's ear. Her tone is difficult to place, but she seems to mean business, so to speak.

Athelstan could pass for a fearsome statue at the entrance of some castle gate, but this one is at the entrance of the mine, and only nodding to Corrine's words but keeping his eye on Baelon.

[OOC: just giving the other Coldbrook folks a chance to post before moving forward]

Ser Jorah rode up just behind, Trelane staying back with Daveth just in case.

"
Good day milady, Athelstan,"
he called out in a friendly tone, "
it appears that everybody is taking an interest in the mines today."

Daveth has moved close enough to observe the conversation. Close enough to move forwards and join in reasonably quickly if he decides to, far enough that he's not immediately involved.