We Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges IC (Eberron Noir)

[OMG PONIES]

New case. Weird one.

The chief hadn't left too many details on the notes he had scrawled and left on your desks. That wasn't good; the shorter the memo, the more important the job. Your heels click, almost in time with the rain falling on the windows, as you make your way down the long, empty hallway to the chief's office. Once you all arrive, the chief is not at his desk. He is looking out the window, smoking a cigar.

http://i55.tinypic.com/xn5hk6.jpg

"Can you believe this damned rain?" he scowls, "it's like the city herself is weeping for our poor lost souls, shedding angel's tears on all of us. People keep asking when it'll stop, but me? I hope it never does. The city's tears wash away the scum from the towers. Crime rate's down when it rains...except for this one. File's on the desk--take a look." Without looking at you, he motions towards a pile of documents and sketches laying on a grand mahogany desk. "There's been a high-profile murder, and let me warn you--it ain't pretty. Of course, murder never is, am I right?"

The stern half-elf laughs for the first time in a while, and a puff of smoke rises from his downturned mouth. He turns to greet you, and you see the wizened face of Caedmon Nightbreeze, creator of the Sharnian Unit of Investigative Tactics. He hand-picked both of you for the job, and he's the only thing making sure you keep it right now. His features are familiar to you--his dark, slicked-back hair with patches of gray at the temples, his hawklike nose, his leathery skin. He walks toward the desk, picks up a handful of the documents, and forcefully thrusts them into your chest. "Well, what's keeping you, sunshine?" he rasps.

[GodGoblin]

"Murder? In this city? Makes a change..." Felix smirks as he picks up the file and begins to rifle through the pages, scanning for information. "So let me guess the usual dead broad, shady boyfriend, alchohol and adultery?"

[Shadow Lord]

" A new killing, eh? This might be fun, especially if I can get my hands on some new pieces. Oh hehehe, this'll be just dandy! " Prometheus said, a wide smile on his face as he made himself seem... slightly insane. It was all in jest though, to fit his new favorite archetype: the Mad Scientist.

[GodGoblin]

"Seriously Doc one of these im going to be tracking down you if you keep on like that" Felix says to Prometheus with a sidewards glance, looking up from the papers.

[OMG PONIES]

Caedmon shakes his head, causing a few ashes to scatter from his cigar. "Usual? Anything but. I'll be damned if this one isn't weird. So, patrol gets called in by this terrified old woman at Kolare's apothecary. Says she smelled something in one of the upstairs apartments, and you know if she can smell it over all that snake oil, it's gotta be something.

My patrol guys go up and find the body of a dead human woman, no older than twenty. They go to ID her, but someone's carved her entire face off. They carved off her whole damn face! For a second I thought we'd be calling in Prometheus. Anyway, only thing we have so far for identification is this tattoo on her neck. Take a look,"

The chief picks up one particular sheet of paper, bearing an artist's sketch. He hands it to you.


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Caedmon shakes his head and looks to the floor. "It's sad that someone would have to destroy something as beautiful as a young lady," he muses. "This world's already ugly enough without...this. The scene's still undisturbed, if you want to head over, but it probably won't stay that way for long."

[GodGoblin]

"Ah damn waste.. Right Doc lets head over, sounds like your sorta thing. Thanks Chief." Felix closes the folder and tucks it under arm before heading towards the door.

"Lets hope its satyed undisturbed and the damn rookies stayed out of our evidence" He says to Prometheus on the way out with that same old frustrated tone he gets every new case.

[Shadow Lord]

" Yeah. It would be a shame if they got in my... our way. " Prometheus says, a small, joking smile on his face. " Anyway, how's that eye of yours working out for you? " He continues, following Felix.

[GodGoblin]

Felix fiddles with his eye patch "Its alright, still not used to it. Walked past an Artificers and nearly blinded myself so Ill stick the patch for now" He say before rolling back a sleeve to show his mechanical arm replacement "Once I got used to weight of this one it started to feel much more natural, I get the feeling it packs one hell of a punch, where did you learn to do this anyhow?"

[Shadow Lord]

" Here and there. Around. " Prometheus replied, his smile widening a little. " So, whad'dya think about the case, Detective Man? " Prometheus asked.

OOC, Please Read
I am incredibly sorry for not posting. If this ever happens again, please PM me and remind me, because it might've just fallen to the bottom of my subscriptions and I didn't notice it. Once again, I'm sorry.

[GodGoblin]

"Its a pretty odd talent just to 'Pick up' huh? But if it wasnt for them then I wouldnt be here, as for the case... Its wierd. More to it than it seems obviously but I wont know more until we hit the scene." He says heading out onto the street and searching for the fastest route to the scene.

[OMG PONIES]

Kolare's Apothecary

As you enter the apothecary, an unmistakable stench fills your nostrils. Even here, in the birthplace of perfumes and potions, the smell of death is wholly unique. It invades your senses, fighting out everything else. It overpowers all other thoughts as it gloats. It has claimed another, and one day it shall claim you too. Snapping back to reality, you both notice the chaos of the scene. The room lays in tatters, with items strewn everywhere. It seems there may have been a struggle.


http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/6/2/1275492871943/rock-star-hotels-trashed--006.jpg


In the center of the room lays the body--a lithe, young girl with the fire tattoo on her neck. Face gone and skin badly scorched by flame. Beneath the corpse lies a strange, swirling pattern outlined in chalk. It vaguely reminds the two of you of the dragonmarks, but its complexity is beyond that of any mark you've ever seen. In fact, you can make out distinct dragonmarks within this symbol, though rather than being individual pictures, they are connected together with ornate swirls and twirls.

Scrawled in blood on the walls are three words in what looks to be Draconic.

Draconic Speakers Only:
The words are "Chosen," "Cyr," and "Centuries."

The ramblings of a mad man, presumably her killer. The penmanship is barely recognizable, perhaps due to the grim ink. Not surprisingly, the writings on the wall seem incoherent. If they contain any clues, you'll have to dig for them. It's clear from the pooling of blood that the girl was killed in this room. The scene is hush with the macabre silence of the corpse--immune still from the hustle and bustle of nosy journalists and old Kolare himself. These may be the only minutes you have with the undisturbed crime scene.

Knowledge: arcana checks to investigate the pattern more closely, Search checks to scan the room for evidence, Gather Information checks to see if there were are any witnesses outside, or any other skills/spells/powers you think may help you investigate a crime scene.

[GodGoblin]

"Eurgh! ..No matter how often we see these scenes its impossible to get used to the smell. Strange markings, I cant read them but they seem to resemble Dragonmarks here on the floor but I cant make out the scribble on the walls, what about you?"

Felix bends down over the body and lifts his eye patch, the glowing eye scans the body and the room before he removes his tools and begins to probe and search for clues.


Using Detect Magic.
Search [roll0]
Will wait to use gather Info until outside and talking to people.

[OMG PONIES]

While the pattern beneath the corpse is not magical as a whole, you sense a vague aura of magic over one particular section of the pattern. Closer inspection reveals that this particular section looks exactly like the Mark of Making, the symbol of House Cannith.

General Knowledge on House Cannith:
A human dragonmarked house, Cannith is responsible for much of the manufacturing and artifice in Eberron. They created, among other things, the Warforged.

While most of the room is kissed by flame, you notice a distinctly darker circle on the floor around the pattern, as if it served as some sort of magical circle, rune, or portal. However, whatever magic it held is since extinguished.

[GodGoblin]

"A magical Cannith mark and a summoning circle or some sort of portal? Hmm this is all kinds of bad." Felix pulls out his notebook and skecthes the glowing portion of the Dragonmark the best he can as well as the Draconic runes on the wall Im sure someone will know what these mean..

After one last quick look around the room felix puts away his pad, places the patch back over his eye and heads towards the door. "You done here Prometheus? Lets see what the people have to say about all this." If no objection he leaves the room to speak to any witnesses present or anyone who claims to know the girl personally, ignoring the press however possible.

One last search- [roll0]
Gather Info- [roll1]
Sense Motive (For decerning lies etc) [roll2]

:smalleek: Why do I keep rolling 2's for searching!?

[OMG PONIES]

Your last scan of the room reveals nothing more than your previous one; if there are any other clues here, they're hiding like a scared child. Prometheus doesn't respond to you at first, as he's transfixed by the corpse. "Yeah, sure, Detective Man," he calls over his shoulder with a dismissive wave, "I'm going to do a little bit more research...er, investigation...on the corpse. You go ahead and do that thing you said..." His voice trails off, clearly focused on other things.

As you exit the apothecary, a throng of people has already gathered (as the always do in Sharn), about four or five thick. From the smallest gnome to the thickest half-giant, everyone is rattling off what they claim to know and think they saw. Your ability to take notes is thrown off by not just the speed of information, but the variety. There was an elf with a ponytail leaving the apothecary a few hours ago, a dwarf with a limp, a human child, or a werewolf, depending on who you're listening to at that exact moment. The only people who don't seem to be getting involved in the madness are the bums in the alley. Instead, they are more concerned with the bottle of whiskey they keep passing around.

A wizened gnome with a hooked nose approaches the scene with a sack clutched tightly in his arms. As he tries to fight through the crowd, he appears angrier and angrier as his face disappears in a sea of torsos. Once he finally gets through, he comes to you and barks, "What's this, some kind of run on my shop?"

[GodGoblin]

"Yes, Not right now, Thank you, Werewolf? Right. Ok got it.." Felix trys to fight his way through the crowd while half heartedly pretending to listen to them. "Ah! Now you are just the person I need to speak to. Please follow me Master Gnome, I can explain everything but not here" Felix says to the Hook nosed Gnome while placing a (normal) hand upon his shoulder and tries to lead him out of the crowd towards a cafe or somewhere that could offer privacy.

[OMG PONIES]

The gnome seems friendly enough, and follows you across the street to a corner cafe. A halfling comes up to take your order, and amidst the two you feel like some sort of giant. Still, the cafe is well-known in these parts as one of Jorasco's top-ranked shops in Sharn. The halfling takes your order, then disappears into the kitchen to afford you and the gnome some time to talk.

"Now," the gnome says, "would you mind telling me precisely what's going on in my shop, Mister...sorry, I didn't get your name. Mine's Kolare--and you?"

[GodGoblin]

"The names Felix, im an Investigator for the Sharn Watch. Sadly your shop has become a crime scene for the murder of a young woman. Im hoping you can help me identify the body" Felix opens up the file and places it on the table showing the Gnome the artists sketch of the womans tattoo.

[OMG PONIES]

The shopkeeper immediately turns up his nose, averting his gaze from the picture. "Sorry, Mister Felix, but I can't help you. That tattoo's not familiar to me at all. I'll do what I can to be of help, but I'm afraid this poor lost soul is still nameless."

[roll0]

Sense Motive DC 25 to open:
He's definitely willing to help, but he knows more than he's letting on. It seems that he knows the victim, but has reasons for not revealing this information. He seems on the brink of tears, though he is putting on a strong face in order to hold them back.