Elite Detectives [5e] - IC

[Irish Musician]

Having just got off a big case, you all sit in your offices or homes, resting or finishing up paperwork....or whatever it is your do on your off time. A knock sounds at your door, or a cadet appears in front of you. The captain wants to see you...immediately. Of course the cadets are too nervous about talking to your to put the correct authority or inflection int he command, but you can hear his voice now. You finish what you are doing, and make your way to the Captain's office. His office is at the top of the Corps' keep and has a large waiting room in front of it that has seats for visitors, as well as his assistant's desk.

As you reach the waiting room, you see the large Dragonborn sitting at his desk. He is talking to a man, well a male Tiefling, as you all take your seats. Their conversation lasts for about another 8 minutes and then the two shake hands. You can tell the Captain wants the Tielfing out of his office as soon as possible. As the Tiefling leaves you all see that it is Councilman Aurum. He stops, "Thank you for this," and then continues down the flight of stairs and out of your vision. You look back and you see the Captain sitting in this large chair, his back turned to all of you. The assistant, a human woman who you all know as Penny and a corporal in the Corps, gets up and gestures for you to go into his office. "He will see all of you now," she says as she goes back to sit down at her desk.

As you enter, the Captain turns around, his very large claws clasped together and in front of his mouth. Captain Balasar is a fairly large Dragonborn, standing at about 6'9", he towers over most everyone he meets. He is a long time vet of the Corps and worked his way from a private to being Captain. He is well respected in every district, and even those that are his "enemies" give him a fair distance. He is about the only Corps member that could go walking in the middle of Old Town and make it out without incident. Balasar is a hard Captain, but very fair. His scales are Platinum, a rarity in the Dragonborn community, and he is well known to follow his Platinum god, Bahamut.

[Sqmach]

Amnon was sitting at his desk, carefully going over the paperwork resulting from his most recent case when the cadet arrived to deliver the summons. I wonder what it could be...another case?

"I'll be there at once," he responded to the cadet, waving him away as he carefully slid the paperwork into his desk drawer to complete later. He rose and walked to the waiting area, quickly and with purpose. Upon arrival, he took his seat among the others. Noticing the tiefling he could not help but wonder what they were discussing, but he suspected he'd know soon enough. When he saw it was Aurum, his interest intensified. What is he doing here?

When they were finally called, Amnon rose slowly, hesitating a just moment before walking in and resigning himself to dealing with the task at hand. Once in the captain's office he stood silently, waiting for him to speak. He felt tempted to use a spell to peer into his mind, to get at the purpose of this meeting just a bit sooner, but he felt the captain wouldn't look kindly on such actions.

[JNAProductions]

Little Mac was training with Doc Louis, who was himself a former member of the corp, when the cadet arrived.

You said you had someone who could help out with the recent disappearances, Louis?

Please, call me Doc. And yes. This is Little Mac-he doesn't have much experience, but I'll be damned if he isn't a smart guy-and a damn tough cookie too.

Alright. Little Mac, was it? Come with me-the captain would like to see you.

Mac nods, doffing his gloves and stowing them in his belt before coming with the young cadet. I'm ready to do whatever I can to help Ashlenda. It might not be my home, but it's home to enough people that it deserves better than this.



Hello, Captain Balasar, Little Mac says when they're brought in, offering his hand to the massive Dragonborn. Good to see you again.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice was in the trade district desperately trying to separate a pair of merchants from far out of town. It was a fair day, and following her usual morning fast and warm-ups, she'd set off to work - as a detective, she thought with pride - to follow up on some reported thefts.

Two hours later she was still standing with Mr. Bellis and Mr. Grahlm, who have accused each other over missing inventory and have not stopped shouting invectives since her arrival. She was trying to offer each a chance to meet with her alone so she could give them equal attention when a runner from headquarters arrives, panting and telling her Capt. Balasar wished to see her immediately.

She'd told both men she would return to help them and walked quickly back to the island in the center of the city.

And here she sits with several others, whom she knows more by reputation than experience. But Balasar she knows, and the councilman being here as well is making her quite nervous. When proper, she stands before his desk at attention. "Sir. Detective Avice Radwell reports."

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik was scrubbing paint off his face when the knock came. He ignored it at first, and finished washing up as the knock grew more insistent. He called out once: "Who is it? I'll be there in a minute!"

He promise to open the door soon seemed to be enough, or perhaps the cadet outside spoke to silently, but Kirrik heard no response. Once he was done, he donned a thick hooded robe, and covered his face and body well before opening the door slightly. Upon hearing the instructions, Kirrik set to applying a new disguise; the one he wore when he went to the keep to get jobs.



Upon arriving, Kirrik removed the hooded jacket he had been wearing as he walked to the keep; a different one than he had answered the door with, of course. When he was called in he didn't say a word, but instead watched the assembled group curiously.

[Zergrinch]

Another day, another case. No matter how many cases you solve, the reward is simply more cases to solve. It never ends, the detective muses to himself. Evil always lurks in the darkest corners, and all it takes is for good men to do nothing.

Zozo Grigor, master of disguise, is far from being a good man. Or a man, for that matter. His outward appearance is certainly an almost-man, a youth at that - the youngest detective in the force. He is in fact a Changeling, an offshoot of a shapeshifting race called doppelgangers. Since his kind has the ability to change shapes as easily as other people change their clothes, changelings have always been viewed with suspicion. Feared even, and prejudiced against by a world that fears what it doesn't understand.

The changeling calling himself Zozo receives the captain's summons with a snort. Typical of dragonborns to have such one-track minds. Put all the other cases on hold, this one is top priority! Knowing that the old stick-in-the-mud will be insufferable if he doesn't make his way there posthaste, the detective plods towards the office. On his way there, he bumps against a tiefling who was just leaving.

"Councilman Aurum!" Zozo greets the tiefling with a wide smile and an outstretched hand. For once, Zozo's smile is genuine. Tieflings, who descended from demons and demonkin, are almost as distrusted as changelings. Almost. Because unlike him, Aurum can't very well conceal his hellish heritage.

"What brings you here? How's business?" Zozo is well-aware that some of the tiefling's doings aren't quite as above-board, but as long as it doesn't affect him, he would be inclined to look the other way. After all, everyone has his use...

[Majin]

Marco Falone was sitting at his desk, reading a letter from his old mentor Ezekiel, eyeing a stack of paperwork every once in a while. In the letter, the old man said he might be coming to town next month, to refresh some supplies.

When the call came, Marco folded the letter and put it in his duster's pocket. He smiles at the nervous cadet. "Well then, best not to keep the captain waiting".

When Marco reached the captain's office, the old lizard was still talking to someone, a male tiefling. Marco sat down and looked at the guest. He recognized him as the councilman Aurum. After a few minutes, when the tiefling left, Marco gave him a chilly look. He knew Aurum hadn't gotten to where was now by legitimate means. Marco wouldn't have liked anything more than to bust him, but there wasn't really any evidence, since the tiefling was smart enough to bribe the right people.

"Thanks, Penny", Marco said to the woman as he was called. "Hello chief, what's the matter?", Marco said, smiling, to captain Balasar as he entered his office. While Marco towered over most people he met, he was about the same height with the captain. But even though tall, Marco was rather skinny and wiry, while the captain was very heavily built and as such presented a much more imposing figure. Looking like a platinum dragon helped too.

[Irish Musician]

The great Dragonborn lets out a big sigh, "As you know disappearances and murders have ramped up as of late. There's no accounting for the increase of these crimes, as we don't tend to find much evidence at the crime scenes. It is as if the people are just whisked away by a ghost, and if that same ghost just sneaks in to people's rooms and kills them. And it isn't as if there is a pattern to any of these crimes....people from all over the city, from all walks of life. Old town, New Town, the docks...even a few of the mayor's guards have gone missing from their post." Balasar turns his chair to face the window behind him that looks out over the city, "And now the worst, for us, has happened. Councilman Aurum's son has disappeared. It is sad his son disappeared, of course, but that fact that it was his son makes the situation all the more volatile." The Captain turns back to you, places his hands on the desk, and leans in, "You all know, as well as I do, that he has sources to the criminal element in this city. And The Guild has a vote to be bought, so this could turn very ugly, very quickly for this city. I do my best to keep order with the tools I am given. Well," he looks at each of you, "time to utilize some of the finest tools the Corps has. I need you all to get on this case and figure out what is happening before Aurum turns this city inside-out looking for his boy." Balasar sits back down, "Ask any questions you have, and then report to the Quartermaster with this." He writes something on a piece of paper, folds it, and then presses his large ring on the blot of wax he puts on the paper.

[Sqmach]

Amnon searched his mind for a few minutes, this was going to be a difficult task and it was best he get things in order from the start.

"Has the councilman told you much already? Such as when his son went missing, and from where? And can we trust that he'll give us access and not interfere with the investigation, including being willing to speak to us?"

[Irish Musician]

Amnon searched his mind for a few minutes, this was going to be a difficult task and it was best he get things in order from the start.

"Has the councilman told you much already? Such as when his son went missing, and from where? And can we trust that he'll give us access and not interfere with the investigation, including being willing to speak to us?"

Balasar nods, "He has given some information. His boy went missing three nights ago. He wasn't concerned at first because he does like to party for days at a time. But when no one had heard from him, he came to me. And where, they aren't sure. His last known where abouts was at a house in New Town. Friend of the family. And usually I would say no to that last question, but since his son is in danger he might be a little more forthcoming. Of course, he does wish to find the culprits first so he has to balance his lust for vengeance with us helping actually locate his boy."

[Sqmach]

"I see...well I'd assume he must be desperate if he's resorting to asking us for help in the first place." Amnon stepped forward to take the message for the quartermaster from the chief. "At least we have a place to start, that house in New Town. We have the address?"

[Majin]

"Finding the people behind these disapperings is of course the top priority. But I don't mind having the opportunity to gain some insight into Aurum's businesses at the same time..."

Marco tried to sneak a peek at the note. "We getting some new toys?"

[JNAProductions]

Rescuing any survivors who've dissappeared is our top priority. Stopping it from happening again is our second, Little Mac said.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice

The blonde girl nods agreement with Amnon. "Known associates is a good start. But since there are several of us here, sir, we can follow more than one lead. I know it might just look like part of this, uh, trend, but this kidnapping - if it is that - might be completely unrelated to all the other disappearances.

"Without a ransom that we know of, its hard to determine motive. And like Marco says, Aurum is into all sorts of things we don't know about. Allegedly. Maybe we should consider what the council is currently up to and what Aurum might not budge on even with a heavy bribe."

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik put a hand on Little Mac's shoulder. "Look at this, the newcomer had the right of it. Perhaps you've all forgotten, we are not to do anything but to protect innocents first. Say, aren't you that boxer?"

[JNAProductions]

Yes. I was brought on a few months back by Doc Louis-he's retired, but thought I could do some good. I might not be the best cop in the world, but, he says, I've been able to help out before, and I'll be damned if I let anyone get hurt when I could stop it.

[darklink_shadow]

"I saw you fight. You're shorter in person." Kirrik chuckled and mussed the boxer's hair.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice spares a single disapproving look for Kirrik and Mac while a more important discussion continues.

[Majin]

"Oh yeah, I went to watch one of your fights with my teacher. He lost a fair amount of money betting against you, you should have heard him swear..." Harry said to Mac, chuckling.

"Anyway, back to business. Two teams sounds good, one goes to meet the friend and the other to guestion the councilman. If it's all the same to you, I volunteer to be on Team Councilman. Also, I think there's a pretty reasonable chance that someone doesn't want anyone digging up clues, so we ought to be careful".

[Irish Musician]

"I think there's a pretty reasonable chance that someone doesn't want anyone digging up clues, so we ought to be careful".

The Captain nods his head at this, "There will be most likely agents of whomever wanted to find the guilty parties before us. Maybe for the benefit of Aurum, maybe to try to ransom the boy to him. Either way be careful, especially in Old Town. It will be even more deadly there than before, so watch your backs. The last thing I need is to have one of you killed. I have enough paperwork on my desk, and enough Council members crawling down my neck, as it is." That last part you aren't quite able to tell if the Captain is joking or not.

[Sqmach]

Amnon breathed a heavy sigh, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, one thing at a time. We go see the quartermaster first, decide what to do from there. I think the captain has better things to do than have us stand here discussing our plans"

[JNAProductions]

Mac grumbles at the short comment, but stops shortly to pay attention to what's being said.

Amnon has the right of it. Captain, good luck, and good day. With that, Mac takes his paper and heads out for the quartermaster.

[Irish Musician]

"Are there any other details you need? If not, and you think of anything later, come and see me personally. This is at the top of the list of importance, Elite. Even the Mayor has shown great concern. Get it done, and quickly."

If there are other questions, please don't hesitate to ask. If not, though, I will move y'all along with the mission.

[Sqmach]

"No more questions from me chief. We'll get working on this as fast as possible." With this, Amnon turned to walk out, carrying the message for the quartermaster, confident the others would catch up. No time to waste.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik nodded. "Let's go then, by all means. That quartermaster is a very handsome lady. And she might have a candy for the lad." Kirrik ribbed Little Mac again. With that he followed the other two out.

"I'd be happy to help however I can. I'll send one of my boys out there. I'll have to stop home to do so. He'll meet you just outside the office... probably be back before you finish up with the quartermaster. He's very deft with the knife... throwing or stabbing, hehe. My best son. Yes. I'm too old for this running around business, but my sons, oh ho... Yes. But they aren't very bright. They need my guidance. Still, he'll be out front. Very soon."

And with that, Kirrik left quickly to discard his costume and wear another one. He had no children, but he also didn't like anyone to know who he really was, which is why he often changed things up, and why he came to the station dressed as an old man. The chief knew his secret, but nobody else did.

[Zergrinch]

Zozo generally stood at the corner while this was all going on. He didn't care to get involved with pleasantries. These are relative rookies, especially the halfling monk, who still maintained some modicum of idealism. Despite his youngish appearance, Zozo is quite jaded, thank you very much.

Upon the last call for questions, he finally breaks in.

"Such an investigation will require considerable resources to successfully pull off. Informants don't work for free, you know. How much is allocated budget for the case?" he asks.

[JNAProductions]

Kirrik nodded. "Let's go then, by all means. That quartermaster is a very handsome lady. And she might have a candy for the lad." Kirrik ribbed Little Mac again. With that he followed the other two out.

Before Kirrik leaves, Mac offers a strained chuckle and a "friendly" punch on the arm. Hilarious. Never heard that before, he says sarcastically.

[Irish Musician]

"Such an investigation will require considerable resources to successfully pull off. Informants don't work for free, you know. How much is allocated budget for the case?" he asks.
"In keeping with his public facade of being a "good guy", he has told me he is willing to pay 5,000g to anyone who can find the guilty party and return his son back to him alive. Other than that, the Mayor has told me to make available anything for you all to make your job easier and make this go faster." Balasar looks at all of you, "That being said, don't be wasteful with your money. We still need to be able to resume regular business after this case. The Quartermaster will give you each a stipend for conducting business, if you need more, then come back and see me."

[Zergrinch]

"Very well. Oh yes, one might think these... disappearances might be unrelated, but perhaps there is a pattern we haven't discerned yet. I would like to look at the case files. Having the following details might be useful:


Victim's particulars (name, age, gender, race, skin color, hair color, height, weight, place of residence, place of employment, family income, deity worshiped, and last place seen)
Times and dates of reported crimes, with corresponding locations."

[Irish Musician]

Balasar nods, "Go to 'Records' and they will have the files for everything. Find out whatever you want to know, they know you have mostly unrestricted access to files having anything to do with this disappearances."

[Majin]

"5000 gil? So we'll have every two bit detective searching for the missing brat. Maybe someone finds something important, but it is also possible they might accidentally destroy evidence. Great".

[Zergrinch]

"Very well," the sorcerer/warlock tells the Chief before departing to the Records department and making the exact same request for information.

[Irish Musician]

As you are dismissed from the Captain's office, you make your way to the Quartermaster and hand over the note. He breaks the seal and then read over the note. In front of him a long counter that stretches about 10 feet wide, and behind him was a door. A thick, metal door that is inscribed with runes all around the perimeter of it. It was opened right now and you could see back into it. This was the armory of the Corps and it had quite a bit back in there. There were also cases behind him, on either side of the door and from floor to ceiling, that you see all manner of potions stacked on the shelving.

The gruff dwarf behind the counter looks back at all of you with skeptical eyes, "Iffin' this didn't be havin' the Captin's own seal on it I wouldn't be balievein' it." He takes the note to the case to his right and starts taking out bottles and sets many bottles in front of each of you. He then looks at all of you. "The Captain also be wantin' me to be givin' ya something useful. So take a moment and choose what powerful potion ye be wantin'."

Once you have also chosen a potion, you gather your new things and set of on your new tasks.

You all get:

10 Healing Potions - 2d4+2
5 Greater Healing Potions - 4d4+4
2 Superior Healing Potions - 8d4+8
One Rare or lesser Potion of your choice



You go to records and requests the paperwork for all the other disappearances as of late. As you comb through what seems to be dozens of victims, nothing immediately jumps out at you. All of the victims are of a wide variety of races, from every district, of both genders, eye and skin color seem to run the gamut as well. Every income seems to be represented, though more information seems to be missing from the lower income victims' files. The dates and times are all over the place, as well as locations of disappearance, or body found.

As you go over all the files and start putting them in chronological order, you see that the disappearances started in Old Town.

Marco and Avice both venture to the Councilman's house. They are stopped at the gate, of course, by the guards there. As soon as they tell them their reason for being there, the gates fly open and they are directed to Aurum's house. As they walk through New Town, they are a big amazing at exactly how big these houses are, and how ornate they can be. Aurum seems to be right up there with the top 5 or so richest looking houses. You finally get to the house and knock on the door. A human man dressed in what you assume is a butler's uniform answers the door. As soon as he sees you, invites you in and he tells you to follow him. He leads you to a large study/library and asks you to wait for a moment. Minutes later, Aurum comes into the room and sits down at a large desk, two seats in front of him with you in it. "So, I assume you are here to talk about my son. Well, ask your questions."

Amnon, Mac, and Kirrik's "young replacement" stay a little behind Marco and Avice as they walk to New Town. They, too, are greeted by the guards and let through. They are directed to the friend's house and as they approach the premises, something seems amiss. The front doors are slightly ajar and the handles seems to be broken off a little. One of the door's small windows is smashed in, and as you walk up closer to the door, the area surrounding the door is blackened.

[Sqmach]

Seeing the damage, Amnon draws his rapier. "We don't seem to be the first group here, I'm guessing Aurum is behind this somehow. Best be cautious though, in case I'm wrong or his thugs are stupid enough to fight us."

How recent do these scorch marks seem? Guessing that is investigation so [roll0]

[Zergrinch]

"Any rare potion I want, eh? All right, I choose this one."

Choices, in order of Priority (what do you want to give me?)

Oil of Etherealness
Potion of Clairvoyance
Philter of Love

After an afternoon of trying to piece clues together, it's become abundantly clear that more footwork is needed. The detective finishes up by arranging the cases by chronological order, and notes down each and every location of the crime scene. There's no harm in trying to trace the perpetrators' footsteps now, is there?

Changing out of his detective clothing, the changeling strides out of the station and makes his way to Old Town, although he passes by New Town first to check up on his fellow *****.

[darklink_shadow]

As the changeling left the office, he was flagged down by a young man in a red cloak. "Hello! I was told to meet you out here. Except I was told a certain boxer would be here too... and that there would be supplies for me. You are working on the missing persons case, right? Have you seen a boxer?"

[Zergrinch]

"A boxer? What's that?" the perplexed changeling asks the half-elf who hailed him. "If you're talking about that halfling monk, I ain't seen him since this morning."

Please note, nobody knows Zozo is a changeling. For all intents and purposes, he is a human.

"Wait. Who told you to meet me out here? And what's this about supplies?"

[darklink_shadow]

The boy frowned at the apparently ignorant man. "Boxers are people who box. Boxing is an ancient martial art, and combat sport where you mostly just dance around punching each other. It's been around for a long time... a really long time. Like... since we started making buildings out of worked stone. Which is forever ago in my mind.

And my father told me to meet you here. Or to meet a fellow detective out here, and he described several people. You match one of them. He also said he asked someone to bring out the supplies from the quartermaster for me. Did you forget? I can just go in and get them I guess..."

The young man looked rather annoyed but he sighed and the cheered himself up. "Maybe you weren't just in with the chief?"

We trained under the same mentor, didn't we? :P Maybe we don't know each other's secrets.

Has there been a time lapse I missed? I had been standing outside waiting for someone to leave the police station. The plan was to follow Little Mac, but he hasn't posted...

[Majin]

At the councilman's place, Marco set his staff aside and sat on one of the two seats in front of the table. "You are correct. I'm detective Marco Falone and this is detective Avice Radwell.

Now, I'm gonna be blunt. You think there's a chance your son might've been kidnapped to get at you? Or does he have any enemies? As in, anyone who was angry enough with him to make him disappear. Of course, it's very likely this is related to other disappearances, though we can't rule anything out yet".

Marco leaned forward. "While we are on the subject, have you heard anything related to these disappearances?".

Wisdom(Insight): [roll0], if it's necessary.

[Irish Musician]

When you look at the blast marks, they seem to be made within the last 24 hours, probably in the 8 to 9 hours ago range.

As you are examining the blast marks, you also notice they are definitely not of mundane means. How they were made you don't know, but a torch or blasting powered if definitely not the culprit.

And something you didn't see before catches your eye....a trail of blood leading from the front door into the house.

If the councilman seems affected by your questions he doesn't show it. He waits for Marco to be done and leans in, "I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to kidnap my child to get at me. And if they are that foolish, they won't be for very long. As for my son's enemies, I doubt he would have gotten in enough trouble to warrant getting kidnapped. He's been in a little bit of trouble before, but nothing to warrant this." The Councilman then looks Marco dead in the eye, "I have heard nothing about my son's disappearance. If I had, do you think I would be sitting here talking to you?" Marco, you believe his words.

[Sqmach]

With closer investigation making him fairly certain whatever caused these marks is probably gone, Amnon steps up to the door. "Ashlenda Police, I have reason to believe someone inside is injured, put your weapons down if you are armed, we're coming in." He then pushed the door open with his foot to survey the room.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice appears unaffected by beautiful neighborhood and massive homes, but is nervous about questioning the councilman. She winces when Marcus states there's been other disappearances. No reason to confirm to the public what's thus far only been rumor.


"Councilman, I know you're a man of ... um, resources. But your son is missing, so somebody is either responsible or knows something. I'd like the names of your staff, please. Even if nobody in your household is guilty, they may have observed something or seen somebody - any information can be helpful.

"And if you don't mind, can you tell us of the minor troubles he'd gotten into?" She takes our her pad and pencil.

[JNAProductions]

With closer investigation making him fairly certain whatever caused these marks is probably gone, Amnon steps up to the door. "Ashlenda Police, I have reason to believe someone inside is injured, put your weapons down if you are armed, we're coming in." He then pushed the door open with his foot to survey the room.

Little Mac, his gloves on since leaving HQ, decides it'd be best to be unobtrusive, and stays silent as Amnon goes ahead.

Stealth Roll just in case-[roll0]

[Irish Musician]

At first glance, you notice that the furniture is scattered around, vases and the like broken, as well as some pictures knocked off the wall. You don't hear an answer to your claim to be the Police Corps.

"You are correct, somebody does know something and is responsible. And I am doing everything within my power to find out who. I have gathered my staff in the next room over and they have been instructed to cooperate with you fully." He raises and eyebrow, "As for my son's troubles, minor things. A bar fight here or there, nothing serious. Just boys being boys."

[Sqmach]

Amnon proceeds into the house, rapier still drawn. With his free hand he points at each of his companions while whispering to relay his message, "Remnants of a fight inside, nothing hostile yet, proceed with caution." He proceeds inside slowly, trying to follow the blood trail he first saw at the door.

Message cantrip to both Mac and the person who is totally not Kirrik. Attempting to follow blood trail, unsure if that is investigation or perception, both +9 so doesn't matter, [roll0]

[JNAProductions]

Mac nods, following carefully.

Readying an action to tackle anyone who pops up and appears hostile. Gotta keep Amnon safe.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik was planning to follow Little Mac, so I will just teleport myself there...

Having followed Amnon and Little Mac, Kirrik stays silent and smiles, distracted by his own thoughts. Keeping in mind that there might be dangers ahead, he snaps out of it, and readies a single blade before following the pair.

[Irish Musician]

As you all walk further into the house, it is eerily quiet. You can hear each other breathing it is so quiet. Mac sticks close to Amnon, as "Kirrik" silently walks behind them, readying his blade. As Amnon follow the trail it leads into the living room that is a dining room and parlor room away. As he walks, he notices there are scratches along the walls, and as he walks into the living room, everyone sees what he sees. There in the living room are two elves, a man and a woman. The woman's throat looks as though it has been ripped out, and the man is covered in scratch marks. Between them, there lays a naked man, who has been stabbed through the heart with a sword. It is a grisly sight.

[JNAProductions]

Gods' wounds. What the hell happened here? Mac says, rushing towards the man. The other two were clearly dead, but the man might be alive.

[roll0] Medicine Check

[Irish Musician]

You are 100%, totally sure that this man is dead.

[JNAProductions]

He's dead. Little Mac stands up, his hands shaking slightly. I mean, I wanted to catch the bastards before, but now, seeing it...

They're going to pay.

[Sqmach]

Amnon begins to pace around the room looking for clues. "Not what I was hoping to find, but I can get some information out of one of these three, just need to pick the right one to question." He looks at the wounds on the corpses. "Might be best to do a quick sweep of the rest of the house first, in case there are other bodies or whatever did this still remains."

Can I tell what left the clawmarks? Anything distinctive about the sword? Can I tell who died first/last? Does this damage continue into other rooms? How large is this house? Also, is man #3 a human? Just said man so I'm left to assume. Investigation: [roll0] Medicine: [roll1]

[Majin]

"Hmh. I suppose if you don't have anything more to say, I'll go question your staff. Unless you have anything to add, Avice?"

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik looks around, studying the room. Everywhere there were clues, he just had to figure out what the clues meant.


+8
Sword:
Investigation[roll0]

Sword:
Check Material it's made from
Investigation[roll1]

Claw Marks:
Investigation[roll2]

Throat Wounds:
Investigation[roll3]

Looking around the Room
Perception[roll4]
Investigation[roll5]

Looking for photos
Perception[roll6]

Wounds: Who has what wounds? Defensive wounds?
Investigation Elf man[roll7]
Investigation Elf woman[roll8]
Investigation other man[roll9]

General Vibe
[roll10]

[Irish Musician]

You are not sure what made those claw marks. In fact you don't think you've ever seen clawmarks like that in your life.

You look around a bit and notice that pretty much just from the front door to where you are things seem to be "a mess." Obviously, the room in which the bodies are in are very gory and messy. There is blood everywhere and it is covering all 3 bodies, as well as the large area around them.

The house itself seems to be about 3,000 square ft, give or take.

Looking at the clues and how things went, it would seem as though the woman was attacked first and may have even been chased into this room. It would seem as though she met her end where she lays down. Between the man who is naked and the elven man who is fully dressed, it is hard to tell which one died first. They may have died at the same time or they may have died very closely to each other.

At first you thought the dead, naked man was human, but upon closer inspection he looks as though he might be a half elf. He has quite a few characteristics of being a half-elf.

As far as the sword goes, you don't notice anything particularly odd about it. It looks like a normal sword an rich, elven man might own. It has runes inscribed on it, but it seems to be naming people, elven men, at least as far as you can tell. All the elven runes are common elven men's names. There is something about the quality of the blade that seems odd, but you don't know enough about metalworking to know for sure.

Sword - To you it looks like a pretty normal sword. It looks like a normal sword an rich, elven man might own. It has runes inscribed on it, but it seems to be naming people, elven men, at least as far as you can tell. All the elven runes are common elven men's names. It seems to be a normal steel sword, but there is something about it that looks odd. You can't quite put your finger on it. You'd need more training in metalworking to figure it out.

Claw Marks - To you they seem as though an animal made them. Maybe a bear, or a large car of some sort, you can't quite make out what creature, exactly.

Throat wounds - they look as though something took a bite out of them. Definitely not human-type teeth, they had to be sharper than that.

Looking around the room - Obviously, the room in which the bodies are in are very gory and messy. There is blood everywhere and it is covering all 3 bodies, as well as the large area around them. When you look more into the details of the room, it looks as a typical rich, elven house might. It has their style and they have all manner of furniture and antiquities one might see in an elven house. There is large fireplace with a nice mantle in the room with the bodies. As well as two very nice arm chairs.

Photos - While there aren't any photos because there are no cameras, there are paintings around. Mostly oil paintings, though you do notice that some of them have large scratch marks torn into them as well. Some of them are just of landscapes and the like, but there are two above the mantle that are portraits of an elven man and woman. Upon closer inspection, it seems to be the elven victims lying in front of you.

Wounds - The Man - He seems as though his chest and stomach took the most damage. He torso is clawed all to the hells, though he does have three long claw-marks coming down his face. His left arm seems to have some claw marks as well, but his right seems fairly free of markings. His legs both have some marks here and there as well, and his left shoulder seems to have bite marks, though it doesn't seem as though any flesh was taken away.

The Woman - Other than her throat having been torn out, she also seems to have some defensive wounds on her forearms. They look "scratch-like" to you.

The Other Man - Upon closer inspection actually seems as though he is a half-elf. As well as the sword that is through his chest, you also seem some slashes on his body in various locations.

General Vibe - Eerie and the whole inside of the house seems to creep you out a little.

[Sqmach]

"I'm going to question the elven man first. I'll only get five questions, careful speaking while the spell is active, wouldn't want to waste one asking him something obvious." Amnon crouches over the elf and pulls a stick of incense from his component pouch, lighting it, before beginning the gestures and chant of his spell.

Casting Speak with Dead on the elf man, waiting for confirmation the spell takes before beginning questioning

[JNAProductions]

Understood, Mac says, calming down a little. He looks around, silently trying to get a feel for what happened while his companion works his magic.

Straight Wisdom check, seeing if I can get a hunch or something. [roll0]

[Irish Musician]

Amnon lights his incense and starts to chant and move his hands in certain ways. The incense burns and starts to lift into the air. Oddly enough the smoke starts to curve back down and towards the elven man's body. It creeps from his feet up his body to his face. All of a sudden it shoots into his nostrils and his eyes shoot open and he turns his head to face Amnon. His eyes look bloodshot and a little whitened. An airy and raspy voice comes out of his mouth as he opens it, <"Yyyyeeessssss."> He is speaking in Elvish.

[Sqmach]

In Elvish, "What is the last thing you remember before you died?"

Waiting for answers between questions because it might change what I ask. Also, assuming its speaking in common since you didn't indicate otherwise, or I'd hit myself with comprehend languages.

[Irish Musician]

It blinks, <"Pain. Sadness. Anger. Revenge.">

He is actually speaking in elven, but you know it so you're good. Sorry, forgot to mention that :smallredface:

[Sqmach]

In elven,"Right, of course, but less than helpful. Who inflicted this pain?"

We'll just say this whole exchange is in elven then, makes sense.

[Irish Musician]

It blinks twice, <"It was not a who, but a what. A beast.">

[Sqmach]

Amnon smiles just a bit, Now that is some useful information. Continuing in elven, What sort of beast? Describe it for me."

The spell only allows questions, so the second sentence there is more of a hopeful instruction than anything actually binding.

[Irish Musician]

It blinks three times, <"Lots of fur, claws, sharp teeth.....bloodthristy eyes. Killer's eyes.">

[Sqmach]

The description is less than helpful, but Amnon tries another line of questioning. In elvish,"When did this attack occur?"

[Irish Musician]

The elven man blinks four times, <"In the middle of the night, as the moon rose in the sky.">

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik took the blade in hand and inspected it again before slipping it into his bag. "Needs to be looked at. I've got a guy." Kirrik explained quickly.

Kirrik pulled out some notes, and nodded as the elf spoke, jotting down notes. At the bottom of the page, Kirrik wrote one word followed by a question mark. Werewolf? Maybe the blade was silvered.

Pulling out the sword again, he shows it to the dead elf. "Ask him if he stabbed the beast with this blade, please."

[Sqmach]

Amnon nodded when he saw the note, he'd come to the same conclusion. In elvish, "That is...unfortunate. Did you stab this beast with this sword?" Amnon glances at the naked man, For once, I hope I'm wrong.

[Irish Musician]

The elvish man blinked five times, <"I.....do not know."> And with that, smoke left the man's mouth and nostrils and his body lay limp once again.

[JNAProductions]

Alright, Amnon, looks like your ritual's over. I don't speak Elvish, so give me a quick summary. Mac says. Though by the look on your face... I take it questioning didn't go so well?

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik dropped the blade back into his magical bag and frowned. "He was attacked by a furry danged beast just after the full moon rose. He may have stabbed it with the blade I am taking to have inspected. Looks like a case of a werewolf attack. But it might not be that simple. Let's search the house for clues..."

[JNAProductions]

Werewolf attack is a bit too convenient for my tastes. Kills off anyone who had contact last with the Aurum's son. Not saying it was something else, mind you, just saying somebody has to be behind it. Mac grins, bitterly. But I'm preaching to the choir with this, aren't I?

Right, next line of thought, Mac continues. Who can control a werewolf? Or, at least, this werewolf? I don't recognize the body, so we should find someone who does. Figure out if anyone had a sword over his head, or any other kind of leverage. Or maybe he was magically compelled-I can't check for that, don't know the signs.

[darklink_shadow]

"Or just infected and told to come here last night. Or infected because they knew he'd come here last night. Might even be their child, or possibly a close friend. Hard to know for sure. We can have the corpses looked at by professionals. Get the half-elf tested for lycantropy. "

[Sqmach]

Amnon watches as the body becomes inert and reaches down to close the man's eyes as he whispers in elvish, "May St. Cuthbert grant you justice in the afterlife, and may we find justice for you with his aid." He rises slowly, turning to his companions. "The werewolf theory does seem to fit, and I agree its the most likely, though I wouldn't count out another kind of werebeast or even a druid. As for what to do next, I could question the potential were-beast as well, but I can't guarantee that will be useful. I can only ask questions, I can't make the dead tell the truth or speak if they are not willing. If he came here under someone's command, there is no guarantee he'd be willing to tell us. House plants are an option too, as is the woman, but I doubt they'll give us much else useful. All that can wait though, I think a thorough search of the house is in order first." At this the tiefling walked off to look through the rest of the house, taking care to note anything out of place.

Looking throughout the house for anything that seems out of place, paintings of note, things hanging on the walls, pretty much a thorough sweep of the place, looking especially for signs of Aurum's son. If this is too big an action to take, let me know and I'll revise, but we don't seem to be in danger at the moment. Investigation: [roll0], Perception [roll1]

[JNAProductions]

I'll look with you. Two sets of eyes are better than one. Mac follows the taller man, eyes peeled as he walks.

Investigation-[roll0]
Perception-[roll1]

[Zergrinch]

Although Zozo meanders a little in his walk, he eventually reaches the most likely place his peers would investigate first - Councilman Aurum's residence. The "human" strolls over to the front door, and knocks on it.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik nodded, and then followed the others at first. But then he murmured about too many cooks in the kitchen and left to look elsewhere for clues. And sharp things. "I will look elsewhere. Don't want to crowd."


Rolling a bunch, one per room I can search. I will also search for knives of any sort while I am alone. Especially ones that can count as daggers.
[roll0] Investigation

[roll1] Investigation
[roll2] Investigation
[roll3] Investigation
[roll4] Investigation
[roll5] Investigation
[roll6] Investigation

[Irish Musician]

You all split up and start walking through the house.

Mac and Amnon take the bedroom part of the house and start searching through there. Eventually you make it to what you assume is the Master Bedroom. It looks as though the bed is a little disheveled, as if people were laying in it fairly recently. It isn't made and still looks as though whoever was in it flipped the covers over and got out. Come to think of it, the clothes the two elven had on seemed fairly "night time" type clothes. You see some paintings in their bedroom. On the wall across from the bed, there were three portraits. Two of them were of the elven man and woman in the living room. And there was one in the center of a male elf. He is very handsome and dressed very similarly to the other two, but looks quite a bit younger.

Kirrik goes into the kitchen and starts to look around. He does, indeed, find some knives that he is on the lookout for. A lot of the knifes he finds are "steak knives" and a little too small to do any real good. But in the rest of the knife set he find a large, long knife that would work quite well, as wella s a butcher's cleaver. He moves from the kitchen farther back into the house. He finds some broom and coat closets. And he then gets to the far back of his side of the house. He opens a door and inside of this room he finds what he can only describe as a study. The left and right walls are covered in bookshelves that are filled with books. There is a large desk with papers here and there, as well as quill, ink and other assortment of "normal desk accessories." Right behind the desk, there looks to be about a 10'x10' map of the city. Though it looks drastically different from any map that Kirrik has ever seen. It has the same basic shape and outline, but not everything seems to be in the same spot as it is now, or even as big as it it now. A closer look at the map shows a date that is about 85 years ago, about the time when the humans and elves finally made peace.

You wander through the streets, not seeming to have a care in the world. He, too, walks up to the gates and is let in by New Town's guards. He finds the Councilman's house and is greeted at the door by a human butler. He looks at you oddly, but after a quick explanation he shows you to the room in which the Councilman and your fellow Corps members are sitting.

[Zergrinch]

"Case files were a bust," Zozo tells his colleagues after inviting himself inside Aurum's house. "It looks like the attacks were random; there is no discernible pattern. For what it's worth, it seems to have started in Old Town before moving towards New Town. Here's a map with an overlay of reported incidents," he says, while brandishing a piece of parchment, and showing it even to the councilman if asked.

"So," after a brief pause, "What have you got?"

[Sqmach]

"Well, that painting is probably a relative, most likely a son given its position between the other two. He could be a lead if we can find him, or he might be another victim. Unfortunately, we've found nothing leading directly to Aurum's son. It occurs to me we may be getting sidetracked on that matter. Currently, I think our best options are talking to the neighbors and maybe questioning the dead woman specifically about Aurum's son. We should figure out what these people did for a living, if they actually had a son, did the neighbors see anything, that sort of thing. Thoughts?

This is to both of you if Kirrik decides to regroup with us after his search, otherwise its just to Mac.

[JNAProductions]

Agreed. Although is there any chance you can get answers from our supposed werewolf too? Mac scratches his head. Come to think of it, what's stopping you from questioning the first guy again? Rules of magic or somesuch?

[Sqmach]

"The spell doesn't work if its been used on the subject in the last ten days, so asking the male elf again isn't possible at the moment. That said, we can get the corpse put into storage and come back to it once the time is up if you want, but I think we're in trouble if we've not broken the case by then. On the other man, I can cast the spell and question him, but if he was sent here, he might not answer truthfully. Still, I'm willing to try it if we think that is the best option. My remaining power will allow me to cast something that powerful twice more, which is sufficient if we don't find any more corpses today."

To clarify, two 3rd level spells remaining.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik pockets both the cleaver and the long knife from the kitchen, before checking the pantry's contents. He looks longingly at the steak knives, but ultimately forces himself to ignore them. They would be useless anyways.

In the study, he looks at the books, and then just for the quirk of it, gently tugs on every book to see if any of them feel as if they have the wrong weight to them, promising that the book contains a secret or opens hidden passages. One never knows. While he is at it, he reads the book titles to see if anything stands out as interesting.

If that avails him nothing, he studies the papers quickly to see if there is anything worth noting, especially looking for correspondences between the deceased and anyone else. If that too provides him with nothing, he will return to the closet to rifle through the coats, hoping to find something useful there. If that still doesn't help, he will return empty handed to his colleagues.

[Irish Musician]

Kirrik pulls on a few books, but nothing seems out of the ordinary. The titles of the books seem to run the gamut of subject matter, the owners of the house seemed to read a lot of books, or at least owned a lot of books. When you look on the desk of the papers you find, they seems to be mainly business agreements. They seems to be mainly import/export and trade agreements with different companies outside of the city. It looks legitimate to your eye. Once you are done with the office, you rummage through the coat closets. While you do find lots of nice coats, scarves, and even a few boxes of what you can assume are sentimental things, you don't find much out of the ordinary.

As the two groups walk back and meet back up in the living room to report their findings to each other, they notice something weird about the living room. Something terribly not right about it. Where once there were three bodies, there lay only two.....

[JNAProductions]

Mac says nothing, but immediately drops down into a fighting stance, his hands up, center of gravity low. His eyes dart around the room, looking for the missing body.

[roll0]

[Sqmach]

Amnon draws his rapier as he looks around the room.

Which body is missing? Any drag marks or footprints? Anything else out of place? Do I hear anything? Investigation:[roll0] Perception:[roll1]

[Majin]

Marco looks amusedly at the young detective who barged in. "Figures. If there was something in the files, someone would have caught it by now."

"We were just about to question his employees, see if they know something. Haven't learned anything new yet though".

Marco rose from his chair and walked to Zozo, looking at his map. "Well, that might just prove to be useful. You've got any questions for the councilman, or do you wanna go see the staff?".

[Irish Musician]

You are all on high alert, at the disappearance of the naked half-elf's body. Mac immediately braces for a fight, getting into his stance, and Amnon pulls out his rapier and looks around the room. What you immediately see is the woman's body moved over, as if she had been pushed over. By her body lay a glass bottle, uncorked, and empty that you are positive wasn't there before. As you looks down, you see bloody footprints leading out of the room and as you follow them, they lead out the front door. They seem to be humanoid size.

[Sqmach]

"Mac, you don't get to check the bodies any more." Amnon sheathes his rapier and readies his bow as he runs out the front door, looking for their surprisingly mobile corpse.

Survival to follow tracks? [roll0]

[JNAProductions]

Mac cusses under his breath, before saying Agreed. He continues on as he follows Amnon, I swore he was dead when I checked.

A second survival check, just in case I roll better than a 22. [roll0]

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice stamps down a flash of annoyance at Zozo's interruption when she sees he has real information. As he and Marcus finish with the councilman, she takes a long look at the map, following behind them while walking and trying not bump into things as she does so. The moment they are in the room with the employees she gives a cursory glance and finds a flat surface on which to place the map - vertically.

She's as far away from any of the employees in the room as she can be, so it's too far to see any details on the map. She whispers to Marcus and Zozo, "Watch them," and plants the map on the wall where it will get the best light. She continues to analyze it carefully before rolling it and turning about as they others begin talking.


Perception [roll0]
Investigation [roll1]

For the NPCs, she is not merely pretending to read the map to get reactions. She really doesn't have time to analyze it while walking. But she wants the others to gauge NPC reactions to the map while she does so. No reason it should mean anything to anybody, right?

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik drew the sword he had taken from the creature's body out of his bag and held it aloft. "Oh dear. Someone, find it."

Kirrik followed the others, still ready for a fight.

[Irish Musician]

You all race to the outside door and look around. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight, but once they are you clearly see a trail of bloody foot prints that are starting to be less bloody and make less of a trails for you to follow. You run off in pursuit of the "dead" man and eventually catch up to where the trail seems to end. A Man Hole that leads into the sewers of the city.

[Zergrinch]

She whispers to Marcus and Zozo, "Watch them," and plants the map on the wall where it will get the best light. She continues to analyze it carefully before rolling it and turning about as they others begin talking.

With a bemused wink, Zozo sits back with a faint smile on his face. He remains silent as he carefully observes the reactions.

Insight: [roll0]

[JNAProductions]

Mac cusses again. Alright, I'm going to go down and try following him. Cover the possible exits-if you can. Then, without any more hesitation, he leaps down the manhole, attempting to track the formerly dead man.

[roll0]

Survival (well, straight Wisdom) check to track this guy.

[Sqmach]

Amnon stares after Marco for a second, surprised the man just said he'd try to track down and detain the suspected werebeast on his own.

To not-Kirrik, "I'm going to fetch some of the corps to guard the house before any other bodies get up and walk away. Might be best if we let the others know what is going on. I'm not sure we need their help yet, but it might be good for them to know where we are going in case we go in after the man and don't come out. I trust Kirrik gave you the stone and you know how to work it?" He doesn't wait for a response to this last question and rushes off to find some guards.

Do I need to roll to find guards?

[Irish Musician]

Avice starts to read the map, and Marco helps her. They study it and look at all the points that Zozo had put on there, corresponding with each disappearance. There are even some spots that Zozo found in which a victim had been found later, dead. Those point are put on the map as well. The "found" points all seem to be in Old Town, though, and those bodies started in all different districts. And there are not many of those marks at all, just a handful.

Zozo watches the employees. Some of them seem fine, just waiting to get out to go back to doing their job. Some of them look nervous, but they don't seem to be paying attention to Avice or Marco looking at the map at all. They seem more to fidget with their clothing or what have you, and seem to be looking off into the distance. Based on their demeanor and movement, you might guess that they are more scared of getting in trouble with the Councilman and getting fired, than getting in trouble with the Corps.

Mac jumps down into the manhole. He looks either way and can kind of see a little bit of footprints leading away left. so he goes into pursuit mode. In the sewers there are two ledges on either side of a "river" that the normal flow of the sewers uses. The gap between ledges is about 10ft. As Mac runs, the bloody footprints get less and less visible, until he then comes to a crossroads. There are now three possible ways the suspect could have turned, but unfortunately for Mac, his nice footprints have faded.

Amnon goes off in search for any other Corps members that might be patrolling the streets of Old Town. Just as he is about to give up and turn back, he sees two younger Corps members turn the corner on normal patrol. The newbies generally are given patrol in New Town as well as the docks because those are the least crime-central places. Their eyes go wide and Amnon runs up to them and starts explaining what they need to do. Once he is done, they are still paused in shock for a moment before Amnon gives them a, "Well!?" The immediately snap out of it and give him a, "Sir, yes Sir!" in slightly crack voices. They follow you to the house and post guard there, as you run back to the Man Hole.

[darklink_shadow]

"Stone?" watching Amnon run off, Kirrik shrugs and jumps in after Little Mac. As they reach the intersection, Kirrik looks around for sign of passage. Probably nobody else is down here, so he hopes he can find disturbed stuff.

What stone? I must have missed something. This game is so fast while I am working, and then dead when I get home.

[roll0] Perception
[roll1] Investigation
[roll2] Tracking

[JNAProductions]

Come on, you son of a troll, where are you? Mac scans the sewers.

[roll0] Survival
[roll1] Perception
[roll2] Investigation

[Sqmach]

Returning to the manhole, Amnon sees that Kirrik is now missing, presumably down the hole to help Mac. He remembers Mac asking them to cover the exits, Well, not like I can actually block off all the manholes, might as well go help, and descends into the sewers after his two partners, drawing his rapier as he reaches the bottom.

Not that the other two seemed to be trying to be sneaky, but survival to check if I can tell how many people have been down here, direction, etc. [roll0] If I find tracks, I follow them and hopefully meet up with the other two.

[Majin]

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to ask some questions from you. We'll be doing this one at a time, so you don't have to feel awkward. I'd much appreciate it if the rest waited outside".

Marco waved his hand, muttering "Appare". As he did, a big grey cat appeared next him. "Mister here will make sure no one's eavesdropping. Confidentiality and all that". The cat meowed loudly, as if to make a point.

"Has the councilman or his son recently pissed off anyone who might do something like this?"

"What do you know of the kid's friends? Any of them 'shady'? Do you know if the kid's mixed up in anything?"

Int(Investigation): [roll0]
Wis(Insight): [roll1]

Marco also encourages anyone to come to the station if they remember something that could be significant.


Marco causes an already summoned familiar to appear, he doesn't cast Find Familiar again.

[Irish Musician]

Amnon finally gets back to the man hole and Kirrik is nowhere to be found. Hoping he followed Mac, Amnon follows them into the sewers. Unfortunately even with all the foot traffic, Amnon can't seem to get a read on which way they went. Luckily for him, he hears the gruff voice of Mac echo to his left, and heads off that way.

Kirrik stops behind Mac, both are looking down the tunnels to try and find their culprit. They listen very intently and start scouring the corner and area for anything to help them with the lead. They just can't seem to find anything when Mac hears something. It is down the tunnel in front of them. It almost sounds as if there is a large bear somewhere down that tunnel.

Just as Mac is about to say something, Amnon runs up behind them, somewhat surprising the other two.

[JNAProductions]

Wha-Amnon? Look, no time-there's something growling that way! Mac points as he starts running down the tunnel, ready for anything.

Readying an action to Dodge if anything pops out and takes a swing at me.

[Sqmach]

Amnon stays behind Mac, sheathing his rapier and readying his bow to fight the potential beast as he looks in the direction Mac indicated.

Amnon has darkvision to 60 ft, can he see the creature or is it beyond that? Perception? [roll0]

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik holds the potentially silvered sword aloft, and then pulled a dagger from one of his many hiding places. "Let's investigate. It may just be a werebear in need of a stern talking to. Just remember, let our weapons do the talking."

[Zergrinch]

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to ask some questions from you. We'll be doing this one at a time, so you don't have to feel awkward. I'd much appreciate it if the rest waited outside".

Marco waved his hand, muttering "Appare". As he did, a big grey cat appeared next him. "Mister here will make sure no one's eavesdropping. Confidentiality and all that". The cat meowed loudly, as if to make a point.

Zozo watches the proceedings with vague disinterest. Make no mistake, he's watching the employees for signs of dishonesty, and is quite prepared to step in when needed. For now, there's no need for him to be a bad cop to Marco's good cop routine.

Generalized Insight Check: [roll0].
Note to Majin and Gorgon: Because of my timezone, I am asleep when you folks are usually the most active. I hereby give the two of you permission to puppeteer Zozo, including making ability checks for him, when conducting the interrogation and if assistance is called for. Zozo will play along and act as good cop or bad cop. As a CHA-based character, he has Intimidation of +4 and Deception, Performance and Persuasion of +7.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice puts the map carefully away and considers relevant questions to bring to the employees ...

OOC: Not sure how you want to handle this since it's a huge amount of info. She's collecting position and length of employment and all their personal info as well as looking for details about their personalities and/or weaknesses that may be/could have been exploited: alcoholism, drugs, gambling, debts, family members, etc.

[Irish Musician]

You all continue forward, closer to the growling that Mac heard. The tunnel extends in front of you for about 40ft and then takes a hard turn right. You get up to the bend and start to look around the bend.....and you don't see anything. You listen and strain your ears to try and hear anything above the movement of the water, but you don't seem to be able to pick anything up. In front of you the tunnel goes straight for much farther than you can see with split offs here and there as it extends down farther.

Zozo watches as the other two detectives ask questions of all the employees. There are 2 maids, a butler, a cook, and a groundskeeper. Avice steps up to the plate first, gathering as much information as she can from each employee before sending them to Marco.

Marco asks his questions as each person is done with Avice, and while Zozo watched from behind them. From the answers you get, the staff doesn't seem to know much about anything that either Aurum or Argentum has done in terms of making someone angry. They do admit they do not know their boss' exact profession, just that he is a merchant and deals with all sorts of people. Argentum sort of follows in his father's footsteps. The groundskeeper seems to see Argentum coming and going at all hours of the day and night, he tended to be a partyer. However, once you get to the second maid, a younger girl by the name of Mary, she seems extra nervous as if she is hiding something. You aren't quite sure what it is, but when you mention Argentum's friends, she tenses up a LOT. She is nervous so her answers aren't the longest anyway, but she tightens up even more at the mention of his friends.

Once I get those rolls from you, I'll make another post about any information you find. For now I am going to use Marco and Zozo's rolls and let them know what they see/figure out. Once those rolls get rolled, I'll tell you what Avice figures out.

[JNAProductions]

He might be in the water. We can't be too careful here.

[roll0] Perceptionm check

[Irish Musician]

You gather all of the employees more specific information. You gather as much personal information as they seem to feel comfortable sharing with you. As far as you can tell, Aurum seems to pick his employees well. They all seem to come from Old Town, but they all have families that are just trying to scrape by and survive. His employees have been with him for 10 years +, save for the newest young maid. But nothing you gather from her seems as though she might be a liability to the family. Aurum isn't a dumb Tiefling, he doesn't seem to let anyone close to him he can't trust. Or at least thinks he can't trust.

[Majin]

Marco frowned. This servant, Mary, seemed to know more than she was willing to share. He spoke to her in a gentle tone: "Hey, it's OK, I'm not gonna tell anything about what you have said to your employer or otherwise gossip. If you know something about Argentum's friends, you should tell us. It could be really important in solving this case".

[Zergrinch]

"You are too kind, Marco. Failure to cooperate can mean charges of obstruction of justice at best, and an accessory charge at worst."

I'm playing bad cop, even if I don't Intimidate that particularly well. Heh.
Intimidation: [roll0]

[Irish Musician]

Mary gazes down at her feet, as though she is trying to find out what to do from them. "I....I can't. If I lose my job here then I am out on the streets. And that is a far worse prospect then spending time in jail. Not to mention if I did say anything I'd......" Mary then cuts herself off and looks wide-eyed at the two men. She seems to have scared herself into silence.

[Majin]

Marco glared at Zozo. He didn't like grilling a young girl who hadn't really done anything wrong, but she might have important information. Marco then focuses on the young maid. "Hey, Aurum's not going to hear any of this, I'm not asking you to give an official testimony or anything. Besides, if you aided us in finding his son, I doubt the councilman would be too angry". Marco pauses and ponders for a while. "Actually, on how good terms are the councilman and his son?"

[Irish Musician]

Mac listens and looks for anything that might be "wolfy" but doesn't seem to find anything. He hears some splashing down the runnel to the right, but with all the echoing going on in the sewers, he can't tell if it is coming from there or if it is just echoing from somewhere else.

Mary seems unconvinced at Macro's words, "Their relationship is fine, as far as I am aware. If there are any problems with them, I'd be the last to know."

[JNAProductions]

I hear something to the right, but it could just be an echo. He sighs, looking like it pains him to say what he's about to say. I think we're going to have to split up. It's a stupid idea, but it's the only way to catch him.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik frowned. "Alright. I suppose we should carry those stones as we walk. I'll go left.,

[Sqmach]

"If this is what you two want to do, fine, but I can't say its a great plan. If we're tracking what we think we are, none of us will be able to fight it alone, and even surviving long enough for the others to to join the fight might be questionable if we get too scattered. I think we should stick together while we search, if only for safety. At the very least, we shouldn't go very far apart. We don't have a map of the sewers, and its possible this thing, whatever it is, has much greater familiarity with these tunnels."

[Zergrinch]

A thought suddenly echo unbidden into poor Mary's head.


"Tell the truth! Tell the truth! Tell the truth! Tell the truth!"


Use Awakened Mind to telepathically touch Mary's mind. Use the "Actor" feat to mimic the speech of Mary.
Mary must pass a successful Wisdom (insight) [roll0] check contested by Zozo's Charisma (deception) [roll1]. I am hoping for Mary to have disadvantage [roll2] on this check, because Zozo isn't actually speaking to her.

[Gorgon_Heap]

As Marco and Zozo focus on the girl, Avice slowly allows the other employees to get back to their work, but watches and listens carefully to them as she does so. They may whisper to each other - you never know.

In fact, she'll pleasantly, with small talk, escort people back to their normal work areas and observe if they comment about anything being out of place or unusual. Something as small as items being misplaced or scuttlebutt regarding a particularly filthy load of laundry or missing bed linens could be a clue. She doesn't expect anything, but what's an hour or so in the name of completeness?



Charisma [roll0]
Perception [roll1]
Investigation [roll2]
+5 for passive Observant

[Irish Musician]

Mary eyes start to dart around the room and she desperately tries to find the source of voices that are in her head all of a sudden. At first they seem like her own voice, but they quickly stop sounding like her and sound, to her, more like a devil of some sort. This freaks her out none-the-less and the runs to the corner of the room, grasping her head, "Stop it......stop it.........STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!" She is screaming for the voices to stop, clutching her ears and trying to silence them.

Avice escorts the other employees to their stations and makes small talk with them as she explores the rest of the house with them. Nothing seems to come of her talks, as they don't really seems to know anything, or at least divulge anything outright. They are freely talking to her, though, as they go through their duties. The other maid does remark that she has very much had to clean less since the boy had been missing. You get the impression that he leaves quite the trail of dirty clothes and trash behind him. Never picks anything up, but definitely expects it to be done for him. The older maid seems to be a little sassy when speaking about this particular subject.

The group decides to stay together, at least for the moment. The start down the main tunnel and finally get to a sort of meeting of many tunnels. There is a circular junction, and about 8 different tunnels split off from it. As you stand at your tunnel's entrance, a low growl echos in the junction. A raspy voice that seems to come from all around you speaks up, "Mind your business, piggies. Or the Big Bad wolf is going to blow your house down....." The low growl emanates throughout the junction as if it were coming from everywhere.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik chuckles. "Not much of a threat, is it? Everyone makes their houses from brick now. Dummy."

[JNAProductions]

Mac lets out a loud laugh. Always ready with a joke, Kirrik. I knew there's a reason I like you.

[Sqmach]

"A wolf you say? Are you certain? I just hear a little rat hiding in the shadows. If you are as impressive as you imply, why do you not show yourself? Perhaps you fear us? Surely not." Amnon draws his rapier as he peers into the darkness.

Attempting to goad the source of the voice into showing himself. Guessing that is persuasion [roll0]

[Irish Musician]

You hear a weird, guttural growl/chuff that sounds like it might be laughing, "Oh yes, come out and get arrested, or killed. While your logic is undeniable, I must decline. Killing the family was very tiring. They put up more of a fight after their surprise than I thought. A low growl carries throughout the junction again, jumping from tunnel to tunnel smoothly. Still not sure as to the origin of it.

[Zergrinch]

Zozo chuckles to himself. She has reacted just the way he expected, and now he has all the reason to declare Mary insane and have her taken to the station for some... preventative care. And enhanced interrogation. The warlock loosens his mental telepathy inside poor Mary's head; the voices have subsided to the occasional honeyed hiss, urging her to tell the truth if she wants to make the voice go away.


Meanwhile, the detective feigns an act of surprise. "Voices?" he asks with brows furrowed in confusion. "Mary... nobody is speaking! Are you all right?" he asks as he slowly approaches her.

[Sqmach]

"Ah, I see, the wounded predator is scared he might become prey. And why did you attack these elves? You seem cautious enough not to attack prey beyond your abilities."

[Irish Musician]

Mary looks up at Zozo with a look of horror and stares at him for a moment, wheels seeming to slowly turn inside her head. "You......", she stammers out at last, "you're the one speaking in my head.....it's....it's your voice. How, how are you doing that?! Get out! GET OUT!!!! She runs to the other side of the room, opposite Zozo, keeping an eye on him.

Well, Mary crit the heck out of her perception check. Comparing the voices to Zozo's voice and she was able to figure it out. Basically, if she hadn't crit, she wouldn't have known.

"A wounded predator is wise not to attack until they are rested. MY reasons are both personal and professional. But do not worry, we will meet again Corpsman. And when that happens my bite is sure to find you as well." You hear a loud, metal banging sound after he gets done speaking that echos through the junction.

[Majin]

Marco glares at Zozo angrily. "If you're doing something, just cut it out. It's not like she's a suspect, there's absolutely no reason to go this far".

[Zergrinch]

Zozo coolly returns Marco's glare while maintaining the whispers in Mary's head.

"You would listen to the accusations of a lunatic wench over a fellow detective?" he asks Marco in an undertone.

I fool you, human wizard! Deception: [roll0].

[darklink_shadow]

"So your threat was just a bluff then? Not a very good one it turns out."

Kirrik frowned and scratched his cheek. When he speaks, it's in a hushed tone. "It's not really the most ideal place to try to track him. And he's also not our assignment. We can put out an APB, and move on. This is a dead end for now. Unless you want to try. I just don't see the point in it. Since he's coming after Amnon sometime, we can just arrest him then, or when he surfaces. Until then, tell everyone to keep a look out for a man fitting his racial profile, and injuries."

[Majin]

"Cut. It. Out", Marco said quietly, gripping his staff harder. "And we'll leave it at that".

[Zergrinch]

Zozo says nothing for a few moments. Instead, he continues to look at Marco evenly.

Finally, he sighs. She wasn't worth it. Whatever information the miserable wench was hiding is not going to be worth some infighting between the Corps. He will have to get any conceivable leads some other way.

"Very well, Captain Falcone. She's all yours."

Without further ado, the sorcerer/warlock strolls out of the room and walks out of the house.

[Majin]

Marco looked at Zozo walking away. Then he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had probably been too harsh on the younger detective, the kid had just wanted to help. Out loud, he said: "I'm sorry about this, miss. I won't force you to tell anything. But again, you should tell us everything you know, people's lives might depend on it. And it can be a crime to withhold information from an officer".

[JNAProductions]

"So your threat was just a bluff then? Not a very good one it turns out."

Kirrik frowned and scratched his cheek. When he speaks, it's in a hushed tone. "It's not really the most ideal place to try to track him. And he's also not our assignment. We can put out an APB, and move on. This is a dead end for now. Unless you want to try. I just don't see the point in it. Since he's coming after Amnon sometime, we can just arrest him then, or when he surfaces. Until then, tell everyone to keep a look out for a man fitting his racial profile, and injuries."

Alright, Mac mutters back. Best to live to fight another day, eh?

[Sqmach]

"You're right that we have very little chance of tracking him down here, though I disagree that he's not our assignment. The friends that last saw Aurum's son murdered by a werewolf right before we come to investigate and their murderer isn't our concern? No, can't be a coincidence, he's definitely involved somehow. But since we can't really hope to track him further, I suggest we find the nearest manhole and surface. I suspect that clanging sound we heard may have been him going through a manhole to the surface as well, going up now will at least give us some idea of where he fled to."

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik deposited his weapons into their sheaths, and then gestured towards the nearest manhole. "Lead the way. "

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice hears shouting as she returns, and in her shock nearly knocks Zozo over as he stomps out of the house. She turns and sees Marco talking quietly with a distraught maid. She decides to follow the former out the door.

"Zozo? Detective! What happened in there? Where are you going?"

[Zergrinch]

Wishing to save face, Zozo embellishes the account he gives. While it is not completely untrue, it casts him in a better light.

Worry not, Lady Radwell. That was merely the outcome of an enhanced interrogation technique on an uncooperative witness. No lasting harm has been done to Mary, and I wager she will be more cooperative with the law.

My presence is no longer needed, so I am taking my leave.

[Sqmach]

Kirrik deposited his weapons into their sheaths, and then gestured towards the nearest manhole. "Lead the way. "

"Fine by me." Amnon then searches for the nearest exit or manhole and, assuming he finds it, climbs up out of the sewers.

Perception or Investigation necessary? Either is +9 so [roll0]

[JNAProductions]

Mac follows Amnon, keeping an eye out for any potential ambushes.

[Irish Musician]

The three of you are able to track down the tunnel that the loud clank came from. There is a ladder and at the top of it that isn't covered by a manhole. You climb up and out of the manhole and look around. You all get slightly worried as you seem to have traveled into Old City. You are just on the other side of the wall from New Town, 3-4 blocks away. As you look around the Captain's word's ring in your head....Old Town isn't the place to be at the moment. This advice is backed-up by stares and looks that you get as you emerge from the sewers.

Zozo leaves the room as Marco tries to comfort the maid, but it doesn't seem to work very well. "Just, go away. I've got nothing else to say to any of you. If you're in my head you know the answers anyway....." She pushes past Marco and walks back into the rest of the house.

Avice and Zozo exchange 'pleasantries' as Avice comes back from the inner house and Zozo starts to leave.

Are y'all done here? OR do you all want to poke around some more? Also, where does Zozo go since he's leaving?

[JNAProductions]

Mac pulls out his sending stone, preparing to send a group message. We've popped out of the sewers in Old Town. We're still together, so we should be safe, but if you don't hear from us soon, assume the worst.

[Sqmach]

Amnon scans the nearby faces as he speaks to his comrades. "Now we at least know he retreated to Old Town, but that isn't much to go on. We can try asking around, but given the looks we're getting I don't expect many of the locals are willing to assist. I could use magic to make them more agreeable of course, but when it wears off there might be consequences. Not something I'd want to do in the middle of a crowded street, especially when the crowd is already unfriendly. My question for you two is, do you think we should leave for now?"


As he looks at the crowd, any fairly conspicuous werewolves or the once presumed dead man among them? Long shot, I know. Perception: [roll0]

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik scowled back at the crowd. "It'd be smarter to leave. Though we have the one thing thy respect in old town: steel. But we'll not make friends here."

[JNAProductions]

Agreed. Still, let's keep out weapons sheathed-no need to provoke violence, Mac says, starting to head towards the nearest way out of Old Town.

[darklink_shadow]

"Hey Mac. I also wanted to say... my father took me to one of your bouts. I think you're the best. When this is over, could you sign your name to a paper for me?" Kirrik grinned, and then pulled his hood over his face, letting his features disappear into darkness.

[Zergrinch]

Stupid sending stones, grouses Zozo. What are we supposed to do if we don't hear from you? Bake a cake? Go back to the station? Call in reinforcements? It seems absurd to the detective that a spell could discriminate words from syllables. Why should "Magic trickery" count as two words and "Prestidigitation" count as one?

If only he can get his hands on the genius who decided to set the arbitrary limit of 25 words... But alas, it has to be some dotty wizard somewhere.

In any case, the location of his fellow detectives sounded interesting and presents him with an opportunity. Zozo takes out a sending stone, and sends a message to the three:

"Zozo here. Old Town Officers, message incomplete," Zozo parses his thoughts carefully. "I must investigate the murders in Old Town but need backup. Where are you? Will meet you there."

[Majin]

Marco walks over to Avice. "Seems the employees are really tight-lipped. Figures. Do you think there's anything else here or do you want to go meet up with the people in Old Town?".

[Sqmach]

Agreed. Still, let's keep out weapons sheathed-no need to provoke violence, Mac says, starting to head towards the nearest way out of Old Town.

Amnon nods and follows Mac, "Yes, I'd rather not get into a fight."

[Gorgon_Heap]

Having just watched Zozo leave with an irritable aloofness, Avice was glad Marco had been present for ... whatever the shouting had been. She shakes her head.

"Hm. Was everything all right in there?

I wasn't able to glean much from the other employees, either. I suppose we have little to share so far, but maybe the others had better luck. Yeah, let's go."
As they walk away, Avice turns and takes another long look at the building and grounds - getting a good mental image for comparison. She suspects she's being overly efficient, but couldn't hurt.

[Majin]

Marco shrugged. "Zozo's investigation didn't work out". The he grabbed his sending stone to message Amnon. "Marco and Avice coming to Old Town, tell us where you are and we'll meet you there".

[Sqmach]

Hearing Marco's message, Amnon responds, "Four blocks inside Old Town, heading towards exit to New Town."

[Irish Musician]

As the groups start to end their particular investigations, they figure out where they are in the city and decide to meet up with each other, at the gate between Old and New towns. As Mac, Kirrik, and Amnon walk together, they notice a LOT of eyes on them. Most of the eyes are more curious than anything, for they don't tend to see Corps members wandering their streets. But some of the eyes look fairly menacing. In fact, Amnon spots one pair of halfling eyes watching them from down an alley just off the road. He is scrappy looking lad with an eye-patch over his left eye. He cracks a wry smile and disappears down another back alley.

You continue walking two more blocks and see each other on each side of the gate. After a moment of talking with New Town's guards, the gate gets raised and you are all able to pick a side of the gate and work out what you want to do from there, in person.

[Sqmach]

"I hope things went better on your end, our leads were dead, literally. Apparently killed by a werewolf."

[Majin]

"Werewolf?" Marco says, lifting an eyebrow. "He must be able to change back willingly, otherwise we would most likely have had sightings".

"Anyway, we didn't have that much either. The kid partied a lot and sometimes got into brawls. Aurum didn't suspect anyone, though he probably does have a lot of enemies. His staff was pretty silent as well, looks like he knows how to pick them. One girl almost said something, but it seems she was more afraid of the councilman than the corps".

"Speaking of the councilman, guy seems like a pretty hard case. His son is missing but he didn't seem too emotional. I guess you don't get to his position without a good poker face. Or maybe he just doesn't care too much".

Which skill do I use to find out about werewolves?

[Zergrinch]

"The murders started from Old Town, and spread from there to New Town," the detective tells the group, showing them the map overlaid with the killings and their respective dates while strolling into Old Town boundaries. "My gut tells me that the killer lives quite close to the first victim, and started branching out from there. He must have found a passage to New Town that allows him to commit those murders without passing through the gate."

"I want to investigate the sites of the first few killings, but I'm going to need some backup. Since it's pretty clear Corpsmen are not welcome in Old Town, we'll have to go undercover. Who wants to go with?"

[JNAProductions]

I will, Mac volunteers.

[Sqmach]

"I think we already found his passage, we followed the wolf from New Town through the sewers, it makes sense he'd use the path going the other direction as well. Well, that is assuming our werewolf is the killer we're looking for. Might be a bit of a leap, hard to say. Even if they are different people, the sewers still seem like a likely passage for them to take. I'm willing to travel into Old Town with you to investigate further, but there is something else that needs done as well. The werewolf seems quite well acquainted with the sewers, I think it would be a good idea to get a map of them for ourselves, in case we end up in another chase down there."

Am I aware of where to procure such a map? Preferably a copy for everyone in the party, but that isn't crucial.

[darklink_shadow]

"Undercover is my specialty. I'll go with Mac."

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice closes up at the idea of going under cover, but then hears something more in her wheelhouse. "They'll probably have copies of the sewer design - at least newer sections - in the hall of records. And if not, there must be a record of the contractor or architect. I can go to city hall right now. No promise how long it may take, though, so start prepping yourself and give me a location to meet you or leave a message."

[Irish Musician]

@Gorgon and Sqmach - There may be a map of the sewer system, like Gorgon said, in records. But you don't know for sure. You'd have to go look that up.

[Majin]

"Wait, you said the werewolf had killed someone... Did they have bite marks on them? They might have come back from the dead"

Marco shares what he remembers about werewolves.

[Sqmach]

"Two elves, one male and one female were attacked, it was mostly scratches I saw, but given the amount of carnage its hard to say. There was a third individual, possibly a half-elf, that had been stabbed with a sword by the elven man, we think. Mac assured us the third man was dead, and Kirrik removed the sword from the man for closer inspection. When we went to examine the rest of the house, the man apparently got up and left, presumably being the werewolf in question. At the time, I had assumed Mac was just a horrible medic, but it could be the sword Kirrik removed was silver and keeping him at bay. Which means the initial problem may have partially been solved and by pulling out that sword we made it worse again. If what you've said is true, we might be dealing with multiple werewolves now, given how many people have disappeared."

[darklink_shadow]

"Oh no..." Kirrik said and shrank visibly from his disappointment with himself. "So it's my fault?"

[JNAProductions]

I'm just as much to blame. I should've been able to tell he wasn't quite dead, Mac says. And there's no point assigning blame-what we need to do is fix the problem, not mope over who caused it. Especially since, when you get right down to it, it's the damn criminals that are causing it, not us.

[Sqmach]

"Well, one positive of it all is that we have what we think is a silvered weapon. If we're right, it may prove useful in combating these creatures when we find them. My rapier is already silvered, but someone else might be able to make use of the sword. There is also the issue of the house, I got a few corpsmen to guard it, but after what Marco said it might be best if we warned them the bodies might get back up. We also need to change into plainclothes if we want to go unnoticed, and I don't imagine any of us came prepared."

[Gorgon_Heap]

"Right. We obviously don't know the extent of the dangers involved," Avice says strongly and calmly, trying to keep everybody focused and less worried about guilt. "Kirrik and Mac, get yourselves ready. Change of clothes, disguises, proper gear, whatever you need. I'll go and collect maps. Marco, can you go to an apothecary or scholar and find out what we might need - exactly - to fight or defend ourselves from were-people?

And we should keep somebody here in the neighborhood to stay alert for further danger."

She says everything readily and with authority. Commonsense plans and coordination. Yes. That's good. Handle the situation, assign priorities. Cover probable threats.

She looks around, practically holding her breath and waiting expectantly to see if anybody actually reacts the way she hopes they do.

[JNAProductions]

Right, Mac says, stripping out of his uniform to reveal a small black undershirt and shorts. I'm good to go whenever.

Performance check for the ladies. 1d20+:P

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik reached into his bag and pulled out a few small handfuls of clothes before tucking them back in. "Who do you want me to be? How I always come prepared to be disguised."

[Majin]

"I think I might know a place where I can find more about werewolves, though I'm not sure if they have any more weaknesses besides silver. But I'll see what I can do", Marco says to Avice.

"On the other, if you guys want more help in the Old Town, I could go change into my civilian clothes and come with you".

The Researcher feature allows Marco to know where to find information he doesn't currently know.

[Irish Musician]

Once everyone got changed and things had been decided, Avice and Marco turned to the house where the found the dead bodies to warn the corpsmen. When they arrived the fresh-faced guys stood outside the door looking nervous and twitchy. They drew their short swords, but immediately sheathed them when they saw who it was. They saluted and one of them spoke up in a slightly shaky voice, "We haven't let anyone in the house, just like we were told. Should we stay here or are you here to relieve us?" The end of his question seemed as though that was what he was hoping for the most.


The other four changed into their streets and started looking into the disappearances of people, as well trying to find any traces of their furry friend. Zozo looked at his paperwork and found the location of the first victim's house. The first victim was a woman, the daughter of an Old Town Innkeeper. She was human, her name was Elaine, and she was 19. As the group wanders through the streets, even despite wearing "street clothes" you get a lot of odd looks from people. Most of the common folk gives you looks as though they are asking what you are doing here. However, the farther you get into Old Town, the more menacing the looks get. You finally make it to the Inn, The Poison Hole, and walk inside. At the bar is a man in about his 50's, and as you walk inside, you notice that every single person inside (there are about 20) turn to look at you.

[Zergrinch]

Zozo casually strolls to the bartender, plopping himself down on the stool next to the man.

"I'll have the usual!" he declares, as he studies the man beside him from the corner of his eye.

Insight: [roll0]

[JNAProductions]

Mac sits down next to him, walking with a casual swagger that shows he's not scared of anyone here.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik grinned dull-wittedly at the others. Sitting at the bar elsewhere, he stared at the bar keeper. "Stew? Or just cheap ale."

[Irish Musician]

The bartender, also a man in his 50's, walks up to Zozo with an ale, and he turns to Kirrik and nods. He goes into the back and comes and places a bowl in front of you. Kirrik looks down at the stew and can't tell, exactly, what might be in there. The bartender says to him, "I'd take that smile off your face, son. Not much to smile about here these days, and it will just get you in a fight. If that is what you are looking for, you are sure to find it, just take it outside my Inn." He then goes back to doing his bartender duties, cleaning glasses and pouring other drinks for people.

[Majin]

"Hi guys. I would prefer if stuck around a while longer. We might need backup".

Marco walks to the door, muttering "Riflettum". Then turn to the corpsmen and asks: "So, has there been anything odd happening? Noises from the inside?"

Marco casts Mage Armor on himself

[Irish Musician]

"No sir. Has been all quite since they told us to watch. No one has come up to us, and no one has gone in, we saw to that. Didn't hear anything from inside.....should we?"

[Majin]

"No reason to hide it from these guys, I guess", Marco thought.

"Just be on your guard. We might be dealing with a werewolf", Marco said to the young corpsmen, grabbed the door handle with his right hand, shook his left to get his shield bracelet ready and turned to Avice. "Ready?"

[Irish Musician]

The recruit, who was already a pale lad, when about white as a sheet as Marco said there might be a werewolf about. His friend, who's skin was a little darker and more olive-tinted, turned about the color of his companion before Marco had said anything. They both stammered out a, "Yyyessssssiiirrrr," that seemed to combine the two words together. Both of them drew their swords and shield and started looking around everywhere as though they were mice and an owl had just hooted.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Feeling every bit as nervous as the guards but being unable to show it, the young woman nods stiffly and says, "Easy, lads," exactly as she'd heard her father say it countless times. It felt hollow but she kept her face stern and followed Marco through the door.

Once inside, she closed it behind her, whispering to the guards she'd knock thrice and twice when they were ready to exit.

"Well, Marco. Do you know what you're looking for? Indications? We should have done the research first," she chitters, hand tight on her sword pommel.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik took the stew with a stupid smile and started to eat, only losing his smile as he stuffed his face with the shady stew. "I found a couple coppers in the street. Enough for stew and cheap ale. Once I give them to you, I'm broke, but... I'm still happy to eat again."

Kirrik produced seven copper coins and dropped them onto the table. After finishing his stew, he frowned. "Now I got nothing to be happy about."

[Irish Musician]

The bartender looked at the Kirrik, "Welcome to the club, kid. Ain't nothing to be happy about anymore." He takes the coppers and goes and pours a small ale for him, sliding it over to Kirrik.

[Zergrinch]

"Oh?" the Sorcerer interjects. "Why so serious? Life is short! Don't worry, be happy!"

[Irish Musician]

As Zozo's words ring out into the Inn, almost every single patron stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. All their stares were cold and angry, and seemed not to be looking for happiness. "If you are going to talk like that, you should just leave. This is the last thing I have in this world and I am not going to let you destroy it in some bar battle. So either shut up and drink your ale, or get out." You get the feeling that "happy talk" isn't so welcome here.

[Zergrinch]

Seemingly blissfully unaware of the rapidly changing atmosphere, Zozo focuses his attention on his drink, and starts whistling a happy tune.

Of course, underneath the nonchalant exterior, the sorcerer's mind is working overtime to place a name and life story for this ill-mannered bartender.

General knowledge check: [roll]1d20[/color].

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik also glared at Zozo, turning in his chair. "He must eat a lot to be so happy. Sort of makes me want to take his drink and drink it myself." Kirrik mutters to the bartender.

[Irish Musician]

The bartender lets out a bit of a chuckle and harumph combo to Kirrik, "Seems to be too stupid to be anything else but happy. He doesn't watch it, he's likely to be stabbed in here. These lads don't take kindly to happy idiots."

[JNAProductions]

Mac opens his mouth, but then closes it, thinking better about what he was going to say. I hope he knows what he's doing, he thinks to himself.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik sighed. "That's how my big brother got knifed. He was happy what'cuz he got a pair of silvers from some corpman. He had told the corpman where some inn was or somfin. He a knife between the ribs and they took his silvers. Haven't eaten since then. Till today."

Again, he didn't speak very loudly. A few others might have heard if they were paying him much heed, but he doubted it since they were distracted by the whistling. Hopefully only the bartender was listening.

[Irish Musician]

The bartender nods and sighs as well, "It's a bad time when you can't even help someone out without gettin' a knife in the back. My brother lost his daughter not long ago, her whole life ahead of her. Then, poof, gone." He continues to shake his head, but grows quiet and continues to work.

You almost miss it, but you notice a side-look the bartender gives the other man sitting at the bar. The man that was there before you arrived.

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik frowns at the bartender. "Poof? Oh. I'm sorry. I hear a lot of people are poofing. Scary stuff. I wish I knew why, so I could know how not to poof. I wonder what happens to them. Maybe a wizard is kidnapping them?"

[Irish Musician]

The man shrugs, "Dunno, no one seems to. No idea why they are picked or where they go. Every now and then one comes back....but not alive."

[Majin]

Marco gave a sigh of relief, as nothing jumped him. "I think we should first check the bodies for bite marks. I'm pretty confident the disease spreads only through bite. Even if there was a bite, victim might not come back as werewolf. Also, the time varies".

Marco shrugs. "It's all a bit random, or just not that well researched. Though you would have to be a totally evil wizard if you wanted to really research this stuff. I mean, if I found a shop selling books telling about werewolves, I might be obligated to shut it down".

Marco starts checking the bodies for bites. He also makes sure they are dead.

Perception check to find bite marks: [roll0]
Medicine, if needed: [roll1]

[Zergrinch]

Having imbibed more than half of the brew, Zozo is now inebriated, and has started to sing a very happy song.

Or so they think!

🙌
♪ Uuma dela!
What a wonderful phrase!
Uuma dela!
Ain't no passin' craze!
It means no worries
For the rest of your days!
It's my problem-free
Philosophy!
Uuma dela! ♫

🙇
Performance: [roll0]

[Irish Musician]

Marco approaches the bodies as he and Avice walk into the house. He gives them a look over and tries to determine if they have been bitten and infected. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, sure that they are not alive and don't seem to have any signs of returning to the land of the living. However, he does see that both the elves have been bitten in places. It looks as though her throat was ripped out, and he has a pretty gnarly bite on his shoulder. Though he is unsure of what this means in the way of whether or not they might turn.

As Zozo sings his happy song the room starts to grow more and more quiet and all of them men inside start to stand up. One speaks up, "Mister, if you don't get the hell out of here right this second, you are going to have some trouble." The people inside the bar have started unsheathing their swords, pulling out maces and daggers, and there are even a few that don't have weapons in their hands, but seem to be tracing the air with their fingers.

The bartender looks Zozo right in the eye, "Get the nine hells out of my Inn right this minute. I won't have it torn apart by some idiot and his friends.....all of you, OUT!!!!!"

[Majin]

"Hell's bells", Marco muttered. This was really ugly. The werewolf who did this might've been a victim as well, but it still needed to be put down.

"It doesn't seem like they are coming back this instant, they are definitely dead, but there are bite marks, which means they might come back. Can't tell for sure", Marco said to Avice and took a deep breath. "Now, there's one thing we can do to make sure they stay dead. It's not pretty but effective. Marco made a gesture, chopping his hand against his neck. "Uhh, you know what I mean. And ,well, you've got a sword... So, what do you think?"

[Sqmach]

Amnon had been quietly allowing the others to take the lead, but Zozo angering the entire bar made it apparent his help was needed. "Excuse my friend, he's a bit of an idiot, I do think he's been hit in the head a few times too many, and drink doesn't improve things. Please, don't make us all suffer from his antics, I assure you I'll shut him up and keep him that way." At this point he gives Zozo his "shut up or die" look, the tiefling making it quite clear he is serious. "Can't we all just calm down and relax, it's been a rather long day and I think we'd all just like a chance to rest. Besides, last thing we all need is a fight amongst ourselves when someone or something is out there picking people off one by one, right?"

Persuasion to try and calm things down: [roll0] Also, sorry for not posting before now, busy week.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice's stomach roils and she clenches her jaw. This was simply not a scenario she'd trained herself to face. But she'd been taught that when in doubt, ask if an action may save innocent lives. Better she shoulder the responsibility than some poor bystanders suffer for her inaction.

She nods at Marco, drawing the beautiful longsword that had passed from her grandmother to her father to her. "They're dead, Marco. Let's pray for them and remove any doubt they'll suffer more or hurt innocents. They can be prepared for burial properly once the deed's done" She's a little breathless and chilly, and she breathes deeply to calm herself and steady her stroke directly for the slender neck...


Coup de grace X2

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik moved away from the crowds to sit as far from them as he could while staying at the bar.

[JNAProductions]

Mac simply stayed seated, seemingly unperturbed by the whole situation. Interally, though, he was readying himself for a fight.

[Zergrinch]

Zozo stops his happy singing, but... but...

He starts to puke!

Blaaaaaaaargh!!! [hic]

Perception: Who's the calmest of them all? [roll0]
Use Tides of Chaos to gain advantage on Perception! [roll1]
Performance: I'm an expert vomiter! [roll2]

[Majin]

Marco watched grimly as Avice beheaded the corpses.

"I guess the others already searched this place for clues, but I don't think it would hurt to take a quick glance".

Investigation: [roll0] to find clues

[Irish Musician]

Marco and Avice decide to do something that will surely stop the bodies from becoming werewolves themselves. Avice chops the bodies' heads off and the head are separated from the bodies.

Amnon starts giving his speech about everyone calming down and for everyone to just enjoy their night. And it seems to be working, quite well. They men start sheathing their weapons and putting things away. They still seem pretty pissed off, but they have seen reason for not fighting.

And then Zozo pukes all over the bartender. The bar gets so quite you can hear a pin drop. The bartender takes a cloth and wipes his head off and looks at Zozo. "That's it.....you're out." But instead of the bartender coming around to throw him out, a big man places his hand on his left shoulder. The large man who had been sitting at the bar during all of this, not saying a word, looks down at Zozo and in a fairly quiet, but deep and powerful, voice, "Please leave. There has been enough bloodshed and heartache here for a lifetime. If I have to I will force you, but I'd much rather you just left on your own. His voice seems sad, but serious.

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/fma/images/1/18/Sig.png/revision/latest?cb=20130430003425

[JNAProductions]

Mac calmly sips a drink, unperturbed by the various looks and potential havoc in the bar.

[Zergrinch]

Zozo gives a few heaves until everything is coming up dry before he responds.

"Bleagh. Must've overdone it. Fine then, I'm going. But, would you be so kind as to keep me company so we can talk a little?" the slightly inebriated detective suggests to the mountain of a man.

Cast Suggestion on the dude. DC 15 WIS save [roll0] or must follow Suggestion to the best of ability.

[Irish Musician]

The man gives Zozo a quizzical look and shakes his head, but Zozo isn't sure if he is saying no or shaking it for some other reason. Zozo looks over to the man to say something else, when the man's visage changes. Suddenly the man is Zozo's worst fear come to life, and Zozo can't help but be completely frightened by the man. He staggers back away from the large man, with a look of horror in his eyes. He feels compelled to move away form the man and out the door.

As soon as he get out to the street, he looks around and is confused. He remembers seeing something from a nightmare, but it doesn't seem to real anymore. Zozo looks though the Inn's door, still being open from him leaving, and sees the large man still standing there...looking even more confused. Zozo's team mates, as well as the bartender and some of the patrons that are now peeking out the open door, look just as bewildered. However, when Zozo looks at the man now he look just like a normal, albeit large, man standing next to where Zozo was standing before.

[Majin]

"So, Avice, what exactly did you want to research? I know a few places where you can get information".

[Gorgon_Heap]

Tending the bodies with solemn regret, the young officer is wracked with guilt and regret, but she says nothing more the Marco. When finished, she stands aside and cleans her weapon carefully, responding to his questions quietly. "Exact details on how to deal with a werewolf. Obviously we don't know enough. Strengths, weaknesses, what makes somebody turn, how to prevent it. Anything. Everything.

"The city's hall of records will have maps, plans or names of those with maps and plans to make a proper search of the sewers. Though I guess we could find an expert to guide us, I don't want to endanger anybody else."

If there's no other discussion, she leaves on the double, telling the guards it should be safe and that she will send a (coroner? physician? pathologist? mortician? cleric? Whatever person is used in this setting/city for officially claiming the dead).

[Zergrinch]

Clearly, there was something to this soft-spoken man. Was he a mystic by any chance, someone who could implant illusions into someone's mind? He doesn't give off any hint of malice, unlike most of the other people in the tavern, but still, there was something behind this.

Having exhausted the last bit of his dignity, Zozo beats a most ignominious retreat, and quickly ducks behind an alleyway. A casting of Prestidigitation quickly clears whatever dirt or vomit that remained in his clothes. A shape-shift and magical alteration of his appearance later, Zozo is ready to re-enter the inn again.

Thusly, dressed in similar clothing to one of the boors who was ready to rush him (nothing more than tattered rags, really), and with a completely new face, height, and built and clothing, the changeling reenters the tavern in a nondescript manner this time. Perhaps observation can get him more places.

http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130321233605/fma/images/thumb/8/88/Marcoh.png/300px-Marcoh.png

[Majin]

"Now that I think about it, the corps have a pretty good library, though the werewolf stuff is probably in the restricted section, which means I'll need to get a permission to access it. Shouldn't be a problem with my irresistible charms", Marco said with a smirk.

Marco is ready to leave for the station.

[Irish Musician]

The big man stood and gave the door a very quizzical look as Zozo left and disappeared from site. He then sat down in his spot and started nursing the beer in front of him once again, staring off into the distance. "Good riddance!" the bartender squawked as Zozo left in a rather hurried manner. He went about cleaning off the bar, as well as himself. And older looking gentleman walked into the bar and took a seat at the far end of the bar, out of the way.

The patrons went back to their drinks and a low, dull roar of talking resumed.

Having done the deed of chopping off the heads of the victims, the two Corps members gave order to the greeners and left for the headquarters, bent on finding out more about Werewolves. They walked across the bridge and back into their building, the Corps station. The library took up the 3rd floor of the building, as there were many, many books and scrolls on all manner of subjects. The staircase took you up to the far south-east part of the building. As you leave the stairs, there was a desk with two Corps members, clerks, sitting there. They greeted you and after seeing your credentials and having you sign in, they allowed you passage into the library. It was a large stretch of room, containing not only much about the city, history, layout, etc, but also fantasy books, books about land far from this city, books on beasts and monsters. And a large religious section dedicated to the histories of certain religions and cults.

About 2/3 of the way back there was a section that was guarded and walled off. There stood two guards who, upon seeing who you were, let you inside. Inside this room there were books on more specific subjects. Books of magic, about magic, and about famous magic users. There were more expansive books about monsters, relating to where they came from and giving depth descriptions and observations. There were also many files about past crimes, of all sorts, as well as many books on various crime and solving it subjects.

[JNAProductions]

Mac continues to sit by himself in the bar, ordering a weak drink to be a good customer but also to avoid getting too drunk to function.

He's not sure quite where to take the investigation, so simply waits by, ready to intervene in case his compatriots need any help.

[Majin]

"Let's see, monsters...", Marco muttered, as he searched for the book about werewolves.

If he finds a suitable book, he starts studying it.

So, what rolls do I need?

[Majin]

"Well I didn't really find anything new, just confirmation of what we already knew. There was a couple of mentions about a potion that could help a werewolf, but nothing on how to make it or even what it does", Marco said to Avice and sighed. "How about you?"

[Zergrinch]

Zozo sits impatiently at the bar, watching, waiting for something to happen. After a fashion, the changeling's impatience gets the better of him.

Obviously, the denizens do not take kindly to happy people. Perhaps they will be more sympathetic towards a sad person!

Tears start streaming out of the man's face, and he starts to softly sob while slightly banging the table with clenched fists. The sobs start to grow louder...

Performance: [roll0]

[Irish Musician]

The bartender looks over to Zozo with a weird look on his face and whispers to himself, "What is with the clients today? Everyone seems to be crazy!" He walks over to Zozo, "So......what'll ya have?

Avice helped Marco locate books on werewolves, trying to dig out any information they could. When Marco mentioned something about a potion, Avice had the idea to look inside an Alchemy book. She looked around for a bit, but nothing was coming up, until she found a dusty, old alchemy book that seemed to be hiding behind another. It seemed to belong to someone, though she didn't recognize the name, because it had notes scribbled inside of it everywhere. There were even some potions made up in the back of the book. One such potion was something called the "Wolfsbane" potion. There was no description, but there was a recipe and instructions on how to make it.

Avice gave it to Marco to look over as she went to records to find the blueprints of the sewers. She walked up to the attendant of the records and asked if she could see the sewer blueprints, showing her credentials. The woman at the counter, a halfling, stopped doing her nails and look at Avice in the eyes. "I need a million gold coins, but you still see me working here don't you?!" The halfling went about doing her nails once again.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice's face drops in hurt disappointment. A dozen confused reactions and responses quickly flash through her mind, but she stops herself from snapping at the woman. She puts on her Officer Face (identical to her grandmother's and father's, though she doesn't realize it) and says matter-of-factly, "I don't actually. It looks more like reclining. If you haven't caught on, I'm Detective Radwell, and you're about to recline yourself into early retirement if you don't get me what I need."



Okay. So I'm taking a chance. I'm going to roll with advantage here - up to you, Irish - in the event I can invoke Name Drop. But I realize the NPC here is wielding Bureaucratic Blasé, so I reckon it's a toss-up. :)

Intimidation [roll0]
Intimidation [roll1]

[Irish Musician]

As Avice talks to the halfling, she sees her eyes glaze over for a moment, and then she snaps back to reality. She rolls her eyes at Avice at the last part. "Oh my GODS, lady, fine. If it will get you to shut up I'll get what you want." The halfling walks off and starts to fumble around, muttering in halfling as she does saying what Avice can only assume is a slur of curses, and walks back to Avice. She throws a card in front of her, "Here's the bookcase and shelf where the blueprints are, have at it." She then sits backs down and goes back to filing her nails.

Avice walks through the "records" part of the library and looks around, going to the bookcase and shelf that the paper told her to go. She finds the scroll of the sewer's blueprints on the top shelf, and after fetching a ladder, has them in her possession.

Avice won't be able to take them, as they are the originals, but she can transcribe a copy of them over to her own paper if you want to. No checks needed for that, we will just say that happens, if that is what she wants to do.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Holding her tongue against all the unprofessional and unladylike invective she'd like to say, Avice walks back into the stacks, finds the relevant scroll, and rapidly begins to transcribe it. She's no artist, but she is exacting and detail-oriented, and works as rapidly as she thinks feasible.

Again, Avice is Observant and commits as much of the images to memory as she can while she works. She is also on the lookout for the name or mark of the designer, the name of the contractor and the date of the commission, particularly if she can cross-reference with names and dates of other work or completion of sewer sections. Seeing he has a way with research, while she works she explains all this to Marco, indicating dates or payments may also indicate locations to be cautious of. Just trying to be aware of discrepancies or spots where work could have been done that won't necessarily appear on the map.


Who knows? It's the sewers. Secret doors, traps, dungeons, labs, etc.

[Irish Musician]

I forget your are observant. That will help here.

As you copy down the map, and do a pretty bang up job of it, you notice who built the sewers and when they were built. Shortly after the town was founded as an actual town, a company of dwarven builders from outside the city were commissioned to build them. As far as you can tell, they were built to spec and the entire town was built at once, for the most part, even though it was not yet fully populated. There were additions for the mayor's house and for New Town later on, but for the most part the sewers were built with expansion in mind.

There are some other plans you find from the same architect, an elf, that shown his as the designer for the mayor's house and New Town as well. Even the same dwarven company was brought back to do the expansions, since they did the original building. From what you can tell, though, they sewers are pretty straight forward in terms of how they were built. There isn't too much in the way of spots where there are "secret spots." Like any blueprints, there are places where secrets doors, rooms, labs, etc, might be, but there isn't anything indicated that there are any such places.

[Majin]

Marco looks at the map. "Nice. I'll send a status update to the rest of the gang. The sewers might be dangerous, especially if it's crawling with werewolves, so I wouldn't mind having as many meat shields as possible".

Marco's sending, to all: "Marco here, we’ve got a map of the sewers. How are things on your end? Ready to go hunt some werewolves?"

[Zergrinch]

The bartender looks over to Zozo with a weird look on his face and whispers to himself, "What is with the clients today? Everyone seems to be crazy!" He walks over to Zozo, "So......what'll ya have?

"Something that will make me forget." mumbles Zozo, who's reshaped his vocal cords to produce a tired and raspy voice. "Yes, forget. Forget that the goddamn Corps don't give a whit about common folk. String of murders, and they do nothing!"

[Irish Musician]

The bartender chuffs a laugh out and starts to mix Zozo a drink. "I hear ya there, though more disappearances than murders. Though there have been casualties...." He takes a quick glance at the very large man at the end of the bar. "The Corps seems happy lettin' us Old Towners just go missing one by one. But we gotta just keep on keepin' on and hope we aren't next!" He passes a concoction of some sort down to Zozo, who doesn't even need to smell it closely to know it is strong.

[Zergrinch]

"I'm tired of sitting and hoping! If those arrogant powers that be don't do anything about it, we should take matters into our own hands! I'm tired of all this fear, waiting like sheep to be slaughtered! Aren't you?!" Zozo rambles on, attempting to provoke some kind of reaction.

[Irish Musician]

The bartender lets out another chuff chuckle, "Clearly you don't live in Old Town, because that is most of our lives...fear and worry. You can pay to be safer, but no one is truly safe down here. Only reason they have any interest in what has happened down here, is because people in other distrcits have been taken, and a few killed." He then leans in a little closer to Zozo and whispers to him, "I even hear rumors a Councilman's kid went missing. Probably the only reason why there is interest in the cases."

[Gorgon_Heap]

Working with calm, speedy certainty, Avice finally nods to Marco and replaces the scroll. She awards the halfling with only a disapproving glance as you exit. "Right. Let's get back and go over this with everyone, but let's get our hands on these herbs first. You know a local herbalist or apothecary? We can have a professional begin work on this "wolfsbane" potion while we meet the others to talk tactics."

With a clear mission in mind, Avice strides purposefully through the streets.

[Irish Musician]

Marco and Avice leave the library, but before they leave the building they go pay a visit to the Corps' alchemist, Felix Felicis (:smallamused:). When they arrive a short, skinny gnome peeks his head over the counter to see you both standing there. In a higher-squeaky voice, "Why hello detectives! What can I do for you this fantabulous day?!" The Corps' alchemist is known to be a little odd and overly excitable. This also tends to make his potions do funny things when they are used....but not too often.

[Majin]

"Hiya Felix. So we found this potion recipe, that supposedly does something to a werewolf. I'm not sure what, but I'm hoping it could maybe suppress the beast or something along those lines. You think you could brew it? If it does what I think it does, we might get to test it real soon", Marco said to the gnome.

[Irish Musician]

Felix's eyes grow very wide and he seems very excited, "Oh my my my, look at that will ya?" Felix takes the recipe from Marco and starts to look it over, muttering to himself. "I would be able to brew it, but I do not think that it would be available to you until the next full moon. It says the potion needs to cycle through a month before it is ready." Felix sees the obvious frown that has come over Marco's face as he says this, "However, I do know a merchant in town that might know where you can buy some. I have the materials in house to brew this, if you would still like me to. How much of it do you think you will need?" He starts to scribble down an address, in the trade market from the looks of it, as he scribbles down notes for himself about the potion.

[Majin]

"Damn. Well, better make a couple, just in case. It seems there's at least one werewolf loose, and it might spread its curse. I guess we'll just go meet that merchant and hope his prices aren't too high".

[Zergrinch]

Zozo lets out a snort to agree with the bartender on how corrupt his own Corps is. Then he starts to nurse his drink.

The sad man ostensibly reaches out into his pocket to pull out a pair of dark-tinted glasses, although he is only really pretending to do so; a simple magical incantation, and shades seem to appear on his eyes.

And so, the detective surreptitiously studies the big man who had inexplicably frightened him off earlier. He does so by looking at the man out of the corner of his eye, with his eye movement shielded from the casual observer's detection.

Sherlock Zozo in action! Investigate [roll0] the big man, and attempt to deduce, solely based on his clothing and appearance, the following facts:

His occupation (perhaps this can be determined by the appearance of his hands, and overall musculature)
His favorite food and drink (does he have some food stains on his facial hair or clothing?)
His apparent strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma (does he look stronger than the average commoner, who has an ability score of 10 for all stats?)
Where he is staying at (any specific dirt on his shoes, perhaps?)

[Majin]

After the gnome is done writing the address, Marco grabs it, nodding his thanks.

"I think we should go see that merchant first and go the sewers after we regroup with the other detectives, if they want to go down there. They haven't reported back yet, so I guess they're still in the middle of investigating something".

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik decided that the place had settled, and moved to sit next to the man who had frightened off the idiot from before. "Hey... that thing you did... when you scared the troublemaker... you probably saved that poor fool's life. I wouldn't mind shaking your hand, if you'd let me."

[Irish Musician]

Zozo watches the man as Kirrik walks up to him. At first the man doesn't seem to notice Kirrik, but he then takes a swig of his ale in front of him. "There has been enough suffering and violence around here lately. Didn't need anymore." There is a sad quality to his voice, but after a moment, he puts his hand out and shakes Kirrik's hand.

I like the though process here, and thinking outside the box. This shall be rewarded.

1. His occupation (perhaps this can be determined by the appearance of his hands, and overall musculature)
You gather that he is a laborer of some nature. His hands a rough and scarred. He body, though he is a large man, doesn't seem to be made up of fat. He seems very muscular and though he does have a some fat, that isn't what he is most made up.
2. His favorite food and drink (does he have some food stains on his facial hair or clothing?)
There do seem to be some stains on his shirt, but of what you aren't sure. He is nursing an ale at the moment, but whether or not that is his favorite remains to be seen.
3. His apparent strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma (does he look stronger than the average commoner, who has an ability score of 10 for all stats?)
You don't outright now any scores of his, though you might guess that his strength and constitution are higher than the average bear. You guess that he could definitely hold is own in a fight, and could most likely even win against most foes. As far as his other stats, you haven't seen or heard enough from him to know, though his wisdom does seem a little higher than most.
4. Where he is staying at (any specific dirt on his shoes, perhaps?)
His particular residence isn't immediately obvious, but he is wearing sandals. To move through the streets of Old Town in sandals would surely be foot-death, and anyone out on the streets would wear some type of closed shoes, mainly boots.


Avice and Marco thank the gnome and start their way towards the Market. It is as busy as it usually is, and you can hear calls from various vendors as you walk through the streets. You are greeted with a very different type of greeting here. There are smiles, and waves, and how-do-you-do's from most people. At the worst, there is someone who slightly frowns when you walk by, but nothing is said and you don't seem to get any outright mad or murderous looks. You finally reach the potion shop and walk inside. At the counter there is a thin, tall elven man standing behind it. A kind smile grows on his face, "Good Afternoon officers, late as it is getting, what can I do for you this day?"

[darklink_shadow]

Kirrik smiled witlessly at the man, but the smile was more bitter than happy. "Yeah. I think everyone here has had their fair share of pain. I lost my brother. He was my... rock. I don't know what to do without him. I'm completely lost. He took care of me, and helped me find work and the like. I don't know what to do without him."

Kirrik smiled again and laughed, a bitter hollow echo of false joy that barely hid his fear and pain under a thin veneer of clearly forced effort. "I guess I'll find a job, or I'll starve. Who did you lose? A son? A daughter? Your wife? I can see it in your eyes: the pain. I might be dumb and daft, but I can see what's etched into your eyes."

[Majin]

"Man, I'm still not used to walking out in public in uniform", Marco says to Avice, as they walk through the market.

"Afternoon. Felix, the alchemist guy back at the precinct, told us you have this potion in stock", Marco says to the merchant and shows him the potion recipe.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Looking at Marko askance, Avice responds thoughtfully, "I really wouldn't know. There was never any questions of the uniform being a constant in my life. With my family, I don't even need it - being police is simply who we are.

"I gather my life is an open book in the department. What about you? You prefer to keep a low profile, huh?"

[Majin]

Marco chuckled. "Well, you do give this policewoman vibe".

"Well, I worked as a PI a few years before joining the force. It was better to keep a low profile when you're tailing someone or if you were snooping around somewhere you weren't supposed to be".

I guess this took place before Marco talked to the merchant?

[Zergrinch]

Zozo continues to sip the extremely intoxicating substance while enviously watching the half-elf engage the man.

Constitution save vs drunkenness: [roll0]

[Irish Musician]

Kirrik smiled witlessly at the man, but the smile was more bitter than happy. "Yeah. I think everyone here has had their fair share of pain. I lost my brother. He was my... rock. I don't know what to do without him. I'm completely lost. He took care of me, and helped me find work and the like. I don't know what to do without him."

Kirrik smiled again and laughed, a bitter hollow echo of false joy that barely hid his fear and pain under a thin veneer of clearly forced effort. "I guess I'll find a job, or I'll starve. Who did you lose? A son? A daughter? Your wife? I can see it in your eyes: the pain. I might be dumb and daft, but I can see what's etched into your eyes."
The man nodded with Kirrik, "I am sorry to hear it. I, too, lost the one thing in this world that meant anything to me. My little girl. Her mother died when she was young, so all I had left to remember her was my sweet girl. No one knows what happened to her, no one can find anything. But I know..... He trials off and starts to look up into the distance....the stare of a man who has lost everything. "She was my everything, so now I don't know what to do. My brother here came to help me keep the Inn going, but I have lost the drive to do anything. I just miss her so much.....


"Afternoon. Felix, the alchemist guy back at the precinct, told us you have this potion in stock"[/B], Marco says to the merchant and shows him the potion recipe.
The elf reads over the recipe and starts to nod, "Let me go check in the back and see if there is anything in stock." Just as it is seeming like he is gone for too long, he comes back out, "Apologies Detectives, a man not too long ago came and bought the last of my stock, and I have yet to make any more. It is a long process, as you may know, to make it. Would you like to commission another batch?"

[Majin]

Marco sighs and says: "Nah, I don't think we'll be placing an order right now. Or what do you think, Avice?"

"Anyway, did the guy happen to say why he needed that? And could you describe him for us?"

[Irish Musician]

Marco sighs and says: "Nah, I don't think we'll be placing an order right now. Or what do you think, Avice?"

"Anyway, did the guy happen to say why he needed that? And could you describe him for us?"

The elf raises an eyebrow and pauses for a moment, "I do not remember what the gentleman looked like. And he wasn't forthcoming to his intentions with the potions. Gold talks, and his was speaking quite a bit."

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice responds to Marco, "I can't imagine why somebody would need this more than we do unless they're already involved with the same dangers. In which case this man might automatically be a friend or enemy."

When the elf starts speaking of gold, Avice blinks. Hard. She doesn't want to jump to conclusions, but it sounds like the greedy jerk wants a better offer. "Uh. Are you ...?"

[Majin]

"Was it now? Me, I prefer to do the talking myself", Marco says to the merchant with a sarcastic tone.

Marco listens to Avice's comment and looks at the elf with raised eyebrows. "So, you want more of this?" Marco says to the merchant, picking a coin from his pocket and presenting it.

[Zergrinch]

Just for the heck of it, Zozo mentally sends a female child's voice into the big man's head while pretending to look the other way.

"Papa!"

[Irish Musician]

In the Shop
The elf smiles, "Gold is my business, Detective, so I will always take some for free. But if you insinuating that I am trying to extort money from the Corps, then you are mistaken. I was merely saying that the man paid me for the potions a fair bit more than they were worth. It was a day of good business for me."

The Inn
The big man looks up all of a sudden from looking into his drink. He breaths a great sigh and looks back down into it.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Avice appears a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that, sir." She looks apologetically at Marco. "But, sir, you're sure you can't remember anything about such a good customer? Race? Dress? Manner? He obviously had money to spare."

[JNAProductions]

Mac continues to sit quietly, occasionally sipping his drink. He idly wishes for a fight to break out, but knows it's for the best that one doesn't.

[Irish Musician]

Avice appears a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that, sir." She looks apologetically at Marco. "But, sir, you're sure you can't remember anything about such a good customer? Race? Dress? Manner? He obviously had money to spare."
The elf smiles again, "Think nothing of it Detective, you are only doing you job." He then pauses and seems to think, "Unfortunately I cannot remember anything about him. Average height, average weight, average looking. I can't seem to place his race, either. He just seemed to want to get in and out quickly."


Mac continues to sit quietly, occasionally sipping his drink. He idly wishes for a fight to break out, but knows it's for the best that one doesn't.
Mac does notice that most of the patrons, while they are quite calmed, are still looking at all of you with fairly good stink-eyes.