For the past few days, the city of Magnimar has been in the grip
of terror. A murderer stalks the city’s streets in the gloaming
pre-dawn hours, and each morning it seems a new and freshly
mutilated victim appears in an alley. There have been four bodies
discovered to date—all worshipers of the goddess of healing
and redemption, Sarenrae. The city guard desperately wants to
catch the murderer, yet he is a cagey and elusive foe. In order
to expedite the search, they have turned to you—known allies
of Magnimar and strong heroes of the people—to aid them in
stopping the culprit before he slays again.
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Dressed in his Varisian best, Imbroglio Guarini strolls down the streets of Magnimar. To the gents he nods his head. To the ladies he tips his hat. To those in his own rarified business, he makes a complicated gesture at waist high to signal his inclusion in the brotherhood.
When he arrives at the city guard meeting site, he bows his head to the guards. "Gentlemen! Always a fine day to meet up with such dapper and fine men and women such as yourselves. The cream of our fine city, I declare! I understand there is murder afoot?"
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Looking up from his hood Periels silver gleaming eyes burn into the man just spoken.[b]"This is a serious situation. Innocents are slain. We have to do our duty to find the murderer and bring him to justice.[/ooc]
Turning to the others he just bows and introduces himself. About his calling, the sword hanging from his side and the Longbow and quiver with arrows hide nothing to his calling.
A red haired human female with a pet wolf overhears the conversation and says "This is indeed most troubling. Easy Leryn. I am sure we can assist in stopping this calamity."
IIRC you can always play a pre-gen. No problems from my side.
Waiting till Monday so others can post as well.
Still looking for his brother Ostog, Hakon and his companions are now at the great city of Magnimar. Hakon left his mates at the The Old Fang (taverna at the Dockway district) and decided to look for any rumor that might lead him to Ostog. He heard nothing about Ostog, but the recent murders caught his attention.
This is interesting and might be equally fun... and I was expecting to spend a few days here anyway.
Upon arriving at the meeting point, Hakon notices he is not the only one interested.
"Hi folks, name is Hakon, nice to meet yah... looks like yah need some help vith dis damn murrderrerr rright?"
"Good to see you again Hakon."
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Vinnie holds up his hands with a wry grin. "Of course! Let nothing in my demeanor bespoke my very sincere desire to see justice done to bad people! I simply believe life is for the living; let Pharasma have the dead! Now, I am Imbroglio Guarini, known as Vinnie to those of you who travel in such circles. I am a businessman and purveyor of the refined arcane arts."
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A massive half orc, almost as large as his orc kin, walks into the gathering of heroes. A curious and guarded expression on his face. On his back is a massive sword and around his neck a holy symbol of Ragathiel hangs by an ornate thread.
"Blessings of Ragathiel be upon you. I am Novid, Inquisitor of Ragathiel." He greets everyone with. "I understand that faithful of Serenrae are being murdered. I am here to put this right and punish those responsible." He adds this last part with a toothy grin, some bloodlust obvious in his eyes.
Hakon recognizes the woman with a big smile.
"By de grreat bearrd of Hrrolf, Adovyn!" He laughs and gives her a bear hug. "It is grreat to see you again! Looks like de gods arre preparring us grreat poem materrial… And Lerryn looks fine too!"
Hakon looks around, seeing the others that came to help too.
Hum… the big one looks like some fierce warrior, good to have by my side when the fray begins… the other one though, maybe I will need to protect him from danger.
"Nice to meet yah Novid and Im…imbrrov… Vinnie rright? Vill call you Vinnie too!" He looks at Novid. "Neverr hearrd of Ragatiel, but if he helps me to kill dis bastarrd I tink I vill like him!" He laughs widely again.
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Novid shakes his head sorrowfully when Hakon mentions he doesnt know Ragathiel. "Then i will have to educate you my friend." He says pulling a book from his pack. "Ragathiel is the Empyreal Lord of Vengeance. Chivalry, duty and vengeance are the teachings of my lord. As a diety devoted to good any affront to those that are his allies will be met by his swift vengeance."
"Greetings to all. I am Adowyn and this is my friend Leryn. He wont bite...hard." Adowyn says of her pet wolf. "Well now, where shall we begin this investigation?"
Hakon hears Novid’s description of Ragathiel and nods.
"Nice god you venerrate my friend... Vengeance is nice, boils ourr blood, and duty is handy, but chivalrry is not my ting… not at all." He laughs jokingly.
Hakon looks at the strange fellow that had not introduced himself yet and calls him.
"Hey mate! You therre vith dose strrange tien armorr, I have not hearrd yourr name! Has de cold of de Crown frrozen your tongue vhen you crrossed it?" He loughs loud again.
Turning back his attention towards Adowyn, "Vell, I tink we should ask vhat de guarrds know, rright? The morre ve know about de victims, easier it is to catch de bastarrd!"
As you start your investigation you are directed to Kasadei as your primary contact with the Magnimarian city guard. She informs you that the city guards have planned a risky ambush to lure the murderer out so that he can be captured, but none of the guards have the precise training required to pull the ambush off successfully and she has been tasked with finding some specialists who can do this. She’s been given authority to reward the you with a payment of 3,000 gp if you can bring the murderer to justice.
Before they set the ambush in motion, Kasadei tells you that the guards have already done a fair amount of investigation, and relates what they’ve learned:
The Murder Sites: All of the murders took place in the pre-dawn hours in alleys along the northwestern waterfront. She gives you a map of Magnimar that shows the four locations (these locations are indicated on the map by the tags M1, M2, M3, and M4). All four sites are in the waterfront district known as the Shadow.
The Victims: Each body was stabbed multiple times by a dagger, and the hearts were cut out. None of the missing hearts have been located yet. All four were traveling worshipers of Sarenrae, but beyond that, the bodies seem to have no real connections. Interrogations using the speak with dead spell have revealed few clues, since all four victims were attacked from behind. In all four cases, the victims were taking a traditional “dawnwalk” (a religious observance during which a worshiper of Sarenrae walks and prays during the hours before and after sunrise) when they were attacked. Some of the corpses interviewed remembered noticing a sudden cessation of sound just before they were attacked (Zadendi uses silence to mask her final approach). The most recent victim even caught a glimpse of the knife used to stab him—a dagger bearing a strange symbol of a white feather dipped in blood. The guards haven’t been able to identify this symbol yet.
Hakon nods as Kasadei tells them all the information.
Well, I was going to help them anyway, but if they are offering me gold haa, better!
"Vell mates, looks like ve have much time beforre de ambush, yah, so lets take a look at de murderrer sites? I suggest ve go in reverrse orderr, since de fresh ones arre more prrecious, rright?"
Turning his attention towards Kasadei.
"And vhen ve come back, you fill us vith all de information about dis ambush, rright?"
Hakon tries to remember if he had already seen or heard of that strange symbol...
Is it a hidden religion?
Or a hidden cult...
"Hakon, what say you... start at the first murder?"
Hakon shakes his head.
”No no no, Adovyn, I said ve starrt vith de last one! De clues are fresherr, rright?
Not to much time for all dose curious to mess vith de crrime scene, yah?”
Hakon change his attention to Matsu.
”See, I like dis man!” Hakon laughs. “But I like everryone dat agrees vith me!” Hakon gives Matsu a slap in his shoulder.
"Oh sorry sorry, von't happen again, skaldic vays."
"Is anyone here a Sarenrae worshiper? If not we will need to acquire that holy symbol and possibly vestments."
"Indeed Adovyn! I am not a worshiper and, based on deir reactions, looks like none of us arre... But I imagine the prriests of Sarenrrae vould provide vhat ve need, rright? Free of costs!" Hakon blinks towards Adovyn. "If dere is anyone that vants dis to end, dose are de priests, hay?"
"So... if ve all agrree, shall ve preceed?" Hakon looks around, waiting for all the others to confirm.
"agreed."
The Shadow district is the most derelict in the city and houses only the single community of Underbridge. It is home to the seediest of Magnimar's inhabitants and most members of the government take an "out of sight, out of mind" approach to the district's problems.
You were told that it happened down a side alley, next to the tannery. The alley itself is empty, but the area itself, around the main streets is bustling with activity.
As soon as Hakon sees how bustling the street is, he loses any hopes of finding any clues on the ground.
Maybe some of these people have seen anything.
Looking around, Hakon finds a big man, an ulfen, and moves towards him to chat.
"Hi mate, hearrd something bloody happened here... have yah hearrd of it?"
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Vinnie looks around, seeing the Ulfen chap heading off to interrogate someone as large as himself. He himself shrugs and looks for a person a little more inclined to see and not be seen. He looks for a homeless person, a criminal or a street urchin, and asks them.
Nodding, he asks "I've heard there's been some odd stuff round these parts, some bloody odd stuff. You know anything 'bout it? Seen anything out of the pale? There's a gold in it for you." He flips the gold piece into the air while he talks.
While the talkative one talks to people, Adowyn will search the area for clues.
Leryn will sniff around with scent as well...
With a few hours of work and you learn from locals living near the murder sites that they’ve noticed strange things—scratching sounds on the roof, weird flapping noises, and unnatural moments of silence. Some even report sightings of a “demon” crawling around on roofs or flying in the skies late at night. One nervous vagrant claims to have seen the demon flying south with a human clutched in its arms. The vagrant, a filthy dwarven derelict named Antbeard, reports seeing it fly into an old, abandoned shrine through a hole in the roof with its victim only a few nights ago—the same night as the last murder.
Vinnie smiles at the vagrant and gives him 10 gold for his story, taking care not to let any of the others see him do so. He rejoins the others and relates the tale. "So this demon took the victim south, to an abandoned shrine. I suppose that ought to be our next stop, eh?"
"Yah, lead de way mate, I'll be rright behind you!"
As the party advances towards the abandoned mine Adowyn asks the others "If it is indeed a demon of sorts, do we have the means to defeat it?"
As the party advances towards the abandoned mine Adowyn asks the others "If it is indeed a demon of sorts, do we have the means to defeat it?"
"Vell, I have this sweet cold irron axe dat might do de worrk! Vould like to have two, since I have two hands but..." Hakon shrugs. " And I agrree with yah Adovyn, dis could not be a demon at all... maybe dose flying tings dat turn to stone yah know?"