Raz quirks an eyebrow at Laurence. "Ever seen a mummification?" He shrugs, continuing, "Don't worry 'bout the details. Once we're in, we're in." Raz leans back in his chair, kicking his feet up on the table and folds his hands behind his head.
"I get to do my examination first!" Miranda chirps in as Dr. Grey mentions the unsavoury details.
Both of the investigator's eyebrows raise at that. Don't worry about the details? What kind of fly by night operation is he planning? But it would be impolitic to question him when, ostensibly, their employer saw the same qualifications in them all.
Instead, he expresses genuine curiosity about Erasmus' experience. "I am interested and intrigued by details. I've never seen a mummification, but know a little something about it. Mere textbook knowledge, however, and nothing like your hands-on experience."
Kotri looked with growing confusion, visibly sharing Laurence's concern at the lack of planning and having much more to lose by risking it. "If you take the tunnels to leave instead of the front door, you'll come out at the church of Pharasma, and if you seek out Xiang, she should be able to help you." She shrugged, moving to rinse out some ale glasses as she continued. "Sometimes a few priests will look over a body to perform rites on it if they are a follower, but they rarely involve a scalpel, at least officially. We've performed such visits to a morgue before to retrieve information as well, and there's rarely a mortician on staff who follows the Lady of Graves. If you are convincing, you may be able to get away with this."
Grey didn't like the lack of planning either. The idea was to get in and out unnoticed. But a thought occurred to him as the others were speaking. He set down the holy symbol that had been tossed his way and instead reached inside his pack until he found... There it was. He rarely had a reason to use it but it was better to be prepared. He takes out the mask and puts it on. A plague mask, or doctors mask in some places where plague was more common.
"Perhaps a joint effort. A local physician and a few Phasmaran priests investigating the possibility of plague. Some plagues have symptom's hidden within the body, which would require thorough examination, explaining the need for study as well as the need for a few priests 'should anything be found'. When we find nothing, we can simply say it was a false alarm, and they will be grateful for our due diligence. And our... allies within the temple need suffer no bad will for our deception." His voice sounded only slightly muted through the mask, but oddly the lack of a visible face somehow seemed to make him more relatable, not less. The excuse of not seeing his expression made it harder to simply say it was conceited or disinterested.
Mathias listens intently to the various proposals offered. At Dr. Gray's words, Mathias smirks a touch. "I tink da t'would play well to de mortishun. I have a decent knowledge of Pharasma's church, an' could play a priest if ye want a touch of muscle in case tings get out of turn. Don't know if'n we need all six of us in der, might seem a bit much."
Raz shrugs, his hands still behind his head. "Works for me. What d'you think, Baqir? Ready to play priest again?"
"I believe the last time we did that we..."
He looks around, wondering if perhaps some stories were better left unsaid.
"I imagine just this time would be fine. Though I have to say Raz, Pharasma's faith are not one I want to be caught impersonating. And in other words, I myself am not a great actor... I am worried that my appearance and mannerisms may hinder our cause."
He looks at the assembled group.
"Perhaps some of us with less theatrical talents could more easily play the role of a guard or escort perhaps? In a sense, we are being hired on so to speak and I figure this is a role a few of us may be able to play with relatively more ease."
He looks like a silly bird! Miranda suppressed the urge to giggle when she saw the doctor's mask. It really wouldn't be appropriate.
"I think this could work. But it all depends on how grumpy they are at the morgue." she grinned "And I might have been less then honest once or twice in my life, so I am okay with a little lie of needed."
"The downside to going in under the ruse of a potential plague is creating hysteria that would make our actions too high profile. Absalom is a heavily populated city and the threat of an epidemic, if words gets out, could escalate quickly."
Laurence, ever civic-minded, must consider the relative safety of the general public, it seems.
"That said, it may be best if the two of us play an escort role," he nods to Baqir. "To escort and to ensure that word of our actions does not go beyond the morgue, to prevent just such a panic. Surely we can convince any of the morticians and onlookers, one way or another, of the need for discretion."
Dr. Grey frowns, but not at Laurence in particular. "If they can't be discreet then they really shouldn't have their position. But if we make it sound more routine, perhaps a new initiative of sorts, we might be able to use this ruse again at a later date. And it will avoid any panic as well."
"OOoh! Maybe we can forge a will saying he donated his body to science?"
"While I am confident I could craft just such a forgery, I don't know that it is necessary in this instance. Especially when doing so may cause the family of the deceased unjust suffering should they discover that someone were forging false last wishes of a loved one."
He nods in quiet assent to Dr. Grey's idea. "I concur, sir. That is a very reasonable approach. Is there anything we should know about your examination in particular? How much time you will need, for example?"
At the mention of creating forgeries, Mr. Ames gives Miranda a sidelong look. "That's startin' t' get a little too complicated. Too many movin' parts 'n all that. Works for clockwork, not so much for plans." Kicking his feet off the table, he leans forward in his chair. "Once we're in, we're in. The plague story's good, gives us more reason to keep anybody who ain't us out of the room."
He looks around at the others, meeting each of their eyes. "If we can get in the room with the body alone, keepin' the door shut won't be a problem," he says, fishing out an ancient-looking brass-colored key from his coat pocket. Focusing on Laurence, he says, "D'you know how long a plague inspection takes? 'Cause I don't. And I'm willin' t' bet those morticians won't either."
"Depends on the body. It could take minutes or hours. Depends on the plague too. I'm honestly hoping their morons because the idea of a... Well, it doesn't really matter. We need to get going or it will take that much longer when we get there, by simple virtue of the wasted time here." Grey turns to the guard woman and waits for her to lead the way.
Mathias, having finished his meal, a second helping, and a pint of small ale, smirks. "Well, soun's like we got ourselves a plan. Le's no' tarry any longer an' get to it."
Standing up, he ponders his knowledge of the Church of Pharasma. Looking back across to Stella, he inquires, "Du ye 'ave a cassock tha 'twuld fi' me?"
The criminals Laurence has dealt with in the past put far more thought into their schemes than this. So much thought in fact that one had to adopt the mindset of a criminal just to root out the intricacies. There was nothing intricate about putting on a dress and telling people to stay out of your business because they might get sick and die. On the one hand, the lack of details troubled the investigator. On the other hand, he was relieved the lack of criminal planning suggested he wasn't working with criminals!
"A fair point," he cedes to Erasmus. "Provided they are handled with some care we could take a good deal of time. We may have to convince them of the need for quarantine if they choose to leave, just to keep suspicion from being raised too soon."
Laurence cleans his hands and face with a cloth and wipes down his breakfast area before returning the empty dishes and cinnamon shaker to Mrs. Davids. He trudges a little wearily upstairs and hefts the chain shirt off of its display, spending a few minutes fitting the armor neatly together, adjusting and winding his holsters, latching the rapier and sap to his hip and finally throwing on a navy blue, swallow-tailed overcoat that seemed to make his polished chain shirt gleam by contrast. He tucks a map and a book into the inside of his coat in case they became useful later.
When he returns downstairs, he has the appearance of an official of some nature who may be slumming it today. Which is not at all far from the truth!
"I fear I would not make a convincing clergyman, so I will just be hired help."
"I can play the doctor's assistant! Then I have a good excuse to get in with the body. And my reading is rather quick, so I can run interference afterwards and shoo away any curious morgue worker."
With a grin jumped off her chair, eager to go. With some quick sleight of hand she conjured a small hat from her pocket and placed it on her head. Then with a magic word she activated the Cap of Human Guise - Gone was Miranda the Investigator and in her place where Miranda, the Doctors apprentice. To the naked eye, she was a blonde human girl in a white dress and a naive smile.
"Can I take your tools for you, Master Doctor?"
With innocent blue eyes she looked up at Grey, but her mischievous smile betrayed her. The tools can sometimes say alot about their owners!
"Take what you need from these as long as you bring them back, my dears. We don't have anything other than symbols here, but if you go through the tunnels, you can certainly get what you need." Kotri says, smiling warmly before pointing you toward the storage room.
Finishing her porridge, Lieutenant Riodos rises, cracking her knuckles and looking impatiently at all of you. "Sounds like you're all set then, let's get moving. I've only got so many hours before my shift starts." Getting a head start on you, she makes her way toward the indicated door.
The storage room is in almost every way, a typical tavern's store room, with its massive casks of spirits, slabs of cured meats, and small crates full of vegetables. What's unusual, though, is the door in the back, which the guardswoman opens to reveal a long torchlit tunnel. Spanning the few blocks' length between the Gilded Unicorn and the Church of Pharasma, it looks like a rather recent job, sleek and well supported, with a few branching paths. You can hear the sounds of metalworking occurring, a peek down one of the splintering hallways letting you catch a glimmer of the gnome who had been flaunting her spider construct the night before, wearing a different grease-stained flower dress and working on a massive clockwork golem. As you were told last night, this will be your usual manner of exit for the time being.
Most of Pharasma's churches are only modest temples, even in a massive metropolis and travel hub like Absalom. Fittingly, the death goddess's church is almost deathly quiet, empty save for a few quiet robed clerics moving about. Stella flags down one, the same deathly pale Tien woman who was in the tavern the night before, who wordlessly nods and brings several black cassocks, one large enough even for the hulking Tiefling. "Good luck with whatever your plan involves," the priestess says faintly, "Though please, try not to misrepresent us."
Humming a pleasant tune Miranda follows the woman downstairs and under ground. She had mixed feelings about tunnels. On one hand, there was usually alot of treasures buried in the earth. On the other hand, ancient tunnels had a tendency to last just long enough for someone to enter them before collapsing. She suspected it was due to spite, but none of the tunnels she had asked had said anything. However this tunnel seemed to be of newer origin and well maintained - lacking both historical trinkets and the risk of cave-in.
Hmm. Golem? Cool! Miranda makes a mental note of the location of the gnomes workshop (as she assumes it is) as they pass it by. She hadn't gotten the opportunity nor time to flag down the gnome the previous night and she curious as to what her clockworks would say. And curious about the clockworks in general!
As they entered the church proper, the 'halfling' had to fight down the urge to yell. Shattering the silence has sooo very tempting, but she suspected that the priests of Pharasma would react to it secret order or not. And she didn't particularly like the idea of getting a facefull of mud on her first day of the case. Hardly professional.
With a grin she nodded at the priestess. With the magical disguise in place, it was neither as wide nor as toothy as usual. "We'll do our best!"
Dr. Grey eyed Miranda curiously, then offered his tools to her without a word. The small pouch like thing was actually rather heavy thanks to the metal objects within. Each was sharp and well cared for and there were more then a dozen of them all told. Some looked quite similar, save for a slight variation in the length of the blade, while others were clearly quite different, ranging from clamps to hooks.
Dr. Grey walked the underground passage silently and entered into the church with equal care. His footsteps were eerily quiet as well. A man with his long limbs would seem ungainly while moving and yet not a sound or whisper, as if he knew just how to place his feet. Precise, rather then skilled, and largely unconscious. Within the temple, Grey felt a little better. Around them were people who understood the value of silence and death. He looked to the group, then waited for them to be led on to the morgue.
When handed the tools, Miranda accepted them with a small nod. The weight didn't seem to bother her too much but she hadn't expected to see quite so many variations of 'knife'.
She waited a little while with the reading, not wanting to make it too obvious. To the keen eyed, signalled the start of the reading proper. Should have figured I'd get *that* from surgeon's tool... *Wait!* The blood is cold, dead... He doesn't work with living patients ? Resuming her carefree hum she archived the little tit-bit of information.
"I will not be representing the Church of Pharasma at all," Laurence explains by way of reassurance, admiring the cassock but declining it unless Erasmus insists upon it for some reason. The investigator had made it clear he will just be Pharasman hired help. "But do you know anything about the morticians at the morgue we are heading to? Their names, perhaps? I thought perhaps it is something a clergywoman may be familiar with."
Mr. Ames takes one of the offered cassocks for himself. "Thanks, darlin'. We'll try not to get any blood on it," he says, winking at Grey. He dons the robes over his clothes with practiced ease; this isn't his first time impersonating a priest. "How do I look?"
"You could use a decent barbering," says the gentleman. The hint of mirth in his eye and the corner of his mouth betrays a note of camaraderie.
"I'm sorry, sir, I know nothing of the local morticians." She speaks softly and with a thin accent, looking just past the investigator. "There are some cities where our church is heavily involved in the funerary process, but sadly this is not one of them."
Once those of you robing up do so, Stella ushers you out of the church and through the streets, keeping a quick pace ahead of you and offering little chit-chat or reaction, though she gives small nods to other watch members as you pass by them on your way to one of a few morgues in the city, seated just outside the edge of the Petal District, close enough to tend to its dead but far away enough to not be an 'eyesore' for its affluent living. A modest, squat building of stone, it certainly looks out of place amid the upper middle-class dwellings and workplaces.
Pushing the door open ahead of you, Stella walks up to the desk. "Good morning, Hairam," she says to a rather spindly human in a white coat, currently tending to the desk and to paperwork. "Has Darril Bren's body been moved yet? I have some people who'd like to take a look at it."
Giving a curt, brief nod to the lieutenant, he looks past her to you, gathered behind her and looking like a rather strange lot. "Mister Bren's body is still here, but who might you be?"
Raz bows as he steps forward to answer. "Greetings," he says in an exaggerated Garundi accent. A strange-looking amulet spills out from under his robes to dangle next to the Pharasmin pendant. "I am Brother Markos, from the church of Pharasma. We are here to see the body, a most urgent matter we have been charged with. Please show us to the body at once."
The disguised Miranda gives Hairam a friendly grin but remains silent. She stands about half a step behind Grey, as if she were following someone of great importance but also being ready to jump in and help at a moments notice.
Donning the hooded cassock, a strange sensation passes over him. Had things progressed as initially planned, would something akin to this have been a part of my daily life? Rite and ritual, robes and incense. Hmm, to think, a cloistered priest. But no more... He heads with his companions out of the church and toward the morgue.
As Stella introduces the company Mathias stands back toward the rear, impressed by the firm and even tone Erasmus takes as he assumes the part of Brother Markos.
Dr. Grey remains silent rather then attempt to aid the man. In truth, the plague mask, for all it's unsettling glory, probably did the group many favors by covering up the more unsettling man beneath it.
Baqir follows begind Raz, remaining silent. No sense saying anything; he wasn't exactly the lying type in the first place.
Sorry to hear about all of your troubles, hopefully they will get worked out soon and we can get back to what has started off as a very intriguing storyline. Best of luck to you.