He takes the note, skimming over it and holding the seal up to a lantern held by a nearby guard. "Investigators traveling by will of the Council, eh? The whole lot of you? That makes things a little easier on me, then."
He beckons you off the train and points toward the forward cars. "Found some drunk bastard having a piss on a wall in town. Grabbed him up, gave him a search, and found a train ticket in his pocket just as my men gave word of a train broke down out here. The boarding number matched up, so we hauled him with us to investigate."
He licks his lips pensively before continuing. "We're in a little over our heads here. Come take a look."
"This guy is drunk? That don't happen in a moment. There is a dining car in this train?"
Uhm
"Maybe I can get something from the ticket, can you avoid handling it too much?"
Juliet frowns, taking her hand off the rapier at her hip, but not moving far from it. "Of course, Officer. Please, lead the way."
"That very well could be the same person. There is a bar/dining car on this train, so it's likely there that he found his vice. This guy isn't the only seedy character on this train, though."
At Kelly's request, he offers her the train ticket. "Not sure how much good it'll do you, but it can't hurt to have another look." The ticket stub has a picture of a smiling man with the slogan 'So cheap, even the proletariat can ride!' You recognize the grinning visage as that of the train's owner. Beneath that, there is a stamp that says 'Eddystone to Crasmere - One Way'
As you all approach the entrance to the forward cars, the guard turns and finally divulges what this is all about. "The owner of this train has been murdered, but we have seven suspects and no idea where to start. I figure if the Council has such faith in you as investigators, then so do I. We could really use your help on this. I can't offer you any reward, but I can write a letter for you to take to the council confirming your participation in this matter." He looks a little desperate, but genuine nonetheless.
Kelly examine the ticket for a minute, trying to learn about its past.
Focusing on the ticket stub for a minute, Kelly catches a hazy glimpse of a portly man in a business suit handing the ticket to the train's conductor before the stub is torn off and handed back. This image appears to have been from two days prior, when everyone boarded the train.
To the guard commander:
"The drunk is here? Can you give us a description of this guy?"
To the others: "The ticket don't say anything that seem particularly relevant, but that isn't a surprise, it is too common an item to have been deeply involved in what happened."
Kelly give Grayahrum an slightly irritated look.
"I suppose everyone has his quirks."
The Doctor had been listening and nodding silently in reaction to the back-and-forth of the conversation. At Gryarhmun's urging, he moves away from the rain-slicked window and toward the main body of the train.
"We would be happy to help you investigate, sir," the large alchemist rumbles. Sotto voce, he asks the guard leading them through the train cars... "What can you tell me about the cause of death? Was there a struggle?"
"I'd prefer to see the scene for myself first." Juliet interrupts. She casts a smile at Fodd. "We wouldn't want to have preconceived notions about what happened, would we?" She nods to Kelly, "Besides, the murder weapon may yield more information for Ms. Fitzroy than the ticket stub."
"Typical, first he make jokes about my powers and then get all offended when I play down his comment. But what would you expect from a follower of the god of misogynists?"
Kelly move toward the main body of the train.
To the guard: "The guy in rags that you were dragging on the train, he is the one that had the train ticket? he isn't the one that used it to board the train 2 days ago."
Nicholas butts in to the conversation as they walk down the train, looking concerned
"Hey, you said somethin' about that guy not being the only 'seedy character' on the train. Who, uh... who else 'seedy' is on here, eh?"
The guard responds to Kelly, "Yes, we have him here on the train now with the other passengers. He's a big fella, wearing some sad rags. Not sure how such a poor sod got so fat, really. Not sure how you know whether the ticket is his or not, but I'm interested to see if you're right."
As he's about to answer Fodd, Juliet interrupts. When she's finished, he adds, "Well, the odd thing about that... There's no body to report as of yet."
At Nicholas' inquisition, he elaborates, "Seems like everyone on board's got something to hide. Makes it hard to get any information, but maybe you folks can make heads or tails of it. They're right in here."
The entrance of the train leads right into the bar car and through to the cigar car. The carpet squishes under your feet as you notice the floor is absolutely soaked in water. There is a table with eight faces situated at it with several more guards surrounding them and barring the exit. At the center of the table lies a golden-tipped fountain pen that is rouged with ink and blood, a rubber-ended rope that is also covered in ink and blood, and a plumbing pipe that is not covered in anything. There is also a dead poodle lying in the corner.
There are six men and two women at the table.
One man is round and dressed in rags, clearly the one who was found by the guards in town. He reeks something awful.
Another poorly dressed and putrid man sits at the table as well, a bloody hole in his burlap garb.
Another man wears the white coat of a doctor.
There is also a handsome man with a well-groomed beard in a resplendent jacket.
Another man appears to be the conductor for the train.
There is also a man dressed in the garb of a lesser politician, a ruffled cravat of fine lace signifying his economic status.
Of the two women, one is tall and athletic, with flowing blonde hair.
The other woman is a small, mousy brunette.
Fodd first notes the squishy floor and glances to either side of the car to see if windows had been left open. If they were, then the simple explanation of rain coming in would suffice. If not...something else was at play...
His thoughts are jarred by the presence of the dead poodle in the corner. "Whose dog is that?" he asks, by way of greeting. His sunglasses are back on, and they gleam in the dim light. Does the dog have any evident stab wounds I can tell from just glancing at it? Is there matted fur around its neck that could be consistent with strangulation?
"One man is round and dressed in rags, clearly the one who was found by the guards in town. He reeks something awful."
Kelly look the round man with interest, he is the one she saw in her vision, with a different garb, or a different person?
She sniff the air, the reek if o liquor or unwashed body?
The windows are shut, so the possibility of rain flooding the entire car floor doesn't seem plausible.
The conductor speaks up in response to Fodd. "I saw a man in a yellow fedora and a mink coat with the dog on the train after our last stop. He must have boarded then, but I didn't see him until the train had already started moving again, so I never took his ticket if he even had one."
The doctor chimes in to say that he saw this man with the poodle as well. The mousy brunette says she saw the same person, but was certain they were a woman, not a man.
While she didn't get a sharp image of the man's face in her vision, Kelly can tell that the man in rags seems similar enough in shape that he could be the same as the one she saw board with the ticket. The stench of alcohol is coming from him, and the bodily odor is a mixture of him and the burlap-clad peasant across from him.
"At the very least, we have a bloody shiv, a bloody rope, and a missing person. If he were still alive, I imagine he'd be around to speak of it," the guard replied.
Juliet moves as far away from the vile men before crouching near the carpet to smell it, trying to discern if it is actually water, and if so, perhaps where it came from.
"Everyone everywhere has something to hide." She mutters. Looking up, her eye flicks between the suspects. 'Motive and Opportunity.' She thinks. Looking towards the Guard, she cocks her head. "Is there somewhere we can talk to the suspects, ah, individually?"
The Doctor narrows his eyes as he looks at the closed windows. He subtly presses the toes of his shoes into various spots in the carpet, feeling out for dry spots to determine the overall shape of the wet area. While he's doing this, he studies the poodle by walking over closely to it, checking its fur for blood and wounds, and if he fails to find any of those, checking the throat for signs of being strangled by the rope.
As he examines the surrounding area closely, Fodd glances back up at the dwarf behind him. "Do your arcane senses detect anything amiss in this train car, Grayarhmun?" he asks.
After scanning the room for some time, Kelly move toward the table concentrating on the items on it.
Before using her powers on them she examine them as completely as possible without touching them.
"Where did you find these items?"
Se examine the ink on rope and pen. it is the same kind of ink?
The guard nods to Juliet, "Sure, you can take them over into the next car. I'll send a couple of my men with you in case they try any funny business.
The entire floor is wholly drenched. It's not immediately evident how the dog met its fate. There are no external wounds to speak of.
Gryahrmun doesn't detect any magic in the the car.
Kelly sees that the gilded pen is quite sharp, covered in ink and blood. The rubber-ended rope appears to be covered in the same bloody inky mixture. The plumbing pipe is clean of any such blood or ink.
"We found the pen in this man's pocket in the caboose," the guard gestures to the smelly, burlap-clad peasant with the bloody, inky hole in the chest of his shirt. "We found this one clutching the rope in this room we're in now," he adds, pointing to the conductor. "And the politician here was found holding the pipe in the lower floor of his car."
"It seems as if there is yet another weapon that we must account for," the Doctor says, rising to his feet. "I have reason to believe the dog was poisoned."
To Doctor Fodd: "Poison? Not my field of expertise. You think that the pen can have been used as a makeshift syringe or it was an ingested poison?"
To Gryahrmun Darkdust:
"One step at a time. I prefer to study the items before using my powers on them. It helps. Now I will see what I can divine from them."
Picking up the pen Kelly examine it again with her mundane eyes. The point is straight or bent as it had struck something with force?
Then she use Object Reading on it.
"Undoubtedly ingested. I was unable to find any puncture wounds, or wounds of any kind, on the animal's body. This led me to deduce that the dog was fed poisoned food. I would keep an eye out for any food offered to you on this journey." The alchemist's voice is grim, as he thinks back to the dinner he had enjoyed in his private train car only hours before. The shepherd's pie and greens now rest uneasily in his stomach. Could I be like Fido here in a few hours? he thinks to himself, worried.
Nicholas looks mortified at the mention of poison, remembering the apple he snacked on scant moments before. He spits loudly on the already-wet floor and mutters a curse under his breath.
Seeing that no knife-wielding vigilante or crazed murderer is about, Nicholas drops his shield to the floor with a clang.
"Alright then. Let the fun begin" he says, cracking his knuckles and smiling slightly.
Heh, just like old times
Nicholas looks at each of the suspects in turn before pointing rudely at the politician.
"Ay, you there, Mistah Frilly-Neck. You don't, eh, exactly look the plumbin' type. Let's move this to the next car over and you can tell us exactly what you was doin with that pipe, huh?"
Juliet looks at Fodd and shrugs. "While sad, the dog is not necessarily related to our murder. The poor creature may simply have gotten into chocolate, or chicken bones." She frowns. "Though I am curious where the owner has gone to."
Hey guys, I'd really love to take over the campaign, but there's a few problems.
One is that I'm already DMing several other campaigns on these boards, and I'm a player in a few more. I hate to admit it, but I think I'm at capacity DM-wise.
Another is that I had no idea how the plot of this campaign was intended to go. I don't know how to work the clues together, what the characters Boneshaker introduced signify...anything. It'd be very difficult for me to pick up the story where it left off, and have it all "hang together."
I hate to say it, but I can't take over the leadership of this campaign. Sorry guys.
:(
Thanks for trying.