Looking at his feet, Caesare speaks up.
"Well tonight we had a visitor, someone who wanted to check our belongings. Without our consent. Now, this is of course not very polite and we would like to make our disfavor known. You do not have any idea who was pilfering our belongings."
The halfling looks aghast, but you sense it's more from being caught and called out than from hearing of a crime. "I assure you, sir, that if any rooms were entered, then nothing at all was pilfered, sir! It is sometimes necessary to check rooms for various reasons, such as tidyness, to ensure safety of guests or to verify occupancy. But pilfering is not something we allow at this Lodge, sir! Now, I have much to do, overseeing clean up from the unfortunate spider incident and seeing to the health of our dear chambermaid. I simply do not have time to debate Lodge procedures in the hallway. Good day sir!" He begins to head toward the stairs downward.
"Not so fast. I never said something was stolen. I said someone was searching something. Please tell me what! And please, while I am a very
good reader of people, I am quite bad at hurting them. She on the other hand...... she loves to breaks things."
Risbeth watches until Ceasare says something about her liking to hurt people, and then grins with a maniacal grin. She acrobatics down the hallway to cut off the halfling's retreat. "Not sure about like, but I'm very very very good at it. And I'll absolutely do so if he asks me to."
Risbeth's foot lashes out and kicks the belt buckle of the halfling...
...and it lands in tiny little pieces all over the hallway, none bigger than a thumb nail.
Risbeth shrugs, grinning at how the leather belt is left in place. "Like I said, very very very good at it."
Bellik lets out a small noise of panic as the belt buckle flies away in pieces. His hands grab his pants and he makes a squeaking noise. "Justmakingsureyou'renotmurderersorworse!" He squeals in a rush, barely breathing.
Risbeth looks at Caesare. "I've always wondered if I could punch the clothes off someone without actually bruising them. Want to find out? I mean, if he's not going to tell us the whole truth, he might as well be useful in some way..."
"Somehow I am not sure if that would work, especially on a halfling. I heard they are a bit more fragile... than for example gnomes. But maybe this halfling has .... something more to say... better what he says now ... is the truth!"
Bellik lets out a cry of frustration mixed with fear. "I CANNOT! I HAVE TAKEN OATHS!" Suddenly he goes silent and barrels past you, either no longer caring if you harm him or valuing his oath over his own life.
Around you doors open, revealing other patrons in states of bed-dress. Margrave Graydon stands in his nightshirt, still looking imposing even in such clothing and speaks in a low voice, deadly with tension. "What is the meaning of this commotion? Unless you wish to be removed from this Lodge as disturbers of the peace, I strongly suggest you return to your rooms or take your nonsense downstairs to the parlor where sensible people have conversations. Your rudeness is disturbing the other guests." The Markiza stands in her doorway, shaking her head disappointingly at your rudeness. You appear to have committed a major social faux pas.
"My apologies..." Risbeth bows to everyone. "..There was a rat, and I'm afraid my companion was quite startled by it. He doesn't deal well with rats." Risbeth pats Caesare on the shoulder. "There there now, it's fine. I feel the same way about puppies, horrible disgusting things." She walks Caesare off...
Once out of the hallway, she looks up the stairs. "I wonder if it would be rude to ask some small friends to run over her face just as she doses off?"
The Lodge begins to quiet after the scandalous shouting in the hallways.
Risbeth gets some of her cheese out in her room, calls up the rats, and asks them about what weird things go on at the chalet. Once that's done, she offers them a nice breakfast if they'll watch her and her companion's rooms over night and warn them if anyone is trying to get into their rooms while they sleep.
Then she gives them ear scritches and goes to sleep.
Only a single rat responds, a scarred bold fellow that scampers in as if he owned the Lodge. He submits to the questions and the food, and answers in a high pitched squeak.
Risbeth nods, and chitters back.
------------------------------------
The next morning, she pulls the others aside. "It appears that there were some people who came through two weeks or so ago, they smelled of necromancy and dug up corpses and made them walk again. Then they left here, and where they went, they caused people to flee back this way. Someone killed the werewolves leader, agitating everything. Finally, the spirits are agitated as well. Something chaotic has taken hold here, chaotic enough that even those who live off the largess of humans is uneasy. Obviously, this is an issue. We should, if possible, destroy this chaotic influence."
"It sounds like the agents of the Whispering Way were here and may have had something to do with the killing of the werewolf leader. We should find out who was here two weeks ago and what they can tell us about what the Whispering Way was up to."
"Yes... Maybe the good warden of the lodge could answer our questions about this... unfortunate event."
"This chaotic influence... it makes me worry. I have a feeling there is an uneasy truce her, ready to break any moment."
As you confer, there is a sudden scream and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. It came from the hall, very close to your room!
Throwing open the door, you can see the chambermaid, Bisthe, standing over a dropped tea kettle and platter with rolls spread across the hallways, looking terrified and staring into room D, the Margrave Cilas Graydon's room. She whimpers as you throw the door open and points into the room.
Moving to where you can see into the room, you spy a horrible sight! The Margrave's body, torn apart as if by clawed hands is laying on the floor in the center of the room. His dead eyes stare up at the ceiling, a look of puzzled bafflement on his face! Blood covers everything.
Risbeth eyes the blood and guts, and taps her lips. "I believe he is dead." She says completely deadpan. "I wonder if one of the creatures in the zoo escaped again, like the spider?" She pats the maid on the shoulder. "Now now, it's ok. Go and find whoever is in charge now, and tell them to come here quickly. We'll watch the room to make sure no-one goes in for now."
Turning to her companions. "Make sure no-one enters and messes up the tracks and clues until there are more witnesses than just us and the poor maid. I'll go back to my room and see if I can find anything out through more chittery channels." She then returns to her room, stopping to pick up some food from the floor first.
Once she is in the room, she chitters out.
Sonny comforts the chambermaid, "I know it's a big shock. Take a minute and compose yourself and then go fetch the boss and come back, quickly please."
Sonny nods to Risbeth, "Good idea, that way we don't get accused of anything."
The prof, oblivious to the agitation goes in the room and tries to understand the cause(s) of death. "What kind of creature may have done that..." he mumbles, staring at the deadly wounds.
Waving the others back and donning gloves Caesare and drinking a few extracts to highten his abilities crouches and slowly starts to investigate the crime scene.
"Dear professor, could you please take notes? And get others to let me do my work here."
Starting with doors and windows, then slowly in a spiral slowly describes the crime-scene. The way the blood has flown and sprayed, the wounds, the warmth of the body, smells, lightning.
"Indeed, my dear Caesare. I'd be more than happy to do it." says the prof, as he's already taking down some notes about the eventual creature that could have murdered the victim.
No rats will answer Risbeth's call, which is odd enough. Looking about the room, no one notices anything immediately odd, but the Professor can verify that the wounds are consistent with those a large wolf might make.
After a few moments the Lodge Warden Estovion comes in, breathless and clearly interrupted in getting dressed. He pales looking at the carnage and nearly chokes. "Who... who could have done this?" He asks in a breathless voice.
Outside the door the other guests and employees gather, gawking at the horrid scene. Only Delgros looks pleased, repeating "I knew it! A werewolf has done this travesty. We must gather our weapons and begin a hunt immediately!"
Augustus raises a professoral index and says loudly "Wait! Let's not jump to conclusions immediately. It may be only a wolf, and not a werewolf. What do you say, Caesare? There is a lot of large wolves in the area."
Risbeth returns. "I would say it is highly unlikely to be a werewolf. Something has not only killed him, but also the rats in the house or scared them off. Werewolves don't normally kill rats, and they certainly don't scare rats off. I suspect something supernatural is at work here, and the rats fled it." She nods at the body and the blood. "Such a display is much more likely to be something unnatural."
Delgros looks somewhat miffed and mutters under his breath, "werewolves are unnatural..."
Estovion looks stricken. "We must clean up his body, there must be a burial. Local customs dictate he must be buried before sundown." He starts to give orders to the staff for the immediate preparation of the body and cleaning of the room.
Sonny approaches the body after Risbeth mentions it must be something unnatural, "One moment before you move the body please. I'd like to examine the wounds and would be happy to assist in a service for him."
Sonny then examines the corpse to see what he can learn from it.
The body's wounds are definitely consistent with a mauling by a creature with large claws. However, there also seems to be a thin greyish goo in the wounds, which dissolves as you handle it. Ectoplasm, perhaps?
Estovion looks anxious to see the corpse seen to. "Please, his status as a Margrave means we must honor custom or else risk angering his family..." He looks about distractedly as he speaks.
Looking about the room and just outside, you realize another guest is missing: Corvin Tergsvor, the self-obsessed drug addict nobleman. He's nowhere to be seen. You're relatively sure his room is just around the corner.
Risbeth smiles at Delgros sweetly, sharp canines on display. "Shall we say, less mundanely unnatural than werewolves then? Besides, I've never known werewolves not to howl in delight as they rip something apart... that whole smell of blood thing. Whatever did this was totally silent." She taps her bottom lip with a fingernail. "Odd, our resident junky seems to be missing. Let's go take a look and see if we have another body..."
Risbeth walks quietly to the Junky's room and checks the door.
The door is locked, but you can hear movement inside.
Risbeth puts her back to the wall next to the door, and then knocks firmly, so she's not standing in front of the door when she does so, just in case a clawed menace comes bursting out of the room. Also standing on the opposite side as the hinges, so she doesn't get a door slammed into her nose... "Pardon me, I'm afraid there has been an incident. Can you please come out so we can make sure you are safe?" She says sweetly...
The prof tries to recall if he ever saw that kind of substance before but it's hard for him. "Caesare? Sunny? Do you know what it is? I have never seen this before..."
Taking a closer look Caesare sniffs the substance...
The substance is mostly gone by the time Caesare can sniff it, but he does recall lore regarding ghosts called vilkacis... Beings of pure malevolence and destruction, vilkacis arise from the souls of the most desperate and brutal werewolves as spirits burning with the need for bloodshed and vengeance. Specters of savagery escaped from remains tainted by lycanthropy, vilkacis desire to wear mortal f lesh and again revel in the vicious ecstasy of hunting and killing. Some see these beings as malign manifestations of the lycanthropic curse—the spirits of the infamous aff liction itself—while others know them as the deathly continuance of lives consumed by lycanthropy. In either case, these ravenous spirit-beasts seek only to garb themselves in the skins of deadly hunters and revel in bloodshed once more.
Risbeth's step out of the way is rewarded as the door opens and a shirtless, red-eyed Corvin stumbles out, reeking of absinthe, sweat, and sick. "Whaddya want? 'S too early to get up." he slurs.
Sonny looks to Estovion after they have finished examining the body. "I believe he was killed by some sort of undead creature. It looks like there was ectoplasm in the wounds. One of my companions may know more though. We are finished with his remains. If you need any assistance with the ceremony or preparations I will be glad to assist."
"Hello darlin'. We've had a murder. Margrave Graydon was skinned alive in sleep and his organs strewn about his room in an effort to make the room look more 'cheery'. We were hoping you www...ould join us to try to figure out who... or what, more likely... killed him." She gives the drug sotted nobleman a smile.
He has trouble focusing on Risbeth. "Whoosh dead?"
Estovion looks relieved that no one is fighting him on the quick burial. "No, I can see to it. We may need someone to speak the words over the corpse, but I'll let you know. Alright, let's gather him up." He begins to place the remains in a pile on a bed sheet, bundling up the mess. He nods to the Huntmaster, who helps him carry the corpse out.
Sonny takes a good look around the room to see if he can find any more clues. "Professor, Caesare, would you help me search this room for any other clues now that we have the room?"
Search as you might, you can find nothing in the room that might give you a clue as to the identity of the murderer. You can hear Estovion down below directing the actions of the staff in preparing the funeral for the Margrave.
The prof, not very much interested in funerals, attempts to sneak in the private library. He asks the others for assistance, as sneaking is not his favored skill.
"Professor, that is a good idea, though I generally wouldn't recommend breaking and entering, something was off about his reaction. Caesare, we'll probably need your for this. Would you join us?"