Jim resists the urge to roll his eyes. Idiots. Get that complacent and stupid at sea, and you die. "Dingus? Groom? Mind carrying Kaul? Unlike some folks, we don't leave our mates behind."
Jim will look around for a street food vendor as the party heads back to the house. Anything that can be carried in one hand and has some meat in it, and he's not too picky about what kind.
He'll murmur to Dibbets at some point, "I'll take the ocean, thank you very much. This place is like navigating shoals when you don't know iffin' the tide's in or out...."
The Groom will spit a gush of salt water into Kaul face (Create Water). If that does not revive him, he will struggle to get the half-orc to his feet. "Will definably require assistance," he manages to mutter.
An unusual smile crosses the Grooms's face. He is glad to be going back....so much left unanswered.
As Dingus and the Groom struggle to get the densely muscled half-orc off the ground, Jim finds a nearby vendor selling fried shark on a stick for 4 pennies. Vinari ambles over while Jim is buying his meal and demands, ”Hey, get me one of those, too.”
Jim looks at Vinari, looks back at the vendor, wordlessly hands over a skull, and holds up two fingers.
Perception:
Dibbets is walking alongside Kaul, periodically giving him a light slap to see if he'll come round.
As the vendor makes change, Jim catches his eye to see if he reveals any particular reaction to the overbearing Taldan. If any ill will exists, the man keeps it well hidden behind a façade of professionalism.
Dingus and the Groom manage to get the half-orc in a vertical position and stagger back up the wide street at about the same rate that Dibbets can hobble. Eventually Kaul comes back around still blinded and incoherent for a moment, but shaking his head and blinking he rejoins the world of the conscious with a slight headache.
As the group approaches the house again the door remains open and a small knot of five Watch members confer in front. You see a couple of Easterners watching from across the street or peering from their windows. Upon spotting the Hell Hounds in the lead, the leader of the Watch holds up his hands in front of him. ”Hey, Hey, Dolo, Vinari, we don’t want any trouble. We had to respond here. A runaway cart ran down a couple in front of us and then this fat bastard comes running down the street wailing like a banshee. We followed the trail of piss back here and find this mess. I think that’s Goyne in there, but the body was already looted when we got here. You know what’s going on?”
At about this moment Kaul notices he feels a bit less encumbered than before and realizes the ring and the bag of loot from the witch’s chest are missing…
Kaul gives his noggin a couple of bumps as if emptying seawater from his ear, then squints suspiciously at the scene unfolding before him...
He brushes himself down, unslips his brass knucks and stows them (using the opportunity to see if anything else is missing).
Kaul sports his gargoyle grin as he wryly mumbles "Good to be back lads... hur-hur-hur. Close my eyes fer a damn'd second and we's up to our hairy pits in Hounds and Watchdogs hur-hur-hur!"
"Thank the sky lord we're back Kaul, methinks they'd a tired o carryin ye after a while" he says with a genuine grin of relief.
Addressing the guard "See anythin else in there but Goyne?"
The sergeant looks down at Dibbets and then sheepishly at the other Watchmen. ”Um, we didn’t really look around much. The place just doesn’t feel right. Some folks were saying it’s haunted, you know, being a witch house and everything.” he mumbles.
Dolo, the tall Bekyar makes the spiral of Pharasma across his chest and spits. Vinari chuckles and taunts the sergeant in his nasally voice, ”Ooooh, spooooky!”
The sergeant turns a little redder and stands aside, ”Well, have a look yourselves. It’s your business anyway!” he growls.
Aside to the Groom "Whats yer skull sayin? Said in a quiet voice so the hounds and watch don't hear.
Kaul flashes an ugly smile at the halfling: "Good ta be back Dibbs"
Then attempting to take the attention from Dibbet's conversing with the Groom and his boney oracle Kaul bundles up to the guard sergeant: "You flat feet notice any o' my kind around? With the fat-man per'aps?" he queries in his grumbling tongue.
With Keelhaul off his shoulder, the Groom reaches into his satchel and pulls out his sheet-wrapped bundle. To Dibbits, as he peeks in at the contents, "Let's see if she is awake."
"You could stand to lose a few pounds". Dingus grunts to Kaul as the man regains control of his senses. "And a bath wouldn't kill you" .
The man then withdraws further into his hooded cloak, and watches events unfold. He would like another shot at this place.
The sergeant lifts an eyebrow at Kaul's question, "No, not many of your kind around. Mainly keep wharfside or in the Bloodsalt where they belong," he adds pointedly.
As the Groom pulls back the sheet he is greeted by a reddish glow rekindled in the skull’s eye sockets.
the Groom drops the sheet back. In a low voice to Dibbits, "We have her attention. Keep yer eyes peeled."
Passing Kaul, "I retrieved this while you dirt napped in the street. Needed to show them a gesture of good faith. It's why they wanted to come here." He places the ring in his hand.
Kaul grins back at the sergeant - all sharp teeth, scars and a belligerent glint in his eyes: "Heh. Ain't too many of yoursort neither in the Bloodsalt flatfoot... well not breathin that is... heh.heh.heh."
He then eyes Dingus cautiously... and leans in, with a course whisper: "Big and stinking I may be mate... but thems handy traits when I be rippin a man a new smile on yer say-so... keep that in mind eh? Hur-hur."
His thought broken by the Groom placing the ring in his hand. Kaul looks up his amber eyes glinting as he addresses the Hellhounds...
"So you boys comin or are we the spook bait?"
Skipper know you mentioned giving us a levels worth o' time to settle our characters... well been thinking about Kaul. Much as I like the Falchion as a weapon (whoring big cutless/cleaver) had originally wanted Kaul to wield a big boarding hook/meat hook type weapon... never thought about the Ogre Hook... (Know its an Exotic Weapon but wondered if I could swap it out for the "Weapon Familiarity" of Orc weapons/Great Axe & Falchion?). Bess would just be a Big feckin hook which just seems more Kaul... dunno what you reckon though? Stick with cleaver?? :S
After finishing his shark on a stick, Jim will help with Kaul as much as he can.
In response to the guard, Jim asks, "Witch house? I'd credit that, after what we saw--how long since anyone lived there?"
"So you boys comin or are we the spook bait?"
The sergeant frowns at Kaul and shrugs at Jim’s question. “I dunno, you should probably ask someone who lives around here. I think there was an old lady selling herbs and remedies here pretty recently.”
”Spook bait.” Vinari sneers and getting a lantern from the sergeant leads the way. Dolo follows Vinari into the building stooping a little to clear his formidable height augmented by his traditional Bekyar hair sculpture, in this case his hair dyed red and shaped into a pair of inward curving horns.
Inside the interior door remains open and kettle and corpse remain undisturbed in the kitchen. A close inspection of the kitchen however finds that a stone from the floor near the fireplace has been pulled up revealing a small empty hole beneath.
"Watch out for any more of those flying bloodsuckers--they're what got your buddy. Would've done for me, too, if they'd all hit me at once."
Jim looks back at the rest of the crew. "I don't remember that stone being pulled up. One of you do that while I was squashing bugs?"
Spitting to the side Dibbets says"No Jim, don't think that were us"
He also recasts light on his staff and watches the hounds warily.
Kaul peers over Dibbs and sucks in a involentary gasp at the sight of the stone being moved:
"Ghaa...... Whadi say eh? Eh!? Bad damn ju-ju!
His paw slips up to his scrimshaw symbol at his neck and he whispers a few warding words to the Drowner...
Vinari walks over to the corpse and pulls it away from the wall to check the back. ”Routine around here.” he sniggers. ”Yep. Look at this. I think your spook was probably alive and carrying a sharp knife. “ He points out the blood stain on the wall from a neat stab wound in Goyne’s upper back.
Dolo looks at the hidey hole under the flagstone that has attracted your attention. ”Wonder what was in dere.” As if in reply a faint hissing comes from the glowing skull. ”Lossst...”
Dibbets pulls out the skin bag from his flower sack and holds it up for Vinari, "Well this was floatin around last we were here too." before being cut off by the skulls utterance...
Looking at the corpse, the Groom gives the overturned and dented cauldron a kick. "Blood-bugs did that...after he was a corpse. It was the cauldron that laid out him with the cut-nose, and unless he ran into it head first, the spook did have something to do with it."
After Dolo's question was answered, in a low voice, "Gentlemen..the Spook." the Groom then pulls back the sheet revealing the skull. "You of the Glowing Eyes, what has been lost here?"
Vinari glances at Dibbets’ pride and joy, ”What the- get that away from me, you little freak! That’s disgusting.
In response to the Groom, Vinari continues yapping, ”What? You telling me I don’t know what a knife wound looks like? I think I’ve seen enough of those. Maybe someone bashed him with the cauldron while someone knifed him from… Hey, was that you? That’s you making them noises. Wow, what a bunch of crazies we got here, Dolo.”
Dolo holds up a hand to silence Vinari and watches the Groom handling the glowing skull. The skull responds with a fainter hiss, "boooxxxx…"
Kaul's eyes narrow at the scene and he nods knowlingly..."Heh. Looks like we know what happened tae the Bloodsalt boy now... nailed Goyne with tha pot and bled him... bugbats did the rest.... I meself would hav used a sap, then Bess but its good bloodwork... Hur-hur-hu..."
Kaul's gloating laugh is cut short by the skull's sudden communication and he steps warily away from its gaze.
Kaul will try and recollect anything about the big half orc that nodded at him:
Knowledge:Local
Grinning with manic wild eyes at Vinari's reaction, Dibbets casts the skin-bag off to the side.
"Why don't you boys talk to bony there, I'll check upstairs to see if anythin else is where it wasn't." he then moves up the stairs and checks the bedroom for any changes.
Perception:
After they reach the house, Jim attempts to lean against a wall as unobtrusively as possible while he catches his breath from the walk back.
The realization comes to the Groom, he turns the skull to look into its eyes. "So you did not do this? He of the Red Face, killed this one, and ran? But this stone was not moved when we left. Did he come back? or did someone else do this?....Who took your box"
He looks up to the others. "That Wizard Vagrant seemed to think the One called Dibble carried something he did not have. Could that one have returned here, once discovering we did not have what he sought?"
Jim closely watches to make sure that those nasty bug-bats stay dead as Dibbets steps over their battered remains and heads upstairs to find nothing changed since his last visit except perhaps a curtain pushed to the side.
Despite the flurry of questions from the Groom, the hissing sound from the skull fades into something like a sigh. Suddenly in your midst a small presence is felt and with a rustling of wings that you feel more than hear a shadow darts out the front door.
Dolo again draws a spiral over his chest as Vinari looks confused. The red gleam in the skull’s eyes winks out.
Jim chuckles slightly at Vinari's apparent confusion. "Seems like there's a little more going on here than you might have thought. As long as we're back here, there's something else I want to get a look at."
Jim takes a look at the cauldron, trying to figure out what happened to it and how it got dented. Are there any traces of anything that might have been in the cauldron before it was tipped over? (For that matter, any sign of where the bug-bats came from?)
Seeing the skull animate again, Dingus quickly utters his Detect Magic cantrip, and studies the skull more carefully. Before releasing it, he also scans about the room.
Kaul warily watches everyones movements, then as the skulls eyes fade he recovers his composure and addresses Jim's detective work;
"Jim...I's tellin ye... the half orc... one like me? Know of him and reckon he did fer Goyne... Clocked Goyne with the pot, then as he stumbled he knifed him - quick an nasty like. Clear as chum on the tide that's what happened."
Kaul chuckles to himself at a private joke... "Hur-hur-hur... I should be a flatfoot...hur-hur-hur!"
Aye skipper saw the reply regards the hook... am sticking with the blade I reckon, replied more in the ooc thread.
Seeing the skull animate again, Dingus quickly utters his Detect Magic cantrip, and studies the skull more carefully. Before releasing it, he also scans about the room.
Coming down the stairs Dibbets relays "Upstairs don't look like anythin new happened.". He then leans against a wall and takes a swig of grog from one of his flasks while his shipmates continue investigating.
"Aye, you may have the right of it, Kaul. But I'm wondering--looks to me like this pot was thrown hard, not picked up and slammed into someone. We heard the crash upstairs, you remember. An' it happened fast enough that Goyne didn't have a chance to draw, so he had to have his back to th' half-orc...seems to me that seeing someone wind up to throw that pot would be just a mite on the obvious side. I think we're not seeing something, but I don't know what. Dingus, you gettin' anything off the skull? That might be a piece of the answer, and I think I know who might have another piece of it.
"Vinari, Dolo--the fat man said he worked for Finn. Why would Goyne go along with that, if the man was spinning a yarn?"
Vinari thinks a minute and grins, ”Not that it is any of your business, but this block is part of Goyne’s territory. If Mr. Finn had something going on here most likely he was working with Dunbar and Goyne would have been in on it. If that’s true than I’d guess the fat man was one of Trask’s enforcers. We don’t usually work with them much. Doesn’t really explain what you bunch are doing here though. Believe me if I thought any of yous could get the drop on Goyne, I’d gut you now.”
He looks apppraisingly at Dingus. "This quiet guy is kinda suspicious though. You another spell slinging rat like Beedle?"
In a hissing voice "Not like Beedle". "His opponents still breathe".
Intimidate
"Fat man hired us to clear out the building, an' when it all went ass-up we all figured it were best to make sure our side of the tale was heard in case he wanted to pin Goyne's death on us. So we went lookin' for...other folks that work for Finn, an' found you right after Beedle caught up with us. Dingus is right, y'know...that Beedle, he's not much of a spell slinger if he couldn't take down more of us at once.
"Funny thing--he thought you were with us."
Something in Dingus' tone strikes a nerve and Vinari drops his swagger, "Hey, no offense there. I said you guys are OK with me. I don't even have to mention you to Dunbar if you don't want me to. As far as I'm concerned it was ghosts. I’m sure the big guys can figure this all out. Whatever happened here is the fat guy's problem now."
He nods to Dolo as he heads for the door, "I could use a beer. Should we hit Strebeck's?”
Piping up from the corner "Maybe the sea salts crusted me ears up, but I don't remember any mention o' this Dunbar and Trask before. Where do they come intae it?"
Vinari laughs nervously, "Dunbar's the head of the Hellhounds and Trask is Mr. Finn's second in command. He runs-"
Dolo butts in,"I tink you say plenty, Vinari. Wait for me outside." Looking at the crew the towering Bekyar adds, "You might not want to ask too many questions. Sometime knowledge is dangerous."
Kaul warily eyes the Hounds as they walk out
"Not sure there's much more tae be hand from them. We could get em drunk, an they might spill their guts more... but might as likely spill ours too boys..."
The burly half orc rubs his head as if in deep thought:
"'sides... if this witch has stuff missing maybes the Bloodsalters got it... and I reckon I know where tae find him. See this witch had an Eastern carpet right? Maybe she's Eastern... maybe the Assad’s Smoke Shop or Kafe Ilkin know's o' her?? Maybe's I just thinks too much!"
With a shrug of his scarred shoulders he spits on the floor...
As the pair of Hell Hounds leaves, Jim straightens up from where he was leaning against a wall. "Good thinking, Kaul. But now it's past time for us to be leaving, too. Unless you think the guards won't want an excuse to push someone around after that?"
the Groom rewraps the skull and places it back in his satchel. "Feel free to continue to speak up."
"Assad's seems as good a place as any."
You hear raised voices outside and Dolo strides back in with a curse. He looks at Goyle's body and back at Kaul. "You help me get heem to de temple of Pharasma and maybe I forget where hees blade went to, eh?"
Dolo explains,"Fool Vinari just want to dump Goyne off a dock, but I say man die here good chance come back. So better take heem to de temple."
"We go tru de Drac's End. Not takin' too long. He look about ready for de temple, too." Dolo indicates Jim.
