You knock at the door but there is no answer after several minutes. What do you do?
"I dunno what they took but Callisto had a lucky charm he always kept on him. He swore it would tell him when people were lying to him. That crazy bastard. Still didn't deserve to go out like he did. If I find out who did it i'll kill their whole family!"
"What did the charm look like? Had you ever seen it?"
"Nothing fancy. Looked like a piece of glass to me. He'd always pull it out when doing deals and then either accept the deal or shoot the bastard for trying to lie to him."
Huntarr pulls out his dataslate, and shows the man the picture of the body in the alley, the one that killed Bal Grey.
"You recognize him?"
As you look through the hab you see 3 bodies lying on the floor obviously dead in one of the rooms.
The thug shakes his head.
"Never seen before. Looks like a mess though."
Medicae test
"Yeah, we have some pretty solid leads that we're chasing down. Lissen, has anyone else been poking around since this happened?"
[I] Illidan will enter the hab seeing the group with huntarr isn't hostile and begin his investigation.
Your unsure how long the bodies have been here. Best guess is a few days based on decomposition. It's pretty obvious no one noticed they have been dead though.
The thug rubs his chin.
"After the bites came through here we saw a few goons stalking around but when we saw them and went to see what they wanted they boogied outa here really fast. Didn't get a good look at em."
Inside the hab is not much interesting. There are a few thugs milling around doing their own thing.
Illidan returns to huntarr a few minutes later. There isn't much in there just more friendlying looking locals in there
"Thanks for the info. We'll get out of your way now. Though since you did me a solid, I'll return the favor. The same people who killed Callisto are also the ones killing nobles. And they're using daemons to do it. Be careful. And double your watches."
If there's nothing else, Huntarr will head to the Arbite for the long ride to base.
Can I identify who they were based on their clothing and items on their person?
Based on their clothing they appear to be wealthy people. Most likely the family that lived here.
" These poor sods must have been dead for several days... Cause of death is obviously the same M.O. as the others... Question is though, who was it that contacted the Arbires to set up that meeting in the morning?..."
Yes.
I have no objections
You all meet up at Haarlocks Folly and Constantine greets you all again and has someone show you to your quarters. On your way there he asks if you are any closer to figuring out why all these people are getting murdered.
Do you wish to do anything else before getting rest?
Huntarr defers the conversation to Illidan and Lord Auraxis, retiring for the evening.
Illidan questions Brother Constantine
"what else is there around hq to."
Arbitrator Constantine eyes Illidan unsure how to answer the question.
"Sleep."
Illidan goes and prepares for sleep
Before Ilidan sleeps I want to discuss what was discovered by both parties.
Auraxis & Nihil
We discovered that the victims are not being attacked for who they are but what they have. The items being taken are different a ring, a diadem, (I forget the last item). The nature of these items we have yet to discover. We do suspect that they are connected with Haarlock as this is a planet with a connection to him and based on what we discovered during our last mission it is likely that the Inquisitor had such suspicions as well.
On top of that we discovered new victims. One was a beggar who was considered a local madman, he was just murdered tonight. He had an item but where he got it from we did not discover. We also discovered the members of House Kitlin murdered though they appeared to be dead for several days. I believe that this is why the Legate was slain, the perps come to House Kitlin to retrieve the diadem and were led to the Legate's house as he had it in his inventory.
The murders are all very similar. Nihil believes that a sorcerer is using Necromancy to revive the dead to act on his behalf. He does not believe that the attackes are Daemonic in nature.
Illidan informs Auraxis of his findings.
"Besides the photos that have been sent and my constant slate messages we too found that the people are not the taget but those Items. To add to our objective we also found that we are not the only ones looking for these items and said people who are committing these murders. We are trying to find out who this other cell is and secure any other findings they Kay have. We hit several of the crime scenes not much else to be said.
Huntarr would have informed Illidan on the trip back to the tower of a nagging suspicion.
"I suspect we may be looking, not for multiple items, but for multiple parts of the same item. Like the pieces of a very large jewel, that someone wants to reassemble."
(Somehow this post got lost yesterday.)
Arbite Constantine rubs his chin at this information.
"This is indeed interesting. We were not aware of another Inquisitorial Cell on planet, they never announced themselves to us and the idea of these items all being linked is fascinating. Inform the delegates tomorrow of this perhaps they would have more information on it."
Huntarr will get up very early the next morning and polish his weapons and armor to a high sheen.
The night is restless as all the murders and missing items weighs heavy on your thoughts and you awake to the next day and prepare to meet with the Judiciary at the Clockwork Court.
You are taken to the Clockwork Court which is in similar state to the rest of this city. it was probably a very magnificent place many years ago but now it's falling apart. As you approach the gates the guards stop you and ask for identification before being allowed inside.
Auraxis will wake up early as well and check on the prisoner brought in last night. Want to try to pump him for more information now that he has had time to rest and relax, who knows perhaps his memory will improve. Inquiry
Once that is done, Auraxis will reach out to our Inquisitor and udate him on our progress thus far. His real reason for reaching out though will be to determine if another Inquisitor is also working this case. I suspect that this other party is not working for an Inquisitor or is a rogue Inquisitor.
You send a message through the Arbites to transmit an Astropathic message. This will take some time before you receive a response.
As for the prisoners you get some random information.
“The Rag-Kings have made a deal with the wreckers from the stone lands for reinforcements. They are arming the cannibals and have promised the Quorum will be filled with the gnawed bones of its former masters before long!”
“The Quorum has been infiltrated by the Malfians with over half the council in the pay of off-worlders. The rest is just a cover-up to mask their takeover.”
I relay the information in the spoiler to the rest of the group.
"Typical of my kin... This will be fun."
Nihil muttered to Auraxis, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Huntarr followed along quietly. He had already decided that he didn't owe these people anything and was going to remain quiet throughout the proceedings. Lords Aaurillious and Dragorus will have to do the talking.
(Have at it, boys. Wake me when it's done.)
Nihil slowed his pace down ever so slightly until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Huntarr. He had to come respect the assassin. He was efficient, to the point, and most importantly, quiet. He tilted his head to the side slightly, whispering to the assassin.
"Your eyes will be invaluable here, more so than at any other point. Watch each of them carefully and look to the shadows for signs of treachery... My kin does not play fair and they care little of whether this is Malfi or not... Any slight cringe of the eyebrow or the clenching of the fist will tell us more than their silver tongues will..."
Huntarr gave no outward sign that he heard, or was even listening. But of course, he was. He noted everything.
Illidan marches in following the team. Spotting nihil move next to huntarr thinking nothing of it presses on. Illidan checks and mark sure his pict recorder is charged, no new data slate messages needing relaying.
Peering over to Illidan as he fumbled with his pict recorder, Nihil motioned for him to put it away. Recording the hearing would put the nobility ill at ease and more hostile than they might already be.
The assassin made no sign that he was even hearing Nihil and because he did not quite understand it, the adept was rather perturbed but he let it slide and moved forward to stand in stride with Auraxis.
Illidan Nods at Nihil request and places the pict recorder away in a small pocket ready to go at a moments notice.
"Keep in mind what happened the last time the lights went out when your nobility brothern all gathered. Wasn't pretty. I just hope we make it out of this alive."
Illidan Whispers to Nihil
Master Illidan, many of the nobility we will be meeting are those from my home world of Malfi... I assure you, you might wish a warp-spawn creature is all we have to worry about...