Sana leaves the room, after paying her respects to Kellvar's body. She exits into the upstairs lounge - a spacious chamber whose fading grandeur is accentuated with marble statues, mahogany bookcases, and multiple framed oil paintings. She leaves this room for the upstairs hallway, not coming into line-of-sight with her allies just yet.
Beatrix grits her teeth through the pain of the ghost's corrupting touch. Such creatures were frustrating to battle, and her inexperience with direct confrontation wasn't helping. It seemed that reinforcements were arriving, so the ghost should be dispatched shortly. Perhaps afterwards they could move on to putting this issue to rest once and for all.
She lunges back for the ghost, her hands glowing with positive energy.
Li'an comes up the spiral staircase in time to see the ghost's touch draining away Beatrix's vitality. With Ehren and Beatrix right on top of it, it's difficult to get a clear shot at it, and given how difficult it is to effect incorporeal creatures with her magic to begin with, she opts instead to heal Beatrix instead. With a brief wave of her hand, iridescent energy washes over the hallway, engulfing them and reversing the damage done by the ghost's touch.
Myrna frowns deeply at Dehliana's insincerity. She looms over the false medium, her abyssal gaze flaring orange as she looks down at the shorter woman. The murder-weapon dagger, she grips tightly in her hand, as if ready to stab Dehliana. She leans upon her bulk, allowing herself to take up a larger space.
Though she is a Crusader, Myrna is also demonkin. She allows her form's natural fierce appearance to add to her stature.
"You're lying," she growls, her eyes narrowed and suspicious. "Tell me why."
Unafe notices no obvious sign of falsehood...but Myrna knew this woman, and she'd found a murder weapon in Dehliana's room, so the Demetae clan liege chooses to nod, and glower from beside the Sarkorian crusader.
"Remember that things will go much more smoothly if you're truthful. Otherwise..."
Running past Amber , whom she acknowledges with a nod, Hinagiku heads toward the unquiet spirit. As she closes the gap, the monk swaps Annavinia journal to her left hand and brings her right in a small arc, she reaches out at the ghost and concludes the circular motion of her arm which gathers the spectral form of the ghost and purifies it out of existence.
Actions
Move: Move
Free: -
Standard: attack
Full round action:-
Defense
**+3 dodge AC vs first attack at her, she gets AoO if foe misses.
***uncanny dodge
Saves:
CMD:
119/175 hp
0/40 delayed damage pool
Offense
Reach: 5 (10 for AoO)
Precogniscient smite: +3insight hit/dg
Points
7/19 ki (spell points)
11/11 mythic
1/1 m.foc.
4/4 AoO
Others
Senses: 35’ blindsight, blindfolded oracle, battlefield sense, .
Immaculate hands (2 essence) (mercy: fatigued)
The woman stays just outside of Beatrix's reach, and smoothly side-steps away from Hinagiku as she comes whirling down the corridor. She gestures wildly, crying out in gobbledygook. Suddenly, half of the hallway is filled with dense, solid fog.
Dehliana's weak smile vanishes as Myrna begins to loom over her. Her eyes dart between the room's two doors, but she knows she couldn't get away from both women if she tried. "I d-d-didn't do anything, someone must be attempting to frame me!" she says, trembling. "Society discriminates against those of my religion, I make enemies wherever I go."
"Is this about the money? You can have that back, I promise. Haven't spent a cent."
Eyes closed, as it is now usual for her, Hinagiku does not see the cloud, but instead senses the change in the ley around her. She can feel the air around her growing oppressive and impeding her strikes. Yet, in her mind’s eye, nothing has changed, the monk sees exactly where the spirit is. Without hesitation, she continues moving her hands and forearms in circular twisting motion to undo the forces holding the spirit.
Actions
Move: -
Free: -
Standard: -
Full round action:full attack
Defense
**+3 dodge AC vs first attack at her, she gets AoO if foe misses.
***uncanny dodge
Saves:
CMD:
119/175 hp
0/40 delayed damage pool
Offense
Reach: 5 (10 for AoO)
Precogniscient smite: +3insight hit/dg
Points
7/19 ki (spell points)
11/11 mythic
1/1 m.foc.
4/4 AoO
Others
Senses: 35’ blindsight, blindfolded oracle, battlefield sense, .
Immaculate hands (2 essence) (mercy: fatigued)
Unafe frowns at the false medium. "You lied about being a medium. You lied to Myrna, it seems, to get her money.
"Why should we believe you're not lying about this dagger? If you're going to start telling the truth, now is the time to start. What are you really doing here? Why should we believe you're not the murderer? What can you tell us to aid in finding justice?
"Get helpful now, or expect to spend the rest of your life imprisoned for murder."
Sana hurries down the hallway, as fast as mostly-silent strides can take her... and arrives to a solid wall of fog. She stops at the edge of it and attempts to contemplate a solution for the lack of visibility. If it were nearly anything besides fog, she could probably do something about it, and quickly.
If she could hit the target, the problem would be solved immediately, but she had no idea who was in the fog, nor where. So, she stops for now, and listens to try to figure out what exactly is going on... and prepares to strike any non-ally that moves out of the fog.
While the ghost is too busy focusing on Hinagiku, Ehren lands a solid blow against the ghost. Rather than feeling nothing as his fist passes through the ghost, Sana's magic allows him to perceive the ghost as something wispy and substantial... and woman herself reacts as if being struck.
Shortly after, Li'an's healing magic washes over the room, and the pain in Beatrix's arm subsides. Sana appears on the opposite end of the hallway, though since she is outside the fog, none of the others see or hear her arrive
"I didn't kill anyone, I swear!" she says. Her eyes are welling up with tears. She sniffles and rubs them out of her eyes.
"I am from Razmiran. I am a priestess of the Master of the 31 Steps, the Living God, Razmir. My powers are a gift from my god, just as any Iomedaen or Desnan or Erastilian. I'm not really a medium, but some of my gifts are similar to what they are capable of."
"I traveled from very far away in order to investigate claims of another living god... in Drezen. A 'Mad Master', he calls himself? But then I found out that he had been driven off." She shakes her head, sadly. "Of course. People don't trust that which they understand. There are many that hate my lord, Razmir, as well."
"But then, I learned that there is another living god... an Angel in Chains? So I was sticking around to learn more about that when, well, all of this happened."
There has never been a documented case of a cleric of Razmir exhibiting true divine powers, therefore most Inner Sea theologians are in agreement that Razmir is not actually a god. There are a few examples of Razmiran priests capable of channeling divine energy and using powers typically associated with the divine, but there are numerous published rebuttals to these one-offs.
Razmiran priests are known to engage in selling highly addictive drugs, known as Tears of Razmir. These drugs induce hallucinations that Razmirans explain as miracles of Razmir. Razmirans will get people hooked on these drugs, and once addicts come back to them requesting another fix, rope them into the worship of Razmir.
The 'Mad Master' refers to Professor Xander, founder of a well-regarded school of the arcane arts in Drezen. Xander was once a Crusader, but after multiple acts of insubordination which endangered the lives of other Crusaders, was expelled from the force. Rather than allow himself to be arrested, Xander escaped, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Both Unafe and Myrna are aware of the growing cult of Ary Bishop in Drezen. The various miracles that have been performed in her name, the awakening of more and more clerics capable of healing the sick and curing disease, as well as whispers of a new order of paladins and cavaliers that plan to swear an oath to her name, is fairly hard to ignore in this part of Mendev. It is also well known that the former Lord-Commander is locked away in a cell somewhere in Rahadoum, the godless nation... but that apparently is not enough to stop her worshippers from reaching out to her, and receiving regular communications from her (cryptic that they may be.)
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'Rassomir'? Isn't that a city in Taldor? No, wait, maybe it's...
Unafe's rumination is cut short when Dehliana moves on to mention her former companions.
"You...you came here to learn about Xander, and Ary?" the clan-chief shakes her head.
She's about to ask more when she realizes it's been a while since she heard from her companions upstairs. She turns her back briefly to whisper:
"Dehliana worships a god named Ram-Seer. Or maybe Raahz-Meer? Anyway, she's still a suspect, but she's not resisting. If you could use help, let me know and I'll come up. We could ask the crusaders to watch her for now."
Myrna frowns deeply. Somehow, even after all the lies, she believed that Dehliana didn't kill anyone. When Unafe offers to rush above to help their allies with the erstwhile ghost, she kneels down on the ground. "Stay right here, with me," she tells Dehliana. "I want to keep an eye on you."
"Unafe, feel free to go, if you want. I'm going to divine some answers." Instructions given, she withdraws the dagger, placing it on the ground. She pulls a scrap of parchment from her pack and places it on the ground next to the dagger. Then, she summons her grandmothers' teachings and a few ounces of energies to cast a spell which would provide some answers.
She focuses on the bloody knife, willing the words to appear on the page before her.
Grumbling with frustration, Beatrix backs up away from the ghost. She allows the energy in her palm to fade, only to be replaced by a more powerful and more sudden flash of holy light. As she chants her prayer to Iomedae, the entire hallway fills with a blinding flash of searing light. Let evil be smote, and driven from this plane.
After Li'an had returned, she had spent some time wandering around Drezen trying to get familiar with the city. As she'd wandered the streets she'd often felt a strange tugging sensation, as if someone were pulling on a thread attached to her. It was during her brief stay in Nerosyan that she realized that what she was feeling was some form of innate connection to magic. One that allowed her to feel others nearby drawing upon it, whether it was arcane or divine in nature. There, after gleefully testing whether she could incinerate an imp--she did, much to the chagrin of the imp and its master--she felt a strong tug from behind her, which she instinctively realized was a powerful spell, likely a lightning bolt being cast by another member of the Chelaxian entourage. In the space of a heartbeat she found herself reflexively reaching back towards the unknown caster, unleashing a wave of her own magic to unravel the carefully crafted spell before it could find its mark.
Since then Li'an had spent much time honing the sense and learning to control her ability react. Thus when the ghost begins to cast its spell, she has no trouble recognizing it and drawing upon her own magic to counter it entirely.
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With the fog cleared, and a direct line of fire on the enemy, Sana's grip on her starknife loosens just enough to add spin as she hurls it underhanded towards the ghost that was giving her allies trouble. With any lucky, she could prevent the ghost from hiding in fog in the future. Immediately, she draws her bow and fires at the ghost, catching her starknife and stowing it in an instant.
Unafe leaves the kitchen, while Myrna kneels on the floor. Dehliana obediently sits on a stool, silent while the crusader tiefling begins her invocation.
The solid fog barely lasts for longer than a few seconds - Li'an realizes what the ghost is up to and quickly unravels the spell. Just as Sana comes around the corner, it dissipates, revealing the ghost recoiling as Hinagiku starts weaving her arms through her, eyes closed. Dark, coiling energies start to manifest around the ghost's left arm, and she lunges back against the kitsune monk, but she senses her coming and gracefully dodges out of the way. Not hesitating a moment, Sana takes a quick shot at the ghost, leaving it shrouded in a bright purple veil. The technicolor magic coils around her limbs, making it difficult for the ghost to move... it is at this moment that Unafe appears in the stairwell. She reaches the top of the stairs and sees that the battle has left it in complete disarray. Furniture and taxidermied animals lay strewn around the hall. Hinagiku and Ehren, in the form of an earth elemental, are duking it out with a ghostly woman in tattered clothes. Li'an, Beatrix, and Sana all stand further away, but their attention is solely on the remaining ghost.
The spell the ghost casts is Bestow Curse.
With her mind focused on the ghost's spellcasting, Li'an simply is unable to focus on what Unafe had said about some religion or another.
When the ghost casts again, Li'an easily identifies it. "Be careful, she is attempting to curse you," she says to Hinagiku. "My aura can provide some protection if she manages to make contact, but best if you can avoid it entirely."
Raising her arm and chanting a quick invocation, she gathers magic into a radiant ball of light, which she unleashes as a beam to skewer the ghost.
Unafe's eyes narrow as she sees the unhinged ancestor, lashing out.
"I am sorry that you are not enjoying the rest of the Ancestors, but you must not harm my companions."
With that, Unafe grows to her own enormous form and sends a swift punch at the ghost. Her own cohort of sprits buzz and whirr around her.
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As Unafe comes up the stairs, Sana briefly considers continuing to turn the spirit into a pincussion, but once Unafe returns to her massive size... and her fists mostly fly through the ghost, she weighs her options. One splatted ghost now, compared to a long term benefit with Unafe being able to fight. The splatted ghost could end the threats altogether, or might mean nothing in the long run. Ultimately, she raises her gauntlet once more as Amber rounds the corner and flies into the periphery of her allies, then dips down into Hinagiku's personal space. Her shadow elongates, becoming the color of a pool of oil as it follows after the lantern, arcing along the ground. It shoots out past the light, before continuing to dart down the hallway, swirling up the dino-girl's form and wrapping around her arms before vanishing into her body. Her focus is already elsewhere, however, as she listens for new threats.
With the ghost surrounded and her fog spell countered by Li'an, Ehren decides to help lay on the pressure. Getting touched by her was already dangerous enough without the curses she could apparently lay on them. The earth elemental clasps his hands together and swings his arms as hard as he can, hoping that they can put the forlorn spirit to rest soon.
As Hinagiku feels the foggy veil being lifted, she catches Li’an words and, with a thankful nod, quickly adopt a defensive stance; her hands come closer to her body in broader arcs and only when the spirits approaches her does she continues to gather and purify her wisps.
The monk slowly moves sideways, hoping to keep the ghost on its toes, so to speak, and to detract its attention way from Ehren. Hopefully, it would continue attacking her rather than her boyfriend.
Actions
Move: -
Free: -
Standard: -
Full round action: full attack fighting defensively.
Defense
**+3 dodge AC vs first attack at her, she gets AoO if foe misses.
***uncanny dodge
***+3 Fight defensively
Saves:***+1 Luck bonus(aura.unaf)
CMD:
139/175 hp
0/40 delayed damage pool
Offense
Reach: 5 (10 for AoO)
Precogniscient smite: +3insight hit/dg
Points
7/19 ki (spell points)
11/11 mythic
1/1 m.foc.
4/4 AoO
Others
Senses: 35’ blindsight, blindfolded oracle, battlefield sense, .
Immaculate hands (2 essence) (mercy: fatigued)
The ghost is now bound in Sana's magical-glowing-technicolor stuff, and unable to squirm out of the way of Ehren's next heavy punch.. she turns to swipe once at him, but falls short. She doesn't get another chance to try again, because Li'an blasts her head apart with a beam of focused light. Her body dissolves until all that remains is akin to dust motes trickling through Amber's rays of light.
At the end of Myrna's spellcast, the following appears on the paper before her, scrawled in large, loopy letters.
This blood belongs to Kellvar.
He was male, human, a Crusader, ranger, and inspector.
His throat was slit.
This occurred 30 minutes ago.
Unafe lowers her head as the ghost fades. "Boed i chi orffwys o'r diwedd gyda'ch cyd-dadau."
Then she turns to her mighty allies, who had defeated it before she could really even begin to help. "I know you said there were multiple ghosts. Was this the last one? Are there other dangers we need to pursue?
"If not, perhaps we should go back downstairs. Myrna found a bloody dagger hidden in Dehliana's room. She admits she's not a true medium, but claims she's innocent of murder. She said she worships some sort of 'living god'; starts with an 'R', I think? Anyway the oddest thing about her is that she claims the real reason she came to the Wound was to learn about two other living gods...Xander, and Ary.
"Meanwhile, the innkeeper admitted, in tears, to a murder of his own...though I'll admit I'm sympathetic there. He is of course responsible for his actions, but it seems he was bullied into it by this devil we've heard about."
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Sana relaxes slightly, having heard no more screeching, moaning, or chain rattling in the immediate area. She stretches slightly, upraised hand turning outward as she arches her back and reaches her arms in opposite directions. "Those are all of the angry ghosts we've met. There were a few: Warny, Friendly, Thiefy, Angry, and Cry...y." she say, before moving to the nearest window to see if it would open, though she continues the conversation despite that.
"Ah, yeah." Sana responds. "Razmir is a definite 'maybe' of a deity. His priests hand out psychedelic drugs to rope people into his cult. Pretty much no one that hasn't been directly involved believes he's an actual deity, though. Wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be one, though... they seem to be coming out of the woodwork, lately."
"We'd want to get Kellvar's body downstairs to prevent any other weirdness. We should collect any weapons we've spotted on this floor to prevent the spirits from being able to use them. We should look for any ways up or down from here that aren't stairwells, and find out if there's a basement. Otherwise, we should probably look for one, anyway. There are a lot of bodies here, so there are probably a lot of people in need of laying to rest... or some other finishing of unfinished business. We'll need to find out what he did with the person he killed, while we're at it."
Hinagiku is momentarily stunned as Amber’s light and Li’an’s mixed together to form the strangest and most fantastic motion in the ley surrounding her. The monk’s eyes flutter open as she fails to comprehend the meaning of her sensations.
”Impressive display.” she whispers as her gaze falls on each of her companions in turn, but lingering on Li’an and Amber.
Hearing Unafe’s description of the events and Sana’s plan, Hinagiku quickly jumps in, hoping to save her companions from
”I should be able to find out what happened to Mr. Kellvar and know whether Mrs. Dehliana was involved in this. I am not good at finding clues, or knowing what is a clue or not, but ever since I have been able to peer into the ley itself, I have found that time is… not as it seems that if I focus hard enough, I can see what was and even partly what will be. But, before I do so, Mrs. Va’ardalia, here is the diary that mentions the imp… and an artefact.” after handing the book with both hands to Li’an, Hinagiku turns toward Ehren.
”Ehren-kun, would you mind coming with me to Kellvar’s room? I lose grasp of the present when I look in the past and I could easily be the next victim if no one is close to guard me.”
Once the discussion with the others is over, Hinagiku makes her way to Kellvar’s room where she sits cross-legged in the middle of the room, by the pool of blood. Eyes closed, she lets her mind dissolve into existence just enough to lose her sense of time. Everything freezes and becomes blurry as threads of ley, past and present, are woven in a single web. Concentrating, the monk focusses her sight and begins to disentangle the different moments from each other and begins to see the story within the tapestry.
As the ghost fades away, Li'an breathes a sigh of relief. At least things would be a bit calmer now, even if it wasn't clear yet whether they'd actually solved the windows and doors downstairs being barred shut by some force.
"It's clear they were trying to get our attention," Li'an responds to Sana, "Even if they weren't doing it in the most helpful fashion."
Li'an smiles at Hinagiku's acknowledgement of her magic, and similarly continues to be impressed by the capabilities of her new and former allies. She takes the journal from the monk's hands, "I will take this downstairs and see if we can find something useful in it. I think you're on the right track, seeing the killer directly will be of great benefit. But perhaps we can go one step further..." she says, her voice lowering at the end. "What if Ehren remains hidden, and we bait out the killer by announcing what you are doing? Sana could remain as well nearby. It's possible more than one person is involved, after all."
"I agree we should round up things and take Kellvar downstairs as well," she says, speaking up again as she addresses Sana's suggestion.
Hinagiku keeps hold of the book for a second to emphasize her response to Li'an:
"If possible, I would rather we don't show this book around unless we think Mrs. Narikopolus is in the wrong... I would prefer not to accuse her and avoid giving the impressions that we search rooms and look into other people's belongings for not reason."
Sana looks back and forth between Li'an and Hinagiku, before shrugging. "Wouldn't be the first time the group split up... today." she says with a small grin.
"I could leave my nightlight up here if you'd like, it should help out against some of the worst things that can happen. Or I can take it downstairs with me. Either way seems reasonable. Just... should probably keep the civilians and lower ranking members of the Crusade away from danger."
"Personally, I say we keep Amber downstairs to help the most people." Anna says as she motions to the slowly dwindling light that's fluttering just over Hinagiku's shoulder.
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Myrna grumbles frustratedly. She knew all of that already! Nevertheless, she snatches up the paper, folds it, and puts it in her pocket. "Alright, come on." she says to Dehliaha, a little tiredly. "You can wait in the common room with the others, but if I hear you're causing any trouble, you'll have me to answer to -- and I don't play nice or pull any punches."
She gives the false medium a steely glare before leading her by the hand to the common room and an empty chair. Then she marches upstairs to join the Archdruid and his team, who she had seen gone up there earlier.
"Have any of you found anything conclusive?" she asks, when she arrives at the correct floor. "I have only found dead ends, but I had an idea while I was walking up here."
"I have heard legend of the Archdruid's abilities, and I have heard he is able to summon the image of someone he is tracking. Perhaps we could examine the rooms in which we found evidence, searching for signs that someone has passed, and the Archdruid can summon their images? I tried using my own divinations, but I learned nothing important that could mark someone as innocent or guilty."
Ehren relaxes his fists, but does not shed his earthen form just yet. Though the fight appears to be over, there is still a killer on the loose, not to mention the mysterious devil. The druid cocks his head to the side as he listens to the revelations about Dehliana, wondering whether her fascination with living gods has anything to do with their current situation, beyond her simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time. She might be a charlatan, but that does not necessarily make her a murderer - even if the circumstances suggest that might be the case.
"Luring the killer out would certainly be ideal, assuming they take the bait," the druid replies in a low voice, glancing at Hinagiku. Using his betrothed as bait is never an appealing idea, but under the circumstances, it is one that might well work. "Even if they don't, knowing for sure what happened would make this a great deal easier."
Ehren looks to Myrna, somewhat surprised by her familiarity with his tracking ability. Hearsay about his prowess usually focused on his more destructive capabilities, or on the numerous "miracles of nature" he has performed in the Worldwound.
"Hm. That power works best outdoors, where I am more likely to find a clear footprint. Stone or wood is far less likely to yield to those treading on it. But on the off chance that they did leave a mark of passage, well, it might work."
While they are discussing, Hinagiku raises one hand toward Amber, fingers lifted so as to give it something to twirl around.
When Myrna finally joins them, Hinagiku greets her with a nod.
”I don’t think that we have. Everything we found so far feels… like the surface or something else. That is why I plan to meditate and look into the past to see what happened in Mr. Kellvar’s room.”
”I think you are right Mrs. Sana, the wisest thing is most likely to have Amber go downstairs.” Hinagiku continues, more concerned about the other people in the inn than herself.
Lowering her voice, the monk joins in the discussion about baiting the possible murderer. But, although she had witnessed Sana’s power, she was not certain yet how much she could rely on her.
”I do not mind trying this. Both Ehren-kun and Mrs. Sana could keep an eye on me.”
In saying that, Hinagiku does not realize that the two of them coming with her without hiding would be a meaningless bait. She looks at both, waiting for their response.
"I'll have to go downstairs with Amber. She's not so good at navigation sometimes... and I'll do it faster anyway. I'll drop Amber off near Fenton, then come right back up... shouldn't take too long. On the other hand... I could probably investigate downstairs instead of staying up here?" she says, before tilting her head back and forth. "I think I'll stay down there, and if you need something, I'm only a whisper away." she says before providing the kitsune with a playful wink... then begins heading back downstairs.
Unafe shrinks back down to her normal size, though stays for now in her saurian hybrid form.
"Trying to lure the killer up there sounds reasonable, especially if someone is able to keep a close eye. Obviously, the presence of the Ancestors makes it impossible for me to stay inconspicuous.
"In considering other options...the spirits can sometimes reveal to me whether one is good or evil, and what their loyalties are, in a general sense. I can certainly ask them to share what they see in the hearts of the people downstairs."
While they talk, Unafe takes the time to say a prayer to the Ancestors, to spare her from misfortune.
Myrna grunts in affirmation. She lacked the mystical powers that would allow the Archdruid and his beloved to divine the truth, so she would allow them to commune with their powers and do so. "I will go with the shadow-woman," she adds. "Together we can interview the suspicious Chelish woman that I saw running around up here."
She turns towards Li'an, that fiery elf who seemed to be everywhere at once. "What will you do? Can you commune with the powers beyond this plane, or can you force people to be truthful with us?"
Hinagiku nods along as Sana explains why she needs to go downstairs. It all seemed quite natural to her… until the colorful woman winks. Hinagiku’s ear twitches and, once it dawns on her that this is a bluff, she gives a deeper nod of understanding. Another twitch follows as Unafe, her usual outspoken self, breaks the subterfuge by mentioning the plan out loud. Hopefully, nothing was spying on them right now.
”Well, I will go in Mr. Kellvar’s room now. See you all downstairs once I am done.”
Hinagiku makes her way to Kellvar’s room where she sits cross-legged in the middle of the room, by the pool of blood. She closes her eyes, but keeps her senses sharp while she focuses on the motions of ley within the room. She remains alert for ten minutes before assuming she is safe and moving on.
Eyes closed, she lets her mind dissolve into existence just enough to lose her sense of time. Everything freezes and becomes blurry as threads of ley, past and present, are woven in a single web. Concentrating, the monk focuses her sight and begins to disentangle the different moments from each other and begins to see the story within the tapestry.
"Well, 'force' isn't how I'd put it, but as you saw earlier today, I can illuminate people in a way that makes it difficult to conceal the truth," she says, responding to Myrna. "If we come up with relevant questions I could try to have Arie... Auraelia, see if she can gain any knowledge, but we should know precisely what we wish to ask as there'll be no time to decide once she starts."
"Sounds like we have the makings of a plan then, we'll head downstairs while Ehren and Hinagiku remain here. We'll announce what's happening downstairs and that we are about to find the murderer's identity. We can teleport, or go incorporeal, to get up there quickly if something happens. In the meantime we can attempt to question both Ms. Narikopolous and Delilah more fully."
She gestures towards the stairs, "Shall we?"
Dehliana perks up somewhat when Myrna seems to believe her, and she simply follows her back into the common room without another word. When Myrna returns there with Li'an and Sana, they find her sitting at one of the tables while the others talk. Annavinia is sitting on the opposite end of the room, at the bar, reading a book. Nordvick is on the other side of the counter, cleaning glasses with a dishrag that aren't dirty.
They find the Crusaders attempting different ways to leave the inn - using weapons or tools to try and dismantle the windows, or to cleave through the walls themselves. None of them have been successful. Fenton is standing back and watching while Lann is looking up the chimney - the fireplace had already been extinguished, naturally. "I don't know, I could try climbing up-"
"Wait one moment, Lann, it seems the others have returned." He turns and smiles as the three women return from upstairs, Amber following shortly behind Sana, undulating up and down slowly as they go. He pauses for a moment, expecting to see Ehren or Hinagiku with them, but when they don't appear he doesn't ask where they are. "Any news?" he asks.
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Myrna heads back downstairs with Li'an, Unafe, Anna, and Beatrix. When she reaches the common room and she is addressed by the halfling and Underfolk crusaders, she raises her hand, greeting them with a smile. "Yes, we have discovered some things."
She walks to a table near the center of the room. She withdraws the extradimensional space that she found, as well as the wrapped dagger. From her pocket comes a crumpled note, upon which is written:
'This blood belongs to Kellvar.
He was male, human, a Crusader, ranger, and inspector.
His throat was slit.
This occurred 30 minutes ago.'
She broadly gestures to the room, seeking to gather everyone's attention. With what was going to happen next, it was important that everyone be paying attention. "We have made some progress investigating. Kellvar was killed, upstairs, 30 minutes ago. We're not sure who killed him yet, but I found this bag," and at this, she gestures to the extradimensional space she found in Dehliana's room, "upstairs as well. Inside was a dagger, wrapped in cloth, that bore Kellvar's blood. This spell confirms that the dagger was used to kill Kellvar."
"We do not know yet who it was that killed Kellvar."
She points at the innkeep. "Nordvick has given us some information. He claims that he has been harassed by some kind of devil, and that the devil has been forcing him to commit evil. He admitted to some unspecified murders." Anticipating immediate outrage, she holds up her hands to try to keep the others from making any outbursts yet. "We do not yet have full details on what happened," she adds. "I don't want anyone doing any punishing until the full details have emerged."
"The Archdruid and the priestess are upstairs now, communing magically to discern the truth at the scene of the crime. Perjury will add to your crimes if what they discover turns out to be different from what your next words are."
She looms over Nordvick. Her face is kind, but her presence is imposing. The threat of the fate she promises if she is disappointed lends her voice a sort of force.
"Because of your confession, Nordvick, I will ask you first. Did you kill Kellvar?"
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As Sana heads down the stairs back to the first floor, her mind dances with the various ways that she could broach the topic of Nordvick being a murderer without outright saying it... and of ways to ask for information with implications rather than being direct, given all of the sensitive issues currently ongoing. For example, being in a room full of Crusaders.
Such euphemisms as the inn having old bones, if Nordvick knew of any skeletons in any closets, if perhaps there were any secrets buried in the cellar, among other coy and easily interpreted musings - should someone know what was going on. So when she reaches the foot of the stairs, she immediately locates him and heads over, her head tilts just slightly as she looks him up and down, chewing on her lip before giving him a smile. That's when she hears Myrna begin stating - quite loudly - what evidence they had gathered. She steps to the side a little more than she already was to provide access to the tavernkeeper, and listens to the woman's speech. Her eyebrows raise in some mixture of skepticism, disbelief, and acceptance as Riversoar pulls a Bishop.
"Gods... what is it with Crusaders and being so... blunt and forthright... really kills the mood sometimes." Anna mutters as she watches the woman. "Oh, and here she comes..." she says, as she brooks still more access, stepping backwards out of the way. She winces as the hammer falls where a scalpel was needed once more. And wrapped in silk though they may be, the Crusades did have a lot of hammers. She turns her full attention back to Nordvick in time to read his response.
While the others return to the first floor, Ehren instead accompanies Hinagiku to Kellvar's room, where she would hopefully be able to discern the identity of his murderer. Of course, he could hardly remain out of sight in his earth elemental form - not in a wooden building, anyway. And so, somewhere along the way Ehren shrinks down into a gray-furred rat, like one might find raiding the pantry of an establishment such as this.
As Hinagiku begins her meditations, Ehren scurries underneath Kellvar's bed where he can hopefully stay out of sight.
Str 11, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 22, Cha 12
AC 28, touch 26, flat-footed 23 (+2 deflection, +5 Dex, +3 druid, +2 natural, +6 Wis)
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Myrna walks up to the center room and addresses all of the Crusaders there. The various Crusaders in the room stop what they are doing and turn to stare at the proceedings. As predicted, some rumblings break out when Nordvick's role in the proceedings is mentioned, but they settle down in response to her authority.
When Myrna directly asks if the innkeeper murdered the Crusader, Kellvar, all eyes fall on him. Nordvick shrinks away from their stares. "N-n-no ma'am." The room remains quiet, as all await for what Myrna has to say in response.
Sana thinks that Nordvick is being truthful.
As they head back downstairs, Unafe says two more prayers of protection.
Once downstairs, she says one more prayer to the ancestors, to help her see evil in the hearts of those around her.
Li'an takes up a central position in the room when they arrive downstairs and focuses on illuminating the room, knowing that doing so will leave anyone attempting to lie unable to do so effectively. Meanwhile, Auraelia flits over and lands on her shoulder to take a seat, watching Myrna's discussion of what had happened so far.
"Ooh, this should be fun to watch," Auraelia whispers to Li'an, earning a gentle bonk on the head and a 'shush'. The lyrakien harrumphs and crosses her arms indignantly before returning to watching what's going on with the questioning.
"Mmmm... no." Sana says, looking Nordvick up and down. "I believe him, and I also don't quite think he'd be capable of killing Kellvar that easily." Sana says with a small shrug, as Li'an's light once more devours her carefully crafted attempts at blending in.
She then gives Narikopolus the same look of appraisal, but asks Nordvick a few questions all the same. "Does this place have an attic, a basement, a cellar or the like? We need to figure out the source of the lockdown. We encountered two women and a gnome upstairs, we need to recover all of the bodies in order to set these folks to rest. Are there any more potential ghosts that we should be aware of?"
While Myrna gives her speech, Beatrix stands beside her at the table. However, she remains silent. Instead, she focuses her attention on the items that Myrna had brought forth. While her captain interviews people and gives the news, Lt. Medici's eyes flare with divine energy.
Myrna scrunches up her mouth when Anna suggests the possibility of additional ghosts. "Well, if this place is turning its victims into ghosts, its possible that we could see Kellvar's ghost before this is over."
She turns back to the innkeep then, intending to get a few more details. "Nordvick, earlier when you confessed to murders, whose murders were you referring to? Were two women and a gnome among the victims?"
"The devil that you say pressured you into these murders. Can you describe it for us? Would you be willing to help us find it?" Her face softens, especially when Anna vouches for his honesty in not killing Kellvar. "We just want to get to the bottom of this, and stop anyone else from getting hurt."
Everything around you is overwhelmed with omnipresent aura of evil.
The bag is a bag of holding i.
It was foolish to stash a dagger inside of the bag, even wrapped in cloth, as if it had fallen loose it would have destroyed the bag.
The dagger is not magical.
Annavinia has no weaknesses, DR, or resistances. She has 6 BAB.
"There's no attic, but there's a basement. You'll need the key if you want to go there," he produces one from his ring and offers it. At the other question Nordvick buries his face in his hands. "Eight total."
"Y-yes. There were multiple women. And one gnome," He sighs, burying his head in his hands. He's trembling all over, while the Crusaders in the room all stand back and stare at him.
"I-i-ve never seen the devil's true form. But I can hear his voice. Sometimes he appears in the form of a cat or an owl. And y-y-yes, I'll d-do anything..."
"Excuse me, eight? Am I to understand that this man has confessed to killing eight different people? Why is he not in manacles?!" interrupts one hot-headed Crusader - an angry looking gnome woman in a breastplate, who squawks at Myrna and Sana with a squeaky voice. She puffs her chest up, which combined with her voice, wild hair, and disproportionately large eyes, makes her appear like an irate baby bird.
Hinagiku closes her eyes, and once she re-opens them, she beholds the wispy images of the current room, moving backwards in time in quick-speed so that she beholds an hour in just a minute. She watches Sana inspect the corpse, moving it just slightly, until enough time passes that the corpse is back in its original position.
Once the time flashes back thirty minutes, she sees Kellvar's corpse stand back up. A woman stands behind him, slashing his throat with a dagger. Kellvar's eyes are wide, but he does not react fast enough to do anything about it. After he crumpled to the ground, the woman vanished in a poof of black shadow.
Hinagiku gets closer to the woman, who has a hood over her face, and a magical effect that blurs her form. Once close enough to her, she can see that the woman is Dehliana.
Dehliana had appeared in the room in a burst of shadow. She did not enter in through the door.
Hinagiku recognizes the teleporting shadow-magic as similar to what she once saw Xander use, when they used to travel and fight together.