Duly chastised, Awgin quiets down.
If there are no other questions/concerns...
Mrs. Brigglespan soon arrives to inform the five of you that the coach is waiting outside. You all manage to squeeze inside (although Calatin takes up almost two seats by himself, so Laya finds herself on that side of the coach whether she likes it or not.
In the coach --
Heward leans back against his seat. When the coach hits potholes or raised cobbles, he looks up at the ceiling where his halberd is strapped to the roof.
"I walked a beat down in that part of town. There's a good chance I'll know the Watchmen on the scene; a fair chance I'll know the Princess' men too. The princess' men usually walk in groups of three or four when they're not alone, but they not consistent. If they've been bickering with the Watch, they may have called in help. Citizens will probably stay neutral if it comes to a fight, but the princess does have a lot of friends who wouldn't mind taking out a Watchman, so watch your backs."
The carraige descends down to the Shore District, keeping to the water's edge, skirting the area known as the Bazaar of Sails, into Dockway, and back towards the shore. Five minutes later, it slows and stops and you emerge onto the scene.
Walls of civilian spectators block your view of the marketplace beyond. The buildings beyond the wall all take on a look of increased prosperity in comparison with the Dockway warehouses and buildings a scant twenty feet away, as if the grass really were greener on the other side of some invisible fence. The civilians melt away as Heward calls out in the name of the Watch, and you come face to face with a couple Watchmen tasked with keeping the crowd back. Flashing your badges gains you admittance to the market itself.
Once through the crowd, the smell of burnt meat assaults your nostrils. A dozen soldiers in Bazaar Security uniforms hold back crowds on the Bazaar sides of the marketplace, as well as stand guard over two sets of bodies, both burned beyond recognition.
In almost the centre of the market square, three individuals stand glaring at each other over the remains of another man, this one hacked and slashed in multiple locations.
On the Dockway side stands a man, his face weather-lined and rough, with several days’ growth on his chin, and a bushy moustache on his lip. His mouth seems twisted into a permanent scowl, when not puckered to spit on the ground. His clothing is clean, albeit quite rumpled and he holds himself like a man expecting attack at any moment. His steely-grey eyes are locked on those of his opponents. Despite the tension in his body, his hands are nowhere near his sword.
Across from him, dressed in a Bazaar uniform, stands another man. His Varisian hooked nose stands out proudly upon an otherwise unremarkable face. His armour states his allegiance to the Bazaar Police, as his eyes state his distaste for the City Watch.
Next to him stands a woman in civilian clothes, though clearly on the side of the Bazaar.
Laya strolls to the centre of the square, completely ignoring the three individuals, and peers closely at the hacked and slashed body.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" the Watchman asks angrily.
The two on the Bazaar side turn equally angry glares on the halfling.
The woman raises her hand to one of the Bazaar men, motioning him to physically remove the halfling rubbernecker from the scene. "Have some respect for the dead," she reprimands Laya coldly; although she speaks fluent Taldane, a noticeable accent combines with her complexion to identify her as a native of the southern continent, not an unfamiliar sight in Magnimar due to the number of Osiriani merchants who make their home at least part time in the city.
"I have nothing but respect for the dead, madam," Laya says, straightening up. "In fact, I'm here specifically to investigate the deaths that have occurred here. My name is Laya, and I represent the Church of Pharasma on attachment with the Magnimar Special Investigations Unit. My colleagues are over there." She points to the others.
She starts rummaging in her pack. "I have a pass-badge-thingamajig here somewhere. Here it is. No, wait, sorry, wrong one. Ah, here it is!" She pulls out her badge and holds it out. "Now, how can I be of assistance?"
The young woman ignores the proffered badge. "That is worth no more in here than any of your colleagues'. You can be of assistance by leaving us in peace and letting us take care of our own matters. Surely there are situations elsewhere in Magnimar that fall under your own jurisdiction; I assure you, you will not see any of us interfering in those."
Laya blinks. "Oh. Really? I was told this was our jurisdiction. Obviously, there must have been a mix-up. So sorry about that. I'll make sure it's cleared up as quickly as possible. Well then, if you'd like our expertise to help you solve this, just say so. I'm sure we'll be more than happy to help. If not, best of luck to you. Do treat the bodies with care, won't you? Have a good day." Laya smiles broadly, turns, and begins to walk away.
"MSI?" the Watchman asks, sergeant's stripes evident on his uniform. "It's okay, boys, we can relax. The Freak Show's on the case."
The two Watchman constables with him chuckle. The sarge turns back to the Bazaar cops.
"Those five may be your people, maybe not, but this man your people butchered definitely was one of ours. We will claim this scene in order to determine if one of the Bazaarans provoked this attack."
"Five of our people dead versus one of yours? And which side are you calling the butchers?" Khismia retorts. "Perhaps if you could be trusted to maintain order outside the Bazaar, dangerous criminals would not enter the Princess' court and incinerate innocent bystanders. We are the invaded party here, and the Princess will not allow you to cover up your own negligence at the cost of our people's lives."
Laya pauses as she walks away. She slowly turns back around and looks at the watchmen. "Well?" she says sternly. "I believe the lady has made it clear we're not wanted here. So come on, let's go!"
She turns back to the woman and smiles sheepishly. "Apologies again. It's all that bureaucracy and paperwork. I've always said, fill out too many forms in triplicate and eventually a copying error will be made. And then people think it's right and they yell and shout when they don't get what they think is theirs. Alas."
She turns back to the watchmen. "Don't just stand there gaping! Move it!"
"Stay there!" the sarge snaps at his men, then follows Laya. "And just where do you think you get off coming in here, honing in on my investigation, and dictating my negotiations?"
Laya sighs. "Negotiations? Is that what you're calling it. Sergeant, you might find that a friendly smile will accomplish far more than loud barks. You can catch more flies with honey, and all that sort of thing. At any rate, MSI is in charge now and you will do as you're told. Back off!"
"I'm going to give Laya some back up. Why don't the rest of you work the crowd while we keep their attention?"
Awgin moves to stand near Laya. He does his best to look very 'supportive' of his teammate while taking offense at the freak show comment.
Intimidate fav enemy, notoriety in C
While Heward recovers his halberd from the carriage roof, the others invade the crime scene. His comes up after they've begun "negotiations", but just in time to hear the exchange between Laya and the sergeant. "Did she take charm lessons from Auriel?" he groans inwardly. At least Awgin's got her back. He looks over at Calatin. I hope he doesn't get into any trouble over there. We better start at the top.
He tackles the sergeant first hoping to patch up the fissures in the facade of Watch solidarity. "What Laya means to say is that due to the nature of the deaths, Captain Percival feels that you may need some experts in magic to assist you, sergeant. She and Calatin are experts in divine and arcane magic."
Then he turns quickly to the southern female and Varisian. "Madam, Sir, I'm Heward Wallas with Special Investigations Unit. Delay while we squabble over jurisdiction can only aid whoever committed this crime. May I suggest that we jointly secure the scene. Our experts and yours can examine the evidence together and we can make some progress."
Diplomacy
"The matter is already taken care of," she replies coldly. "This man," she points to the unburned body, "committed the crimes and was prevented from killing any more of our people by our own security forces. How exactly do you think 'delay' is going to benefit him?" The multiple wounds and puddle of congealing blood testify by their silence. "The only mystery here is why you think you have the right to come into the Bazaar of Sails and interfere in an entirely internal matter."
"It's hardly an internal matter," the sarge blurts back, "when this is the second death-by-Mage in the city within a week. The Watch needs to determine if this is some sort of plot. It is...unfortunate that this attack was against Bazaar citizens, but greater concerns may be at stake here."
"You never mentioned a second attack, Wizzo. What kind of plague of wizards has the Watch lost control of and allowed into the Princess' domain?" the Bazaar Security man asks.
Calatin waddles his way over to the burned bodies for a closer look. He manages to determine that the fire was an area effect, rather than a directed fire blast, before fear leaps into the bond from Tylluan. A second later, Calatin feels cold steel point against his back. "Hands off and back away, fatso," a gruff, uneducated voice commands from behind him.
The guard nods at Calatin, pointing at the slashed body with a sword still stained with gore (some of which is probably now on Calatin's robe). "The man went crazy, just started yelling and screaming at people to get away, then started blasting 'em with fire."
The man shrugs. "Afraid, I guess."
"The matter is already taken care of," she replies coldly. "This man," she points to the unburned body, "committed the crimes and was prevented from killing any more of our people by our own security forces. How exactly do you think 'delay' is going to benefit him?" The multiple wounds and puddle of congealing blood testify by their silence. "The only mystery here is why you think you have the right to come into the Bazaar of Sails and interfere in an entirely internal matter."
"It's hardly an internal matter," the sarge blurts back, "when this is the second death-by-Mage in the city within a week. The Watch needs to determine if this is some sort of plot. It is...unfortunate that this attack was against Bazaar citizens, but greater concerns may be at stake here."
That's a surprise to Heward. The captain didn't mention a previous wizard attack.
"You never mentioned a second attack, Wizzo. What kind of plague of wizards has the Watch lost control of and allowed into the Princess' domain?" the Bazaar Security man asks.
Heward glances over to Calatin and the man with sword. A plague of wizards indeed -- at least he's not getting into too much trouble.
"The two attacks may be related. Maybe not. If we do have a wizard problem we'll want to get out in front of it as soon as possible. But we can't find out anything if you won't let us examine the scene."
The Bazaar Security man considers Heward and Sergeant Wizzo for a moment, then turns abruptly to the woman next to him. "Khismia, I am returning to report on this to the Princess, and get her direction. Allow these Watchmen to help you in this investigation, and ensure they tell you everything they know about this other attack."
Leaning closer to her, he whispers, "And make sure these civilians see that they're following your direction," cocking his head towards the rubber-neckers.
As he walks off, he turns back, "And they may examine the bodies, but may not remove them."
"You heard him," Khismia steps up to the sergeant. "If you hope to gain the Princess' cooperation, she has to be fully informed. Who was the target of the other attack, and who the perpetrator? Where did this take place?"
Relieved that they can at least start the investigation, Heward exhales slowly and softly and rotates his shoulders. He too looks expectantly at the sergeant for an answer.
Sergeant Wizzo glares back and forth between Khismia and Heward. Blowing out his moustaches, he whips a notebook out of his coat, angrily flipping pages.
"6 days ago. A wizard named Myelin Veers used something called a magic missile to kill Pater Willards, a cutler and father of three, in the square in front of the Castlegate. As far as I can tell, the two had no connection whatsoever, and Veers had no history of anti-social behaviour. He claims that Willards brandished a knife and was preparing to attack him, though no witnesses saw anything like that. Unlike here, the City Watchmen on duty at Castlegate had enough sense to incapacitate the man instead of butchering him like a suckling pig."
Heward smiles at the Keleshite. "See how friendly we all are. Full disclosure. I know the Princess keeps order in the Bazaar, but the Watch takes care of the whole city. So why are the five burn victims 'yours' and this poor bleeding pile of guts is 'ours'?"
"Unlike here, the City Watchmen on duty at Castlegate had enough sense to incapacitate the man instead of butchering him like a suckling pig."
"You had one man down. This one took out five," Khismia answers angrily. "We could not risk letting him attack again. The Princess' men do what is necessary to protect her people."
Heward smiles at the Keleshite. "See how friendly we all are. Full disclosure. I know the Princess keeps order in the Bazaar, but the Watch takes care of the whole city. So why are the five burn victims 'yours' and this poor bleeding pile of guts is 'ours'?"
She shrugs. "No one here recognized the assailant. He was an outsider, not a local. The others...." She turns to survey the charred remains. "We have not been able to identify them yet. We were attempting to do so when this one," she nods at Wizzo, her voice hardening, "barged in and interfered, keeping us from taking the dead somewhere private instead of on display in the street like sides of meat." Turning back to Heward, her tone modulates. "If they cannot be identified as residents of the Bazaar, you will be welcome to them, to return them to their families, but the Princess takes care of her own."
"It's best if our experts can view the bodies as they lie. Distasteful as the lack of privacy is, it may help us put together what happened here. At the risk of sounding calloused, I don't think the dead will mind."
"I used to walk the beat down here. I don't remember you, Miss --"
"It's best if our experts can view the bodies as they lie. Distasteful as the lack of privacy is, it may help us put together what happened here. At the risk of sounding calloused, I don't think the dead will mind."
"That is not what he said," she retorts, turning her angry gaze back to Wizzo. "He is insisting he takes the bodies away with him."
"I used to walk the beat down here. I don't remember you, Miss --"
"...Khismia," she replies, a bit reluctantly. "I have only been a resident of the Bazaar of Sails some months."
Wizzo growls at Khismia. "Only once our doctor is able to examine them as they lie. Then, she'll take them back to our facility to be properly examined and evidence taken. Then, the bodies will be released to their families. It is all as respectful and dignified as can be made, yet gives these families the best chance for justice and closure."
Heward nods. "Let's see what our experts have to say about the bodies. Calatin and Laya are both very good at their job. They may be able to finish the examinations here. They may need a more thorough examination at Watch facilities. Now were there any witnesses to the incident?"
Calatin and Laya may make Perception and Heal checks to examine the bodies.
Garidan Aid Another (burned bodies):
Aid Another (slashed body):
Wizzo growls at Khismia. "Only once our doctor is able to examine them as they lie. Then, she'll take them back to our facility to be properly examined and evidence taken. Then, the bodies will be released to their families. It is all as respectful and dignified as can be made, yet gives these families the best chance for justice and closure."
"Justice in the Bazaar of Sails is administered by the Princess," she snaps back. "There is no family here that would rest more easily with their loved ones' remains being poked and prodded by strangers at the Watch than cared for by the Princess' own followers. These are her people, in death as in life, and she will not release them to those who care nothing for them. As for the murderer, he killed her people in her domain. It is her right to investigate and make sure that there is no further threat to those under her protection. None of these remains leave the Bazaar of Sails without the Princess' approval."
The Bazaar cops sequestered the few witnesses there are inside one of the shops to the north of the square: fourteen in total. If you wish to question them, we'll use the Canvassing a Group mechanic near the end of the player's notes document in the library on the website.
Khismia leads the way to the shop with the witnesses inside. As she walks in the door, she announces, "The Watch is here to ask you some questions about what you saw. Those of you who believe that the Watch will provide the Bazaar of Sails with justice and protection are welcome to answer them. The rest of you may wait for the Princess' own investigation." She stands up against the wall, watching the room alertly to see who will volunteer to speak to the Watch.
And the DC to learn anything useful just went up by 5. :)
Wizzo growls at Khismia. "Only once our doctor is able to examine them as they lie. Then, she'll take them back to our facility to be properly examined and evidence taken. Then, the bodies will be released to their families. It is all as respectful and dignified as can be made, yet gives these families the best chance for justice and closure.""Justice in the Bazaar of Sails is administered by the Princess," she snaps back. "There is no family here that would rest more easily with their loved ones' remains being poked and prodded by strangers at the Watch than cared for by the Princess' own followers. These are her people, in death as in life, and she will not release them to those who care nothing for them. As for the murderer, he killed her people in her domain. It is her right to investigate and make sure that there is no further threat to those under her protection. None of these remains leave the Bazaar of Sails without the Princess' approval."
Heward lowers his voice, "Believe me, I am speaking as a friend. You were left in charge. In the eyes of the people around us, you are the voice of the Princess here. Give yourself a portion of her grace and control and don't back yourself into a corner. Watch and see what my team finds before you commit yourself to anything." Heward raises his voice a shade above normal, "If justice is what the Princess wants, we'll be happy to lend her any aid we can should it prove necessary."
Sgt. Wizzo rolls his eyes at Khismia's performance. "Great, just great," he mutters to Heward as he enters, holding his badge up.
Diplomacy:
"Listen folks. We aren't here for a turf war with the Princess, and we aren't here to disrupt your lives. I know you're used to having to pay your Princess for your protection and safety, rather than get it for free from the Watch. I understand that, but what the Princess' agent here isn't telling you is that there's more going on here than one wizard unleashing magic on a group of Bazaarans, and that this is part of a bigger picture which affects the whole city of Magnimar. I'm asking you, to help me, to help all of us, get to the bottom of this mystery. If any of you saw anything, anything at all, either before, during, or after the attack that seemed out of place, please tell me. And if you won't tell me, at least tell her," he points to Khismia, "so that at least somebody can see justice get done here today."
As Wizzo backs up to stand next to Heward (and anybody else?), the witnesses shuffle their feet and mutter to each other, but none step forward.
Khismia stands impassively during the officers' appeals, her gaze traveling over the room, meeting the eyes meaningfully of any witnesses that look like they might be ready to crack.
"As the sergeant has said," she finally pushes away from the wall to address the witnesses, "justice must be served, justice for the Bazaar of Sails and for its people who were invaded and attacked today. The Princess wants her dead to have that justice and, even more importantly, wants to ensure that we are not attacked again. You know that I serve the Princess; any information you can give me will be reported directly to her ears."
Heward and the others watch Khismia bully the witnesses for a bit, until one vendor approaches her, the two of them heading away. Perception DC 20 to overhear.
"Mistress, there was one thing. I only thought of it because the Watchman said anything unusual. Just before the man started using his magic and I ducked for cover, there was a woman in a grey robe. I called to her to offer her fruit, but she walked right by me, as if she did not hear, even though she was as close to me as you are now. She also walked by the...wizard, before he went mad."
After a brief, whispered conversation, Khismia turns back to the rest of the witnesses. "This fruit vendor," she announces, "has earned not only the gratitude of the Princess and her court but also a discount on next month's security fees. By remaining alert and providing vital information, he has proved himself a partner with those of us who protect this community. Is there anyone else who can tell me anything about the villain who attacked us and his accomplices, or who can help identify the dead?"
Calatin can't tell anything further than area effect fire spell on the burned bodies. The slashed man has one defensive wound on one arm, but it doesn't look like he had much time to put up much of a defense. You'll have to get the body stripped back at MSI (or anywhere) to determine the exact nature of he man's many wounds.