Magnimar Special Investigations Unit One (Inactive)

Game Master Nazard

Khismia seems startled by the interjection from the stranger in the room. She stares at her coldly, then turns to Heward with a smirk. "I have always heard that the Watch is full of old women; I did not realize the saying was to be taken literally. It is little wonder you are unable to keep order in the City, unlike the Princess who employs the young and the strong." She takes a step closer to Heward and breathes in his ear, "You realize she is a woman in gray robes. She has been searched for a blade and a vial?"

Perception DC 15 + distance modifiers for the old biddy to overhear. I know she's one of your NPCs and has high Wis, so she probably has a +35 to Perception. :P

After Phil completes his futile canvass, he makes his way to the crypt - as he'd agreed with the Sergeant back at HQ. Finding no-one there to greet him he finds a friendly looking tombstone near the entrance to lean against and takes out a pair of dice - rolling them around in one hand to while away the time.

Just an IC reminder to go with the OOC - Phil was on his way to the crypt after the canvass. He 'may' or 'may not' go immediately back to HQ if you stand him up.

"If I ferret out the hidey-hole I'll set the local flatfeet to watching while I come fetch you; if I don't I'll rendezvous with you at the tomb?"

Stand him up? He's late! :-D Maybe the gardener saw us come and go?

"I have always heard that the Watch is full of old women; I did not realize the saying was to be taken literally. It is little wonder you are unable to keep order in the City, unlike the Princess who employs the young and the strong." She takes a step closer to Heward and breathes in his ear, "You realize she is a woman in gray robes. She has been searched for a blade and a vial?"

Heward is momentarily at a loss. He doesn't know whether to defend the Watch or the dignity of the highest ranking Pharasmin in Magnimar. He settles for softly hissing back.

"She doesn't work for the Watch. She's the Cryptmistress of Pharasma."

He follows that with introductions, "Cryptmistress, may I present Khismia, our liaison with the Bazaar of Sails for another case. We're fortunate she was here because she's been able to get news of the vargouilles to the Princess so that the Bazaar can take precautions."

Oh, the Cryptmistress could so put a spanking down on Khismia (literally, if she had prepped hold person)! :P

Cryptmistress Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

"You speak before knowing, young lady, and there are many kinds of strength. If someday, you learn to harness your strength instead of your arrogance, you might actually be impressive. I do not work for the Watch. I am the Cryptmistress of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Graves. Your precious princess will one day lay before me as I prepare her mortal remains for its final destination, as I have many other Bazaarites before her."

Khismia shrugs. "As one day you will lie before your successor in the same manner. We all die and are eaten by worms. In the meantime, I prefer to serve the Princess, who treats me with respect, than be beholden to someone who introduces herself to a complete stranger by insulting her intelligence and pouring contempt on her associations."

"Well now," Laya pipes up, "we're certainly very good at getting off on the wrong foot at MSI, aren't we? We even pass it on to those near us. Not much of a compliment to us really, is it? So let's move on. Would anyone like a muffin?"

The Cryptmistress chuckles. "Actually, I believe that's how you presented yourself, my dear, not the other way around. But it matters not. The offer stands, but I see you are the Princess' servant. Hopefully, one day she will actually do as believe. And a muffin sounds wonderful."

Laya acquires muffins for everyone. "Nothing like a good muffin to make you feel better," she says. "If it were possible to live off muffins alone, I would never eat anything else."

Off to report to Capt. Percival then? Heward will pay for a cab.

Sounds good to me. Captain Percival greets the Cryptmistress warmly, and it's clear the two know each other. Laya, only normally used to seeing her as imperious (or as the stern disciplinarian of out-of-line temple acolytes and initiates), has now seen her frightened, defeated, compassionate, spiteful, and now warm and friendly, all in the space of a couple hours. Percival confirms that Wizzo and his squad are still at MSI's disposal, and he'll assign another 25 watchmen by nightfall, to be used as Heward sees fit. He'd prefer not to have to call in the military to operate within Magnimar's streets, but that option does exist as well.

A gardener at the Magnimar Memorial Gardens is there to tell Phillip that some people matching the description he wants was there. He also tells Phillip some fantastical stories of a great magical battle, and a fog that covered the sky and blocked out the sun.

If people want, and there's nothing specific folks want to do, we can advance to 14h45, when Calatin and Awgin arrive back at MSI and the whole gang is together once again, sans Cryptmistress who has returned to the Cathedral, having instructed Heward to send any further infected with vargouille-sia to come there for healing, free of charge.

I vote to advance the time. We've made the others wait long enough, I think.

Ditto on advancing the timeline.

Heward will ask the Captain to take a look at Calatin's calculations. It seems important enough to have a curfew tonight and have the Watch and military enforce it in sufficiently large numbers to engage any Vargouilles encountered.

When's sundown?

If we advance the storyline, I'll have to go back and read the stuff with Laya, Law-Boy, and the Old Lady.

If we advance the storyline, I'll have to go back and read the stuff with Laya, Law-Boy, and the Old Lady.

It was pretty kinky stuff, too.

The Captain agrees to the curfew, and sends missives off to various watch commanders and the army, requesting aid. People aren't going to like it, especially in the finer districts, but "tough titties" Percival mutters.

Sundown is whenever northern US mid-September sundown would be, around seven maybe?

Phil flirts with the idea of going back to Rag End and doing some more canvassing... but reason wins out and he heads back to HQ.

Advance and consolidate away :)

So at quarter to three, with about four hours of sunlight left, you all get together at MSI. Sgt. Wizzo is also in attendance to help decide what all you're doing.

Just sitting around waiting for Heward to issue orders, like a good little cohort. ;P

Phil reports his lack of findings from the Rags End canvass somewhat despondently, but doesn't verbally take umbrage at being seemingly ignored and having to find out from a groundskeeper that he had been and gone to the cemetary. At least not verbally, Phil's demeanour clearly shows that he is somewhat irked at the Sergeant.

Feeling the press of darkness soon to be descending upon Magnimar, Phil turns to Heward "So what now? Don't tell me we're turtling up and hoping for the best..."

14h45, MSI Headquarters

Heward calls the meeting to order. First order of business -- to assess the vargouille situation. He relays the Cryptmistress' news, mentioning only that she had a personal acquaintance with the vargouille, and Captain Percival's support, the likely curfew and military intervention, and the 25 Watchmen who will be reporting here soon. And anything else I've forgotten. He's trying for full disclosure here.

Next, Phillip's report since he volunteered.

Phillip's report.... "So what now? Don't tell me we're turtling up and hoping for the best..."

"We've got maybe four hours of light left before sundown. We'll figure out how best to use it. Then we'll go looking for these things."

"Who's next?"

Was waiting for Nazard to set the scene, then got swamped at work. Sorry for the delay.

I think Calatin's the only other person who actually learned anything, albeit not about the vargouilles. The rest of us have nothing to contribute.

"I got this list of names from the academy. People that were there when the culprit/victim were there."
Was I able to make any connections so far?
Awgin tosses the pile of papers in front of Heward.

"Well," says Calatin, munching on whatever he's managed to scrounge from the kitchen in passing on his way to the meeting, "After I'd found what I could about vargouilles and sent that on, I continued to research the mage-specific poison that grey-robed woman has been using... After a bit of rooting around I found a single obscure reference to something called an 'arcane inebriant' which appears to be the compound in question. It was in an ancient tome on the war between Geb and Nex, having been used by the folk of Geb to infect the non-undead magic users of Nex, it was quite devastating for the poor dears until a simple innoculant was discovered that's easily made from herbs - at least, if you're in Geb as it needs herbs local to Geb. So they mounted a stealth raid to steal a whole bunch of the herbs required, then settled down and found that they could cultivate it locally, so neutralizing the threat of the inebriant poison. Problem is, none of the darn stuff is to be found around here unless there are small quantities for sale in some of the more exotic shops in Magnimar."

Hope I got that right, it's ages ago real-time that I was told what I'd discovered!

"'Small quantities?'" Khisimia asks with a frown. "With a school for wizards in the city, Magnimar would need fields full of these herbs to dose so many."

"You're not wrong, there's a whole bunch of wizards in Magnimar." Calatin looked worried.

"At least, it seems that the herbs are easy to cultivate once you've got some. And if - as appears to be the case - the only delivery method is to scurry round scratching your targets with a knife, grey robes optional, there may be time before too many wizards get got. Especially if they are put on their guard against stray knife-wielders."

"As long as we're discussing the mage case, Wizzo, you know everything we know. Have you got something to add?"

****

"Oh no, Wallas. I might be working for you on the vargouilles thing, but those Mage attacks were my case first, and I'll be damned if the freak squad is going to take it from me."

Heward colors slightly, his cheek muscles tighten. "Suit yourself then. If you change your mind you know where to find us."

He looks back to everyone,"How do we best use the four hours until sundown?"

Speaking with passion "We need to get every woman and man that we trust holding a weapon sweeping through Rag's End to find Mig... if what's being said is true then we just need to follow the screams..."

"Oh no, Wallas. I might be working for you on the vargouilles thing, but those Mage attacks were my case first, and I'll be damned if the freak squad is going to take it from me."

Khismia stares at Wizzo coldly. "Then you are undoubtedly honor-bound not to make use of the information you failed to research yourself," she remarks, glaring at Calatin for speaking so openly without considering the company. Barely acknowledging Phillip's existence, she adds to his suggestion. "If we can find what is left of the tomb robber before dark, we might prevent the plague from spreading. But are we looking for one, or two? The original source of the contamination is still unaccounted for, is it not?" She looks at the two who were at the cemetery for confirmation.

"Yes, the first vargouille is unaccounted for and that trail is stone cold. In Rag's End we're at least looking for a man or a body. That's something we can do. Hopefully we find Mig before the screams start. Any other thoughts?"

Calatin returns the glare with a bland smile.

"Information is like muck, no use except it be spread," he said calmly.

"What would you like me to do, Heward?"

"It would be useful to have these herbs. I guess I could spare you from the vargouille search until sundown. One pair of eyes won't make much difference. You're still going to need a bodyguard though...." Heward looks questioningly around the room for volunteers.

Doing my best to interpret the ooc thread. Awgin can pick his course. If need be we'll send a red-shirt with Calatin.

"Sergeant Wizzo, you've got a reputation as a tough investigator. Do you think you and your squad can track down a flying head in the neighborhood around Magnimar Memorial Gardens? "

"If it's flying around screaming at folks, we'll get it. How do you take one of them suckers down, other than hit it hard with a piece of metal?"

"That's how we did it. One more thing, the vargouille came out of the coffin of Mital Cobbers. The cryptmistress says there's a small chance the vargouille could remember its past life. It might look for something to do with its old life if it does. It's a long shot. Good luck."

"Understood. We'll have a look around the cemetary, see if this Cobbers used to live in the area. You folks watch your backs down in Rag's End. There are all sorts down there willing to stick a knife in the back of a Watchman, whether there be vargouilles flying about or not."

Wizzo heads out of the room to gather his men and depart.

"I got this list of names from the academy. People that were there when the culprit/victim were there."

Was I able to make any connections so far?
Awgin tosses the pile of papers in front of Heward.

Sorry, Awgin, I missed this. The two mage "victims" shared several classes together, along with six other students. There were also about twenty other names that were common to a few of those classes, both students and teachers, but not all.

Heard watches Wizzo leave, then says to Awgin. "Good work with those names. We'll have a look at them tomorrow. Today and tonight we've got other things to do."

Skillfully transforming the fact that I was distracted by Calatin's post, into more interdepartmental spite. So Dax, is Awgin travelling with Caltin or the rest of the pack?

Calatin, unless you order otherwise.

Heward accepts Awgin volunteering to bodyguard Calatin again.

"That leaves Laya, Khismia, Phillip and me for Rag's End. Do you think it would be worth the risk to bring Robal with us? We could keep him shackled."

"Unless we can shackle his head down, I don't think that would be a very good idea," Laya says. "Remember, Robal's not really the risk. It's what he might turn into that's the risk."

The cryptmistress healed the 2 afflicted prisoners.

I will remind people that the Cryptmistress cured him of the disease, unless of course, you don't trust her abilities. She just said she couldn't undo the physical changes that have already occurred (loss of hair, intelligence, tentacle growth, etc.). Assuming the disease has been neutralized, there's no further risk of him turning into a vargouille, other than being reinfected, of course.

Didn't realize that the physical changes remained. That's even better.

The monster description didn't say anything about what happens when the affliction is removed, and I always detest the magical, "fix the DNA, and they're back to normal looking in a day or two" trope of sci-fi shows. Obviously, a regeneration spell would fix up the physical changes, and some restoration spells would fix the mental drains, but I don't see them affording that kind of magic anytime soon.

Whoops! Sorry, I totally forgot they had been cured. I retract Laya's statement. :)

Laya nods. "His help could be useful. We should keep a close eye on him, though, to make sure he doesn't try to make a run for it."

"Aye, fair enough - he can give us some closer pointers to the box-shop where Mig's holed up. I can talk to him and hold his leash if you like?" distaste at the use of shackles evident in his tone.

"Then he comes with us. In shackles. I don't want him escaping. Let's go."

So Heward fetches Robal from the cells, slaps him in irons, and lets him know that he's coming to help track down Mig Tanris whether he wants to or not. He's meek and compliant, having no fight left in him whatsoever.

Mrs. Brigglepsan had a supper sent over from the Cenotaph Arms, and she spends time fussing over all of you, fixing your armour, and generally hovering and worrying, asking you all to be safe.

With three hours of daylight left, you make your way as a group to Rag's End, save for Calatin and Awgin who head out to find herbs.