"The best I can offer to this fine establishment are the stories passed through many a temple, I have quite the penchant for story telling, but I'm not quite certain of the market for it."
"I do intend to stay for quite some time however. I'd gladly pay for a week now in that wonderful abode I spent yesterday's night in."
Cyrus rummages through his belongings and retrieves the payment for her.
"Ah yes, I could also go for a hard drink right now."
"Well... If you can get more customers to come in, it doesn't matter what you're doing. Joel will appreciate."
The girl leaves and returns a few moments later with everything that was ordered. The group eat and drinks, and eventually retires to their bedrooms and sleep.
---
The next morning, you can all see a persistent drizzle raining down the city. Those who look south can see a bigger storm brewing on the horizon. The sea doesn't seem very friendly.
The tavern itself is mostly empty. There is a city guard sitting on the counter, slowly drinking a bottle of ale, a young couple tuning a mandolin, a bald man in armor, who is desperately trying to kill his visible boredom by balancing a sheathed sword on his hand, a slim man with blonde hair mixing drinks behind the counter and a few tavern employees cleaning the room.
The girl who usually stays at the door and greets the incoming customers is nowhere to be seen.
"Well. What lovely weather we're having."
"Bah..." says the guard by the counter. "If you think that's fun... Ugh... Wait... Wait 'til see the party we'll have in a week or so..."
The blonde man behind the counter speaks somewhat slowly. "You really shouldn't be drinking this early, D."
"To hell with that!" replies the guard "I deserve a break... Find me another bottle!"
The bartender just sighs and mixes one more drink for the guard.
After eating some fruit for breakfast, Cyrus goes to see the girl.
Brother Cyrus once again visits the last room to the right. And once again the red-haired woman in armor opens the door.
"Good morning, priest." she says with a tired look on her face. "Please, come in... But don't make any sudden move, my sister is still somewhat jumpy..."
She waves Cyrus in and speaks softly toward the room
"Hey, Lizzie... We have a guest, be nice okay?"
On the bed, lays down a red-haired girl, who Brother Cyrus recognizes as the girl who gave him directions to the Mad Shark when he first arrived in Blue Shell. Sitting by her side is Karina, the young brunette who mixed up his order that very same day.
The red-haired girl widens her eyes as soon as she sees Cyrus approaching, but Karina grabs her arm before she can scream or do anything.
"It's okay, Liz! He's a good guy! Please, calm down..."
The girl sisters looks worried, but doesn't interfere.
"Please, priest... Just be quick. I would rather not extend this."
The girl takes a sip from a glass of juice, which she holds with both her hands, to compensate for the involuntary shaking.
Leng finds Eitylen if he can.
"Well, may as well get started before the rain washes everything away. Let's check out that crime scene."
Eitylen rushes to eat the final bits of his brackfast -Let's go!, there are crimes to solve, damsels to save and criminal to punihs!
Walking around you again hear numerous people talking about the bloody occurrence.
No more than five blocks from the Mad Shark you can see the obvious crime scene on the street following the shore.
While there are no corpses around, since the city watch already took them in, there are still a big smear of dry blood on the ground and on a nearby wall. Even the thing rain seems incapable of completely removing it.
A trail of blood seems to go from the big smear to a nearby wharf, about 30ft from it.
Eitylen start listening the rumor people talk and asking about what happened.
- (some help from Tai leng would ebe good here)
Leng assists Eitylen in gathering information from the locals.
You hear different tales from different sources. Most of them are civilians who live or work nearby and had some contact with the victims.
- This is not the first murder. A similarly violent crime happened a couple weeks ago, also by the shore, but closer to the eastern limit of the town. There were other murders, but they are usually in the more dangerous areas of the city.
- The bodies were found in a horrible state. A few people claim they seemed to have been almost completely torn apart.
- The bodies were actually found floating in the water.
- The girl worked in the Viper's Nest.
- The man was a young sailor, who lived in Blue Shell a few months a year.
- The city watch is particularly interested in this incident.
- A nearby witch is known for promising pain and suffering to the city folk. She has already cursed other people.
- A creature known just as the black beast is known to walk the sewers and aqueducts. Not much of its victims remain.
- There are ghosts haunting the warehouses by the docks. Many people attribute several accidents and deaths to the undead.
"I'll be careful." Cyrus says as he enters the room.
Upon entering the room, Cyrus quickly takes the scene in.
"Hello again Lizzie. I'd like to thank you for showing me this fine establishment. I heard you had quite the scare the other night." He says as he sits down on the floor in as humble of a position as possible.
"I feel as though I have a debt to pay to you as odd as that sounds. While it may have seemed nothing at the time, I'm sure the only reason I got through the other night was the small blessing you spoke to me. I almost lost my head the other night, if not for happenstance coming across some good friends. Words spoken true have power and I would beseech the gods in your name, if you would pray with me for peace of mind, protection against whatever foul thing lurks in this fine city, and hope for better days. If afterwards, you feel ready to speak about the events that took place last night, I would be grateful. If not, I as the gods witness, pledge to find this murderer and bring it swift justice for the sanctity of this city and for whatever evil it did before you."
When finished Brother Cyrus prostrates before her.
The girl seems agitated by the mere mention of violence.
"I do not know any prayers, sir..." she says, her voice still shaky. "I... I don't visit the temple with my sister."
Cyrus smiles. "That's alright. Just follow along with me."
He then takes a deep breath, shuts his eyes, and clasps his hands with his trinket in between them. "Oh benevolent lords, hear our earnest prayer, we honor thee in our words and hearts. Let these dark clouds that hang above us scatter in the sun's radiance which bears your divine will. Illuminate the dark and see to it the innocent are guided to safety. We beseech thee in your graciousness to gift the faithful the fruits of their dedication. That they may see the rewards of their dedication and want naught for a time..." Cyrus continues for a while longer.
When finished, Cyrus sighs with no small amount of personal relief and drinks some water from a canteen.
The girl seems more at ease, not perfectly fine, but probably as calm as she can be right now.
He sister speaks with a somewhat stern voice.
"Let's not further extend this more than necessary..."
Meanwhile, Eitylen and Tai Leng continue their investigation
Leng returns the crime scene, looking for any sort of trail he might be able to follow.
The thin but constant drizzle didn't leave much of a trail. Still, you can see that at least one corpse was taken from or to the sea
There are a few signs of struggle, such as a small blade mark on the pavement and on the wall where there is the big smudge of blood, as if whatever fight ensued, was quick and brutal.
A few minutes later, an old voice speaks to you
"Lad... Whit in seven hells ar ye doin'?"
Turning his head, Tai Leng sees an old dwarf with a full white beard and a mostly bald head hidden under a grey cloak. He's smoking a very complexly adorned pipe, and seems genuinely intrigued by Tai Leng's action.
Leng turns around to address the dwarf.
"Investigating. To see if there's anything the guards may have missed."
The man tilts his head just sightly, divided between curiosity and apathy.
"Thay've been richt throu... Have ye considered seeing the bodies? Thay were in verra bad shape... Ye canna miss'em!" he coughs for a few seconds and spits. Then, he speaks again "Ah haven't seen someone that bloody since ma cousin fought a troll!"
The takes another gulp from his pipe and coughs again. Then ruffles his beard, revealing a hand with quite a few seemingly-valuable rings, including one adorned by a square-shaped ruby.
"Seeing the bodies would be helpful, but I'm not sure if the guard would allow me to see them now that they've gathered them up."
"Unless you're saying you know a way for me to do so...?"
"Aye, lad." he says between gulps of his pipe. "Ye can see anything 'round these parts if ye ken the right fowk. Coin opens mony doors, and watchers 'round here hae too mony doors and too little coin."
"I find bribery distasteful." Leng says, twisting his mouth tightly.
"But I suppose it's for a good cause. Thank you for your advice Mr...?"
The old dwarf lets go of a loud laughter, only stopping when he's interrupted by his cough.
"... Cough... Agh... Lad, if ye dun like "distasteful", ye ar in the wrong side of toun!" he takes another gulp of his smoking pipe before he speaks again. "If Ah were ye, Ah wud leuk for a watcher wi an empty purse... A'm sure one of 'em is willing to let ye into thair corpse room."
He flips a silvery coin, making it fall at Tai Leng's feet.
"Here! Somethin' to kickstart yer adventure... Guid luck, lad..." he says before stretching his arms and slowly going on his way...
When inspected more closely, the coin reveals itself to have more of an albescent glimmer to it, just like a... platinum coin.
Eityen do not understand half of the thing the drwaf said, he would let Taileng do the talk with him.
The elf concentrate in knowing more thigns about the witch, teh ghost and the black beast
Cyrus pleads her, "Please, if there's anything you could tell me about the murderer, anything at all, it could be instrumental in saving lives."
Cyrus then stands and brushes himself off, getting ready to leave. "Regardless, thank you for your time. If theres anything I could do for you three, please don't be a stranger. My name is Cyrus and I try to be helpful where I can be."
Eityen do not understand half of the thing the drwaf said, he would let Taileng do the talk with him.
- The witch lives somewhere west of here, in the outskirts of the city. She has used black magic against sailors and woodsmen before.
- The ghosts have been plaguing nearby warehouses for the law few weeks. Accidents involving falling objects and creepy laughter have been reported multiple times. No one ever found anything, though. The only physical evidence left behind are multiple scratch marks left on the walls and wooden crates.
- The beast has been sighted multiple times during the night, always swimming near the docks or up the Onyx Serpent river. Hunters have been dispatched to take care of it a couple times. No one ever came back.
---
"I... I... Was coming back home... From distributing fliers for the Mad Shark."
Brenda interrupts her sister.
"What?! I told you not to stay out so late!" she says with an imposing voice, but her face almost instantly displays regret for her tone when she sees the scared eyes of the girl and the condemning look of her friend.
"I wasn't!" the girl replies with an outcry "The sun was going down, but it wasn't completely dark yet..."
She takes her time to speak again.
"I was walking down street... I... I heard someone talking, and looked over my shoulder by reflex... I saw a couple talking to someone... something... big. Bigger than uncle Joel."
The girl starts shaking once again, prompting her friend to pour another glass of juice. Her sisters just watches with a concerned look.
The man... pulled something... A knife, I think... But the thing, it just swept it away and... pushed its other arm... through the man's stomach... and... ripped it open! It grabbed its jaw and crushed it and... I could hear the bone... The man fell, but he was still moving... Th-then... The thing turned to the girl..."
The girl starts crying, and tightly grabs the arm of her friend.
Cyrus places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Nothing will harm you while I'm here. Already you've proven to be a strong woman. Could you tell me what happened next?"
To Tai Leng: I don't think a ghost or witch are responsably from this much violence. If Cyrus found nothing I think we should offer to help the guard
It takes a few moments, but the girl eventually stops gasping and speaks again, although with a somewhat mumbling voice.
"The girl tried to run... But the thing was too fast! It caught here by here neck, before she could even move!" the girl's hands shake, but never let go of her friend's arm. "The man... He... He tried to do something... Even lying on the ground he was swinging his knife... It cut the things leg, I think... It made it angry! It crushed the man's arm and torn it away, then stomped on the man's neck!" The girls eyes widen as her pupils contract, she's visibly terrified by her memories. "Something... Another arm... A tail... I don't know... Came off of the thing and pierced the girl's chest and sliced her open! The thing crushed her neck and ripped her jaw, then threw her away... She hit the wall and kept bleeding...." She then speaks in tears, almost in desperation "It looked down the man and touched the man's face, but didn't do anything..." The girl now shakes in fear, barely holding herself together "Then it looked at the girl's body... Tha-That's when... It saw me. I couldn't move! I couldn't breathe! The thing just moved so slowly and I could feel I was about to faint... Last thing I remember, the thing was still moving towards the girl... or me... I don't know... All I could think was... What it would do to m-me... I... I..."
The girl starts crying uncontrollably. Karina hugs her and tries to clean her face, at all times peaking very softly to her friend.
"That'll be all, priest." says Brenda with a commanding voice. "My sister has gone through enough. I hope you found the answers you were looking for, because there'll be no more questions."
"That's alright. You've been a great help. Good day to you good sisters. May the gods hold you in their favor."
Cyrus heads downstairs, as he walks he ponders if there's any undead or planar monstrosity that matches her description. He quietly invokes the gods' wisdom on this grave matter.
Cyrus leaves to see what the Temples know of the murders. He begins going to temples dedicated to Abadar, Torag, and Iomedae whom likely have a desire to catch this murderer as well.
Each temple has a few men working on the matter, but the all claim to be understaffed and none of them has any additional information about the crimes. At least none that they would promptly share with an outsider.
So far, the culprit, whoever or whatever it is, was able to evade any scrying effects cast. A few holy warriors have patrolled areas of the city, but the murders always happen very quickly and on mostly random locations. The victims also didn't have any discernible connection to each other. Their only similarity being the fact that none of them was very notable.
Soo, we do not found much, I think. What the girld said Cy?
"Aha! My fellow comrades in arms, it's good to see you again. I was able to get some clues about the murderer from the poor girl who witnessed it doing the deed. It's a bit larger than Joel with incredible strength. It might have a tail or extra arm. It can be wounded by blades and apparently spoke to the victims before murdering them." Cyrus finishes his account of the girl's story.
"Have either of you found anything useful? If we're running low on leads we could try speaking to the guards."
"We've heard rumors, but nothing concrete. There are several beasts and spooks people have mentioned, but none fit the description you received, save maybe the beast that dwells in the sewers."
"A dwarf gave me some advice, though. He said it might be worth our while to grease some palms among the guardsmen to see the bodies, see what we could glean from there."
Are you telling that it was a humanoid?, that ends my black beast theory...Yeah, We could try to look at the victims to see if they have something in commong but othern than that I have nothing
"Sounds like a plan then Tai Leng. Lead the way."