Well he's dead. That's plain. Clovesh's body has the same spongy foam (though dry now) that reeks of burning vinegar spilling out from his nose and mouth. His hand grips a small bottle labeled “In Case of Poison”. Andolyn thinks that he has been dead for a while (12+ hours).
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"Indeed. This is a well planned assassination, and is likely not the last. We must determine who else is targeted. Timinic seems likely. Search this hovel, there may be some clue as to Timinic's whereabouts."
Meanwhile, Janus attempts to confirm what seems obvious.
Then helps with the search.
"Perhaps we might learn something by taking the antidote bottle to the apothecary."
"Twelve...hours? But wasn't he just at Bosk's residence? I didn't get a good look at the dwarf who was leaving, but the rest of you surely saw him..."
She begins to look around for anything that looks "tossed" did someone search for something after killing the dwarf... "Wait, dead how long, we just saw him.
Coals smolder in the fireplace of this cozy wooden cottage. The single room is set for company, with two half-empty mugs of ale on the table. A waxy aroma reminiscent of burning vinegar fills the cottage (the same scent as in the meeting room at Dryblade House after you gave Bork the potion), emanating from the corpse of a dwarf sprawled near the hearth. A crumpled military uniform lies on the floor near a cabinet in the corner. The body looks like Clovesh.
"Twelve...hours? But wasn't he just at Bosk's residence? I didn't get a good look at the dwarf who was leaving, but the rest of you surely saw him..."
Ezren says nothing about the pauldrons unless someone else uses Detect Magic
"Yes the pauldrons are magical, don't touch them. The last thing we need is for Pathfinders to be caught with a murdered guard's items."
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Janus shares what they have learned from the Detect Poison spell. "The poison was in the tankard - and is now in Clovesh. It may be possible that it is a poison designed to interact with the typical antitoxin potion, to become stronger instead of reducing in efficacy. We would need to speak to the apothecary.
Jurma, it seems certain that Clovesh knew whomever his assassin appeared to be, just as Bosk knew Clovesh. Disguise is a well-used tactic amongst assassins. This assassin must be very proficient with the skill, or else has appropriate magic."
Janus will then sweep the room with Detect Magic. They pickup the enchanted pauldrons.
"You Have What You Hold, Ezren. That is the Law of the River Kingdoms. If it helps you, consider this 'evidence.' But do not expect a trial when we catch up with Bosk's killer. Courts Are For Kings."
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"You Have What You Hold, Ezren. That is the Law of the River Kingdoms. If it helps you, consider this 'evidence.' But do not expect a trial when we catch up with Bosk's killer. Courts Are For Kings."
Sirius listens to Janus's exposition of the River Kingdoms' creed with something akin to awe.
"Perhaps, in the end, this is more of a 'nice place to visit' type of place (after all, if you think there's no fun to be had in courts, you just haven't tried)...but I, for one, am kicking myself for having not visited more often!"
After a few minutes spent tossing the cottage. Andolyn and Sirius come up with a list of names in the pocket of the discarded uniform, a small pearl earring on found on the floor beneath the bed, and a folded up set of directions to a place called "the safe house" amid the papers on Clovesh's desk.
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Hosser says "The captain before he died, he said we needed to find Timinic before its too late. If the gnome was at the safehouse already then we wouldn't need to find him. I think we need to follow up on Pemak and his robbery, since Igor seemed to think the apothecary was the source of the poison."
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"If the gnome was at the safehouse already then we wouldn't need to find him..."
"Uhm, not necessarily," Sirius interrupts Hosser. "You know how it is (or at least you ought to) - the term 'safehouse' is more like one part substance, two parts good sense, and three parts wishful thinking - especially in a place like this, where only foreigners and fools kill with weapons you see coming."
"Either way the wind carries, I suppose; what if we speed to the safehouse in the nick of time for his rescue, only to fail embarrassingly for want of something only the apothecary knows?"
"Hell, who's to say the apothecary isn't in just as much danger from this??? Any assassin worth their blades knows the importance of clearing one's tracks."
"I think we should check the safehouse. If our wayward Timinic is there then excellent, and if not we scour for additional clues or check on our apothecary after. We need to get ahead of our mysterious foe, not retrace their steps."
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"The safe house likely has a scared person in it. The apothecary likely has somebody who actually knows something. And I agree: If Bosk did break an oath, and that is the law of this place, his death is perfectly warranted, and must not be avenged. What little semblance of law exists here must be upheld, or we'd be in the middle of pure anarchy.
My vote is for the Apothecary. We may get some more substantial information from the likes of somebody not holed up in a so called 'safe house'"
Pemak's Tinctures turns out to be hovel with a painted wooden sign depicting a glass beaker holding a bubbling blue liquid, hidden amid a set of ramshackle tenements just west, and outside of the inner ring of the city. The scent of all sorts of chemicals and spices waft around the courtyard it faces, vinegar most prominently.
There's a general, late-morning bustle in the neighborhood. And it is by interacting with some of these folks that the party finds their way to Pemak's and the proprietress herself, who is outside by the grungy square's well working the winch.
"What? All of yah? No thanks. Already been robbed once this month. 'Sides there taint room enough. And besides who are you all to know I have associations to be murdered? People on the street don't like that kinda talk." the orc-blooded woman says her voice a rough rasp, no doubt the result of several years of frequent tobacco use. The smell hangs around her like a fog.
One thing she is right about though, at the sounding of the word 'murdered' all the conversations around the street, in fact, nearly all noise just seemed to stop and a couple of open windows snap shut.
Scanning the shop front, Ezren places himself to the side of the porch and watches the street behind the group.
There isn't anything particularly magical about the shop that Ezren can see. The door is slightly ajar and from his vantage he notes that it is not more than a one room hovel with desk full of cookware, well-used alchemical equipment, and bundles herbs and hundreds of mismatched, labelled containers stacked on every available shelf and mantle along the room's walls. At the foot of the bed (that takes up much of the room) there is a row barrels that serve as a sort of countertop.
"And don't you be gittin' any idears. 'Magic'--pah!"
"No, but I am considering gettin' me some private security specialists types to look into the matter. Now, are you here to buy somethin' or besmirch me good public reputation? Why the very idear that I would 'associate' with people. Hmph!"
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Hosser looks at his fellow half-orc, his normally jovial face serious and leaden. He had watched his friend die horrifically in front of him.
"Listen here, Pemak, I'm Hosser Cready, and I ain't a thief. Cready Farm's a little south of Deadbridge just up the Dagger River. Decent chance that quina and that nightshade I see on your shelves came from me or someone I know," Hosser said, "And me and my colleagues here, we done see two dead bodies in the last hour. Horrific deaths, gasping for air, and then something boiling up from their throats. Now, you can jerk us around, or you can answer questions, but your name came up twice so we ain't leaving just 'cause of some rude words, y'understand?"
Janus produces the vial they took from Clovesh's place. "Is this one of yours?" they ask Pemak.
"What was it?" she asks looking at the empty vial. "And more to the point what are you in the market for, aye? I doubt it is specialized medicine for a loved one. And who are these unfortunate visitors to the Boneyard you think I associated with?"
"Well, Ma'am. It looks like you could use some protection. If its hiring me as a security person it'll take to be able to talk, then I'll protect you and your wares. We only mean to talk."
"I've done fine without in-sewer-ants and other such for a long time now. I'm talking specialized security, not a suit of armor standin' by the door like Benny the blacksmith's got loiterin' in front of his forge."
"Well? Spit it out. Time's coin ya know."
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"Very well. This vial supposedly held a cure for poisoning. Yet when the contents were consumed, it resulted in an apparent lethal acceleration of aconitum poisoning. You deal in aconitum. Perhaps you also sell cures. Two men have already died in this fashion. One named Bosk. One named Clovesh. On Clovesh's body we found a list of names. Your name was one of them, so was Bosk's. You are connected to these two murders. We think you are more likely to be another victim than a perpetrator. Help us find the poisoner, before they find you."
Janus lays it on the line for Pemak.
"Clovesh! Why would anyone target him? Wait. Was it Major Jallor Clovesh head of the kingdom's infantry, or his younger brother Brandur? Doing either of them would cause a riot, regardless."
"And Bosk? Why do him? He was liked well-enough and kept his head down." she seems to be talking more to herself than Janus.
"Wolf's bane, aye. Noticed the smell, didja? Clears out the sinuses. A little experiment of mine--that's what was stolen--my original recipe. Been askin' around and word is that it has something to do with that tavern the Drippin' Wall. Ain't had a chance to snoop around there meself. Maybe tomorrow."