Tuco takes what he can and begins looking for anywhere where information can be gathered. A half-orc in the tattered clothes he was in wasn't too side eyed, but once they saw the bag and the papers stuffed in haphazardly it drew some stares.
When Tuco and Alorea mentioned the scribe Iverness, the young man grinned, beaming with confidence. While he spent most of his time in the drink and didn't know where most of the stuff in Alkenstar actually was, he was actually pretty charming with people when he had a mind to be. So when the group decided to head to the dead scribe's scrivener shop, the young man took the lead, stopping passersby and engaging them effortlessly in idle conversation while gently probing for the location they were seeking.
Dorak nods. "We can. Which of you wants to go first?"
Daerokh raises his hand.
"I volunteer."
Dorak nods and leads Daerokh to a side room upstairs.
-----------------------
Tuco doesn't have much success asking for directions to the Iverness home. People seem rather reluctant to speak with him. Jase, on the other hand, manages to wrangle directions to the scribe's home from people rather easily.
The Iverness home is located within the Tinwound district of Alkenstar, a few streets away from the looming Tinwound Hydroplant. It's a two-story home with a steeply-sloping flared gable roof covered in grey shingles. The house's front used to be a pure white colour, but years of smoke and ash have turned it a dull grey. The house's front step still has todays copy of the Lone Star Gazette still on it, along with another newspaper called The New Horizon Times.
"In an abandoned mine, located under a ruined manor in Graeson's Fingers. Got a map?"
If Dorak provides one, he points out the location where they investigated.
"Manor was crawling with undead. Not thinkers like our prisoner, zombies mostly. A death dog upstairs too. Worm-ridden critter. It was the place the various fall guys we discovered he was extorting were supposed to rendezvous with him after they'd done what he asked."
Dorak produces a map of Graeson's Fingers from a nearby shelf.
He nods along as you explain what you encountered in the manor. "Hmm. And were they just wandering about, or did it look like the ghoul was controlling them?"
As the trio approached the home of the late scribe, Jase stooped down and picked up both newspapers, scanning the contents to see if there was any news about the case they were on. Didn't seem likely that there were new developments, but better to waste time than to overlook something. Plus, he wanted to look a little more learned in front of Alorea.
Once he had glanced at the contents, he'd offer the papers to whoever wanted them or gently place them back on the ground. Looking around to see how busy the area was, he asked the others, "So we going to let ourselves in, folks? No offense, but you two seem the least likely in our little group to be against such a thing."
The Lone Star Gazette is today's issue, as is the New Horizon Times.
The contents of the New Horizon Times newspaper has articles that are mainly focused on world events happening beyond Alkenstar--some of them with a rather visible pro-independence and expansionist stance. Two of the articles in the current issue are quite opinionated (unsurprisingly, they speak of both Nex and Geb as 'parasites who leech from the good, hard-working people of Alkenstar'). The rest are rather dry and clinical accounts of some manner of rebellion happening in northern Cheliax (because, of course, someone is ALWAYS rebelling in Cheliax).
Tuco shrugs, "Ain't none offense taken chum. I's heard worse believe me." He knocks as a sign of formality, "Never knows."
He glances at the papers quickly, but doesn't really focus on reading them. He was sure he could guess the story and their views, Alkenstar never really changed much after all.
Dorak produces a map of Graeson's Fingers from a nearby shelf.
He nods along as you explain what you encountered in the manor. "Hmm. And were they just wandering about, or did it look like the ghoul was controlling them?"
Daerokh shakes his head.
"They were just sort of scattered about the main floor, while he himself was holed up in the mine below. Didn't even notice us coming despite the racket we made fighting those zombies. We were able to sneak up on him and grab him without even him getting a chance to fight back, as Joie will likely tell you. She's the one who got him in a headlock, impressive if I'm being honest."
"Indeed. It seems a little breaking and entering is the order of the day," Alorea says. She takes a few moments to enhance the teamwork of the trio before fiddling with the lock.
Tuco knocks on the door. There's no response for a moment, so Alorea gets to work picking the door's lock.
There's a click, and the door opens--but not from Alorea picking the lock.
"Um, hello--Detective Alorea?" A sandy-haired young man is standing in the doorway. "Why are you trying to pick the lock?"
-----------------------
The ghoul glowers at Joie and Faithe, pacing back and forth like a caged animal. The sound of footsteps comes from close to the stairs.
"Alright, Ranek, time for you to go home--" The voice of Shieldmarshal Lucas Greystone rumbles out from the stairs only to stop abruptly when he sees who else is in the cell corridor.
"--what's going on here?"
-----------------------
Dorak tilts his head. "Huh. Well, damn good job bringing them in."
The dwarf takes off his hat and scratches his head. "But why would he hide there, though? That building you mentioned was supposed to have been demolished years ago..."
Faithe was standing in the deepest patch of shadow she could find as she kept an eye on the ghoul. She was impressed it could still detect her in the dim spot but if this bothered her she didn't let it show.
After a time of silence there was a voice coming down the stairs saying something about sending Ranek home. The problem was she wasn't quite sure who Ranek was, the drunk or the ghoul. Faithe looked at the Shieldmarshal and said, "We found that," she gestured at the cell with the ghoul in it with her pale hand which slipped out from the shadows so it could be seen, "while performing our investigation and brought it in as a suspect. I doubt it will talk to us about anything of importance and we would be better off destroying it. but I have been overruled."
"All due respect, Dorak, I think you answered your own question: a building that isn't supposed to be there anymore's a perfect place to hide, especially if it's a place you can easily dispose of folks who come snooping around in."
Jase supposed it made sense to actually knock on the door, but his eyes light up almost gleefully when there's no answer and Alorea sets about getting ready to spring the lock. Things were more exciting this way, and if any nosy citizens came snooping about, they technically had the weight of the law on their side. So Jase thought, anyway.
The swashbuckler's hand snapped to the hilt of his weapon as the door opened, but Jase relaxed when he registered that it was just a puzzled young man. He grinned and said, "Just trying to get a bit of practice in while we waited on you to open the door, chum."
Alorea is surprised when the door opens, but she recovers quickly. "Quite right, Jase, quite right. Wouldn't want my skills to get rusty--not to mention my picks."
The half-orc shakes his head, "Dis 'ere is why folks like mes get a bad rep y'know?"
He gives a quick nod, "Wes 'ere to discuss well..." He gives a sad look, "... Kiria. We may has some information that can be provin' useful to Alkenstar and wes have some questions." He shoots a glance at the others, "If yous have us 'dat is."
Shieldmarshal Greystone nods, his eyes widening a bit in disbelief. "Well. That's... finally, a piece of good news."
"I'll get the interrogation room set up."
--------------------
"Aye, I know that." Dorak wrinkles his nose. "But the thing is that I know how things at the Property Office work--when a building is slated to be taken down, they get on that within a year."
"So why would it not have been destroyed before now?"
--------------------
The young man sniffs when he hears Kiria's name. "...okay. Okay, come in." He holds the door open and backs into the modest home.
"Trev? Who's that?" An older man's voice calls out from deeper in the house.
"That detective I hired, Dad. She's brought a couple of friends." Trev calls back before turning to the assembled group and leads them to a sitting room to the right of the front door.
"Alright. What questions did you have? First, did... did you catch whoever...?" Trev starts before taking a shuddering breath.
"Aye, I know that." Dorak wrinkles his nose. "But the thing is that I know how things at the Property Office work--when a building is slated to be taken down, they get on that within a year."
"So why would it not have been destroyed before now?"
Daerokh's eyes widen.
"Only thing that'd make sense is someone who needed a place in the city to hide had enough money to bribe someone in the Property Office...or enough dirt to blackmail them. And if what you're saying is accurate, that this building is YEARS overdue for demolition...that means these someones have been operating out of it for that many years! Holy slag, what have we stepped in?!"
The half-orc takes a step inside and looks around, he wasn't quite sure what to expect but since he left the streets down home he was certain that what he had really was the bottom of the barrel.
"Can't be speakin' much to that jus' yet, hopes yous understand it bein' all fragile like yeah?" He tries to find a seat, giving it a quick pat down, knowing that he would probably track in some dirt and dust, but there was no need to be rude. "Unofficial-like, I thinks so."
He lets the sentence hang in the air, it would no doubt be closure for them, at least temporarily.
"But chums... We has some questions and needs to examine some of Kiria's stuffs. I know we ain't got no warrant so I'm askin' as politely as I cans."
Dorak's brow furrows and he takes off his hat to wipe a few beads of sweat that formed on his forehead. "Nothing good. Come along--I reckon I've heard enough from ya."
He leads you out to the others.
------------------
When Shieldmarshal Greystone leaves, Shieldmarshal Dorak returns with Daerokh in tow. "Right. Private Patronne? Follow me."
------------------
Trev sniffs.
"...what do you need to look at?"
Daerokh follows Dorak and rejoins the others, greeting them with a sigh.
Joie is happy to follow, moving from her previous position—back against the wall, with a steely-eyed pan over the room.
In the interrogation room, she stands straight, hands behind her back, chest out, chin up.
Shieldmarshal Dorak leads you to the same room he took Daerokh to. There's a map of Alkenstar unfolded on a nearby desk.
"Right." He clears his throat and doffs his hat. "So, let's start from the top."
"Daerokh mentioned that your team found that ghoul in a manor within Graeson's Fingers. I need to know what happened in there."
----------------
The ghoul sneers at Daerokh as he comes back before looking over at Faithe. "You know this won't keep me for long, right? Once my lawyer arrives, I'm as good as free."
Jase leaned against a wall near the others, too wound up to sit (knowing he would fidget so much as to be unruly). He felt sympathy for the young man, but he found himself annoyed as Trev answered Tuco's question with a question. Still, he forced a smile to his face, saying in a pleasant tone, "We think we got him, friend, but we still need to make sure things are iron clad for our case. So we'd like to look around at everything, if you don't mind. Never know what those other blokes might have missed."
Faithe's gaze turned to the ghoul and said, "Joie may believe you count as a person but I do not." From the darkness of the shadow her distorted form smiled viciously, "I will be pleased with the fact you will be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your miserable existance because you will know that one day I will be in the shadows behind you and on that day you will end." There was an almost cruel tone in her voice as she anticipated the fear it would suffer now, "You will never know when, you will never know where, and you will never know which meal will be your last." She laughed evily then and a glint of light reflected off of the blade of her scythe, "Enjoy the rest of your pethetic existance."
Tuco lets Jase talk, he seemed to know how best to manage these things. No doubt that Jase had stumbled into someone else's house before.
"Alorea 'ere mights be able to fills you in wit' more info, honest I dun be knowin' how much we can say. Needs to be irontight is all." he wanted to ask about Bloodstone but knew it was a terrible price to put on their head just for a quick search, "Mind leadin' me 'dere?"
He gives a toothy smile, "Also it smells great." It only takes a moment for his stomach to rumble, it had been a long day and now that it didn't smell like rot he realized how hungry he was.
Daerokh gulps at Faithe's display.
"Remind me NEVER to p!ss you off."
He crosses his arms.
"What kind of ghoul squatting in an abandoned manor has a lawyer anyway?" he wonders aloud.
Trev listens before wearily nodding. "...Mom's workshop is upstairs."
He leads the assembled group up the stairs with a hollow, almost shuffling gait. He opens a door off the second floor landing and steps aside to let the group pass.
The interior of the workshop is small and cluttered, with two bookshelves flanking a writing desk that's covered in papers. A lantern sits on the desk, next to a cup containing sticks of charcoal and quills. "We haven't been in here since Mom passed away."
---------------------
The ghoul blinks at Faithe. "...wow. You really do sound like him. I wonder what Jerrad could say if he could hear you now."
He looks concerned.
"What kind of ghoul squatting in an abandoned manor has a lawyer anyway?"
"You'll see."
Shieldmarshal Greystone comes back. "Alright, interrogation room's prepared. You want to do it, or should I?"
"Maybe you and Faithe could together, while I keep an eye out for this 'lawyer' he keeps referring to?" Daerokh offers. "Bullying folk isn't exactly my thing. I'm too much of a nice-guy."
Jase had to agree...the cozy place did have a distinct smell about it that was causing his mouth to water. The young man pushed the thought aside, for now, they could always pick up a chicken on a stick from a street vendor after they were done here.
Once the boy led them up the stairs, Jase gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Thanks a bunch, friend, we'll take it from here." No doubt the family was still grieving, and honestly, the young man probably wouldn't look favorably upon them both using his mother's things and rifling through them.
Once (if) Trev left, Jase closed the door quietly, then nodded to the others. "Let's get to work. I think we should go ahead and look through all this thoroughly again, just in case, while one of us starts copying the ledgers."
Faithe's eyes narrowed as her voice filled with hate as she said in a deadly voice, "One of these days Jerrad will find me behind him as well. Likely when his head is looking up at me from the ground." She laughed wickedly, "If you somehow see him again tell him I said 'Boo!'" With that Faithe ceased speaking and faded deeper into the shadows.
When the warden came to tell them the room was set up Faithe shook her head and said, "No, come with me. I need someone to make sure I don't miss any questions." Her words halted a moment before she said, "I'd imagine whatever lawyer he has coming might be able to just appear int he room. Probably a devil of some kind."
The witch looks around hoping to find something of note within the notes.
"We found our way to the manor; there is an abandoned mining tunnel beside it. We expected the bulk of our investigation to have to do with the tunnel, but decided to check the manor first. When we investigated, we found a number of undead inside; I do not believe we kept a specific count, but I would say at least a dozen. Nonsentient. Mostly humans. A dog, given its own room away from the rest. We dispatched each of them; some of us took wounds. Myself especially, as pointwoman, but our group includes a healer."
"In the basement, we found the ghoul; with the element of surprise, we were able to detain him without harm to any of our group and minimal harm to our suspect."
"We have found some evidence as well. The other half of our group is duplicating and documenting relevant information to ensure it does not disappear; it will be turned over as soon as possible."
Faithe's eyes narrowed as her voice filled with hate as she said in a deadly voice, "One of these days Jerrad will find me behind him as well. Likely when his head is looking up at me from the ground." She laughed wickedly, "If you somehow see him again tell him I said 'Boo!'" With that Faithe ceased speaking and faded deeper into the shadows.
When the warden came to tell them the room was set up Faithe shook her head and said, "No, come with me. I need someone to make sure I don't miss any questions." Her words halted a moment before she said, "I'd imagine whatever lawyer he has coming might be able to just appear int he room. Probably a devil of some kind."
"I'm sensing a story here," Daerokh comments. When Faithe asks him to join her for the interrogation, he nods. "Alright."
Shieldmarshal Dorak nods along as you recount what happened in the manor. "Yes, that lines up."
"And good of you to make copies of whatever you found." He looks around the room. "Was there anything linking the manor to the Alkenstar Property Office that you noticed while you were there?"
-----------------
Shieldmarshal Greystone leads the group to the interrogation room and lets Daerokh and Faithe take the lead, with himself staying outside.
The ghoul growls as he sits at the table inside.
-----------------
Tuco digs around in the papers scattered about the workshop, and manages to come up with a few pages of notes.
The handwriting on them is messy, but some parts of them are still somewhat legible. They do mention the 'Bloodstone'--but also speculate about what said 'Bloodstone' really is. The notes turn into a bulleted list of possible candidates for 'Bloodstone', ranging from a rare earth to some sort of alchemical compound to a preserved organ--possibly a heart, liver or something similarly vital.
Joie considers. ”There was a sign posted that stated the building was condemned by the PO. Other than that, nothing concrete.”
The half-orc signals them over with a silent hand, "Looks 'ere." He had hoped it would be a quick answer, but if it was that easy there was the chance they wouldn't have found anything at all here.
"It always be settin' round 'dis 'ere stone chummers." Shaking his head he begins to copy, "I dun like it."
Dorak frowns. "Aye, then it's as bad as I thought."
"Private, are you aware of how long it should take for the Alkenstar Property Office to demolish a condemned building?"
Joie’s eyes flicker back and forth as she considers. ”I don’t know the answer, but if I were forced to guess? Demolition should at least begin within three months, at the longest.”
"That'd be a good estimate. Problem is, that manor was slated for demolition years ago."
”So now it comes down to proving malice over incompetence.”
"You'd be correct. And the way things are carrying on here, I'm suspecting the former." Dorak sighs.
"Was there anything else you found in that manor?"
Shieldmarshal Greystone leads the group to the interrogation room and lets Daerokh and Faithe take the lead, with himself staying outside.
The ghoul growls as he sits at the table inside.
Daerokh looks at the ghoul with an awkward expression on his face.
"I...don't suppose you wanna gloat or something about your lawyer coming to get you?"
Faithe walked along with the Shieldmarshal and ghoul to an interrogation room and stood staring at the undead thing for a minute or two before she final said, "So you have been murdering scribes in the city, this we know, and we know it is connected with a certain substance called Bloodstone," Faithe focused her gaze on the ghoul's and asked, "Why?"
Jase read over the notes with interest, rolling his eyes at some of the more outlandish theories of what bloodstone was. Some of these scholars were little more than professional guessers. The young man thought he might just want to sit down and write about some weird stuff and see if he became a renowned scholar. He smirked, though quickly hid it so Alorea and Tuco wouldn't chide him over it.
As the half-orc began to copy, Jase asked quietly, "So was this stone like the best kept secret in Alkenstar? Seems like it was pretty popular lately. What a damn mess..." Seeing as it could take the tailor a bit to copy, Jase started pawing through belongings idly, thinking about what was going on with the others and the ghoul.
"I...don't suppose you wanna gloat or something about your lawyer coming to get you?"
"Don't need to." The ghoul responds. "He'll get here and take it all out of your hands."
"So you have been murdering scribes in the city, this we know, and we know it is connected with a certain substance called Bloodstone. Why?"
"Pretty bold claim to make. What evidence do you have that I killed anyone?" The ghoul leans back in his seat.
-----------------------Jase finds a few mementos scattered around the workshop--a colourful quill from some exotic bird, a couple of exquisite wine glasses, a few monographs pertaining to the weather patterns of the Mana Wastes, and what looks like a box of old jewelry.
Joie searches back in her memory for specifics.
"The condemnation was by order of Norris Steamclaw. I believe he would be in charge of records and procedure for the demolition."
Dorak is silent for a moment before he puts his hat back on.
"Well, then it looks like Mr. Steamclaw has just become a person of interest."