She looks quite frightened, but agrees to go with the group. She is much less inclined to relinquish her wand.
"This has helped me more times than I can count... so I'd like to hang onto it please." Tears well up in the corners of her eyes as she speaks.
My friend here means no harm, just curiosity as to what the wand is.
We will lead her area given to us by the commander.
Now little one, no talking and keep your head down. We will have to move quickly Tensei will undo his face coverings and walk showing off his beastial features to take away attention from the rest of the group hoping to distract the common passerby to avoid trina being detected
She reluctantly allows Behset to examine the wand, but is anxious until it is returned to her. Keeping an eye out for Hellknights or an angry mob, the group is able to move out of the area, and do manage to spot a trio of guards relaxing near a prison wagon. Each guard wearing the yellow armband Kroft had mentioned.
Tensei will budge faust and give a head movement towards the guards
Faust is going to approach the guards and show his badge, Hey we have what we were looking for. Can we come in to get it off the streets?
Two of the guards nod and open the back of the wagon and the taller points to the girl.
”Hop on in miss.”. He lowers his voice and leans in closer. ”Don’t worry, it’s mostly just for show. You climb onboard and we can move you to a safer location.”
From around the front of the wagon strolls Vencarlo. He reaches out to shake hands with each of the group in turn.
”Glad to see you all again.”
Glad to see you as well. I didn't know you were involved in this part of it as well. Faust will lean in while shaking his hand and whisper, Take care of the girl, she is very scared.
Vencarlo reaches into his pack and pulls out a hat and sets it on Trinia's head. The girl lets out a little squeak of surprise, but he winks at her, and she seems to relax a bit.
"A little something to avoid notice from the larger portion of the public. Beansprouts!"
At his utterance, the hat shimmers slightly, then the painter and her entire ensemble change into that of a farmer, with a heavy cloak. The blade master looks and nods at the disguise.
"It'll do for now, but we can get you something more permanent soon."
He then helps the girl up and into the caged wagon before turning to the party.
"If you need to get a hold of her, just contact me. Or Cress. She knows the plan as well, but the fewer that know where she is, the better."
Sounds good. We will go let the commander know now.
Hue eyes the hat a bit jealously. I need to get something like that.
Yes let's go complete the terms of our contract.
Hue keeps a weary eye open for any trouble. This mission was completed with less fuss than we're used to. Something is bound to go wrong.
Returning to the Citadel takes time. Longer than it normally would at least. It seems like every street corner has someone posted up to look for Trinia. Anyone spotted skulking about gets called out by these watchers and chased by a mob. Guilty or innocent, the lurker gets roughed up in the process. You all notice this and opt for a more open approach to the Citadel, but doing so, you have to wade through the crowds.
Upon your arrival, the guard at the gate waves you in and you are able to meet up with the Commander rather quickly.
"All is well I take it?" She hands over the promised gold.
"You four make me miss the old days. I really wish I could just get out there and do these kinds of things again. Unfortunately, it's not a good look for someone in my position to be out on the streets doing the grunt work. Ah well. At least I can make use of good resources like you all to get things done. Once I hear back from Vencarlo, I have a priest that will be able to suss out the truth of the situation. If my gut is right, that girl is nothing but a scapegoat."
She looks at the four of you and smiles.
"I'll be in touch."
You definitely could go out on some jobs to 'assess your guards' couldn't you? Faust chuckles a bit. But seriously that girl seemed super scared and I'm glad we can get to the bottom of this and help that girl out. You know where to find us. Faust will tell the group. Let's go back to the house and we can divy this gold out and see what we are going to do next.
Before leaving the Commander's office.
"Oh, and Mr. Rinnald, a word in private please."
Hue lingers behind. "Yes?
"Thank you. I wanted to follow up on a few things with you while you were here. We did a bit of investigating on the Verik case. The others that had escaped were collected, and they have all been questioned. One admitted to their operation being as you said it was. The other still denied it, though when we brought the cleric in, it didn't take long for him to sing a different tune. Verik himself though, either he's a fantastic liar and was able to trick the spell, or he had been duped by his own men. Either way, they are all deserters and will be up on the chopping block next time there's an execution."
She pulls a satchel out of a nearby cabinet and hands it over to the fetchling.
"I believe you and Faust had asked about information on some old murders. I had some copies made, so, take these with you. Hopefully, it'll help."
"As you say, either he's culpable because he was in on it, or he's culpable by breaking ranks and providing the opportunity for others to set up that operation inside his new business. Ignorance is no excuse in this case. His operation was murdering people, whether he knew it or not. If he had kept his word and manned his post, those lives may still be with us. Thank you for these files. We will inform you of anything pertinent we find."
Hue accepts the satchel and hurries to meet his friends.
Looking over the documents that Cressidia had collected takes the better part of the two days. In total there were nine victims, seven men, two women, and one child. All were found inside homes that were locked up tight, with no signs of forced entry in any of the crime scenes. Five of the victims were killed while the other people in their homes were left unharmed. Two instances had more than one victim. A husband and wife in one, and a male and his child in another. Speculation is that the extra victims were alerted and woke up, so the killer just expanded his work to include them.
Every victim was presented in the same fashion except for the husband and the child. Each of the primary targets had their throat slit, then were sliced open as if on an examining table. From throat to groin, with their insides carved to pieces. Then a dagger, cut to resemble a key was left inside the body, stabbed into the heart.
Included in the packet are drawings of each of the daggers that had been used in the old killings along with the one from the recent killing of the pawn broker. The drawing looks very familiar.
Tensei goes back to working on his full plate set
Damnit, we had one of these daggers to. We need to try to see if we can catch this guy. What you guys think?
"We had one of these? Do you remember where we found it? Where is it now?"
I believe we found the dagger among Lamm's stuff and I believe I sold it to the same vendor I sell everything to, the guy we are looking into.
"Then maybe the dagger the guard found at this most recent scene is the dagger we sold him. Maybe that making the similarities a coincidence? That could explain the presence of the key dagger."
But it seems like he was killed in the same fashion as everyone else. Maybe we can still look into it because if it could take a killer like that off the streets, it's worth the time to at least try.
Tensei makes progress on the suit of hand-crafted armor while Behset brews up some potions.
Heading out into the world to try and dig for any more information on the Key-Lock Killer, Faust hears nothing new on that topic, but does hear that the assassin, Trinia, has been captured and taken to the castle for a "closed-to-the-public" trial. A sense of relief fills the city over the news.
What do you think we should do Hue? Any ideas on where to start looking? I haven't heard anything we haven't heard already about this Key-Lock Killer.
"Let's start with the other victims. I know they're old cases, but maybe some surviving friends and family may have some information that was overlooked previously. Also let's get a map and mark off the locations. There may be a pattern there. It's very rare that murders like this have no connection. Find the connection, find the killer."
Hue will go over the previous files, looking for people the previous victims were close to that may be able to answer questions.
Faust will get a map and start to map off locations of where the murders happened.
As the reports are being looked over and the map drawn, nothing immediately springs out as a connection, though a loud banging at the door does cause a bit of a distraction.
Standing on the doorstep is a younger looking guard. As soon as the door opens he blurts out.
"Hi, the Commander needs you folks to come right away! Please hurry!"
He then stands there, shifting about, waiting and looking anxious.
Sounds good, let us grab our things.
Faust will grab his things and follow the guard, leaving the papers on the table that he was plotting the locations on the map.
Hue collects his things and follows.
"Pitter patter, let's get at her."
Following the guard back to Citadel Volshyenek, it becomes very obvious that the guards here are unusually agitated and nervous. One of the officers waves you in through the gates, and blurts out in a rush.
"One of those Shoanti kids went and got himself killed, and now the rest of them are all worked up—if it’s not one riot about to erupt, it’s another! Field Marshal Kroft’s in her office now, trying to talk some sense into the Shoanti ambassador."
Entering the office you see the Commander and an older looking Shoanti man.
"One day, we'll have to come up with a name for your team, but for now, all of you, this is Thousand Bones. He is a shaman for the Skoan-Quah, and ambassador between our peoples. Please, sit, and listen."
She motions for Thousand Bones to relay his tale, when he speaks, his voice is deep and precise, but there is a tone of anger behind his words that is barely in check.
“My people have worked hard to understand those who dwell in Korvosa, yet it seems each day we see new examples of how this city’s people work just as hard to foster old hatreds. My grandson is dead, beaten to death by cowards in your city street. I do not blame you, yet still Gaekhen is dead, and my son and his kin are not so forgiving as I. They wish to return to the Skoan-Quah in the Cinderlands, to join with the Sklar-Quah and rally to war against Korvosa. This would be disastrous, for both our peoples. Amends must be made."
“Our ways are not as yours. If a body does not go whole to the fires of the ancestors, the smoke of a warrior’s spirit cannot rise to the Great Sky. If I could send Gaekhen’s body to the Great Sky with honor and dignity, his father and brothers would listen to me and stay their wrath—the talks of peace between my people and yours could continue. But he was not just murdered. His body was taken from the scene of his death, sold by a peddler of corpses to a necromancer known as Rolth, a criminal to both our peoples. I have spoken with the spirits, and they have revealed to me that Gaekhen’s body has been taken to a place below this city’s graveyard, a place the spirits call the Dead Warrens.
“With this knowledge, I could surely lead a group of my finest warriors into your graveyard to retrieve Gaekhen’s body, but this would be seen as an act of aggression by your people. No, it falls to you to make amends for what has been done. You must bring me Gaekhen’s body, lest we be forced to recover him ourselves. And although it pains my heart to say it, we will not be gentle if it comes to this.”
As he finishes his tale, he stands, nods curtly to Cressida and leaves the room.
"I am sorry for his... brusqueness, but he is not wrong. This is a dangerous and terrible situation. Honestly, someone tied to the city needs to be the ones that do this, and you folks have been building a small reputation, even if you don't realize it. Also, we have a calm time right now and things seem to be getting back to normal again. Sending a squadron of guards out could destabilize the situation again."
She leans in close to Faust and whispers.
"Our acquaintance from the other day is fine, not sure if you've heard the rumors or not, but something else is going on at the castle."
"Of course I can offer compensation for this job, but I do hope you can get started on it right away."
Faust just nods and smirks at the whispered comment. If it is to bring closure to a family then I will get to it right away. I was unable to get closure when my parents died because of Lamm, so I know what it feels like to not have closure. Faust pauses a moment to not get choked up. I do not want anyone to feel that kind of pain. We will leave immediately.
Before Faust goes to leave. Do we know anymore ok this Rolth guy?
“Ahh...funny that you mention Lamm. Rolth is the son of Gaedren and has long been a thorn in my side. A failed Academae student, Rolth’s a monster of a man who was expelled after the true nature of his experiments were revealed. He was butchering vagrants, stray animals, and anything else he could get his hands on to try to build some sort of golem from their collected parts. The Academae didn’t press charges because it didn’t want to cause a scene—it just quietly expelled him and the man’s been trouble ever since. He might or might not be in the Dead Warrens, but anything you can find there that could lead to his arrest would be greatly appreciated.”
She nods to the team.
“We have the man who sold Gaekhen’s body to Rolth in custody: a simpleton named Elkaris. He spilled everything when we told him what was going on and how much trouble he was in. In any event, Elkaris says he delivered the body via wheelbarrow to a partially collapsed mausoleum deep in Potter’s Ward, near the southern edge of the Grey. A toppled and headless statue of a sword-wielding gargoyle lay in the dirt near the mausoleum’s entrance—he was told to leave the body behind the gargoyle. This location matches where Thousand Bones believes the Shoanti burial grounds called the Dead Warrens are located, so that’s the best place to start the search.”
Good luck out there.
Tensei will nod to the commander and then look to his team. shall we take care of this hastily, I do not wish to have this necromancer spark a war between these people.
Hue nods. "When a friend asks for help, you help. Allonsey!"
What happens if we are unable to bring in Rolth alive?
Hue squints his eyes, stands up straight with his shoulders back, and faces Faust. "Well, good buddy, the question sort of answers itself, doesn't it? If we can't bring him in alive, then we bring him in dead. Now, who's ready for a scrap? Behset? Tensei? Faust?"
Faust nods his head. Sure I'm ready for a scrap. Faust motions everyone to head out.
Heading into the Gray, the team starts to search for the entrance to the Dead Warrens in Potter's Field. Many of the graves here appear to be mass graves or for paupers.
Quickly enough, Behset and Tensei spot wheelbarrow tracks that lead them to a spot matching the description given by Cressida.
Searching the area, Faust spots a fairly well hidden trapdoor that leads down into darkness.
always ready for a scrap!
Outside you spot several smaller tracks as well that seems to be concentrated in this area that look a lot like Derro footprints. Small, blue humanoids with wild hair and a bit of resistance to magic.
Faust will pull out his scimitar. We should probably stay alert if there are a lot of these Derro then. Then Faust will move in.
Hue draws his bow and readies an arrow, then heads in keeping an eye out of traps.
Heading down into the darkness, you find that there are small, bluish mushrooms sprouting nearly everywhere. They glow with a cold, dim light. The air is musty and damp, with the stink of rotten flesh lingering faintly behind it all. The hallway is tight, barely enough for a human to stand upright, sloping downward. At the bottom, it opens up into a larger chamber.
This large room is supported by four wide pillars of stone. The ceiling above arches in a dome nearly twenty feet high. The walls are lined with skeletons caked into the mud—adult human bones mostly, but here and there smaller bones might be from halflings or perhaps children. Fifteenfoot-square pits sit to the east and west, each filled with a large heap of hundreds of bones. To the south, a crude hole has been gouged out of the wall, providing access to a tunnel.
Round 1
20 Yellow
17 Red
15 Blue
14 Green
11 Faust, 22/22, panache 3/3
11 Tensei, 30/30
09 Hue, 25/25
08 Orange
05 Behset, 21/21
Clattering to life, several skeletons rise up out of the pits. Their eyes burning red as they approach the party. Three of the human shaped skeletons shift and move towards Faust and Behset, while a fourth, and much larger skeleton lumbers out of the other pit towards Hue and Tensei.
The large skeleton with a beak moves up and tries to peck at Tensei, but misses.
Yellow moves up close to Behset and looks menacingly at the Strix.
Faust is going to try to Parry the first attack.
Faust fails to parry and takes the claw.
Faust will attack Green.
Tensei will activate his justice judgement and then strike the owl bear with a destructive smite attack