“We will not barter with ghosts, especially ones like you!” Hiogryl barked, holding his holy symbol of Torag, “Be gone, spirit. The Lady of the Graves is waiting to deliver the judgement your soul deserves!”
The spirit leaves. Everything else is up to you, the adventurers, now.
Azig walks out. "Burn it!"
“Agreed. Place the body in the center, find all the flammable wood you can, and burn this wicked place to ashes.”
Lem drops his torch on the pile of kindling.
Lem drops his torch on the pile of kindling.
The fire starts.
Azig moves across the street to watch.
In about ten minutes, the building is ablaze and begins to burn. It's quite a sight to see, but the old fishery lights up like nothing before.
The backdrop of his old home going up in flames is enough to bring a tear to Daranil's eye. He watches in solemn silence as the glow and the heat wash across his body. His eyes close as he listens to every crack and cackle of wood, to the sounds of debris falling into the water, and to the bustling of the city around him.
"This is a new song, I think..." he mutters, thinking aloud. "I like it."
Lem's smile as the group watches the place burn looks almost wistful. Eventually he looks at Azig. "Whatcha planning on doing with that head?"
Azig considers the flames as Lem asks his question. "Well, she requested burial first. Burning with the building if we couldn't find the head and hands. So.... I guess we should bury her. I wonder if we can just dig the grave in the yard of her home? She didn't specify anything like a family grave yard."
He turns away from the house and looks around the area. No guard presence? Well, they were busy with rioting.
"Let's go bury her. Then maybe off to the castle for the Queen, and her piece of jewelry? I hope there's a reward!"
Hiogryl takes a deep breath, pinching his brows, and grumbles, “Okay. Can someone please catch me up. Who’s head is that? Why do you sound like you know her? And what about the Queen?”
Azig looks at the dwarf. He has a confused expression on his rat face but is fairly certain that the dwarf can't read it. Didn't he call Lamm a Rat.... ??
"I thought I already answered. These are Zelarra's head and hands. Zelarra was killed by Lamm. She was a fortune teller and she helped us. We recovered her Harrow deck, and now her head and hands. After we found the Harrow deck she appeared again and asked us to find her head and hands and bury her. If we couldn't find them she said just burning the place down would do."
"As for the Queen's jewelry.... Seems Lamm somehow 'acquired' a piece that belonged to the Queen. Since we are all good, upstanding citizens, we decided that we should try and return the item to her." He considers mentioning that there was no way any fence in the city would buy it.... No. Probably not a good idea. The dwarf didn't seem to have a sense of humor! "We're hoping that the Queen might be willing to pay a reward, especially since we can explain who had it, and let her know that the thief has already been delivered to his final reward, or punishment."
Lem shakes his head and gestures at the rest of the group. "They're determined to get us all thrown in prison. We're going to get blamed for stealing that gem, I know it. But no risk, no reward, right?"
Azig looks at Lem, this time obviously offended, then shrugs. "They won't throw us in prison for returning her jewelry. No thief just walks up to the owner of the purloined object and nicely returns it. Lamm never would have done that even though I doubt that he actually stole the thing. The worst that will happen is that they will just take it and turn us away. The best? They pay a little reward and the Queen knows that we're good people."
"So. Shall we go and bury Zelarra? I don't want to be carrying body parts to the castle!"
Lem shakes his head. "You act like you've never talked to a copper before. They'll throw someone in irons for looking at them funny. Misplacing the Queen's jewelry is embarrassing for the folks guarding said loot. But someone's got to be there to break us all out of jail."
He shrugs his narrow shoulders. "Yeah, let's go bury her in her yard. She'll probably like it there."
Hiogryl sighs, “I apologize if I forgot. I didn’ expect to see Gaedren’s ghost and I needed to see if I was sleepin’ or awake.”
The dwarf pats Lem’s shoulder-probably a little too hard-and says, “Well, if ye be arrested, I shall vouche for ya. ‘nyone willin’ to risk their necks o’er stoppin’ a bastard criminal like Gaedren cannot be considered criminals in me eyes.”
"Well, let's hope that the queen can appreciate the good work we're doing for her fine city, from finding jewelry to disposing of refuse. But Lem's right, let's give a proper send-off to our ghostly patron before we take this bauble to its home."
Two guards approach you.
"Did you start this fire?" one asks.
Hiogryl tries to say calmly, but unfortunately comes across as a bit gruff, "The place was condemned as the hideout of a criminal, it was abandoned beforehand."
Azig looks at the guards. ”Are you familiar with the criminal, Lamm? I think I saw his ghost. He was heading that way.”
He points in the direction that the ghost went. ”I saw flames right after it left”
Bridgette answers the guard
"Oh this place, it was Run down and Lamm was using it.
I've heard he making fake certificates for some of his stolen goods,
and I heard kerosene is used in that process and anyone with half a brain knows how flammable that stuff is.
Maybe an ember dropped from his cigar and lit up the place."
"We were just passing by, officer!" Lem smiled his biggest, most disarming smile and did his best to look non-threatening. At 3 feet tall, his best was very good. Who would ever suspect such an innocent looking young man of nefarious deeds such as arson?
"Whoa," says the guard. "Maybe it was an accident. Well, we don't chase goats. Or ghosts. Call a ghostbuster."
The masked elf chuckles a bit. "Well, things happen. It's been rather exciting around here, hasn't it? Especially with the riots."
He then turns to his allies and clasps his hands together. "Well! We should probably step a safe distance away from the fire and prepare to move on with our business, yes? I wouldn't blame any of you for warning to gawk at it a little bit longer, of course."
Lem nods. "Yep, we should probably get going." The halfling starts to do just that, walking toward the owner of the head and hands' house.
"Whoa," says the guard. "Maybe it was an accident. Well, we don't chase goats. Or ghosts. Call a ghostbuster."
Bridgette then asks the guard
"Which Ghostbuster's company are you referring to, as there are two companies that offer Ghostbusting services,
one from Company F which was the first one offering the service, and then company CP and Dick that is a bit more well known."
Azig nods. "The guard is here to protect anyone from stupid stuff, like this fire. Let's get going then."
The house of Zellara is going to be owned by the bank soon. It's a nice little home. Although by the time you arrive, it feels to be at peace. Are you ready to bury the head and hands of Zellara?
Hiogryl looks at the group with pure confusion. What in Torag's chin whiskers was going on?
Azig looks around the property for a good spot. Assuming there isn't a family graveyard perhaps a spot with proper sunlight in the morning for some flowers to grow over the grave? Finding the right spot he starts digging. He doesn't have a shovel, but does have daggers to break up the soil.
"Does anyone have a shovel? If not, I can break the ground with my dagger and dig it out with my claws."
The arcanist shrugs. "Buying one should be easy enough. I'm sure the rioters didn't tear down every general store in the neighborhood. Perhaps the dearly departed's home has a tool shed out back?"
"I'll go look!" The halfling eagerly rushes out to see if there's anything in the back yard. They're already planning on looting the dead woman's house for anything of value, so why not start in the yard?
You find that the backyard of the house does have a tool shed.
The halfling tries the doors to see if they're locked.
Azig looks for a small shovel. He's not big enough to use a human sized one....
The halfling tries the doors to see if they're locked.
They are locked.
“Aye, I’ll bury her,” Hirogryl says, then looks at the halfling struggling, “Once we get the shovel that is.”
Azig reaches to open the door of the shed, then notices the lock. ”Hmm. Okay then.” He digs in his belt pouch and pulls out his lock picks. ”Erm. Hiogryl? I think I heard something in the house. Maybe you could check that out.”
Hiogryl raises an eyebrow. "Lock picking a dead woman's toolshed, eh?"
Azig shrugs. "Sorry. I need a shovel to honor her last request. I'll lock it back up once she's buried."
“That’s all I ask,” the dwarf nods.
Lem shrugs. "She's dead, who cares?" The halfling seems utterly unconcerned with the idea of a deceased person's property rights.
You managed to open the lock with a *click*.
Azig opens the door to the tool shed and looks for a shovel. Finding it he hands it to Hiogryl. "I'll lock it back up once we're done."
The dwarf goes to work digging a grave, not saying a word.
Lem roots around in the shed to see if there's anything valuable in it .
Lem roots around in the shed to see if there's anything valuable in it .
There is a gold plated rake in the shed.
Azig watches as Lem searches in the tool shed. With Hiogryl digging, he is fairly certain that the halfling isn't searching for hidden treasures.... to steal.
"I don't think there's another shovel, in case you were thinking of helping Hiogryl dig the grave for Zellara's head and hands? And it looks like he's about deep enough. Did you perhaps want to say any final prayer for her?"