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The papers Pooka found and that Haduo spread out upon a side table appear to be incomplete notes. Clearly several pages are missing, and one diagram is only half drawn, as if it was continued on a facing leaf. The text is written in a patois of Common and some other language that none of you are familiar with.
Without the ability to make heads or tails of the technical terms or parse the phrasing, the party is left to proceed to Kellvan’s room. After receiving no answer from repeated knocks, you ….
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Nordvick sulks into the lounge as you examine the papers, but stands well away form the rest of the party and other guests. He points out the metal tray containing a portion of the evening’s meal that sits untouched just outside the room, commenting that he left that there before the seance.
Dehliana hangs back as if content to let the Pathfinders do what they are known for throughout Avistan - kicking in doors, for one thing. Though in this case, Jonas knocks politely and then finds the door to be unlocked.
He opens the door while Gwen is still getting her tools out, and Haduo and the others watch cautiously. This run-down suite contains a four-post bed, a mahogany chest of drawers, and an iron woodstove filled with smoldering coals. The bedclothes are undisturbed. The suite’s only signs of habitation are a pair of muddy riding boots discarded near the door and a greatcoat draped over a bedpost.
A quick search of the room reveals…. {DUM, DUM, DUMMMM}
The inspector lies face-down on the floor near his bed, his throat cut and the pool of blood already congealed and cold.
There is a warrant in Kellvan’s pocket, and though vague, is certainly of interest the you. This wax-sealed scroll states that Kellvan has the authority to search the trading post for evidence related to unsolved—and unspecified—crimes.
Kellvan and Dehliana wait outside in the lounge, though Selik joins you excited by the mystery.
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Haduo audibly gasps as the inspector's room is unlocked and his corpse is revealed.
"Egads! The Inspector is dead! Whodunnit?" He exclaims out loud.
The curious Leshy gets his wooden fingers on the Boots of Elvenkind. For safekeeping, of course. Definitely not for flipping for Bottled Sunlight gold later.
Before the party goes out of Kellvan's room, Haduo whispers to the other Pathfinders; "We don't know who is on our side and who is working for the devil. We had best be careful. I think we can trust Dehliana though, since she's such a powerful and accurate soothsayer following a great and honest deity like Razmir. Tell her and only her about the warrant." The Leshy reasons without a lick of irony in his voice.
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"Aw dangs...guy was just trying to do his jobs," Pooka sighs at the discovery of Kellvan's already-cold body. "Surpriseds whoever did this didn't take the warrants..."
Glancing back towards the lounge, she adds, "Kellvan seemed really interesteds in Dehliana and her Harrow readings earlier. And I think her and Annavinia were the onlys others besides Kellvan who left the common room before dinners. The rest of us stayeds and Nordvick was working in the kitchens."
"They probably won't likes it, but we might needs to search other people's rooms. I thinks we should try askings nicely first and mention the warrants only if that doesn't work?"
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Eran and Jonas check over the crime scene, but uncover no clues. If someone was here, they might have been wearing slippers to prevent leaving boot or shoe prints.
Turns towards Nordvick [b}Ye, in what you have seen, has the devil trun into this type of. . . disposal in the past?[/b]
Nordvick blanches at the sight of yet another dead body in the inn. But at Jonas’ question, he shakes his head slowly. ”No. No, Zirzip doesn’t kill that way. And to be fair, I don’t know that the foul thing actually does the killing himself. The bodies I’ve had to dispose of were either just dead with no wounds or … weird. There was one that wasn’t even human anymore, and another that had been frozen into stone and then painted gold. I don’t think those are imp powers, but it’s not like he’s going to tell me what’s going on.”
He moves back into the room and sits on a couch. ”No, none that I saw ever died in so mundane a way.”
”Well, if you ask me,” Dehliana begins as she pointedly moves away from the big man to stand closer to Haduo, ”I think there’s some doubt to be had at what he says.” Nordvick looks up at that as anger grows in his face, but he holds his tongue. ”Obviously the two of them are working together - he admitted so himself, so why wouldn’t he want to divert suspicion onto one of the other guests? He could have killed him when he delivered the dinner, and then just left it outside as part of his alibi. Maybe it’s time for you Pathfinders to search his room?” she suggests.
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Gwen sighs as they find Kellvan's body. "Well, so much for some help. And he was so handsome too."
Gwen keeps close to Dehliana as they move to search Nordvick's room. "Perhaps, your room is next, my dear. You were the one in touch with the spirit too. I think there's a bit more you can tell us."
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As accusations begin to fly, Pooka frowns at Dehliana. "Hey nows, we can't be throwings out accusations like that with no proofs. To be fairs and for the sake of justice, we may needs to look at all the rooms here...like Gwen says."
"Also, this mights be a really good time for anyones who knows anythings else that might be important to let us know."
She gives Dehliana a pointed look.
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Nordvick’s room is a closet-like chamber that contains a cot and a wooden writing desk stacked with papers and a leather-bound book. The stone chimney column built into the eastern wall provides pleasant, radiant warmth.
The coziness is spoiled by the mass of spattered blood on the floor and walls, and a bloodied axe leaning against the doorframe! Dehliana gasps and begins to say something when Nordvick rushes forward to grab the axe. His intention in doing so is unclear, but quickly rendered moot when the obvious illusion dissipates as soon as he interacts with it. ”I told you, I don’t kill them,” he says sadly as he turns with empty hands. ”The Spirit did that, to make me look bad,” he finishes with a glare at Dehliana.
”You lot will want to look at this,” he says as he points to the ancient ledger on the desk. ”It’s a record of the trading post’s guests and employees. The names that are crossed out; those are victims who died or disappeared. The disappeared ones are the ones I never saw after Zirzip did whatever he’s doing to them. “
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Haduo stares at the dry herbs with a look of horror on his face.
"By Shizuru, that...that looks like cousin Johnny. It's terrible what happened to those herbs!" He cries out in horror.
When Haduo pulls the sack of herbs out and exclaims in horror, Nordvick slumps down into the desk chair. ”Them there’s the remains of the previous groundskeeper. He was an old man, and he died right before I showed up about 12 years ago now. I don’t know how he died. Didn’t ask, don’t care. My first task as Zirzip’s accomplice was to dispose of the ol’ man’s corpse.” He stops to rub his hands together at the pain of the memory. ”I originally buried him in the garden. Figured he’d like it out there. But I’ve been plagued by dreams of animals unearthing the corpse for years. When I heard rumors that an inspector planned to visit Devil’s Rest a few days ago, I dug him up and put him in the bag where I could keep ‘im from getting discovered.”
"So what's in the root cellar? I mean, besides roots?"
”Death. Death is down there with the roots.” He sighs heavily before explaining. ”That’s usually where I find the bodies when Zirzip tells me to dispose of another one. Not always, mind you, but usually.”
As Jonas leafs through the book, Nordvick comments that as far as he knows there weren’t ever any Pathfinders amonst the disappeared or dead before he looks back up at Dehliana. ”And tweren’t Zirzip not me that killed the inspector, either.”
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"What, so it's not just the plants in here that are dead, but also the remains of the previous groundskeeper!" Haduo gasps in shock. He grabs the bag and peers into it.
"Why...hang on a second. Though the remains are spoiled by over a decade of decay, the lack of damage to the body from violent trauma and determine that the deceased likely died of natural causes." Haduo pauses. "So you're telling the truth about not killing the previous groundskeeper."
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[dice=Medicine DC 20]1d20 + 13
"What, so it's not just the plants in here that are dead, but also the remains of the previous groundskeeper!" Haduo gasps in shock. He grabs the bag and peers into it.
"Why...hang on a second. Though the remains are spoiled by over a decade of decay, the lack of damage to the body from violent trauma and determine that the deceased likely died of natural causes." Haduo pauses. "So you're telling the truth about not killing the previous groundskeeper."
While idling around, Haduo puts on the boots he picked up earlier.
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”And tweren’t Zirzip not me that killed the inspector, either.”
"Yeahs, I guess cuttings throats wouldn't really be an imp's style," Pooka muses. "So...Zirzip has beens here for some times, probablys. Hey Nordvick, do you know anythings much about the historys of this place? Are theres any records or anythings?"
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”And tweren’t Zirzip not me that killed the inspector, either.”"Yeahs, I guess cuttings throats wouldn't really be an imp's style," Pooka muses. "So...Zirzip has beens here for some times, probablys. Hey Nordvick, do you know anythings much about the historys of this place? Are theres any records or anythings?"
"Like a record of deeds or owners? No, not that I know of."
He heaves a sigh as he stands. "This spirit she summoned," he begins with a glare at Dehliana, "has gotta be one of them that Zirzip did in. I don't recognize the face, but I'm not good with faces anyway."
He steps out of his room into the hall beyond. "Where to next Pathfinders?" he asks.
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Dehliana shrugs nonchalantly at the suggestion to search her room. ”Where’s that Chelaxian woman? Has anyone seen her since she left after my seance? I presume you’ll go there next after satisfying yourselves with a check of my room?”
Dehliana’s room is immediately next door to Nordvick’s. She unlocks the door with her key and makes a sweeping gesture of admittance to you all. The room is furnished with sturdy wooden chests for personal belongings, a porcelain wash basin and mirror, and a feather bed piled high with threadbare quilts.