Skinsaw Cult's Victims' Bodies (spoilers)

[Adjoint]

In The Skinsaw Murders it is written that

The Skinsaw Murders wrote:

Lately, the cultists have taken to capturing victims alive and returning here to watch Ironbriar perform the Sihedron ritual upon the bodies before they are slain — disposal of these bodies generally falls to two lesser cultists while the rest clean up the place.

With the Cult being careful not to leave any traces, I would assume that means the bodies being destroyed, or at least or at least handled in a way that they wouldn't be found for a long time. For example ground in the mill or sunk in the sea. Assuming they do it since Ironbriar learned the ritual, there would be no bodies with Sihedron rune found, and there would be no rumors of murders in Magnimar, just of disappearances.

I don't think that would change much, as even if the PCs were to learn that the people of Magnimar are being killed in the same way as Aldern was doing it, they aren't supposed to find any clues with that alone - they still need to visit Foxglove's Townhouse and find a document linking Aldern with the Seves's Sawmill. So I decided to present it to my players as disappearances, though they will probably learn the details later on.

I'd like to ask you if you notice any potential problems or complications that may follow from this change.

[Kalshane]

It's up to you how you want to run it.

Personally I made the murders known about and played up the paranoia in the city, especially among the nobility. It allowed my PCs to feel like they were continuing their investigation into the murders in Sandpoint (I had a pair of great RP encounters with the Tower Girls and with Maiveer Sloan at the Aspis Consortium as the party hunted for more information as to what was going on) rather than simply following the rails from the Misgivings to the Townhouse to the Sawmill to the Shadow Clock.

[Adjoint]

Well, the letter found in the Misgivings makes it clear that Aldern was performing those killing on someone's orders, so my PCs are also still following the investigation. There's just no proof that the disappearances in Magnimar have anything to do with it. Instead I have provided a red herring by using the Dawn of the Scarlet Sun module.

And while people going missing isn't as alarming as finding them dead and obviously subjected to some kind of ritual, it was still enough to cause rumors and make some people paranoid, especially those who had connections with at least a couple of the targets.

But what you said made me think: as written, the city watch doesn't have any leads on the case of this murders/disappearances, but you're right maybe some other organizations do. How did you link the Sczarni and the Aspis Consortioum to this, were they able to provide any useful information?

[Kalshane]

The Sczarni were because of the group's alchemist who grew up an orphan in Magnimar and had criminal contacts.

The Tower Girls themselves didn't have a lot of information, though they were able to drop additional hints about the greed connection among the victims. Prior to that point, the party had been focusing more on who the killer was, rather than the why. Discovering that Aldern wasn't the only one conducting these killings led them to try to figure out the motive, as well as the overall driving force behind it. They had a name (Xanesha) but knew nothing about her.

I actually handled this part of the investigation via email, so I can directly quote some of her responses.

Quote:

Elsa frowns at the star medallion. "There's been murders like that all over the city for months. Not many down here. The occasional thief or pimp. It's been much more common outside of the slums. It's what got the raya all in a twist. They're not used to these types of killings in their backyards. Usually it's a poisoned cup, or a sudden "vacation" somewhere warm that they never seem to come home from." She chuckles darkly. "Some of the younger ones..." Elsa glances in Mina's direction, "Think it's The Scarecrow." She shakes her head. "Nursery tales don't normally cut people's faces off, though." She shrugs. "Most of the people down here aren't too concerned. Some even think the victims are getting their comeuppance."

Quote:

"I don't know of any Skinsaw Man. There are rumors of a cult here in town who worship something they call 'Father Skinsaw'. It is said they steal the faces of those they kill, but they've been around for ages, and the Star Murders are recent."

Elsa frowns. "I do recall meeting a Lady Xanesha at a party I was matching at. She wasn't my mark so I didn't pay her much mind. Seem to recall her being cozy with a fortune-teller named Ironbriar. I think he's the beak in charge of the Star Murder case."

"I don't know of a Seven Star Mill. There is a Seven's Sawmill down on the Kylet Isle with the other mills."

So they didn't get a lot of information out of them, but it was a great little RP sequence. I left out a lot of the back and forth from that conversation as it was mostly character and setting-related stuff.

As for the Aspis Consortium, I used a Foxglove Ledger handout that someone had posted in the Community Created Content thread. One of the items contained in the ledger was a large payment to the Consortium. The party thought was odd and decided that while the party's lowlifes (the alchemist, half-orc fighter and half-elf rogue) went to talk to the Tower Girls the more respectable PCs (noble human fighter, noble human wizard and the human cleric) would go to the Consortium posing as business associates of Aldern who were looking after his affairs while he was out of town. (I actually had no intention of involving the Consortium and actually had to quickly look up what their deal was before we went through the scene.) The noble fighter had a really high Linguistics score and had known Aldern, so he was able to make some pretty believable forgeries in Aldern's name.

Unfortunately for them, Maiveer Sloan had heard about Aldern's death (since the party were pretty vocal in Sandpoint about the Skinsaw Man being Aldern Foxglove and they had killed him.) and the Consortium also had a pair of Spectacles of Understanding they used to help verify any documents presented to them. Rather than alerting the authorities, Sloan decided to invite the party into his office for an information exchange (as well as to offer them future employment, should they need it, as the Constortium can always use more people of their skill set.)

Quote:

The clerk leads you down a hall into a lavish office with a large window framing a stunning view of the Irespan stretching out into the bay. Sitting behind the desk is a gaunt man of Taldan descent, his brown hair and neatly-trimmed beard lightly flecked with silver. The spectacles, or ones very much like them, that the clerk was wearing before are perched on his nose and he holds Aleksandr's note in his hand, a slight smile on his face. In the back corner looms a rather large Shoanti man, appearing to look at nothing, yet you get the impression he's very much aware of you as you enter the room. "Gentlemen, please have a seat," he gestures to three comfortable chairs arranged in front of his desk. "My name is Maiveer Sloan, I am the Director of the Bronze House and senior associate of the Consortium here in Magnimar."

Once you all are seated (assuming you do so), the clerk bows to Sloan and closes the door behind him. "I have to say, I wasn't expecting to find the Heroes of Sandpoint on my doorstep, particularly not with a forged note from a dead man," he smiles broadly. "This note is excellent work, by the way. I have a fairly good eye for these things, and I doubt I could have sussed it out unaided." He taps the spectacles. "Peabody is beside himself about it. He was certain you had passed him a legitimate paper, and he's not often wrong. Of course, as far as he knows, Aldern Foxglove still lives, so he had little reason to doubt its contents."

"I have brought you here, rather than summoning the city watch for trying to defraud my organization, to offer you a deal. I know things you undoubtedly wish to know, or else you wouldn't have come here under false pretenses. And you, my friends, know things I wish to know. So I am proposing a simple trade of information, question for question. However, there are some ground rules:"

"One, I am bound by confidentiality agreements with my clients. I am well within my rights to refuse to answer a question under those grounds. However, I will allow you to ask an additional question, should that circumstance arise. However, if that answer is also confidential, you will be forced to forfeit your question. Otherwise we could be here all day."

"Two, each party will be allowed to ask a minimum of five questions. After five questions have been asked, either party may choose to end the exchange."

"Three, I will allow you to refuse to answer one of my questions. However, once that choice is made, it cannot be unmade. For example, if you choose not to answer my second question, you cannot later choose to answer it in favor of refusing my fourth question."

"Four, if I believe you are lying to me at any time, this agreement is over and I will summon the Watch to arrest you. I would warn you that I'm just as good at spotting spoken lies as I am written ones."

"Those are the rules. If you do not agree to those rules, then this conversation is over and I will instead summon the Watch. Do we have an agreement?

The exchange goes back-and-forth with Sloan mostly asking the party about the Catacombs of Wrath and the Runewell (they chose "How is the Runewell used to summon sinspawn?" as their one refused question), the ruins beneath Thistletop as well as what they found beneath Foxglove manor.

Quote:

"Aldern's ledger indicated that he invested a sizable sum of money with your organization, for what purpose would an indebted man invest such a large amount, when he was still far from completing repairs on his Manor."

Sloan shrugs. "I can't speak for the mind of a desperate man, though I can tell you Lord Foxglove funded a treasure-hunting expedition to the Mwangi Expanse. These sort of things tend to be high-risk, high reward. I would imagine that much like a gambler betting his last coins on a final roll of the dice, Lord Foxglove was hoping to regain his fortune by funding this expedition."

Quote:

"What do you know about the Star Murders?"

Sloan gets a smug smile on his face, as he's obviously given this much thought. "I know the victims are found with their face and jaw removed, and a seven-pointed star carved into their chest. The star appears to be carved prior to the victim's death rather than after, though the reasons for such are unclear. The removal of the jaw is likely an attempt to circumvent someone using a Speak with Dead spell to ask the very obvious question. The removal of the face would appear to be an attempt to disguise the victim's identity, but is at odds with the fact that no further attempt at obfuscation is made, which suggests the collection is fetishist in nature. The victims appear to be from all walks of life, but the majority are relatively wealthy, though their purse is only sometimes taken, which rules out financial motive." He pauses a moment to let that all sink in. "Finally, the Star Murders have only been happening for months, but bear a resemblance to other murders that have been going on far longer."

Some cross-talk asking about who the Brothers of the Seven are and who made the Sihedron medallion, resulting in a two-fer answer. (Sloan let it slide since he couldn't really answer either question.)

Quote:

"Alas, the Brothers of the Seven are a secret I'm not privy to, though I am curious what relation they have to your previous line of inquiry." He looks at the amulet. "It appears Thassilonian in origin, so likely whoever or whatever created it is long dead. Though I would be interested to discover how this crazed priestess came into possession of it. Why is its creator so important to you?"

Disappointed, Dudley rewraps the pendant and returns it to his robes before continuing.

"We believe it has some connection to the attacks and murders in Sandpoint, and that those tie into a larger plot involving Thassilonian lore. We would like to know who is responsible, and prevent further tragedies."

"What are the names of the people you believe responsible for the Star Murders?"

Sloan strokes his beard. "Interesting. Everyone in Magnimar believes the Brothers to simply be a very exclusive social club. Those who have even heard of them in the first place, that is. As for the Star Murders, I believe it is either a murder-cult named The Skinsaw Men, or some off-shoot of that group. The Skinsaw Men have operated in Magnimar almost since its founding. The face-stealing was their signature, of sorts. However, their victims were usually people of influence. Not necessarily power, but influence. But there were no Star Carvings and the murders were infrequent. The Star Murders, on the other hand, having been claiming nearly a victim a night, and seem to be related to wealth, as I mentioned before."

"What makes you suspect the Brothers are connected to the Star Murders?"

Jormun replies "Aldern was mixed up with the murders and in his belongings we found he had dealings with the Brothers. There is most likely no connection between the Brothers and the murders. I was simply attempting to save time chasing what is most-likely a dead lead. You seemed to be knowledgeable of the events in this area and I thought perhaps you could provide some information to help close that line of our investigation."

Aleksandr nods and asks"What have you heard about a woman named Xanesha?"

Sloan looks between Jormun and Aleksandr. "The Lady Xanesha is a minor noblewoman out of Veldraine whom I have met at several society functions, though only in passing. She is tall, dark-haired, strikingly beautiful and flightier than a flock of pesh-addled pigeons. I don't recall ever seeing her speaking to Aldern Foxglove, and as I mentioned before, I know nothing of the Brotherhood's membership, though the idea of someone not native to Magnimar being a member is surprising to me, let alone someone of her mental capacity. If she is the dark master behind the Star Murders, then she's a better actress than any diva to grace the stage of the Triodea."

Sloan opens his mouth to presumably ask another question, when there is a knock at the door. "Yes, Peabody?"

The clerk pokes his head in. "Sorry to interrupt, sir, but your next appointment has arrived."

Sloan grunts. "Well, gentlemen, it appears our conversation is at an end. I found it most enlightening, but I'm afraid I must bid you good day. However, please know that should you find the small town hero business lacking, I am certain I can find men of your abilities very lucrative opportunities with the Consortium. Peabody will show you out."

Again, no real information they couldn't have found elsewhere (though they hadn't made the connection between the jaw removal and Speak with Dead) but some fun RP and I got to play up just how good at deception Xanesha was to have fooled someone as obviously competent as Sloan.