Having vanquished Hrothgarr the Terrible in Dulled Quartz, our inquisitives decided to visit the Thieves' Market in Stormreach before hitching a ride back to Sharn in the White Seele, both to pawn off their ill gotten gains, and to secure an elemental core for the airship. It would have been a relatively uneventful shopping trip too, if not for Chris shooting his mouth off whilst bartering for a better price on above said ill gotten gains.
As it turned out, his rude comments angered a Cleric of Kol'Korran, and things quickly went south from there. Jacquesaurs turned invisible and retreated really quickly, singing an Allegro as he did so. Stab too, tried to hide in plain sight, leaving Chris to fend for himself. Fortunately, Chris was not a complete pansy, and ducked onto a table, where he erected a wall of fire to shelter himself. Eventually, Stab passed our errant warlock a gas form potion, which he quaffed, before he too, ran away. Chris oozed his way past his attackers, and flowed into a drain pipe, only to find himself flushed by a gush of water, and later stoppered in a jar. Stab's quick thinking, and a helpful disguise that turned him into the chief cleric of the adjacent temple though, allowed him to rescue Chris before his gassy ass was toasted.
Returning to Sharn, our inquisitives discovered that much had changed in the past two weeks - a fire had ravaged the Cogs. One of the coal shafts deep in Blackbones and Khyber's Gate had ignited, and the blaze still raged two weeks on. The air in Sharn was black and choked with soot, and a perpetual ash fell like dirty snow, blanketing the town. Martial law and a curfew had been put in effect for the sake of public safety, public sky coaches were inoperable, and flying of any sort was hazardous, thanks to the low visibility.
Similarly, a string of sensational murders had taken place in the past two weeks, murders that taxed the already strained resources of the Sharn Watch to the breaking point. There was a serial killer on the loose, one with a self-styled artistic flair and an unusual modus operandi - he would send gaudily descriptive prose, written in blood or red ink to the Sharn Watch and the Sharn Inquisitive to publicize and describe his deeds in gory detail. Already, a Morgrave University professor of literature and a prostitute from Firelight had fallen prey to this depraved murderer, and it seemed, there was soon to be a third.
Of course, not all news was bad news. Stab had in fact received a letter from Lady Zelina suggesting that they date (which was exaggerated wildly in the press as an engagement) and our dear 'locksmith' had been informed that the good Baron had set him up with a deputy-ship with the Sharn Watch that included a decent salary and staff benefits. And then there was the mandatory letter in the inbox from Captain Travish of the Sharn Watch. Demanding that the group head down to see her as soon as they were back.
So they did.
As it turned out, Captain Travish was keen to start Stab off on his road to becoming a Watch officer. The Baron had insisted, very strongly, that they give Stab a chance to prove himself, and the perfect opportunity had presented itself. With the Watch's manpower bollocksed by the fire and the pollution, the inquisitives were given the task of tracking down the serial killer, dubbed the Raven, and stopping him before he strikes next.
After checking the handwritten notes sent to the Sharn Watch, and the sizeable collection of cleric's reports about the first two murders, our inquisitives decided to split up into three groups - Stab and Chris headed to Firelight to look for the house of the second victim - Elisna e'Claire, while Jacquesaurs and Vicks went to Morgrave University to interview people who might know Professor Litan ir'Tassan. Picadilly stayed behind at the watch house to puzzle over the latest note, which described a Star in the Darkness.
The investigation turned out to be full of strange twists and turns. Interviewing one of the prostitutes' colleagues in the skin trade, Chris and Stab discovered that the victim was a typical prostitute - promiscuous, cheap, and with a distaste for gnomes. Nothing that would have gotten her killed. They did however discover that she had complained about being watched by a bird and losing sleep. A crow's feather was also found stuck under one of her bed posts at the site of her murder.
At Morgrave, Jacquesaurs and Vicks questioned the staff and students, and even had their helpers from the agency sift through the writing samples of the professor's students to cross reference for similar writing styles with the culprit, but this turned up a blank. The maid Fennel, who had discovered the professor's body, professed no knowledge of the crime, other than that she had taken him his dinner several days before, and that she'd discovered the body after three days, and had detected a bad smell from the professor's room.
Opening the door, Jacquesaurs and Vicks discovered the window ajar, and everything else otherwise neat and tidy (if ash coated). They spotted several black feathers in the chamber, and a tiny, clawed footprint near the window sill, but nothing truly incriminating.
Later on, once the party reconvened, Picadilly suggested checking the latest note for clues, and after wracking their brains, the inquisitives discovered that there were several paragraphs, just like the notes before, which described a possible victim. The victim would be a famous Star, and there was only one really popular one in town - the Star of Glitterdust, a high classed tavern with cabaret acts complete with magical light shows in the Menthis area.
Travelling there, our inquisitives made the acquaintance of the club bouncers and their badly dressed half-ogre leader Ursk. It didn't take them long to convince the bouncers that they were watch members, and they were led backstage to interview Star. Her initial reaction to the party was cold, and she dismissed them until they mentioned their exploits. She listened with especial interest when they described how they had taken care of Victor Saint-Demain, and consented to let them stay backstage till after her show tonight. She also confessed that she felt like she was being watched in the past week or so, and hoped the inquisitives could be an effective deterrent.
Chris and Vicks blended into the club crowd as the show began, while Jacquesaurs stayed on stage, close enough to protect Star, but far enough away to not interfere with her performance. Picadilly stayed backstage to keep a watchful eye for suspicious activity, while Stab chose to hide in the cabinet in Star's backstage area, in case somebody sneaked in from behind.
True enough, as the show began, Stab noticed the back door creaking open, and something come in. He quickly flipped his eye patch, and discovered a tall, slender figure in a black cape standing over the dresser table. He seemed to be fiddling with some of Star's make up, and even had a large black feather in one hand.
The figure eventually made its way to the cabinet, and that was when Stab attacked and stabbed the figure. As the two tussled, Stab realized that he was squaring off against an elf with a double scimitar, an exotic weapon from distant Valenar. The elf had a crazed look in his eyes, and seemed eager to run Stab through. Stab quickly called for help using his sending stone, and also summoned a beetle from his necklace to buy him time. It worked, and Jacquesaurs rushed in from behind the curtains leading to the main stage to help, a Hold spell at the ready.
The spell took effect, but the figure shrugged it off and pressed the assault. Picadilly heard the noise and joined in, and found the others trying to wrest the scimitar out of the elf's hands. She proceeded to help, but wasn't very effective since the elf was surprisingly stubborn. He shrugged off the spell again, and tried to run away, only to be forced into a corner. He pressed and attacked while he retreated.
Outside, the lights flashed dramatically and there was a puff of wind and smoke. When the smoke cleared, the idol Star was gone. But that wasn't the part of the show. It was then that our inquisitives realized too late that as they were busy stopping the interloper, the Raven had snatched Star from under their noses.
What will happen next week in our energy charged and highly investigative murder mystery?
Same time, same day. Stay tuned to Eberron Mystery Theatre to find out.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment