Snapping at their Heels (Running man IC)

[DoctorGlock]

Tammerlin, slums. 148 Seers Lane, Apt 14.
3:06 AM
[Party 2]

'I hope you all follow me shortly,' the bloodied elf spits, blood mixing with phlegm as it hits the floor as he strains against his ropes. With a sigh, the drow re sheathes his knife before walking over to the bed and picking up a pillow. 'If he knows anything, he sure isn't saying,' the Irshedai man says flatly. 'I'm sure we could go another hour, just to be safe,' another says with a furious grin. The first shrugged and placed the pillow over the elf's battered face, muffling his curses. 'Waste of time really, the way I see it hours count. The Collective wants the bastard too, and not to stand trial.'

He unsheathes a wand as he speaks, glancing at it as if to check something before pushing its cold barrel into the pillow. His finger twitches against the spell trigger and the wand barks sharply, muffled by the improvised silencer. A spray of down feathers, blood, skull and brains paint the rear wall. 'Paint it up and let's go,' he says to the other before turning to the rest of you and flashing a sheaf of papers from the looted desk against the wall.

'We got whoever he's been talking to, and another Elfensturm dead. Not the worst night.'

Spoiler

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Ok. You got a little while to search the place and stark making plans. But not too long, someone's bound to have heard something, and even here the law will show up eventually.

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Tammerlin, slums. 148 Seers Lane, Apt 14.
9:17 AM
[Party 1]

'The fate of all Dominion' is painted with blood on the wall above the image of the twin headed Dominion Eagle, the blood running down the wall above the mostly headless figure. It's likely that dental records would be needed for any positive identification now. The room has been torn apart, evidently twice now, first by whomever shot the elf tied to the chair, and second by the OSS men who had established the perimeter and were now scouring the place for evidence.

A low ranking officer lifts the yellow crime scene rope and reaches out with a gloved hand to move some feathers aside and grimaces. 'Hell with records, you got your ear to the ground Voss, you know who lived here?'

Spoiler

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knowledge local Investigation check for all the rumors and whatnot. Any of you can roll it, the pencil pusher just assumes Voss would have

[AinSoph]

[Party 1]

Voss chews slowly on a tobacco leaf, pacing back and forth in front of the hovel, eyeing it up as he listens to the officer.

Spoiler: Investigation roll

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First roll of the game, here we go.
(1d20+9)[12]

[Irish Musician]

Seize, Warforged "Retriever"
[Party 1]

Seize stand tall as he looks at the grizzly scene before him. It does not affect him as it might being that have emotions and stomachs. He simply looks at the scene as it is, the half headed elf dead in the chair and the place looking as though a tornado blew threw it. Seize generally only has information based on the link to records he has in his head, but he tries to remember if he has heard anything as well.

Spoiler

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(1d20-1)[7], Seize doesn't investigate, but lets see what happens.

However, he will roll a perception check to find any clues other might have missed (1d20+6)[16]

He speaks up in a slightly monotone and robotic voice, "I do not recall anything of the occupant."

[DoctorGlock]

Spoiler: Perception

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Perception

Blood stains the ground around the chair, it's obvious that he was tortured first. Lack of defensive wounds on his knuckles means he was likely taken by surprise. Importantly though, the cracked and uneven patch of plaster on the left wall that borders the bathroom probably conceals a hidden safe or similar. No evidence markers means the cleanup crew missed it, if anything was there.

Spoiler: Investigation

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Investigation

Nope, you can recall squat. Your contacts had nothing on this guy. Your best bet might be old school door knocking. Blech.

[Irish Musician]

Seize, Warforged "Retriever"
Party 1

Seize's eyes narrow as he looks at a place on the wall. He walks over to it, kneels down, and starts to scrape at the wall with his metal hands. "There seems to be something under this wall that was missed." Seize goes to town on the drywall, doing his best to remove enough to see what is behind it, but not damage the thing that is hiding.

Spoiler

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Athletics check if need be (1d20+8)[13] ? If you want Str, it is only a +5

[DoctorGlock]

Spoiler

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Nah, it's just plaster, fairly loose at that, If you notice it you can get to it

Steel fingers scrape at the plaster, cracking off a layer thin enough to have been painted on almost. Behind it is a steel hatch, maybe six inches by three. A plaster filled keyhole mars the smooth door. Hidden safe all right, commonplace these days. Common model too, a Liesscher, well made, good steel, fairly priced.

[AinSoph]

He speaks up in a slightly monotone and robotic voice, "I do not recall anything of the occupant."

"That's probably because this place is the back end of nowhere. Sorry officer, few swim in these circles, and those that do tend to drown quick." He sighs, rubs his temples and moves over to the body, surveying the debris the OSS kicked over every which way. He squats and stares hard at the corpse, whereupon Seize clanks and scratches through the plaster. "Good, I was fearing another, deader end. I'll take care of that."

Spoiler: Safecracking

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Check for traps, (1d20+9)[25]
Presume dexterity for thieves' tools, in which case, (1d20+6)[10]. If int, add 2.

After a minute of fiddling, Voss sighs. "No joy." He taps on a section on the safe door. "Seize, strike it here as hard as you can. These models tend to pop open with the right pressure."

Spoiler: OOC

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Voss is using Help for a Seize strength check

[smoke prism]

[PARTY 1]

Seabright Elmore looks at the bloody mess of what was once a elf, any emotion he feel about the situation hidden behind a placid and emotionless mask that most spooks develop in time.

Moving closer to the corpse he looks at the bloody mess and thinks to him self Hmm. Head mostly missing, a great deal of bloodsplatter. The pillow seems to indicate that what ever the device was cause a lot of noise. I wounder whether it was a mundane or magical item."

Seabright then stands up and looks around the house I wonder who actually lived hear ?. He then start to rummage through his knowledge of this area and it's inhabitants.

He then turns to the office and says "I suggest that you canvas the area in case anyone heard or saw anything. Also do you have a time of death ? If so, you need to narrow down the question down to that time frame."

With that Seabright gracefully drifts over to Voss and Seize.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to try and open the safe in a less "brutal" fashion"

Spoiler: OCC

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Trying to workout what the item used to kill the elf was: assuming its arcana: (1d20+3)[16]
Trying to workout who lived hear: investigation: (1d20+5)[16]
Trying to open the chest if Voss and Seize don't object: (1d20+8)[22], if int take away 2

[AinSoph]

Voss beckons Seabright over. "Be my guest. It's embarrassing to resort to a hacksaw, or a Warforged at that."

With that he moves back to the body, and glancing at the officer he says, "Is there anything else you've found? Forced entry, footprints, dropped items, hell, a lot or a little dust? We're going to give this place the once-over before gumshoeing regardless, but you guys did got here before us."

He squats back down in front of the corpse, and takes out his magnifying glass to examine his remains and the immediate area.

Spoiler

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Looking for clues about his identity based on his clothing, or anything strange I might pick up accordingly. Magnifying glass gives advantage for seeing small details.

(1d20+9)[29]
(1d20+9)[19]

[Irish Musician]

Seize, Warforged "Retriever"
Party 1

Seize raises a fist, ready to punch where indicated to him, but then the elf stopped him, offering to try her hand at it. "Proceed." The quip about using warforged and it being embarrassing was completely missed by Seize, though he did hear it. He watched the small, funny-looking gnome ask the officer some things. He was pretty sure this one was a male....but the one opening the safe had to be a female....or maybe it was a male. The fair-skinned ones with pointy ears confused him greatly. In fact, the only reason Seize ever refers to himself as male is because that is how he was programmed. But he is quite awful as telling gender in the races.....he's always getting it wrong.

[lenon3579]

Party 2

Koiron watches silently to all that, only glancing to the floor quickly as the first Irshedai guy do the killing. Then he surveys the room, thinking if there is somewhere that wasn't so thorougly searched or where it would be likely to be something hidden [insight check], and then searches that place if he finds something, or the elf's possessions on the room, if he don't, to see if they missed something that can be of interest. He takes care to not touch anything directly with his bare hands, using a piece of cloth to move things.

Spoiler: Insight and Perception checks

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Insight: (1d20+8)[15]
Perception: (1d20+5)[17]

[Alegast]

Party 2

Faera watches curiously as Koiron search for stuff. Maybe she would do the same, that would be so boring... "Koiron, move your ass and find something quickly. I'm bored.", she grins.

[DoctorGlock]

Party 1

Spoiler: Perception

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Perhaps it was a good thing you decided to take a little caution. As you rap the safe door you hear a clunk and a sloshing sound, the telltale signs of an alch-- a pretty standard trap in the world of document destruction. A vial of alchemists fire is strung between the door and rear of the safe, wrapped around the center of a glass vial full of burning death. Open the door unknowing, or force it, and the documents, and often the person retrieving them are burned and blasted to kingdom come.

Spoiler: Voss

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Given the above, it's perhaps for the best that you got your lockpick stuck in the plaster. [lockpicking fail] Of course, given that you just asked Seize to force the issue...

His clothing is well made for sure. Simple and utilitarian, they are workman's clothes, but far better quality than most. And curiously, sewn with hidden pockets, not a usual add on for a day laborer. But they've been cut open. And curiously, you not some discoloration on the elf's skin, faded and blotched from settling blood, but almost like a faded burn where those pockets made contact with his skin.

'Huh, wall safe. Good thing whoever ran the place last night missed that,' the pencil pusher remarks as Voss goes to work on the lock. 'As to specific ansewers? No time of death for certain, but given the state of the...evidence...' he says with a grimace, 'likely within eight hours or so. As to neighbors, you can imagine how much luck we've had so far. I think I've learned '**** off' in two new languages today. I'd greatly appreciate if you could use a little finesse-' he snaps at Voss and Seize as they readied the more expedient approach. 'Central thinks someone important is in town, and if this is in any way related I'd like a trail intact this time.'

Spoiler: Seabright

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Who lived here? You don't know for certain, but you have kept up with rumors, as well as had some accusations hurled at you on street corners. You'd been hearing that a member of the Elfensturm [think elvish SS] was hiding out in the slums here. Nothing unusual about that though, they tend to hide among other criminal elements.

Weapon was obviously a wand of some sort. No projectile combined with the rather explosive force means an attack spell of some sort. The bloody pillow with the hole in it suggests it was used to silence it, which further suggests some sort of blasting spell.

The chest is currently rolled at disadvantage due to the lock being filled with plaster. Also broken lockpick from Voss.

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Party 2

Spoiler: Koiron

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Koiron

You don't know why, but you decide to check the body again. Perhaps the man was just a little overdressed for someone about to go to bed. He had seemed a little twitchy about something while you had been stalking him throughout the day. As you pat down the remains you feel some hard lumps sewn into the cuffs of his pants. A little knife works solves that. But it isn't gold bars to your disappointment. Elfensturm officers were known to travel with gold bars, easiest way to bribe someone for a quick getaway. No gold bars means he probably didn't rank too high. Instead they are some sort of greyish-yellow metal, considerably heavier than gold. No idea what though. At least Co'av got those documents. He seemed pretty happy about that.

The rest of the room is largely uninteresting. he lived a fairly spartan existence. A decrepit bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchenette of sorts. Nothing of note though. A nice stopwatch. A few gold reichsmarks. A set of green contacts.

[lenon3579]

Party 2

Koiron takes the strange metal bars and then show them to Faera. with a slight shine on his eyes. "Bored? Have you seen this kind of thing before?". He is happy at having a mistery on his hands to solve, and that eye-shining is the most show-off of hapiness you can expect from him in any given situation.

[OmnivorousOgre]

[PARTY 2]

Jaken had watched the execution of their captive in silence. Ten years ago such a sight would have shaken him greatly, but he had long since grown accustomed to getting rid of loose ends. He proceeds to search the apartment in his usual dispassionate manner. The confiscated documents interested him more, but he doubted asking for them would have done him any good. Out of habit he memorizes the layout of the apartment and the positions of furniture, even though he strongly believes he'll never set foot there again.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Perception: (1d20+3)[19]

When he's done he walks over to his companions. He doesn't share Koiron's enthusiasm for the odd metal, and instead asks: "Are we done here? We probably shouldn't stay here any longer than we need to."

[smoke prism]

Spoiler: lock picking disadvantage roll

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Disadvantage roll for opening the safe
(1d20+8)[13]

[smoke prism]

Before locking the safe, sebright makes sure to cheak it for trap, not wanting to destroy any evidence inside it.

Spoiler: Checking for traps

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Perception: (1d20+8)[13]

[AinSoph]

Party 1

Listening to the officer's snipe at him, Voss shrugs with a smile. "The technical knock has served me well many a time. I did check it to see if it'd blow up. What rumblings are you bosses grumbling about?"

When he completes his search, Voss chuckles. "Well, well, this is interesting.". He signals to the others to take a look, and points to hidden pockets stitched into the lining. "Our innocuous laborer was smuggling something, and not mere gems or gold. The skin around these pockets is burned. Could be acid or fire, except there's no damage to the clothing, and if it were a base I'd expect to see a residue or powder. It isn't here, so whomever offed his head likely offed with the loot too. That narrows it down a bit."

He stands up abruptly and stows away the magnifying glass. "I'll interview across the road. Need to get some suspicions confirmed and learning the owner will take care of that." He looks over to Seabright, "Sorry about that lockpick. I'll be back momentarily. Need to use a back door."

Spoiler: OOC

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During this Voss is racking his brain to see if he can discern what would have been in the victim's pockets. Guessing Arcana: (1d20+6)[12]. Same stats for History.

[smoke prism]

(PARTY ONE)

As he picks the safes lock, Seabright turns to the office an says.
"I believe that whoever lived here was a Elfensturm. Now this corpus could be this Elfensturm or a person that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the the secret pouches in working class cloths, a hidden wall safe and the fact that someone seemed to have go to great lengths to kill him suggests that he was a Elfensturm ." He turns to look at Voss and carry's on "The thing that blow our corpus head of was a wand with an explosive attack spell in it. This means that we should be careful in our actions as they are well armed ".

With that he turns back to the safe, but hearing Voss's plan he turns again and says.
"I can help you with the questioning if you want. This area seems to be quite ruff and it seems sensible to go as a group."

[AinSoph]

Party 1

Voss listens closely to Seabright's analysis. Suddenly, his fingers begin to twitch, and, staring at the floor in thought, he speaks. "It's probable but not necessarily true that this place belonged to Elfensturm. It may have been a safe house for another agency, or the residence of a target of either of the two. This could be a simple revenge killing with some nice cathartic torture, a false flag deal, tying up loose ends, a break-in gone wrong, or, I suspect, an interrogation that didn't quite pan. My working hypothesis is that this place is the victim's hideout, he was going to meet or just met with somebody who delivered or was to receive the material kept in his pockets, that being the aforementioned bigshot, when he got jumped by a gang of opportunistic professionals. Freelancers or Irshedai. We can suspect they're professionals because they knew to look for hidden pockets and took whatever weird gunk was in there, and we can suspect they're not Elfensturm or had a lot of knowledge about him because they didn't get the wall safe. But that's all conjecture, and it hinges on who owns the place, which we can learn from that safe- as there's no chance it was moved recently, or from interviewing neighbours. We can't say for certain if it was one person who surprised him or a group, nor can we say where he got hit. We can't even take the painted symbols as proof in case it's another Elfensturm trying to throw us off the scent. But we can rule out a mere hate crime. That's something, ain't it.

Voss levels a gaze at Seabright, before clicking his tongue and shrugging his shoulders. "You think the killers are hiding next door and want to tag along? Fine by me. But, our illustrious host did say the coppers were getting the run-around so I was hoping to go in disguise and with a different tact. You want to help, you'll need to make sure you don't look official. I got a kit if you need."

[smoke prism]

All through Voss's analysis of the situation, Sebright stays placid, but at the comment about the killers being near by, he has to suppress an offended look.
Off course I don't think there waiting around the corner, dose he think I'm green or someth... Oh wait I am

He turns to Voss and laughs softly. "Ha, I don't now what I was thinking. Professionals would obviously not have stuck around."

As to weathever he needs a disguise kit, he rumages in his coat and produce one of his own with a flourish, and gives Voss a roughish smile. "How do you suggest I look less official Voss ?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Deception to make sure that the fact that I'm "new" at this dosent come over as forced or as a lie, and that the offence at Voss comment dosent show:
(1d20+9)[16]

[AinSoph]

Party 1
Voss grins when he sees Seabright's kit. "Alright, alright, that's promising. Well, I won't go overboard. He gives Seabright a quick run-down on local speaking patterns, and advises him on how to carry himself. With permission, he makes small tears and rips in his disguise gear, and smacks dust from the floor into it, "If you're from here, you've never bought a new coat. Not once.. He also out his tin of chewing tobacco and passes it to him, "Get chomping down on that. It'll stain your teeth for a while. Once you got it down to a paste, I recommend giving yourself a few stains on your top to help sell it."

"As for me, well I have the luxury of a little Svirfneblin magic.". With a smirk his appearance shifts and blurs into a squat, old human male, with jaundiced yellow eyes, a bulbous, bloodshot nose and a tangle of grey hair that falls down to his shoulders. A battered beige fedora perches atop his head. A frayed leather coat and stained red sweater barely conceal his bulging paunch. He sways slightly as he speaks, his accent, slurred, perfectly adapting to the local patina, "Now d'ya reck-reck- *hic*, reckon they'll mishtake us for inspectors?"

If that's all, Voss will head out, assuming Seabright's also ready.

Spoiler: OOC

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Voss used his once-per-long-rest use of Disguise Self. He also used Help for Seabright's disguise roll (presuming smoke doesn't want me to make that roll).

[AinSoph]

Spoiler: Insight Roll

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Forgot this part, sorry! (1d20+5)[24]
I think Voss will read he's annoyed you, but you're trying (albeit failing) to put on a respectful face.

[smoke prism]

Seabright follow Voss advice and add finishing touches to the disguise by adding brow makeup to his face and hands to make it look like dirt, he then uses black makeup to his eye to make it look like he hasn't slept in days, if not weeks.

He then rolls his sleeves up and use the disguise kit to add several needle tracked makes to his arm.

He the ruffles his hair to make it disheveled. As a finishing touch he adopts a slight hand tremor and several facial ticks.

Seabright takes on a slurred and haggard accent that seems so unnatural coming from the man that was there originally.
"Do't now ab'ut yu Vosh butt I thk I'l fiy rite in" . He flashes the Gnome a sly smile and follows him out.

Spoiler: OOC

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Disgues check:
(1d20+6)[25]
(1d20+6)[11]

If the speech is to unreadable, I'll tone it down.

[lenon3579]

Party 2

"Yeah, I guess we better get moving if we can't get any more thing from here"

Koiron puts his discovery on his pack and do a last survey of the area, before looking to Co'av to see if there are any other orders.

[Irish Musician]

Seize, Warforged "Retriever"
Party 1

Seize watches as the other two investigators stars to change their appearance to look different. He looks around him and sees a blanket that has been untouched by gore. He rips two holes in the middle of it and throws it over his head. He then turns to the other two, "I am ready for questioning and investigation. Which direction should we dispatch to first?"

[AinSoph]

Party 1

Voss arches an eyebrow at the blanketed behemoth looming innocently. It would be much more difficult to question subtly with him. Which, he supposes, does make it more interesting. He drops his accent for a moment, "They sure know how to build them don't they? Fine, if anyone asks, we're a family and you, Seize, are the mute, simple and greatly disfigured son of mine named Bolger. I'm Geremiah. We came by because we thought this place was the home of another guy, a half-orc called Dranzl, who was going to offer you two work. Then we happen upon this. We ask the neighbours what's happened, let them correct us when we suggest we knew who lived here, and inquire innocuously. That goes badly, play up your symptoms or get angry-like and hope they shoo us off with info. That goes badly, get in the house, drop cover, bribe."

His voice drops into a slightly drunk gurgle. "Hee-hee, I think that's not a half-bad scheme. Now hurry on you no-good layabouts! Shwear, shoulda dropped Bolger on his head once more after the first. Take care of my problems. But no, no, I gotsta don't I? I gotsta...

Voss walks out of the room, and takes the back door (or if absent, a window), motioning the others accordingly. He slips around the back, and once in view of the street opposite, makes a disbelieving, slightly wobbly show of seeing the inspectors and police tape. He then walks over to the home as close to directly opposite the hovel as possible, and knocks loudly but respectfully on the door.

[smoke prism]

Seabright smiles a Voss, letting the ascent slip. "And I'm Geremiah's half brother, Disget (theives cant for gaurd). Im also with you two looking for work to pay for my obvious drug addiction "

With that he slips back in to the ascent and follows Voss.
"yu sems lik a good plan bruth, butt be careful too watch yu bak."

With that he exits the house, keeping close to Voss and mimicking his shock and surprise when seeing the police tape. When they get to the nearest house he stands tall and gauntly behide Voss, looking a the fall, as if ashamed at disturbing the owner.

Using this as a cover, he trys to stealthily hid a dagger in his hand in case things go down hill.

Spoiler: OOC

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Stealth to hid the dagger: (1d20+8)[27]
Advantage for the above as I assume no one is paying particular attention: (1d20+8)[23]

[Alegast]

Party 2

Faera follow her two companions silently, looking to Co'av, waiting for more instructions. Killing that poor bastard has left a sensation of uneasiness, as if something wrong will happen as a consequence of that. "If just my imagination", said to herself.

[Zergrinch]

[PARTY 2]

Gonzalo "Zalo" Gra'cia watches with feigned disinterest at the proceedings. Despite his skill in piecing together the damnable elf's whereabouts, he was simply half a step ahead. If it weren't so irritating, Zalo would almost admire the man.

The druid was merely hired help, and he's not getting paid any extras by these... drow agents for investigative work. Part local guide, part cartographer, part hired security, Zalo draws the line at free overtime. Wouldn't want to get a reputation for going over and beyond the call of duty. It's bad for business, after all.

So, despite the fact that he has a strong itch to conduct some investigation of his own, Zalo keeps quiet, and even stifles a yawn.