The Absalom Cases (IC)

[Celticbear]

Your office in the Coins district of Absalom sits at a street corner, allowing for ease of location for the swath of clients that would come knocking at your door. Or, at least it would if you had a steady stream of clientele. Business, as of late, had been lacking, and you haven't even had someone request basic spellcasting services in at least a week. The danger of your office being foreclosed is slim, however, but if something doesn't change soon, you'll be a bit tight for cash. However, as your door opened at the turn of the clock, you could almost feel like the pages of your life were being turned to the next chapter.

A human woman of medium height and build walked through the door. She was wearing fine clothing, which meant that with a little prodding you might get her to pay your monthly dues for the rest of summer. She had auburn colored hair that reminded you of Fall, and her face had a melancholic appearance that did the same. She was fiddling with a ring which didn't need a keen eye to tell that it was magic, and probably had a spell of protection placed on it. She was prepared for trouble, yet not quite willing to seek it out if she had come to hire you.

"Greetings," she spoke, "I heard your services get results."

[RelentlessImp]

It was shaping up to be another one of those days; no client, no case, just a quiet office occupied by a gnome, a giant cat, and a small dinosaur. Currently, the animalistic compatriots of the private eye were tucked into the corner by the door, the dangerous Zanyu curled up into the corner, dozing, while Iea lay atop her, curled into herself, also dozing. Meanwhile, Chrys was seated at her desk, the diminutive gnome leaning back in her chair, hands tucked behind her head, legs crossed at the ankle and propped up on the desk. She absolutely wasn't expecting today to be any different than yesterday, another long day of nothing to do and no client to get paid by.

The opening of the door drew her attention, no doubt, her heart leaping in her chest. Payment and a case! Of course, a lot of the time, the case was more important than the payment - nobody knew how expensive it was to feed a cat of Zanyu's size, and on a case there was always at least one thug that could go missing. Her feet came off the desk and her chair thumped to the floor as she sat up, combing fingers through her hair to smooth it.

"Yes, yes, come in, please," the gnome said, gesturing across the messy desk to the chair on the opposite side. "Chrys Liszt, at your service, madame. Please, take a seat and tell me what it is that brings you to my door today."

[Celticbear]

The seemingly elegant lady sat down on the chair provided, folding her arms in her lap almost like it was second nature. She cleared her throat as she looked back at the slumbering animals, finding them rather quaint. She looked back at the frazzled Gnome, and smiled peaceably, beginning to speak with a calm voice,

"Earlier this week there was a murder here in the Coins," you recall the news of some grizzly scene that took place a few days ago, but rumors in Absalom are replaced daily. The murder itself was practically ancient history already, "The man... I have reason to believe the prime suspect is innocent, but I fear the courts are stacked against him. I'd like you to prove his innocence or confirm his guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt. Either to free him from unjust punishment, or clear a soul off my conscience. I'm willing to pay for either."

[RelentlessImp]

One of Chrys' thin, pointy, long brows raises as the woman lays out the case, her brow furrowing for a moment as she considers. Hm. Getting directly involved in the legal process here in Absalom... that could be tricky. Especially if the system's being stacked against this individual. Could be they've pissed off someone higher-up, or maybe just an incidental patsy at the wrong place, wrong time. Chrys lifts her gaze back up to the woman seated across from her, sparing a brief glance towards her animal compatriots. No sense waking them up for this just yet.

"My services are not precisely the cheapest in Absalom, dear lady," Chrys states. "Additionally, once you've hired me, you can't unhire me. I'll pull the threads as far as they go, no matter where they lead to." She raises a hand and taps herself on the temple. "Curse of being a gnome, you understand. You hire me for this, and I'll see it through to the end, and come calling for my payment. Speaking of which, said payment begins at a fifty pieces of gold a day, half up front to cover any expenses I may incur, with a final tallying done upon the job's completion, hazard pay inclusive. It's a bargain, since you're getting three investigators in one, you understand." She flashes the woman a quick smile, nodding towards the animalistic beings in the corner.

"With that said, I'll need you to provide me with names; the victim, the accused perpetrator, where this all occurred - and your name, of course."

[Celticbear]

The lady seemed to wear a satisfied expression when Chris expressed her devotion to a case. You could tell that her funds were already practically in your pocket before she she spoke.

"I'm willing to pay your standard fee, but if you actually manage to clear his name through legal means, I'd like to offer a bonus. Now then, the name of the suspect is Jonathon Tibalt. I don't know the name of the girl he... was accused of murdering, but I know where her family residence is. He's being held here in the Coins' penitentiary, you can probably get a better statement from them if can convince them to tell you. My name is Samantha Tibalt, his sister."

Samantha places a hefty sack of coins as well as a slip of paper containing two address. She clears her throat, "I looked into your price beforehand, there should be enough to cover your services for a week, three hundred and fifty gold pieces, in that bag. You can count it if you want. If you need to tell me anything or require more payment if the investigation lasts longer than a week, the second address is that of my shop. I'm there during business hours all week."

[RelentlessImp]

Chrys looks taken aback for a moment, as the bag of coin settles onto her desk. It wasn't always this easy to get her pay. She rallies quickly, however, reaching a hand out and snatching the bag of gold from atop the desk, sweeping a drawer open simultaneously to deposit the bag in to.

"Lady Tibalt, I shall endeavor to ensure this case gets settled as quickly as possible," she says, offering a quick smile in the woman's direction and picking up the slip of paper. "Your brother's guilt, or innocence, will be proven one way or another. I guarantee it."

[Celticbear]

"Very good, I'll let you begin then. I shall pray that you have Iomedae's Wisdom and Nethys's Sight in the coming days," Lady tibalt departed with a bow of her head and a wave of her hand. All the details you'd need to start the upcoming case were in your hands, the real question now is which lead to follow first?

[RelentlessImp]

Where to start, where to start. Probably with the perpetrator, though getting in to see them would probably not be the easiest thing. Directly investigating the court case wouldn't be the easiest, either. What am I gonna do, shake down some poor clerk for a transcript? I guess it's off to the prison, then.

She whistles loudly for her companions to wake up, causing the tiny compsognatus to hop from Zanyu's back and scurry over, while the large cat shrugs herself onto her feet, padding towards the desk.

"We've got a case," Chrys states aloud, moving to retrieve Zanyu's armor and saddle. "We're going to hit the prison first, and then follow up on anything else," she says, as she drags out the leather barding and saddle for her large cat, taking the time to dress the armored cat in both. As she works to drape the cat in armoring, she keeps talking.

"Let's see. So a man commits a murder - supposedly - and is taken into custody and imprisoned. The girl he murdered - that, I don't know about. We'll have to visit her parents and investigate there, but first I think we need to talk to the man who supposedly commit the murder. There you go, Zanyu, all dressed. You guys ready?"

While she was speaking, Iea clambered up along her clothing, and now sat upon her shoulder. She carefully plucked the compsognathus off of it, and set her on Zanyu's head. "Lemme just get my armor on. This could be dangerous. Hopefully not too dangerous, though." She retreated behind a private screen in the office to don the darkleaf armor beneath her garb, and fitted the mithral light shield onto her back, just in case.

Then she climbed onto Zanyu's saddle and retrieved Iea onto her shoulder. "Alright. Start of a new case for Chrys Liszt, Private Gnome! Hya, Zanyu! To the prison!" Laying her hands upon the saddle horn, she nudged her heels gently into Zanyu and took off for the prison.

[Celticbear]

The sight of a gnome riding a massive cat with a small dinosaur perched on her shoulder draws about as much attention as you'd expect. Even though Absalom is home to the Grand Lodge, a veritable circus of freaks that call the Pathfinder Society home, everyone is always willing to appreciate the signs that magic is real and sometimes it's beautiful. At least four children stopped their parents in their busy tracks just so they could get a good look at you as you passed them by, all of them with bubbling laughter and a wonderstruck expression.

The prison in the Coins district isn't an imposing thing. It's not really meant to be as not a lot of people survive the trek to it. Drug cartels, thieves, bandits, most of all of them end up in the grave with an inquisitive adventurer's sword through their gullet. Nearly every prison in Absalom is just meant to hold petty crooks. It was not prepared to hold a potential insane murderer within its walls, nor scare off prospective murderers from doing dark deeds.

Entrance into the lobby is simple enough. It seems a fairly standard waiting room; a dozen chairs, a desk at the far end, and a barred door opposite the entrance leading to the rest of the prison. Sitting at the desk is a tired man dressed in the colors of the First Guard. He blearily looks up and asks, "Name and- Abadar's coffers, what kind of cat is that?"

[RelentlessImp]

Chrys does have the presence of mind to hop off of Zanyu once they've reached the prison, running a hand over the armored cat's head and rubbing her behind the ears. "Good girl," she praises the beast before leading the motley crew of animals into the lobby. She does a small bow towards the guard at the desk, flashing an easy, quick smile at him.

"Good day, sir, good day. I never really asked what sort of cat Zanyu here is, but I believe she is an excellent example of a warcat, if a bit small. Not the most imaginative of names for something so majestic, I'll grant you. Regardless, my name is Chrys Liszt, and I'm here on business. I'm investigating the nasty matter of Jonathon Tibalt, the supposedly crazed murderer. I was hoping you might see your way to letting me speak to him."

[Celticbear]

The guard looks perplexed as to why the gnome riding in on a giant cat would want to talk to a serial murderer, but he quickly shakes off the feeling. He clears his throat, and responds, "I'm sorry, Miss, but that prisoner is currently being kept in solitary confinement, and visitors have to get it cleared with the Captain first. Unless you already have a written order?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Ack, sorry, the site was completely off for me yesterday, and it's still acting a bit slow.

[RelentlessImp]

"Ah, I see, I see," Chrys says with a light smile. "However, I'm certain your captain is quite the busy man, and there's no reason that we should have to bother him with something that should take all of fifteen minutes. I really, truly simply wish to speak to the man and ask him a few questions." She looked around conspiratorially, and raised one hand up, the back of it to the side of her lips, and leaned up and forward towards the man.

"I'm here on behalf of the Pharast's Gazetteer," she said sotto voce. "You know. Obituaries. The man's likely doomed to die soon so my editor sent me down here on his behalf to get some of the pertinent details. Full name, family, age, things like that. Nothing that really should should require the Captain's attention - five minutes of chatter's all I need." She smiles winsomely at the guard. "You'd be doing me a huge favor."

Spoiler: Rolls

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Bluff - (1d20+11)[12]

[Celticbear]

Spoiler: OOC

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Guard's not trained in sense motive but he'll still roll it: (1d20+1)[4]

EDIT: You really just passed with a 1 didn't you?

The guard looks down at the Gnome before sighing, muttering something about journalists before unlocking the door behind him. He stood by the door and begrudgingly nodded, "Five minutes, but I've got to be there to watch you. Standard meeting rules apply, don't give anything to the prisoner, do not accept anything from the prisoner. Should I sense any funny business, I'm locking you and the zoo you rode in on in the cell next door."

The actual jail section of the prison had three cells. The guard walked all the way to the end to the final cell, the one Jonathon was no doubt inside. Upon a quick look inside, the man doesn't seem malnourished or mistreated. He's huddled up on the bed, beads of nervous sweat lining the sides of his head.

[RelentlessImp]

Well, that wasn't ideal. Now she was stuck with the lie and would have to act the part in front of the guard to keep it up. She followed the guard in, tucking her hands behind her back and peering through the bars at the so-called mad murderer, with Zanyu coming to settle at her hip. The tiny dinosaur flitted across her shoulders, then merged into the back of her neck, becoming a stylized tattoo so as to make the 'zoo' aspect of her presence just a little less so.

"Mister Tibalt, my name is Chrys, and I'm here to ask you a few questions," she said, glancing to the side at the guard. "I need you to confirm your full name, age, and any relatives you may have here in Absalom or elsewhere for your obituary, sir. And..." Here, she glanced up at the guard, then back to the prisoner. "I don't suppose you're willing to talk about why you did it, are you?"

[Celticbear]

The man blearly looked over at Chrys in a confused expression. When the gravity of her full statement hit him, he made an audible gulp, a look of fear overcoming his eyes before it simmered back down to begruding acceptance. He cleared his throat as he stood from his position, walking over towards the cell doors.

"I'm Jon Tibalt, I'm twenty-three, my sister runs a shop in the coins, and for the thirteenth time I didn't do it. I don't even know who you think I murdered."

[RelentlessImp]

Hnh. Either he's telling the truth, or he really believes he didn't do it. Wouldn't be the first time some crazed fool believed they were innocent of a crime, though. Really, truly believed. Hard to tell.

"Well, if you're innocent, then why are you locked up in here?" Chrys asks, her eyes going wide and innocent. "Surely the great city of Absalom wouldn't lock away an innocent man, no?"

[Celticbear]

"I don't know, I woke up here," Jon rolls his eyes, clearly very frustrated with his situation.

The guard coughed, "He's been using that excuse for a few days now. He was perfectly conscious when we took him in. Captain thinks its some sort of mental issue, but he doesn't have the gold for a cleric to look him over. We gave him a choice, life sentence or the gallows."

"Pharasma's blossom ought to be better than a dirty cell, at least her legal system has the decency to-" the guard shot Jonathon a look that shut him up quite quickly.

[RelentlessImp]

Curiouser and curiouser. Don't think this guy's lying, but the guard's probably not lying, either. And I'm fairly sure it's been long enough that any looking-over anyone could do wouldn't show much in the way of auras or evidence, unless it was really, really strong. Hnh.

"I don't suppose the prison would accept a donation from a concerned citizen to have the man looked over a bit," Chrys says, cutting her gaze over to the guard. I'll just soak his sister for the expense later, and the info could be useful.

[Celticbear]

"The trial's already scheduled, the prosecution has already cleared their case. All that's left for the Prisoner here is a few days and for a judge to swing a hammer," the guard explained, "We have multiple witnesses, some of them even law enforcement, he was found wielding a bloody murder weapon, honestly I'm surprised he didn't put up more of a fight when we took him in."

Jon rolled his eyes again, and commented, "I don't even remember you taking me in, like I've tried to tell you time and time again."

[RelentlessImp]

Alright, if he's telling the truth, then there's definitely something screwy going on here. I think I ought to investigate the victim and the place where it happened. So far, this is smelling like the wharf at evening; like a whole lot of dead fish.

"Well, I think I have all the information I need for Mister Tibalt's obituary, so I'll be going now. Oh, and officer, can you tell me where you picked up Mister Tibalt here? I can see it now, a little splash of color - 'Condemned murderer Jon Tibalt, 23, found guilty of murder at Something Something Street, survived by shopkeep sister'."

[Celticbear]

The guard gives off a street address while Jon goes back to sulking in his bed. He raises his right hand to wave goodbye but thinks better of it, using it to shoe Chrys away with an exasperated expression.

[RelentlessImp]

There's likely little left at the crime scene, but I might as well go take a look. Then I can check with the parents of the deceased, and finally go check in with the man's sister, thinks Chrys as she mounts Zanyu again, and gently clicks her tongue as she guides the feline towards the crime scene address.

"Come on, Zanyu. Let's go take a look at what happened. Your nose oughta be able to pick something up. Maybe. It's been a while."