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Aquarius: Yes, there are a few men around, two older men studying ancient looking books, and a younger man kneeling before the giant mask. They all wear the same symbol around their necks, the bisected mask face.
"Thank you for understanding." Phaedrus bends to pick up the boy, being careful not to get too much blood on himself. Then he silently leads the way through the backstreets toward Olidammara's temple.
If he arrives before Brother John
Spoiler
Phaedrus enters the foyer area and goes to a dark corner and waits until John gets there.
If he arrives afterward
Spoiler
Upon entering Phaedrus immediately approaches the man of the cloth. "Brother, one of the guild's has been taken. This little one brought me a message today, and I fear that he has one more message for us now. Can you help him relay it?
Phaedrus: When you arrive, Brother Jon is just taking his coat off as you enter, and he passes it to an attendant who hurries off with it. He turns to you and nods at your suggestion, his eyes clouding as he sees the small boy's corpse.
He draws you two over to the main altar and begins his prayers and entreaties. He warns you that this will take a short while.
This lasts for about 15 minutes.
Selena arrives at the temple a little before you but only about a minute before John.
Aquarius is about 40 minutes ahead (which could prove problematic)
Caladeran waved away the thanks. Following Phaedrus, he kept his eyes out for threats, trails, or any other unusual activities. Once they reached the temple, he followed the other man inside and waited patiently as Phaedrus found his contact.
Selena had merely found Jon again when she arrived and offered to point out her friends when they showed up.
Spoiler
She thought it a bit weird and possibly shady that Brother Jon wanted to find his own way to the temple. However, we came to him for a favor, so he can protect himself how he pleases.
You venture into a darker part of town and find a small nondescript house that seems to be in good shape, but nothing special. When you have knocked twice a plain looking man comes to the door, he has a little stubble growing and seems to be in quite good shape. His eyes though stick out, constantly alert and darting back and forth, assessing you as you briefly state your purpose and hand over the letter.
The second address is a well off manse in the vicinity of the Castello. The inside seems somewhat overwhelmed with gilt and silks of dark reds and purples. A scantily clad young man seems offended that you wouldn't let him deliver the letter, and after doing a double take and realising you aren't some delivery boy he takes you up a marble staircase to a nicely furnished room with a young blonde woman of incredible beauty. She is surrounded by other nubile women and a cross section of the middle and upperclasses, though mainly male. She says that she is Seraila, the recipient of the letter, and dismisses you after giving you a gold piece for your trouble.
Malaina grimaces at the small boy in Phaedrus's arms and shakes her head. "A foul day indeed" she stands aside silently, as the brother is at his prayers she adds a silent wish to not see another child ended so worthlessly.
While Fade and Jon prepare to question the boy, Selena is catching up with Aquarius and Maliana, comparing notes on their activities while they were away.
Spoiler
Got to put together the details of the Savant's repose at some point.
Watching brother John cast the spell, Phaedrus mutters quietly "I wonder if there was anything we could have done. Maybe if I had let him take the letters he would have been in a different spot...maybe he wouldn't have died."
If uninterrupted:
Spoiler
Pulling out his book Phaedrus opens it up to a section describing various gods and showing their holy symbols and prays briefly before several.
OOC
Spoiler
I'm going to wait on the questions until everyone has posted, that way suggestions can be offered. I am unskilled at this part as a player, as I have never interrogated a dead man before, and so OoC I need some help (other than the obvious, can you describe what your killer looked like). But also in character, ideas would be great - as at least 3 questions can be asked and Phaedrus is concerned with 2 - who was the killer, what was Ben doing at the castello.
Brother Jon finishes his prayers and looks up to see you all assembled around him (Aquarius I'm assuming is with you).
He looks sombre, "It is prepared." He begins, "You will have four questions, remember to be precise, he won't really have come back, only the knowledge that his body retained in life, it will have no initiative to respond on it's own."
"I can guarantee you four questions, but beyond that I can't promise anything. I suggest you decide now what you wish to ask, and the exact phrasing."
Selena wanders over from talking to Aquarius and Maliana.
"Mal and Aquarius bumped into each other today. Looks like one of your copies may have gone to the same inn one of the scuv ringleaders was working out of. You should ask him what he has done recently near or in the Savant's Repose, what he was doing before he was murdered (bear in mind, he might just have been dumped here), who was involved in his murder, and how to find people he's been working with recently."
"Ask if he was killed by a scuv. If he was, then I have something I can use in tomorrow’s hopeful meeting. Oh, incidentally, I'm called Lucian, if anyone asks."
"4 questions. So 'what did your killer look like, in detail?' 'was he a scuv?' 'who were you working for when you were killed?' and 'what do you know about the Savant's Repose?' Are these going to be our questions?"
Watching the others discuss questions, Caladeran simply shook his head. They assumed that they were speaking with the spirit of the boy, something that might be interested in helping them solve his murder. Instead, they would be trying to pull answers imprinted on the body ... more akin to muscle memory fingerprints instead of actual memories.
Nodding towards the body, he snorted. "Convoluted questions may yield answers, or may prevent them. The body may not know much about the killer, nor who the killer worked for ... but it should be cognizant of the tasks it was working towards and who it served in life. Expect cryptic or vague responses, so you may need to rephrase or change your questions. Unless human spells work different than ours do, you should have more than enough time to adapt your queries ..." Caladeran glared at the priest, wondering if the man had an ulterior motive.
"Only ask what you think you cannot find out in life with investigation."
__________________ 4-day weekend with no wi-fi. Posting will be via cellphone - sporadic and short. Back on Tuesday!
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
Caladeran crossed his arms, looking at Phaedrus with one raised eye. "My expertise in magic has little merit in defining the substance of your queries. However, based on the rough rulesets of questing the dead, as I understand them ..."
Pausing to think, the duskblade continued after a moment. "I would suggest the following as potential questions.
'Describe your killer'
'Who is your employer?'
'To whom did you deliver messages to today?'
'Where in the city did you travel today?'
Other questions you could ask are:
'Where does your employer live?'
'Where were you killed?'
'Tell what you know about the Savant's Repose'
However, I think these are inferior questions. The first four seem to go to the heart of what we need to know in order to track down the killer and make a connection to the scuvs. The other questions simply expound upon the first set ..."
__________________ 4-day weekend with no wi-fi. Posting will be via cellphone - sporadic and short. Back on Tuesday!
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
Thinking it over, Phaedrus nods in ascent with the questions given. He turns to Brother Jon to check for the go ahead, then after pulling out paper and pen, proceeds to ask the questions suggested by Calderan, pausing to hear the answer after each one - jotting the responses down as completely as possible.
John nods and beginnings his chanting. A cold wind gusts as if from nowhere and the whole room seems to darken visibly.
'Describe your killer'
The boy's mouth opens and he responds in his natural high pitched voice, yet there is no emotion, it is cold and empty, the pauses in the sentences unnatural and the entire recitation without feeling. "A tall woman, with long dark hair. Pale, human. Wearing black clothes, trousers and jerkin. Her name was Maria."
'Who is your employer?'
"Lissa Thevya sent me. She told me what to do, and she paid me for it.
'To whom did you deliver messages to today?'
"I only took one message today. I delivered a message to an old scribe in the library."
'Where in the city did you travel today?'
"To the bakers, then to the market. Then to the roses street and the smithies. Then to the library, then to the square, then to the roses street and the smithies. Then in a box."
After those last words a look of marked horror passes across the boy's face and his body spasms. Brother John's face bears a rictus of pain and his hands strain in the air as he battles with his magic, then the body slumps and John staggers against the wall. He moves his hands in a peculiar pattern (Knowledge Religion check) and mutters "It is done."
"Fade, we need to get Lissa involved. She may know who this Maria is, or at the very least she can take care of notifying any family the boy may have had."
"On a related not, are you planning on getting involved in your guilds internal politics related to their antics in the square this morning? I would really rather this city not go the way River City did, and I'd be happy to help."
As if a little reluctant, Phaedrus says "Oui, I think it's time to talk to Thevya...I have a fair amount to report. We shall see what she needs from me - either way, I shall follow up on talking with the smithies," and with a slight edge "maybe more than talk."
Turning to Jon and bowing slightly, "Merci Brother, your service here is invaluable, shall I pass a bill to Coursan?"
Spoiler
A knowledge roll...I'll take that bait (here's to hoping for a good roll): (1d20+5)[9]
"No need Sel, I've met her. She's in charge of the Scuvs. Paranoid as hell. Two bodyguards to go to a library, and when I mentioned I was a Sellsword, she quickly proclaimed "I ain't no squealer". Probably thought I was there to kill her."
"I don't think that her safety is all that important, at least to whomever pays her. Her "bodyguards" stood idly by as she protested her innocence, not even flinching. Clearly, they were loyal to someone else."
Aquarius walks over to the body, kneels, takes the boy's lifeless hand and states softly:
"Your journey has ended, little one. We are honoured to have been with you during your final steps. Rest now, and know that the leagues have not been in vain and the paths that crossed yours are better for it."
Aquarius stands up, leans against a wall and waits.
I think he was doing the knowledge religion roll to identify the hand gesture Brother Jon made after the conclusion of his spell. Not a very impressive roll though.
Selena passes on the opportunity to identify it, she's purposefully unengaged in religious matters.
"Pity Mal had to run off, but we might see her at Theyva's later."
Looking at Cal and Aquarius:
"Can you guys stay close? I don't like the mood of the city right now, and I don't want to find anyone else I know with a slit throat... or get one myself."
As the soulless body answered questions, Caladeran nodded somewhat smugly to himself. The answers seemed as valuable as one could hope for, given the situation. He simply listened as the conversation continued afterwards, rolling his eyes somewhat at the various good-byes and emotions his comrades were displaying for the nameless boy. Oh, certainly the lad had a name, but it was not one Caladeran had known previously ... and it wasn't one he was going to commit to memory now. Life on the streets was apparently hard, and while the loss of any life was unfortunate, the duskblade felt his energy was better served keeping himself and companions alive, rather than plotting vengeance for a boy he never knew.
At Selena's question, he smirked somewhat. "I suppose it will be more interesting than watching sewer rats scurry about. Where to first?"
__________________ 4-day weekend with no wi-fi. Posting will be via cellphone - sporadic and short. Back on Tuesday!
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
Fade nods and says, "This way then, Thevya may not want to talk about guild matters in front of you, but I am sure I can convince her that you are allies."
You make your way to Thevya's known base of operations, a discrete house next to the Three Roses tavern. You can hear the bustle of the crowds heading home for the evening and the ring of hammers from the next street.
You know that the entrance for Guild work is through the tavern, and only potential customers use the front door.
As Aquarius walks with the others, he notes the hammer-on-anvil sound.
"Blacksmiths nearby? When we're done, do you guys mind if I go and pick up a dagger? This sword here is rather conspicuous. Maybe a Stiletto blade, hmmm."
OOC Note:
Spoiler
For those of you that don't know, a Stiletto is a stabbing weapon, not designed for slashing. Similar to a poingard, or a very short raiper.
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Re: 3.5 Political Adventure [IC]
