The Sharn Inquisitive Episode 1: The harder they fall
Sharn, to some it’s the shining jewel in the crown of Breland, to others it’s festering sore on the face or Korvaire. Right now, however, it’s hot and muggy; it’s always hot and muggy, and to make matters worse, you’re broke. It seemed like a good idea at the time, open a private investigating company, use your talents, make some money, maybe even right some wrongs – if that’s what floats your boat – but now it’s been four months and all you’ve managed to do if catch a cheating spouse and find a lost dog. In fact if it wasn’t for the generosity of the land lord you’d have been tossed out last month, but you’ve got one last chance to make some coin, either that or close the City of Sharn Investigations and breaks like that don’t just fall from the sky … or do they?
Location: Lower Menthis, Center Bridge (just outside the office of the City of Sharn Investigators), early evening
Hearing a piercing shriek, you step outside your office and into a gruesome scene. A crowd has gathered around a poor individual that apparently has fallen from a great height. Just looking at the person confirms that they are indeed dead. Blood has spattered over you office door, and is pooling in the street. The individual’s arms and legs, in fact just about every bone in their body is broken, leaving the individual twisted and unrecognizable. Fortunately, in The Keepers mercy, death was most likely instantaneous. You begin clearing the crowd out taking note of who might be able to provide some information and get to work investigating the scene.
Hmmm, what a shame; a scene like this poses questions, questions that need answers, answers that someone will be willing to pay for. Thank the god’s for Sharn, where else in Korvaire can dead body splattered on the ground spell a big cash payout?
As was his wont when times were slow, Anders was busy playing Conquerer with Zethil in the main office. Neither could remember who introduced them to the Karrnathi game of strategy, but it seemed to suit both their temperaments well. The problem was, Zethil had a way of droning on about news and leads that seemed to focus the gnome's mind while Anders just seemed to know what moves to make, turning most games into a draw. To the strange young man, the game kept his mind off of... things... he tried not to think of.
Anders was focusing intently on the board when there was a whisper in his mind. window As always, the secret part of him noticed things he had not, and Anders looked out the window just in time to see the quickly falling form of the soon to be dead body.
The game forgotten, Anders followed the others outside, gazing at the carnage with an odd sense of detachment. He cocked his head to the side, like a puppy looking quizzically at its master, as he took in the human tragedy before him. It always struck him that he could both feel sorry for the loss of life but also so separated from it, as if it was anticipated. Sometimes he had nightmares about it.
The investigator shook his head, and looked as some of the others attended to crowd control. In a raspy whisper, Anders queried, "Let me know when the physical evidence has been gathered so I can do my work."
__________________ stonegod -- LEB judge and spawn of Khyber since 2005 (Blog)
"Oh crap! and here I thought I was finally winning a game" said Zenthil as he and Anders ran out the door of their office.
It had been a while since Zenthil was this close to a dead body, and pushing the distraction of thinking about the poor soul, his eyes darting upwards from where the person might have fallen. "Is there anyone looking down?" he thinks to himself.
Quick Spot Check [dice] d20+4 [/dice]
As people start to gather around the fallen body, Zenthil takes a minute to inspect the corpse for any clues as to the person's identity.
Search Check [dice] d20+4 [/dice]
Now as the crowd begins to build, Zenthil asks Anders to help pick up on thoughts in the crowd as he begins asking questions for the next 10 minutes. "Does anyone saw what happened? Does anyone recognize the man or saw where he fell from?"
Gather Info Check (+10 skill / +10 taking time) [dice] d20+10+10 [/dice]
Kalserath is meditating in a corner of the room when he hears the commotion. His eyes snap open and he jumps from his kneeling position to standing with a quiet grace. [ooc: Kalserath has his psionic focus and his psychic strike charged, as he does every morning when he wakes up].
He takes easy but swift strides out to where the body lies, quickly determines that the person is dead, so dead that even gender is not immediately discernable, and looks up to see if he can identify the murderer. If he sees nothing, Kalserath will scan the crowd to identify anything unusual.
As the shriek pierces the quiet inside their headquarters, Pohl D'Velderan immediately leaps to his feet. "By the Host above! What is going on?" Not wasting any time, he springs to the door and flings it open... finding himself in and amongst the large crowd that has now gathered outside and around the body.
As the others of CSI begin filtering out of the office, Pohl takes it upon himself to help with the crowd control. His forte is finding people... not looking over people who have already been found. Especially dead ones.
"All right! All right! People please! Please back away from the body! By orders of House Tharashk, and CSI... please clear this area! There's nothing to see here! Especially not this... crumpled... broken... mushy... pile of flesh lying on the ground here! Back away! Let the professionals do their job! That means YOU, Morton!", pointing to the gnome who runs the butcher shop three doors down.
I don't know if I mentioned this, but any rolls you want to make should be done at invisible castle dice rolling website (I'm sure you all know where that is) just link it up. Most checks will be handled by me just to keep that sense of the narrative in focus, so if you want a roll made give me your modifier in a statblock like this and I'll hgandle the rest. Attacks, and any rolls you specifically have to make on your own will by through invisible castle. Sorry for the mix up
Reech quietly watches Anders and Zenthil as they game together, its milky eyes betraying no hint at its innermost thoughts.
As the shrill cry breaks the calm, it jerks its head towards the window. A small "oh!" of surprise forms where faint lips are normally barely evident. Reech pauses before rising, cocking its head from side to side to observe the activities of its fellow investigators. Seeing them moving to the door, and outside, it follows.
Stepping near the body, Reech gives it a quick glance before turning its attention to the gathering crowd. It quickly scans from side to side, gauging the reactions of the observers.
ooc
A couple of things here.
A) How do you post ooc like you do? I couldn't figure it out.
B) Reech is using Sense Motive to gauge the crowd for unusual reactions, such as recognition, or a something different from the norm (ie, someone not acting with shock and horror at the situation). Linked roll: Checking reactions for anything unusual, such as recognition. (1d20+14=22)
__________________ "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze
Hey guys I'm giving mr spicoli a couple days to post and then we'll go on, if anyone can contact him and let him what's up that would be cool. Also, my wife is illustrating the crime scene to give it more depth, so that will take a day, but should be worth it. Just for the record certain rolls will be done by me since I don't want anyone knowing how well they did i.e. sense motive, spot, search, most perception rolls.
Enforcer: to do an ooc statblock just do a normal statblock but put =ooc after it like this (sblock=ooc) but with brackets then end it like normal. So don't fret everyone we'll get back on track in a day or two
Last edited by mcnathan80; 15th November 2006 at 12:34 AM..
Zade sat relaxing puffing on his cherrywood pipe, watching the classic game of Conquerer between Anders & Zethil. He was pondering every move as they made it, and every possible move ahead for each piece. Like a calculating machine he was most always embroiled on stratagem.
He made some friendly inspiring quips to both of the players, then turned to go to the window sill to speak with his Raven Vellerith who was ruffling his feathers by the open window.
"What is it Vellerith, you seem jumpy for so soon after dinner! I must say it is becoming quite dreary outside, are you expecting rain and that is why you sit in here?"
Just at that moment the excitement commences as the fallen is seen outside and Vellerith takes immediate flight into the open air. Zade rushes outside following the group and immediately scans the building tops and windows in the area.
He wathces the others search the fallen and question the onlookers, he immediately calls to Vellerith to fly about the rooftops and look for anyone or thing that is unusual. And if he finds it to follow it.
The young man with the raspy voice takes shelter from the rain as best he can as he watches the scene unfold before him. He could tell the movements of everyone, even those he could not see clearly... because, a part of him could see them, sense them even when blind.
Zenthil has asked him a favor, at it was his job to do so. But... Minds where unpleasant things. They were secret doors into madness and lusts and secrets that should not see the light of day. Anders did not relish it... That was not true. A part of him did. A part closest to the lump on his back and the always present thoughts in his head.
But those were not the ones he was focusing on now. Opening his eyes wide (Kalserath once commented that many he knew would close there eyes during such acts, but Anders could never bring himself to do so), Anders tapped into the whispers that were the key to his power. Thoughts.... give me their thoughts.
OOC
read thoughts, concentrating on a sweep of the crowd and then anyone that comes up to others).
__________________ stonegod -- LEB judge and spawn of Khyber since 2005 (Blog)
As the team of the City of Sharn Investigators stand looking at the horribly mangled body a light rain begins to fall, almost as if the city itself wept for the dead. Considering how commonplace death was in Sharn, perhaps this would explain why it rained so much. So many questions to consider: Who is this person, what is this person, and what exactly happened are the first to pop into their mind... quickly followed by, how can we profit form this. Another beautiful day in Sharn.
The crowd quickly begins to disperse thanks in part to the sudden change in the weather, and Pohl's strongarm tactics. A few of the onlookers even mutter curses under their breaths at the ranger.
Anders:
Spoiler:
Feeling uncomfortable as always around this many people you begin to step back into the office when you hear Zenthil ask you to begin scanning the crowds to discern a reaction. You open your mind to the crowds allowing their shock and fear to assault your mind, the chaos of it all is almost overwhelming. You notice a goblin approach Pohl and attempt to read its thought. The creatures mind subconciously attempts to put up a barrier to your intrusions, but you effortlessly cut through it like a knife through hot butter 'Tell the stupid human you saw a man push the victim off a walkway, give a bogus description and take the money, then disappear.'
Zenthil:
Spoiler:
The carnage is almost overwhelming. You haven't seen anything like this since the Last War, just the image of the victim sends your mind reeling back to your days as a front line correspondant. Fighting the looming nervous breakdown, you get to business. Taking a quick scan of the sky shows only bridges, walkways, and clouds; if anyone was up there they are obscured by cloud cover, or long gone. Searching through the victim's body for clues to identity reveals ID papers
Name: Haris ir'Rolan; Occupation: Student; Address: 216 Torchlit Ln, Center Bridge, Lower Menthis; Emergency Contact: Havis, and Lyddia ir'Rolan; there's a picture in the ID.
Spoiler:
You can only assume the man in the picture is the person laying before you. You spend the next ten minutes talking to the people as Pohl drives them away, but no meaningful information is gleaned other than no one could remember hearing the man scream before he hit the ground
Kalserath:
Spoiler:
Taking note of the victim you are immediately assaulted with images of wars you've never fought in on planes you've never visited. For a moment you are left dazed as you take the scene in. Unnerved at the fact that the deformed victim could make you lose focus on reality you say a brief prayer to il-Yanna that the victim's soul will be guided to the blessed light and that they will perhaps be reborn in more pleasant circumstances. Scanning the crowd you notice a woman covered in blood huddled against a building wall. Feeling your quori spirit compelling you to act you go over to console her.
Pohl:
Spoiler:
Seeing the devastation you immediately take control and begin clearing the crowd. You hear a couple of the people muttering under their breaths 'who does this guy think he is?', 'by order of house Tharashk? That guys got some nerve', 'mushy pile of flesh? That callous bastard!' Shortly after dispersing the crowd a goblin walks up to you "Human, I have answers if you have coin."
Reech:
Spoiler:
walking outside and giving a cursory examination of the body doesn't yield any immediate clues. Similarly scanning the crowd doesn't reveal anything out of the ordinary. However, if memory serves you right, Sharn has a standing order that any mage who saves a falling person by use of a spell will receive a 25 Galifar reward making falling deaths very uncommon.
Zade:
Spoiler:
You do your best to take the scene in - considering your opium induced haze- and send Vellerith to scour the rooftops. After flying around for a couple moments Vallerith finally comes back and settles on your shoulder "Sorry Zade, I didn't find anything"
ooc
Welcome spicoli, glad to have you with us, please pick a color to represent your speaking.
Couple of things I noticed about your characters:
Bento:
Spoiler:
Hey I completely didn't catch this, but you have absolutely no spells! Pick some spells! Also, if you could fix up your feat (investigator for talented) list, and skills (spot and listen for notice) it would make reading your sheet much easier
Spicoli:
Spoiler:
You have one feat too many: Either lose a feat, or take a flaw. If you want to work something out we can make Zade's drug addiction a flaw, but it will have to have substantial in game effects, Sharn:City of Towers, has some good ideas, let me know if you want to go that route and we'll work something out. You know two more 1st lv spells, and I need you to declare a prohibited school. Also, Wizards get basic profs, or crossbows so go ahead and fix that. Plus you get one extra language due to your int bonus, oh, and stat up Vallerith. I don't know if you noticed, but it seems everyone chose investigate as a feat, you may want to consider choosing another feat since your search skill isn't that great, and I want you to be able to use all the feats you choose, of course you can do whatever you want and should choose what is most fun for you. I think that's about it.
Reech:
Spoiler:
No biggie, just need an explanation on what Able Learner actually does.
For what it's worth, I assume we're all hard working folks with stuff going on in our lives, so I'm pretty lenient on posting requirments. Post when you can, if you lag behind just catch up when you can. I'll NPC you if you're lagging in combat or any other important encounters. I'm more concerned with fun than time limits for posting.
Last edited by mcnathan80; 16th November 2006 at 06:48 AM..
As the crowd begins to disperse, Reech turns its attentions to the object of all the commotion, the crumpled form lying on the ground. Carefully, Reech steps around the body, noting its position, facing, and checking the damage to its form.
After a few minutes of visual examination, the changeling lay down on the ground, taking up a position similar to the victim. Then, slowly, turning its head every now and then to check its source, Reech begins to shift its form to match that of the mangled corpse.
ooc
1)Able Learner is a feat that allows the character to buy cross-class skills for only half cost (ie, 1 rank per point) The character can still only buy up to the cross-class limit in ranks, however; so Reech could have a maximum number 3 ranks at his current level in a cross-class skill.
2) Reech will use Investigate to study the body for signs of how it died, mainly whether it was pushed or not- which is probably a given, but best to be sure- as well as for any indications of who the person might be- station (via clothing or the like), or similar.
3) Reech is trying to adopt a form as similar to that of the vic as possible, given any damage it has sustained. Depending on what you think it possible to do with a changeling's shapeshift ability, he will even attempt to mimic the physical injuries of the victim- twisted limbs- to try and get a better idea of what the victim was doing prior to impact- trying to turn, stop himself.
__________________ "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze
May this soul return to this world after the turning of the Age Kalserath thinks to himself while regarding the mangled body, as his quori spirit sends him images of what Kalserath assumes are wars on Dal Quor.
Upon noticing a woman covered in blood huddled against a wall, he approaches.
"Miss, are you all right? Are you hurt?" he asks with genuine concern, putting a hand gently on her shoulder.
OOC to DM and Anders/stonegod
mindlink to Anders (assuming he doesn't resist, my guess is that he'd know it's Kalserath): There's a woman covered in blood over here, she may be wounded.
As the people begin to leave, and he hears the various mumbles of irritation from people, Pohl sadly just shakes his head and thinks "There's no use getting angry at me... it's your own sad lives that find something like this to be the highlight of your day".
When the goblin walks up to him, his eyes immediately go to the creature and a quick flash of "oh yuck!" appears then immediately disappears from his face. He plasters on a wide smile and then addresses the little creature. "Yes? Is that true, sir? Well then I do in fact have a coin. Here..." he reaches into his purse and pulls out a copper piece, which he hands-- or more to the point, drops-- into the waiting hand of the goblin. "What answers do you have? If you have knowledge of this event, you must share... otherwise I'll have no choice but to summon the Sentinel Marshalls for withholding information in a crime investigation."
Anders' eyes narrow once again as he releases the whispers, always a welcome and unwelcome feeling. Moving to the large man, the young man whispers, "The goblin seeks to deceive you." Anders then just looks curiously at the goblin, trying to observe it reaction.
As he watches the goblin, the boy seems to start a bit. He then looks around, peering intently at Kalserath's direction. He leaves the d'Tharashk hunter and moves to the other's side.
Kalserath
Anders felt the presense of Kalserath's mind, so ordered and narrow. He was sure that touching his own mind was a disturbing processes. He thought Kalserath once called it "a tangled nightmare" or some such. At the man's missive, he just thinks, ok and walks over. He peers intently at the woman, trying to assess her mood.
__________________ stonegod -- LEB judge and spawn of Khyber since 2005 (Blog)
stonegod brought up a good point after I asked him if anyone knows what Anders is: do people know what Kalserath is? The answer is yes, you all should know that Kalserath is kalashtar. Kalserath does little to hide his heritage, unless passing for human is required for a job. But between the meditation, psionic ability, and his glowing white mind blade, it's not exactly hard to deduce Kalserath's race once you've been working with him for a while.
After the crowd starts to lose interest and the rain begins to pick up, Zenthil walks over to the prone Reech. "So... was it death by sudden impact or something completely different?"
Zenthil, fighting back the urge to heave, hunches over and begins to examine the body much closer this time. Under his breath he begins to say to himself "OK...stay calm...remember, this isn't a person anymore...its a possible crime scene...you've seen worse...if someone is behind this you have to keep focused..."
Calming himself, Zenthil's focus begins to shift as his surroundings begin to melt away and all that is before him is the body. He searches for evidence of magic or signs of unusual trama.
Checks
Zenthil aids Reech in a preliminary examination of the body using his Investigator feat. He also casts "detect magic" to pick up any possible residue.
ooc
I don't know about this "castle" die rolling site you mention. Could you provide a link? Thanks!
Last edited by bento; 16th November 2006 at 08:02 PM..
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