Freeport- Part 1: the Problem with Crematoriums

[Karl Green]

“Black Sails over Freeport- Part 1: the Problem with Crematoriums”

Ok, ladies and gentlemen, we'll be starting now. All OOC information that you need to tell me put at the end of your post in bracket like this:

[OOC: Diplomacy +10 to try to calm him down]

Of course the role-playing version of that would be further up the post, but if you need any rolls made, just make me aware of them.

Also, please put your race, class, character name, and whatnot in the title of your posts so everyone doesn't have to keep running to the Rogue's Gallery to figure our who everyone is.

Thoughts go in italics, speaking in "quotes," and actions go in *asterisks.* If you wish to use different colors for thoughts and speech, you may, but it must be light enough for me to read.

Occasionally I'll be making use of the spoiler tags. If you see a blank spot in a paragraph or something, like this

Spoiler

this is an example of spoiler text

, please don't highlight it until you read the end of the post and get my recommendations as to who is supposed to read it.

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Ah Freeport, the City of Adventure! Home to pirates and desperate chaps, of violence and intrigue, of cherished hopes and broken dreams. Oh its streets you’ll find amazing wealth and grinding poverty, benevolent priests and black-hearted cultist, honest merchant and two-timing thieves. Called the ‘Crossroads of the World’. Freeport is a stopping point for merchant fleets, home base for squadrons of privateers, and frequent port of call to renegade pirates. It’s a chaotic melting pot where gold is king and life is cheap. And for thousands of souls it’s home.

It has been a long and hot summer in the city of adventure, and tempers have run even hotter. There is yet no Sea Lord over Freeport, and the Captains Council is deadlocked. The rainy season is just barely starting… most of the time storm clouds blow in and it rains in the early evenings. With in a month or so the monsoon season will start but until then, most the storms are pretty mild.

On the mainland, a war of sorts is brewing between the elves of the Tir na Quin and Northolt. Privateers have been flocking to the city of Freeport as in the past with all other wars; the Freeport Admiralty issues ‘Letters of Marquee’ (essentially renting out Freeport’s buccaneers to do what they do best on behalf of another country). But with the strife in the Captains Council, the Admiralty has stopped issuing the revenue-generating Letters.

Orcs have streamed into the city in ever-larger numbers to assist in the refurbishing of Milton’s Folly, and the natives are not happy having that many savage humanoids swarming the streets, particularly ones who work for cut-rate wages.

Our story begins on a sunny afternoon, down at the docks of Scurvytown...

 

[Karl Green]

It is mid to late afternoon down on the docks of Scurvytown, the sea gules are fighting over the trash that floats in and around the docks and the rats are making themselves fat on refuge that litters the street with little or no fear of passersby. A number of drunks’ stubble down the streets and beggars are just starting to appear, pleading their woes to any who will listen. Typical of this part of town, and most people are going about their business and not looking at anyone and not wanting any trouble… when a cry is heard over by the water… a body has been found and a small crowd has formed as a team of the Lord’s Watch arrives, pushing their way through the crowd.

Torren Blackquill and Kitsch are just returning from Dimetrios’s “Goods & Transports” shop a couple of blocks north of here. Dimetrios is a ‘merchant’ of some good standing who is not opposed to transporting just about anything from anywhere… generally free of taxes or official inspection. About the only things he will not deal in are Abyss Dust and slaves. Torren had just received some particular ingredients that he had requested Dimetrios to get, that would have cost at least twice as much and taken twice as long had he gone through the ‘proper cannels’. The pair noticed the crowd, and craning their necks can see that the Watch Sergeant had just turned the body over and was examining it…

Black Jack O'bannon was just leaving the Chumhouse, one of the cheapest, most violent, ugliest watering holes in all of Freeport… run by a pair of bad tempered dwarves no less! But Jack had been hoping to meet a Privateer Captain by the name of Fargus Ironfoot, a somewhat strange Halfling who is in town waiting to acquire the “Letters of Marquee” and to hire a new crew. But without the Letters, Fargus has not been hiring anyone and was instead drinking away his troubles at the Chumhouse, meaning Black Jack has left empty handed, without a job and limited coin. As he is walking down the dock heading toward his room at the Broken Mug (another tavern on the docks but over in the Warehouse District, that is actually fairly clean and cheap, and attracts better cliental then the Chumhouse) when he notices the crowd forming down at the water. A sergeant of the Lord’s Watch is just turning over the body to examine it.

Everyone notices that the body was a human male, with a thick black beard and he is fully clothed, if waterlogged. As people start to get a look at the man’s face there is a mutter as a few people seem to recognize him…

“Oi now, that be Warty Pete, he done works out at the Crematorium!”
“Ho now, I never did cotton to them carrion collectors coming into town and such… bad luck to be a handling the dead every day, iffin you ask me…”
“Whats this? Who’d be so crazy as to go a swimming in their cloths?”
“Had to be a crazy to work at that the “burn and tombs” iffin ya ask me, I tell you want”

…And similar such comments are made by the crowd. The four man team of the Lord’s Watch look at each other with some nervousness, and try and avoid looking at the Sergeant as much as possible. He makes a face and says “You lads gets these people back a bit… and quit being so squeamish, an’t the first time ya all have seen a body… so stop acting like school girls and do yer jobs”

The Sergeant looks up and around and says to the crowd “Ok you jack-a-bites have seen enough of this here show for today… ya all best be back to your business…” he then looks around at the backs of his men and shakes his head.

About then a small human male with a shaven head and wearing monks robes runs down the dock. When he gets closer you notice the symbol of Wee Jas is weaved into his robes… “Oh my oh my… this is simply horrible… simply horrible… dear fellow that is young Pete, I knew something was dreadfully wrong when the boat from the Crematorium did not stop by this morning… Sergeant, I demand that you send a detachment to the island at once to discover what has happened there… why pirates or some dreadful Sea Devils could have overrun the place…

All three of you notice that at this the Lord’s Watch guards are shaking their heads and are not looking at all pleased.

[i.e. go ahead and post your comments or observations now; assuming that you are interested in what is happening or where you might be heading next]

 

[Karl Green]

Fentrith Fade was just coming from having lunch with Inquisitor Victor de Strome, of the 'Hold of Retribution' (also called the Church of St. Cuthbert; this is a rather strange set, that is not really looking for followers in Freeport and have set up shop in the worst part of town… they are much more interested in combating daemons and cults to Old forgotten gods. Fentrith is somewhat of a friend to Inquisitor Strome) when he heard the cry down by the docks. When Fentrith gets there he sees the crowd being pushed back as Father Finnegan Reel, a minor priest of Wee Jas (whose sect administers for the dead of Freeport) race down to where the sergeant is examine the body and starts his little speech…

spoiler known for Fentrith to follow

Spoiler

[… for those that die in Freeport, they are either buried in private family plots or are taken to the Crematorium, where most are burned… but for those who wish it there are also extensive caves running underneath the island where a loved one can be placed; hence the nick name “the burn and tombs”. This is not common knowledge here but something a priest in the town would know]

 

[rangerjohn]

Black Jack Elven Rogue/Fighter

*Black Jack approaches the priest and says*"well, father if the coin was right, I might be interested in helping you with your problem." *While looking the priest over to see if he might know more of the problem.



OOC:Untrained sense motive check.










8

 

[Hammerhead]

Fentrith Fade

Fentrith Fade, slightly curious, approaches the priest of Wee Jas.

"Father Reel!"

Finnigan approaches, extending his hand in greeting. "My name is Fentrith Fade, a priest of Harrimast. Don't you think you might be overreacting? It's a lot more likely this poor fellow just took a swim during the wrong sort of weather and is just now coming back to us. Why so worried about a bunch of old tombs anyway?" I wonder if the creepy Wee Jas priest knows more than he's telling. I was never much one for death, preferred life myself.

"'Sides, I think the Watch is more than a little busy right now, what with the orcs and all. Don't really see them being too caring about some stiff who washes in on the tide."

 

[Karl Green]

Black Jack pushes his way up to talk with the Priest, who turns to him and says in reply “Yes young fellow, well now, if the Sergeant here is derelict in his duties to the city and citizens both living and dead, then by all means I should be able to arrange some funds to be transferred from the coffers of Wee Jas to hire someone to go out and investigate… what say you sergeant?”

The Sergeant looks Black Jack up and down and grumbles “Hey I got en’off problems without added in a trip out to the ‘burn and tombs’ this Father… if you want to spend your coin to send some lay-about then more power to ya. Me and me lads only have to worry about 3 other murders that happened last night around here and keep the Orc-scum from rioting” With that he orders one of his men to go fetch a stretcher to take poor Warty Pete over to the ‘black pier’.

The priest huffs a bit and turns back to Black Jack “Well then, my name is Father Finnegan Reel. I must attend to poor Pete here, but do come over to the last pier on these docks… they are hard to miss as they where painted black by some morbid dock workers, who thought it was fitting or some such thing. Hmm oh… well now… I have never hired a ‘troubleshooter’ before… what is the going rate… what say you to 50 gold crowns?”

About then Fentrith Fade pushes forward and after listen to his reply the father seems to think for a moment “Ah yes a servant of Harrimast, well meet to you sir priest. Well now I can’t really say why I got this feeling of dread, but the workers out on the Crematorium are very responsible, and why Father Golmon would have no such shenanigans on his watch. We only have a small shire here on the docks where we can store bodies for a short time only. This is why they have to be collect each and every morning for transportation to the island. Also we do have carrier pigeons that are used to commutate back and forth with in case of emergencies or such, but they have send my no replies to my inquest. I just know that with the blessing of Wee Jas, something bad is a foot. But anyway I must attend to poor Pete here. Good day to you sir priest.”

After Father Reel has moved off the Sergeant turns back to Jack (and glances at Fentrith Fade) and says in somewhat a low voice (that the both can hear) “Iffin you an some other mates wants to go check the tombs out and the priest is willing to pay you hard coin, I be a happier man fer it. The lads they be a suppositious lot and they would not be to happy to be a going out there… especially this late in the day, with the storm rolling in tonight… ye probably with have to spend the night out there, and well it would take more mead then I could afford to get the men to stay overnight. So while I can’t offer ye any help in manpower, I can offer ye a boat. The Watch has a couple fer when we have to go check on the other islands and I could a sign it out to ya… Sergeant Yodel by the way.” he yells at one of the other Watch members “Markus, get ye tail over to the Watch Pier and arrange fer one of de boats to be down at the black pier pronto… well get the lead out you droopy eyed bastrad”

Black Jack sense motive, Priest seems pretty nervous… maybe worried, but you can’t really get a good ‘read’ off of him. Against the sergeant, who seems honest enough but is also not overly easy to read. For Fentrith Fade, as you are talking with the Priest you also get a bit of an odd feeling off of him, as if he might be not telling everything he know… could be any number of reasons but he is defiantly holding something back. To Fentrith, the sergeant seems pretty honest and not holding anything back… it does seem that the Watch is very nervous. NOTE that for some of these I am going to keep the result secret… so not telling you what you rolled. SECOND NOTE while the day is still fairly sunny, dark storm clouds are rolling in and it will probably rain fairly hard by early evening.

[OCC D'oh TOTALLY sorry Black Jack... for some reason I changed ALL of those over to Tom must drink more coffee]

 

[JimAde]

Torren Blackquill Human Wizard

*Torren lingers as the crowd wanders off. He approaches Warty Pete's body, his hand holding a silk scarf over his face to ward off the smell. He regards the body sadly.*

"Poor Warty Pete. Even lemon oil didn't help." *Shakes his head sadly. Turns to those speaking with the sergeant.*

"Seems an unlikely time for a swim, don't you think?" *Turns directly to Black Tom. Extends his hand.* "Torren Blackquill, sir, at your service."

"If you have a mind to head out to the crematoriums, I'd be inclined to accompany you. Pete wasn't exactly a friend, but he wasn't a stranger either."

*Eyes narrow as he regards the body again.*

"I am annoyed."

[OOC: I hope it's OK that I assume an acquaintance with Warty Pete. I figure he might have been to see me about his unfortunate skin condition]

 

[Ferrix]

Kitsch scampers his way up beside Torren, regarding the body with an inquisitive eye. Looking up to Torren he gestures ~you go, i go~.

OOC: are they taking good watch over the body, if they aren't i'm gonna see if i can get a quick search of it, nab anything that might seem important and try to be inconspicuous about it. search +6, sleight of hand +12. i'm gonna use ~ for handsign so that it is distinguished from normal speech.

 

[rangerjohn]

Black Jack Elf Rogue/Fighter

"Thank you sergeant, always knew those years on a ship would come in handy." *Black Jack says shaking the man's hand. Turning back to the priest* "I suppose 50 gold a piece would be acceptable, to check what is going on on the island. Now once we find out, that might be subject to renegotion."


OOC: Can't you guys read? It's Black JACK!

 

[JimAde]

Kitsch scampers his way up beside Torren, regarding the body with an inquisitive eye. Looking up to Torren he gestures ~you go, i go~.

Torren nods. He drops the scarf briefly to sign, ~Yes. But stay out of trouble, ok?~ He replaces the scarf and turns to regard the priest along with Black Jack.

OOC: Can't you guys read? It's Black JACK!

[OOC: Ack! Sorry. Too much X-men /]