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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cypherblade" data-source="post: 9673577" data-attributes="member: 7048389">Second session. wow, it's hard to keep track of all little details. But I avoided major mistakes. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />[spoiler]Morning BriefingThis morning, we gathered at the station. Felix hadn’t filed his report, but thankfully Kane had. Serena told us someone had left a note yesterday:“My apologies for what happened at the consulate. Can we meet at Tearoom Pousse Café to talk? – Lebrix.”When the chief arrived, we were instructed to investigate a missing person—last seen by a coachman. Outside, we found the coach and spoke to the driver, Jack Byron from Bosum Strand. He’d transported a man to the consulate, who later returned covered in blood. The same man had rented a room at the House of the Blue Bird but disappeared without paying. He was well-dressed, dark-haired, with a goatee. Claimed to be a surgeon and carried documentation.Chief’s OfficeBack at the office, I tried submitting my report, but the chief tore it up because of the knock. I insisted someone verify if the consul was alive and well. The chief warned that if Lady Saxby saw the report, she'd weaponize it against me and surely'd use it when she saw fit.Supplies and LeadsWe visited Alaric, our quartermaster. He handed out wages—150 gp—and let us pick from potions: invisibility, pugilism, five healing potions, and 200 gp worth of magical ingredients. Our enchanted pralines would be analysed by afternoon.We had two leads: the House of the Blue Bird and the meeting with Lebrix. On the way to the first, I spoke with contacts Lars and Lobke. They mentioned Crysillian is spoken in parts of the city—by sailors and locals alike. I asked the kids to look into a group known as the Warf family.The House of the Blue BirdThis hotel in North Shore rents rooms. At the front desk, we inquired about a guest matching our description. A man with a goatee and strange accent had checked in—Dr. Wolfgang Von Recklinghausen. A police officer, Roger Porter, had asked for him yesterday. The doctor, bloodied, had stopped by briefly to collect supplies and then vanished.We searched his room and found a letter from Dr. Barnaby Camp, a recommendation for Von Recklinghausen. On the floor, we discovered a black stain with a burnt-oil smell—different from the doctor’s usual soapy scent. Officer Porter, meanwhile, smelled like the stain and had been seen with a bandage covering a black mark.Looking for Officer PorterWe visited the local police station but no one had heard of Porter. Same story in Parity Lake. At Sechim’s factory, we asked about Nilasa’s possible ties to the consulate—nothing. No one there had heard of Von Recklinghausen either. The man who came asking about acid had no mustache and dressed plainly.At the ConsulateThe guards told us the consul had just gone to lunch. Lebrix had removed Nilasa’s body from the fence yesterday. Felix asked which of the consul's visitors might've argued with him. The receptionist only remembered the doctor—Von Recklinghausen—there for a visa to Ber. The application listed Dr. Camp and Professor Kindleton as references. She also hinted at a mysterious third visitor who’d gone to the basement—she didn’t know who he was.Lebrix hadn’t shown up today. His unexplained absence was suspicious.The Drugged PralinesMeanwhile, Kane was scouting pubs. The guards often visit The Dry Throat after hours. Ayleen went ahead to check out Pousse Café. She noticed Crysillian being spoken there but didn’t see anything suspicious.Back at HQ, we examined the pralines. They were laced with fey pepper, a stimulant and popular party drug that dilates pupils and causes agitation. Nilasa had brought the pralines for breakfast—many were eaten by the guards. Fey pepper is expensive and -as we learn now- are measured in drams—also popular among university students.Meeting with LebrixAt Pousse Café, Kane, Felix, and Saria entered, with Saria using detect magic. A few minutes later, Lebrix arrived. He apologized—he wasn’t himself yesterday. He’d eaten two pralines. We explained they were laced with fey pepper and could be the reason for his unusual behaviour.He revealed that he had been investigating financial irregularities in Danoran-funded factories: stolen construction materials and rumors of smuggling. Each site had crates full of small glass bottles containing black oil. The consul had pulled him off the investigation when he included the oil in his report.Yesterday, the consul, Methan Du Nadria, had been in the basement with a visitor—likely the shooter. Lebrix was eating breakfast. Nilasa came with her boyfriend and breakfast, including pralines. There was only one visitor: the doctor. At some point, Nilasa vanished. Then, two gunshots. The consul told Lebrix to say nothing happened, and to take responsibility for the shots. The visitor insisted the body be moved to the other side of the fence.The consulate's cleric, Bartide Jannis, had removed the bullets and noticed a cut on Nilasa’s head. Both necromantic and healing magic had been used—possibly even gentle repose.Lebrix also noticed Ayleen carried pistols and offered to teach her a trick: engraving a name on a bullet to make it never miss.Interviewing the ClericWe asked around and found Jannis after 30 minutes. He admitted he was uncomfortable with what happened. After the shots, Lebrix had rushed upstairs. Nilasa's body was brought in. She had facial injuries, two gunshots, and had been impaled. Jannis was ordered to conceal the blunt head wound—he used cure wounds and gentle repose, and handed the bullets over to the consul.Final Stop: The Thinking ManNilasa had met her boyfriend Braden at The Thinking Man, a bar frequented by professors and students. We stopped by on the way to Central. The tavern was quiet—it was still early. Barbara, a kitchen worker, was shocked to hear Nilasa had been killed. She said Nilasa often mingled with “the professors”—mostly students. She had been closest with Hennet Rinus, who had only recently returned after a long absence.[/spoiler]</blockquote>

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