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PPA: The Case of the Stoned Dude

Mithral·Dragon

First Post
Please come quick! One of my students didn't pay their tab for the new Semester. When I finally got the dorm door open he looked in an awful state! Unmoving and as gray as death! By the Gods, you must hurry or it'll be my head! This is the Ambassador's son we're talking about - a dandy of a dude, but still!!

~ Dean Lawrence, New Olamn



The Paranormal Protection Agency was headquartered in the Castle Ward of Waterdeep primarily because of Lucious' prominent position as a Black Robed Magister. Retired though he is, Lucious received accolades and an appointment as Magistratus (Chief Magister). Aged substantially though not ailing, Lucious setup the Agency nearby his own manor for ease. That location served very well in many of the cases the Agency had investigated, including the latest: The Case of the Stoned Dude.

The tout that had brought word from the Dean of New Olamn guided the investigators back to the Bardic College. The trek was short; a short walk down Shadow Alley to the wide lane of the Street of Silks. North along that street and then a left turn at Keltarn Street followed by a quick right onto Sword Street. The impressive estate of the Blackstaff Khleben Arunsun was passed. Unnatural flames danced in the spires at each of the four corners of that estate. Beyond that remained a short walk from there to the paved walkway of Melody's Mount Walk. Mount Waterdeep had been pierced here, leaving a wide tunnel which emptied onto the grounds of New Olamn.

Tyler the Tout gave none of the sights any interest, trudging hurriedly back to the source of his message. The Bardic College itself was lackluster in comparison to Blackstaff Tower. Fashionable, the building blended in with the other Nobles' estates hugging the cliffs of the Sword Coast. Crashing waves could be heard in the distance, undoubtedly carried farther by the damp evening air.

There was no waiting to be seen, the Dean having done all the waiting required already. Standing at the entry, Dean Lawrence nodded to the Tout with a mummbled thanks and a platinum coin before turning and leading the way in. No introductions were made, the Dean seemed far too preoccupied for such niceties. Rather, he pressed onwards and explained what little he could on the way.

"I found him shortly after supper." Dean Lawrence explained. "He'd not been to classes at all since inception of this semester this past weekend. Given who his father is, I thought it nerves at first but..." He reached the door of a dorm at that moment, offering little more than a shrug. Opening but not entering, the Dean stood to one side to allow the Investigators their opportunity to work.

The room was cluttered with all manner of compositions in varying states of completness. Papers were strewn about and littered furniture and floor alike. At the center of the room was the body. It appeared the man was sitting at his table before succumbing and falling to the floor. His skin was rough and grey, not unlike stone. In fact, had the man not been laying in the fetal position on the floor, he'd have more resemblance to an intricately carved statue than a once living person.
 

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Gerard approached cautiously, for a step in the door. A prayer to Lasander for the gift of divine sight to see what auras are present and he is looking from the body to all points of the room.

OOC: cast detect magic and look every where
 

Helena laid a sympathetic hand on the Dean's arm, and said:

'Sir, rest assured my colleagues have some of the finest minds in the city, and a range of talents that will help us get to the bottom of this mystery'. She smiled reassuringly at him.

'Master Gerard' she enquired of the priest, 'has anything been revealed? Might I ask that once your scan is complete, you, and your good self, Master Poshment' she said turning to the gnomish wizard, 'remain exactly where you are'.

'Master Airard, I'll warrant your eyes are keener than any of ours, and I fancy a man of your talents will have a nose for something out of the ordinary. Would you care to examine the scene first before it becomes too cluttered by our travel?'


[sblock="OOC"] Helena will give Airard as much time as he needs to go through the room to try and get a feel for a) who this guy was and what his habits were, and b) based on that if there is anything obviously amiss in the room.

If anyone gets antsy while he's working, then she will harrumph and generally try to stop them messing things up or getting in Airard's way unless they just want to be a pain in butt on general principles ;) If the Dean makes any comment about why it is taking so long she will sweet talk him that everything is in hand and that we are just being thorough.

I'm going to stick to using Invisible Castle, although I'm having trouble registering, and getting it to copy the results properly, so have done it manually.

Diplomacy Check

1d20+16=29

While Airard is about his business, Helena will have a look at the room from the doorway, taking the chance to see if she can pick up any signs of the unmistakeable reek of evil...

Once the halfling gives them the all clear, Helena will move to the body and, if Gerard hasn't done it already, she will ask him to examine it, and ask him what his opinion of it is. She will assist him in making a Heal check.

Heal check

1d20+16=33

Successful Aid Other, +2 to Gerard's Heal check[/sblock]
 
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Gerard blushes at the fax pas of his haste. "sorry, milady. he looks to be suffering and, I guess I acted hastily"
 

'Hastily?' says Helena, favouring him with a smile. 'Not at all; your instinct was that of the good and compassionate soul we all know you to be. It gladdens my heart that you are here with us'.
 


Posh laughs as he enters the room, "I am sorry, he reminded me of a study I was once a part of." Without much of a though, Posh jumps up on the bed.

He looks around the room, "Rather untidy follow. Apparently rather busy in his work. Mind handing me some of those papers so I may see what form of work he was busy with?"
 

Taking his cue from Helena, Airard proceeds to go through the room with a fine toothed comb. He pokes into corners, looks in drawers and closets, gets down on hands and knees to examine the body and everything else at floor level, etc. He takes care to disturb as little as possible as he goes through, but he leaves nothing unexamined.

[sblock=Dice Rolls]Perception (1d20+15=16)
Sense Motive (1d20+13=31)

Perception for finding anything (besides a stone body) 'out of the ordinary,' and Sense Motive for 'getting a feel' for what happened.[/sblock]
 

The sweep of the room for magic turned up a very dim aura of lingering magic. It would be difficult, at best, to descry the nature of the dweomer. Whatever had caused the magic had to have been powerful, given the amount of time the Tout took to obtain the message, deliver, and return. How many days had elapsed since the odd attack remained as much a question.

If not for the statue-like body on the floor, it would've appeared as though nothing more insidious had befallen than a gusty wind. The papers were everywhere, an obvious sign that there had been some struggle. Yet there were no traces of blood to indicate a successful defense. Worse-still, the stoney body had nothing indicative of wounds - despite being composed of stone.

Not until Posh had asked for the papers did it become evident that there was very little work being done on music or anything related to what most associate to the Bardic College. Rather, the scribbles and scrawls were completely alien in nature. While there did appear to be some form of pattern, none of the shapes held any meaning.

Only when Helena reached for a paper stuck to the foot of Gerard from his initial entry into the room was there anything conclusive sign that another entity had been within the room: That single sheet of parchment was torn in a jagged fashion. Three symmetrical marks marred the page, as though some clawed creature had stepped heavily on it.

The keen eyes of Airard looked to where the paper had likely been minutes ago. There, at the threshold of the door, he noted a faint scrawl which had been partially scrapped by three similar furrows in the wood. Whatever had been written used the same characters as those on the scores of pages Posh was now flipping through.


OOC: I'll need a Knowledge (Arcana) check on the Detect Magic to identify to school of the lingering aura. DC increased due to the 'lingering' status of the aura.
 

Airard pauses in his shuffle 'round the floor as he spots some scratches in the wood near the door. He takes off his hat and puts his face close to the scratchings, quickly determining that they are writings of some sort. He jumps up in excitement when the others mentions writings as well.

"I have some writing over here as well . . . may I see that?" The energetic little man flips back and forth through the writings, making comparisons and muttering to himself as he studies them.

[sblock=OOC]Is a linguistics check appropriate here, MD? Airard is +15 if so, but you're supposed to roll due to the chance of drawing false conclusions if he fails.[/sblock]
 

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