Something doesn't look right about the eyes. Ashley quickly realizes what when she looks at the dead councilors. The councilors have the dilated pupils that are common in corpses. The muscles relax and the pupils expand. But the cultists' pupils are extremely constricted. She knows bright light can have that effect on the living, but even in the glaring sun of the Smoking Sands, the pupils go wide in death. The only other thing Ashley could think of is the effect of some drug perhaps
Joren ruminates as he clinically ensures the corpses stay dead, reminding himself that most others are going to have normal human reactions to this carnage. But not me,Joren realizes sadly. Not since Dragontail Narrows. I am damaged. And perhaps Vilus is too. Jaded to such atrocities.
Shaking himself from his reverie, he observes, "we are all seeing it. Something is wrong. More of those who were slain here should have been reacting. Out of their seats before being struck down. I am wondering if there were others involved in the plan besides these three assassins."
He turns to the bespectacled artificer. "Samir, are you still having Jon Shep's medallion? I am thinking we should have it out with one of us watching it when we are interviewing these two guards who were apparently here and slew the assassins. It is seeming too easy for me. Two guards neatly slaying three assassins, all in one place, but not before the assassins were accomplishing their goal."
He can't glean too much from the councilors corpses, but sees the look in Ashley's face that she may have an inkling.
"these cultists aren't above martyring themselves once their job is done. This killing if the council feels like it is merely to create a power vacuum and confusion in the gangs that would seek to lead in their absence, unfortunately we are one of these groups, if not by want then merely by circumstance. Is there really more to find here? Or are they succeeding in distracting us from their goals and activities?" Vilus walks over to the window and peers out
Ashley draws in a quick breath as she looks at the cultist's pupils. Looking up to her friends, she says, "These people were drugged. I'm not exactly sure what this means, but something is wrong with these people. They don't have masks on, but they were definitely manipulated in some way" she goes to close the eyelids of the deceased.
Malachi is aware of a toxin derived from a rare imported flower that can cause paralysis in its victims, stiffening the muscles much akin to rigor mortis. Hearing Ashley's mention of poison, and seeing the cultists' eyes for himself, this toxin comes to mind. Echomorin. He'd had an opportunity to buy some once, but decided against it. It's very difficult to get the dose right to make it effective but nonlethal. But why would the cultist's have Echomorin in their systems? They wouldn't have been able to move on their own, much less catch a bunch of councilors unawares and kill them.
At Ashley’s warning, Malachi kneels down and inspects the bodies himself. “I’ve seen something like this before. It paralyzes the victims, makes it look like death. But why would they have it? Something is wrong here, but I can’t place it. Signs the door was forced, but the victims were not alerted before they were struck down. Someone is going to great lengths to stage a story, but why?”
Vilus takes a deep breath, the swell of the ocean far below the window he stands at filling his lungs with sea breeze.
He stands silent for some time before turning to the group, a faint purple haze surrounding his head he opens his eyes, apparently having had them closed for a while whilst he stood. "It's gone, I don't hear it anymore... The encroaching distortion, the impending arrival of whatever Rasmus is. I've heard it whenever I've seen the sea since we got exploded at the office in Tensmith. It's gone, he's stopped coming."
Malachi looks up from where he was examining the bodies. ”What, it’s gone? Does that mean the invasion is over? We won? Marion and the Blue Lady were enough to drive Rasmus away. But it still doesn’t explain what happened here or why?”
"I don't know, this doesn't make sense... I mean the heart if flame was meant to cleanse the land and clear the way for its arrival, maybe since we stopped that it's plan fell flat and it isn't strong enough to invade with so much resistance. Marigold was the leader of these cultists and with her indisposed, this attack feels like the last stand of a dying ideal.
But It also happened at the same time we were out fighting her, right?
I think that if rasmus was already here we would know about it, the buzzing would be deafening. But a little part of me, wonders if he's not approaching anymore because he's already here..." Vilus let's his arms hang loose by his sides, bit his fingers tap on his pockets in a repeating rhythm, it seems that his paranoia and subsequent fidgeting has increased a little since the fight.
"Well, I am not seeing any indications of lingering magic or spells of any kind. Not even the runes we have come to associate with the cult." Samir sighs, straightening to stand fully upright, one hand moving to his back as if to ease a pain there. "Yes, we still have the amulet, and certainly we will check these guards, if only out of an excess of caution. Do you think that whatever this drug is could have been used as a means of controlling someone? Make them... suggestible or something of the sort?"
The artificer moves to stand next to Vilus, his gaze looking out over the sea as well. For a brief moment the thought impinged that there was a time he had denounced the goliath, swore against the other man's actions and methods. How much of that had changed out of neccessity?
Shaking away the intrusive thought, he turns back to the others, away from the window. "If Rasmus is no longer on his way, there must be a reason. Personally, I cannot imagine that Marigold was so important that her being removed from the field has completely undone the enemy. She was a piece on the board, one with some import certainly, but I am certain she was far from the only one. Perhaps we have forced a reconsideration, a change in plans and that is what you are sensing. Or rather, not sensing. Above all else, we need information. Hopefully we can obtain something of what we need from Marigold herself. I fear her use will be limited, however. Unless she was far more of an important figure that I believe, her knowledge will be limited to her part in things, whether she knows it or not.
I find myself wondering if perhaps we might be able to find certain implements that would enable to us to look across vast distances somewhere within the city. Scrying tools, perhaps the government itself might have something locked inside a vault somewhere?"
"if we search their lair under the city thoroughly we may find another of those scrying Dias thingies, if all else fails that is...
My spies turned something up before, a message from a captive, it keeps playing over and over in my mind.. 'The martyrs are prepared for hellfire within while the rest await Razmus without...'
Well the hellfires never came and the others are still around. But these guys had no tattoos or masks and were drugged to be paralysed. Perhaps wants us to look at the cult for someone to blame, it just feels like a big coverup."
"Gone? Being sure of this?" Joren looks sharply at Vilus. A week ago, the look might have been suspicious of the inscrutable goliath's thought process, but now his gaze is more measured and appraising, while still wary.
"Still, I am listening to Ash and Mal and thinking we should continue the investigation here, speaking at least to the two guards with Samir holding the medallion. If a paralyzing toxin is affecting the cultist assassins, perhaps they are not the real assassins, being still at large.."
Joren pauses. "Once we are done... As you are saying, Vilus, the yellow lights on the device in Andra's secret room in Tensmith were clearly showing another similar device, or at least similar yellow lights, here in Talmouth. If we could be finding that device hidden somewhere in the cultists' stronghold, it may indeed be shedding light, so to speak, on both the approaching fleet and and on the nature of Razmus' lingering presence here in the city."
Ashley is completely baffled by the turn of events. She can't imagine that things are done.. that doesn't make sense, doesn't sit well with her.
"Ok, so we can test people with the medallion, we can wait a few days and question whatever Marigold has turned into, we still have the remaining council folk to talk to... maybe they can shed some light on what happened here?" She then asks Vilus, "what about your watcher? They tell you anything?"
"it is no longer urgent with its messages, with it's mood. Not that it was easy to parse what it wanted me to know before...
It's ironic really, everything is uncertain until it is observed, and by observing things, they can change in a fundamental way, but with the watcher, nothing feels certain, and at the same time, everything feels inevitable." Vilus answers Ashley, in a meager fashion, not sure if he can truly clarify with words what he is trying to say. Instead he turns to Joren and gives an accepting nod to Joren's acceptance of a back up plan.
Vilus' visage slips back into his Goliath form momentarily before he quickly resumes his human disguise, the timeframe of his illusion spell needing a quick refresh.
Ashley looks up at Vilus, concern etched on her face. She looks like she is about to say something, but thinks better of it and stands up, wiping her hands on her thighs.
"So, shall we go talk to the council people first? Or what?" Her eyes than shift over to Vilus again but waits to hear what others think.
One of the nearby guards, now having retreated back out the door, says, “I didn’t catch who they were. They were swallowed up in all the hustle and bustle. How about you?”
the other guard shakes his head. “Everything is a bit chaotic now. I didn’t even realize we had guards posted inside the room. You could ask the surviving councillors if any of them know…”
"the councillors who survived, were they the only survivors? We're gonna need to talk to them, now." Vilus asks somewhat abruptly of the guard.
With that he turns to the group conspiratorially.
Linking with each of their minds in turn and delivering a short message, "the evidence here is pointing more and more to foul play, I don't think the these dead drugged people are actually cultists, these surviving councillors are highly suspicious"
"Agreeing with this, Vilus and Ash. The dead 'assassins' are either martyrs taking poison for Razmus' cause for some reason, or innocents being made to seem like killers. We should be speaking with anyone who can be shedding light on who was slaying these fake assassins."
Joren comes out of the room and begins gruffly but gently chatting up all of the guards, not just the one who spoke up, about where the ones that killed the supposed assassins may have gone. And if we can track down the surviving councilors to speak with them.
His voice is grim. "As planned, keeping your medallion ready, please, Samir. Though by now, they are likely already knowing we have such a device."
Samir simply nods his agreement, following along with Joren and keeping a surreptitious eye on the medallion where it is secured at his wrist, much like a bracelet with the useful part on the underside of his arm.
Malachi looks over at Vilus “We’ve already spoken with the surviving councilors, they are back on Captain Chemain’s ship.”He hesitated. “I looked into their thoughts, they were nervous and scared, they were not the thoughts of assassins. I do agree this looks staged to blame the cult, are you sure your old organization isn’t behind this, Vilus? In any case, we have two options, track down the missing guards or return to Marigold to find out more about Razmus and whether or not he is actually gone. What do you all think?”
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Ashley:
Something doesn't look right about the eyes. Ashley quickly realizes what when she looks at the dead councilors. The councilors have the dilated pupils that are common in corpses. The muscles relax and the pupils expand. But the cultists' pupils are extremely constricted. She knows bright light can have that effect on the living, but even in the glaring sun of the Smoking Sands, the pupils go wide in death. The only other thing Ashley could think of is the effect of some drug perhaps
Joren ruminates as he clinically ensures the corpses stay dead, reminding himself that most others are going to have normal human reactions to this carnage. But not me, Joren realizes sadly. Not since Dragontail Narrows. I am damaged. And perhaps Vilus is too. Jaded to such atrocities.
Shaking himself from his reverie, he observes, "we are all seeing it. Something is wrong. More of those who were slain here should have been reacting. Out of their seats before being struck down. I am wondering if there were others involved in the plan besides these three assassins."
He turns to the bespectacled artificer. "Samir, are you still having Jon Shep's medallion? I am thinking we should have it out with one of us watching it when we are interviewing these two guards who were apparently here and slew the assassins. It is seeming too easy for me. Two guards neatly slaying three assassins, all in one place, but not before the assassins were accomplishing their goal."
He can't glean too much from the councilors corpses, but sees the look in Ashley's face that she may have an inkling.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
"these cultists aren't above martyring themselves once their job is done. This killing if the council feels like it is merely to create a power vacuum and confusion in the gangs that would seek to lead in their absence, unfortunately we are one of these groups, if not by want then merely by circumstance. Is there really more to find here? Or are they succeeding in distracting us from their goals and activities?" Vilus walks over to the window and peers out
Ashley draws in a quick breath as she looks at the cultist's pupils. Looking up to her friends, she says, "These people were drugged. I'm not exactly sure what this means, but something is wrong with these people. They don't have masks on, but they were definitely manipulated in some way" she goes to close the eyelids of the deceased.
Malachi:
Malachi is aware of a toxin derived from a rare imported flower that can cause paralysis in its victims, stiffening the muscles much akin to rigor mortis. Hearing Ashley's mention of poison, and seeing the cultists' eyes for himself, this toxin comes to mind. Echomorin. He'd had an opportunity to buy some once, but decided against it. It's very difficult to get the dose right to make it effective but nonlethal. But why would the cultist's have Echomorin in their systems? They wouldn't have been able to move on their own, much less catch a bunch of councilors unawares and kill them.
At Ashley’s warning, Malachi kneels down and inspects the bodies himself. “I’ve seen something like this before. It paralyzes the victims, makes it look like death. But why would they have it? Something is wrong here, but I can’t place it. Signs the door was forced, but the victims were not alerted before they were struck down. Someone is going to great lengths to stage a story, but why?”
Vilus takes a deep breath, the swell of the ocean far below the window he stands at filling his lungs with sea breeze.
He stands silent for some time before turning to the group, a faint purple haze surrounding his head he opens his eyes, apparently having had them closed for a while whilst he stood. "It's gone, I don't hear it anymore... The encroaching distortion, the impending arrival of whatever Rasmus is. I've heard it whenever I've seen the sea since we got exploded at the office in Tensmith. It's gone, he's stopped coming."
Malachi looks up from where he was examining the bodies. ”What, it’s gone? Does that mean the invasion is over? We won? Marion and the Blue Lady were enough to drive Rasmus away. But it still doesn’t explain what happened here or why?”
"I don't know, this doesn't make sense... I mean the heart if flame was meant to cleanse the land and clear the way for its arrival, maybe since we stopped that it's plan fell flat and it isn't strong enough to invade with so much resistance. Marigold was the leader of these cultists and with her indisposed, this attack feels like the last stand of a dying ideal.
But It also happened at the same time we were out fighting her, right?
I think that if rasmus was already here we would know about it, the buzzing would be deafening. But a little part of me, wonders if he's not approaching anymore because he's already here..." Vilus let's his arms hang loose by his sides, bit his fingers tap on his pockets in a repeating rhythm, it seems that his paranoia and subsequent fidgeting has increased a little since the fight.
"Well, I am not seeing any indications of lingering magic or spells of any kind. Not even the runes we have come to associate with the cult." Samir sighs, straightening to stand fully upright, one hand moving to his back as if to ease a pain there. "Yes, we still have the amulet, and certainly we will check these guards, if only out of an excess of caution. Do you think that whatever this drug is could have been used as a means of controlling someone? Make them... suggestible or something of the sort?"
The artificer moves to stand next to Vilus, his gaze looking out over the sea as well. For a brief moment the thought impinged that there was a time he had denounced the goliath, swore against the other man's actions and methods. How much of that had changed out of neccessity?
Shaking away the intrusive thought, he turns back to the others, away from the window. "If Rasmus is no longer on his way, there must be a reason. Personally, I cannot imagine that Marigold was so important that her being removed from the field has completely undone the enemy. She was a piece on the board, one with some import certainly, but I am certain she was far from the only one. Perhaps we have forced a reconsideration, a change in plans and that is what you are sensing. Or rather, not sensing. Above all else, we need information. Hopefully we can obtain something of what we need from Marigold herself. I fear her use will be limited, however. Unless she was far more of an important figure that I believe, her knowledge will be limited to her part in things, whether she knows it or not.
I find myself wondering if perhaps we might be able to find certain implements that would enable to us to look across vast distances somewhere within the city. Scrying tools, perhaps the government itself might have something locked inside a vault somewhere?"
"if we search their lair under the city thoroughly we may find another of those scrying Dias thingies, if all else fails that is...
My spies turned something up before, a message from a captive, it keeps playing over and over in my mind.. 'The martyrs are prepared for hellfire within while the rest await Razmus without...'
Well the hellfires never came and the others are still around. But these guys had no tattoos or masks and were drugged to be paralysed. Perhaps wants us to look at the cult for someone to blame, it just feels like a big coverup."
"Gone? Being sure of this?" Joren looks sharply at Vilus. A week ago, the look might have been suspicious of the inscrutable goliath's thought process, but now his gaze is more measured and appraising, while still wary.
"Still, I am listening to Ash and Mal and thinking we should continue the investigation here, speaking at least to the two guards with Samir holding the medallion. If a paralyzing toxin is affecting the cultist assassins, perhaps they are not the real assassins, being still at large.."
Joren pauses. "Once we are done... As you are saying, Vilus, the yellow lights on the device in Andra's secret room in Tensmith were clearly showing another similar device, or at least similar yellow lights, here in Talmouth. If we could be finding that device hidden somewhere in the cultists' stronghold, it may indeed be shedding light, so to speak, on both the approaching fleet and and on the nature of Razmus' lingering presence here in the city."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Ashley is completely baffled by the turn of events. She can't imagine that things are done.. that doesn't make sense, doesn't sit well with her.
"Ok, so we can test people with the medallion, we can wait a few days and question whatever Marigold has turned into, we still have the remaining council folk to talk to... maybe they can shed some light on what happened here?" She then asks Vilus, "what about your watcher? They tell you anything?"
"it is no longer urgent with its messages, with it's mood. Not that it was easy to parse what it wanted me to know before...
It's ironic really, everything is uncertain until it is observed, and by observing things, they can change in a fundamental way, but with the watcher, nothing feels certain, and at the same time, everything feels inevitable." Vilus answers Ashley, in a meager fashion, not sure if he can truly clarify with words what he is trying to say. Instead he turns to Joren and gives an accepting nod to Joren's acceptance of a back up plan.
Vilus' visage slips back into his Goliath form momentarily before he quickly resumes his human disguise, the timeframe of his illusion spell needing a quick refresh.
Ashley looks up at Vilus, concern etched on her face. She looks like she is about to say something, but thinks better of it and stands up, wiping her hands on her thighs.
"So, shall we go talk to the council people first? Or what?" Her eyes than shift over to Vilus again but waits to hear what others think.
One of the nearby guards, now having retreated back out the door, says, “I didn’t catch who they were. They were swallowed up in all the hustle and bustle. How about you?”
the other guard shakes his head. “Everything is a bit chaotic now. I didn’t even realize we had guards posted inside the room. You could ask the surviving councillors if any of them know…”
"the councillors who survived, were they the only survivors? We're gonna need to talk to them, now." Vilus asks somewhat abruptly of the guard.
With that he turns to the group conspiratorially.
Linking with each of their minds in turn and delivering a short message, "the evidence here is pointing more and more to foul play, I don't think the these dead drugged people are actually cultists, these surviving councillors are highly suspicious"
"Agreeing with this, Vilus and Ash. The dead 'assassins' are either martyrs taking poison for Razmus' cause for some reason, or innocents being made to seem like killers. We should be speaking with anyone who can be shedding light on who was slaying these fake assassins."
Joren comes out of the room and begins gruffly but gently chatting up all of the guards, not just the one who spoke up, about where the ones that killed the supposed assassins may have gone. And if we can track down the surviving councilors to speak with them.
His voice is grim. "As planned, keeping your medallion ready, please, Samir. Though by now, they are likely already knowing we have such a device."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Samir simply nods his agreement, following along with Joren and keeping a surreptitious eye on the medallion where it is secured at his wrist, much like a bracelet with the useful part on the underside of his arm.
Malachi looks over at Vilus “We’ve already spoken with the surviving councilors, they are back on Captain Chemain’s ship.” He hesitated. “I looked into their thoughts, they were nervous and scared, they were not the thoughts of assassins. I do agree this looks staged to blame the cult, are you sure your old organization isn’t behind this, Vilus? In any case, we have two options, track down the missing guards or return to Marigold to find out more about Razmus and whether or not he is actually gone. What do you all think?”