Crispy notices that Liam WANTS to say something, then aftera few moments, makes a sarcastic happy face as if a two year old were trying to make a sentence.
"Liam." She says, "Use your words, you can do it! What do you think? It's just ideas."
The problem is, I don't want to just assume that LIAM knows what I (NeoMagus) do. That's why I'm trying to wait for the DM's ruling.
Liam stands there, looking thoughtful as he turns his attention back to the tub and the bloody water scattered around the room. After a moment, he turns to Nia.
"Nia, can you head down to our room real quick and get my notebook for me? Not my spare spellbook, just my notebook." (Nia would know what he's referring to, having seen him use it hundreds of times since the two first met.)
Intention is creatures of a magical nature, such as the basic water elemental, which ARE frequently summoned for specific purposes or can be found "naturally" in locations steeped in elemental magic, such as anywhere with a portal to the Plane of Water.
Nature: 23
You rack your brain for ideas on what kind of creatures can be of this nature. You know that water elemental type creatures do tend to favor a ‘consume and drown’ strategy. You can successfully deduce that this was indeed likely the cause of death. The blood which has been syphoned out if the body however, lends itself to much more sinister, specific kinds of elemental creatures.
How familiar are you with dark rituals? Perhaps a certain warlock may know something..?
Liam might actually be quite familiar with such things. His mentor is a master arcanist dedicated to preventing the misuse and abuse of magic to harm innocents and society as a whole, so it's quite possible that he would have at least been told about such rituals, even if he's never seen them.
As far as Nia's possible knowledge on the matter, I can't say with any certainty, but from what Rivina and I have been talking about regarding Liam and Nia's shared backstory, it doesn't seem like the kind of thing she'd be familiar with either.
And incidentally, I'm now feeling even more certain that my guess is right...
Liam casts a sardonic look at Crispy.
"I'm not going to write it out for you. That would be a waste of expensive paper. I just want to see if I have anything in my notes that would confirm my suspicions."
Casting another look around at the blood still lingering in the room, Liam nods his head, as if coming to a decision.
"In fact, just in case I'm right. I think it might be prudent if we waited outside on the deck."
Okay! Let’s do something fun. I feel like Liam has a decent chance of identifying the specific creature here. How about you roll a d100. On a roll of 75 or lower, you identify the creature. Happy with that?
"You have no idea, do you.." Crispy shakes her head in disappointment. "And here I thought wizards were smart."
Crispy laughs, slapping Liams shoulder. "Cmon, think harder. Whatever it was, it didn't leave this room. It didn't come from the shower spout. And it can drown a humanoid. And it leaves a magical trace. How....weird."
Unfortunately, it seems as though your mentor has indeed shown you a lot, he was not able to teach you eeeverything. None the less, you are aware of the nature of the killer. Some sort of liquid, unnatural magical form, which has most likely been conjured or summoned through some sort of magical means be it summoning, ritual or other.
Liam rolls his eyes at Crispy's obviously intentional choice of words.
"If you're implying a water weird, that was my first thought, but I don't see any indications for how or why one would be aboard this ship. Or for that matter, where it would be hiding now. And if you need more logic than that, Water Weirds ARE known for drowning their victims, but never for eviscerating or drawing out their blood. This HAS to be something else."
"Thank you, Nia," Liam says simply as he accepts the notebook from her. He begins rifling through it as he paces on the deck, trying to see if anything jogs his memory about what this thing might be.
"Succubus. Victim was having sexy fun times in the bath, it went wrong and she drained him. Escape by flying away through the window." Nia nodded sagely.
Liam is IMMEDIATELY in Crispy's face, his notebook fallen to the deck, Vigilance in hand, and the exceedingly rare expression of fury on his face.
"Do NOT do that again!" he snaps angrily. "I can handle all of your snide comments about me, even your little hints to outsiders about my heritage. But I swear, if you EVER mess with Nia, even in jest, I will make you rue that day back in Waterdeep when you first met either of us!" The palm of his free hand crackles with electrical energy as his fingers go through the motions of preparing to cast Chromatic Orb.
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She smiles. "Yeah, keeps people on their toes."
"So." She nods to the tub. "What do you think?"
I THINK I might know what we're dealing with here, and I'm having a REALLY hard time not looking in my Monster Manual to see if I'm right or wrong...
Crispy notices that Liam WANTS to say something, then aftera few moments, makes a sarcastic happy face as if a two year old were trying to make a sentence.
"Liam." She says, "Use your words, you can do it! What do you think? It's just ideas."
The problem is, I don't want to just assume that LIAM knows what I (NeoMagus) do. That's why I'm trying to wait for the DM's ruling.
Liam stands there, looking thoughtful as he turns his attention back to the tub and the bloody water scattered around the room. After a moment, he turns to Nia.
"Nia, can you head down to our room real quick and get my notebook for me? Not my spare spellbook, just my notebook." (Nia would know what he's referring to, having seen him use it hundreds of times since the two first met.)
Crispy rolls her eyes. "You don't have to write it out for me, you can just SAY it."
She stops for a moment to think of something. "Drowned...from the inside....? Nah.."
How familiar are you with dark rituals? Perhaps a certain warlock may know something..?
"CoS" Rumble- Tabaxi Shadow Monk
Liam might actually be quite familiar with such things. His mentor is a master arcanist dedicated to preventing the misuse and abuse of magic to harm innocents and society as a whole, so it's quite possible that he would have at least been told about such rituals, even if he's never seen them.
As far as Nia's possible knowledge on the matter, I can't say with any certainty, but from what Rivina and I have been talking about regarding Liam and Nia's shared backstory, it doesn't seem like the kind of thing she'd be familiar with either.
And incidentally, I'm now feeling even more certain that my guess is right...
Liam casts a sardonic look at Crispy.
"I'm not going to write it out for you. That would be a waste of expensive paper. I just want to see if I have anything in my notes that would confirm my suspicions."
Casting another look around at the blood still lingering in the room, Liam nods his head, as if coming to a decision.
"In fact, just in case I'm right. I think it might be prudent if we waited outside on the deck."
Okay! Let’s do something fun. I feel like Liam has a decent chance of identifying the specific creature here. How about you roll a d100. On a roll of 75 or lower, you identify the creature. Happy with that?
"CoS" Rumble- Tabaxi Shadow Monk
"Wow, i'll take those odds." Crispy says..to..know one in particular.
:)
Rolling: 19
Edit: :(
"You have no idea, do you.." Crispy shakes her head in disappointment. "And here I thought wizards were smart."
Crispy laughs, slapping Liams shoulder. "Cmon, think harder. Whatever it was, it didn't leave this room. It didn't come from the shower spout. And it can drown a humanoid. And it leaves a magical trace. How....weird."
Ohhhhh so damn close.
Unfortunately, it seems as though your mentor has indeed shown you a lot, he was not able to teach you eeeverything. None the less, you are aware of the nature of the killer. Some sort of liquid, unnatural magical form, which has most likely been conjured or summoned through some sort of magical means be it summoning, ritual or other.
"CoS" Rumble- Tabaxi Shadow Monk
Liam rolls his eyes at Crispy's obviously intentional choice of words.
"If you're implying a water weird, that was my first thought, but I don't see any indications for how or why one would be aboard this ship. Or for that matter, where it would be hiding now. And if you need more logic than that, Water Weirds ARE known for drowning their victims, but never for eviscerating or drawing out their blood. This HAS to be something else."
Nia dashed back with the book. "Here we go!"
"Thank you, Nia," Liam says simply as he accepts the notebook from her. He begins rifling through it as he paces on the deck, trying to see if anything jogs his memory about what this thing might be.
"Liiikkkee....?" Crispy drawls out. "It could have gone down the drain. It could have been summoned. It could have come on board before we left."
Crispy kicks her leg out against the door jamb before Nia can exit. "What do you think, toots? Best guess, lets go."
"Succubus. Victim was having sexy fun times in the bath, it went wrong and she drained him. Escape by flying away through the window." Nia nodded sagely.
Liam cocks his head sideways as he listens to Nia's suggestion.
"Well...it's not a TERRIBLE conclusion..."
Crispy looks over Nia a long minute, trying to discern whether that was a serious suggestion or perhaps waiting for more from her.
Slowly, a grin creeps on Crispy's face as she looks Nia up and down. "A succubus, eh..?" She gives Nia a saucy wink. "Don't I wish...!"
"Alright, get outta here, ya cute little rascal.." Crispy says as she slaps Nia's behind, in the direction of the exit.
Liam is IMMEDIATELY in Crispy's face, his notebook fallen to the deck, Vigilance in hand, and the exceedingly rare expression of fury on his face.
"Do NOT do that again!" he snaps angrily. "I can handle all of your snide comments about me, even your little hints to outsiders about my heritage. But I swear, if you EVER mess with Nia, even in jest, I will make you rue that day back in Waterdeep when you first met either of us!" The palm of his free hand crackles with electrical energy as his fingers go through the motions of preparing to cast Chromatic Orb.