Von and Chlorys

Your hands are tied and your weapons confiscated, and you are led by the company of guards (which you now can count to number exactly twenty, not including the leader) towards the center of the city. Next to the Center Market and the Livestock Pen, the city's jail sits. An old, mold-encrusted building, the prisoners' entrance creaks open as you approach. With very little ceremony you are both tossed into a dirty cell, the door slammed and locked on you. The head guard of the group that arrested you lets you know that you'll be questioned shortly, and leaves you.

Camus

If you're searching for a cave or somewhere to hide, roll Perception.

Perception: 9

Woops, actually should be 15... I rolled 1d20+2. Camus's Perception bonus is actually +4. Sorry.

Camus, you cannot find any caves or something like that nearby, but you find that you might be able to rest underneath the docks near the land.

Good enough. As I settle in, I remind myself to learn the spell Leomund's Tiny Hut the first chance I get.

Time passes. Camus completes his long rest, and for Von and Chlorys, hours pass with no sign of another living being. Other than the rats, of course.

Once I've completed my rest, I decide to do a bit of scrounging for materials to engage in a bit of necromancy.

I decide to take the calculated risk of simply hiding my face again instead of burning a spell slot on Disguise Self. The only people who actually saw me were the two guards and the employees at the Floating Fighter. I strongly suspect that if the guards see me they'll at least look for backup rather than attacking on the spot, and the unfortunate souls from the Floating Fighter will almost certainly run for the hills rather than risk a confrontation.

I'm going to go ahead and search for at least two easily-accessible cadavers. Most large cities have a bad habit of public hanging, after all. If I find any, I'll use Chill Touch to rot the ropes holding the bodies and let them fall into the bag of holding for later use. And, if I'm really lucky, perhaps the corpses could be a female orc and a female elf so they can do double-duty by being used to replace Von and Chlorys in their cell after I'm done extracting payment for services from Amadeus.

I guess corpse-searching would count as Investigation, so I'll go ahead and roll that.

Investigation: 13

“You know Chlorys, I’m deeply regretting not responding to this threat with my usual violence,” I say to my cell mate. “What do you imagine the odds of getting fair and hasty trial are? 

Camus

There are most certainly public executions in Melvaunt. However, the problem with that is... well, public executions tend to be public. Very public. As in right outside the prison, which just so happens to be right next to the Center Market. It is, at this point, around five in the morning, but Melvaunt is a large city, and the Center Market is still full of people setting up their tents and stalls in preparation for the day. You would almost certainly be spotted if you attempted to steal a hanging body, not to mention the difficulty of squeezing an entire human corpse into the bag, which would certainly cause a ruckus. There are no elvish or orcish bodies in sight. The population of Melvaunt is ninety-nine percent human, after all.

Okay... have any of the corpses been reduced to piles of bone underneath the gallows (or nearly to that state)? If the answer is yes, I might just turn invisible and scoop up one or two of the piles of bone rather than attempting to retrieve a fresh corpse since piles of bone are a lot easier to cram into the bag quickly for later use.

Any corpses that have decayed to the point that they could no longer remain on the gallows... well, they wouldn't be on the gallows anymore, and thus they would no longer have any real purpose and would be disposed of. 

That makes sense, I suppose... hmmm... I take note of the location of the bodies. Perhaps I could disguise myself as whoever is in charge of picking up bodies that have grown too putrid for display, once I figure out who that is. On the other hand, I have found the jail. And I have a plan to get Von and Chlorys out... the first step of which is to talk to one of the early-morning vendors and pick up a coil of rope and a spade... I was hoping for an easy collection that I wouldn't have to feel too guilty about using, but I guess I can head over to the Potter's Field of the local cemetery to collect the remains from one or two of the shallow pauper's graves. I burn a spell slot to cast Disguise Self to transform into a humble grave digger.

(You'll probably have to wait another hour for the Market to be open for business. Are you fine with that?)

Well, being dead, I have plenty of time... I'll make myself comfortable somewhere and then disguise myself right before the shops open.

(Alright, let's jump back to Chlorys and Von, then. Do you do anything during the hours that Camus is gone, or do you just wait out the night? It is incredibly late, after all, and if you don't catch some shut-eye you may face penalties for not resting.)

if the gallows are within 10 feet of our cell i would like to try and animate the dead before going to sleep. 

(When we're placed in the cell are our hands still tied?)

Chlorys apologizes to Von but begs "I understand, but let's just... try to resolve this as peacefully as possible, and NOT raise the dead!" she half yells, half whispers. "At least for now they only want to ask us questions. I guess if all goes absolutely wrong.... well....I'll try to help you as best as I can, I promise." As much as she didn't want to, she would try and use her name, ask her parents for help. She didn't want to die, and with all the trouble that they had been through, Chlorys didn't want Von to suffer either. "I can always run away again.... I hope...." She grimaced, thinking of home. Chlorys looks around the cell, "It's worse than Amadeus' place and stinks worse too." The conditions to say, were vile at best and atrocious at worst. Chlorys almost wanted to vomit but held her composure. She looks about the cell, trying to see whats around  and looking for the most comfortable place to rest for the time being. If

“My thinking is, if we anímate a corpse, we can blame it on “the litch”. Maybe we can volunteer our services to help find it, or speak with the dead to help find it in exchange for freedom,” Von explains, delaying her magic. “though I maybe projecting a bit. They could very well blame that on us too. This is my first time jailed; probably best to sleep on it.” Von leans up against the bars and tries to recover some sleep, health, and spell slots. 

(There is no line of sight to the gallows, you are in a windowless room. You have no clue where you are in the actual prison. Thus you have no idea where the corpses would be.)

gotcha. Until next morning then