When Quinn offers Dev a hug, the tiefling doesn’t resist, although his response is stiff and passive, as if feigned kindness has led to the fates turning quickly to kindness’ opposite in his prior experience.
When Jasper gives Dev instructions, the teen’s eyes remain downcast, but they shift from Jasper’s to Lokilia’s feet. He nods in silence to Jasper and follows Lokilia.
Lokilia nods to Jasper, pausing a moment to choose a direction. She then hurriedly moves towards the apartment, to help Normont. She arrives at the door, staying back as it seems Normont is studying it. "Something wrong?" she asks. "You have the key don't you?" She glances around the area as she waits for him to finish whatever he's doing. (Perception: 14)
When Lokilia asks Dev about his shoes, the teen looks at first glad to have been asked, like there is a story to tell. But the inertia of present circumstances seems to rob him of energy. His eyes flash with excitement but just as quickly turn downwards, his long lashes a soft shield interposing themselves between him and anyone else.
“I mean, I don’t know I guess,…” he trails off vaguely. His eyes try again to meet Lokilia’s, but he can’t bring himself to say any more on the subject, and just shrugs, helplessly.
He trails after her and Jasper, pulling his hood up again, trying to create with it a barrier between himself and the woes of the world more distinct and impenetrable than his lashes can provide.
Quinn will look to Dev and offer a hug if he wants one. Death is a tricky thing for earth genasi because they believe that the body is joining home in which all of them come from. It is great honor to die in the soil. But he knows that this horrific scene is not for the faint of heart. “Dev, you were brave out there and you should know that it is okay to grieve.”
Normont gives Dev a nod of appreciation for the thanks, glances once more at what's left of the body of Theron, and then turns his back on it and makes his way to apartment 11.
"Ok, let's see what this fellow has been up to that has caused this mess", he says as he walks over, not wanting to discuss the situation with Theron right now. Time to grieve will be later, once whatever has caused this has been made to pay.
He stands before the door and focusses himself, before reaching out towards the handle with one hand and is about to place the key in the keyhole with the other. He hesitates for a moment, wondering whether someone with enemies would take extra precautions.
He decides it's better to be safe than sorry, and examines the handle and lock for any traps before continuing.
Normont notes no sign of traps or wedges or other means of preventing entry, though he notes that the door is quite solid, which is likely why..........his eyes fall on Magnus who stands silently nearby, Magnus and Theron had come from this direction towards the fight, he recalled....a window.....a broken shutter....they hadn't had the key. Regardless if they had already been inside or not the door seemed easy enough and safe to open.
"Lokilia, please help Normont investigate the apartment, or get up to the roof and help Nerak. Dev, you go with her, okay?" Jasper murmurs to Dev, giving him a pat on the back. "Quinn and I will stay with the body, make sure anyone that gets too suspicious knows that the militia is involved and on the case."
Once they go and Jasper is alone with Quinn, they'll speak up a little meekly. "I gotta say, I'm jealous, Ashari. You handle yourself well in a fight... and you seem to be a dab hand at comforting others, too. If I could have gotten to him quicker... maybe Theron would still be alive."
Nerak disregards the comments and quickly looses thought of his new companion Theron as he climbs, curiosity once again getting the better of him. He squints as he looks through the rain trying to find a source for the undead. "Where could they have come from...."He takes a moment to survey the scene, keeping his weight low as to help prevent taking a tumble back to the courtyard.
(Depending on if you want Investigation or Perception I put them both below) Investigation (15+1) 16 Perception (15-1) 14
Nerak scours the rain soaked roof getting soaked himself into the bargain, on the edge of one tile he finds a rather water-logged and swollen scrap of decayed flesh.....the only thing he can think of is that perhaps they used some magical means of transporting the dead up here.
"Lokilia, please help Normont investigate the apartment, or get up to the roof and help Nerak. Dev, you go with her, okay?" Jasper murmurs to Dev, giving him a pat on the back. "Quinn and I will stay with the body, make sure anyone that gets too suspicious knows that the militia is involved and on the case."
Once they go and Jasper is alone with Quinn, they'll speak up a little meekly. "I gotta say, I'm jealous, Ashari. You handle yourself well in a fight... and you seem to be a dab hand at comforting others, too. If I could have gotten to him quicker... maybe Theron would still be alive."
Quinn will shake his head and offer a hug, “This is the curse of the warrior. “
When Quinn offers Dev a hug, the tiefling doesn’t resist, although his response is stiff and passive, as if feigned kindness has led to the fates turning quickly to kindness’ opposite in his prior experience.
When Jasper gives Dev instructions, the teen’s eyes remain downcast, but they shift from Jasper’s to Lokilia’s feet. He nods in silence to Jasper and follows Lokilia.
Lokilia nods to Jasper, pausing a moment to choose a direction. She then hurriedly moves towards the apartment, to help Normont. She arrives at the door, staying back as it seems Normont is studying it. "Something wrong?" she asks. "You have the key don't you?" She glances around the area as she waits for him to finish whatever he's doing. (Perception: 14)
There are a fair number of people watching them from doors and windows around the courtyard, most seem focused on Jasper and Quinn and the body but others are watching the apartment investigation. She hears some of the same snatches of conversation that Nerak did during their climb.
"It seems we are to expect a mess inside, I wonder if the window was broken before the others got here?", Normont asks, turning to see if anyone from the other group was close enough to answer.
With that said, and being satisfied that all was safe, he turns to Lokilia. "Better safe than sorry, there have been two deaths this evening, I aim to make sure there isn't a third. At least, not a good guy death", he replies smiling to her. He reaches up to place the key in the lock, turns it and opens the door.
He stands in the doorway and surveys the scene for a moment, then takes out his tinker's tool and seems to paint the key with a little brush, causing it to glow with luminescence.
Action: Magical Tinkering - The object sheds bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light for an additional 5 feet. Perception: 5+4=9 (passive 14) Special: Guidance - 50 seconds Special: Bardic Inspiration - 1d6 - approximately 7 minutes
Dev waits just outside the apartment. He curls up on his haunches and makes himself small. He tries to stop thinking about Theron swirling away into nothing. But the tiefling may also, despite himself, notice any unusual footprints near the entryway if they were not already obliterated by the scuffle. (OOC: Survival [tracking]: 15)
Magnus chimes in, "We entered the apartment through the window as the door was locked, and once we got inside the place was trashed and we did not seem to find anything except," he pauses and heavily sighs, "Theron, found this manifest but we did not have a chance to make anything of it." Magnus will hand the manifest over to Jasper.
"Interesting", Normont says in response to Magnus. "The apartment was trashed, but no sign of forced entry before you and Theron broke the window? And the door was definitely locked. Why trash the place and lock up on your way out?", he wonders out loud.
"Unless you didn't use the door or window to get in in the first place", he muses as he takes a few tentative steps inside.
The door opens easily enough and the light from the key reveals that the place has indeed been turned over and likely not just by Theron and Magnus. Dev does note a single partial boot print in some soil from a knocked over houseplant, the print is about the same size as his own and there seems nothing particularly notable about it....though its too small to be Theron or Magnus boot.
.............................
In the courtyard the gate is suddenly thrown open and a small group enters with weapons drawn, Jasper and Quinn ( and any of the others looking) immediately recognise them as Jallo Tumbly and his two juniors, Scupper and Rale. The rather portly older guardsman blanches as he makes out the butchered corpse in the rain.
" Hands where I can see 'em. Any more of you about? Wait.....Jasper?"
" You best start talking....this is the second deadun found tonight..."
The three guardsmen are focused on the body and Jasper and Quinn, they don't seem to notice the others entering the apartment or those standing nearby or on the rooftop yet.....though you all know the presence of non-Watch personnel will not make things any smoother.
Normont looks back over his shoulder at the sound of strange voices from the courtyard and curses, "Nuts and bolts".
He steps further into the apartment and motions for the others with him to follow suit and close the door. "We should make this quick, before they cordon off this place", he suggests and starts to look around more purposefully. He tries not to disturb the place too much, but knowing Magnus and Theron have already rifled through here, he knows he likely won't be able to distinguish between what they did and the prior infiltrators.
Investigation (with Guidance and Bardic Inspiration): 9+5+1+2=17
Jasper puts a hand out. "Tumbly, good, you're here. Scupper, Rale. Wish we were meeting under better circumstances. We need to secure this crime scene. I got a tip that this apartment might be connected to a merchant dealing with the Hidden. When we arrived, there were several undead that ambushed us. They killed poor Theron, the gravedigger. They would have killed the rest of us too had we not defended ourselves. Their corpses melted away and... Don't you give me that look, Tumbly. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. Now, are you going to help me secure this crime scene or not?"
"We should get inside and out of sight," Lokilia says as she moves into the apartment after Normont. When he mentions other ways in, she takes a look about. "Perhaps there's a way up? Seems more than coincidence that the place is ransacked and undead fall from the roof." (Perception to look around for a way up: 25)
Some part of Dev’s mind focuses on the footprint. Touching his magic pan pipes, he hums a brief melody. An illusion comes into being, overlaying the footprint. He tweaks the illusion’s depth and color until it exactly matches the print and he knows he can remember the details exactly. But this is almost too much of an exertion for him. The illusion blinks off.
The tiefling feels an incredible lethargy. Having seen too much for one night, all he wants to do is return home and sleep. The presence of the guard is a reality too far removed from his thoughts to garner a response. Almost. He wouldn’t want his parents to have to deal with him being locked up overnight again for no reason. It made them so sad last time. Although he remains where he is, squatting against the doorframe, if Tumbly and his juniors start to turn their attention his way, he will quickly twist around and follow Lokilia.
"We should get inside and out of sight," Lokilia says as she moves into the apartment after Normont. When he mentions other ways in, she takes a look about. "Perhaps there's a way up? Seems more than coincidence that the place is ransacked and undead fall from the roof." (Perception to look around for a way up: 25)
Lokilia can see the way Nerak climbed up and even make out Nerak themselves up on the roof through the pouring rain.
Jasper puts a hand out. "Tumbly, good, you're here. Scupper, Rale. Wish we were meeting under better circumstances. We need to secure this crime scene. I got a tip that this apartment might be connected to a merchant dealing with the Hidden. When we arrived, there were several undead that ambushed us. They killed poor Theron, the gravedigger. They would have killed the rest of us too had we not defended ourselves. Their corpses melted away and... Don't you give me that look, Tumbly. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. Now, are you going to help me secure this crime scene or not?"
" Merchant, eh? That'd be the other deadun."
" Gravedigger........undead........likely involved then? Lost control of em?"
" I mean I believe you, Jasper. Your a straight shooter, mostly. But all I've got here a mostly eaten corpse and two off duty Watch officers.....but heh, what the hell do I know about magic and necromacrame, or whatever."
" Scupper, man the gate. Rale go and fetch more men....and maybe a shovel, tarp and wheelbarrow for our former gravedigger."
Quinn will nod his head and show them his wounds, proving that there was a great fight that happened here.
Tumbly nodded, " Well, they don't look like they were caused by a shovel I'll give you that....might want to put something on those...normal people bites get infected real easy...probably worse if they are dead."
He peered through the rain towards the apartments, " We'll canvas those when the rest get here."
Normont looks back over his shoulder at the sound of strange voices from the courtyard and curses, "Nuts and bolts".
He steps further into the apartment and motions for the others with him to follow suit and close the door. "We should make this quick, before they cordon off this place", he suggests and starts to look around more purposefully. He tries not to disturb the place too much, but knowing Magnus and Theron have already rifled through here, he knows he likely won't be able to distinguish between what they did and the prior infiltrators.
Investigation (with Guidance and Bardic Inspiration): 9+5+1+2=17
Some part of Dev’s mind focuses on the footprint. Touching his magic pan pipes, he hums a brief melody. An illusion comes into being, overlaying the footprint. He tweaks the illusion’s depth and color until it exactly matches the print and he knows he can remember the details exactly. But this is almost too much of an exertion for him. The illusion blinks off.
The tiefling feels an incredible lethargy. Having seen too much for one night, all he wants to do is return home and sleep. The presence of the guard is a reality too far removed from his thoughts to garner a response. Almost. He wouldn’t want his parents to have to deal with him being locked up overnight again for no reason. It made them so sad last time. Although he remains where he is, squatting against the doorframe, if Tumbly and his juniors start to turn their attention his way, he will quickly twist around and follow Lokilia.
A brief but relatively thorough search is made but finds little else except for some oloore tea, some disconcerting undergarments and a bottle of red wine from Golador Estate,
When Quinn offers Dev a hug, the tiefling doesn’t resist, although his response is stiff and passive, as if feigned kindness has led to the fates turning quickly to kindness’ opposite in his prior experience.
When Jasper gives Dev instructions, the teen’s eyes remain downcast, but they shift from Jasper’s to Lokilia’s feet. He nods in silence to Jasper and follows Lokilia.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Jasper isn't really one for physical affection, but they do reluctantly give Quinn a one-armed embrace. "Yeah. You're right."
Lokilia nods to Jasper, pausing a moment to choose a direction. She then hurriedly moves towards the apartment, to help Normont. She arrives at the door, staying back as it seems Normont is studying it. "Something wrong?" she asks. "You have the key don't you?" She glances around the area as she waits for him to finish whatever he's doing. (Perception: 14)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Normont notes no sign of traps or wedges or other means of preventing entry, though he notes that the door is quite solid, which is likely why..........his eyes fall on Magnus who stands silently nearby, Magnus and Theron had come from this direction towards the fight, he recalled....a window.....a broken shutter....they hadn't had the key. Regardless if they had already been inside or not the door seemed easy enough and safe to open.
Nerak scours the rain soaked roof getting soaked himself into the bargain, on the edge of one tile he finds a rather water-logged and swollen scrap of decayed flesh.....the only thing he can think of is that perhaps they used some magical means of transporting the dead up here.
There are a fair number of people watching them from doors and windows around the courtyard, most seem focused on Jasper and Quinn and the body but others are watching the apartment investigation. She hears some of the same snatches of conversation that Nerak did during their climb.
"It seems we are to expect a mess inside, I wonder if the window was broken before the others got here?", Normont asks, turning to see if anyone from the other group was close enough to answer.
With that said, and being satisfied that all was safe, he turns to Lokilia. "Better safe than sorry, there have been two deaths this evening, I aim to make sure there isn't a third. At least, not a good guy death", he replies smiling to her. He reaches up to place the key in the lock, turns it and opens the door.
He stands in the doorway and surveys the scene for a moment, then takes out his tinker's tool and seems to paint the key with a little brush, causing it to glow with luminescence.
Action: Magical Tinkering - The object sheds bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light for an additional 5 feet.
Perception: 5+4=9 (passive 14)
Special: Guidance - 50 seconds
Special: Bardic Inspiration - 1d6 - approximately 7 minutes
Dev waits just outside the apartment. He curls up on his haunches and makes himself small. He tries to stop thinking about Theron swirling away into nothing. But the tiefling may also, despite himself, notice any unusual footprints near the entryway if they were not already obliterated by the scuffle. (OOC: Survival [tracking]: 15)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Magnus chimes in, "We entered the apartment through the window as the door was locked, and once we got inside the place was trashed and we did not seem to find anything except," he pauses and heavily sighs, "Theron, found this manifest but we did not have a chance to make anything of it." Magnus will hand the manifest over to Jasper.
"Interesting", Normont says in response to Magnus. "The apartment was trashed, but no sign of forced entry before you and Theron broke the window? And the door was definitely locked. Why trash the place and lock up on your way out?", he wonders out loud.
"Unless you didn't use the door or window to get in in the first place", he muses as he takes a few tentative steps inside.
Special: Guidance - 50 seconds
Special: Bardic Inspiration - 1d6 - approximately 7 minutes
The door opens easily enough and the light from the key reveals that the place has indeed been turned over and likely not just by Theron and Magnus. Dev does note a single partial boot print in some soil from a knocked over houseplant, the print is about the same size as his own and there seems nothing particularly notable about it....though its too small to be Theron or Magnus boot.
.............................
In the courtyard the gate is suddenly thrown open and a small group enters with weapons drawn, Jasper and Quinn ( and any of the others looking) immediately recognise them as Jallo Tumbly and his two juniors, Scupper and Rale. The rather portly older guardsman blanches as he makes out the butchered corpse in the rain.
" Hands where I can see 'em. Any more of you about? Wait.....Jasper?"
" You best start talking....this is the second deadun found tonight..."
The three guardsmen are focused on the body and Jasper and Quinn, they don't seem to notice the others entering the apartment or those standing nearby or on the rooftop yet.....though you all know the presence of non-Watch personnel will not make things any smoother.
Magnus will quickly assess the situation and then hopefully move slowly backward out of sight.
Stealth: 9
Normont looks back over his shoulder at the sound of strange voices from the courtyard and curses, "Nuts and bolts".
He steps further into the apartment and motions for the others with him to follow suit and close the door. "We should make this quick, before they cordon off this place", he suggests and starts to look around more purposefully. He tries not to disturb the place too much, but knowing Magnus and Theron have already rifled through here, he knows he likely won't be able to distinguish between what they did and the prior infiltrators.
Investigation (with Guidance and Bardic Inspiration): 9+5+1+2=17
Jasper puts a hand out. "Tumbly, good, you're here. Scupper, Rale. Wish we were meeting under better circumstances. We need to secure this crime scene. I got a tip that this apartment might be connected to a merchant dealing with the Hidden. When we arrived, there were several undead that ambushed us. They killed poor Theron, the gravedigger. They would have killed the rest of us too had we not defended ourselves. Their corpses melted away and... Don't you give me that look, Tumbly. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. Now, are you going to help me secure this crime scene or not?"
"We should get inside and out of sight," Lokilia says as she moves into the apartment after Normont. When he mentions other ways in, she takes a look about. "Perhaps there's a way up? Seems more than coincidence that the place is ransacked and undead fall from the roof." (Perception to look around for a way up: 25)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Some part of Dev’s mind focuses on the footprint. Touching his magic pan pipes, he hums a brief melody. An illusion comes into being, overlaying the footprint. He tweaks the illusion’s depth and color until it exactly matches the print and he knows he can remember the details exactly. But this is almost too much of an exertion for him. The illusion blinks off.
The tiefling feels an incredible lethargy. Having seen too much for one night, all he wants to do is return home and sleep. The presence of the guard is a reality too far removed from his thoughts to garner a response. Almost. He wouldn’t want his parents to have to deal with him being locked up overnight again for no reason. It made them so sad last time. Although he remains where he is, squatting against the doorframe, if Tumbly and his juniors start to turn their attention his way, he will quickly twist around and follow Lokilia.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Quinn will nod his head and show them his wounds, proving that there was a great fight that happened here.
Lokilia can see the way Nerak climbed up and even make out Nerak themselves up on the roof through the pouring rain.
" Merchant, eh? That'd be the other deadun."
" Gravedigger........undead........likely involved then? Lost control of em?"
" I mean I believe you, Jasper. Your a straight shooter, mostly. But all I've got here a mostly eaten corpse and two off duty Watch officers.....but heh, what the hell do I know about magic and necromacrame, or whatever."
" Scupper, man the gate. Rale go and fetch more men....and maybe a shovel, tarp and wheelbarrow for our former gravedigger."
Tumbly nodded, " Well, they don't look like they were caused by a shovel I'll give you that....might want to put something on those...normal people bites get infected real easy...probably worse if they are dead."
He peered through the rain towards the apartments, " We'll canvas those when the rest get here."
A brief but relatively thorough search is made but finds little else except for some oloore tea, some disconcerting undergarments and a bottle of red wine from Golador Estate,
Quinn will nod to the comment but will not show any facial expression. You can see that Quinn has little respect for this guard.