Book 1, Part 3: Investigating the Fires

[Toraka_Stormheart]

Temperance - Character Sheet

---

AC: 19 Fort: +6 Ref: +10 Will: +4

HP: 24/24 Rebel Points: 3/3 | Perception: +6

Ammunition: 16/20 (40 Reserve) | Alchemy PreparedAlchemical Cartridges: 20 | ConditionsNone

---

Temperance had only managed about half a score steps before she was stopped, turning to the younger, slightly taller tiefling retorting to her. Raising a brow and setting her jaw, the slinger stood straight, eyes narrowed. She was about to respond when the Deadman interrupted her, offering a...very sentient attempt at an offering.

This caused Temperance to pause, her tail flicking idly behind her under her coat as she looked at the tooth, then back at Deadman. Glancing off in the distance, she spotted Kjersti recovering, and Maria redressing. Letting out her breath, the tiefling fixed her glasses and sighed.

"you can't win on hope alone. Not when your solution to a problem is shouting, dead fish, and depending on those outside your organization. You need more."

Pausing, Temperance reached up, taking the shark's tooth in her palm. Squeezing tightly with Deadman's hand, a few drops of fresh crimson dripped down, the tooth cutting into her own hand before she took it, depositing it in a coat pocket.

"Someone else you've become reliant on convinced me to see this day through for you all, so that is what I will do. Apparently they see something I don't. Let's go, before we attract more attention"

Glancing back up at Deadman, she paused one more time. "And perhaps see to your friend here. I think he's earned that much by now"

Show Mechanics

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[ripleycat]

The hammer Maria rescued is exceptionally sturdy and well-made, entirely made of bronze, from head to haft, etched and embellished and well-worn, with dozens of tiny pits and scars from long use, clearly an heirloom, a heavy, squared off, angular design entirely foreign to Kintargo's curves and silver flashes. Given dwarven lifespans, it may be centuries old, but needs only a little bit of cleaning and love to be ready for battle once more.

The hidden scroll case Kjersti uncovered is still watertight, sealed with beeswax, probably as a security precaution more than any expectation of it taking a tumble into the river. Inside aren't scrolls, but a collection of letters and a page apparently taken or copied from the Badger's expense ledger, detailing the last few months of a secret. Apparently, the Thrashing Badger wasn't just a watering hole for the academics who made up much of the membership of the Sacred Order of Archivists, but an active collaborator. Each month, several crates of supplies for the tavern were actually hidden shipments of banned books, deemed "dangerous" and "subversive" by House Thrune. Where they went after passing through the pub is unclear. Somewhere in Kintargo proper, likely the southern shore, given mentions of using a rowboat to cross the river, but specifics are frustratingly difficult to pry free. The letters are short and cramped, often reusing paper for multiple messages until space ran out, and use lots of initials and shorthand that were clearly familiar to the writers but not to anyone present here. "They were saving books! Stories and histories! That hurts, but it helps too, somehow. They were doing something important. They didn't die for nothing. They were fighting..." Vendalfek fastidiously washes his claws like a raccoon, trying to wash away the stink of rotten fish before alighting on Kjersti's shoulder to read.

"It's not my mother's handwriting, but beyond that, I'm not much help. I don't recognize it." Rexus joins the over-the-shoulder reading with a shake of his head. "And they're very careful about not giving hints. Another half-solved mystery to file away with the others." "This is Mrs. Hanna's writing, and the blocky numbers are Mr. Anton's. The Falcos, the owners. But I've never seen any of these before, the ones who were writing back. Not people from the tavern."

"Well, at least we got something important from all that. A bit more exciting than I'd hoped for! And I could help with healing, but the nature of the unliving... I fear I'd just make it worse. I've learned no spells that draw on negative energies. Never had the need. I suppose we could purchase something, or stitch him up by hand? Laria's a decent medic, but this sort of mauling might even be beyond her. Any other ideas?"

"The closure we're seeking is proving elusive. All these answers have strings and mysteries attached." He sighs and looks upriver towards Villegre. "Last on the list. Shall we see to Ms. Lavigne's residence?"

---

The cobblestone avenues near the Alabaster Academy burst with riotous color in autumn, under the shade of rows of grand old aspens and maples that line the streets. Prized by many of the academics and artisans of Villegre, the two-story silverstone rowhouses are sturdy but still cozy, glowing golden through the windows as afternoon grows old and a bit of chill and mist begins to blow in off the water. The lamplighters are at work on the sidewalks outside. The houses follow similar builds, with small yards in front, most filled with cute little gardens, hardy fall flowers and a disproportionate number of large, chatty cats perched on windowsills and brick walls. It is as idyllic a neighborhood as exists in Kintargo, with many small families at home, and the bustle that greets the Silver Ravens as they arrive is a pleasant one.

But even here, there are scars from the Night of Ashes, and Villegre's scar is particularly stark. The Lavigne home is blackened and cracked. The roof and top story have fallen in, and the neighboring houses are both badly damaged and abandoned, windows dark and staring like hollow eye sockets. The neighbors avoid the place, choosing to cross the street or simply walk in the road rather than cross the stained cobbles in front of the ruin. There are no fences or ropes erected here to keep trespassers out. The place's grim aura is more than enough for all but the most hard-headed.

OOC

The Falco Family Hammer is a +1 Thundermace.

 

[Mister Doctor]

Dead Guy - Character Sheet

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KAC: 18/17 Fort: +8 Ref: +4 Will: +5
HP: 14/23 THP: 0/4 Hero: 1/3 | Perception: +5

---

As the group draws ever closer to the last location on their list, the corpse seems to fall into itself. Step by step, the inconstant spark of humanity it managed to temporarily encourage to a fitful flame guttered and died back down. Practically though, it was far from chatty at the best of times and the only thing that distinguished this particular stretch of silence from others is that, for once, the corpse pulls ahead of the group instead of looming in the background. Long legs and either a complete lack of care for or inability to feel fatigue made the thing hard to keep up with when it had a mind to move quickly.

Without waiting on the others, it plodded into yard and up the front steps. The corpse had never offered an explanation in the past and seemingly was not about to do so now. The last the others could see of it before it vanished into the building was it pausing in the foyer of the burnt out home, kneeling, and touching something. A second later and it stood and shambled on. Then all there was to signify it was inside were the receding heavy falls of its feet as it began to move deeper into the wreckage.

The ruined remains of a man wandering the ruined remains of a home.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Mister Doctor (see edit history)

[ccanary]

Maria Callus

Maria Callus — Human Monk (medic)

After the Shark

Maria smiled as she watched Veldelfek then Rexus swarm Kjersti's brawny shoulders as she wrung water out of her clothes and hair. It was damned cold standing around wet on the dock!

She heard Temperance's advice about Deadman but she had no beginning of a clue how to take care of a walking corpse!

"Thrune was right," she muttered to herself, then realizing she caught some attention elaborated.

"I mean he is a nasty, literally damned tyrant but he knew what he was doing. The Night of Ashes wasn't just random violence against nuisances and petty grudges. He crippled exactly what he needed crippled, and still knows more about the underground resistance movements in this city than we do. It's infuriating, but we can't underestimate his ability nor his tactics. Temperance is right, we need to build our capacity to resist in a hurry."

The final burned out clue

Maria was dried and made up presentable, if barely so, again as they approached the ruin. "Ah, another day, another burned out ruin. Shall we be very quick about it?"
She moved in to look around, following the Corpse, though at a safe distance. He still made her feel uncomfortable after all they'd been through.

Mechanics

 

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[Toraka_Stormheart]

Temperance - Character Sheet

---

AC: 19 Fort: +6 Ref: +10 Will: +4

HP: 24/24 Rebel Points: 2/3 | Perception: +6

Ammunition: 16/20 (40 Reserve) | Alchemy PreparedAlchemical Cartridges: 20 | ConditionsNone

---

At the last location on their list, Temperance paused outside the steps leading up to the ruined estate, rifle slung over her shoulder as she watched the Deadman go in. Glancing back, she made eye contact with Kjersti. This was the last stop, and the finality of the current agreement she had with the farmgirl. Her gaze lingered a moment before the tiefling noticed that Maria had gone in.

One moment, two, and seeing that no one else went in, the tiefling sighed and stepped forward. "Astounding." Without a word, she strode in, adjusting to the dim light as she caught up with Deadman.

Show Mechanics

Action 1: perception, critical failure per Discord

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[Fletcher]

Kjersti Volden

AC: 19 | Fort: +8 | Ref: +4 | Will: +7
HP: 24/24 | Focus: 0/1 | Hero: 0/3 | Perception: +5
ConditionsNone

---

After drying herself off as best she can, Kjersti joins the rest, still shaking a hand roughly through her hair. "I understand secrecy, but it's startin' to feel like these folks had too much fun with their codes," she comments as Rexus investigates the contents of the scroll case. She reaches up to the little dragon resting on her shoudlers and gives Vendalfek a scritch under the chin - more of an instinctual thing from the farm. Reassurance as he has to face this last tangible piece of the people he called friends at the Thrashing Badger. "I'm glad they didn't die for nothin'," she echoes the sentiment.

Still holding onto the empty scroll cylinder, she sidles up to Maria and taps the hammer on the haft with it, drawing a hollow dinking sound. "Looks like we switched places. Wanna swap?" The question is devoid of her usual smirking humor, but then again, she did narrowly escape a terrible underwater fate. Of course, she doesn't press the issue and they are on their way to the next location.

---

Kjersti brings up the rear of the group, making sure they don't leave anyone behind and that any dottari that might suddenly take issue with the ragtag group traveling through their streets could be dealt with quickly enough. She knew some of them as well - boys who had been disillusioned by country life, indoctrinated to the cruel ideals of their masters, brought in to be particularly nasty enforcers who bore no prior allegiance to anyone in the city. She hadn't noticed any thus far, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be staring into familiar eyes. Would she be able to bring her hammer down on Aldrek? Little Mim or his brother Merus? Sure, they were miserable louses even before they were Thrunish lapdogs... but she had known them since childhood.

Things like this filled her mind as she kept an eye out, until they reached the final burned-out structure. Her hammer taps heavily on the stones as she plants it and looks to the little dragon. "Keepin' outta sight again? Maybe get a view from above?" The group inspects their first steps in, though the Deadman and Maria are first to begin to pick through the ruins. Her eyebrows raise as she makes eye contact with Temperance, and notes the disapproval. When she moves in, Kjersti sighs softly and picks up the hammer to follow suit.

"You want it in silvers?" she quietly asks the short tiefling as she comes alongside, eyes up and looking around for danger or clues. "Or you open to favors?" The implication being as she had offered before - seeing the riflewoman safely out of the city, no matter which conveyance she chose. While the choice to stay or leave was certainly out of her hands, Kjersti felt that she owed Temperance much more than money for her time and her ammunition. Once she saw that sea monster, she knew she owed the tiefling her life. The Deadman too, of course, not to be forgotten. He had held the doorway while the last bullet was placed... But still. She had enough blood debt hanging over her head already. Helping Temperance get out of this hellhole would be the least she could do.

[ripleycat]

There's little to remark on outside the ruined house. The hardiest of the plants still thrive in the hopelessly overgrown garden. Little of the debris from the fire has been cleaned up. Those who follow the dead man inside wade through burned timbers. Maria kicks at an old, tattered rope in the weeds under the nearest lamppost. It's been tied into a noose.

 

Vendalfek follows Kjersti's suggestion, vanishing in a winkle of sparkles and smoke and getting a dragon's eye look at the place, but from the outside, few details are apparent. "Part of the roof and the second story have collapsed. It looks fragile. Be careful!" is the faerie dragon's only report.

 

Those following the dead man's receding footsteps inside enter a mid-sized foyer, the walls peeled and charred black. The foyer leads naturally into the home's main hallway, dividing the house down the middle. Even the badly distracted Temperance can't help but see the badly burned corpse of a large dog lying in the hall, but it's Kjersti who notices that it was likely killed by a hard blow to the back of the neck, not the flames, and that someone has gently tucked a bundle of rags under its chin.

 

The hallway eventually leads to what was probably the dining room, though it's difficult to be sure. As Vendalfek warned, the ceiling has caved in, dumping the contents of the room that was once above it into a chaotic mess. The room above was likely a nursery. The remains of a child's bed and a crib can be seen poking out of the debris, some parts still featuring sky blue paint, flowers, and songbirds. There's no telling if the children those once belonged to are somewhere under the debris.

 

The implacable zombie isn't present anywhere those on the first floor can see, but along one of the dining room walls, tottering stairs lead up to the remains of the second floor. Below them, another set descends into some manner of basement.

Edited October 17, 2023 by ripleycat (see edit history)

[Toraka_Stormheart]

Temperance - Character Sheet

---

AC: 19 Fort: +6 Ref: +10 Will: +4

HP: 24/24 Rebel Points: 2/3 | Perception: +6

Ammunition: 16/20 (40 Reserve) | Alchemy PreparedAlchemical Cartridges: 20 | ConditionsNone

---

The tiefling's jaw was firmly set at the view that met her as she walked inside. The charred corpse of a dog...murdered, no less. A crib, caved in furniture...this was a family home, about as "normal" as Temperance could expect. Or at least, was normal, before these events transpired. The tiefling recalled what Laria had described to her as the "Night of Ashes". She wasn't unfamiliar with rampant fires from her former home, but this seemed...precise. And everything she saw so far confirmed the precision.

"Thought you were sold on this ideal. Even if they're just using you" Without looking up, Temperance spoke to the tall woman beside her, arms akimbo as she viewed the two options before her. "I'm not leaving tonight. We can negotiate terms after we are done here, don't worry"

Remaining cryptic, the tiefling cracked her neck, heading downstairs to investigate further.

Show Mechanics

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[pi4t]

  

Star

AC: 19 (+2 nimble dodge) | Fort: +6 | Ref: +10 | Will: +6
HP: 28/28 | Rebel Points: 0/3 | Perception: +6 | Stealth +7
ConditionsNone

 

A sneaking suspicion growing in her mind, Star looks around, trying to work out where the dead man might have gone. Upstairs or downstairs? After a brief pause to listen, she hears a faint thump from the basement, and trots down the stairs while everyone else is investigating the ground floor. She treads softly, not quite sneaking but avoiding making a scene of her arrival. If she's right about what this place is...well, he might not be safe to be around, but it might also help the pain if there's someone familiar nearby. It helped Star, after all.

[ccanary]

Maria Callus

Maria Callus — Human Monk (medic)

The final burned out clue

Maria gasped and rushed forward on seeing the collapsed nursery and immediately went searching the debris for stranded children, digging frantically. She didn't notice that Deadman had moved off, and even if she did, it's not clear she would have gone after him, with this horror on display before her.

"There were children! Oh gods please let them have gotten out!" she searched hoping she wouldn't find anything.

Mechanics

 

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[Mister Doctor]

Dead Guy - Character Sheet

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KAC: 18/17 Fort: +8 Ref: +4 Will: +5
HP: 14/23 THP: 0/4 Hero: 1/3 | Perception: +5

---

As Temperance and Star carefully navigate the stairs down into the basement, there is a feeling of slowly entering the den of some sort of predator. Given the corpse's proclivities, that feeling is not wholly inaccurate. The basement is gloomy, the only light let in is that which managed to filter in through cracks and breaks in the floor above but that is wan and dim. It is little obstacle to the infernal sight of the pair of tieflings but darkness is still darkness.

At the foot of the stairs, Star's hoof kicks an empty wine bottle and sends it skittering over to floor to clink against several more. The floor is littered with them where they spilled out from a collapsed wine rack. Some must have shattered from the heat of the fire or impact with the stone floor while others have had their necks snapped off and contents drained.

Here too the remains of the lives that once occupied this building are painfully clear. Old furniture, a cold cellar for the preservation of food that was now rotting, a collection of hand tools and a workbench. The corpse did not seem to be hiding behind these fragments, waiting to pounce and rend its one-time allies limb from limb.

Eventually, there was only one place left to look. Towards the back of the cellar skulked a large wine cask resting on its side. It was of the sort that would supply a family for months if not years. The head had been thoroughly broken in and a canvas tarp draped over the opening. Some thinner and softer fabric trailed out of the opening, maybe a bedsheet or the remains of a dress. A familiar skinless hand reached out from under the tarp, grabbed the fabric and pulled the trailing end fully under the tarp.

Edited October 27, 2023 by Mister Doctor (see edit history)

[Toraka_Stormheart]

Temperance - Character Sheet

---

AC: 19 Fort: +6 Ref: +10 Will: +4

HP: 24/24 Rebel Points: 3/3 | Perception: +6

Ammunition: 16/20 (40 Reserve) | Alchemy PreparedAlchemical Cartridges: 20 | ConditionsNone

---

Keeping her weapon stowed and hands free, the tiefling descended down, wholly unaware that Star had slipped past ahead of her. Descending, her yellow eyes adjusted to the dim lighting as she surveyed the broken contents around her. After a moment, her careful steps took her to the remains of the workbench. Curiosity overtook her as she surveyed the various tools, attempting to discern what was being worked on in this place.

Hearing the sound of something deeper in, Temperance stiffened, glancing over towards the source of the sound. Stepping cautiously, the tiefling went further in to spy the silhouette of Star in front of her. Opening her mouth to speak, a quick glance from the younger woman caused her to immediately quiet, looking ahead to the cask and letting the rogue take the lead.

Show Mechanics

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[Fletcher]

Kjersti Volden

AC: 19 | Fort: +8 | Ref: +4 | Will: +7
HP: 24/24 | Focus: 0/1 | Hero: 0/3 | Perception: +5
ConditionsNone

---

Kjersti sniffs a humorless laugh out of her nose as Temperance precedes her into the ruin, watching the tiefling follow the younger down into the basement. She can't agree with the feeling of being used, not feeling that sort of... transactional... connections with the people in her life. Of course, when a person comes from a place where lives themselves are property... she can understand having that perspective. The farmgirl sighs and looks up from the disappearing blonde, slower to notice the details that Maria begins to intone.

"Someone put the creature down," she murmurs, crouching to inspect the dog. "Spared it from the fire, I reckon." Her frown of thought turns into a frown of disgust. "...because they were locked in here together." Up til this point, it was clear that the burnings had been intentional, planned... but they had seemed to be demonstrations. Burning meeting places or hideouts... places for dissenters to gather (presuming Rexus' family had such dabblings with people in their manor).

The place that Kjersti now surveys is.... just a house. Just a home. With a family pet who was killed in mercy... because the rest were locked in here, murdered intentionally with the fire. It wasn't just a show of force or sending a message... it was removing someone. Maybe? Kjersti rises from a knee, slapping off the ash and soot with less urgency to search for survivors than Maria. She approaches her mentor and lays a hand on her shoulder. "I think this was different.... and they made sure no one escaped," she murmurs, looking up at the caved-in nursery. It feels pointless to scale the precarious path to the second level, especially if the winged friend warned of the instability.

"Only chance was the cellar..." She turns and faces the stairs down, but can't move. Faces of friends and loved ones filled her mind, gathered around a lantern in a root cellar beneath the floor of the old barn. Friends and loved ones who were similarly executed by her... her own kin. Kjersti's grip on the Falco's relic hammer tightens, her knuckles pop and leather creaks. This... wasn't personal. To her. And yet, it was the same move, the same murder. Gods knew who had earned such individual, pointed attention that night. She turns to Rexus, as if he might know the answer.

"Who lived here...?"

 

[theredshirtwholive]

 Kyla

AC: 19 | Fort: +7 | Ref: +7 | Will: +8
HP: 28/28 | Rebel Points: 3/3 | Perception: +10 | Stealth +7
ConditionsNone

---

Kyla hangs back, trying to pick her way through the ruins as respectfully as she can. Her jaw tightens as she and her companions realize the true horror of what took place there. "We are going to bring Thrune down," she promises herself. Then, she scurries over to the remnants of the stairs. She has no idea what she'll find upstairs....but it's got to be better than facing the agony that was down there.

OOC

 

 

[ripleycat]

Thankfully, or perhaps not, Maria finds no remains among the tumbled ruins of the nursery. The sad fate of the children is probably not in doubt, given the state of the house, but digging through the rubble by hand is a heartfelt but fruitless gesture.

"One Elena Lavigne and her family, by the surviving mentions in my mother's correspondence." Rexus actually does know the answer to Kjersti's erstwhile question. The nobleman is eager to answer, if only as a distraction from the ruined horrors, which are clearly hitting too close to home. Beq is similarly distressed. The gnome lingers near the front door, staring unsteadily into the middle distance, clearly reliving their own dark past and the cruel flames that destroyed their childhood.

"She was an instructor at the Alabaster Academy, I believe? Not one I ever studied under myself. Must have been a mage, from her interests. Married to a minor nobleman, Guy-Arist Lavigne, who was a name among some of the more hot-blooded aristocrats. The dueling set spoke of him with high praise and venom, in turn. A teacher of combat, a solid and serious one, the one you sought out if you wanted more than merely swishing around a rapier without cutting yourself. Not a few who got knocked about with a broomhandle in lesson one, and couldn't handle the damage to their egos."

"What seems to have drawn Thrune's ire was Elena's agitation for a labor union for Kintargo's magic users and enchanters. She was tireless, and was casting quite the net. I couldn't tell you how successful her efforts were, or how far along, but... well, it's rather obvious what Thrune thought of it."

The stairs creak and groan, but are up to the task of supporting one very small tiefling. What Kyla discovers on the second floor, alas, does nothing to lessen the agony of the grim house.

 

There's little left of the nursery to examine, as the floor has given way, but Kyla sees that the door has been removed, not with tools, but bodily ripped from the wall and tossed aside in fury or desperation. The hall is intact enough to allow Kyla to investigate the next room, a large one that must have been the master bedroom. Once a lovely sanctuary, with high ceilings and fine furnishings.

 

A badly burned woman's remains lie on the more intact side of the large bed. It's clear how she died. It's also clear she did not die here. Someone has tried, clumsily, to arrange her in a restful pose. One of her hands holds a gold wedding ring, though it's match is missing from her finger. There are scuffs on the furniture and floor, and heavy tracks kicked through the ashes. Kyla is not the first to visit this ad-hoc memorial. Someone comes here regularly.

 

Looking down from the second story, she can see the whole heartrending pattern worn into the ruins. Again and again, someone has come through the door and stopped by the faithful dog before plodding up the stairs, stopping at the nursery and bedroom in turn, before circling back down the cracked steps and descending into the basement...