balance_logs | Field Mission 4, Etude in Blue, Part One

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Field Mission 4, Etude in Blue, Part One

	You're not leaving until you've got this shanty memorized
	NAVIGATION

Click here for the RNG thread!

1. ETUDE IN BLUE: WELCOME TO THE SEA OF FALLEN STARS

A. A WATERY LANDING

You'll be going down from the Moon Base via glass spheres, shot by the flight technician staff member Avi. As usual, each capsule can hold up to 4 people, although it does get increasingly uncomfortable the more people are crammed together. You're shot down to the planet in the most horrifying way possible, seeing the landscape violently change quickly and without remorse or guilt towards your possible motion sickness or uneasy feeling. The landing this time, is a canonball. All along the middle of the Sea of Fallen Stars, blips of orbs will be falling straight down into the water. From the Moon Base, Lucretia watches on as the majority of you land. It's quite a spectacle to see the splashes from this high up.

And once you're there, you're... kind of up a creek without a paddle. Without a propulsion or engine system to move your orb forward, you don't have a lot of choices here. If you're lucky, you might find a mercantile ship out in between voyages. If you're extremely unlucky, you're going to have to swim... or maybe you can pop the sphere hatch open and find something to paddle with. Be careful of the sharks? Definitely be careful of the sharks. Your destination? Lyrabar.

2. THE LAP OF LUXURY, THE DANGERS OF LYRABAR

B. THE CITY OF MERCHANTS' DREAMS

Let's get something out of the way first: Lyrabar is a gorgeous city — and when you step off the S.S. Codfather and onto the docks about a hundred yards from the edge of the city proper, you'll be treated to a clear view of the entire skyline: Ornate, twisting towers of marble, stone buildings and finely crafted wooden structures form the city into a neat semicircle, with the marketplace at its epicenter. At the far end of the city stands a castle, a nearly glittering, extravagant structure, a maze of hallways and towers that seems to be stretching high toward the other planes of existence themselves.

Lyrabar is on an entirely new level compared to Vista Virs, New Aspen, or even the comforts of the Moon Base itself. This is by far the most luxurious corner of Faerun that you've encountered yet — even the standard-level rooms you might find in an inn around Lyrabar are well maintained, the sheets are clean, and the food is delicious. The food, though! Pretty much anything you can think of is on the menu somewhere, and, no offense to an enduring and malfunctioning robot back on the base, but his cuisine chops can't even compare to what's on offer in Lyrabar.

If only the people of Lyrabar were nicer. Weren't so suspicious of anyone new who passes through those gates. There is a lot of gold passing through the city gates, after all.

And the pirates who are slowly overrunning the city are well aware of that.

C. THE HOBBY HORSE

A lot of you strong archetype Reclaimers, and even the ones who aren't, will probably eventually find your way to The Hobby Horse, a tavern that is absolutely just a tavern, if a bit more crude compared to the other watering holes nearby and around Lyrabar, and absolutely not a place where pirates higher up on the pecking order go for a bit of Jabba-the-Hut-lair entertainment. Of course it isn't. That would be silly!

In any case, maybe you've signed the waiver, paid your 20 GP, and had a go at The Death Cave — essentially a long hallway, leading from one ring to the next, with waves of aggressive monsters brought in from the ocean and beyond for you to fight through. And for some of you, those of you who have played a hand in reclaiming three Grand Relics at this point ... honestly, The Death Cave might seem a little too easy.

The man taking your payments and signed waivers, a man who goes only by Old Numbers, a gruff, bearded old fart who seems to be more battle scar than human, seems to have a solution for that. He leans forward over the counter, eyeing you near suspiciously.

"Oi ... if it's an actual challenge yer lookin' for, Old Numbers can whip you up somethin' more ... randomized. Y'seen those Sea Quartz around town, right? Those rainbow lookin' stars that the fancier folk keep grindin' up into shampoo. Bring me three of those, and I'll give you a fight worth yer chops."

True to his word, you pay Old Numbers three SQ, he'll have you sign another waiver (essentially, you're going to have to name a next of kin — someone who's fit and willing to drag your corpse out of The Death Cave, because Old Numbers here sure as hell isn't going to do it), then he'll draw a random placard from a stack of three and affix it next to the entrance of The Death Cave. The excited energy in the crowd is palpable. Now the real battling betting begins.

Your goal here isn't to defeat all the enemies: It's simply to make it to the final exit.

Here's what the placards mean (As a further warning, these are highly dangerous encounters! You signed a second waiver for a very good reason.):

○ Sword: In the final room of The Death Cave, you will be pitted against a swordsman who seems to have been taken in by some sort of Faerun equivalent of malevolent corruption — and boy, is he having the time of his life. He is extremely fast, his blade is freshly sharpened, and he will not hesitate to strike down anyone who was unfortunate enough to roll him, while laughing about it. He does have what you might consider an ultimate attack: Gathering up energy into his blade, he swings it, channeling said energy into one devastating plume of magic shot directly toward you. You're going to want to find a way to avoid it.

○ Bow and arrow: As you make your way through The Death Cave, you'll be pursued by the, uh. Boss of this round, a ranger whose accuracy with her bow and arrow is unrivaled. Assuming you make it to the final room without being arrow'd, you'll have to face her head-on, too. She is nimble, and now that you've reached the end, she is much less keen on missing. To make it past her, you will want to disarm her — which means closing the gap between the two of you as much as possible, to force a melee.

Wand: Woe to the Reclaimer who manages to roll the magic user course. When you step inside, you'll find that the entire cave is flooded at about knee height, meaning unless you can figure out a way across it, you'll be fighting while wading.

The Caster — sorry, I mean Wizard — at the end of the line specializes in ice and electric elemental spells. Have fun with that!

D. IN WHICH LITERALLY EVERYONE WANTS YOUR COIN

For those of you who have gold burning a hole in your pocket, the shopping available in Lyrabar is near endless. The marketplace, located at the center of the city, seems to sprawl on forever, with stalls, storefronts and eateries that seemingly cater to every fancy, whether it's fashion or weaponry. If it's souvenirs you're looking to take home, the most popular items are necklaces made out of those ever popular Sea Quartz, that are being used at The Hobby Horse and ground up into shampoo, and very sarcastic postcards: Think, "I visited Lyrabar and all I got was this crappily printed postcard" sort of sarcastic.

Generally, though, as long as the item is not magical, and as long as the tech is not more advanced than what you'd find on the Moon Base, you can probably find it at the Marketplace. If you're not sure about an idea, feel free to ask right here!

Some other things of note about what you'll find while shopping:

○ There are a lot of pickpockets. Maybe you shouldn't actually have a hole in your pockets. Even with the people of Lyrabar as distrusting of each other, and of you, as they are, those looking to pilfer a little extra cash off an unsuspecting visitor will find no shortage of targets. Perhaps you're one of them. Perhaps you're the sort willing to start a brawl in the middle of the Marketplace to get your most valued possessions back. Maybe, if you look close enough, you'll see that many have the same insignia branded on their arm. It seems, if you'd like to join in with, or infiltrate a pirate crew, this band of kleptos might be a good place to start off.

○ The Auction House is located on one of the far corners of the Marketplace. It's large, marble and a bit chilly inside, and the biddings start at around 6 p.m. each night, but it seems there's something ... a bit strange about the auctions themselves. That is to say, you'll have a seat one evening, and about halfway through selling off half of the evening's inventory, you'll watch them bring out the next item: like a pearl, or a particularly large and beautiful clamshell — nice enough trinkets, but nothing at all compared to the other goods that have hit the auction block so far.

And why are they starting the bidding at 1,000 GP? And why are the people around you actually enthusiastically going with it? Man, they can't be that blatant, can they?

E. JUSTICE

Maybe by this point you've had something valuable snatched from you, or you can't quite figure out how nobody's put a stop to some very clear money laundering happening at the Auction House, and you feel the need to serve up some serious justice to the pirates out there who have done you wrong. Who runs the justice joint around here, anyway?

That inquiry will lead you straight to the royal guard — the captain of which is going to groan in exhaustion/annoyance at you questions, or even your bid to help out. You think he hasn't heard that story before? The second a silver-tongued charlatan charms their way into the ranks of the royal guard, they're looking the other way while their visiting pirate friends rob the rest of us blind. He's got no time for this. If you want to truly help, you are going to have to prove it first.

And so, with that, you will find yourself immediately thrown into an undercover operation, one the captain doesn't mind doling out, because at the end of the day he loses nothing from it except for a few disguises. That's right: you'll be given a disguise, whether it's a smelly pile of peasant rags or, if he's feeling less charitable with his budget, a pair of these (look, it's not like he actually cares about your safety here), and a piece of paper with one or two names on it. Your mission? Bring these suspects back to the captain without causing a scene. Or, well, go ahead and cause a scene. He has little shits to give, remember?

Pull this off, though, and consider a private audience with the one member of the royal family who still keeps an audience nowadays, Princess Irene, secured.

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3. OUT ON THE OPEN SEA

F. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'RE THE NEW OWNER OF A YACHT

Whether you've had your fill of luxury, bar fights, enforcing the long arm of the law in town, or just gorging out on incredibly tasty food, eventually you'll recall that Lucretia had actually sent you down here with a purpose. She asked everyone to find a way to obtain a ship- one that isn't the S.S. Codfather (thank you very much, Sans!)- as the investigation into the Grand Relic can only get so far within the streets of Lyrabar. To that end, there are a number of options and opportunities for you to obtain such a vessel.

○ Steal it. This is how pirating works in a place like this. You find something, you take it, and you put a nice new flag on it to make it yours. Of course, there are some complications with that. Get caught, and you're going straight to nautical prison- don't pass the Hobby Horse, don't collect $200. But the docks district of this port town is known to be rather quiet at night, when the merchant fleets are out swindling cash at the bar, drinking themselves blind, or maybe just settling home with their family after an honest day's work. There are hired guards keeping watch, but it shouldn't be that difficult to incapacitate them. When they wake up in the morning, they'll assume what it always is around here. Someone forgot to pay the red tithe.

○ Buy it. There's always the option of offering something in exchange for a rowboat. Maybe you've come across a bountifully magical item that you want to dispose of at the auction house, or maybe there's a collector out there who's willing to make a fair trade. Renting them doesn't seem to be that much an issue either; transport around the region is always done by boat. Just know that you're going to have to put a down payment and collateral down. You also... run the risk of running into some unscrupulous merchants who are working with the pirates on the down low. Be careful not to get swindled out of everything you own, only to walk up to a tiny rowboat.

○ Mutineer it. You could find some work on boats, but it's mainly hard labor. You'll be loading the ship up for transport, and taking a trip across the Sea of Fallen stars to destinations at other major port cities. You might not need to know that some of these ships are exchanging some rather questionable goods to get the hint that there's a fair share misconduct going on around the sea. Time to throw the captain overboard and take command of your own dreamliner.

○ Other. Well, depending on how crafty you are, there are a number of ways to get a hold of a boat. These were just some guiding ideas, but we think you'll find a way. You always do.

G. 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

There's some adventuring to do out in the open sea, and treasures both vast and mighty. It's not entirely uncommon to find islands dotted along the landscape, and those are particularly good for docking and getting a sense of what's gone down around here since Captain Ferryn's taken command of the high seas. You might've gotten the sense that loose lips really do sink ships- that evidence is coming up pretty bill in your search for actual piracy going on around here. The good captain is incredibly skillful at both deception and infiltration, and with the Soul Blade helping him, there's almost nothing stopping him from completely dominating the entire sea and crowning himself the new royal in town. Mum's the word around these parts, so you're going to have to do some exploration. Pop some of those shrimp chips and head down to explore the underwater depths of the seabed.

There are an unbelievable amount of ships that have been wrecked and forgotten under the violent chops of the aquatic basin. With a few hours' search, you're incredibly likely to find one, waiting for you to go down and pluck whatever's down there. Be careful, however, since The Drowned are fiercely protective of their death locales. Fight through them and live to the tell the tale, and you'll come back graciously rewarded.

Many of the ships seem to have crates still on them- all with the official royal seal of Lyrabar stamped plainly on their lid. When popped open, you'll notice there's an abundance of sea quartz- the gems that are used to constantly provide a source of energy to the town. Hard to tell why pirates wouldn't be interested in that, when the trade is absurdly lucrative.

You'll also find areas where ships aren't present. Instead, you might come across entire fields of sea quartz. But in their current state, they're pretty useless and look like the trinkets you might have found on the streets of Lyrabar. Devoid of any magical energies, they lay deep on the ocean floor, a nuisance and an eyesore to nature. You'll also notice that natural enemies like sharks and Sahuagin steer clear of these areas, for better or for worse.

Good luck down there, and make sure you have a buddy system set up. Getting a glass sphere down into the water is near impossible, but Dr. Tank is on board the S.S. Codfather for emergencies.

H. NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLES I'VE SEEN

Know that the sea is not calm in temperament or safety. There are things to be weary of at every step of the way, and it's best to ensure that you have a good, seasoned crew to man your boat in order to keep you passing through safe waters. While you're out there, though, danger truly does lurk around every corner.

Pirates, for one, are particularly good at various ways of warfare. Many of them don't even look or appear to be like the ones you might have heard of in stories or experienced elsewhere. Some even fly under the banner of Lyrabar, cruising safely without notice by anyone that would be wise to what they're up to. Sail out for too long without a purpose or linger in an area too long, and a ship will approach, lining up side by side with you. They'll tell you that they're part of the Royal Navy, and hell, they might even be wearing the garb of the official uniformed ranks, and when they announce they're here for usual inspection, they'll request to board your ship. Protocol, you see, because of the rampant acts of piracy out in the open waters. Refusing might make you look more suspicious, but letting them on board as inspectors and tax adjudicators can be equally dangerous. Some of them are legit, and some of them will look to take command of your ship and leave you out in the ocean to drown. You're going to have to be cunning to figure out which one is which.

Storms rage all over the Sea of Fallen Stars. With the encroachment of the warmer months ahead, the weather itself battles for its rightful claim to the area. The signs of a storm coming are easy enough to spot, and they're frequent. Some will last 2-3 days and make travel nearly impossible. Getting out of the water is an important step in keeping your crew safe; and spending a night on an island or in a grotto is always better than running the risk of joining the armies of The Drowned below.

Maelstroms are an equal threat of immense dread. If you happen to see a swirling vortex of water, start heading in the opposite direction immediately. There's a certain magnetic pull that they have, and once you've been caught in the outer rings, it's going to take a lot of teamwork to get yourselves out. Good thing you've had a month to build upon that, or else you might be toast. For those of you who are highly less fortunate, you'll notice yourselves getting sucked in, closer, and closer. You can look over the epicenter and- good god, is that a tentacle!? What is that thing!?

The Prespuran Triangle also poses a major issue while traveling across the sea. Legend has it that if you sail too close to its navigable coordinates, your ship will vanish and you'll never be heard from again. It might seem like a wives' tale, but it's absolutely true. Come too close to it and you'll notice your compass begin to spin out like there's no tomorrow. Continue inward, and, well. You'll see something, alright. It's a tower that stretches into the sky, tall and unwavering. And also, completely impregnable and without doors. You're going to have to get yourself out of there somehow, and for your sake, let's hope you know the exact coordinates you came in through or else... you mind wind up on a completely different side of the world.

Last but not least, the pirates aren't the only ones looking to hop aboard your newly crowned baby. Don't forget about the Sahuagins, either. They seem to attack only during the dead of night, when the moon is ripe and full in the sky. They bring with them charming magics and are particularly good at getting people to willfully walk over the edge themselves, without even drawing a blade.

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4. OOC

This is your story to write, and your setting to play with! Anything on the OOC post is fair game, and if there's something you'd like to try, please don't hesitate to let us know on the RNG thread.

But most importantly, Reclaimers, be amazing.

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blurb code by photosynthesis

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

1. He was not. No one was staying in the room that night, actually.

2. I'll be merciful and have this count as part of the first Will hint, because after aggroing him once and then just kind of skittering up and down the stairs in confusion. Like are you okay buddy? If/when updated about all the minuta about corpses and no one being dragged and he gets cut off halfway through a sentence-

Alex. Alex, there was like six-or-something hours for them to clean the crime scene. He should probably look in places you'd dispose of that sorta thing.

3. There's other ridiculous things, but honestly? Everything needed for the mystery (aside from the body) has been found. Or at least, everything that was in this room.

Do you know who's an idiot. It's a me.

1. THEN HE'S GONNA GO LOOK IN.....is there like, a general trash room in the inn? You know that's a GREAT QUESTION-
2. Could I have a general layout? LIKE we got a first floor, we got rooms on the second floor, but what else is there here? A bar, a lobby, etc?

I would forgive you, but that video is a sin. Also kinda going backwards for convenience.

2. It's a small-ish inn. When you walk in there's a lobby that doubles as a small bar/breakfast area/sign-in, not much unlike your average bed and breakfast. Up the stairs are the six guest rooms which are laid out in a fashion that doesn't actually matter since only the one guest room is relevant to the murder. Maya's room is also up there, but to put a preemptive stop - it was locked, the key was on her person, and nothing was tampered with on the inside.

Behind the counter is one door. Through that is a small kitchen area leading to two further doors - one to a storage/pantry area, followed by a more less-used storage downstairs, and the other to a small two-room mini-apartment that the Innkeeper lives in.

1. The general trash room is the storage room, since there's a back door and two garbage cans lined up inside. There is nothing in them - not even bags. To cut off in advance, the back door was also locked for the duration of this closed room murderfest extravaganza.

Alright, thank you, that helps! We're gonna start with the storage/general trash room.
1. Well, the back may be a no-go, but let's take a look around here. What's in this room, anything...that looks like it might've been tampered with?

2. The storage/pantry area. Here's another good place to see, does anything look out-of-place or strange?

1. It is Too Clean back here, like someone has OCD and is really anal retentive about making sure everything is perfectly arranged in easy-to-access fashion. Which will immediately stand out as Weird, considering behind the bar was a hot mess of books and wine bottles. However, there's nothing really to write home about here.

2. The upstairs storage is a similar case of Way Too Clean, but we'll just handwave it and say he goes to the basement. Lots of spare chairs and collapsable tables and huge 50-kilo bags of potatoes and onions piled up in ceiling-high walls. Garbage bags tied up and shoved on shelves, pots in elaborate Jenga pillars, you know the works. Alex could probably get lost down here and die of starvation and no one would notice, it's such a mess.

But at the end of this precarious maze of Almost-Death he'll find an open-ish area with a work table that could be written off as a place for repairs, but is big enough for a meeting place. He doesn't even need to do his usual skittering around for scuffs, because - despite having a few of those huge-ass potato bags there - there is a crack running up only a part of the wall.

His Junior Investigator senses smell a bullethole.

Noted, for the first storage unit, but let's get to the nitty gritty section of this. Alex hates this place, he hates it so severely and is positive he's going to be crushed by onions. However, all of this pays off when he finds...the bullethole.
1. Is there a bullet in or nearby the bullethole?
2. What's the height of this bullethole?
3. BLOOD. Is there blood?
4. Anything left out that looks strange or suspicious? Anything on the table?

The bullethole was blocked off entirely by potatoes that weigh as much as Alex, but we're not here to kill a poor scrawny boi. Thus ICly just handwave he went upstairs and got the tall scary blue coat guy to move them.

1. There is definitely a bullet in there! It's effectively wedged into the concrete in such a way where you'd need to get a chisel or a pickaxe to get it out. It is most likely the reason why it wasn't removed, and just hidden by villainous potatoes.

2. Closer to the floor, probably up about 6~8 inches. Rather than try and give minutia we'll merge what Mia found. Guy died down here Executioner Style. So it's about where you'd expect a bullet to end up if you shot someone through the head when they were kneeling.

3. YES!!!!! Not like huge pools of it everywhere, but there's faint stains on the wall where it is slightly darker - because porous concrete stains like a mofo. In the cracks the bullet left, these are WAY more obvious.

4. The table is a hot mess of tools and things knocked over, less of a normal Work Table mess, and more like someone had a whole bunch of stuff they needed to hide. As a meta standpoint, there's the overall feeling that more work was put into the closed room than hiding the murder scene. Mostly because people are dumb and will focus on that. Hell, it's why Maya's arrested.

Thank you, please don't crush him. That would be a silly way to go. Just about as silly as getting a brick to the face! ;D

1. Well, Alex is a determined boy, and he's taking that bullet with him! Getting some photos of the scene, of course. Just call him Jimmy Olsen! ...Wait, that's not crime scene- whatever!!

Ohh, gimme all those pictures of BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD. Low quality JPEGs all around.

2. Well, those guys may not have wanted to cover up a murder scene, but Alex certainly wants to investigate it! He may not be great with closed rooms, but he can sure take note of every little detail, with meticulous interest. He's hoping to get an idea of who the people down here were- who-dunnit, after all. What's there on the table? The tools, the Various Things? Can I get a list?

1. He will probably need a pickaxe to get it out. And also make Will do it. But yes, evidence of blood and bullets ALL FOR THE TAKING.

2. I can pull up an exact list of tools, but it's essentially like. Hammers and measuring sticks and a table clamp and such. Mister Innkeeper is a cheapass who fixes his own broken tables and chairs. We'll say there are a few papers left in a drawer that look like someone starting to write letters, then going 'wait no that's dumb', crossing out half the words, then rewriting on a new paper. The letters themselves are gone. General vibe? The murder scene was so haphazardly hidden for two main reasons: the first is that the culprit was going to make a more visible crime scene.

The second? Something was more important to hide than the murder.

Edited 2019-06-13 02:59 (UTC)

Alex, near a pickaxe? Canned laughter. Will, please get the bullet. Some of us are allergic to anything that could cause their death.

Ohhh, the plot thickens. Time to snap more pictures of this.
1. Can he get any idea of what was crossed out? Is there anything left on those papers? He's going to take them with him, no matter what.

2. It's time to see...if we can investigate that living quarters. Will they let him do that?

3. And while I'm thinking about it, Alex is going to send his familiar up to get a look at our innkeeper while he's snooping. Mostly because a bird, even if it DOES have a fucked up beak, is a lot less conscicuous, when it's trying to see if someone has like. That fucking pirate tattoo.

Why are you making him fetch a bullet. Just- you know what whatever. There's only minimal bitching over how he hasn't had to do this menial nonsense since his first job. Either way. BULLET ACQUIRED.

1. Most of the good stuff isn't on it - no names, no addresses, and it's all aborted sentence starters - but what he glimpses are attempts at... scheduling table repairs? And something about how you owe him money for that stool he sanded down last week. (Hint: it wasn't a stool. It was probably a face)

2. That belongs to the Innkeeper. He doesn't see why he has to fork up his room key and is REALLY not down for that, but despite being doomfist? Will can set himself on fire. The fire is black. He wins the ominous standoff and Alex gets the room key. The room feels... plot relevant. You should probably bring Mia for this.

3. He doesn't have a tattoo the bird can see, but different pirate clans have different tattoos - if any at all. All it really proves is he's not a member of whatever pirate gang each respective tattoo means. He's already big and spooky and suspicious. Tattoos or tattoo-hiding clothing just makes that worse.

In exchange, while everyone else is some level of complaining-but-chill about the inn being closed and the guards circling around everywhere. The Innkeeper is about one step below 'pacing and snarling', settling for constantly trying to argue with Will about how that's his in and there's no way that girl didn't do it, but Will has to keep casually informing him his ears function at a frequency where he can't hear stupid people. Alex will immediately get the feeling most of the rubberneckers aren't there for the crime, but to see if the Innkeeper dies from a rage-induced aneurysm.

Well, Alex's raven (of to-be-determined name, Maya will take care of that) is going to keep an eye out still, watch all the drama. ...Also start to hate this man more, but that's fine. He's taking all the things he's looted, here we go--

Alex gets the proper investigator. Let's do this thing.
1. What's this apartment look like? Give us a layout, basic appearance, etc. Let's DO this thing.

What do I look like, Van Dine? Next you'll want a floor plan sketch.

We're doing it short and sweet to give you the option to choose what you want to poke at. So no furniture descriptions just yet. When you first enter there is what we'll refer to as the living room. It has two exits - both of them doors. The door to the inn proper was locked, but is now open thanks to the apartment key you now possess. The other door is unlocked and leads to the bedroom. The bedroom has three exits - the door leading back to the main room is one of them. One of these doors leads to the bathroom, where there are two exits - the door to the bedroom, and a window that opens to the back alley. It is big enough to allow someone to yeet themselves, but it's locked.

The other door is locked.. The apartment key does not work. Preemptively, any attempts to bash it open reveal that it's barricaded from the inside somehow. Brute forcing this will not open.

~~Man, but I wanted to hear all about Will's new clothes~~

We're splitting up locales and Alex is taking the bedroom and bathroom. Obviously taking the bedroom first. Gimme the deets!

Edited (you saw NOTHING) 2019-06-16 06:55 (UTC)

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balancemod - 2019-06-16 07:25 (UTC) - Expand

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rockymountaindie - 2019-06-16 07:46 (UTC) - Expand

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balancemod - 2019-06-16 07:58 (UTC) - Expand

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rockymountaindie - 2019-06-16 08:11 (UTC) - Expand

Just because the door's barred doesn't mean Mia didn't find that out by trying to punch through it. Shh. It's a valid method.

She'll investigate the Living Room, which I'm assuming acts as a hallway-path from the inn to the innkeeper's bedroom, right?

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balancemod - 2019-06-16 07:26 (UTC) - Expand

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doubledsofjustice - 2019-06-16 08:00 (UTC) - Expand

Time to jump in and make you do double duty for a minute.

Mia might not be happy about it but this isn't her first body, and certainly not the most gruesome death she's seen yet. Not plessant by any means, though, and usually the body isnt still on site for her investigations.. She'll say a few prayers before she examines the body.

1. What is the height/weight/general build of our victim?

2. Are there any signs of bruising/altercation/strange marks Mia can notice without fully stripping the body? She'll only go as far as examining beneath the shirt & out of habit is trying not to disturb the crime scene.

1. He's a twink. One of those gangly street rat style pirates that's probably really good at parkour, pickpocketing, and pissing off Reclaimers who got robbed.

2. It's not a shirt, it's an undershirt! Like wifebeater-style fare. He was obviously chillin here until he got shot with an invisible bullet. Either way, non-stripping marks aside from the Odd Gunshot are the occasional bruise on his torso and on his knuckles. There was 100% a fistfight before Whatever It Was happened.

1. Alright, with that assessed, Mia's gonna take a long hard look at that.. Mess. It's not easy to look but she's examining for any signs of gun residue-- metal, anything immediately Not-Head-like that she can see without looking for too long.

2. Are there any tattoos/identifying marks that might suggest hey, maybe this was crime motivated and has nothing to do with a weird newcomer?

3....is it possible to ask at this point if Maya has any signs of wounds other than her hit to the head?

1. The entry wound was the forehead, some tiny hole but around it is... not really scorchmarks? But definitely the gunpowder reside of, say, a flintlock going off right on someone's head. The exit wound is right above the base of the neck and is essentially just a whole mess of blood and brains and general un-fun for everyone.

For the ease of picturing it in your head, please look back on every meme you can think of someone being shot Executioner's Style.

2. The only wound she has is the source of her concussion - a huge bruise on the top-back of her head, pretty much right to the side of her topknot - where she visibly was just bopped on the head. And considering her spotty memory, it was one hit from behind and done.

Alright- With those questions answered Mia'll start questioning as many people as she can get away with.

1. She'll grill the inkeeper first-- is there a record of this man checking in? Are there other people who checked in with or near his time?

2. Did anyone who Mia can get a hold of hear a gun shot? specifically, is there any reason to believe that the murder took place somewhere everyone had access to?

1. ICly, he gets a 2x grump wombo combo because not only are you still making him waste money, you're asking things twice? Ugh.

OOCly, the guy didn't stay here. Mia will also get the same spiel Alex did about his records, so here's a cut/paste! Beneath the bar counter are all the records he has - green book is liquor purchases, black book is repairs, red blook is lists of people who've stayed and money they've paid or owed.

2. The innkeeper and most of the rubberneckers say no. But a few can... kind of guesstimate around last night? It was more muffled than the usual thundercrack, so who knows. (She'll later find out thanks to Alex it was in the inn's basement.) But the people who answer that, generally being the sort of people that don't give a rats ass and pickpocket people in the middle of the night, will inform her that gunshots in this city are somewhat commonplace. Someone asks too many questions or tries taking a cut of gold they didn't earn? Then the Someone gets dealt with. Usually with knives, but gunshots aren't overly surprising.

Just to rid myself of this goofy assumption, what kind of build does our innkeeper have? Mia got a good look at him..

i brought this on myself for telling you guys not to trust my narration

The Innkeeper is big tall scary muscle dude. Think Doomfist but without the titular doomfist. He can probably yeet Mia straight across a football field. Also, say, have no problems with moving a 50-kilo sack of potatoes up and down flights of stairs.

Cool cool. For those reasons Mia won't press him again ~~even if it was a little funny~~.

Once the investigation is wrapped up at the inn and they have to wait on, you know, the actual court to happen, Mia and Alex will work together to read over the Red, Green, and Black books. Is there anything that stands out? Circled, highlighted, underlined, crossed out? Angry notes? Potato finger stains-

I should've never told you about the potato trick. I'm gonna get memed into eternity.

There's still more evidence at the inn, but what's time anyway, this whole thing is just investigative antics. Funnily enough, it's the green and red books that are above-board. The black one - for repairs - is... Suspect.

It's less that one name jumps out but they're all really basic names. John Smith. Steven Richards. Kevin Friedham. These names don't repeat themselves extremely often, but enough for someone to go 'wow, kevin really breaks a LOT of tables'. And the prices vary wildly in scale and amounts for what is effectively the same repairs. One day, John Smith paid 200 gold to fix his table. Two weeks later, it was 10k. Three days later, it's a refund of 500.

With other evidence to back it up? Mia has effectively discovered the ledger of some type of money laundering front. Nice!

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