The Skinsaw Murders

The party rents a couple of rooms at a pretentious inn and ale house called the Starred Buck.  The drinks are all overpriced and have overly complicated names, the staff are all surly and condecending, but the place is a magnet for rumours and gossip.

And the gossip on every body's lips is the string of grisly murders that have been plaguing the city in recent weeks.  Between Li Kao's visit to the local guard station, and keeping your ears to the street, you manage to glean the following:

The murder of the Pauper king was not the first such crime in Magnimar, but combined with the ensuing fire and armed chase, it was certainly the most spectacular.  The murder of several greedy gang bosses and drug runners in the weeks before were covered up by the local law as just "criminals killing criminals" - seven pointed star carved into their chest was quietly ignored.  But now the killings have spread out from the poor districts and can no longer be ignored.  Merchants, nobles, bankers, and  most recently the proprietor of one f the Lord Mayor's favorite gambling dens have all been found dead, and rumours of an entire cult of crazed madmen fill the streets.  Stories of merchants, politicians, crooked guards and moneylenders showing up dead - faces missing and seven pointed stars carved into their chests - are on everyone's lips. 

News of the Sandpoint murders has also reached Magnimar, as has the story of heroes from that town tracking down the murderer and bringing him to justice, fueling Magnimars citizen's angry demands for their own government to stop the slayings.  Unfortunately, it doesn't take long to discover that Magnimar's bureaucratic machine is badly in need of a tune up.  The Guard seems powerless to solve the crime.  They do have tight control over the crime-scenes though, and none of your inquiries get you anywhere close to them.

Of course what the guards don't know is the identity of the Sandpoint murderer, who seems to have been much sloppier than whoever is committing the crimes  in Magnimar, and who conveniently left you the keys to his townhouse here in town after getting pummelled, shot, and hacked apart by a certain group of vigillantes.

Malvick:  Hemlock provides you with a written statement swearing to the deaths of the three con men you were hunting.  When you take this to your employer, he grudgingly pays you half of the agreed upon sum, stating that while it is heartening to know that these villains have been brought to heel, without the return of the embezzled funds as agreed upon, he is in no position to pay the full reward. He does throw in two unusual alchemical arrows though as thanks for restoring his family's reputation as ones not to be trifled with ( 20gp and 2 Smoke Arrows have been added to Malvick's stash).

OOC Sasha and Xer:  If you would like to write scenes regarding your return home, I heartily encourage it, and I will play off them as best I can.  But  to keep the game on time in RL, I've also got to keep the main plot rolling, so I'll leave you to initiate these scenes - take them where you like  - just try not to kill anybody or burn down the town :>