Welcome To Magnimar!

"Ah Magnimar," Li Kao exclaimed, sucking in a breath of air and exhaling dramatically.  "The City of Monuments; forever seeking to rise from its ignoble beginnings as a refuge for outcasts to become a beacon of culture and freedom in an unforgiving land.  Founded by Chelaxian dissidents in 4608 AR, the city is. . . "

"Okay, old man, enough,"  Xer interrupted.  "We've all lived in Magnimar before.  We know all the history.  Second largest city in Varisia; The battle of Charda; Centre of cultural freedom; blah blah blah."  Xer and Sasha had both grown up on Magnimar's streets, and Li Kao and Malvick had come here later in life, each fleeing their own history.

"Well," Li Kao responded defensively, " she hasn't."  He waved over to Yola.  The stoic Shoanti was doing her best not to stare wide eyed at the bustling streets.

"Yes," Xer conceded, placing a hand on the taller woman's shoulder and guiding her along with the rest of the group. "And I'm sure the burning question on her mind upon visiting the big city for the first time is when the Arvensoar was built," she chided as she gestured up to the 500 foot tower built into the seacleft wall that housed the city's watch and military."

"Actually, that sounds . . . "

Xer placed he hand over Yola's mouth and smiled. "don't encourage him dear, trust me."

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The group had doused Aldern's body and set the foul thing alight, then headed back to the surface.  The undead birds had dispersed, fleeing in disorganized groups like the ghoulish goblin once deprived of Aldern's binding influence.  Despite thier attempts, Yola and the others could not get the wet and rotten wood of the mansion to catch fire, so they left the structure standing.

After talking it over, the group came to some conclusions.  The note in the basement clearly indicated that Aldern was not working alone.  Someone had supplied him with his list of victims and directed him to perform the ghastly Sihedron ritual upon them.  Xer remembered back to the corpse of the Beggar King she had found that had spurred her and Li Kao's flight from Magnimar.  The room had smelled of death certainly, but it did not have that racid stench that they had come to recognize from Aldern's other victims.  Could there be other murderers?

And if there were, what business was it of theirs?  They had discharged their task and brought the Sandpoint murderer to justice, saving the sleepy little town from a string of homicides and potentially being overrun by ghoul fever.  But could they just leave the news of a potentially secret cult of murderers alone?  What if Magnimar was in for a similar fate as that planned for Sandpoint?  There were 16,000 people living there.  There were friends and family living there.

In the end it was decided that they would visit the city of monuments, maybe see if they could find any clues at Aldern's townhouse mentioned in the note, and decide on their next course of action based on what they found there.

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"So, where to now?"  Malvick asked as they passed under the city gates and into the well to do Marble District.

OOC:  Most characters have ties within the city that you may want to follow up on before or during your search for clues into Aldern's patrons:

Malvick:  Your last employer still needs word as to his stolen money and the con men that took it from him.  Your deal was to recover the 200gp for him, of which you could keep 20% and make sure Mortwell, Hask and Tabe were suitably punished for their audacity.

Xer and Li Kao:  Your old abbey, that may or may not have tried to pin a murder on you is here...

Sasha:  Your mother, fat merchant step father, and brothers still live here. . . also, the gang that you fled from last year.

Yola:  Wow, you've never seen so many people all in one place before! People really choose to live like this?!

Also, the shopping is excellent :>  If There is anything your characters would like to purchase, just ask.  Its probably available.