Malvick ducked out of sight as his two companions followed Aldern into the dining room. He circled through the main floor quickly, determining that there was no one else in the house, and ended in the master’s study. A dozen or so hunting trophies adorned the walls of the room – stuffed heads of boars, deer and bears. A zebra skin rug covered most of the floor. A large fireplace, its mantle decorated with two carved roaring lions at either end, dominated the exterior wall.

“Hmm, more lion motifs” Malvick thought to himself. He fished around in his pocket for the keying again, but was interrupted by a large crash from the dining room. Yola’s battle cry echoed through the house and Malvick dashed out of the study, hand reaching for his weapons.

* * *

Li Kao followed Aldern into the dining room then stepped to the side to let Yola enter. Aldern walked over to the table and bent to kiss an attractive varisian girl who rose to meet him. She had long, pale blonde hair and blue tattoo patterns could be seen peeking out from the sleeves of her fashionable dress. A sharp intake of breath from Yola was all the confirmation Li Kao needed that this girl was how Seoni appeared in life, rather than the pale undead revenant they had encountered in the mansion.

“How lovely!” Seoni spoke. “Aldern, you didn’t tell me we were having company today – I would have tidied.”

Aldern chuckled, “but I didn’t know, my sweet. They’ve stopped by quite unexpectedly.” Gesturing to an empty chair, he addressed Li Kao, “Please won’t you have a seat and tell us why you’ve come?”

Instead, Li Kao picked up a candleholder from the shelf beside him and threw it at Aldern’s head.

Seoni yelped in surprise. Aldern’s reflexes were quick and his hand shot out and grabbed the missile from mid air. For a split second his face was a mask of twisted rage, then replaced again by an air of jovial calm.

“Interesting,” Li Kao remarked at the results of his experiment.

“That was rather rude, old chap,” Aldern countered as he rose from the chair. “Seoni, why don’t you fetch some tea for our guests. Something soothing – they seem to be rather high strung.” Aldern walked over to the shelf and calmly replaced the candleholder on the shelf. “Now, why don’t you be a civil gent, and tell me why you’ve come.”

Li Kao had found that the direct approach was often the best, so he said bluntly, “Well. We just came from your mansion on the coast, where we watched an undead version of you behead your undead wife. Then you tried to kill us, so we killed you first. Then we took the house keys off your reeking corpse (and believe me, you stank!), and came here looking for clues as to the identity of your hidden masters.”

“Ah,” Aldern said after a moment of silence. Behind Yola, Seoni had just re-entered the room and now stood frozen in the doorway, a tea tray in hand. “So seeing the two of us here – in the flesh, so to speak – was something of a shock, then?” Aldern asked.

“Quite, actually,” responded Li Kao.

“But ultimately not that convincing, on account of you having already “killed” us recently?” Aldern made little quote signs in the air with his fingers.

Li Kao shrugged apologetically, “not really, no.”

“So we should just drop the act, then.”

“I think we’d all appreciate it,” Li Kao nodded.

“Okay then.” Aldern shook himself from head to toe and his form seemed to snap like a rubber band into a thing of skin and dislocation and horror. A featureless man-shape with hairless, scaly flesh like a like a crimson snake stands where Aldern was just a moment before. A hissing pop signals a similar transformation from Seoni behind them, and both reach out with long, pliant arms and fingers that twitch and writhe.

* * *

Yola and Li Kao are standing just inside the room, with the two faceless creatures sandwhiching them like bookends.  Malvick takes 1 round to reach to comotion but will have difficulty moving into the room if Yola doesn't move.  Please give a general description of your combat tactics for this fight ( and mich, a little more than "Yola smash!" pls  :>  ), and I'll run it as one narrative rather than breaking it down round by round.

Jtalian pushed Sasha away gently.  "That's not fair.  I know father's death hit you hard - he adorded you, so you never saw the whole picture, and you were so young- but he'd to beat me and Joxian with the butt of his whip - to toughen us up for life at sea, he'd say.  Werner Heidmarch gave us a better life.  If it weren't for him I'd be hauling an oar for 2 coppers a day, or already be at the bottom of the sea with a pirate's shiv in my back  - just like father."

Jtalian stepped aside and gestured down the staircase.  "You should go.  Seeing you like... this . . . would break mother's heart."

Brother Po awakens sudennly as something heavy lands on his chest.  He tries to cry out but finds a hand clamped firmly over his mouth.  The room is near to pitch black and he can't make out the face of the assailant perched atop him, knees pinning his arms painfully to the bed. But when she speaks, he recognizes the voice, giving him his second shock of the night.

"Good evening brother Po,"  Xerlina whispers, in a low throaty growl that threatens violence.  "You and I are going to have a little chat.  Its going to civil and quiet. I only have one question, and you are going to answer it truthfully, aren't you?"  The fingers of her other hand locks around Po's adam's apple.   The man sputters and manages to nod.  Xer slowly lifts her hand away from his mouth, and smiles when Po des not utter a sound.  "See, so far so good.  Now, why did you sell me out?"

"I didn't,"  Po begins, but Xer's smile vanishes and she tightenedsher grip on his windpipe.  "Gurrrk!  Not me!  Ameo... and... Ironbriar,"  he squeaks.  "Ironbriar is doing something in Underbridge; doesn't want anybody snooping around there - guess he thought you would find something you shouldn't.  He threatened the school, and Ameo thought it was better to cut you off than incur the wrath of a city Justice."  Po manages a weak smile.  "Glad to see you're alive."

"Yeah, sure you are,"  Xer says with a sneer as she strikes Po across the side of the head, sending him tumbling back into unconcsiousness.  She slips out the window and vanishes into the streets below, the discarded brown robe on the floor of Po's chamber the only evidence of her midnight visit.

“Yep, them Hiedmarch boys is comin up in the world alright.” The toothless old man said as the two young men in question disappeared into the house.

“Guilenfarb boys actually,” Sasha muttered absently without turning her gaze from the house.

“Gillen-what now?”

“Mmm, nothing.” Sasha chewed her lip as she pondered what she was doing here.

“Well, whatever ya wanna call em, it ain’t usual to see them both at home like that. Josk, that’s the older one, he’s a ship’s captain now. Commands one of his daddy’s fancy trade ships he does. Young master billy, that’s the one what fell in the mud back there – he’s in town more. Helps old man Heidmarch push the coins around down on the docks. Yep doing right fine for themselves those Heidmarch boys are.”

Sasha pressed a coin into the old man’s hands and sent him on his way, then stole across the street and over the house’s fence. The darkness hid her movements just as it hid the growing scowl on her face.
___________________________

Malvick, Yola and Li Kao make their way to the Foxglove townhouse just after sunset. The home is located in the Grand Arch district, not far from Starsilver Plaza. Its façade faces a small courtyard in which stands a fountain consisting of four pools, each fed by one of four long necked iron wyvern heads. The building is three stories tall. All the ground floor windows have been boarded up.

Malvick pulls out the key ring (containing the large key with the Foxglove family crest, and the smaller lion headed one)they took from Aldern, and, shrugging at his companions, walks up to the main door and tries the larger key. The lock turns, and the door opens. Passers by don’t seem to take note of the trio as they enter – after all, what burglar would use the front door?

Inside, the house is cold and dark. The rooms are dusty and in dissaray, as if someone had ransacked the place months ago. Before they can move deeper into the house however, an eerily familiar face pops around the corner. “Oh, hello! We weren’t expecting company,” says Aldern Foxglove, healthy and face full of life. “Seoni,” he calls over his shoulder, “we have guests! Be a dear and put on some tea.” Then turning back to the dumfounded trio in front of him, “Please, come meet my wife,” and disappears around the corner.
_______________________________

“Sashal?”

Sasha whirled around, the knife in her hand flashing in the moonlight. She hadn’t quite finished “redecorating” the life sized portrait of lord Heidmarch. Billy stood in the foyer, dressed in night clothes and blinking in the dim light.

“Oh, uh, hey Billy. Long time no see.” Now that Sasha was actually face to face with one of her brothers, she felt sheepish – like a petulant child caught in an act of defiance. Which was, she reflected, pretty much the case.

“ ‘Hey Billy?’ we haven’t seen you in what, four years and now here you are skulking about in the night and all you’ve got is ‘ hey Billy’? Sashal, what are you doing here?”

Sasha prickle at hearing him use her childhood nickname, just as her father had always done. “Oh you know, just picking up some thing,” she said hoisting the small bag of silverware and other trinkets in her left hand. “And paying my respects to the lord of the house,” waving at the defaced portrait behind her.

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 :> 

Level 6!

Congratulations!  Defeating the Skinsaw Man gets your characters to level 6.  Please visit your individual character pages (Links at bottom of this page) for the options this opens up for you and post your choices on new powers etc there.  Note, most of the changes have have already been updated on your sheets.

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."

___________________

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.

_________________

"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.