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Jeff: Well, I'm a little disappointed in the both of us.
Shana: Please don't include me in your blame, you had at least a couple weeks to start this up.
Jeff: I... yeah, my fault. Sorry, fellas.
Shana: Forgiven. Where do we start?
Jeff: Well, since I'm not good at naming names, titles will have to suffice. We last left off with a slightly sickly Biff Stoo and a successful washing off of the... Merckuvlee's?
Shana: Nuckelavee. We got a small payment from the job, a sapphire, but the most of our wages were said to come after a newer problem that had arisen while we were gone. A nobleman named "Thunderstone" was murdered in the night, suspected of poison by wine.
Jeff: A few observations around the place proved otherwise. Forensics gone medieval, baby.
Shana: The poison in the goblet was arsenic, which didn't match his manner of death. He was stabbed, probably by ilex or some similar poisonous kind of plant's toxin, and dragged around to avoid being thought of murdered that way. The office's key was one held by the servant, who was questioned rather...
Jeff: Don't beat around the bush, we both know you were aggressive.
Shana: I'd like to think it helped, at least! It shook him up enough for the Captain of the Guard to break for information. Two men, one particularly noted for being tall, threatened his family in Staneax if he didn't offer up the manor's key to be duplicated. After finding this out, the two left me the key and went to the Pallisade for their own business while the rest of the party helped... um. How did they help while gone, again?
Jeff: Well, you had Dirk attempt to scale the wall to see if the assassination could have been an outside job. It wasn't possible, which is where the idea of interrogating the servant came in. Albatross and Maercis were busy asking around town to follow leads on ilex and finding a good ritual that allowed you to watch the deceased's last minute or so of life.
Shana: Ah! That's right. We ended up finding out that, of the two assailants, one was the "tall man" who was described by the servant. Albatross had to depart, but left us with a very good drawing to go by. With it and the key in hand, we were able to track down the man's identity fairly quickly. The locksmith recognized the key as his and knew the portrait, said the man owned a warehouse by the docks.
Jeff: Insert shenanigans here about dividing the party into two factions while giving the illusion of there being three during the next few minutes of deciding what to do.
Shana: My path was at least clear enough. The Captain of the Guard was contacted about this, so he knew where to look for us or for Agni if it ended up taking a long time. Turns out, due to having to talk to workers, rummage through a bar, and convince a drunk that Agni was necessary to be present for a business talk, time was readily consumed. We ended up being drawn into a fight where Agni nearly escaped and his workers nearly held us back. It took a combination of things to keep him from unlocking the door and fleeing, but we got him knocked out in time.
Jeff: "Duncan knows you're here" were his last words before his face met the floor. Naturally, everyone was worried that Duncan would be some kind of bodyguard, hitman, or co-conspirator, so the door stayed locked.
Shana: Of course, it turns out we should have unlocked it, as the person beating on it was a member of the town guard. Two guards and the Captain arrived in time to help dispatch the last two of five "worker" thugs with a... rather brutal ending.
Jeff: One's head turned to nothing, one cleaved down the middle and thrown into a wall of water that turned bloody, and one washed away by said water when it lost its composure.
Shana: It... wasn't the prettiest thing we've seen. I still think I'll need a bath after all this.
Jeff: Probably. As it stands now, everyone of importance is safe. Agni is unconscious and lying in a pool of blood, the Captain and two guards are on hand to help tote him off, and all four of you are in good condition to keep a very good eye on him.
Shana: The two things left to do are to find out who "Duncan" is, and if it's a different person, who might have put the idea in his head to murder Lord Thunderstone.
Jeff: Somewhere along the line I lost track of if we got gold as well as the sapphire and what out experience was at the end of the first session, but I do know we've at least got a good total of things here.
Cliff notes: Lord Thunderstone was murdered. Stabbed in the back with a poison based around evergreen berries (likely ilex), but moved away to make it look like a poison in his drink. The murderer bullied the servant into offering a key to be duplicated, allowing this to be an 'inside' job. Between a sketch, the locksmith, and warehouse workers, the culprit of the murder has been identified as "Agni (lastname here)", who has been knocked out with many of our allies standing by him ready to drag him off for questioning.
"Duncan" knows we are there. Whoever he is, and whoever may have hired Agni, has not been determined.
Current exp: 1900/2250
Sapphire still not sold
__________________   Goten is dead!
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happens.
