[Open] Skin and Bones

[Linwelin]

The whole town of Ternadan was unsettled this morning, with both the guards and citizens baffled and afraid. About what, however, you weren't sure; there was a crowd in the distance surrounding whatever it was. As you approached to take a look, you could hear the uncomfortable murmurs more clearly.

'What in the world is going on?'

'Who or WHAT could do that?'

'Mommy, what's going on?'
'Joseph, dear, let's go back inside and join your father.'
'But what-'
'Just do as I say, dear.'

'Poor soul. No one deserves that.'

'Gods bless and keep us...'

Finally you managed to pierce the crowd, and saw a few of the town's guard gathered around...something in the middle of the street. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a pale, withered husk with a humanoid shape. It was drained to the point of being unrecognizable, as though all of its muscle mass had decayed. Before you could get a better look, a woman rushed forth through the crowd, immediately kneeling down next to it and looking at what was left of its hands. She was shaking horribly, seemingly unable to speak.

Then, she suddenly screamed, wailing unintelligibly. Everyone's blood curdled at the sound of her despairing voice.

"Ethan! Ethan, why!? WHY!?" She was now cradling husk dearly dropping the hands finally, and allowing you to see something glint in the morning light. A wedding band.

There's been a murder of a strange nature in Ternadan! The guards are clueless as to how to deal with it, and the town as a whole is unnerved.

Goal: Ask around to find out details. Try to uncover what happened, and apprehend the culprit!
Level: Total party average of 4 or higher (this could mean multiple 3s and a high level, or even 6 3s).

No limit to number of people, as this effects all characters, being the guild's home town. Choose whomever you like, and if you want, multiple characters can be played. But if you go inactive I WILL move past you (limit of 4 days, but I think this'll move pretty fast).

Completion reward: The bounty reward of 1500g, to be split. 600 exp per person.
-Note: This is the minimum reward, which is level 4. I will scale it to party level. Of course, I will also make things more difficult with that scaling, hehehe...

[Ella]

Callista Fae

Early morning was a very important time. It was a time in which some children were able to temporarily escape their mother's chores list and run out to play. If they were lucky, their mother would not notice them missing until much later. If they were really lucky, their mother would just give up looking for them and give the chores list to someone else. They would probably get a scolding later, but hey, it was worth it! Thus, Callista was on the search for these children. She would gather them up and then they would all run off to play.

Instead of finding children, however, she found an emotionally disturbed crowd. Children were being dragged away by their mothers, but the mothers were not nagging at them about chores. Instead, they were worriedly telling them to go inside, stay inside, hush down and not leave the house until they gave the okay. What in the world could cause mothers to be so worried that they wouldn't let their children even do outdoor chores? The faerie just had to look.

And look she did, but she did not see what the problem was. It was just some body. It was really dry and decayed looking, but it was still just a human body. She saw those all the time during missions. Why was everyone so worried? Whoever it was probably deserved it, like all those stupid evil guys who had thought it was okay to take her and lock her up in a little tiny cage in the dark. That was not cool at all. But that was not the issue here. The issue was, because of this body, mothers were locking their children away in their houses so they could not come out and play with her. Pffft. Whatever. She was used to no kids being able to play because of chores. She could find something amusing to do. Thus, she did just that.

She peered at the woman who had run forward and grabbed the shiny ring off of the corpse's hand. The woman was looting the body! Gah! Why hadn't Callista thought of that? It might have something really useful! Like that ring! What if it was a magical ring? She had totally just failed to claim a ring. Of course, it could be like that one ring she had taken off that one guy who Gandin had killed, but he was brought back to life, so she returned it to him. That one had not been special at all, but the guy had been really happy to see it again, so he must have thought it was. She would let him continue to think it was. For his sake. Though... now that she thought of it... she eyed the ring a little longer, wondering if it was the same ring she had returned.

Callista examines the ring from her spot above the crowd.

Rolled 1d20+8 : 14 + 8, total 22

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[Ella]

Maeve Gallagher

Although not normally an early morning riser, the red-headed tigress found herself wandering the streets of Ternadan early in the morning. She was restless, having not done much of anything the last few days. The itch to travel once again was in her, but she did not want to move on just yet. She still had so much to learn about this place, the guild it housed, and the people who made up that guild. They were a rather interesting bunch, mostly made up of the usual humans, dwarves, and elves, but also including some interesting characters, such as the two other catfolk, a werewolf, a very rare faerie, and Vladimyar. As much as she enjoyed traveling around, she could not bring herself to leave them just yet.

Seeing a crowd in a street that must have recently gained visibility from the morning light, Maeve decided to check out what held so many people's interest. It was almost silent, but for the troubled murmurs between a few. As one woman dragged her son away, the monk-turned-brawler stepped in to take their place. She stared silently at the form lying on the ground, unsettled and very unhappy. Thoughts flitted through her mind, reminding her of murderers and necromancers working together. Something would have to be done.

A woman's shriek startled the tigress back into awareness of her surroundings and she watched the woman's actions. After a moment, Maeve moved forward and placed a comforting hand on the grieving woman's shoulder. She did not know this couple, nor this woman's pain. What she did know was that there was a murderer on the loose, and where murderers were actively killing, undead were sure to follow.

"Do not worry; should this man rise from the dead, I will protect you and take care of him myself. Please ensure that he is well buried as soon as possible so I do not have to worry about such things whilst I seek out whoever did this and put them six feet under a pile of stone. Send for Maeve Gallagurrr if you do have need of my undead disposing services and I will come as soon as possible." She told the woman before turning to the crowd. "Who will assist me in hunting down the culprit?!"

[Wolfrin Fenris]

The bell on the door rang behind Wolfrin as he shut it. He looked down at his new boots, excited but unsure. It had been a long time since he'd had proper boots.
These boots especially seemed to fit him just right, Another property of the their magic perhaps?
Thoroughly unversed in the ways of magic and magic items, he really had no way to know, but he resolved to ask someone if he ever got the chance.
He set off down the street; Buddy, rising from beside the door where he had waited, loped along beside him.

Though he made straight for the gates that would take them home, it was still a route filled with twists and turns. Along one of those turns Wolfrin saw a crowd forming. Normally a crowd would be a greater incentive to be anywhere else for him, but something about the chatter of those farther out caught his attention, and together with Buddy he made his way closer, though still well back.
Finding a shorter fellow who impeded his view much less, Wolfrin looked towards the center of the crowd to see what the commotion was. He could see a woman kneeling, holding a long piece of leather on the ground. Another woman, red-headed with what appeared to be large cat-like ears, was just approaching the first woman.

"Do not worry; should this man rise from the dead, I will protect you and take care of him myself," she said. Understanding he'd missed something, Wolfrin took another look at the 'leather' the woman was holding and realized it was in fact a person. Or had been. What could suck out the insides of a man like that?
"Please ensure that he is well buried as soon as possible so I do not have to worry about such things whilst I seek out whoever did this and put them six feet under a pile of stone. Very sympathetic, he thought sarcastically.
"Send for Maeve Gallagurrr if you do have need of my undead disposing services and I will come as soon as possible." She told the woman before turning to the crowd. I cant tell if she's being serious or not....
"Who will assist me in hunting down the culprit?!" Guess she is.

Making his way through the crowd proved to be easier than he thought. After politely pushing through the first line of people others ahead of them began glancing back, and at sight of Buddy began pushing their neighbours back to put as much distance between themselves and the wolf as possible. Finally clearing the crowd, he approached the fiery woman. As he did, he noted she was definitely not human. Some sort of cat-person, I guess.

"Hale friend. My name is Wolfrin Fenris. If you intend to find who did this, I offer my services."

Turning to the grief-stricken woman he offered, "Excuse me my lady. I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Perhaps we should disperse the crowd and allow the widow some time alone?" he asked, turning back to the cat-lady.

[Oath]

Garrin Ravenhorst

Garrin was still adapting to life in this city. Though there were many crowds where he was from, they always felt more somber. Here, it felt a lot happier, with the hustle and bustle of daily life. Heading out for breakfast, he noticed a different air among the city. He thought it was curious, but continued on his way. A couple of streets down, he heard the sound of a woman screaming, and dashed in that direction to check it out. A crowd had gathered around where he had heard the scream slipping through the crowd to see what was going on.

On the inside, he saw a grieving woman, and two fellow members of Galas'nor along with a husk-like corpse. As he got a bit closer, he heard the woman from the guild speaking to the widow, and then turning to the crowd. "Who will assist me in hunting down the culprit?"

Garrin spoke up. "I will." He was terse. The matter at hand was serious, and he could not let himself be washed away by the jovial attitude that he had generally found at Galas'nor. After his agreement to help, Garrin turned his attention to the woman grieving.

"I don't know your relation to this man, but it is obvious that you care. I, Garrin Ravenhorst promise that whoever, or whatever has done such a despicable deed will be brought to justice." He briefly bowed before turning to the other member of the Guild who had identified himself as Wolfrin.
"I agree, there's nothing to be gained from having a bunch of onlookers, though before sending them all away it may be wise to question those in the area, incase they have any information that could be of use."] He took a moment to think before adding on another sentence. "I'm looking forward to working with the both of you."

[Linwelin]

Starting this guy up, sorry for the delay. Here's the mission thread.

Main Thread

[InhumanRonin]

(I am a little late to join this as i have been slacking on finishing up one of my characters but figured I would post here first before posting in the main thread.)

After walking the streets this morning eating a scone I notice a crowd starting to appear on the horizon. I wonder over to the edge of the crowd and asked one of the townsfolk "What seems to be going on here? Why is everyone gathered?"

The towns person replied to me "Ay seems from what I have gathered a poor bloke has been murdered. Something or someone sucked him clean dry."

"Thank you sir for filling me in. I nod my head to the person and work my way into the crowd. After a moment I get close enough to the speak with the guards and the newly widowed woman. Miss I am sorry to hear about your loss. I would be willing like these others to help bring justice and peace to your household. No one deserves this to befall them."

[Ella]

Callista Fae

After watching the ring for a while and noticing some of its finer details, Callista decided it was indeed not the same ring. In that moment, she also came to a realization. This was not going to be a fun day at all. All the children were locked away in their homes. The body's loot was already claimed. And now, everyone only seemed to care about who the murderer was. Bah. That did not sound fun.

Letting her shoulders sag in dejection, the faerie turned and flew back to the guild. She would have to find someone there to pester.

Spoiler

Callista drops out of the mission.

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