Mists over the Musarde, Chapter Two

[ewancummins]

Louis takes the bags, then says-

''Yes. I'll be off as soon as you fine gentlemen are off the boat. I undertstand - I won't be coming back, ever.''

[Lord Skybolt]

Alain listens to Greasy word with a suspicious ear, and raised eye brow .

[ewancummins]

Rushing to the Court of Crows, our intrepid investigators seek out the shop operated by the mysterious Doctor....


In the wee hours of the pre-dawn, the Court of Crows is deserted, but for your party. The wooden frame of the Great Gallows looms large under the wan light of the crescent moon. The nooses swing empty in the breeze; someone has finally claimed the last lot of hanged men.

The Doctor's little two storey shop and living quarters proves easy enough to locate. The sign out front bears a faded painting of a saw and knife, just as Greasy Louis had told you. The chimney is venting smoke, but there's no other sign of activity within. The door is unlocked. It's dark inside. After making a light and searching the place, it becomes apparent to you all that the Doctor is not at home. You find a bed, a chamber pot, some furniture, ordinary utensils, etc- but few if any personal effects. There are a number of empty shelves, drawers, etc. There is an empty chest under the bed- the lid has been left open. In the fireplace, you find the smoldering remains of a sheaf of papers, mostly incinerated by now.
A small workshop attached to the rear of the building contains a bloodstained, knife-scarred wooden table and a half dozen wicker bird cages, three of which hold doves. The doves coo softly whenever one of you enters the room.

[Lord Skybolt]

Alain takes a good look and listen in the area around the Doc's house, then will also do a search of the household to make sure everything that can be found is found . After that he will go back out to keep a look out .

[ewancummins]

Alain takes a good look and listen in the area around the Doc's house, then will also do a search of the household to make sure everything that can be found is found . After that he will go back out to keep a look out .

While conducting a more through search of the premises, Alain discovers a trapdoor in the little workshop out back. It leads down into a small earthen cellar. The cellar contains supplies: spades, crowbars, a winch and cable apparatus, lanterns, flasks of oil, charcoal, a crate full of thin oilskin paper, and a long pine casket with heavy duty leather carry straps fixed to the sides at four evenly spaced points.

[Lord Skybolt]

Alain points his finger at the flames base to put it out with little blue beam. If that put's the flames out, then he salvages the papers . Alain point's out the trap door then goes down it with Jon and Norzak and says to them :" Would you mind opening the casket, as I cover it with this ."Gesturing with his Lt.Crossbow

[JMaytr]

Jon nods and examines the casket, searching for any traps or hidden glyphs.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Cirdan remains leaning against the door, the big sword in his hand...

[steveflam]

Norzak recovers the few papers after Alain casts his spell. "We kin look at these after we done searched this place good. I's thinkin' tha Doc fled and we be findin' Van Dieks in tha sewers where Cirdan chased him. Unless that Louie gave you tha address where ta find 'im after I done left ye."

Norzak nods to Alain after he gets his Lt X-Bow ready and Jon checks the casket for traps and such. He checks as well in case the lad may overlook something. Once satisfied it's safe, he takes his dagger and waits for Jon to open the door. "Okay laddie, open it."

[ewancummins]

inside the workshop

Jon's examination of the casket reveals no traps, glyphs, or anything else unusual. Carefully, the boy opens it....
As the lid comes open, a faint sickly sweet smell fills the air. When the lid is pulled away, the box is seen to be occupied! A man rests inside, completely motionless. His head is covered by a burlap sack and his neck is twisted sharply to the left. His feet are bare and his clothing is ragged. He appears to be dead.


outside [where Cirdan is, along with anyone else on watch]

Cirdan spots a man walking along the far side of the Court of Crows. The stranger is dressed in a long overcoat and carries a staff with small , dark shapes dangling from near the top. An animal moves in his shadow as he moves slowly down the edge of the large plaza- it might be a small dog. Once or twice, the stooped figure turns its head towards the Doctor's shop.

[JMaytr]

Jonathan removes the burlap sack from the mans head.

[steveflam]

Norzak frowns. NEver one to mince his words or hide his emotions, he exclaims. "Why's this dead man in here? Don' ye 'umans bury yer dead?" Then comprehension dawns on the sour dwarf. "Ye mean, the doc" he looks to whomever is with him "plays with dead bodies an body parts?" It's like it finally hit Norzak what they've been told about the doctor.

"An ye peoples think I'm a bit brash 'an sick? Least I don' go playin' with dead people!" The dwarf crinkles his nose in evident disgust and waits to see what the dean man looks like.

[Le Noir Faineant]

outside [where Cirdan is, along with anyone else on watch]

Cirdan spots a man walking along the far side of the Court of Crows. The stranger is dressed in a long overcoat and carries a staff with small , dark shapes dangling from near the top. An animal moves in his shadow as he moves slowly down the edge of the large plaza- it might be a small dog. Once or twice, the stooped figure turns its head towards the Doctor's shop.

Cirdan will alarm the others. Bare of any cover, he will wait for what the strange man does. If there is an harpoon or any other spear-like device on the deck, the knight will take it and weigh it in his hand, ready to throw it should the stranger try to attack him.

[ewancummins]

inside the workshop

Jon pulls away the burlap sack. The face thus revealed is that of a beardless tawny haired youth, perhaps sixteen or seventeen summers old. He's obviously dead, with a noose pulled tightly about his neck making the nature of his demise quite plainly evident. Someone has severed the rope about three inches from the knot behind the boy's right ear. The relatively placid expression on the face of the corpse suggests a sudden death- his neck must have been snapped in an instant, sparing him the agonizing death by slow strangulation that results from a botched hanging [or a hangman who simply doesn't bother to arrange the rope just so].


Cirdan enters the workshop and hurriedly warns the rest of the party about the strange man, then leaves as quickly as he came, heading back towards the front of the building [which faces onto the Court of Crows].

outside, on the Court of Crows

When Cirdan gets back to the front of the building, facing out onto the open plaza where stands the Great Gallows, he doesn't see the strange man and the little animal. Looking over the area, he spots a glow from inside the Great Gallows. A flickering light is moving about within the understage of the structure, shining here and there through the gaps between the rough hewn boards making up the exterior panelling. It isn't a big light, perhaps only a handheld lamp or a candle.

[The Gallows is built like an enormous stage, with scaffolding mounted on top of it. The space underneath is at least partly hollow, but wooden panelling conceals most of that from view. There are doors and hatches allowing access into the understage at several points on the exterior of the huge wooden structure. ]

[JMaytr]

"I have a bad feeling about this." Jon says as he inspects the body closer.