Heroica RPG - Quest #151: Send the Pain Below

[Palathadric]

"Ahem, why yes. Surely you must've heard about all the troubles we've had down here recently. Moon Elf Shades, Blue Assassins, Sewer Wolves... Tis not a safe place when people come here sticking their noses where they don't belong. Me, I'm careful. I stay away from anything that could lead to trouble. If everyone followed that rule then we would all be much safer. Like that buffoon inventor, U'Reeka... boy did he cause us a lot of trouble." Rollo goes on muttering to himself.

"Unfortunately, I often find myself in situations that could lead to trouble, but that's because my job is cleaning up the messes other people make. I don't try to get into trouble myself. Do you think the recent murder in your village was caused by the woman getting into something that she shouldn't have? What kind of woman was she? From what the Baron said, she seemed to be a very nice woman, but I heard she had some family-related difficulties, do you think she got mixed up in something she shouldn't have?"

[Sandy]

Ellaria thanks her drinking companions. She then looks at Petaldan and Goliath. "Looks like the tunnels are where we should investigate next, but I don't want to venture there without our comrades. If we are done here, let us return to the imps and wait for the others there."

[Palathadric]

"Okay, just give me a few moments."

[Yzalirk]

The dwarf named Melvin seemed a little taken aback by Goliath's appearance.

"Oh, uh, as I was just tellin' the young pretty lass here, there be a lot of strange events happenin' down here lately. Surely ye must'a heard by now? Anyway, if ye ask me, every place has it's troubles. Here is no different, 'cept the fact that we're sittin' on top of a lotta history and old magic and stuff. Trust me lad, I seen it first hand. All the strange an' unnatural-like seem to be drawn here."

"Thank ye, Melvin."

Goliath follows Ellaria.

[BountyBeast]

"Very well." Hunkan stashes the Scroll of Blindness in his jacket. He turns to his comrades. "Is there anything else around here worth looking at?"

[dum]

I think we've seen all there is to see.

Kid salutes at their hostess.

Thanks for putting up with us, Shelby.

[MysticModulus]

"Very well." Hunkan stashes the Scroll of Blindness in his jacket. He turns to his comrades. "Is there anything else around here worth looking at?"

"Give me one moment, I need tho check her bed for some clues."

[JimBee]

QM Note: I'll give a proper update once Party A decides where to go.

I think we've seen all there is to see.

Kid salutes at their hostess.

Thanks for putting up with us, Shelby.

"I hope you find what you're looking for."

Ezeran carefully inspects the bed, looking for hairs, bodikmly fluids and other clues. He then carefully inspects each garment, the inside of the pillow and the matress. He also checks under the matress and under the bed.

There are a few long brown hairs on the sheets and pillowcase, presumably belonging to Maggie. There isn't anything of interest.

---

"Unfortunately, I often find myself in situations that could lead to trouble, but that's because my job is cleaning up the messes other people make. I don't try to get into trouble myself. Do you think the recent murder in your village was caused by the woman getting into something that she shouldn't have? What kind of woman was she? From what the Baron said, she seemed to be a very nice woman, but I heard she had some family-related difficulties, do you think she got mixed up in something she shouldn't have?"

"A very nice woman, yes. I couldn't really tell you if she had gotten mixed up in anything, though her boy Wally has been missing for some time. No one has seen head nor tail of him since he left."

[MysticModulus]

"Okay, I'm done! Let's go and meet the others!"

[Palathadric]

I follow Ellaria to the imps.

"Do you think we should go and get our other party members first?"

[dum]

Alright, where to?

[Palathadric]

"Thank you for you time," I say to the friendly digger as we leave.

[JimBee]

QM Note: In the interest of time I'm having everyone meet up at the imp settlement.

Both parties head back to the imp settlement, where they are all greeted by Sigil and another imp he was conversing with.

"Welcome back, heroes. Tell me, what did you find? And this is Tyrfrix. Where I am something of an expert in magic and portals, he is our High Scholar."

"Heroes," he said with a nod. His horns and wings were graying with age. "I can tell you just about everything there is to know about imp history and culture, if you would care to seek that knowledge out."

[Sandy]

Both parties head back to the imp settlement, where they are all greeted by Sigil and another imp he was conversing with.

"Welcome back, heroes. Tell me, what did you find? And this is Tyrfrix. Where I am something of an expert in magic and portals, he is our High Scholar."

"Heroes," he said with a nod. His horns and wings were graying with age. "I can tell you just about everything there is to know about imp history and culture, if you would care to seek that knowledge out."

"We went to see the Baron of Zylstra, and also met a mysterious woman from the Crimson Crown organization there, calling herself the Cardinal. She seemed to be very much against magic and had obviously inflicted the Baron with similar thoughts. I am sorry to say that the head of this city seems to be expecting for you imps to be guilty of this murder. In any case, we then went to the Sluice tavern and chatted with some of the patrons. They seemed to be worried about the recent events in this city as well, but also pointed us towards some strange noises coming from the mining tunnels, just like Queen Nahzka did. I reckon we should head there next, but I wanted us to gather our forces before that."

When introduced to the High Scholar, Ellaria nodded. "Well met, Master Tyrfrix. Please, do share your knowledge with us. The Queen told us about the origins of the imps, but perhaps there is something more to it?"

[MysticModulus]

After listening to Ellaria Ezeran takes a step forward to tell the others about the scene of the crime. "The scene of the crime was a mess but we tried to investigate as well as we could given the special circumstances. It it to bad that we weren't able to investigate her body but we found som clues. However it seems probable that the victim was attacked by some type of creature. We found claw and bite marks on parts of the floor and furniture. However we need your assistance to analyze the markings. "

Ezeran takes out his sketches and shows the rest of the party before showing it toTyrfrix.The symbiont smiles towards the imps, it seems to like them for som unknown reason. "Are these markings consistent with the marks of imps or anything else you know of? If you could show beyond doubt that these marking are not the markings of imps you have a better chance of mounting a solid defence in this matter."

Ezeran looks at Hunkan. "Hunkan found a scroll that might be worth our while! Will you show it to us?"

Edited June 16, 2016 by MysticModulus

[BountyBeast]

"Yeah, sure." Hunkan pulls the Scroll of Blindness out of his jacket and unrolls it. He speaks to the imps. "I found this buried under a pile of unrelated scrolls in Maggie's room. Do either of you know where it might have come from? It looked pretty suspicious to me."

[Palathadric]

"Hmmm...the monster doesn't seem to have been a large one. I guess there will be no dragon-slaying exploits on this quest."

[dum]

Umm... Well we know for a fact that she was mauled. Most of the blood was cleaned up when we got there, but their were still marks from something with claws and teeth. She had an estranged son, Wally, and she owned a store with her uh... friend? Shelby. Her name was Shelby. That's stuff that anyone probably could've told you. What they probably couldn't tell you was her apparent obsession with magic. She might have wanted to be a mage or something. There's probably some other observations my er, comrades could explain to you, but the things that stuck out to me most was this.

Kid pulled out the note.

It... it just says -M. What's weird about this was the fact that there was one chest with nothing but this inside of it. Does this mean anything to you? Maybe it was a calling card? Maybe it was a warning?

[JimBee]

"We went to see the Baron of Zylstra, and also met a mysterious woman from the Crimson Crown organization there, calling herself the Cardinal. She seemed to be very much against magic and had obviously inflicted the Baron with similar thoughts. I am sorry to say that the head of this city seems to be expecting for you imps to be guilty of this murder. In any case, we then went to the Sluice tavern and chatted with some of the patrons. They seemed to be worried about the recent events in this city as well, but also pointed us towards some strange noises coming from the mining tunnels, just like Queen Nahzka did. I reckon we should head there next, but I wanted us to gather our forces before that."

Sigil let out a sigh.

"Then it will be very difficult gaining the town's favor. We are aware of the Crimson Crown's reputation, and mark my words it is no coincidence that she is here at a time like this. She may well be a snake whispering into the Baron's ears. But without a way to prove it we are in the same position."

Another sigh escaped though clenched fangs.

"Though I may be wrong still and there is another reason for this mess."

After listening to Ellaria Ezeran takes a step forward to tell the others about the scene of the crime. "The scene of the crime was a mess but we tried to investigate as well as we could given the special circumstances. It it to bad that we weren't able to investigate her body but we found som clues. However it seems probable that the victim was attacked by some type of creature. We found claw and bite marks on parts of the floor and furniture. However we need your assistance to analyze the markings. "

Ezeran takes out his sketches and shows the rest of the party before showing it toTyrfrix.The symbiont smiles towards the imps, it seems to like them for som unknown reason. "Are these markings consistent with the marks of imps or anything else you know of? If you could show beyond doubt that these marking are not the markings of imps you have a better chance of mounting a solid defence in this matter."

Tyrfrix takes the sketches in his hands.

"Hmm... It is hard to tell from these sketch marks, and I am no expert on the world's fauna... or weapons. I can assure you that these markings are from no imp claws, however."

He held up a clawed hand side-by-side with the sketch. The heroes could see that an imp's hand consisted of three skeletal-like fingers, evenly spaced at 120 degrees from each other. The claw marks were four large slashes spaced parallel and close together.

"What I cannot tell you is whether these markings were from an animal, another species, or a tool or weapon of some sort."

"Yeah, sure." Hunkan pulls the Scroll of Blindness out of his jacket and unrolls it. He speaks to the imps. "I found this buried under a pile of unrelated scrolls in Maggie's room. Do either of you know where it might have come from? It looked pretty suspicious to me."

Sigil simply shrugged while Tyrfrix offered,

"It appears to be a recipe of some sort. Or perhaps a spell? We only use the magic that surrounds us in nature, and have no use for foreign magic captured in writing."

Umm... Well we know for a fact that she was mauled. Most of the blood was cleaned up when we got there, but their were still marks from something with claws and teeth. She had an estranged son, Wally, and she owned a store with her uh... friend? Shelby. Her name was Shelby. That's stuff that anyone probably could've told you. What they probably couldn't tell you was her apparent obsession with magic. She might have wanted to be a mage or something. There's probably some other observations my er, comrades could explain to you, but the things that stuck out to me most was this.

Kid pulled out the note.

It... it just says -M. What's weird about this was the fact that there was one chest with nothing but this inside of it. Does this mean anything to you? Maybe it was a calling card? Maybe it was a warning?

"I have no idea what this note could mean. M for Maggie, perhaps? Was there anything special about the chest, something that would indicate what was inside?"

When introduced to the High Scholar, Ellaria nodded. "Well met, Master Tyrfrix. Please, do share your knowledge with us. The Queen told us about the origins of the imps, but perhaps there is something more to it?"

"Certainly, Miss Ellaria. As you already know our people spent some time in the void. Before that our home was the forest, or the forest that was once above, and now below us. We were there long before humans arrived, and we were gone long before your wizards sunk it into the sea. I was able to watch the latter, and I was among the last of the imps to see those forests."

A few smaller imps lacking horns and wings crept up behind Tyrfrix.

" 'Gone' is a nice way of saying it. teacher. Our land was taken from us!"

"Grywios, we weren't supposed to interrupt..."

"We're not children anymore, Fyrnas. It's time we were treated like it."

"Now, now. You both still have much to learn before your wings." He turned to the heroes. "Time passes differently in the void. Physically these two are still children, though they are technically older than most living creatures on Olegaia. All of the imps here are from before our people were banished to the void."

Party:

Kid Reddson (dum)

19-year-old Male Human (1/4 Leprechaun) Ranger

Level 5 *Aims become Hits*

Power Bonus: 0

Health: 10/10

Gold: 2

Equipment: Crossbow (WP 3), Quiver of Homing Arrows (Rolls of AIM become HIT; can only be used with a bow or a crossbow; backwear.)

Inventory: 3 Smoke Bomb, 2 Potion, Phoenix Essence, Venom, Fire Bomb, Sterile Gloves (Grants Immunity to Poisoned and Bleeding effects, Handwear), Bedroll

Ezeran Yavarr (MysticModulus)

42 year old male human Mage

Level 14 *Immune to wood and fire* *Absorbs Darkness* *Enemies that hits Ezeran become slowed*

Power Bonus: 0 (+2 spellpower)

Defense: 3

Health: 18/18

Ether: 18/18

Gold: 3

Equipment: Ancient Sapphamber Staff (WP:8, doubled against Ancient enemies, Wind-elemental; staff), Sneezing Demon (SP:2; enemies that hit the wearer becomeslowed; immunity to wood and fire; suitable to Ezeran only; bodywear.), Hood of the Elementalist (SP:1, *Absorbs darkness*; headwear, suitable to anyone),

Inventory: Emerald (Wood), Ruby (Fire), Remedy X3, Bedroll, Smoke Bomb, Pick Axe, Trickster’s Baubel (WP:6, each hit causes one random effect: stunned, poisoned by 1, asleep, blinded, sealed or confused; wand), Grand tonics X2, Potions X5, Nostrum X2, Feather of Lithe (grants Nimble-effect for 3 rounds)

Hunkan Silvertoss (BountyBeast)

53 year old male dwarf Rogue *Immune to Blinded*

Level 7

Power Bonus: 0

Health: 13/13

Gold: 166

Equipment: Ebony Scorpion Dagger (WP: 5, deals Poisoned-by-3), Goggles (Provides immunity to Blinded effect, Headwear)

Inventory: Potion, Phoenix Essence, Nostrum, Remedy, Fire Bomb, Wooden Sword (WP:7; Suitable to Anyone), Shovel, Pickax, Scroll of Blindness (Enables casting the blinded-effect to the target, making it unable to use a physical attack for the next three rounds. Each casting has a 50% chance of success and costs 1 ether)

Ellaria Arbour (Sandy) ~Party Leader~

25 years old female human Alchemist

Level 34 2/4 *Immune to Fire* *Three rolls for Mixture* *Transfer poisoned and bleeding upon being hit* *No Free Hits for 3 rounds* *Encouraged* *Immune to Ice: 1 battle*

Power Bonus: 0

Defense: 6 (1+5)

Health: 55/55 (9+33+10+1+2)

Gold: 189

Equipment: Mythril Mallet (WP: 20, wood- and darkness-elemental; Hollow [-]; hammer), Rubber Gloves (For Mixture, the die is rolled three times instead of twice, and the highest two results determine the created item; suitable to alchemists; handwear.), Robe of the Magi (SP:1, suitable for mages, clerics, alchemists, chi monks, decamon drafters, necromancers, regulators, scholars and weather mages; bodywear.), Spider Helmet (SP:5, passes poisoned and bleeding effects to the enemy when the wearer is hit; immunity to fire; headwear), Spirit Robe (Renders wearer invisible to the enemy for the first three rounds of battle so they do not take free hits; backwear)

Inventory:

Weapons Ignis Fatuus (WP:13, permanently poisoned by 15, fire- and lighting-elemental staff), Sylvania's Crossbow (WP:10, wood-elemental crossbow), Pan Flute (WP: 7, instrument), Wizard's Staff (WP:1, fire-, wind-, water- and earth-elemental staff), Wormtail Whip (WP:15, earth-elemental, whip)

Artifacts: Ranger's Quiver (WP: +1 to bows and crossbows, suitable for rangers, beast warriors, infiltrators, and winged warriors; backwear), Robe of the Archmagi (SP:3, Max Ether +5, protects from sealing; suitable for mages, clerics, necromancers, scholars and weather mages, bodywear), Cherokee Rose (Doubles potency of both incoming and outgoing restorative consumables and healing; suitable for Ellaria only; accessory.)

Spell Items: Scroll of Inspiration (Inspired for rest of battle, 10 ether, 50/50 chance) Scroll of Sealing, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Weakening, Serenade of Water (Causes Water damage equal to the minstrel's level to all enemies per round for as long as the song is sung. Costs 10 ether per round. Battle Song)

Consumables: 10 Grand Potions, Health Core, 4 Tonics, Diluted Arc Tonic (Restores 10 ether to all allies), 3 Grand Tonics, Ether Core, 2 Hyper Arc Tonics (Restores full ether to all allies), 2 Elixirs, Arc Elixir (Restores 60 health and 15 ether to all allies and removes negative effects.), 2 Remedies, Neutralizer, Tiger Balm, 3 Phoenix Essences, Last Resort (revives all knocked allies to 1 health), 3 Meads, 3 Smelling Salts, 2 Nostrums, 2 Soma, 2 Mulled Wines, 2 Smoke Bombs, Hot'n'Cold Bomb (Causes 30 fire- and ice-elemental damage to all enemies), Holy Rain Bomb (Causes 20 water-, wind- and light-elemental damage to all enemies), Bad Breath (Poisoned by 1-effect to all enemies), Feather of White, Demon Repellent

Tools etc.: Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Telescope, Magic Compass, Magnifying Glass, Chemistry Set (Allows the user to use Mixture outside of battle, costs 2 Gold Bars/un-modified roll, suitable for alchemists; tool), 3 Gold Bars

Paladin Petaldan Parfenius (Played by Palathadric)

5-year-old male "wonder" Knight

Level: 11.5 *Immune to Stunned, Bound, Petrified and Earth*

Power: 16

Defense: 9

Health: 22/22 10+10+2*

Gold: 153

Equipment: Brine Blade (WP: 5, 1/6 chance to trigger a Flood (see Weather Mage) when dealing damage, Longsword), Shield (SP: 5; Shield), Gloves of the Boy Wonder(SP:2; immunity to *Stunned*, *Bound*, and *Petrified*; suitable to Petaldan only; handwear), Really Hard Helmet (SP: 2, Immunity to Earth)

Inventory:

Weapons: Slimy Sword (WP:12, can be split into several weaker Slimy Swords or combined with other Slimy Swords to increase WP and split apart again at any time, Longsword)

Gems: Emerald

Consumables: 2x Potion, 2x Grand Potion, 2x Remedy, Phoenix Essence, Ambrosia, 2x Smoke Bomb, Fire Bomb

Tools: Bedroll

Goliath (Goliath)

Automaton Barbarian

Level 1

Power: 4

Defense: 0

Health: 10/10 (8+2)

Gold: 0

Equipment: Ebony Scorpion Spear (WP:5, deals Poisoned-by-3; spear)

Inventory: Potion x4, Mead x3, Plasma Cutlass (WP:3; Greatsword), Magma Maul (WP: 6, 1/6 chance to trigger an Inferno (see Weather Mage) when dealing damage, hammer), Tonic x2, Bunch of 10 Cherries (Each cherry restores 1 ether when eaten), Smelling Salts, Nostrum, Blind Bomb, Dirt Bomb, Bedroll, Shovel

Debts: 20 Gold (Torald)

[Palathadric]

"Do the Crimson Crown have something against you? They seem to be against magic. Do they consider you magical beings?"

[MysticModulus]

Ezeran nods towards Petaldan. "He might be on to something. Could it be that they are trying to frame you?"

[BountyBeast]

"Does anyone else around here use magic scrolls? People like Maggie, for instance? I'd like to know if this scroll belonged to her, or if it was used by the murderer."

[dum]

Tyrfrix takes the sketches in his hands.

"Hmm... It is hard to tell from these sketch marks, and I am no expert on the world's fauna... or weapons. I can assure you that these markings are from no imp claws, however."

He held up a clawed hand side-by-side with the sketch. The heroes could see that an imp's hand consisted of three skeletal-like fingers, evenly spaced at 120 degrees from each other. The claw marks were four large slashes spaced parallel and close together.

"What I cannot tell you is whether these markings were from an animal, another species, or a tool or weapon of some sort."

Cool! That's all we should need, right? This proves your race's innocence. The Baron wouldn't be completely ignorant to facts, would he?

"I have no idea what this note could mean. M for Maggie, perhaps? Was there anything special about the chest, something that would indicate what was inside?"

Well the lock seemed busted, but when I asked Shelby she said she had no idea what used to be in there. But I don't think it stood for Maggie, even though that's everyone's first guess.

"Certainly, Miss Ellaria. As you already know our people spent some time in the void. Before that our home was the forest, or the forest that was once above, and now below us. We were there long before humans arrived, and we were gone long before your wizards sunk it into the sea. I was able to watch the latter, and I was among the last of the imps to see those forests."

A few smaller imps lacking horns and wings crept up behind Tyrfrix.

" 'Gone' is a nice way of saying it. teacher. Our land was taken from us!"

"Grywios, we weren't supposed to interrupt..."

"We're not children anymore, Fyrnas. It's time we were treated like it."

"Now, now. You both still have much to learn before your wings." He turned to the heroes. "Time passes differently in the void. Physically these two are still children, though they are technically older than most living creatures on Olegaia. All of the imps here are from before our people were banished to the void."

I'm sorry that people have been generally dickish to you through your entire history. If it's any consolation, I know how much it hurts to be cast out from whatever place you call home again and again by some bastards who have no right to boss you around. Kid scratches his head and realizes that might not have been comforting. That might not have been helpful, but.. I sympathize with you. And I'm not just saying that. Edited June 18, 2016 by dum

[JimBee]

"Do the Crimson Crown have something against you? They seem to be against magic. Do they consider you magical beings?"

Ezeran nods towards Petaldan. "He might be on to something. Could it be that they are trying to frame you?"

"We are what you might call 'magical' beings, though it is not quite the same as the way you surface folk use it." Sigil pointed at Ezeran. "Your magic comes within. I believe you call it... aether? Our magic comes from around us. In the earth, the trees, the water... the very air surrounding us. Have you ever wondered why Olegaia is so full of intelligent lifeforms? Even animals, while some consider mere beasts, have extraordinary cognitive abilities that can be seen by those who bother to look. Most do not, which is why people like us are tossed aside or feared by others. But Olegaia is teeming with life because of the magical presence all around us. Or perhaps the life is the cause and the magic is the effect."

Visibly excited, Sigil tried to reel in a bit. "Ahem, at least, that is the faith of our people. I believe your scholars and scientists would write it off as a mere theory... Anyway, yes, it has been our suspicion from the beginning that we are being framed."

"Does anyone else around here use magic scrolls? People like Maggie, for instance? I'd like to know if this scroll belonged to her, or if it was used by the murderer."

More shrugs and confused looks from the imps. It appeared no one really knew what the scroll was for.

Cool! That's all we should need, right? This proves your race's innocence. The Baron wouldn't be completely ignorant to facts, would he?

"Your investigations have turned this up, but I fear it will not be enough. Anyone with eyes could see that those claw marks would not have matched those of the imps. The gnomes are obviously still not convinced. You will need to find more substantial evidence if you are to challenge the Baron."

Well the lock seemed busted, but when I asked Shelby she said she had no idea what used to be in there. But I don't think it stood for Maggie, even though that's everyone's first guess.

"I see... so perhaps Maggie's murderer was looking for something? I would have guessed that the mess was from the struggle, but locks do not just break on their own."

I'm sorry that people have been generally dickish to you through your entire history. If it's any consolation, I know how much it hurts to be cast out from whatever place you call home again and again by some bastards who have no right to boss you around. Kid scratches his head and realizes that might not have been comforting. That might not have been helpful, but.. I sympathize with you. And I'm not just saying that.

"We appreciate th--"

"Sympathy only gets us so far. We need action if we are to retake our rightful home!"

"We are not 'retaking' anything, child. The people who live on the surface have now lived there far longer than we have. I do not believe many surfacers know of our race's existence to begin with... I am unsure if 'dickish' is the correct term, but I am also unfamiliar with such colloquial jargon."

[MysticModulus]

"So Maggie might have had something worth stealing. Something valuable or something that could be used to incriminate someone?"