She smiled as Kyra handed over the healing potion and blew her a kiss. "Thanks, I gotta learn to dodge better. I really appreciate the kindness." She unstoppered the potion and downed it, letting the warming liquid course through her to close all her wounds.

In the other room she whistled quietly on seeing the dagger.

"You still got that detect magic spell up?" she asked Kyra. "Something tells me that's something special," she continued, indicating the dagger.

If no one else is available Kraw uses his unique senses to Detect Magic. Then sweeps the room.

"No problem." Kyra responds to Ayeesha. She then helps Kraw search the room.

If the dagger is magical Kyra can try to identify it. But she is more interested in the papers at the moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:14, Wed 17 Apr 2019.

While others searched and investigated, Figus stood guard. It was possible that someone else was in the house and Figues swore that the group would not be surprised.

Kraw senses that the dagger is faintly magical but Kyra is unable to determine its properties.

The papers turn out to be a disorganized manuscript detailing the brilliant rise to fame and fortune of Vandercaskin. Kyra and Figus, having worked with Verik, realize that the stories within are almost pure fantasy. He not only claims credit for other peoples work but also re-writes the whole tale to all but eliminate any other person's agency.

Other then its "entertainment" value there is little learned. Finding the most recent entries concerning the riot reveals that Verik had the brilliant idea that after a riot food would become scarce so he procured a butchery. It would appear that Verik has little understanding of what actually goes on in the day-to-day running of the business as his journal is focused entirely on how beloved he is for having his men find and distribute meat for the poor and how troubled he is that his muse has left him wanting when trying to finish his manuscript.

"Ah, I'm too tired to make anything of this dagger, but I can try again in the morning. This text though... I wonder if there is more to this 'muse' than just Verik trying to be poetic. Maybe he picked up his ambition from someone. Not a good combination with his lack of foresight." She picks up the manuscript to turn it in with Verik and the rest of his gang.

Does anyone uses daggers? Kraw maybe?

"So, the rest of the place now?"

Pretty much everyone can use a dagger. If its magical, we need to keep it just in case.

Kraw says "okay if I hold onto the dagger? I'm trained as a knife master and can probably get more use out of it." He heads to the single door to check out what it conceals.

"I don't mind. Careful with it though. I have a feeling it's more than just a weapon. Looks like someone loved this item. It might mean more as a message than anything else."

She looked at Kyra thoughtfully.

"You think? He's just about a perfect patsy, isn't he? Not too bright but overly sure of himself. A guard captain wouldn't be the worst person to have some influence over."

Still wasn't much they could do about it now.

"We can tell Sabina when we report back about the muse. See if it rings any bells to her. I'd like to show her the dagger too."

She moved to the single door with Kraw, weapon in hand, ready to back him up if it got ugly.

"Fine by me. But I'd be careful with it before we had a chance to identify the enchantment on it. Sure, it's probably beneficial, but still..." Kyra responds to Kraw as she follows him to the next door.

Going back downstairs the party explores the doorway that Kyra had noted smelled like death before. Inside with the doors fully open the air smells stale and stinks of day-old meat and blood. Straw litters thefloor, scattered to catch what drips from the meat hooks affixed to the walls and ceiling on metal rods. To the north is a low blood-stained table and two barrels of salt, while to the south, a pair of double doors stands. An iron bar extends through a narrow hole at the top of the doors; the bar runs along the ceiling for five feet before ending at a vertical pole running from floor to ceiling. Judging by context it is probably some sort of rail system to allow heavy slabs of meat to be transported from the room on the other side to here.

With tepetation and a sense of forboding, Figus studies the meats to determine what kind of animal it came from. In these troubling times with supplies being scarce it would not be unheard for the unscrupulous resort to long pork.

While Figus searched, Ayeesha tried not to think about it.

OOC: Can I carry an unconscious Vencaskerkin with me? I think I will obviously be heavily encumbered, but I don't want to leave him alone! And can set him down if I need to move.

Kyra wrinkles her nose at the smell in the room and goes to inspect the door to the south.

That's the one we haven't checked out yet, right? Probably leads to the barn, maybe there's a cart we can load these guys on in there.

Kraw moves to join Kyra. If they could find a wagon or two, then hauling both prisoners and loot would be much simpler.

Figus studies the cuts closer and breaths a sigh of relief as he just sees regular pork of the "short" variety.

Ayeesha and the others drag the prisoners to a central location. After the beating they were given they are probably going to be out for awhile but they are at least in a position where the heroes can keep an eye on them.

---

The room to the south is a grim chamber that appears to be where the killing and cutting was done. The floor is strewn with blood-stained straw and the reek of slaughter is overpowering. The room itself is a killing floor. A metal track affixed to the ceiling dangles meat hooks here and there, allowing the hooks and their gory loads to be moved easily from the northwest where a large hammer sits on the floor amid a permanent bloodstain.

To the south, a bloodstained grill covers a wide hole in the floor. Just north of the grill sit two large vats of water, one boiling and one cold. Two large butcher blocks stand to the east next to barrels of salt, and in the southeast corner sits a reeking vat of cast-off meat and bones.

OOC: Obvious exits are a  large set of double doors to the west and another set of doors next to the bloody hammer.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:55, Mon 29 Apr 2019.

"Lovely night spot you've found for us," she teased Figus as she wrinkled her nose up in disgust. She paced around the room trying to avoid stepping in too much congealed blood or gore.

Her attention is naturally drawn to the grill over the hole in the floor. Her tone grew quieter as she found herself lost in dark thoughts.

"I'm going to regret this. But if we're being thorough, this is where they'd dispose of anything incriminating."

She put her pack down and pulled out a crowbar, then tried to use it to lift the grate up.

---

14:54, Today: Ayeesha rolled 22 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 17.  strength check, pry up grate.

Figus was relieved to find that the meat was of the ordinary type. Things were just too weird as it was. When Ayeesha decided to pry the grate, he choose to help,  but mostly got in the way

19:03, Today: Figus Dva rolled 5 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 2.  strength check aid.

Kyra can't fault Ayeesha's reasoning, though she stays far away from the bloodstained grill herself. She goes to inspect where the two doors lead instead.

Let's start with the double doors to the west.

Through the west doors was a shed that housed a wagon. Given the bloodstains and general smell it was either used to haul dead carcasses away, meat to sell or animals in.

---

The grate popped off with a metallic ping as Figus and Ayeesha bent the grate out of its frame. Beneath the grate was a foul slurry of blood, bones and gristle that had been washed down to clear the room. It was most likely intended to drain into the sewers but had become clogged and was on the verge of backing up into the killing room itself.

"What I won't do to prove myself right," she muttered, held her nose and started searching the muck and gore for anything stashed down there, or anything they tried to wash down the drain.

Kraw fetches the wagon,bringing it in the double doors. He starts loading captured equipment into a packing crate and secures it. He then starts loading Manacled and unconscious prisoners

Kyra takes one look at what was under the grill before she hurries to check what is behind the last doors, trying to hold on to her dinner. That done, she helps Kraw with loading up the loot and the prisoners.

One door left, the one next to the hammer. I guess that one leads to the barn?

Things appeared to be well im hand, so Figus went back to the front room to retrieve his dog and to help Kraw with thw prisoners.

Kyra's suspicions prove correct when she opens the last few doors to reveal pens of animals resting quietly in the night. The smell is atrocious even though the pen is open aired.

Kraw and the others are able to load the cart with the prisoners without further incident.