Slipping on gloves to avoid direct contamination, Kraw swallows an antiplague before moving forward to aid the search and discovery.

Figus draws a kukri as he follows Kraw to take a closer look. "Great ... just great"

"You guys are doing great!" Ayeesha called from behind Kraw and Figus, shivering in disgust.

But knowing that wasn't going to fly, she moved up, not so much to assist in the investigation as to watch their backs. If someone was dumping corpses here, they could be coming back at any moment, and they'd be hostile if they saw what the group was doing. She stood back from Figus and Kraw and the corpse pile and mostly watched behind them and the rooftops above, looking for trouble.

---

23:32, Today: Ayeesha rolled 18 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 12.  Perception, watching the alley, watching our backs.

"Yes, keep up the great work and all that." Kyra adds from her position far back from the rotting pile of bodies, her voice muffled by a piece of fabric she is holding on her mouth. "Strange to find so many bodies untouched by disease here. One I would understand, someone hiding their problem in this mess, but half a dozen?"

Poking around the bodies further they discover that the non-diseased bodies have small puncture wounds, a pair of dots. Sometimes the marks are on the neck, sometimes on the wrist or leg but every body not covered in red blisters has the mark.

In addition it seems that something has burrowed a hole in the wall the bodies have been piled against. It could be an easy way to dump bodies, it could also be a secret method of entering and exit although anyone using it would undoubtedly be exposed to any number of diseases and vermin in the process.

Kraw pulls a puncture victim from the pile, dragging it over to where the actual medical people were, hoping they might ascertain the cause of death. "Looks like this one, and several others, were bitten by something large. A wolf, perhaps?"

Figus kneels down to examine the body. "Hmm, the only wolf in the city is mine."

OOC: Take 10 on Heal for a total of 15 on what could have made those marks.

Kyra joins them to see if she can help with the examination, beyond stating "he's dead alright" that is. She is also interested in where that hole goes, but not actually to the point of trying to crawl through infected decomposing bodies to find out.

No luck with the roll, even if heal can help here.
20:06, Today: Kyra rolled 8 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 4.  Aid (Heal).

This hole, is there another way to get in this (presumably) building? Are those doors / windows at the upper part of the map?

Also, would a Knowledge check be needed to think (probably wrongly) of vampires in this situation?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:13, Mon 19 Oct 2020.

OOC Anybody can make an Unskilled Knowledge check of DC 10 or less. Bite-sized marks that look like two fang marks side-by-side seems a no-brainer, likely DC 10

"Bad wolf!" she says with a smile on her face as she gives Figus' companion a little scratch behind the ears.

"At least you smell better than this alley, don't you? Don't you?" she continued.

"OK this one didn't bit anybody on the neck. No idea what did though."

---

15:30, Today: Ayeesha rolled 0 using 1d20-1 with rolls of 1.  sure I'll play, know religion untrained.

Lol if we can not deduce what's going on here in character!

Kraw says "don't know what it was, but it's no animal I've ever heard of."

15:04, Today: Kraw rolled 19 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 17.  Knowledge Nature (untrained).

15:03, Today: Kraw rolled 4 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 2.  Knowledge Religion (untrained).

"Nevermore stay and watch!" Figus commands his new raven friend to look of the alley while the group explores.

"Lets take a look where that hole leads. It can't be a coincidence. There is more than just disease in play here. I do wish we had Ishani with us at this point. I am not getting a good feeling about this."

After a brief thought, Figus puts away his kukri and retrieves the silver mace before moving to examine the hole and what lays beyond.

11:46, Today: Figus Dva rolled 30 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 20.  Perception.

Not being of any help examining the body, Kary slinks off to the north of the alley to see if there's a way inside wherever that hole is leading that will not get her covered in bits of dead people.

Are those windows / doors? If there is a door Kyra can try to open it. If there is a window, what does Kyra see through it?

In case it's needed:
10:16, Today: Kyra rolled 26 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 16.  Perception.

Krya turns the corner to look into the shop. The sign overhead says GIOTORRI'S TOYS and the shop seems to have been closed for awhile. The display window is hard to see through but Kyra can see dolls and wooden soldiers lined up on shelves and a giant recreation of Castle Korvosa sitting in the center of the room. The front door is locked but it doesn't look very secure and she can see behind the shop counter is a door marked PRIVATE.

Meanwhile Figus starts shifting bodies around and thanks to his keen eyesight peering through the hole reveals what looks to be a workshop of some sort given the workbenches he can spy and the amount of sawdust on the floor. The sawdust is heavily disturbed, quite a few feet have traveled through this way and he can just barely make out what looks to be a dead body lying in the darkness between two shelves.

Kyra goes back to the alley to report what she saw to the party. "We may be able to get inside through the front door instead of crawling through that mess. I'm guessing dealing with a simple lock is not going to be much of a problem, right?"

"Yeah, too late." mumbles Figus as he slowly and quietly makes his way inside and examine the body.

17:11, Today: Figus Dva rolled 24 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 15.  Stealth.

Dozens of crooked glass eyes—hollow and crazed—glare from the heads of malformed and half-carved dolls lining skewed workroom shelves. Rat-gnawed stuffed aurochs, disembodied doll limbs, miniature rolling elephants, unseaworthy wooden ships, and crooked blocks illustrated with deformed or poorly painted animals fill bins and racks about the room. A cracked wooden door leads to the north, while a rickety trap door breaks the sawdust-covered floor to the east. In one corner lies the drying corpse of an old bald man amid the wood chips, rusty tools, and oily rags of a scored workbench.

"Figus!" she hissed as he disappeared into a mountain of filth and gore.

"Front door! Come on!"

She looked at Kyra and said, "We are NOT going in that way. Oh, he's going to make us go in that way, isn't he?"

Kraw, used to picking among the dead in his early years, feels little disgust as he follows the macabre path taken by Figus.

Ayeesha looked at Kyra, then back at where Kraw and Figus vanished, then back at Kyra again. She shook her head and shrugged, cringing at the thought of what was coming.

"We can't let them go in without backup. Who knows what kind of trouble they'll get in. Come on, let's make it quick. Ew... EW!!!"

She held her nose and followed, trying not to throw up.

Looking at the body Figus finds eight puncture wound (four pairs) up and down the corpse's neck. In addition Figus finds among the body's pockets a handful of coppers and a small key ring with four keys of various sizes on it.

So far nothing else seems to be moving around or giving Figus pause for concern.

Figus takes the keys then turns to see if anyone has followed him inside. Seeing that the others are reluctant to climb over the bodies he will make two gestures: one to let everyone to stay quite, and the other that he is heading to the front of the shop and the main door there.

Once by the door, Figus examines it for traps and for any types of chimes which may be triggered if it was to be opened.

OOC: Take 10 + 9 on Stealth while moving. Take 10 + 10 Perception looking for Traps on door.

Figus proceeds slowly and quietly through the shop, pausing with each footfall to ease it down smoothly so as not to creak the floorboards. Step by step he crosses into the main show room and makes it to the front door where he quietly turns the key in the lock, opening the front for the rest of the group.

The shelves are full of the toymaker's poor attempts at creating childhood delights. Unbalanced stuff animals, poorly equipped wooden soldiers and dolls exhibiting a myriad of accidental deformities stare blankly out from shelves. The only thing halfway impressive is the large dollhouse model of Castle Korvosa.

Ayeesha finds a rusty lockbox behind the counter. One of the keys Figus finds turns the lock easily enough and inside is a small amount of coinage: 2gp, 8sp, 22cp and a single silver tooth along with a brass key with an ornate symbol of Abadar on the handle.

"This don't look too good. We could be facing a vampire ... possibly even four. I found eight holes in the corpse along the neck in pairs.

How about we go get our friend Ishani to come and take a look and possibly back us up in case our hunches are right?"

"Much obliged." Kyra thanks Figus, happy to have avoided getting in through the hole. She looks around curiously at the result of hard work of talented hands. Or less than talented, she thinks as she takes in the misshapen collection of toys.

"Vampires? I'm afraid I don't have any experience with something like that. I admit I would feel a bit better having some backup, sure, but I don't know if we could get a hold of a priest at a time like this. I guess we could check?"

"I do have some gear on me, in case someone wishes to make use of it." She digs in her bag to see what is there.