OOC: sorry, saw that I posted and thought it was your turn. Should have known better.

Ok, you do all that. Someone mentions that guards have tabbards(?) that are issued since impersonating a guard is a crime. So, if you have one, and are not a guard, it is likely that you got it by doing something illegal, or plan to do something illegal with it.

During the morning you hear rumors of zombies entering the city, no that people are turning to zombies in their sleep, no that there is a death cult that all turned to zombies during a ritual gone wrong, no it didn't go wrong- that's what was intended, etc.

Assuming you tease out rumors when available, you also come across one that one of the zombies, a woman, was mutilated, having strange symbols carefully cut all over her body. Somebody heard this from his brother, who is a guard and was pretty shaken up about it.

In reply to GM (msg # 151):

I would attempt to secure one of these tabbards from an aforementioned laundry service or what-have-you. If I am able to secure one, I want to go track down that brother of the deceased.

OOC: To telegraph where I'm going, I want to see if the brother knows anything about her connection to the lordling, if there is theme among the victims, and her identity to carry with me for guilt reasons. I also will be looking to identify the guard so that I can find him after his shift to press him for information.

I realize this is poorly written. I meant that some rando has a brother who is a guard. No relation to the dead. The guard was shaken up by the cuts on the dead woman. He was dismissed when the area was secured and went home where he blabbed. He may or may not know the identities of the people at the inn.

Guards take care of their own laundary, though they can trade in damaged tabbards to the armory. There may be a black market way to get one or have one made, so we will treat it like another skill challenge.

Also take 125xp for the last skill challenge
and take 100xp for the zombie/inn encounter

In reply to GM (msg # 153):

Oh--In that case, yes, I would like to figure out who the randos brother is so that I can try to ply him with drinks first. The black-market uniform can come if that doesn't bear sufficient fruit.

Ok, roll a persuasion check, DC 15 to find out more informaiton about the guard who went home to find out where he lives. If you fail, but beat a 10 you can find out what bar he frequents. If you fail but beat a 5, you can get his name and try another check asking around, but you will have to come up with a good subset of people you would ask (the only thing I can think of is random guards that work in the area), and there is a chance that this might generate the rumor that "people are asking around about you," to that guy.

He is at home, what is your plan to get him into a situation where you would ply him with drinks?

In reply to GM (msg # 155):

13:32, Today: Fergan rolled 22 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 16.  Locate the Guard Persuasion Check.

My preference is to figure out where he drinks and then join him for a drink under either gambling (if he is not in uniform) or employment (if he is) pretexts--in either case, though, I'd try to swing the conversation around to some version of:

"You look like something is gnawing at you...I don't sleep well because I'm afraid of my own dreams. Can you imagine? A grown man so scared of his own mind that he thinks he might piss the bed? Still, I just lay staring at the ceiling in a panic until I can't keep my eyes open anymore. So if you need an ear to bend, I'm listening."

If I can't arrange that kind of scene, I'll try to disguise myself as a cleric of [appropriate deity] and, finding him alone/at home, say that I'm investigating the matter, that rumors suggest that the culprit has friends among the aristocracy and might be untouchable by justice, and that I intend to see justice served.

I'd like to discern a) the nature and specifics of the markings and b) the identity of the woman.

Ok, you find out where he drinks and that you usually comes in the evening. There is enough of a gap between the end of his shift (he works from early morning until early afternoon) and when he comes in that he normally is wearing normal clothes. You show up awhile before he normally shows and see a few guards: cop bar. The other patrons all seem to be middle class, favoring successful craftsmen and local merchants, with a few upper and lower class folks.

He the person of interest, let's call him Hal, comes in about an hour early than he is due. You run your hustle and get him to describe the scene. He explains that the woman, whom he doesn't know, was definitely carved up, "mutilated," with what looked like some kind of runes. He don't know magic much, but it had that look about it. You convince him to draw what he remembers and they don't look familiar, but you are fairly confident that you can figure something out with the books you saw at the library. What has hims so shaken up is that the woman looked like his sister who died of a plague several years ago so he has a bit of PTSD going on. He mentions a couple times that the name of his captain is Rogers, and that he is likely to be getting all the particulars about who the people in the inn were. Also, that woman was the only one who was cut up, unless the other folk had their cuts more hidden, which is possible.

When he has a minute here or there between dialogue, he is just kind of shaking his head. At one of these moments he says, "But why weren't her clothes bloody?" (DM roll investigation: two bits of info 1) the woman was cut up on the bed (you probably guessed that), 2) her body was cleaned afterward and she was re-dressed in clean clothes. Hal confirms that her clothes were more of the going-out clothes, not clothes you'd likely sleep in.

In reply to GM (msg # 157):

If I feel a sense of rapport with Hal, like he is not the kind of guy to stand up and shout in a bar full of guards that I know a thing, I will say the following in a low voice, using my own voice:

"Hal, it's not an accident I'm here talking to you. I'm looking for the bastard that did this and I'm going to need your help. Hal...I'm not with the guards, but I'm going to find him and I'm going to visit on him a fate worse than death or prison. If he loves power, I will leave him weak. If he loves status, I will leave his name a slur. If he loves money, I will leave him a pauper in the gutter. And then, and only then, I will put him within the reach of the law so that these families can have their closure.

Hal, whomever or whatever he is, he has a degree of power beyond the abilities of the guards. He will escape, and you and your brothers in arms will be tied here, to your jurisdiction. He will be forgotten among the hundred small crimes that call your attention more urgently, that have a clear solution, and which are safe to follow because they are mundane. That woman will be remembered for a while, but her memory will fade until she is only a pretend monster for children to slay in the streets and a personal tragedy for a family that no honest guard will be able to look in the eye. She may not have been your sister, Hal, but she was someone's sister, and she, too, was senselessly cut down--but for her and her kin, there can still be recompense. I'll find him, Hal, and I'll break him--but I can only that with your help.

Whatever turns up about the investigation, if you can do so without divulging your identity and putting yourself at risk, pass on that information to [Whore I Gambled For] at the [Whorehouse] in a note with "For the Lady of Shadows and the Stranger who Loves You" written on the outside. Try not to be seen. She may occasionally have a request for you, too. Put yourself in no danger for this purpose--I will not have more carnage or ruin piled on, as this monster sought only to destroy and wreak havoc.

If all goes well, we shall never meet again, but you will know my work is complete when this monster crawls to you begging for protection...from me.

Fergan shakes his head slightly, wondering what had come over him, but regaining his composure quickly to throw his lucid endorsement behind the words that had poured out of him.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:30, Wed 30 May 2018.

Ok, roll a persuasion check with advantage and I will finally post.

In reply to GM (msg # 159):

23

In reply to Fergan (msg # 160):

Still 23.

The man looks a little more comforted, but anxious.

Well, uh, well can't see no harm in conscripting outside help. That is unless I am asked to keep quiet about details.

He takes a drink.

Not sure I wanna be close to it, though, but... But I suppose he's still out there, so. I will pass you messages and I will play investigator where I can.

He takes another drink. Then starts to drink heavily.

Anything else you would like to do in the meantime?

In reply to GM (msg # 162):

I'm interested in whether the lordling has been seen in the interim and where he's reported to be. Thoughts for how to get the info include:

- Finding servants of the lordling's estate to befriend while they are out on personal or house business and then inviting them to do something fun the next time their master is away.
- Determining which guard was on which gate on the night/morning in question. I would put Hal on this if I can.
- Looking for work at the lordling's estate in the event that he is away so that I can case the joint.

This is what you find out after a few days-

The Lordling was in town with a body servant, who was killed in the inn. He has no other known servants in town.
Roll a persuasion DC 18 to find information of business associates, executors, etc.

Hal can find that out, there are a few gates, he finds some names and finds out there was no observed strange activity that night/morning.

The lording is from the country-side, owning lands away from Neverwinter, to the north, not quite halfway to Luskan. Coastal mansion. Guards are being dispatched to there (local law enforcement has figured out who the who is by witnesses who frequented the inn).

In reply to GM (msg # 164):

I am going to roll the persuasion check with advantage because I am going to cast charm person on whomever the source of this information is. I am also going to roll my disguise check because a) I am going to do this in disguise and b) I don't want to suffer the repercussions of casting Charm Person to gather information.

Both rolls will be in a separate post.

In reply to Fergan (msg # 165):

14:05, Today: Fergan rolled 16 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 10.  Actor is "adv." to pass yourself off as different person.
14:03, Today: Fergan rolled 10 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 4.  Disguise to avoid charm detection.
14:02, Today: Fergan rolled 29 using 2d20 with rolls of 15,14.  Unmodified Adv. Persuasion.

That's a 21 on the persuasion check and a 16 on the disguise

Was anyone noted to be leaving the city around the right time of night/morning?

The gates have been close at night ever since zombies had been spotted outside of the city (couple weeks ago). The murders at the inn happened in the middle of the night, the incident with the zombies happened about an hour before the gates opened. Nothing outside of the ordinary occurred.

In reply to GM (msg # 168):

Ok--Waiting on business associates, executors, etc. information.

Glad you posted that since I hadn't noticed your previous two posts...

Ok, you find that you are pursuing parallel lines of investigation with plain clothes investigators. Let's say that the typical garb of said investigators is the stereotypical 19th(?) century garb of the top-hatted constable with a straight cane (stout enough to be no-nonsense). It is not enough to just wear these clothes, from what you have seen since such investigators are always accompanied by 1 or 2 armored, and tabard-ed guards.

You come to find out that the lordling has not come to see any of these associates, which is not normal behavior. Expect he has been to the bank, a little over a week ago to withdraw what liquid funds there were (you cannot find out the amount withdrawn unless you break the law in some way).

In reply to GM (msg # 170):

I'd like to know more about the workings of the bank--Is there a single banker, for example, who might leave his door unlocked at night due to a false sense of security?

I avoid these top-hatted constables, but also try to gather information on locations they have visited, people they have questioned, and what they have asked about to see if I have missed anything.

I haven't put a ton of thought into the banking system. Let's just say that any sort of breach would require a heist type challenge. What is it that you are looking for/hoping to accomplish?

In reply to GM (msg # 172):

I'm trying to engineer a scene wherein I wake the banker in his bed with the clinking of the coins from the crime scene in a bag, then toss him two and tell him it is time to pay the piper.

Ok, this is what I am going with, for banking. There are bankers who deal with managing money, titles, loans, investments, etc. Separately, there are money-changers who are familiar with reputable banks in the area so are willing to take notes from bankers in exchange for coin. You find that the bigger ones even have speaking stones with which they can call bankers.

So, it is like BECU branches that don't handle physical money and atms. Note receipts aren't necessarily reported by moneychangers unless they need to add money to their accounts from the debit note. It is somewhat of an opaque system for that reason.

Just assume that the same sort of magic and skill that create forgeries are in place to catch abuse. Some methods are known, like telling if something was copied by magic, and others might be more obscure like having some way of know how/where/or by whom the letter of credit was written.

What you know of the current situation is that the lordling cleared his account and had several generic notes written to be payable to the holder. Rather than waiting for the notes to be returned to the bank before changing the balance of the lord's acount, the account was cleared out and the general accounts of the bank were credited and the notes were make against the bank. For all intents and purposes, these letters of credit are like basic currency or money orders.

So, although you don't get someone giving you a detailed account of what exactly happened with your dude, you are able to piece it together from talking with different people and intel from the guard. So, this is to say that you don't believe there is more information to be had from the banker(s). Though you do find out that the guy did his business personally instead of through a servant, which at least one banker thought was strange. You even hear that he was surreptitiously inspected to make sure someone wasn't trying to pull off a magical disguise, but it appeared to be the guy.

Remind me what I have told you about those coins? And are you waiting on anything that I have forgotten about like research?

In reply to GM (msg # 174):

All I know about the coins are that they are electrum, stamped with the symbol that was crudely branded into his palm, their number, and that they were at the crime scene.

I think all of my venues for further investigation have dried up in town. I don't remember if I've gotten a lead about where to go next, yet. I'll come up with somewhere to ask around if I'm not just forgetting something.