Seemingly content to ignore the bar, and the song, Precious stays snuggled up against Alison and appears to drift off into a lazy sleep.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 07:37, Mon 07 Dec 2020.

Alison scratched Precious' scalp the way she liked and sipped her own drink.

Titus takes his drink, pleasant smile on his face and begins to simply listen to Vinnick's performance. While his accomplice sings he takes in his surroundings. He doesn't know where to begin but perhaps there might be an easy in somewhere. A group of watchmen a little too deep into their drink to hold their tongues as firmly as they should or perhaps rookies with still to green to know when they are being worked for information.

The musician had gone along with Vinnick's performance, he instructed something to his companion who moved closer to him. The secretary waved Lannie goodbye and left some coins on the counter. The cloaked stranger by the mercinaries table turned away in disgust to the performance while the bearaler listened with emotion certainly captivated by it. The rookies couldn't care less and asked for another round.

Seeing his opening Titus finished off his first ale in a considerable chug and ordered another to go along with the rookies. As the drinks were being ferried to the table he moved alongside them. Meeting the eyes of one of the rookies he gave a broad smile.

"Evening rookies."

He then invited himself to the table, not asking permission due to his seniority.

"Out for a few drinks I see."

Vinnik gives a bow to the barmaid and gives her a kiss on the hand. </purple>"A pleasure my dear."</purple> He says with a broad smile and a twinkle in his eye. "Lannie! A round for the whole! Put it on the tab!" He calls out. Seeing the attention the bearaler was paying to the act, Vinnick walks over to the table. "Well met my friends. You look as if you enjoyed the song and dance. Your first time at Stone Sword?"



15:07, Today: Vinnick rolled 9 using 1d20+7.  Persuasion.

and on the off chance I got advantage for the song and dance

15:07, Today: Vinnick rolled 24 using 1d20+7.  Persuasion.

The Bearaler couldn't just resist any longer and held Vinnick by surprise as he approached enough. Vinnick tried to resist, but the embrace was just too much for him. The others, however, didn't have time to react and do something to free him.

The doors to the tavern burst open as another rookie rushed in. "They found another one!, five blocks form here in the docks!"

Ok, time to change the scenery. Vinnick will remain behind while the rest can go and investigate. Lia will also be at there already.

"Bloody hell!" Titus bellows as he raises from his seat, the sudden motion pushing the table away from him. He looked to Alison and Precious, giving the pair a quick nod, before turning back to the rookie and speaking in a commanding voice.

"Report to the Captain on what's happened. I'll go and help secure the perimeter."

He then turned to the bar as whole, his voice ringing out.

"Everyone get back to your homes!"

He didn't wait to find out if people heeded him, they rarely did even when it made good sense to do so. Instead he moved to see what had befallen another young woman.

Alison stood quickly, glancing at Precious and giving her a slight jerk of the head to follow.  She momentarily put a hand on her crossbow, not to draw it, but for assurance of its presence, as she followed Titus outside.

Having just shifted in her sleep to roll her feet down under her, rather than lounging sideways against Alison's leg only moments before the door burst open Precious is already rising from a kneeling position to stand with her head just above the table height when all the shouting happens, trotting along behind Alison  as she leaves the tavern to go do a more direct form of investigation.

Alison made sure not to outpace her companion, despite the urgency of the situation.

The tall northerner, new to her posting, looks around to see what she can see. Lia wonders if this occurance, this type of fatality, is common in the district.

The scene was grim and it wouldn't be appropriate to get graphical in order to provide a more detailed description. The victim was like the others, a young working class woman. The scene was in a side alley, apparently it had happened the night before.

A young urchin stayed by a rookie -this guy Dave- giving a declaration.

Time to shine, give me int and wis checks for perception and investigation if you can

Titus was the first one the scene, at least among his group, and was appalled at the state of the young woman that he had found. Whoever had done this was truly evil. He took a moment to master himself, steeling his resolve and his stomach. After offering a short prayer to the gods he spoke to the guards on site as he looked around for himself.

"What can you tell me about what happened here?"

12:30, Today: Titus Gray rolled 19 using 1d20+1.  Investigation.
12:29, Today: Titus Gray rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Perception

12:22, Today: Alison Romtree rolled 17 using 1d20+3.  Perception.

Alison took a look around the alleyway, observing all that she could from the scene.

Closer to the ground, and often ignored, Precious slips into the scene without interfering with it as she takes a look around.  A spare glance at the urchin assures her that it is under control at least, if even remotely important so she can keep her attention on the physical details.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:32, Thu 08 July 2021.

Lia tries to interview the urchin, "In your own words, lad, what's the story here? What did you see, or find?@

======
00:57, Today: Lia rolled 7 using 1d20+6.  Perception (Passive is 16).
00:57, Today: Lia rolled 8 using 1d20.  Investigation (Passive is 10)
00:58, Today: Lia rolled 16 using 1d20+6.  Insight on the urchin (passive is 16).
Fairly unimpressive.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:59, Mon 05 July 2021.

The child was nervous and in shock. The mob of curious people around wasn't making things better. "I just found heee...."

Dave stopped the child. "This kid has already seen a lot. It could have been at any time between last night and today. Unless one of you knows about this stuff." (Medicine) He looked back at the kid. "Come with me, I can get you something to eat. Do you like Alenuts?"

All of the present could notice there was a broken piece of a jar with bluish blood dumped on the ground. No other reports mentioned a weapon being found on the previous scenes. The body showed piercing and slashing damage of irregular sizes, but not a clear idea of what weapon could have been used.

Titus squats next to the shattered jar and examines the bluish blood.

"This is certainly not natural. Has anyone seen anything like this before?"

Titus wasn't a particularly smart man but he knew that blood was supposed to be red. Didn't matter if it came from a man, woman, or beast; it was supposed to be red.

Lia shrugs. Clearly they have their own way of doing things. She makes a mental note to keep quiet until someone else has taken the lead.

======
16:06, Today: Lia rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  Medicine.
16:12, Today: Lia rolled 3 using 1d4.  Meredith's Guidance.   Total = 17 for Medicine

This message was last edited by the player at 15:14, Tue 06 July 2021.

Alison held up a hand, "Dave, hold on a minute. If we've got a witness, we need to ask questions. Not hearing what he has to say would be almost as bad as a new recruit bursting into a tavern and announcing another victim to the entire establishment." Alison eyed both of the newbies, hoping they understood their excitement was causing problems rather than providing solutions.


"What we don't know, we don't know. But what this fellow knows," Alison took a knee to get on eye-level with the kid and held and arm out for Precious to join her,"is information we could use to catch the bad person who did this. We don't want any more nice people getting hurt, so anything you can tell us about what you saw could be useful. Don't worry about making the story sound good, just tell us what you saw and what you heard."

Avoiding the blood, of any color, Precious turns away from the crime scene itself to join Alison in rescuing the urchin from whatever fate, or ridiculous concept of food, the guards had in mind for them.  As she joins Alison she slips easily into the open arm not quite like a hug, but not quite like a hold either and speaks to the child in a softer, more friendly tone.

”We can go somewhere more comfortable and relax for a bit if you like, get you something to eat, and drink.  There is no need to stay here or worry about anyone else, we just need to hear your story when you are ready to tell it.”

Dave was dumbfounded by how the group had taken over the investigation from him. "Yeah, sure I was only going to feed the kid, but your idea is so much better..." he snarked.

The kid on the other hand was very receptive to Precious. She had a calming presence, in part because of being very childish herself. The kid went along cheerfully and took kindly to the suggestion of food. Finally after relaxing the orphan spoke. "I found her when I passed there. I was looking for my friend who normally sleeps nearby. But I couldn't find him."

Mostly letting the kid tell the story at their own pace Precious does drop in a few questions, each with plenty of time to provide an answer.

”Who is your friend. . . What do you do with your friend. . . Do you have any idea where your friend could have gone. . . How often do you come here to meet with him. . . Do you want our help finding him to make sure he is ok?”

While the others feed the child Lia casts a detect magic and wanders round the crime scene, starting her intent gazing with the broken glassware and bluish blood.