Blacklake Terrors 1

Zara meets you all outside the temple in Blacklake, worried.  She tells you what she heard in the temple from the maid Lissie.  "The Dawnmaster has offered a reward of 5 golds to anyone that can find out what happened to those poor people . . ."

Kyle thinks "Not much! Well, get used to it then"

Darn "So we can just walk into the mansion to check things? No guards involved?" Darn looks down the street

Mari "We should start somewhere. The house seems the best place"

Zara shrugs, "I don't know.  Maybe the watch?"

Darn "I find it to be important." he smiles "But I guess we can find out there..."

Kyle stares at the woman and steps forward to ask "What happen make you be like this?"

Mari looks at the girl wondering who she can be

Darn sighs glancing at the armored men and then at the girl knowing
"Will the guards let us get inside?" Mari whispers to Zara

 Torak sniffs Mari and pushes her slightly

Zara looks at the city watchman.  "We can ask . . ."

Mari scratches distractedly Torak's head. "Be patient"

"Uh...so public..." Darn thinks approaching her "Is there anything we can do for you, lady?"

Kyle smirks interested in the watchman then, and let the others solve the lady's things

Mari smirks. Of course he isn't happy. Probably more people has been messing around to try to get the reward

"Is there any wound?" Kyle asks absent minded

Darn looks at the girl with tears in eyes "I know how you feel, happened to my parents as well."

Mari walks towards the watchman and stops by Kyle's side. "Good morning, gentleman. Has the watch found out what happened here yet?"

Zara glances at Darn but says nothing, just nods in agreement

"I was sleeping..." Darn takes an uneasy breath to lungs "...when those men came to our estate." he looks aside hurt "I still hear them screaming..."

Zara pats the girl on the arm, "We need to see them if we are going to help you."

"If it will be in our power..." Darn gives the girl serious look full of courage "..I swear, we will help you."

The guard frowns, "Not my job to cheer the poor girl . . . not that it will matter."  He lowers his voice, "the wizard says it's some family curse.  Poor thing won't be alive to worry about it if he is right.  And he's never wrong."  

Kyle "uhm what if he is wrong. There is always a way to solve, whatever it takes"

"The wizard? And that's how he explains it? A curse?" Mari scowls. "And you stop worrying and the poor girl dies alone and you blame the curse.  How comfortable for you"

Kyle simple shrugs, pat pat head of torak 

Zara gives the watchman a smile.  "Don't worry.  The temple sent us.  We will just have a quick look and then go."  She walks past him and into the estate.

Kyle flips fingers then follow zara,

Mari takes advantage and walks after Zara, smiling triumphantly at the guard

Darn follows feeling quite satisfied with himself considering adding some words for heroic balance but decides not to rape the issue

Mari looks at the portraits. "The youngest son... is he alive...?"

Zara nods, "I think so.  The maid only mentioned Rowena, Edric and the other one . . . "

Darn perks up at the voices deciding to move carefully after them

Kyle look all carefully down the hall if there is something suspicious

Mari "The guard talked about a curse. He's probably in danger too"

Kyle starting in to stealth mode

Mari scowls. "Assholes"

Darn makes a wry smile looking back at the group "Going to introduce ourselves?"

Kyle whistle very low "like i thought"

Zara wrinkles her nose thinking, how lazy!

Kyle moving step by step to get in there just to watch the scene and what they doing, with a wolf smile

Mari looks at the wolf "What happens, Torak? Do you feel something weird?" she whispers, kneeling in front of him

Kyle glances at torak, shrugs and leave the wolf here. Torak will walk around here and there then

Mari sighs, scratches the wolf's head and follows Kyle, trying to be silent too

"We may as well go say hello," Zara nods, walking forward

Darn follows Zara without sneaking to look like normal paladin

Zara makes a small, frightened sound, stumbling a bit before grabbing onto a chair

Darn leans against the door frame grabbing piece of his coat

Mari looks at Zara and Darn and moves to help Zara since she's closer

Kyle feels normal and peeks to see if there is coin for him to loot

"Are you ok?" Mari whispers

"The temple sent us" says Mari, holding Zara's arm and using shamelessly her excuse

Zara nods slowly, rubbing her eyes.  "I . . . yes . . . sorry."

Kyle searches these proof/corpse or whatever there then, quiet style

Darn glances at the guards in cradling vision slowly starts to recognize objects before him

One of the men raises an eyebrow but the other just looks relieved.  "Oh the temple is taking over then?  Perfect!  You just . . . do what you need to.  I'll let the commander know."

Mari helps Zara to walk inside the room. "Sure... maybe you can leave us alone, or at least, stay away from our work?"

Darn stands up straight resisting the need to rub his face with hands

Kyle stares at the odd, small jewel and collect it into his small pouch, and back to the group. Slowly showing himself behind the group

Kyle speak with deep tone to the men "oh! seems like you already can toss the responsibility"

Zara nods, "Yes, I am sure we can handle it."  She rubs her eyes again.

Darn glances back at the men "Wait, brothers!" he approaches them, stride full of discipline "Did you find anything that can help us in investigation?"

Mari eyes the man in robes. "Mmmh, I take that's the mage they talked about? We should ask him later about that "curse""

Mari "Good, we can talk to him and even protect him" Mari says

Zara opens the shutters to let in light.  The last of the smoke begins to clear out of the room, but with more light, the horrified expressions on the corpses are even clearer

Darn asks "In that case, good men. Can you tell us where to find younger son?"

Kyle simply elbows darn very slight behind him

Darn gives a small thought about why wild boy elbowed him though he stands still keeping posture of paladin

"Gambling?" Darn makes horrified face and continues sternly "We will take care of this poor soul!"

"This people was gambling when they died too" Mari says, pointing at the cards scattered around

Zara starts to look around the room, not sure what she is looking for

Darn returns to his normal behavior stretching his arms "Well people say gambling is dangerous..."

Kyle "then i think the things they didn't understand maybe this ??" He shows the group the powder

Mari decides to examine the corpses, looking for clues about the way they died. She turns at Kyle and looks at the powder "What is this?"

Zara smiles a bit at Darn, "I don't think any bad hand could scare you to death though, and at least one would be smiling."

Darn "depends what you put at stake for victory..." he approaches the table with cards lifting one of them

Kyle "gamble maybe can bet with girls??"

Darn put card back on table looking at the Kyle "What would you bet?" he looks around for anything that might have connection with the murder

Kyle says "some hot chicks just to raise the fun!?" tell to darn "and some beer" 

Zara frowns at Kyle, "Somehow I don't think they were betting over that . . . we could ask the brother though."

Mari wrinkles her nose at KyleM's comment, but focuses at the powder. "Where did you find this?"
Kyle "i found it along the edge of the fireplace"
Mari goes to the fireplace and examines it. "This powder can be what killed them. Handle it with care, Kyle"
Zara sighs, "I don't see anything magical . . . there are spells that would do this but they leave something behind."
Kyle gives mari with "why me?' look
"You cant bet something you dont have unless you know you are going to win for sure." Darn smirks "So what about that smoke, Zara?"
Zara waves at it. "I don't know. It smells awful . . . I can't imagine why they had a fire going anyway. It's not that cold, and with their coats off they look like they were too hot . . ."
Mari calls the rest of the group to the fireplace. "All right, I found the source of the /curse/.  I know what is it. That powder is poisonous in big quantities. And here there's enough to kill a group of horses"

Darn approaches the fireplace taking the rake and pokes the coals
Mari covers her nose when she sees Darn doing that. "Don't move it! Maybe there's still some in the fire!"
Zara looks at Mari. "What is it then? It's not anything I've seen in a healer's kit."
"Believe me, you don't want to breath that powder," Mari says.  "It's a sleep powder". Mari looks at them. "It is similar to the one you can find in the Undermountain near Waterdeep. in small amounts, it puts you to sleep. in large amounts in causes hallucinations, dementia, and death"
Darn stops covering his nose and looks at Mari "How do you know that?"
"My... mother used it to sleep when she got older" Mari shrugs. "She always said we had to be very careful and never wanted us to touch it"

Darn "Nice..." he steps away from fireplace "...so this family was assassinated?"
Kyle rubs hands in anticipation
Zara frowns, "If Mari is right . . . then yes. Do you think that poor girl is in danger then? Or her uncle?"
Mari takes carefully some powder with one of the cards and folds the card so she can keep it inside. "Of course they were. And yes. The guards expect them to die, so I guess that's what the murderer wants too"

Mari stops for a moment. "Unless the murderer is one of them, of course. Mmmh, do they leave a fortune behind? Who will inherit the state?"                                                                                               Kyle "so i think we seperate to protect the girl and the uncle ??"
"If she would inherit the money? I would say so...What about her brother? He might be the one that commit this...." Darn contemplates
Zara walks toward the door. "We can ask I guess. Carefully though . . ."
Kyle spins a dagger
Mari says "I don't think the girl has done it... but she can be a very good actress. I would watch both of them, as well as protect them"
"Youngest son wasnt at the best with family, through his picture still hangs in hallway....it couldnt be that bad." Darn follows Zara
Mari shrugs. "As far as we know, it could be anybody"

The city watchman is still at the door. He nods to them curtly as they walk out. The girl still sits on the bench, not crying now, just resting her head on her knees.

Mari looks around and since the mage isn't around she keeps the folded card with a sample of the powder in her pocket
Kyle attempts to ride on Torak, both wipe out like a boss.
The girl looks up to see Kyle and Torak fall, her eyes going wide in surprise<br>Mari facepalms at KyleM and Torak
Zara shakes her head at the weird human.
Kyle stands up to wipe the dust off, while Torak shakes all his fur

Darn thinks it is odd that guards didn't find the powder and squats before the girl putting his hand on hers gently "We looked inside"
The girl looks at Darn. "Is it really a curse? Am I going to die next?"<br>Darn says "We wont let that happen. Can you tell us about anyone who would want your relatives out of...way?"
"No if we can avoid it" Mari says serious. "But tell us, what is that curse's story about?"
The girl rubs her nose, "Papa said his parents died strangely . . . just found them in the garden, looking like they were asleep. That's why he says Auntie Row never got married. I can't think of anyone that doesn't like us though. I mean . . . not enough to kill us."
Kyle says "so what about the others uhm people to your family?"
The girl looks at Kyle with big eyes, "N-no . . . why would anyone . . . you don't mean Uncle Viktos I hope."
Darn looks aside for a moment patting girl's hand a bit. He is about to ask her a question when he sees a halfbreed approaching and stands up

A well dressed man with dark hair and a large moustache hurried toward the estate as you talk. The tips of his pointed ears give away his half elven heritage. He is well dressed, though not fancy, and the rapier at his hip looks as if it has seen some combat. Strangely, his belt has several small pouches much like a mage would carry.
Mari turns to look at him. "Hey! Where are you going?"
The half elf ignores Mari, walking up to the city watch. "Step aside! I demand to see Row - my cousins!"<br>"Is this your family?" Darn asks the girl frowning lightly
The girl shakes her head, "That's Auntie Row's man, from Waterdeep. I think we're sort of cousins."

The watchman crosses his arms, "I'll do no such thing." The man shouts, "Do you know who I am? Get out of my way or I'll have your job! Or your life if you prefer." He puts a hand to his blade
"From Waterdeep?" Mari narrows her eyes...
"Wonderful..." Darn thinks "Auntie Row lived in Waterdeep? What she is doing here?"
The man is obviously upset, face red with anger. The city watch scowls. "It's not worth dying over." He moves aside.
Kyle "uhm an interest point at waterdeep! things to discuss maybe"
Mari crosses her arms and looks at KyleM. "Shall we go and talk to that man?"

The girl watches, looking a bit frightened. The man starts to go in, only now really noticing the group. He sees Adra and stops. "Is she really dead, girl?" Adra nods, hiding her face again<br>"They're all dead inside the house" Mari says. "They haven't even taken the corpses yet"
The man looks at Mari, scrubbing a tear out of his eye. "Dead? She can't be! They can't be!" He gets very close to Darn, "What do you mean investigation? What has happened? All I got was some . . . some note!"
Darn has the feeling like he wont be able to get more out of the girl with this halfelf about and approaches him "We are doing investigation of this case, ser."
Zara stays beside the girl, disliking this loud half elf on principle

Mari suddenly feels sorry by the man. "Unfortunately, ser. They're all dead, and we suspect they were murdered"
Darn steps even close to the man but keep eyes on his hands "We are sorry. Can we see the note?"
Mari says"But if you have some information which can help us to get the murderers, we can help you avenge her"
The man reaches into a small pouch with the symbol of the Silver Sails Trading Company on it. He hands Darn a scrap of parchment. "So they are all dead? My Rowena, and all her brothers?" He glances at Adra, face going hard. "And she is the only one left?"
"Is that important?" Mari asks
"She is..." Darn choose to lie to the man. He hands the note to Zara "Please investigate this priestess."
The half elf nods, "It means the fortune is hers. Not that the money ever mattered to me. I have enough and then some from my expeditions."

Zara reads the note aloud, "If you want to see her before she's nothing but ash, you best return to Blacklake." She frowns, "That sounds like a threat."
Kyle examines the man there with torak
Mari thinks maybe they shouldn't say the other brother is alive, by the moment
"When did you get the note?" Darn lands the stern look on man
He looks to Darn, "I got it moments ago. Even now my ship is sailing back to Waterdeep without her captain. I didn't even pause to get my clothes." He looks to Mari, shoulders sagging. "Oh . . . the curse killed them? Then Row was right . . ."

 

"This reinforces the theory that they were murdered" Mari turns to the man again. "You know who else could be interested on killing them? Or it would be only a matter of money?"
The girl makes a soft, almost strangled sound of surprise.
Mari says "The guardsmen said something about a curse"
Kyle chuckles "curse"
Mari shakes her head. "I don't think it was the curse, but by now, it seems the official version, but maybe if we knew more about that curse...."
The man sighs, "Adra could tell you as well I think, but this is what I know. When Rowena and I were first engaged, and Edric was set to marry her mother, the family woke to find a message carved into the walls. That the family must never wed nor sleep beyond the walls of Neverwinter, nor bear children. We thought it some cruel trick."  He continues, "Only a few weeks after Adra's mother announced she was with child, and on the very day Rowena and I were to marry, their parents were found dead in the garden. Needless to say, we broke our plans. She and I hoped . . . that is, we planned after this trip . . ."

   

Mari rubs her chin. "So technically, Rowlena never married"
Kyle "must be a very close then"
Mari looks at KyleM concerned. "As if they had a... secret vow?"
Kyle "and a very secret stalker"

 "Oh what is that! Explosion in academy?!" Darn shouts and point that way trying to slip his hand into pocket of the halfelf
The half elf glances over where Darn points, confused. "What? Oh . . . I suppose that was some joke . . ."
Darn puts the content of men pockets to his and wipes his eyes "I have problems since I went to that room....do you know that feeling?"
Kyle says "effective !"
The half elf nods, "It must have addled your senses. I will go in to say my goodbyes to them."
"Be careful, brother." Darn looks at the man worried
Mari sighs. "Be prepared... it is not a nice sight"
He nods, "Aidan Manthar fears nothing. Though I venture to say seeing my beloved dead will be worse than any sight from the Undermountain."
"Cover your nose " Kyle says to the halfelf
"If you need anything dont be afraid to come to us." Darn adds.
Aidan goes in, covering his nose.

Kyle asks "so when we come to dat uncle?" to Mari and Zara, head tilted.
"That was a odd talkative and cuddling man....a prime suspect." Darn mumbles for himself
Zara sniffs, "I guess we can go see him now. Though leaving her alone seems unwise." She gestures to the girl
Mari turns to Adra. "So he was not officially married to your aunt, was he? I guess that gives him not rights over the fortune"
Darn nods "But enough grudge to go on..."
Adra nods, "Auntie Rowena said she didn't want to marry anyway. She loved her brothers too much to go to Waterdeep. Aidan . . . he's always been around. I don't think he wanted money, but Uncle Viktos never liked him much."

 

Kyle sighs, "eh they have brother-sister complex?"
"And the Waterdeep thing..." Mari continues pondering. "I wonder...."
Adra looks at Kyle, not understanding, "Auntie was close with her family, if that's what you mean."
Kyle shakes his head left to right, thinking she didn't get my meaning, it's ok.
"Lets see your uncle, Andra..." Darn smiles at the girl gently offering her a hand to stand up.
"Adra, you shouldn't stay here. Come with us" encourages Mari
Kyle agrees, "the girl go with us too"
The girl nods, standing. "I want to make sure he's ok anyway. I haven't seen him since last night before the card game."
Mari asks "He came to the card game too?"
"Rowena was winning in cards and is center of this tragedy..." Darn connects random thoughts giving the girl his arm to hold on it
Zara smiles at Darn being all chivalrous.

Together they all head toward the Docks district.