Episode II: Murder in Oakbridge - Act II

Scene I - 17th of Lharvion 998 YK
"The Three-Fingered Maniac" (continued)

The battle with Lucian Cruzgar was a hazardous one for the three investigators. He opened up hostilities by throwing a flash pellet in their midst, temporarily blinding both Gerard and Morgan. He retreated towards his room, with only Esan capable of pursuing for the moment. Lucian nearly killed Esan during the brief melee that ensued, unleashing a flurry of deadly steel that would have sliced the elan to ribbons had he not instilled some of his latent mental energy into his corporeal body at the last moment. Fortunately, at this point Gerard and Morgan caught up. Esan attempted without success to stun Lucian with a freezing burst of psychic power, while Gerard closed the melee gap once again. Lucian dealt serious damage to the Silver Flame priest, and Gerard was forced to withdraw and heal himself. Morgan turned the tide of battle by blinding their deranged foe, but Lucian eluded them for a few seconds by jumping out the window to a bridge over a hundred feet below. Esan followed, landing silently in front of his now-sightless opponent and sneaking around behind him while Morgan and Gerard landed more noisily in the other direction, drawing Lucian's attention.

Morgan proceeded to talk Lucian down through a strange combination of gentle coercion and brute intimidation. It worked somewhat. He showed them that he had no tattoo on his upper chest, and after they told him why he was a suspect to begin with, he agreed to follow them to the Bluebird Inn so they could measure his hand up against the bloody print on Drummer's door. He kept his weapons, though. Esan used the diversion to sneak back to Lucian's studio and investigate for further evidence - he found little of interest there. When Morgan and Gerard took Lucian back to the Bluebird Inn, they found the Sharn Watch already there. Gerard flashed his badge and they were all allowed back to the crime scene, where Lucian's hand was compared against the killer's print. They did not match at all.

They left the Bluebird Inn with Lucian to go to Oakbridge Church, where Loffer could cure Lucian's otherwise permanent blindness, but they left a message for Esan with one of the Watchmen, so he could catch up with them at the church. At the church, Loffer removed Lucian's blindness. While this was going on, Esan returned to the Inn and got the message, but he also discovered that the Watch had called in a more experienced inquisitor to handle the murder investigation; Victor Saint-Demain was on his way to Oakbridge. Esan went to the church and relayed all he had discovered to his companions. They spoke with Lucian a while longer, and he offered his opinion that this was all a plot by the Order of the Emerald Claw, which had supposedly been trying to assassinate him for years. They confirmed that he did not know any of the victims before letting him go home.

Scene II
"Back to the Crime Scenes"

The investigators returned to Borgo's apartment, where they hoped to find some more clues. They looked through his journal and discovered some references to his time with Drummer in something called the 'Peace Circus'. They removed Borgo's body from the apartment, intent on having Loffer speak with him. Borgo didn't have much to say, so they spoke with Sarfina about the Peace Circus. She knew quite a bit more; she said that the Peace Circus had been a group of performers that made an annual circuit around rural Breland, raising the spirits of war-weary souls wherever they could. Borgo and Drummer had been in it, as well as Corlina the dancer and her husband Roctor. Volin, a local bard, had trained wild animals to perform tricks for the crowds, while Svans ir'Kilmansor ran the operation.

Sarfina mentioned that a terrible accident resulting in the death of an infant had ended the Peace Circus' run about two years ago. She wasn't sure of the specifics, so they decided to pay the Sharn Inquisitive offices a visit. Gerard managed to get access to the Inquisitive's archives by flashing his badge and dropping some names, and they uncovered an article dating back to Aryth 11, 996 YK (the day the Thronehold Treaty was signed). It was a brief report from Nowhere, the last place where the Peace Circus ever performed. It explained how a pair of 'tamed' deinonychus' had suddenly went crazy, tearing into the crowd before their trainer could stop them. The Peace Circus staff acted quickly and brought the crazed dinosaurs down, but a changeling child was torn to shreds before they got there. The child's mother was also horribly maimed, but she didn't even stick around to give a name. The investigators were satisfied that they were finally getting somewhere, but the real difficulty of the situation was now apparent - how were they going to track down a changeling if they didn't even know her name?

Scene II
"A Sordid Love Affair"

Before interviewing the three ex-carnies who they believed were the last victims in this murder spree, the investigators returned to Loffer's church and had the priest cast speak with dead on Borgo's body. A bit of clever questioning revealed that Corlina might in fact be having an affair with Volin. They left the church for Corlina and Roctor's home. Both were available for questioning. Corlina became uncomfortable during the interview any time Volin was mentioned, though her husband seemed oblivious. They were both forthcoming with most information, and Roctor even provided them with an address book of some other ex-members of the Circus in greater Breland, though he said he hadn't really kept up with anyone for a while. They told the couple that they ought to be careful, because they were both potential victims in the very near future. Before they left, Morgan asked Corlina to accompany them to Volin's house, since they did not know where in the neighborhood it was. She agreed, and they left the Herfast residence.
Morgan wasted no time telling Corlina not to be coy - they knew about her affair with Volin. She tried to make excused, but they weren't really interested in any of it; that was not within the scope of their investigation, after all.

When they arrived at his house, they spoke with Volin about the issues at hand. He took responsibility for the death of the changeling child - the two dinosaurs in his care had been deteriorating for some time, but other things had kept him distracted enough that he didn't notice until it was too late. When pressed about these other things, he remained elusive in front of Corlina. Gerard separated the two of them, and Volin admitted that his affair with Corlina had been his primary focus for the months leading up to the accident. He believed that, had it not been for that, the child would never have been killed and the Peace Circus might even now be making its annual circuits. He was not very happy with this emotional burden, but he was also angry that the changeling mother who was now trying to kill them hadn't thought of a more reasonable way to vent her own grief.

Scene III - 18th of Lharvion
"Murder Four"

That evening, the companions decided to keep watch over Volin's house from Borgo's apartment across the street, for they believed he was the most likely victim to be targeted next. They took watches, and slept in the deceased dwarf's home on one of the balmiest nights of the year. Two hours before midnight, Esan was on watch, and he saw Corlina coming down the street. She was wearing her dancer's attire, so they thought she was most likely coming from her evening work at the Bluebird Inn. She entered Volin's house, and stayed there for about two hours. At midnight, she left, presumably to go home. Esan decided to trail her there, both to protect her and to make sure she wasn't up to anything. Morgan sent his Corvus with him. When the murderer is a changeling, one can never be too careful...

Nothing impeded Corlina's path to her house, and she didn't see any sign of her extra shadow. When she arrived at her house, she went inside. Esan decided to wait a little while outside, but he didn't have to wait long, because she came running out screaming seconds later. He revealed his presence to her and stopped her from running off. She calmed down long enough to tell Esan that she had found Roctor dead in a pool of his own blood. Esan told her to wait outside while he checked the house. He searched quickly, but could not find the killer inside. Before investigating further, he decided to take Corlina to a safe place. He send Corvus back to Morgan with a summons to the Bluebird Inn, where Esan would leave Corlina in Graff and Sarfina's care overnight.

The three investigators returned to the Herfast residence and scoured it for clues. They discovered that Roctar had been stabbed twice, once in the back and once through the throat. There were a few strands of hair in Roctor's clenched fist, and when Morgan examined them he saw that they changed color slowly. Roctor must have not gone down without a fight. They removed him to Loffer's church, where he could be spoken with in the morning. They continued watching Volin's residence for the rest of the night.

At dawn, they moved Volin to the Bluebird Inn with Corlina. They asked Victor Saint-Demain, who was also staying there, to watch over the two of them while they rooted out the killer. He agreed, and said that he would keep them both in a public place, since the murderer liked to catch her victims alone.

At around noon, they returned to Loffer's Church and spoke with Roctor. He confirmed what they already knew - the changeling mother was responsible for the murders, and the hair they now possessed had belonged to her. They decided to visit the Cronix Arcanary nearby to see if the local wizard had a method of scrying on the murderer; they found that ir’Cronix didn’t have a scroll handy, but he believed he could acquire one that day if they were willing to wait.

Early that evening, ir’Cronix returned with the scroll and began the hour-long process of preparation required to cast the powerful divination. He used the changeling’s hair as a focus to increase the chances of success…

After the hour had passed, ir’Cronix’ eyes went bright as he stared into the foggy mirror. A few minutes later, he came to, looking a bit flush. “She’s at the Bluebird Inn…serving that Saint-Demain and the dancer their dinner…”

They left the Arcanary at a run.