Black Watch Chronicles: Nightmare Murders

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The first in a series of adventures involving the Black Watch.
Scribe Notes: Session – Summer 806

GM: Ben Taberner
Night: Tuesday night
Level: Medium.
Title:Black Watch: The Nightmare Murders.

Party
Pennlucien - Scribe/ Republican, Healer, Namer, Fighter, Ranger
Aryan - Military Scientist/ Human, Fighter
Father Broc - Elf, Rune Mage, Philosopher, Fights, Talks too much
Faith - Elf, E&E, Diplomat, Philosopher

Dramus (GM Info), A Fae Prince and Necromancer played by Mandos

Shemin-ah - Human, Ice Mage, Healer, Ranger
Employer
Seagate Guards
Mission
Solve the murders of 4 Seagate children.
Pay
Justice!

Scribe Notes

Day 1 - The 10th of Meadow

This being the true and accurate representation as dictated to me by my Master Lord Dramus. Where he has not supplied information I have sought information from other parties involved and included their dictations as presented. - Tobias Pendleton (Scribe)

The group listed above were summoned to the Watch house in order to assist with something known as a 'Blackwatch' Operation for the Duke. My master described such operations as 'work the watch are too lazy or imcompetant to do themselves and so turn to the guild to save them from embarrasment'.

The Surgery

My Master and companions did head to the Dr's Surgery to the scene of recent ill occourances to investigate the body of the recently deseasced. Upon arriving they did qyuestion the Dr in regards to the events of the previous evening wherepon the Dr did say he and his assistant had been acctacked by the deceased and were saved by his quickthinking apprentice who did table a motion to cease and desist that the body could not resist.

The invesigations continued apace with my masters companions 'doing various investigation stuff' while my master entered into discourse on the look of the creature with the good Dr. During this time a spirit is reported to have emeged from the body in a most unnatural fashion and harm the good folk investigating the scene of the abomination.

The spirit was quickly smote and returned to it's place of rest and the Dr was advised to vacate the premesis and is currently residing within my masters Townhouse and assisting me with the details of these strange events.

Prospect Rise New Seagate

Concluding the investigation of the surgery the invesgigators did seek out the residence of the boy after sending the body itself to the guild for a 'divination'. Upon arrival at the resdence the group were admitted to the upper floor where the body was discovered. With Miss Penni calming the parents and speaking with the younger brother of the deseaced the discovery of clues contined apace. Found within the rooms were magics of a most horrible nature requiring so it appears blood and resulting in the death of a young boy. I have been left transcriptions of what was found which I include below along with details returned from the guild.

During this time my master returned to the Surgery to attempt to 'ask the damn dead what the hell is going on'. The results of which I am having some trouble extracting from him. I have spoken briefly with Master Broc who informs me that my master is somewhat perturbed by issues that occoured as a result of the magics and was possible possesed. ( I hope this is not a regular occourance although it is the first such event since I took up employ. )

Old Seagate

A trip was taken into Old Seagate to investigate the origins of a skipping rhyme Miss Faith had elicited from small children living near the deceased. The rhyme appeared to be connected in someway with the murder. Miss Faith spoke with more children, being close to their stature she mingles well I am told. It was found that there was much fear engendered by the rhyme amongst the childen of Old Seagate a fear that had only just begun to perculate amongst the children of New Seagate.

This is when Dramus told us he thought he had been posessed when he did his spirit talking so we hypnotised him with a spoon and he went all posessed and drew and wrote lots of stuff on the parchment we stuck in front of him and then stopped and said "That didn't work".

You see he didn't realise that it had worked, Penni his the drawings before he could see them just in case the spirit was still watching and then I tried to work out some meaning from them while the others were ritualling and stuff but I only got some words that didn't make much sense.

Oh, don't tell Dramus about the drawings he still doesn't know and we don't know if the spirit is still there and if it's bad or good. That is what we are going to the surgery for. To try and trap the spirit and ask it some questions. But if it goes badly Broc could steal Dramus spirit again and the bad spirit might steal his body but that is what I am there for. To take out bad Dramus if I need to but not kill him if we can avoid it.

It was deemed at this point a return to the surgery for further magical investigations was in order.

It is at this point my master became a little vague on details, it appears that an attempt to summon the killer was unsuccessful and during the attempt another child was killed in Old Seagate. My master appears somewhat distraught by this.

Day 2 - The 11th of Meadow

The Abbatoir

To regain the initiative the group went to the abbatoir to seek out a place with old blood and filth, my Master reports that plenty of both were located at the Abbatoir.

Upon arrival Master Broc did have a feeling of foreboding that led him to the Abbatoir. There the group did meet and defeat Mr Little and his companions.

Day 3 - The 12th of Meadow

The body of the killer is made to look slightly alive as he is dragged to the headsmans block outside the gates of Old Seagate, the (corpse of the) foul killer is beheaded in front of a cheering crowd.

Justice is not just done, but seen to be done!

The Murders

1. The Boy In The Attic

When
5th Seedtime 805 wk
Name
Oscar Leiets (?), 9 years
Family
Apprentice scrivener to Master Ritter.
Location
Found by his own cot in the attic. 45 Sereph Way (off Griffins Lane) Old Seagate
Cause of Death
Eviscerated by a jagged knife, cut from gut to chest.

2. The Boy In The Alley

When
22nd Blossom 805 wk
Name
Bobby Smith, 8-ish years.
Family
Orphan working for the smith. Lived Swifts Smithy, cnr Flasher & Kipper St Old Seagate
Location
Found in Ash alley in the early morning (3am?) by Copper Watch. Piece of lace near the body
Cause of Death
Eviscerated by a jagged knife, cut from gut to chest.

3. The Boy In His Backyard

When
5th Meadow 806 wk
Name
Louis Shenkley, 10 years.
Family
Working child of a labourer's family
Location
Found on the back steps of his home in Shovel Lane Old Seagate
Cause of Death
Eviscerated by a jagged knife, cut from gut to chest.

4. The Boy In His Room

When
Th'rsday 10th Meadow 806 wk approx 3am
Name
Thomas, Age 8.
Family
Mother; Father; Brother - Allan, Age 5.
Location
Body found in his room, Prospect Rise New Seagate. Investigation indicates he was killed elsewhere and then placed into his room while still bleeding.
Cause of Death
Eviscerated by a jagged knife, cut from gut to chest.

Attempted resurrection resulted in the appearance of a frightening spirit that attacked the Healer.

Later Divination by Penni and Broc resulted in the appearance of the same spirit which attacked them but was identified as a Nightmare before being dispatched.

A gold coin with some magic on it was found in the body.

REMINDER: Never leave Aryan to watch over you alone when you are divinating. He'll watch the evil dark shape rise from the corpse you are concentrating on, allow it to form into a solid shape/state with claws/weapons and then allow it to hit you at least once before acting
He complains when I interrupt his rituals and then complains when I don't interrupt him when the thing we're trying to find out about appears just as he is about to finish. It was only some sort of Illusionist Nightmare, not a real danger. What can you expect from an Elf who abandons his children in the woods.
I never left 'my children alone in the woods'! We had an estate and lived there for nigh on 500 years and we had a number of retainers as well as the other children and my wife. I had to travel to undertake work and provide additional income for my family as well as undertaking tasks asked of me by Gabriel. All my children were well looked after, care for and educated in whatever professions they chose to pursue. None have ever evidenced any appearance of neglect for the period I was away from the estate - in fact I often took several of them when they were younger as long as the journey wasn't going to be one of hardship or danger

5. The Boy with the Scrivenour Connection

When
Th'rsday 10th Meadow 806 wk About 10pm
Name
Family
Mother and older Brother.
Location
Found in his room Old Seagate
Cause of Death
Eviscerated by a jagged knife, cut from gut to chest.

A student of the Scrivenour. A feeling of nostalgia in the room from the time of the killing.

Divinations

Results – Thomas' Room

The section of room by the pool of blood has had one magical effect present in the recent past. A Special Knowledge Illusionist spell called "Nightmare Door" was cast upon the wall beside the bed, three entities entered it (left via the door), one entity exited it (arrived) and the spell was disconnected from the remote end. The spell was cast and dispelled within the past 12 hours and actual order of entrances and exits isn't given. There is no magical component to the blood or the floor beneath it.

Further physical examination of the wall shows three long scratches in the crude shape of a door, the "doorpost" lines extending almost up to the 7' ceiling and the door being about 4 ½ foot wide. A rough section of wood has collected a fragment of dried blood, much darker and older than the pool on the floor.

Results – Alan's Room

The area with the magical aura is under the effect of a Special Knowledge Illusionist spell called "Nightmare Door" which was cast about 12 hours ago and one entity exited (arrived through the door). The spell is still in effect and may be re-opened from the remote end (or this end using a trigger set by the caster) but is not currently open. The spell is also hiding the wall it's been cast on with an innocuous image (more wall). The location, direction, etc of the far end is not available to a normal Divination, but it is within 10 miles and the duration left on the spell is 35 minutes at the end of the Divination ritual.

Further physical examination reveals a speckling of white powder on the floor in front of the part of the wall covered by the door.

This white powder is Alan's chalk from where he drew a door on his wall and chanted and wished his brother dead.

Results - Gold Coin

Guild Ancient Divination report – Austin Reedstaff, Namer

Item: A gold schilling presented to Guild Security in connection with several murders in Old and New Seagate.

Physical Description: A normal Gold Schilling as would be found minted throughout Baronies. The coin arrived covered in blood and other (DA'd as) human remains and this has been left intact as it may be germane to the investigation.

Notes: Initial DA's show the coin to Magical and the nature of the magic appears to be part of the forging or creation of the coin. Further DA's revealed that both themagic, and the metal that makes up the coin are only approximately three years old, whereas the enquiry regarding the length of time since the metal was molten returned 11 years. The coin is not trapped, warded, or cursed, but appears to be mildly prophetic but not in any form we are able to determine.

Results: The coin is not real. The magic used to create the coin is not of any College and holds the nature "Symmetrical Reality Divergence". The coin was only a tiny fragment of the effect that it was created with. Because of the confused information from the DA's it appears that magic is still in effect but only in relation to the coin itself, and it may exist in a bubble of it's own residual reality. The coin is and of itself is quite inert and merely possesses the qualities that an ordinary coin might. It appears to be nothing more than very elaborately faked, probably created as part of a larger mass of coinage. Very durable for an example of "faerie gold" and is not dispelled by the touch of cold iron, biting, Counterspells, or placing on the head of white cat. I hadn't heard about the last one either, but attempting to re-forge the coin may release the magic.

The blood and remains are not magical and appear to be external to the Reality thingy. They are from a Human and have been separated from a living aura for since about midnight this morning.

Addendum: The coin was cleaned in order to be returned with this report and the markings immediately drew attention. The obverse has, along with an unfamiliar bust, the year "Wk815" and the words "Long Reign Duke Alexei", and the reverse have the familiar cost of arms and motto of Carzala "Nos advenio primoris". It also appears to have endured several years of hard use and at least one attempt at shaving.

Further addendum: "Symmetrical Reality Divergence" wasn't my idea, but Auldolphus suggested it sounded better than "Consequence of a Big Planar Domestic Dispute" which is a less flowery interpretation. But Auldophus came up with thing about the white cat. Anyway, let us know how this one turns out.

I hereby submit that this Divination report is an accurate description of the ritual

conducted this day, the Tenth of Meadow, Wk806.


Hypnotism to recover Dramus' reading

Sorry, the silver teaspoon I used was a bit grubby. This may have made more fish and less butterflies.

Aryan applied his textual analysis skill and separated the marks into definitely fish, definitely butterflys, and probably words. And maybe punctuation.


Key: # = fish and or butterflys


eht candleS fLicker, two #####, ## cAndles gUtter, ### ####
#### ## ########, #### esoprup, lost ## ######, #### ######### #######
# little #####, #### # ####, liGHTs # lantERn, ####nuf on ####
#### boy's #####, hgour ### ######, ######## #### ####, ## ###### Humble
bright ####### slived, shadOws #########, ## ###### #######, ####### ######## 
detinUer, #Souls ############, undividEd, # #### ########


The letters, words, or maybe words that stand out have been partially capitilised or emphasised by being scribbled over repeatedly and some have even been returned to after they would have been missed while changling quills and refreshing the ink during the hypnotism. Dramus doesn't recall the same emphasis in the original.

Suspect Profile

  • Uses magic, illusions and some form of door shaped portal
  • Five to six feet tall
  • Targets children
  • Uses a jagged knife, probably magical
  • Leaves tracks, had walked through an abbatoir, sewer, dump, or similar.

Calendar

Spring: Seedtime (11) 805 wk
  Moonday Duesday W'ansday Th'rsday Frysday Reapsday Sunday
Full Moon 5 1st Murder 6 7 8 Rites of Thunor 9 10 11
Waning 12 13 14 15 Equinox 16 17 Eostre 18
New Moon 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Waxing 26 27 28 29 30 1 2
Spring: Blossom (12) 805 wk
  Moonday Duesday W'ansday Th'rsday Frysday Reapsday Sunday
Full Moon 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Waning 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
New Moon 17 18 19 20 21 Floralia
22 2nd Murder 23
Waxing 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Walpurgisnacht
Summer: Meadow (1) 806 wk
  Moonday Duesday W'ansday Th'rsday Frysday Reapsday Sunday
Full Moon Beltane 1 Guild Meeting 2 3 4 5 White Lotus
3rd Murder
6
Waning 7   8   9   10 4th Murder
Investigation begins.
5th Murder
11 Killer Captured. 12 Ritter is Executed. 13