WhiteWall - View Source: One too many

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This is a short scenario which involves piecing together various clues which identify a murderer and possibly foil an attempt from the Lunars to enter through a forgotten overflow from the vast cisterns which supply the city with fresh  water.
Please bare in mind I run RQ and this is written with that in mind. However gamespeak is minimal.

!In the beginning...

The PC's, after an attack on one of the gates, are assigned to a burial detail. Due to lack of materials to hold the traditional Orlanthi funeral rites the 'ordinary' clansmen are interned into the care of Ty Tora Tek and covered with a cairn of stones. The plan is to honor the dead with pyres made with rune carved logs when the Lunars have been driven off. The PC's are given instructions to dig a cut in the limestone bedrock long enough to hold a dozen men. After a good few hours of hard back breaking work the group finish.They relax, drinking small ale when the handcart carrying the dead arrives being escorted by the Thane who instructed them to make the cut. After the pleasantries the Thane orders the PC's to start putting the dead to rest.

With solemn chanting and prayers for the dead the PC's work. Some faces they recogise, they only enjoyed a mug of ale the other night together looking forward to fighting the Lunars in battle. It is during the lying out of the fallen when the Thane starts to berate the PC's "You fools! Are you Leadheaded? You were told to dig a cut for twelve, you've cut it too small!" Sure enough there are a couple of bodies left; the cut is too narrow. In fact there are thirteen bodies not twelve which a successful *scan* followed by an *int* check if no one physically counts them points out. A secret murder!


!The Victim

This is the next thing to determine, which is the odd one out. Again a *scan* followed by *first aid* checks shows that one of the bodies has no obvious wounds or *scan* and *human lore* picks out a man who is well past his prime and would not have been in the fore front of any battle.
Once the correct body is identified it is removed to the Healers Hall for examination. Here the man is identified as Olaf Petersson head of the Petersson family who reside in the Whiteledge District of Whitewall.
Stripping the body of clothing the cause of death is obvious. A deep furrow around the throat indicates that a ligature was used to garrotte Olaf. Thantari in Whitewall? Personal effects consists off cheap clothing, a small bronze knife and a pouch holding a few coins.
The Healers state that Olaf was a garrulous old man who was helping out at the Hall after the battle. They know he lived in Whiteledge and ask the PC's to go to the family to break the bad news whilst they clean and prepare the body. No one knows or has an idea how the body came to be in the burial detail.

!The Family Longhouse

The family home is of traditional Orlanthi design made up of limestone walls with wooden roof supports covered in thatch. Several children play outside whilst two women cook in a seperate kitchen.
Give the PC's a chance to try to *orate* in order to break the news gently, failure results in much wailing and tears. Rognavald, Olaf's younger brother, openly blames Tryggvi Gunnarson for the death stating that Olaf and Tryggvi had an argument in the Guesthall the other day which nearly came to blows. Tryggvi accused Olaf of theft. Rognarvald doesn't know the details but can give directions to Tryggvi's longhouse.
If the PC's check Olaf's goods chest (*fast-talk* to get permission) they turn up nothing but clothing (special *evaluate* shows one set are above Olaf's station) an old sword, some fishing gear and other personal nik-naks. There is no cloak clasp. If asked about the fishing gear Rognarvald laughs that his brother would waste his time down in the cisterns trying to catch "The Worm". If the PC's want to know more they should speak to Heluer Tarkosdotter the head of The Cisterns of Mercy.


!Tryggvi Gunnarson

When tracked down either at his home or at a Guesthouse, Tryggvi seems genuinely shocked to hear of Olaf's murder doubly so if he is accused of playing a roll in it. His story is simple "Yes I accused him of theft. He was wearing a silver cloak clasp in the shape of a hare which I thought belonged to my friend Magnus (husband of head of cisterns of mercy) who has one very similar. Olaf claimed he found it along with a bundle of clothes he found one day whilst fishing at the cistern. But who would leave something like that lying around? So I went to Magnus' home and asked if his cloak clasp was safe, to which he replied it was. More likely Rognarvald killed his own brother, after all he's head of the family now."
Tryggvi knows little else except what is common knowledge. If asked he was not shown the clasp by Magnus.


!Heluer Tarkosdotter's Longhouse

The PC's are greeted by Magnus who expects that they have come to see his wife regarding matters of the cistern.
Heluer remembers Olaf well; that he spent many hours fishing the cisterns for the "Worm of Whitewall", which she believes is a myth. Yes there was a time eels were kept in the cisterns for food but people went of the idea and it was stopped. She states that Olaf believed that Dero lived in the cisterns. If questioned about this word she tells the PC's that they are underground sprites which endanger peoplein the tunnels within the Tor by collapsing tunnels, breaking lanterns etc. She knows nothing of the murder but is a wealth of information regarding the cisterns and the upper tunnels.
Magnus is in fact a Lunar sleeper, who has been in Whitewall for some twenty years and is her second husband and several years younger than his wife. He has over the years been responsible for intelligence gathering in the area and the assassination of several anti-Lunar Sartarites. He found out about the overflows from the cistern by accident from his wife and has been using them as a secret means of entry and exit since. He does this by swimming to the overflows with *Skin of Life* on his person and then *Flying* out. He normally changes out of his clothes (it was this bundle Olaf found) and changes into armour once he gets to the overflows. More recently the Lunars have built wooden platforms which are floating in the cisterns and tied off by one of the overflows. It was the sound of these platforms being built etc that Olaf heard. If asked about the cloak clasp Magnus states that Rognavald was wrong about the theft and that he has the clasp. If asked he goes and fetches it from a trunk and shows it to the PC's. It's a simple silver cloak clasp in the shape of a hare running (*Evaluate* check shows it's worth 50L). Not worth killing for. If an attempt to *Detect Magic* is made it shows up as such and Magnus expresses his thanks and (faked) surprise. It's a sorcerous matrix for *Enhance App* which Magnus uses to get around Whitewall unrecognised.


!The Cisterns

The PC's probably will wish to check out the cistern, most likely where Olaf fished. Not much will be found except with a special *listen* when a faint knocking can be heard (wooden platform knocking cave wall?) or a special *scan* will turn up a piece of worked wood floating on the dark waters. A critical *scan* will pick up ripples coming from beyond the dark.


!The next steps

Accusations of wrong-doings had better have some substance to them or they may start a feud. The best thing to do would be to head out over the waters to find the Lunar intruders. Magnus' involvement in the murder may go unsolved or a captured soldier may give him away. If the PC's don't make any headway then Magnus starts bringing in Lunar soldiers disguised as Orlanthi. These should blend in, as there are many new comers to Whitewall and will start causing trouble. If they got close to Magnus the PC's may well find themselves victims off accidents and ill rumour...

Steve<drfegg>