Caged Dreams
Bodies are written into the dead book in their sleep all around Sigil for the past two months. Even though the Ironbound and the Missing Eye investigative office have been working on the case around the peak, no one knows the Dark of it. How long does this nightmare have to last, before the killer is brought to justice? - the Gazette asks.
Our intrepid adventurers did what most adventurers do once they got back to Sigil after a profitable job - started revelling. They ended up in the Mermaid’s Cove, Irsa’s place of employ, rented out a large apartment on the last floor of the inn and quickly took up the liquor’s on offer, with Zorin leading the charge.
While the young clueless half-orc would be the first guess of any blood to go out and ask questions to the many beings of the Cage, it was actually Milo who was making new acquaintances. Being an artificer, he could not pass up the opportunity to admire and inquire about new and different armour and weapons designs he has seen on others. One could say that Milo’s foot did provide him the luck he needed to offset his rather clunky social skills and not get written in the dead book.
Though the week was hazy, especially on the evenings, this is who they managed to remember:
Alastor Garianis, an apparently dead body, known for leading the Ironbound.
Nezrim, called also “The Angry Gith”, whom Ydwin remembers from Darkfeather monastery. First blade of the Shards of Limbo mercenary company,
Zav, an orcish cambion, owner of the “Missing Eye” investigative office.
There were for sure more bodies, and maybe they are even remembered some of our a, but those three made the biggest impression so far.
Revellry continued until one morning, Irsa, Milo and Zorin woke up next to a dead server who joined them for their night of drinking the evening before. When they went down to find help, they ran into a watcher who was eating breakfast at the Cove and the trio quickly found themselves escorted to the City Court, being accussed of murder. While Irsa knew that the charge would quickly be changed, Zorin and Milo were dumbfounded at first.
The judge who presided over their cases, unbeknownst to them, as is customary, asked the watchers to ask around the Cove if there is anyone who can voucher for the character of the trio in question. Ydwin was relatively quickly found by a patrol on the same day, and summoned to help her colleagues. To gang’s surprise, Ydwin arrived with another golem-like creature. After hearing all the facts, the charges were dropped, as Irsa suspected, and their status changed to suspects. That did have its complications still though.
Apparently, there has been a string of murders has been going on for more than a month now, the Gazette dubbing the responsible “Dream-killer”, with no tangible lead. True, there were leads - every dead body was found with an astral mist clouding their eyes, but that was very little to go on. Both the Watchers and the Ironbound were involved and found nothing, not to mention that the local investigative office came up short - though here the judge suggested it might be case of lack of money for their services.
While they are suspects, a geas will be placed upon them, preventing them from leaving Sigil. The trio could help with the investigation to clear their name and remove the spell. As no one wanted to stay in Sigil for powers know how long until this gets solved, they agreed to have a look at this, but without much enthusiasm, which was more than understandable. The judge informed them that a clerk will be sent to the Cove with all the information that can be shared with bodies outside the Law Houses.
From what could be made out in the court office, the golem-like creature, called Cybil, could have some information about these weird dream deaths, as she has left UnderSigil to find the source of it and stop it from claiming more of her people. Puzzled, most of the group went back to the Cove, while Milo went to see if the Hall of Records could provide some information about the strange deaths, most likely induced by magic. After visiting a lecture in the Civic Festhall - a kind guard informed him that neither of the Halls with have what he needs and directed him there - and inquiring with an elven greybeard, the fey artificer learned that there is any number of arcane ways to accomplish the murders, but what could be ruled out is a simple casting of the dream spell.
The group also stopped at the Darkfeather Monastery per Ydwin’s suggestion, hoping that its leader, Scribe, would know something about curse or other magic that could be responsible. Unfortunately he wasn’t in and the grumpy old man called Ixlam who was watching over the monastery in his absence wasn’t of much help.
Once everyone reconvened at the inn and the judge’s clerk came bearing information, the group found themselves with the following leads, based on who was written into the dead book and when:
Month ago (5th month of 227 Hashkar)
Ironbound recruit (227.5.1)
Low-ranking clerk (227.5.9)
Former Mort (227.5.10)
This month (6th month of 227 Hashkar)
A clueless mage who stayed at the Arcane Emporium (227.6.1)
An apprentice of the greybeard called Vanity(227.6.7)
Merry, a tiefling from the Mermaid’s Cove staff (227.6.10)
They decided to follow up on the former Mort with someone named Crow, who leads the Morts and if that lead does not work out, they’ve heard of “Cursed Cauldron”, a shop in UnderSigil specializing in the stranger and more unpleasant side of magic, which they want to visit to see what they can learn.
Having left the Cove, they noticed, that Cybil is not following them. After quickly coming back to their rented room, the found their new colleague standing still in the middle of the room, not reacting to any stimuli. Puzzled, but not knowing much about how she actually works, they decided to let the barkeep know that she should be not disturbed by the staff during the day and went to the Mortuary.
Irsa’s and Ydwin’s familiarity with Cage made it easy for them to avoid any potential muggings, peddlers of random artifcats or relics and any other surprise the local hustlers from Sigil might throw a newcomers way. Quickly navigating from the Lower Ward to the Mortuary in the Hive. Once they arrived, Zorin and Milo took a moment to admire the strange feat of engineering that was one of Sigil’s most well known buildings. The half-sphere adorned with spikes looked as if it was built upon itself a few times over, and yet still managed to “feel” as if it belong exactly in this place in the multiverse.
Ydwin asked around and learned that “Raven” is actually named “Crow” and the clerks simply cannot tell one bird from another. With that little misunderstanding out of their future way, our group went into the main building and asked to see Raven. Much the their surprise, all they had to do was wait a few minutes, while on of the Morts fetched Raven from deeper within the complex. Less than a quarter later they heard someone coming down the nearby stairs.
The leader of the Morticians turned out to be a Modron-like humanoid, made out of a silvery, albeit dark, metal, etched with raven motifs, inlaid with brass or dark gold. Raven shared what it knew freely and openly, expressing an interest to put this matter to rest as soon as possible. Based on that conversation, the following information was gathered:
The former Mort’s name was Mortimer (puns aside)
He lived around Barmy street as far as Raven knew
He used to a member of the Dusts
He did not have any enemies that Raven or any other Mort would know of
His ways parted with the Morticians because he no longer believed in True Death and as such felt it would be dishonest of him to to stay
The group thanked Raven and decided to go over to Barmy street and see if they can’t find any additional information there. On their way over, Milo was very keen to point out that Raven was clearly a member of the upper echelon of the Modrons, possibly even close to Primus, given its form. While that was clearly interesting to him, the rest just acknowledged it. .
After asking around on Barmy street, they learned that Mortimer lived in a nearby abandoned alley, which as rumour would have it, was inhabited by some undead. Since this was the Hive, it stood to reason that before something gets done by a problem like that, someone higher up would have to notice. Again, this being the part of town that it is, this would not happen any time soon, so, warily, our group made it to the alley.
There, after dispatching a few violent ghosts, and avoiding another few scary looking ethereal undead, a talkative spectral halfling approached them. It turned out that he knew the dead Mort and could share some information about him and point to where he lived in the alley, but he wanted something in return. Namely, to possess either Zorin or Milo for a day so that he could go and enjoy the pleasures of the flesh once more. That, or killing whoever killed him, poisoned to be precise, and as far as he knew that was the cook of the Styx Oarsman. Shortly deliberating the ups and downs of the proposal, they decided not to take Meriadock Tealeaf, as the ghost introduced himself, up on his offer just yet, and go investigate the other leads they had. Maybe paying a visit to the Arcane Emporium or going back to the Missing Eye to learn what Zav and her people learned earlier?
In the end, the group went back to the Cove to rest for a while and then decided to go and see what the Missing Eye was able to find on the case. Having Milo work for Zav did help get the conversation going, but the cambion would part with what her office had on the victims and the case only in exachange for a favour. Nothing that would knowingly put them in harm’s way, but a favour nonetheless.
With a short discussion on the side, the group collectively agreed that they would owe her a faour in return for what she’d managed to collect. Zav, delivered on her end of the bargain and shared her files on the victims and the cases, throwing in her observations and comments as well. She did point out that she was missing two victims in her files - Merry, who died recently and the greybeard’s apprentice, who died a few days before him.
Having compared notes, the group took the files Zav promised them, and decided to go over to the Arcane Emporium and see what information they can find out there.
Missing Eye
Investigative office licence #003
Target information
Name: Remgart
Surname: Hendak
Race: Human
Age: 19
Location: Sigil
Threat: None
Investigation details
Investigator: Zav Eboneye
Start date: 227H / 5 / 01
End date: 227H / 6 / 01
Days: 27
Discount: Yes, full, case dropped
Expenses: Out of pocket
Result of investigation
Remgart Hendark was a new recruit in the Ironbound. No one knew where he came from exactly, but best guess is somewhere from either the gate-towns or another settlement out on the outlands. Young human male, enrolled into the organization two weeks prior to his death. No known associates outside of the Irons and within their ranks not many could say anything about him.
Calm, eager to learn, didn’t smoke, drank less than most. He was quick to catch on, Sigil did not faze him at all, which lends credence to the part about him being from the outlands. Did not have any enemies that anyone knew of.
Supposedly, during one of the few outings he went on with the rest of the new recruits, when drunk, he mentioned that it was a miracle that he was alive. There was some mention of a deal made between his parents or grandparents, and some entity to make sure he is born healthy. Such deals are usually proven by a birthmark, but nothing of the sort was found on the body. Dead end.
Missing Eye
Investigative office licence #003
Target information
Name: Maeve
Surname: Hellvine
Race: Tiefling
Age: 35
Location: Sigil
Threat: Minimal
Investigation details
Investigator: Zav Eboneye
Start date: 227H / 5 / 09
End date: 227H / 6 / 01
Days: 19
Discount: Yes, full, case dropped
Expenses: Out of pocket
Result of investigation
A clerk from the Hall of Records, from one of the lower branches. She had a number of cases open, none of which I could see without an official backing from the Watchers, and even then it would take time.
Talking with the family did not provide much more information, both the husband and wife knew nothing of any enemies, they did ask for a week or two to gather themselves and go through Maeve’s things to see if there would be any indication of someone who might want to hurt her.
Checking up on them after those two weeks, they did move to the Lower as the Clerk’s Ward would no longer be a jink-wise option for them, but apart from that I did not learn much. Maybe there would be something in the cases she handled, as they did remember Maeve talking about some annoyed petitioners, but that was that. Possible lead. Might be worthwhile to look up someone in the Hall, time permitting.
Missing Eye
Investigative office licence #003
Target information
Name: Mortimer
Surname: Gert
Race: Human?
Age: 50-80
Location: Sigil
Threat: None
Investigation details
Investigator: Zav Eboneye
Start date: 227H / 5 / 10
End date: 227H / 6 / 01
Days: 17
Discount: Yes, full, case dropped
Expenses: Out of pocket
Result of investigation
A Dust, made Mort, made local undead caretaker near Barmy street. Mortimer was well liked and respected in the area where he lived, helping the living and the dead alike, giving out what he could or helping around. Most notably, he took care of the local group of ethereal undead and kept them at ease, so that they did not wander too far off and cause damage.
No enemies to speak of, few friends and those with whom I got to talk, did not know of anyone or anything that would want him in the dead-book. Encountered a ghost halfling near the area where he lived, the little rascal wanted to scam me for a free ride, but when I presented him an alternative of being locked in a gem on a hellhound collar for the foreseeable future, he became a bit more cooperative.
Apparently, someone did follow Mort around a few times, but the halfling did not get a good look so could not say who it was, only that the person had horns under a hood. Looking through Mort’s flat did not yield any tangible results either. Dead end.
Missing Eye
Investigative office licence #003
Target information
Name: Ellesar
Surname: Audark
Race: Half-elf
Age: 40-50
Location: Sigil, visited from Toril
Threat: Unknown
Investigation details
Investigator: Zav Eboneye
Start date: 227H / 6 / 01
End date: 227H / 6 / 01
Days: 1
Discount: Yes, full, case dropped
Expenses: Out of pocket
Result of investigation
A conjurer by trade, arrived in Sigil by chance. He was experimenting with an old portal on his home plane and instead of arriving in Skullport, he ended up in the cage. He had some knowledge of where he ended up, so he quickly hired a tout to bring him to a shop which sells magic items or spells, hoping that he would find like minded individuals there.
Snorpu, the proprietor of the Arcane Emporium, had the chance to talk to him for a longer moment and provide him lodging for the night, since not all of the rooms reserved for the Towers were occupied. He did not remember the tout that brought Ellesar in - maybe someone at the Envoys will know something - but the kobold did remark that our clueless was surprisingly to acclimate and start inquiring about the availability of different types of magic in the planes.
Checked with the Envoys, nothing solid, but maybe Faith will know something. Possible lead. Time to cut the losses on this one though, passed on to the Watchers, archived.
Missing Eye
Investigative office licence #003
Dropped investigation summary
Investigation opened 227H / 5 / 01, contracted by the Watchers. Standard contract, case solved in less than a month or no expenses are paid. Case pertains to a strange death of one of the Ironbound recruits. Both groups did not have the time to investigate and since the Irons’ diviner suggested magical influence, we were asked to look into this.
A total of four bodies of interest were identified over the course of a month:
Remgart Hendak
Maeve Hellvine - follow up would be prudent
Mortimer Gert
Ellesar Audark - follow up would be prudent
If this ever gets reopened or when either the Ironbound or Watchers have the resources, I recommend to follow up on the two leads left with Maeve and Ellesar.
From what I’ve heard out on the town, yesterday there was another murder, this time an apprentice of one of the greybeards.
As far as I can tell from the current victims, there is no clear pattern to them and as far as possible connections go, there could be many far-fetched theories and strings to tie together, but without following up on the two open leads and seeing if there isn’t a connection between the latest victim and the previous ones (or the leads), this case will be left dead.
At the Emporium the’ve met Snorpu, the owner of the establishment who runs it, partly on behalf of the Towers Arcane. Being of the academic bend, the gold kobold quickly invited them to his study to further discuss their findings.
Two hours of highly theoretical discussions about the probable motive of the killer, the tools utilized and avenues of inquiry already pursued by the different bodies tackling this problem, a rather simple solution was proposed - why not just ask the dead themselves? In return for a short dissertation on the spell or related effect with which the victims were killed, Snorpu offered our adventurers a candle which will allow to question the dead. Quite versed, or at least claiming to be, in writing such papers, Milo volunteered to deliver the essay once this whole affair is settled. Candle in hand, the group made their way back to the mortuary and Crow.
Once they arrived, they quickly asked around and within the next half an hour were already talking through their plan with the head of the Morts. While sound in principle, Crow informed them that he can allow for a “conversation” with the clueless mage from Toril, as the chances of believer of true death there are low. It explained that some folk around the wheel believe in what the Dusts used to preach - that there is the possible of dying truly, simply ceasing to exist, perhaps never having existed in the first place. The risk of trying to bring someone from the dead to ask them a few questions is too big for Crow to agree to, unless the group gets some sort of proof that the other dead they would like to talk to, were not true death believers.
That being said, Ydwin was able to argue, that since the clueless mage was from one of the “prime” material planes, the chance of being a true death believer is relatively slim and maybe some questions could be asked? Not fully convinced, but then again not being able to fully refute that claims, Raven agreed to ask the wizard’s corpse some questions. While Ellesar was not the most talkative, being bound by rules of the candle’s spell, the insight of the elder mage was useful and helped establish that whatever magic is being used to kill, it comes from long before the blue flames engulfed the planes.
After talking with Ellesar, the group made their way to the address listed for Maeve, hoping to meet her spouses and get their consent to ask questions to her corpse. On their way, they could not shake the feeling that someone was watching them, more than that, Milo and Zorin could swear that someone took a shot at them with a small bolt or dart. Nevertheless, they decided to make their way to the Hellvine household, even if it meant slightly paranoid stares from Milo.
Much to their surprise, things went quite quickly with Maeve’s spouse, though not without a bump. Her husband had no trouble to give his consent, but her wife was not there at the moment, and they weren’t sure if Raven would agree if there was only “half” the consent, so to speak. According to Maeve’s husband, there should be no problem with getting his wife to agree to the questioning, but it would take a couple of days before she is back from Dis.
Leaving for the next stop on their list, Zorin was able to spot the perpetrator who was indeed trying to pick them off in a crowd with a hand crossbow. Quickly, the group made their way after the shooter into one of the nearby alleys. There, chaos ensued. Cybil rushed forward, leaping at the attacker and changing into a giant cat-like creature, Milo, at the same time, tried to stop the figure by firing a glob of sticky webbing engulfing most of the alley and Cybil in mid-air. Seeing how things quickly got difficult, Ydwin and Irsa hurled a few spells from afar and Milo finished the thug off with a couple of magic missiles to the head…before they even got to ask any questions as to why they were being shot at.
Rummaging through the corpse, the group found a couple of mobius strips and an old Mercykillers pendant. Both rather uncommon items for a street thug to have. While they were still on edge after the battle, someone coughed loudly behind them to get their attention. Luckily they were are able to not shoot the poor dwarf in the face after turning around. Thorgrim, as the he introduced himself, was a merchant who was curious enough to follow them once he saw four bodies chase a thug into an alley.
After a short and wary talk it turned out that the dwarf’s trade is information, moreover, he would be able to and willing to help the group for a price. Having considered that, the group mentioned that they might come back to him if they need help locating one of the victims’ closest relatives and generally keep Thorgrim in mind for the future, should they need information.
Shortly after the meeting in the alley, the group made their way to the headquarters of the Ironbound, to ask about Remgart’s beliefs. To be fair, only Milo and Cybil wanted to go and the rest wanted to go rest at the Cove, but seeing the two head out and weighing in the possible implications, the group went as a whole. Along the way, Irsa and Ydwin, tried to explain to Milo that the Ironbound are not exactly the law-abiding, law-upholding group that Milo thinks they are.
Having arrived at the compound, Milo asked to speak to Alastor Garianis, the leader of the Ironbound. Much to his surprise, not so to Irsa’s or Ydwin’s, he was politely denied and belittled a bit by the officer on duty. Having started a ruckus about wanting to speak with someone in charge, the group was greeted by a duergar in spiked plate armour, with a few runes here and there. Our fey was quite frustrated with this turn of events and got into something that could escalate into a full-fledged fight, had Irsa not interevened with a few well-timed turns of phrase and niceties towards, as it turned out, the duergar captain of the Ironbound. Luckily, the fiend-blooded bard was able to turn the whole thing around and agreed that the said captain will at one opint stop by the Cove with what information the Ironbound had to discuss the matter further.
Happily turning a potential failure into limited success, the group made their way back to the Mermaid Cove for some well earned rest. At least, that’s what they’d hoped for goind to sleep. What they woke to was something different though.
A realm of shadows awaited them in which they stood atop something cracking underneath their feet. No matter how hard they tried, the mist covering the ground prevented them from seeing what made the noise, though from what they could tell based on how it fell, it was something relatively spherical and brittle. Then, from an amalgam of gathered shadows she appeared. She introduced herself as Grandmother Nocturne. Admitted to being perplexed by Cybil’s nature, which in turn prevented her usual hauntings upon each and every member of the group separately, she asked if they wouldn’t mind letting her roam free in the Cage. As she would not let Cybil’s folk go from under her spell, everyone agreed to deny her request.
In a fit of rage, she disappeared, seemingly set afalame. Seconds after, shadows emerged from the ground, trying to rend the sleeping adventurers to shreds. Thinking quickly, Cybil and Ydwin summoned flame to her blade and light to her clothes respectively. Seeing that, Zorbin called upon him flametongue sword and with different sources of light in hand or on themselves, they made quick work of the assailants left behind by Granny Nocturne.
Having woken up in the morning, the party made their way to the Courthouse, to indicate the perpetrator of the crimes and potentially clear their names in the whole affair of the dream killer. Along the way, they exchanged observations about last night’s assault - Milo particuallarly noted how the necklace of the supposed shadowy night hag looked like a cork with a Slaad’s head.
The Aarakocra judge was surprised to see the group return so soon, but agreed to hear them out. Once they’ve shared what they were able to establish, followed by the name of the potential actual killer, Granny Nocturne, the court’s wizard was summoned to see if the terms of the geas were fulfilled. To everyones’ surprise, they were. Irsa, Milo and Zorin fulfilled the terms of the spells and were free of the compulsion and suspicion.
They said their goodbyes to the judge, who did mention a potential reward for apprehending the perpetrator, and having stepped out into the streets of Sigil, wondered, was this the end? The hag did imply that she might keep haunting them, and Cybil’s folk were still suffering, was that to be the end of this endeavour?
Not really having a plan on what to do about Granny Nocturne, the group decided to see what happens the next time they go to sleep.
As expected, they were once again pulled into the nightmare landscape of the hag’s making. What was not expected, was the fact that she was much more diplomatic than the last time. She proposed a deal for Cybil - her people would be left alone, if in turn she would stop looking into the matter of the deaths.
Having talked it over with the rest of her companions, Cybil decided to put the wellbeing of her colony over that of the potential victims. Milo and the rest decided to ambiguously state that their group will not interfere with Nocturne’s plan, as they do not have any way of protecting themselves from her hauntings.
That said, in the morning, they starting thinking over breakfast how could they actually throw a wrench in the hags’ plans. When they noticed Nezrim coming in to grab a bite to eat, they asked to pick his brain over the whole problem. Comparing what they knew about night hags, there was one thing working in their favour - she could only haunt them if they remain in Sigil. Looking for a pattern in the killings, there were always three a month, and the last one was always on the 10th. Going out on a limb, they decided to risk and simply leave for a small trek on the Outlands for a week or so, to let the Watch follow up with the hag, since they now had her name. Granny Nocturne should not be able to reach them there, the chances for a killing were slim as they would deviate from the pattern. Hells, sometimes you just have to roll the dice whilst camping near Tir Na Og…