[Tokilin]

   Ashen looked at Zeeto. "Few amount? You act as though we've taken large losses. No, we're simply spread out is all. We may not have a large amount of people but I assure you in our strength. We've been spread out to root the Lizard Folk, preventing them from grouping up for a large attack on the gate. I'll divide up the men between the gate and three lookouts in the area, we'll spot the horde before it even arrives. Once we have the location, we'll act swiftly and ambush them. It won't be an easy fight, but it'll be our win. Besides, the Lizard Folk are smart enough to attack under the cover of night. They won't be brash enough to do a straight assault." Ashen smiled, his eyes full of confidence. "We hired you to find out about the ships, we can hold off the Lizard Folk, but if our supplies run out we'll eventually be overrun." Ashen dismissed Zen with a gentle wave of his hand and began pointing out locations on the map around the city, the stakeout points most likely.

   The three heroes (Ray in tow) entered the Inn. The proprietress greeted them with a warm smile and motioned for a table with four chairs to be sat at, she then walked into a room behind the counter. When she opened the door a hearty smell exuded from the orifice.  Although the heroes couldn't see the food, it was quite obvious what was on the way. Sitting at the table, the Inn seemed somewhat abandoned. Probably due to lack of travelers from the Lizard Folk attacks.
   It was a simple designed inn, a large rectangular room with a bar-like counter separating the area for staff and consumers with two windows decorating the wall that had the main entrance. Behind the bar you could see stairs that lead upwards into the building that weary travelers would use for a reprieve. In the room there were about 5 tables, including the one our protagonists are sitting at. Two other tables are occupied. At the first table there was a man sitting at the corner most table trembling and muttering words the heroes couldn't make out from the distance. The second table which was closest to one of the windows, had two men and a woman chatting excitably in hushed tones. It seemed as though it would be a bit before the Proprietress came back with the food. She must have been cooking it at the last moment to ensure it's freshness for the heroes. What a thoughtful lady she was.

[furryoldlobster]

Jayne, eagerly awaiting some sort of cooked animal flesh, starts the conversation.  "We need a plan", he starts.  "Tomorrow, we should return to those ships.  I can cause some sort distraction while you two investigate further.  My gut says something off about those captains...but my gut is also very hungry".

[Millarz]

As to the food, the sorceress is disappointed there aren't any boys around she can talk to. A little bit of her charm has gotten her many prime pickings of meat. Oh well. Leila turns her head to the half-orc. "Well said, Jayne," she says, surprised. Who knew the orc had some brains in him? "Personally, I think we should find where the lizards dock their ships, assuming its them who's disrupting the shipments. Perhaps then we can find out more about their goals and such."

[Tokilin]

   The proprietress had returned with plates full of food for the heroes. Walking over to the table, she began to lay a bowl, a plate, and a cup in front of each hero along with matching silverware. Now that she was next to them as opposed to the other side of the room behind a counter, it was easy to view her fully. She was an average woman, not pretty, nor ugly. She had auburn hair done up into two buns on the back up her head. Wearing a simple dress that didn't show much skin, it was green in colour. Her figure was average for a female, a slightly smaller build than the average man.

   She walked back into the kitchen and pulled out two large plates and a huge bowl. Setting them into the middle of the table it was plain to see some beef stew, chicken, and bread. It wasn't as big as a feast, but it was more than enough for the four heroes (Yep, forcing Zen to the table). In the time it took for the platters, the crazy person in the corner of the room had gotten up and worked his way to the door. Shivering and shaking, he looked back across the room eyeballing everyone before throwing open the door and running out.

[Millarz]

Suspicious behavior in a time of war... Could that shivering man be a spy? Leila quickly rises, causing Itzal to be thrown off her shoulder, and runs to the door right after the man leaves. She has no intention of following him; she's not prepared for such an endeavor, but she does want to see the direction in which he's running. As Itzal alights back onto her shoulder, the sorceress's eyes graze the landscape for the peculiar man. A man so bent to get away would be easy to spot, no?

Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 10, total 10[/blockquote]

[furryoldlobster]

Jayne is slightly confused.  He thought Leila was saving that bird for him....

The half-orc peers at the crazy man's path across the room to see if there might be some perpetrator of the man's anxiety. 

Spot Check for Evil Doers
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 7, total 7[/blockquote]

After taking a huge gulp of not-Itzal stew, Jayne walks to the man's table to investigate.

Spot Check Crazy's Table
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 9, total 9[/blockquote]

[Tokilin]

   Jayne sees no sign of provocation, not from anywhere. approaching the table where the man was sitting was a different scene though. On the table there were carvings and scratch marks that seemed to depict a large wooden pole, and a wreckage of some sort. Upon closer inspection, he could see that carvings had blood in them. The man had most likely been using his fingernails to carve into the table.

   Leila looked out the door, the man had hidden behind the Inn with his head peaking out from around the corner watching the door. Upon seeing Leila look out the door he shrieked and retreated down the alleyway. A trashcan echoed as he proceeded to crash into it out of Leila's sight.

[Millarz]

"That man! He was screaming about us. Somehow we scared him away." Leila exclaims as she paces in front of her food. "Zen! You can direct your raven, correct? Let's send our birds after the man so we know where he goes. I don't believe Itzal would know what I was saying if I told him to do so, but I believe he would know to follow your Raven. What do you say?" The sorceress picks up her soup before Zen can reply and eats quick spoonfuls of the soup. Even though she is technically shoveling food into her mouth, somehow she still makes eating soup look proper while standing up no less.

[furryoldlobster]

Jayne is slightly confused on what the depiction might be.  It looks like a waypoint of some sort, but wants a second opinion.  "Leila, take a look at this table!  The feeble man left some sort of message in this table with his own bloodied fingers."

[Tokilin]

   With he sudden increase in noise and movement in a Inn, the other three people at the table seemed displeased. Taking to their feet, they stand up and proceed to walk to the door. All along the way muttering about something just out of ear reach of the heroes. The girl, giggling all the way. They exited the Inn.

[Millarz]

Frustrated at Zen's inattentiveness, Leila places Itzal on his shoulder for when he directs his own bird. The sorceress ignores the party leaving. That girl seemed to Leila like a giddy little air head and she has no patience for those at the moment. It reminds her of her overly trusting, naive, stupid little sister and Leila wants none of that.

She crosses over to Jayne, who seems to have made a discovery. Jayne is a funny one. Leila narrows her eyes, looking him up and down. He's so simple-minded most of the time, but then he says something intelligent and throws that perception of him for a loop. Was he pretending his stupidity? It didn't seem so. Leila cannot read the half-orc. She resolves to just observing him throughout the journey.

The sorceress sees what Jayne is talking about as she nears the table. "What could this be?" she thinks out loud. "Is this some sort of message left here for someone else?" She brings here eyes closer to further inspect the markings.

Sherlock Time!
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 14, total 14[/blockquote]

[furryoldlobster]

"It reminds me of that broken ship we passed..." Jayne accidentally and speaks out-loud, whilst attempting a monologue.

[Zito]

Zen was out of it there for a few minutes, he wasn't sure why. Taking heed to Leila's idea, Zen sends Raban (His Raven) out the door and after the insane man. Hopefully, Raban would find out why the man was so crazy. Before Raban takes off, Zen instructs him to report back before they leave the Inn. Soon after Raban leaves, Itzal takes off after him. After sending out the birds, Zen walks over to the table the others are looking at, and takes a closer look.

Raban Check on the Insane Man?
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

Table Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 19, total 19[/blockquote]

[Tokilin]

   Unfortunately, no matter how hard the characters stare at the plain to see drawing, it remains the same drawing. They'll probably have to use their intuition to figure out what they could mean. With everyone at the table though, it becomes plain to see the drawing.

   A piercing scream was cut short in the distance. The heroes can't seem to recognize anything from the scream other than when it cut short, the perpetrator probably passed onto the world of the dead. Raban and Itzal return shortly after, aware of where the scream came from, but unaware of the cause. It seems they were just short of seeing something useful about the crime, but unfortunately were late to the scene.

   <sub>Sorry Zito, if your rolls had been reversed, maybe you would have found something. Unfortunately, when doing things in real life, most people tend to work to the best of their abilities the first time. So no re-rolls. ;(

   Also, I'm not the best artist, but neither is a crazy guy cutting into wood with his bloodied finger-nail. Make of it what you will, I think it fits my description and brain picture of what it should be.</sub>

[Zito]

Name: Zen Komanu               Bonuses:           Str: -2     Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9                                           Dex: +0     Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18                                                                 Wis: +3    Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12                                              Luk: 16


   "Oh well, you tried friend" Zen says to Raban as he pats the bird's feathers gently to smooth them down. Now turning his attention back to the drawing, Zen says "It looks almost like that shipwreck we found. Why would a crazy man be drawing this on the table?" 

[Zito]

Name: Zen Komanu               Bonuses:           Str: -2     Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9                                           Dex: +0     Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18                                                                 Wis: +3    Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12                                              Luk: 16


  "Well, we've seen these carvings long enough. That scream in the distance sounded interesting, we can come back here later if need be. I think we should go check it out. I know Raban and Itzal know where it is."

[furryoldlobster]

"Is there an echo in here...?", quips Jayne as he attempts to sneak some of Zens and Leila's food on his way outside.  Now where did this coward hide and die...

Five Finger Food Discount
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]

[Tokilin]

   Jayne managed to swipe and pocket some of the not-really-guarded-but-intended-to-take food the proprietress left for them and the heroes left the Inn. It wasn't very far from the Inn, the murder scene. Raban and Itzal, the two loyal feather balls, led the way. Ashen was already on the case, he must have ran fast to get here from the gate and arrive before the heroes.

   The body in question was slumped against a wall in a rather dark alleyway. There were occasional trashcans along the walls, each typically belonging to the building they were set up against. The body was mostly unharmed save for the one dire fact, it was missing it's head. Blood splayed down from the revealed neck covering it's clothes. Looking at the clothes a bit better through the blood, it was easy to tell that this was the crazy man the heroes saw leave the Inn. Ashen seemed enveloped in thought, his brow furrowed. This seemed to be a state that the heroes saw the town's guardian in a lot.

[furryoldlobster]

Seeing Ashen is clearly upset with himself, Jayne believes he has the proper words for the situation.  "You really screwed the pony here, didn't ya.  Do you know this headless torso?"

[Tokilin]

   Ashen's train of thought was snapped, as his eyes popped open wide as he realized he wasn't the only one in the area. "No, never seen him before in my life. My biggest concern is who would kill during such times of strife. If I remember right, he was a drifter coming to town through the gate mumbling stuff about rocks, the false god, sabers, and murder. We removed all the threats such as the weapons he had been carrying at the gate. Despite talking about murder, his weapons showed no wear, nor signs of blood." Ashen looked back at the head-less body. "What could possibly be the reason for beheading someone? Especially in a town as on edge as ours."

[furryoldlobster]

Jayne's gut, now slightly satisfied doesn't trust this Ashen fellow.  Seems mighty off that'd he'd get he at just the wrong time.  Jayne surveys the surroundings, while keeping a keen eye out for anything Ashen might be hiding. 

Environment Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 12, total 12[/blockquote]

Ashen Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]

Jayne does his best to remain coy while asking, "Weren't you at the gate?  How'd you get here so quickly?"

[Millarz]

Leila doesn't pick up on Jayne's suspicion of Ashen initially, but his innocent question causes her to think. How did Ashen get all the way here so quickly? They didn't spend that long at the table. And why did they remove all the weapons from him? This was a city under attack for goodness sake. Anyone could go buy a weapon from the store in town. The guild leader doesn't even show any regret or feeling on the man dying. It is just the fact that the man was killed at this moment that troubles him. Who is Ashen anyways? The sorceress decides not to say anything until the guild leader has answered Jayne's question, but she, like the half-orc, looks around at the scenery and studies Ashen for any peculiar signs.

Spot Check Area
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 9, total 9[/blockquote]

Looking Ashen Up and Down
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/blockquote]

[Tokilin]

   Ashen looked at Jayne and replied. "I ran. I've been in this city since I was eight, I know all the back alleys. I started running as soon as I heard the scream." His answer appeared genuine to both suspicious characters. Ashen knelt down to get a closer look at the body. While he was doing so, the heroes looked around the area. Jayne and Leila at least. For the most part, this was a clean alleyway. The dirtiest part of it was the blood stain on the wall and ground that one would leave when their head goes missing. Didn't seem like there was much to the area to either of them.

[Zito]

Name: Zen Komanu               Bonuses:           Str: -2     Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9                                           Dex: +0     Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18                                                                 Wis: +3    Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12                                              Luk: 16


   "Hey, that's my- nevermind..." Zen says as he sees Jayne take his food. Once they get to the scene, Zen notices the crazy man has really lost his head this time. How ironic... He also notices Ashen investigating the body, and seemingly deep in thought. "Did you see anything? How did you get here so quickly?" Zen asks the Guild Leader. He seems to have gotten there really quickly from the gate.

Lie Check On Anything Ashen Says
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]

[Tokilin]

   "No, I didn't see anything. I got here maybe a few seconds before you guys did." Ashen stood up and faced the companions, done with his looking over the body.

[Millarz]

Leila turned to look at Zen with one eyebrow raised. "Are you blind or just having time travel issues? He just answered that, genius," she sneers. This whole mystery is putting Leila in a really bad mood and she really doesn't care how obnoxious she is at the moment. "Ashen, what else do you know?" she half demands. "You must know something about suspicious activity or bad organizations or shady characters if you know this city so well."

[Tokilin]

   "Well if we knew stuff like that, they'd have been taken care of." Ashen said, a calm look in his eyes. "I may know about this city, but I haven't been on top of all the recent events in the streets. I only knew this man because he entered the city. Not many people have been coming and going with all the lizard folk attacks, I've been stuck at the gate for most of the past two weeks." Ashen put a hand up to his mouth and entered what the heroes would call his 'thinking state'. "You guys focus on the supplies, I'll have to take someone off of the line to work on this one..." Obviously meaning the murder case.

[Millarz]

Frustrated that her questions are yielding no answers, she she huffs, "Fine. Where is there a totem pole around here?"

[Zito]

Name: Zen Komanu               Bonuses:           Str: -2     Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9                                           Dex: +0     Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18                                                                 Wis: +3    Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12                                              Luk: 16


   "A totem pole? What are you on about Leila?" Zen asks. "We need to get on with this assignment. I'm heading to the ships." With that, Zen walks of to the ships.

[furryoldlobster]

Jayne believes several possibilities.  One:  Someone stole this man's face.  Was it to prevent identification?  Possibly.  Did a faceless cult finally discover the secret of smiling requires skin?  Maybe.  The half-orc needs to learn more about this victim.  "His confiscated weapons.  Describe them.  Were they unique in any way?"   

Another thought dawns on Jayne, breaking his former record for thinking.  Maybe taking soldiers off the line is exactly what the perpetrator intends.   "How many men would you pull for this act of heinousness?", he asks Ashen. 

[Tokilin]

   "Totem pole? What do you mean? Ii don't think there is anything like that in the area... and as for the mans weapons, he only had a cutlass." Ashen little slowly, trying his best to sort through his mind in search of any totem pole-like thing in the vicinity. "And as for the number of men, I could probably only spare a single man, maybe two."

   Zen arrived at the boats, the captains were busy shouting orders at the crew, and they were all piled aboard the red ship. The blue captain went to disembark and bumped into Zen as he was arriving. Looking around for the other members of his party, especially those of the feminine kind, he addressed Zen. "Where's the rest of your crew? I believe you had three others accompanying you? We've decided to let the red ship take the plunge."

[Millarz]

In an even more frustrated mood, Leila storms off without another word following Zen's wake. Upon arrival at the docks, the sight of the blue captain instantly sweeps her anger aside as she bats her eyes and giggles girlishly at the sight of him. "Oh, how I'm glad to see you again! Where's your red coat friend?" she asks in a much higher pitch than she used for Ashen.

[Tokilin]

   "He's on the ship just behind me, unfortunately, my lady will be under his care during the journey out to sea. It would be my pleasure to take you out for a drink sometime though." The blue captain gave his best smile at the answer. He did seem slightly disappointed that she'd asked for the red captain right away.

[Millarz]

Leila juts out her upper lip in a pout and breaths out airily, "Oh, pity. I was hoping we could spend some quality time together. A drink afterwards sounds quite lovely. She bats her eyes at the infatuated captain in blue. Men are so simple. Look weak and frail and they'll come crawling to you. It's the one thing both she and Arya had in common, though her sister went with the more innocent approach to it. "Now, you said something about a journey out to sea? Where might that be?"

[furryoldlobster]

Following Leila's direction, Jayne adds a question for the captain.  "There's a shipwreck not far from here.  Do you know anything about it?"

[Tokilin]

   The blue captain could tell she was just being sweet, he knew how harsh most females could be. "You're all headed to the next town over to attempt to arrange supplies. Then you'll come back. It'll be a simple trip hopefully, but unfortunately every time we've tried it, ships have gone missing. The trip itself will take about a day and a half. Also, a shipwreck? It hasn't been reported, was there anything odd about it?  If it's a couple hours out of town surely the crew would have arrived here..." The captain looked a little worried. "The blue ship's crew will take a look, where exactly was it located?" The captain seemed to have a very serious face as the sound of a ship wreck within the area.

[Millarz]

Leila senses a change in attitude as he begins speaking again. He seems to be no longer interested. Pity. She did really want a drink with him. As his attitude becomes more serious, Leila's attitude follows suit. "Ah, that crash. It was located on the way to the Lizard men's old main cave. I'm sure the guild leader, Ashen, could show you where the cave is on a map," she replies.

[Tokilin]

   The blue captain pondered for a second. "I won't bother Ashen with it, he's got his hands full. I'll bring it up to him if upon closer inspection something seems off. There hasn't been a wreckage here in years." The red captain stepped up to the gangplank on the ship's side. "Ah, there you folks are. It'll be a lovely trip, unless we're taken by the Kraken. Perhaps this trip will be the one that works. I'm staking my life on it." The captain chuckled at his morbid humour. Looking at the blue captain, the red captain asked: "What's got you so worried, Edward? I haven't seen you this serious since we were set upon by pirates."

[furryoldlobster]

Hasn't been a crash in years? What of the very real wreck on the way to the caves? Jayne's gut begins acting up again.  The half-orc doesn't trust these two....

Lie check the captain
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/blockquote]

[Tokilin]

   Jayne's check on the captains show that they are both telling the truth.

[furryoldlobster]

These two seem to be truthful enough; orcish acid reflux haunts Jayne on a daily level.  False pretense is only one of the symptoms. 

He still remains uneasy, regardless of any gaseous situations.  The half-orc can't help but think the crazy-feeble-man's second highest dying wish was to investigate the wreckage; a close second to the probable dying wish of 'don't die'. 

"Captains", Jayne starts.  "When and where was the last wreck?  Do you happen to know the cause?"

[Tokilin]

   The blue captain thought for a second. "It was quite a while ago. They used to turn up all over the shore. We don't exactly have the most friendly oceans around here, so we used to get quite a few until we built the lighthouse. It helps a lot considering that Seawell is the only easy outlet to the ocean in these parts. We're positioned to trade easiest with the southern continent." The blue captain seemed satisfied with his answer.

[Zito]

Name: Zen Komanu               Bonuses:           Str: -2     Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9                                           Dex: +0     Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18                                                                 Wis: +3    Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12                                              Luk: 16


   "If there hasn't been a wreck in years, then the one we saw is obviously quite old." Zen states. "What did you mean by Kraken? I thought you didn't know what was taking these ships?"

[Tokilin]

   The red captain chuckled. Obviously the land lubber didn't understand what he meant. "I'd explain it to you, but you wouldn't understand. If we knew what was causing ships to vanish, we wouldn't need to take our ships out. We don't have recollections of any wrecked ship, so that's why we're wondering. You'd think that if a wrecked ship were to come was ashore, someone would've noticed. Or perhaps a survivor would've come to town."

[furryoldlobster]

"Maybe one did", Jayne again unknowingly thinks aloud of the scrawy-wimpy-no-headed-confusing artist.  "Maybe one did..."

[Zito]

Name: Zen Komanu               Bonuses:           Str: -2     Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9                                           Dex: +0     Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18                                                                 Wis: +3    Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12                                              Luk: 16


   "Jayne has a point. It could have been the man who lost his head. He survived whatever was out there and came back. It was so horrible it drove him mad." Zen states, ignoring the Red Captain's obvious provocation.

[Tokilin]

   "There was someone like that in town? Surely someone must've come into contact with him and heard his story before he lost his head." The captain was hesitant on the last part of his sentence. Talking about death was typically a bad omen, especially before heading out to sea. "Well, we're ready if you folks are. Hop on board and we'll shove off, unless you guys have something to take care of before we go."

[Zito]

Name: Zen Komanu               Bonuses:           Str: -2     Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9                                           Dex: +0     Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18                                                                 Wis: +3    Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12                                              Luk: 16


   "Nothing that I know of." with that, Zen walks on board and prepares for the journey.

[furryoldlobster]

Jayne does his best to avoid the seafaring conversation.  "Maybe Ray and I should investigate this wreck that doesn't exist, while Leila and Zen join you out to sea.  We only have so much time to solve this issue anyway".  Jayne has already made up his mind and begins descending back to the dock. 

[Millarz]

No one had noticed Leila and Itzal had slipped away momentarily back to the guild. She went to pack some things for the trip at the start of the conversation on the man who lost his head. It was nothing much: just a change of clothes, a blanket, and a thin silvery chain necklace she had gotten from Arya. It was the only token she had taken from home when she left. Upon returning, she bumps into Jayne who is on his way off the boat. "Hey! Where are you going?" Leila asks.