Plushie Factory

The factory where all the plushies are coming from has been found! Out west along the beach to the inner sea several miles away from Alexandria. The trip out there is a quiet one, and the factory comes into view. The building itself is much like a large warehouse. outside of it are several small houses where workers clearly live, along with some smaller warehouses. From the distance you can see activity as people move about. Seems they have gotten a recent shipment of cotton that they are storing into a couple of silos. You paged Minerva with 'Hmm could just be following up on rumor, out of curiosity!'

Lucy buckles on her sword belt and tugs at a pair of fingerless fencing gloves to make sure they're snug on her hands. "We have to be careful," she cautions. "Sometimes people aren't in control of their own actions - or they don't know what their work is really being used for. There could be innocents among the workers." She hesitates and then adds, "I'm also looking for a mint condition Serene the Great Paladin," she admits. "It's the only one missing from my collection."

Yelrona looks around to the group. "I wasn't really thinking we'd attack the factory. That said, I see three options here... we can sneak our way in and look around, we can walk up to the front door and ask to look around, or we can bluff our way in with some kind of story to look around. Anybody got a fourth?"

Vaalyun, with his shield slung over his back and the blue rose of Althea on his breastplate and robes, looks at Yelrona, suggesting, "Or we kick the door down and look around, but I agree, that's a less than ideal option. As for stealth... Well, I'm about as sneaky as a cavalry charge at noon. Diplomacy or deception would be the best options, unless you just want me to wait for the screaming to start and then rush in."

Walking along quietly, the blue-scaled Sith'makar quietly says, in surprisingly clear Trade-Speech, "I'll be fine with following the lead of those with more experience, although I prefer to keep violence to those affairs that absolutely require it. They do exist, however. Regrettably."

The village and factory further down the beach continue to have people work. Looks like they are about halfway done putting cotton into storage. Nobody over there seems to have noticed you yet, or if they have are not interested.

"In my experience, once the screaming has started, it's usually too late to rush in. And splitting the party is a BAD idea, which seems to rule out a stealthy approach. So I vote for walking up to the front door and seeing what happens," Rona proposes, trusting to Tarien's Luck.

Ga'Elian says, "I could sneak ahead and take a closer, but it seems like... a warehouse and factory. Now if it's anything like the Golden Cookie bakery, it won't be outside that anything odd will show up."

Minerva looks around the area, and remarks, "There does not seem to be a way to look onto the roof. I agree that banding together is best, although I could swim out and take a look from the water. It's hardly a disguise to call ourselves concerned citizens, no? Maybe dazzle them with out obviousness."

"Well...there's stealthy and then there's sneaky," Lucy remarks. "Maybe we can still be sneaky. We could...we could pretend to be here for some completely inconspicuous reason." She looks around at the others. "Does anybody have any ideas?"

"An inconspicuous reason that a party of adventurers wind up at the door?" Vaalyun says, and then grins, "We're here to model for our new plushies! Or to complete the entire set?" He shrugs, and says, "If you want to brazen it, Inquisitor, we'll back your play."

Yelrona shrugs. "We could be looking for work. We could be looking for our cousin Lance, who disappeared yesterday while travelling in this direction. We could represent a business interest in Alexandria looking to corner the plushie market," she rattles off, counting on her fingers. "Or a million other things. Hard to know what would work better than the truth."

"...but, yeah, I say we brazen it."

Ga'Elian says, "They already make a plushie of me."

Thinking a little, and listening to offered suggestions, the blue-scaled one offers, "Perhaps 'adventurer' isn't as good as 'mercenary'. They might need guards, yes? Even if they don't hire us, we can perhaps get a closer look, regardless. Either that, or one of us is a buyer and the rest is retinue." She gestures, "I don't think I'd make a likely model."

Lucy nods in understanding. "Okay. I guess we can just 'brazen' it." It's quite possible she doesn't know what that means and doesn't want to admit it.

Minerva is a little worried about monsters being involved. It's all very strange to her."

With a brief prayer to Tarien that she's not being a complete idiot, Rona starts walking towards the factory, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that seems anomalous. When/if they get close enough she will also use Detect Evil and Detect Magic to scan the area.

The workers as you get closer, are all gnomes. They spot Yelrona as she approaches and wave to her in a friendly fashion, "Greetings and saluatations!" Another one pipes up, "Oh! your part of the new line, the side kicks. Yerlona right? You here to get a sneak peek? Will have to ask the foreman!" giggling as she wonders off and back to work.

Lucy's expression freezes when she sees the workers.

Yelrona manages to look like she's not completely startled by that.

Another gnome wonders up to Lucy and looks her over thoughtfully, "I don't reconize you, your not a worker here are you?"

Ga'Elian walks up beside Yelrona and says to the gnome, "Whose sidekick is she supposed to be?"

"Uh... right! That's me!" Rona says. "And these are my friends. Later models. So... where's the foreman?"

Minerva nods, a little dumbfounded. She has promptly seen more gnomes than in the rest of her life, added up, and she's not quite sure what to make of them. As a result, she takes great care to hold her spear upright, like an over-tall walking stick, and trots along. Her emerald eyes drift from one to another in the group.

"Sidekick?" Vaalyun says, with a grin, "Right. Yes. That's her. Err... us." Hey, always the support guy, never the damage-dealer.

A sharply dressed gnome in a three piece suite walks forward. He pulls out a fancy pocket watch and glances at it, "break time." he calls out and the gnomes all suddenly break apart and scatter towards the houses. The sharply dressed gnome glances to the party, "Foreman Cogs, at your service. Let me see, you are a model for the sidekick line. You are a known hero, and if she is with you. Must be your side kick. We will be sure to mark that on the plushie." nodding as he puts the pocket watch away, "What brings you out here?" A glance to Lucy, and then to Minerva where his eyes narrow. "Your a side kick arn't you? May I ask who your hero partner is? If I were to guess, it would be Svarshan. He always struck me as a bit up tight." a glance to Vaalyuun, "if all you do is support, your a sad state of a side kick with todays dangers. What are you side kick to some egotist like Cesran?"

"Well," says Rona, "I'm not sure we should be telling you. If you were authorized to have that information, Management would have shared it with you."

Ga'Elian laughs, then pats Yelrona on the shoulder.

Lucy says, "So, ah...is this where -all- the plushies come from?" she looks at the factory. "Even the originals? Do you think we could maybe get a tour?"

Minerva narrows her eyes for a moment, then points a clawed finger at the suit. "I could claim Sir Heinrich, if that makes for a better story? That's what it is about, right - make people happy with their purchase?" She does her best to smile disarmingly. Which, for being about triple the gnome's size, may be tricky.

"My hero is the Star Mother, but I doubt that's the point you're making." Vaalyun says, laughing again and smiling politely. "I'm sure if I ever were a plushie, it would come complete with mace and shield." And perhaps a kung-fu grip.

The foreman stares at Vaalyun, "Kung-foo grip? These are not figurines, but plushies. You squeeze them hold them, not karate chop your friend with. I think I was right about you being Cesran's side kick, he is known for crazy things like that. Shesh, getting your toys mixed up." humpfing he turns and heads over to the factory, "I suppose you will want a tour and all. Boss lady says to give em should anybody come by. Something about suspecious activity, clandestine affair, and not having everything burned to the ground." A pause, "Oh, sire Heinrich, we will have to add him to the lineup. We are only starting on the side kick line."

Yelrona nods in satisfaction. "Yes, exactly," she agrees. "A tour would be _just_ the thing. To start."

"A tour." Svarshan ambles up behind them. His focus is on the head gnome. "Ssa. One brought a gift in. Esschange."

Pause, pause. "I am ssure it iss in my pack. Ssomewhere. Let me ssee..." he says, and makes to stand on two legs again. It's a slow process, but he seems slow-moving today.

"Peasse to you," he says to the others in the meantime. "The printer had ssome back orderss."

Ga'Elian replies, "Peace to you, milord. How is your family?"

The Foreman shrugs, 'She comes by to drop off new patterns, did that about a week ago for the side kicks line. She won't be back for at least a month." then glances back to Ga'Elian, "Though next time she is over I can let her know you would like to talk to her." Then leads the group into the factory. the factory has rows upon rows of looms and sewing machiens.. There are around 100 gnomes both female and male in the room working at the machines busy sewing plushies together. "This is the primary work room. Let me see..." pulling out a set of cards from a pocket, "Script... ahh here we are." Then he starts to read from the card, "There is nothing evil here, no dark magics, undead, or other dasterly things. You are free to walk around and do your detect evils and magics without restraint." coughing a moment, "Sorry I am required for each part of the tour to read one of these scripts."

Ga'Elian says, "So much for diplomacy."

Minerva turns around at a familiar voice, then says softly, "Peace to kin of brood and fire." She turns back to the lead gnome and says, "I'm glad to hear it. It's so awkward if you sign up for a job and you end up having to redecorate."

Lucy stands on her toes to try and peek at what is written on the cards. "Oh, well...how about secret rooms?" she asks in her most innocent voice. "Are there any secret rooms that are off-limits from the tour?"

Yelrona considers this. "Look, sir... I'm sure you have other work to do, and we don't want to pull you away from it. If you just let me have those cards, and maybe a map if you have one?, you could get back to your important work and we could just lead ourselves on the tour. We'd be like your assistants, right? And we'd be sure to read the scripts in each room, so the job would get done."

"He seems rather confident." Vaalyun says, to his companions in general. "It looks... like a factory for the making of plushies to me, but then again, I'm not a cleric of the Forge god, so what do I know."

Ga'Elian smiles. This makes perfect sense to him, and doesn't strike him at all as ironic.

They are well," Svarshan says warmly. Then he takes out a few books to see that they still exists.

Puts them back in the generically-purchased pack, then hands it and the bookpile to the gnome. "One wass to give thesse to her, from a local. Author. Though perhapss, there are enough here for each of you to have. Copiess, if you think sshe might like you reading of her. Adventuress. I do not know her. Sso well. To make that call."

The foreman frowns for a moment, and pulls out another card. "Let me see instructions for how to handle adventurers. Obey all requests. Oh that is simple enough." putting the card away he smiles to Yelrona and offers over the scripts and cards, "Here you go, there is no map. There is this room, the storage silos, my office, and the museaum where we keep a pristine copy of each plushie ever made. Though you will want to avoid the pit of failed prototypes." going a bit pale, "As for secret rooms, I am told there are. No idea where." shrugging his shoulders. He was about to start heading towards his office, but is handed books, "Oomfs, what?" clearly confused, but then starts to head towardst he office.

Yelrona can't believe that worked. But, all right, then. She starts flipping through the cards, looking for anything unusual or anomalous, handing them off once she's done with each one to anyone else interested. When she's done, she starts checking the room they're in for secret doors. Because, well, it's traditional.

Ga'Elian will check the machinery for secret doors and the floor under them, thoroughly getting in the workers' way.

"They are the Crimsson Pen'ss latest," Svarshan replies, and manages not to wince. Manages, but barely.

He falls quiet after that, with no expression at all. Then again, it isn't as though reptilian are known for them.

The foreman groans, "oh gods, we can't get her to shut up about these when she visits. She is addicted, waiting to see what happens next." grumbling loudly as he walks away.

Vaalyun is fascinated by one of the looms, watching the shuttle go back and forth. He's almost hypnotized by it, and completely misses what's going on in the rest of the room.

as the gnome foreman walks away, Minerva remarks, "Makes perfect sense, of course. If he knew of them, the rooms would hardly be secret."

"Oh, one last thing," Rona calls out after the foreman. "Just for completeness' sake, you understand. Have you told us anything that isn't true, as far as you know, or kept from us anything you think we'd want to know?" Her eyes glow with comedic fervor.

The foreman glances back, "Uhh no, I hope not? I think, maybe?" completely honest, and a bit scared now.

Yelrona nods. "Very good. We just have to ask, you understand. For the paperwork."

"One believess you are right," Svarshan replies to Minerva, warmly. The warrior then sticks with them as they begin a path through the maze of rooms. Now and then, he shakes his head, in the softskin style.

The foreman just gets a look, and then well. Time to move on!

Yelrona finishes her inspection of the room, finding nothing significant, and waits for everyone else to finish theirs before moving on.

Vaalyun takes a step forward. Swooosh. Swooosh. The moving shuttle is really fascinating. It's amazing how they make the cloth like that. And there's a discarded pile of fabric in front of the loom, in a place that Alexandrian Health and Safety would DEFINATELY disapprove of. And sure enough, the cleric trips over it, and thuds down onto the ground with an OOOMPH! "Wait... What's this here?" He starts to pull fabric away, and says, "I think I found something."

The gnomes who were getting out Ga'elians way stare at what Vaalyun found. "Is that why we kept triping over there?" confused, and starting to crowd around curious themselves. Minerva plucks at the edge of an unruly scale, thne backs up a little, trying to circle and get a line of sight on things without being in the way. Her tall frame is a little cramped among hte machinery, but perhaps it can look over things instead?

Ga'Elian walks over to Vaalyun and helping him up says, "If you'd like acrobatic or gymnastic lessons, I'd be glad to coach you. What is this?"

A large metal plate is revealed with the words, "Scret Room - Do not enter!' written on it.

Yelrona chuckles, and says to the gnomes "Well. You saw the sign... the room is secret. You aren't supposed to know about it. Better leave now, before the boss finds out! Don't worry, we won't tell anyone."

The gnomes scatter!

"It says not to enter. That's an invitation if I ever saw one." Vaalyun says, once he gets to his feet, looking chagrined. "I don't think anything will ever make me an acrobat. But thank you for the offer."

Minerva murmers, "Am I alone in worrying over that pit of discarded prototypes he mentioned was in the museum? If these things have a goal beyond 'toy', I bet it's hidden there." "Ssharp eyes, Vaalyun," Svarshan says to the man. He steps towards the door and regards it. Looks over the metal and the warding.

Looks back. "The chaoss lich iss quite bored mosst of the. Time. And prone to puzzles that are both evil and try and make her look clever. ...sshe also iss prone to watching."

Yelrona sighs. "Now, a clever lich would not bother putting a trap behind the obvious secret door, because she would know that only a great fool would open what they were given. We are not great fools, so we can clearly not open the door in front of us. But she must have known we were not great fools, and would have counted on it, so we can clearly not _ignore_ the door in front of us."

Ga'Elian tries to follow the logic but gives up and tells Rona, "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect."

"Wait till I get going!", Yelrona replies. "Now, where was I?"

"Say", the blue scaled one remarks, "You're probably smart enough to fill in for the lich, once we do away with her! Those gnomes badly need someone in charge, it seems."

Ga'Elian looks up from the plate and says, "It seems like an ordinary metal plate, but the smell reminds me of that zombie bakery... decomp and peppermint."

"Zombie... bakery?" Vaalyun asks, then shakes his head, and says, "I probably don't want to know. So, there is the smell of death down there." He motions towards the plate, "Shall we open it? Carefully."

Svarshan looks towards the door a while, as though weighing his words. He looks back, then. "What are thoughtss if we ignore the door? We might ssit here over. Tea and disscuss the idea. Perhapss invite the. Sstaff?"

Yelrona shrugs. "We came here to look around. If we're going to leave secret doors unopened, we might as well have stayed home." She helps Vaalyun, if that's possible.

Ga'Elian nods and says, "Exactly!"

Minerva looks at Svarshan, "We cannot ignore it. So, we can look somewhere else, first, but then we'd look here. Why not look now?"

"Sshe is bored, huntress. In a way, thiss rissks playing into her own--" the sith-makar grimaces. Then, turns and hits the door with the force of a greater dispel. Svarshan waits a moment, after that, to see what happens, if anything. Then, moves to set his shoulder with it alongside Vaal.

Through combined work you all manage to move the plate a few inches, and with Minerva putting the spear under move it out enough to get through.

The stench from the hole in the floor is brutal. Rotting flesh, decomposing bodies, and who knows what else is probably down there. There is a solid wooden ladder to climb down with.

Ga'Elian tells everyone. "Hold a moment."

"The Light iss One!" the warrior says under his breath. Svarshan puts his shoulder to the door and works with the others to raise it higher enough for them to get through.

And then, well. His nostrils slam shut. He holds, as Ga'elian speaks up.

Yelrona regards the stairs skeptically, pulls a length of rope out of her pack, and starts tying one end around her waist when Elian asks for a halt. She pauses.

Minerva murmers, "With enough death, a wooden ladder rots. We should be careful."

Ga'Elian says, holding his nose, "While this stench /may/ be merely if profoundly unpleasant, it might be poisonous. If you'll allow me, I'll work a spell to encase each of us in a bubble of clean, fresh air. It also acclimatizes is to any temperature and for this many people will last more than 5 hours. Will you allow me to do this?

Minerva gestures, "Come, help. We can use that bar and span it over the gap, to tie a rope to. I'd rather not trust the steps."

"Ugh. I think we found Thul's sphincter." Vaalyun throws a hand up in a pointless attempt to block the smell. "This is the sort of thing that would give a Vardaman nightmares." He winces and then says, "Should I perhaps send a light down the hole before any of us go down. I could even send a lantern archon to scout it out."

Yelrona finishes tying the rope around her waist while the casters do their thing.

Ga'Elian says to Vaalyun, "Don't insult me."

"Thank you, hunter," Svarshan says to Ga'elian, low-voiced. The sith-makar is quiet for a time, and then--thumps his tail to Vaalyun's words. Pauses, after Ga'elian's. "Why iss an offer of help an. Inssult?" he asks, sounding concerned.

Minervawill fish a starburst pendant from under her armour and lays it on her breast, then nod to Ga'Elian, "The Mistress of Dawn will stand with you; I will trust you."

Ga'Elian casts his spell, then looks at Svarahan then at Vaalyun and says, "Forgive me. Your offer was honorable and generous. I reacted because scouting is what I do."

"My apologies, but I was only suggesting that given there seems to be unimaginable foulness down there, we might want to quite literally look before we leap." Vaalyun says, but then shrugs, "But I'm the sidekick here." He grins at that.

The bottom is soft dirt, and opens up into a large room about twenty feet down. A few sturdy stone desks can be seen with a lot of paperwork and maps on them. scattered around the room are various bodies, all of them decomposing.

The reptilian's muzzle rumples in a gentle, and warm humor before he turns towards the other scaled present. Svarshan looks about to say something, and then changes his mind. Instead, "Dragonfather, light our way." The quiet prayer is met with light. After a moment, he tosses this underhanded, to Yelrona. "For the Tricksster. One trussts sshe knows when to cover it, and when to usse itss power."

When Vaalyun reaches the bottom, Ga'Elian says, "Sidekick nothing. You're all good."

Yelrona catches the light and affixes it around her bare upper arm, where she can tuck it into her full-length gloves easily if the situation calls for it.

Minerva staggers around for a long moment as her emerald eyes get a lambent flame to them, her hands clasping her head and her spear clattering to the floor. "Lady of .. Battles!" Her voice is pained.

Slowly shaking herself, the blue one shrugs it off, her face still a little haggard. "I'm ... ok, i think. So much chaos. Also, magic on the table, over there." She points. Svarshan looks over there immediately, his expression one of alarm. Alarm and--he's grasping the other's shoulder. From far away, there's the thunder of a dragon's wings. "..."

"..." And he rips his hand away, scowling darkly, though not at her. At the table.

Vaalyun makes it to the bottom, and he winces at the presence of dead bodies. He knows from the smell that no mere healing arts will make a difference. "May their souls find peace." He looks over at Minerva, and frowns, "Are you alright?" He has walked over to examine one of the bodies.

Lucy stands at the top of the stairs, keeping a lookout. Suddenly a thought strikes her. "The remains... are they normal sized? Of large? Like you?" She looks at the nearest adventurers.

Ga'Elian pulls a rod out of his satchel. Clearly the rod is longer than the bag is deep.

A cautious Inquisitor would let the more experienced adventurers check out the documents on the table. Of course, had Rona been the cautious sort, Tarien would likely never have chosen her as His Ruffian. She walks over to the desk to check out the potentially magical documents.

Well. Warriors protect, don't they? Svarshan is quiet for a while, unmoving. Then, walks over to the table. "Tabless can mean esspiriments and. Ssacrificess. ...is there anything ssuggesting that. On the bodiess?" Then, Lucy speaks up and he looks up to her, looks to Vaalyun, as though parsing /those/ words. Then looks back to the table, and to Yelrona.

"Hello Dearies! You found my secret hide out!" A voice out of nowhere can be heard, oh wait it was a magic mouth spell waiting to be triggered on the table when somebody approached it. "not really, but I left some gifts for you! Toodles! Kinda obvious you all would come eventually. ta ta! P.S. I hope svarsh-poo is with you, I left a plushie here for him to burn!" then the table goes quiet.

Minerva looks at Svarshan. "Do I even want to ask?"

Yelrona draws her bow in a blur when the voice rings out, then relaxes a little when it turns out to be a magic mouth spell. She shakes her head and chuckles, bringing the daylight spell to give them a clear view of the table.

"They've had surgery of some kind. All over. Experimentation seems like a logical possiblity." Vaalyun says, his knee creaking as he gets back to his feet. "There's about twenty bodies. Different races. Human, orc, elf, gnome, gobber... "

The documents and maps revealed are written in Mynsadraal, and even then that script is a very old version that will be difficult to read easily. The maps are around the Alexandria area with a fifty mile circle around it marked no-go zone, damn you Sandy. With several areas along the 50 mile circle x'ed out.

Yelrona copies the maps as best she can into her ubiquitous notebook.

Svarshan rubs at his forehead, as though he has a headache. "Sshe is bored in the worsst. Way. ..." After that, he leans forward on the table to look over the document, and confer with the other speakers, there as to what it means, and what the words translate to.

Minerva nods and stands near the table as well, conferring.

Minerva murmers, pointing carefully. "Lots of people living there, and there. Some old places there - maybe lost villages or abandoned towns? I don't know for sure."

Ga'Elian asks, "Anyone have divination magic?"

"...sshe was baiting the. Vardaman Temple at one point," Svarshan says low-voiced in response. He then pushes himself away from the table, and looks towards Vaalyun. "...when we tell them of thiss, and what you found. One imaginess the ressponse will not be. Ssmall."

He closes his eyes, gives himself a shake. "We owe it to familiess. To let that temple know, at the leasst. They will have letterss to. Write."

Lucy nods in agresment with Minerva. "The X marks are populared, and thd circles are for places that are abandoned today. She scratches her head. "It must mean something but...it's hard to concentrate in here," she admits.

Minerva frowns. "Were these people living in the villages I see here on the map, and some of them abandoned because of this ..." She struggles for the word, adding a curse in Draconic. It translates roughly to "egg-spoiler".

Yelrona nods in agreement with Svarshan as she continues to make copies. "They deserve a burial," she observes. "Or a pyre."

Minerva grimaces. "She left the table and everything on it behind, for us to find...."

"...not for ssomething like thiss. But one might pay for it," Svarshan says after a time, to Ga'elian. He turns back to the documents then, his sword in hand. Now and then, he glances at the bodies. But it's just like that itch between your shoulderblades, you know? Or, any natural adventuer's response when they see a door!

Ga'Elian nods to Minerva. "She's a chaos lich. If her little clues bring chaos, she's happy."

"When you sought out evil or magic here, what did you see?" Vaalyun asks those who performed those particular bits of magic. On the subject of burials, he says, "The Vardaman would make sure that each of these people had the funeral rituals appropriate for their race and origin. But if that is not an option, I agree, we have a duty to make sure that they do not lie here and rot without any rituals whatsoever."

Minerva shakes her head. "No evil, but the bane of order and tradition has seeped here. I could not stand it for long." A shiver runs down her spine.

Yelrona laughs. "Remember, I'm a Tarienite. Chaos doesn't scare me."

Minerva nods. "I'm glad that you can laugh, but if this was not malice, I will never understand it. Maybe you will."

"Ssa. ..." Svarshan agrees. He glances at the others, after Vaalyun's question, and then goes back to reading. After a while, his spine stiffens.

Things stay that way a while. "Goblin babiess. Why iss it alwayss goblin babies?" he snarls. He spins the book around, and begins to read. As he reads from text, his difficulties in speaking fade away.

"Sshe writes: 'Each body has a story to tell.' Sshe goess on to ssay: 'Twenty-one in all, for each a clue is hidden, but to understand it you must find the place it is from. Some from the x, others from the o.'"

Svarshan pauses a moment, and then looks towards Vaalyun. "'Cut into them is the truth, but only one place do you need to go. Find the name, and you will find the place you must be to save lives that are at stake. Solve this puzzle by the next blood moon or it will be to late, and the baby will cry like they have never cried before.'"

"...the resst iss a perssonal note, assuring uss that the bodiess came from gravess. Essecpt the one belonging to the. People," he says, and does not look at Minerva.

Ga'Elian puts his rod away, and draws his dagger as he walks to the body of a Sylvanori. He stoops down to examine the corpse.

Yelrona scowls. "So. I'm not sure I followed all of that, but... we need to figure out which map location which body comes from, and then... their names? Which tells us... something." She sounds deeply puzzled.

"Well, that just breaks it, doesn't it." Vaalyun says, frowning, "The pattern of the scars on the bodies probably has some meaning then. They will have to come back with us. I don't have the magical power to preserve them all, though." He starts to roll the bodies onto their backs so that he can take a better look at the scars. "Maybe we could speak with one of them?"

"Ah, OK," Rona says. "So that tells us which location maps to which body, then."

You paged Yelrona with 'On the dot, finally. Yes, the stiching does indeed read out numbers and location names...but you notice another line, a marking that runs along the body. You wonder... if you were to move all the bodies and see if they lined up might reveal something...'

Yelrona blinks. "Wait. There's something more."

Ga'Elian calls out, "The stitching... is writing. This one says 5 - Gravewood. There was a O on the map that says the same thing.

Minerva sighs, slowly. "Things have got personal. A bane upon her name oand her fire." Thens she looks at Varshan. Sighs. "I will look. One of us will have to."

Yelrona sighs. "OK, guys, this is both disrespectful _and_ disgusting, but I think there's another puzzle here. I think there's a design _connecting_ the bodies."

Ga'Elian says, "If Vaalyun and Yelrona are right, we need to arrange the corpses like they were puzzle pieces. Each bears a code and collectively they form some other clue.

Yelrona offers up a brief prayer to Tarien, asking forgiveness for what she's about to do. Then she starts moving the bodies around.

Ga'Elian helps. Moving the bodies with as much dignity as he can.

Svarshan reaches up and rubs at his muzzle. "Dragonfather forgive uss," he says underneath his breath. Then, goes to help move the body. The sith-makar gets a particular, long look to see if he recognizes them. Then, time to move.

As the gray one moves, so the blue one will stand, pendant in hand, whispering words under her breath. Those who speak Draconic may recognize a nursery rhyme - to ward against those who would steal eggs. Her whole body is very slightly swaying on her clawed feet, and she is beseeching a swift passage onto forever wings for this one, once the rhyme is done. Slowly the bodies are moved and the puzzle within the puzzle becomes clear. When you have them arranged you get several letters, c t a m n i l.

Minerva grimaces. "Mictlan."

Ga'Elian says, "Oh dear gods. As if they don't already have enough troubles."

"..." Svarshan rubs at his muzzle. Then, looks towards the letters, the bodies. "The M goess in front," he agrees, his voice tight. And, "Ssa... ...sshe will find it ...not as ssimple as sshe thinkss." And he looks to Ga'elian. Dead-voiced. "Sshe iss thiss bored, hunter."

Svarshan adds, in that same, dead-sounding voice. "One hass ssought to. Deny her the attention sshe craves. ...but sshe is dessperate. Each time, sshe upss thiss ssick game. For her own amussement."

"But the witch hass a...phylactery. Without uss finding that. ...even one'ss people are only a. Pawn."

He sighs. "One will ready that plasse. ...Tricksster, hunterss. Could her phylactery be found? If sso, we can divide her forsses on. Two fronts."

Minerva shakes her head, both hands leaning on her spear. Slowly, "I will need to know the whole tale, some time. For now, I will do whatever I can, and take your advise where I cannot." She stares into space for a moment, then starts to look around the room for other signs of clues, or things uncovered from under the moved bodies.

Ga'Elian is speechless for a goodly while, dumbstruck with horror. Finally he says, "Let us rouse the guild, rouse the temples, rouse the Union and the guilds. Let the word go out to Rune and Llyranost, to Dun Mordren and Myrrdion calling for our allies to rally to the defense of Mictlan, and in the name of Eli and the Empress of the Sith'makar, let us invite those of Am'shere to join us. Let us strive together to save the People, vanquish this abominable miscreant, and show the known world and all their Teachers, Gardeners, and everyone else that Mictlan has friends!"

Minerva looks at Ga'Elian. Slowly, in a voice of fading grimness and rising determination, "It would be good to show the Teacher that others stand with the People."

Yelrona nods. "I guess it has to be found," she says in response to Svarshan's question, once everyone is done rallying their warcries. "Though I don't know where we would even start looking. I'll tell you one thing, though," she muses, looking around... "I don't think it will be nearly as well-hidden, or well-protected, as it might be. You keep saying she's bored... she's setting up all of this to bring Alexandria's adventurers after her. I think she wants us to end her."

Ga'Elian says, "Then by the gods, let us grant her desire."

The tail thumps, hard. "We sshall be One," Svarshan says. He smiles towards Minerva then, and then looks to the others.

And, more carefully, "Lich bone. One hass ssome ssmall coin, hunter. If you take that to the Vardaman, tell them to sseend me the. Bill." More seriously. "Thiss one will be off to Mictlan."