(031) A Cemetery Muckrake

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

If Josiane sees Dorgan's wave she takes this to be the sign she has been waiting for (not as spiritual in its nature as she was expecting, but unquestionably a sign nonetheless) and hurries across.

"Well now..." she breathes softly as she takes in the yawning graves and looming crypt.

She turns her attention first to the graves. Do they appear to be completely new or is there any sign that there have been bodies buried here that have since been removed? She is also looking for headstones, names and dates.

After that, she turns her attention to the tomb and particularly to any inscriptions that might adorn it. She wishes to know the name of the one that lies within...

She leaves the examination of the entrance proper to Dorgan, trusting to the Dwarf's keen eye. "Beware of traps," she whispers to him; "If this place has any connection to our 'accquaintance' of yesterday I doubt it will stand unguarded."

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
Dorgan spots Josiane some 60 or so yards off, still standing near the gate, and waves her over.

When she sees him and heads over, the Dwarf sets about investigating the crypt...

It is a broad, low stone edifice scarcely even reaching head-height on the Dwarf, but it is 20ft wide and 30ft deep, decorated with ugly stone gargoyles at each corner. At the front, an additional pair of weather-beaten gargoyles overlook a short run of half a dozen steps that descend some 4 or 5ft to a landing where a heavy stone doorway prevents access to the burial chamber itself.

There are some glyphs graven onto the door at about Man-eye height, but their meaning is unknown to Dorgan. The door is otherwise a completely flat stone surface, with no handle or other means of pulling it outward. It isn't even clear whether it should be pushed inward, or pulled outward. But judging by the rubble on the landing, it wouldn't come outward very easily...

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
Meanwhile, Josiane has made her way across the bone yard and inspects some of the unearthed graves.

They do indeed appear to have once been the last resting places of deceased persons.

She reads the names and attributions on some of the head stones:

Gunter Wiesel, Bartholomaus Kries, Katrin Hiesel, and so on. None of them are names known to Josiane, but she does note that all were buried in the last year or two...

[waysoftheearth]

doctorx wrote:
"Desecration," Josiane mutters grimly, making the sign of the Enigma; "I feared it would prove so."

She straightens up. "But no more than a half-dozen," she continues thoughtfully; "Our foes of yesterday numbered more than that, I think. And why not refill the graves and hide the evidence of this crime?" She shakes her head; "This solves only half a riddle."

She looks around again, seeking guidance. Her grey eyes pass over the tumbled gravestones, the bleak trees, the black carrion birds roosting in their gnarled branches...

Carrion birds.

Her eyes go wide and her hands fly to her mouth as the moment of revelation hits her; "Oh, my!"

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
Half a dozen black birds that were resident in the gnarled tree overhanging the crypt suddenly take flight in a ruckus of feather and cawing, and then circle away into the sky...

[waysoftheearth]

doctorx wrote:
Josiane's hand flies to the hilt of her sword as the flurry of birds explodes from the tree. She watches them depart into the Spring sky with the greatest suspicion...

[waysoftheearth]

sulldawga wrote:
Dorgan will use whatever knowledge of stonework is innate to all Dwarves to examine the door and the area about it.

He's looking for a clue as to how the door opens. Failing that, he will put his shoulder to it and push with all his might.

[waysoftheearth]

doctorx wrote:
"The Saint chide me for the dullest Novice," Josiane is whispering, almost to herself; "How did I not see it before? Of course! It makes sense. There would be few who would ask questions and those that did would go unheeded. Oh, it's elegant, if diabolical..."

She looks at Dorgan; "Abhorrent a memory though it be, think back to our encounter in the tunnels. Remember the Dead, their heads lolling at unnatural angles? As if the neck had been snapped? One with no head at all? Severed? I think I know where our enemy obtains the bodies he corrupts into Unlife, Dorgan - from the hangman's gallows and the headsman's block!"

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Dorgan will use whatever knowledge of stonework is innate to all Dwarves to examine the door and the area about it.

He's looking for a clue as to how the door opens. Failing that, he will put his shoulder to it and push with all his might.

Dorgan examines the door more closely, and soon decides that pushing upon it will be useless. The door must be of the sliding type, though it would be heavy indeed. Perhaps it was intended to be thus, so that it would not easily be pressed aside by tomb robbers?

There is a small edging around the perimeter of the door which is about 2 inches wide, and half an inch shallower than the main face of it. Dorgan decides, by carefully examining the stone frame into which the door is set, that it should slide to his right. So, by gripping the left edge around the door under his fingers, just so, he might be able to move the thing... (1d6=1) but alas! It is simply too heavy, and his grip upon it too tenuous.

The door stands fast.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
Guntram, Gustave and Desmond/Mondes (hidden under his broad cloak) cross town, heading uphill toward the Temple of Thuul. The streets are busy with ordinary folk getting about their business, and it takes the trio mayhap one third of an hour to reach their destination. The sun is still well overhead when they arrive, though there are a few patches of grey cloud ambling across the sky.

The Temple of Thuul is positioned at the top of the modest hill upon which Ket is built. Behind the temple itself is a long stone wall topped with foot long iron spikes. It seems old and terribly weathered, and joins with a number of gnarled old trees that hang over the cemetery protectively.

There is a rusted iron gate in the wall, which stands open, and entering therein, the trio spot Josiane, far off down the back side of the bone yard. It is not clear at this distance (50 or 60 yards) exactly what she is doing. There is no sign of Dorgan.

What now?