Session 42 - Incompetent Cops
4th Mar 2022 - 19:45 - 11:00
In-game timeline: Start of session: 1489DR Uktar 15. End of session: 1489DR Uktar 15
Our "Heroes" are start their investigations by splitting up. They only have a few hours before they have to make their decision, so they need to work efficiently. Good luck with that.
Jaxii and Derrick head to the Guard Post to interrogate the three suspects. Unfortunately they are not allowed to unbind or ungag the suspects - they fear the witch may be able to cast spells if their hands or mouth is free. Jaxii and Derrick argue over who should play the "incompetent cop" card. In the end they both end up playing it. They do this very well and end up finding out very little, though they do gather a little information about why each of the three women are accused, and they get a hint at some background 'relationships' that may be going on.
Meanwhile Karoshi and Iwee head to Mayor Crawford's house and speak to his wife, Gilda. They gather some information, and chat with her children, Luke (6) and Phoebe (8). They start to get a picture of what has been happening around town, especially with the town's children.
The group meet up again and exchange the information they have each found out.
With time pressing on, the group decide to split up again. Derrick and Jaxii head to Elizabeth's house and meet her mother, Ada. Ada seems to be suffering from dementia, and Derrick is decidedly unsympathetic towards her. As Jaxii searches the house, finding some herbs and alchemical devices and recipes, Derrick only manages to wind up Ada and then gets accused of molesting the old woman. His charm appears to not work so well on old, ill women.
Iwee and Karoshi chat to the blacksmith, Helmin Ironmaw, but don't get very much out of him - he's not a very talkative chap, especially now that he has a large order for farming equipment to get through. They talk to D'Waylin, the apprentice, about his sister, Lot (11), who has had unusual bouts of wandering recently. He's convinced that there is a witch, but that it isn't Elizabeth.
The Incompetent Cops move on from molesting old ladies to investigate Isabel's house. There's no one at home and is quite basic. There are a number of books in a bookcase, a box of cloth and wooden toys under a table and a large mirror on the wall. After some useful investigation, Jaxii and Derrick cast off their "Incompetent Cops" monikers. The mirror seems unusual and the reflection is a little strange - it seems to show a book in the opposite bookcase that isn't actually present in the case. Instead, there's a gap where the book should be, which contains a note implying that someone has borrowed a book. The section seems to be a number of 'raunchy' books. There are other books in the case - on cooking, dressmaking, make-up etc. Some searching around also reveals a mechanism in that gap in the bookcase, but they cannot work out how to trigger it.
The rest of the house shows up very little else of use. Jaxii does find a single lens from spectacles under the bed.
Karoshi and Iwee visit Helmin's wife, Toramina, and their son, Jacob, at the general store. Karoshi pays an exorbitant price for a pie and gets interrogated by an enthusiastic Jacob. Iwee gets annoyed at the misogyny, or at least mild sexism, from the two young helpers at the store, but does get some information from Jacob, as well as borrowing his toy hammer, which Karoshi later detects a slight evil presence around.
They all meet up again and share information, before once again splitting up.
Derrick and Jaxii head to the last suspect's house - Matilda's. She lives in a slightly more remote house just away from the main centre of town - quite a large house. She seems to live alone, so the house is empty. Which is all that is required for Derrick to break down the back door and break in.
Inside they find some hand-written propaganda criticising the current Mayor Crawford and his recent decisions - not really a surprise as they knew Matilda was actively and vocally critical of the Mayor. Jaxii finds a personal journal of Matilda where she sees some notes about Mayor Crawford - all critical. It also hints at a possible affair between Isabel and the Mayor. The pair discover very little else of interest in Matilda's house. Derrick collects a cloth and a wooden toy from Isabel's toy on the way back to meet the others.
Iwee and Karoshi head to Father Greatshaw, who is living in the Old Dutch Church. He is quiet and shy, but very polite and seems very grateful towards the party for taking on the responsibility for deciding who may be responsible for the witchcraft. Other than that he proves less than useful - the pair ask him if he can detect any more from the 'evil' toy hammer they got from Jacob but it's not really his area of expertise - he is more of a scholar than an investigator!
And so we leave our "Heroes" meeting up once again to compare notes. Karoshi doesn't detect any evil from the toys that Derrick collected from Isabel's house. They now have only about 90 minutes before the town gathers once again to hear their verdict and carry out the sentence. With any luck, the party will get the decision correct and Father Greatshaw will furnish them with information about Moonfall.