Eve and Mischief's Investigation

[Mischief]

The recent abduction and torture of Railen left a bad taste in Mischief’s mouth. This had been a particularly nasty incident and Mischief vowed to resolve it. What disappointed her most was the lack of activity that the Company showed in avenging Railen. Even more galling was the fact that Railen was Raiden Morana’s fiancée, yet the intransigence shown by him greatly disappointed Mischief. It seemed to her that if no coin was involved, the company did not want to know even if one of their own was tortured to the brink of death. And what kind of man is less than interested in seeking revenge on those who tortured the one he’s supposed to love? Nobody deserved the treatment Railen got and Mischief vowed to resolve it, not for the greed lusted Company, not for a less than enthusiastic Morana, but for her friend Railen.

This would be too big a task to do on her own, Mischief realised, so she sought out her friend Eve. The two arranged to meet and Mischief quickly outlined what she had so far, which to her disappointment was pretty scant so far. The only solid evidence she had was the involvement of a woman known as Casandra. A thin red-haired girl who’s preferred mode of clothing was a shabby brown robe. Mischief quickly brought Eve up to date on how she established the identity of the woman and how she felt sure she was the same one who had previously tried to “persuade” her to join some sort of evil cult. Eve and Mischief decided that the first place to look for clues was the place Mischief was taken by the mysterious Casandra.

After warning Eve to prepare for the worst they headed easterly out of Cove. After some time they emerged from the woods close to the old Cove graveyard which seemed particularly restless with lost souls. Continuing east and back into the woods they shortly emerged into another clearing. There stood a brooding dirty grey building and Mischief gave an involuntary shiver as she remembered her previous time inside. Mischief told Eve to remain in the trees whilst she scouted the building to make sure it was empty. Having established that was the case, Mischief beckoned Eve to join her and they proceeded cautiously to enter. They climbed a set of outer steps that was covered in some sort of vile rotting vegetation. The stink of death was heavy in the air. The steps led to a filthy first floor that appeared to previously been some sort of library. The only thing of note was a well-worn tome that described the existence of some nefarious cult. Eve read the contents expressing her disgust at what the tome contained. They proceeded to a door at the back of the room that led upwards to some sort of abandoned workshop. Again they found nothing of real interest and tentatively climbed another set of steps that led to the roof.

 The roof was flat and covered with bones, a vile altar stood in the centre in front of which was ugly statues of some god or demon. Mischief shuddered as she saw the throne like chair that Casandra had tried to get her to sit. Eve was clearly shocked at what she saw and started searching around. She was particularly disturbed at finding what looked like fresh blood on a spiked post. “Someone’s been tortured on this recently” she told Mischief. The place stank of death and decomposition, but what confused Mischief was so far they had found nothing that would produce such an awful stench. Mischief also began to feel they had spent too long in the building; this was not a place to be caught by something unspeakably evil. It was time to leave.

Once outside the surveyed the building one last time, it was then they discovered another door partially hidden by rotting overgrowth. Mischief tried the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. With the door now open the stench was even worse and they both plucked up the courage to enter. What they saw made Mischief almost throw up. The floor was covered in blood, some dry but a lot still wet. Decomposing corpses were also strewn across the floor. Neither Eve nor Mischief had ever seen such a sight, the room resembled an abattoir but this was not animal carcasses…. this was human corpses! Mischief was choking on the stench but spotted a row of cells at the rear of the room and knew she had to check and hope they were empty. As she approached the first cell she slipped on a wet pool of blood, such was the vileness around her. Relieved that all the cells were empty and not being able to take anymore of the horrors about them they both left. They desperately need fresh air.

Outside and breathing in large gulps of fresh air, Mischief informed Eve there was one last thing she had to show her. Through some trees and into yet another clearing not far from the house of horrors, Mischief showed Eve what appeared to be a ritualistic area. Marked on the ground was a pentagram and Eve noticed it was splashed with blood. The blood was wet, but Eve was unsure whether it was recent or it was wet because it had began to rain heavily. They had been too long; they had to get back to Cove and relative safety so they headed back. It was then that Eve found laying on the ground near the ritual area a rusty shield that she swore was not there before. Eve’s immediate thought was we had been watched. With that concerning them greatly, they headed back to Cove as swiftly as possible.

When they got back to the Goblin they discussed their next move. Railen’s abductors were known from various sources. The woman Casandra, an orc, an ettin, some undead and a drow. Neither the orc or the ettin would be of any use for information, communication would be futile, the undead would be unable to communicate and they had no description to go on regarding the drow. They did not even know whether the drow was male or female, though Mischief strongly suspected whoever the drow was, he or she would be one of Vierna Hun’ett’s subjects. That left the woman Casandra. Mischief had not seen her again since that first meeting so it was imperative she was found. She was the key to solving the whole thing.

After a while Eve left to seek out Raiden and inform him that the vile building we had visited had to be razed to the ground. As for Mischief she felt sick in her stomach, she thought of Jamie whom was away treasure hunting. She wished Jamie was with them both; Jamie would have lightened their mood with some offbeat irrelevant and funny comment. Jamie was good at that. And right now Mischief and Eve needed their spirits lifted greatly.