Yan followed the group, frustrated. He thought over what he'd learned so far. Really, only that the stuff was well named. Magic Candy indeed. There was a tickle at the back of his head, like he should know something about all this, but if he actually posessed such information, it was refusing to make itself known to the rest of his mind.

He heard his new companion's questtions to the guard, and after listening to the answers, added one of his own. "In addition to the time he's been locked up, can you estimate how long since his last dose?"

Upon hearing the answer, he nods and waits for the captain to leave. Turning to the group, Yanyeeku begins. "Magic is certainly the word for this particular candy. I cast a few spells while it was out and about. It doesn't mend with iteslf, and registers for poison, unsurprisingly. It is literally saturated in magic, however. It doesn't activate on its own, so the intake methods described by the captain must be the only way to get any effect out of it. That probably, makes it alchemical in nature, though I'm not positive of that." Yan takes a moment ot make sure they are paying attention. "Here's the really interesting part. When I say saturated, I wasn't kidding. I'm detecting no less than then 5 different magical auras, of significant strenth." He concentrated briefly. "Magic from the schools of.... Conjuration, Transmutation, Enchantment, Illusion and.... " Yan paused and breathed deeply. "...Necromancy. No wonder this stuff is so addictive and dangerous." Yan looked at the man in the cell. "Small wonder too that they haven't been able to pin down side effects and behaviors." Yan casts a few more spells at the man, relaying the results to the group so they can discuss moving forward.

(((OOC: Detect Poison and Magic at the man to see if it still lingers in him. Further details to my investigation available in the q and a)))

Iaka fingered the medallion hidden behind his shirt. Astonishing. He gotten off the boat without any kind of plan, and now here he was shuffling along with this merry band of misfits. The security in this town must be pretty lax - Jirolin had barely asked him his name before handing him the keys to the city!

This was certainly going well. Iaka kept his mouth shut and stroked his whiskers while questions were asked and answered. These guards barely knew anything, and if they knew more this crew would be collectively out of a job.

Jirolin pulled out a handful of the drug. Magic candy.

"Jirolin, just one question. Can I have a bit of that to keep? It could be an invaluable asset - we may be able to trade some for information."

((If J. doesn't agree, Iaka will attempt to sleight-of-hand some during show and tell.))

===
Later
===

She was asleep.

Iaka waited until the captain had departed. He looked at the addict in the cell and, without saying a word, took his meteor hammer from its leather pouch and dropped the heads on the ground so they each made a nice, loud thump.

After a moment, he looked again at the addict. Just above a whisper, he asked "Do you know what happened?

((Intimidate))

((Just a bit of backpost for the Ratfolk))
Jirolin frowned slightly when the Ratfolk asked for a sample of the drug to use as a bargaining chip, "I'm afraid letting you take a sample is not going to be acceptable.  I want these dangerous drugs out of my town, letting you trade it for information would be counter-productive."   He made sure to keep a close eye on the Ratfolk after that, scowling anytime it looked like he may make a move toward him.  ((Sleight of Hand check failed, but not by enough for you to get caught.))

((Now onto the situation in the jail...))
The clunk of steel against the stone floor of the cell reverberated through the hall, yet Adamo didn't react, not even when Iaka directly asked, "Do you know what happened?"  He still sits silently with his face in his hands, almost as if he doesn't hear, or perhaps was entirely ignoring everything happening around him.

((Since no one else has said anything else, we'll wait for more input and I'll update.))

The tickle in the back of Yan's mind became an itch he could no longer ignore. Focusing inward, he found the source and smiled, turning to face the nearest window.

He held out his arm and calling, doing his best to catch the looks on the others' faces as his familiar, a flying squirrel, sailed through and landed on him. Turning to face them, he made the introduction. " This is Ayaki, my familiar. Through her, I commune with my patron, who grants me power in return for service. It is a very imprecise arrangement; I don't even know my patron's identity. Only that they have a strong affinity for, and desire to see, healing." Yan took a moment to focuse on the animal on his shoulder, then stiffened in surprise. "Hold on, she's trying to give me a message." He focused on Ayaki again, wishing once more that communing was as simple as conversing.

A minute or two later, he shook his head, looking up. "I have.... news, of a sort. I am now charged, for lack of a better word, with stopping the spread of this drug, and doing my best to heal the effects. To that end, my patron has.... somewhat confirmed what I've been able to guess so far. And offers....." Yan hesitates, concentrating. "...a lead? Perhaps." He nods, more certain of himself now. "The Magic Candy is aptly named. It is formed in an alchemical process that is identical, or nearly so, to the one confectioners use to make Rock Candy...." Yan trails off, then shakes his head. "I can't get any more. I don't know if its an alchemist, a witch's brew, or some crack-pot candy maker." He turns back to the others. "Still, it's more to go on then we had a bit ago." He strokes Ayaki a few times. "I'm fairly committed to this now though. Hope we can manage to get somewhere."

(((OOC: Patron comes through with a bit of information, filling in a few blanks my skill checks couldn't cover. Will post raw info in QnA)))

Kheric watched as the prisoner failed to react to the loud noise.  There wasn't much for him to do at the moment.  He had asked his questions and received his partial answers.  Partial, but that was expected.  If they had all of the answers, why would they be hiring him?  Still, it did seem that they knew surprisingly little.  How had one of this group already told them more about the drug then the watch captain had been able to?

And as for information . . . the flying squirrel was an interesting touch.  He didn't react much when it entered the room, but he did raise an eyebrow.  He had nothing against the critters.  Squirrels were cute and amusing as long as they weren't gnawing holes in something you needed.  But this mentor thing, that was a bit odd.  Not just a bit odd either.  Very odd.  Al j'Kheric was very well aware that there were things out there that went bump in the night and powerful creatures that were not benevolent.  To give yourself over to one without knowing who and what it was . . . well, it seemed unwise. Even if this 'mentor' did seem to care about healing and gave out flying squirrels.  He would have to keep this unknown mentor in mind when dealing with this individual.  Still, it might not matter much in the case at hand.  

The case at hand . . . since they had decided to let the others take the lead in good cop/bad cop, he simply stood back and watched.  If nothing happened, he'd try speaking to what was left of the man as well.  But it didn't look promising.  

Asoel watched on in disappointment, thinking to himself. Bakit ba matahimk siya? (Why must he be so quiet?). Hmmm kaunte lang and alam ko tukol sa situwesung niya (There is little I know about his predicament). Basta, hangga't makitid ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot (Oh well, when the blanket is short, learn how to bend). 

He called over his new associates, whispering to them quietly.

Listen, I'm not the best at conducting interviews, but I do know that people with a heavy threat over them can often be motivated to help if there is the shadow of further threat or the light of the hope of release. From my legal experience, I know that Adamo is in a particularly dire set of circumstances. Even if his victim survives, he could be facing long prison time, and his family can be subject to a heavy fine. . . However, offenders who turn out to be helpful may be let off with merely having to pay reparations to the victim. Use that if you go the sweet route. However, if the victim of his assault dies, he will almost certainly be executed for murder. Now executions come in varied levels of pain depending on the offense and the helpfulness of the accused. . . If the threat of painful death doesn't wake him up, then we might as well move on. 

((Profession Barrister came through with some useful information!))

Nobody seemed to be taking the lead with the prisoner and time was wasting.  Kheric simply said, "Ok I'll try to talk to him a bit and see if anything happens.  If not, we move on."

He leaned into the bars in front of him a bit and squated down so that his imposing height wouldn't be a factor.  If he was playing the good cop he didn't want to intimidate at the moment, but he also was aware that the man in front of him might not be sane.  He stayed balanced and ready to leap away from the bars if needed.  "Ok, Adamo.  Can you hear me?  You don't seem to have moved much at all since you were brought in.  I'm hoping that Candy hasn't turned your brain to mush, becasue any hope you have depends on your abiltiy to talk."  He paused to see if he got a response, not really expecting one.  "My name is Kheric, Adamo.  I'm not with the Guard officially.  Nor are any of the these others here with me.  But we are working with them.  That puts us in a position to be your friend. Between the Flux and injuries, you are facing some ugly stuff.  But I mgiht be able to help there.  You might be able to help yourself.  By helping us.  Sitting here silent is only going to lead to an ugly, silent, end.  Hope.  To have any, you need to talk.  If your worried about who hears things, remember, I'm not with the guard.  But I can help."

"Adamo?"  You there?

(I don't remember how we are dealing with rolls and things in this game.  Kheric is trying to use his diplomacy skills if possible when speaking to a post.)  

Asoel gave a sigh of relief that someone was taking initiative. However, now expecting much to come of this, Asoel was itchinig to go into his element. All this waiting around didn’t sit well with him. Bale, ang tulog na isda, tinatangay ng agos (After all, the sleeping shrimp is carried away in the current). Gumalaw na! (Now is the time to stir).

The track. The hunt. That is the action that Asoel desired.

Asoel watched carefully, not wanting to miss any part of Adamo’s reaction. However, while he could, he also carefully observed the clothing of the man before him. He tried to pick up on any aspect that would aid him in following the man’s tracks. Not knowing how frequented the roads are, there was always the possiblity the trail has gone cold. Yet Asoel observed the creases in the leather of the man’s shoes, the color and texture of the man’s colthing. You never know when a snagged piece of cloth or a footprint can lead to the quarry. For now Asoel watched, but he was truly itching to search.

((Perception +10 to notice anything that will aid his +6 survival checks he’ll be taking later, sense motive +2 if Adamo does anything))

Kheric stood right up on the edge of the cell, speaking in to the shell of a man sitting motionless on his cot.  While Adamo once again failed to react it became obvious why when Asoel was able to deduce from his observations that the lack of reaction was not because the prisoner was ignoring them, he could not hear them at all!  Finally it all made sense, he hadn't flinched when Jirolin knocked on the bar and snapped at him, he had not spoken when spoken to, or even reacted to the echo of steel on stone because he had not perceived these stimuli!  ((finally had a high roll for something!))

Just as Asoel was sharing what he had deduced a rat bolted from a hole in the wall and darted across the room toward the untouched tray of food, brushing against Adamo's leg as it darted by.  With a sudden start Adamo jumped to his feet and backed against the far wall, with his hands now away from his face his eyes could now be seen to be red and quite swollen, as if every vessel in his eyes had ruptured at once and his eyes were flooded with the excess blood.  His voice was muffled and hard to understand as he shouted, "Who'th there, what'th happenin', why can't I thee or hear?!" He continued to rant and rave, his speech becoming harder and harder to understand as he went on, until it was simply the mumbling nonsense of someone trying to talk with a mouth full of bread.  Suddenly there was a sickening popping sound and a veritable flood of blood poured from his open mouth and eye sockets as his tongue and eyes exploded from the excess blood buildup.  As quickly as he had started moving he fell to the floor with a soggy thud, having drawn his last breath.  Jirolin will have to add another to the death toll from the use of this drug, and it becomes clear that this problem is much more serious than you initially thought having now seen such drastic side effects up close and personal.  All said and done though it seems this lead has dried up.

Hearing the commotion the desk officer runs down the hall, panicked.  He lurches to a sudden stop when he spots Adamo's lifeless body lying there in a pool of blood and loses his lunch, vomiting all over the floor just barely missing your feet.  The commotion has also started the rat who grabbing the largest piece of dried bread on the tray takes off through the blood into it's safe hole, trailing tiny bloody footprints across the cell floor.  Collecting himself and wiping his mouth the desk officer turns away from the sight and can be heard muttering that he'll report this to Captain Jirolin immediately as he staggers off.

((Here we have it, the gory demise of a poor lonely man who had taken to drugs to try to liven up his dismal life... let's hope more people don't succumb to their addictions like he did...))

The Prison

"DEAF AND DUMB? THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HANDY INFORMATION TO HAVE!" Iaka shouted at the officer currently losing his lunch. An internal, more collected version of himself noted the guard was pretty upset by this gore considering he should have been a trained officer of the law, and every bit as familiar with the insides of a person as the outside. 

"And now dead. Great. We're dropped in the middle of this investigation like we're some kind of bloodhounds and our only lead is a dead man. Do any of us actually know why we're here? Just a little something to do with your spare time? Do they give out these medallions to everyone who shows up and asks for one, or just us? Because these things,"

He paused for breath, pulling the medallion out from beneath his shirt.

"Are gonna be a SQUEAKING LIABILITY if we want to get anything done after dark around here. Officer, the incompetence of your force is astonishing, yourself included. Any of you still want to do this thing, I'll be at the Two Moons tavern tomorrow morning. I'm hitting the streets." 

With that, Iaka Arona strode out of the holding area without waiting to see if he was followed. He thought he heard the desk officer behind him muttering something useless about reporting the incident immediately.

The Two Moons

The short walk to The Two Moons was enough to diffuse Iaka's anger. He checked in, ate his dinner, and made his way to the bedroom, where he stuffed his new pendant into the bottom of the foot locker. Hopefully it was safe there. The midday heat was dissipating, and soon he would begin his investigations.

For now, he stopped in at the bar to buy a drink and cast about for leads.

She.

(((OOC:  Headed to go out on the town at dusk. First place he starts asking questions will be the tavern so if anyone wants to catch him, you can either find him at his dinner or on the way out after he hides the pendant. Specifically I want to find anyone who looks shady and ask them a few questions, try to buy some skooma off them, whatever moves him forward. After darkness falls, I want to move using Stealth as much as possible, to try and catch some dealing in the act. Definitely using Eyes, Ears, and Scent ability throughout.)))

Kheric watched as Iaka yelled at the guard and stomped out.  Great, he thought, a rat with a temper.  But at least he is willing to do something. He turned to the rest of the group as they all pondered the corpse  in front of him.  

"I wouldn't want anyone I cared about on that stuff.  That was a pretty nasty way to die."  He nodded after Iaka and continued. "Our rat friend is right about one thing at least, this lead is stone-cold dead.  It seems that the time has come to head out and look for leads tonight.  While he seems to want to head out on his own, I would prefer to work as a group.  My hunch is that we will need to have someone act like an adict to try and buy some.  Whoever gets that role would be better off with some backup."

He took a step towards the door.  "That seems like night work to me.  Right now I'm headed towards the inn to get settled.  If your interested, perhaps we should meet in the common room to plan?  Maybe our eager companion will join us there."

As he stepped past the guardsman he offered some sympathy.  "It is a nasty mess to clean up, but that is why you get the big bucks, right?  If you guys find another poor victim of this crap and they actually can hear and see, let us know.  You don't want to see that again."

Iaka:

As Iaka left the barracks he was stopped by Jirolin, who still oblivious to what had transpired inside, was curious as to what they had learned from questioning Adamo.  However, before he could even ask the desk officer came bursting out through the door, still rather pale from his "reaction".  "Captain!" he shouted with clear panic in his voice, "Adamo has died, blood was pouring from his eyes and mouth and he is lying there in a pool of blood!"  Jirolin, clearly peeved at the officer, turns on his heels and glares before berating the lad, "Do you think perhaps son, that this would have been information better delivered quietly, so as not to panic the townsfolk going about their days?!"  He turns again to Iaka, "I am sorry, as you can imagine I need to tend to this turn of events.  You know where to find me though should you need anything."

((Assuming a general course here, feel free to correct me))

Iaka then set across the square to The Two Moons Inn, flashed the medallion to the woman at the counter he assumed was Wynna, and asked for a meal.  One might expect a free meal provided to freelance investigators to be a paltry thing, with small portions of undesirable food, but this was not the case at all.  The barmaid, who it turns out is not Wynna, brings Iaka a wooden tray of various aromatic chunks of cheese, various juicy cherries, plums, grapes, and other assorted berries, and a fresh from the oven, still steaming thick slice of fresh bread with honey and butter oozing over the porous surface of the bread.  This was not only a great meal, but likely the best the Ratfolk had had in some time.  While eating his meal he was approached by Wynna, "My barmaid tells me you bear a guardsman medal, a sure sign that you have offered up your services in helping our little town deal with this Flux problem.  I thank you for the help, and want you to know that I appreciate it."  At about this time Kheric (and anyone else who may have followed him if you all want to just work off this update) also strolls up to the table where Iaka is seated and flashes a charming smile and his own medal to Wynna and politely requests a meal of his own.  Wynna offers yet another heart-felt thank you to the Dhampir and waves to the barmaid to bring him something to eat.  Kheric is presented with an equally amazing spread of prime rib, some fresh bread, and a steaming baked potato with melting butter and shredded cheese.  It seems that the Inn, for volunteers such as yourselves anyway, seems to try to cater their meal selection to what they hope the guest will enjoy.

Wynna leaves you to your meals, quite pleased that you seem to be enjoying the spread (unless of course for some reason you don't) and when you show signs of slowing, or even stopping she approaches the table again, "Allow me please, to show you to where you will be sleeping for the duration of your time working with the guardsmen.  It isn't much, but it is a free roof over your head when you need to take a break from helping us." She leads you around a corner and down a flight of stairs into what looks to be a storage cellar, but along the far wall there are beds lined up with footlockers at the foot of each bed.  Each bed is set with a soft down pillow and quilt, and the key to each footlocker is in its lock should you want to lock anything up and keep th key on your person. "I am sorry the accomadations are not better, but I do have a business to run.  You will continue to get fine meals on the house however, my way of making up for having to put you down here."

Iaka looked sidelong at Kheric, his meal having doused the last of his anger. "Look, uh, if you're still in, we need to get out there tonight and find a dealer. It would be easier to work alone, but safer to go together. It's up to you but here's what I'm thinking. We can cover a lot of ground if we spread out a little. We could work out some kind of signal - we used to do bird calls when I was a ratling - and if we get in trouble we can help each other out. Say, this food's pretty good huh?"

The rat's eyes flitted about the room as he searched for someone who seemed likely to have a bit of information.

((Sorry, I thought I posted my update before everyone went to the inn, but it didn't stick. I'll redo it here, so some of it may jump back before that. EDIT: Since I copied what I had previously written, I wrote this before I read Schnozzle's post. In response to what he said, Asoel would have mentioned his signal whistle he carries for emergencies, and recommended the chalk signal to mark physical locations, and agree with whistling for auditory signals. Asoel, obviously, has no problem searching alone, but will accept company if the party refuses to split)).

Asoel looked at Adamo's body, disgusted by the process of death. Within nature, there was honor in the hunt, honor in fighting for your life. Among his past mercenary associates, though they fought for coin, they respected those who acted against them. There was no honor in this death, a man reduced by addiction to a heaping pile of blood. And now, seeing this, Asoel was nervous. 

This was the effect of the drug that was spreading. This was end result, yet still the poeple took it, craved it, couldn't stop using it. Asoel couldn't deny the pit now in his stomach. He wasn't too far from his own Norwood now. He'd hope the long-patient society of elves would be more resistant to the fleeting highs of such a drug. . . but he also knew his people. They were nearly as varied as the humans themselves, and if left unchecked, this drug could claim elven lives too. Pinaka-mahalaga ang paghuhuwag nito (This MUST be stopped). 

As others talked of going to the inn to rest and eat, Asoel asked some specific details about Adamo's location of arrest and general haunts and then lead his mule to the inn's stables. Flashing his badge, he requested a key and only took enough time to swiftly lock his gear into his room and tell the worker of the inn that he didn't want any cleaning service in there. 

As he saw his comrades gathering around the table, he merely put a plum in his belt pouch and leaned over the table.

"For all I know, by now Adamo's trail has gone cold, but I won't allow it to get any colder. I'm going out to do some reconnaissance work. Stay or join, it is up to you. If I find anything, I'll report back before acting." He passed on a few notes of his methods, drew a chalk mark on the table to show his compatriots how to find him, and then checked if any would follow. After their replies, he turned and left to investigate. 

((So here's how I see Asoel working. He's going to go out. He'll start looking for clues stealthily, beginning at the location of Adamo's arrest and working outwards until he finds any sort of trail or suspicious activity. If he finds any such trail, or even individual clues, he'll leave a chalk mark discretely on the closest wall to mark the location. If he sees suspicious activity, he'll stealth and observe what he can, even climbing onto roofs if necessary, but will leave if approaching solo becomes too much risk, again marking the location. If nothing comes organically, he'll regroup with any group members that stayed at the inn and work out a plan to canvass the locals. Pertinent checks: Survival to discover / follow tracks starting with Adamo's and then anyone else suspicious +6, Perception +10, Sense Motive for seeing suspicious activity +2, Stealth +8, Climb, if necessary, +10. EDIT: Nearly forgot favored enemy. If any of the sense motive, perception, or survival checks involve humans, +2))

Kheric looked up from his meal at Asoel.  “Go ahead and scout.  Very shortly I will also go out – and I believe our friend here already indicated his intent to do so as well.   Let us see what we find.”

Only a little bit later he and Iaka followed Wynna into the cellar.  He was a bit surprised at their accommodations, especially after the high quality of their meal.  Still, a bed was a bed and it was free and appeared clean.  It would work.  When Wynna turned to leave, Kheric spoke to forestall her.  “M’Lady.  These accommodations may pale in comparison to your fantastic cooking, but they will suffice.  You do a service to your town.”  The woman seemed very interested in dealing with this drug problem, more than just a passing interest.  “Clearly the danger in this plague is something you recognize – and something that it has taken less than a day to be impressed upon us.  Have you had previous experience with this problem?  Has the drug ever made its way into your tavern?  I don’t mean to pry, but the town and the drug are new to all of us.”

After hearing the woman’s reply, Kheric turned to Iaka.  The Ratman was interested in going out and seemed to prefer alone.  “Hmmm . . .  Yes, safety in numbers but perhaps more information together.  I think, perhaps we are better off going to the same tavern, but maybe not as a group.  Or maybe two together and one solo, but in the same place.  Essentially, we could keep an eye out for each other without appearing to do so.  I’m not sure if anyone will approach a stranger on the first night anyway.  What do you think?”