Session 51, VP2

 (These notes were written by the player for Lauren, from Lauren's POV.)

Despite everything we learned about the “nurse” from the Pokemon Center, somebody still died. One of the competitors from the day prior, the large man from Hammerfest named Hemming. We’d seen him at dinner the night before, drunk and boasting about how he was going to crush his competitor, a small weaselly boy from Blademill by the name of Gudar. Bronze hoped to bet against Hemming today, and I hoped to see him knocked off his pedestal, but neither of us wished him death.

I double-checked the security footage and ensured it was still there. Just in case, I made sure to back it up to my Pokedex. Then, I sent Bronze and Sylvie to go look for ingredients for the antidote while the rest of us went to talk to Skirlic. I wanted to send Donner and Reinhold on to talk to Ilvri while I talked to Skirlic, but neither of them seemed keen on leaving me alone with Skirlic. After yesterday, I was fairly confident she wouldn’t attack me, but I suppose there is some safety in numbers.

The sign on the door to the gym said open, so we tried the door and found it unlocked. Most of the gym lights were off except for a row in the back, above where Skirlic sat alone on a bench, staring into space. She didn’t acknowledge us when we came in, nor our approach. I sat on the bench near her, faced her, and quietly expressed my condolences for the loss.

She seemed to spark some life then, as she looked at me and said, “I’m guessing I’m supposed to believe you had nothing to do with this.” “No,” I responded, as I hadn’t. “And if I ask those two, they’ll say the same?” “Yes.” I was going to tell her she could check the security camera footage at the Pokemon Center if she didn’t believe me, but she stopped me and actually ended up apologizing. I accepted the apology, and said that we hadn’t exactly made the best impression, so her accusations weren’t totally off-base.

I told her about what we had uncovered about the “nurse”, that she had researched poison, stolen some from the stock, and then walked out the door. She wasn’t exactly pleased to hear this, as it turns out that Hemming hadn’t been poisoned– his throat had been slit.

And well, shit. That means there’s multiple murder plots going on around town, and our revelation meant that Skirlic and us both knew it.

She told us more about Hemming’s cause of death, and Reinhold was able to infer some suspicions about it, such as that it was something deeply personal. Between the three of us, Skirlic was able to admit that we had more skill than her at this, and tasked us with investigating the murder.

I told her to be careful, knowing what the stolen poison can do, and we left to speak to Ilvri. Outside, the competitors were grouped together and glaring daggers at each other. Donner wanted to speak to the Blademill competitors and see if he could soothe some of the tensions. I was hesitant since he would be alone, but it’s not like we would be far. Still, I handed him my pokedex in case he needed to call any of us (why did this fluster him?), and Reinhold and I continued on to Ilvri.

Ilvri was drinking when we arrived at her tent and announced ourselves. She offered us glasses, but I didn’t partake, nor do I think Reinhold did.

I told her much the same as I did Skirlic, and asked her if she had any exhibition matches similar to how Skirlic showed off yesterday. She said her exhibition was intended to be more like blade work with wooden training dummies, but all the same, I impressed caution on her as well. She’s important to Donner, and that’s important to me.

I told her Skirlic had asked us to investigate the murder and gave her our contact information in case she had any need of us. Then, we left.

Donner informed us that he managed to talk down the Blademill competitors a bit and convinced them that they’re going to need to take the high road, even if they’re directly accused of killing Hemming. I suggested that perhaps Skirlic would manage to do the same, or even something similar to the Hammerfest competition, but even as I was saying those words, I knew she wouldn’t.

We regrouped with Sylvie and Bronze, who had apparently encountered Stikill out in the wilds. Bronze looked fairly banged up, but she wasn’t actually upset, so we let it slide, especially when she warned us not to touch Stikill since it felt like spikes. Seeing the state of Sylvie’s raincoat, which Stikill was wearing, I can see why she would say that. Stikill is likely a pokemon, but I like the idea of Skikill winning the tournament only to reveal that they were a pokemon the whole time… the look on Skirlic’s face….

Anyway, we decided to go investigate the body at this point. I managed to be intimidating enough to browbeat the Hammerfest competitors into letting us in– name-dropping Skirlic probably helped a lot– and we went to Hemming’s tent to find Coach Sigrun at the scene crying.

I can’t say that this was immediately suspicious, but based on later findings, I absolutely find this suspicious.

Sigrun took offense to our presence, as we are not officially detectives or any sort of law enforcement (ACAB) and became more upset with Bronze’s behavior, but thankfully, Sylvie was able to calm her down with some psychic powers and a boop on the nose. While Sylvie and I kept Sigrun distracted, the others took the opportunity to investigate the body.

Between the two of them, they informed us that the cut was likely done by an amateur and committed by a common utility knife (which 90% of Vanachromians carry). The murderer hesitated halfway through the cut., which was done from right to left. Death by exsanguination. 

Sylvie and I asked Sigrun some questions. To sum up what she was able to tell us:

- She is utterly convinced that Gudar did it.

- She scouted Hemming from near Streamsford

- Their competition team is something of a family…with also lots of sex.

- Who hasn’t fucked Hemming?

- Skirlic’s relationship with the group is something of a patron. I speculate she’s an ideal they work toward, perhaps.

She started to get upset again, so we forcibly brought her outside for some fresh air, then came back in. A search of his footlocker revealed that he had no trophies at the tent (? Why?), turned up his keys, Pokedex, and other typical items one might expect to find. Reinhold searched the phone but didn’t find much for avenues to explore other than that Dagn was likely one of his closest friends and Saga appeared to be an “on-again-off-again” type. Bronze identified some footprints on the floor– barefoot, small to middling size. Human-shaped. We were about to leave, when something sparkled and caught Sylvie’s and my attention. Glittering dust near the pillow. I took a sample of it for examination, and then we left Hemming’s tent.

The first person we interviewed after Sigrun was Dagn. He was a little hostile toward us, but we were able to ask him questions and he was at least mostly truthful. A summary of his information:

- Nobody was around the night before except for the Hammerfest fighters and one of the Blademill competitors, Gull.

- He also glanced at Erika while saying this, so we put her on the list to question further

- He and Hemming came back at around 10-11 pm.

- No one was accompanying Hemming.

- After Hemming, the next strongest fighter is Oydis (who is also the only other Hammerfest competitor to advance)

We split up then to cover a bit more ground. Bronze and I interviewed Saga. She was less honest and felt an awful lot of guilt and shame. Nothing I wanted to call her on at the time but something I decided to keep in my back pocket. A summary of her information:

- She came back at around 8-9 pm. She was the first to come back, and she came back alone.

- She claims she just went to sleep (Lie)

- Claims that Hemming was just an idiot blockhead jock that she slept with sometimes.

- Her foot size is a little too large to match the footprints on the floor.

- Sylvie and Reinhold interviewed Erika. Here’s what they reported back:

- She respected but didn’t like Hemming.

- Not sure when Hemming came back to camp

- She came back before most everyone except for Saga.

- She came back with Shibusa Wa, but he didn’t end up feeling the same way and didn’t stay the night.

- She describes him as quiet, brusque, and hates being around others. Why does this sound familiar?

We took a break from the investigation to participate in a swap meet. I traded Ryne, Auda, and my Sigilyph to obtain a Snivy, Budew, and Goomy respectively. I gave the Snivy to Sylvie, but I’m excited to get to work with Bud and S-Car going forward. I feel a little bad that I haven’t been able to work with Auda much lately, and I’ve never even taken the Sigilyph out myself, so I hope they get a better experience with their new trainers. Bronze got a Smoliv, Falinks, Cryogonal, and Seviper. Reinhold got a Ninjask and Drifloon. Sylvie got the Snivy from me and a CLodsire from the meet. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to get to participate in another meet some time in the future.

We started off the next day by analyzing the dust we found. It was determined to be a rare mineral, and conveniently, Bronze has a contact who deals in all sorts of jewelry– Elof. She called him over, and he was able to tell us that it was sapphire. He told us that he doesn’t deal in precious stones like this (later determined to be a lie).

Bronze got nervous that they were trying to pin it on us because the Gible dagger is the sapphire part of the pair. I pulled it out of my pack, and took some internal delight that Elof did not appear comfortable around us as potential murderers. We didn’t exactly tell him that it wasn’t a dagger that killed Hemming, and at least the sapphires were still intact. I offered to let him look at the dagger more closely and he refused. He skedaddled pretty quickly after that, and we continued on with our investigation by checking where the rest of the competitors were from.

The Blademill participants were from Blademill, Hammerfest from Hammerfest (except Hemming). Randolph and Selby are naturally from Streamsford. Snjorr is from Icebergen. Ms. Fjalarr is from Hoor’s Plains. Stikill just put Stikill. And Shibusa Wa is from Vanachrom.

We decided to question Gudar next, as he is who many believe is the culprit. He was understandably terrified of us, though not for the reasons one might expect– he thought we were vampires since we asked to be let inside. We assured him we were not vampires, but it seemed of little use. Still, here is what we learned:

- After dinner, he went to training alone and then went to bed early since he had a match coming up.

- No one can corroborate this alibi.

- The night of the murder but before the murder, he saw shadows moving around, but when he looked, no one was there. (this is why he believes in vampires)

- He had never met Hemming before and was certain that he would lose to him.

- He has larger feet that do not match the prints we found.

- Almost certainly not the murderer.

We chatted with Gull briefly to get her side of the events. She merely reported that she did come back with Dagn to sleep with him but did not stay the night, and as she was leaving, she heard another tent flap close behind her. Did not see who it was.

Since we talked to Sigrun, we decided to talk to Tagni. She appeared to be doing her own investigation by looking at old matches and such. She was able to inform us of the following:

- Gudar is the only new fighter from Blademill. He is not suited for combat.

- The other Blademill competitors and all Hammerfest competitors are repeat challengers.

- Snjorr is another repeat that comes down every now and again.

- She has never heard of Stikill (can’t imagine why), Ms. Fjalarr, or Shibusa.

- Ms. Fjalarr uses a blend of techniques from southern Vanachrom

- This is odd, since she’s listed as from Hoor’s Plains.

- Shibusa uses very old techniques from Cursestone and Drake’s Pass that haven’t been seen in centuries. She’s only read about these techniques.

We were about to leave when we noticed she had a bracelet with a green stone. We immediately asked her about it, and as it turns out, Elof had been going around to the camps and trying to sell these pieces of jewelry. She said that he claimed it was emerald, which means that he lied earlier. She clearly wanted to know why we were so interested, but we didn’t want to say. She ended up giving us the bracelet based on a promise that we would find the real culprit and let her know later. I said that was the goal.

Sylvie and Bronze went to investigate Elof’s stall while Reinhold, Donner, and I ran over to the Hammerfest tent since Tagni indicated it was more likely that they purchased something. Erika had purchased some yellow stone earrings from Elof, and Dagn picked up a torc with red stones. They clearly wanted to know why we were asking, but Donner assured them that it was a part of the investigation. Since Tagni had been targeted, we decided to question Sigrun again.

We ran into Bronze and Sylvie on the way there, and they were able to confirm that Elof was absolutely lying– he had more precious stones.

Sigrun is… somehow almost more annoying than Skirlic. She was absolutely incensed that Bronze literally said “knock knock” outside of her tent flap (which isn’t THAT uncommon), and further took offense of Bronze’s behavior when I realized she was lying about not seeing Elof (and nervous that we were asking) and told Bronze to scan her tent for jewelry. Bronze merely pretended to have to take a call (poorly) and stepped outside the tent. She was able to confirm that there is a bracelet with a damaged stone in her desk, and in all likelihood, it’s blue. Her feet also appear to match the footprints we have.

Very much likely our culprit. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to exactly confront her right then and there, so we ended up leaving. We asked Donner to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t try to get rid of the evidence and headed over to the travelers tent portion to ask them if they’d been approached by Elof.

Randolph and Selby looked happy to see friendly faces, and I can’t lie, it was a huge relief to get to talk to them after how Sigrun’s latest interview went. They honestly did not encounter Elof, which means that for whatever reason, they are not part of his targets. I suspect that he and/or his group want to further incite the two towns against each other, but that’s pure speculation.

Randolph and Selby confirmed the arrivals of the other travelers to what we know. We then decided to talk to Ms. Fjalarr, and her light was on. We announced ourselves to no answer, then again to no answer. Starting to fear that she might’ve been targeted, we had Bronze scan the tent, but to our relief, she just wasn’t there and had left the light on. Though, Bronze was able to make out that her journal had her name written as Hilde Fjalarr…and the fake nurse’s name was Hilde. It’s a common name, so it could be a coincidence… but I have my doubts. Ms. Fjalarr doesn’t match the build of the nurse, but that can be modified through one way or another. We didn’t find any real signs that she has poison, but she does have multiple knives.

We decided we’d talk to Shibusa before going to Skirlic to tell her what we’ve found. Since his fighting techniques are from Cursestone, Reinhold gave him what I would assume is a standard greeting from that area. He seemed genuinely happy to see us? Maybe? It honestly felt like a trap.

And then he revealed that he’s Aegson, and everything immediately made sense. He had body checked me last night as we were leaving dinner, but I was so tired from standing all day, I didn’t want to make a fuss. I asked him if he’d done that because he was upset I hadn’t left, and he said yeah, I hadn’t taken his advice.

Don’t worry, Aegson. I still remember your advice. It’s ever present in the back of my mind. I hope to talk before we part ways. I have questions… and I suppose a story to tell.

Aegson revealed to us that Elof is the swordthane of poison, which makes at least me think that he and Hilde the “Nurse” have something to do with each other. He somehow uses his jewelry to inflict the poison, which we think coerces a person into becoming the killer. How exactly he inflicts this, no one knows. Aegson claims he could find out, but it would cost a life. None of us are particularly eager to see another life gone so soon, but if it becomes necessary, at least there is a way other than simply fucking around and finding out.

We have Tagris’s bracelet, so we did think about finding out through that. We’d need to put it on somebody, and we weren’t sure who would be best suited, but Aegson went and fetched Randolph.

I don’t really want to do it to Randolph, but that idea IS funny. And apparently Reinhold was thinking along a similar line, which makes it even funnier.

Bronze expressed that she didn’t want to involve Randolph in this, especially not like that, and said she would do it. Honestly, I’d rather do it. I have probably the strongest mental defenses other than Donner, and I’m not letting him do it. I think I have the best chance of resisting the poison’s effects. If I fail, I know the others will do everything in their power to stop me from hurting anyone, and if it comes down to it, I trust Aegson will kill me. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that– I still have to somehow save the world along with the others– but that’s one idea I have.

We ended up forming an alliance with Aegson, and since he doesn’t have his own Pokedex, Reinhold gave him his. Aegson expressed surprise that Reinhold is willing to trust him. Reinhold said not to make him regret it.

Together, we headed over to the gym. It was odd that the door was open. We’d texted her earlier to let her know we’d be on our way soon, and she’d replied, so we thought briefly that it had been propped open for us for some reason.

No. No, it was not.

We found Skirlic in a similar location to how she was earlier, but this time, she had been attacked. A giant bruise had formed on her torso, and she had clearly been poisoned. Magical poison, of course. She reacted when we called her name, at least, but godsdammit. I told her to be careful!

I didn’t want to have to call Eplina again so soon, but I don’t know if Sylvie can pull off another miracle without her help. It worked really well for Brunick’s burn before, so maybe she’ll have an idea on this too.

At least this time, there’s something I can do beyond simply sitting around and keeping the victim comfortable.

I will find whoever did this, and one way or another, they will pay.