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| Lucia Vorloi |
Vincent, Vasily, and Darwin decided to sell the boat they had found and head to Pechen to reconnect with Ieho. When they arrive in Pechen, it is December 25th, the feast of St. Lucia. Lady Magda Torenescu was chosen by the duke to lead the procession this year, representing the saint in a sedan chair carried by eight members of her house. The Torenescu were some of the most important nobles in Pechen before Mikulas Mathias came to found Pechen. Since then, their fortunes have declined, but the house is still quite important.
As the parade passed by the trio, a fight broke out between the bearers of the Lady Magda and some members of house Radu who were trying to cross the street. The Radu are likely the most powerful house in Pechen currently, but dark rumors dog them. The Raduites accuse the chair-bearers of hogging the streets, while the Torenescu point out that it's for St. Lucia, a fact that does not impress the Radu. It begins to look like violence is imminent, but Vasily intervened on behalf of the Torenescu. The day ended with a visit by the wood-worker Theodosius to Ieho's house, who hinted he might have some work soon for the Cobalt Cavers.
The next day, a widow known to Ieho stopped by. She had heard strange noises coming from her cellar, but the police couldn't be troubled to investigated. She wondered if Ieho and his friends could help. The Cavers look, and they find a series of tunnels underneath the widow's house. There were a few hobgoblins, whipping on a small group of humans who were doing the actual tunneling. The hobgoblins were driven off in short order, and the humans freed. With some further investigation, they found the tunnels to be quite extensive. Not to mention interesting. In a cavern off of the main tunnels, they found two men burying a body. Once they were driven off, the party investigated the body. It was Lucia Vorloi.
The Vorloi are the third major house of Pechen. They arrived with the duke when Mikulas Mathias was looking for Fogelanders to help him turn Morachi into his kingdom. They've become rich through their trading and influence with the duke. The Radu resent them for being their main competition. The Torenescu resent them for not recognizing their obvious nobility. The Cavers went to the constabulary, who immediately subjected them to a clerical interogation. When they were found to be innocent, the police asked for their help investigating.
The next day, the Cavers began their investigation. Lucia lived with her father, Fortunato Vorloi. Fortunato has been on a trading trip for some weeks. Inside there are signs of violence -- a dagger and bloodstains on the floor, broken dishes and furniture, and torn clothing. There are several drops of a brownish liquid among the bloodstains whih Vincent is able to identify as wine. The dagger is crusted with dried blood, and there are a few strands of red hair dried in the blood. There is a signet ring belonging to the Torenescu family near the door to the cellar, and small bits of pitch stuck to the rungs of the ladder.
The Cavers went back into the tunnels from the Vorloi house, and find a group of kobolds holding a support beam. The kobolds cried out for help, and Vasily and Geoff run up to help with the beam. The kobolds laugh and let go of the beam, attacking the party. Fortunately, the party is able to make short work of them. From there, the party was able to follow the tunnels to a small house. The house is a guest house owned by a butcher named Turano. He had rented it to a traveling blacksmith named Skevlos, who left the house on the 24th. There are muddy tracks on the floor leading to the trap door, and a bottle of dark wine consistent with the stains at the crime scene. The bottle has the seal of Tuscan Estates, a Fogelish wine. Inside the desk is a black leather hood with red hairs.
The party went back into the tunnels, but other than fighting a trio of zombies, did not find anything of note.
