Red Moon Over Sartar Campaign

Summaries for December 3, 1995

To: File From: Pvt.Vanevar Zephyr cc: Mulcius, Liason to Colymar tribe.

Re: Investigation of assault on one of the Emperor's tax collectors.

On Dark Day, Corporal Marc Tracius, Investigators Hezbod Doblian, and Sir Ahmet, and Privates Kaleel, Rockfrug, Vanevar Zephyr, Tavar, and Yasna were instructed by Liason Mulcius to investigate the murder and robbery of an Incidius, and Imperial Tax Collector, and his 8 escorts. Reports of other recent travellers indicted the assault had taken place on Dying day.

The bodies had been found by Corporal Rolston on the road between Runegate and Swan. Corporal Rolston had removed valuable Imperial property, mostly armor and herd animals, from the corpses and buried the corpses. He had not taken tax paperwork relating to Incidius' recent activities. On request, Pvt. Cenil escorted the investigators to the scene of the crime.

Pvts. Rockfrug and Vanevar, both of whom have experience as scouts, investigated the burial and ambush locations, but were unable to find any items of note. Pvt. Tavar determined from the local geography that an ambush would have been extremely difficult. Pvts. Kaleel and Yasna located a campsite just over the hill, which had been occupied for several days up to the assault. Search of the location uncovered wine bottles, a piece of beef jerky, and similar campsite materials, but, again, nothing of note. Tracks of 2 or 3 horses were found going from the campsite to the location of the assault.

All of the victims had been killed by 1-2 deep slashes, apparently with a curved sword. Many seemed to have fallen before even drawing their swords. The tax collector's insignia of office was missing and had not been retrieved by Cpl. Rolston. The conclusion was that 2 or 3 individuals had succesfully killed the entire guard with little effective resistance.

The corpses were exhumed to retrieve important paperwork and to permit resurrection as desired and funded by the deceased's families or employers.

Inspector Ahmet personally performed much of the exhumation to ensure that no important clues would be accidentally damaged. No clues were found on the bodies, however. The tax records were intact but routine. Near the end of the exhumation Pvt. Vanevar found a few threads of faded red wool which match none of the victim's items.

Horse tracks from the presumed assailants were observed leading off to the northeast, vaguely towards Jonstown. Pvts. Rockfrug and Vanevar followed the trail for some distance, to the road between Tarkolar and Swan, where the trail had been expertly hidden. The remaining investigators returned the bodies to the Deezola priestess in Runegate and the records to the Imperial tax offices.

All the inspectors then convened in Swan, which appeared the mostly likely destination of the presumed assailants. Pvt Yasma attempted to speak with the local Lhankor Mhy, Erlar the Wise, but was met with obstructionist activity by the Sage's apprentices and kitchen help.

Indications from the crime scene were that the culprits had to be individuals of some martial or magical prowess. Determination of recent unusual visitors to the town found a wealthy and successful Etyries trader who had recently left, Captain Cosova, and a Lunar cadet noble, Restus. Both Captain Cosova and Restus were staying at the Swan Inn. Interrogation and investigation by Inspector Ahmet indicated Sir Restus was acting suspiciously, in possesion of a large quantity of silver and apparently celebrating. Inspector Hezbod Doblian was particularly dutiful, participating in Sir Restus' gambling activities at significant personal expense to obtain information from the suspects.

Communications with town natives indicated that the Sartarite resistance was an unlikely source for the assault, as they would be reluctant to trigger an investigation by attacking a tax collector. A Sartarite bandit, Black Reaper, was thought capable of the deed, and is known to hang out in Jonstown and Torkalor Keep, but his known band size (12) is large compared to the 2 or 3 presumed assailants. There were no indications of suspiciously large expenditures in the town recently, as would be expected had a local performed the deed.

The reaction of the town residents to the death of a tax collector indicates an opportunity for public relations activity. Many expressed joy at the event, in often unseemly manners. Certainly one would hope for a more somber reaction to an assault on an Imperial officer.

Inspector Ahmet interviewed the town headman, who expressed surprise that the assault had not resulted in a proper robbery. He pointed out that the animals and armor, both quite valuable, had all been left.

The next day, Crescent-Come, Corporal Marc Tracius, Investigators Hezbod Doblian and Sir Ahmet, and Pvt. Rockfrug returned to the scene of the assault. Assiduous investigation located local eyewitnesses to the crime. The eyewitnesses reported that Incidius and escorts had sat down for lunch. Two individuals walked up, spoke peaceably with them for a while, and then suddenly slew Incidius and escorts. They then ransacked the belongings and left with money and one horse. This exactly matched Pvt. Rockfrug's determinations that the assailants had brough 2 horses but left with 3. Their descriptions roughly matched those of the main subjects, Restus and his manservant. Pvt. Rockfrug concluded that there had been some attempted illicit activities, but that they had failed and that the assailants had resorted to violence to cover their tracks.

The investigators then proceeded to Runegate, where they interviewed Incidius, who had been successfully resurrected. His account of the event matched that of the eyewitnesses, but he was unable to provide any descriptions of the assailants. He was aware of no personal enemies who might wish his demise. After this, the investigators returned to Swan.

Meanwhile, in Swan, Vanevar distracted Restus' manservant, who was loading up the bags in preparation to leave. While the servant was distracted, Tavar searched the bags and found a lump of silver on a chain which matched the weight and size of the missing Imperial insignia. Pvts. Vanevar and Tavar concluded that they had neither the evidence nor the manpower to arrest Restus, and allowed him to leave; however, Pvt. Vanevar determined their destinations by discussion and Pvt. Tavar followed them some distance out of town.

Pvt. Yasma succesfully obtained an audience with Erlar and successfully negotiated for the use of a Lhankor Mhy Reconstruction spell in conjuction with a Mindlink. The next day, Inspector Ahmet used the spell to view of the actual crime event. His timeline matched that of the eyewitnesses, however, he was able to determine that one of the two assailants was certainly Restus' manservant. This was considered adequate evidence to arrest and all investigators set off in hot pursuit of the suspects.

The investigators tracked the subjects down 2 days later at an inn in Manville in Beast Valley. The investigators attempted an arrest but the suspects attempted to resist. A brief melee resulted, which ended when Pvt. Vanevar cut off Restus' leg. Both suspects then underwent extensive interrogation, during which several more wounds from the melee were discovered. Restus confessed to nothing; his manservant confessed to possession of the insignia but claimed no involvement in the assault, maintaining that they had obtained possession from 2 men headed for Boldhome.

The investigators then decided to return to Runegate. On the way, Restus unsuccessfully attempted to bribe Inspector Ahmet with the location of a buried treasure hoard. Restus' paperwork indiacted that he was really Reshera, a Carmanian noble, traveling under alias. On reaching Runegate, faced with execution, the manservant finally broke down and identified Restus as the killer. In return for amnesty, he admitted being presented but denied participating in attacks. He identified the location of a cloak matching the threads found at the scene, to demonstrate his veracity. Reshera was hung at the city gates for assaulting a tax official and stealing from the Imperial treasury. Yasna requisitioned all his remaining possesions as Imperial property.

Several days later, the manservant was chopped to pieces by a large group of armed men. Extensive investigation revealed no clues as to the identity of the 8 or 9 assailants, the the investigation was dropped as unproductive.

I would like to express appreciation to my more literate Lunar friends for their extensive assistance in the preparation of this document.