Mysteries of the Floating Islands

[MadameButterflyKnife]

"I am glad you believe that. I simply hope that I get to actually see that in practice."

Hadil takes the bodies, and begins performing rites on them. A prayer for their souls, a scattering of water to give them a final taste of life before they head off into the unknown. She doesn't know if she would be able to take the bodies; she figures the others would likely be uncooperative.

>search for something that could be used as a shroud

[SmilyCube112]

Magnus was disturbed by what he found. One of them was an elf, like he (though not the exact same kind of elf), which was what disturbed him the most. Regardless of that, he decides to help the team with their endeavours.

"Anything I can help with?"

[Florien]

Inspect the bodies. Check everything. I'm most especially looking for signet rings, documents, anything with a seal or initials on it be it paper or implement, anything gold, anything shiny, money (either paper or coin, most likely coin given the... ahh... location.) Clothes are less important, they're probably too damaged, and more to the point, the rich have custom work done, so it won't fit us or anyone else, not much use except for scrap cloth. Maybe cut the clothes off, see if there's anything hidden underneath, though. We do want to be thorough.

Oh, and... ahhh... I hesitate to ask because I'm sure this will get a reaction of "ew" from some of you, but slice open their stomachs and gullets and check the insides, they may have swallowed something valuable or potentially highly informative before they died, if they thought they might be searched No real point in a FULL intestine check, they can't have lived that long after being alerted, but maybe check the lower intestine, duodenum, colon. Colon especially. Cavity search and all that. Check mouths too, in the cheeks, under the tongue, everywhere. We need a full inventory of what these people were doing and under the most optimal circumstances, enough information to at least somewhat impersonate them. I suppose my time spent working the security desk for the Archmage Senior doesn't count as life experience now.

[GoldenCityBird]

@Florien:

The following are obvious from a further glance:

* The people without the aforementioned regal clothing and fancy sigils seem to be plainly-dressed. A male human among them, a muscular man with short red hair, seems to have a plain silver ring upon his middle finger. 
* One of the regally-dressed humans, a raven-haired young woman, appears to be holding a small box of some description. Some sort of white non-wood material - Marble? Ivory?
* The other regally-dressed human, a thin bald man, holds a very expensive-looking pen. The hand holding it is his left, and is covered in glass and ink.

Aside from these obvious things, you roll a ??? for investigation.

Nothing stands out to you in particular.


@MadameButterflyKnife: You roll a ??? for investigation

At best, there's the tablecloth you can use to shroud one of the corpses.

@Matthew: You roll a ???

Nothing, to your knowledge.

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Hadil covers a body with a tablecloth. Not perfect, but it will do. The ritual act was most important, not the elegance of it. "If you are so insistent on dissecting these bodies for something they may have swallowed, then you can be the one who demeans yourself by putting your hand up a dead man's orifice. Again, my main focus is that you at least treat these bodies with respect. They were the bodies of living people. If you have some sense of respect and would rather not do it, I believe we should also check that box. It appears likely to have some use to us."

Still, Hadil complies partially. She at least understand the practicality of the request, even if she thinks most of it is demeaning, tactless, and impractical considering the likely destruction of what they had swallowed in the process. While she does so, she mutters yet another song. A song of apology and forgiveness, for what Avanyiss and the others would do after her examination.

> examine the mouths and throat for any evidence, or signs the corpses swallowed evidence.
> also, examine the white box

[SmilyCube112]

"Yea, I have the same sentiment as the feline - practicalities aside, that is. Plus, one of them is a fellow elf! Why should I dissect them?" Magnus says, after taking a while to get over the disgust of seeing the dead bodies (eugh, just gross). He'll just distract himself from it via investigation on other matters.

> Give the pen a closer examination.

[GoldenCityBird]

@MadameButterflyKnife: You roll a ??? 

No markings around the mouth or anything - they probably didn't eat anything too soon before perishing

@SmilyCube112: You roll a 1

You've now got ink all over you! You drop the pen at your feet, luckily not breaking it.

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

You sure have very interesting views. Tool of the monarchists? False god priests? You say it like it's some conspiracy.

[MadameButterflyKnife]

"Either way, from inspection, it's very unlikely they ate the evidence." She looks at Magnus. "...I would assume you would like that cleaned up."

> help get Magnus a washcloth

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

> help with cleanup

[SmilyCube112]

"Welp. Can't say I didn't try."

[Florien]

Excellent. Stuff. And quite besides, it's not a conspiracy at all. If it was a conspiracy, it would have been planned. This was not planned, it just culturally evolved. Humbleness prevents good things from happening, and prevents people from being recognized for the good they've done. It is no virtue.

As for false god priests, I can regale you with the stories of the truth later, but suffice to say, the overwhelming majority of gods have lied to you about how things happened, and questioning them is dangerous to them, and humbleness prevents questions, so obviously, it would lead to them disliking the non-humble and declaring a terrible vice a virtue. Anyway, moving on.

>Gather the obvious surface level valuables, then get out a blade and do the dissection.

...tangential, why is this disrespectful? I expected "ew" but I didn't expect some strange moralizing about it. Everything was once living, yet we have no problem building things of the corpses of trees and grass, or writing upon the skin of sheep, or wearing clothes made of skin or fur or scales or plants. Surely there's no difference, and even if there were one, I fail to see how it is disrespectful to the dead to find out everything necessary to properly avenge them.

[MadameButterflyKnife]

"You're right in that there is no difference, but that simply means we have to hold respect to all things. You pay homage to the animals that provided the fur and skin, the trees that build your homes, just like we pay homage to these dead. And if you're really insistent, once more, there is no evidence they swallowed anything, and even if they did, it's likely that the digestive system has destroyed anything useful for us."

[Florien]

Clearly you haven't met the kind of maniacs I've had to deal with at the guild security desk if you think that the digestive system is an issue of which to be concerned about in regards to preservation, or that there would be surface evidence of someone swallowing something.

Rings, necklaces, most metal and wooden things, of course, all survive quite well, and the capsule letter is common enough to check for. Just put a tiny rolled up bit of paper in a small capsule and you'll have it preserved and swallowable. Secretive sorts do this often enough for it to be worth checking. Obviously, there's also rubber skins, though those can be quite expensive, what with rubber being hard to come by. No harm in being thorough other than a little time spent. As for how exactly it's respectful to decorate and build your house out of corpse parts or wear the flayed flesh of some organism or other, I do not quite understand the logic. Other life certainly doesn't respect me in general, and a good portion of it passively tries to get me killed, or actively does the same.

Quite besides, respect is a dubious concept, but that's a talk for after we've gotten every drop of stuff out of this.

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

Whenever the time comes, I will look forward to hearing about the false god priests. Though I do wonder, I have known people who are quite humble and recognized for the work they have done? People in the villages talk about them for years to come. How do you factor that in if it prevents people from being recognized as you say?

[MadameButterflyKnife]

"Respect means that whatever harm does come, you do it only out of necessity. For example, one requires to eat meat in order to survive. When you do it respectably, you recognize the life the being lived before you take their life. When you prolong their suffering, or desecrate the corpse for reasons other than consumption, then that's disrespect. It's not that hard to understand. Shelter and items are made out of necessity to survive. And if other life doesn't respect you, then that's the fire they have to bear on their shoulders. As...dense as you are, you deserve respect as well."

Hadil takes a deep breath, realizing this is likely going in one ear and out of the other. "Maybe the lands beyond the Sultanate are just indeed this eccentric. That would explain things. That is the reasoning I'll take so we can keep continuing this investigation. No more arguments about gods you personally disagree with, no more arguments about the existence of humility, and no more arguments about some various topic I have not thought of yet, but surely will come up because I feel every item we've seen so far has burdened you all with the gift of wrath. "

May the Eternal Spring give me endurance, she thought to herself.

[Florien]

Anecdotes do not evidence make, Mordecai. Overwhelmingly, people who publicize accomplishments are better compensated for them. Those who do not, they are forgot within three generations at the peak unless they should start haunting somewhere or other out of spite...

Whereas the great scientists and leaders and inventors who publicize their knowledge and accomplishments are remembered for... ahhhh... far longer. Mind, I don't think I could name any any of you would know of, I am not from this plane, but I'm sure the behaviors of society-at-large still apply. To continue, they who speak of what they have done also get meaningful compensation and renumeration in their lifetime, which is... ahhh... better than trusting unnecessarily in some liar to catch you as you die to reward you for arbitrarily determined virtues.  Oh, and it correlates with living longer and being happier. Unless you're an elf, in which case it correlates with being specifically stabbed to death, though that's probably a coincidence, considering that the age at which the elf dies on average does not change.

I am reminded of a poem that I heard once, and how people, including the author, seem to take the wrong message from the words. That one about the broken statue in the middle of the desert about some great ruler or whatever and how there's nothing else there and it's supposed to be an indictment of "ha this person thought they were great but they're dead now and their country does not stand"

But the fact is, it takes a VERY long time for stone to decay, a very long time for the desert to consume the ruins. This is many thousands of years, many tens of generations. Then this ruler is memorialized simply FOR how greatly their nation fell from its height? If you go in for the immortality by word, then this ruler was incredibly successful, and was right to pick such an epitaph upon their statue. If you do not, well, no doubt the ruler was renumerated and lived well in their lifetime, and most likely, their country endured far beyond their death, else the statue would have been destroyed as a symbol of dangerous nationalism from a newly subjugated people. In fact, it is likely the ruler's story outlived many gods. Ozhymahndiahz or whatever was correct. Look upon those works and despair, because all those who looked upon those works thus far have themselves been forgotten.

[GoldenCityBird]

@MadameButterflyKnife: You roll a 1

You look around, spotting what seems to be a bucket full of liquid and a cloth. You pick it up and - oh, wait, that's really dirty water. And on your white robes, too. Good luck washing that out!

@Matthew: You roll a 2

Your attempt to help clean up does fuck all, sadly.

@Florien: You roll a 3

Despite everyone's protests, you manage to slice open one person (the human woman with fancy clothes). That's the good news. The bad news is that all you find out is that her diet seems to consist entirely of tapeworms.

You hear slightly muffled voices outside:

"Alright, Sarge. I take it our patrol starts now. ...What do you mean, keep an eye on the road? Don't want us to check the house for intruders? ...Fine, I'll watch the road for a minute."

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Hadil whispers to the others. "...I do believe that should be our cue to leave. You may take anything we consider evidence that may help us. The tapeworms are certainly not evidence."

[SmilyCube112]

Having heard that, Magnus decides to try a more careful method of stealth, knowing what happened last time. So, he quietly says this to the group: "I will look for a way out from the back." before doing so.

>Quietly search for an exit from the rear of the building.

[Florien]

...

Avanyiss stares with somewhat concerning intent at the tapeworm.

...No, they're probably dead, can't infect someone with parasitic worm that is dead. Right, let's get out of here. The safe in question is probably at the dragon queen's place, but we came here to deal with an airspace violation, so off to that airship crash.

>Sneak out and get moving towards the airship crash.

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

Right, we've got caught up in so many other things. That was the purpose of heading out, wasn't it?

>Also go to the airship crash site

[SmilyCube112]

Magnus just looks at the group, and, reluctantly, puts off finding a rear exit in favour of following the group there.

> Quietly go to the airship crash site.

[GoldenCityBird]

Airship Crash Site

Just beyond the burnt-out farms, but nearby the infmous cliff-fort, you manage to see what could best be described as an upturned boat. Fragments of wood, metal, canvas and cog all surround a steaming hull near the edge of the island. The name "Baronka Světlana" is emblazoned upon the side.

As soon as you arrive, you see nobody obvious nearby.

[SmilyCube112]

Magnus knows it's obvious there's more than what meets the eye, so he takes a closer look at the wreckage.

> Investigate the airship.