Vorros looked down at the map in his hands, and back up at the rusted metal sign bolted into the brick sewer wall. Strange. Docks-23fc3 which translated into Dock district, sublevel two, main tunnel three, flood cistern three... Three? There was only supposed to be access to two of the districts emergency cisterns from this tunnel. Wiping some of the muck off the sign only confirmed it, definitely a three. Taking a step back into the shaped intersection of tunnels, both of the new tunnels stretched out into the darkness beyond the range of darkvision. Strange.

Draia Darrock, was a an old friend of the family and had smiled as she regaled him with another story of how his grandfather had been one of the first guilders to explore the caves near the waterfront during the last expansion of the watersystems at the Docks, 'He was gone for so long we all thought one o' the deep creeps got 'im. Then all of a suddenly there 'e was, bold as brass, coming back out o' the dark, a bit paler and banged up a bit, but carrying this old coppery looking knife he'd found! Never seen anything like it'. Vorros nodded, he had heard the story, one of many, more than a few times. Even seen the knife on one of the shelves back home.
As the guild underboss in charge of the Docks, Draia smiled and slapped him on the shoulder, 'Now then, I didn't get you down 'ere just to  talk 'bout your grandfather. How'd you like to do me a favour?'

It had seemed like a simple enough task, deliver the monthly updated maps to one of the work crews, and talk to the crew boss to make sure the tunnel repairs they were doing were proceeding according to schedule. He looked down the right tunnel. That, according to the map, would get to the waterfront and the work crew in, half an hour tops? The left tunnel however...
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:34, Sat 16 Apr 2022.

"'Never pass on a poor map, my lad'", his father had ddeclaimed on many an occassion, most often when one of the stories of his grandfather came up. Oftimes such wisdom was accompanied by a glance towards that copper knife, whether an admonishment or a warning he wasn't sure. But this, this was worse than poor. It was ... incomplete, erroneous even.

His hand moved slowly to tug at one elongated ear as he thought for a moment. Perhaps it was a test. She was a friend fo the family, for sure, but she was also the Dock Underboss for the Sanitation Guild, and his father was as likely to have asked her to push him to excel as he was to have suggested favoritism.

He folded the map up carefully, slipping it beneath his tunic once more, and took off carefully down the left tunnel after a deep breath

As he progressed down it, Vorros couldn't immediately see anything to suggest this tunnel was less or more used than the ones he'd taken to get here. Maybe it was just a wrong sign? The tunnel stretched onwards, the only sounds the drip of water and faint squeeking of vermin. Emerging from out of the darkness ahead Vorros suddenly noticed a small shape lying on the floor further along. Now the tunnels under the city weren't exactly spotless and refuse was common, but something about this gave him pause. Walking a few steps closer, he could finally discern what it was. A boot, a leather work boot, similar to the ones he wore, standard Sanitation Guild issue.

Muttering beneath his breath Vorros studied the boot for a moment, curious if he might discern whose it was from the size or wear. Or, indeed, if there was other detritus or marks nearby to offer a window on how it had come to be discarded here. Swalloing nervously, he used one toe to tip it over, fearing it might still contain a foot.

With the tunnels being mostly quiet it is difficult for anyone to be entirely silent here, but Vorros does his best as he neared the boot. Though the smell would likely have been unnoticed by those unaccustomed to the underground of Port Azure, it was clear as day to Vorros, iron mixed with waste. As he approached, more appeared out of the darkness as his vision managed to to pierce the blackness, seemingly affirming his worst fear. The remains of a body, clothes and gear were spread along the tunnel, blood pooled next to it and spattered across the walls.

Gasping in shock, Vorros peered at the poor soul, trying to understand which of his colleagues had suffered such a grisly fate - and, indeed, the nature of exactly how they had suffered it. He knew he needed to bring back this information, and delivered his maps safely as promised

The body was slumped over its front, but as Vorros rolled it over, he could see long ragged wounds across the man's stomach and chest, at first glance at the face, it didn't seem to be anyone he recognized. A middleaged human with a pudgy, pale face and thinning hair, glassy eyes that stared, unseeing into the tunnels ceiling. Looking closer at the wounds, Vorros could see ragged edges where whatever had done this had torn through the flesh, ripping rather than cutting. Claws, perhaps, or teeth? A lot of the wounds were centered on the stomach, Vorros, seemed to remember some of the old timers say that animals would usually go for the 'soft bits' after an attack, eating as much they could.



OOC:
18:45, Today: GM, on behalf of Vorros Daergel, rolled 21 using 1d20+1.  int (medicine).

Wincing, Vorros crouched by the corpse, studying it and the sewer floor. His flinty eyes sought stories, be they prints or blood, to tell him where the danger lay. Once they had drunk their fill, he began to tentatively examine the corpse once more, knowing his duty was to reclaim any maps the guilder carried

Crouching down beside the man, the smell was even more pronounced, but as Vorros' eyes scanned the body and it surroundings a second time, he caught sight of footprints in the muck and grime of the tunnel floor, it was hard to make out the details, but whatever had done this seemed to have gone on all fours, or at least used its front limbs as it ran, smaller than a human, there were marks and scratches on the stone, suggesting claws of some kind.

Looking around for clues, Vorros was so caught up in his cursory investigation that despite his sharp ears, he suddenly heard a slight growl coming from the tunnel before him.


OOC:
09:32, Today: GM, on behalf of Vorros Daergel, rolled 14 using 1d20+3.  wis (perception).
This was opposed by a stealth check.

09:26, Today: GM, on behalf of Vorros Daergel, rolled 15 using 1d20+1.  int (investigation).