Scene 5 - Museum Surprise

The Prison of Abazad

Background

While the group retrieved the Purple Sapphire from the Cult of Dagon, Investigator Prybel made his own move. He arrived at the Museum of Antiquities a few hours before the group and tried to convince the Professor to turn the gem over to him once he'd taken possession of it. The Professor refused, and, in the ensuing argument, was knocked unconscious. Prybel kept his head (he is a skilled Investigator, after all), and doctored up the scene to look like there was an attack and kidnapping in the Professor's office. After that, he received intelligence from one of his informants that Archogados has the gem and is leaving on the Black Zephyr at midnight. The Investigator bundled the Professor up and rushed to the docks to secure a ship and stake out the Zephyr.

The Scene of the Crime

Whenever the group arrives at the museum, they find that the front doors are locked and no one appears to be in the building. If the outside of the building is searched, the group finds that the door in the back alley is open (in fact, the lock has been smashed). The hallway beyond is strewn with papers, smashed clay and porcelin artifacts, as well as a smashed and overturned display case. Picking through the rubble, they come to Professor Bell's office (denoted by a brass nameplate). The room is disheveled. They can find out the following after a thorough investigation:

• Notice: Small spatters of blood appear on the edge of the desk and on the papers below it. (raise)Something about the room and the hallway seems odd. (raise2) The destruction seems almost methodical, not like a 'heat of the moment' sort of tossing.
• Tracking: Bootprints and other spoor give the following information: There was one, fairly large attacker, (raise) walks with a distinct limp in their left leg, and dragged a heavy burden down the hallway (before the glass case was smashed and overturned) and out the door (raise2) walks like a soldier or watchman.
• Knowledge (forensics or the like): The blood is fresh (less than two hours) (raise) And the wound was probably not life-threatening.

Development

The group can using Tracking to find Prybel's path (bootprints and a handcart track), which heads directly to the Freeports District docks. Also, a raise on a Streewise check provides the following information:

• A lamplighter (at night) or a streetsweeper (day) heard a loud crash about two hours ago and then saw a shadowy figure in the alleyway lift a large bundle into a handcart and walk off down the main road toward the Freeports district.

Navigator