Bring Out Yer Dead!

Tenkar stood next to the recently deceased elf, a crossbow bolt still embedded into the side of its head.

"Lad, you notice the raspberry jam pooling in his hair? He ain't been dead longer then two hrs, three at the most." The observation was made by Stryker, Senior Watchman. He continued to prod at the wound with a small stick.

"Ten, wanna give this a sniff?" Stryker practically shoved the end of the stick into the young watchman's face, who responded with a quick turn of the head and violent retching.

"That's alright lad, clean out your gullet. First one is always the worst. Hey, at least he's young to death. Give him two days in this this heat and he'd be ripe as a sewer"

There was a ritual to any investigation into a violent death and the first step was always an attempt to shock the rookie Watchman assigned to secure the scene. In truth, the rookie was there for little more then to secure the scene, keep the curious at a decent distance and any other menial task that could be thought of. Although Tenkar lacked the experience to be little more then an item of amusement to the more experienced members of the Watch, He did his best to regain his composure as he wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve.

"Alright lad, I need you to go through our friend's pockets. Don't forget to remove his ring. Might be useful in identifying him later, and if we leave it on him the *Necers will just steal it".

Tenkar gingerly went through the victims pockets, putting the removed items in a pouch the older Watchmen held open for him.

"Gods lad! He ain't gonna bite you and he certainly no longer is attached to anything on him. Except maybe that ring. I think our friend put on weight in the years he owned it. You might need to break the finger to slip it off. Don't give me that look! I think the hole in his head would be a more pressing issue for him, if he weren't dead already".



*Necers work for the the Guild of the Dead. They pick up the bodies of the recently deceased and bring them back to a guild location for viewing and later burial. They frequently hold dual membership in a Thieves Guild, although this is not common knowledge (it is often suspected though). Their constant dealing with the dead gives them a twisted perspective on life. Living people are just dead people waiting to happen.

Clack Ain't Cheap

(this was originally posted on Tenkar's Tavern back in 2010.  I'm going to try to make this a weekly, more or less, posting)

Tenkar peered through the spyglass at the dimly lit  street below.  He kept his body bladed, so that the window curtain would partially obscure his presence from the curious.  The room next to him was filled with the noise of young romance, but that was little if any distraction.

"Male Hobbit" he signed with his right hand.
"Tan leather coat."
"Right hand".

Most of the buyers would take the clack with their right hand and hold onto it for dear life.  Others would push it deep in a pocket, possibly ashamed of their addiction.

His message was read by the two uniformed watchmen below.  They casually yet quickly made their way within view of the buyer.  They would follow him for a block or two before making the pinch.  Even at this late hour of night, there was enough foot traffic to make the sight of them fairly common.

That's the sixth buyer we picked of tonight.  Will the Sarge give us the order to grab the dealer, or is this going to be just another exercise in numbers for the Watch Commander to show the City Council?

This precinct in the city had more then its share of crime, much of it driven by the pursuit of illegal narcotics.  Many of the addicts committed petty crimes to fuel their addiction, and the dealers and suppliers frequently turned violent on their rivals.  It took Tenkar some real effort to remember that over 90% of the population, while poor, was law abiding and generally good folk living in a bad situation.  He grew up in this city, but not in a neighborhood like this.

"Ten, give the signal.  Grab the dealer.  We have enough bodies pinched tonight to make this one stick."  Tenkar's hands were still passing the words on as the sergeant went downstairs to oversee the ending of the night's operations.

Hopefully the perps we pinched will allow the Cleric on staff to cure their addiction, but even then more then half will be right back.  Apparently the Gods can only cure the body, not the mind.


Game Rules (just a tad more harsh then real life)

Clack - Highly addictive narcotic.  Cheap to get started with.
Save vs Poison with each use until failed save, at which point addiction sets in.  Once addicted, the drug must be used daily.  If unable to pay for the clack, character in question will steal / kill for clack / money for clack.

Within 2 weeks of addiction, CHA and CON drops 1 point.  It drops another point each following week, until a maximum loss of 8 points is reached.  At this point, 1 HP is lost per week permanently.  Upon reaching 1 HP left, save vs. poison each week or death.

Cure disease will cure the physical addiction and restore all lost attribute points / HP at a rate of 1 per day (just one casting is needed, the body needs time to heal).  A save vs spells (WIS bonus applies) must be made to be able to fight of the mental / emotional addiction

(with thanks and blame to scottsz)