Catica- Where Crime Rules!

Oh, the joys of Catica City. There used to be a government here, but after a few centuries of said government being corrupted, and the mayor having a average life span of two months in office, everyone sort of gave up on the idea. There are no guardsmen for civilians to run to, only local gangs who will just as likely kill you then help you.

There are three major gangs in the city, though dozens of smaller groups come and go. There are The Daggers, a highly organized group of rogues, thieves and assassins. They are mostly in it for the money, do odd jobs for the highest bidder, and breaking into any house that they so choose. One thing to be said for the daggers, is that they are relatively loyal to their own.

Then there are the Mafribium- a collection of mages, whose intentions and whereabouts are completely unknown. It is even uncertain how much influence they have over the city. Some say that they infact run both the Daggers and the Flayers, while others say they are just a bunch of old men who dabble in magics somewhere underground.

And of course, there are The Flayers. The lovely and eclectic group of nasties that the PCs have come to know and love. Master Flayer is a huge man, (rumor has it that he's part giant, though of course no one dares ask of his lineage), and his favorite Lieutenant, Nog is a small and wiry man with dark hair and unsettling eyes. Nog has been known to be extremely good with a blade, and he has undoubtedly earned his way up the ranks of the Flayers.

Bob Thrak, a half-orc that has only one tusk and a great fondness for his axe was having some fun upstairs in the Wench Bench when he was rudely interrupted by Master Flayer. He was ordered to take Garett and Drool with him to the "haunted house" on Sparkwood street and retrieve a powerful sword from there, he tells Thrak that anything else they find in the house they can take for themselves.

This particular house is fairly well known throughout the city. Many people have lived there, and have left soon after in a hurry. Garrett and Bob remember sneaking into the house at night on a dare when they were young and more easily frightened.

Garrett, had just finished "teaching" some of the younger recruits about respect when Bob told him to get ready, and Drool had been happily telling stories of her Great Auntie to no one in particular.

And without further delay, the three headed to the house.

In Catica there is no such thing as a nice part of town, yes there are areas where the houses are bigger, but the streets are just as crime and garbage filled as any other, and residences have all given up on keeping the outside of their house nice. Nearly every surface has painted graffiti, which is a nice break from other things one can find on the side of house if one looks.

The house looks quiet, no lights are seen from the windows, and the garden in the back appears overgrown but empty.

Garrett nimbly climbs over the wall to have a look around the garden, Drool follows him, and proves herself quiet useless. Garrett takes a peek into the gardener's shed/house and finds a diary that he hides from the rest of the group. He notices that amongst the gnarled vines and weeds, and dead plants, a rosebush in full bloom sits next to the shed, and looks perfectly trimmed. Garrett unceremoniously rips up the bush, and finds the bones of a human baby underneath. Not bothering to re-bury the bones, he decides that there is nothing else of interest in the garden and heads inside.

Bob does not bother to see if the front door is locked or not, and kicks in the sturdy wooden door. He finds that a thin layer of dust covers everything, and it looks like no one has entered in about a month. Knick-knacks and glassware still line the shelves, but Bob does not see any sign of the "powerful sword." He does however spot the ethereal form of a servant woman washing the floor, she does not appear to be aware of the orc's presence and speaks, "Poor Sandra, she lost the baby you know." He does however find a nice shield hanging on the wall and claims that for himself.

Drool enters the house through what used to be the front door, and is greeted by another servant ghostie who is quite aware of Drool, and attacks her with a small dagger that glints in the light and looks more solid than the figure. Drool screams for help, Bob's selective hearing ignores her. Drool casts a stunning spell at the ghost, but the magic energies flow right though her leaving her unharmed. She tries again with much the same effect.

Garrett enters though the kitchen door adjacent to the garden, and finds yet another female servant ghost that brandishes a kitchen knife and lunges at him. But before she did any serious damage to the halfling, he shoots a crossbow straight through her. The ghost screams for a second and dissipates with a pained expression. Garret then decides to go help Drool and quickly dismisses the second ghost.

The half-orc, intent on finding the sword searches the lounge and encounters another spirit. This one male, and nicely dressed. After scaring the spirits pants off, he says that the Master keeps the sword in his room. And tries to hurl a magical ice ball at Bob which bounces off his armor. He then heads upstairs, disregarding the sounds of battle in the kitchen, and finds two more spirits. One Butler looking man and a woman dressed as if she were headed to a formal dinner. Bob tries to hit them, but their forms simply change and reassemble. The woman misses Bob with a ice spell, but the man shoots lightning out of his hands, slightly electrocuting Bob in his metal armor. Drool, frustrated by the futility of her spells on the servant ghosts decides for whatever reason that the best thing to do with this new set of foes is to flash them her old, wrinkled body. The servant man looked as if he was about to gag and shoots off another quick bolt at Drool as somekind of knee jerk reaction to her hideousness. The Bolt strikes true, and Drool the witch falls to the ground unconscious with her dress still over her head. Bob and Garret don't quite know what to think.

Garrett sneaks outside, and Bob ends up walking straight through the manservant and enters the Master bedroom, both leaving Drool on the floor. He finds another spectral form. This one dressed in a nightgown, and his knees on the floor, crying. "How was I to know it was her in the shadows? She tried to end my life, happened so quickly." he says, and the form of the manservant dressed in a nightgown and silly looking stocking cap enters. And tries to comfort him, "What are we going to do with her?" the servant asks. At this point Bob notices a mass of shadows by the bed. On closer investigation he notices that it is the image of a corpse, an attractive female dressed in plain clothes and the hilt of a ruby encrusted blade pokes out of the waist of her skirt.

The conversation continues, and replays. And Bob learns that the corpse of this woman was to be buried in the basement. Frustrated that the sword was not really there, Bob destroys all the furniture in the room, and finds a bag of gold coins.

The two remaining conscious members head to the basement and dig up the remains of what they presume to be Sandra, and lo and behold, they find the "sword" which turns out to really be a dagger, but even Bob knows that it holds a very powerful magic.

They grudgingly decide to bring Drool back to the wench bench, Master Flayer might be annoyed afterall. However when they return, they notice that the wenches are not outside on their bench, something that rarely happens....

Inside, they learn that Master Flayer has been killed, and that Nog is not to be found. Even if Nog had killed Master Flayer he still would be the one to take the title of Master Flayer. The three Lieutenants already start to fight over leadership. Bob buys everyone drinks and starts a celebratory party for the life of Master Flayer. And then goes to a local Mage merchant to have the dagger appraised. Mela, a halfling is very impressed at the find and preforms a ritual to better understand the knifes qualities. She says that it is a lifedrinker dagger, that it will heal the wielder as he or she hurts their enemy. She says that it is worth at least 10,000 gold pieces, something she could never afford to buy off of him.