It akes a while until you recover. Every test that is related to the source of smell suffers -20.

[Toughness +30, target 60; rolled a 26]

Dammek wrinkles his nose in disgust and steps back, but is otherwise unaffected. After spending several years of his life in a penal legion fighting Orks, he had become accustomed to far worse odors.

[Toughness +30, target 60; rolled a 26]

Dammek wrinkles his nose in disgust and steps back, but is otherwise unaffected. After spending several years of his life in a penal legion fighting Orks, he had become accustomed to far worse odors.

You are able to inspect the corpse without any penalty.

Whoever wants to take a deeper look into the corpses details, can do so with a medicae +10 test, or trade (morticator) +30

Dammek wordlessly grabs the nearest trash receptacle and thrusts it underneath Dral's mouth between gouts of vomiting. He gives Dral a hearty pat on the back (probably not helping Dral keep his lunch down) and turns to examine the body... [Medicae +10, target 41; rolled a 38 for one DoS]

Dral finishes his vomiting while Dammek examines the body.

Looking down at his vomit splattered boots Dral groans and wipes his mouth with his hand. Fumbling at his belt for his Auspex which he hands to Dammek (it is probably a little sticky)... "This may be of use while I get some fresh air... I... I need to centre myself before I use my powers...if..if you could cover the body again when you are done"

Dral staggers into the front office and grimaces at Cade and gives a lop sided grin.. "The body is a bit ripe"

Cade looked up to see Dral stumble out of the room, rather palefaced. Nobody of note had entered the building since they'd gone in, so it was some relief to have some company. Cade noted the grin the Astropath shot him to seem almost embarrassed. "That's not to be entirely unexpected." Cade remarked. "Is your first experience with a cadaver?" He asked the Psyker. People handled death differently he knew. Being in the guard, he had needed to get over such reactions to death and dead bodies extremely quickly, lest he join their ranks over a moment's hesitation.

Dammek wordlessly grabs the nearest trash receptacle and thrusts it underneath Dral's mouth between gouts of vomiting. He gives Dral a hearty pat on the back (probably not helping Dral keep his lunch down) and turns to examine the body... [Medicae +10, target 41; rolled a 38 for one DoS]

The body seems to have been hurt a lot before actual death took place. The corpse shows a lot of non-lethal cuts and wounds that have been inflicted before his death, but not a long time before it; you also find a very small hole in the neck. Those who did it wanted to torment him without killing him outright

Looks like he messed up with the wrong guys...

His cause of death was a mix of heart attack and simultaneous bleedings in the brain section. The frozen expression of shock in his face seems to show that something scared him to death.

The other two bodies have the same cause of death, but show no sign of other harm. They also show the small wound in the neck.

Cade looked up to see Dral stumble out of the room, rather palefaced. Nobody of note had entered the building since they'd gone in, so it was some relief to have some company. Cade noted the grin the Astropath shot him to seem almost embarrassed. "That's not to be entirely unexpected." Cade remarked. "Is your first experience with a cadaver?" He asked the Psyker. People handled death differently he knew. Being in the guard, he had needed to get over such reactions to death and dead bodies extremely quickly, lest he join their ranks over a moment's hesitation.

Dral closes the door to the morgue and takes some deep gulps of relatively clean air, he then walks over to stand with Cade. “I have seen dead before but not so close and in such decay… it was the smell though that got me.” Dral shudders “Hopefully Dammek won’t be too long and then I will need to go back in once I have composed myself to see what I can sense.”

I can't resist to offer a - very quick - half-smile at the sarcasm in the words of the Magistratus captain as he talks about the death of the noble."A tragedy indeed.""Can you tell me who found the bodies and if any of your investigators found anything of import at the scenes?"As Dammek starts to leave I (lightly, no need to start a scene here) put my hand on his shoulder and ask:"Dammek, where is Dral? Bring him with you to have a look at the corpse, I'll join you two in a minute."

"A beggar found the first, one of my men the second, not far from here. The third one was found by an old weird man,"which was about 4 days ago. But this last corpse wasnt that fresh anymore - if you know what I mean..."

He tries to read whats on your mind, before he continues.

"The scenes had nothing special - besides the corpses of course. And the area is in such a bad condition that you dont really have to start taking fingerprints or whatever there. Guess we'll have to wait until the Arbites superheroes solve the case, or, this phantom decides to move on. I'd rather bet on the second option, but maybe you surprise me." He grins at you at his last words.

"Oh - and one more thing.", he says, getting serious and standing up from his chair, looking deep into your eyes.

"Asterius, you old *******. Did you really forget me ? Or did you just become so stuck up in your position ?"

My face opens in a smile and I say:

"By the Emperor damned Golden Throne on fethin' Terra, I'll be a gretchin-lovin' ork!"

"Carl?!?"

"Who did you kill to steal this uniform?"

I give a laugh and put a hand on his shoulder, looking around him as if searching for bullet holes on the coat.

He laughs deep from the heart as he gives you a hug.

"YOu really needed to take a second look, didnt you ? Yes I know, the hair is all gone and the scar makes a difference. Anyway, you seem to have lost your keen eye on this fine arbites post you got. Always told you to better you the magistratum. See what happened - you lost your edge."

He looks at you a few moments.

"I am really glad that we are able to work on a case together. Kind of missed you. The last common project we had at the academy...do you still remember it ?"

"Well, I guess you could say that I lost at least one of my keen eyes on my "fine Arbites post"..."

I remove my helmet, a half-smile firmly in place.

"You mean the test on the phrenological differences from the brain of a heretic cell member to those of a regular person? We'll, I remember we aced it. You think it might be pertinent to this case?"

I give him a slap on the back and look around the office for some recaff.

"I was rather talking about the evening when we tried to finish that barrel of amasec all by ourselves - but well, that cell was also worth remembering !"

"You, my friend, know very well that I remember very little of that project! I do remember the side effects, though..."

"But anyway, Carl, I have to go have a look at my new consultants. See if they haven't managed to set a fire to your precinct."

"It might be something of an improvement, though, at least to the smell! Where do you keep the recaff in this hovel?"

Almost as if on cue, Dammek enters the room right as Asterius finishes his sentence. "Consultant Dammek, reporting for duty, sir!" He gives Asterius a lazy salute, lights a lho-stick and gives his diagnosis:

"Captain Eyeball, I found some new details when examining the bodies, and they sure aren't pretty. All the bodies have the same cause of death: simultaneous heart attack and brain hemorrhage. Their faces were all frozen in terror, so I'm sure they were scared to death as the stories suggest. The nobleman was tortured before death; some sick fether cut him up a whole bunch before he kicked it."

He takes a long drag on his lho-stick, then continues. "But I found something else: all the bodies have a little wound in their neck. The holes are small enough that the examiner could've missed them on his first pass. I can't be sure, but my guess is that these so-called 'scare-wishes' used some kind of syringe in their murders. Maybe they sedated their victims and dragged them to some dark corner before scaring them to death, or they might have used a powerful hallucinogen to cause such extreme terror that the victims died on the spot. I've seen some nasty drugs in the lower hive, and I've no doubt that a chemical like that exists somewhere."

Cade gave a short nod. "It's not pleasant. But just because it's not nice doesn't mean it'll go away." He admitted. After a short pause. "I don't suppose you got a good look? Was it the smell? Or was the body mutilated?" He asked in an almost nonchalant manner.

Dral goes back into the morgue when Dammek come out to report, hoping that Dammek had good sense to cover up the body again. Still feeling sick Dral opens his mind to the immaterium as he approaches the body of the young noble.

[Psyniscience test, target 34, roll 91 - failed]

"Good work, Dammek."

I say as I approach him.

"I very much prefer this theory to the alternative."

"Try using your Auspex to see if there is still some trace of foreign chemicals in the victim's body. It may have already disappeared from his blood stream, but it's worth a shot."

"Give us a second, will you, Captain?"

I escort Dammek away from the captain's office with a hand on his shoulder and, as we leave, I turn on him and push him on the wall, my other hand already holding the grip of my revolver.

"Look here, you fethin' bastard.", I snarl.

"I don't know how it worked on your penal legion and who the feth you are. What I do know is that I don't like you. You are a lawbreaker and a convict and there is something that I can't quite place about you. I am willing to work with you on this case only because my superiors ordered me to do only until we crack this case."

"Until then, know this: it doesn't matter which brand of the Administratum thought you were useful. If you disrespect me in front of an officer, I will kill you. If I don't like what I find about you, I will kill you. If you call me Eyeball again, I WILL KILL YOU. Nobody will move a finger, nothing will happen to me and no one will remember you. Not even me, except to laugh about it later."

"Now, you will very slowly put your lasgun on the floor."

"You can bet your life that you will not get to draw it."

Almost as if on cue, Dammek enters the room right as Asterius finishes his sentence. "Consultant Dammek, reporting for duty, sir!" He gives Asterius a lazy salute, lights a lho-stick and gives his diagnosis:

"Captain Eyeball, I found some new details when examining the bodies, and they sure aren't pretty. All the bodies have the same cause of death: simultaneous heart attack and brain hemorrhage. Their faces were all frozen in terror, so I'm sure they were scared to death as the stories suggest. The nobleman was tortured before death; some sick fether cut him up a whole bunch before he kicked it."

He takes a long drag on his lho-stick, then continues. "But I found something else: all the bodies have a little wound in their neck. The holes are small enough that the examiner could've missed them on his first pass. I can't be sure, but my guess is that these so-called 'scare-wishes' used some kind of syringe in their murders. Maybe they sedated their victims and dragged them to some dark corner before scaring them to death, or they might have used a powerful hallucinogen to cause such extreme terror that the victims died on the spot. I've seen some nasty drugs in the lower hive, and I've no doubt that a chemical like that exists somewhere."

"Captain Eyeball - I really like that" - he laughes behind the door.

"Recaff is in that huge can over there - please take as much as you want. The quality is rather common though - I didnt really think to get guests who I like.", he shouts towards you.

Dral goes back into the morgue when Dammek come out to report, hoping that Dammek had good sense to cover up the body again. Still feeling sick Dral opens his mind to the immaterium as he approaches the body of the young noble.

[Psyniscience test, target 34, roll 91 - failed]

Thats 6 DoF (?!?!)...I give you +20...so its 4 DoF.

You feel absolutely nothing when you scan over the bodies. As you walk around the bodies, you stumble and fall down.

Your head hits a chair and for a short moment you almost fade away (you get 1 fatigue).

Laying on the ground, a small bag is in front of you, hidden beneath the table behind a box. It is of very good craftmanship and certainly expensive.

Quietly cursing my clumsiness I will reach out and pick up the small bag. Standing up Dral tries to open the bag and peek inside.

Quietly cursing my clumsiness I will reach out and pick up the small bag. Standing up Dral tries to open the bag and peek inside.

You find some fancy stuff that probably essential for a nobles' beauty.

Furthermore...a best craftmanship hand-mirror, a stub revolver of best quality (filled with Amputator shells), and a letter with a broken seal.

Quietly cursing my clumsiness I will reach out and pick up the small bag. Standing up Dral tries to open the bag and peek inside.

You find some fancy stuff that probably essential for a nobles' beauty.

Furthermore...a best craftmanship hand-mirror, a stub revolver of best quality (filled with Amputator shells), and a letter with a broken seal.

Dral regards the items in the bag; a fancy mirror and an expensive looking revolver "probably the nobles" he thinks to himself. Taking the letter and carefully unfolding it Dral reads it...

"...it is really a pity that you insist on that course of action. Under this circumstances, I think it would be the best for both parties, if our paths divide. You have to understand, that - of course - the investments you made so far, are lost, in such a case. Maybe you should send someone to discuss the terms with us again, before..."

Everything else is destroyed by wetness...the bag (and the letter) must have spend some time in a rainy area...

Dral looks down at his clothes and wipes off the dirt collected in his fall. Taking a deep breath trying to steady himself (not wanting to appear clumsy and weak to his fellow colleagues) he walks into the front office to talk to the officer at the front desk.

Holding up the bag and letter "Excuse me sir, would this bag be the possessions found on the young noble?"

"This bag was found at another location. We are not sure if it is related to the case. Someone lost it."