Work Text:
After a Long day of Adventuring the Party, consisting of three bards that were often hired as supports for more difficult quests, stopped by a Tavern they had often stopped at. It was Nicos favourite place after work and he had made friends with quite a few people there but also Enemies with some of the other regulars. Mainly Penny since she flirted with everyone and couldn't seem to take a hint.
They entered the Tavern and got a table when Ajax, the server in the establishment, came up, taking their orders and chatting with Nico, Frost and Eros for a minute. Ajax often faced harassment from the drunkards in the building since Lady Necroma who is the owner of the establishment is a very uptight and cruel being who enjoy’s watching people get embarrassed, flustered or even mad at the outrageous rules she’s implemented. Recently when she was drinking again she thought of something to make Ajax suffer, making him wear a Maid Dress to work, claiming it was all the hype back in the City of Aylens. She had been there for a few weeks to check out the local businesses and to also find a new location for her establishment to relocate in. Ajax, despite having the reputation of being as dense as a dry brick felt a bit flustered by it but from day to day got more used to the looks and comments he’s received.
After a bit of chatting Nico, Frost and Eros got their drinks and they had a happy after-work celebration of clearing one of the toughest dungeons near their little village, of course being the supports for some of the more seasoned and skilled adventurers. They were talking, having fun and being Bards when Penny sauntered up to them, with the intentions of trying to get with one of them at least. "Heyy~" she said, twirling a strand of her hair. The brunette leaned onto the Table, making sure that all three of the bards eyes are on her and that she has their full attention as they continued talking. Eros saw in the corner of his Eyes Bellerophon, often called Bell since drunkards couldn't ever bother trying to pronounce their name, glaring at the party who was currently talking, and slightly leaning into the flirting behaviour of Penny. It wasn't a big secret that Bell has a huge crush on Penny but they will never admit it since Bellerophon was more reserved and struggles when expressing any kind of emotion. "Yo! Bell, whats with that slime on your head?" a patron asked, waving at Bell to get his attention. "What slime?" the half Orc asked, clearly having a dark blue slime companion on his head. "I would never have a slime near me. Let alone on my head." Bellerophon continued, acting offended. For the people who came to the Tavern often it was a bit of an inside joke that Bell would refuse to admit they had a Slime on their head. Everybody by now knew that it was Bell's friend but the chubby Half orc would still always refuse to admit he was friends with a slime, gas-lighting everyone who even dared to ask.
After talking and hanging out with the Tavern patrons, drinking and laughing time flew by fast until Nico pointed towards an Aarakocra who was twirling a dagger around, carving things into the counter and staring at the Tavern’s owner Lady Necroma. Nico mentioned how Raphael, the weirdo with a Bird head, was always a bit of an oddball, staring at the Half High-Elf who runs the entire place and scowling at everybody walking by. The three Bards agreed to keep a close eye on him, hoping he wouldn't cause any trouble when Lady Necroma told him off quite harshly for carving into her counter. He immediately stopped, seemingly embarrassed about having been lectured for his bad habits by an Alcoholic of all people.
When a small Wood elf walked past Raphael Eros heard him trying to flirt with her, trying out a cheesy pickup line that made all of the bards cringe internally. Atalanta was a sweetheart though and Frost was able to tell she had a small crush on Raphael, despite his red flags and oddities, he just sighed and shook his head when the cute southern lady started giggling and flirting back. All three just groaned under their breaths when they noticed a weird, dense Fog flowing into the Tavern. It was a Sunny day so there shouldn't be any fog. Where did it come from and why did it feel so ... Evil? The Tavern door slammed shut, making most of the people scream out in shock, staring at the Door. The evil feeling fog kept flowing in from under the Door, filling the lively Tavern, extinguishing the flames in the Lanterns and not letting in any light. "AJAX! This has to be your doing!" Lady Necroma yelled, clearly thinking the kind, small Tiefling server was conjuring this bad terrible Fog. "I swear it's always these Fiends, causing trouble. I should've never hired that thing." It wasn't a huge secret that the Drunkard Tavern Owner has a huge hatred towards Tieflings and any Fiendish creature. After all she was a half-elf and known for thinking she was better than anyone else. "It wasn't me, Miss!" The Tiefling stuttered. Eros started to feel weak, feeling as if the Fog was taking away all of his magic, disconnecting him from the weave and by the groans of his Party members and some of the other magic users he wasn't alone in feeling like this.
Once everybody had started to somewhat get used to being surrounded by the fog, still wondering where it came from, what it was and why it was only targeting the Tavern when a bone chilling scream echoed through the building, followed by the noise of gagging, choking and the final breaths of somebody. Those sounds were enough to start a mass hysteria amongst everyone. People bumped into each other, running against the wall and screaming during their panic the fog slowly disappeared and the Lanterns lit back up. After a few minutes Nico and the others were able to see again, noting how the Tavern had turned into Chaos with chairs laying on the ground, people having stumbled into each other and drinks spilled but the most concerning were the deep red, wet foot prints on the ground leading towards the counter where a small puddle of the same liquid was seen pooling out from behind the counter.
Nico followed the footprints, watching out not to step on anyone or anything. He turned around the corner, stepping behind the counter when he felt sick to his stomach as he saw the display of Lady Necroma laying on the ground, cut open from her throat down to her belly button, her organs exposed and quelling out of her, her grey eyes having rolled back into her head. It was clearly a murder and a painful death and Nico, having lost his family before in a similar gruesome way, immediately had the need to throw up. "Guys..." he whispered, motioning for his Party members to walk towards him. Eros noticed a Dagger sticking in the counter, a browned, crumbled up paper stuck to the wooden board.
"Find out who I am within 2 hours or there's consequences" written on in what seems to be Lady Necroma’s blood. Frost quickly muttered a prayer. He had grown up with Clerics so he knew that it meant a lot for them to get prayed for once they pass. "may you find internal paradise" the Tabaxi whispered, his tail dipping into the elven-blood pooling at his feet.
"Dear gods" Penny whispered as curiosity got the better of her and she checked out what the Bards were looking at. Despite Penny being an explorer and fighter she was never able to handle the sight of proper gore and corpse’s and so her flight or fight instinct kicked in and she started to run for the door, banging on it, shaking it, doing everything in her power to get the door open. Bell joined in, trying to help his friend in getting out by ramming into the Door but it is sealed shut by some form of magical force. The windows started to fog up with that mysterious fog once more, shielding the people inside the Tavern from the outside world. Penny was crying and panic was spreading as everyone tried to get out unsuccessfully.
Bell tried their best to get Penny to calm down with no progress though because shortly after Penny fainted from hyperventilation. The Orc quickly caught her and placed her on their lap, making sure her head was safe and uninjured.
Atalanta in the meantime was trying to get everyone else to calm down. Nico had walked into the bathroom, getting rid of his nausea and washing his face, getting supported by his two friends with soothing back rubs,
Ajax seemed to be the most calm amongst everybody, trying to keep a calm head and keep his breath steady. The Tiefling knew that panicking wasn’t going to help anybody. "Everybody, we need to figure out the murderer. There will be consequences otherwise." he said in his soft spoken voice before turning his head to Lady Necroma’s corpse, seeing Raphael rubbing the half-elfs head affectionately, whispering under his breath. "red suits you, my love. You look so pretty cut open like this" he whispered before gently kissing her forehead and closing the women’s eyes. The small young man looked at the Aarakocra with disgust, shuddering at the words he had just heard.
Once everyone had returned and calmed down enough to keep a steady thought Atalanta started to speak, trying to keep a calm voice to try and comfort everybody. "Guys, I know this is scary but we need to figure out who the murderer is. This note mentioned consequences. I don't think anyone wants those. And I think once we figure it out we will be able to get out of here."
Whilst listening Nico noticed how Raphael was still acting strange, fiddling around with his hands and never taking his eyes off of Lady Necroma’s corpse for more than a few moments. This Bird person was definitely acting suspicious, like he knew something.
People started to accuse others of the murder, starting fights and provoking each other. Eros whistled, getting everybody's attention "Guys! Fighting will not do you any good so stop acting like children and start thinking." He lectured, glaring at everybody.
Slowly people Started to use common sense, trying to find patterns, evidence, anything that could lead to the murderer and with every piece of evidence gathered Raphael started to get more fidgety until he finally cracked, his mask dropping as a nervous tick and a dangerous sounding giggle came from him. "It was me!" He exclaimed, sounding excited and dangerous. He grabbed a dagger, breathing heavily, his shaky hands slowly wandering up to his throat. "She wouldn't accept my love!" he yelled, his eye twitching with mania. "She ignored my advanced, Ignored me! So I killed her because Maybe, just maybe when she realises how far I'm willing to go for her she'll accept my love, accept me and we can be together forever in the afterlife!" He said, his voice sounding insane. He dropped the hand that was holding the dagger before thrusting it into his neck, a sickening sound coming from his beak as he twisted it, gasping, choking on his blood and spit unable to swallow. Tears started to form in his eyes as he dropped onto the floor "Will... you.. love.. me.. now? My Beautiful Nightshade.." he whispered with his last breath, a tear falling down his feathered cheek as he dropped to the floor next to Lady Necromas corpse, their blood mixing.
Everybody gasped, unsure what to think as Penny started to scream again, crawling for the door to try and open it as the windows fog dissipated, opening the bubble that had formed to keep them in the Tavern and witness all this.
Penny fell out of the door onto her knees, thanking whatever being protected them.
Nico, Eros and Frost walked out as well, quickly walking down the road to the sheriffs office to tell him what happened so that someone could go and clean the Tavern up. Everybody was still shaken yet nobody dared to say a word about it, not feeling like they have the right to do so.