Infiltrating The Mortuary

[*Madnobody629]

For her part, she would remove all of her kit, placing it into a magic bag she'd give to Dace,first..then, dressed in simple common clothes she would take a deep breath , steadying herself before driving a shard of glass into her own chest; after which she would drop like a puppet with it's strings cut. Her pallor would go from normal,even a bit swarthy to that of a bloodless corpse nearly instantly and the hard edges to her features would seem more pronounced.
For better or worse, she'd be committed to the plan.

[*Cadence]

Within moments, street urchins had discovered Roza's "corpse" and rapidly shuffled over. They tentatively observed it like vultures on the plains of the Beastlands circling a recently felled carcass. When they were sure that no ally or associate attempted to approach the body, the urchins scampered over to Roza, and started stripping her body of any valuables that may have been there. Dace saw that they were adolescents- emaciated, dirty, and very quick to tear off any jink pouches, earrings, or other jewelry that Roza had on her person. They worked as a team - one of the urchins quickly stripped away Roza's boots, another went around her head and started to tear away jewelry that may have been on her neck or head, and one seemed quite adept at going through the clothes in her torso. The leader- who seemed to be the oldest, or at least the tallest of the lanky crew - kept a lookout while they stripped the body. Finally, he approached a Collector on the main street and led him to the body. The hooded Dustman examined Roza's corpse shortly (by this time the other urchins had dispersed), and the Collector handed the urchin-leader a small handful of coins.

These urchins were smart, and knew how to maximize their returns on a corpse found in this manner. They had probably been doing this for their whole lives.

Shortly thereafter, a body-cart pulled around, and even in insect-form, the pungent aroma from numerous bodies collected in the Hive over the course of that day still was nauseating. Roza was heaped onto the pile, and the Collector was given a much larger sum of coin by the cart-driver than he had given the urchin who located Roza's body. They started on their way. Fortunately for Dace, this cart was on it's way back to the Mortuary, so he didn't have to endure the stench as it made its rounds through the Hive.

As the cart approached the Mortuary, Dace could get a better appreciation for the foreboding structure that resembled a low, menacing dome with clusters of windowless vaults jumbled around it. The whole area felt somber and shadowy: perfect for the colorless Dustmen. Spiky black buttresses radiated from its center. The main entrance was an impressive double door of copper-sheathed ironwood, left ajar during the day but closed and barred by night. From what little Dace knew about the Mortuary, he did know a few basic chants: Though nearly 250 Dustmen could have lived in the structure in reasonable comfort, the Mortuary normally housed only 50-200, making it one of the most sparsely populated faction headquarters offering housing at all. Many areas stood empty for hours at a time. Intruders who move quietly and stay out of sight could go for days without being discovered, so long as they avoided the undead who surrounded them.

Passing through the front, they took a roundabout way to the back of the building, as the front entrance lead to the Great Hall where important guests or funeral parties were received - the spotless hall was used for ceremonial use only. They arrived onto the main floor just beyond the Great hall. The impressive chamber featured a tall, vaulted ceiling and a floor of polished black marble. The walls were decorated with dark, geometric carvings. The room was paved with dark flagstones. Blank doorways carved in stone lined the walls.


The Cart came to a complete stop in this "back chamber" and the bodies in Roza's cart were slowly heaved out. Roza herself was unceremoniously heaved by one of numerous worker-zombies into a pile. The piles were headed for the receiving room of the Mortuary on the upper floor. Unfortunately for Dace, due to the method in which he and Roz had entered, he could not really catch an opportunity to be alone. He'd have to make one. Roz was in line to be transported upstairs like the other bodies, and there were a handful of Dustmen supervisors directing the zombies to pile the corpses atop the wooden lift which would take them upstairs.

[*Madnobody629]

Roza would lead him out of sight of the guards sight.

"So if you want us to slip in, there are a few options. I can try to sneak in when they aren't looking. I can work some other tricks.. or because it's the mortuary I have a few other ways that I could get away with..but you couldn't. Got any ideas?"

[*Taurus Daggerknight]

"Sneaking in depends on whether you're up for the risk. Factol's orders and all.... if we're sure about this, I can shape shift into something tiny while being invisible. Smaller size should help keep out of sight of any guards with a true seeing ward.

Up to you if you think blending in with the morgue crowd is better than that or not. We can do both really..."

[*Madnobody629]

She would nod.

"Then the best bet is to split up and meet up inside. I think getting interred is my fastest route inside, but I'll need your help in two spots."

[*Taurus Daggerknight]

He nods. "Well, lets just hope these guys aren't as into paper work as the Guvners or Hardheads, or else getting you in alone is going to make us miss the meet. What two spots would those be?"

[*Taurus Daggerknight]

After realizing that the Dustmen and zombies weren't going away on their own, Dace scuttled off into a corner, where he returned to his human form. Once back to normal (though still under the invisibility and haste invocations) He would use the few animate undead and create undead scrolls he had, dashing between points and doing so at different corners before directing them to run amok (not to kill anyone, just cause a raucous and be disruptive).

Once the supervisors and zombies are sufficiently distracted, he makes a concealed dash for Rozalina's unconscious form, casting an invisibility spell on it using a wand and carries it off ((See the Unseen to keep track of it)) to the most isolated spot he can find, where he attempts to revive her as per the previous plan.

[*Madnobody629]

(Waiting to hear if it works before replying)

[*Cadence]

Though Dace does manage to distract the Dustmen in time to remove the foreign object from Roza's heart, he does arouse a great deal of unrest in the Mortuary which brings about 5 more Dustmen to the scene of the disturbance of the unruly corpses. Dace and Roza are in an unremarkable cul-de-sac, and can get their bearings without much threat of being heard, though there is a sense that they cannot hide there long, for even now they can hear common incantations of dispelling being utilized on the undead - incantations that may dispel any spells that Dace and Roz may use to hide.

[*Madnobody629]

The moment the shard would be removed Roza's eyes would go from half open and unfocused to fully open and alert; in the aftermath of the shards removal her pallor would still be ashen and her eyes would burn a vivid crimson instead of their normal blue. When she spoke it would be in a hoarse whisper, spoken around prominent fangs.
" Transform,again...and hold onto my sleeve."

Assuming Dace would do so she would then seem to fade back into the poorly lit and shadowy background (Hide in plain sight), ascending the wall of the cul de sac seemingly by feel alone ( I'm going off Cannon for this- Vampires can spider climb), crawling up until she would be on the ceiling,looking down; it would be this manner,combined with her ability to hide even when observed that would be her strategy for avoiding detection as they search the Mortuary. If possible she would attempt to "procure" a Dustmans robe to better blend in when she would have to risk walking.
Silently scuttling along walls,ceilings and floors as the terrain merited she and Dace would begin their search, looking for Madame Bondalpatti and,hopefully, some answers.