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Dead on Arrival ( Completed - Charon )

Started by Griznuq, November 07, 2007, 07:36:50 AM

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Griznuq

This ICD involves:
Charon – Played by Chassic

"Charon," Eril said, the smell of formaldehyde permeating the room as he entered. Today the morgue would be receiving a body. This was nothing new, but as Eril said last night, it was a special body for a special client.

It was uncommon that Eril would wake Charon, mostly because he was seldom up early enough. Clearly, today's task was of extreme importance, as it was very early, good two or three hours before the day would ordinarily start.

"We meet our clients very shortly. I'll need you to be prepared."
=]V[=

Chassic

Charon had feared this day would come. There were a lot of questionable activities done in the mortician business, but until today he had never actually participated in any of it.

"I will meet you in the morgue, Eril. I'll just need a brief moment to dress and get my things together."

Charon had decided that he would not back away from this challenge. He still did not know what was expected of him, though he suspected that he would be asked to falsify a death report. He would have to uncover some more facts before making his final decision, but he would not dishonor the dead in such a way. Not without a damn convincing reason.

Charon quickly got dressed and packed his things into a travel satchel. He picked up a bone white skull resting on his night table and looked it right in the 'eyes', "This may be our last night in this city, Collinsworth. If things go as I fear we'll be on the road before lunch." He carefully tucked Collisworth into the satchel and placed it under the bed.

"And you, too. My friend." Charon gazed over at a spider web that formed a perfect little triangle between his desk and the wall. "I'm afraid that I won't be able to take you with me. I'll find a nice little garden for you before we go." Charon picked a dead fly out of a jar on his desk and carefully dropped it into the web.

Charon had a plan. Not a very good one, but given his uncertainty of what exactly he was about to be asked to do, it was the best he could come up with. He would write the death report exactly as he'd been asked. He would also write up a proper death report. He would have Eril proof read the false report, but leave a few "unimportant" areas unfinished and the report itself unsigned. He will then take the false report back to be "finished". Charon will then submit the accurate report directly to his superiors. Hopefully, with Eril reporting to his "clients" that everything is in order, this will give Charon enough time to get the hell out of town before the trouble starts. If he is really lucky, Eril's "clients" will pay Charon before he leaves town. If he's not lucky ... well, it'll be a short trip to the morgue.

Griznuq

When Charon opened his chamber door, he found Eril standing at the end of the corridor pacing. It was a very uncommon sight. Eril, the man who would stand staring at a detail for an hour or more until he knew what it was, was pacing. What could have Eril so nervous?

When he saw that Charon had opened his door, Eril stopped dead in his tracks and stood straight. He was clearly trying to not look under stress. Eril gave a sharp nod and a small smile, as if Charon's presence brought a bit of relief.

"I will need you to prepare the Kiln, this body will need to be cremated," said Eril. Cremation was a very uncommon thing in the City of Embar. Most beliefs insisted that the body be preserved and burried.

"Charon," Eril began, as the two walked. "Sometimes, it's necessary to survive..." It was an odd statement. Eril was know for more of a 'every one must die' kind of attitude. "You see, in order to continue to serve the dead justly, occasionally there is a price to pay. Tonight, we must pay our due. I am not asking this of you, but you must know that those who are asking, must be placated. Do not examine the body you're given this night." Any integrity, any respect Eril may have earned would be called into question at the utterance of that statement.

"The report must read "Unknown citizen". This must be reported as a beggar who died of some illness. We must dispose of this body regardless of how it comes in."

By the end of the hallway, which seemed that it must have been further away from Charon's room than it was before, however impossible that was, the two had come to a state of silence. Eril must have know that he was asking a task with which Charaon would staunchly disagree. Before entering the morgue, Eril stopped.

"Thank you, Charon," he stated simply. His voice was filled, loaded with unsaid words. There was a hint of sorrow overshadowed slightly by relief... The kind of statement spoken to someone who had just made a sacrifice that could not be repaid. Perhaps Eril knew this could mean the end of his relationship with Charon?

Eril pushed the heavy wooden door open. On the examination table there was a very large black leather sack filled with what could only be a body. However, it was not oblong, or really any shape that might have been a body. If there was a body in that bag, it was not whole.

"Good day Eril," Said a face, belonging to one of two very large Half-Orcs. The two wore black leather armor, and sported a thick sword on their belts.  The one who spoke went on, "I see you have a new mule." He was looking at Charon but talking to Eril.

"You, dispose of my burden," he said, pointing at the bag. "You and I," he said turning to Eril, and patting a pouch at his hip that jingled. "We have business.." The two left the room toward the office. Suddenly it seemed that perhaps there was little more in this for Eril than survival?
=]V[=

Chassic

Half-Orcs. Big ones! Now Charon was sure that if he made one wrong move he would end up in the furnace as well. He made sure that the door to the room was closed and secured. He turned his back to the door, took a deep breath and surveyed the room.

Griznuq

The half orc's twisted grin exposed many crooked teeth. "Don't worry Human, this will be the quickest death record you've every written. This poor Elf died of... Let's just say, natural causes."

The smell of blood was strong near the large bag. Whatever was inside had bled quite a bit, and it was clearly too large to be Elven.

As Charon got a closer look at the bag, there appeared to be a hoof sticking out of the loosly tied end.
=]V[=

Chassic

Charon began to lay out his disecting blades, bone cutters, and saws.

"I'll be as fast as I can. Though it looks like this was one big ... elf.  I'm going to have to really chop him up if you expect it to be incinerated by dawn."

He waited for the half-orcs reaction his words. Was the brute going to let him remove the body from the bag, or would Charon need to get creative?

Griznuq

The Half Orc's eyes narrowed a bit, as he glared at Charon for what seemed an hour, but could only have been a few minutes. Finally, the grin appeared again, wider than before. He slowly nodded in a satisfied manner. "Yes," he said. "Big, he was."

He chuckled, "You'll do just find Human. Just fine indeed," he said as he grabbed a near by lag chair and sat. Finally, he seemed to not be paying so much attention.

As Charon opened the bag, his suspicions became confirmed. This was no Elf. This bag, that was so large, it must have taken both Half Orcs to carry, was filled with remains of a Centuar.
=]V[=

Chassic

The scent of death and blood coming from within the opened sack didn't bother Charon, but the stench of the half-orc on the other side of the room was nauseating. He never cared much for the various odors emitted by the living, nor for the perfumes often used to cover them up. It was one of the things that made it hard for Charon to get close to the living, and even though this brute was on the other side of the room, he still felt too close.

Charon carefully cut away the leather sack with a heavy scalpel. Others might have been shocked at what was inside, Charon was excited. He didn't often get an opportunity to work with such an unusual creature. It is too bad he had to rush.

Charon began his work. He carefully, almost lovingly, laid the body out upon the table. He moved his face in close to the centaur's head. Charon's lips brushed against the corpse's ear. "So, what secrets do you have to share with me today, my friend?" he whispered.

The half-orc twisted uncomfortably in his seat. "What ... what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm simply comforting this poor soul." Charon reached over and grabbed a large serrated dismembering blade. "When one comes to an ... untimely end sometimes the soul is left restless." Charon held the wide blade up and inspected it for sharpness. "We wouldn't want his unhappy spirit coming back to haunt us now, would we?" said Charon, lowering the blade just enough to glance over it at the half-orc.

The brute just grunted as if he understood.

Charon nestled his head back into the centaur's ear and whispered, "Now, let's talk about what really happened to you, friend".

Chassic

OOC: Charon isn't actually expecting the corpse to talk to him (although sometimes the really fresh ones do). His conversation will be a bit one-sided and performed with blades. He will, during the course of chopping up the corpse so that it burns faster, inspect the body for any possible clues. Charon is looking for anything that might let him know how, when, and where it died. Also,  he would be looking for any specific identifying marks, such as tatoos, scars or birthmarks.

Griznuq

This centuar was a male, and was full maturity. No one could tell the age of a centuar really, except perhaps other centuars. At least, that's how the saying went. Judging by the lack of decomp, Charon concluded that this Centuar was a fresh kill, maybe two hours tops. The large deep cuts were consistent with the size of the blades that swung from these Half Orcs' belts. They were no doubt the killers.

"He won't answer you, Human," The Half Orc chuckled. "He can't talk, he's too dead," he said with a hearty belly laugh. "Stop snuggling and get to work." Once again, Charon was forced to endure the all too common preconcieved notion that death was final.

As Charon began examinign the limbs, he noticed two things. One, on the back of the right hand, was a tatoo. It was a sun with many luminous tendrils. The left wrist had an unnatural bump, as if there were a small tubular object implanted just under the skin. Was this something they were looking for?

Charon made a couple quick inscisions, and out popped a shiny gray metal cylinda. Charon popped it into his pocket and continued his work. There was nothing else about the body that caught his eye.
=]V[=

Chassic

Charon quickly finished preparing the corpse for incineration. To speed up the process the meat was flayed from the bones, the bones were cracked, and the larger organs were divided. Charon placed the pieces into the incinerator and fired it up. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the body to go to ash. A few bits will need to be crushed with mortar and pestle, but that would only take moments.

Charon started to clean his tools and return them to their proper place. The tools were not actually his own. They belonged to the morgue. Charon would miss them when he was gone. They were some of the finest he had the pleasure of using.

The room was now very warm, and the half-orc was starting to sweat. Charon tried to find some identifying marks on the creature. He wanted to be able to recognize it again should he have the opportunity to make things right later. Charon was not normally interested in avenging a death with another death, but he was sure that this was neither the first nor the last murder these two would commit. Perhaps there is something to be said for taking preventative measures.

Charon finished cleaning the room and started writing out the death report. "I'm going to write this up as a vagrant who died of complications due to long-term alcohol abuse and syphilis. They don't bother with notification of family members on vagrants, and the syphilis will justify cremation without raising alarms about a dangerous contagion." said Charon.

"Whatever, just do it so I can get out of this sweatbox," complained the half-orc.

Charon checked the condition of the body again. He was surprised to see that it had finished rather quickly.  Charon opened up the incinerator's cooling vents and returned to finished his report. After a few moments he placed the finished report on the table and went to go sort through the ashes. "I can dispose of these ashes, if you like," said Charon as he crushed up the few surviving bits of bone. "Either way I will be done here in just another minute".

Griznuq

The last statement seemed to set off alarms in the Half-Orc's head. "No!"

The Half Orc stood and pointed a this meaty finger at the door his companion had exited a short time prior. "You gather ALL ashes and remains an you give them to Garn!" That must have been the name of the other Half Orc.

"They will be lookin for a..." he stopped. "They will be looking for Proof." His tone suggested that he may have said too much.

Search as he could, the only identifying mark Charon could find was the tatoo on the back of the right hand. It had to be symbolic of something. What, he didn't know.

The cylindar found in the other forearm was puzzling. It was clearly there for a reason, things like that didn't simply grow in arms. There was no visible scar on the arm to suggest the point of insertion, so it must have been done a very long time ago. That wasn't much of a surprise though, given that Centuars were said to live for several thousands of years.

Perhaps there was information somewhere in the morgue records of such a thing, or at least the tatoo.
=]V[=

Chassic

Charon poured the ashes into a small clay jar. The jar was then plugged with a wooden stopper and sealed with wax. He placed the jar of ashes and the report on the table.

"I believe our business here is done," said Charon. "I'll leave these with you." Charon turned back to his workbench to grab his overcoat. "I've a very busy day ahead of me, so unless there is anything further I shall be taking my leave".

Charon started for the door, intent on heading to the archives to conduct some research. Perhaps that tattoo had been seen before.

Griznuq

I got nothin else for this thread. Chassic, I'll let you start the next one we chatted aboot.
=]V[=