Better Late then Nether

[Rythir-cenarion-circle]

It had been a little over two weeks since the doppelganger’s forcible … return, to Azeroth. But now looking out the window of a small house in eastern Elwynn Forest, Rythir felt they had time to think on the events that led them here.

Things had returned to a sense of normal for Rythir, after finally being able to return to their home plane the Twisting Nether; well at least it was normal for them. Finally done with Azeroth he thought no more people chasing him down for committing some light “crimes” as they called them, all he did was try to fit in, Rythir could have done so much more with that life had Zaium Duskmyre not had friends that wanted it back. So selfish. Then having their ritual so carelessly commandeered and twisted by Suni; binding their form to her command, not to mention the scar she left on their new face. But now, Suni seemed to have vanished without them in tow, and without her around the magical binding on their arms faded, and they managed to slip from this plane to the one they called home. And lived happily ever after.

Yeah, no, things did not last, eventually Rythir began to hear voices, or was it the same voice? It was hard to tell, the sheer volume and number of concurrent conversationalists made their head spin. Every day getting louder and more numerous. Over the next couple of months Rythir began to grow accustomed to cacophony in their mind and even caught the strands of cohesion in the winding words. Fel, they even had one sided conversations with it. And, it sure helped having something to talk to as they began picking and peeling away the ‘skin’ of the form they’d been trapped in, revealing a new dark energy seeping out, or maybe in? A new normalcy was being established, but one voice worried him.

“You… are not… finished.” The voice repeated it’s ominous message at first sparingly, but it slowly had gained frequency over time. Rythir was not much a fan of this voice, they had no desire to return to any form of servitude, and this master-to-be did not react to their sarcastic quips at all; that simply would not do.

Then one day the voice said something new, “It… is…time…”. Rythir found themselves surrounded suddenly by a large Netherstorm, and in a flash they found themselves making a sudden drop in Ironforge; eyes still shut the voices in their head were quiet and instead they found themselves surrounded by voices outside, head still pounding. After overcoming a slight language barrier, Rythir found themselves back on Azeroth… great this place again. On a more positive note, none of the faces seemed familiar, perhaps they could improve upon their last visit? At least, that was the original plan, then Ghost happened to walk out of the building and recognised them, telling tale of their past and leading to a rather one sided kerfuffle. Luckily Rythir believes with some acting, they have fooled the others into thinking they were dead as they reapparated around the corner and ran away to plan their next moves.

Fortune continued to shine on Rythir as they made their escape and found a small lodging in Eastvale Logging Camp inhabited by a lone old man. Even more fortunately the man seemed to be near blind and half senile. Hiding the man’s spectacles and making some slight changes to their form Rythir spent the next few weeks playing at being the man’s grandson come home to visit and take care of his dear old grandfather. It made for a decent cover as he waited for the voices to return and give him new direction.

Arthur Pendleton, as Rythir learned the man’s name, was quite the fountain of information, not even requiring any magic or manipulation to spill his entire life story; this would surely come in handy if Rythir needed to answer any personal questions in his time here. Former mage in training at the Tower of Azora he claimed, but gave up his pursuit of magic to chase the girl of his dreams, ’Fool.’ was all Rythir could think at that decision. Had a family, family grew up and spread out causing some tense feelings, wife died recently, hadn’t seen grandchildren in years, Rythir could probably just kill the man now and the town would think he died in his sleep. But then again, why mess with a plan that’s working?

The sound of some of the hens penned up outside having a squabble interrupted their thoughts. Their thoughts having caught up to the present anyway Rythir turned away from the window and the faintest glimmer of light creeping over the horizon to face the dark and quiet of the small room. They picked up a small candle from a table and lit it with a small purple flame and walked over to the bedside.

“It’s truly a shame it came to this… but it is time for me to move on.” he spoke softly to the still form of Arthur, still lying in bed where he had fallen asleep. “Too tell you the truth, I had thought of ending your life myself,” he placed the candle on the nightstand, “… I wasn’t going too, you took me in and helped me a great deal more than you realize. I suppose peacefully in your sleep is what you deserved.” Rythir stood and straightened a set of the man’s clothes on their form, slowly changing into a replica of Arthur Pendleton.

“Stormwind…”

Rythir paused and looked over at the bed, “You got out just in time.” and with that Rythir tipped over the lit candle setting ablaze to the makeshift pyre they had prepared of Arthur’s bed and several bottles of whiskey he had stored underneath. Hurrying to make their escape before the sun fully rose over the forests of Elwynn, Rythir did take a moment to let loose the now orphaned hens. “Herald… Chaos…” With those -amazingly- precise directions Rythir decided if the voices were going to be vague they might as well enjoy themselves, but first, Ghost was familiar with their tactics and knew how to recognize them… she would need to be dealt with.

[Orwyn-cenarion-circle]

Report taken by: Lieutenant Maris Sedgegrave

Date: 4/28

Time: 11:30am

Location: Eastvale Logging Camp (henceforth referred to as “the village”)

Persons involved: List of witnesses included in Appendix F.

Describe the incident:

At approximately 6:00 am Mr. Nathaniel Emory was passing by the cabin owned and occupied by Arthur Pendleton on his way out to hunt, when he observed a small quantity of white smoke issuing from the eaves of the southeast corner of the cabin. He ran to the front door and via yelling and pounding on the door, attempted to gain the attention of anyone inside. No one responded. Receiving no response, he opened the unlocked and unbarred front door to examine the cabin interior. Upon investigation he determined that the cabin had no visible occupants, and there was a 10’ X 5’ X 6’ (lXwXh) fire in the southeastern corner of the one-room building. Mr. Emory summoned the village’s volunteer fire brigade. Members of the volunteer fire brigade responded to the cabin starting from approximately 6:15am. They found a large quantity of white to grey smoke issuing from the open front door, a 3’ x 3’ hole in the roof above the fire ignition location in the southeast corner, and the entire east wall, entire south wall, the half of the west wall to the right of the cabin entrance, and approximately half of the ceiling on fire. The room had not yet experienced flashover. The fire brigade executed their standard plan of attack of a structure fire, described in Appendix D. The fire was extinguished by 6:45am.

The volunteers overhauled the cabin and looked for occupants and evidence for the cause of the blaze. The cabin was known to the villagers to be owned and occupied by said Arthur Pendleton. In addition, Mr. Pendleton’s grandson, Roy Pendleton, was also currently residing in cabin, having arrived in the village four weeks earlier.

The cabin was 576 square feet, composed of one 24’ x 24’ foot room. A catalogue of its furnishings and the damage to each is contained in Appendix A. The cabin suffered significant damage to 75% of its interior, and moderate damage to 25% of its interior. See Appendix B for damage map. Initial investigation by the fire brigade and confirmed by Watch investigators was that the fire originated on a bed in the southeastern corner of the cabin.

While investigating the fire source, the volunteers found what appeared to be human remains. At that time, the volunteers exited the cabin and contacted the Watch. An investigation team was immediately dispatched from Stormwind.

The team consisted of:

Lieutenant Maris Sedgegrave

Investigator Brigent Ruthers

Investigator Teslee Freeblink

Coroner Kyrenia Crowder

Officer William Mayburn

Officer Ernie Quickshift

The team arrived at the cabin at 9:37am. Lt. Sedgegrave took over incident command. Officers Mayburn and Quickshift secured the crime scene with ropes 30 feet from the cabin walls and stood guard. Investigators Ruthers and Freeblink entered the cabin and evaluated its structural safety. Once it was determined to be safe to enter, the investigators and Coroner Crowder proceeded to the southeast corner where the reported human remains were located. Ruthers, Freeblink, and Crowder found numerous bone fragments entangled in the debris of what had been a bed, as well as on the floor beneath the bed. These were photographed and collected for lab analysis. Also located underneath the bed remains were four bottles of whiskey. All the bottles showed signs of heat damage and cracking, with scorch marks surrounding each crack. All bottles were collected as evidence.

While Coroner Crowder and Investigator Ruthers collected the human remains, Investigator Freeblink examined and cataloged the fire damage. The full results of the fire investigation are found in Appendix C. In summary, it was determined that the fire started on the bed, due to an unknown heat source. The bed was made of a wood frame with wool blankets and a straw-filled cloth mattress. After an estimated ten minutes, the bed was fully engulfed in flame. At that point, is likely the fire had burned down to the straw which served as a significant, although short-lived, accelerant. The dramatic increase in heat allowed the adjacent wooden cabin walls to ignite. Several minutes afterwards, the ceiling in the southeast corner ignited. It was at this point that enough smoke was being generated that it escaped the cabin and was visible to Mr. Emory. Up until the moment that Mr. Emory entered the cabin, the fire spread was retarded by a lack of oxygen inflow. After the cabin door was opened by Mr. Emory, that allowed for a faster fire spread. It was subsequent to the opening of the door that the majority of damage was done.

The investigators were not able to determine from the evidence and observations the cause of the fire.

Following the investigation of the cabin, Investigators Ruthers and Freeblink took witnesses statements from the fire brigade members and every resident of the village. A comprehensive list of witnesses and their statements is contained in Appendix E. Two key statements are included in the Witness Statement section of this report.

The investigators determined from questioning witnesses that the cabin was owned by the aforesaid Arthur Pendleton. This was later confirmed by kingdom census records. Mr. Pendleton was a human male, aged 80. Witnesses also noted that four weeks prior to the fire, another man had come to the village and started living with Mr. Pendleton. The man was identified by Mr. Arthur Pendleton to the villagers as his grandson, Roy Pendleton. Neither Arthur Pendleton nor Roy Pendleton were located in the village after the fire. Witnesses last recalled seeing both men the day prior to the fire close to the Pendleton cabin.

Physical Evidence Collected:

Photographs of the scene, exterior and interior. Char from multiple points and objects (marked on photos and cabin plan). Samples of burned objects (marked on photos and cabin plan). Four whiskey bottles located under the destroyed bed. Fragments of human bone and teeth. Comprehensive list of items in Appendix F.

Crime Scene Investigator Addendum ((if one responds)): See Ruthers’ statement, Appendix G; Freeblink’s statement Appendix H.

Witness Statements:

Mr. Nathaniel Emory:

At approximately 6:00 am Mr. Nathaniel Emory was passing by the cabin owned and occupied by Arthur Pendleton on his way out to hunt, when he observed a small quantity of white smoke issuing from the eaves of the southeast corner of the cabin. Mr. Emory stated that he was concerned that the cabin might be occupied, so he proceeded immediately to the front door of the cabin and pounded repeatedly on the door, and also yelled loudly in an attempt to gain the attention of anyone inside. Upon receiving no answer, he subsequently attempted to enter the cabin via the front door. The front door was neither locked nor barred, so he was able to enter the building. Upon entry, he observed the following:

A “large” (Mr. Emory’s words) fire covering an area of 10’ X 5’ X 6’ in the southeast corner of the cabin, the fire extending vertically along the interior cabin walls.

Grey to white smoke obscuring the view of the ceiling starting at a height approximately 8’ above the level of the cabin floor.

The greatest volume of fire was centered on what appeared to be a bed in that corner.

Mr. Emory yelled repeatedly into the cabin, but received no response. At this point he ran to the center of the village to ring the fire bell. After approximately five minutes, Mr. Emory returned to the cabin with members of the volunteer fire brigade. The time at this point was approximately 6:15am. Mr. Emory assisted the other volunteers in extinguishing the blaze. This was accomplished by 6:45am.

Mrs. Martha Doodurry:

Mrs. Doodurry was preparing breakfast when she heard the village fire bell ringing at approximately 6:10am. As a member of the volunteer fire brigade, she responded to the alarm and arrived at the cabin at approximately 6:20am. At the time she was assigned by the scene commander to inspect the rear of the cabin for fire spread. A chicken hutch and pen are located along the rear of the cabin. Both are fully enclosed with chicken wire, with one door with an external latch. Mrs. Doodurry was planning on releasing the chickens to protect them from the fire, but she found the pen’s door wide open and the chickens already free in the rear yard. She thought this highly unusual.

Note that the investigators were unable to find anyone in the village who said they had opened the chicken pen gate.

Further investigation required? Yes

Recommendations?

Analyze human remains to determine if they can be matched to either Arthur or Roy Pendleton. Attempt to locate both Pendletons, if alive. Analyze all evidence to determine cause of fire.

Pendleton Cabin Fire Follow-up Investigation Report – 5/1

Further investigation into the Pendleton Cabin Fire has identified certain suspicious circumstances that indicate the potential for criminal activity associated with the fire.

Analysis of the human remains revealed significant wear on the recovered teeth. Also revealed was evidence of osteoporosis in the fragments of the left femur obtained at the scene. Partial remains of the pelvis indicate that the deceased was male. Together, the evidence leads to the hypothesis that the deceased was Arthur Pendleton. No additional human remains were found, and all remains that were found appear to be from one victim, given the lack of duplicate bones.

A search for both Arthur and Roy Pendleton has so far turned up neither. However, census and immigration records brought to light that Arthur Pendleton has no grandson named Roy. The closest of his five grandsons to that name is a Raymond Pendleton, who currently lives on a farm outside Menethil. When villagers were shown pictures obtained of all Arthur Pendleton’s grandsons, none were identified as the man visiting Arthur Pendleton. A composite sketch of the witnesses descriptions of “Roy” also do not match the photos. Raymond Pendleton has a confirmed alibi for the four weeks previous to the fire. He was not in Eastvale Logging Camp. It is unknown why Arthur Pendleton identified the man as his grandson Roy. Villagers described Arthur Pendleton as senile with poor vision. In addition, they claimed that no relatives had visited Arthur Pendleton for many years. Both factors may have contributed to the misidentification.

Arthur Pendleton died without a will. Disposition of his property will be settled by negotiation involving the kingdom and his surviving children.

Recommendations:

Search for the man identified as “Roy” Pendleton.

Further investigate and observe the disposition of Arthur Pendleton’s property. Attempt to discover If any known property is missing from the cabin.