fixing plotholes, streamlining

storylines/murder-mystery.md

@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 ## Timeline of Events
 
 ### Before the Session
-- **Three weeks ago:** The Order sends bound Xarrul into the House of Scales to steal the Severance Nail. The archive's automatic Final Closure cuts the Order's command binding. Xarrul catches itself in the Border Ethereal instead of being dismissed. The House mistakes the intrusion for a failed assassination and believes the fiend banished; the Order's instruments still show its binding energy and most cultists believe it remains controlled but unreachable.
+- **Three weeks ago:** The Order sends bound Xarrul into the House of Scales to steal the Severance Nail. The archive's automatic Final Closure cuts the Order's command binding. Xarrul slips home into the Border Ethereal while carrying the power torn loose from that command. The House mistakes the intrusion for a failed assassination and believes the fiend banished and gone; the Order's instruments still show its binding energy and most cultists believe it remains controlled but unreachable.
 - **Weeks ago:** Xarrul, now unbound, finds this thin point on the cult's map — a fault already worked thin by the summoners who once denned here — and anchors to it. In the hidden deepest chamber it begins prying open the old, sealed tear from the Ethereal side, night after night, siphoning the summoners' leftover sigils to do it.
-- **Weeks ago, below the Inn:** Xarrul begins speaking through the stone to the caged Guest. The Guest recognizes the Order's missing asset from its infiltration work. It tells Xarrul which keeper is cautious and which will break the emergency lockstone in grief; Xarrul recognizes the old summoners' stone and supplies the occult half of the plan. In return, they negotiate the body-for-house exchange that can become [the Vacancy](the-reckoning.md#scenario-g-the-vacancy-the-guests-gambit).
+- **Weeks ago, below the Inn:** Xarrul begins speaking through the stone to the caged Guest. The Guest recognizes the Order's missing asset from its infiltration work. It identifies the cautious keeper, predicts Mags will break the emergency lockstone in grief, and proposes the useful exit: Xarrul takes a body that can wear any face while the Guest is projected alive into the Astral Plane. Their compact permits Xarrul one death to close the house—Orenn—but forbids it from killing anyone else until the exchange is finished, except in direct defense against binding, banishment, or destruction. The promise does not make Xarrul responsible for violence chosen by others. The Guest secretly intends to recruit outsiders to kill Xarrul during [the Vacancy](the-reckoning.md#scenario-g-the-vacancy), reclaim the empowered body and take the Inn.
 - **Days ago:** Orenn's surveillance turns up a district-wide wrongness he reads as an *underworld* problem — deaths that don't add up, the Order stirring. Uneasy, he buys holy water and ward supplies as insurance and writes the contingency letter he tucks in Mags's apron. He never once suspects the sealed rift under his own floor; that case is closed.
 - **Tonight, before the party arrives:** Tension between the factions is at a breaking point. Kael has evidence that the Merchant Quarter kill — a guild contract — was done by someone else with ritual marks. He's ready to confront the cultists.
 
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #### Act 1 — The Table (calm)
 - The PCs, strangers to each other and to Orenn, share the only free table. Orenn works them personally — business or pleasure, the house rules, the carrot of "references in high places."
 - Faction tension is palpable but contained: Kael glaring at the cultists, Thera still as a chapel, the cultists half-arguing over texts.
-- Bren mutters in his corner while Vetch fidgets near the cellar stairs.
+- Bren mutters in his corner while the factions watch one another across the room.
 - Orenn steps down to storage for supplies. His absence is what lets the next beat run unchecked.
 
 #### Act 2 — The Spark
@@ -37,12 +37,12 @@
 
 - **The brawl lasts 3–5 rounds. Non-lethal — the rules hold.** Fists, bottles, furniture, and shove/gust/thunderclap *throws* that fling PCs around (use them to pull the party in and to position them for the reveal). NPCs keep their lethal kits holstered; save the assassins' real danger for the finale. If a PC would drop, they're knocked out at 1 HP, not killed. (See the [Brawl Toolkit](#the-brawl-toolkit).)
 - **The blackout.** A few rounds in, pressed in the scrum, **Rennt casts Thunderwave** — a legitimate knockback move that also snuffs every candle at once. The room goes black. It looks damning for the cult (they blacked out the room the instant Orenn died) — and they're innocent of the murder. Perfect misdirection.
-- **The murder, under cover of the dark.** Orenn, back from storage, wades in to quell the brawl and takes a knock (a bottle, a chair) — so he's already bruised and bleeding, alive. In the blackout, Xarrul jaunts partially into the Material Plane behind the bar, brands him (Brand of Spite), freezes him (Visions of Spite), and strikes. Xarrul retreats to the Ethereal. Total exposure: seconds. The mundane knock is a **decoy wound** (see the crime scene).
+- **The murder, under cover of the dark.** Orenn, back from storage, wades in to quell the brawl and takes a knock (a bottle, a chair) — so he's already bruised and bleeding, alive. Xarrul spends the one Stored Incursion it charged during the previous night: it manifests behind the bar for three rounds, brands Orenn, freezes him with Visions of Spite, and lands the killing Multiattack before the charge drags it back Ethereal. The mundane knock is a **decoy wound** (see the crime scene).
 - **Only witness:** Bren. He saw a shape reach through the air behind the bar. Skein forces him to stay silent. (Kael also saw Bren go rigid, staring at the bar rather than the fight.)
 - **Mags brings order.** She storms from the kitchen, cleaver up, and quiets the room with her voice. She relights the candles with a ward-focus — and behind her is Orenn's body. What follows — the forced heal, the forced **Revivify** with the diamond from her own necklace (both failing), the shattered ward-crystal that seals the tavern until midnight, and the ultimatum — is scripted in **[Mags — Act 2: The Reveal](../npc/mags.md#act-2--the-reveal-dm)**.
 - Both factions immediately blame each other. Mags, for show, blames the strangers (see her two-layer accusation in the same section).
 
-> **DM — the murder is the plan, not the start of the mystery.** Xarrul didn't kill Orenn for spite or to frame anyone (those are bonuses). It killed him to make **Mags seal the house.** A killing in the Nether Inn is what triggers the lockdown, and the lockstone she shatters is the closed cross-planar vessel Xarrul needs to finish crossing (see [the ward-crystal's true nature](../location/tavern-overview.md#the-enchanted-door)). The Guest identified *Orenn* as the calm one so that the *grieving* keeper would be left holding the stone and would use it on protocol; Xarrul verified the judgment, chose, and struck. The whole "who killed the barkeep" question is the fiend's smokescreen: the answer (a fiend) comes cheap and early. The deeper answers are what it is doing with the sealed house—and who downstairs helped it choose.
+> **DM — the murder is the plan, not the start of the mystery.** Xarrul didn't kill Orenn for spite or merely to frame anyone. It killed him to make **Mags seal the house.** The lockstone trades the internal planar barrier for an exterior cage: Xarrul crosses fully into the Material interior and regains Ethereal Jaunt, but nobody can leave on any plane until midnight. The Guest identified *Orenn* as the calm keeper whose death would make grieving Mags follow protocol, and Orenn became the compact's single permitted victim. The whole "who killed the barkeep" question is the fiend's smokescreen: the deeper answers are what the lockdown admitted, what must happen at midnight, and who downstairs helped choose the victim.
 
 #### The Brawl Toolkit
 
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ Don't restat the room. Hand any NPC these non-lethal moves and narrate fast. All
   - **A cultist / Essek — *gust of wind* effect:** no damage, just throws people, papers, and flame.
   - **A blade — disarming shove or a flung tankard:** reposition, don't wound.
 
-As Essek's gust scatters the cultist table, Haddon's restricted research folio opens. During Rennt's blackout, Xarrul steals its two loose extracts from the Ethereal side. See [Haddon's Missing Research Folio](order-of-mending.md#haddons-missing-research-folio). Afterward, Haddon repeatedly searches the debris while pretending to organize his ordinary notes.
+As Essek's gust scatters the cultist table, Haddon's restricted research folio opens and its loose extracts scatter with the ordinary notes. Xarrul's entire pre-lockdown manifestation is spent killing Orenn. In the first minute after Mags breaks the crystal—while everyone watches the failed Revivify and her ultimatum—Xarrul uses its restored Ethereal Jaunt to manifest briefly, steal the two extracts, and retreat. See [Haddon's Missing Research Folio](order-of-mending.md#haddons-missing-research-folio). Afterward, Haddon repeatedly searches the debris while pretending to organize his ordinary notes.
 
 Roll initiative only if your table wants dice; otherwise run it as a narrated montage with a decision point or two, and cut it off with the Thunderwave.
 
@@ -118,8 +118,8 @@ The clues are designed to point at both factions while the truth (the fiend) hid
 | Claw marks behind bar | Bar floor | Investigation 16 | Something partially manifested here |
 | Bren's testimony | Bren (agitated state) | Persuasion/patience | "A hand that wasn't a hand, reaching through the thin place" |
 | Siphoned foundation sigils | Cellar foundation | Arcana 13–15 | Something ethereal has been feeding on the summoners' old work here — points *down* |
-| Vetch's observations | Vetch (if given dust or befriended) | — | Something dark and hungry in the Ethereal Plane |
-| Ethereal trail (timed) | Behind bar → cellar | Detect Magic within 30 min | The killer went *down* — toward the thin point |
+| Mirror sighting | Orenn's silver mirror catches Skein or Xarrul in its reflection | — | An invisible or Ethereal creature is physically present in the reflected space |
+| Ethereal trail (timed) | Behind bar → upper cellar | Detect Magic within 30 min | The killer went *down*; the residue follows the ward-lines toward the concealed Deep Cellar and the tear |
 | Partial manifestation scratches | Private room table | Investigation 14 + Arcana 16 | Someone mapped the wards to *break* them |
 | Orenn's preparations | Storage compartment, bedroom | Investigation 15+ | Orenn feared something not-human was moving — and hedged |
 | Orenn's letter | Mags's apron | — | "If something happens to me in the bar, it came from between." |
@@ -142,14 +142,14 @@ As players dig deeper:
 - Bren becomes agitated if questioned about the murder → partial truths emerge
 - Haddon's journal and the private room connect Dace to the Order through physical evidence
 - The cellar and back rooms reveal Orenn's preparations → fiendish angle opens up
-- Vetch mentions the Ethereal Plane → alternative explanation emerges
+- Orenn's mirror reveals Skein beside Bren or catches Xarrul nearby → an Ethereal explanation emerges
 
 **Expected result:** The fiend theory starts competing with the faction theories. Players have a choice of which thread to pull.
 
 ### Late Phase (60+ minutes)
 If players pursue the fiend angle:
 - The siphoned sigils and the failing seal below confirm long-term ethereal interference
-- Veil Dust trip reveals Xarrul (and Skein, and the thin point)
+- Orenn's mirror can reveal Xarrul or Skein whenever either appears within its reflection
 - Orenn's letter and bestiary confirm he feared something not-human was moving — though he never knew it was under his own floor
 - Essek (if gotten alone) reveals the summoning
 
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ These are Xarrul's work — the fiend actively planted or encouraged these:
 
 1. **Xarrul engineered the brawl.** Kael's confrontation with Haddon was real and his anger genuine — but the *laugh* that tipped him over (Rennt's) was amplified in his ears by Xarrul (Voice Thief), which layered a statement only Kael heard beneath it: „Haddon vybral toho šlechtice. Zeptej se ho.” This is true—Haddon selected the victim—but phrased to detonate Kael's existing suspicion. Rennt laughed but never spoke those words. The brawl gave Xarrul its cover without requiring Xarrul to make a false claim.
 
-2. **A cultist component pouch** was left near the bar (Xarrul moved it from the table during the chaos). It contains ritual chalk and dried blood. DC 17 Investigation to realize the pouch was placed deliberately — the blood is old and doesn't match the murder.
+2. **A cultist component pouch** was left near the bar. Xarrul moves it from the scattered table in the first minute after the lockdown begins, when Ethereal Jaunt has returned; its Stored Incursion was fully consumed by Orenn's three-round murder. The pouch contains ritual chalk and dried blood. DC 17 Investigation reveals deliberate placement—the blood is old and doesn't match the murder.
 
 3. **Dace's dagger** under a barstool near Orenn's body. It fell during the brawl — genuinely accidental, not planted by Xarrul — but it's a nasty red herring in its own right: a quality piece with a Scales-guild hilt *and* ritual sigils etched down the blade, so it reads as both an assassin's sidearm and a cultist ritual knife. It's still coated in **Essence of Ether** (a PC who handles it roughly makes a DC 13 CON save or drops unconscious for 1 minute). Its proximity to the body implicates *both* factions and, for anyone who digs, points at Dace himself — the blade's sigils match the second cultist pin hidden in his boot (DC 14 Investigation of his person). A productive dead-end: it cracks open the traitor, not the murder.
 
@@ -174,22 +174,22 @@ These are Xarrul's work — the fiend actively planted or encouraged these:
 The murder can resolve in several ways. None of them are clean.
 
 ### Path A: The Fiend Is Found and Destroyed
-Players identify Xarrul, confront it, and destroy it (see [The Reckoning](the-reckoning.md)). The Brand of Spite fades from Orenn's body. The truth is known. But:
+Players identify Xarrul, cover both planes and reduce it to 0 HP in the Ethereal Plane (see [The Reckoning](the-reckoning.md#scenario-c-ethereal-destruction)). The Brand of Spite fades from Orenn's body and Nessa wakes as the stolen vitality recoils. The truth is known. But:
 - The cultists summoned the fiend → they're complicit
 - The assassins freed the fiend → they're complicit
 - Everyone is guilty. No one is the murderer.
 
-### Path B: The Fiend Is Found but Escapes
-Players discover the truth but Xarrul retreats into the Ethereal Plane and leaves the area. The truth is known but justice is impossible. Mags now has a target — she'll hunt it alone.
+### Path B: The Fiend Is Bound
+Players discover the truth and capture Xarrul before it can complete the Vacancy. They either return it to the Order through Haddon's ritual or seal it neutrally with the binding circle, restored sigils and iron bell. Nessa remains suspended because the invested vitality does not recoil, but her connection survives. The immediate murderer is contained; who owns its chains determines whether this is justice or merely restored exploitation.
 
 ### Path C: The Factions Are Blamed
 Players don't find the fiend. One or both factions are blamed for the murder. This leads to violence — the assassins and cultists fight for real. Mags tries to stop it but she's one woman. Several people die. The fiend watches from the Ethereal Plane, satisfied.
 
-### Path D: Stalemate
-No one is conclusively blamed. The lockdown ends at dawn. Everyone leaves with suspicion and unresolved tension. The thin point keeps growing. Mother Vyre's Phase Two continues. Nothing is resolved — but the players *know* things, and knowledge has consequences.
+### Path D: The Party Does Nothing
+No one enters the cellar or interrupts the escalating accusations. The compact keeps Xarrul from killing again, but it does not protect the factions from one another; the room remains divided and close to lethal violence. Before midnight Xarrul opens Cell One and positions the willing Guest at the Old Work. When the shell lapses, it completes the three-round Vacancy and strands the Guest in the Astral Plane. If nobody witnessed the transfer, Xarrul takes an innocuous face and leaves with the released patrons. If witnesses can identify or bind its new body, the expired compact no longer protects them from Xarrul and it removes them. See [Natural Progression](natural-progression.md#passive-default-nobody-enters-the-cellar).
 
 ### Path E: Negotiated Peace
 Players reveal enough truth to make both factions realize they've been played by a third party (the fiend). Temporary alliance. Joint confrontation. This is the hardest to achieve and the most satisfying — it requires players to have engaged with both faction subplots deeply enough to broker trust between groups that hate each other.
 
 ### Path F: The Vacancy
-Players free the Guest and accept its offer to expose Xarrul during the body transfer. For three rounds the killer, its accomplice and the empty vessel are separate targets. Destroying Xarrul avenges Orenn but pours its power into the Guest who helped choose him; allowing the exchange frees the murderer in changeling flesh and makes the Guest the spectral owner of the Inn. In either branch Mags starts the next confrontation. Solving the murder decides who deserves punishment, not who gets to walk away clean. See [The Vacancy](the-reckoning.md#scenario-g-the-vacancy-the-guests-gambit).
+Players free the Guest and accept its offer to expose Xarrul during the body transfer at the tear in the Old Work. For three rounds the killer, its accomplice and the empty vessel are separate targets. Destroying Xarrul avenges Orenn but pours its power into the Guest who helped choose him; allowing the exchange frees the murderer in changeling flesh and strands the Guest bodiless in the Astral Plane. An empowered Guest later lures Mags below and takes her place. See [The Vacancy](the-reckoning.md#scenario-g-the-vacancy).