The Master's House

[Orp Boon]

The hunched man Margrett was following hefted the body onto the stone floor of the building.

"Master! I is back! With the man!"

Wooden stairs lead up to the second floor. Corridors go off in a few directions. The building didn't seem to be too large from the outside. The adjacent buildings were leaning upon it.

Black boots begin to descend from the top of the stairs, followed by black cloak and finally a head with a large brimmed hat and a curious leather beak.



"Thank you, Frollorian. Oh and who are you, miss?"

[Margrett]

She looked around, not turning to him yet.

Officer Mikael. Investigating some....reports of a ghoul digging up graves.

She threw a look to Frollorian, then looked to the doctor.

That's a crime, sir. If you didn't know.

[Orp Boon]

"Frollorian, please put him on the ice table. I'll get to him shortly. Thank you."

"Yurp."

Frollorian sets off into back of the house. The doctor looks to Margrett.

"Oh that's just Frollorian. He's no ghoul at all, merely a bit simple."

[Margrett]

I got that.

She wanted the hunchback go, raising an eyebrow. Apparently he'd skipped over the "committing a crime" part.

What are you doing with the bodies?

[Orp Boon]

The doctor rubs his hands in their thick black gloves.

"Studying them of course! How else is a doctor supposed to learn about the bodies of his patients? Not many people like being cut up and drawn in pictures."

[Margrett]

Margrett looked at him a little incredulously.

Did you get any kind of...

She gestured vaguely.

Permission?

[Orp Boon]

"Why would I need permission? This is what all doctors do. And it's not like he"

The doctor gestured at where Frollorian carrying the body off to.

" needs his body at the moment. "

He took a glance at a large grandfather clock in the hall.

"I am actually hoping to publish my research on the heart soon and I need to keep on schedule. Will you be staying here long?"

[Margrett]

Margrett was silent for a moment, going over the laws of Wistvale in her head. Then finally she looked up at him.

Sir, I was going to arrest you for digging up bodies, but I'm not sure you're actually breaking any laws. You're really doing good work, assuming you're just furthering medical science. The relatives of the people you're digging might disagree, though. The plots belong to people, and taking the bodies out might be construed as theft. So on behalf of the council I would like to make you a deal.

She smiled.

We deal with criminals and murderers on a normal basis that we have to deal with....permanently and violently. If you agree to stop the theft - which is a punishable offense and would keep you from your good work - we'll agree to give you the bodies of those the Guard has to deal with, fresh on a slab and often ended in very interesting and bloody ways. We'll also know who to go to in case we need serious medical attention. Guaranteed business.

She put her hands on her hips.

We have a deal, Doctor?

[Orp Boon]

"I'll agree to that. I would like to see some differently deceased bodies."

The doctor sticks his hand out to shake with Margrett. A stain of blood clutches the bottom of his glove, stretching into his long black sleeves, beyond what Margrett can see.

[Margrett]

She clears her throat, looking at his bloody hand.

We'll, uh...get it in paper.

She looked back up at him.

I'll of course want to inspect your lab, just to make sure everything's on the up and up.

[Orp Boon]

"Oh of course! Follow me into the back."

The doctor heads towards the back of the narrow building. He passes a few doors on both sides. More stairs lead up and a few well kept rooms sit on both sides of the main corridor. The rooms are filled with rather nice carpets and upholstered chairs and stained wooden tables. Oil lamps light the hall.

In the back of the house, a large clean flat metal table sits in the center of the main operating room. It has a high rim and seamlessly ends with a sink at one end. On the table sits the body of the man Frollorian just hauled in. Around the walls of the room are cabinets and counters with neatly arranged tools of surgery. Knives and saws sit clean in a rack on one wall and a few beakers and flasks sit out. A bookshelf sits on one cabinet, filled with thick leatherbound books with decorative spines.

A large piece of parchment has been tacked to a wall and on it is a diagram of a man with his internal organs exposed. A section on the side is devoted to a more detailed drawing of the heart. Notes in an indecipherable script line the poster.

[Margrett]

Margrett walked in slowly, cautiously. She had a bit of medical knowledge, mostly how to set bones and the like, but this was way beyond her. She walked past the bookshelf, scanning for anything strange or "eldritch," then turned to the man being dissected. She felt a little strange that this man had been graverobbed, but she'd already made a deal with the doctor.

How long have you been doing this? Not this man specifically, I mean in general.

She inspected some of the surgical tools, picking up a few and putting them back exactly where she found them.

[Orp Boon]

"Since I started my apprenticeship. My master preferred to buy bodies, but it isn't always easy to find someone selling a dead body in good condition. And most of them were murderers or grave robbers themselves. We did it for science. They did it for profit."

Marg sees that a mojority of the books are written in different languages or scripts.



The tools seem clean, sharp and ready for use.

[Margrett]

I can understand that.

She turned to him.

I'll ask you straight out. Are you doing anything that could be considered morally questionable? Besides this, of course. I know that, if you were, you wouldn't tell me, but it's good to get your lie on the books if we catch you later.

[Orp Boon]

"No, you have my word. I am merely a doctor of the people."

The man adjusted his hat.