Rose had heard the talk for weeks about the festival. It sounded like so much fun and she could see that after all their failure, Valnar and her needed a vacation. “How about we go to Abed. They are having a festival there right now. Everyone will be there and it will be fun. No having to think about trouble or that damn book. We can just be together.” She was sure it sounded pleasant. “If anything does come up we can just handle it and then get right back to the fun.”

She took his hand and twirled herself in a dancing move. “There’s suppose to be dancing and throwing colored powder at each other. It sounds really fun.” It only took her puppy dog eyes to get him to accept. They were into the first portal they could find since Abed was a popular city for Rosenites to visit.

Once they got into the portal and through it, they found themselves in the colorful, literally, streets of Abed. People were tossing powder around and it was landing all over Valnar and Rose. Her white dress was now covered in purples, blues, oranges, and any other color that she could name. Her hair was covered in it as well and she laughed as she noticed it all over Valnar’s face.

“Should we go dancing or do you want to get them back for throwing the powder on us so early into the game?”

Valnar should have known better than to think that he could deny Rose, he smiled inwardly, it certainly wasn't a bad thing though she had been the one mostly to get Valnar to open up and do things when he would have chosen not to. This festival sounded like one of the things that he would've avoided for the crowds of strange people and lack of knowledge of the surrounding area but his resolve melted away under her puppy dog eyes.

Valnar twirled her as she spun talking about all that there would be to do and readily accepted, "It certainly sounds like fun! It would be so great to spend time together at a festival and that colored powder sounds fun!" Valnar followed Rose to the portal that would take them to Abed and the moment they stepped through Valnar's senses were almost overcome with everything going on. Clouds of colored powder filled the sky, covering the street and whatever surface was exposed in a rainbow of color and Rose and Valnar were both quickly turned into rainbow versions of themselves. Their were minstrels, bards, dancers dressed in silks of red blue and yellow the city was alive with action and movement and enjoyment of any mood that a person may have. Intoxicating aromas of food and spices floated about the street from the taverns and stalls smashed against each other all vying for room and the attention of potential buyers. It was fun!

Valnar turned at Rose's question, but not before grabbing a handful of red powder that had packed into a fold in his trousers, "I think both of those ideas sound great but…" Valnar smiled as he threw the handful of powder at Rose, "Lets start with the powder!"

Rose squeaked as Valnar threw his powder at her. The red powder went in her hair and over the many colors decorating her dress. She took a pouch and opened it up. The same blue of her eyes stared up at her. A smirk crossed her face as she thought of fate before throwing some of the power into Valnar’s white hair. “Come on then,” She pulled him along with the streets.

She could have sworn she seen her cousins but she did not interrupt them. They were vast in numbers and they were their own faction of a family. Valnar was her main concern as they reached what could only be described as war of colors.

The powder hit the air in vibrant rainbows. It was thrown at everyone and anyone as they passed through. Rose held onto him tight as they got into the crowd. She hit her back to his chest as she threw her blue powder all over another couple. Laughs were made but then, a scream. The crowd backed up and a body was convulsing on the ground.

“We got another one!” The guards yelled. Rose took a moment to breath as she stepped forward.

“What’s going on?”

“A mass murder miss, if you know anything please tell us.”

(Feel free to drop clues in your post)

"We've only just arrived sir, but if there's anything we can do to help catch the culprit we will." Valnar told the guard as he knelt to inspect the, now slightly, convulsing body. At first glance the person looked like any other festival reveler all covered and possibly a local, the colored powder covered them from head to foot but underneath it all were clothes in the gaudiest and most vibrant colors Valnar had seen. "Maybe there's something in the powder that caused this, poison? Enchantment?" Valnar began inspecting each colored powder in turn, bringing them to his nose to smell and then tasting his finger each time. The thought that something had been in the powder proved truly terrifying to Valnar as both him, Rose and nearly everyone around were surely doomed if this turned out to be the case, even the guards, who hadn't taken part in the festivities, were slowly being covered keeping the crowds back and breathing it in. Each taste though proved nothing as all colors tasted bitter, either from dying or the nature of the powder Valnar wasn't sure, the powder could've been poisoned but there wasn't enough evidence to prove it was. As Valnar was standing though he noticed that foam was dripping from the persons mouth, "It must have been eaten! There's no other physical evidence, no wounds. Could be the needle from a hairpiece or something else small."

Valnar stood, "Beyond anything physical I can only determine that this person ate something that maybe caused this? I have no magical abilities that may help though, I'm afraid anything I can find out would be minuscule compared to having a court wizard or witch inspect the body." Valnar turned to Rose with a curious look on his face, "Would you maybe have a spell or something we could use?"

Valnar glanced around at the gathering crowd and whispered to the guards and Rose, "Maybe this is something we should discuss someplace private? Also what's been the most popular dish at this festival or have there been many people wearing hairpieces that would be held in place by a needle? A single flower or a small, ornately made decoration would be what we'd need." The last question he directed at the guards, Rose and him had only just arrived and, being on vacation, Valnar hadn't had the frame of mind to examine anyone to see if they looked like a mass murderer.

The tone of the surrounding streets had suddenly taken on a very dark and very threatening turn, every shadow seemed to harbor some sinister wastrel waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting and unwary reveler. It certainly had been a perfect night to commit heinous murder as everyone would be too focused on having a good time to notice any unwarranted or prolonged attention by another, the streets too were so full of people that it created it's own kind of false security. Valnar glanced up and down the street, on full alert now, as he gently but firmly held Rose about the waist.

Rose and Valnar went off with the guards to discuss the food. Her mind was on what he said. She thought about it for a long time. “Doesn’t necessarily need to be a needle. As a Rosenite I know several ways to kill a person with plants and mixed with the right spices you wouldn’t be able to tell what was going on.”

“The curry is laced with hypnotic ingredients this year for more fun, it wouldn’t be hard to lace it.” The guards appeared to be upset about the whole thing. “This isn’t the first body either. There were more found in the alley way. Their blood had been drained out though.”

Her ears perked up. “Well it’s not vampires doing it… so we might as well investigate.” Rose put her hands on her hips and sighed. “So much for a vacation Love.” She offered Valnar a sad smile as she went about looking around.

“…Valnar.” She pointed into the crowd. “Let me show you what I saw because its gone now.” She grabbed Valnar and was able to show him what she saw. There was a figure in black, running away from the scene. Had that person been watching them. She gave a yawn as she ended the vision. “Still takes a lot to show you things but I think that might have been our culprit.”