[ARCHIVE] 02 - The Hunt Begins

[mithrandir138]

Turning in for the night
Embiri makes his way across the tavern, that is filled with townsfolk who are celebrating for the first time in a long time. It's as if their cares have been washed away for this one night. Tomas has been filling the people of the town with merriment and has been distracting them from their plight. This is a good thing for the town, and Eryl has a smile on his face for the first time in quite some time.

As Embiri reaches Eryl, the gruff militia leader claps the fair-haired illusionist on the shoulder, startling him a bit and almost sending him flying. Eryl says: "You folks have brought much joy to these people. Even if you don't succeed in bringing Gritznak to justice, and die horrible deaths in the Fallow Hils, your presence here has been worth it for this night alone!" He seems a little drunk, but not overly so. He takes a long swig from his tankard and slams it down on the bar. Embiri leans in and cups his hand to direct his voice to Eryl's ear and informs him that the party will be staying the night, and will leave just before dawn.

Eryl says: "Excellent, I shall have Kerrywyn prepare your rooms." Eryl waves down the man behind the bar, and has a conversation that Embiri cannot hear over the ruckus. Much like Embiri, the man behind the bar has striking hair. He has bright yellowish–blonde hair, which flows long and unbraided down his shoulders. Because of this, he is called "Kerrywyn the Yellow".

Separate from the main building of the Empty Flagon is the kitchen and several rooms where Kerrywyn and his entire family sleep, and there are also rooms in this building for rent (this isn't shown on the map for some reason).

Eryl turns back to Embiri and says:“In the morning, I shall have my men meet you at the north east entrance to the town. They will return your weapons and send you on your way.”

After a night of good song and entertainment from the townsfolk’s dancing and stories -- the party lodges at the Empty Flagon, and have a nice rest -- nothing disturbs their sleep during the night.

Heading out
In the morning, Kerrywyn and his family have worked to prepare portable breakfasts for each of you. They consist of sausage rolled in a potato pancake. When the party attempts to pay, he says: “No need. It is my gift. Just remember where you got them. Hopefully that will be some motivation for your group to come back safe, and to ensure that Malforten and the Empty Flagon remain free and prosperous.” The food is the greatest of its type that any of you have ever tasted, frankly it is uncanny how good they are. (these are the specialty of Kerrywynn, and why every table in the Empty Flagon is full every morning -- it is guaranteed that your group will crave them from time to time on the journey, and they will become a topic of conversation when you are eating stale trail rations around a campfire in the mornings.)

Once the party reaches the edge of town via the northeastern path, the makeshift road stops and turns into grass. It’s as if this is a “road to nowhere”. There are no well-worn paths past this, but there are two of the militia men standing with sacks and a few of the party’s weapons in their hands. One of them also has Filbert’s mule by the harness.

Your weapons are returned to you and you are directed to head towards a high point on the horizon (the easily-followed incline starts only about a mile or so away). This is called the Craggy Ridge. You are informed that this is a good vantage point, and there should be a place to ford the river on the far side, or at least, you can find a better spot from that elevation.

The militiamen wish you luck, and beg for your safe return.

At the Foot of the Ridge
The party makes their way to the foot of the ridge with no obstructions. Then, Arot spots (I rolled for NJWilliam since I didn't get a roll) several mounds of dirt and 3 foot wide, 3 feet deep holes dug into the ground around the foot of ridge (before the incline even starts). Arot scouts ahead a bit to investigate one of the holes and finds a shovel and a burlap sack on the ground.

Arot also looks around the sack and spots fresh boot tracks going in several directions. It seems like they were running away from something. Berrit makes his way to Arot and crouches tries to see if he can find out what they were running from, but he can only spot what Arot points out to him.

What do you do?

(The wisdom rolls from jdluna and moorcrys will be unused for now and may be used depending on the next actions of the party -- I jumped the gun a little.)

[NJWilliam]

Arot examines the sack closer to see what it contains, if anything, and examines the footprints to determine how many were here and in what direction they ran.

[mithrandir138]

Arot examines the sack closer to see what it contains, if anything, and examines the footprints to determine how many were here and in what direction they ran.

(You rolled well enough before to see this)
There appear to have been 5 persons running in all different directions.

The sack appears to contain a lot of bones (skulls, femurs, ribcages, etc.) of small humanoids, but they are like fine ivory and also pearlescent.

[mithrandir138]

I wouldn't normally do this, but I want to give you guys some context.. and to let you know that your actions have consequence

If you would have left the town last night you would have run into these 5 people, and would have had taken a lot of penalties (because you were tired). It would not have been a good time

[Vargr1105]

ooc: are the bones individually intact or do they show signs of trauma and violence?

[mithrandir138]

ooc: are the bones individually intact or do they show signs of trauma and violence?

The bones are intact. Meaning: unbroken, but not "fully intact skeletons". (if that makes sense)

[Blazeguard]

Filibert will examine the area methodically, in ever widening circles to see if he can figure out why these people were running away or what might have scared them. He will also keep his eyes and ears open for anything that is out of place or unusual.

[mithrandir138]

Filibert will examine the area methodically, in ever widening circles to see if he can figure out why these people were running away or what might have scared them. He will also keep his eyes and ears open for anything that is out of place or unusual.

This takes about 10 minutes (others can take actions while you are doing this) --- No roll is needed, I will treat it as a "Taking 10" in d20 terms -- However when you finish you just notice that the tracks go in every direction, they were moving very quickly, and they didn't regroup. There is no indication on the ground of any other creature. They appear to have ran in a dead sprint from where they stood.

[Mondego]

Yorick examines the bones.

OOC: Detect evil on the bones and in the vicinity of the hole

[Dogma]

"Ah! Now here's a mystery that might make a start to a good tale! Strangers in the night running off for whatever reason...bizarre bones being buried in the dead of night for nefarious rituals...sets the stage nicely it does!"

The bard crouches down by the sacks of small bones and picks one up for a closer look, "though I do wonder what type a creatures these pretty pieces may have been from."

Tomas will try to remember if he's heard of such bones before. He's also curious if their appearance is their natural state or if they've been altered in some way.

[Blazeguard]

Filibert will examine the holes to try and determine whether the bones were being buried or dug up.

[moorcrys]

Embiri scans the ridge casually as the other members of the party mill about, then leans slightly forward to look peer at the holes.

"Filibert... I believe you mentioned these diggers scattered in random directions... does it look like they were running away in random directions from a particular point? Such as something coming down the ridge? Or perhaps something emerging from one of those holes? In other words, is there any direction none of the tracks are actually running toward?"

[jdluna]

Luna keeps watch to the rear

[mithrandir138]

Blazeguard: Filbert sees that some of the holes appear to have had nothing in them, but that others clearly had remains in them and the bones appear to have been taken from them. Here's some assistance for Embiri's question:

The footprints are coming from the area around where the sack was located. They are all going in different directions, as if the people there were scared out of their wits and running in all directions.

Mondego: Yorick does not perceive anything evil about the bones or the area where they were dug up, however, the bones briefly give you a strange feeling when they are in your hands. It's almost as if someone tickled you from inside of your body, then it fades. Being elven, and having 110 years of life, you have heard tales that the bones of some fey creatures have a pearlescent shine, and that they can be used in rituals or for creating magical objects, and not only for their beautiful appearance.

Dogma: Give me a wisdom check if you want to try to see if you know anything more about the bones. You unfortunately have an average wisdom score (10), so you wouldn't automatically have knowledge of the bones, but I will let you try to roll and see what happens.

Would you guys rather that I roll checks for you when you are preforming actions, or would you like to just roll a d20 when you attempt something and I use that roll if it is necessary and I can figure out the attribute modifiers/prime/non-prime stuff so you don't have to? Either way is fine with me. It seems like things may move quicker if we do either way.

[Blazeguard]

Embiri scans the ridge casually as the other members of the party mill about, then leans slightly forward to look peer at the holes.

"Filibert... I believe you mentioned these diggers scattered in random directions... does it look like they were running away in random directions from a particular point? Such as something coming down the ridge? Or perhaps something emerging from one of those holes? In other words, is there any direction none of the tracks are actually running toward?"

Filibert studies the holes and the area immediately surrounding the holes intently for a couple of minutes and then replies, "Eh, it appears that the tracks all emanate from these holes. From the looks of things someone was trying to unearth these bones when they scattered. Possibly the bones themselves or something in one of these holes frightened them so much that they turned tail and ran."

[moorcrys]

Embiri considers this for a moment. He walks over and peers at the hole nearest to where the sack and shovel were laying.

Does it look as deep as the other holes, as if they had completed digging, or were they still in the middle of digging this hole when they scattered?

[Blazeguard]

Filibert continues to examine the holes, trying to determine which order the holes were dug up in and whether any other graves are currently visible.

[mithrandir138]

Does it look as deep as the other holes, as if they had completed digging, or were they still in the middle of digging this hole when they scattered?

All of the holes are of the relatively the same width and depth (3 foot wide, 3 feet deep). It appears that the hole you are examining did have remains in it (from the scraps of clothing, etc. that you see. The bones have already been removed from this hole.

[mithrandir138]

Filibert continues to examine the holes, trying to determine which order the holes were dug up in and whether any other graves are currently visible.

You are unable to really determine what order the holes were dug in. There are several holes visible. It's as if someone was systematically digging to find things, with variable success.

[moorcrys]

"Curious." Embiri sighs, turning his attention to Luna. "It is outside my peculiar training, but if you concur... perhaps a spell for sensing latent magical energies in the area may be useful. Is that something you can call forth?" He nods to the half-orc. "Or, if not, our good priest may be able to provide similar guidance."