Part 2a: The Village Contingent: Pig-napping Most Foul!

[zebediah]

Jonas looks around and stands as motionless as he can, trying to get a hold of his surroundings and catch any sound or movement.

[1d20] = 1

If there is no sign of danger or of anyone around he goes straight to the back door and opens it letting Simon in.

[KingOfCowards]

Simon smiles when he finally sees his friend open the door. He whispers his thanks and adds, "Up the stairs is where I heard the crying. Let's move fast before the Miller gets back."
He'll immediately head towards the stairs.

[Pulpatoon]

The sobbing is coming from the master bedroom. In an awkward tangle upon the bed are the bound and gagged Miller's wife and daughters. Their hair and clothes are mussed; their eyes are red and teary. The look at you in desperate hope.

The furniture shows signs of a struggle, objects moved and knocked over from their places during your earlier inspection. On the floor is a spilled dish of a roughly chopped, raw fish.

[KingOfCowards]

Simon will avoid the fish on the floor, giving it as wide a berth as he can while he moves towards the bed. He first removes the gag from Mrs. Miller asking, "Are you alright?".
He will hurriedly untie their bonds as fast as he can.

After they girls are free, I'd propose we all head to Tatter Helga's for the night. It must be the safest place I can think of. But we must be careful that the riders do not see us. We'll take the back door outside and lock it again as we leave.

<High fives Zebediah> Nice work.

[zebediah]

Simon will avoid the fish on the floor, giving it as wide a berth as he can while he moves towards the bed. He first removes the gag from Mrs. Miller asking, "Are you alright?".
He will hurriedly untie their bonds as fast as he can.

After they girls are free, I'd propose we all head to Tatter Helga's for the night. It must be the safest place I can think of. But we must be careful that the riders do not see us. We'll take the back door outside and lock it again as we leave.

<High fives Zebediah> Nice work.

Jonas nods at Simon's suggestion This place is not safe, but we must also inform the Reeve at once. He cannot ignore us this time and the authorities need to be ready to act before more people are controlled by whoever is scheming this whole madness.

He turns to Bris and the girls My lady, are you or the girls injured? Can you tell us briefly what happened to you and Mr Ernt? Following the recent odd events in town we believe he is being controlled or otherwise influenced by some magic or evil spirits.

KoC, I think we should take them to Helga as you say but we also need to have the Reeve and if possible the castle guards alert and ready in case the riders return (and also to ensure the Miller's are sufficiently protected). We won't get them to move their asses just by ourselves and what happened to the lady and the girls is something they cannot ignore. My suggestion is before going to Helga dropping by the Reeve's place so he can take proper action.

[KingOfCowards]

Simon gives a very worried expression, his joy at finding the family safe looks to have turned to ashes in his mputh. He does not like the idea of returning to the Reeve's tonight.
My worry is that the further we have to travel tonight, the more chance we get caught by whoever those riders were. The girls' safety should be paramount. Frankly, I am more than a bit frustrated with the Reeve. He has proven time and again he cannot be depended on. The Miller is an important man, it will be hard to move the Reeve to side against him. I would not be surprised for him to hear the Miller's side of the story before he does anything, and it may end up our word against his, if he has others that tell the same tale, it will not matter how many Miller wives and children tell the truth. Lets not forget we are openly admitting to breaking an entry and committing a crime.

[Pulpatoon]

You may note that Tatter Helga's is very close, while the Reeve's house is a relative distance away.

Bris Miller draws in a shuddering breath. "You seem to have the shape of it. There are ill spirits about, and they... they took him." Her face crumbles for a moment, but she quickly regains her composure. "H-he warned me that this was going to happen. When my husband came back from the lumber camp... that must have been where he took on the marks. He tried, he tried to mark us, to feed us the t-tainted... flesh."

The daughters group around their mother, collectively hugging. The oldest, Meela, turns to you and says, "Thank you for finding us. Who knows what our father would have done to us when he returned? He was desperately angry when we resisted his..."she gestures at the spilled fish, "offering."

Pris, the youngest, looks up and says, "What are you doing in here, anyway?"

[zebediah]

You may note that Tatter Helga's is very close, while the Reeve's house is a relative distance away.

Bris Miller draws in a shuddering breath. "You seem to have the shape of it. There are ill spirits about, and they... they took him." Her face crumbles for a moment, but she quickly regains her composure. "H-he warned me that this was going to happen. When my husband came back from the lumber camp... that must have been where he took on the marks. He tried, he tried to mark us, to feed us the t-tainted... flesh."

The daughters group around their mother, collectively hugging. The oldest, Meela, turns to you and says, "Thank you for finding us. Who knows what our father would have done to us when he returned? He was desperately angry when we resisted his..."she gestures at the spilled fish, "offering."

Pris, the youngest, looks up and says, "What are you doing in here, anyway?"

Jonas acknowledges Pris' inquiry We spoke with your father earlier today and noted his strange behaviour. Simon realized he had some marks on his body and we had seen people being driven crazy by evil spirits twice since yesterday, so it looked like he could be under the influence of the same force controlling Hag Sal yyesterday and the fishermen today. Your father met some riders on the border of the village and rode with them to the forest, you were nowhere to be seen so we could not close our eyes.

He regards Simon and wonders what is worrying his friend Simon, you may be concerned about the raising the Reeve's wrath. We have now acted on our own against his instruction, but that might have well saved the lives of lady Bris and the girls. I don't think the Reeve can ignore this even if he dislike being woken up at this hour, but if he maintains the same position I am willing to go to the castle and ask for master Ravengard's assistance. This has gone above what we can handle, we have people riding to the woods in the middle of the night, evil spirits controlling the townsfolk, magically-tainted fish... This is an emergency. My lady... he says to mrs Miller if we leave the girls under the protection of Tatter Helga would you go with me to the Reeve or perhaps to the castle to alert our lords about what is going on?

I see your point KoC but, on the other hand, we have already crossed a line. If the Miller returns, with the other riders or not, he will take some action - whether that is violent or more subtle - and I would prefer to be in the best position we can be when that happens. If we continue to act solo we will have more to explain later, if the Reeve chooses to ignore us that might make our lives more difficult short term but when shit hits the fan he'll have to explain to the lord of the castle why he did nothing when we cried wolf. Worst case scenario Jonas will either run to the castle or make a huge fuss waking half of the village.

[KingOfCowards]

Simon tries to reassure the girls. "Don't worry, we'll get you somewhere safe.

To Pris' question, "We saw your dad was acting strange. When we couldn't find you all, we began to worry. But I am glad we did something before it was too late."

"We can talk about our next course of action after we get to Helga's". Simon will do his best to get the group moving out of the house as quickly as possible. "Grab anything you'll need, but be quick. I don't want to be here when your father returns."

If and when we make it Helga's place, Simon will explain his position. "I think we need to do our own investigation. The Reeve has had Old Sal for a day, and has come up with nothing. Him and the guards will only get in the way. We need to find out what, exactly, is causing this. Something hexed the Miller, and someone carved those marks into him and the others, and arresting him isn't the answer. I say we hole up for the night, and go investigate that lumber camp tomorrow. The Miller family stays hidden and safe. You say we can't do this alone, and I agree. Our friends are on their way back; Burd and Marcus, Abel, Smokey. They'll help us for sure."

For what its worth, I've never solved an adventure by calling on the cops to do all the work for us. If you are worried about the Miller taking some action, better to not let him know where we are, I say. As opposed to turning ourselves in.

[Pulpatoon]

The girls grab up some shawls and head scarves to cover up before heading out.

Bris Miller runs down to the kitchen, and returns with a heavy meat cleaver and several muslin satchels of herbs. She hands one to each of her daughters, and makes them promise to keep them close.

She looks at the tow of you. "I don't have any more. Here, one of you can have mine. Or..."She sniffs. "Helga has already put a protection upon you?

"Well, then, let's go see the witch. I'd trust my daughters with her more than with Firman, in a situation like this. But I'll speak with him, if you wish."

[zebediah]

"You say we can't do this alone, and I agree. Our friends are on their way back; Burd and Marcus, Abel, Smokey. They'll help us for sure."

What do you mean, do you know where they are now? I heard nothing from them since they left for the woods. Let's talk to Helga and see what she thinks.

[KingOfCowards]

"You say we can't do this alone, and I agree. Our friends are on their way back; Burd and Marcus, Abel, Smokey. They'll help us for sure."

What do you mean, do you know where they are now? I heard nothing from them since they left for the woods. Let's talk to Helga and see what she thinks.

"They were only headed up towards Oxley? They should be back before long. Why? You don't think something has happened to them as well do you?"

[Pulpatoon]

The two of you and the Millers make your way over to Tatter Helgas, where she is bent over a mortar and pestle, grinding away at what might be little dried peppers, or, then again, could be shriveled lizard tongues. Probably best not to ask.

She sizes up the situation quickly, and fusses over the Millers, shoving her possessions roughly around to make room for them to sit, and fetching scalding hot tea. Once she has them settled, she looks at you two, saying, "Yew git'im hirbs? Good, sippy whistlin' thirn? An' whirs th' pig?"

[zebediah]

What do you mean, do you know where they are now? I heard nothing from them since they left for the woods. Let's talk to Helga and see what she thinks.

"They were only headed up towards Oxley? They should be back before long. Why? You don't think something has happened to them as well do you?"[/quote]

They left like two days ago, didn't they? We hadn't even started working at the Miller's place. With all the weird stuff going on... I hope they're back soon but I think for the time being we shouldn't expect to have their help for our immediate problems.

She sizes up the situation quickly, and fusses over the Millers, shoving her possessions roughly around to make room for them to sit, and fetching scalding hot tea. Once she has them settled, she looks at you two, saying, "Yew git'im hirbs? Good, sippy whistlin' thirn? An' whirs th' pig?"

Wow, I totally forgot about the herbs! And the pig... to be honest, I don't even recall him following us when we last left here...

Pulp, we wrote nothing about the pig after Helga asked us to take him. Does Jonas remember him going along with them?

[1d20] = 18

[KingOfCowards]

Jonas grabs up the bowl, smearing himself and Wilbur with the thick goop (like no tea you'd ever want to taste). Running to Simon, Jonas slaps a palmful on his friend's head and heart, even as the fisherkids wriggle out of his grasp. Jonas thrusts the bowl at Simon, and grabs up the two children, holding them still and telling Simon about Helga's instructions. The kids continue fighting, but they drop the fish, and, as it eventually occurs to them that they can't remember why they were fighting, the settle down.

A lot of the contents of the bowl have slopped out during all the activity, but Simon and Jonas divide what's left, and try to apply it to as many fishers as possible.

This is the last mention of Wilbur. If Helga knows not of where he went, I must assume that someone has successfully completed a pig napping most foul. We suck.
Simon stammers while looking desperately around in all directions, "We thought he was with you...I had told him to stay...we were...its only..." His speech trails off as he tries to catch his breath. "Wha...what do we do now?

Simon will try to remember the last time he saw Wilbur, but his mind is a mess. INT Check: [1d20] = 18

What time is it Pulp?

[Pulpatoon]

Unbidden, the memory of Helga's last instruction echoes in your ears:

Tatter Helga: "Oh, an' take th' pig, an' kip 'im outta tribble, inh?"[/dialog

The last you remember seeing Wilbur was in the aftermath of the fish-riot.

Helga looks at you, stricken: "Yiw clith-hidded indjits! Whirs th' pig? Yew dinnint tik th' pig?"

The old lady pulls herself upright and hobbles at maximum hobbling speed outside, looking around the pens. She calls out, "Wilbir? WILBIR! Yew blistered sausidge! Whir ir yew?" She peers at the muddy impressions of footmarks on the ground, before spitting. She returns to the hut. "They git 'im."

From the chill in the air and the utter silence of the village, it must be the middle of the night.

[KingOfCowards]

Simon thinks back to the tainted fish, the Miller tried to feed to his daughters and thinking on what they have planned for Wilbur makes him go pale. "We have to go after him. There is precious little time as it is."

Pulp, how far to the lumber camp?

[Pulpatoon]

The Camp is a little less than an hour away, by foot.

[KingOfCowards]

What do you think Zeb? Are you up for two rescue missions in one night?

[zebediah]

We don't know what they intend to do but it's not something nice for sure. I don't think we have any alternatives but at least try getting Wilbur back. Helga, is there any way we can try to release men who are controlled by the spirits? Throwing tea at them or something like that?

What do you think Zeb? Are you up for two rescue missions in one night?

I just hope it's not too late...