Vigny continues to hover toward the rear.
Now it's castle monsters on top of a cemetery and a new "friend" who probably a jinx.
The memory is vague, but the mention of crow-headed giants and the call of "Doom" as you first saw the village brings a single word to mind.
Corbies.
The other monsters sound like Ogrekin, the mutated spawn of ogres and other humanoid races.
Spivey cheeks get a touch of pink to them as she looks a little to the side.
'Well, they're bigger than you," she says a little petulantly.
A few minutes later, she stops and whispers for you to wait a moment.
"Sometimes they walk around the village in small groups. Let me see if they're around before we get out into the open."
A short while later, she leads you quietly through the abandoned homes and shops and to the cemetery. Unlike the rest of the village, the cemetery is well-kept. As you enter, you can feel a serene calmness relaxing the tension. The statue of a butterfly-winged woman holds a bronze bowl full of water near a pile of stones that Emi and Jerukh recognize as a Desnan shrine. There stands a single, small mausoleum amidst the sparse tombstones.
"Welcome to my home, such as it is," Spivey says with a flourishing bow.
Jerukh continues to mull Spivey's words, his brow ever furrowing at his thoughts and the conclusions they lead him to.
"Ach. These fell creatures sound familiar... The twisted giants... Ogrekin perhaps? Half-breed's with ogre blood and heart's as warped as their flesh and bones."
The alchemist nods to himself before continuing;
"The others... Vrána in the old words... Corbies: Harbingers of doom."
”Jerukh, could a Frána hafe the power to do this to Ameiko?” Emi asks with concern in her voice and a steely glint in her eye.
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Vigny feels the calm of the space as well. It helps her relax a little, enough for her to chortle at Soli's mention of the stinky goblin house.
She still keeps her eyes peeled, looking around though.
When Jerukh and Emi start talking about corbies, Vigny inserts herself asking "do you mean tengu?"
Jerukh shrugs his broad shoulders at Emi's question;
"Not sure. I do not know enough of the Corbies and their power..."
The alchemist smiles awkwardly at Soli;
"Corbies and Frána are the same thing Soliana. Old words and new... As for if Tengu and they are the same - I do not think so Vigny. Crowheaded both are, so perhaps related somehow, but Tengu are more cunning and capricious, whilst Corbie have a more dire repute."
"I wouldn't know. The only thing I've been able to tell about them other than what they look like is that they rarely seem to be interested in anything beyond where their next meal comes from. If I were you, I'd make sure that whoever you came with is on guard. They have wicked beaks and talons, the crow-giants do, and the lumpy ones carry ugly, heavy-looking weapons," Spivey says.
"I believe we need to get into the vaults beneath the castle, whatever the risks. It may be what is needed to help Ameiko or further her quest."
"There may be a way into the castle from the village. There was a survivor from the ship and she disappeared. I know she didn't go through the front gate, so maybe she found a way in."
”Yes, ve must varn the carafan,” Emi agrees, ”but ve should mofe kvickly... if there is something under the castle that can help Ameiko ve need to find it as soon as ve can...”
Spivey elects to remain in her home and offers it to you if you need someplace to retreat to. She warns that the village may not be as deserted as it appears before saying her goodbyes to all of you.
As you carefully pick your way across, something tingles at the back of your necks.
Given all the dangers, Reiko has her katana out as they slink back to the caravan.
Vigny is more occupied thinking about the possibility that there may be a survivor from the boat than anything else.
I wish Reiko wasn’t slowing us down trying to be sneaky... I guess we’re not moving much slower than Soli in all that armor... I should have just run to the caravan myself, checked on Iko quickly, and run back... Spivey did say there were things to be careful of in the village though...
Emi does her best to be mindful of the sights and sounds of the village as they move.
The wind picks up and puts a chill in the air, and beyond the whistling through the limbs and ruins and the footfalls as you walk back towards the caravan, you hear nothing. Nothing moves beyond the rustling of the leaves.
You arrive back at the caravan's campsite to find nothing has changed beyond everyone settling in and preparing for a lengthened stay.
"Back so soon," Shalelu asks as she hurries to meet you after spotting your approach, "what happened? Is something wrong?"
"Corbies? You mean like ravens," Shalelu asks.
Vigny looks at Soli in confusion. "What's a lyrakien?"
"Ve don't know for sure vhat they are," Emi explains, "Spifey, the lyrakien, told us there vere rafen-headed giants, and creatures Jerukh called ogrekin. Ve thought you should know so that you can keep the carafan on guard. How is Iko, has there been any change? Has she said anything else?"
Just before you follow the others up the path, you spot something glinting in the dirt to the side.
"Not that we can see," Shalelu answers sadly. "I know of ogrekin. There was one that tried to make himself a goblin king, but took things too far and wound up in a stew pot not long after I first found Sandpoint. I don't know what ravens would have to do with either them or the raven-headed giants, unless there's some dark sorcery going on in that castle."
She looks off in the direction of Brinewall for a moment before turning and motioning you to follow.
"Sandru needs to know and Koya might know what is going on with ravens and raven-headed giants."
As she turns, there's a look of worry on her face that can be seen for just a moment.
Emi pauses from her rushing for a moment to bend down and grab whatever shiny thing it was that was glinting in the dirt.
What lies in the dirt has been there a long time, but even with the obvious age, the silver, Desnan holy symbol that Emi picks up is not tarnished or even smudged.
Jerukh listens with interest at the tales of ogrekin and nature of the corbies.
He pauses and nods to himself as thoughts turn to Gkirkhan's hard wisdom;
To face monsters such as giants we need to be a little monstrous ourselves...
Emi slips the holy symbol on as she hurries toward the caravan with the others, making a note to ask Koya about it when she can.
”Yes, let’s talk to Koya kvickly,” Emi replies, ”she might know something about the rafen-headed giants... and I hafe something else to ask her about as vell.”
A short walk and one story later, both Sandru and Koya ponder what you've discovered.
"From the way Sandru is puckering his lips," Koya says after a moment, "I'd say that neither one of us knows anything about these raven-headed beasts. Best be cautious and see if you can find a way to sneak in. I doubt the front door would be a wise place to enter from if there are monsters lurking about the old castle."
”Koya, I found this,” Emi says proudly displaying a silver holy symbol of Desna, ”and it is in much better condition than I vould hafe expected... can you tell me if it is magical in some vay?”
"Oh!" Vigny brightens noticeably, excited to know what's up. "Like planar allies, I've heard of those. That's pretty good then."
"Yes! She said a person from the boat killed the thing in the water right?Then went into the castle, but not through the gate... So some other way in. We should go to the boat and track their movement if we can."
"It seems that you have a course then," Sandru says, "best look to see if you can find this secret entrance from what this Spivey has told you. Assaulting a fortified position is not a task to be undertaken lightly, and these creatures sound far worse than goblins."
Koya takes the symbol from Emi and her eyes widen as she examines it.
"No, it is not magical, but it certainly is special. I've never seen mithril used to make a holy symbol before. This is quite the find my little songbird," she says as she hands it back with a smile.
===
Ameiko is much as you left her, unconscious and unresponsive. Thankfully, she seems to be breathing as if she was in a deep sleep, and not like she had been when she was being carried away from Brinewall after her collapse. Her clothes have also been changed into something more comfortable for sleeping and Tatiana keeps watch over the seemingly sleeping woman.
Jerukh raises his eyebrows as well at the find;
"Mithril. Very precious Emi... I wonder if it has an alchemical applications..."
He flashes an lopsided smile.
The lanky alchemist once again mulls the potential foes they are to face with concern;
"It is unfortunate we know little of the ogrpříbuzní and Vrána ..."
Vigny looks in briefly on Ameiko, but doesn't stay. She isn't as close to Ameiko as some of the others like Emi, and wants to give them some privacy if they need it. She waits outside for the others to be ready.
Emi bites down on her lower lip and wills herself not to sob despite the tears rolling down her cheeks. She kneels and brushes Ameiko’s hair away from her face. ”Yes, much more peaceful,” she replies sort of to Soli, ”ve should keep mofing though.”
”Ve vill figure out vhat’s going on, Iko, and ve’ll find a vay to fix you... I promise.”
Emi stands and wipes her tears away with one of her long, flowing scarves. Looking around at everyone awkwardly waiting for her, she huffs and says, "Vell, let's mofe... ve're not going to find a vay to help her standing here. Reiko, or somevun, please led us back."
The trail is easy enough to follow. Reiko leads the way only moving cautiously once they get close enough to town that they might stumble across these 'Ogrekin' or 'Doom Crows'.
Muahahahaha!
As you scout a safe route ahead, you hear the mutterings of a darkly sinister language that comes from a group of four tall, burly humanoids covered in black feathers. Their heads look like those of ravens or crows with wickedly barbed beaks. They have not seen you, but they will soon see and hear your friends. You can warn them, but not without giving yourself away. You have less than ten seconds to act.
The day continues much as it had. Clouds move in to turn the sky overcast, and the wind carries with it a chill from the north, but if not for the eerie silence, the day would seem almost like any other in the Sandpoint Hinterlands.
Reiko spins on her heel and sprints back towards her allies hoping to lure the strange creatures into chasing her. As she draws near the team, she pulls her katana and hisses. "Draw weapons! Four of the crows are coming." She stops short of the group and turns to face the attackers.