Estovion Lozarov Lodge Warden Estovion Lozarov is Ascanor’s custodian and overseer. The only son of Ascanor’s previous caretakers,
Estovion grew up in the lodge and it is the only home he has ever known. Although a former retainer of Count Beauturne, Estovion swore loyalty to the Palatine Council upon transfer of the property to Lozeri, and the council kept him on as lodge warden.
Duristan Silvio Ariesir A young thrill-seeking aristocrat hailing from one of Ardeal’s wealthiest families, Duristan has come to Lozeri to make a name for himself as a werewolf slayer. He’s already had a few successful hunts and to date has slain three of the beasts. In reality, he’s been lucky—he’s had only minimal training in hunting werewolves and overall his hunts are little more than loosely planned, reckless excursions. As a result of his success, he’s grown dangerously overconfident. Duristan is somewhat contemptuous of most of the lodge’s other guests. While he considers himself a hunter, he views the others as pampered politicos who use Ascanor Lodge to escape from their nagging spouses. Duristan rarely denies himself the opportunity to pique the ire of his fellow guests, whether by wearing his bloody armor around the lodge or by f lirting with the lodge’s “low-born” staff members and even inviting them to participate in “upper class” social events. During dinners, he deliberately brings up uncomfortable or improper subject matter, and otherwise does his best to stir up outrage and rumor.
Madame Ivanja An influential courtesan with ties to the Violet Widow, an infamous Courtaud brothel themed as a Pharasmin chapel, Madame Ivanja imports the most exquisite and luxurious companions for guests who request such services. The lodge itself has no formal affiliation with the brothel, but Estovion rents the watchtower to Ivanja and grants her the privacy and freedom to conduct her business as she sees fit. Their association is strictly professional, and the business of prostitution remains an open secret between the lodge staff and those guests who partake of Ivanja’s services. While the staff never discuss their guests’ affairs beyond the walls, other guests are not so bound, and thus patrons must take care in maintaining discretion. The lodge isn’t a brothel, however, and carnal activities remain confined to the privacy of the watchtower, individual clients’ rooms, or chambers rented exclusively for private parties. Currently,only one of Madame Ivanja’s courtesans is in residence at the lodge—a Vudrani woman named Niama. Of Varisian descent, Madame Ivanja is also a skilled fortuneteller, and gives harrow readings upon request for a small fee. Ivanja doesn’t permanently reside on the premises, though she often stays for long periods as work dictates. She keeps a traveling wagon parked on the watchtower’s ground floor, which she uses to transport herself and her employees back and forth between Courtaud and the lodge. At all times, four professional and very well-paid Qadiran guards keep watch over Madame Ivanja and her courtesans. Ivanja also maintains close personal ties with dozens of extremely powerful individuals—both key figures in local politics and high-ranking members of Golarion’s most influential organizations.
Delgros Kroitzcer Delgros Kroitzcer serves as Ascanor’s huntsmaster and leads (or at least accompanies) the majority of hunts for the lodge’s guests. Delgros may well be one of Ascanor’s most dangerous men, if only for his recklessness. A brilliant game hunter, he prides himself on capturing aggressive and exotic animals, which he keeps in a series of subterranean pens beneath the lodge grounds for the hunting pleasure of Ascanor’s guests. Delgros rarely appears in the lodge itself, except when it is time to tell stories of the hunt. Only then does he show up, delivering short but terrifying tales of fearsome forest creatures, particularly those he keeps in his beast pens, hoping to entice his wealthy patrons into paying extra for an “exotic” hunt. Delgros is in his early thirties, and he possesses a fine physique. Still, his appearance seems to complement his gruff demeanor, which he uses to his advantage, particularly with pampered city nobles who become titillated by what they consider his “feralness.”
Other Guests:
Cilas Graydon Nearing 50 years old, Cilas Graydon, the Margrave of Sturnidae, is a retired military commander who served under Count Neska of Barstoi. Graydon is infamous for the ruthless brutality of his martial strategies, and is almost universally loathed by citizens of both Ardeal and Barstoi. Toward the end of the civil war between Barstoi and Ardeal, Graydon broke with Neska and openly denounced him as a tyrant, an act that many credit as one of the causes behind Neska’s retreat from Ardeal. Forced to flee his home county, Graydon sought amnesty in Lozeri and soon became a strong voice in Palatine politics. Back in Barstoi, Neska convicted Graydon of treason, revoked his title, and placed a sizable bounty on his head. For his part, Graydon
continues to identify himself by his ancestral title as an act of fearlessness and defiance.
Although retired, the Margrave remains a sharp and near-flawless strategist, and his advice on military matters holds great value to the Palatine Council. In addition to serving as a powerful statesman, Graydon is also a serious hunter who frequently stays at Ascanor. During the evenings when he is not hunting, the other guests frequently consult him on matters of defense, strategy, and military affairs. Previously, Graydon had been expecting the arrival of his close friend and political associate Echtmoor Dravin - until you informed him of the man's death.
Graydon stands nearly 6 feet tall, with a slender build, long features, and a sharp nose. He wears his hair cropped short and has a carefully trimmed goatee and waxed mustacheas well as the Lepidstadt scar across his left eyebrow as a sign of his martial prowess.
Corvin Tergsvor The second son of Cervaus Tergsvor, one of Courtaud’s most influential nobles, Corvin Tergsvor is enjoying an extended stay at Ascanor. A dissolute young poet and something of a black sheep, Corvin was involved in a minor scandal when he engaged the young wife of a wealthy courtier in the upstairs bedchambers of his father’s manse during a dinner ball. Concerned for his family’s name and reputation, Corvin’s status-conscious father exiled him to the lodge for his indiscretion. Corvin finds Ascanor tedious and quaint, and when not overindulging in absinthe, spends his days scribbling dark verse and sarcastically heckling the other nobles. While he longs to return to Courtaud, he cannot set foot in the city for fear of losing his head to the jilted husband he cuckolded.
Tergsvor Markiza Welgory A frequent guest at the lodge, Markiza Welgory has come to Ascanor to hunt fox. Now in her early forties, the Markiza is married to an older, quite wealthy husband, though at this point their marriage seems to be chiefly a business proposition. Between her family name (and somewhat overblown title) and his financial prowess, their business has been incredibly successful. She often discusses trade regulations and taxes that directly affect her family’s commodities business with other lodge guests, and her attentions are aggressively courted in exchange for trade options and access to her lucrative business connections.
The passing years have not been kind to the Markiza’s husband; the Markiz always had the personality of a lake trout, but he is now fat with a bad case of gout to boot. Under such unfortunate circumstances, the Markiza is here unchaperoned, though she hires numerous “companions” to attend to the needs of her company and to accompany her to society functions and other important affairs. That all of these “companions” happen to be young, handsome men is hardly a coincidence, and among Ustalav’s elite, the subject of the Markiza’s personal life has become rife with scandalous rumor. When she is not involved in business or political discussions, or indulging in courtly or social activities, the Markiza engages in long fox hunts with her current “companion,” a broad-shouldered and handsome young huntsman named Ostovach, whom she has exclusively employed for the past two hunting seasons. A native of Lozeri, Ostovach guides his hunts with four fearsomely large Belkzen wolf hounds, and is often referred to as “the Markiza’s hound” by Ascanor’s other guests.
Evidence Gathered at Lepidstadt University:
• The rear foyer door of the Antiquities department was forced opened physically from the outside.
• An Alarm spell cast on that door was activated, alerting the guards
• The tracks of heavy iron boots lead from door to auditorium.
• The auditorium shows scratches on railing and damage to tile from boots.
• The guards later state that the bootprints match the Beast's shoes
• The library/workshop is connected to auditorium by a door.
• The library/workshop was found in disarray, but only the Seasage Effigy is missing.
• The library/workshop has a window that can be easily opened, the others do not appear to have been opened in quite some time.
• The guards reached found the Beast in the library/workshop approximately 30 seconds after the alarm went off. They were able to apprehend him due to superior numbers and help from the City Watch.
• The Seasage Effigy is a murky green statuette depicting a grotesque creature writhing with tentacles.
• The Effigy may have some connection with the Dark Tapestry.
• The Beast states he has no recollection of breaking into the Antiquities Department. His last memory before waking up to the guard attack was residing in the Dipplemere Swamp.
Evidence Concerning Morast:
• The events occurred approximately 1 year ago.
• The villagers state that The Beast was abducting people at night. A mob lead by Lazne managed to wound the Beast in town, then chased him to the local Boneyard. The Beast was attacked by something like alligator and bled on the graves, tainting them. The Beast then disappeared under the water by the alligator-like creature and was presumed dead. Deduction made by group: Flesh Golems don't bleed. Vivian saw no evidence of scars on the Beast consistent with an alligator bite.
• Six graves in the Boneyard are missing bodies.
• The remains of a potion of Darkvision was found in a campsite near the graves. Deduction made by group: Flesh Golems have Darkvision already.
• A coracle was found hidden on the south side of the Boneyard island, dried blood was found at the bottom of it, as well as an oar, a moldy leather travel bag with a damp artisan’s outfit, and what appears to be a detached human face.
• Attached to the coracle is a man-sized sack with blood stains, it contained some rope, a gag, a rusted lantern, a trio of heavy knives, and a rusted shovel.
• Hidden in the same general area of the boat was a leather-bound case filled with fine surgical tools, made of silver with amethyst handles imprinted with a raven.
• The raven symbol on the handle is the maker's mark of Zbraslav Hora and Sons, who have a workshop in Anatomists’ Alley in the Surgeons’ Flats area of Lepidstadt. Hora sold it to Vladka Kostel who works for an auction house named Ledov’s Chirurgery Merchants. At the auction house, a description was given of the buyer which lead the group to Radniche's Chirurgery Supplies. Radniche stated that he sold the tools to Master Vorkstag, of Vorkstag and Grine’s Chymic Works.
Evidence Concerning Herstag:
• The events occurred approximately 7 months ago.
• The three witnesses for the prosecution state that the village’s children (Maarten, Karin, Rachel, Gaard, Allen, and Ellsa) vanished one by one, only to return as ghosts. Then one day the culprit was found—the Beast of Lepidstadt. It boldly walked into the village with one of the dead children, a girl named Ellsa. The witnesses all recall seeing the Beast laughing as it carried the child’s broken body. As soon as the locals saw the Beast, they set upon it with pitchforks, but try as they might they couldn’t catch it, and the Beast escaped into the swamp. The poor innocents it killed continued to haunt the village, and before long became too much for the locals, who soon abandoned the cursed village.
• The Beast states that he was present there at that time. He befriended a young girl named Ellsa who was not frightened by his appearance. He claims that a ghost that walks at night killed a number of children by stealing their souls. The ghost turned one of Ellsa's friends into a ghost and that ghost lured her to its master's lair. The Beast tried to fight the ghost to save Ellsa, but could not hurt it. He then returned Ellsa's body to her Father, but the villagers chased him out of town.
• During this interview you notice that when the Beast cries, he looks like he's laughing due to the stitching holding together his face.
• One of the prosecution also adds that of the six children who died, one—a girl named Karin—died in her own bed 2 days after the Beast was driven from Hergstag. Her father heard her screaming but by the time he reached her she was dead, without a mark on her and with no signs of entry.
• Your investigation into Karin's house conclusively demonstrated that whatever killed Karin did not climb the house’s walls or force entry into her room.
• You also discovered that all the children returned as wraiths to haunt the town. It is highly unusual for this occur if murdered by the Beast, but not completely out of the question.
• The party fought a more powerful wraith on the hill southwest of town. Inside its lair you found the skeletal remains of 4 children. None of the remains show signs of obvious trauma. Using Sophie's abilities to question the corpses, the four corpses all said that the wraith killed them.
Evidence Concerning the Sanctuary on Karb Isle:
• The last set of charges against the Beast involve an arson attack 4 months ago at the Sanctuary on Karb Isle, which resulted in the deaths of a Doctor Brada and his patients as well as the blinding of the doctor’s assistant, Karl.
• Karl's Witness Testimony: Doctor Brada founded the Sanctuary to cure those unfortunate individuals afflicted with madness and physical deformity. Evidently Brada had a family member who was murdered by a mob due to their physical deformities. Karl had worked there for a few months as an assistant, helping with the patients and their treatments before the night of the fire. On that occasion, he was preparing to clear out some chamberpots when a fire broke out. He isn't sure why the fire started, but the last thing he saw before the fire took his sight was a shambling beast escaping the burning hospital while he tried to save his beloved Dr. Brada. He firmly believes that the creature was none other than the Beast of Lepidstadt. He doesn't regret attempting to save Brada, but he does lament that he wasn't able to recover the body.
• Karl's description of the Beast is vague and could be any number of unfortunate looking large creatures.
• Karl also remembers the alchemists Grine (a dirty gnome) and Vorkstag (a thin human) visiting the Sanctuary occasionally.
• In the ruins of the Sanctuary, a vial with the label “Vorkstag and Grine, Chymickal Bleach” was discovered.
• The words “Vorkstag and Grine’s Chymic Works” were found on several of the damage documents found in a damaged strongbox at the ruins.
• Speaking with Dr. Brada's head, he revealed that Vorkstag came in disguise the night of the fire after an argument about money. The doctor and Vorkstag fought, lanterns were knocked over, and Brada died in the fire.
Evidence found at Vorkstag and Grine's Chymic Works:
• Tracing the origins of the surgical tools as well as clues left at the Sanctuary lead the group to Vorkstag and Grine's Chymic Works.
• The skin stealer has a scar on his shoulder matching an alligator bite. The Beast of Lepidstadt was supposedly bitten by an alligator when chased out of Morast by the mob.
• Locked in a cabinet in Vorkstag's room was the grotesque, deformed skin of a 8-foot-tall mongrelman, made up of flesh, fur, and scales. It matches Karl's description of the Beast of Lepidstadt.
• Hidden in the cabinet was a ledger detailing who have purchased stolen cadavers and anatomical parts from Vorkstag and Grine. Dr. Brada's name was found in this list.
