Gomdebo's actions bring her within mere feet of the creature as it pushes through the remaining bits of grass onto the plateau. The creature is a worm, of some kind, but as big as a human. Its skin is rubbery and covered in dirt; once it enters the firelight that skin seems to reflect every color at once, or no color at all, the rippling of the colors is mesmerizing.
Suddenly Lindaer feels a wave of magic flow through him, a feeling he is familiar with, as it was used often in his training, and now, as then, it never worked on him. His masters told him it was because of his elven blood, some connection to the goddess Aldelion, some ancient power that resides in his veins. As the magic passes through him, he watches as the only other creatures on the hill that were awake, Vralk and Gomdebo, both fall unconscious. Gomdebo drops her crossbow and tumbles slowly to the ground. Lindaer stands up, rapier at the ready and attunes his senses for the sorts of evil beings he is trained to know. His ability does nothing, so whatever this creature is, this rainbow worm, it is not celestial, fiend, or undead.
Lindaer watches the strange worm creature raise its head off the ground, looking, very much, like an odd shaped snake about to strike, but in so doing, he sees that the creature has no teeth in its maw, only strange undulating appendages like living whiskers, themselves like little snakes or worms. The tiny tendrils around the creature's mouth quiver rapidly. Again, he feels a wave of magic flow through him, magic that does nothing to him. The creature seems very surprised by this, if the brilliant flash of rainbow colors across its skin are a sign of emotional content. It hesitates a moment, seeming to look at Lindaer and think, and then dives headfirst into the dirt, burrowing with unrivaled speed straight down into the dirt.
Psalm pops up grabs his scimitar and looks around.
Quint shivers, disturbed at the thought of the strange sleep-inducing worm-creature doing whatever strange sleep-inducing worm-creatures do to their victims (prey?), with nobody conscious to stop it. He doesn't particularly believe that any of the gods exist, or if they do, that they concern themselves with such things, but silently offers a quick thanks to whatever laws of chance govern people's daily lives that their half-elf was on watch when the creature came.
We better find a way to make sure we don't all end up asleep at once. Quint pulls out his rope, string, and pitons, and begins tying bits of string to the rope. He rigs it so that if a watcher falls prone (or just tugs on the rope), it will jostle each sleeper (especially Lindaer, who can't be put back to sleep) enough to wake them up.
Psalm looks about, "I wonder if the creatures sleep effect is like that of some Fey. What did the creature look like?"
Psalm joins Gomdebo looking about.
"Are we actually sure that the thing was hostile? The animals in town were talking about something down below but they were NOT afraid of it. Maybe it just happened to slither by?"
Given that he is just going from a description it is unlikely but Boddy is going to see if he can identify it at all
Seems moderately likely that my not seeing it would impose disadvantage on me so I'll roll twice just in case :-)
--Byrthelm Republic, Midvale Province - Desmoday, 24 Laureoth, Just after sunup, 146 R.R.--
Neither Psalm nor Boddynuck have encountered even the rumor of a story of creatures like the worms that Lindaer described. Gomdebo's investigation of the hole left behind by the creature reveals little, except that it is clearly capable of incredible changes in the size and shape of its body, and can move underground with the same ease that she moves along the top of it. Finding nothing else worthwhile to do in the middle of the night, and trusting to Quint's rigged string alarm system, the group finishes their rest without interruption. After breaking their fast on what food and rations they've brought with, they head back to the road and on toward the Gaukridotr farmstead. If all goes well, they should arrive around midday.
"We should talk to anybody we meet. And go to any farmhouses on the way that are close to the road. See if anybody else has seen something strange"
Psalm looks amused at Quints system. "Hopefully the alarm won't be needed."
I have no clue why, but Boddy actually DOES have a shovel :-). A small one, presumably :-)
"Did it try and use enchantment, or is it just naturally enchanting? There is quite a difference between those two.
I'm not saying that we should automatically trust it. But neither should we just assume that it is hostile. All that happened tonight is that it wandered by our campsite. Maybe it was attracted to the fire?"
"Sure, here is the shovel"
Boddy hands over the shovel. What was large in Boddys hands looks almost like a toy in Gomdebo's hands. But it is, at least, a FUNCTIONAL toy
Gomdebo's digging is both tediously laborious and decidedly fruitless, after barely a half hour of digging with the too small instrument, barely getting three feet of depth, the hole shows nothing of interest, other then a straight decent into the depths of the earth.
--Byrthelm Republic, Midvale Province - Desmoday, 24 Laureoth, Just before midday, 146 R.R.--
Seeing nothing else investigatory to accomplish at their camp, the group continues on their journey to the Gaukridotr farm. As the mayor promised, there is a packed-dirt wagon-rut "road" that diverts north off of the main east road. Following it the group sees herds of sheep, cows, and even some domesticated elk all of which are pastured behind crude timber fences. As the sun reaches toward it's midday zenith, the group watches as three men approach on the road. Each is armed with a longbow, arrows, and a shepherd's staff. The three men move purposefully toward the group and call out while still over a hundred feet away.
"Who goes there?! Comes the familiar Byrthelm salutation to ascertain that people are coming in peace.
Psalm holds up a hand in greeting. "Greetings it is in peace we come. We are agents of Senator Akassa. It is our hope to understand and confront the recent malady that has fallen."
The demeanor of the men doesn't change much as they approach, even with Psalm's reassurance of peaceful intentions. As they get clearer you see that all three men are of a rough, weather-beaten appearance, possessing calloused hands, and well-worn staves. The middle of the three, dark of hair and eyes, waves a hand to halt progress and says, "You and everybody else apparently. You're a day behind another group claimed the same thing. Not sure what you think you can find that they didn't."
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"Be in peace. My name is Lindaer Elyrien, Paladin of Amren. My companions and I merely wish to be of assistance. And of assistance we may well be. In our ranks stands a druid, a graduate of the Arcane Order in Rydwyrna, and of course, these two ladies who are as handy with a bow and dagger as they are in scouting. If the gods smile upon us, then our talents might unearth a clue that would otherwise be missed. Many hands make light work, do they not?"
As Lindaear said this, he pointedly showed his shield, bearing the holy symbol of Amren, while his other hand was held up, far away from his blade.
"We have heard of these other investigators. Our hope is additional eyes will see more." Psalm smiles warmly nodding at Lindaer's sentiment. "We do not wish to be a nuisance. Simply to help. Have you any that are currently sick or that have fallen."
Lindaer's symbol and smooth words immediately make the three men soften their demeanor. The leader speaks up again, his tone is much more friendly. "Sorry for my anger Sir. M'name's Ryne. It's just that whatever the hell is happening is getting worse. We've lost a handful of animals just in the last two days. You say it might be worms?!" The man looks at Gomdebo skeptically. "Not sure how worms would do this." He then looks around conspiratorially checking the horizon for unseen watchers, and leans in for a whisper. "Listen, against my master's wishes, I gutted one of the dead bastards a few days ago. There weren't nothing wrong with it, and I even ate some of the roasted mutton, tasted just fine, no rot, no poison, and I didn't get sick. Whatever it is, it ain't illness, I can tell you that." He stands back erect and says, "If'n you want to take a look at one of the recently deceased beasts, ye can follow me." He points to the pasture to the west of the road, indicating for the group to tag along.
...these two ladies who are as handy with a bow and dagger as they are in scouting...
"We ran into a large worm on the way here. MUCH bigger than me!!. We're not really sure that it is hostile, though.
We've heard of lots of holes being dug. Are any of them near here?
And yes please, we'd like to see the bodies."
"Thank you, Ryne hopefully we can learn something." Psalm walks with the others hoping to see. When they arrive at what Ryne shows them he begins a thorough check.
Psalm looks specifically for the small holes the butcher spoke of.
After a brisk walk over a couple rolling hills filled with grazing sheep, the group comes upon a recently deceased sheep. Psalm's investigation of the rigidly dead sheep pays off in a way that no one could have imagined. He examines the creature's face very thoroughly, even lifting up the head to check both ears, and that's when he discovers a small broken off piece of black tendril. Anyone looking at the dead beast could have easily mistaken it for nothing more than a black whisker, but Psalm's knowledge of nature allows him to realize the difference. Based on Lindaer's description of the worm that tried to put them to sleep, it might very well be a part of one of the chaos-colored worm's mouths. Taking it for a clue, Psalm looks and feels very slowly and carefully around and in the animal's ear. In doing so, he feels a barely discernible, yet definitely there, bit of sticky goo. The residue might be left over mucus or saliva of some kind. However, there are no wounds in the creature's ear, nor anywhere else for that matter, and no bits of brain or other tissue are spilling from the creature's ear cavity.
Examination of the ground nearby reveals a bit of disturbed earth, like that of a collapsed molehill, but nothing more, no tunnels, or sinkholes, or pits.
Psalm pulls out his herbalism kit and uses some tweezers and a small blade and attempts to pull the tendril free without breaking.
Psalm stands, Ryne you said you had eaten one of the creatures. I assume that means you butchered it to some degree. Did you notice anything strange internally." He shrugs thinking his own line of thought outlandish, "Was its brain all there if you had opportunity to see?"
Ryne looks at the gnome with a queer expression. "I didn't crack open the skull. You're more than welcome to crack this one open, if you think you'll find anything."
Psalm looks for a place to wipe his hand, "uh mucus."
"The butcher you had said mentioned 'nose holes'?"
Psalm looks round the creatures nose for any sign.
Boddy is going to go have a "chat" with the sheep and see if they have anything at all to tell him. Not expecting a lot more than "Fear!!" or, given how stupid sheep are, maybe just "Huh?" :-). But its worth trying :-)
Can he determine anything with Arcana from the whisker or ooze? If he can
Psalm sets his pack down and rolls up his sleeves and gets out a dagger. "Well I think we need to know. I am going to take you up on examining this creature Ryne. I don't suppose you have an apron?"
Psalm butchers the creature paying special attention to the ears for any sign of trauma deeper in. He also likewise looks into the nose holes. Once the skin and most other junk is out. He asks for help getting the skull off the neck and to split it carefully.
Boddynuck's interviews with the sheep are as fruitful as he expected. None of the flock has any knowledge of what has been causing their brothers and sisters to fall quiet. Essentially the answers he gets are "sleep, wake, gone." His best guess based on what they already know is that, if it is in fact the worms doing it, they are perpetrating their crimes at night while the flocks sleep.
Psalm and Gomdebo's butchering brings at least the hint of something useful, in that the entire animal is as to be expected, no wounds, no sinew or tissue that shows signs of disease or poison. Then, carefully cracking the skull both Psalm and Gomdebo immediately realize something is wrong with the brain. It's smaller than it should be, shriveled, the best way to describe it is dried up, as if all the life has been taken out of it. Upon seeing the shriveled brain Boddynuck's memory of various instructions at the Arcane Order are niggled.
Thinking about it he offers up, "You know, there are various spells that do not target the flesh but the psyche, it is not a school of magic, rather, the best way to describe it is an avenue of attacking the inside of a creature. The instructors call it "psychic" damage, and they specifically said, psychic damage doesn't manifest itself in any visible way in the flesh. Is it possible these worms are eating the psychic energy of their victims?!"