Even with most of the scorched roof and fallen walls removed from the old church's base, the remaining parts of the structure are a charred mess. With Father Abercrombie's remains removed and cremated, all that's left to do is to raze the remaining walls down to the foundation. Soot and ash cover most surfaces, and Cathran coughs into the sleeve of the borrowed shirt she's wearing. When she's done, she again grips the hammer she's holding with two hands, and swings it against the dilapidated wall. As another cloud of debris flies up from the wall, she suppresses another cough and turns to Riley next to her. "This is not exactly what I thought we would be doing once we arrived." Another swing, more dust, another fit of coughing. Cathran steps away from the wall and moves toward the center of the burned-out church floor, before sitting and taking a drink from her waterskin. "I apologize if you mentioned this before, but why did you come back to Perdition's Point? I am curious. We have not spoken much since Vauntil, with all the work that has needed to be done."
Eli reached into a pocket pulling a book, flipping through it some. Bits and pieces and squiggles of different alphabets litter the pages before he opens it to the page he wants.
Muttering to himself, he scanned the page before moving closer to Lineera to show her and help her follow bits and pieces of his notes, though it was all still in a different language. "Sorry, they are a bit scattered. They wrote in a variant of halfling I've not seen before..."
He skimmed through point at important points, saying them aloud, obviously skipping over parts. "...such good luck with Perdition's Point... Scouting report from Chateau sounds excellent.... on schedule here in Illmarsh... found an absolutely wonderful place to hold the ritual..." He jumped down a good bit of the page over a bunch of squiggles. "Kinalla... screwed up... got her boy... got her pawned killed... locals have raised the guard... have to relocate... ritual at the winter solstice... Looking forward to seeing you after the first trio of rituals are done..."
He looked up to Lineera to see if she followed, before realizing that she might have only gotten the parts he spoke aloud. "Oh... w-would it b-be better if I wrote it out?" He looked like it had just occurred to him that she might not had been able to follow. "D-do you want it in common? I... I can do it in Elven if that's better... Possibly something else if you rather...T-There's a good chance I know it..." He reached up to rub the back of his head laughing a little, nervous.
Cathran has no idea what to make of the note that Eli rambles on about. It definitely doesn't sound good, but Cathran worries more about anyone going off on their own, especially if these creatures nearly left Eva dead when they last met. "Eli, never mind writing the note. It sounds like we need to talk to Eva before she goes off and does something foolish. Is she in her workshop now?"
Perdition's Point couldn't afford to have people running off by themselves. Not unless if wanted to build another funeral pyre. Cathran quickly repacks any essential gear into her backpack, hoisting it up and adjusting its leather straps. She clips on anything that doesn't fit and grabs her violet-shafted bardiche from the corner before returning to stand by Eli and Lineera. "Ready?"
Riley had been helping Lineera around the house most of the day. The last few weeks had consisted of manual labor. He was pleased to be able to return to the town he had grown up in and was glad he had actually been of use to the people he knew as a child. The death of Elena 's family weighed heavily on his heart though. As Eli read the note, he sat quietly taking it all in. Something big was coming. Something awful. It suddenly dawned on him that the attack was not some chance encounter with undead, but an attack that had been planned by an evil mastermind. Some intelligent being had caused this nightmare. His blood boiled within him at the thought of this.
He is awakened from his thoughts by the sound of Cathran repacking. He quickly loads up his gear and stands. I'm in. Mundane work is driving me crazy.
Lineera pulls her boots on, but makes no other sign that she's preparing for a journey further than down the street. "Ready." Walking out the door, Lineera walks calmly through the darkness as she states her intentions. "There's still too much to be done here for us to all go running off for gods know how long, and this is much to dangerous for Eva alone, obviously." She casts a glance back at her audience to see how much of their attention she has. "So, we're going to convince her of that. Failing this, we're going to try and lock her in there and take anything that would be necessary for travel if she escapes somehow. How many pairs of shoes does she own, Eli?" While still obviously good intentioned, Lineera's thought process does show a smidgen more of the insidious machinations of a drow than Lineera typically shows. "I'll take responsibility of the keys... and for feeding her." Walking down the street in a few moments of silence, Lineera finishes her bizarre plan with, "I'm not saying your sister doesn't have the right idea to some degree, Eli, we should go after those people if it sounds like there's still a lot more of them and they're still planning something. But now's not the time, I at least want to see if we get any responders from the letter I sent before we all abandon the work we're doing." Shoes, keys, packs... any maps I find... hopefully I can convince her before I need to think up a longer list." Approaching the door, Lineera bangs forcefully on it, seeking entrance.
As they start to talk about locking up Eva, Eli begins to looked panic'd even more. "Oh oh oh! Wait, no, uhm, let me write out... the letter.. hang on... please..." He tugs his notebook out, and sits on Lineera's drawing table, scribbling furiously. After twenty minutes of going back and forth, erasing a line, rewriting, muttering in multiple languages, and finally he's done. "Here.. here.."
Mortana,
good to hear you are having such good luck with Perdition's Point. And the scouting report from the Chateau sounds excellent. We're on schedule here in Illmarsh, already got the boy. The girl is identified. And we've found an absolutely wonderful place to hold the ritual. The only problem is, of course, the dampness. Ugh, I wish I was in a nice dry cave.
You will not be surprised to find out that Kinalla, the stupid slut, has screwed up. She got her boy, but then got her pawn killed in an aborted attempt on the girl. The locals have raised the guard and she's going to have to relocate and perform her portion of the ritual at the winter solstice, during the new moon. She's moving to the backup location as I write this.
You need to be aware though, we've heard rumors that a mercenary group from Magnimar was snooping around Vaultin looking for us. It appears they ran low on funds, and had to return to Magnimar. In a completely unrelated bit of good news, Teagan seems to have come into a large score recently, and she's spreading the love around with more equipment for any corpses you get a rise out of. Haha!
Looking forward to seeing you after the first trio of rituals are done.
As always,
your sister,
Knaria
Lineera purses her lips as she reads the letter. "Well, seems like we'll be needing to plan a trip to Illmarsh. For now though, Perdition's Point comes first. We need to make sure things are safe here before we try to help anyone else." Can't be in two places at once. Lineera bitterly reminds herself. No, can't be everywhere at once...
Cathran wrinkles her brow as Eli writes up the translations. She takes a seat and sits still throughout, looking impatient but saying nothing. Once Eli is finished, she reads the version in Common.
"Illmarsh definitely seems like one of the only concrete leads here. This 'Chateau' seems like a good place to start as well, although I am not sure I have heard of it. In any case," Cathran says, drawing her mouth to the side with a serious expression, "I can see why Eva would want to run off to pursue this."
Cathran headed for the door. "I must ask that you go ahead of me to talk to Eva. I am going to talk to Mahb." Without another word, she is outside and heading for the crone's home by the lake. She is out of breath by the time she reaches the door, having hustled out there without realizing it. Once her breathing slows a bit, she knocks on Mahb's door with polite urgency.
Riley pushes open the door. Be careful Cathran. Lineera...Eli...ready? He moves out of the house cautiously.
"Yep." Lineera goes through the door and walks down the street while talking about her plans for detaining Eva , Once she's explained her intent, Lineera brings up the letter again. "This does give us a lot of good leads though. Once we're more properly prepared to move and got things settled here, shouldn't be that hard for us to track these people down actually. We've got names, an idea they're probably halflings, the Chateau, Illmarsh, and a short list of things they've done. All this together, and we should be able to narrow down their possible location fairly quickly."
Without another word, she is outside and heading for the crone's home by the lake. She is out of breath by the time she reaches the door, having hustled out there without realizing it. Once her breathing slows a bit, she knocks on Mahb's door with polite urgency.
Calling the hag's residence a 'home by the lake' is being overly kind when Cathran sees the truth of it. Sitting on a muddy bank along the edge of a sawgrass-studded bog, Mahb's home is little more than a stout, rough-cut, wooden door fronting a stone cave that burrows into the escarpment above. The thick door is punctuated by knot-holes, split timbers, rusty nails, and gaps at the top and bottom.
Cathran's knock echoes slightly and is greeted with silence, then muttering, then a weak light coming through the chinks in the door. She can make out a shadowy silhouette moving along the interior. In a moment, the silhouette pauses and crouches near a large knothole. A rheumy eye, glazed with white, appears - inspecting.
The hag grunts in recognition and then grunts more as she slides something heavy from the other side of the door. With effort Mahb pulls open the heavy door which squeaks and whines on its poorly oiled hinges. Alder smoke and a fetid stink assaults Cathran's nose at the door's opening. The witch stands in the doorway of her overcrowded cave that vanishes into darkness. Either she was already awake or she wears her day clothes to bed. She scratches below her left breast. Her voice creaks with disuse and a hint of amusement "Are you lost, girl? Or is this a romantic bog-walk in the moonlight? I'm sure I can find ya a frog to kiss 'round here somewhere..."
Cathran's deep, post-run breaths were sharp in the night air as the witch came to the door, but with the cave entrance exposed, those same breaths become overwhelmed with the pungent mix of smoke and whatever malodorous things waft from inside. Blinking back tears from the olfactory assault, Cathran stifles a cough and clears her throat. Perhaps it's that throaty sound that makes the old witch quip about frogs. She may look like Cathran's old mentor, but her manners are essentially the opposite.
After a couple final, stinging blinks and one more throat clearing, Cathran speaks. "Eli found some more information about the necromancers from the cave." Teeth grit at the thought of them. "Eli told us that Eva is planning on leaving, presumably to go after them, alone. I know that you do not seem to care much for what the town thinks of you, but I cannot imagine that Eva would not respect you after you and the others saved her life." Cathran bites her lip. Her sharp eyes are softened with worry. "Please, if anyone can talk some sense into her, it would be you. At least help us tell her that it is foolish to run off alone."
The hag pulls her pack from a hidden corner, picks up her stick, bangs it on the door, and growls into the darkness, "Pye! Wake up! We're headed to town to stop some tomfoolery. Catch up, you slug-a-bed."
She slams the door shut, throws the pack on her shoulder, and sets out. For Cathran's benefit, she says, "You did right, comin' to me. I happen to like, little Eva. Unlike most folks, she's not a wool-pated jackanape. Don't you worry - she ain't going nowhere if I don't think she should. She'll see reason or I'll get unreasonable with her."
Lineera approaches Eva's front door, tries the handle, and knocks if the door should be locked. Whether shouted through the door, or said to Eva's face, Lineera informs her "Eva, we need to talk."
Cathran nods at Mahb as they set off back for town. Mahb may not have many friends in town (and had proven quite capable of quickly shaking off whatever respect she had garnered from most of the hamlet after returning from the cave), but Cathran is glad that she seems to hold loyalty to the friends she has. At least, Cathran is pretty sure what she's seeing is friendship. It's hard to tell.
As they approach Eva's shop, she sees Lineera, Riley, and Eli still standing outside, trying to get past the door. "Any luck?" she asks.
"Sort of? Door's barred, can't get in. That should at least mean she's still here though." Lineera shrugs helplessly.
The hag pushes forward and raps on the door with her stick. "Open the door, Eva... I'm not patient, you know that."
Why would she bolt the door? Riley walks to the side of the house looking for a way to break in if need be.
"Maybe she saw me head to talk to Lineera?" Eli suggested. "She... she didn't want me to tell anyone..."
There were sounds coming from within the shop/house. Like something was moving about, but not coming to the door. Doesn't even seem to be coming close to the door. Though the signs are there that someone is home, like smoke coming out the chimney.
It's a small town shop, so there are ways to break in, if people want to go that way. Windows can be busted (other than the one that is boarded up, which was used in the last break in).
Lineera looks around, seeing the general indecisiveness of the gathered group. With the exception of Mahb, who seemed to have a more decisive idea coming to mind. Pounding on the door louder, Lineera calls through. "Eva! Come on out already! I can wait here all night if I have to, but I don't think Mahb's going to be so patient! So just open the door, let's talk this out okay?"
Lineera's hunch is correct about Mahb. The old hag's patience runs thin. "Three... two... And ONE." The hag finds a large rock and a sizeable window, "You best have a DAMN good excuse for this, girl, or I'll show you why witches are feared." With a grunt, Mahb hurls the stone through the window then steps up to bust out the rest of the jagged pane with her cane.
The old woman peers through the window, looking for the rapscallion gnome. "Knock, knock."
Mahb can see a piece of furniture moved in front of the door, sunrods, alchemist fires, even a few silvery potions lying around. Looks like there is also a half-packed bag on a counter. Eva enters the room carrying a few things to place them in the bag, giving the rock an annoyed look. "I'm... not letting you stop me." She looked up at Mahb, her jaw set and her eyes full of determination.
The crone returns the determined look. "Who said I'm trying to stop you? Now, open... the... door. If you make me crawl through this damn window to do it myself, at my age, I won't be happy."
There's a moment of debate on Eva's face, "Fine. I'd rather you not cut yourself to shreds." She heads over to start shoving the furniture blocking the door out of the way.
The hag proffers a rye smile, "You are too kind." She ducks back out the window and hobbles back to the front door. "She's coming."
The other can hear the sound of something being pushed away from the other side of the door. It takes several long minutes but finally you hear the sound stop, and in its place, the sound of a latch being undone. The door slowly opens, sounding off the bell there by the door.
Cathran winces as rock meets pane, and the tinkling of the glass raining down from the sill. I would not be surprised if the old woman fishes the same way. But at least it seems effective.
"Eva, thank you for opening the door," Cathran says, leaning toward the slowly opening crack, trying not to spook Eva with any too-quick movements. "Eli told us about the note. He also said that you seem intent on leaving without telling anyone. Just what is it that you hope to accomplish by running off alone?"
"...The... The village needs you... Someone... needed to go... But the village needs you here." She's back over fiddling with Alchemy stuff.
Seeing Eva abandon the door frame, Lineera steps inside. "I know, but trying to do both at once and doing each ineffectively isn't the way to do this." Lineera tentatively puts a hand on Eva's shoulder. "We'll go after them, but not just yet, alright? I'm pulling some strings trying to get aid to the village. If all goes well, we should have some more proper Pharasmic priests down here, and we can leave the village in good hands." Lineera's smile to the gnome falters, then drops into a frown. "The village is still reeling from everything that's happened Eva. They... no, we don't need a new tragedy so soon."
Mahb leans against a work table. Offhandedly, she grabs a flask filled with some muddy green gel and sniffs at it. Her nose wrinkles and she eyes the concoction skeptically. "It's been two weeks. No disaster has eaten the town and no reason to think one will. But the sands are runnin' through the hourglass on some plot betwixt here and Illmarsh and whereever else these spiders are lurking. To save this village, the answer ain't stacking us three-high with priests. We need to hunt down and squash these spiders." She nods to the alchemist and kicks the pack at her own feet, "Eva is right and I'm gettin' on the road... with or without the rest of you."
As if on queue, a dark feathered form flies in through the broken window, hits and slides across the narrow counter and knocks a beaker onto the floor where it smashes and joins the appreciable pile of broken glass. The weather-beaten raven jumps back from the counter's edge and caws hoarsely.
: krkrkakrkkaaaawwwww :
The hag gives the bird a hard smile, "About time! We're goin' on a little trip and I'll need your sharp eyes."
Lineera stumbles and stutters looking for words, before sighing. "Alright, but can we at least make it morning when we set out? It's late, and most of us have been working all day. And its not safe for any of you to travel at night. I'm fine with it, but these woods are dangerous at night and most of you won't see it coming."
With his beak, the raven shoves another small piece of glass off the counter and onto the floor.
: ekkk ekek eeeeeeeeKKKKK :
Mahb glances over and responds to the black bird, "Don' think it was meant as an insult... not to you at any rate."
"But what about those other children? This is bigger than just Perdition's Point. What if trying to stop them leads us to waking up our own?" Eva shot at Lineera. "I just... can't stand by and let more children be taken... more brothers and sisters go missing." Eva did give Mahb a smile when she stated she was coming with, she always did have a way with words. Once Mahb had an idea, she wasn't going to back down. 'Pick your fights.'
Eva was still ready to fight for her decision. But when Lineera finally spoke again and seemed to understand, Eva was glad but at the same time she gave her a slightly exasperated look. "Just because I'm in the middle of being packed, does not mean I was planning on leaving now."
It's pretty obvious she's been keeping it all inside. Everything since they got back and found out about the attack. She hasn't been acting like the Eva most people know since then. Likely because she is holding it all inside refusing to let it out.
"Whatever rituals they are trying to finish, gotta be stopped. Simple as that... If you wanna wait til dawnlight to go - fine. I can wait." Mahb looks to Eva, "Sorry about the wind'r but next time, maybe, you should put more faith in a friend. Don't go thinkin' you know my mind without ever askin' me."
Cathran steps into Eva's shop as well, careful not to step on any of the glass shards now littering the floor. "Do not think that I am going to let you all go off into the Cadaverwood to chase down these fiends," Cathran says, crossing her arms. With a smirk, though, she continues: "Not without a tracker, anyway. We should wait until morning, though. It would simply not do to disappear without a word; we do not want to cause undue worry."
"Well, I think it's settled then. I'm going home, going to finish making dinner. And we'll try to get a quick start on the morning."
It will actually take a day to get all prepped to leave, given they didn't start getting ready until late afternoon. All the various people want to do a dinner, and want to give the group what they can spare. Nobody in town wants the people responsible to get away with it, or repeat it somewhere else.
Elena & Oliver Ebonlocke dig into their things, and give the group a bottle of 623 Garisten Merlotte (worth about 400 gp) which can either be sold, or used to get on someone important's good side.
Francis Hann digs out a set of MW chainmail that his grandmother wore in the military. It's a hundred years out of style, but the medium armor is in excellent shape, and well maintained. It has a cheliaxian style.
Lia Carevin gives the group her mother's MW dagger, that used to belong to her grandfather, whom Lia tells everyone was a master thief. The girl won't keep it, and if forced back into her hands, she'll just shrug and throw it as far towards the woods as she can.
Elijah brings the group a Traveller's Anytool that he'd forgotten to bring on their expedition, hoping it will help them in his stead.
The Sander's family donate a set of MW Studded Leather that Jonah wore when he was in the army. They also donate a Scabbard of Honing that Jacob usually wears to keep his sword sharp. Jacob is certain that the group will need properly honed weapons to kill those responsible for his son's death.
The Farrin family give the group a stable and loyal old packmule, Bertha, along with a pack saddle, to carry things on.
Finally Luthor gives the group a list of things to purchase in Rozenport, and have sent up to the store to replenish his stock, as well as 500 gp to purchase the the 250gp worth of items. He also gives them a large tent, telling them that idiot Trusk dropped it in the mud, and now he can't sell it.
-----------------------------------------
After a last potluck meal, and tears and hugs, the group sets off on a bright morning (an actual bright morning for a change, the clouds are broken, and sunlight streams through the canopy overhead.
The trip on the road is uneventful, until they are 2 days out of Rozenport. Mid day, they see the first people they've seen on the road all week. Three wagons, one bearing the symbol of the church of Pharasmae, a second the Church of Erastil, and a third the Crest of the Royal House of Ulastev. A man on a horse with the wagons trots ahead when they see the travelers.
The man on the horse is wearing plate mail, and he is an elf. He trots up on a giant beast of a horse that clinks and clanks as it trots, the full plate barding glistening in the sun. "Ho and well met, I am...." He trails off, seeing Lineera, and then he drops his lance down. "Halt by the order of the Church of Iomedae! Drop your weapons! Any attempt to cast foul spells shall be met with reprisal!" The elf's former smile is gone, his face now hard-edged as his horse nervously paws the ground.