"Oh. Yeah, Warden Hawkran. The guy some creep really hates." The gypsy looks in the direction of the gathered crowd as she crosses the bridge, "I wonder if that creep wrote some hateful poetry on the monument as well?"
Mirelinza follows the lead of the group. She's never a particularly boisterous personality but the news of the necromancers has certainly turned her mood more sombre and reflective.
You leave the group without much of a farewell towards the commotion before Zelda's remark that it was in the direction of the monument.
It is not a big commotion, for it is a small village, but there are a dozen people, which is enough for there to be a hustle of low-volume remarks.
You see that the people are gathered around a fairly large stone by the creekside standing with a rudimentary statue mounted on it -- perhaps the most sophisticated piece of art belonging to Ravengro.
The statue portrays a man in his thirties (who you naturally deduce to be Hawkran), grabbing a large amphora on his hands from the ground, ready to throw its water in the direction of Harrowstone.
In front of the monument, there is a man with unshaved beard, wearing a brown overcoat and a hat, with a pair of swords, a longsword and a short one, sheathed and hanging from his thick leather belt. His eyes penetrate the monument's base while a man and a woman (also armed with blades) report to him.
You cannot see what the leader is looking at, so you try to move around a few people to look closer.
As you move, you hear people utter remarks of shock and distress, at how disrespectful that vandal was; others said, in more discrete whispers, "It must have been the witch who arrived with those foreigner women yesterday... People are saying she was speaking in dark speech, and that she even has a half-human-half-beast girl as her cohort!"
While your ears are busy with the rumors, your eyes observe the monument's lower part in more detail. An inscription carved into the pedestal reads in large gothic font
IN MEMORY AND HONOR OF THE BRAVE HEROES
WHO DIED IN THE HARROWSTONE FIRE
~ 4661 ~
Many names follow below, but most are hidden by a striking, large V splashed onto the stone. Others might make mistake, but, judging by the clotting patters and darkened color, you are sure it is blood.
You also happen to notice blood splattered around the ground and in other parts of the monument, and then finally a trail of it leading into the water -- so whatever or whoever that blood came from, it must have drifted down the creek.
Cellawyn leaves you and you go up to the temple, where you enter the same small waiting room as a few hours ago.
There is no one else there, and it takes a while for an acolyte you have not so far met to come and greet you.
"Good morning; you must be the foreigners who had the dealings with the necromancer," he starts. Without giving much of a chance for you to react or, rather, protest against his remark, he moves back into whence he came, and soon after Fr. Grimburrow comes.
The old man bears a difference semblance from the previous day. It is clear that his yesterday's gentleness was mere protocol of Pharasma's clergy to comfort the friends and family of the deceased.
His expression is now stern, not tender, and he says without preambles "Let me look at it."
He too carelessly reaches to Aliseya's thigh, to the spot previously pressed by the younger acolyte.
"This mass is stable, hard, and it seems to be the same size as Robert described from yesterday. Unfortunately, there is not much I can do in the next few days, as there is many people I need to attend to, and my resources are very few."
"Come back in perhaps a fortnight, then I may be able to help you. If it becomes urgent, I will see what I can do," he finalizes in a dismissive tone, and starts to move out of the waiting room.
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Zelda is shocked at the priest attitude after all did he not say to come today?
"Excuse me, didn't you tell us to come today. Is there some new problem today that didn't exist yesterday? My friend needs some help. Have we done something wrong to offend you?"
Zelda looks at the others, clearly worried about her friend.
Mirelinza stares at the priest for a few seconds. Her tone is polite but not warm.
"What is it you can do in a fortnight that you can't do now Father? Or to put it another way, I urge you to treat this poor woman now - before whatever it is can develop. For example, can you tell us what it is and how it is to be treated?"
Unable to contain herself at the priest's callous disregard for Aliseya's well being and condition, and in no small part to the unwanted grabbing, Naught explodes at the elderly man. "What do you mean there is nothing you can do? I haven't been able to sleep since you wouldn't see us last night and we don't know anything about what's affecting Ali and now you want us to come back in a fortnight? She was attacked by a necromancer! Isn't that urgent to you Mr. Pha-ras-min?"
If looks could kill, Fr. Grimburrow would be visiting with his deity right about now... for Aliseya's face turns red with anger at what is now the second priest to grope her without permission, as if she were their barn animal.
Fortunately, but very slowly, reason restores her color. He may be coldly aggressive, but he is also her only apparent hope for aid.
By the time Naught says her fill, Aliseya is somewhat calmer again. Her voice quivers, in part due to fear over her condition, and part from her lingering anger, "Fr. Grimburrow, I really appreciate anything you can do for me, but I fear I need you to help me now. This... thing... is really freaking me out."
Cellawyn will briskly walk up to the crowd to address them.
"I can assure you that my associates had noting to do with this vandalism. If you have any doubts, I would ask you to confront us directly with your concerns and not bass rumors. Please know that we are here to help you."
She address the armed man, "Sir, I am Cellawyn Cayentelva, lieutenant in the Ustalav Army. Are you with the local authorities? What do you make of this vandalism?"
Cellawyn will take a closer look at the bloody V.
The people seem unresponsive -- unlike you, they would know better than to start an argument that could escalate into a fight in front of the Sheriff.
"You see," the man with the two swords starts, turning to you, "I don't like this."
"I don't like people causing trouble, but I understand you outsiders sometimes need a little help understanding that. So here you go: I am the damn sheriff around here, and I don't want you causing no trouble. I don't care if you are a military from Caliphas of the freaking Prince, I don't want you confronting no people about nothing they say like you just did, or talking about associates or whatever. Next thing you know, these people are on a witch hunt because you incited them!"
"Now move along!" he roars to the crowd, and the people start to slowly disperse, still trying an occasional peek at the monument.
The other two officers just observe and urge the people to leave, but otherwise let the Sheriff handle the situation. Meanwhile, you turn your attention to the V, only to realize it is not a meticulous piece of work, but rather a gross splattering of blood on the rock. You can spot some of the blood drops fallen on the rocky bank of the creek.
Noticing that you do not leave, but instead study the bloody V, the Sheriff warns you "This is very strange, because until yesterday we had not had this kind of vandalism. Something has changed," he says, staring right into your eyes, "and when I get who did this I will put him in bars..." he turns his gaze to the defiled monument.
"...or her."
"The people always think that their problem is the worst" protests the acolyte, coming back into the room. He is about to speak up, but Fr. Grimburrow halts him with his skeletal hand.
"Make no mistake," the priest says sternly, "the first few hours are critical to understand the seriousness of the problem. The mass has not significantly changed since last night, which leads me to deduce that it will not change soon either. Now, I am no doctor, if you have a disease I can only treat it by pleading Pharasma to heal it. Your case seems stable: I am sorry but you will have to wait."
The priest moves to go away, but you see him hesitate, with a glint of frustration in his eyes. After a momentary pause he sighs deeply and turns back to you, declaring "You will not believe the number of people who have been falling sick these days, especially the elderly and small children. It is too much even for me to keep up with, and I am needing all my acolytes' help to treat them. There is only so much that we can do, each day I can only cure the most serious cases, and hope that the others will be able to make it one more day with bedside care."
The acolyte fails to resist the temptation of making a remark "That is not to mention that we have been trying to elevate the creek's water level every day to irrigate the soil for the farmers, but they keep coming to us saying that is not enough and that the plants are suffering from draught. You would have thought that in the current weather a draught was not the case, but I guess they know their farming better than us, and if they say there is a draught..."
"As for the necromancer," Fr. Grimburrow says with grave concern, "I would like to believe you, but I prefer to hope that there is no such abhorring threat here in Ravengro. I also urge you to keep your lips tight on this; you would have no idea how irrationally people around here can act when they are scared, and with all these rumors that you two are witches," he adds, pointing at Aliseya and Naught, "mentioning a necromancer would only feed their naive imagination. I repeat: it is prudent not to act on this just yet; there have been reports in the past of deliria and all sorts of other nightmares that people have in Ustalav... Maybe your condition and this visit are not related events, or the presence of the mass drove a hallucination... I guess the collective unconscious never healed from Tar Baphon's cruelty."
"Maybe it would be best for everyone if you all left," the acolyte adds, with the priests approval. "You could get the help you need sooner if you go to Lepidstadt, and I am guessing your departure would ease our concerns as well."
Cellwyn will patrol the perimeter around the monument looking for any tell tale drips of blood or bloody tracks that could be followed. If nothing is found, she returns to the rest of the group.
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Zelda thinks for a moment
"Let me understand this. The crops are dying, and people have been getting sick,before we arrived. Is that correct?"
Zelda looks expectantly at the at the priest.
"Yet you insist on saying we are the cause for the strange things happening in town. It sounds like what is happening started long before we arrived. It sounds like the professor knew something was wrong and summond help, us.
We will find the cause of this sickness and possible what the farmers are calling a drought.
Being healthy will not only help us find the cause these things in your town. It will also help you. The sooner we can find the cause the sickness the sooner you will have fewer people to cure!"
Aliseya resists the urge to sarcastically respond to the priest. Oh really? You mean, like, attacking a friggin' funeral procession?! Yeah, we would have no idea...
As he continues, she then looks hurt and confused. "A witch?! Why would anybody think that?" Not that there's anything wrong with that...
"Cause they're jealous bumpkins... No offense Mr. Priest."
Before the priest could respond to Zelda, Mirelinza spoke, her voice solemn and slow. "The Whispering Tyrant. He's the reason I became a Paladin."
"Ustalav is the place to look if you want to find the remnants of his long reign. Tar-Baphon was a powerful wizard-king who ruled central Avistan. He was killed by the god Aroden himself but he rose as a lich and ruled the country of Ustalav for centuries. He was finally defeated by the Shining Crusade and imprisoned within his capital of Gallowspire."
"And of course...he was known as a powerful necromancer."
You do not spot anything unexpected, or more informative than what you have already seen. Meanwhile, the Sheriff observes your inspection, and asks with a chuckle "...and what do you expect to do when you find out who did this, or where the vandal came from?"
"We do not see the crops dying, but the farmers vehemently insist that the plants are showing signs of draught, and that we have to increase watering. The crops are still growing, and we thought it prudent not to abandon the farmers to their own luck, but to intervene and ensure that this years harvest provides at least the necessary for this poor town to pull through a few more years with some dignity," the priest responds. "However, yes, there have been more sick people in the last few weeks."
Fr. Grimburrow is surprised at Zelda's question, as any individual in Ustalav would at least know that Tar Baphon meant evil.
After Mirelinza's prompt response, the acolyte adds in agreement, almost as if sharing a legend: "He was the horror of the innocent, torturing their lives with the imminence of raid, imprisonment and torture, never allowing them to cross the borders of Ustalav into freedom, yet never telling them this, but simply flustering their attempts by involving the emigrants in shrouds of untraversable mist that would lead them back to Ustalav when it did not, or worse: it subjected them to all manner of nightmarish expriences... The Whispering Tyrant did not just destroy their hopes or joy; he consumed it and savoured it like nectar to his taste, with a slowness that made their misery ever more painful."
You see that the acolyte himself tells this story as though it were fiction, after all the days of the Whispering Tyrant were long past and his reign had nearly stepped from history into folklore.
After the brief silence, the priest resumes another topic: Aliseya's witchcraft. "You would have to find out about the witchcraft rumors on your own; I can at least spare myself from the details of the rumors, but I wish I would not hear them at all."
Hearing Mirelinza and the Acolyte regale bits of the reign of terror of Tar Baphon Naught will take out her heavy storybook and begin jotting down notes. "Ohhhh, cool."
Cellawyn answers the sheriff, "I plan on bringing him to justice."
With that she rejoins the others.
The gypsy girl smiles at her hatted friend's sassy response. Though she says, "Well now, these townsfolk have no reason to be jealous," Naught understands that her inflections and tone are really conveying a different message, Watch not to tell these ignorant yokels that witchcraft is cool, or else they might run us out of town with pitchforks.
She takes everything in about the Whispering Tyrant with somber quietude. At one point, the seriousness and severity become too much for her to bear, and she begins absentmindedly arranging tiny pebbles in the dirt to form the crude shape of a heart.
Concerning Fr. Grimburrow's advice on learning more about the rumors, Aliseya shakes her head in disbelief. "I wish people would, like, not judge us without even getting to know us."
On Cellawyn's arrival, the gypsy greets her with a smile and is eager to hear her report.
Cellawyn tells her friends everything that occurred at the square. "The bloody V is the work of more than a simple vandal. I suspect that there are occult forces at work in this town. I further suspect that Harrowstone and the death of the Professor are related to these occult forces. I would like to return to Harrowstone tomorrow at first light to investigate further."
Absentmindly nodding her head in agreement to Ali as she writes down notes on the Whispering Tyrant she unconsciously begins jotting down Stupid town bumpkins in the margins.
Mirelinza shakes her head in a resigned fashion. "The Professor knew what he was doing, inviting us to his funeral. There is much work for us to do here - although the local's negative view of us won't make life any easier. We need to get ourselves a few allies if we're to make a success of this."
She looks around the group, seeing who looks to be in agreement.
And looking into the distance she says quietly but still audibly, "And referring to the Whispering Tyrant as cool won't help matters I fear."
"But he the's perfect Villian for an Epic story of old!"
"It is still early in the day. We could head over to Harrowstone now if you're ready?"
Aliseya's open palm instinctively cups her mouth in shock. "A bloody vee?! Maybe it was that necromancer?" A look of disgust, "Creep."
She sighs in response to Cellawyn's desire to return to Harrowstone. "Yeah. Like, let's see who else that creep wrote hateful poetry about."
"If only we could do something to get people to start liking us though..." The pensive gypsy ponders Mirelinza's words for a short while. A flash of insight then comes over her face, "Oh. Oh! I... like, know exactly what to do." She smiles like she just thought of something ingenious, but eludes telling about it. Instead, she just looks around at her friends and adds, "I think I'll need someone's help with this..."
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
Aliseya becomes jubilant and giddy. She assuages Naught's fears, "Like oh my gods nothing bad silly! I just think I should like totally perform tonight!"
Before her new friends can say "Uhm... what?!" the beshawled young woman begins to sway and shimmy her hips in an exquisite, and rather erotic, manner for the next half a minute. She explains with a big smile as she dances, "So I can belly dance. Like, I really kick it, and it makes everyone happy. Well, almost everyone... but I think it'll make everybody feel better about me. And us! And I brought my outfit, too!"
Her mind now spinning with ideas, they seem to issue forth rapidly without filtering. She looks at her volunteer, "So, like, we need to find out where the night life in town happens. And we need to convince them to let me perform, which they should totally do. And I noticed posting poles, so I should totally get posters put up to tell everyone. And we need, like, parchment, and ink, and pens... Oh! And can anyone play the darbuka? We need a drummer, too... oh it's gonna be sooo sweet."
Smiling ear to ear, she rapidly jumps up and down several times, clasping her hands in anticipation of everyone's reactions.
Naught's face goes from slight confusion to simple mindlessness as Ali starts a bit of her dance, simply nodding her head up and down continuously at each of Ali's statements.
Despite her initial misgiving about the idea, Mirelinza has to concede that it might just work. It's potential for making things better is greater than the likelihood of making it worse.
"I am a Varisian, therefore I can dance. If you need someone to support you, just ask. My family are part of a dancing troupe."
The statement appears incongruous from the armour clad woman, but there is no denying her grace of movement and Varisians are known for music and dancing.
Cellawyn sighs with exasperation, "We don't have time for this."
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"Yes we do! And just for that you have to dance too!"
"Yay!" says Aliseya to her armored companion.
"Good idea. Let's go ask." she responds to Zelda. She appears quite ready to sprint for the place.
"Oh come on Celly please please please pretty please with a necromantic cherry on top?!"
After Naught speaks, the dancer jumps up and down a few more times, "Everybody dances!"
Aliseya sighs. Sad-faced, "Al-l-l ri-i-ight. You don't have to dance if you really really don't want to." Her smile returns, "But I'm gonna!"
"Who's coming?" The gypsy begins to make her way down to the Outward Inn. She then stops suddenly. Before bouncing back down the road again with light-footed glee, she turns to say, "Oh yeah... Creepystone... we'll be right back Celly. I pro-o-omise."
Despite being caught up with the romance of the idea initially, Mirelinza's face turns a little more solemn as the conversation continues. "Winning friends is a great idea and this seems an excellent way to achieve it. But let's be careful we're not too flippant with references to necromancers - living or dead. We need to let the townsfolk know we're serious about helping them."
"Oh, and do you have anything I can wear? My clothes are limited to variations of armour these days."
Hiding her coming amusement behind narrowed eyes and a deadpan face Naught simply quips "You do realize you just gave her an excuse to go shopping, right?"
All sense and sensibility in the paladin's words rapidly escapes the young belly dancer's mind as the mere suggestion of her magical pastime comes up. Naught merely verbalizes what the spontaneous young lady has already decided upon.
"Sho-o-o-oppi-i-i-ing! Let's go!" With carefree delight, Aliseya grabs Mirelinza's hand and heads down the road to the shops in town.
Naught simply stands by Zelda and Cellawyn, waving her hand back and forth while wearing the biggest shit eating smirk she can muster.
Cellawyn shakes her head, "The people of this town will fear us no less if you perform for them - especially if the strange events like the professor's death and the bloody V keep happening. If you want them to respect you, then resolve the paranormal events that are occurring, and prove that you are the solution and not the cause. For this reason I believe that it is imperative that we return to Harrowstone at once. I plan on returning to Harrowstone today to recon the upper levels of the prison."
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Zelda looks a Cellawny
"Finding the cause is important but we must also consider the people of the town as well. If we find the cause of what is happening and the knowledge distroys the people we are no better off. We need to restore the towns peoples confidence as well as ending these strange happenings. That way we will save the town as well as end the evil that infects the town. Yes we need to investigate the harrowing but we also need to lift up the spirit of the towns people. I believe we can do a little of both today."
Mirelinza only realises what she has let herself in for once Aliseya grabs her by the hand and quite literally drags her to the stores.
But she is caught up with the infectious enthusiasm of her companion and allows herself to be led willingly.
"Nothing too flashy, OK?"
Cellawyn nods at Zelda, "I wish you luck."
She departs for Harrowstone.
"Hey wait up." Naught will scurry off after Cellawyn while waiving a parting towards Zelda. "Buddy system, yaknow?"
"Thank you Naught. Let's try to scout out the ground level before we rejoin the others."