"A private room, sir?" he asks somewhat dubiously, "No i'm afraid not. We do have a storeroom. If you would like we can set up a table in there." he offers helpfully.
"Let's just go, dear," Eloise says, tugging on Mathus' arm. "The day's getting on and we have an appointment."
"Yes. Perhaps miss Kendra will need some help from the rest of us." With that Zindelo stands up and nods towards the barkeep. "My thanks to you sir. Good day." He then makes his way out the door.
"Let's just go, dear," Eloise says, tugging on Mathus' arm. "The day's getting on and we have an appointment."
No worries my good man, Mathus says handing the Barkeep a silver coin, just give us two pitchers of your ale and we'll finish our discussions at Prof... I mean Kendra Lorrimor's house. We'll return the pitchers later.
Shall we?, he says to the group at large.
"Sounds like an excellent idea. Plus we should make sure there is wood split for tonight." Theodor says, rising and heading for the door.
Tomnus raises and heads for the door, giving a slight nod to the elderly gentleman he was talking to earlier. On their way back Tomnus will keep an eye out to see if the kids are still playing in the street.
"I apologize for the delay but I thought it best to discuss this without any locals about. What Mathus and I learned was quite extraordinary and surprising. It turns out the prison was destroyed by a great fire and under strange circumstances. Even more, there were five prisoners who were the worst of the worst. Father Charlatan, the Lopper, the Mosswater Marauder, the Piper of Illlmarsh, and the Splatter Man."
With a breath Zindelo looks at the others and then takes a deep breath.
"You see Harrowstone was built in 4594...........
Zindelo spends quite some time telling the others what was learned. When Zindelo forgets some detail Mathus is there to fill in the gap.
With a sigh Zindelo finishes telling the others of what they had found.
........and that is all we learned"
Mathus nods.
What have the rest of you discovered?
Tomnus will sit and listen attentativly as Zindelo and Mathus tell him about what they have learned. "interesting...so this backwater town thought it would be smart to build a maximum secruity prison here...yep great plan and I'm sure that those 5 men had nothing to do with the fire. he says rather sarcastically as Zindelo finishes telling the tail.
At Mathus's question Tomnus will sake his head Nothing much. Like I said in the bar the locals believe the prison is haunted...to the point that none of them will set foot on the grounds there. We also heard a rather disturbing song that some of the children in town were singing and according to the older man I spoke to its a rather common skipping game the children play. The really odd thing is they were singing in Varisian and we're no where near Varisia..." he will then recite the lyrics in common.
Put her body on the bed.
Take a knife and lop her head.
Watch the blood come out the pipe.
Feeds the stirge, so nice and ripe.
Drops of red so sparkly bright.
Splatters spell her name just right.
With a hammer killed his wife.
Now he wants to claim your life.
Tricksy father tells a lie.
Listen close or you will die.
..."lop her head"... hmmm, Mathus mused, ... and "Feeds the stirge"... how odd for a childrens song.
Mathus frowns in concentration and starts ticking off fingers on one hand...
... four and five, he finishes. Five verses... and five prisoners.
I'd need to consult my notes again but the Stirge seems to match the Piper of Illmarshes methods of murder, and the 'lop' reference would fit with 'the Lopper'. I'll need to consult my notes to match the other verses but I'd say its a reference to the prisioners themselves... a fragment of local lore passed down from darker days.
"I think you may have something there Mathus!" Zindelo says in earnest.
"The third line must be a reference to the Splatter Man while the fourth and fifth reference the Mosswater Marauder and Father Charlatan respectively. I would have to check our notes to find there real names, but you hit it on the head. The children rhyme is about the five prisoners.
Scratching his chin Zindelo seems to be trying to work something out ...but why? Perhaps it was a way to keep the history of the towns most famous prisoners and got transformed by children into a thing for play
Did you learn anything else?
After a few hours Kendra returns safe and sound from her errands with an armful of groceries "I've only been used to cooking for father and myself do I needed to get some more supplies." She enters the kitchen, humming to herself, seeming quite happy for the company.
"Miss Kendra, when lunch is concluded do you think perhaps we might be able to use the library of the temple to learn more of the Whispering Way?"
"Let's talk about further business after we've eaten, yeah?" Eloise says. Rising to her feet, the Chelaxian woman rubs her hands eagerly. "I don't know about you, but I think better on a full stomach. Now, I'm not much of a cook - best I can do is boil water and skin and gut a rabbit for roasting, but I'd love to help you out, Kendra. What do I do?"
"I like the idea of investigating the temple personally" Theodor nods to Zindelo.
The architecture, from an Historical standpoint is a bit of a hodgepodge but the Pharasm Church is particularly attached to Birth and Death records... I am not sure what they'd have on the 'Way' though.
That said? I think our friend was a bit of an expert on them... I'd say the most likely place to find information on that secret order is right here.
"I fear that we have exhausted the good professor's library. Unless you were thinking of something else?"
Good point... then I suppose the Church may have something then... I doubt the town records have anything on the topic.
"If everyone thinks we still have enough daylight to go there and do some research I'll gladly go", Theodor says looking outside at the position of the sun.
Kendra looks at Zindelo and responds "I'm afraid that would be up to Father Grimburrow to decide. He seemed quite taken with your kind words about father yesterday, so I don't see any harm in asking him."
At Eloise offer of help Kendra smiles gratefully "Thank you, that would be much appreciated. I'm afraid I'd gotten used to cooking for just father and myself."
"Very well then, let us eat and then speak with Father Grimburrow."
Looking at Kendra, "Now miss Kendra, if you would be kind enough to show me where your plates and such are I will happily set the table."
Mathus sighes... I suppose that leaves me on dish washing duty.
He brightened slightly at the activity around him and said, So be it - I'll amuse myself with some reading until dinner is ready then.
After about an hour, dinner is served. Afterwards you adjourn to the sitting room to discuss the day's events over drinks. As the hours pass Kendra yawns and excuses herself to retire to her room, leqving you to make your own way upstairs for bed.
You've just returned home after graduating from the University and your Parents and sister are there to greet you. It's a welcome homecoming and after a light meal your mother places a cake, whose aroma has been making you salivate all afternoon, upon the table in front of you. As your father begins to slice the first piece you notice a small trickle of reddish liquid, which you assume is filling, begin oozing from the dessert.
It starts as a small trickle and as it begins growing into a steady stream you realize it is not filling but is, indeed, blood. Suddenly the cake explodes in a torrent of blood, covering everyone in the room in gore. Everyone but you. As they are being covered in ichor, the adoring smiles of your family twist into the rictus of death. Soon you are standing alone in your family kitchen, your parents eviscerated corpses lying on the floor with the body of your sister lying next to them in a spreading pool of her own blood, a wooden stake protruding from her back.
As you stand in stunned silence, a shadow falls across the floor as you look up to see a darkened figure standing over you with another stake and mallet raised high, ready to strike.
You wake up, covered in sweat and heave a sigh of relief as you realize it was just a dream.
The morning dawns bright and sunny as the smells of bacon and coffee waft up from the kitchen downstairs.
Tomnus will make small talk with who ever wants to talk to him and then will retire for the night. Raising in the morning he comes down stairs dressed in his armor again.
"Morning everyone. Everyone sleep alright?" he says as he makes his way into the kitchen.
Grabbing a piece of bacon and a mug of coffee, "Yes thanks, So shall we talk to Father Grimburrow? I'd really like to get more information about the Whispering Way, or see if he has anything on the old prison."
Mathus descends the stairs, ruffled, red eyed and looking like he hadn't slept well at all... despite damp hair and skin showing that he'd used the washbasin in his bedroom, a faint miasma of sweat is present.
Tomnus grabs a cup of coffee and a plate full of bacon and then sits down at the table. "I wouldn't mind meeting with Father Grimburrow. We might also want to investigate the crypt that professor lorrimore mentioned in his journal and what better way to be able to do that then to get permission from the great fa..." Tomnus stops mid word as he sees Mathus enter the room.
"Rough night Mathus?"
Mathus ran his tongue around his mouth and rubbed at his face with his hands.
Nightmare... bad one too. Must be letting all the nervous tension get to me... not to worry. I may see if I buy some ingredients to make myself something to help me sleep, he said tiredly.
Zindelo enters the kitchen, awake and shaven.
"Good morning all." Oblivious to what was said before he entered the room Zindelo collects a plate and takes some food. Sitting down he takes a bite of toast and tries to make a joke. "Well it seems as if none of us were woken up by spirits last night. I trust we all slept peacefully?"
Incorrect assumption friend Zindelo. But my disturbance was a mere nightmare - nothing more.
"I am still puzzled about the children's rhyme from yesterday. It makes me suspicious of the prison and what may, or may not have befallen our dear friend." Looking around the room at everyone, "Shall we head to the church and see what we can learn?"
Incorrect assumption friend Zindelo. But my disturbance was a mere nightmare - nothing more.
With a slightly pasty look Zindelo looks at Mathus "Please forgive my poor attempt at humor. I am sorry for your nightmare. he then stammers slightly "Would it be rude to ask what the nightmare was about?"
Finishing his meal Zindelo clears aside some space and produces his harrow deck. Laying out the cards he looks them over and then collects them together. Shuffling the cards he draws one from the deck and looks at it.
He says to himself, "Crowns it is."
Looking at Theodor, "Agreed. Perhaps you should take lead on speaking with the father."
Just a distortion of a painful memory... nothing more, Mathus says wearily, dismissing the issue as he watched Zindelo work the cards.
"Well I'm up for a trip to the church as well as a trip to the Restlands...want to see whats in the crypt that professor Lorrimore talked about in his journal."
Zindelo enters the kitchen, awake and shaven.
"Good morning all." Oblivious to what was said before he entered the room Zindelo collects a plate and takes some food. Sitting down he takes a bite of toast and tries to make a joke. "Well it seems as if none of us were woken up by spirits last night. I trust we all slept peacefully?"
"Oh, it was just horrible, old boy," Eloise says as she saunters into the kitchen, already dressed, armed and armoured for the day. "Did you know Kendra kicks in her sleep? Honestly, it's like sleeping with a puppy."
Eloise winks, then grins impishly at Kendra.
"In all seriousness, though; if you don't have anything else of importance to do today, Kendra, I'd appreciate it if you joined us when we go to see Padre Grimburrow. You're from here and he knows you; it might sway him. That, and I feel uncomfortable about leaving you unguarded. Things may soon take a turn. I have this nagging feeling... Oh well, maybe a balanced breakfast will quench that."
As you leave Kendra's house and head out onto the street, you pass several groups of townspeople heading toward the south end of town, whispering to each other. As they pass your group people stare at you, while others make signs intended to ward off evil.
Well, I certainly feel welcome now
Eloise gives the people a blank look if they whisper, and if they sign -- she smiles and makes the same sign right back at them.
"Seems like we've definitely inspired confidence and hope in these provincials. Perhaps I have been sent here by Iomedae to uncover what binds them to their clannish nature..." Theodor outwardly seems nonplussed by the stares of the locals.
"Well, we haven't been here long, and I threatened to beat some of them up on their own cemetery," Eloise says with an offhanded gesture. "It's not that surprising that they're a bit spooked by me." She winks at the others.
Zindelo shakes his head in an amused gesture.
"I think the church will probably still be there in an hour or so," Eloise suggests. "Let's go see what's got the locals' loincloths all up in a bunch."